Two AC/DC tracks are up at The Tofu Hut. "Rock'n'Roll Damnation," off of Powerage (still my favorite full-length), sounds like every other Bon Scott-led number (and therefore more bodaciously awesome than anything else ever in the history of mankind). "Love Song," from the original Australian edition of High Voltage and unavailable in the U.S., sounds like no other AC/DC track ever. It sounds like frikkin' Santana or something. I think you're supposed to make out to it. Go do so.

I'm being a bit facetious when I crow that Franz Ferdinand is my favorite British act in well over a decade. They've only made one album and there are full-lengths I arguably prefer. A Grand Don't Come For Free, Internal Wrangler, Kid A, Walking Wounded, Southpaw Grammar, Dummy, Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements, Million Seller, Your Arsenal and Mekons Rock'n'Roll takes us through 15 years - and god knows there's great stuff I haven't heard. But, excepting Portishead (who FF may have beat anyhow) and Clinic, I can't think of a debut release from the UK I find more satisfying since...sorry, flipping through one my many half-embarassing Word files...good lord, The Lexicon Of Love.

That's fitting (and proof that Jess and I are more in sync about pop/rock than I tend to assume): wry, campy, dance-friendly, post-punk (though you don't have to know what that means), catchy as all hell and not going to let a hunger for critical adoration get in the way of these qualities. So many bands want to start at Revolver or Village Green rather than hone their pleasure principle with a "She Loves You" or a "You Really Got Me." David Lee Roth takes pride in the fact that Van Halen came out of the gate as a band whose basic template was already finessed, so that evolution wouldn't be mistaken for growing pains. It's a rare trait these days and totally worth celebrating (I wish I'd put the album on my Pazz'n'Jop ballot but I'm sure they'll do fine without my help). If the textures resemble Entertainment! and More Songs About Buildings And Food its only because the passing of time requires fresher arsenal; they're really on the Paul Revere & The Raiders' tip. I wish they were called Franz & The Ferdinands, cuz Kapranos ain't fit for a marquee, luv.

As I'm already riding the caboose of the blogosphere with this post, I'll also note that I'm digging TV On The Radio. The album's ballad-heavy (can see why they're selling "New Health Rock" with it) but I think its apropos these guys have signed to 4AD: dreamy drones whose idiosyncrasies intrigue as long you don't look them straight in the eye. The irony is that my favorite review remains a negative one.

God, I am such a rock critic.

Taken in December by Jefferson, who simply rocks.

I've read more of Klosterman's book, and the guy really can be a good writer when he avoids the first person plural. The chapter about serial killers was fine because he made few assumptions about how his own obsession related to the human condition, which cannot be defined by the singular experiences of a defensive white male music nerd raised in the midwest (I know this - see above). If people want to call him "The Voice Of A Generation" that's their prerogative, but he shouldn't take it upon himself. Is there some way we could make him stop? Maybe a petition or something?

It's a bit over 3AM (I must be lonely) and I'm fighting insomnia (I almost wrote "nostalgia" - which fits too) by reading Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs. I've spent days trying to encapsulate what makes Klosterman's recent work so aggrivating without indulging in the same presumptuous leaps in logic that have become his trademark (while I understand where Carl Wilson is coming from, I know too many egocentric, unself-questioning blue staters to go there). Then, on page 123, he drops the perfect line to sum up why everyone who isn't a straight white male American who wants to bang Pamela Anderson has a perfectly good reason to want to punch him in the face (and I've still got about a hundred pages of further exclusory criteria to go).

We all relate to Sonny the Cuckoo Bird.


Thanks, Chuck.

Music videos are a lot like meat, in the sense that I lack the discipline to remove it from my diet as much as I, and possibly the world, would benefit.

Following all the Best Of 2004 jazz, VH1 Classic has regained some of its appeal.

Rod Stewart, "Twisting The Night Away": While his face is blankly pleasant and noticeably devoid of enthusiasm, Rod's re-remake of this Sam Cooke number for the Innerspace soundtrack is solid mainstream cheese. Video features lots of random freaks dancing (nuns, boxers, bald women, hot dog salesmen, etc.) and Martin Short doing his Ed Grimley thing. Rod's hair kind of blends into the scenery, which is impressive.

