Carly Rabalais’s recommendation: “While I feel that soul music has moved me in ways that are unexplainable, I find it hard to pinpoint one artist to focus on. Instead I choose the raucous women of the band Kleenex. Kleenex has recently resurfaced in my world and I have had the chance to revisit my love for it. Since my initial discovery of the band, I have grown and changed, and discovered more music along the way. Still, upon my recent re-encounter, I’ve found it striking how unique it still seems. The music is just weird. The group often used unconventional instruments and experimental vocals. All the while they always managed to keep it rocking. It’s also empowering to think that this all-girl punk group came out of Switzerland in the late 70′s, a time that females were not dominating forces in the music world. Kleenex took chances and created music that is timeless.” (Editor’s note: Kleenex had to change its name to LiLiPUT in 1979 due to a lawsuit from, you guessed it, Kleenex.)
New to Kleenex? Start here: “Kill Rock Stars put out a great compilation of their entire discography called Liliput/ Kleenex.”
About the guest author, Carly Rabalais: Carly is a vocalist for the Brooklyn based garage band, Golden Triangel. The band won a battle of the unsigned bands contest at South By Southwest and was quickly snatched up by Sub Pop. You can buy their catchy debut, Double Jointer at Insound Records or check a video for Neon Noose here:
Hutch Harris’ recommendation: “Kim Deal is definitely my number one inspiration/role model/crush, and she has been almost as long as I’ve been playing guitar and writing songs. Not only was she a member of The Pixies, the group whose records serve as the bible for alternative rock, but she created one of my favorite bands of all time, The Breeders! I’ve had the pleasure to meet Kim Deal on a few occasions, and she was always incredibly friendly and down to earth. One time at a Breeders show she was just hanging out at the merch table, free to talk with any fans who wanted to bug her. I couldn’t fucking believe it! An amazing musician/songwriter and a total sweetheart/babe. She’s got it all!”
New to Kim Deal and The Breeders? Start here: “Pod and Last Splash were both hugely influential records for me. Besides blowing my young, stoned teenage mind on daily basis, these records showed me that songs could be very simple and still convey complex ideas and emotions. These records are rudimentary, but textured and psychedelic in a very modern (90′s) kind of way. Last Splash is obviously one of the best records of the 90′s, and defines that entire era for me. Not as serious as Nevermind, not as self-obsessed as Siamese Dream, but rocks as hard as both.”
Listen to a track from the album:
About the guest author, Hutch Harris: Hutch is the frontman for The Thermals, an indie rock group from Portland, Oregon. Their first offering, More Parts Per Million, was mixed from Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla (who is set to produce their upcoming album). They are now in support of their Breederish collection, Now We Can See.
Check the official Thermals site for developments on their new album and tour dates.
Audra Mae’s recommendation: “Patty Griffin!!! The first thing I ever learned on guitar was one of her songs called Let Him Fly. I aspire to be as true to my music as she is to hers. Love you, Patty!”
New to Patty Griffin? Audra Mae suggests you start here: “Get Downtown Church! It’s her latest and she’s not messin’ around.”
Listen to a track from the album here:
About the guest author, Audra Mae: She penned the only original track on Susan Boyle’s chart-topping, 9 million-selling I Dreamed a Dream album and has a TV placement singing Bob Dylan’s Forever Young on the FX series “Sons of Anarchy.” And you can say that all is just a warm-up for this 25 year-old firecracker from Oklahoma who also happens to be the great grand niece of the late Judy Garland. Audra has released a stunning first album called The Happiest Lamb, produced by Ted Hutt (The Gaslight Anthem, Lucero). If you like Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and, yes, Patty Griffin, this is a must-have. Her first EP also features a rollicking version of Whitesnake’s (yes, Whitesnake has for the first, and possibly last time made its way on to this site) Here I Go Again (listen below!!!). You should also spy Audra’s website to check her current tour dates.
John Wesley Harding’s recommendation: “I would unreservedly recommend the music of Duncan Browne. The first album Give Me Take You is more baroque in its folky champer-pop, whereas the second Duncan Browne is a little more straightforward. If your tastes run towards The Zombies, or you can imagine that crossed with folk music, then I think you’ll relish Duncan Browne. He also made some completely different late seventies album, popular in Europe, that were sexier and disco-ier. I kinda like them but you can ignore those. (He also co-wrote Criminal World that Bowie covered on Let’s Dance, a song from that latter period of his career.) Stick to those first two albums: ethereal yet quirky, a cross between sixties pop and folk-psyche, sung in a beautiful Blunstone-esque voice, accompanied by stellar classical guitar and strings. One particular track to recommend is The Final Asylum, one of the otherwise unreleased tracks on Journey a two CD anthology that was released recently. If you like any of it, then Colin Blunstone’s first solo album One Year is a fitting companion-piece and a masterpiece in its own right.”
