My brother Brad has played trumpet in a few ska bands, at least one or two of which have performed live.  He’s a devoted ska fan. As a listener and performer, he’s somewhat of a ska expert. I asked him to make a list of the best ska songs, and he more than stepped up to the challenge, producing a list of fifty.  Without further ado, Brad’s 50 favorite ska songs.

The Top 50 Ska Songs

by Brad

Keep in mind that this list is written by a guy who listens to a lot of Suburban Legends, Catch 22, Streetlight Manifesto, and Reel Big Fish.  The list is weighted toward these groups.  I have listened to lots of other bands too, but these are my favorite.

Most lists like this will be about how important and influential songs are.  This one is simply made of ones that I like, in order from 50 down to 1.  I hope you enjoy it!

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Happy New Year!

What better way to kick off ‘09 than to look back at some of the things that made ‘08 great?

If Time-magazine’s bewildering set of end-of-year lists wasn’t enough lists for you, here is a run-down of some more countdown lists by the critics:

/Film’s Top 10 list podcast

Joystiq Network’s Video Game of the Year awards

allmusic’s (very extensive) Best Albums and Songs Films

NPR Best Books of 2008 Series

As thorough as those lists are, if you’re looking for something easier to scan, Metacritic’s probably the place to go, especially because most of these pages also have a section incoroporating in the top ten lists of most major critics.

Metacritic’s Best Films of 2008

Metacritic’s Best Music of 2008

Metacritic’s Best Games of 2008

I personally would make and share my own top ten lists in these categories, but I haven’t really experienced enough of any of these released in 2008 for me to be comfortable making the list.  What were some of your favorite movies, albums, or games of the year?

I hope you’re not reading this, and that you’re celebrating the holiday with your families.  But if you choose not to celebrate Christmas, for whatever reasons, or you’re taking a break from the family for some computer time, I figure you might stumble across the site here (I personally wrote this post earlier and it’s just running today).  So, in the spirit of the holiday, take a gander at my five favorite holiday songs.  Feel free to look them up on iTunes or YouTube, if you don’t already know them.

Honorable mention: Santa Claus is Coming in a Boogie-Woogie Choo-Choo Train - The Tractors

5. (Must Have Been Ol’) Santa Claus - Harry Connick, Jr.

4. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley

3. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town - Jackson Five

2. White Christmas - Bing Crosby

1. Jolly Old St. Nicholas - Chicago

The best Weezer music is some of the best music you’ll find.  Unfortunately, the band has a lot of filler too.  Their spottiness is frustrating.  I feel like I’m doomed to buy each one of their albums only to write a mixed review of it.  Who knows, maybe they’ll release another classic some day.

Here is my attempt at a countdown ranking of their six albums, starting with the worst and ending with the best.  I’ve listened to each one of these albums many times through.

If you’re interested, you might also want to check out my ranking of their twenty-five greatest songs.

Anyways, here we go:

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In November 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the greatest albums of all time and extended its list out to a whopping 500.  Here are the top 20:

1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
3. Revolver, The Beatles
4. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan
5. Rubber Soul, The Beatles
6. What’s Going On, Marvin Gaye
7. Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones
8. London Calling, The Clash
9. Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan
10. The Beatles (”The White Album”), The Beatles
11. The Sun Sessions, Elvis Presley
12. Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
13. Velvet Underground and Nico, The Velvet Underground
14. Abbey Road, The Beatles
15. Are You Experienced?, The Jimi Hendrix Experience
16. Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan
17. Nevermind, Nirvana
18. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
19. Astral Weeks, Van Morrison
20. Thriller, Michael Jackson

The list is pretty widely criticized by readers, and I think a few of the common complaints are founded.  One is that the list is very heavily American.  Though the top 20 is pretty balanced between British and American bands, there is a steady dropoff on British rock as the list goes on.

Pink Floyd, and most anything progressive, is given the shaft on the list while punk seems to reign supreme. I’m not a big fan of most prog rock, and not very educated on the genre, so I’m not going to stick up for it too much.

Odd is the treatment of jazz on the list.  There are only a few albums on the list.  A bit Miles, a bit Coltrane, but not much beyond that.  Jazz is a segment of music as deep as rock and roll is, so it might’ve been more appropriate to either cut out jazz albums or devote more of the list to it.

Another thing I want to talk briefly about is Beatles albums.  I believe that Revolver would have been the number one on the list if it had been made a few years later.  Revolver is now a little bit more “in style” while people are slightly more down on Sgt. Pepper’s.  

In my mind, though Rubber Soul tops them both.  There is no album whose musical achievments I respect more than Rubber Soul.

I’d also like to say that The White Album is WAY too high up on the list.  It’s too unfocused and gimmicky, even though it’s got some real stunners on there.  For all the Beatles love on the list, Help! is far too low (#332).  The album is significantly more enjoyable overall, in my opinion, The White Album (#10), Please Please Me (#39), and Let It Be (#86).  With essentially every other Beatles album on the list, it’s a complete joke that Magical Mystery Tour isn’t honored.

I have my nitpicks with the list, but nothing overall to keep me from recommending it.  Nobody’s ever going to completely agree on what the best albums are, but Rolling Stone proposes a pretty good choices.

The best part about the list?  It’s got little articles about each one of the  albums.  You could be reading this for days and not get through everything.  It’s very anecdotal and informative, a good read.  I’ve been working on it for months and still haven’t gotten all the way to the end.

Perhaps the best way to view the list, then, is not an authoritative ranking of the best albums, but an overview of 500 great albums, replete with intersting stories and solid writing.  Take a look.