David Bowie’s impact is cohesive and powerful when assessed within conventional metrics like “innovation” and “longevity”—some call swan song BLACKSTAR (2016), released 49 years after his first LP, the best work he ever did, generally without much objection from those who think his magnum opera issued forth decades rather than days before his tragic, shot-heard-round-the-world-style departure from this Earth. As for innovation, innumerably more people will testify to how consistently Bowie pushed against the generic boundaries of radio music throughout his long, long career, despite rooting his practice in familiar traditions of chords-and-melody drawn from British folk, Gershwin showtunes, 1950s rhythm-and-blues—lots of stuff people had already heard whose emotional contracts with global audiences had new life breathed into them by a guy whose relationship with tradition was purer for its lack of self-surveillance. Bowie forged his own path by not caring how he’d come off seemingly at all—his career takes on an unpleasant shape if you fetishize either tradition or subversion, and so he’s the kind of artist who teaches us to be better listeners, to latch less often onto shit that ultimately doesn’t matter. I don’t know if I believe Nietzsche when he says that we’re losing some essential element of experience in grouping together as “leaves” the individual green things that issue forth from…
To the average music enjoyer, the phrase “I really like Yellowcard” is fairly meaningless. At worst, it’s even slightly embarrassing – yeah, Ocean Avenue was pretty cool, but dude, you just admitted to liking pop punk, yikes. However, to the average Yellowcard enjoyer, the phrase “I really like Yellowcard” means so much more: it’s the kind of iykyk that conveys being in on the band’s quality beyond the two-ish hits from 2003. You appreciate the beauty of “Keeper”s chorus, you know “Life of Leaving Home” by heart, hell, you’ll even admit being aware of how excellently “Fragile and Dear” soars. Long story short, it’s hard to be a casual Yellowcard fan.
Above all, however, Yellowcard has meant many different things to many different people – a sentiment that would be horrifically corny and generic if it weren’t so crucially embedded in the shared experience of enjoying their music. Everyone has different memories intrinsically tied to different records – a testament to the band’s consistency both in terms of quality and ability to connect with their ageing audience. Now, a slice of this old, tired audience have combined their forces to decide on Yellowcard’s ten finest cuts. It’s you and me and one spotlight on the…
In celebration of the release of Chelsea Wolfe’s enrapturing new record She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She and the ongoing tour that, if you’re lucky, will bring her stunning show to a room near you, a group of staffers decided to gather around the fire, burn our clothes and howl our favorite Wolfe tunes under the light of a red moon.
As you know, Chelsea Wolfe’s body of work now spans seven albums (or eight depending on what you choose to include or not) and she has managed to consistently blend different styles into one single sound that is unmistakably hers. Whether it is the dark folk and occult Americana of Birth of Violence, the noisy bamboozling of electronic evil of Abyss or the indescribable gothic post everything of Pain is Beauty, Chelsea Wolfe is an artist that has grown from a seed of bedroom lo-fi recordings to branching out: making a collaboration project with hardcore legends Converge, soundtracks for different films and touring the world with unanimous success for her craft. Us here at the staffdom are very much fans of her music and hence we present you with our favorite tunes from the Californian songstress. – Dewinged
Equal parts the preserve of masochistic veterans of the no wave scene, po-faced crescendo-riders, and arthouse devotees of guitar music’s more arcane side, few names command the same behemoth weight or stern complexion as Swans. Founded in 1982 as the brainchild of demoniac auteur Michael Gira, the band’s output has overlapped a wide range of collaborators and musical styles, yet rarely showcased anything less than ruthless focus and a profound sensibility for the extremities of humanity and inhumanity alike.
Originally prompted by last year’s release of Swans’ sixteenth album The Beggar and subsequent discourse over whether Gira appeared to be ageing with dignity or decrepitness, this list may not plumb the depths of the band’s multi-decade career or (spoilers) even dip its toes into their harrowing noise rock roots or folk-infused middle years, but it does provide a relevant snapshot of the eras they are best known for: well over a decade since Michael Gira reformed Swans, it’s remarkable how much staying power his ’10s output has had past its initial boom. This era saw Swans reframed from a revered cult classic to an obligatory hurdle to just about anyone starting out on the path of experimental rock music, and any reservations over the expansion of their audience or the datapool underpinning our democratic process can hold their horses until you’ve heard…
The year is 2023 and rock ‘n’ roll is officially dead in the ground, as recently cemented by Queens of the Stone Age’s latest record In Times New Roman. Sad? Well lemme tell you, this time ten years ago many thought the same – they thought rock’s parent bands had split up prematurely, failed to split up at a dignified age, failed to move with the times, or flat-out lost its grit. Radiohead had once promised us the future: the future was Muse, Coldplay and The Killers. The future haemorrhaged its savings accounts on Chinese Democracy and The Endless River and left a creative dearth so dearth-like that we are today surviving our way through the legacies-to-be of Black Midi and The 1975 because the hacks finally have someone to talk about again.
