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I’m currently working on a minimalistic syntax file for displaying LIMDEP code in TextPad. Of course, Limdep has this insane syntax, so this could prove interesting. Maybe I’ll eventually polish it up enough and distribute it.

Do you like punk, alternative rock, progressive rock, or just plain old rock and roll? Try these disks, either by well-established artists whose early work you should give a chance even if you don’t like them, or by new or generally unkown artists that you should become aquainted with. In the past I may have suggested the Pixies, or Placebo, or Mudhoney, or any one of numerous bands, but I think and hope people more or less know them by now, especially with a renewed interest in that period.

Green Day - Kerplunk
Everclear - World of Noise
Ok, F it. F it all. Yes, EVERCLEAR. Forget everything you know about them. This is Everclear before even Sparkle and Fade. This is Everclear of “the next Nirvana” Everclear. “Your Genious Hands” holds one of the best intros to any rock album ever, including Weezer’s blue album, and Green Day’s “Dookie.”

Black Lab - Your Body Beneath Me
Website, Wikipedia, MySpace
Paul Durham released Your Body Above Me waaaaaay back in 1997, a decade ago, but they never really broke. Of course, they never got support from anyone, which was sad. The album has a very progressive feel, and it was absolutely fabulous with every single song being strong enough to stand up to the next - check out my personal favorites, “Can’t Keep the Rain,” “Time Ago,” “Ten Million Years,” and “The Big Machine” in addition to the album’s single, “Wash it Away.” Black Lab has had numerous problems releasing material since their first album, but they finally put out a second in 2005, and are set to release their third any moment now.

Secret Machines - Now Here Is Nowhere
Yeah, these guys must have listened to a lot of the Stone Roses.
Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike
Patrick Wolf - Lycanthropy and Wind in the Wires
Filter - Short Bus
Local H - As Good As Dead

Harvey Danger - Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?
Website, Wikipedia, MySpace
In 1997, a decade ago, this little band released an album which blew up a year later or so with the one song anyone ever heard from them - “Flagpole Sitta” - but there was much more to the album. It’s a bit youthful inexperience, and just a little bit fun, but it has really stood out through time for me. Relatively poppy, almost every song is good, though I especially love “Jack the Lion,” a sort of resigned and regretful but celebratory piece. Also, “Old Hat,” “Problems and Bigger Ones,” and “Radio Silence” are just a kind of mellow afternoon indulgence of mine. They’ve had problems off and on getting things out, but just completed a work last year that is free and downloadable in MP3 or OGG format on their website.

Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
Website, Wikipedia, MySpace
It is quite a shame that after twelve years of riding at the highest pantheon of indie goddessness, the girls from Sleater-Kinney are calling it quits. Almost any one of their albums could be listed here, they’ve been one of the best undercelebrated bands of the past couple decades. Pretty punk, always much more than “just riot grrl,” this is the bank that, rightfully or not, the Village Voice easily calls “best rock band in the world” and no less than Rolling Stone declared them “the best American punk band ever. Really.” and the “best indie rock band” during the 90’s… and in Time, they’re “America’s Best Rock Band.” So, why The Woods? Well, it just… ROCKS. It’s the most mature album from a very talented group of musicians whom didn’t let maturity be a crutch, but were able to incorporate a still-raging rawness.

…to be fleshed out later.

Alright, let’s add an eleventh, as well, a new band that should get much more coverage if there is justice in the industry. (hah!)

Silversun Pickups - Carnavas