News

• June 01, 2011 at 04:22 AM

  V/A "Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love: Motown's Mowest Story 1971-1973" PRE-ORDER

  It's almost too much to believe...a project years in the making and there's less than two weeks before it's released unto the world. That's right, on June 14, 2011, Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love: Motown's Mowest Story 1971-1973, the first ever anthology of Motown's funk/hippie/rock label Mowest, will finally be released! Can't wait to get dibs on a copy? Well, you may pre-0rder the CD and the 2x LP NOW! Here's the back story: in the early 1970’s, Detroit-native and Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. brought his musical family to the left coast, one piece at a time. He began by launching the Mowest subsidiary in 1971, a new L.A.-based label dedicated to coastal grooves and an eye towards the top of the charts. [caption id="attachment_3881" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption=""Mowest" LP - Check the gloss!"][/caption] Regardless of talent, quality, and financial backing, Mowest faced an uphill battle. With the majority of Motown’s focus on the already established names of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross,Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and their latest chart dynamos, The Jackson 5, there wasn’t as much attention being given to the diverse Mowest roster. Acts like Syreeta, Sisters Love, and G.C. Cameron seemed to get lost in the shuffle. Though the label released over forty singles and close to a dozen albums from up and comers like Odyssey to established veterans Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons the expected hits never materialized and the imprint quietly folded in 1973. While Mowest artists The Commodores, Thelma Houston, and the aforementioned Cameron continued on with Motown proper, the sub label’s catalogue quickly gathered dust in the cut-out bins of record stores throughout the States. [caption id="attachment_3882" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption=""Mowest" CD - No skimping on this!"][/caption]

  Forty years later, it’s time for the rest of the world to rediscover what a treasure trove of soulful sounds Mowest left behind. Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love is a lovingly prepared 16-track CD, 2 LP set with epic re-mastering from the original master tapes by engineer Dave Cooley (Blue Note, Warp, Stones Throw, Now Again), extensive liner notes from project curator Kevin “Sipreano” Howes (Jamaica-Toronto series, Doug Randle, Rodriguez, Monks), and Strath Shepard’s (Pacific Standard) impeccable graphic design. This is a slice of Motown like you’ve never heard or seen before.

  ______________________________________________

  

  Pre-order Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love: Motown's Mowest Story 1971-1973 (LITA 064 | CD, 2x LP) now from LightInTheAttic.net

• January 03, 2011 at 10:06 AM

  2011...BRING IT ON!

  [caption id="attachment_3077" align="aligncenter" width="237" caption="clink!"][/caption] Well, well...here we are. We strung up ol' 2010 like a big piñ and nocked that sucker to a million pieces. And what's left? Read on... As many of you saw in our 2011 Light In The Attic Subscription Series, we have a whole bunch of releases coming out this year, plus more that haven't been announced yet! Coming up real soon is a release from British psych-folk master Michael Chapman and his righteous 1970 masterpiece Fully Qualified Survivor. We've been working hard on this release and the deluxe gatefold old-style jacket looks so darn good. And the wax? 180 gram pure goodness. The record sounds better than ever! Also be on the lookout for snotty garage rockers The Vagrants! Now you can finally find out what a young Johnny Ramone was digging when he was just a wee lad kicking around Queens, NY. You may also know the band from their cover of “Respect”, included on Lenny Kaye’s almighty Nuggets compilation, or their guitarist, a young pre-Mountain Leslie West. And let's not forget the always sublime Overton Berry! In 2011 we'll be releasing a double album package of the Overton Berry Trio's landmark T.O.B.T. album with the rare At Seattle's Doubletree Inn LP. Heavy 180 gram wax and a gatefold sleeve round out this release. Come on, you just can't say no! But wait! What's that little bit of sunshine just poking through? Well, that'd be the beautiful sunny sound of Mowest! That's right, literally years in the works is our comp of the legendary Motown subsidiary label Mowest (1971-1973). This marks the first time any of these tracks have been complied and the release will feature exellent liner notes by Kevin Sipreano (who wrote notes for our reissues of Rodriguez, Monks, Doug Randle, and the six part Jamaica to Toronto Series). Re-mastered from the original master tapes, these essential gems sound like a zillion bucks. Better put on that sunscreen! ...and there's so, so much more. Keep on the look out, as 2011 is shaping up to be our best year yet! Happy New Year  from all of us at Light In The Attic!

• November 25, 2010 at 07:42 AM

  2011 Light In The Attic Subscription: IS HERE!

  It’s that time of year again when we give you the opportunity to become a trusted LIGHT IN THE ATTIC SUBSCRIBER. “Watcha talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”, you quip. Well, it’s fairly simple. Pick your preferred musical format (CD, LP or Digital), throw down some hard earned dollars (Yes, times are tough but this is quality so forget buying your little brother a snuggie), and you’ll receive eight albums in the Light In The Attic cannon starting in January 2011. There were loads of you that subscribed in ‘09 and even more in ’10. We can’t thank you enough. You once again proved that people out there still care about music and there’s still something inherently special about that physical aspect of music. What’s on tap for 2011? We can’t completely spill the beans, but we can fill you in on a few welcome additions to your record collection in the new year… - Pencilled in as LITA 060 (that means our 60th release in 8 eight years) will be British psych-folk artist MICHAEL CHAPMAN and his 1971 masterpiece FULLY QUALIFIED SURVIVOR, originally released on the Harvest label and long out of print Stateside. The album can be filed alongside the best of Roy Harper, John Martyn, and Bert Jansch. FQS is mastered from the original tapes with Michael’s full involvement via some brilliant notes from Uncut Magazine’s Mick Houghton. - We’ll be continuing our excavation of the Seattle soul scene with a gorgeous double-gatefold vinyl only release of OVERTON BERRY’s first two albums from the early ‘70s. The collection will include unseen photos and new notes by talented Seattle writer Kurt B. Reighley. Remember Overton’s infectious cover of “Hey Jude” on Wheedle’s Groove: Seattle’s Finest in Funk & Soul 1965-75 or his breakbeat sample-worthy 10 minute take on “Jesus Christ Superstar”? Vinyl fiends will be very happy campers. - Alongside Kevin “Sipreano” Howes up in Vancouver, we’ve co-produced the first ever anthology of Motown subsidiary label Mowest (1971-73), Berry Gordy’s short lived endeavor when the Motor City crew left Detroit and set up shop on the West Coast. In the works for years, we’re relieved to finally be putting this sucker to bed for your listening pleasure. Sipreano, who wrote the liner notes for our reissues of Rodriguez, Monks, Doug Randle, and six part Jamaica to Toronto Series once again contributed an excellent essay, discussing the history of Mowest. The material has all been re-mastered from the original tapes. - Next up: we’ll be heading to Forest Hills, New York for the music of sixties snotty garage rockers THE VAGRANTS with help from Ugly Things genius Mike Stax. A young Johnny Ramone would go see The Vagrants play before he blew our minds years later. You may know the band from their cover of “Respect”, included on Lenny Kaye’s almighty Nuggets compilation, or their guitarist, a young pre-Mountain Leslie West. - Then we’re off to South Korea for a deep look at SHIN JUNG-HYEON, who many call Korea’s Godfather of Rock. Since 1958, Mr. Shin has produced, written, and released hundreds of killer sounds from bring-you-to-tears female fronted acid folk to 20-minute psych-drenched shards of guitar beauty. We’ve spent the last few months holed up in South Korea with Mr. Shin and an exhausted translator, filling us in on the life and times of the man, direct from the man’s mouth. He is a living legend, literally sent to prison in the ‘70s for not adhering to the ideals of the then current Korean dictator. Decades later, he’s going strong at 72 years old. Our psychic tells us the Hollywood biopic is just around the corner. - Over the 2010 summer, we once again crashed in the greatest city on earth, MEMPHIS, Tennessee, uncovering a sea of southern gems. That means 2011 will see the continuation of our Memphis Series, which started with Lou Bond’s 1974 album Lou Bond on Stax imprint We Produce. And we promise that there will be a lot more rolling out over the next twelve months. Other than Overton Berry’s vinyl-only release, everything above will be released on both CD and Vinyl. Unfortunately due to licensing restrictions not everything will be available Digitally. The subscription guarantees you the first 8 CDs, 8 LPs, or 5 Digital releases from Light In The Attic in 2011. Give the ultimate gift this holiday season for a loved one, or screw them and get the goods for yourself. All we know is that 2011 is going to be our best year yet. We certainly won’t be sleeping to pull this off, but that’s OK. We’ll sleep when we’re dead. See you in 2011. PRICES INCLUDE SHIPPING For more info and to purchase, click HERE!

  What’s on tap for 2011? We can’t completely spill the beans, but we can fill you in on a few welcome additions to your record collection in the new year…

  - Pencilled in as LITA 060 (that means our 60th release in 8 eight years) will be British psych-folk artist MICHAEL CHAPMAN and his 1971 masterpiece FULLY QUALIFIED SURVIVOR, originally released on the Harvest label and long out of print Stateside. The album can be filed alongside the best of Roy Harper, John Martyn, and Bert Jansch. FQS is mastered from the original tapes with Michael’s full involvement via some brilliant notes from Uncut Magazine’s Mick Houghton.

• October 11, 2009 at 05:03 PM

  BETTY DAVIS WEEK DAY SIX: AN INTERVIEW WITH POSTER DESIGNER VINCENT COOK!

  

  In honor of our brand new Betty Davis reissue and release we had our good friend Vincent Cook cobble together an absolutely breath-taking limited-edition poster of Ms. Betty Davis (which you can win right HERE).  We sat down with this very talented graphic designer and fashion designer to pick his brain about the poster, music in general, and that wiley Canuck, Sipreano.

  

  LIGHT IN THE ATTIC: What was the inspiration behind the design for this limited edition Betty Davis poster? VINCENT COOK: I wanted to create something that was simple and iconic and reflected the more classic side of Betty (i.e. more of a Blue Note vibe rather than the heavy space-funk vibe). LITA: You also run a clothing company (2Step/Sandinista), I wonder what the difference is in the creative process between designing clothing and crafting this truly beautiful packages. VC: Designing in the fashion world is inevitably going to be trendy - what I mean by this is that you are reacting to trends, whether to follow or try to stand apart from the current trends.  Things are changing pretty fast in fashion, everything is becoming homogeneous and trends come and go in a 2-3 month cycle now because of blogs and look-books posted online.  Designing for music is a lot more fun - I personally feel there is more depth in music culture.  I also have a much more personal connection and passion for music, digging in the crates, making mix tapes and so forth, so the stuff I do for LITA is very enjoyable and rewarding. LITA: You've also done the design work for both of our Rodriguez issues, the entire Jamaica to Toronto series and Doug Randle. What draws you to these releases? VC: One big draw was that a good friend wrote all the liner notes for the releases.  And he also [re]-discovered a lot of the music.  Being Canadian and a huge fan of West Indian roots music, the Jamaica to Toronto series was obviously a must-do project! LITA: Also, is there a favorite Light In The Attic title you've worked on? One that sticks out as your absolute highlight? VC: I would have to say Jamaica to Toronto, in particular the first, self-titled compilation.  It was done totally analog style, with the only digital work being at the very end for production layout (I am referring to the cover and gatefold; I did not design the booklet for that one).  I made and assembled all the elements for the main image, and we had an amazing photographer shoot the whole scenario.  We had all these crazy lights set up in a furniture factory.  That stuff just doesn't happen anymore. LITA: What are you obsessed with right now in terms of music, food, movies, etc.? VC: Sipreano's new mix for the Sandinista website is sublime.  I'm also a big fan of DJ Harvey and The Force of Nature Crew from Tokyo (what's up Wakkun!).  Food should be local and organic if at all possible.  One love for all the heritage brands such as Filson, Russell, Moccasin, Danner, Woolrich, Pendleton, etc ... they are finally getting some recognition.  Simple and timeless design will always win out over stupid trends.  Blatant localism and quality island time are high priorities right about now. LITA: What are you currently working on? What can we look forward to from Vincent Cook in 2010? VC: I want to dedicate more time to some product and furniture design which I've been sadly neglecting lately.  Matt [Sullivan, co-owner of Light In The Attic] also has a top shelf re-issue project for LITA that I'm hoping to be involved with.  I'm sure he will make it happen.  I should also log more time on The Rivet, and if anyone is interested, I sometimes, but rarely update my blog. http://www.sndnst.com/vancouver/

• October 08, 2009 at 04:00 PM

  BETTY DAVIS WEEK DAY FIVE: WHO WANTS A LIMITED EDITION POSTER?!

  

  A limited edition poster that looks just like this!  Designed by Vincent Cook (he of Sandinista fame, as well as both of our Rodriguez albums, and Doug Randle and our Jamaica to Toronto series) this poster reflects the sultry blue-note days of the silver-booted funkstress we know and love.

  It's limited edition and we've hand numbered all 100 of them.

  How might you, the lucky Betty Davis-ite, win one?  BD once wrote, "My middle name is game," well, we want to know, in a perfect world where Betty Davis sat on a space ship throne and lorded over all, what you're Betty Davis middle name would be? Just put your full Betty Davis-ified name in a comment and our Light In The Attic Middle Name Robots will pick their favorite.

  See this Alex Healy, Betty Davis write-up for some tips!

  Not feeling like a poster, win our recent Betty Davis reissue/release right HERE.

  Or just buy the beautiful thing HERE.

• September 20, 2009 at 04:00 PM

  SIPREANO'S GOT A NEW MIX, AND HE'S HERE TO TALK ABOUT IT!

  It's been a while since we've heard from our man Sipreano (he of Jamaica to Toronto series, he of the vast mind full of musical knowledge) and, honestly, we were starting to miss him.  But, like the golden phoenix, spreading its wings and careening in to the sky, the ashes cascading from its shoulders, Sipreano has returned. He's got a new mix up (which you can grab below), so we sat down with this musical database to figure out what in the hell he's been doing the last few months. PICK UP SIPREANO'S NEW MIX - SWEET GRASS MUSIC - RIGHT HERE!

  

  LIGHT IN THE ATTIC: What's the inspiration behind this most recent mix, Sweet Grass Music? SIPREANO: The initial spark was def my friend, LITA graphic designer (Jamaica-Toronto series, Rodriguez, Doug Randle), Vincent Cook, who commissioned this mix via his 2Step/Sandinista clothing company based out of Tokyo, Japan. Over the years, I've done many eclectic music mixes for them (Super Reggae & Soul V. 1-4, Straight Jack, Music Machine) and wanted to start reflecting more of my deep love for lesser-known Canadian sounds spanning folk, psych, soul, jazz, MOR, electronic, and singer-songwriter. The outlaw, the loner, the cosmic, the thinker, the blues…

  

  LITA: We're always asking you about what gems you've been digging out lately, I wonder what you're feeling lately in terms of new music? S: Though I often find myself immersed in the musical past, there's lots of new music coming at me from every angle. Locally in Vancouver, I enjoy Ladyhawk, Pink Mountaintops, Lightning Dust, and Black Mountain but additionally, there are the artists who shun the spotlight while still making great music, folks doing it for the love and craft. Here's a big salute to them! Decaf, WZRDRY, Seekers International!!! LITA: It seems as it been a while since we had a Sipreano update, could you tell us what the last few months have been like for you?  - what you've been working on, what you've been obsessing over, etc. S: Well the last few months have been a period of transition. I've driven across Canada in my trusty car looking for old dogs and records, enjoyed a sand, water, mountain, and sun-fuelled summer on the west coast, endured some monumental heartbreak and frustration, and now, looking forward to some serious head-to-the-grindstone work over the fall and winter to get things back on track. I'm still tackling From Yard To Yonge: Jamaica To Toronto documentary, which charts the musical migration of young West Indian musicians in the late 60s-early 70s as well as hopefully convincing LITA co-owner Matt Sullivan into re-releasing some of my favourite music EVER!!! Current obsessions would have to be my new-old home stereo and record collection which I've been reunited with, iPhone technology, hanging with old friends, 3rd Beach vibrations, lake swimming, exploring cheap yet affordable eats with good company, the Rickshaw Theatre at Main and Hastings in downtown Vancouver (old Shaw Brothers kung-fu movie theatre transformed to great live music venue), following the career of talented artist/musician/writer/actor/comedian and Toronto transplant Robert Dayton (SO TALENTED!!!), Lightning Dust LIVE (go see them!!!), Psych Night at the ANZA club, Kaewonder/Arcee's "Cratery" mixes, Jerry Dammers, and the Pet Shop Boys!!! LITA: The year is slowly creeping to a close, any observations? Highlights? Thoughts on the future? S: Time goes by so fast these days it's scary. Guess I look forward to a productive and creative 2010 for everyone. This past year has been a serious challenge from head to heart to toe and I can't wait to see what the future will bring. On the global scale, I think we could all learn from Danish synth-pop maestros Laid Back. They're holding the secrets man, I tell you. Listen to the grooves. LITA: What are you excited about in terms of reissues right now?  Any huge ones on the horizon that you're keen on? S: The world is saturated with mediocre reissues. Sorry for adding to the glut. Lol! Psych! Believe it or not, I have a long list of culturally significant and time sensitive projects I'd KILL to work on. Always comes down to money and resources. Thank the highest for LITA and the handful of other labels (Mississippi, Honest Jon's, Beatball, Em, Waxing Deep, Numero, etc…) that are really doing solid work in this arena. For me it's all about preserving the original vinyl artifact in today's oft-disposable digital world. We are loosing history by the second, unless people take the time to dig a little deeper and share what they've learnt. Saving pioneering music from a time where over-documentation (internet, digital photography) wasn't omnipresent as it is now. If you look back to today from 40 years in the future, you'll have no trouble finding out anything you want about most bands, many of who are simply pillaging the creative efforts of original 60s-70s-80s artists. There will be an electronic trace. But looking back at the folks from back in the day that started it all, their maverick history could be lost if not documented now. I find that almost criminal. It's an endless process really, though I'm certain that not everything from the past is worthy of bringing back. Good music is good music and always transcends place and time. This is my focus.

• April 23, 2009 at 02:10 AM

  PICS OF THE DOUG RANDLE LISTENING PARTY

  We've had these pics cooling on a burner for a while now and we wish that we could argue that we were building suspense or leading you on string by delightful string, but no, we just hadn't gotten around to them.  Nonetheless, our man Sipreano put together quite an event and we couldn't be happier to showcase the photographic memories of it.

  Take it away Sipreano.

  MOODS for the New Industrial State: April 5, 2009, The Ossington

  After finishing up past 3 am, another MOODS event ran smoothly. This edition was a special listening session for Doug Randle's "Songs For The New Industrial State" CD/digital reissue and we were honoured to not only have Doug in the house, but co-vocalist Laurie Bower (Billy Van Singers, Mutual Understanding, Laurie Bower Singers) on hand to review, as the back of the album states, "songs for and about the time we live in." The Ossington venue in downtown Toronto was filled with a dedicated and appreciative audience of friends, friendly faces, and family (including JA/TDOT's The Mighty Pope, and CDN SSW legend Fergus Hambleton). Post-LP listen, MOODS co-host Robert Dayton (aka DJ Body Beautiful, Canned Hamm) conducted a terrific little Q&A with Doug who regaled us with stories of jamming with Duke Ellington, the craft of writing, and battling his own personal demons. At 81 years-of-age, Doug is a true inspiration to us all. Thanks for the music. You've made our world a better place to be in.

  Love,

  Sipreano

  

  SFTNIS co-lead vocalist Laurie Bower w/ Doug Randle

  

  MOODS co-host Robert Dayton (aka DJ Body Beautiful) and Doug Randle

  

  songwriter/musician Fergus Hambleton at MOODS

  

  JA/TDOT's Earle "The Mighty Pope" Heedram at MOODS

• April 03, 2009 at 07:47 AM

  CANADA, YOU HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE ON SUNDAY!

  

  Our man Sipreano is keeping up his Moods DJ night at the Ossington in Toronto, but this Sunday, he's hitting it with a little Light In The Attic flair.  This is listening party for our oft looked over release of Doug Randle's avante-pop gem, Songs For The New Industrial Slate.  It's a strange, beautiful album and we can't imagine a better place than Toronto or a better person than Sipreano to hear the album with.

  Get on out there people, give good music a listen.

  THE DETAILS:

  Where:  The Ossington, Toronto, CAN

  What Time: 9pm - Late late late

  What:  A listening party for our man Doug Randle

  Why:  Because your good, your beautiful, and people love you.

• March 04, 2009 at 01:44 PM

  LIGHT IN THE ATTIC CANADA, REJOICE, SIPREANO SPINS THIS WEEKEND

  

  Kevin Howes a.k.a. Sipreano is master of many trades: writing (have you seen the Jamaica to Toronto liner notes), musical knowledge (the man is a steel trap of information), and of course, of course, knocking down the house with a monster DJ set of some of the rarest, most untapped cuts. Well, Sipreano is gearing up to bring down the house again this weekend and he wanted us to pass along the information.  So, looksie down below, 'cause that's where the information is.  Feel lucky Canada, you've got a real treasure in your midst: Host: Sipreano and DJ Body Beautiful Start Time: Sunday, March 8, 2009 at 8:30pm End Time: Monday, March 9, 2009 at 2:30am Location: The Ossington Street: 61 Ossington Avenue City/Town: Toronto, ON Sit....Listen....Feel.... MOODS Sipreano and D.J. Body Beautiful spin a boutique mix of: ELUSIVE DREAMINGS/PRIVATE PRESSINGS/FREE FORMS/CAN CON CONCRETE/B SIDE EXCURSIONS/ELECTRONIC PRIMITIVA/EMOTIONS/EURO HORRORS/INTENSELY PERSONAL VISIONS/DEEP PSYCH/UN-EASY LISTENINGS AND BALLADS/PRISON SOUNDTRACKS/FANTASTIC JOURNEYS OF WONDER/ ORGAN-ISMS/NEO-BAROQUE *With a candlelight night recitation by Robert Dayton, Junior To Hurting People, Since we are struggling with pain, even at this moment, we have first hand knowledge of what it is like to experience the silence of God. Sometimes the immense loneliness of pain-whether physical, mental or emotional-is completely overwhelming! As you listen to us spin, let the music wash over your brokenness as great healing waves of God’s merciful love until you hear the music once again. From our hearts to yours, Sipreano and D.J. Body Beautiful Christened by the son of thunder, Sipreano can rock a party with folk songs. Born in the east and raised in the west, he roams our fair country to uncover its little-known sound heritage. He is a curator of sounds, archival materials, and previously undocumented history, as showcased in Light in the Attic Records' six album Jamaica-Toronto reissue series ("Wayne McGhie & the Sounds of Joy", "Jamaica to Toronto", "Noel Ellis", Jackie Mittoo-"Wishbone", "Summer Records Anthology", and "Earth Roots & Water's "Innocent Youths"), Sixto Rodriguez' "Cold Fact" and "Coming From Reality", The Monks' "Black Monk Time", and most recently, Canadian composer-arranger Doug Randle's "Songs for the New Industrial State (CBC, 1970). MOODS will see Sipreano reach deep into his oddball crates to project serious atmospherics, vibes, and provide an emotional deep feeling soundtrack to the week's final comedown. D.J. Body Beautiful is Robert Dayton, a personality of living flesh and blood. Robert regularly contributes illustrations, features, obits, and quips to Roctober, Cinema Sewer, Free Drawings, Broken Pencil, and $2 Comes With Mix Tape, as well as the books “Lost In The Grooves: Scram’s Capricious Guide to the Music You Missed” and “Nog A Dod: Prehistoric Canadian Psychedooolia.” And as an artist he exhibits fully. Robert is a performer and songwriter with: hot new Toronto band WET DIRT; melodramatic glitter rock act Hallmark; defunct acid downer folk trio Points Gray; legendary longtime lucidly malleable act July Fourth Toilet; modern song and dance duo Canned Hamm. As an actor Robert Dayton starred in the feature “Male Fantasy” , as 'theatre teacher' in a shelved Hillshire Farms commercial, and appears in the upcoming “Leslie, My Name Is Evil”. Due to his candour he has been a Master of Ceremonies as himself and as other bizarre personae. As D.J. Body Beautiful he spins at MUSK. But at MOODS he will console you. NO COVER

• February 06, 2009 at 03:12 AM

  DOUG RANDLE INTERVIEWED BY CANADA'S SHOMERDE

  Doug Randle is a, known or unknown, a Canadian music legend, and one we hope in the later years of his life continues to be treated as so.  The good folk at ShoMerde seem to agree with our take on the subject, as the whole crew sat down with Mr. Randle for a fascinating interview about the recent release, the sordid history of the Canadian music scene and a whole lot more. Big thanks to Shevan for the link.

  Doug Randle from Matthew Maaskant on Vimeo. See the whole thing right here.

• January 27, 2009 at 05:06 AM

  DOUG RANDLE'S SONGS FOR THE NEW INDUSTRIAL STATE RELEASED TODAY!

  

  Okay, we know, the reissue of Doug Randle's brilliant avante-pop, post-apocalyptic masterpiece Songs For The New Industrial State dropped last week in the realms of digitalism.  Oh and we know, some of you more discerning-minded individuals followed our salient advice and picked up a digital copy of the album.  But, guess, what it's January 27th and you know what that means: the absolutely beautiful, physical copy of this amazing album has hit stores.

  And it's not just your average release.  This is a pristine digi-pak that features a vastly informative booklet rife with amazing information about the Toronto music scene, great pictures, and a fascinating story that you, the history-minded music lover, should certainly get to know.

  Purchase it here!

  Check out "Coloured Plastics" HERE!

• January 25, 2009 at 11:50 AM

  HELP ARNIE CHYCOSKI IN TO THE CANADIAN MUSIC HALL OF FAME!

  

  Arnie Chycoski, one of the trumpet players (the other being Guido Basso) on Doug Randle's recently reissue Songs For The New Industrial State passed away late last year.  Considered by many to be one of the top trumpet players of, well, all time, Chycoski was a vastly influential musician in the Toronto jazz scene.  His daughter, Kara, is organizing a petition to help get Arnie inducted in to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and she needs your help. All you need to do is head on over to THIS website, click a few buttons and join the hundreds of other folks already doing their part in getting this amazing musician honored as he rightly should be.

• December 11, 2008 at 04:46 PM

  LIGHT IN THE ATTIC 2ND ANNUAL YEAR END EXTRAVAGANZA!

  

  As the year rumbles to another cliff-hanging conclusion, we here at Light In The Attic are reminded of a few things.  First, we've got a a lot of people who've helped us out this year and last year and all the many years that have come before.  Second, we don't have the money to buy each of them a gold plated Rolls Royce like we wish we could.  And finally, we reached out to these solid gold peeps last year and asked them to help us out with a little something we called THE LIGHT IN THE ATTIC YEAR END EXTRAVAGANZA!

  Well, we're just as damn thankful this year, so we reached out again, and asked just one thing: give us a Year End List.  It doesn't matter the subject, the length, the allusions to your past lovers - we just want to know what made you smile, made you happy, made you exist this year.  Again, we've received a staggering amount of amazing lists from a diverse and wonderful group of people including musicians, record store owners, publicists, authors, bloggers and on and on and on ...

  Once again, thanks to the always brilliant Drew Christie for putting together another staggeringly cool Year End Extravaganza banner.  You're the best Drew, and we promise we'll give you back your medicine now.

