What five albums or singles are in heavy rotation for you now?

1. The Format's "Dog Problems": I really like this record. It reminds me of indie rock meets Fleetwood Mac. The melodies are so catchy. Songs 3 and 4 on this album are key! I got this album last week and haven't been able to stop listening to it.
2. Shiny Toy Guns' "We Are Pilots": They do the new electronic thing very well. Good sounds and great songs. We played a show with them in Baltimore on the last tour and I dug how they traded instruments depending on whom was singing the song.
3. Chopin's "Sonata for Piano in B-Flat Minor": The third act. The funeral march. The music is so dark and moody, and then it goes to this really quiet delicate section. This music doesn't depress me. I think it is really beautiful.
4. Stolen Babies' "There Be Squabbles Ahead": When Gil started filling in for Travis on this tour, he gave me their CD, and it is incredible. The songs are supertheatrical, with so many different things going on. Based around guitar, drums and bass, there are also violins, piano, tuba, trumpets and keyboards throughout the album. You have to hear it.
5. Danger Doom's "The Mouse and the Mask": Yes, I know this record has been out for a long time. I just can't stop listening to it. The beats and rhymes are amazing. Two of my favorite artists together on one CD? Yes, please.

What one song or album can you always listen to and how did you find it?
I can always listen to the Cure's "Disintegration." The songs are so lush and rich. This album was the soundtrack of my life for a solid year. I could fall asleep listening to it for the rest of my life.

What was the first record you ever bought and do you still have it??
The first album I ever bought with my own money was on my 10th birthday, and it was Michael Jackson's "Thriller." I had just gotten a Walkman cassette player, and my grandparents gave me some money as a birthday present. I went to the record store near my house and bought it.

What was the first live show you ever saw?
They Might Be Giants at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., on my 16th birthday. It was the first show I had ever seen, and I remember feeling very awkward that there were all these people smoking, and I had never smoked. So my friends and I bought a pack of Marlboro Menthols, sat in a corner and tried to act cool and aloof. The show was amazing.

What was the best live show you ever saw?
Sonic Youth, with Nirvana opening, Hollywood Palladium, 1989, I think. So rad. I was right up front. I got a guitar pick from Sonic Youth and one of Kurt Cobain's broken guitar strings. Onstage, Kurt was saying, "Hey, please go check out our new album; it is called 'Bleach.'" That is how old school I am ... my ears rung for a week afterward.

Do you have any guilty pleasures you'd care to reveal?
I don't feel guilty about any of the music that I listen to. If I like it, I like it, and I don't apologize for the songs on my iPod.

Discuss | Find out what other artists are listening to