Hipster CD Collection: S

hipster CD collection
S

booze & grub

movies

Check out the CDs on Mr. Hipster's shelves.

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Sahara Hotnights
[sahara hotnights website]

Jennie Bomb

Saliva
[saliva website]

Back Into Your System

Every Six Seconds

Survival of the Sickest

Sammy

Tales of Great Neck Glory

Saturday Morning

Cartoon's Greatest Hits

Sausage

Riddles Are Abound Tonight

Saves the Day
[saves the day website]

Stay What You Are

Hailing from New Jersey, Saves the Day plays its brand of snotty post-punk/emo pop that is one part Green Day sneer and another part whiny Jeremy Enigk from Sunny Day Real Estate. No, they're not breaking any major ground here, but they don't completely suck either. The lead singer looks like he's about 14, so maybe once he moves of his mom's Jersey basement and gets a real job, his music will mature a little too. Until then, we appreciate the energy and hope that they lay off the Red Bull and downers.

Through Being Cool

Scarface
[scarface website]

The Fix

Scatterbrain

Here Comes Trouble

Scamboogery

Schleprock

America's Dirty Little Secret

School House Rocks!

Various Artists

School of Fish

School of Fish

Screaming Trees
[screaming trees website]

Anthology

Dust

Sweet Oblivion

Uncle Anesthesia

Seam
[seam website]

Are You Driving Me Crazy?

Sean Na Na
[sean na na website]

Dance 'Til Your Baby Is a Man

My Majesty

Return of the Unicorn

Seaweed
[seaweed website]

Four

Spanaway

Weak

Sebadoh
[sebadoh website]

Bakesale

Bubble & Scrape

Harmacy

The Sebadoh

Sebadoh III

Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock

Secret Machines
[secret machines website]

Now Where Is Nowhere

Sentridoh

The Original Losing Losers

MC Serch

Return of the Product

Ron Sexsmith
[ron sexsmith website]

Blue Boy

Other Songs

Ron Sexsmith

Shades Apart

Save It

Shelter

Mantra

Shiner

The Egg

The Shins
[the shins website]

Chutes Too Narrow

Don't let the cartoon crap on the cover fool you; this is no lightweight album. The Shins seem to have found that perfect balance of retro and modern on this album. I mean, shit, "Young Pilgrims" is one of my favorite songs of all time for no other reason than it's just simple and awesome. If you're ever going to gently introduce your Dave Matthews lovin' friends to cool music (not that there's any parallel), start with this poppy album filled with some of the best indie rock has to offer. It's amazing to me that this album didn't make these guys a household name, with its catchy 60's tunes tinged with hipster melody. I mean the smokin' hot Natalie Portman said that their songs (albeit from a different album and as a character in Garden State) would "change your life." If you can't trust a hot Harvard grad about music, I'm not sure what to do for you.

Oh, Inverted World

Wincing the Night Away

Shudder to Think
[shudder to think website]

Pony Express Record

These guys do kind of sound like they're having a stroke. The stuttering start/stop thing is jarring and angular and pretty freakin' cool. There are so many different kinds of music going on here; it's difficult to nail down an exact genre. There are churning guitars, elements of metal and jazz, but it's the lead vocals that really set this album apart. Lead singer, Craig Wedren, wails and whispers and wails again and does his best to put on a show. Given this album's breadth, amazing production quality and challenging approach to music writing, I'd say that this thing is actually an influential album that many may not know they are influenced by. This thing is a precursor to art rock bands and all those dramatic fun Canadian and Brooklyn bands that all of us love so much these days. If you're a fan of modern hipster music, pick this one up, and you'll see what I mean.

Silkworm
[silkworm website]

Developer

Firewater

What more can you ask for than catchy rock songs about drinking and falling down? Almost every song is about the sadness and debauchery of a gin-soaked life. There is even a shitting of the pants! But it's done in a wry, intelligent way, not a Party Hard! kind of way. Straight up rock n' roll at the bottom of a bottle never sounded so good. This album is a serious hidden gem.

