2021 Top Five - Albums

This week starts my Best of 2021. I will do my top five for most of my lists. I will do music, movies, television, podcasts and sports. That is also the order I will proceed with starting today. Some of my lists were easy to get to five, others, not so much. Let's get to it.

Today I am going to do my top albums of 2021. This is one of my lists where I do not have five picks. Part of that is my lack of listening to new music and the other part is I do not know many of these new artists. I used to be cool and hip. I used to know a ton about new and underground music. I used to listen to all different kinds of music. But as I have gotten older plenty has changed. I am kind of stuck in my ways now. I like what I like. I have been introduced to "new" music for me, but it is older bands or musicians I have never really given thought to before. That is my "new" music. I have recently gotten into Prince, more Talking Heads, an indie band called Whitney and more old school hip hop. But I did find three albums that I really enjoyed that came out this year. They are three new albums too. They are by artists that I like, but again, these records did come out this year.

At number three I have Har Mar Superstar's "Roseville". I love this record. It is like a throwback to older soul and R&B. There are horns and back up singers and cool, retro guitar and all along the way we get Har Mar's great voice. I like this new direction Har Mar is going in with his music too. It is very fitting for his voice and his range. You can really tell on this record that he is in his pocket. I also feel like as he is getting older he is starting to pain gratitude to artists he grew up listening to. This record is like an homage to older soul music. And I am a sucker for horns. I just lose myself to the music whenever I hear a good horn section. Lyrically, this album is very poignant and timely. He talks about COVID and other things that are going on in and around his life. It is a good snapshot of what this past year has been like. "Roseville" is very solid and I'm kind of stunned that some of the bigger publications and websites have kind of just pushed this record to the side and do not talk about it.

At two I have Tyler, the Creator's "Call Me if You Get Lost". This record is like older Tyler with his new vibe attached. It is straightforward hip hop. Tyler's rapping is impeccable. He has gotten better and better every year. He is on the Mount Rushmore of current hip hop artists right now. I also love how most of the songs are less than three minutes long. Even the songs that go six to nine minutes have like three different songs built in. They don't linger too long. There is enough change that it feels different. Tyler, much like Har Mar, also touches on the pandemic, but does it his way. I also love the addition of a hype man on the record. It adds so much to hip hop albums. I also really enjoy the production on the record. It may be his second best production, behind only "IGOR". Tyler, the Creator is aging like a fine wine. He is consistently trying new things and it has all been really great as of late. Tyler is getting to that echelon of always doing wonderful and innovative things in music. He is the man.

My number one album of the year is "Inside". Get used to seeing this on my best of lists. This album is amazing. The fact that it was made in a year is astounding. Talk about being timely, this album is all about the pandemic, loneliness, anxiety and loss during COVID. It is truly a masterpiece. Bo Burnham has done something amazing and memorable. To make music like this, at this time in history, to make it this well and this astounding, I'm floored. The way the whole album kind of shifts after "30" is a real feat. It goes from kind of dark to super dark, in all the right ways. There are songs on this album that I feel like school kids should study. There is stuff on this album that will be talked about for decades. This is a true work of art. I adore songs like "How the World Works" or "Welcome to the Internet" that are instant classics. I mentioned "30", that is an exceptional song about growing old. "Problematic" is a great look at his past and how he has grown. "All Eyes on Me" is so twisted and dark and perfect. "That Funny Feeling" may be the best folk song of the year. "Content" is a perfect album starter. I could go on and on and on, and I will on some of my other lists, believe me. "Inside" is amazing. It is the best album of the year, and when we get to 2030, it may end up being the best album of the decade. It is really that good. You can go look at my year in review on Spotify and see how much I have devoured this album. "Inside" is, hands down, the best album of 2021.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for my top five movies of the year.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Listens to "Roseville"

I know that I said there wasn't a lot of music I knew about coming out this year, but for the second week in a row I am going to write about a new album that I have been enjoying quite a bit. This album lands in the whole, "I'm sure there is new music coming out this year that I will love, I just don't know about it yet" category.

