Songs in the Key of Jon...

So, my pal Gus came out with his personal top 11 albums of all time. Personally, I dont think I could ever narrow down my choices to any kind of permanent designation.

But I felt the urge to just list the 13 albums that I turn to the most when I'm searching for some kind of inspiration or just some good tunes to make my ears happy...these are in no particular order, by the way.

Tom Waits - "Alice"

Released at the same time as his other beautiful piece of work Blood Money, Alice is perhaps the most accessible and melancholy of the two. Listening to the heartbreaking tale of Alice, it's impossible for me to skip any one of the tracks on this album. There's just something so charismatically beautiful about Tom Waits' vocal style when he visits his familiar territories of love and tragedy.
FAVORITE TRACK: "Flowers Grave"


Depeche Mode - "Violator"

The year was 1990 and my older brother Jeff was in his senior year of High School while I was just getting out of my listening to Bel Biv Devoe phase. I heard a sound coming from his bedroom, something I'd never witnessed before. I had had my first encounter with the classic album Violator. Its obvious to anyone who hears it that its a fantastic album, but I'm lucky enough to put my appreciation for this album along with the period in which it came out. Sure, Depeche Mode had done some fantastic work before, but this was something totally new and it took the band into a direction destined for more greatness (see Ultra, Exciter and Playing the Angel).
FAVORITE TRACK: "Waiting for the Night to Fall"


And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - "Source Tags & Codes"

You can just call them "Trail of Dead" if you prefer. Hailing from Austin, a supposed breeding ground for good music, these guys really changed my idea of what music from Texas sounded like. Wonderfully ambient, headbangingly hardcore and artfully enveloping, Source Tags & Codes will probably be the highlight of their catalog for years to come. Combining meaningful lyrics with no nonsense art rock, this is a band that everyone should know about. I loved this album so much I even made a music video to go along with my favorite track.
FAVORITE TRACK: "How Near, How Far"


The Flaming Lips - "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots"

Why did it take me so long to become a Flaming Lips fan? I can't explain it, somehow their sonic tone had eluded me for years. I was very familiar with the song "Vaseline" from nearly 10 years earlier, however I never really knew what band sang it. But then, of all people, I heard Johnny Knoxville on Live 105 talking about this album before they played a track from it. After hearing the tune I immediately turned off the freeway and went to Best Buy to pick up the album, and I was in heaven. The album as a whole is so cohesive, melodic, beautiful and fun at that. If you're a fan of Beck, chances are you will fall in love with The Flaming Lips as well.
FAVORITE TRACK: "Are You a Hypnotist??"


The Les Claypool Frog Brigade - "Purple Onion"

Primus was on hiatus, Oysterhead came and went and it was time for Les to just go deep into his psyche and pull out something amazingly twisted. What we got was Purple Onion, an album still recognizeably Les Claypool with his signature bass playing and silver tongued vocals backed by some great musicians who had the knack for his improvisational nature. But although recognizeably Claypool, this one was coming from a world that was just slightly off. Calling back to his many influences (most noticeably Frank Zappa), Claypool and his Frog Brigade created an album so eccentric and fun that its impossible to not love it, not surprisingly theyre even more amazing live. NOTE: You might want to look up the history behind the Whamola instrument before listening to the track Whamola
FAVORITE TRACK: "Cosmic Highway"


Pixies - "Bossanova"

What more can I say about the Pixies that hasnt already been said? Black Francis' (or Frank Black) ability to originate a sound so astonishing is awe-inspiring enough. This album kicks off like a badass spaghetti western with the semi-Dick Dale inspired "Cecilia Ann", and it doesnt give up until we are bid farewell by Kim Deal's delicate chanting of "Havelina". This is a must in anybody's record collection, along with their previous album Doolittle.
FAVORITE TRACK: "Is She Weird"


Pink Floyd - "Animals"