Italian Platinum

It's as if nobody makes fuckin' rock 'n roll anymore. Okay, this isn't a completely accurate statement, but everything seems to fit into some niche. You got your KROCK rock (Hoobadrowningstaind), your emo, your nü metal, your alt-country rock, your garage rock revival, etc. Silkworm defies any of these categorizations. It can only be called "great music to get drunk by"--and we're talking longneck bottles of Bud here folks. They're one part Silver Jews, one part Dinosaur Jr., and another part some garage band that can write a melody. This is an awful comparison, and completely off, but I couldn't think of anything better. Helping them in their journey is producer Steve Albini, who does a better job than anybody out there making a band sound live and raw. Listening to this album through headphones is the perfect way to appreciate his amazing talent for making drums sound great (a tall order if you listen to most rock albums out there).

Silverchair
[silverchair website]

Frogstomp

Silver Jews
[silver jews website]

American Water

Bright Flight

Starlite Walker

Silver Scooter
[silver scooter website]

Blue Law

Orleans Parish

Other Palm Springs

Sincola

Crash Landing in Teen Heaven

Single Frame
[single frame website]

Wetheads Come Running

Singles

Soundtrack

Sir Mix-a-Lot

Mack Daddy

Size 14

Roni Size & Reprazent
[roni size & reprazent website]

In the Mode

New Forms

The Skeletones
[the skeletones website]

Dr. Bones

Skinnerbox

Demonstration

Skiploader

From Can Through String

Sleater-Kinney
[sleater-kinney website]

Call the Doctor

One Beat

Slick Rick

The Art of Storytelling

The Great Adventures of Slick Rick

Slint
[slint website]

Spiderland

Tweez

Slum Village
[slum village website]

Detroit Deli: A Taste of Detroit

Sly & the Family Stone
[sly & the family stone website]

Anthology

Small 23

True Zero Hook

Smart Went Crazy
[smart went crazy website]

Con Art

Now We're Even

The Smashing Pumpkins
[the smashing pumpkins website]

Adore

The Aeroplane Flies High (5 disk set)

Gish

MACHINA|the machines of God

Machina II: The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Pisces Iscariot

Siamese Dream

Smashmouth
[smashmouth website]

Fush Yu Mang

Elliott Smith
[elliot smith website]

Either/Or

Smith expands his sound a bit on this, his third album. Sure, nobody's going to confuse him with Brian Setzer or anything, but there is a lot more layering in each song, actually doubling the sound pastiche and adding more interesting flourishes to his relatively simple folk rock approach. His voice is still spider web thin and the melodies delicate as old lace, but the fleshed out sound gives him a little more oomph in the emotional department. Despite being a talented singer/songwriter, listening to too much Elliott Smith can certainly wear on your nerves. We're not talking about a Sleater-Kinney wear on your nerves type thing, but more like "I wanna slit my throat and light myself on fire" nonsense. I tend to waver on my feelings about Smith and this album, but overall, it's a solid outing and Smith's second best work--but put some space between listens if you value your sanity. It's also almost impossible to listen to this album and not think about Good Will Hunting and Smith's bizarre appearance on the Academy Awards along side Celine Dion and Trisha Yearwood--certainly one of the weirdest moments in rock history.

Elliott Smith

I guess we can call it the next logical step in the Pacific Northwest 's music scene: mope folk. I guess it's what you get when you take grunge, remove the testosterone rage, add even more heroin and unplug the amps. Elliott Smith, the gentle, pock-marked misfit who probably showers once a decade is the poster boy for this brand of twee rock that isn't afraid to use the word "fuck" and sing thinly veiled songs about intravenous drugs. It's clear from the outset that this is not a happy man we're dealing with here. He sounds precariously perched on the edge of the wagon--ready for any excuse to fall. There are some hints at his past involvement with Heatmiser, but the pop drive has been layered with delicately plucked acoustic guitars and subtle harmonies. The vision of Smith writing these tunes sitting on a bare mattress in a squalid, studio apartment is more than palpable. I have no idea if this is the case, of course, but one can't help but feel the lonely and claustrophobic dirtiness of the whole thing.