The album is called "Roseville", and it is a new solo album from one of my favorites, Har Mar Superstar. I am a big fan, and I also always find myself not knowing he has a new record until a day or two before it comes out. That is the same with this album. I loved the Heartbones stuff he was doing, but I had no idea he was working on a new solo album. Then I saw stuff pop up on social media that he was working on it and finishing it up and that it would be out soon. It came out last Friday and I have been listening to it a ton. It has pretty much replaced all the other stuff I have been listening to. It has definitely taken over Weezer's spot as my most played music on Spotify. This album is absolutely wonderful. With each new record, I feel Har Mar just keeps getting better and better. He is also making really cool throwback R&B/soul music. This new album sounds like part of it could have been made for Stax. It is so soulful and so full of sound and Har Mar's voice is purely wonderful on it all. From start to finish this is an album where no song should be skipped.

The record starts with that 70's type R&B/ soul music. The first four or five songs are classic throwback songs. The accompanying music is perfect for the sound he is going for. The addition of horns was a great choice. It makes the music sound fuller. It is perfect. When you get to the later half of the record it is a blend of 70's soul with his alternative pop sound. Personally I adore the songs "Neon Aglow" and "Hearts Have Misspoken". They both have that full sound, but the groove and the lyrics are like early Har Mar. These songs could have easily been on his early stuff, but they almost feel saved for this newer sound he aimed for, and nailed, on this new record. I will find myself dancing and singing along to both of these songs already. That is quick for me too. My son likes to listen to this record with me too. The funny thing with that is, he is 9 years old, only seems to like the music played on Fortnite, but he is so amped whenever I play "Roseville" now. I love it. He also thinks it's awesome that you can hear a dog bark at the end of one of the songs. He told me that he likes the music, but his favorite part is when the dog barks. That rules. My daughter likes pretty much anything I play in the car, but I have seen her get a little more dancy when I play this new record. I love it when musicians I like do stuff that I can enjoy with my kids too. "Roseville" definitely fits in that category. Har Mar is at a point for me that when he puts something out, I know it is going to be good. He is such a good songwriter and singer, and he seems to surround himself with really good musicians.

This record is great, and so is everything else he does. Of course I recommend this album. It is quick, sweet, well made, well produced and fun as hell. I appreciate new music too, especially during the pandemic. This record has put a smile on my face, and it feels much needed right now. Thank you Har Mar for the new music. It is awesome.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Listen's to Har Mar Superstar's "Hot Dish"

I come to you today with another album review of another record I have been looking forward to for awhile now.

About a year ago I guy I am a big time fan of, Har Mar Superstar, announced that he was working with a singer named Sabrina Ellis, and they would be touring and releasing a record within a year. I was stoked. As I said, I love Har Mar, and anytime he works with someone else, it usually works out. He even made Macauly Caulkin sound decent when I saw him live, and Caulikn's Velvet Underground cover band opened for him. Needless to say, Har Mar is a pro, and he makes good choices. They call themselves Heartbones, and they released a few singles during summer. I loved those. I even thought of putting it on my best of music that year. I also heard that, on tour, Heartbones was doing the entirety of "Dirty Dancing" live on stage. I even had a shot to see them in Kansas City, but too much stuff came up and I had to miss the show. But still, I was following Heartbones on all social media. I listened to the released singles, I watched videos and I followed their announcements. So, when I saw Har Mar posting about the album coming out today, I was waiting with super anticipation. I took my daughter to the doctor this morning, and on the way we listened. I then went to my buddy's diner afterward and listened to it again. We then drove home and I listened for a third time. And as I type this, I am listening to it again.