Fleetwood Mac, "Seven Wonders": As I once said about Rod, I can understand why old schoolers are bothered by these past-prime commerce rockets, but once artists have made their classics and imbedded their vocal idiosyncrasies into our brains, pop professionalism can be plenty enjoyable. Helps that I was raised on late '80s VH1. Lindsey is one proud goofball (love the mascara). Did you hear about how he got fired from Mac in the '80s after putting his coat over his head and imitating Stevie while she was singing "Rhiannon" during a show in Australia? Is there footage of that somewhere?

Lou Reed, "I Love You Suzanne": Lou calls a girl to tell her that he can dance. We see footage of their relationship, which consists of him wearing sunglasses while watching TV, discussing art, laughing and taking her on Suzuki rides. They drift apart because he won't dance and another guy will. He watches TV by himself, wearing his sunglasses at night. She shows up at his concert, where Lou leaps from the stage and starts doing spins, splits, air-guitar and high-kicks. He wins her back.

Whip it on me, Jim!

Bruce Springsteen, "Tunnel Of Love": With Aerosmith and Rod Stewart I note that the canonical '70s albums were better but that their later work still has merit. With the Boss I say that his synth-pop tops everything that came before it. So much tighter and more mature. Ironically less gloppy than his classic rock stuff.

Bruce Springsteen, "Thunder Road (Live MTV Unplugged)" Oh, if Conor wasn't such a selfish, irresponsible twixter. Whatever happened to cornball chivalry?

Daft Punk, Human After All.

"Human After All": A 30 second tv theme song repeated 9 times. Followed by 30 seconds that could arguably be considered a climax.

"Prime Time Of Your Life": An Andrew Lloyd Webber hook repeated for a few minutes that turns into some glitches for a few minutes.

"Robot Rock": Kurtis Blow instrumental mix. I guarantee someone will make a great mash-up using this.

"Steam Machine": a half-decent IDM mp3 I'd find on somebody site except with somebody whispering "STEAM...MACHINE..." loudly over the mix.

"Make Love": A pretty little piano loop. For some reason I think this would mash-up well with the vocal of "Crazy Train" and turn into something like "My Immortal."

"Brainwasher": ironically opens with an "Iron Man" homage. Another pleasant ditty that won't sound interminable if you don't pay attention to it.

"On/Off": nine seconds long.

"TV Rules The Nation": Whodini minus the ill logic. Or a dope beat.

"Technologic": better than the Peaches songs it resembles.

"Emotion": the extended, extended intro to a disco version of "Tracks Of My Tears" that never comes.

That's it.

To anyone who puts this on their top ten list next December: you are a sucker.

Beck's "Hell Yeah" is all over the net (I've listened to both mixes - one's at Razorblade Runner) and, man, he has done nothing to contradict the rant* I wrote a year ago about why he's the most overrated artist I once worshipped. I'm curious if this single (if it is the first single) is going to flop as badly as it should or if there are enough true believers in his shtick to make it some kind of American Idiot comeback. I guess it depends how many hipsters have actually come to terms with hip-hop and realized how drab and blase his take can be (the song would be better if he just said "spaghetti" repeatedly). I'm preparing myself for an unpleasant surprise. I'll check out the album if we get it at the station, but I doubt sc!entology has inspired him to get more acidic.

*my in-site links are acting funky. Scroll down to the bottom after you hit that link if you want to read the Jan. 7 '04 Midnite Vultures review. It's one of the few reviews-with-ratings (sigh) on here I'm really happy with.

I can't believe I have a crush on Batboy.

I'm sharing two Kelly Osbourne songs at Burnt Poptarts, my little mp3 stand within the Tofu Hut. I demand that all fans of Sleater-Kinney check out "Come Dig Me Out" and all the Donnas nuts here listen to "Contradiction." After you're done, trade! Then go get Shut Up! for crazy cheap. Prices start at TEN CENTS on Amazon. Take that money you were going to spend on Autobiography, buy twenty of these to give to friends and treat yourself to some Taco Bell.


"I don't really care what people think about my hair. It's my hair, so why should they care? Ooh, that rhymed."

I got that off google, I don't actually have an autographed picture of her. Yet. The Question Of The Day at the Hut is which of Forks' four current contributors is your dream date. Stuff that ballot box!

Breaking Kelly news: This is no good (courtesy of Whatevs)

My favorite new video on Launch* is by a europop diva (Kylie Minogue's "I Believe In You") and the one I enjoy least is from a successful North American pop-punk group (Simple Plan's "Shut Up"). This is without precedent.

