Secret Chiefs 3

UPDATED 01/23/05

Check out my Top 40 Albums of 2004!

My Homemade Samplers

Norwegian Music Sampler Volume 1
Electroclectic Music Sampler Volume 0
Electroclectic Music Sampler Volume 1
Electroclectic Music Sampler Volume 2
Electroclectic Music Sampler Volume 3
Indie Rock Sampler Volume 1
Indie Rock Sampler Volume 2
Icelandic Music Sampler Volume 1
Post-Rock Sampler Volume 1 (aka Swelling! You Corporate Monger Sampler)
Swellness Sampler Volume 1
Avant Garde Metal Sampler Volume 1
Unusual Music Sampler Volume 1
Unusual Music Sampler Volume 2

My Homemade Compilations

Badly Drawn Boy - Rarities Vol. 1
Badly Drawn Boy - Rarities Vol. 2
Beck - Rarities Vol. 1
Beck - Rarities Vol. 2
Beck - Rarities Vol. 3
Beck - Rarities Vol. 4
David Bowie - Rarities Vol. 1 (Taken from the bonus tracks on his first 4 major albums)
Estradasphere - Rarities Vol. 1
Estradasphere - Rarities Vol. 2
Estradasphere - Rarities Vol. 3
Estradasphere - Rarities Vol. 4
Grandaddy - Rarities Vol. 1
Grandaddy - Rarities Vol. 2
Grandaddy - Rarities Vol. 3
Neutral Milk Hotel - Rarities Vol. 1
Neutral Milk Hotel - Rarities Vol. 2
Porcupine Tree - Rarities Vol. 1
Porcupine Tree - Rarities Vol. 2
Porcupine Tree - Rarities Vol. 3
Porcupine Tree - Rarities Vol. 4
Radiohead - Rarities Vol. 1
Radiohead - Rarities Vol. 2 (Kid A and Amnesiac B-Sides)
The Shins - Rarities Vol. 1
Squarepusher - Rarities Vol. 1
Squarepusher - Best of(?) Vol. 1
Squarepusher - Best of(?) Vol. 2
Amon Tobin - Rarities Vol. 1
Amon Tobin - Rarities Vol. 2
Amon Tobin - Rarities Vol. 3 (Remixes)
Amon Tobin - Best Of(?) Vol. 1
Amon Tobin - Best Of(?) Vol. 2
Amon Tobin - Best Of(?) Vol. 3
Amon Tobin - Live Vol. 1
Tortoise - Rarities Vol. 1
White Stripes - Rarities Vol. 1
White Stripes - Best of(?) Vol. 1

Favorite Band Sites

These are organized by category, but some of these are obviously overlapping and difficult to categorize.

Multi-Genre (for lack of a better term)

