{"id":5488,"date":"2025-09-26T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/5-albums-i-cant-live-without-x-ambassadors\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T14:00:00","slug":"5-albums-i-cant-live-without-x-ambassadors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/5-albums-i-cant-live-without-x-ambassadors\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Albums I Can\u2019t Live Without:\u00a0X Ambassadors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/X-Ambassadors-Press-Photo-scaled-e1758726393320.jpg\" width=\"1290\" height=\"965\" alt=\"X Ambassadors. (Credit: Ethan Glanger)\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/09\/deep-cut-friday-push-by-the-cure\/\">Deep Cut Friday: \u2018Push\u2019 by the Cure<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/09\/new-butthole-surfers-documentary-cements-the-psych-punk-heroes-experimental-legacy\/\">New Butthole Surfers Documentary Cements the Psych-Punk Heroes\u2019 Experimental Legacy<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/09\/stagecoach-festival-lineup\/\">Post Malone, Lainey Wilson Pull Up For Stagecoach Fest<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Name\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>X Ambassadors (Intro completed by Sam Nelson Harris)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best known for\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>My moustache.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Current city<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Really want to be in\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>A cabin in the woods learning how to be a cobbler or some shit because the entertainment industry is sooo wacky and I often wanna run away from it all. (But who am I kidding? I\u2019d last three days out there and then come running back).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Excited about\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>VHS(X)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/xambassadors.com\/tour\/\" target=\"_blank\">10-year anniversary tour<\/a>, and then getting back to finishing up our new (5th!) album.<\/p>\n<p><strong>My current music collection has a lot of\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019ve been listening to a lot of rap (Benny the Butcher, Westside Gunn, JID), and classical (Gustav Holst\u2019s\u00a0<em>The Planets<\/em>). Just about anything that takes me as far away from the genre I tend to write in.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And a little bit of\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Pop Country\u2014A LOT of, actually. I love Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson the most right now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Preferred format<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0I love the ritual of putting on a Vinyl and because most everything sounds good on Vinyl, BUT\u2026 I think right now I\u2019m a bigger CD guy. It\u2019s nostalgic for me as a mid-millenial and I also just love how good and consistent the quality is.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<lite-youtube videoid=\"InJdbEbZuHw\" style=\"bottom: 0; height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; width: 100%; max-width:100%;\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-from-sam-nelson-harris-vocalist\"><strong><u>From Sam Nelson Harris (vocalist)<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1\">1<\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-nebraska-bruce-springsteen\"><strong><em>Nebraska<\/em>, Bruce Springsteen<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1274\" height=\"1234\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/In-Rainbows-Radiohead.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-473542\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/In-Rainbows-Radiohead.png 1274w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/In-Rainbows-Radiohead-340x329.png 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/In-Rainbows-Radiohead-768x744.png 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/In-Rainbows-Radiohead-498x482.png 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1274px) 100vw, 1274px\"><\/figure>\n<p>This is by far my favorite album of all time. I wasn\u2019t really a fan of Bruce\u2019s until I heard Atlantic City\u2014in that instant, the second that chorus hit, everything made sense to me about him. I was immediately as hardcore, die-hard of a Springsteen fan as you could find. There\u2019s both an uncanny poetry and a grounded realism to his writing that is so egalitarian and human. I can genuinely feel that not only is he diving deep into himself but also reaching out to all of us, trying to build some sort of bridge between us. It\u2019s what makes him one of the greatest to ever do it, and is the blueprint for me of what a really good song \/ album has the power to do.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2\">2<\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-in-rainbows-radiohead\"><strong><em>In Rainbows<\/em>, Radiohead<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1290\" height=\"1290\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/In-Rainbows-Radiohead-1290x1290.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-473539\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/In-Rainbows-Radiohead-1290x1290.jpg 1290w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/In-Rainbows-Radiohead-340x340.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/In-Rainbows-Radiohead-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/In-Rainbows-Radiohead-498x498.jpg 498w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/In-Rainbows-Radiohead.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1290px) 100vw, 1290px\"><\/figure>\n<p>There are some albums you\u2019ll never forget where you were and how you felt listening to it. I was in my apartment in Bushwick on my computer, and somewhere, somehow, read an article about a \u201cpay-what-you-want Radiohead album.\u201d Like a rabid animal I raced to the website, paid $0 for it (sorry Radiohead), and started listening. \u201c15 Step\u201d had me on the edge of my seat the whole time, and when the riff from \u201cBodysnatchers\u201d started, I remember I literally jumped up out of my seat and started yelling, \u201cHOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT!!!!