I've always hated Simple Plan, though. Their only value has been to give me someone to compare Good Charlotte to when people don't understand my affection. Play the videos for "Shut Up" (I'd get mad for Kelly O but she's done similar title lifts) and "I Just Wanna Live" back-to-back and you can't help but notice the cornucopia of musical riches and lyrical insights that the former lacks, let alone food costumes. I have to wonder if Simple Plan are as popular as they are because they refuse to budge from the generic mall-punk blueprint in any way. In a sense this makes them almost unique.

from ILX, re: Linkin Park...

"I used to think they were THE worst, lamest band out there, but then A Simple Plan and Good Charlotte broke... and Mr. Miccio likes ALL THREE 'O DEM!

That is a complete and total lie. This is what you get if you search posts from me with the word "Simple Plan" in them.

I'm happy to see Simple Plan get some hate

Simple Plan and Something Corporate seem incapable of not offending me

They don't come off as closet assholes like Simple Plan

The ass munchers in Simple Plan...

Simple Plan and New Found Glory do indeed suck.

Simple Plan's "I'l Do Anything" is indeed ass

So don't ever say that I like Simple Plan again, alright?

-- Anthony Miccio (anth...), January 24th, 2004."

I found this almost EXACTLY a year later. Another "coincidence," like the one in my post EXACTLY a week ago! What does it all mean (aside from that I have a tendency to repeat myself)?

*excepting Interpol's "Evil," which I first saw weeks ago.

Grant Morrison's run on the comic book Doom Patrol was a big part of my early teens. I actually had a note from my mom saying I was allowed to purchase Doom Patrol and Sandman despite their being "suggested for mature readers." My favorite muppet was Gonzo and in kindergarten I drew a snowman with his head in the middle, noting "I like this snowman because it is weird. I like things that are weird." A comic where a guy in a robot body, a hermaphrodite covered in bandages possessed by a spirit made of negative matter and a woman whose multiple personalities each had a different power fought Mr. Nobody & The Brotherhood Of Dada inside of a painting that eats cities understandably held tremendous appeal. I stopped paying attention to comics for the most part once Sandman ended, but I'm overjoyed to discover that Vertigo has finally released a second TPB of Doom Patrol issues. The first came out over a decade ago, so I'd say its about time. Thanks to Lacunae for name-dropping it.

Oh man, I haven't thought about the Quiz, who has every power you can't think of, in years. I might have to dig these out again.

Stylus: And to present the award for fourth best album of the 00s, Anthony Miccio...

Anthony: Knack 2K, yo! Don't hate on that!

Nobody told me Is This It would make the top 5. I wrote that blurb assuming it would be #38 or something. Everybody's album list is a little more indie-centric than their singles one. This is either because underground acts are more consistent than their mainstream peers (even if the high points aren't as breathtaking) or because we just assume that and don't like paying sixteen bucks to find out. My top 50 (scroll for it yourself) would look pretty different if I got pop promos and didn't spend the last five years working at college radio, but I'll stand by my top 10. Caveat: LeTigre's debut is copywritten 1999, so I went with that.

1. Desaparecidos - Read Music/Speak Spanish
2. Good Charlotte - The Young And The Hopeless
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell
4. Fugazi - The Argument
5. White Stripes - De Stijl
6. Nellie McKay - Get Away From Me
7. Electric Six - Fire
8. Distillers - Sing Sing Death House
9. Kelly Osbourne - Shut Up!
10. Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds

Pop-rockism: It's like rockism...with a funny hat!

Replace "get nostalgiac" with "feel parental sympathy" in my Conor post. I hope to hang out with Keith next time I'm in Philly. I get the feeling he might pay for my beer.

Remember that day or two where this site had a black background? It was totally the Cocteau Twins' fault. Listening to The Pink Opaque makes me want to dive headlong into the ephemeral and start putting up weird blurry photos instead of observations and arguments. It makes me question why I'm so fond of the concrete specifics of pop when I could just bathe in the psuedo-goth dreamglow and transcend language entirely. The problem is that this morpheous quality is an illusion. I'm really listening to tight verse-chorus pop songs caked in gibberish and lots of effects boxes. My need for form is being appeased while my conscious can bask in enigmatic beauty devoid of agenda. Most bands who attempt this shtick either unable to hide their human fallibility (usually earthbound wordplay or an explicable band - ugh, how corporeal) or fail to involve me with their listless whale-humping. I've got a taped copy of Heaven Or Las Vegas my aunt gave me in high school around here somewhere, but I'm worried that if I listen to too much of their work my critical receptors are going to detect artistic evolution and I'll be stuck with unmystifying reality again. Nuts to that.