Mr. Bungle
multi-genre blender music played with the lid off, pressing everything from chop to liquify, where all the contents seem to spill out and land in the right place
Secret Chiefs 3
crude description: experimental Middle Eastern spiritual surf electronica (3 members of Mr. Bungle and others)
Estradasphere
styles include: jazz, video game theme songs, Romanian gypsy, surf, black/death/tribal metal, hillbilly, techno, rock, circus, bluegrass, Irish...they can do it all!
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
not sure how to describe this group who's heavily influenced by performance art, cabaret, and 70s prog-rock, but this group contains members of Idiot Flesh, Tin Hat Trio, et al...avant-garde music at its finest
Faun Fables
this duo is Dawn McCarthy and Nils Frykdahl (of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Idiot Flesh) who make otherworldly, eclectic folk music
The Residents
what can I say about these guys that hasn't already been said...incognito avant garde rock band full of satire and strange stories
Mark Growden
Mark Growden is an amazing multi-instrumentalist who's songs range from cabaret-esque rock to old slave songs
Japonize Elephants
like if Frank Zappa went to the circus to make exclusively melodic music...they call themselves "circus gypsy bluegrass hardcore madness" and the drummer uses an ice cream scooper as one of the drumsticks...what more can you ask for?
Crime In Choir
San Francisco Bay Area's Crime In Choir, consisting of members from Hella and the Fucking Champs, make complex and stop-on-a-dime progish rock, with jazz and new wave influences
Fred Frith
Co-founder of Henry Cow and the Art Bears, amazing guitarist who is a pioneer in using improvisational in a rock context, and all around great songwriter
Matmos
Experimental electronic duo + others who use every instrument imaginable to create ear splitting sonic textures
Tussle
the ultimate modern krautrock groove machine
Experimental Dental School
Herky jerky Frank Zappa meets Australia's Vicious Hairy Mary
Vicious Hairy Mary
Australia's answer to Mr. Bungle, but with vaudeville and gypsy elements
Don Salsa
the Disney electric light parade meets Mr. Bungle in a habanero pepper alley (2 members of Estradasphere and others)
Cardiacs
when I tried to describe this band to a friend, for some reason I came up with, "Imagine Mr. Bungle and the Beatles collaborating to capture the ambience of Sesame Street in all it's glory." And there's not too many bands I could call 'glorious', but they are definitely one of them...part prog rock, post-punk, pop, and other styles, with wonderful harmonies and complex time changes
Arcturus
symphonic black metal band from Norway that mutated into an absolutely amazing experimental metal group combining carnivale, trip hop, classical, and many other styles...in my opinion, they are among the most innovative songwriters on the planet
Ulver
winner of the dynamic band contest: classical guitars mixed with black metal (first album) to haunting operatic folk (second album) to straight-up black metal (third album) to electronic gothic-like metal (fourth album) to now...sometimes experimental soundscape-like trip hopish electronica, sometimes like hearing a crackling radio night in between two stations (also hailng from Norway)
Solefald
they call their music "red music with black edges" that I would attempt to further describe as Norwegian experimental electronica circus metal (sometimes black, sometimes not) chopped up and served with glorious harmonies (no salt and pepper needed)
Bogus Blimp
the Norwegian band called the "Spectacular Rock Orchestra", here are some of the instruments they use: saw, piano, guitars, drums, xylophones, tape recorders, dictaphones, synthesizers, noise generators, organs, radios, computers, vocals, trombones, clicks, furniture, and so on
When
yet another wonderful Norwegian outfit who has been around for awhile now...doing everything from atmospheric film-score like music to their new stuff ("The Lobster Boys" and "Pearl Harvest") where their Beach Boys and Beatles influences shine through exotic sound experimentation
Kanada
I just can't get enough of this weird Icelandic group...it's like Mr. Bungle fused with surf, weird noises, and as this website says, "cocktail music"...check these guys out
dEUS
dEUS is a great eclectic rock group who do everything from mellow folk to groove-pieces with tinges of jazz, spy music, and blues
Alamaailman Vasarat
this group is an unusual mixture of metal (but using pump organs instead of guitars), rock, and jazz at the circus...could have been a zany soundtrack for Lord of the Rings
Danielson Famile
wacky, original, and an entirely interesting Christian group who wear doctor's robes on stage to remind people of the "healing" that takes place at their concerts
Ween
the original wackos from Pennsylvania, doing every style imaginable
Devil Doll
perfect soundtrack to a horror movie...progressive rock meets a dozen or so instruments (or voices) used to make an eerie, yet wonderful symphonic score (several musicians are employed for each album), accompanied by glimpses of piano and crazed vocals by the one and only Mr. Doctor
Foetus/Steroid Maximus
aka the legendary J.G. Thirlwell makes multi-genre music with his boots firmly in industrial music, like some crazy spy video game music, at least on the Steroid Maximus 'Ectopia' release
Flat Earth Society
an unusual big band jazz outfit who filters diverse influences from John Zorn to Henry Mancini to Frank Zappa into their music
Fantomas
can't forget Fantomas, the brainchild of Mike Patton, ranging from horror soundtrack film scores to spy music to utter ridiculousness