  So, please, sit down, take a deep breath, 'cause here we go again:

  THE SECOND ANNUAL LIGHT IN THE ATTIC YEAR END EXTRAVAGANZA!

  Rodriguez

  

  I know I'm from the old century, but I still like to hear what all the young bloods are listening to today. There's Duffy's Mercy and the new album by David Holmes. I've listened to tracks by the Arctic Monkeys, The Liars and Deerhoof...there's just so much out there! Of course, there's always great sounds from the past like Buffy Sainte-Marie (who I saw play in Detroit earlier this year) and really early Dylan or Jimmy Reed. I still like to listen to Ike Turner's Rocket 88 or anything that features Dennis Coffey. He played lead guitar on my album Cold Fact. Then there's his own classic piece Scorpio. There's also a DJ from Paris called Space Cowboy. He turned my tune Sugar Man into his own song called These Dreams and it really gets people dancing! It's all international now. I hear bhangra tracks from India, fado from Portugal and ballads from Sweden. Sometimes I don't understand the language, but I still like to hear it. It all has musical value to me.

  Sipreano, Writer, Producer, DJ (Jamaica-Toronto and beyond...)

  

  1) Roti - My (almost) daily bread here in Toronto. Locals or folks visiting should go to Ali's West Indian Roti Shop on Queen West for some Trini goodness (loving Barb's out in Mississauga too!!!). 2) Looking ahead - 2009 is shaping up to be a good one with Doug Randle's Songs For The New Industrial State (LITA/Kanata/CBC) reissue hitting the shelves shortly (January 27, iTunes on the 13th). It's the then 40-year-old composer's personal What's Going On (recorded a year before!!!) and an all-time twisted sunshine pop favorite (David Axelrod meets the Free Design??? also featuring Laurie Bower from the Mutual Understanding and Tommy Ambrose on vocals, w/ jazz legend Gene Lees and super producer Dave Bird involvement). Please support this reissue! Keep your eyes peeled to www.lightintheattic.net for more information. 3) Travel - NYC (Black Mountain live!!!), Detroit (see below), Vancouver (miss my friends, especially on the beach or at any number of killer eateries), Seattle (hanging w/ dad, free lunch w/ LITA honcho Matt Sullivan is always top, seeing Josh and rest of LITA posse, Big Chan session, participating at the EMP Pop Conference, amazing burritos at the Burlington Tacos Guaymas on the way back north), Winnipeg (Birdapres "Toothpaste" EP, Alycia's, Portage and Main not 15 below), Regina (Western Pizza, architecture), Saskatoon (Prairie fire), and a few trips to Montreal (JA/TDOT live, poutine, ODB, and zoomer walks)... 4) Blogs are killing it (w/ free music and more, sup Kamandi??? Kaewonder???), but LPs, 12"s, and 7"s just sound (look and feel) so much better (Kam and Kae know this too!!!): Comus-First Utterance, dozens of oddball non-charting Canadian singles (my ever growing obsession, "German Stalker"??? WTF???), nuff reggae bits and bobs, 80s UK, vintage electronic pop/dance, Quebecois ("Je me souviens"), Pacific Northwest Oceanic (small-hole Capilano, thanks Morgan!!!), dusted bar rock, more MOR, Warpig-s/t, and so on. My vinyl addiction is in full swing again... 5) Rodriguez and The Monks - Gotta shout out to Sixto and Regan Rodriguez for hosting me in Detroit (time to bundle up), showing me the sights, breaking bread, and sharing your history. It was a total honor and I'm really looking forward to the re-release of Coming From Reality. Live soon. Also stoked to rap w/ the remaining Monks for two upcoming LITA reissues. Black Monk Time (and The Monks' Demos) really penetrated my brain's grey matter (and should enter yours too)!!! 6) T&T - My favorite (hangover) hang-out in Toronto (bar Pope's kitchen). Samples, cafe-style eats, tunes, and so many rad Asian groceries. 7) Sandinista/2Step - Japanese family from way back. Thanks for letting me do yet another mix for y'all ("Share The Land", CDN folk, psych, space, and mellow). http://www.sndnst.com/music_mixer.html. Also wanna shout to Fuku at Nonnative for the mad support!!! 8) Truth & Soul and Rostarr - Big ups for the HIGH EXPLOSION podcast link (and photo magic from Ro vs. Decaf!!!)... 9) Black Mountain, Ladyhawk, and Ice Palace - Love hanging with these fine folks anywhere. Your music inspires me (somebody please release IP's For The Birds, produced by BM's Josh Wells, best album you've never heard... yet)... 10) Flickr - Thanks to Decaf from WZRDRY (and fellow music/photo maestro Chris Frey) I jumped on the Flickr bandwagon. Love taking snaps. Tilson, The Saturday Knights

  

  1. Made it into the July issue of Ukrainian Playboy 2. Was a model for The Goods product catalog 3. Met Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – has pictures, still needs to print them 4. Wyclef show at The Showbox (the first time he played Seattle, not the second) 5. Definitely will be playing Santa at a party in the immediate future - no details as to where 6. Says he got a “dope, dope, dope Circa Backpack” 7. In the works: clothes are being designed for him 8. Got to do shows... got to be on TV (w/ Nancy Guppy) 9. Went to a lot of meetings, as he says “It means you’re about to do something…” 10. Got Boondocks box-set 11. Was elected Mayor... of his own imagination.

  *Honorable mention: Lost a commercial spot to the RZA: “It happens.” - Tilson LIGHT IN THE ATTIC PEOPLE:

  

  Matt Harrow, All-Seeing, All-Knowing Top 5 Oasis Songs of 2008: 1. Falling Down 2. Soldier On 3. The Rapture 4. Get off Your High Horse Lady 5. Bag It Up Noah Sanders, Blogspert Top Six Reasons Why I Survived Another Year: 1. Let The Right One In - the Swedes seemingly know two things: outstandingly tall, gorgeous blondes and awkwardly endearing flicks about 12 year old boys falling in love with ageless vampires. A strange combination of gore and heart string yanking that makes for one of the better movies I've seen in a while. 2. Sub Pop 20 - I've been to a lot of festivals and never before have I experienced such a since of shared community and history. Also, I was on the VIP list, and having a mansion full of booze and chow at my disposal (and boy oh boy did I take advantage of that) really put a sunny glow on the whole occasion. 3. Mad Men - I've been talking up The Sopranos as the best show in the world for a while now, but if Mad Men can keep up the brilliance of it's first two seasons, I'm ready to throw my hat in that ring. Don Draper is as sexy a man as I'll admit, and each and every word in this series is licensed to kill. If you're missing it you're dumb. That is all. 4. Sifting through Matt Sullivan's CD/Record Wall - Sullivan has this shelf in his office where he just has this amazing, random assortment of albums. I'll make up some excuse to go in there and just babble away while I sift through all of his fantastic music. Sullivan gets edgy after a while, but raise a fist to the little guy and he'll quiet right down. 5. NYC - There's a lot of hype about the Big Apple and each and every word of it is completely and totally deserved. This is the greatest city in America and fuck any and all who worry about it's overwhelming size or the rudeness of people. Hopefully at some point my future lands me there. 6. Criterion Quest - If you don't know, now you know ... Matt Sullivan, Co-Head Honcho TOP 18: THANK A HIGHER POWER FOR… 1) Rodriguez, Rodriguez, Rodriguez 2) Skagit River Ranch Bacon - best bacon I have ever tasted 3) Harold & Maude Soundtrack - Vinyl Films couldn't have done it any better 4) The Wire: the epic, final season aka the greatest show on any planet, ever made, ever. 5) Mad Men - runner up for the greatest show ever 6) Aaron Zon & Music Manufacturing Services in Toronto. Thank the lord above! 7) Charles Aaron on Labi Siffre at EMP Pop Conference, Seattle, WA, April 12th 8) Rancho Bravo - tasty tacos of the finest caliber 9) The Saturday Knights 2008 Doughnut Eating Contest - long live Billy The Fridge! 10) Stop Smiling Magazine - best magazine ever 11) The Emerald City making a much needed comeback - Moondoggies, TSK, Curious Mystery, Fleet Foxes, Dyme Def... 12) The Vaselines (with Belle & Sebastian as Frances & Eugene's back-up band), Sub Pop 20 Festival (aka most organized festival ever), Marymoor Park, Redmond, WA, July 11th 13) Roky Erickson & The Black Angels - Tour of the Century 14) Ocho, Ballard, WA - tapas and drinks. Get the Chorizo de la Mancha and the Patatas Bravas 15) Vetiver - Thing Of The Past 16) The Meeting: Rodriguez & Stephen John Kalinich - 11:15pm PST, Fri, Nov 21st, 2008 17) Dolly Parton at WAMU Theater, Seattle, August 8th 18) Black Mountain - In The Future 19) Randy Newman - Good Old Boys - thank you Mr. Johnny Horn for showing me the light TOP 7: PLEASE MAKE ME FORGET… 1) Thingmakers - the shittiest manufacturer on planet earth. And the worst decision we ever made. Whatever you do, find another manufacturer. 2) Sarah Palin - America almost went nuts. Almost. 3) Speaking to mom and pops about politics 4) The Wire - HOW CAN IT BE OVER? 5) Mad Men - And how will one survive 12 months without Don Draper and Christina Hendricks? 6) Drunk bicycling 7) George Jr. Sandy Wilson, He Of The Television 1) The Black Angels "You On The Run" in the upcoming Jim Jarmusch film THE LIMITS OF CONTROL 2) Getting 2 placements on WEEDS this year, The Free Design's "Love You" on the season 4 finale and The Soul Swingers "Brighter Tomorrow" on episode 2. 3) Brent Amaker & The Rodeo's "You Call Me The Devil" on season 2 / episode 6 of Showtime's Californication 4) The Black Angels "Young Men Dead" on the 1st episode of J.J. Abrams's new FOX series FRINGE 5) When The Free Design's "Love You" scored another killer foreign commercial - this time for Norway's FREIA Chocolate 'SMIL' spot 6) When The Free Design scored yet another spot on a German spot ("I Found Love" from the Re-Designed comp) for CAMPINA dairy products 7) ...and then The Free Design scored another Australian spot - this time for Cadbury Spring Juices. 8) And even another Australian spot - but this time for The Sound Carriers "I Had A Girl" for McCain's Pizza 9) Every time that Tilson came by the office to hang out and cast his rays of sunshine upon us - or any of the times that The Blakes came by and brought booze. Josh Wright, Mr. Distribution Fav 10 from 08' 1. Apple Cup 2. Eric Levin's AIMS speech 3. TSK & The Budos Band live! 4. Rodriguez @ Joe's Pub 5. Albert Walker 6. Paseo 7. Midem 8. Ph*sh reuniting (shhh) 9. Agua Verde 10. Suck out's Akoustik Anarkhy, DJs, Record Label

  

  1. Our new home The Deaf Institute in Manchester 2. Beyond The Wizards Sleeve - Ark 1 3. Ruby Suns appearance at aA and their album Sea Lion 4. New bands 'the animal collective' - its a buffalo, Cats In Paris, Slag Rabbit, Three Trapped Tigers and more obvious Fleet Foxes 5. BBC Radiophonic Reissues 6. Fujiya & Miyagi's remix of Mercury Rev 7. Neil Young live in Amsterdam, Hop Farm, the BBC documentary, upcoming Sugar Mountain release and the hope of the archives in 09 8. Lexie Mountain Boys 9. DJ Mujava - Township Funk 10. Fleetwood Mac – ‘Never Going Back Again' (Tom Croose Edit) Shawn Anderson, Bumpershine, Thus Spake Drake I've still got a bit of a blindspot to the first half of 2008... 5. Early 90's guitar bending bands reunite/tour (My Bloody Valentine, Polvo, Swervedriver) 4. Sundance's Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... is the best thing to happen to music on tv since Night Music. 3. Sub Pop 20 festival - seeing all the kids of us old rockers playing together added to the nostalgia 2. News that Guided By Voices songs are to be the basis for a Steven Soderburgh 3D musical about Cleopatra. 3D! 1. November 4, 2008 Andy & Jen, Band In Boston Song we can't wait to hear on an album: Akudama - Johnny Appleseed Best Bands You Should Know Akudama Doomstar The Soft Drugs Low Red Land Best Album Apollo Sunshine - Shall Noise Upon Angie, Strictly Discs (Madison, WI) Top 10: Delta Spirit – Ode to Sunshine Nick Cave - Dig, Lazarus, Dig Carrie Rodriguez – She Ain’t Me Jason Collett - Here's To Being Here Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes Blitzen Trapper – Furr The Black Keys – Attack & Release David Byrne/Brian Eno – Everything That Happens Will Happen Today MGMT - Oracular Spectacular Rodriguez – Cold Fact Next 5: Jim White – Transnormal Skiparoo Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree Dr. Dog – Fate Calexico – Carried to Dust Ray LaMontagne – Gossip in the Grain Doug Arnold Owner, Dusty Groove Top Records of 2008 Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) Motown Bo Diddley  - Road Runner -- The Chess Masters 1959 to 1960 Chess/Hip-O Select (reissue) Giant Sand - proVisions Yep Roc Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08 Matador Portishead - Third Mercury Gene Shaw - Break Through Argo/Dusty Groove (reissue) Nabil Ayers, The Control Group, Sonic Boom Records, The Long Winters ALBUMS I ENJOYED El Perro Del Mar  - From The Valley To The Stars Black Mountain - In The Future Lykke Li - Youth Novels Marnie Stern - This Is It And I Am It... Harvey Milk - Life... The Best Game In Town Deerhunter - Microcastle The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust SONGS I REALLY LIKED Santogold "L.E.S. Artistes" MGMT "Time To Pretend" Sons & Daughters "Gilt Complex" TV On The Radio "Crying" Death Cab For Cutie "I Will Possess Your Heart" SHOWS THAT WERE GREAT Deerhoof @ Irving Plaza Black Mountain @ Jon Treneff's house Lykke Li @ Le Poisson Rouge El Perro Del Mar @ El Rey Bad Brains @ Irving Plaza Kinski @ Sub Pop Festival Teenage Fanclub @ some festival in Barcelona Lavender Diamond @ my wedding Matthew Bailey Virgin Music 1.       Bell X1 – Flock 2.       Nada Surf – Lucky 3.       Ladyhawke – Ladyhawke 4.       Robyn – Robyn 5.       Kings of Leon – Only by the Night 6.       Sia – Some People Have Real Problems 7.       Amy MacDonald – This Is The Life 8.       Jason Mraz – We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. 9.       Earlimart – Hymn and Her 10.   Martha Wainwright – I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings, Too 11.   Adele – 19 12.   Ron Sexsmith – Exit Strategy for the Soul 13.   The Weepies – Hideaway 14.   Duffy – Rockferry 15.   Beck – Modern Guilt 16.   Paddy Casey – Addicted to Company 17.   Peter Bradley Adams – Leavetaking 18.   MGMT – Oracular Spectacular 19.   Sunny Levine – Love Rhino 20.   The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely Noteworthy Tracks 1.       "Giggling Again for No Reason" – Alanis Morrissette 2.       "Orbiting" – The Weepies 3.       "Move for Me" – Kaskade 4.       "28 Butts" – Little Jackie 5.       "Where I Stood" – Missy Higgins 6.       "A New Sky" – The Presets 7.       "Lost!" – Coldplay 8.       "Great DJ" – The Ting Tings 9.       "I Want You to…" – Jem 10.   "Brittle Bones" – Richard Walters 11.   "Trouble Is a Friend" – Lenka 12.   "Freeway" – Aimee Mann 13.   "You Don't See Me" – Keane 14.   "Fish in a Womb" – The Faint 15.   "I'm Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance" – Black Kids 16.   "Everybody but Me" – Lykke Li 17.   "Pretty Please (Love Me)" – Estelle featuring Cee-Lo 18.   "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" – Madonna 19.   "All I See" – Kylie Minogue 20.   "My Baby…" – Juliana Hatfield Kevin Barker, Currituck Co. 1. As I'm sure many others here will note, Barack Obama and Joe Biden defeat Sarah Palin and some other dude in history's most important World Series. 2. As I'm sure no one else here will note, the Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Tampa Bay Rays in history's 847th most important World Series. 3. Fire Joe Morgan blog - the sadly ended blog by a couple of writers from the American Office and their buddies about how blockheaded baseball writers and commentators are. Along with reading Michael Lewis's Moneyball, this blog made me wish I actually followed baseball. 4. Vetiver - Thing of the Past - sure, I'm biased, since I played a couple licks on this album, but seriously: Show me a better record released this year and I'll...I'll...I guess download it illegally off the internet? 5. The part in Forgetting Sarah Marshall where Paul Rudd goes, "I wonder if the carpet matches her pubes." Also watching Sarah Palin eat shit in Katie Couric's interview. I don't know which of the two were funnier so I put them both. Note to Saturday Night Live, don't try to do a Forgetting Sarah Palin sketch, because I just made it up, right here while typing this list, and I'm registering it with the WGA as we speak. Brian Barr, Writer, Seattle Weekly 1) Saiva Siddhantha Hindu Temple, Kaua’i, Hawaii: The weather was hot and thick and the mosquitoes were vicious. But that all faded away as we knelt down in the temple to meditate. 2) Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy - Lie Down in the Light: What all great records are made of: Singing songs of god, nature, and family, while pleading for a woman to suck you off in public. 3) Dana Goodyear’s profile of Gary Snyder in The New Yorker: “Being Buddhist doesn’t necessarily mean being a good Buddhist.” 4) Hillary Clinton: What can I say? I dig powerful women. Catherine the Great. Queen Hatshepsut, Cleopatra, Empress Wu Zeitan, Isabella of Castile, The Iroquois decision-makers, I could go on and on. 5) Mudhoney: Standing there in the Sunset Tavern, watching Mark Arm and Steve Turner scorch the faces off of every pickle-faced hipster in the joint with their timeless psychededelic-gut-bowl-blues-raunch. The kinda music that puts hair on your chest. 6) West Seattle and Easy Street Records: Imagine an entire neighborhood anchored by an incredible independent record store. 7) Georgetown Brewing Company: Growlers refills for $6! Plus they come cask-conditioned so the beer won’t go flat by the time you get it home. 8) Erykah Badu - New Amerykah (Part One): I'm also a sucker for freak genius women who make great records and offer zero apologies for being who they are. 9) The New Yorker’s George Packer: My professor once told me “Good writing is just clear thinking on the page.” 10) The Saturday Knights - Mingle Interviewing Bill Cosby for 30 Minutes Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil Lou Reed - The Bells Rodriguez - Cold Fact Thomas Pynchon Against the Day (took me 2 years, but I finally finshed it) John Cale: “Dying on the Vine” Lillian Ross Portrait of Hemingway Abe Rosenthal Thirty-Eight Witnesses William T. Vollmann The Rifles and Riding Toward Everywhere Norman Mailer (R.I.P.) Miami and the Siege of Chicago Nick Tosches The Devil and Sonny Liston Harold Pinter Old Times Finding Gary Snyder's translation of Cold Mountain Poems at that bookstore in Hanapepe. Elana Berman, Rhapsody My top 5 at age 25 Fave new artist: Ben Sollee (a talented classically trained cellist turned folk singer songwriter works it out) Fave new song: Kid Kudi "Day N Nite" (get into it here: play.rhapsody.com/kidcudi/daynnite) Fave new town: Nashville, TN (I hope to live there one day) Fave concert: JJ Grey & Mofro at The Independent in SF, CA Fave new restaurant: Mi Lindo Peru Restaurant (a small hole in the wall gem in the Outer Mission District) Andy Beta, Writer Extraordinaire 2008 was not just a blur, but a dreamy one at that. From starting off the new year with a bang in Bangkok to having my ears (and mind) blown out at the My Bloody Valentine ATP Festival, it was one of the more profound calendars of my life, which a Top Five can just scarcely skim the surface of. Anyhow, peeps like listicles... 5) Pad Thai in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven in Bangkok. About to head to Suvarnabhumi International Airport (way before protests shut 'em down), a friend took me to the dopest street eat spot around. Set up (no shit) in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven, this was the most bomb Pad Thai I've ever eaten in my life. The locals flipped for it too and the vendor would sell out massive batches of the stuff in under five minutes. I probably saw them mix up five huge batches while I ate. Spicy, fresh, aswim with these dried shrimps, I bought another parcel of it to eat during the 17-hour flight home. 4) Disco dancing at the No Ordinary Monkey party I've written a few articles about the renaissance of this music and keep digging deeper into the grooves. Euphoric, hedonistic, covert, cheesy as shit, I dug everything from the disco edits of Pilooski and Betty Botox to scores of Claire's "High On Love," Boney M, and Sylvia Striplin, to the late-night parties of N.O.M. Favorite tunes dropped at this Chinatown dinner buffet party palace: Lime "On the Grid," Slim Harpo's "Shake Your Hips" (as edited by Thom of Rub-n-Tug) and Gloria Gaynor's "Do It Yourself." 3) In-N-Out Burger I sat in four hours of traffic out in LA, and then sat in the drive-thru lane at In-N-Out Burger for another 45 minutes. Totally worth it after spending heaps of dough buying --what else?-- disco records at the dreamlike Amoeba store on Sunset Blvd. 2) All My Friends Not the LCD Soundsystem song (though that's glorious as well), just the people I got around me these days. Love 'em to death. Being with them up at ATP Festival in Monticello was three days of the most delightful strains of madness. 1) Election Night And then to see them all openly weeping on this night gave me a great sense of peace and hope. And natch, we then set it off and danced to "All My Friends." Bill Bentley, Sonic Boomers Best Albums of 2008 Bobby Charles - Homemade Songs (Rice ‘N’ Gravy) Carlene Carter - Stronger (Yep Roc) Shelby Lynne - Just A Little Lovin’ (Lost Highway) Brett Dennen - Hope For The Hopeless (Dualtone) Bon Iver - For Emma, Long Ago (Jagjaguwar) Bo Ramsey - Fragile (BRR) Al Green - Lay It Down (Blue Note) James Jackson Toth - Waiting In Vain (Rykodisc) Debashish Bhattacharya - Calcutta Chronicles: Indian Slide Guitar Odyssey (Riverboat) Delta Spirit - Ode To Sunshine (Rounder) Heather Browne, I Am Fuel, You Are Friends Favorite Things of 2008 Albums: Nada Surf - Lucky Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight Bon Iver - For Emma Forever Ago Hold Steady - Stay Positive The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound Delta Spirit - Ode To Sunshine Centro-matic/South San Gabriel - Dual Hawks Neil Halstead - Oh! Mighty Engine Everything Absent or Distorted - The Great Collapse Little Joy - Little Joy Favorite EPs: The Avett Brothers - Second Gleam EP Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers - Confiscation EP Honorary/should have been on last year's damn list: Radiohead - In Rainbows (physical release) Film/documentary: Rape of Europa Jenny Bulley, MOJO New albums Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago The Hold Steady – Stay Positive The Week That Was – The Week That Was Foals - Antidotes Reissues: New Order - Movement Mudhoney - Superfuzz Big Muff My Bloody Valentine – Loveless Rodriguez – Cold Fact Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue Caribou

  

  1. Theo Parrish - Love Triumpant / Goin' Downstairs (Sound Signature Sounds) 2. Koushik - Out My Window (Stones Throw) 3. Thai Orchestra - Thai Orchestra (Mississippi Records) [reissue] 4. Benge - Twenty Systems (Expanding Records) 5. Valerio Cosi - Collected Works (Porter Records) Drew Christie, Artist, Scholar, Genius

  

  1. Listening to Folk Songs of Idaho and Utah (by Rosalie and Jim Sorrels-Folkways 1961) while driving down the Oregon coast with my sweetheart. 2. Playing Michael Hurley's Candolin (fiddle/mandolin made out of a paint can) 3. Getting tips from Mike Seeger on building instruments 4. Finding two Roy Bookbinder albums at Bop Street 5. Seeing Leon Redbone play from 5 feet away Claire, Strictly Discs (Madison, WI) Top 10: TV on the Radio - Dear Science Be Your Own Pet – Get Awkward Nick Cave - Dig, Lazarus, Dig Beck – Modern Guilt MGMT - Oracular Spectacular Justice – (Cross) The Kills - Midnight Boom Cat Power – Jukebox The Black Keys – Attack & Release Ratatat – LP3 Next 5: David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea The Black Angels - Directions to See A Ghost Eagles of Death Metal - Heart On Justin Cosby, Head Honcho, Intertia Distribution (Australia) ** DISCLAIMER – Delivered & selected under extreme duress. Top 10 Records Alberta Cross – The Thief & The Heartbreaker Amazing Baby – Infinite Cross A Place To Bury Strangers - A Place To Bury Strangers Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago Burial - Untrue Frightened Rabbit – Midnight Organ Fight MGMT – Oracular Spectacular Nick Cave – Dig Lazarus Dig Plants & Animals – Parc Avenue We Were Promised Jet Packs – Quiet Little Voices EP Deerhunter – Cryptograms Terry Currier, Owner, Music Millennium (Portland, OR) Top Records 1) Derby - Posters Fade 2) David Grissom - Loud Music 3) Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal 4) Helio Sequence -Keep Your Eyes Ahead 5) Blitzen Trapper - Furr 6) Darker My Love - 2 7) Love Psychedelico - This Is 8) Patty Loveless - Sleepless Nights 9) Paul Thorn - Love Way From Tupelo 10) The Strawbs - Broken Hearted Bride Top Reissues 1) Van Duren - Are You Serious 2) Eddie Bo - In The Pocket With Eddie Bo 3) Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue 4) Larry Norman - Anthology Tony Davis, CIMS Music Top 10 Records of 2009 1. Nightmarchers - See You In Magic - Swami Records 2. Radiohead - Wed 27 August 2008 Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, Chula Vista, CA, USA 3. My Morning Jacket- Evil Urges - ATO Records 4. TV on the Radio - Dear Science - Interscope 5. Gutter Twins, July 10, 2008  Roxy in Los Angeles 6. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains DVD 7. Portishead - Third 8. Obits -One Cross Apiece 7 inch 9. Dengue Fever - Venus on Earth 10. Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue Pak David Dickenson, Suicide Squeeze 10 highlights from 2008 (In no particular order and excluding Suicide Squeeze related shit) Successful back surgery for my dog Mary My surprise birthday trip to Los Angeles (thanks beast!) Deerhunter - Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. [Kranky Records] Al moving to Seattle Flying Lotus - Los Angeles [Warp Records] Barack Obama Late night drives with Adam at SXSW 2008 Gang Gang Dance live at The Triple Door Pineapple Express day trip Adele “Chasing Pavements” {single} DJ Supreme LA Rock 5. DJs selling their OG Vinyl because they use MP3's now 4. The Resurrection of my "Soul, Style & Truth" Radio Show 3. The ltd. edition TITS x DJ Supreme Collaboration T - Shirt 2. 7" 45rpm vinyl serato controllers 1. Barack Obama winning the election Martin Doyle Ivy League Best Albums Of 2008 1.     Bon Iver -  For Emma, Forever Ago 2.     Eddy Current Suppression Ring -  Primary Colours 3.     Wooden Shjips – Volume 1 4.     The Black Angels – Directions To See A Ghost 5.     Black Mountain  - In The Future 6.     David Vandervelde – Waiting For The Sunrise 7.     Pivot – O Soundtrack My Hear' 8.     Santogold – S/T 9.     Diplo/Santogold – Top Ranking 10.   The Bug – London Zoo Best Lost and Found Discoveries of 2008 1.     Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription 2.     Rodriguez - Cold Fact 3.     Mulatu Astatke - Ethiopiques 4 (2nd year running) 4.     Alice Coltrance - Journey In Satchidananda 5.     Champion Jack Dupree - Blues From The Gutter 6.     Ten Years After - Self Titled 7.     Brian Jonestown Massacre - Their Satanic Majesties Second Request 8.     Neil Young - Greatest Hits 9.     Leaf Hound - Growers Of Mushrooms 10.   The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico Greg Dulli, Twilight Singers, Afghan Whigs, Gutter Twins

