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Monument – The Frames (1995)

I’ve expressed my musical man crush for Glen Hansard before; Glen is one half of The Swell Season, who shot to fame for starring in and providing the music for the movie “Once”. Along with his other musical half Marketa Irglova, The Swell Season won the Academy Award for best original song in 2008 providing one of the best moments in music ever. However, Glen had already found success in his Dublin based band The Frames and as an actor for his role in the movie The Commitments but please allow me to geek out even further: Bronagh Gallagher, an actress from Dublin was also in The Commitments and 4 years later she wore a Frames T-shirt in the movie Pulp Fiction…which is just my way of telling you to listen to The Frames, The Swell Season, watch Once, Pulp Fiction and that I heart Glen Hansard.

There Goes My Love – The Blue Van (2010)

In 2003, after just one record, The Blue Van were plucked out of Denmark by the biggest American indie label at the time, TVT records. The band, who hadn’t even broken in their home country yet, were shipped off to NYC with a plan to break them in the US. They lived and did some residencies in Brooklyn for a few years which is how I found out about them when my old band was added to one of their shows and I watched them tear up the stage of a place called The Trash Bar-they were really really good and I was filled with hope to see a band actually being developed by a record label. That hope didn’t last long unfortunately because after building them for few years, investing a ton of loot and getting them on tours with Jet and The Killers, TVT records decided to drop the band (then TVT records went bankrupt because of a Pitbull lawsuit- *cough cough* musical karma). However, this all went down a few years ago and I’m sad to report that while Pitbull is still kicking around, The Blue Van continue making the rock and roll …. but now from the safety of Denmark.

Pushing Up Daises – My Son the Hurricane (2011)

My Son the Hurricane is (at the very least) a 13-piece band from St. Catherine’s, Ontario and 8 of those pieces is just the horn section!!!! It’s kind of hard to describe the sound but I think it would have to go something like this: picture a parade of jazz musicians jamming with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, marching through the streets of New Orleans with a live drummer, an MC and a beautifully sampled voice providing the hooks. The only thing to point out however is that sample is a real voice. Seriously, I asked the drummer what the sample was from this song because I loved it and wanted to find the original and he said….”ahh dude, it’s our singer.”

Chasing Pirates – Norah Jones (2009)

I am smitten with Norah Jones and I’m not afraid to say it (I’m also smitten with the word smitten). I’m not just smitten because her voice is so damn beautiful that she can sing about ChexMix and make you fall in love – which she actually did on a Lonely Island track called “Dreamgirl” –it’s because she has one of the last romantic record industry stories left in the business. She was a waitress singing in coffee houses and jazz clubs when she was introduced to the boss of Blue Note Records by an account executive. The record label boss (who I picture smoking a cigar and using words like baby and hip) hears her sing, signs her on the spot, and her debut album wins five Grammys and sells 8 million copies. I worked at a restaurant called Jungle Jims followed by a stint at a TGI Friday’s and all got was the skill of carrying 4 plates of food at once.

Everlong – Foo Fighters (1997)

For the past month or so it seems like every person I know has asked me “dude, have you seen the new Foo Fighter’s documentary”? It got to the point that I was getting repeat askers “Wells, have you seen it yet?!” I started thinking to myself “It can’t be THAT good, can it?” Well it IS that good, it’s called “Back and Forth” and you NEED to see it, just to hear Dave Grohl talk about Nirvana so candidly will make it worth your while but above and beyond that, the story of the Foo Fighters that is told is pretty amazing, I promise. Now, speaking of The Foo Fighters, this gives me an opportunity I like to seize as often as possible: their 1997 album “The Color and the Shape” is the best rock and roll album of the past 20 years and this is the best rock song. Period.

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