Electronic

Amon Tobin
brilliant electronic musician/DJ originally from Brazil who incorporates jazz, bossa nova, dub, drums 'n' bass, and just plain sound manipulation into his music
Squarepusher
innovative bassist/electronic musician/multi-instrumentalist who fuses together progressive jazz, jungle, drums 'n' bass, and other styles into mind warping concoctions of sound
Jason Forrest (aka Donna Summer)
crazy sample breakcore-ish mashup electronic music...samples include everything from Creedence Clearwater Revival to metal riffs to the Who to the Talking Heads
End.
spy music, theremins, bustling breakbeats, cop show riffs, surf guitar, sound effects galore, jazzy bits, moogs, and more, all thrown together in a blender and set on mashup
Xploding Plastix
a nice mixture of Amon Tobin-esque jazztronica and Henry Mancini-esque lounge...throw in some spy music for good measure
Kaada
electronic sampling wizard from Norway...this is truly amazing stuff
Prefuse 73
chop-style electronica and hip hop, very nice
Jaga Jazzist
10-piece jazztronica outfit from Norway, recently signed to Ninja Tune...kind of river boat jazzy at times, but otherwise complex and having tight musicianship

Post-Rock

Tortoise
this group is termed "post-rock" (i.e. indie rock that has atmospheric or experimental elements), but I'm sure they hate that...these guys incorporate several styles (including kraut rock, ambient, minimalism, jazz, and progressive rock) to make groove music usually in slow motion
Salvatore
like Tortoise, but with probably more influences and in many ways more adventurous and less noodly
Godspeed! You Black Emperor
hmmm, I'm not sure how exactly to describe this interesting group from Montreal because saying they are merely "post-rock" would be an understatement, but here it goes: post-apocalyptic, atmospheric (this is the key) music that often slowly builds into a crescendo and fades away just as the American capitalist society might someday (there are plenty of comments in their music about this)...there are several other groups along the same lines with overlapping members: Set Fire to Flames, The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Do Make Say Think, Labradford, Fly Pan Am, etc. (see Constellation Records below)
Magyar Posse
similar to Godspeed YBE, but their compositions are tighter, more focused, and even more intense at times...very cool stuff

Indie Rock/Pop


Neutral Milk Hotel
one of the Elephant 6 bands (the best in my humble opinion): excellent indie rock/jagged folk equipped with bagpipes, soapy sounds in a whirlpool of mud, and the raw/amazing/wacked out vocals of Jeff Mangum
Of Montreal
another Elephant 6 band, the brainchild of Kevin Barnes, who makes gorgeous, bizarre, and near-perfect indie psychedelic pop, at least since the 'Satanic Panic In the Attic' album
Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats make catchy hyper-aggressive folk, like the second coming of Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum, with John Darnielle's manic and off-kilter voice telling strange stories that are difficult to fully comprehend
The Shins
wonderful, catchy, swirling indie rock/pop group (but more on the Who side of the pop spectrum than say the Apples In Stereo) on edge with superb songwriting abilities
Grandaddy
a wonderful indie rock band from Modesto, CA employing sound landscapes, Central Cali themes of drinking beer in the back of your truck in the country, and beautiful electronic puzzle pieces into their music
Woven Hand
this is the side project of David Eugene Edwards, the frontman of 16 Horsepower...this is dark folk music, with a tinge of happiness, for lack of a better description
The Notwist
using a wide assortment of instruments (guitar to cellos to banjos), backed by the glitch-electronics of Martin Gretschmann...this is the some of the most eclectic indie rock out there
The Decemberists
brainchild of Colin Meloy, unusual rock in the vein of Neutral Milk Hotel, equipped with accordions and other instruments
Starlight Mints
quirky indie rock/pop from Oklahoma of all places, sounds like they're from Mars
The New Pornographers
a 'supergroup' of sorts consisting of Carl Newman (from Zumpano) and Neko Case, among others...this is brilliant 60s pop with a twist
Calexico
if an indie rock soundtrack was set to an old Clint Eastwood western, it would have to be by this group from Tucson
Built to Spill
an indie rock group from Idaho who form melodic semi-psychedelic ripping riffs with the vocals of Doug Martsch (who has put out an excellent solo album, by the way) who puts a spin on the instrumentation, over the top
The White Stripes
you know them: old blues/garage rock sound in minimalist form and combine it with lovely pop
Spoon
they twist together pop with a Gang Of Four-like post-rock style, highly melodic
Badly Drawn Boy
eclectic indie rocker from England using everything from vibraphones, xylophones, cellos, and French horns for a background of Nick Drake-like vocals...beware his material other than the first album is not anywhere as good
Optiganally Yours
One of Rob Crow's many bands where they use an optigan as an instrument...this might be described as circus indie rock/pop, but I think that's far too simple of a description
Beck
what can I say...Woodie Guthrie inspired folk musician turns into eclectic style experimentalist trying everything from rap to country to electronica to 70s R&B to dance to straight up wack!

