Tagged: alistobligatory

We talk alot about how great the music scene was in the late seventies, but that only scratches the surface. This week, we delve into the lost gems of the punk explosion. There...

Not all music is great to everyone; however, we're all allowed to have our vices, even in the face of scrutiny. This week Jay Downey takes over the list obligatory to name ten...

There was something in the water around the turn of the millennium. This week we look back at the best independent hip-hop albums released between 2000 and 2004. The idea for this column...

Talent is a word that I think the music industry has taken out of their dictionary. You can go through the top 200 songs or albums on iTunes and you can count on...

Most people have at least one token jazz album in there collection. This week, we look at the ten you should add. Jazz is a bit of a sticky wicket in the music...

This week, we delve back into the mid-70s to take a closer look at the best albums of first wave punk. We almost always refer to 1977 as 'the year punk broke'. Most...

We're going to celebrate the artists whose careers have somehow evaded critic's lists and mainstream attention, even though they don't seem capable of making bad albums. I hold the theory that there are...

It's been twenty years since one of the greatest periods in modern music. Let's take a look back at the best albums of 1993. It's been a good long while since the list...

We all know actors shouldn't play music, but what about musician actors? Join us this week as the list obligatory looks at the best examples of musicians in film. I'm feeling punchy this...

Though July is usually more well known for celebrating America, this year the list obligatory is taking its hat off to the best songs for President's Day! While you would probably assume that...

There are a few sacred cows that bring fear into the heart of writers. This week, I'm talkin' Bob Dylan's best albums. Bring the hate mail. Every so often the list obligatory takes a look at the best work from musical heroes; artists with catalogs that are impressive enough to merit an [...]

Memory is a funny thing. It the power to twist over time and become the source of our greatest pride or most painful regret. This week, the list obligatory looks at those songs that are simply about remembering. For many of us, memory is the one of the strongest forces in our [...]

This year I'm getting ahead of Valentine's Day and sending one out to the brokenhearted. Well, it's almost that dreadful time of year again. Like we don't already feel bad enough the rest of the time, Valentine's Day just seems like cruel punishment for the chronically lonely. You can't even go out [...]

All of the big year end lists are in, but I've decided to take my own whack at the best songs of 2012! I won't bore you with a huge introduction this week. You know what these lists are about. I'm counting down my favorite songs of 2012. It was a strange [...]

The cold is officially here, and with it comes those albums that make the cold, long months of winter a bit more bearable. Join a list obligatory for its best winter albums. Well, after a few weeks off and a particularly trying few weeks at that, it is finally time for the [...]

Much is made about 1977 being important as the year of revolution against rock music. We thought it might be a good time to see what they had to complain about. This week, we're looking at the best albums of 1976. When critics talk about the years that were the most important [...]

As the year end lists begin piling in, we thought it was time for one of Earbuddy's favorites; the breakout ladies of 2012! It is so cliché as to border on being ridiculous. It seems like just about every year, some music journalist declares that it is finally the year of the [...]

Every year has its turkey albums. Once a year, we take the opportunity to put them out of their misery. It's the 2012 Turkey Shoot! This is an idea I've stolen from the fantastic Chicago Public Radio program Sound Opinions. Once a year, Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot get together to take [...]

It's time again to look at those songs we all need most; the ones that make our work day faster. This is the annual Caffeinated Consciousness list for 2012! It is time once again to compile the list obligatory's Caffeinated Consciousness list. Those of us who have to keep [...]

With the big family dinner holidays right around the corner, it's time to look at the best songs to pig out to. This week, it's songs about food! The typical song archetypes are very serious affairs. God, Murder, and Love, as Johnny Cash famously once put it, are the topics [...]