Needless to say, I love this record. There is no bad song on the whole eleven song long record. Every song is an absolute homerun. The record opens with one of the singles I had already heard, "This Time It's Different", but they juiced it up a bit. They made it sound a little cleaner, and I am here for it. The rest of the record is so cool and poppy, in a great way, and a throwback to the "Dirty Dancing" era music and, I am now happy to admit this, I love a good, synthy piano, which is all over this album. The second track, "I Like Your Way" has that excellent 80's style sound that I have found myself digging a ton lately. "Open Relations" is groovy, funky tune that just makes me want to dance. Every song makes me want to dance on this album for that matter. "Control" has a great distorted sound to it, and I love the drums on the song. The vocals are pretty great as well. Both Har Mar and Sabrina Ellis can really, really sing, especially this genre of music. "Don't Read the Comments" is a perfect song for the current world we live in where anyone anywhere can tell people how they feel about their art. "Unforgivable" starts off with a really cool acoustic guitar and some soft piano and Ellis singing softly in, I believe, French. The song then builds and builds with some cool flange throughout the 3 minute run time. "Little Dancer" is the other single that made its way onto the record, and just like with "This Time It's Different", they added some studio magic, some more instruments, and it sounds wonderful. My daughter and I were both singing along this afternoon. The last four songs send this record out so perfectly. "Dashboard" sounds like it is straight out of an 80's movie montage, and I love every single second of it. This might be the most dance worthy track on the whole record. "Claws 87" is just a cool ass song. It has a cool feel to it, the lyrics are cool and the way they sing it is cool. This is the coolest track by far. They follow that up with their cover of "Hungry Eyes". Look, I enjoy the original, so to hear a couple singers I really like do an updated version of the song, it makes it that much better for me. I also love the distorted vocals that sound echo-ey throughout. And the closer, "Beg For It" rules. It is almost all synth piano and the singing is so cool. It sounds like the song that was at the end of the "Black Mirror" movie "Bandersnatch", except it is a tiny bit less robotic, and I am all in for it.

I love, love, love "Hot Dish". I cannot wait to listen to it a bunch of more times. I hope, they are touring again, that they come close to Saint Louis so I can go see them. This is the type of music I am really digging right now, and this record is simply wonderful. I cannot recommend it enough. Har Mar rules on this, and I am so glad that I now know who Sabrina Ellis is because she is a great, great singer. Go check out this record ASAP.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Cloves and Fedoras: Har Mar Superstar's "Best Summer Ever" Belongs on Your Playlist

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

Today an album came out that I have been waiting for over a year now. Har Mar Superstar released his newest album this morning, "Best Summer Ever", and it is weird and great and different and awesome and like nothing and everything of his that I own.

I own all his albums as Har Mar. He's gone by other names and been in different bands, Calvin Crime is probably the best known, but for me, I love his Har Mar persona the best. The music he makes as Har Mar is, by far, my favorite. His early stuff was more poppy, but he put his slant on it. It was goofy, but catchy as hell. He has some great, funny early records. Songs like "Even Gangsters Want To Cuddle Me", "DUI" and "EZ Pass" are wonderfully delightful pop songs. They're upbeat, catchy, funny and Har Mar has a very good voice for pop music. Even his cover of "Alone Again, Naturally", on one of his first albums, is great. He does a very good service to the song.

Then, a little over a year ago, he released one of the best records I had ever heard, "Bye Bye 17". That album is absolutely phenomenal. Every song on it is great. That was the album that introduced me to Har Mar. I first knew of him through his old podcast, "Nocturnal Emotions", and through that was how I found out he was a singer, songwriter and musician. I should have known because the theme song for the podcast was awesome and it was him singing it. Then, during an ad read on his podcast, he mentioned he had a new album coming out, that was "Bye Bye 17", and he would play a snippet of the single, "Lady, You Shot Me". That song is a classic throwback R&B song, and Har Mar nailed it. The rest of that album is much of the same. It's very old school R&B sung by a chubby, balding white dude that looks like Ron Jeremy, and it is so awesome. He portrayed himself as a sex symbol, and me being a bit overweight and chunky, I loved his confidence. Even my wife, who when I showed her his picture was dumbfounded, said she likes the confidence with which he carries himself and she too loves his voice. "Bye Bye 17" was a revelation and it opened the door to me to get all his old records.