Dad said everything would be okay as long as rock ‘n’ roll could save us. Fuck you, dad.
Back in the ’10s people thought rock had failed to find new parents. They were (dubiously, but prevailingly) wrong! Radio rock didn’t need a stepdad – it needed a dad who stepped up! The dad was Josh Homme, second only to Dave Grohl on extending gruff-pop-music-played-on-guitars’ lease on popular life, allowing us to remember and savour that ten years before that, the man was churning out classic bangers to which good, dumb, good times were (probably) had in fraternal multitudes.…
Tim Hecker’s discography is a patchwork of ambient treasures, as rewarding to the deepest pursuits of one’s navel as it is deceptively tourist-friendly. As such, in honour of his latest album, No Highs, the Staff team has undertaken to give it the Treatment. Here are our picks! Patience goes a long way with Mr. Hecker, and so we have taken a generous length of time to absorb No Highs and reflect on the rest of his corpus. We hope the wait has been worth it.
Tim Hecker’s music feels natural and synthetic at the same time; it’s therefore no wonder that he’s been drafted mercilessly into the ranks of Forward-Thinking Electronic Artists in the early part of the 21st century, with its various temporally specific concerns about the divisions between the kinds of artistic “decisions” made by a computer program and those made by those with eyes to see cathedrals everywhere.…
It is 2023, and SputStaff is back. The time is right now and the occasion is (checks notes) the release of the latest Metallica album-that-now-exists 72 Seasons! We did our best to get inspired from that record’s impetus and momentum and, uh, given that it’s now been out for over a month, we’ll leave it up to you to decide how easy a feat this was! In all sincerity, though, practically all of us jive with ‘tallica to some degree or another and in terms of ballots alone, this might have been the most full-handed collaboration of the lot. Please enjoy probably the least controversial selection of Metallica classics of all time (and righteously so!), freshly critiqued for your consumption.
In an alternate universe, “Blackened” is the kickoff to an imperial second era of classic thrash; in ours, it’s the last time Metallica ever managed to out-Metallica themselves. …And Justice for All needed to instantly satiate the ravenous appetite of a metal world…
Welcome to the final SputStaff Top 10 of 2022! For this installment, our staff decided to dive into Bjork’s extensive discography and select her ten best songs. We felt it was a good time to reflect given the recent release of Fossorra — so if you’re new to Bjork, this might be the perfect place to catch up! Below are five honorable mentions who narrowly missed the cut, followed by the official list itself. Don’t miss out on the Spotify playlist near the end of this article either, where you can jam our selections all in one easy-to-access place. So without further ado, please continue below and enjoy!
We’ve arrived at our ninth installment of this wonderful little series, which happens to land on a group that has recently (and amicably) disbanded. mewithoutYou developed a cult following early in their career with A to B: Life and Catch For Us The Foxes before 2006’s Brother, Sister turned them into key players in the indie-rock/post-hardcore scenes. As the band pushed into the latter years of their career, they delivered some of their strongest material with the apocalyptic Pale Horses and the emotionally unhinged [Untitled] LP. Throughout their existence, they always delivered music that meant something. Frontman Aaron Weiss wielded his pen masterfully for two decades, in the process curating a world that often felt like it blurred the line between the playfully imaginary and sobering reality. In a way celebrating the life of this poetic and emotive vessel, the staff here at Sputnikmusic have created a list of the ten best mewithoutYou songs. We hope you enjoy.
Welcome back to the SputStaff Top 10, where we answer the music-related questions that keep you up at night. On today’s menu is Bon Iver, everyone’s favorite snowed-in log cabin dwelling acoustic guitar wielding vocoder falsetto warbler. You might remember the name from any number of mainstream pop artists who have featured him in their songs in a vain attempt to forcibly acquire indie cred (often stylized as “ft. Justin Vernon of BON IVER”). Vernon’s name has become virtually synonymous with the indie/folk genre, and he’s arguably one of the most popular and influential artists ever to grace that scene. Our staff decided to review his entire discography and enshrine his ten best songs to-date; no simple task but also one that we were excited to undertake. Scroll down to see the complete list (including five tracks that narrowly missed the cut) as well as a Spotify playlist where you can jam all of Bon Iver’s greatest songs in one place. Enjoy!
Greetings, and welcome back to Sputnik’s semi-famous “SputStaff Top 10” series, in which – and get this – our site’s staff members pick their favorite 10 somethings! In this case, we had Mastodon in our crosshairs, a natural progression from June’s feature on Taylor Swift. If you are brave enough for infallible truths, then dare to proceed below to witness the top 10 Mastodon songs of all time — but be sure to also stop by the honorable mentions section to see what barely missed the cut! If you’re new to Mastodon and are just looking to get your feet wet, you might scroll all the way to the bottom of this feature to locate our Spotify playlist, where you can find the ten best Mastodon tracks all in one place for your convenient consumption. Hold onto your hats, here we go!