  

  1. Frisky Dingo Seasons 1 and 2. Hands down the greatest cartoon of all time. If I were to answer the Proust Questionnaire query about my favorite hero of fiction; my answer would be Killface, the shallowest, deepest and most conflicted and tortured soul ever committed to whatever cartoons are committed to. I cannot adequetely describe the genius that is consistently on display every second of every episode. Adam Reed, the creator (and voice of Killface, Xander Crews, Wendell, Ronnie the Xtacle and Nearl ("Is this really Babar's House?"), has apparently pulled a Dave Chappelle and gone on walkabout. I can only hope that he pulls it together to give us Season Three. Please God. 2. Istanbul. What can I say about the most beautiful city in Europe/Asia? Have breakfast in Europe and then cross the Bosphorus for lunch in Asia Minor. It is the jam. There are mosques next door to discos and everybody smokes. Muslim extremists could learn a thing or two from their more laid back brethren. I think it was that fact and being able to smoke legally in an elevator that made me finally quit smoking cigarettes. What more had I to do as a smoker? I had reached the pinnacle. 3. Terry Callier. I not only got to see him perform for the first time in Ireland this summer, but he sat with Lanegan and I before his set and answered all our fanboy questions like a kindly uncle. Then he got up, walked to the stage and tore the motherfucker down. Terry Callier is a giant among men. 4. Tinariwen. Have loved their records for years and finally got to see them at the same Irish festival. They are mesmerizing, hypnotic, transcendent and all the things you want a band to be when you're doing mushrooms on the side of their stage. 5. Slumdog Millionaire. You know how it's going to end in the first ten minutes and you don't care. You just take the ride and watch the fairy tale unfold. It's like Great Expectations and Oliver Twist transported to modern India and it is electric. A great film by a great director and the kids at the beginning are fucking priceless. I loved it. Chris Estey, Writer, Publicist

  

  420 & A COP'S SKULL FULL OF RUM OF THE SOUL: Artist of the Year: LoveLand - The Beautiful Truth Musical Comeback of the Year/Reissue Album: Rodriguez - Cold Fact Spoken Word Reissue: Iceberg Slim - Reflections TV show: Mad Men Book(s): Carl Wilson's 33 1/3 on Celine Dion; BOMP by Greg and Suzy Shaw Live show: The Saturday Knights at Bumbershoot Indie rock album: Damien Jurado's - Caught In The Trees Film Comeback: RocknRolla (Guy Ritchie) Pop Con Performance: Greil Marcus on the Roots Bumbershoot Performance (other than TSK): Old 97s Block Party Performance: See Me River (Triumph of Lethargy ruled too) Comics: Marvel Zombies, Hotwire #2 Booze: Bacardi Silver Wife: Heidi Joe, Euclid's Records CD/LP Starling Electric - Clouded Staircase Sam Phillips - Don't Do Anything Troubador Dali - Troubador Dali Loudon Wainwright III - Recovery Prisonshake - Dirty Moods Future Clouds & Radar - Peoria Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs Patricia Barber - The Cole Porter Mix Rodriguez - Cold Fact Terry Adams - Love Letters to Andromeda REM - Accelerate Chris Ligon - Crazy Dazy CONCERTS: Bob Pollard Boston Spaceships - Bluebird, St. Louis Big Jay McNeely - New Orleans Jazzfest The Gourds - Wood House Concert, St. Louis Charlie Louvin - Gazebo Concert Series, Webster Groves, MO Bruce Springsteen - Savis Center, St. Louis Ronnie Spector - House of Blues New Orleans Alison Krause - Robert Plant - New Orleans Jazzfest Ponderosa Stomp 2008 - House of Blues New Orleans The Hard Lessons - Darwin's Pub, Austin Steely Dan - Fox Theater, St. Louis Terry Adams Rock and Roll Quartet - Wood House Concert, St. Louis Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 - Euclid Records Future Clouds & Radar - Off Broadway Return to Forever - Fox Theater, St. Louis REM - Austin City Limits Studios Robbie Fulks - Wood House Concert, St. Louis Guy Forsyth - Euclid Records Ian McLagan & The Bump Band - The Duck Room, St. Louis The Collins Kids - House of Blues New Orleans Ben Fasman, Stop Smiling Magazine 1. The High On Fire burger at Kuma's Corner - 1/2 pound burger on a pretzel roll with Siracha hot sauce, proscuitto, roasted red pepper, grilled pineapple and sweet chili sauce. (Runner-up: The specials at Hot Dougs. So unfuckwithable) 2. Templeton Rye - The secret to staying warm in Chicago winters. (Runner-up: Bulleit Bourbon) 3. Accidents At Home and How They Happen - A brilliant, hilarious, sad, moving film by video artist / filmmaker Jennifer Reeder. Her earlier experimental video work won her a spot in the Whitney Bienniel and all sorts of attention, but this is her first narrative film. While it follows a narrative structure, it clearly has its roots in video art, with long, lush shots, able to sift the enormity of experience into the smallest of gestures and, perhaps even more impressively, vice-versa. Killer original score by Jeremy Boyle. (Runner-up: Let The Right One In) 4. Sheer Magic - First Wednesday of every month at Danny's Tavern in Chicago - Famed record collector Dante Carfagna and partner-in-crime Cortland Green have been throwing their monthly funk and soul night for a decade, aka way before you and everyone that you know was a "soul DJ". They still throw the best funk and soul party that I've ever been to. (Runner-up: Tuesdays at Rodan w/ Jeff Parker, John Herndon & Josh Abrams. I still can't believe this thing isn't packed to the gills every Tuesday) 5. BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA (or at least the sentiment that he inspired in millions of people over the past year). (Runner-up: Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impressions.) Honorable Mentions, aka Other Things That Brought Me Joy This Year - Falling in love, the reissue labels all stepping up their game and putting out some incredible releases, moving into the treehouse, Rebecca Fasman, Jon Fasman, Double Dee & Steinski's "Who Owns Culture" live set, DJing on election night after the acceptance speech and playing my "Fight The Power" 12" and having the entire bar rush the dancefloor and half of them were crying, getting taught a lesson in humility when a 4 year old spit on me for being mean, bloody mary's with a shorty of beer, MRT, Lynn Williams - "Don't Be Surprise" [sic], seeing Getachew Mekuria & The Ex play at Grant Park, Thomas Hooper's tattoo work, Phil Cohran's "Singles" collection, Brutal Truth, Pig Destroyer, Eddie Hinton, wool socks, continual inspiration from the illest friends anyone could ever ask for, and so much more. Jesse Flores, Promotions, Easy St. Records (Seattle, WA) Top 6 In Store Performances of 08: #1 Wanda Jackson - She was as gracious and amazing as a living legend could and should be.  And boy can she sing! #2 Natalie Portman Shaved Head - They killed it and had the crowd dancing in the isles. #3 Carlene Carter - She was so funny, she could do stand up, but then she sang and you knew you were amongst royalty. #4 Star Anna, Mark Pickerel & Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - First ever Record Store Day Performance.  Amazing to have all these great people helping us celebrate.  Jesse looked gorgeous. #5 Karl Blau - Although there were a few technical difficulties, Karl shone through.  What an amazing talent. #6 Mudhoney - because they are fuckin Mudhoney, that's why! Jesse's top 6 records in no particular order: Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson - Rattlin Bones Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Sunday at Devil Dirts Star Anna - Crooked Path Mark Pickerel - Cody's Dream Karl Blau - Natures Got Away Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash Jesse's 6 kick ass shows of 08 The Breeders @ Neumos Carolyn Mark & The Meat Purveyors @ The Tractor Tavern Exile In Imaginary Girlville - Three Imaginary Girls Tribute to Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville Lucinda Williams @ The Showbox (first night) Neko Case @ Bumbershoot Moondoggies @ Reverb Fest. John Garcia Buyer, Amoeba Music (San Francisco, CA) Anthony Braxton - The Complete Arista Recordings Carlos "Zingaro"/Dominique Regef/Wilbert De Joode - Spectrum Kayhan Kalhour/Brooklyn Rider - Silent City Getachaw Mekurya/The Ex - Moa Anbessa Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten Quintet - The Year Of The Boar Robbie Basho - "Bonn Ist Supreme" Live At The Kulturforum, Bonn, Germany, 11/24/80 V.A. Give Me Love: Songs Of The Brokenhearted - Baghdad 1925-29 Mike Osbourne - All Night Long Curlew - Curlew/Live At CBGB's 1980 Rachel Unthank & The Winterset - The Bairns Britt Govea, (((folkYEAH!))) Presents in a random order: 1. Cluster finally playing live in CA! (LA, Big Sur, SC Mountain, SF) 2. Bonnie “Prince” Billy live sets in Big Sur and SF (Swedish Music Hall) 3. Entrance Band live sets @ Festival in the Forest 4. Phillip Glass live @ Henry Miller Library in Big Sur. 5. Rodriguez w/The Fresh & Only’s/Matt Baldwin Electric Band/Sleepy Sun live sets @ GAMH in SF!!!! ((serious runner up)) Howlin Rain live set @ Hammerstien Ballroom in NYC Dawn Greany, Manager, Twist & Shout Records (Denver, CO) Lord Dog Bird - Lord Dog Bird Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago Sigur Ros - Heima (DVD) TV on the Radio - Dear Science Ten Kens - Ten Kens All The Saints - Fire On Corridor X Pacific UV - Longplay V.2 Dead End Armory - Hope You're Good Tindersticks - Hungry Saw Russian Circles - Station Duke Spirit - Neptune Great Northwest - Widespread Reign of the Great Northwest Whisper in the Noise - Dry Land Coldplay - Viva La Vida Thalia Zedek - Liars & Prayers Portishead - Third LOCAL: Slim Cessna's Auto Club - Cipher Wovenhand - Ten Stones Rabbit is a Sphere - Hope is a Cinder That Blinks Quietly Until You Die Devotchka - Mad & Faithful Telling Everything Absent or Distorted - Great Collapse Nancy Guppy, Seattle Channel's Art Zone TOP TWO FAVORITE THINGS FROM 2008, PLUS EIGHT MORE IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER: Barack Obama winning the Presidency of the United States, (fall 2008) Sarah Palin returning to Wasilla, Alaska, (fall 2008) The "Fleet Foxes" show at The Moore Theatre, (fall 2008) Paul Morgan Stetler's performance in "The Adding Machine", the inaugural play from New Century Theatre Company, (fall 2008) Discovering "NARS" brand bronzing powder, color: "Laguna", (summer 2008) The "Red Dress" show at Egan's Jam House the day after Thanksgiving, (fall 2008) "Photographs from the Inside of a Whale", Isaac Layman's show of photography at Lawrimore Project, (summer 2008) "The Saturday Knights" performance at Top Pot Donuts, (summer 2008) "Lost Action", modern dance performance choreographed by Crystal Pite for Kidd Pivot at On the Boards, (fall 2008) The debut of the weekly local arts show "Art Zone In Studio" on the Seattle Channel 21, (winter 2008) Heather H. Sonic Boom Records (Seattle, WA) in no particular order: 1. ludacris theater of the mind 2. ice cube the predator 3. my biff 4. "special" treats 5. dj randy travis Gerald Hammil, Other Music A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS, 2008: My son's first birthday. He wasn't so much into the birthday cake as he was the celery Election Night!!! Slow Food MUSIC (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER) Arthur Russell - Wild Combination DVD (Plexifilm) Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who See but Cannot Feel (Kranky) El Guincho - Ale Granza (Discoteca Oceana) Fripp & Eno - No Pussyfooting (Water) Helios - Caesura (Type) Hercules & Love Affair - s/t (DFA) FAVORITE SONGS: Jeff Britton "Rub Out" Tom Tom Club "Lorelei" LIVE No Age on the Lamar Pedestrian Bridge – Austin, TX (3/15) Manuel Göching @ Lincoln Center – NYC (8/15) Actually a highlight and disappointment all in one. I only caught the last part of his performance of "E2-E4" (still enough to make it on my year end list), but Rhys Chatham's "200 Guitars" was scrapped due to bad weather. My Bloody Valentine @ The Roseland - NYC (9/22) My ears are still ringing. Liquid Liquid @ Santo's Party House – NYC (11/19) Johnny Horn, Producer, Musician, DJ, host KEXP’s Preachin’ The Blues, and Wicked & Wild on Thursday nights at The War Room. New project is a soul instrumental group called The Satellite 4

  

  * The Upsetter Movie Someone finally did it right, the life story of Lee “SCRATCH” Perry. I was floored during a recent Seattle premiere, the exclusive photos and footage of Perry at the Black Ark were augmented with surprisingly coherent commentary from the man himself and noted others like Jamaican actor Carl Bradshaw- Free designer beer and popcorn made the thing a well attended EVENT * Menahan Street Band Bringing Bushwick’s moody, heavy vibes to vinyl via real tape in a real studio, these cats are some of the recent additions to Daptone’s Brooklyn-based stable- I got their first forty five quite a while back, and was eager to hear more- The full length set doesn’t disappoint, it even includes a hidden song * Crap Jazz Covers This site is ridiculous, they have posted tons of god-awful jazz lp covers that will make you laugh, cry or kill- They are particularly merciless to Richie Cole- Take a look when you need a good escape from life’s daily stress * North Shore Hawaiian BBQ in Seattle Located right in the city at Yesler and Boren in the old Lloyd’s Rocket building, this place offers a full Hawaiian style menu of Asian and Island delicacies- They have all the details and good prices, and it’s not way out of the way * Alcatraz Authentic Mexican Food is one of many many places like it on Seattle’s southend, but opened recently and has a refreshing regional style that I can’t pinpoint * Up on Beacon Ave. is another favorite: El Quetzel, a family place with incredible food *  Versions Galore A creative blog that collects cover versions with great presentation- “I know loads of cover versions that are regarded as being better than the original” –John Peel *  La Lupe Born in Cuba as Guadalupe Victoria Yolíaymond, this singer of boleros, guarachas and latin soul had a remarkable life story- She is gone now, but her voice is spellbinding, dripping with emotion that is missing from most music- Check out her story, her music and her life- She was TOO HOT *  Hot Mama’s Pizza- Still the best in town, making soggy Tutta Bella look ridiculous! *  Wheedle’s Groove- Kearney Barton - Maybe I’m prejudiced, since I’m involved in this forthcoming Light In The Attic release, but an era of Seattle’s soul music was documented with taste on this record. Wes Howerton, Barsuk

  

  My top 10 Albums of 2008 1. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago 2. Black Mountain – In the Future 3. Why? - Alopeica 4. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes 5. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! 6. Rodriguez – Cold Fact 7. Retribution Gospel Choir -  S/T 8. Richard Swift – Ground Trouble Jaw 9. Department of Eagles – In Ear Park 10. Damien Jurado – Caught in Trees Other records by “The” bands that I loved: The Whigs -  Mission Control The Constantines – Kensington Heights The Hold Steady – Stay Positive The Moondoggies – Don’t Be A Stranger The Muslims – S/T The Black Keys – Attack & Release The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely Top 10 Songs of 08: 1. Richard Swift – Lady Luck 2. The Whigs – Right Hand on My Heart 3. Flash Lightnin – Coming on Strong 4. T- Pain – Can’t Believe It 5. Estelle – American Boy 6. Flo- Rida – Low 7. Usher – Love In This Club 8. Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Possess Your Heart 9. Damien Jurado – Best Dress 10.  The Muslims – Beside Myself Carlos Icaza, Los Fancy Free, Evil Hippie, El Pan Blanco, Las Comadrejas

  

  SHOWS: Kampion, Daedalus and Marlowe, terraza CCE, downtown Méco City Harmonia live at le Poisson Rouge, NYC Ariel Pink´s Haunted Graffiti at El Imperial, Méco City The Cannanes at El Garage, Monterrey, Méco Phenomenal Handclap Band at 205 Christie, NYC Damo Suzuki & Evil Hippie at Pasaje America, Méco City Daptone Records fundraising party for Obama at Southpaw, NYC RECORDS: best reissue of the year: Rodriguez: Cold Fact (light in the attic, hats off!) BEST MEXICAN RECORDS: Los Guanána - heartbeats Los Margaritos - Rocanrolandia jessy bulbo: Taras Bulba (nuevos ricos) los fancy free: nevergreens vol 2 (silicon carne) Gustavo Pimentel - percusiones (orfeon, 1966) Monna Bell - De Repente (orfeon, 1974) BEST TACOS: la Superior, berry & south second, Williamsburg NYC taqueria cocula, lopez and delicias, downtown, mexico city. taqueria bagdad, downtown, Puebla, mexico. BRAZILIAN FOOD: Salada Record, downtown Sao Paulo: ask for virado paulista. BRAZILIAN MUSIC: Astronete Bar, Matias Aires btw. Augusta and Haddock Lobo Sao Paulo. simply the coolest bar in the world. in NY: brazilian brooklyn beats, sundays at black betty, brooklyn. Michael Jaworski, Mt. Fuji Records, The Cops, The Sunset Tavern, Al’s Tavern, and all taverns the world over!

  

  1. Being alive to witness and participate in the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. 2. Having great tours with my band, The Cops, and getting to play with some amazing bands like The Blind Shake, Big Business, Red Fang, The End of the World, The Long Winters, Spiral Stairs, and The A-Sides, among others. 3. Spending 2 weeks in Costa Rica with my lovely lady. Mucho gusto! 4. Having another happy and healthy year with my family and friends who continue to inspire and amaze me. 5. Getting to hear great new records by the following (in no particular order, and I'm positive that I'm forgetting a hundred more): The Roots - Rising Down Tobacco - Fucked Up Friends Point Juncture, WA - Heart to Elk The Muslims - The Muslims They've since changed their name to The Soft Pack. Great band from San Diego. The Night Marchers - See You in Magic The Whore Moans - Hello from the Radio Wasteland! The Oh Sees - The Master's Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In The Blind Shake - Caramel Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes The Hold Steady - Stay Positive Past Lives - Strange Symmetry Here's to 2009! Andy K. Sub Pop Ranking Baker's Dozen—Top singles picked up in '08 13. King Kong—Niceness 7" (Black Scorpio) 12. Eric Bubbles—Rebel Lion 7" (Decendence) 11. Mike Brooks—Come One Come All 7" (Coptic Lion) 10. Billy Boyo in the Area/Yellowman—Lost Mi Love 7" (Jah Guidance) 9. Knowledge/Tapper Zukie—What's Yours 12" (Stars) 8. Al Campbell—Repatriation 7" (Well Charge) 7. Junior Byles—Lorna Banana 7" (Pressure Sounds) 6. Jackie Edwards—So Jah Say 7" (Gorgon) 5. Peter Tosh—Oh Bumbo Claat 7" (Intel-Diplo) 4. Prince Alla—Heaven Is My Roof/Rod Taylor—Don't Give Up 12" (Archive) 3. Tenor Saw—Golden Hen 7" (Hummingbird) 2. Nicodemus—Eagles' Feather 7" (Jammy's) 1. Michael Palmer—Don't Smoke the Seed 12" (Hitbound/Channel One) Ethan Kallet, Berkeley Place http://www.berkeleyplaceblog.com/the-best-of-2008-so-far/ Khal, Rock the Dub 01/Elzhi ft. Royce Da 5’9 “Motown 25” 02/Elucid “Automatic Writing” 03/Presto ft. Sadat X, O.C. & Large Professor “Conquer Mentally” 04/The Roots “75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction)” 05/Pete Rock ft. Jim Jones & Max B “We Roll” 06/Akrobatik ft. Talib Kweli “Put Ya Stamp On It” 07/Big Boi ft. Raekwon & Andre3000 “Royal Flush” 08/Nas ft. Busta Rhymes “Fried Chicken” 09/MAGr “Dealings” 10/Heltah Skeltah “The Art of Disrespekinazation” Ever Kipp, Barsuk Asparagus + Morels = awesome Black Keys – Attack & Release = hugeness from the former rubber capitol of the world Babies, specifically Violet Merriweather Minton-Kipp Russian Circles – Station = massive Michael Chabon – Gentlemen of the Road = Jews with swords Jon Kirby, Wax Poetics 5 Favorite Things of 2008. New York Club that Feels like a New York Club: Santos. Santos has a great sound system and pretty clever programing. I went there to see Q-Tip and Rich Medina. The bass was so deep, I felt like I could see the air vibrating. Like heat over hot asphalt. The first time I went here was on my birthday (May 23rd) and that thing happens where you walk through the corridor and everything starts happening in slow motion. Popular people give you high fives and pretty girls give you euro kisses. I think for that reason, it will always hold a special place in my party heart. Dark Horse Lunch Spot: Vegetarian Ginger Like most people with office bound work weeks, I am violently sick of the available lunch spots in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Whenever I see guys from Turntable Lab or Fat Beats, I see the proximity pain in their eyes. Vegetarian Ginger opened in the neighboring barrio of Brooklyn Heights and I am thrilled! It looks super nice, the lunch specials are 6 dollars, and come with all the veg-friendly trimmings. Me and Idris have to deal with the hippie-based hazing from our co-workers, but until the imaginary Pulled-Pork Emporium starts delivering, chill. Favorite Piece of Reissue: Carolina Funk. A bit biased, me being a Tarheel and all, but this thing is incredible. Jason Perlmutter really outdid himself here. Not only did this Carolina-educated Chemistry major provide insightful descriptions of each record and the circumstances surrounding them, but identified the instrumental regions of both Carolinas, tying the whole compilation together into one cozy quilt of Southern funk. And the music? Incredible! North American Travel Destination: Mexico City. I been singing Montreal's praises for many minutes, but Mexico City is exploding with cultural expression. It reminds me of the South a bit: Country good, but city quick. There is food everywhere, as if to say, "Yeah, we're cooking a pig on this park bench...And?" Everything is affordable, public transit is near magical, and the folks are, for the most part, friendly. Carlos Icaza tour guided me around the city on a recent Mexodus and I couldn't have had a better time. "Chido" is the 80s equivalent of "Rad," and like Visa, it's everywhere you want to be. Best, "Dude, you got to hear this" band of 2008: Francis and the Lights: I feel in most instances, the more these artists are touted, the more likely we are to tune them out. For the sake of brevity, Francis is the authentic Prince of blue-eyed soul. My favorite instance of the word "strawberry" ever incorporated into metered rhyme. It's harder than you think. Mark Klebeck, Top Pot Doughnuts BEST CD: The Saturday Knights – Mingle (My wife and I play this over and over and over…) BEST RESTAURANT: Machiavelli (Some of the best Italian food in the nation served by the friendliest staff) BEST DJ: John Richards (Same as last year…There’s nobody better) BEST ILLUSTRATOR: Ed Fotheringham (I love his work) BEST PIZZA: MOD Pizza (Corner of 6th and University downtown) BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN: Todd Hardman (at Whiz-Bang…great soccer goalie too!) BEST WEB DESIGNER: Christine Godlewski (at Genius Creative) BEST SCRATCH BAR: Sun Liquor (Yeah, I know…biased) BEST BREAKFAST: PORTAGE BAY CAFÉ(Great breakfast!) BEST RECORD STORE: Sonic Boom (Great independent place for music!) Jon Kurtzer, KEXP, Zune Top 10 Albums of the year - Umalali - The Garfina Women's Collective DJ Dolores - Real Buena Vista Social Club - Live at Carnegie Hall Seun Kuti - Suen Kuti and Fela's Egypt 80 Chiwoniso - Rebel Women Justin Adams - Soul Science Dub Colossus - A Town Called Addis Hector Zazou and Swara - In The House of Mirrors Debashish Battacharya - Calcultta Chronicles Toumani Diabete - The Mande Variations John Laird, Side One: Track One All of us in the SOTO family (which includes LITA's own Mr. Noah Sanders) have completely listed ourselves to the point of no return, so instead of music or film, I present to you five of the best ways that I wasted my time this year in Austin, TX. The Alamo Drafthouse (the best theater in the world) Halo 3/Left 4 Dead/Gears Of War 2 (violent video games are such a blast) The Flying Saucer (beer is good) ESPN 1/2/News/The Ocho (sports are fun…to watch while on the couch) Gmail Chat (probably the slickest way to look like I'm working) That's it. Feel free to join me in these activities at any point in 2009! Kevin Ledoux, Seattle Subsonic TOP BEARDS OF 2008 http://www.seattlesubsonic.com/2008/12/12/the-era-of-the-new-hair-band-top-beards-of-2008/ Beau Levitt, Five Bucks On By-Tor The 10 Best Old Canadian Records I Found In 2008 (in alphabetical order): The Bob Brooks Music Co. and Chorus - To Keep This Land Alive: Winnipeg trucking company film soundtrack split evenly between folk and '70s-era electronica. Ron Harrison - Moods Of The Wild: Easy-listening nature film soundtrack tracks with a funky edge. Jerry Jerome & The Cardells - Hot Steel: Rootsy covers of Bob Marley, Tower Of Power and Nancy Sinatra by a Rexdale hotel band. Kensington Market - Avenue Road: Late-'60s Toronto psych band. Claude Leveillee et Andre Gagnon - Leveillee-Gagnon: Stately instrumental Quebecois classical/jazz. Maestro Fresh Wes - Symphony In Effect: Classic LP by the godfather of Canadian hip-hop. Jackie Mittoo - Let's Put It All Together: Reggae-fied pop by Jamaican-born keyboard maestro who lived in Toronto throughout the '70s. Marg Osburne - The Best Of Marg Osburne: Country and folk with a jazzy touch by a powerhouse singer. Syrinx - Long Lost Relatives: Way ahead-of-its-time prog album. David Clayton Thomas and The Shays - A Go-Go: Surprisingly gritty garage rock and blues by the future Blood, Sweat & Tears frontman and a Toronto r&b group. Eric Levin Owner/Founder, Criminal Records, AIMS Coalition Top 10 Records of 2008 1. Anna Kramer & The Lost Cause - Rustic Contemporary Sounds of… 2. Augustus Pablo - The Rockers Story 3. Bauhaus - Go Away White 4. Earth, Roots & Water - Innocent Youths 5. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah (Part One) 6. Gentlemen Jesse & His Men - S/T 7. Lady Dottie & The Diamonds - S/T 8. Noot D'Noot - Goofer Dust 9. Rodriguez - Cold Fact 10. Warren Zevon - S/T (deluxe reissue) Lawrence Lui, Astralwerks Top 25 in no order! 1) Portishead - Third (best album) 2) Howlin Rain - Magnificent Fiend (second best album) 3) Smoke Feathers (best unsigned band) 4) Esau Mwanwaya & Radioclit (best mixtape) 5) Rodriguez - Cold Fact (best reissue) 6) Septicflesh - Communion (best metal record with massive orchestral flourishes) 7) Dreadzone 'For A Reason' (best song to put a smile on your face) 8) Vira - Demo (best unsigned metal act) 9) Guilty Simpson (most slept on) 10) RZA 'Long Time Coming' & GZA '0% Finance' (best Wu Tang Clan tracks) 11) Prince @ Coachella (best festival gig) 12) The Ex with GétchèMèrya @ Lincoln Center NYC (best free show) 13) Seun Kuti @ Summerstage NYC (second best free show) 14) Mavis Staples @ BB Kings (best show at an awful venue) 15) WangWen @ The Spot Festival (best Chinese spacerock show in Denmark) 16) Bob Dylan 'Cocaine Blues' (best live vocal performance on a record) 17) Girl Talk - Feed The Animals (guiltiest pleasure) 18) Sunday Best, Brooklyn (best Brooklyn party) 19) Special Disco Version, NYC (best Manhattan party) 20) Times New Viking - Rip It Off (lowest-fi) 21) Buenos Aires, Argentina (best trip) 22) Duffy (best excuse not to miss Amy Winehouse) 23) My Bloody Valentine - Live @ ICA 6/13/08 (best bootleg) 24) Substantula.com (best shameless plug for my blog) 25) Obama (best reason to be hopeful) Jennifer Maas, Evil Bunny Films