As I stated, the early stuff is poppy and "Bye Bye17" is R&B, so I was on pins and needles when I found out he was recording a new record. I didn't know what to expect. So, when I woke up this morning, the first thing I did, after feeding my children, was buy "Best Summer Ever". As I sat down to breakfast I turned the album on. When myself and my kids are eating breakfast, we tend to listen to music in the morning as opposed to watching TV or just sitting in silence. My 4 year old loves to have dance parties in the morning and my 6 month old likes the sound of music, it calms her body. So, I decided we would listen to Har Mar's new record. I put it on and was immediately intrigued by how different it sounded from any of his old records. The opening track, "I Hope", is a short, new wave rock song. It sounded like something Duran Duran or The Cars would have released during the beginning of the new wave phenomenon. I was shook at how good and how weird it sounded. Har Mar's voice was deeper and different from before. It almost seems like he is taking music seriously, not that he didn't before, but this album is devoid of funny lyrics, it's a straight up new wave album, and I love it. After "I Hope", there was one great song after another. I particularly enjoy songs like "Anybody's Game", "Haircut" and "It Was Only Dancing(Sex)". They all have that new wave sound. You know what I'm talking about. There's a synthesizer, muffled, reverberated vocals and gruff guitars. The band sounds so tight on this album and these three songs really show it. To hear Har Mar sing with different vocal stylings is so awesome. He nailed the pop and R&B, and now he nails the new wave sound. His voice is so great on this whole record. He does do some R&B type songs on this record. The one that instantly comes to mind is the albums closer, "Confidence". It's actually a mix of new wave, R&B and 50's style love song. It's so good. He also does a one minute long acoustic tune that's dynamite called "My Radiator". It's a totally different change of pace from the rest of the album, but it totally works. He even has a punkish song called "Famous Last Words" on this album. He plays power chords and yell sings the lyrics, and much like the rest of the album, the song is wonderful.

Obviously, I really, really enjoy this album. It's so different from what I'm used to, but that is a sign of an artist growing and experimenting, and we all know that I like when the bands and musicians I listen to try new stuff. Going back to the dance parties my four year old likes to have for a minute. He got up from his seat at the breakfast table this morning and told me he needed to dance because "this music is really neat". That's a great endorsement if you ask me.

Har Mar did it once again. He made yet another great album. I don't understand why he isn't more well known, but hey, I'll gladly continue to pay 12 bucks to see him in smaller clubs. That's how I like my live music and that's exactly what I will be doing in less than a month now when he comes to play the Firebird here in Saint Louis. I cannot wait to see him play these new songs live.

If you're a fan of Har Mar's, buy "Best Summer Ever" because its' great and it shows growth. It's a really good album and hopefully it will start to get him the recognition he deserves. I highly recommend it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Are you an artist who will be performing in St. Louis this year? Contact Ty and he will review your show. The best place to find Ty is on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: The Moldy Peaches

For the greatest American band debate today, I'm going to nominate a band that is way off the realm from almost any band I've written about to date. You could call this band genre-less or you could say that they span many, many different genres of music. They play folk, rock, metal, ballads and they even rap on a few songs here and there. They also only put out one official album. They had LP's and EP's, but they only truly released one record in their short run. Now, I absolutely adore this band and they were also the first band that I heard that made me think, professional music can be easily done, if you know how to manipulate equipment the right way. They also did everything themselves. They recorded, produced, wrote and released everything on their own dime, to the best of my knowledge. This band will not be a popular pick for some, but as I said, I adore this group and I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize how influential they were and how they gave me true and real hope of becoming a professional musician. The band that I speak of is the Moldy Peaches.

I LOVE the Moldy Peaches. I first heard them when I was a teenager and my love has only grown from there, and they only have one real album. I cannot stress that fact enough. I don't know how they crept in my mind and stayed there for so long with such little material, but dammit, they have stuck around. I still listen to their self titled album in my car to this day. Sure, they released live and rare stuff that only hardcore fans of the band like myself own, but their self titled is the only real commercial record they have. And it is great. They have had as many as 11 unofficial members in the band, including Toby Goodshank, who I saw recently and he is great, but the Moldy Peaches is primarily, and most importantly, all about Kimya Dawson and Adam Green.

Everyone by now knows of Kimya Dawson. She is a folk singer that did all of the original music for the movie "Juno". She kind of blew up after that soundtrack and movie were released. It was well deserved because she has a unique voice, can play decent guitar and writes poignant, beautiful and silly songs. She has continued her musical career post Moldy Peaches very well. She tours and records new stuff to this day, but I will always love the Moldy Peaches stuff the most.

Adam Green may not be as well known as Kimya. Yes, he still plays and records, but he hasn't gotten the acclaim that his former girlfriend and bandmate has achieved. This is partly his doing and partly the industry's doing. He's very talented, but he is also heavily involved with drugs and art and making weird short films that make no sense. He does art with Macauly Caulkin. In fact, they have had a show and boutique of their drawings and paintings and they are very, very bizarre. Green has also played music with a lot of people including Ben Kweller, Binki Shapiro and Har Mar Superstar. He is a much better musician than artist or filmmaker, in my opinion. He, much like Dawson, knows how to write and craft sweet, but very silly and very weird songs. And, also much like Dawson, I enjoy his Moldy Peaches stuff the most. I have seen him live, and we discussed the show on a previous podcast, but, that show was weird and he walked off stage after playing wrong chords and singing wrong words. But, while I enjoyed the majority of his show, before he walked off stage, this was were I decided to buy not only his solo album, but the Moldy Peaches album.

