The first and only time I saw Grandaddy was as the opening band on the first U.S. Coldplay tour. While Coldplay were great (this was before Chris Martin made a career of writing on his hands), the real treat was Grandaddy. Music that was beautiful, filled with soul and passion that mesmerized the audience. When we learned that Jason Lytle has partnered with Earlimart’s Aaron Espinoza (another of our favorite bands) to form Admiral Radley, we expected magic. Their first album, “I Heart California” (released on iTunes on July 1st!) surpasses our lofty expectations. Jason remains one of the great American songwriters and his voice on this album continues to provide chills. We were fortunate to get Jason to spend a little time with us to talk about his time with Grandaddy, the music industry and trips to the salad bar.

TDOA: Jason, press articles reviewing Admiral Radley talk about how you “disappeared” for a while after Grandaddy broke up. Did you make a conscious decision to distance yourself from the music scene and if so, why?

JL: Yes. I seemed to have lost my appreciation for the business, promotional, and professional pressures that had managed to saturate my life. They came close to snuffing out my love for music all together. I left my hometown, and moved to the mountains. Montana, that is.

TDOA: How did you and Aaron connect and make the decision to form a band together?

JL: To tell you the truth, we had zero intention of forming a band. We just wanted to make an EP under “Earlidaddy”. All of a sudden the EP became an album’s worth of music and we both agreed that the name “Earlidaddy” stunk. Then we realized we wanted to sell some copies of this thing, and a few magical things happened, and Admiral Radley became the band’s name.

TDOA: I would think that each of you had a “process” for writing songs in your respective bands. Can you talk about how the songs on the new record were written? Lots of sending tracks back and forth to each other via email?

JL: 65% face to face in the studio collaboration, and 35% long distance file sharing. we both welcomed the fact that we were getting out of our comfort zones, in terms of writing and recording.

TDOA: I believe the first Admiral Radley show was played here at the Granada in Dallas. Can you talk about that first show, being on stage with a new group of people?

JL: We had rehearsed in LA for 5 days. Then we drove for two days straight to Dallas. We were cramped up and tired, so naturally we killed it! We had fun.

TDOA: The album is filled with the same kind of beautiful songs I would expect from an Earlimart/Grandaddy collaboration. And then there’s “I’m All Fucked On Beer” which will throw everyone off the trail. What made you decide to include this song that sounds so different from the rest?

JL: Aaron Espinoza has to take credit for this gem. I think he may have noticed that he had a lot of pretty songs, while I was racking up a few lighter weight songs, so he busted out this one to even things out a bit. Or that’s my theory.

TDOA: You’re releasing a “deluxe edition” of the new album which has some pretty nifty add-ons. Who came up with idea and is this what bands have to do in the age of downloading?

JL: It was a pretty collective decision, and yes….. there was definitely some thought put into making it more alluring than an easy “click of the button”. We are quite happy to make the product packed with as much care and personality as we can. I feel Grandaddy and Earlimart have always taken this thoughtful stance on album making.

TDOA: Will you do any videos for the songs on this record and how do you feel about making videos in general?

JL: Yes there will be videos, and there will be visuals, and they will probably be funny.

TDOA: Do you play Earlimart and Grandaddy songs at Admiral Radley shows?

JL: As of now we do not. But, there are talks about slyly integrating certain songs of each band’s into the set lists.

TDOA: What are you plans for the rest of 2010?

JL: Lots of travel. When I’m not traveling for music, I will be in the mountains, on my bike, on my skateboard, at a campsite, in my studio, maybe mowing the lawn, or paying some bills, or at a salad bar somewhere. That’s about it.

For more information about the band, visit their website here.
Purchase the single “Ghost of Syllables” on iTunes.

As we progress down our path of the loveliest music of the decade, we’ll give you a bit more detail on the records we’ve chosen. While we were infatuated with numbers 31-40 (which you can read here), we’re ready to go to battle over every selection from 1 to 30. Not a bad song on any of these albums, if you ask us. You can listen to the entire album of each of these by registering with Lala.com…. but you knew that, right? While we don’t claim this to be a defining document of merit, we think you’ll find this list worthy of debate and perhaps will steer you to a record that you hadn’t heard before.

