Nicklist #9 (Five Great Live Versions)

1.) “School” – Nirvana (from Live at Reading)

It’s become almost cliche to list Nirvana as one of your favorite bands these days.  They are arguably the biggest rock group of the past thirty years, and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has been called one of the greatest rock songs of all time on multiple occasions.  If a band covers at Nirvana at a show, it seems ridiculous since it’s been overdone so many times.  But since older, Bleach era Nirvana is often ignored by many rock critics and music fans, I felt that it would be a good idea to share the best performance of one of the best Nirvana songs.  “School”‘s heavy guitar riff and heavy drums make it one of the group’s most powerful and “in your face” songs.  This version in front of thousands at the Reading Festival is even better than the original, and a great display of Nirvana’s excellent live shows.

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Nicklist #6

1.) “Get Up” – Sleater-Kinney (from The Hot Rock)

Sleater-Kinney is one of the most underrated rock bands of the 90s – you hear a lot about the Nirvanas, and to a lesser extent the Pavements (one of my favorite bands) of the 90s, who gained a little more popularity than the girls from this band – but they rock hard.  “Get Up” is no exception – it has a great guitar riff and powerful vocals from lead vocalist Corin Tucker.  However, my favorite song is the bridge, where second guitarist Carrie Brownstein takes over the singing duties and sings a beautiful melody over some arpegiatted guitar playing.  Their drummer is Janet Weiss (Quasi, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Elliott Smith) who is one of rock’s most solid, hard-hitting drummers.

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Nicklist #2

Hey there blog readers.  I’m a little short on time today, so I apologize if this seems a tad bit rushed.  I’m going to 1.) watch the Lakers vs. Bucks game with a friend and then 2.) go see a midnight showing of True Grit (which hopefully I will review tomorrow).  Once again I fulfill my promise of doing a weekly post.  I think the blog has gotten a lot more active the last few weeks, and honestly I’m loving it.  There is a feeling of obligation, I guess, but Nicklists and Records of the Week are so easy to do that there’s still that element of fun.

By the way this is something I’ve discussed before – if you have anything at all to say, please leave a comment.  It’s always fun to read them, and it’d also be cool to have some interaction involved with these posts.  Also, remember to like my blog on facebook (link in the sidebar).

1.) “Example” – Curren$y (from 2010′s Pilot Talk)

This is probably one of the most enjoyable rap beats I’ve heard this year.  Lyrically it’s not the most amazing song, but anyone could rap over this beat and make it sound good, even a nerdy white guy like me (ok, probably not).  The layed distorted guitar totally invokes 70s rock music, and it’s a really cool angle for a rap song.  Just when you get used to that  great sound, the guitar drops out and some soft synth comes in.  I’m a huge fan of variations in rap beats, and this song really does that well.  On the radio there’s just too much rapping over repetitive beats, and it’s refreshing to hear something like this.

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NickList #1

Just came up with this cool idea to do a weekly “NickList” of 5 or so songs I’ve been enjoying lately with a couple lines of text about each song and why I picked it. I’ll be looking for youtube videos for most of the songs to make it easier for people to listen without downloading, so excuse the bad quality on some of the songs.  (Also a small side note: I created a facebook fan page so you can “like” the blog and get updates on your News Feed…so like it if you’re into that kind of thing).

1.) “All of the Lights” – Kanye West (from 2010′s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy)

I reviewed Kanye’s new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the other day, and this song “All of the Lights” is one of the best tracks.  It’s immense in sound – thundering drums and loud horns, and even a piano solo – and in scope.  The song features Alicia Keys, Elton John, Rihanna, Elly Jackson (La Roux), the Dream, Fergie, and a bunch of other artists.  Like him or not, only Kanye could get away with featuring extremely popular artists like Keys and John on a track in such a limited capacity.  This song really has the potential to be a huge hit based on the “star power” and the “huge” sound.

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