Anybody who knows me, knows how big a Floyd fan I am. I own their entire catalogue, I have various books about the band in my library and my knowledge of the band is so precise its scary. Animals is the result of various very talented egos battling it out in the studio, trying to preserve a band that had achieved so much success that it was just barely starting to tear away at the members themselves. And yet they were able to construct their most musically advanced and politically aware album to date. With the Orwellian analogies of politicians and institutions as lowly animals being voiced along with the near perfect tone of David Gilmour's guitar playing, I just get lost and yet find myself again while listening to this record.
FAVORITE TRACK: "Pigs (Three Different Ones)"


My Bloody Valentine - "Loveless"

This shoegazer classic took so long and cost so much money to create that it literally bankrupt the record company. Although their previous album was just as inspired, it noticeably lacked the production quality that Loveless achieved. Sweeping guitars, avant garde electronic ambience and mind altering riffs really make this album one of my favorite "just sit down and let your imagination take you" albums.
FAVORITE TRACK: "Blown a Wish"


Radiohead - "The Bends"

I wish I could say that I was a Radiohead fan by the time this album came out, alas, it didnt happen until OK Computer was released. But upon listening to the aforementioned album I recalled the soul soothing sounds of tracks like "High & Dry", the video for "Just" and the acoustic version of "Fake Plastic Trees" from the Clueless soundtrack. As a result, I made my way to Rasputin, purchased a used copy of The Bends and got lost in what I deem to be the best album in their catalogue (notice the ue because they're British). Every song is a fit, if you took one track out you would only leave a void to break the logical progression of the album.
FAVORITE TRACK: "Nice Dream"


Sonic Youth - "Daydream Nation"

Now, most casual fans and pop culture kids are mainly familiar with their later albums such as the classic Dirty. And although a great album, it does not match up to their earlier work, especially the freeformed and opinionated Daydream Nation. Recently listed among the 50 recordings that were recently added to the 2005 National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for its "cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance." this album will not disappoint you if you're just now starting to discovering this integral alternative rock group.
FAVORITE TRACK: "Total Trash"


U2 - "Zooropa"

It seems like most people are bigger fans of U2's pre-Zooropa stuff, but honestly, with the exception of Achtung Baby, I thought U2 was having a real problem in repeating themselves in those early years, and they run the danger of falling back into that trend even now. But Zooropa was such a change in style, a breath of fresh air and a band apart from their previous albums that it became the one that I enjoy the most. The opening title track is such a perfect way to welcome us to their new territory, "Numb" was something different, and who here remembers the video for it? "Lemon", a tongue in cheek piece always makes me laugh but the song that always makes me stop, shut up and listen is "The Wanderer" with Johnny Cash on lead vocal. If "Electronic Country" were to ever become a genre, this would be the original inspiration for it. Such a great tune.
FAVORITE TRACK: "The Wanderer"


Rufus Wainwright - "Want One"

Previously, I had only figured Rufus Wainwright for a talented singer/songwriter and never really considered myself a fan since I couldn't even name one of his songs. But then one day a co-worker put this CD on in the office and I was blown away by the man's vocal range, his compositions and the arrangements he had created. Speaking out on various topics from his own sexuality to his longing to be like an innocent child again, this album beams with introspection handled by a very talented artist.
FAVORITE TRACK: "Go or Go Ahead"


Weezer - "Pinkerton"

Regarded as a sophomore slump by most critics at the time, Pinkerton has become widely known as the band's most accomplished, most personal and most rocking album in the history of the group. And lets face it, trying to make a follow-up to their debut album Blue was a challenge in itself. But Rivers Cuomo and company decided to go back into the studio, this time without a formal record producer. Chancy? Yes. But what resulted from those recording sessions is something so honest, raw, non-overproduced and witty that it won me over immediately. Some critics regarded the extra use of fuzz pedals and clunky guitar noises as the albums own downfall, but if you put the style with the context of the lyrics it all gels together into a single conscience, thus creating a virtually flawless listening experience.
FAVORITE TRACK: "Pink Triangle"