  

  Top Five Food Things 1.  Black Bean Soup with Apples This Black Bean Soup is based on a recipe from the Herbfarm Cookbook.  Soak two cups of beans in 6 cups of water for a couple of hours. Cook 6 pieces of finely chopped bacon over medium until most of the fat is rendered, but not yet crispy. Add or remove enough fat to make 1/3 cup. ...  Read MorePut in a finely chopped onion, four finely chopped celery stalks, and 3 finely chopped garlic cloves. Cook for a few minutes until they are soft. Add two tablespoons of ginger, a teaspoon of allspice and a half a teaspoon of cayenne. Stir around for a second. Add 7 cups of chicken broth, a couple of bay leaves, and the beans. Boil, then simmer for two hours or so until the beans are soft. Add 3 apples (I used two granny smith and a fuji) in small cubes, two tablespoons of maple syrup, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, two tablespoons finely chopped each of rosemary and thyme, and cook until apples are soft (about 10 minutes). I think that's it. 2. Ruby on Rails Okay, it's not a food thing as much as it is a programming language / web framework. I really love it, but if I start talking about I'll just sound like a brainwashed cult member, and your eyes will be frantically looking around the room for a way out of the conversation.  I'll just say that it's everything I ever wanted in a programming language.  Word.  And if there were any way to eat it, I'm sure it would be very delicious. 3.  Hurricane Ike Turkey Tacos My parents got hit pretty bad by Hurricane Ike, so my brother and sister and I all rushed down to help pick up the pieces a few days later.  We actually had a blast that week, and my brother and I made ground turkey tacos one night from the random stuff that the grocery store had left after the storm.  This recipe is best made using a hotplate run by a generator.  Saute a chopped onion in oil (this will take a while with on a hot plate), then add the ground turkey, some cumin, a little chili powder, some salt, and cook until turkey is done.  On a second hotplate, heat some oil, and fry up a few cans of black beans.  Make enough guacamole to go swimming in (guac is good for morale).  Serve with chips, chopped tomatoes, and tortillas.  Also, even though it's kind of a pain to do dishes with no hot water, use real dishes! 4.  Chipotle Chilies I bought a bag in Mexico City last November, and they have taken my Tex Mex game to a new level this year.  They are smoky and flavorful and hot and perfect. 5. Homemade Chicken Stock I save my onion, carrot, and celery scraps in the freezer.  When I have a chicken carcass, I put it in a stock pot with my vegetable scraps (and some fresh veggies if I've got them), sprig of thyme, a bay leaf, and a spring of parsley.  I cover the mess with water, bring to a boil, skim the gross stuff off the top, and then let it simmer for a few hours.  My process is nowhere near perfect, but the result is still ridiculously great.  And I swear it cures colds in a day and makes your hair grow about three times faster. Michael Maly, Sonic Itch Music I feel fortunate to have a life full of wonderful music related moments, and putting together a list of the more memorable or relevant, is a bit of a daunting task. But, how can one resist the invitation from the fine folks @ Light in The Attic? Some of my most memorable music related experiences from 2008 as best as my memory can serve. In no particular order of relevance. My Morning Jacket @ The Parish (400 capacity venue) in March: This is the first venue that I saw the band perform live, back in 2003 I believe, and I was completely blown away then. The lineup has changed, the hair is gone, but the magic still exists, and experiencing it in this environment is how it should be. Fleet Foxes self titled album: Being a fan of guitar forward rock-n-roll, this album was an unexpected beautiful surprise and delight. Simple, complex, and incredibly touching this band is and just so amazing on so many levels. Cat Power @ Stubbs: My faith and appreciation for Chan Marshall was all but shattered after a dismal performance @ the 2007 Fun Fun Fun Fest, but the girl rebounded nicely. Marshall shined in a performance that showcased her stage presence, working the crowd with her sensual vocal delivery along with her ability to connect to the listener. Fun Fun Fun Fest 2008: Set in Waterloo Park in the middle of downtown Austin, TX. Fun Fun Fun Fest showcases some of the best up and coming in the music scene, while paying tribute to some of those who paved the way in earlier years. The venue is great, the vibe is awesome, and there’s a ton of great music. You’ll experience it soon enough. The Walkmen @ The Parish: Always a bit curious about the records and enjoying them to an extent, the band’s live performance was nothing less than stellar. In a day and age when most bands rely on electronic compliments, The Walkmen are pure and almost completely straight forward. An amazing performance reproducing the stripped down, classic sounds on the albums, with classic guitars and amps. The Walkmen seem to exist in a time almost forgotten, but deliver sounds that fit in the now. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago: Justin Vernon spent time away from the society most of us know, and the end result reads like a musical recap of each and every detail of that experience. You can feel the isolation of the soul, the voices of the wind in the trees, the chill of the winter, and the crackle of the wood burning stove. Colour Revolt @ Austin City Limits Festival: Three days of crowds, heat, and performances that walked the line of mediocrity at best were rescued by the performance of Mississippi’s Colour Revolt. Beautiful guitars, passionate screaming, and songs wrapped in dark introspective lyrics have never been so welcomed. A truly underrated band, whose time in the spotlight may never come to the fruition that it should. Dead Confederate - Wrecking Ball: Standing on the shoulders of giants they may, as many do in this day and age, but to infinite glory this band has created an amazing rock record. Rock might be an unpopular subject these days, but I’m still a believer. Spoon @ The Parish: I’ve been a fan from the first recording, and have seen the band as many times as convenience would allow. It’s been a long relationship most recently accented with this performance in which Brit Daniel and company killed the new material live and reached back into their lengthy catalog of seemingly never ending hits. A fine reminder of how much the band has been and still remains relevant in the current modern music scene. Mark, Strictly Discs (Madison, WI) Top 10: Black Crowes – Warpaint TV on the Radio - Dear Science My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely MGMT - Oracular Spectacular Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes Cold War Kids – Loyalty to Loyalty Dr. Dog – Fate Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend Gary Louris – Acoustic Vagabonds Next 5: Thievery Corporation – Radio Retaliation King Kahn – Supreme Genius of King Kahn Kings of Leon – Only By the Night Trey Anastasio – Original Boardwalk Style David Byrne/Brian Eno – Everything That Happens Will Happen Today Martin, Adam, Pish, Dorian and Leonore The Soundcarriers

  

  The Soundcarriers debut album will be released March 2009 Record: The Natural Yogurt Band – ‘Away With Melancholy’ (Jazzman Records) With a definite nod towards classic library composers [Hawkshaw, Mansfield, Moorhouse], debut LP Away With Melancholy features a hole array of vintage instruments and production techniques, resulting in a warm sounding,  groove-filled, unpretentious masterpiece, recorded under totally analogue conditions. Brilliant! DVD: O Lucky Man [dir. Lindsay Anderson 1973] Malcolm McDowell stars in this, probably the best of the Anderson trilogy. With many of the cast playing multiple roles, Arthur Lowe, Jeremy Bulloch and Helen Mirren, the film itself is a series of movies within movies. A story of corruption and lies, a highly influential yet often over-looked film, finally has its digital release. As well as a cameo role, Alan Price provides the killer soundtrack. Surreal Film: London Loves, BFI Outdoor Screening, Trafalgar Square Outdoor large screen viewing under Nelson’s Column on a clear, winter’s night, watching recently unearthed delights of familiar London sights, to the more bizarre aspects of city life, the programme included The Smallest Car in the Largest City in the World (1913) in which a miniature Cadillac dodges the city's omnibuses while young Hackney residents can be seen enjoying a spot of competitive bun-eating in beautiful colour home movies shot by Lt. James in the early 1950s; accompanied with live piano, violin and drums. Priceless Gig: The Pentangle [original line-up/UK tour] An incredible, and probably never to be repeated evening in the company of the band’s original line-up: Bert Jansch, Terry Cox, John Renbourn, Jacqui McShee and Danny Thompson. A well chosen set-list, including tracks Wedding Dress, Light Flight, Sweet Child, Bruton Town; performed by this magical, influential, ground-breaking band, sounding as timeless as on record. Masterful musicianship, retaining all subtleties. For once, a reformed band who kept it real. Radio: Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour How could Bob’s radio show disappoint? Courtesy of XM Satellite Radio, 6 Music lets the UK listen in on these eclectic hand-picked selections from the man himself. Deep Music Festival: Supersonic, Custard Factory, Birmingham (July) Leonore’s favourite avant-garde noise fest; and she’s not alone, voted ‘the best organised and most wisely curated festival’ by Plan B magazine. Best band of the festival: Fuck Buttons Shop: Selectadisc, 21 Market Street, Nottingham, NG1 6HX This national institution entered 2008 under uncertain terms, but lives to fight another day after being bought out be Sister Ray. Trading since 1966, a much loved independent high street store, which, in its lifetime has played host to many instore gigs (Soledad Brothers, The Clash, Magic Numbers) keeps on supplying diverse and extensive record and CD buyer’s needs, while its commitment to keeping vinyl a viable commodity is above and beyond the call of duty. Re-Issue: The Inner Dialogue – The Inner Dialogue Not sure exactly when this LP was re-issued, but I didn’t hear of it until this year. On a Free Design, 5th Dimension, Sound Of Feeling tip, soft-psyche sound with clunky bass and tuff drums. Original release on Ranwood Records RLP-8050 from 1969. Sunshine Restaurant: Gourmet San, 261 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 After reading Jay Rayner’s recommendation in The Observer Magazine, I really had to check this place out. And it didn’t disappoint. My words can’t do this place justice, so I’ll let you read the original review: I took Jay Rayner’s advice, and ordered the Chilli Crab and Pig’s Trotters, and not only did the food live up to the review, it wouldn’t even fit on the table! A fascinating and affordable Szechuan menu, probably not for the faint hearted, featuring Waist of Rabbit, Chilli Frog’s Legs and Cow’s Stomach. Pub: Old Olive Bush, Flecknoe, Warwickshire, CV23 8AT I probably shouldn’t really be plugging this unspoilt gem, just in case it doesn’t stay that way. Val, the landlady, will give you the warmest welcome, be you a local, walker, tourist, boater, whatever, to this wonderful true public house. In the space the size no bigger than most people’s living room, customers are shoehorned in the bar, clutching caramel coloured pints of local brew, faces red from the open fire. No music. Just chit chat. In summer, the rolling garden overlooks the beautiful valley below, whilst you’re sat with a pint of IPA amongst bumble bee’s favourite fauna. Recommended: pint of Hooky and a home-grown pickled egg Bar: Dulcimer, 567 Wilbraham Rd, Chorlton, Manchester, M21 0AE Fine Ales and Fine Folk! Owned by partner of B-Music/Finders’ Keepers Records, The Dulcimer is a wonderful antique filled, acid folk drenched busy bar and live music venue. An incredible line-up of acts have played here: Dando Shaft, Tudor Lodge, Meic Stevens, Heather Jones, Magic Carpet, Robin Williamson (Incredible String Band), Spirogyra and regular DJs include Lee Janda and Andy Votel. Friendly staff and atmosphere; recommended: Thwaites Flying Shuttle 4.6% Cask Theatre: Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter [Kneehigh Theatre production] A humorous, affectionate and detailed adaptation of Coward’s 1930s classic playlet ‘Still Life’. With wonderful detail, Kneehigh take you back to a 1930s style cinema, with actors showing people to their seats while musicians stroll around the auditorium singing songs such as Roll Out The Barrel and Run Rabbit Run. Innovative and imaginative. News: Barack Obama What’s left to say? City: Berlin Art Exhibition: Cold War Modern: Design 1945-1970. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Incredible exhibition of art and culture from ‘both sides of the Iron Curtain’. This is still on until mid Jan 09, well worth checking, exhibits include: a Sputnik and an Apollo Mission space suit, films by Stanley Kubrick, paintings by Robert Rauschenberg and Gerhard Richter, fashion by Paco Rabanne, designs by Charles and Ray Eames and Dieter Rams, architecture by Le Corbusier, Richard Buckminster Fuller and Archigram, and vehicles including a Messerschmidt micro-car. Cold Art Installation: Cildo Meireles, Tate Modern Encompassing work from this Brazilian artist over the last four decades. Highlight: Fontes 1992/2008, a structure of 6000 rulers, 1000 ticking clocks and 500000 vinyl numbers following the spiral formation of the Milky Way, draws you into a maze-like world, with its hypnotic ticking soundtrack. Art Festival: Whitley Arts Festival A free local festival of Art, Music, Dance, Drama, Film, encouraging participation from the local residents of Reading. Highlight: The Experimental Film Evening. Traders: Candle Bridge Carrying Co. We met Tom, skipper, at Watford last March on one of those typical still, icy-cold, sun-filled winter sundays, and what a sight for sore eyes: a pair of historic working narrowboats, brimming to the gunwhales with coal for sale! He truly saved the day along a barron stretch of canal, with our own coal supply rapidly depleteing. School-leaver Tom had just bought the pair of boats to become a proper working boatman, supplying heating fuel for boats moored along the southern Grand Union Canal and London. We wish him, and dog Maggie, good luck in keeping this tradition alive without becoming a tourist attraction. His beautiful boats, Archimedes and Ara (1935 Star Class) can be seen here in their former glory. Matt, Strictly Disc (Madison, WI) Top 10: TV on the Radio – Dear Science Sleeping in the Aviary – Expensive Vomit in a Cheap Hotel Okkervil River – The Stand Ins Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III The Walkmen – You & Me Mount Eerie – Lost Wisdom Silver Jews – The Joos Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend Flying Lotus – Los Angeles Next 5: Hot Chip – Made in the Dark Islands – Arm’s Way Man Man – Rabbit Habits The Notwist – The Devil, You + Me Spiritualized – Songs in A&E Ben "Mouse" McShane, Classical Geek Theatre Classical Geek Theatre's Top 10 Albums from LA Bands 2008 1. The Henry Clay People - For Cheap or For Free The normal kids were listening to Coldplay and Radiohead, the cool kids were listening to No Age and MGMT, and The Henry Clay People released an indie rock record that references Neil Young, CCR, and Tom Petty before borrowing from Pavement and The Replacements. In other words, For Cheap or For Free is a rockists' wet dream, a poptimists' envy, and a finger in the eye of the Pitchfork aesthetic. Those are three great reasons to own it. (Buy This Record) 2. No Age - Nouns For teenagers and twentysomethings living in the 21st century, Nouns is the musical recording equivalent of Henry David Thoreau Walden. This is an "It will set you free" kind of record, and probably the most culturally relevant release of 2008. (Buy This Record) 3. The Mae Shi - HLLLYH LA's most angular noisepunk band becomes LA's catchiest electropop act. All of the the guys in the band (who are a mix of atheists, agnostics, and a true-believing Christian) wrote songs about the nature of god. Then they put a 14 minute long dance mix of the record in the middle, specifically so you would skip a track, emulating a "Side A and Side B" vinyl effect on CD. Genius. (Buy This Record) 4. The Airborne Toxic Event - self titled It's the best "epic indie rock" record of the year, from LA or otherwise. Music snobs dismissed this one as a poor man's Interpol, but the lyrical content is so much more genuine and cathartic, perfectly complimented by the dynamic instrumentals. Airborne had already broken-out when the record was released, but it was the live performances of these songs that launched their career. (Buy This Record) 5. The Movies - Based on a True Story Based on a True Story only came-out last week but it's an instant Silverlake classic. Nobody makes synthesizers sleazy like these guys do. If only the world wanted rock stars... (Available at Spaceland every Monday in December) 6. Thailand - The Remote Controller Absorbs the Place (EP) Brutal synth rock by subtraction. This five-song EP is a constant battle between the band's passionate expressions and their totalitarian songwriting discipline. There's anger in the quiet spaces, and that's not easy to do. (Buy This Record) 7. Divisadero - Lefty California desert rock is dime a dozen, but California desert rock as a concept album telling the story of a retired boxer? Not so common. This full-length is beautiful, dark, twisted stuff. I can never aptly describe it because every listen is like a half-forgotten dream. (Buy This Record) 8. The Happy Hollows - Imaginary EP Los Angeles' premiere artrock outfit finally released a collection of songs worthy of their electric live performances. It's phenomenal, mind bending stuff... and these are the five songs that didn't make the upcoming full-length?! (Buy This Record) 9. Death to Anders - Fictitious Business Death to Anders worships at the altar of Stephen Malkmus, Thurston Moore, and Thom Yorke... but they make records that have more in common with a Cohen Brothers movie. Cinematic alt-indie with an alt-country twang. (Buy This Record) 10. The Mezzanine Owls - self titled (EP) Breathtakingly majestic shoegaze. Six songs torturously too short. "Temporary Health" makes my top 5 songs of the year list. Released as a 7" vinyl with a digital download card. (Buy This Record) Trent Moorman, The Stranger, The Saturday Knights, Head Like A Kite

  

  Top 5 Albums to Listen to While Driving a Tour Van Late at Night: (through miles and miles of open road and the night sky, when no one else is awake in the van except you and the stereo): 1) Miles Davis – Panthalassa 2) Rachel's – Systems & Layers 3) Trans Am – Sex Change 4) Ry Cooder – Paris, Texas 5) Yume Bitsu – The Golden Vessyl of Sound Top 5 Breakfast Cereals: 1) Fruity Pebbles 2) Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch 3) Cinnamon Life 4) Cracklin Oat Bran 5) Count Chocula Tarin Muir Promotions, Amoeba Music (San Francisco, CA) Top 10 things that I liked for 2008 - 1. Great American Music Hall in San Francisco 2. Obama, Obama, Obama. 3. Radiohead - In Rainbows... I cant stop listening to it. 4. Crown Royal 5. Nirvana Thai Restaurant in the Castro 6. Britney Spears acting sane again... yeah right! 7. The Glass Castle - Book 8. Kathy Griffin 9. Sexy Straight San Franciscan men who like to dance to Cindy Lauper! :-) HAPPY HOLIDAYS! The Music Slut http://themusicslut.com/2008/12/tms-presents-matts-top-25-singles-of-2008/ http://themusicslut.com/2008/12/the-music-slut-presents-matts-top-50-lps-of-2008/ Ruben Mz, Coconut Coolouts, Sonic Boom Records, Haunted Horse Records, The Shackles TOP ten...er...  TOP 16 .... 7"s from 2008. 1.  Barbaras - Summertime Road (Goner) 2.  The Dutchess and the Duke- Scorpio (Horizontal Action) 3.  Wounded Lion- Carol Cloud (S-S Records) 4.  Catatonic Youth (Horizontal Action) 5.  Vivian Girls -  Wild Eyes (Plays With Dolls) 6.  Johnny and the Limelites/Slippery Slope - Summer of Fun Split Single (Florida's Dying) 7.  World's Lousy With Ideas Compilations #1-6 *****all of them****(Almost Ready Records) 8.  LOVETAN (Sweet Rot Records) 9.  Batman and Robin- I'm a Bat, I'm a Rock N Roll Animal (Bachelor Records) 10.  Catatonic Youth - Piss Scene (Horizontal Action) Jon Naito, Writer, Seattle P.I. Beach House - Devotion Rodriguez - Cold Fact Department of Eagles - In Ear Park The Walkmen - You & Me Elzhi - The Preface Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls V/A - Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds, and Nigerian Blues 1970-6 V/A - Titan: It's All Pop! The Dutchess and the Duke - She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke M83 - Saturday = Youth Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me A couple of hip-hop mixtapes: Paper Route Gangstaz - Fear and Loathing in Hunts Vegas and Wafeek - The Aristocrats Mixtape Nate, Strictly Discs (Madison, WI) Top 10: TV on the Radio – Dear Science Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes Santogold - Santogold MGMT – Oracular Spectacular The Roots – Rising Down Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago Girl Talk – Feed the Animals The Cool Kids – Bake Sale Deerhunter – Microcastle Next 5: The Dodo’s – Visiter Q-Tip - The Renaissance Blitzen Trapper - Furr Eagles of Death Metal – Heart On Kings of Leon – Only By the Night Chad Nelson Sales Rep/Great Guy, Super D TEN THINGS I LIKED IN 2008 1. Rodriguez - Cold Fact reissue on Light in the Attic (Even if this wasn't their website, I'd still put this as my number one. I got to see him twice in New York—THE comeback story of the year!) 2. Delta Spirit - "Trashcan" (good, sloppy rock'n'roll the way it's meant to be played) 3. Noah & the Whale - "5 Years Time" 4. The Heavy - "Girl" 5. Elbow - 'The Seldom Seen Kid' and live 6. Honeydrips - "I Wouldn't Know What to Do" 7. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2008 - Golden Gate Park, San Francisco (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Richard Thompson, Elvis Costello doing 'Friend of the Devil' and a frail, but strong-voiced Odetta were the highlights of the incredible festival) 8. The Shortwave Set - 'Replica Sun Machine' 9. Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool on Yeproc (even my kids love this!) 10. Madmen-Season 2 on AMC (preferably with a highball in my hand) Nate Nelson, Stones Throw Favorite TV Show: Ken Burns The West Favorite Guilty Pleasure: “Electric Feel” MGMT (Justice Remix) Favorite Gadget To Pass The Time: Nike + iPod Running Combo Favorite Trainwreck To Watch: Sarah Palin Favorite New Beer: American Ale by Budweiser (shit is good.  I mean for realz) Favorite Seed to Watch Grow: East Los Angeles, CA Favorite Shout Out To Light In The Attic: “suuuuuuuuugar man” Molly Neuman, Label Director, eMusic What I liked in 2009 - The Teenagers - Reality Check Deastro - Keepers Delorean's re-mixes of The Teenagers, Big Pink and Lemonade www.Desparrame.blogspot.com www.simplesocialgraces.blogspot.com Natural Gourmet Institute- Chef's Training Program www.dessertofthemonthclub.blogspot.com Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul Nicaragua, El Salvador and Mexico Sapelo Island, GA Mike Nipper, The Stranger 1. My tiny Canadian friend Bay Bay 2. Falling on my face biking home in August and getting a black eye 3. Nice titties 4. Having a much more smiling baby and not much of a crying baby 5. My component CD burner Grant Olsen, Arthur & Yu

  

  Top 5 more perplexing and interesting quagmires than the Great Economic Doom Crisis of 2008: 5) The Seattle Windshield Pitting Epidemic of 1954 4) The Dancing Plague of 1518 3) The 1962 Laughter Epidemic of Tanganyika 2) The Penis Panic Manias of Asia and Africa (various times in history) 1) The Nun Biting Hysteria of 1844 Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw

  

