Top 100 Favorite Bands

When I was younger, I used to spend days creating Top 100 lists of my favorite bands, using various criteria to determine what order to put them in. Eventually this task became so overwhelming that I gave it up.

About a year ago I decided to give it another go, but I wanted to use the iTunes song ratings as a prime factor in my ranking formula. So I've slowly been working my way through all my music, awarding each song a score from 1 to 5. I should mention that for me, a score of 1 is an average song. Anything that is below average I delete. I do not keep every song from a band or album, simply to maintain a complete collection.

I'd estimate that 75% of my music is comprised of songs rated 1 or 2. Another 20% are 3's, and the remaining 5% are 4 and 5. I created a simple formula to determine each band's score. It is as follows: (A+B) x C = D

A = Sum total of all song ratings from a band/artist
B = Total number of tracks I own from a band/artist
C = Hours of music I own from a band/artist
D = Band/artist score

I realize this penalizes bands which have music I have been unable to acquire yet. As I continue to add music to my iTunes, I will update this list. As it stands now, this is simply a snapshot of my favorite bands based on the amount of their music I choose to keep and listen to on a regular basis.

I welcome all comments and/or angry rants about why your favorite band ranks so low or is off my list entirely. I plan to do a later post on my favorite albums, ranked in order.

1. Beck
2. PJ Harvey
3. Elliott Smith
4. Sufjan Stevens
5. Brian Jonestown Massacre
6. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
7. Beastie Boys
8. Nine Inch Nails
9. White Stripes
10. Dandy Warhols
11. Nirvana
12. Apples In Stereo
13. Black Keys
14. Avett Brothers
15. Jesus & Mary Chain
16. Smashing Pumpkins
17. Radiohead
18. Kristin Hersh
19. Gossip
20. Portugal. The Man
21. Decemberists
22. Of Montreal
23. Belle & Sebastian
24. Marilyn Manson
25. Delinquent Habits
26. Doors
27. Sleater-Kinney
28. Morcheeba
29. Jack Johnson
30. Pixies
31. Black Sabbath
32. Blitzen Trapper
33. Mindless Self Indulgence
34. Prodigy
35. Queens Of The Stone Age
36. Spoon
37. Beulah
38. Tricky
39. Franz Ferdinand
40. Led Zeppelin
41. Cold War Kids
42. Offspring
43. Incubus
44. Travis
45. Cure
46. Smiths
47. Cat Power
48. Devendra Banhart
49. Shins
50. Death Cab For Cutie
51. Okkervil River
52. Depeche Mode
53. Muse
54. Tool
55. Morrissey
56. Portishead
57. New Pornographers
58. Cuff The Duke
59. Supergrass
60. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
61. Mazzy Star
62. Fruit Bats
63. Beatles
64. System Of A Down
65. Throwing Muses
66. Rage Against The Machine
67. Kills
68. Alela Diane
69. Strokes
70. City And Colour
71. Snow Patrol
72. Feist
73. Death From Above 1979
74. Coldplay
75. U2
76. Red Hot Chili Peppers
77. Rogue Wave
78. Nada Surf
79. Rolling Stones
80. Fiona Apple
81. Cult
82. Badly Drawn Boy
83. Band Of Horses
84. Ben Folds (Five)
85. Page France
86. Matt Pond PA
87. No Doubt
88. Thievery Corporation
89. Wolfmother
90. Dr. Dog
91. White Denim
92. Hives
93. My Morning Jacket
94. Breeders
95. Voxtrot
96. Belly
97. Iron & Wine
98. Brendan Benson
99. DeVotchKa
100. David Bowie

Hachioji Summer Festival Part 2

Ladypower

What's the word for a portion bigger than a dollop? That's how much butter Kuniko likes on her potatoes.

Holding something in your outstretched hand for long periods of time is an ancient Japanese torture technique.

I love this couple.

I'd never seen a two seated Jazzy until now. 

As far as street food goes, this Okonomiyaki was tops. 

Illuminated parade wagons at dusk. 

Kuniko and I at the end of the night. 

Hachioji Summer Festival Part 1

Kuniko and I went to the Hachioji Summer Festival last weekend. Fantastic people watching opportunity. I took a lot of photos of other festival goers. These are my favorites.

They had a never-ending parade of shrines, dancers, musicians, etc. I really liked how enthusiastic this fellow was.

Japanese kids are adorable. 

An excellent Japanese beard.

Old Japanese men are my favorite subjects to photograph.

It's mandatory to raise the peace sign in Japan when posing for a picture. 

This picture makes me laugh.

This is the one time of year when pants are optional. 

Summer Party

I attended a summer party at the Yu's last weekend. There was a lot of Chinese dishes to sample. I even made a version of my salsa--no jalapenos in Japan that I can find.

Gyoza making

The finished product

They told me that fermented eggs are sliced up with dental floss to avoid it sticking to a knife.

A fermented egg, tofu, and green onion salad. I was seriously skeeved out by the eggs, but they weren't bad.

Pig ear and cucumber salad. I've had pig's ear a number of ways, and none of them have been good. 

Grilles cow tongue and other meats

This was my first encounter with bitter melon. I find it hard to believe that ANYONE can enjoy the taste of that vegetable. Vile stuff. The slices of clam were good though.

Broiled fish

Watching a firework show that went on for over an hour!

Packed Nishi-Hachioji train station after.