First let me say that I went to see a Smith show at Irving Plaza for the XO tour and have really never been so bored in my entire life. The man was lifeless and the crowd in a stupor. Maybe he was just having a bad night, or maybe I was. In either case, I barely stuck around for the non-existent encore and left feeling disappointed and just plain sad. The album XO, on the other hand, is a brighter affair than its predecessor both in terms of musicality and production. The opener, "Sweet Adeline," is a great song, and even includes crash symbols (a first for Smith). It's amazing what those Dreamworks dollars will do for you. Gone is the hiss between tracks. Gone is the intimate, down and dirty, replaced by a way more layered, swaying, chorus-laden approach. "Waltz #2" is a perfect example of his expanded, rich sound, which still works perfectly with the Elliott Smith folk rock base. For some bizarre reason, one of the tunes reminds me of The Monkees--granted it would be the drug-addicted Monkees--but the rest is laden with tunes that can only be described as Paul Simon, Brian Wilson and, honestly, Elliott Smith sounding stuff. This album is a way easier listen than anything that came before it in his catalogue, and stands, hands down, as his best album. It's as if he came out his cocoon and really put some effort into writing for other people, rather than just writing to curtail his own misery. Perhaps it's love? The title, XO, would lead us to believe this may be the case, but I'm sure it's actually some kind of veiled heroin reference. I'm sure there are some fans out there that are pissed as hell this guy would parlay his Good Will Hunting success into a major label deal, but who can blame the guy? This is a really good album, and a terrific part of the legacy he has left behind.

The Smiths
[the smiths website]

Louder Than Bombs

The Queen is Dead

Singles

The Smiths

Strangeways, Here We Come

Smog
[smog website]

Knock Knock

Sneaker Pimps
[sneaker pimps website]

Becoming X

Snoop Doggy Dog
[snoop doggy dog website]

Doggystyle

Soak

Soho

Goddess

Songs: Ohia
[songs:ohia website]

Axxess & Ace

The Lioness

Songs: Ohia

Sonic Youth
[sonic youth website]

Dirty

Sonic Nurse

Soul Asylum
[soul asylum website]

Grave Dancers Union

Soul Coughing
[soul coughing website]

El Oso

Irresistible Bliss

Ruby Vroom

Soul II Soul

Keep on Movin'

Souls
[souls website]

Bird Fish or Inbetween

Soundgarden
[soundgarden website]

Badmotorfinger

Superunknown

The Soundtrack of our Lives
[the soundtrack of our lives website]

Behind the Music

Space Monkeys

The Daddy of Them All

Sparklehorse
[sparklehorse website]

It's a Wonderful Life

Sparta
[sparta website]

Wiretap Scars

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
[the jon spencer blues explosion website]

Acme

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Now I Got Worry

Spin Doctors
[spin doctors website]

Pocket Full of Kryptonite

Spoon
[spoon website]

Girls Can Tell

Man those Austin boys can rock. Spoon were once the poster boys of post-punk rock, making straight rock n' roll that had both indie cred, great hooks and a lead singer that could melt even the coldest asshole's heart. Of course they signed with a major label. Of course they got screwed. It's such a shame, as their major label debut (and finale), Series of Sneaks, is an amazing record. This LP, their third, is less edgy and raw than their prior albums, but is oh so cool. Spoon's lead singer, Britt Daniels, has a voice like none other. His faux affected accent and smooth delivery meld perfectly with the music that is one part Elvis Costello and one part Pixies. Forget Zeppelin IV, this is the album to put on if you want the women to come crawling.

Kill the Moonlight

Loveways ep

A Series of Sneaks

Soft Effects ep

Telephono

Sprinkler

More Boy, Less Friend

Tobin Sprout
[tobin sprout website]

Carnival Boy

There's no mistaking this for anything else but a Guided by Voices solo project. Granted Tobin Sprout just doesn't have the swagger in his music that Bob Pollard does. His tunes are just a little more twee, a little more melodic, a little less obtusely pounding. He is the Beatles to Pollard's Stones. He doesn't want to be the microphone-swinging front man. He wants to be the singer songwriter who pens beautiful, timeless tunes through a blanket of fuzz. Despite their differences, it's their similarities that made Guided by Voices such an indie rock powerhouse. Like the balance of other bands with dual frontmen, earlier GBV benefited from the occasional change of pace brought on by Sprout. The issue for him, of course, was that it quickly became evident that it was Pollard's band, and that there wasn't enough room for two top bananas. So Sprout went off and wrote this quiet little album of pretty pop songs that sound a lot like tunes he most likely penned for GBV albums that never happened-or they happened, just without his contributions. This is actually a decent little album. Not stunning by any stretch, but it makes you wonder what would have happened if Sprout was allowed to spread his wings a little more inside of the band construct.