\u201d I sat and listened all the way through, then put it on my iPod, went for a long walk and listening to the whole thing again. Every year I go back and find a new song from that album to obsess over, but my favorite will always be \u201cAll I Need.\u201d It\u2019s Thom at his most genuine, pure, and un-obscured vocally and lyrically. I always think about the painting \u201cChristina\u2019s World\u201d by Andrew Wyeth when I hear that song: \u201cI\u2019m in the middle of your picture \/ lying in the reeds.\u201d It\u2019s a tortured love song about an imbalanced relationship, he\u2019s always pining for them, but they couldn\u2019t give a shit about him. Which\u2026 I mean, I think we\u2019ve all been there.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-from-casey-harris-keyboardist\"><b style=\"font-family: Calibri; white-space: normal;\"><u><span style=\"font-family: Arial;\">From Casey Harris (keyboardist)<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3\">3<\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-blow-by-blow-jeff-beck\"><em>Blow by Blow<\/em>, Jeff Beck<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1272\" height=\"1230\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/Blow-By-Blow-Jeff-Beck.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-473555\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/Blow-By-Blow-Jeff-Beck.png 1272w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/Blow-By-Blow-Jeff-Beck-340x329.png 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/Blow-By-Blow-Jeff-Beck-768x743.png 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/Blow-By-Blow-Jeff-Beck-498x482.png 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1272px) 100vw, 1272px\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri; white-space: normal;\">\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri; white-space: normal;\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri; white-space: normal;\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri; white-space: normal;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;\">I have always loved instrumental music, but this was the first album I\u2019d ever listened to, that wasn\u2019t a soundtrack of some kind, and was captivating from start to finish. It\u2019s been one of my favorites ever since I discovered it at age 16. I can honestly say that it was this record which inspired me to learn to improvise and actually practice piano until I felt I could play like these guys. I\u2019m still trying!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-4\">4<\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-manic-meat-tobacco\"><em>Manic Meat<\/em>, Tobacco<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1290\" height=\"1215\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/Maniac-Meat-Tobacco-1290x1215.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-473558\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/Maniac-Meat-Tobacco-1290x1215.png 1290w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/Maniac-Meat-Tobacco-340x320.png 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/Maniac-Meat-Tobacco-768x723.png 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/Maniac-Meat-Tobacco-498x469.png 498w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/Maniac-Meat-Tobacco.png 1308w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1290px) 100vw, 1290px\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri; white-space: normal;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;\">I learned to play piano as a kid, and I was mainly a piano\/organ guy for years, even into adulthood. It wasn\u2019t until I discovered this album that I realized how much I\u2019d been missing on the synth side of town. There are so many sonic colors on these tracks, and the whole thing in general is so unique and unlike any other music I\u2019ve heard really. Also very cool to hear vocorder used like this, as a serious lead vocal, rather than a gimmick or effect.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-from-adam-levin-drummer\"><strong><u>From Adam Levin (drummer)<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5\">5<\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-shape-of-punk-to-come-refused\"><strong><em>The Shape of Punk to Come<\/em>, Refused<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1284\" height=\"1232\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/The-Shape-of-Punk-to-Come-Refused.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-473559\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/The-Shape-of-Punk-to-Come-Refused.png 1284w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/The-Shape-of-Punk-to-Come-Refused-340x326.png 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/The-Shape-of-Punk-to-Come-Refused-768x737.png 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/09\/The-Shape-of-Punk-to-Come-Refused-498x478.png 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1284px) 100vw, 1284px\"><\/figure>\n<p>I discovered this record when I was 15 and deep in the throws of my emo\/screamo era. I love everything about the record. Everything about it felt next level. It was heavy, weird, experimental, and somehow still catchy. It sounded unlike anything I\u2019d ever heard, like hardcore smashed together with noise, electronics, and these wild left turns that made no sense but worked perfectly. What really sticks with me is how far ahead of its time it was. When it dropped, it basically flopped, but now you can hear its fingerprints all over the next generation of bands. It still inspires me today because it reminds me that art can be challenging, and ahead of its time and even if the world doesn\u2019t get it right away, it can still leave a lasting impact.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More from Spin: Deep Cut Friday: \u2018Push\u2019 by the Cure New Butthole Surfers Documentary Cements the Psych-Punk Heroes\u2019 Experimental Legacy Post Malone, Lainey Wilson Pull Up For Stagecoach Fest Name\u00a0\u00a0X&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[262,3911,31,1213,24,966,1102,3912,3913],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-5-albums-i-cant-live-without","category-bruce-sprintsteen","category-features","category-jeff-beck","category-pushly","category-radiohead","category-refused","category-tobacco","category-x-ambassadors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}