You can view our picks for 31 thru 40 here.

30) Fujiya & Miyagi- Transparent Things (2006)
Recommended Track: Sucker Punch
Why We Like It: Quite frankly, we’re not big fans of the kraut rock genre which many critics pigeon-hole this band into and think the reference does them a disservice. We think of this as electronic music for analog people. Coupled with the great vocals of David Best, this album has more soul than any other release of the decade.

29) Sarah Harmer- All of Our Names (2004)
Recommended Track: Greeting Card Aisle
Why We Like It: Every single element of this record is gorgeous. Categorized as Adult Alternative by people to stupid to hear its’ genius, it mixes Sarah’s beautiful vocals with guitar parts that harmonize so well, it’ll give you goosebumps. She plays guitars, bass and drums which account for the perfect syncopation of these beautifully complex songs.

28) Robbers On High Street- Tree City (2005)
Recommended Track: Japanese Girls
Why We Like It: An album filled with perfectly crafted pop songs will always make our top albums list. Erroneously lumped with bands like The Strokes and Interpol, this band is less concerned with looking cool and more concerned with making complex melodies that would make the Paul’s (McCartney and Weller) proud.

27) Interpol- Our Love To Admire (2007)
Recommended Track: The Heinrich Maneuver
Why We Like It: Interpol were a key part of the Joy Division revival in this decade. But to think of them merely in those terms, would be to do yourself a disservice. Sam Fogarino proved himself to be one of the most interesting drummers in rock in the 00′s. Rhythms that didn’t just follow the beat in traditional rock fashion, they pushed and pulled the music in ways that left you feeling out of balance and euphoric simultaneously. Couple that with Daniel Kessler’s incredible ability to write riffs that sound so simple, but are unlike any other guitarist in rock. This, their third album helped ease the pain of a sophomore slump and re-established them as one of the best bands of the decade.

26) Franz Ferdinand- S/T (2004)
Recommended Track: Take Me Out
Why We Like It: Another band who’s meteoric rise and fall tell you more about the hypocrisy of the music business, than about actual talent. As Interpol broke and it became unfashionable to be happy, FF reminded us that music can be fun and playful.

25) The Walkmen- Bows + Arrows (2004)
Recommended Track: The Rat
Why We Like It: Drunken, sloppy sounding music that helped re-establish the importance of emotion in music. Where the 90′s were largely a happy era, musically The Walkmen showed us that angst can be melodic and beautiful.

24) Nine Black Alps- Everything Is (2005)
Recommended Track: Get Your Guns
Why We Like It: When this album came out, we considered it a guilty pleasure. In retrospect, it stands up as a sole vote for the continuation of grunge in the new millennium. Equal parts Sub Pop circa Nirvana and Swervedriver, this group was great at what it did and were a welcome respite from the Creed, Train grunge-dreck that was contributing to the dumbing….
To read our interview with NBA, click here.

23) Grandaddy- The Sophtware Slump (2000)
Recommended Track: The Crystal Lake
Why We Like It: Had they not gotten in their own way, Grandaddy could have easily ruled the world throughout the decade. With keyboards that referenced Phillip Glass and vocal/guitar stylings that echoed a more stoned version of Pavement, they crafted beautiful songs that could reduce you to tears.

22) The Boxer Rebellion- Union (2009)
Recommended Track: Evacuate
Why We Like It: If U2 still had to live from paycheck to paycheck, this is how they’d sound. TBR has the ability to sound epic and fragile within the same song. Alternately blood-thirsty and dreamy, this second album for the group was self-released by the band on iTunes, where it promptly went to #1 on the Alternative charts in the U.S. and U.K.. The best band that nobody seems to know about.
To read our interview with TBR, click here.

21) Coldplay- Parachutes (2000)
Recommended Track: Shiver
Why We Like It: Because we wanted to draw a big bulls-eye on our back? In fact, we would argue that when The Verve broke up, Coldplay attempted to fill the void by using their dreamy soundscapes. The imagery on this record is dark and abrasive, far from the delusions of grandeur that they exhibited in future albums. A great example of a band that all the ‘cool kids’ embraced initially and now refuse to admit that they like them. We’re sticking to our guns and saying that this first album was brilliant. After that…

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