  Top 10 DJs in LA you may not know if you don't live here. These gys keep the party moving without resorting to the obvious hits. In no particular order. 1) Kutmah - One of those guys that always has me running up to the turntables asking "what was that?". Possibly too known outside of LA for this list, but oh well. 2) Coleman - When he's not taking photos for the Madvillain album cover, he's rocking various weeklies and house parties around the city and reads the crowd perfectly. He stole the show at my friend's going away party. 3,4,5) Randy Watson/Laroj/Billy Goods - They all hold down Funkmosphere along with Dam-Funk. No hits. 6) Max - He's got good taste for the soulful stuff from every era. He should spin out more. 7) Jun - He's been doin it for years and doin it well. Almost doesn't count for this list also cuz he's too known. 8) Mona Lisa - Been in the music industry for years, but just started spinning out. Hearing her, you'd never know it though. 9) DJ Jedi - not only is he a good DJ, but he brings the energy when he's not spinning as well. I'm gonna have to start hiring him to stand in the crowd during my gigs to cheer so everyone else does. 10)J Logic - might be too known to be on the list as well, but he won with his 80s rock set at Do-Over a couple of weeks ago. There's plenty of others so if I left you off, I either haven't heard you spin lately or you're too known. Sorry. Dave Pehling aka Sasquatch Barracho SF Weekly contributor, Web editor for KTVU.com and part-time DJ Best albums Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) Craig Minowa and company mixed soaring orchestrations, existential lyrics and the odd glitchy beat for one of the most emotionally intense albums of the year, Pitchfork haters be damned. Dub Trio – Another Sound Is Dying Blindingly heavy and engagingly tuneful while still exploring the spacious sound of their namesake style. Gojira – The Way of All Flesh The most frighteningly talented heavy band this side of Mastodon and Meshuggah, these eco-minded French prog/death metallers dealt out crushing brutality that didn’t shy away from ambient experimentation or an urgent message to save the planet. Jay Reatard – Matador Singles Between this and the In the Red comp spanning singles from the two previous years, fans got an avalanche of Reatard’s brilliant feral punk vs. jittery new wave menace. If the guy can just manage to extend his live sets to something approaching an hour, he’ll take over the universe. Melvins – Nude With Boots Since bringing in young sensei from Big Business, the Melvins have produced not one but two of their best albums ever. More bands should hit this kind of an apex a quarter century into their careers. Best live shows Gilberto Gil at Masonic Auditorium While seeing one of Brazil’s living legends backed by a full band didn’t quite match the transcendent magic of his solo acoustic show in Berkeley last year, Gil remains one of the warmest, most engaging stage performers alive. Melvins at Slim’s As good as the studio stuff is, hearing the eight-limbed percussive beast that is Cody Willis and Dale Crover propelling the big ‘fro frontman tandem of Jared Warren and King Buzzo onstage elevates the songs to a whole new realm. Opeth at the Grand Ballroom Neck-snapping death metal with elegiac Pink Floyd atmospheres and some of the most hilarious deadpan stage banter ever from main man Mikael Akerfeldt made this a night to remember. Rodriguez with Sleepy Sun at the Great American Music Hall Hearing Sixto Rodriguez perform songs from his lost classic Cold Fact live ruled, but local psych juggernaut Sleepy Sun had me kicking myself for not discovering their bluesy, Black Mountain-style epics long ago. Triclops! at multiple venues One of San Francisco’s best live bands, Triclops! deals out churning, corrosive prog-punk that serves as a launching point for frontman John Mink’s hallucinatory lyrics and unhinged onstage antics. They never disappoint. Matthew Perpetua, Fluxblog Top 5 Comics 1. Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together by Bryan Lee O'Malley 2. All Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely 3. Achewood by Chris Onstad 4. Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw 5. Final Crisis by Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones, and Carlos Pacheco Top 5 Blogs That Are Not Read By Nearly Enough People 1. What A Fool Believes 2. For Your Pleasure 3. Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat 4. Mindless Ones 5. The Knowledge For Thirst Pat Riley, Domino Records This is in no particular order Joe Higgs - Life Of Contradiction - An incredible reissue by the criminally underrated 60's and 70's reggae great. I first heard him on a Jimmy Cliff live record as a back up singer and was just blown away by his voice. LOC was originally released in 1975 and is brilliant. The Secret Machines - Secret Machines - I just really like this band. Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of A Common Life - As my friend Morgan says "Whenever I listen to the Fucked Up record the only thing I want to do is listen to the Fucked Up record again." The Stills - Oceans Will Rise - This is an amalgam of the hooks of the first album and the depth of the second album. They were awesome live at the Music Hall of Williamsburg this fall. Motorhead live at Stubbs in Austin, TX- It was just tremendous. I can't wait for the Lemmy the Movie to be released in 2009. The trailer looks awesome! Daddy "Santa Claus" Roberto, Owner, Goodfellas Distribution *20 records I heard a lot this year:* Seun Kuti - Many Things (Tout Ou Tard) Karl Hector & The Malcouns - Sahara Swing (Now Again) Dusk + Blackdown - Margins Music (Keysounds Recordings) Pete Molinari - A Virtual Landslide (Damaged Goods) Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing (ATP Recordings) Black Mountain - In The Future (Jagjaguwar) Wildbirds & Peacedrums - Heartcorem (The Leaf Label) Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost (Light In The Attic) Pinch - Underwater Dancehall (Tectonic) Eli Paperboy Reed - Roll With You (Q Division Media) Erykah Badu - New Amerykah: Part One (4th World War) (Universal Motown) Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It (Sony) Menahan Street Band - Make The Road By Walking (Daptone Records) Herbie Hancock - Hear O Israel (Jonny) Rodriguez - Cold Fact (Light In The Attic) Mary Queenie Lyons - Soul Fever (Vampisoul) Tony Allen - Afro Disco Beat (Vampisoul) V/A - Reggae Anthology: Randy's 50th Anniversary (VP Records) Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu Of Ethiopia (Worthy) V/A - 1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground (Sublime Frequencies) *Mixtapes I Like:* Santogold vs. Diplo - Top Ranking (Mad Decent) DJ Nuts Embalo-  Joven Mochilla Ent. DJ Rupture - Uproot (The Agriculture) *Movie/Book:* Roberto Saviano - Gomorrah *Sport:* A.S. Roma Football Club bless Daddy "Santa Claus" Roberto Travis Ritter, Sonic Boom Records, The Stranger Five Points on The Best Music of 2008 1. #1 Band in Heaven Why wasn't Sparks nominated for a Grammy this year? 2008 was a pinnacle year for the legendary, serious-not-serious rock band. Playing twenty-one shows in London, performing every album they've recorded in sequential order is no easy task (by my calculation, that's around 260 songs they had to relearn and store in their musical memory!). They closed with the live unveiling of their latest pop masterpiece, Exotic Creatures of the Deep, which is fantastic. I simply can't wait to see them play that and Kimono My House in LA on Valentine's Day! They are the #1 Band in Heaven living on Earth. 2. Two Discoveries R. Stevie Moore - 4 From Phonography EP R. Stevie Moore should be the sole rightful owner to the term "Do-It-Yourself. The lo-fi power pop extraordinaire from Nashville was at least a decade ahead of future 4-tracking oddballs. This super rare 4 song EP from 1976 is evidence of that. It was found in an unclaimed box full of 45s that was in my garage while moving out. Many people couldn't avoid hearing me proclaim the genius of this treasure I found in that box. (Other finds: a really early Husker Du 45, a Rollins Band Sup Pop Singles Club w/ test pressing, and a mysterious recording of two people having sex on a 45 labeled "Young Girl" b/w "Experienced Woman."). YouTubers should seek R. Stevie Moore videos out immediately. Crystal Antlers – EP (Touch and Go) Like Pleasure Forever and Comets on Fire having druggy love sex with one another, wrapped up in a sonic bed sheet. Organ-asmic delights. Demands repeat back-to-back listens, a million times over. 3. Three Words For Three Records That Move Me Hauschka - Ferndorf (Fat Cat) Willowy prepared piano Atlas Sound – Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (Kranky) Narcotic midnight lullabies Leila – Blood Looms and Blooms (Warp) Liquefying aural expansions 4. Four For The Floor Hercules & Love Affair – Hercules & Love Affair (DFA) Smart, super gay, and utterly divine disco with feeling. Doc Delay - Eastern Block Party (self-released) NYC mixtape messiah Doctor Delay flavors up some golden era rap a capellas with the some former communist block rock. Hot. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours (Modular) These Australian magical makers of melody aim at heart and feet, and make a direct hit. Cheesy but aged and flavorful. Michna – Magic Monday (Ghostly) Fresh beats and city streets make my skateboard wheels roll ahead. 5. "High" Five Indian Jewelry – Free Gold (We Are Free) Flying Lotus – Los Angeles (Warp) Kurt Vile – Constant Hitmaker (Gulcher) Boredoms – Super Roots 9 (Thrill Jockey) La Dusseldorf – Viva and La Dusseldorf reissues (Water/4 Men With Beards) Ron, Strictly Discs (Madison, WI) Top 10: David Byrne/Brian Eno – Everything That Happens Will Happen Today Jason Collett - Here's To Being Here The Dears – Missiles Jim White – Transnormal Skiparoo V/A - Nigeria Disco Funk Special: Sound of the Underground Lagos Delta Spirit – Ode to Sunshine Belleruche – The Express Dr. Dog – Fate Gecko Turner – Manipulado Carrie Rodriguez – She Ain’t Me Next 5: Snow Patrol – A Hundred Million Suns Bob Dylan – Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Sings Blitzen Trapper – Furr Calexico – Carried to Dust Langhorne Slim – Langhorne Slim Ryan, Strictly Discs (Madison, WI) Top 10: Okkervil River - The Stand Ins TV on the Radio - Dear Science Q-Tip - The Renaissance She and Him - Volume One Sun Kil Moon - April The Roots - Rising Down Santogold & Diplo - Top Ranking Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreaks Jason Collett - Here's To Being Here Next 5: Blitzen Trapper – Furr Shawn Jackson – First of All Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Nick Cave - Dig, Lazarus, Dig The Hold Steady - Stay Positive Melanie S. Manager, Sonic Boom Records (Seattle, WA) MY 10 - In no particular order : *  My Daryl Hall-way (of Hall & Oates. His album covers adorn the wall in my entryway) *  My blog about Football - melFL.com *  My DJ night at Hazelwood; where else are you gonna hear "We didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel? *  My boyfriend taking me to see Cirque Du Soleil. If you think you're too cool for this shit, you're wrong. *  My dudes - Josh and Matt - finagling me into a sold-out Budos Band/Saturday Knights show. HOT! *  And for reissuing Rodriguez. HOT HOT! *  My trip to Xilitla, Mexico. Surrealistic Sculpture Garden in a jungle village. Amazing. *  My Halloween outfit as San Diego Charger Defensive Lineman Igor Olshansky. (see attached photo.) *  My Top Ten! (see attached) Get your own copy of it in the Sonic Boom Holiday Zine. Its Free! *  My file folder at work filled with pictures of cute aminals. There is nothing in the world that will make you feel better than otters holding hands. *  My Caffe Fiore Hot Chocolates. I have at least one EVERY DAY. That's why I look so good.  : ) Naomi Salazar Promo Manager, Amoeba Music (San Francisco, CA) Top Tizzle I. The Fresh & Only's II. Rodriguez - Cold Fact III. Vivian Girls - Tell The World IIII.  Boy A (both the book and DVD) IIIII. Let the Right One In IIIIII. Brent Cash - How Will I Know If I'm Awake IIIIIII. Victrola Favorites - V/A IIIIIIII. Spaced: The Complete Series - Season 1, Directed by Edgar Wright IIIIIIIII. The Tamale Girl (Oakland, CA) IIIIIIIIII. The Bug - Poison Dart IIIIIIIIIII. Resident Advisor Podcast IIIIIIIIIIII. Gary Panter - Gary Panter Book IIIIIIIIIIIII. HG Lewis at Amoeba, SF Bob Schick, Head Buyer, Plan 9 Music 1. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig (Mute) 2. Bon Iver - For Emma Forever Ago (jagjaguar) 3. Fucked UP - Chemistry of Common Life (Matador) 4. Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark (New West) 5. Joe Higgs - Life of Contradiction (Pressure Sounds) 6. Woody Herman - Complete 1945-1947 Columbia Recordings (Mosiac) 7. Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series Volume 8 (Columbia) 8. Rodriguez - Cold Fact (Light In The Attic) 9. Sigur Ros Med Sud.... (Matador) Strath Shepard, Art Director/Graphic Designer Millions of images going online with new archives from Life Magazine, the Smithsonian, and the City of Seattle. Tacos from Rockaway Taco and The Saint The Brooklyn Flea Market in Fort Greene Mitzi Jerman's bar, Cleveland Driving across the country. I was lucky enough to do it twice this year (once in three days, and once in three weeks) and there's no way to pick a highlight, the whole experience is epic and overwhelming. Marc Silverman, ADA The Skull Defekts - Blood Spirits & Drums Are Singing Fuck Buttons - Street Horsing Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil The Bug - London Zoo Fabulous Counts - Jan Jan reissue Thee Oh Sees - The Masters Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In Tricky - Knowle West Boy Haunted George - Pile ‘O Meat Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - 100 Days 100 Nights –also the best live performances of the year. Isaac Slusarenko, Owner, Jackpot Records (Portland, OR) MY TOP FIVE RECORDS OF 2008: ( in no particular order) 5. Tobacco - Fucked Up Friends 4. The Mohawks - The Champ - funk reissue from 1968 on Vampi Soul 3. Young Widows - Old Wounds 2. Metallica - Death Magnetic - yes I know let the debate begin 1. Carbon Whales - South Matthew Smith, Outrageous Cherry, Rodriguez, Nathaniel Mayer 1. Rodriguez' first proper gig in his hometown, The Park Bar, Detroit, 9/20/08 I got to play lead guitar with one of my favorite artists.  Great performance, awesome audience.  Rodriguez sounded fantastic! 2. The Plastic People of the Universe at The Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, 9/8/08 Czech psych freaks with screaming violin and sax, famous for being jailed often in the 70's by the Czech authorities.  Their fans got together and plotted the overthrow of the government and then took over the country!  Even today, these guys drone and blast with the intensity of early Hawkwind and Gong. 3. Jandek. Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, Ann Arbor, 5/16/08 A free Jandek show.  After an hour or so of weird and disturbing sounds, the audience began to realize that Jandek didn't exactly come to entertain them.  A three hour symphony of claustrophobia and psychic collapse unleashed on a bewildered audience.  Brilliant. 4. Peter Hammill. The Magic Bag, Ferndale, MI, 10/9/08 Alone with acoustic guitar and grand piano, Hammill hammered at the piano like Cecil Taylor.  The perfect accompaniment to the most extreme voice in progressive rock. 5. Jack Scott at some weird suburban carnival in Warren, MI, 9/27/08 Jack Scott still sounds as great as he did in the 50's.  He's as legendary as Johnny Cash or Elvis Presley.  I think he's used the same guitar amp since the 50's.  He keeps a low profile in the Detroit area.  This appearance in Warren, MI was SPELLBINDING.  He's an intimidating, dangerous-looking 50's rocker obsessed with Hank Williams who deserves a wider audience. Spense, Strictly Discs (Madison, WI) Top 10: MGMT - Oracular Spectacular Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago Marty Finkel - The Good Life TV on the Radio - Dear Science The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords The Kills - Midnight Boom Coldplay - Viva La Vida James Hunter - The Hard Way Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust Next 5: My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges Ween - At the Cat's Cradle, 1992 Tricky - Knowle West Boy El Guincho - Alegranza Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue Mike Stax, Ugly Things Best new album: Clinic – Do It! (Domino) These surgically masked Scousers really hit their stride on this, their fifth full-length release. Echoes of the 13th Floor Elevators, Seeds, Electric Prunes, VU and Syd’s Floyd, but with a slightly disturbed spin that is all their own. Best live show: Roky Erickson and the Black Angels at the El Rey Theatre in Hollywood on Halloween night. After turning in a pretty great set of their own, the Black Angels did a fantastic job of backing Roky on a selection of favorites from his back catalog, including 13th Floor Elevators songs he hadn’t performed in 40 years, like “Roller Coaster” and “Reverberation,” complete with jug! Roky’s voice can still send chills up your spine. When he hit the middle eight of “Splash One” the emotional punch almost sent me to the floor. Best reissue: The Masters Apprentices – Apprenticeship in the Garage, 1966 (Nickoff) A second volume of early ’66 rehearsal tapes by these Aussie garage-punk-R&B behemoths. Recorded live on a reel-to-reel tape recorder sitting atop a car in a dingy garage in Adelaide. Jaw-dropping versions of Chuck, Bo, Wolf, Pretty Things and Stones tracks, plus a newly discovered rockin’ original, “Bye Bye Baby.” Best reading: Lawrence Durrell: The Alexandria Quartet. Durrell’s masterful series of novels set in Alexandria, Egypt just before WWII was the best thing I read this year. Justine, Balthazar, Mountolive and Clea (written 1957-60) take place in the same general place and time, with a similar cast of characters, but each book observes and explains the events from a completely different perspective creating an utterly absorbing multi-layered, multi-plotted mystery/thriller/romance. Best moment of 2008: Election night. Whatever happens next, we shared a euphoric moment in history that will never be forgotten. Lucas Steuerwald Label Rep, Inertia Distribution Top 10 albums of the year 1.    Eddie Current Suppression Ring – Primary Colours 2.    M83 – Saturday = Youth 3.    Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree 4.    The Greasers – The Greasers 5.    Endless Boogie – Focus Level 6.    Suarasama – Fajar Di Atas Awan 7.    Girl Talk – Feed The Animals 8.    Empire of the Sun – Walking On A Dream 9.    Neon Neon – Stainless Style 10.  Deerhunter – Microcastle Craig Stewart, SXSW any Allan King flick (Canadian filmmaker) Richard Bausch shorts Otis Taylor Coloured Balls K-Rino Lou Bond crazy Vizslas Kang Tom T. Hall & Miss Dixie's new album Laura Studarus, Confessions of a Would-Be Hipster The Would-Be Hipsters (wouldbehipster.com) are traditionalists and thus are saving our official "best of" lists until the actual END of the year. And so, we present a very untraditional list of our top ten favorite bits of 2008, as dictated by LMS, lmc, ako and L.A.R. (m.a.b. sends her regrets from the design dungens where we last saw her.) 10. Favorite album: Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer 9. Favorite LA bar conducive to good times over PBR: The Cha-Cha Lounge, Silverlake, CA 8. Favorite Show: Sunset Rubdown @ the Black Cat in Washington DC 7. Favorite Tea: Swedish Southern Blend (if anyone in America knows how to get this I can be reached via Wouldbehipster@gmail.com) 6. Favorite unnecessarily vague figure in Spanish-American history: Don Gaspar de ? 5. Favorite French Electro-Pop Album: Sebastien Tellier - Sexuality 4. Favorite Reason to get out of bed in the morning: Pizza 3. Favorite Post-Concert jaunt: House of Pies 2. Favorite chord: Cadd9 1. Favorite Shameless Self-Promotion: Buy our Charity Album Please! Terrible Chris, Les Enfants Terribles Top 10 Top 10 Lists of 2008 10. Top 10 Numbers Between 1 and 10 9. Top 10 Mimes 8. Top 10 Crayola Colors That Need to be Invented 7. Top 10 Phrases that Appear Sexually Explicit at First Glance (But Aren't Really) 6. Top 10 80s Cartoons 5. Top 10 Breakdancing Moves 4. Top 10 Ninja Moves 3. Top 10 People Named "Fred" 2. Top 10 Minor Star Wars Characters 1. Top 10 Smurf Names that Sound Vaguely Dirty Terrible Megan, Les Enfants Terribles 8 Things to Love about 2008 In no particular order… 1. Richmond – I moved from the DC metro to VA's capital a little over a year ago, and I've loved just about every minute of it. I could wax on and on and on about RVA for a good long while, but I'll abbreviate. Richmond's got great people, tons of local pride, gorgeous architecture, and a burgeoning music scene (be on the lookout for bands like Hot Lava, Cinemasophia, and Snack Truck to name but a few). What else could anybody need in a place to call home? 2. All Tomorrow's Parties – By far my favorite concert of the year. Summer camp meets the Shining meets a time-warped parallel universe in which My Bloody Valentine and Mercury Rev not only play but walk among us regular people. Garish wallpaper, strong drinks, and amazing performances by every single band I was fortunate enough to see. I'm already excited about next year. 3. The Black Angels – I'd have to say these Austinites are my favorite band of the year. Between their killer second album Directions to See a Ghost and the DC show they put on back in July (that damn near rendered me deaf), I'm completely in smit. 4. Control – I didn't make it to the movies too often this year, but I'm fairly certain Control would've been my favorite movie even if I had seen hundreds of flicks. It's one of the stories you know the ending of, but keep wishing up until the bitter end for the fickle finger of fate to point in a different direction. Well-acted, well-shot, and a great testament to the spirit of Ian Curtis and Joy Division. 5. My cat, Bear Bryant – As of the end of August, I've got a new man in my life. He's wearing a black and white tuxedo, he's got furry tufts between his paws, and his tail is reminiscent of a feather duster. He's my new hellion of a cat, Bear Bryant, named in honor of the greatest football coach my alma mater (Roll Tide), and the college universe in general, has ever seen, Paul "Bear" Bryant. He's pretty much the cutest cat ever. 6. Biographies – I began the year reading about Madame Pompadour, Mary Queen of Scots, and Bob Dylan, the latter of which ("Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan" by Howard Sounes) was probably the best bio I've ever read. I've since acquired bios on Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dick Cavett, Rock Hudson, Terry Bradshaw, and Dolly Parton, and am constantly on the prowl for more. 7. Brian Wilson – The man, the myth, the legend. Seeing him in concert was incredible enough, meeting the man ranks as ten of the best, most heart-stopping seconds of my life. 8. Records – I'm finally paying attention to vinyl and stockpiling a collection. Richmond is making it easy for me by having serious stashes hither and thither to plunder. I've bought close to 40 records in a little over a week, and see no end in sight to my newest obsession. Mike Toppe General Manager, Revolver USA Music: The Week That Was Santogold vs Diplo Tobacco - Fucked Up Friends Rodriguez - Cold Fact Grace Jones "Corporate Cannibal' Video Movies: My Winnipeg Happy Go Lucky Reads: Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell Paul Krugman in NY Times And 2008 would have been a total drag without THIS. Adam Tutty, Manager, Easy Street Records (Seattle, WA) TOP 10 CD's for the year: 10. Girl Talk – Feed the Animals 9. Thao – We Brave Bee Stings & All 8. The Baseball Project – Volume 1:Frozen Ropes & Dying Quales 7. My Morning jacket – Evil Urges 6. Old 97's – Blame It On Gravity 5. R.E.M. - Accelerate 4. Vampire Weekend – s/t 3. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Cardinology 2. The Moondoggies – Don't Be A Stranger 1. Liam Finn – I'll Be Lightning A few of my DVD's of the year: BOTTLE ROCKET (CRITERION COLLECTION EDITION) IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA SEASON 3 ROBOT CHICKEN – STAR WARS Twist & Shout Records Our Number One winner for 2008, with 11 votes: Portishead – Third Our Number Two placer for 2008, with 9 votes: Dungen – 4 Our Number Three shower for 2008, with 6 votes: TV on the Radio – Dear Science Our Number Four mentions for 2008, tied with 5 votes each: Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes Flying Lotus – Los Angeles Raphael Saadiq – The Way I See It Our Number Five mentions for 2008, tied with 4 votes each: Black Mountain – In the Future Eagles of Death Metal – Heart On MGMT – Oracular Spectacular Santogold – Santogold Silver Jews – Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea Will Tyler, Shade of Soul, 385 Forest Avenue As I look back-over this past year a lot has changed in my life. I moved to a different state, got a divorce, lost all my money, almost was knighted, gained 30lbs, lost 30lbs, my dog got hit with a chainsaw, but through it all I have kept a smile. Not for the fact that I have been basically fucked all year, but rather because its time again for LITAs top lists again. So sit back, sip on some thug passion, cause I'm gonna hit you like 2 day old crack........peace Top 10 Most listened to Albums of 08' * Madvillain - The Remixes * Portishead - Third * TSK - Mingle * Compilation - The Soul of Black county Vol. 1*Common / be * Pete Rock - Petestrumentals * G Love - Lemonade * Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power * The Helliocentics - Out There * J Dilla - Ruff Draft * N.E.R.D  - In Search Of.... Top Anthem song for 08' * TSK / Nobody Beats Us (get some bitches) Top 5 Interests of 08' * Magic * Hayrides * Politics * The Hills * Alpaccas Top 5 TV Shows * True Blood (ole sookie sookie) * Dexter (I like his ways; I don't like you, I kill you) * The Shield ( what a guy with a fucked up life, the show makes my chest hurt) * Chelsea Lately (mad funny and she is mad hot to boot) * The Hills (I am really worried about LC, Heidi, and Audrina) My Top 5 Playlists that I rock on my ipod * Mike Fuller Experience Vols 1-7 / Most are 25 tracks (only dopeness for the masses; from the lounge to the club...jaylib, common, tribe called quest...) * Beef-A-Ronie Throwdown  / 18 tracks ( Merle Haggard to Public Enemy. Every time I listen to it I get too drunk and piss off the side of my back deck) * Armadillo On My Back Porch / 23 tracks (G Love, Marshall Tucker, Robert Bradley, Ben Harper, etc...(makes me feel cooler than I really am) * Word Up Bits! / 12 tracks (Pantera, Ozzy, SlipKnot, Korn...makes me want to kick the cat) * Killa Couga Mix Vols 1 & 2 / 50 tracks ( The Roots, Floetry, Mos Def...songs to get ‘em on the floor then to take em' down on the brass bed yo) Top 5 Things I purchased from the Walmart Pharmacy * Cialis 5 pack * the second pill * the third pill * the fourth pill * the fifth pill (boo-yah) Top Cougars to get with * Mrs. Robinson (ultimate cougar smack-down) * Linda Tripp ( the only chick Clinton didn't turn out) * That hoe from Golden Girls (word up trick) * Barbara Bush (in the right light, after 5 jager bombs, and with enough X in my system.*side note* she made the list due to my recent addiction to mature porn*) * All of the OG Charlie’s Angels (all them ladies got mad skillz. It would be like a cougar sandwich) Top 5 songs that I didn't write and perform due to various reasons * Happy Birthday. (If I owned points on it I would have more loot than the beatles) * stevie wonder / hey love ( no funny comment my favorite stevie song of all time makes me want have deep thoughts and get laid) * 2 live crew / if you believe in having sex. (When u think about it who can sing about some raunchy ass shizzle and get the dance floor, house party, or general throw down session going. This aint am gold bitches) * the black angels / doves and surf city (these are songs that would play in a serial killers head). * the saturday knights / 45. ( I can't rhyme but I can nod my head like a white boy. Yeah baby back that azz up on big will t) Top 5 Accomplishments of '08 * Voted for OBAMA * Didn't vote for McCain * Stripped my life all my material goods ( the divorce helped me with that, but dam it felt good to get rid of everything **PS Kept my record collection**) * Requested to be knighted by TSK (word up…did I get in?) * Told my ex wife to take a hike. DJ Nobody DJ

  

  Top Psych Discoveries 2008 1. Mandrake Memorial - Puzzle LP (1969) I had 2 songs off of this LP on a mixtape and had been searching for years.  I found it this year and was not rprepared for the total awesomeness.  This LP instantly entered my top 10. 2. US 69 - Yesterday's Folks LP (1969) Cool Chris at Groove Merchant hipped me to this LP.  The song Space Odyssey is a masterpiece, ending with an ambient outro that sounds like it was made this century.  Stunning! 3.  Waterproof Candle - Electrically Heated Child 45 (1968) My co-host on She Comes in Colours hipped me to this.  A perfect pop-psych ballad with twisted lyrics. 4.  Donnie and Joe Emerson - Dreamin' Wild (1979)  Two brothers locked in a barn with 70's home recording gear and an equal love for Sabbath and Motown soul, yet coming out more like a super stoned Shuggie Otis record. 5.  70's psych - Oh yes, even I was not aware that the lysergic vibes continued well into the 70's, tucked away secretly on albums of early metal and glam.  Scorpion "Evening Wind" and Styx "Man of Miracles" come to mind. Dan Ubick aka Connie Price Producer, Musician: The Keystones, The Lions, Big Daddy Kane

  