I used to have hair like the guy on the left.

Yesterday on ILX I posited that Elvis Costello was the Conor Oberst of his day and that This Years Model was his Read Music/Speak Spanish. My logic is that both guys are talented, egocentric, sex-mad singer-songwriters who released a ton of material but basically said all they had to say the first time they got together with a smart, sympathetic, uptempo backing band. Everything before was the evolution of a persona and everything since has been increasingly pretentious reaffirmations of their shtick (Lifted=Armed Forces). Those sympathetic to their tightly wound come-ons, folks who either want to be in their shoes or get in their pants (a select few get nostalgiac), will buy tickets for varying lengths of time, but most eventually grow tired of their inability to evolve emotionally despite the change in sonic scenery (waning hookcraft won't help, either).

So why doesn't Conor Oberst sound like Elvis Costello? What happened during the 20 year interim between these two nerveherders' heydays?


This guy.

While the Cure in no way invented mope, they were the guys who created the context where it was ok for fragile overwraughtness to be your defining characteristic. Your selling point. Your beauty. A good comparison is Led Zeppelin's relationship with bombast. You can point out the Yardbirds (Joy Division), Black Sabbath (Smiths), Hendrix (Joy Division), etc., but Zeppelin took it to previously unfathomable dimensions, removed it from earthbound context, set the standard and made the over-the-top commonplace. There was more to Zep than "ka-BOOM!" (just as there's more to the Cure than "SOB!"), but they dignified rockers who just want to shoot lasers out their dicks just as the Cure dignifies bands who do nothing but cry their brains out.

These are generalizations, but I think they help explain why Conor Oberst is so goddamn intolerable for so many. The man is mixing sour chocolate with peanut butter that's way past the expiration date. An Elvis Costello who whimpers. A Robert Smith who thinks he's the next Dylan. While I'll stand by the one album where Oberst respected his Attractions and keep a hits comp, I understand if you'd rather get the gun.


(Accidentally deleted my Roots post. Thanks to the folks who commented. Sum-up: I'm going to get Phrenology if I find it cheap and you should watch the video for "The Next Movement" on Launch.)

Listening to:
The Verlaines, Bird Dog
Souled American, Fe
Patti Smith, Radio Ethiopia
Fleetwood Mac, Tusk

Thinking about: The Used vs. Bright Eyes (Used is winning despite absurdly awful videos), whether or not Taking Back Sunday is the worst pop-emo band, whether the 90s were actually better (must remember Gavin, Silverchair, Soundgarden, etc.), how all these mediocrities on Launch help me understand why that generic Green Day power ballad is such a big hit, how badly the drummer for Jet has to die (or at least take the hat off).

Realizing: I need to buy some Garth Brooks. He seems so Clintonian now.

I watched Signs last night, a movie I've been avoiding ever since I discovered that the aliens, who visit Earth (3/4ths of which is covered by water) to harvest humans (who are 98% water), can be killed by pouring water on them. I'm dropping this spoiler because the movie is pretty suspenseful and entertaining if you aren't blindsided by the idiocy later (one more spoiler: Jesus Saves). While looking at some reviews of The Village, which sounds like M. Night's next step down the inevitable trail away from well-crafted thrills towards Significance, I came across a line in Roger Ebert's one-star review that is, without question, the definitive anti-smackdown.

It's a flimsy excuse for a plot, with characters who move below the one-dimensional and enter Flatland.

Wouldn't Flatland (wtf, but anyway) be TWO-dimensional, and therefore NOT a step down from one? This is what happens when Richard Roeper is your sparring partner, people. Ebert once put a transcript of their debate over the merits of Episode II: Attack Of The Clones on his site. Being on a show that debates the merits of Episode II: Attack Of The Clones is nothing to be proud of.


Not a bright man.

Stephanie Zacharek of Salon is my favorite film critic who isn't named Pauline Kael, but she ends her understandably awkward explanation of Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle's racial-political perspective with a nonsensical capper worthy of the Eeb.

