Blog Posts by Robert of the Radish

Ugliness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder and everyone has a different opinion on what constitutes "ugly". Sometime last year I asked some music blogger friends and music biz insiders to answer the following question:

"Who do you think the ugliest musician/band ever to walk the planet is and why?"

I took the responses I received and shared them with a large group of music loving friends who then voted on the submissions. After the votes were counted I put the selections in order from ugliest to least ugliest. The resulting list contains the top dozen ugliest musicians, or the real "Dirty Dozen."

Please remove all sharp objects and children from the room before viewing the pictures displayed below. Each pick contains the reason why the artist was chosen in the selector's own words.

There are a multitude of eponymous albums out there in the universe. That is, an album named after the band or artist who recorded it, or in other words, a self-titled album. Eponymous songs, on the other hand, are more rare. For this playlist I went further and included only eponymous hat tricks.  A "hat trick" is a sports term that comes from succeeding at something 3 times during the same game. So in music, an "eponymous hat trick" is a song that shares the same exact name with the artist who performs it, and the album on which it appears. I found 23 of these on Yahoo Music Unlimited, if you know of any others please let me know.

I must admit that this playlist may not be as listenable as it is interesting. It includes bands from all over the map. From Bad Company and Iron Maiden, to the Meat Puppets and Pennywise, to Train and New Kids On The Block. Not exactly a flowing playlist, but interesting nonetheless.

One of the more talented and respected artists in this list is the

Some time ago I sat down and started creating a playlist composed of classic rock songs about birds. I was about a dozen tracks into the mix; digging both the famous and obscure picks about our fine feathered friends, (Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Police, Neil Young) when… wait… what Neil Young bird song should I select?

There were too many great options to decide on a single one.

After working for an hour on the original classic rock bird song playlist, I scrapped it for a later date, and decided to concentrate on crafting a Neil Young only avian-centric playlist. I simply could not let another moment pass without bringing this into existence.

The fruits of my labor rendered this Neil Young compilation I call The Bird Album. It features 15 songs written about, inspired by, or that mention birds in the lyrics. Sure, it sounds like an odd way to put together a mixtape, but with an artist as legendary as Neil Young, it really works.

It's essentially a new Neil Young

What are the World's Cheesiest Love Songs?

Hmmm... Well, it's a matter of debate, but this playlist is at the very least a great start in getting to the bottom of it. A fine collection of gooey, bowel-clogging slag that can provide the foundation for your own personal love fondue.

There have been more cheesy love songs written than most would ever care to hear, but don't fret. We've filtered out anything with even the tiniest amount of artistic credibility to help create the ultimate in love song trumpery. Only the most sappy, overproduced, pop hit fromage has been included.

This playlist works it two diametrically opposed manners. The first is as a group of emotionally charged tear-jerkers that will truly appeal to some percentage of the population. You know the type. These are the people that will be the first to die in the initial chaos that ensues when Armageddon unfolds.

The second is as a satirical look into the very worst of pop music that will make being alone on

Minimal Techno is a stripped down, mellow version of it's more popular cousin techno, but the two really sound nothing alike with the only similarity being that they're both made with electronic instruments. The subgenre utilizes a steady and slow rhythm between 110 and 135 BPM. Repetition and ethereal noodling also contribute to the reflective and relaxing yet danceable sound.

If you're stressed-out, over worked, or just need to relax, I have crafted this playlist with you in mind. Just add a martini and a good book to this playlist and you have a recipe for relaxation. The list includes some of the very best minimal techno available, and it's the perfect background for chilling out without being put to sleep.

Minimal Techno Chill Playlist

1. Cascade - Future Sound Of London

2. Tha - Aphex Twin

3. Saratoga - Ultramarine

4. 4:02 - Global Communication 

5. Breathe - Telepopmusik

6. Halcyon (7") - Orbital

7. Circular Evidence - 3kStatic

8. Through You - Seefeel 

9. Toccata & Fugue In C

1991 started with a bang; the first Gulf War. The first airstrikes against Iraq happened on January 17th and Operation Desert Storm was underway. Although the war was  the biggest news of the year, 1991 was also the year that video tape captured Los Angeles police beating Rodney King, Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) was arrested for flogging the dolphin in an adult movie theatre, Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, published the very first web page at http://info.cern.ch/, and the Soviet Union officially ceased to exist. 

With the exception of the Pee Wee Herman bit, that's a lot of very important news. In music, the changes were just as big. A new sound from Seattle called grunge saw the release of it's most important album, Nevermind by Nirvana. Other seminal Seattle bands that had influential releases included Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. However, there were also important albums released outside of Seattle, and this playlist features one track from the very best of

1977 was a year that most rock historians look upon fondly. It was packed with music that would help define a diverse generation and inspire some of the most important musicians of the last three decades. '77 saw important albums in the genres of soul, funk, disco, reggae, blues, country and pop, as well as the continued expansion of rock and roll, including the further development of heavy metal, progressive rock, soft rock and the punk rock explosion.

Most agree that punk rock, as we know it today, started as an anti-establishment movement around 1974, however in 1977 the doors were blown wide open with some milestone albums. Namely, Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols by the Sex Pistols, Rocket To Russia by the Ramones,  and the self-titled debut by The Clash. 1977 also saw artists like David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Elvis Costello, Devo and The Talking Heads pave the way for what would later be called modern or alternative rock, but these were not the only new branches