  Top 5 LP's of the last year: 1. COLD FACT (Re-issue) by Rodriguez 2. NINETEEN SIXTY-SIX by Little Willie John 3. ESPERANZA by Esperanza Spaulding 4. PERSEVERANCE by Percee P/Madlib 5. SHADES OF BROWN (Re-Issue) by S.O.B. Greg Vandy, Host, KEXP - The Roadhouse The Best: 1) Obama 2) Dexter Street Stompers 3) Michael Shelly, Saturdays WFMU 4) Chris Rock @ Paramount 5) The Saint (tequila!) Honorable: The Sonics @ Paramount; Chilly's wedding in Tulum, Mexico; The Mighty Hannibal @ Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans; SlackFest in Skagit Co; King Kahn @ Chop Suey; NW Washington Fair in Lynden (old-timey!), Hayes Carll @ Sunset, Keith Olberman special comments, Karl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force The Worst: 1) Seattle Sports 2) Howard Shultz (The Wheedle Grooves No More, thanks Howard) 3) Taj Mahal in The Roadhouse (total dick) 4) Palin 5) McCain Miserable: My Fantasy Football team (The Hand Bananas) Fabienne Van Koninxloo, Label Manager, PIAS Belgium Top 5 : (very high fidelity) 1. Javier Guzman : stand-up comedy show 2. Carissa's Weird : Songs About Leaving (whole album : every year again) 3. MGMT : "Kids" 4. Whitest Boy Alive @ Dour Festival (concert) 5. Part Of The Weekend Never Dies (documentary) Allison Wasilewski General Manager, Carrot Top Top Records of 2009 Portishead - Third (Mercury) Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar) Notwist - The Devil, You & Me (Domino) Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (XL) School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms (Ghostly International) Anathallo - Canopy Glow (Anticon) Love Is All - A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night (What's Your Rupture) Deerhunter - Microcastle (Kranky) Santagold - S/T (Downtown) Fredrik - Na Na Ni (Kora) Lindstrom - Where You Go I Go Too (Smalltown Supersound) Windy & Carl - Songs For The Broken Hearted (Kranky) Gregor Samsa - Rest (Kora) Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain (Drag City) Spiritualized - Songs in A & E (Fontana) Jennie Wasserman, Joe’s Pub *  Most transcendent on-stage moment: backing Maxine Brown and Baby Washington with the Sweet Divines at Joe’s Pub - 6/7/08 *  Best NYC bar/restaurant/jukebox combo: Great Jones Café*  Fave Joe’s Pub show: Gilberto Gil solo acoustic - 9/23/08 *  Fave TV show: Mad Men *  Most magical, impromptu performance: Grandma’s Hands by Bill Withers and Cornel Dupree at Celebrate Brooklyn! - 8/9/08 *  Best Broadway show: Passing Strange *  Fave indie rock show: Fleet Foxes at Bowery Ballroom - 7/9/08 *  Fave vacation experience: going to NOLA for Ponderosa Stomp *  Fave outdoor summer concert: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings at Central Par Summerstage - 8/17/08 *  Fave reissues: Rodriguez - Cold Fact!! Mason Williams, Rhino Endless Boogie - Focus Level MGMT - Oracular Spectacular The Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost (not kissing your ass or anything, you know how much I love them) The Sword - Gods of Earth Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple Willy Wilson, Magic Bag Publicity Top Eleven New Releases (not in any order): Buffalo Killers - Let It Ride - Alive Records Hank Williams - The Unreleased Recordings - Time Life Plastic Crimewave Sound - Plastic Crimewave Sound - Prophase Music Graham Day & The Gaolers - Traveled & Unraveled - Damaged Goods Dirtbombs - We Have You Surrounded - In The Red Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis - Two Men With The Blues - Blue Note Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Momofuku - Lost Highway Black Keys - Attack & Release - Nonesuch Blanche - Last Year's Leaves - Little Amber Bottles - Original Sound Yohowa 13 - Song Portation - Prophase Music Paul Weller - 22 Dreams - Yep Rock Top Reissues (not in any order): Polk Miller & His Old South Quartette - Tompkins Square Music Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Band - Puckey Puckey: Jams & Outtakes - Rhino Handmade Willie Nelson - One Hell Of A Ride - Columbia/Legacy Elton John - Elton John/Tumbelweed Connection (Deluxe Editions) - Geffen The Coasters - There's A Riot Goin' On: Complete Atco Recordings - Rhino Handmade Squeeze - Argybargy (Deluxe Edition) - A&M UK Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue (Legacy Edition) - Columbia/Legacy Otis Redding - Otis Blue (Expanded Edition) - Rhino George Jones - The Hits. Then 'Til Now - Time Life Roy Orbison - The Soul Of Rock & Roll - Monument/Orbison/Legacy Black Sabbath - Rules Of Hell (Dio Years) - Rhino Bo Diddley - Road Runner: The Chess Masters 1959-60 - Hip-O Select Various Artists - Atlantic Vocal Groups 1951-63 - Rhino Handmade Love - Forever Changes (Expanded Edition) - Rhino Gladys Knight & The Pips - Claudine/Pipe Dreams - Shout Factory Little Willie John - 1966 (The Axelrod & HP Barnum Sessions) - Ace Rodriguez - Cold Fact - Light In The Attic Fave Local Releases so far. (not in any order and not including 45's): The Pop Project - Stars of Stage and Screen - Suburban Sprawl Mick Bassett & The Martha's - Here's The Whirlwind - Self Released Javelins - Heavy Meadows - Suburban Sprawl JSB Squad - Blue Circle, Rubber Bands - Self Released Grayling - Spilling Over - Self Released Various Artists - A Squared (Of Course) - Ace/Big Beat Deanne Iovan - Just Like You & Me - MoPop Hot Club of Detroit - Night Town - Mack Avenue The Muggs - On With The Show - Self Released Nomo - Ghost Rock - Ubiquity Mazinga - Open The Blast Doors - Transmission Fave shows for 2008 so far: Creepy Rick's Birthday Bash with Fortune & Maltese, The Hentchmen and The Meltdowns at the Berkley Front Simply Saucer/Human Eye at the Bohemian National Club The Muggs (Private Party) at the Auto Show Tom Petty & Steve Winwood at the Palace Anti-Freeze Blues Festival featuring Bettye LaVette & The Hodge Brothers at the Magic Bag Powertrane featuring Deniz Tek at the Elbow Room The Romantics at the Stars & Stripes Festival Big Block/Grayling/Drinking Problem at Smalls Grande Nationals/Gorvette/Silverghost/Dial Tones at the Magic Bag Rodriguez at the Park Bar Eagles Of Death Metal at Smalls Cheech & Chong at the Fillmore (Detroit)

• December 26, 2007 at 05:09 PM

  LIGHT IN THE ATTIC YEAR END EXTRAVAGANZA!