So, this wacky and wild show was my gateway to one of my favorite bands. I went home the next day, listened to Green's solo album first, enjoyed it, then listened to the Moldy Peaches record and immediately adored it. It played on repeat in my car stereo and apartment for the next two or three months straight. Friends and family would come over and be very confused with what I was listening to, then that confusion would turn to, typical Ty, listening to some weird folk music. Everyone, with my brothers Seth and our editor RD being the lone exceptions, blew off this weird band I was suddenly enamored with. That didn't stop me. I listened to this record so much, I knew all the words to all the songs within a week. I love every song on this record. There are some great tracks like "Lucky Number Nine", "Nothing Came Out", "Downloading Porn With Davo", "Steak for Chicken", "Anyone Else But You", "Little Bunny Foo Foo", "Who's Got the Crack" and "Lazy Confessions". In my mind, these are all classics. These songs span all kinds of genres of music and they do it quite well, considering that they seem to be recording on either a tape recorder or an old school eight track recorder. I love that. "Lucky Number Nine" is a great, folksy opener to the album. It's very simplistic in it's skeleton, it's just drums, guitar and bass. But, Kimya Dawson's vocals are very good and Green's backing vocals are great. It's an awesome song. "Nothing Came Out" is also a very slow folk song, but it's also dirty and silly. Quintessential Moldy Peaches. "Downloading Porn With Davo" is raunchy, pop punk, silly and awesome. I'm not a big fan of pop punk music, but the Moldy Peaches do it extremely well. "Steak for Chicken" is so weird and absurd, but the music is classic rock and roll, with Green playing some really good, really underrated guitar. It's like Andy Kaufman wrote a song and the Moldy Peaches recorded it. It's a perfect marriage. "Anyone Else But You" is probably their most famous and sweetest song. You may think you don't know it, but you do. It's the song that Michael Cera and Ellen Page sing to each other at the end of "Juno". The song shows love from both the man and woman's perspective, but the woman is more aggressive and the man is a bit of a whipping boy. I absolutely adore this song. This song should be played at every wedding everywhere. It's wonderful. "Little Bunny Foo Foo", the old traditional kid song, is turned into a punk rock song, with Dawson yell singing the vocals by the end. I love it. "Who's Got the Crack" is everything that is great about Moldy Peaches. They sing slow and fast. They pay their instruments slow and fast. And the song is one of the most absurd and one of the dirtiest songs I've ever heard. It's incredibly vulgar and weird, but it is also tremendous. "Lazy Confessions" is a return to slower folk music and I absolutely love Dawson's vocals on this song. The whole album is great, but these particular songs are my favorites.

I love how weird and how primitive the Moldy Peaches were. Both Green and Dawson are still kind of primitive in their solo stuff, but nothing compares to what they did in the Moldy Peaches. Dawson has achieved more success, which isn't surprising, but I'm kind of shocked that Green isn't more famous. Anyway, I love the Moldy Peaches and I could not continue with this greatest American band debate without mentioning them. Don't listen to them with your kids, but listen by yourself and I can almost guarantee that after three or four listens, you will get what I'm saying and you will become a fan.

Did I mention that I love the Moldy Peaches.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Do you have a greatest american band nominee? Tell us all about it. While you think of your favorite band, follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Thank You David Bowie

Today we have lost a legend in the music business. He was not only a legend in music, but a pioneer, a fashion icon, an actor and an all around great guy. This morning, I turned on my phone, went to Twitter and saw that David Bowie had passed away.

I was shocked.

I first thought it was one of those celebrity death hoaxes. A couple of months ago there was a story being passed around the internet that Macauly Caulkin had passed away. I thought this was bizarre because I'd just seen his band, Pizza Underground, open for Har Mar Superstar. They were terrible, but I didn't think he should lose his life over it. It was found out about an hour later that he was still alive and all was well. That's what I thought when I read about David Bowie this morning. At least, that's what I hoped. But, further research proved that the stories online were true.