Classic Rock

David Bowie
the "Thin White Duke" produced some of the greatest albums (and b-sides too) in his early career, always ahead of his time (or at least with it), and has influenced just about everyone from Bauhaus to Radiohead...his latest album shows he still knows how to rock
Pink Floyd
beyond description in many aspects, from the early tripped out Syd Barrett years to Dark Side of the Moon to the Wall and beyond, a band no one will ever be able to duplicate
Velvet Underground
the so-called predecessors of punk (along with MC5 and the Stooges) who shot the junk, gave us Venus In Furs, and some music comparable to sticking an uninsulated wire in your ear where it somehow sounds good
Genesis
Peter Gabriel's early band (the best era of Genesis me thinks) was progressive rock at its finest, with Gabriel as the theatrical costume wearing freak and incredible lead vocalist, in front of a background of sophisticated instrumental soundscapes, alternating loud and soft at just the right moments
King Crimson
the first prog rock group who scorched our ears with brilliant unpredictable time changes...and when I think of synergy the album "In the Court Of the Crimson King" comes to mind


Don Salsa

Cool Independent Record Stores

Aquarius Records
If you ever want a description of a certain band or want to hear what they sound like, do a search on their site because you might actually discover what you are looking for...these people really know their music and will often list a half a dozen other bands that sound like your band of interest as well in the description...their record store in San Francisco has listening stations, lots of hard-to-find music, and written up descriptions attached to many of the CDs...check it out!
AstroClam.com
cool site that specializes in unusual music
Amoeba Records
This is a really extensive store with lots of everything...Aquarius Records may have the rarities, but Amoeba Records has the numbers
Rasputin Music
Kind of like Amoeba Records, but perhaps not quite as extensive except for certain genres of music...you can sometimes listen to 30 second sound bites of certain songs on their site if you look hard enough

Favorite Record Labels

Web Of Mimicry Records
Home of Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3, Estradasphere, and Faxed Head
Jester Records
Home of Arcturus, Ulver, Bogus Blimp, When, Esperanza, et al.
Ninja Tune
Home of Amon Tobin and other electronic artists
Warp
Home of Squarepusher and other electronic artists
Ipecac Records
Mike Patton and Greg Werckman's record label
Secretly Canadian Records
Home of the Japonize Elephants and the Danielson Famile
Constellation Records
Home of Godspeed You Black Emperor! et al.
Alien 8 Records
Home of Set Fire to Flames, Unicorns, and other abstract music

Useful Music Links

artistdirect.com
Here you can do a search for a band of interest, read their bio and discography, listen to real audio tracks, and much more
tunes.com
Practically the same thing as artistdirect.com
Gracenote
This is a large CD DataBase (cddb) of albums, track listings, and other links...a useful tool if you want to find out what releases exist by a certain group or the track listing for an album
pollstar.com
Your best bet for finding out if your favorite band is playing anytime soon if they don't have a website or concerts in your area

Interesting San Francisco Bay Area Clubs

Stork Club
Bottom of the Hill
Starry Plough
Bimbo's
Elbo Room
Great American Music Hall
Hotel Utah Saloon
The Independent
Make Out Room
21 Grand
Blake's
Cafe Du Nord

San Francisco Bay Area Concert Info

Bay Improviser
The List
Bay Area Creative Music Calendar
Beanbenders

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