After four long years of inactivity, the SputStaff Top 10 is back! The staff at Sputnikmusic put their heads together and tried to come up with the most badass way to reboot the series, and, uh, the best we could muster was T-Swizzle. She knits sweaters, yo! Anyway she might be the biggest pop star in the entire world, and at just 32 years old, she already has quite the extensive catalog. If you’re anything like us, you’ve spent many sleepless nights tossing and turning in bed wondering what the top 10 Taylor Swift songs are. Thanks to our dedicated staff, you can finally put your mind at ease. We’ve done all the legwork, turned over every stone, and split every hair — so without further ado, I present to you the esteemed and irrefutably correct top 10 Taylor Swift tracks of all time.
With the recent announcement that My Chemical Romance is reuniting, our staff inhaled a collective breath of nostalgia and revisited the band’s discography. From their rawer beginnings to their epic, glistening concept albums, MCR is a band that is forever tied to the mid-2000s emo punk-rock phase. Whether or not the group aspired to great artistic heights is certainly debatable, but it’s pretty much indisputable that they were a damned ton of fun. So put on your black eyeliner, stick some pins in your backpack, slip on your wristbands, and join us as we revisit one of the most grandiose, over-the-top bands of our era. Here are our top 10 My Chemical Romance songs – let us know what you think in the comments section!
Sputnik Staff Top 10 My Chemical Romance Songs:
#10: “The Sharpest Lives”
During their prime, there was more substance to My Chemical Romance’s output than they were credited for. The songs’ lyrics always peeled layers off loose narratives, but most of them could’ve been easily enjoyed out of context as well. ‘The Sharpest Lives’ is a fine example of an ode to living life at its fullest, indulging in all the vices and excesses without thinking of consequences. Musically, it retained the energy found on Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, yet showcasing a more refined approach to structures. Gerard Way leveled up his delivery too, especially during the catchy, melodic choruses. —…
Is there an artist from the 2000’s who is bigger than Kanye West? If not, he’s at least somewhere in the top 5…and regardless of whether or not you love him or hate him – whether you find his antics annoying or endearing – the man can sure as hell write music. Kanye’s rise to stardom coincided with the growth of internet culture, and as such, his footprint is all over Sputnik. Our staff grew up listening to his music, so we’ve decided to take his his entire body of work into consideration for the construction of a Top 10 Songs list. There are sure to be predictable entries as well as some surprises. Check out our carefully curated list, and be sure to comment with your own!
(10) Father Stretch My Hands
from the album The Life of Pablo
Both parts of “Father Stretch My Hands” are a ridiculous fucking mess. I mean they’re like a quickfire montage of unfinished songs dating anywhere from 808s through to Yeezus, featuring not one but two of West’s greatest choruses that could easily grace chart-topping stadium hits, but in very Life of Pablo fashion instead wrap around the famous bleached asshole, a…
Thrice is one of the most versatile bands of our generation, evolving from a post-hardcore outfit to atmospheric rockers and even political statesmen. Their rise in the early 2000’s peaked with The Artist In The Ambulance and Vheissu, but they’ve aged even better – with The Alchemy Index proving their experimental worth and Beggars offering some of their most important lyrical content to date. With Palms a mere week away from release, our staff felt that there would be no better time to reflect upon the top ten songs of this influential, generational band. With so much superb content to choose from, it just might have been our toughest ranking so far.
(10) Open Water
from the album The Alchemy Index Vol. II: Water
Thrice’s Water EP once provided me with one of the most transportative listening experiences of my life, which is strange because to this day I’ll reach for Fire or Air in a pinch every time. But in my childhood home, surrounded by mist like it frequently was and weirdly elevated from ground level at the back window like it always was, I sat listening to “Open Water” and staring out into a back garden I couldn’t see past a couple of metres. Some combination of Kensrue’s bone-weary mariner’s narration, the muffled dirge of the music and the weather outside made my teenage self feel in another place and time entirely, the first instance I can remember…
David Bowie’s impact is cohesive and powerful when assessed within conventional metrics like “innovation” and “longevity”—some call swan song BLACKSTAR (2016), released 49 years after his first LP, the best work he ever did, generally without much objection from those who think his magnum opera issued forth decades rather than days before his tragic, shot-heard-round-the-world-style departure from this Earth. As for innovation, innumerably more people will testify to how consistently Bowie pushed against the generic boundaries of radio music throughout his long, long career, despite rooting his practice in familiar traditions of chords-and-melody drawn from British folk, Gershwin showtunes, 1950s rhythm-and-blues—lots of stuff people had already heard whose emotional contracts with global audiences had new life breathed into them by a guy whose relationship with tradition was purer for its lack of self-surveillance. Bowie forged his own path by not caring how he’d come off seemingly at all—his career takes on an unpleasant shape if you fetishize either tradition or subversion, and so he’s the kind of artist who teaches us to be better listeners, to latch less often onto shit that ultimately doesn’t matter. I don’t know if I believe Nietzsche when he says that we’re losing some essential element of experience in grouping together as “leaves” the individual green things that issue forth from…
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