  We here at Light In The Attic get a lot of help from a lot of people. Musicians, publicists, record stores, bloggers, writers - the list goes on forever. This year we decided to show our unlimited gratitude to these great folk by showcasing, well, them. We asked everyone we knew for their top five, year-end 2007 favorites - from albums to restaurants to airlines to breakfast cereals. Everyone from Caribou to The Blakes to Peanut Butter Wolf responded and we couldn't be happier. What follows is a collection of these lists (literally hundreds) from people all over the world that we know and love. Quickly, big thanks to Mr. Drew Christie, the amazing artist (with a list below!) who did the art for both our New Years Extravaganza and our subtle, yet wonderful X-Mas card. Drew, you're a god amongst men. So, either in your pre-New Years excitement or your post-New Years drunken haze, settle in, we are quite sure you'll enjoy. And with that said, THE LIGHT IN THE ATTIC NEW YEARS EXTRAVAGANZA: Christian Bland, The Black Angels 1. The Wooden Shjips 2. 'Eye Mind' (the psychedelic history of the 13th Floor Elevators written by Paul Drummond) 3. A Place to Bury Strangers 4. The Warlocks - Heavy Deavy Skull Lover 5. Vietnams' debut album runner up - Greg Ashley - Painted Gardens Tilson, The Saturday Knights Photo by Hillary Harris Top 5 Shoes, Shows, Intern, Food, 1. Spizikes, Nikes with Spike Lee on the back 2. Run's House, it's good,watch it! 3. Jenna, Light In The Attic's future 4. The Cafe, Hillside Quickies at 15th on Capitol Hill 5. Rugby and Circa (tie) The Blakes Photo by Michael Maly Bob Husak,Drums Top 5 of 2007 5. Mormon Tabernacle Choir records for 50 cents at Goodwill. 4. A can of potted meat product as a reminder of the hardships of tours past. 3. Commiserating with Grandma about the scandalous styles of dress worn by young women today and sympathizing with the inability of those her age to find respectable clothing for themselves. 2. Pronouncing the word "fish" as "feesh" in mock tribute to generations past (as in, "don't forget to warsh your hands before you eat your feesh"). 1. Any opening band that cancels a show because its drummer threw out his back going for an especially difficult fill in practice. Also, any sound guy that goes home early from a show because he twisted his ankle going for an unorthodox mic placement. Garnet Keim, Vocals, Guitar 5 things you take for granted on a winter tour: 1 showers 2 conversation 3 reptiles 4 feeling in your toes 5 summer tours Snow Keim,Vocals, Bass top 5 "pains in the ass" 5. hollywood writers strike 4. scabies 3. conflicts of interest 2. Lame (ass) Promoters 1. meeting the outrageous demands of record executive Matt Sullivan Kevin Howes aka Sipreano, mastermind behind the Jamaica to Toronto Series... 1) Jamaica to Toronto LIVE in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto Still find it hard to believe that Jamaica to Toronto has taken on a life of its own, from crate digging missions at the turn of the millennium to career resurrections for some of the finest people I have ever met. Props to Jay Douglas, The Mighty Pope, Everton “Pablo” Paul, and the rest of the talented folks who have helped make this project come to life. From Yard To Yonge: The Documentary coming soon… 2) Red Bull Music Academy Information Sessions Interviewing Cut Chemist, Bernard Purdie, and Tiga in front of Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal audiences was a professional highlight unlike any I’ve encountered. What a blast!!! 3) Third Beach (Stanley Park, Vancouver) in July One of the most surreal city/surf experiences on the planet. I often find myself day dreaming that I’m still there, drink in bag, smoke in hand, and the Pacific Ocean at my feet… 4) Yes, still buying music Haven’t immersed myself in the world of downloading yet, but when I had a few spare bucks in my pocket this year I couldn’t resist spending it on CDs and LPs like Lightning Dust-s/t, The Book Of Lists-s/t, The Besnard Lakes-The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse, Jarvis Street Revue-Mr. Oil Man, Rick Wilkins And The Mutual Understanding-Peace, and Peter Tessier-By Turning A Knob… 5) Sipreano with Decaf and The Stunt Man Big shout outs to Steven Balogh and his hand crafted 1777rex imprint (http://www.myspace.com/1777rex) who released a 100-copy run of a very memorable collaboration (for me anyway) between yours truly, producer/photographer Decaf, (www.wzrdry.com) and engineer/musician The Stunt Man (www.titansound.com)… 6) Living in Toronto for 1 year Well, it’s been over a year now and while this journey has definitely had its ups and downs, I’m glad to call this city home… 7) Food stuffs Records are rad and all, but I’m digging the good (and cheap) the eats these days. Ontario highlights include Ali’s West Indian Roti Shop, T'amp;T Supermarket, Gandhi’s/Mother Of India/New York Subway, Ali Baba’s, Island Foods, Ding Tai Fung in Markham, and The Mighty Pope’s kitchen… 8) Summer Records Anthology 1974-1988 dual disc Wanna send some love to Summer honcho Jerry Brown and his eclectic cast of reggae heroes. It was a total honour helping to put this one together. Reggae, reggae, reggae from Johnny Osbourne, Bunny Brown, Bobby Gaynair, Earth, Roots & Water, Adrian “Homer” Miller, Noel Ellis, Ranking, Willi Williams, and Unique Madoo (Ska Doo). Sound + Vision. “It’s party time!!!” 9) Black Mountain and Ladyhawk LIVE With BM’s In The Future and Ladyhawk’s Shots en-route in the first quarter of 2008 (January and March respectively), I’m excitedly recalling the maximum vibes felt after seeing both of these Vancouver-based Jagjaguwar recording artists perform across Canada in 2007. To me, there’s no rock finer… 10) Preparing Doug Randle’s Songs For The New Industrial State Many moons ago, I found an old record in an old box that changed the way I consume music, informing my personal aesthetic, and teaching me so much about the world we live in. Over the last year I’ve been getting a reissue of this masterful twisted sunshine pop album together with composer Randle, Kanata Records’ Dave Bird and Gene Lees, sublime vocalists Laurie Bower and Tommy Ambrose, and my good friend and Jamaica-Toronto series graphic designer Vincent Cook. Light In The Attic will release this 1970 produced landmark in 2008 (with big help from the CBC). Keep listening… The Mighty Pope, Jamaica to Toronto 1) West coast tour with Jamaica to Toronto...,especially Vancouver 2) Jacque Lane flying out and surprising me at the Yale Club show 3) Having a few days in Vancouver after the festival to relax and enjoy the city 4) Mighty Sipreano driving me through Stanley Park at night to see the lights of the city … 5) And Gini smith flying to Montreal to surprise me at the show Sandy Dedrick, The Free Design Books: "The Candymaker's Son - Memoirs of Kenneth G. Mills" "Talks With Great Composers: Candid conversations with Brahms, Puccini, Strauss, and others by Arthur M. Abell" Music: CD "Evgeny Kissin Plays Chopin" DVD "The Art of Piano" Great Pianists of the 20th Century DVD "Christmas Is The Day" by Art Dedrick (my Dad) This was a Christmas present from my youngest brother, Jason (My Brother Woody) and is a collage of early family Christmas pictures he put together with the song "Christmas Is The Day", sung by early Free Design in the background. Overton Berry, Seattle Legend, Wheedle's Groove ... 1. Recording...Possibilities.....Herbie Hancock 2. D'jan's Thai Restaurant....Seattle, WA. 3. Concert.....October 20th, Whidbey Island...with Jessica Williams 4. Event....Queen's Birthday in Amsterdam, Holland 5. City.....Seattle, WA. Allison, Carrot Top Radiohead - In Rainbows (Self-Released) Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino) Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge) Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna (Polyvinyl) Betty Davis - Self Titled (Light In The Attic) Andy and Jen, Band in Boston Top Albums for 2007 hands and knees - self titled release aeroplane pageant - wave to the moon deertick - war elephant viva viva - 10 songs drug rug - self titled release emergency music - you'll be the death of us all honey eldridge rodriguez - this conspiracy against us vinyl skyway - from telegraph hill dr dog - we all belong the bees - octopus Josh Arnold, Best Buy Music: Amy Whinehouse-Back To Black Linkin Park- Minutes to Midnight Radiohead- In Rainbows Fiest- Reminder Wilco- Sky Blue Sky Films: Across The Universe Transformers No Country For Old Men Juno Bourne Ultimatum Restaurants: CPK (how can you go wrong?!?!) Eat. El Cilo Sushi Roku Roys Cities: Boston Las Vegas Chicago New York London Shows: Coachella all the way…enough said. Blogs: Engadget Perez Hilton Mac Rumors Postsecret Books: So you wanna be a rock n' roll star? Nabil Ayers, Co-Owner, Sonic Boom Record Stores, Owner, The Control Group Label Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Is Is" Studio "West Coast" Figurines "When The Deer Wore Blue" Menomena "Friend & Foe" Schoolyard Heroes "Abominations" Paul Azevedo, Slinky Music 1. pantha du prince - this bliss (dial) 2. burial - untrue (hyperdub) 3. little dragon - s/t (peace frog) 4. cinematic orchestra - ma fleur (domino) 5. studio - west coast (information) Kevin Barker, Currituck, Co. 1. Frankie's 457 Olive Oil Manufactured in Sicily and imported by Frank and Frank, sold in their two amazing restaurants (Court St in Brooklyn and Clinton St in Manhattan), this is the best olive oil I've ever tasted. They call it "green gold" because, well, it's green, and now it's being sold at Whole Foods in New York, so it's gold. Next years batch is rumored to be even better than the 2007. 2. www.audiokarma.org The go-to website when you have a question about what value of grid leak resistors to put on your 6BQ5 output stage, or when you want to talk about how the price of the good-but-not-great Dynaco PAS preamp is getting out of hand. (FWIW - which stands for "for what it's worth" - the phono stage in the PAS sounds great to my ears, and it's the line stage that's a dog. Thank god for mods!) 3. Devendra Banhart "Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon "Who wrote the book of Job? Who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? Devendra did! Devendra did! 4. Tiengarden - 170 Allen St b/t Rivington & Stanton St in Manhattan Their hot & sour soup makes most hot & sour soup taste like boiled pickle brine. And they do it all without the use of the five impurities: onion, garlic, leek, shallot, and tobacco. Everyone makes jokes about "what, no tobacco in my stir fry?", but the real mind-blower is how great everything is with no onions and garlic. YOU try to make something delicious without them. I dare you. (Note: avoid the potato curry, It's supposedly bland, but I was never dumb enough to order potato curry at a Chinese restaurant.) 5. The Valerie Project If for no other reason than that Greg Weeks and Co. got a brand-fucking-new 35mm print of "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders" struck from the original negative that lives in the Czech film archive in Prague (or wherever it is). Their print makes the Facets DVD look like boiled pickle brine. Additionally, the project has a Werner Herzog-ian mania to its ability to lose money. If you missed this when it came through your town, you fucked up. Buy the record and cry to it. Cheree Best, Silver Platters In no specific order! Miss Teen America Pageant - Miss South Carolina, third runner up tries to explain how unfortunate it is that most kids cannot locate the US on a map. - HILARIOUS The Saturday Knights/Donut Eating contest at Silver Platters! Transformer's the movie - I'm a NERD Albums I like released this year * Lady Sovereign, Killers- Sawdust, The Blakes, The Cave Singers – Invitation Songs, Blue Scholars –Bayani.The 2007 FJ Cruiser BAM! BAM! Harvey Brooks, Producer, Karen Dalton In My Own Time, Bassist for Bob Dylan, Miles Davis... 1. "Pilgrimage" by Michael Brecker Performing alongside Brecker are Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Jack DeJohnette. 2. 17th Street Market in Tucson Arizona Incredible specialty food shop & Music Store online @ treasureshidden.com 3. "Back To Black" Amy Winehouse 4. The resurgence of the single tune mentality of the "78" & "45" record eras. 5. The James Cotton Blues Band - Re-release on Lilith - Great Chicago Blues. Jenny Bulley, Reviews Editor, MOJO 5 NEW ALBUMS... Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare (Domino) The Arcade Fire – The Neon Bible (Sonovox) LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver (DFA) Yoko Ono – Yes, I Am A Witch (Parlophone) Wilco – Sky Blue Sky (Nonsuch) 5 REISSUES... Neil Young Live At Massey Hall (REPRISE) Culture Two Sevens Clash (Sanache) David Crosby If Only I Could Remember My Name (Rhino) Various: The Very Best of Ethiopiques (Union Square) The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday (Full Time Hobby) Caribou, Musician, Andorra 1. Panda Bear - Person Pitch 2. Battles - Mirrored 3. Burial - Untrue 4. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam 5. No Age - Weirdo Rippers Robert Christgau, "Dean of American Rock Critics" mia gogol bordello tabu ley rochereau on stern's africa arcade fire lucinda williams Drew Christie, Democracy For The Cartoons Blog 1. Mike Seeger's Early Southern Guitar Styles (Listened to it in 2007) 2. Grizzly Wintergreen (Chewed it in 2007) 3. ?ywiec (Polish Beer, drank it in 2007) 4. Polish Home Association (ate there in 2007) 5. Polish Chicks (would've liked to bone them in 2007) Terry Currier, Music Millennium Top 5 Music Graham Parker - Don't Tell Columbus Sloan - Never heard The End Of It John Jorgenson - Ultraspontane Blanche - Little Amber Bottles Dolorean - You Can't Win Dan, End Of An Ear Best New Album: Robert Wyatt "Comicopera" / Dungen "Tio Bitar" Best CD Reissue: Betty Davis CD's (hands down, no bullshit dude) Best LP Reissue: Os Mutantes vinyl Best DVD: Films Of Alejandro Jodorowsky Box Set Best Books: Wax Poetics Collection / Acid Archives / New York Noise /Japrocksampler Robinson Devor, Director, Zoo, Police Beat Best of 2007 Best Seattle live show: Prefuse 73/Nuemo's Best New Work/Local Band: Visqueen Best Local DJ new work: ndcv Best Seattle Film Screening: Pedro Costa at the NWFF "O Sangue" Best Classical Music Re-issue: Henryk Gorecki/"Symphonie" Worst Classic Rock Band Upcoming Tour Name: "Rush: The Snakes and Arrows Tour" Scottie Diablo, Manager White Denim, MTV guru TOP 6 for 2007 1. White Denim - Let's Talk About It (EP) 2. Hall & Oates - War Babies (LP) 3. Sweat - The Story of the Fleshtones, America's Garage Band (book) 4. The Taco Zone - Los Angeles' best taco truck in the city 5. Inside American Jail - from the creators of Cops 6. THE HUMPERS reunion show at Safari Sams in Hollywood (June 2007) The Humpers lead singer Scott Drake has to be the most underrated songwriter and talent in the past 20 years. period. 'nuff said. David Dickenson, Owner, Suicide Squeeze TOP 5 SHOWS I WITNESSED IN 2007 1. Bjork – live at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington May 26, 2007 2. Animal Collective – live at Neumos in Seattle, Washington September 14, 2007 3. Blood Brothers – live at the Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle, Washington July 27, 2007 4. Jay Reatard – live at the Sunset Tavern in Seattle, Washington November 8, 2007 5. El P – live at Buffalo Billiards in Austin, Texas March 15, 2007 DJ Nobody 1. School of Seven Bells Both on record with "My Cabal" on 7" being rocked in every one of my DJ sets to touring with them live and having them blow my mind night after night... This is new music... catchy yet hypnotic, dark and banging. 2. Star of Siam Thai Food in Long Beach Never really got into this place though my good friend Brittanie swore by it... Got really into it this year making the Blank Blue record with Niki... THis is the best Thai food in the world... Others from Germany to Boston now pale in comparison... 3. Richard Twice This album from 1970 is the best record I found in the past year... Every single person who hears it falls in love with it and asks for a rewind... 4. Dungen - Tio Batar There is no other psych band that nails it like Dungen... this ones got a hip-hop feel in some of the joints too... your grandkids will pilfer this surely... 5. Os Mutantes Live Best concert I have ever seen in my life... Showmanship and musicianship filtered through more phase and distortion that one can usually handle... DJ SANTO 1. Stevie Wonder Live at Edgefield 2. Sharon Jones Live Anywhere 3. Budos Band - The Budos Band II - Daptone 4. Zap Mama - Supermoon - Heads Up 5. Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators - Keep Reachin Up - Light in the Attic Litsa Dremousis, Writer, Esquire, Filter Top Five of 2007: 1) Werewolves and Lollipops, Patton Oswalt: One of the smartest, most insightful, and completely fucking hilarious comedy discs ever. If Oswalt's rant against KFC's Famous Bowls, "America Has Spoken", can't make you laugh, you are already lying in a cold, pine box. 2) Emerald City, John Vanderslice: The Vanderslicer maintains his distinct and idiosyncratic voice on what might be his finest record yet. When he implores, "White dove/ what are you thinking of?" on "White Dove", it slays me every time. 3) Keep Reachin' Up, Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators: Unquestionably, what critics and fans have said about Keep Reachin' Up is true: it's an alacritous and irresistible linchpin of retro-soul. What gets lost in all the accolades, though, is that Willis is a great storyteller. Songs like "Invisible Man" make you want to dance and find out what happens next. 4) New Moon, Elliott Smith: Aching, lovely, and note-perfect, Smith's outtakes are more fully realized than most records, novels, or films. It feels strange and adolescent to miss someone I never met, but I do, completely. The vocals on the "some enchanted night/ I'll be with you" line on the early version of "Miss Misery" are as close to perfect as any of us comes in this lifetime. 5) Back to Black, Amy Winehouse: Released at the end of last year, but essentially of '07. "Rehab", sadly, was subject to a million pun-infused headlines, and it'll be awful if Winehouse's personal life overshadows her talent because she's 85% cocoa in a landscape gurgling with Hershey's syrup. Regardless of how happy I might be in any given moment, the title song can reduce me to tears and conjure images of every break-up I've experienced since eleventh grade. Greg Dulli, Twilight Singers, Afghan Whigs, The Gutter Twins The 5 Best Shows I Saw in New Orleans This Year: 1) Fats Domino at Tipitina's /May 2007 Last May, Fats played his first show since Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home. He only played for a half hour but you knew every song. Hit after hit after hit.... 2) Johnny Rivers at the Fairgrounds/May 2007 One of my favorite singers of all time and I had never seen him play live before. He blew my fucking mind. 3) Robert Plant and Lil' Band O' Gold at Tipitina's/April 2007 Again, I'd never seen him live before and he did not disappoint. 2 Fats Domino songs, 2 Elvis songs, "Sea of Love" and then, as the band played "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Shake Your Hips", he scatted "Black Dog" and "Whole Lotta Love" over top of them. We all freaked out like teenage girls. 4) Roky Erickson at House of Blues/May 2007 He was on fire. Great band and every motherfucker in that place was smiling and dancing. The couple next to me had sex while he played. Seriously. 5) The Melvins at One Eyed Jacks/October 2007 I hadn't seen The Melvins since 1992 and was not expecting one of the greatest rock shows I have seen in recent years. But that is exactly what happened. The Dale Crover/Coady Willis lefty/righty drum team was magnificent to behold and Buzz was spraying riffs like a flamethrower. My neck hurt bad the next day.Go see them if they come to your town. Electric Horseman Top 5 Persona's of E. Horseman: 1. Rustic Cowboy 2. 60's French Pop Star 3. Guy with an internal struggle between Merchant Marine and Cowboy 4. Ordinary Cowboy 5. Homo Christian Skater Punk Rocker Greg Errico, Producer, Betty Davis (1973), Drummer Sly & The Family Stone City: London Country: Italy Film: I Am Legend Neighborhood: North Beach (SF, Ca.) Sushi Bar: King Of The Roll (Larkspur, Ca) Doug Freeman, Austin Sound While it's been a big year for Austin bands, from the Black Angels, Ghostland Observatory, and Octopus Project, to excellent releases from top acts like Okkervil River, Bill Callahan, and Spoon, 2008 is promising an even more stellar crop of ATX acts. Here is our rundown of 10 relatively new Austin bands to know in the new year, in alphabetical order: The Archibalds Black Joe Lewis Brazos Horse + Donkey Lomita Leatherbag Mothfight! Peel The Strange Boys White Denim Derek Fudesco, The Cave Singers 1. "Peacebone" by Animal Collective 2. Cochinita Pibil Tacos from Yuca in Los Angeles 3. Camping on Clam Beach with Lightning Dust 4. "Icicle Tusk" by Fleet Foxes 5. "History" by Lightning Dust Justin Gage, Aquarium Drunkard www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2007/12/09/aquarium-drunkard-2007-year-in-review/ John Garcia, Amoeba Music Robert Wyatt - Comicopera (Domino) Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior (Shout) Pienza Ethnorkestra - Indiens d'Europe (Soleil) Marc Ribot/Asmodeus - Book Of Angels Vol. 7 (Masada Book Two) (Tzadik) Keith Tippett/Julie Tippetts/Louis Moholo-Moholo & Canto Generàiva La Black Live At Ruvo (Ogun) Chris Geddes, Belle & Sebastian 5 from 2007 New album: Voice of the Seven Woods (Twisted Nerve). Honorable mention: LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver (DFA/EMI) Compilation/Reissue: Brazil 70 (Soul Jazz). Honorable mentions: Twinight's Lunar Rotation (Numero), Sarolta Zalatnay (Finders Keepers) Radio Show/Podcast: Downtown Soulville presented by Mr. Finewine (WFMU). Honorable mentions: Freak Zone presented by Stuart Maconie (BBC 6Music), Beats in Space by Tim Sweeny (WNYU), In Our Time presented by Melvyn Bragg (BBC Radio 4). Book: Jay Griffiths, Wild: an Elemental Journey (Hamish Hamilton). Honorable mention London, The Biography by Peter Ackroyd (Vintage) (not from this year but I seem to have spent most of the year reading it). Drink: Pedro Ximinez Sherry. Glen Goetze, Modular People Top 5 Discoveries Of The Year Cycling It's not like I never knew it existed but I lost my license this year and was forced to find an alternate way to get around, so I bought a bike when I was on holiday in NY, and ever since I'm using it not only to get around but whenever I get some spare time I'm out with my bike gang, trying to buy frames on ebay, building imaginary bikes on velospace, it's taking over and just another way to drain my non-existent savings. The Holy Mountain OMFG, what a brainmelter of a film, incredible. Turkish Delight I don't really know why but I totally got into it this year. Ram by Paul and Linda McCartney Not sure how I rediscovered this but I've had it forever but never really listened to it and now I'm listening to it every week, the production is beautiful The Heat Warps My favorite website. Matt Grady, Plexi Film 1. Japrocksampler by Julian Cope (book) Don’t write Cope off as an acid casualty just yet, he released his best album in over a decade with You Gotta Problem with Me and wrote the quintessential book on Japanese rock. Japrocksampler takes a thorough look the culture, history and musical trends of post-war Japan. Cope’s passion for Japanese sixties and seventies psych is contagious and the book is filled with stories and studies of incredible bands and records that were rarely ever heard outside of Japan. 2. Burgers I’ve had the 3 best burgers of my life this year. Le Tub in Hollywood, Florida was hands down the best burger and fries I have ever had. I believe the fries were double fried in bacon or duck fat...The No Bad Day’s Cafe in Napa, California was amazingly juicy and Burger 67 in Brooklyn’s Blue burger will blow any carnivore’s mind. 3. Spiritualized: Acoustic Mainlines (Concert) @ the Apollo in Harlem and Union Chapel in London Spiritualized without electric guitars didn’t sound like best idea but the string section, gospel choir and the Spacemen 3 songs more than made up for the lack of feedback. 4. 45 Revolutions by Mario Panciera (Book) This brilliant 1190 page limited edition book took twenty years to write focus’ solely on 45’s released in the UK and Ireland over a three year period of 1976-79. One of the best documents of punk and new wave, this book is just as good as the highly sought after, out of print, International New Wave Discography. 5. Unsilent Night in NYC My first year as one of the thousand people walking through the streets of the East Village with 100’s of boomboxes blasting an experimental symphony was truly remarkable. Unsilent Night has been going on since 1992, getting bigger and bigger every year and is now in cities all over the world.Runners Up: PJ Harvey Concert in NYC, taco trucks in Napa, David Shrigley’s Worried Noodles Book/CD, Sly and the Family Stone box set, Flight of the Concords, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, Fay Grim by Hal Hartley, Panda Bear - Person Pitch, Radiohead box (the packaging more than the music) and all of the BBC sessions released on CD for the first time. Dawn Greaney, Twist and Shout (in no particular order) 1. Nina Nastasia & Jim White - You Follow Me 2. Grizzly Bear - Friend 3. White Magic - Dark Stars 4. Panda Bear - Person Pitch 5. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin 6. Bela Karoli - Furnished Rooms 7. Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs 8. Besnard Lakes - Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse 9. Kinski - Down Below It’s Chaos 10. Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall Pierre Hallett, Rotate This In no particular order! Odd Nosdam - Level Live Wires (Anticon) Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog (Sub Pop) Massey Ferguson - 150 Diesel w/ Loader, 540 PTO (1962) CPC Gangbangs - Mutilation Nation (Swami) Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators - Keep Reachin' Up (Light In The Attic) Tom Hauserman, Baker & Taylor 1. Rogue Wave - Asleep At Heaven's Gate 2. Bloc Party - Weekend In The City 3. Editors - An End Has A Start 4. !!! - Myth Takes 5. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha Heath & Jason, Landlocked Music This is so tough, I am going to try to speak for our store as a wholehere, by some sort of weird weighted equation, we get this - thingswe could all agree on... Landlocked Music's Most Agreed Upon Music of 2007 Wooden Shjips - s/t (Holy Mountain) Spacemen 3 meets the Stooges. So simple, but so good. Eagerly anticipated performance at Terrastock 7 in Louisville in 2008. Pissed Jeans - Hope for Men (Sub Pop) Scuzz-rock from Allentown, PA. Like the Electric Eels after learning a few chords. Real rock for real people don't come from New York City, sorry. RIYL Melvins, Jesus Lizard, Flipper. Deerhunter - Cryptograms + Flourescent Grey EP (Kranky) Stunning psychedelic wastoid rock. Delay-bathed and atmospheric but it doesn't sound a bit retro. Atlas Sound is great too, reminds me of local heroes Marmoset. Daptone Records Sharon Jones absolutely slayed everyone again with her live show and awesome new album with the Dap-Kings. During the downtime, the new joint from Budos Band also ruled. Not to mention the obvious cherry on top with the exposure they got from Amy Winehouse. We pray for a Daptone Revue Tour. Pop Levi - The Return to Form Black Magick Party (Counter) Hyper-active bumblegum glam with soul. Somehow this hasn't made any year end lists that we've seen. We hope to shed some light... Greg Horne, Redeye Distribution 1 - Ian Hunter - Shrunken Heads - new album 2 - John Fogerty - Revival - new album 3 - Robert Plant & Allison Krause - Raising Sand - new album 4 - Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival - concert 5 - David Gilmour - On An Island concert Wes Howerton, Barsuk Records Richard Swift – Dressed Up for the Letdown The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse The National – Boxer Low – Drums & Guns Grinderman – S/T Matt Huddy, Red Eye Records 1 Field Music - Tones Of Towns - precise pop songs with edges andsubstance. 2 Tim Rutili (I've spent a lot of this year listening to Califone & OldRed Red Meat albums) 3 Mad Men . Finally something to fill the void left by the Sopranos 4 Dimmer live at the Annandale in Sydney. 5 Season finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm. - the most ridiculous hour of(scripted) tv this year. Carlos Icaza Concert: George Clinton and the P-Funk allstars, B.B king music hall, NYC mid sept. simply a knock out! more than 3 hours of non stop dancing party, a 25 min. Maggot Brain version and Clinton at his best!!! still got the funk! New Album: Hidrogenesse, "Animalitos" Austrohungaro, Spain This side project of the great spanish pop band Astrud put out their second album 8 years later than the first one. Hidrogenesse, formed by married gay couple Carlos Ballesteros and GeníSegarra blend La Düorf´s second album sound with incendiary pop, social and political amazing statements, and of course, a lot of daylife poetry . New Single: Ween, "The friends" A 5 song amazing EP! the title theme is ween-meets eurodance! and a great song. the rest is: crappy salsa, a sweet Michael Bolton style ballad, a track produced by master King Jammy at Kingston, and another killer poppy fuelly loaded dancefloor ween instant classic. What a piece of band! Reissue: Chantal Goya, "Masculin-Feminin" EP soundtrack 6 songs by Jean Luc Godard´s film masterpiece. Singed beautifully by Goya, nouvelle vague goes soft ye-ye. Personal Discovery: Aldemaro Romero & Monna Bell "La onda nueva en Méco" Vampisoul, Jazz, Joropo, Ranchera music, Bossa, Pop. The new wave of modernity in latin american music in 1970. Brilliant Aldemaro´s arangements (sadly he passed away this last sept.) and Monna´s wonderful voice in an all-time classic. Inigo, Co-Owner, Vampi Soul/Munster/Forever Changes 1. YOU ARE GONNA MISS ME - The movie ! 2. KAREN DALTON - Its My time... No matter is due now, still playin twise a week 3. BEASTS OF BOURBON live. Forget about any other reunion... 4. BOMP'S book. It makes me proud 5. TONY ALLEN Reissues on Vampisoul., "This is some of the funkiest, catchiest, most challenging dance music ever created." Jared, Waiting Room Records TOP 5 - RECORDS BETTY DAVIS - Betty Davis/They Say I'm Different [reissues] (Light InThe Attic) CD GRINDERMAN - Grinderman (Anti) CD JOY DIVISION - Closer/Unknown Pleasures/STill [reissues] (Rhino) 2CD PISSED JEANS - Hope For Men (Sub Pop) CD MAPS - We Can Create (Mute) CD TOP 5 - OTHER Dark Knight Trailer Getting A New Shelf For My Cds "Truck" my cat Chicken Sausages Didn't die Michael Jaworksi, Mt. Fuji Records, The Cops, The Saturday Knights, The Sunset Tavern Top 6 of 2007: 1. Getting engaged to my girl, Julia. 2. Being in The Cops and making our new record "Free Electricity" this past November. 3. Being asked to play guitar with The Saturday Knights and getting to play some amazing shows with them at Sasquatch, Bumbershoot, among others. 4. Landing my dream job, booking shows at The Sunset in Ballard. 5. Finding "In The Bowl" all vegetarian restaurant in my hood, Capitol Hill. 6. Another solid year spent with my amazing friends and family. Jason Kirk, Freelance writer, former editor Seattle Sound Magazine My five favorite albums of 2007, in no particular order... Public Enemy - How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul??? (Slam Jamz) Hearing Public Enemy return with such confident, career-defining bravado can damn near shear the scalp off of any serious hip-hop enthusiast. Chuck D doesn't just get better with age, he makes the age better. Play it loud! Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter - Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul (Barsuk) If an eerier, more revenantly melodic opus saw release this year, shout its name from the rooftops. If not, sing this one's praises, lest someday, some archivist of Americana look back on us and wonder, disapprovingly, how this album didn't make a bigger splash. Glenn Gould - Bach: The Goldberg Variations 1955 Performance: Zenph Re-performance (Sony Classics) This computer-rendered re-enactment of Gould's seminal recording is a dead ringer for the canonical original. As for its importance, well, if humans alone can't stay the death throes of the classical recording industry, let the robots have a crack at it. The Bad Plus - Prog (Heads Up) Having reached a level of compositional self-propulsion only hinted at in their early albums, the Bad Plus now sound every bit the giddy major-label escapees. And Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" never, ever sounded so good. Dizzy Gillespie - Live at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Fest) Even if this performance didn't capture well-loved standards like "Trinidad, Goodbye" and "A Night in Tunisia" with such breathtaking freshness, "Dizzy's Comedy Sketch" alone vaults this concert to the top of Gillespie's vaunted annals. Mark Klebeck, Owner, Top Pot Doughnuts Best Radio Station: KEXP 90.3 FM (No station in the nation comes close) Best DJ: Sir Johnny Boy Richards (I can still remember John as a student and volunteer at the station. It blows my mind how talented this guy is.) Best Restaurant: Machiavelli (Great atmosphere, Incredible food, amazing staff and affordable) Best Bartender: Erik Chapman-Sun Liquor (Yeah whatever, maybe a slight conflict of interest here but tough because NOBODY is better than Erik ) Best CaféTrophy Cupcakes (Both the place and product are incredibly beautiful) JanKeira Knox, The Jet City Redhead Let’s go over a few high/low points in the national/international music scene this year – a totally a mixed bag. Nickelback is still selling gazillions of last year’s record (how did they do that?); Amy “Wino” Winehouse’s messed up life in the news all the time (but damn, she does have great songs); then there’s the pop princess “B” girl whose sad life has gone down the toilet like so much after-party puke; Poor Lily Allen can’t even make it into this country to do a concert; people are catching on to Fall Out Boy (I must say they do have the BEST song titles around); Mary J. Blige is totally workin’ it; M.I.A. is kicking ass all over the planet; Radiohead gave us fabulous, essentially free music; and then there’s the amazing duet of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – what more can I say? Interesting and mind-boggling at the same time. There was much happening this year and too much to talk about here. In the greater Seattle area, we had wave after wave of fabulous stuff being churned out. Local station, KEXP 90.3, plays a major part in how folks find out about that great music. Then there are those of us who frequent the gigs at local venues; when we hear great music (or really bad music) we know it. Cool stuff that. There are so many talented local musicians and too many to give props to, but here’s a list of my favorites for this year: The Blakes – The Blakes (Light in the Attic) Mono in VCF – Mono in VCF (SR) Band of Horses* – Cease to Begin (Sub Pop) The Myriad (MTV2’s Dew Circuit Breakout artist 2007) – With Arrows With Poise (Kosmos) The Cave Singers - Invitation Songs (Matador) Blue Scholars - Bayani (Rawkus) The Cops - Free Electricity (The Control Group) Brandi Carlile – The Story (Sony/BMG) The Shins – Wincing The Night Away (Sub Pop) Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic) Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog (Sub Pop) Alma Villegas Quintet – Alma Villegas (SR) Carrie Akre - Last the Evening (Loveless) Rocky Votolato – The Bragg and Cuss (Barsuk) Tullycraft - Every Scene Needs a Center (Magic Marker) Velella Velella - Flight Cub EP (SR) Will Lawrence, In House Press Top 5 compilations for 2007 for cosmic pop tarts and an aid for lazy deejays ... 1. Fairytales Can Come True - Volumes 1 & 2 (Fairy Cakes For Tea)(Psychic Circle) 2. Tea & Symphony (The English Baroque Sound 1967-1974) (Castle Music) 3. Welsh Rare Beat 2 (Finders Keepers) 4. Now We Are Ten - A decade of strange and beautiful music from Trunk Records (Trunk Records) 5. Steam Kodok - 26 A-Go-Go Ultrararities from the 60's - Singapore and South-East Asia Underground (Grey Past Records) Beau Levitt, Five Bucks on By-Tor Daft Punk - Alive 2007 Sheer sonic bliss. Feist - The Reminder Currently being run into the ground on a bunch of commercials near you, but all in all, a stunningly diverse collection of mellow soul. The Harry J All-Stars - Liquidator: The Best of The Harry J All-Stars 25 tracks of organ-led reggae instrumentals, courtesy of one Harold Johnson and the cream of Trojan Records’ session crew. I could listen to these guys all day. Mogwai - Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait - Original Soundtrack The film, in which 17 cameras track French football god Zinedine Zidane over the course of a complete game, is a bit of an endurance test, but the album is a perfect flow of hypnotic, ominous instrumental soundscapes. The Rheostatics’ final show On March 31st, the Canadian cult legends bowed out with one last show at Toronto’s historic Massey Hall. At the very end, as the band waded into the audience to stand with their families and lead a singalong of “Record Body Count,” there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Sigur Rò Heima (DVD) A film about Sigur Rò2006 tour of Iceland, a series of free, mostly unannounced shows in venues as far-flung as an old herring oil tank, community halls, fields and caves. Accompanied by gorgeous footage of the Icelandic countryside. V/A: It Came From Canada, Vol. 1-5 Five compilation albums of mid-’80s Canadian college rock, touching on everything from psychobilly to goth to Sonic Youth-style noise rock. Never re-issued on CD, so keep your eye out for the vinyl. V/A: Working Man’s Soul A reissue compilation of rare funk, rock, soul & jazz from the UK cabaret, social club and public house scene of the 1960s and ‘70s. Hidden gems from records that were, almost without exception, privately pressed and printed in miniscule numbers. V/A: Wyld Canada, Vol. 1-5 148 shots of red-hot Canadian ‘60s garage rock madness, from better-known acts like The Guess Who and David Clayton-Thomas to The Mynah Birds, otherwise known as Neil Young and Rick James’ band. Ween - La Cucaracha Ween don’t get older, they get better. “Your Party,”the good brothers’ take on ‘80s adult-contemporary cheese - complete with saxophone solos by David Sanborn himself - is worth the price of the album on its own. Mark Linn, Delmore Recordings 1. Karen Dalton - Cotton Eyed Joe I've listened to these 2 CDs more than any other music this year, which makes me biased in more ways than one. 2. Peter Walker - live in his backyard Waking up to the sounds of Peter Walker practicing his guitar playing, and then hearing / seeing more throughout the day reminded me of the mystical, therapeutic, inspirational power of music. 3. Barbara Manning - Super Scissors 3 CD box set released by the mighty Pat Thomas, who also found time to resurrectPtolemaic Terrascope and put together a perfectly mind expanding CD to accompany it. 4. Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story The rare TV / Swedish clips are unreal...Robert Gordon has done an incredible job telling the inspirational story. His Jack Clement film was finally released on DVD this year, and it's also great. 5. Diana Darby: poem of the day Sometimes deeply poetic, sometimes an intensely private journal entry. Romantic, sad, addictive...and lot's of rabbits. Josh Lovseth, Sound on the Sound This list is consists of only "Seattle" rock bands and only the best the town has to offer. This isn't the "best band in town" list, this is the "best rock bands in town" list. And this list isn't just about albums, it's about having the best complete package over the last year, the year 2007.This list is about volume and performance and having the best show overall in town. This list is about THE ROCK and who in Seattle made the year 2007 their bitch better than anyone else. So, without further ado...Seattle's Twenty Five Best Rock Bands of 2007 1. The Whore Moans 2. Thee Emergency 3. The Blakes 4. Ice Age Cobra 5. The Lashes 6. Siberian 7. Ms Led 8. The Hands 9. Das Llamas 10. Schoolyard Heroes 11. Grand Archives 12. Feral Children 13. The Hopscotch Boys 14. Young Sportsmen 15. The Lonely H 16. Bloodhag 17. Kultur Shock 18. H is for Hellgate 19. Spanish for 100 20. The Resets 21. Whalebones 22. Pleasureboaters 23. The Cops 24. Presidents of the United States of America 25. Thunderbird Motel Lawrence Lui, Astralwerks 1) The Boredoms with 77 drummers in Brooklyn (best live show) 2) Persepolis (best movie) 3) The Jai-Alai Savant 'Flight Of The Bass Delegate' (most underrated rock record) 4) Dalek 'Abandoned Language' (most underrated hip hop record) 5) Betty Davis 'Betty Davis' (best reissue!) Lunatron, Luna Music tracey thorn - out of the woods arctic monkeys - favourite worst nightmare burial - s/t nicole willis & the soul investigators - keep reachin' up little wings - soft pow’r lawrence - lowlights from the past and future radiohead - in rainbows budos band - II sharon jones & the dap kings - 100 days, 100 nights v/a - buzzin' fly volume four top 5 tracks of the 07: 1. the green men - blink 2. milton jackson - cycles 3. tracey thorn - grand canyon (king unique's wrong road dub/lunatron's edit) 4. martin landsky - let me dance for you (sebo k mix) 5. midlake - roscoe (beyond the wizard's sleeve mix) Jennifer Maas, Evil Bunny Films Top-5 Recipe Discoveries for 2007 Celery Root and Leak Puree--------------------------------------- Don't be afraid of the celery root. It looks very Jim Hensen, butit's so frick-ass good you won't believe it. Soften leaks inbutter. Add peeled and cubed celery root and cook for a fewminutes. Cover with broth, and cook until celery root is soft (about20 minutes). Use submersion blender to puree (or carefully usecounter-top blender to puree in batches.). Season with salt. Oyster Tarragon Soup------------------------------ Soften leaks in butter in soup pot. Put oysters in with the leaks,cook them for a few minutes, and then take them out. Add chickenbroth and the liquor from the oysters to the leaks, bring to a boil,and then reduce heat. Add fresh tarragon and cream, and cook foranother couple of minutes. Remove from heat and add the oystersback in. Garnish with more fresh tarragon and season with salt.(When I made it, I actually let a few of the oysters cook to long inthe beginning, which makes them rubbery. So I just left them inthere the whole time and then pureed the whole thing with asubmersion blender before I added the tarragon. It was kind of niceto have those little oyster bits, but I probably wouldn't do it likethat again :) Garlic Smashed Potatoes--------------------------------- Put quartered small potatoes (I like German Butterball) into a sautepan, cover with water and add like 6 garlic cloves. Bring water to aboil, reduce, and cook until potatoes are soft. There will be somewater left, pour off all but about 1/4 cup. Put everything into abowl with cream and smash with a smasher or a fork. Stir in saltand fresh tarragon. Cooking the garlic with the potatoes makesa huge difference -- the garlic isn't pungent or overpowering, it justbrings out the sweetness in the potatoes. Beet and Avocado Salad---------------------------------- Wash some beets and put them in a big foil pouch. Cook then in theoven at 375 for about an hour. Meanwhile, let some shallots in amixture of orange juice, lemon juice, salt, and vinegar for abouttwenty minutes. Drizzle some olive oil into the mixture to make adressing. Cut up some avocados. When the beets are finished, letthem cool for a bit so you don't burn yourself and remove the skins.Cut them up however you want. Arrange the beets and avocadoson a plate, drizzle dressing over. I like a mix of yellow and red beets. Fancy eggs---------------- Heat some butter on medium-low in a nonstick pan (you can usesomething else if you're brave -- I'm not). Crack two eggs intothe pan and cover -- you want to maximize the runny yolk andminimize runny white. You shouldn't have to flip them. After theyare in for about 2 minutes, grate some fresh parmesan over thetop. Warm some thin-sliced ham in the same pan. Meanwhilemix a good garlic aioli (homemade is preferable) with a goodEnglish mustard (not whole-grain). Put the ham down on a plate,top with the egg, and then put a generous dollop of the aioli-mustardcombokit on top. This would probably be my death-rowmeal if I got to pick. Malik, Boo Boo Records Top 5 albums 1. Roots Of Chicha - V/A Cumbia fuzzed out with psychedelic? Yes, please. 2. Panda Bear - Person Pitch Making cutting-edge safe for the next generation. 3. Budos Band - Budos Band II The perfect amalgamation of soul-jazz and afro-funk. 4. After Dark: Italians Do It Better - V/A Giorgio Moroder will forever be sexy. 5. M.I.A. - Kala The only good thing to come out of the U.S.'s tightened Visa policy. My new heroine of the free world. Larry Mansdorf, Newbury Comics top 5 records of 2007: 1. beatnik filmstars - cat scan aces 2. township - coming home (local boston band) 3. kaze shabu shabu (restaurant in boston) 4. dexter - season two 5. moby grape reissues Martin, Jim, Pish & Everyone Else, Selectadisc 1. The Soundcarriers - I Had A Girl/Without Sound (Heron) 2. St. Pancras Railway Station, London - Restoration Project 3. If - DVD release (starring Malcolm MacDowell) 4. This Is England - movie (dir Shane Meadows - local lad!) 5. Morecombe And Wise - Christmas TV Shows - re-issue DVD set Steve Matrick, Kepler Events, Manager, A Place To Bury Strangers Top five APTBS shows of 2007. I figured this list would be a good thing to contribute considering I’ve seen them almost thirty times this year: 1. Death by Audio- Pitchfork TV shoot on September 16, 2007 2. CMJ Music Hall of Williamsburg show with Yeasayer, Foals and Cadence Weapon on October 17, 2007 3. Bowery Ballroom with the Black Angels & Spindrift on November 7, 2007 4. Dionysus Disco at Oberlin College on November 11, 2007 5. Mezzanine in San Francisco with Here Here and Film School on December 5, 2007 Larry May, CD Cellar 5. I love the foolhardy fat girls who still choose to wear pajama pants in public. Hey, big girl, you're not quirky, you are just sloppy. Put on some real pants or a dress, and spare me the gut wrenching pain of watching you murder those Fruity Pebbles at Wal Mart while awaiting your turn at the self check out. 4. The reluctance of any college football team in the Top 10 to keep from getting their asses kicked. This further proves my theory that college students are so exhausted from the 12 hours of class they skip every week that they can't be bothered to play football on Saturdays. Entitlement has a price tag, you weiners. 3. I love the quilt that Tenza's grandmother gave us. On icy Alabama nights, nothing cuts the chill quite like her tattered, antebellum old quilt. Northerners don't shit about quilts. 2. The blessings that the deity Reese gives us each year at the holidays. She makes chocolate and peanut butter treats at Easter, Halloween and Christmas. 1. I'm thoroughly enamored of the numbness I possess that keeps me from beating the guts out of every dickhead that askes me if downloading hurts sales at my store. Michael, Pitchfork Media Top 5 (I'm going with a mix bag) 1. Dear and the Headlights- "Small Steps, Heavy Hooves" Obviously the name of the band and the title of the album are automatic reasons to shun. But you'll be surprised to find one of the most listenable records of the year. 2. Of Montreal - The Past is a Grotesque Animal; BSS/Kevin Drew- Lucky Ones; Blonde Redhead- 23; Battles- Atlas; LCD Soundsystem- All My Friends; Band of Horses- No One's Gonna Love You; Deerhunter- Spring Hall Convert 3. Show I wish I saw- Battles, Deerhunter @SouthStreet Seaport, NYC. I really disappoint myself sometimes. This one takes the cake. 4. Reno 911 the movie. I think thats a given. 5. The girl from the American Apparel Unisex Flex Fleece V-Neck Sweatshirt ads. Becca Minkoff, Marketing Associate, The Triple Door! Feist and Grizzly Bear at The Moore Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War Jesse Sykes - Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul Chuck Klosterman - IV A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas Rancho Bravo Tacos in Wallingford David Miranda, Everyday Music 1. LCD Soundsystem "Sound of Silver" CD/2LP + show @ Showbox 2. Bang Gang Deejays Present "Light/Sound/Dance" 2CD 3. Boris w/Michio Kurihara "Rainbow" CD/Deluxe 3LP Boxset + show @ Chop Suey 4. Francisco Lopez & Matt Shoemaker performance @ Good Shepherd Center - July 2007 5. Keith Rowe & friends performing Cornelius Cardew @ Good Shepherd Center - October 2007 Mr. Hill El-P – I'll Sleep When You're Dead Rob Sonic - Sabotage Gigante Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs Silas Blak – Silas Sentinel Pushkar Ojha, Radio K 1 Electralane - No Shouts, No Calls (Too Pure) 2 Fog - Ditherer (Lex) 3 Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (Fat Possum) 4 White Magic - Dark Stars [EP] (Drag City) 5 Deerhunter - Cryptograms LP/Fluorescent Grey EP (Kranky) Dimos Passas, Rock n Roll Circus 1. album: BUILD AN ARK - DAWN (Kindred Spirits)the grooviest Pharoah Saunders record Pharoah Saunders never made 2. album cover: SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS - 100 DAYS 100 NIGHTS (Daptone)a cover you can dance to 3. dvd: Respect Yourself: Stax Records Story/Stax Volt Revue Tour 1967 (Universal)once you been there, you know it's home... 4. radio show: THEME TIME RADIO HOUR WITH HOST BOB DYLAN (XM Radio)dreams, schemes and themes from another world 5. beach: AI HELIS (Kefalonia Island - Greece)rumors say that Serge wrote "Sea, Sex and Sun" for this place Tanya Palmer, Easy Street Records High on Fire – Death is This Communion Audionom – Retrospectiv Boris w/ Michio Karihara – Rainbow Shellac – Excellent Italian Greyhound Mono – Pheonix Tree EP. Favorite Movie: Bourne Ultimatum Favorite DVD: Office Volume 3 Peanut Butter Wolf, Owner, Stones Throw Top US airlines used this year 5. tie: United/American I've used these airlines for years because of the golden handcuffs they each supply me in the form of frequent flier miles. I have enough with both airline to travel the world several times over. Trouble is, I haven't used any miles with either. I wanna use them to go somewhere really far, but never have time to plan a vacation. At the same time, they are the hardest to make last minute adjusments, charging STUPIDLY high change fees. The food is terrible, especially on oversees flights where you are forced to eat it cuz you've been without food for as much as 12 hours. I can't really say anything good about them really. 3. Southwest I'm a sucker for SW. They're the opposite of United and American, giving me a lot of leaway if I wanna change a flight. I go back and forth from the Bay to LA a lot and insist on them since it's a quick hour flight anyway. One time, I even wanted to change which airport I was leaving out of AFTER buying the ticket and they did so for me with no charge! Only thing with them is don't fly out of LAX if you are using them out of the Los Angeles area. The worst lines ever. Only do Burbank. 2. Jet Blue Any airline with that much leg room and your own TV screen with tons of channels wins my vote. 1. Virgin America Now granted I haven't used them much yet, but I think I'm sold. They've taken everything that Jet Blue did (your own TV screen, extra leg room, etc) and added even more stuff. For example, when I'm on a plane, I can never get enough water and I don't wanna be constantly ringing my bell for service and waking up the people around me. With Virgin, you go to the back of the plane and they have a vending machine with free bottles of water. Obvious idea, but nobody's done it yet. I'd say either Jet Blue of Virgin America if given the choice. Let's see who comes with the free wireless on the plane first. Rodrigo Perez, MTV, The Playlist Blog 1. There Will Be Blood. 2. Margot At The Wedding Soundtrack 3. Lavender Diamond - Imagine Our Love 4. The New York Film Festival - my first year in as press, woo. 5. Diving Back into my Dylan addiction – discovering the Basement Tapes, finally reading Chronicles (thanks I’m Not There) 6. my soundtracks blog, a sense of joy for me: theplaylist.blogspot.com Tim Perlich, Now Toronto TOP 10 ARCHIVAL RELEASES OF 2007 1) Jim Ford - Sounds Of Our Time (Bear Family) The vastly underrated country soul classic Harlan County by singer/songwriter Jim Ford -- who wrote Aretha Franklin's Niki Hoeky, Bobby Womack's Harry Hippie and quite possibly Bobbie Gentry's Ode To Billie Joe -- is reissued with a load of amazing unreleased songs from tapes he had stashed in a plastic bag. Sadly any hopes that this release might lead to a comeback were dashed on November 18 when the 66 year old Ford was found dead in his California home. 2) Twinight's Lunar Rotation (Numero Group) This beautifully illustrated double disc blast of Windy City getdowns is not just the best Twinight collection, it's the best label excavation job in the Numero Group's classy Eccentric Soul series and that's saying something. 3) Góo! Bugalu Tropical, Vol. 1 and 2 (Vampi Soul) Spain's Vampi Soul label blows the lid off the Peruvian 60s tropical music scene with back-to-back compilations of the pan-Latin scorchers recorded for the MAG label. Muy caliente! 4) Ethiopian Soul And Groove: Ethiopian Urban Modern Music Vol. 1 (L'Arome Productions) Don't let the words "urban" and "modern" scare you off, this is primo lowdown Ethio-funk filled with skronky saxophone blurts and rickety organ wheeze just as Haile Selassie intended. 5) The Dictators - Every Day Is Saturday (Norton)The best and rawest recordings by New York's wrestle rock kings you never heard. Pure ignoroid genius. 6) Life Is A Problem (Mississippi Records) An explosive vinyl-only selection of lo-fi spirituals, testimonials and finger-pointing sermonizing from the golden era which makes the case that no one rocks like a rock 'n' roll hating gospel evangelist. 7) Barbara Manning - Super Scissors (Rainfall Records) How do you improve on Barbara Manning's two fab indie-rock classics Lately I Keep Scissors and One Perfect Green Blanket? Package them together in a box with a an extra disc of demos, outtakes and singles tracks. Nice. 8) Billy Wooten - Lost Tapes (P-Vine) Japanese reissue powerhouse P-Vine wasn't content with reissuing Billy Wooten's tough-to-catch In This World and the Wooden Glass albums. Nope. They had to go for the gusto by unearthing Wooten's fantastic overlooked Naptown nastiness from the vaults for Lost Tapes. 9) Porter Wagoner - The Rubber Room: The Haunting, Poetic Songs of Porter Wagoner 1966-1977 Twenty nine of the most troublingly twisted songs the late great Porter Wagoner ever imagined could be country chart hits, each delivered with bone-chilling conviction. 10) Moussa Doumbia - Keleya: Malian Funk Of The 70s (Oriki) The packaging is lame, the notes are a disappointment and the sound quality isn't stellar but Moussa Doumbia's monstrously pounding jams more than make up for it. Scott Reitherman, Throw Me The Statue Top 5 MySpace Music Pages That Were a Welcome Discovery in 2007: It can be exhausting being on The MySpace and getting endless friend requests from bands. Here though, are five of my discoveries of this year that were welcome exceptions to that rule. In no meaningful order,... Wallpaper A local band, made up of three guys with a strong penchant for Mod, 60s brit invasion/frat-rock style. To me they might be the next best thing about Seattle's music scene. Sleeping States The alias of Markland Starkie, who seems to be a music composition student in London. Signed to Misra in the states, his video for the song "Rivers" convinced me instantly. Sorcerer A young guy from Oakland making songs that remind me in the best way of some of the worst of the music my Dad listened to while I was growing up. Casey Holford Great earnest pop folk/rock songs. One of the only people this year I feel like I kind of got to know over MySpace after listening to his music and felt like I already knew him a bit because of his songs. Sweet Potatoes The Seattle musical project of a lady named Jenny. Wonderful. Another artist where the experience of their songs make you feel like you have shared a conversation. Pat Riley, Domino Records 1) Jackie McCarthy- I married her, of course she is #1! 2) Hiro, my dog 3) My bike 4) OM "Pilgrimage" 5) Rachel Flortard with the John Rauhouse Sestet Sept 6th at Union Pool Brooklyn NY6) Pet Genius "Pet Genius" 7) MIA "Kala" 8) Jesu "Lifeline" 9) Alicia Keys "No One" 10) LCD Soundsystem "Sound of Silver" 11) Prizhorn Dance School "Prizhorn Dance School" 12) Patton Oswald "Pennsylvania Macaroni Company" 13) Radiohead "In Rainbows" 14) Black Lips at the Siren Festival Coney Island NY Rochelle, MTV My Top 5 Albums of the year: 1. Rilo Kiley – "Under The Black Light" 2. Paramore – "Riot" 3. Common – "Finding Forever" 4. Band of Horses – "Cease To Begin" 5. Kanye West – "Graduation" Gabriel Roth, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Daptone Records Top 5 Records I enjoyed in 2007: 1. Ben E. King It's All Over Atco 2. Lou D. Washington and the Professionals Since I've Fallen In Love with You Steeltown 3. Holland-Dozier Don't Leave Me Invictus 4. The Pirates I'm Gonna Love You 'Till I Die Mel-O-Die 5. The Swan Silvertones Sign of the Judgement Vee-Jay Dave Sanford, President, Spectre Entertainment Group 1. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass - Def Jux 2. Georgie James - Places - Saddle Creek 3. Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation - self-released 4. El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead - Def Jux 5. Menomena - Friend and Foe - Barsuk Joe Schwab, Euclid Records Top 5 Records Future Clouds and Radar Kaiser Chiefs - Your's Truley, Angry Mob Radiohead - In Rainbows The Blakes - The Blakes Electric Soft Parade - No Need To Be Downhearted Top 5 Concerts The Hard Lessons Roky Erickson Future Clouds and Radar Terry Adams R & R Quartet Barbara Lynn Top 5 TV 30 Rock Weeds The Office Extras Curb Your Enthusiasm Blogs Bedazzled I Rock Cleveland WFMU Beware The Blog Boogie Woogie Flu Radio Shows WFMU-Dave The Spaz WFMU-Michael Shelley Indie 103.1-Steve Jones Jonesy's Jukebox WEVL- The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn WFMU-Cherry Blossom Clinic with Terri T. Michael Seiwerath, Executive Director, Northwest Film Forum 1. Caféresse, Joanne Herron and Jim Drohman (cheap french food) 2. No Country for Old Men, The Coen Brothers 3. Backroom Anthology, Matthew Stadler, editor (Clear Cut Press) 4. Seventh Climate (Paradise Reconsidered) John Roloff (2006 holdover) 5. Killer of Sheep Charles Burnett (1977 revival) Steven Severin, Neumos Top 5 in no particular order... Greenleaf - I think every item on that menu is great. I'm ordering everything in order down the line. Grand Archives EP & the anticipation of the new full length. Who does 5part harmonies anymore. Nobody, just these bad asses. Against Me and Eric Dolphy is getting heavy play right now too. 2 weeks in Kauai. Enough said Christopher Moore. Every book that dude writes has me in stitches. A crisp pair of new sneakers. Right now I'm stoked on my new Zoo York's. Gary Smith, Easy Street Records 1. The Intelligence "Deuteronomy" 2. Hyphy Hits "V/A" 3. Jens Lekman "Night Falls Over Kortedala" 4. Coconut Coolouts "Party Time Machine" 5. The Stooges "Weirdness" Jeff Smith, Modern Tonic Here is what bopped, hip-hopped and flat-out rocked Modern Tonic’s world in 2007. Mark Ronson, Version Producer/DJ of the year Ronson brings mad skills – and a who’s who of collaborators (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen) – to his dance-floor mash-ups of new and old U.K. faves. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, 100 Days, 100 Nights They don’t just kick it old school, they are old school. If you want to know why that’s a powerful thing, ask Amy Winehouse, who used the Dap-King’s as her Back to Black band. Nicole Atkins - Neptune City This exile from the Jersey shore strolls down the boardwalk of her memory and finds herself in a funhouse mirror of pop styles, from Doris Day to Rilo Kiley. Alicia Keys - As I Am She’s crazy in love; you can feel it in the buoyant grooves and declarations of her fidelity. In an R&B world of hurt, Keys’ catchy optimism is – pardon us – truly a modern tonic. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black That’s Black as in ‘the blues’; and, as we all know by now, Winehouse doesn’t just know the territory – she owns it. Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride Her voice as vast as the heartland, the first countrified American Idol winner two-stepped past the sophomore slump with big hooks, big attitude, and big, big fun. Across The Universe - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack If the movie’s a phantasmagorical trip through the 60’s, the soundtrack, sung by actors and pop stars, is the time-released drug that sustains the hallucinatory vision. Mika - Life in Cartoon Motion The fop who brought back Freddie Mercury’s mischievousness — and vocal range — Mika’s the new ambiguous queen of pop playfulness. Kylie Minogue - X Kylie liberates herself with a celebration of hot-stepping nightlife that’ll help everyone dance away those blues. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible With a sound that goes from big to enormous in the space of one album, these Canadians converted non-believers and confirmed their place as the new U2. Jonathan Smith, A Place To Bury Strangers Here are my top 5 favorite venues played in 2007, in no particular order: 1. Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY 2. Mezzanine - San Francisco, CA 3. The Black Cat - Washington, DC 4. Headliners, Louisville, KY 5. Webster Hall - New York, NY SONIC BOOM / SPECTRUM / EXPERIMENTAL AUDIO RESEARCH / SPACEMEN 3 PANDA BEAR - PITCH PERSON amazing l.p. from Animal Collective member. one of my favourite discs in ages IF Malcolm McDowell/Lindsay Anderson classic finally out on DVD MISA LUBA (IF.... soundtrack of African tribesmen singing latin Mass) DRIVA MAN - MANFRED MANN amazing track from the Mannfred Mann 4 cd box out in 07 DEAN & BRITTA - VARIATIONS remix mini-lp of tracks from the amazing 07 l.p. Gabriel Spierer, Vice Records 1. new friends. some really good ones this year. 2. The Black Lips I love everything about them. Their enthusiasm, their tireless work ethic, their effortless charm and of course their incredible music. They have made my working year worthwhile. The model for what a band should be - genuine people, brilliant songwriters and untouchable live performers who believe in what they are doing as much as anyone else possibly could. 3. Since this is just a Top 5, I'm going to cheat. Some of the records that made 2007 slightly more bearable: Panda Bear - Person Pitch, Arcade Fire - Neon Bible, Ash Pool - World Turns On Its Hinge, The Cave Singers - Invitation Songs, Spoon - GaGaGaGaGa, Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat, Bottomless Pit - Hammer of the Gods, Big Business - Here Come the Waterworks, John Vanderslice - Emerald City, Jesu - Conqueror, Cheeseburger - Cheeseburger, Xasthur - Defective Epitaph, Lifelover - Pulver, The New Pornographers - Challengers 4. Music, in person Big Melvins (Melvins + Big Business = Big Melvins) 4 times, Jay Reatard countless times (esp. SXSW aka the beer-chucked-at-my-balls show, and Chicago at the Hideout), the New Pornographers countless times (esp. Webster Hall w Dan and Neko and strings and horns), Grizzly Bear a few times (esp. acoustic at Bookeaters - wow, these guys steal every show they play), Arcade Fire at Randall's island (from the side of the stage looking out at 20,000 - it was real true magic, esp. on mushrooms), all McCarren Pool shows (esp. the Thermals' covering Built to Spill's Big Dipper)...There were so many more, but none quite as magical as: GZA performing Liquid Swords, in its entirety, at the Pitchfork festival in Chicago - a singular highlight of my life. 5. Kevin Durant A young god. (esp. his season at UT - 30 and 10 in conference? really? and - his getting drafted by the Sonics. save them. somebody.) Ben Swanson, Secretly Canadian 1. M.I.A. - Kala / LIVE Best show of the year...by far and wide...what i imagine seeing the talking heads in '81, still constantly discovering their boundaries, a totally raw process of discovery for all present... 2. Le Loup - The Throne... (Harly Art) A world unto itself, i really don't know what else to say.... 3. Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals (We Are Free) All the right ways... 4. Stockholm in February Freezing cold like back home, how i've missed you... 5. Butter Chicken at Shanti I really think Bloomington has one of the best India restaurants around...i know for sure that i'm wrong, but i try to eat it wherever i go, and i've yet to find a rival... Tom Szwech, Bag of Songs I listened to so many great records this year that even a list of 50 would shortchange something. The ones that really stuck with me and got played to most are the ones that ranked higher in the long run. 1. The Swimmers - Fighting Trees One Of Philadelphia's finest, far and away the one record I listened to most, in the rotation since January and still going strong. The perfect balance of catchy hooks,vocal harmonies and intelligent lyrics. 2. The Broken West - I Can't Go On I'll Go On Jangly, smart, power pop. And it shows that they're musically well schooled, the last time I saw them live they threw in covers of Tegan And Sara, Yo La Tengo , and Buffalo Springfield. 3. Julie Doiron - Woke Myself Up The best overlooked album of the year. Emotional, ragged and real with a sound that falls somewhere between fellow Canadians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. Forget Feist you need this. 4. The Clientele - God Save The Clientele Smooth like a Sunday morning pop, filled with sixties overtones but never sounding retro or dated. 5. Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation What Wilco could've sounded like if they didn't sand the edges off. One of the best live shows I saw all year. 6. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter One of the best new songwriters of a generation, Josh amped it up a bit on this one and created a classic. 7. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible Their first, Funeral did nothing for me, but only one clunker (Black Wave) on this one kept it just shy of perfect. Embracing their Springsteen influences openly into their sound didn't hurt. 8. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver James Murphy obviously honed his ear for what works during his time as a bouncer at Trenton's punk rock club City Gardens all through the mid to late eighties and delivered an album that put all that knowledge together for something relevant right now. 9. Creeping Weeds - We Are All Part Of A Dream You're Having One of Philly's most original sounding bands this manages to run the gamut from desolate spacey piano, to jagged edgy guitar rockers and all points in between, and it all works. And having seen them live like 8 or 9 times this past year I can tell you they're an awesome live band as well. 10. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha 2 solid midtempo pop songs filled hooks,violin, whistling and more, what else could you ask for. It plays really well as a whole, one of the best sequenced albums of the year, each song perfectly setting up the next, just like a great mix tape Jason Taylor, Redeye Distribution 1. Boris w/Michio Kurihara 'Rainbow' 2. Deerhunter 'Cryptograms' 3. Liars 'Liars' 4. Battles 'Mirrored' 5. Sharon Jones '100 Days, 100 Nights' Jeffrey Taylor, Wall of Sound Records, Climax Golden Twins Top 5 Nice Things For 2007: 1) My mother moving to Tazewell, Va. (In beautiful S.W. Virginia) 2) My band's first European tour 3) Completing work on and having published a book 4) Playing as much music as possible with numerous friends (TinyVipers, A Frames, Wally Shoup, Sir Richard Bishop....) 5) Selling records and meeting nice people that like good music Mike Toppe, Revolver USA chris garneau "music for tourists" fiery furnaces "widow city" panda bear "person pitch" burma superstar (the only restaurant worth the 2 hour wait) the visual effects/sound editing for the movie "Sunshine" Jordy Trachtenberg, The Orchard's "Give Me Five in Five" In no order; 1) Music:Sharon Jones, Justice, M.I.A., O Quarto Das Cinzas, Sensacional Soul 2) Live:Gogol Bordello, Bonnoroo, Hold Steady, Justice, SXSW 3) Reads:Vice, Bangkok Babylon; The Game; Mojo; Practicing 4) Places:Pattaya, Bahia, Amsterdam, Berlin, Memphis 5) New People I met in 2007: Dirty Disco Daryl, Tom Windish, Jerry Hopkins, Josh Wright and every person that I got to shake hands and talk with along the way. Will Tyler, Shade of Soul Top 5 Most listened to Records of 2007 1. Aloe Blacc "Shining Through" 2. J Rawls "The Liquid Crystal Project" 3. J Dilla "Donuts" 4. Kero One "Windmills of the Soul" 5. The Blakes Debut Top 5 Guilty Pleasures 1. The Hills 2. The Hills 3. The Hills 4. The Hills 5. The Hills ( I wish I could walk around all day with theme music ) Top 5 websites 1. Shadeofsoul.com 2. inhabitat.com 3. treehugger.com 4. e2-series.com 5. pbs.org/art21 Top 5 youtube videos 1. Ian Manoochin 2. Miss South Carolina 3. The Saturday Knights 45 video 4. Nail Salon 5. Steve Miller Band Top 5 Best Things I did in 07' 1. Quit my fucking corprate job!! 2. Told my former boss he sucked at what he did 3. Became a born again pagen 4. Won a Mr Rodgers look-a-like contest 5. Cashed out my 401K to build my dream house and start a design company Top 5 Things I Should have won in 2007 1. The Saturday Knights Coloring contest ( Not famous enough ) 2. NYC Marathon ( too fat and to too slow) 3. Americas Next Top Model 4. Push Up contest with my brother 5. The Saturday Knights Coloring contest ( Not famous enough ) Uncle Garth, DJ, KCRW TOP 5 OF 2007 1. ALBUM Marvin Gaye - Here My Dear: Expanded Edition (Hip-O Select) There was some serious competition for the top album - great debut by Little Dragon, modern hip hop classics by Little Brother and Aceyalone, Viker Duplaix's sumptuous "Bold and Beautiful", etc. BUT, Hip-O Select pulled off a last minute holiday miracle with the limited on line re-release of a Marvin Gaye masterpiece. Here My Dear, like the movie Scarface, was trashed by critics and consumers at the time of its original release, and praised as classic and critical years later. The Expanded Edition has the original album on one disc, and a second disc filled with new arrangements by the likes of Mocean Worker, Prince Paul, Salaam Remi, Questlove and James Poyser. Any Marvin Gaye fans and soul music connoisseurs would be wise to procure this gem. 2. FILM The Great Debaters - Directed by and Starring Denzel WashingtonT ransformers had my vote until I attended a screening the other night. Based on a true story about the Wiley College debate team and its dramatic triumphs during a tumultuous 1935 in Texas, the film should be mandatory classroom and home viewing for every child rearing family in this country, especially all my wayward black folks. 3. TV SERIES The Wire I thought Showtime held it down with "Weeds" and "Californication", HBOs "The Wire" is just too awesome to not vote for. I would like to personally thank the writers, producers, cast, and crew for helping this country see itself for what it really is. 4. CITY Baltimore Because that's where they film "The Wire". 5. BOOK Why Do Black People Love Fried Chicken? - answered by YourBlackFriend.com a.k.a. Nashieqa Washington, M.B.A. Nashieqa offers insight and understanding to questions that many non-African Americans have about our peculiar behaviors, habits, opinions, and preferences. Although the title conveys stereotyped comedy, the book goes deeper and is a refreshing take on the played out concept of keeping it real, and a break from the constant bombardment of the media induced "Negroes-in-a-box" coma. The website is off the hook too: yourblackfriend.com Greg Vandy, KEXP Moore Theatre 100 year anniversary celebration Xel Ha Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center City of Dust Blog "River Lost" by Blaine Harden Behind 3rd Base dugout @ Wrigley Field Aladin's antiques & records in Bellingham Michael Shelly on WFMU www.wfmu.org The Ringside in Portland Rich Vining, Cable vs. Tweed http://cableandtweed.blogspot.com/2007/12/c-favorite-music-of-2007.html Adam Voith, The Billions Corporation Top 5 Double Cheese Burgers Steak 'n' Shake - 3/7/07 Wendy's - 6/8/07 Steak 'n' Shake - 7/28/07 Steak 'n'' Shake - 8/18/07 In and Out Burger - 12/2/07 Derek Weiler, Bury Me Not http://www.burymenot.com/2007/12/what-job-what-job.html http://www.burymenot.com/2007/12/round-up-usual-suspects.html Geoffrey Weiss, Hollywood Records 5 great things in 2007: Okkervil River For once everybody is right The Omnivore's Dilemma A profound, practical book. Eddy Current - Suppression Ring The show in San Fransisco was excellent, the album is magic, and "It's' All Square" is perfect. The Thomas Function This band is so good I can't believe they exist. I could tell you what they sound like, but they're better than that. Buy their singles, go to their shows, anticipate their album, and your life will improve significantly. Fucked Up - Real Rage The kind anti-depressants and irony almost eliminated. Punk rock that is neither retro or pathetic. Jill Wenger, Owner, Impulse Botique Impulse’s (or Jill’s — whichever, I’m the Mastermind) Top 11 of 2007 (see, it rhymes) Music: Noel Ellis, Self Titled, Light in the Attic Painters: Georg Baselitz and Clifford Still Experience: Attending the Yohji Yamamoto runway show in Paris Accomplishment: Writing Junya Watanabe for Comme des Garcons Spring 08 Outfit: Acne Jeans (Hug and Tube) paired with an oversized cardigan (worn buttoned) More music: Devendra Banhart, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon Design: Brian Roettinger Experience: Working on Totokaelo (coming January 2008) Local talent: Martine Workman Accolade: Being named one of the ‘Top 10 Boutiques: New Visionaries’ in the US by national rag, Lucky More Design: Wayne Daly Jimmy Winter, Music Arsenal Top 5 Discoveries of 2007 1. China Mist Prickly Pear Tea Being a discerning drinker of iced tea I am always on the search for the world’s greatest. Well I finally found it. If you want the best iced tea I’ve ever had, this is it! 2. Sirius Radio/Howard Stern After years of not getting the fuss I finally gave Howard Stern a shot this spring. Where have I been the past 25 years of his career?! 3. The Waiting Room Lounge Finally my town of Omaha has a great venue with great sound. 4. Bob Log III I way into this one man band sped up delta blues sound. 5. Transfer/ColdSpring/Model-Glue I’m a programmer so I’m going to nerd it up. These three ColdFusion frameworks are saving me a lot of time in my new code development. Erik Wofford, Cacophony Recorders Top 5 for 2007: Best Movie: No Country For Old Men Best Band To Work With This Year: The Black Angels (of course!) Best Product: Iphone Best Salsa: Vivo in Austin, TX Best Reason To Go Outside: It was never too hot or too cold. Global warming has its ironic upsides Jason Womack, Bassist, Juliette & The Licks 1. black rebel motorcycle club - baby 81 2. the good the bad and the queen - the good the bad and the queen 3. stars of the lid - and their refinement of the decline 4. scissors for lefty - underhanded romance 5. suffrajett - black glitter Pablo Yglesias, Author, ¡Cocinando!: Fifty Years of Latin Album Cover Art New: Tropidelico - Quantic Soul Orchestra (R)evolucion - Jose Conde y Nueva Ola Akoya Afrobeat - President Dey Pass Killion Floor - Orgone Keep Reachin' Up - Nicole Willis Out There - Heliocentrics Reissue: They Say I'm Different - Betty Davis Achilifunk (Gypsy Soul) - Various Gozalo Vol. 2 Tropical Booglaoo from Peru - Various Super Afro Soul - Orlando Julius Funk Revival (Sounds From The Subtropics) - Various Dan Zachs, Waxing Deep Records Coleccionistas on Calle Neptuno Havana's classic source for "well loved" Panart sides and the Juan Pablo Torres catalogue. You can meet your locksmith needs at the booth next door. Benromach Organic Scotch Whisky An extremely pleasant way to cure any ache worth curing courtesy of Speyside distillers and virgin oak from environmentally managed forests. Twilight Ascent of Bonnie's Roof, The Gunks Glorious views of the HudsonRiver Valley from some very airy and very fine quartzite (there are records in New Paltz and Poughkeepsie, too). Sven Libaek "Inner Space" Reissue on Votive Records One of my favourite reissues of the past year. Moody Australian bossa and jazz that is a perfect accompaniment to a wintry night. The Soper River, Baffin Island One of the last rivers with water clean enough to drink straight, it winds through an especially beautiful part of the Canadian arctic. Baffin Island is one place where I guarantee you will find no records. Not even Anne Murray 'Snowbird' singles. There are polar bears, though (at least until global warming kills them off).Thanks to all our contributors and everyone who's read this! We had fun putting it together, so we hope you had fun reading it!