About the guest author, John Wesley Harding: We’ve been fans of John Wesley Harding (born Wesley Stace) since the 1990 release of his pop masterwork Here Comes the Groom. Since then, JWH has released a slew of smart, hook-filled recordings and three novels. He’s shared the stage with the likes of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed and was hand-picked by Bruce Springsteen to open his shows on the Ghost of Tom Joad tour. The Boss is set to join John as he hosts the Fairleigh Dickinson University Words and Music Festival (WAMFEST) in May. Yup…John Wesley Harding has a lot going on. Catch up with him on his official web site, http://www.johnwesleyharding.com/
Branden Barnett’s recommendation: “I have had the great pleasure to get to know an amazing band called Roger Bryan and the Orphans from Buffalo, NY. These five guys are the definition of good songwriting, vicious live shows and being good dudes in general. I am usually very afraid of “triple threat” guitar bands but the three guitarists of The Orphans have a way of making just plain good songs into something terrifying and epic. Matt Smith’s Richards-esque guitar dancing mixed with Erik Roesser’s manic, tasteful noise bombs sit comfortably on each side of Roger’s rhythm and sparse leads. The rhythm section of Mike and Ryan is as solid as it gets. The songs are located somewhere between the Replacements and Liam Gallagher (in a good way) and have a way of shoving big ideas about longing and frustration into your brain with very simple lyrics. There is no wasted space in their songs. It all fits. It’s all necessary and they do it very well. Bands that have an itch to make big, American, anthemic face-stomping rock should take notice that it can be done with a good measure of smarts. This band is the perfect example of this.”
New to Roger Bryan and the Orphans from Buffalo? Start with their latest long play album, Wolves that you can buy at their site or listen to some of the tunes here:
About the guest author, Branden Barnett: Branden fronts Ghost Shirt, a much beloved power-pop outfit from Columbus, Ohio. They were aptly described as ‘Arcade Fire come back down to Earth’ by Chris DeVille in Columbus Alive and have a new record coming out REALLY SOON. In the mean time, treat yourself to streams from their first album here:
Craig Minowa’s recommendation: “I don’t really listen to bands’ albums much anymore. There are some really great bands out there, but then there are also piles and piles of the same old stuff. It’s starting to feel so formulaic and fashion-based that I wonder what happened to the true art of songwriting. More often, I get really inspired by some of the movie composers out there that don’t get all the fame and glory. I find film scores to be some of the most inspiring and innovative music going on out there. I’m not talking about the movies that fill their scores with the trendiest new pop songs, but rather those that are originally scored and composed. I think a lot of people don’t notice the music going on in the background of these storylines, because the visual plot is so much more commanding. But close your eyes sometime and just listen to the music, and you’ll be surprised at some of these Oz’s behind the curtain are coming up with. Maybe it’s because I started scoring music for National Geographic documentaries recently, and it’s really humbling to feel so sophomoric compared to some of these amazing composers. I’m now woken up to the whole world of composers out there that I’d never heard of before but that blow myself and just about every other musician I know of out of the water.”
About the guest author, Craig Minowa: Craig Minowa is the frontman for the experimental/environment friendly band, Cloud Cult. The band was formed in 1995 and despite offers from major labels, they have remained an indie group on Earthology Records, a not-for-profit environmental record label established by Minowa in 1998. The group has a new full length album in August, but for now you can download their latest EP, Running With the Wolves here. You can also get to know the band in the film about Cloud Cult, No One Said It Would Be Easy:
New to Kleenex? Start here: “Kill Rock Stars put out a great compilation of their entire discography called Liliput/ Kleenex
New to Kim Deal and The Breeders? Start here: “
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were both hugely influential records for me. Besides blowing my young, stoned teenage mind on daily basis, these records showed me that songs could be very simple and still convey complex ideas and emotions. These records are rudimentary, but textured and psychedelic in a very modern (90′s) kind of way. 
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! It’s her latest and she’s not messin’ around.”
, produced by Ted Hutt (The Gaslight Anthem, Lucero). If you like Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and, yes, Patty Griffin, this is a must-have. Her first EP also features a rollicking version of Whitesnake’s (yes, Whitesnake has for the first, and possibly last time made its way on to this site) Here I Go Again (listen below!!!). You should also spy 
is a fitting companion-piece and a masterpiece in its own right.”
Give Me Take You
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