Let's Welcome the Circus People

Look I'm Pink Floyd or something. For his third solo album, Sprout returns to the whole kiddie-themed thing (circuses and carnivals, oh boy!) I'm not really sure if this guy just ran out of ideas, or was going for something different, but this album just runs out of steam about two tracks in. Seriously, he may have blown his load on his first two solo albums, after being stifled by Bob Pollard for all those years. His "I'll show him!" turned into an "Oh, crap, I'm out of ideas." There are actually a few embarrassing songs on here, like "Liquor Bag," which sounds like a duet with a drunk Tom Petty. And the rest of the album just kind of blends into itself and becomes a puddle of mush. Now I know how George Harrison must have felt.

Moonflower Plastic

Sprout's sophomore effort starts in outer space somewhere, with a hum that made me think my headphones had broken. The rest of the album just kind of settles into the post-Beatles thing and rides the wave of semi-nostalgia to its logical conclusion. Again, this album isn't bad, but it lacks something that I can't quite put my finger on. Ooh, I got it: hooks. The guy can write a nice tune, and really has a nice aesthetic, but he just seems to swerve when he's about to hit the mark. So instead of being classic, it's just nice. Toe-tapping? Sure. Head bobbing? Not so much. There are times where you just want to grab the amp and crank it for him, add some crackle to his pop. So we have a nice collection of pop songs, the energy of which ebbs and flows a little too much, but makes for an overall pleasant record of relatively memorable tunes that make an impression, but not much impact.

The Standard
[the standard website]

Wire Post to Wire

Starlight Mints
[starlight mints website]

Built on Squares

The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of

Drowaton

Stars

Nightsongs LP

Stellastarr*
[stellastarr* website]

Stellastarr*

The Stills
[the stills website]

Logic Will Break Your Heart

The Stinky Puffs
[the stinky puffs website]

A Little Tiny Smelly Bit of. . .

Stone Temple Pilots
[stone temple pilots website]

Core

The minute the first chord burst forth on "Dead and Bloated," we knew we were in the height of grunge glory. Pumping this in a nasty fraternity room strewn with tapestries, spilled bong water and rotten Chinese food hiding in every nook and cranny just felt right. Sure parts of this album are kind of paint-by-numbers 1992 rock 'n' roll, but if you turn the stereo as loud as it'll go, it still f'n rocked. Plus, there was just something about Scott Weiland that you had to love. I never really understood the Pearl Jam comparisons, but then PJ was every frat boy's dream band back in the day and nobody sounded quite like them. I mean who didn't sing along with "Creep" and/or "Plush" at least once a week? Oh, maybe that was just me. There are some real gems here (the aforementioned among them), but it's going to take them some time to find a real identity.

No. 4

What a title! Yes, it is STP's fourth album. I skipped that Tiny Music thing (I think that's the album they went disco or lounge or something). Now they've turned into a heavier version of Shudder to Think--at least on some songs. Others they just sound like a straight-ahead hard rock band. To me it feels like they've lost some of their personality here, and have gotten stuck in some weird grunge circle. They're trying to essentially make grunge music, but have taken out all of the grunge. So they just end up sounding kind of like a generic band. This signaled the official official divorce between me and STP. Sorry, dudes, it's you not me.

Purple

This thing got so damaged in college, that I've been unable to play it or rip it to my iPod. I must have played "Big Empty" at least one million times before the CD pooped out on me. I still consider it one of the best pop rock songs ever. I will play it on any jukebox I find it on. "Interstate Love Song" is also really good, and makes the second of about four decent songs on the album. Unlike today's records, it was okay back in the day to have four legit bangers and then an album full of filler. This fulfills the requisite number of really good songs, and has two defining songs of the age that makes it an almost classic.

Stonesour
[stonesour website]