"Harold & Kumar" is a reminder that our great land is made up of people from many nations, and a few of them are quite stoned. Let he who is without sin light the first joint.

Ok, does that last bit make any sense to you? The closing sentence of a review is usually bound to suck, but I can't believe this got past an editor.

They say (at least in Signs) that there is no such thing as a coincidence, and it's been exactly one year since I last put a movie review on here. I swear I didn't know that until I was writing this post.

It wouldn't feel right to discuss an American Idol track without re-acknowledging the glory of Clay Aiken's "Invisible." It's been around for a year or so, but I'm guessing some of you haven't seen the video yet. Watch it (Windows or Real Player, no excuses). See it again if it's been awhile. There's something almost rapturous about a metrosexual Martin Short prancing and preening as his smarmy rape fantasy inspires a city to collectively cream. Dig that neck bob! That sashay! That open-mouthed grin! His breathtakingly smug scan of the audience during the "oooooh" before the final chorus! How can you think you're King Shit while masturbating outside somebody's window? I have no idea, but Clay does! Daniel Johnston should cover it. Radiohead should release an identical video.

If I was invisible
Then I could just watch you in your room
If I was invincible
I'd make you mine tonight

I should turn my feelings about Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" into one of those Perfect Moments In Pop pieces for Stylus, but I'd have to wait until late February to have it published, which means I'd listen to the song every day for another month. This is still a possibility, but there's no reason to make it a given.

I originally wrote it off as Thankfully Uptempo Whatever, but revisited it frequently after Maura pointed out how much the verse sounds like Interpol. Revelling in the commercial co-option/corroboration of value, I started singing it around the apartment in that flat holler, wishing the guys would turn it into an ironic live encore. But how would Paul Banks deal with the climactic bridge? Can he unleash his voice like she does when she JUST can't take it, again and again and again and AGAIN?

He couldn't. Interpol are frustration junkies; lyrics full of wannas and gonnas and a total lack of resolution. Clarkson uses their musical blueprint to acknowledge the addictiveness of emotional unrest (it's the only state in which some people feel like shit matters), only to achieve catharsis by morphing into Irene Cara. There's no certainty that she's really going to stop thinking about the guy (resentment has a tendency to endure - see the video), but pwning my drama dealin' bad poet du jour is impressive enough.

(Live in Cincinnati - photo by Doug Trapp)

Saw an awesome band called Stylex last night. Definitely of interest to anybody who digs aggro nu-wave; they're like Brainiac with the Fever's forward drive. The live show is more powerful than their albums (always a good sign with underground bands) and the mix of programmed beats and live drumming is entertaining and unpredictable. They mainly do shows in Ohio but keep an eye out for them if you live in Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and beyond.

The Top 50 Singles Of The New Millennium (So Far).

1.
Usher
"Burn"

This would probably switch with #2 if I wasn't single, but it'd still be #2. I've been tempted to write specific praise for each line. I know better than to do that, but I could. The last paragraph of this Freelance Mentalists piece is but a grain of sand. Don't debate me on this one unless you want me to talk your ear off. And I won't even have to go TMI (though I could).

2.
John Mayer
"Clarity"

"This song...it's impossible, when I hear it, to feel anything but glorious. It's not really something you can get anxious to...There is a certain element to this song that's hipper than I am. Thank God. Finally." - John Mayer

3.
Vines
"Get Free"

A "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that requires no zeitgeist, though few people appreciate it because it has no zeitgeist. Their loss.

4.
Outkast
"B.O.B"

Dream for 2025: my kids tell me they get why "B.O.B." was "a big deal at the time, but its sort of generic now."

5.
Good Charlotte
"The Young And The Hopeless"

No one in this industry understands the life I lead. When I sing about my past, it's not a game, it's not an act. These critics and these trust fund kids try to tell me what punk is, but when I see them on the streets they've got nothing to say.

6.
Outkast
"Hey Ya"

I may be the only person on the planet who has never been sick of this song. Ever.

7.
Crazytown
"Butterfly"

Come!

8.
Queens Of The Stone Age
"Go With The Flow"

In the right mood, and it ain't a good one, there is no song I turn up louder.

9.
DMX
"Party Up (Up In Here)"

I swear he slaps a baby on the radio edit.