We lost David Bowie very unexpectedly. I really didn't know how to process this. I do not know him personally. I just came to his music about a decade ago, I was admittedly very late to his genius. I really liked him in "Zoolander" and "Labyrinth". But, I found myself pretty upset. It's not like losing a family member, but it still hurts. He was an inspiration to me musically. The first album of his I had was "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" and it completely changed my preconceived notion of his music. I assumed he was a disco, rock type of guy. He seemed more poppy than what I really like. Well, "ZSATSFM" totally floored me. It was rock, psychedelic and pop all blended perfectly together. Songs like "Soul Love" and "Five Years" and "Starman" are all classic pop songs. "Soul Love is beautiful and moving. "Five Years" is a very cool intro to this album. I like the quietness at the beginning and I love a song that explodes at the end, much like this one did. "Starman" is just an absolutely perfect pop song. Then there's the mega hits on this record, "Suffragette City" and "Moonage Daydream" and "Ziggy Stardust". "Suffragette City" is such a cool, punkish rock song that only Bowie could pull off. "Moonage Daydream" is the personification of the perfect psychedelic/pop song. And "Ziggy Stardust" has the hippest, coolest and most innovative guitar riff in almost all of rock music. The moment I first heard that riff, I went out and learned it on my Gibson immediately. I was so into the riff, I couldn't go on without teaching myself how to play it. The song, lyrically, is so perfect. I absolutely adore that song. I know that I'm only focusing on one of his albums, but why not this one that is so perfect. I know he has many, many other hits and beautiful songs, but "ZSATSFM" is his best and one of the best albums of all time. It's the perfect rock/psychedelic/pop album.

Bowie was a pioneer of the movement in the late 70's and early 80's of musicians taking on new personas. He became Ziggy Stardust, and all of the sudden, "new" people showed up. Without Stardust, we'd never gotten the band KISS. There'd be no new career for Rod Stewart, he would have disappeared just like Faces did. Mick Jagger, who was already mega famous, started to wear make up at the same time as Bowie and he became even more famous. These guys, and many more owe a lot to Bowie for being the first to do it and do it well.

As far as his acting career, I mean, how great and extremely weird was he in "Labyrinth". That movie is so nutso, but only a guy like Bowie could pull off that role and pull it off so awesomely. Try to imagine anyone else in that role, it's impossible. "Labyrinth" is one of the most bizarre movies I've ever seen, but Bowie's performance is so perfect, it makes that movie very enjoyable and very, very memorable. He was also excellent in his five minute part in "Zoolander". He just shows up, seemingly out of nowhere, and crushes it. He was funny. His hair was on point. He looked dashing. He seemed normal. And him judging the runway walk was so hilarious and so great. I loved when Stiller tried to pull his underwear off like Owen Wilson did, fails at this task and they cut to Bowie making a hilarious ouch face. It was great. I hope he had some kind of role in "Zoolander 2", since they already filmed it, because that would be great to see him one more time so we can remember how great of an actor he was. His movie choices were weird, but he pulled them off like only he could.

David Bowie was married twice, but you never heard of spats or disputes in public like we seem to with every other celebrity. I didn't know much about his first wife, but he's been with super model Iman for 14 years and they seemed to be very happily married and very happy to be with each other. Two beautiful people being married for that long and looking that good in the modern day social media society is incredibly admirable. I feel very upset for Iman. We, the fans, lost a musician and guy that we adored, she lost her husband whom she knew inside and out. I'm incredibly sorry for your loss Iman.

What I like most abut Bowie is the fact that while incredibly famous, he always seemed to come off as a genuinely good guy. There weren't any stories, at least not to my knowledge, of him taking his celebrity seriously. You never heard about off stage demands or illicit affairs from him. I'm sure he did a lot of drugs, who didn't in the 70's and 80's, but it didn't wreck his life. He was super cool all the way to the end of his life. He didn't seem to have any enemies or people that didn't like him. I've never run into someone that is not a fan of Bowie in some capacity. He was just an all around good guy for the most part. I'm sure he's made mistakes, but it was never really aired out in the media and who among us hasn't made mistakes.