• September 24, 2007 at 04:49 AM

  AROUND THE OFFICE: Sipreano

  We received such a positive response from last week's "celebrity" edition of Around the Office (featuring Bob Husak, drummer for The Blakes) we decided to extend our little arms to see if we could wrangle other known entities to tell us what they're watching, listening to, smoking, high-fiving, etcetera, etcetera. We baited our hooks with false hopes of fame and fortune, and threw out our lines And it worked. This weeks Around the Office was submitted by Canadian renaissance man, Sipreano. He's the mastermind behind our absolutely awesome Jamaica to Toronto series (the whole thing), a former writer for Vancouver's Georgia Straight weekly, an avid (see: obsessive) music collector and historian, and a local DJ. On top of all that our resident office compliment-giver Kate Peterson claims, he's "very nice." Enjoy. What Sipreano's Feeling? Black Mountain and Jamaica to Toronto live at Pop Montreal, October 3rd - 7th, biking, haircuts, AKG K 324 headphones, making burritos (not grilled), Paragon country, drawings by Robert Dayton, photos by Kelly Claude Nairn, Chris Frey, and Chris Gergley, Dexys Midnight Runners - Searching For The Young Soul Rebels look, scanning archival images, future jamming, 1777rex... What’s Sipreano Listening To? 1) Various Artists - Summer Records Anthology 1974-1988 Sound + vision from Jerry Brown’s Malton, Ontario, studio and label. Reggae, Reggae, Reggae… 2) Radio Berlin - Glass [youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=ly9uqtmTut0] Older, but new to me post-punk from now defunct Vancouver crew featuring Chris Frey (The Book Of Lists, Destroyer), Josh Wells (Black Mountain, Lightning Dust), Jack Duckworth (Primes, JJ Wax), and Lyndsay Sung (Ice Palace, Pink Mountaintops)… 3) Anything on ProgQuebec reissue label Contraction - s/t, Charles Kaczynski - Lumiere de la nuit, Yves Laferriere - s/t, Maniege - Ni Vent... ni nouvelle, Toubabou - Attente... 4) Rock And Hyde-“Dirty Water” [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5kLzAajFZQ] Shit video, but this song was my summer mantra… 5) Lucas Sideras - One Day Solo LP from Aphrodite’s Child drummer. Rad 70s rock that makes me feel good… What’s Sipreano Watching? TV - The Hills LC 4 life (wink, wink)… (ed: Agreed!) Film - Skip Tracer Raw CDN film from the late-seventies depicting the trials and tribulations of a collections agent. Known as Deadly Business in the US… What’s Sipreano Eating? Dinner at The Mighty Pope’s… What's Sipreano Dreaming About? Directing From Yard To Yonge: Jamaica To Toronto documentary, producing Doug Randle’s Songs For The New Industrial State CBC reissue for LITA, Japan… Thank you Sipreano! By the way we're lining up some great, great people to tell us what they're in to. So ... you should keep checkin' us out.