The sharp staff at SoulBounce is kicking against this type of mindset with an R&B countdown of their own. They are going by their favorites, so the odds are pretty strong that the Top Ten will not be filled out with ’60s classics like “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” and “Respect.” Even if it does turn out that way, you can bet the entries will not toss around adjectives like “authentic” and “worthy” as a way to disregard almost everything produced during the following decades. The entries thus far are from the ’80s and ’90s, and you can bet the picks from the past few years won’t be limited to big crossover hits like “Say My Name,” “Fallin’,” “Yeah!,” and “Crazy in Love.” Only six songs in, it is shaping up to what could be the greatest music list in the history of the Internet. If Loose Ends’ “Hangin’ on a String (Contemplating)” (YouTube) places somewhere in the Top 20, its stature will be indisputable.

Like Vancouver’s Young and Sexy doing a simply lovely cover of Big Star’s “Thirteen”.

Elsewhere you can hear the ultra-twee Bicycles ripping through a ramshackle “B-B-Bicycles”, thrill to the wild sound of the Golden Dogs in concert or discover the power pop glory of the Pointed Sticks from a 1979 (!) session.

And as if that wasn’t enough, they also have sessions by bands and artists from other lesser areas of the world like the U.S. and U.K. Stephen Malkmus, Sufjan Stevens and Andrew W.K. are some of the big names but a careful trawl will find all kinds of pleasant surprises. Like an epic length version of “Impossible” by the Shout Out Louds recorded at this year’s SXSW.

If the hipster audience likes their title and votes “yes”, the winning celeb gets a crisp $20 bill and the painting is named. It’ll help if you know a little something about the visual arts, since art critics and fellow painters are frequent guests, but the latest Title This is a good example of how important music is to the show. A Kostabi piano performance provides the opening theme and one of the panelists is former Interview magazine music critic Glenn O’Brien. There’s also a performance from Tony Middleton, member of the doo-wop group the Willows who had a hit in 1956 with “Church Bells May Ring”. The show ends with a performance from the totally unrelated Willowz, who are in this case the garage punkers that often work with producer Paul Kostabi, Mark’s brother. Previous guests from the world of music include Sex Pistol Glen Matlock, Blue Oyster Cult drummer Albert Bouchard, Village People cowboy Randy Jones, and avant jazz legend Ornette Coleman who performed a duet with Kostabi on the great The Earth Doesn’t Fall episode. The show began life as Name That Painting, and was briefly called Paint That Naming before Title This was settled upon in order to keep the lawyers at Name That Tune happy. Kostabi’s website archives it all, making hours of surreal local access madness available for clicking.

For a taste, here’s the Willowz bringing down the house:

Fagen explains his importance to music and opines on what the native of the Clarksdale, Mississippi area (also home to Robert Johnson) may have asked the devil for down at the crossroads. Fagen’s guess?: “Organization!”

“His employers included the Bihari brothers at Modern Records, the Chess brothers in Chicago, and a host of tough club owners. They didn’t like to fool around with their money. Ike had to be at that session on time, he had to book those gigs, make sure the band’s suits were pressed, and that they rolled in to the next town ready to play.”

While the vinyl itself is of serious stature in terms of Q-control, the graphics are given equal attention. But Sundazed has taken a giant leap of faith in the renewed public interest in 7″ and 12″ liquorice pizzas for the Christmas season. On their homepage, Sundazed is offering an entry-level audiophile turntable for a great price. However, the price is only part of the deal. Along with the purchase of this mighty well-reviewed spin box, you can score a free set of three LPs! It’s no gimmick. Sundazed LPs retail for about $16.98 and the table they are offering (WAY suave-looking to boot) retails pretty much anywhere for the asking price in the offer. Go here and scroll down the right hand side of the page to find out more. (Psst: When you get there, click on the turntable.)

One of the best informational links is to a December 1981 British radio interview with the band, circa Damaged, preserved in streaming audio.

Another is an outrageous 1984 fanzine interview (originally published in Last Rites, issue seven) with Rollins, where he’s quoted:

L.R.: Why do you think your writing has changed since you first joined Black Flag?
Henry: I see things quite differently than I did 3 years ago. Let’s just say what I want for Christmas has changed and these days, I’d like to have a .357 gun and I’d just–go BANG!!!!!!
L.R.: Meaning, you are getting tired of people.
Henry: Yep, very much. Very cruel, very disgusting, very nasty animals human beings are. I’m really hoping someone’s going to do it right and drop the bomb so we can. . . . . hopefully, I won’t be around. I want to be one of the first to go. I want to take [the] Taxi Driver dream about 20 thousand steps further and just wipe it all out.

Also, there’s a colorful Halloween 1984 live review (originally published in Tropical Depression, issue four), where guitarist Greg Ginn is described as being “a true kamikaze psychopath, wrenching out a broken chord death noise that lands on your face like a jet plane” and Rollins is described as “stalking the stage like a wildcat, pounding the mike into his gyrating body.” The show’s finale is described like this:

The set ended with the manic depressive “Nothing Left Inside” (talk about an anti climax) where Greg scratches a trancelike, mantra riff while Henry unleashes his 24 years of pain & agony, screaming & moaning, making you suffer right along with him. There is no escape. After depleting his emotional cargo, he exits as the guitar strangles to a close. Total dumbfounded silence. Realizing the band has vacated the stage a few patrons pick their chins off the floor and attempt applause.

It’s fitting that Threadless would make a shirt celebrating eclectic music styles, since the site knows a thing or two about supporting artists that make music off the beaten path — although maybe not as far off the beaten path as “Underground Yodeling” is. Threadless holds design contests inspired by musicians such as Ferraby Lionheart, Cornelius, Ted Leo, and even the music book series 33 1/3. The current contest is inspired by Matthew Dear’s song “Good to Be Alive.” Check out the rules, entries and an MP3 of the song here.