10.
Linkin Park
"In The End"

Alice Cooper, Vanilla Ice and Depeche Mode team up to write the epitaph to adolescence. YES!

11.
Limp Bizkit
"Rollin'"

*tarzan yell* *fart*

12.
R. Kelly
"Step In The Name Of Love (Remix)"

Let's step out, hit the floor, DJ’s rockin its all for us...if anybody asks why we're steppin', tell em!!!.....We did it for love!

13.
Linkin Park
"Faint"

Makes me want to spin around on my back and fight off a gaggle of Agent Smiths.

14.
Britney Spears
"Toxic"

Sex and violins.

15.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"Y Control"

There's a heartbreak beat! And it feels like love!
(Rolling Stones :: Stooges : Pretenders :: Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

16.
Enrique Iglesias
"Escape"

Enrique! I wish I was Enrique Iglesias. Failing that, I wish Dashboard Confessional was Enrique Iglesias. A little Latin lilt and dippy disco might make those songs half-way tolerable. I'm embarassed by how happy I am when this comes on in a restaurant.

17.
P.O.D.
"Youth Of The Nation"

Proof that Jesus can give sight to the bland.

18.
Eamon
"F*ck It (I Don't Want You Back)"

OMGWTFLOL(ROFFLE)

19.
Junior Senior
"Shake Your Coconuts"

I don't hate fun.

20.
Kelly Osbourne
"Come Dig Me Out"

She's Carrie on the verse and Corin on the chorus! And it's not a cover! THIS IS BETTER THAN THE TITLE TRACK OF MY FAVORITE ALBUM OF THE NINETIES! I shit you not! I shit you NOT!

I get hundreds of e-mails a day from fans wanting to know who this Claire is, and why she's always hating on my site design. Claire is my sister and one hell of a good writer. I can't hold her merciless criticisms against her, lest she retorts with "I learned it by watching YOU!"

21.
Pitbull feat. Lil Jon
"Culo"

It's great when people from different cultures find common ground.

22.
Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz feat. Ying Yang Twins
"Get Low"

I dig enthusiasm!

23.
R. Kelly
"Ignition (Remix)"

My karaoke fall-back.

24.
J-Kwon
"Tipsy"

Hacks improving on the sonic shtick of an overhyped superstar. It's as reliable as gravity.

25.
Missy Elliott
"I'm Really Hot"

Turn-ons include: confidence, humor, sexual aggressiveness, boogies and swerves

26.
N'Sync
"Pop"

A stronger case against rockism than Kelefa Sanneh's. Less cranky than "Public Image." Ends with J.T. spittin' raspberries for half a minute.

27.
X-Ecutioners feat. Mike Shinoda
"It's Going Down"

Despite coming almost twenty years after "Rock Box" and about a decade after the Judgement Night soundtrack, this song's enthusiasm makes the union of hip-hop and rock sound like a really big deal.

28.
Madonna
"Don't Tell Me"

This song could get me to buy a cowboy hat.

29.
Limp Bizkit
"My Way"

It's like Fugazi dipped in silly sauce.

30.
Jimmy Eat World
"The Middle"

Everything, EYuh-verything will be alright! Alright! *clicks stop watch, cash register opens*

A brief interruption to thank Dan Perry for letting me know about Avril's "Nobody's Home," her new single about a teenage runaway which features the lines: "Open your eyes and look outside, find the reasons why you've been rejected, and now you can't find what you left behind. Be strong, be strong now." Well, shut my mouth.

I've got two album tracks by Sugar Ray up at the Tofu Hut. Every time somebody checks them out (don't ask how I know), I giggle. It's cute when I giggle, so do it.

31.
Liz Phair
"Extraordinary"

She almost never sits up straight at photo sessions, but she still makes a damn good case.

32.
Shakira
"Underneath Your Clothes"

I'm pretty soft on female chauvinism. She's going to make another album, right? I really miss her voice. I once sang this at karaoke as "Underneath My Clothes." It wasn't a hit.

33.
R.E.M.
"Imitation Of Life"

The only song that makes me glad they didn't break up when they should have. Thanks. You can break up now, guys.

34.
PJ Harvey
"Good Fortune"

"How's life in the city?" "God, I'm just...I love it here." "You two are such an awesome couple." "I know."

35.
Cornershop
"Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III"

I like a song that can sound cynical despite a joyous groove and total incoherency.