David Bowie was an incredible artist and he will be missed. He's an influence to a countless number of people and will continue to influence people posthumously. Rest In Peace Mr. Bowie, you had a great life that was cut way, way too short. Enjoy making music with Freddie Mercury wherever the two of you are now.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: Influencers

SeedSing is filled with music lovers. We can not agree on who is the best band from the States. The Greatest American Band Debate will be a regular feature where we discuss and compare bands who started in the good old USA. If you have any suggestions of bands we should debate Contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

When  it comes to music, no one is completely unique.

Continuing our discussion on the website of the greatest American band, I want to focus on influential bands today. I'm not going to single out one specific band, I will give my readers many examples. The one problem I ran into doing research for this piece, it was hard to find American bands that were truly influential. It was easy to find bands from the UK that were influential. You can take Pink Floyd and see their influence on many current bands like Radiohead or Muse. You can take Led Zeppelin and see their influence on bands like the White Stripes and Black Keys. There's so many more from the UK that have influenced American bands. Doing further research, I found that these bands from the UK were influenced by American musicians, but not bands. Zeppelin and Cream were heavily influenced by guys like Robert Johnson and Son House. In fact, a lot of the UK musicians were very influenced by blues musicians from the 20's and 30's. So, like I said, it was tough, but with help from my father, we found a good number of influential American bands.

When we talked, the first band that came up was the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. If you listen to our most recent podcast, you know that's my dad's favorite band. What makes them so influential, they had great musicians playing great, rocking blues music. Their writing was top notch. You take a band like the Black Keys, and as much as Zeppelin influenced them, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was just as important to shaping their music. The same could be said for a band like Buffalo Springfield. This is another band that had great musicians and wrote great songs, and members of Buffalo Springfield would break away and do some really big things in the music industry. Stephen Stills and David Crosby were in Buffalo Springfield before they were Crosby, Stills and Nash. I love music that has distortion in it. It's my favorite effect on guitar. That's where a band like Ike Turner's Rockin 88's come into play. The story goes, while traveling, their amps fell off the car and were sliced. Ike and the band didn't know what to do or where to get new amps, so they used them. While playing, the guitar sounded gruff, but they all liked it. Distortion was born. Look at any number of rock bands, be it RATM or Soundgarden or Alabama Shakes, and you can hear how important distortion is to their music. Another, bigger band, Sly and the Family Stone, brought the concept of playing funky rock and roll, while having a big band feel. The way they injected horns and funk in their music reminds me a lot of what a band like Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears are doing right now. You can take bands like the Eagles and Three Dog Night and see the influence they have on bands that focus on the vocals and harmonies in their music. Take a band like the Killers and see how much the Eagles and Three Dog Night meant to them getting started in music. A band I never really listened to until my dad told me about and have recently listened to and kind of enjoy is ELO. They have a unique electric sound and most of their music is all instrumental. I can see how a band like Ratatat was influenced by ELO. Some of their songs sound identical. It's uncanny.

Even bands from the 80's have influenced current bands. Look at Blondie, they had a cute blonde girl as their lead singer, and a bunch of dudes begin her. Tell me Grace Potter and the Nocturnals weren't influenced by that. They have the exact same makeup to their band. The Talking Heads were this avant garde, take all kinds of risks kind of band. If you just listened to them, I bet you wouldn't be able to guess what they looked like. I look at someone like Har Mar Superstar and feel the same way. He and his band play funky, R&B music, but Har Mar looks exactly like Ron Jeremy. When I first heard him and the Talking Heads, I felt the same. I loved the music, but I had no idea what these musicians looked like. Devo had a big influence on electronic/rock music. They took big chances and hit home runs every time. I look at a current band like TV on the Radio and see they were heavily influenced by Devo. Aerosmith, with their accessible to all ages rock music reminds me a lot of the Foo Fighters. Even a band like Nirvana has influenced younger musicians. I look at Conor Oberst and I just know that he listened to a ton of Nirvana. His lyrics are almost as poetic as Kurt Cobain and just as sad sometimes.

So, there are a lot of influential American bands. You have to do some research, but you can see how influential a lot of the bands from the 60's and 70's are on current day musicians. Go check out some of the bands I've mentioned today and compare them to who you are currently listening too, it may surprise you.

Go out and seek older music too, you will see the influence, I promise you.

Ty (With a little help from his dad)

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the co-host of The X Millennial Man Podcast. The biggest musical influence in his life is Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.