hipster time; episode one.

so after getting the okay to make more posts than just the required, i decided it'd be super fun to sort of share my favorite stuff with everyone. also, i saw this as an opportunity for me to express my love for top [insert number here] lists.

so this week, i decided to go with:
top five albums/ep's from bands you've probably [maybe] never heard of.
doesn't that sound just peachy?

5. cexcells [blaqk audio]
chances are, you've heard of afi [of miss murder fame], but not of this side project of lead singer davey havok and guitarist jade puget. it's quite different from afi's work, and there's even a little cd out there of about four remixes of the song 'stiff kittens'. if you're into techno and songs with deeper meaning than your average layered beat ditty, this might be something worth looking into.
best song iko: stiff kittens [jnrsnchz blaqkout remix]
[[surprise! this song is on the soundtrack for the new underworld movie.]]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWIEQcqFZPk

4. greetings from... [a rocket to the moon]
nick santino is so gosh darn adorable. you just can't say no to his face, or his voice for that matter, and his ep greetings from... is just so gosh darn catchy, you can't deny that he should be putting out a full-length album faster than he already is trying to do. because you'll want it that much. maybe. he definitely slides nicely into the pop-rock/powerpop category, but like i said, nick is just so cute, he stands out nicely.
best song iko: dakota
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2KOysRb-yU

3. london bridges [this is ivy league]
i'll bet you've never heard of bossa nova. i was right, wasn't i? well, this is ivy league is a very nice way to get a little taste of it, since not all of their songs are really bossa nova-ish, but enough of them are for me to associate them with the style. this two man group, comprised of ryland blackington and alex suarez [my personal favorite, ahahaha] from cobra starship, produces some seriously mellow tunes, which are really good for things like studying, or maybe even putting you to sleep. it still surprises me how different this is ivy league is from cobra starship. you'll get what i mean in a second.
best song iko: london bridges
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFHn11JfSN0

2. hold on tight [hey monday]
i don't listen to the radio anymore, so there is a chance you might have heard of hey monday before. if that's the case, this is the only exception to the gist of my list. their songs are definitely radio-friendly, but it's hard to say if the radio is allowing good music to be played on their airwaves yet. i'll be totally honest here and tell you straight out that i do not like female singing voices, but cassadee pope's voice is cute, so i can tolerate it. trust me, there are only about two other female singers out there that i can stand, so she should count herself lucky. haha.
best song iko: homecoming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUW6YjsRJ-Q

1. razia's shadow [forgive durden]
i could go on for days about how highly i think of this album. it's not just an album, it's a freaking musical. that's right, it's a musical. in fact, just a few days ago, thomas dutton, the man who is forgive durden, released the rights to the music and script for fans to perform his musical for free. however, just because i said musical don't get visions of 'joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat' and 'oklahoma' in your head. this one is different, and the only way to understand that is to listen to it. i will mention that there are some guest stars such as brendon urie from panic at the disco, greta salpeter from the hush sound and shawn harris from the matches. the one music video that's out for the single 'life is looking up' hints at the fact that he's making his own production [perhaps a movie]. i can only hope. like i said, corner me and get me talking about this masterpiece, and you won't be able to shut me up. it's that amazing.
best song iko: life is looking up
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=46418448