Without going into too much detail, I (pictured above, natch) am a New York City based graphic designer who works with both web and print. I have a degree in Communication Design from NSCAD. I like rainy days (good thing since we've had a lot of these lately) and long walks on the beach. OK, not really. I will add more to this later - promise. Check out my resume for more details.

So I'm sitting here listening to music while scanning press clippings for a client project. It seems I've been thinking in lists lately. I'm compelled to share some of my favorite rock bits.

Of course, now you're thinking, why am I reading this? I thought this guy wrote about design... well, I do - just not now. As I get further into some of my upcoming work I'm sure I'll have something meaningful to say, but in the silly season it's tough to find real news anywhere. You have been warned.

5 Great Rock Music Moments on my iPod.

1. The Sex Pistols Bodies

fuck this and fuck that
fuck it all and fuck the
fucking brat

Harsh. The thing about the Pistols is that it's just so visceral, and in fact Never Mind the Bollocks is a deadly rock album in spite of their reputation for sloppiness - probably because it was recorded pre-Sid. It's raw like an open sore even today - imagine how I felt when I first started listening to it in 1985 (a little after the fact, but hey.) The guitars on EMI have peeled all the skin from my ears. Ouch!

2. Gang of Four Entertainment

I gave the Pistols honorary first place just because, but I think Entertainment is my favorite. rock. album. ever. It's sharp-edged, discordant punk rock with an abstract lyric pastiche on top. It's so earnest, which is a lot of what makes it interesting, on top of rocking so hard - in a spare, antiseptic manner. It's the aural equivalent of Joy Division's Ian Curtis and his jerky dancing that Joy Division couldn't manage musically. Best bit: Jon King repeating "This heaven gives me migraine" at the end of Natural's Not in It.

3. Wire Pink Flag

Yet another antiseptic English masterpiece, even if it doesn't quite get as musically sophisticated as Entertainment. It's more art-rock and thus more abstract - although I prefer the previous song Ex-Lion Tamer overall, the bizarre equations of lowdown are intriguing:

Another cigarette, another day, from A to B, again avoiding C, D, and E, 'cos E is where you play the blues. Avoiding a death is to win the game, to avoid relegation, the big E.

4. Iggy and the Stooges Raw Power

What can you say? Just another absolutely essential record. If you have not heard Raw Power, you don't know what rock is - and for homework you can read A program for mass liberation in the form of a Stooges review. Or, who's the fool?" by Lester Bangs. Technically it's a review of Funhouse, their previous album, but it'll give you the idea. The key to true appreciation of Raw Power lies in knowing just how bad it sounded before it's 1997 re-release and re-master - imagine 4 junkies in a studio trying to record a record on their own - David Bowie was called in to try and save it, but made it worse by all accounts - which doesn't surprise me.

5. Dead Kennedys Plastic Surgery Disasters

Listening to the Kennedys can be amusing these days if only because it seems positively antiquated - Preppies? Ronald Reagan? WTF? Frankly, their leftie politico meets demented clown act is sorely missed these days when it seems all that 'punk bands' can sing about is how they feel. Side One (yes, I used to listen to it on vinyl) is absolutely relentless, from Government Flu to the classic Halloween. The lyrics crack me up too - check 'em out.

No junk food, just earthly goods
I ate weird berries in the woods
Now I'm seeing colors, I'm getting higher
I think I'll start a forest fire

If their California actually existed, it'd be a place I'd want to live. Maybe.

Oh well. Back to scanning - have I mentioned how badly HP's OS X drivers suck? Hit the comments if you have your own favorite music to share - I've left a lot off the list, but that's the nature of them, ain't it?