BIO

Noel is the son of legendary Studio One/Treasure Isle recording artist Alton Ellis, and this self-titled debut was recorded in Toronto in 1979 by studio wizard Jerry Brown for the pioneering Summer Records – often cited as Canada’s answer to Lee Perry’s Black Ark Studios. This latest platter serves as the third release in the Jamaica to Toronto seven album series; following Wayne McGhie & The Sounds Of Joy(1970), and the recently released deluxe… READ MORE >

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• December 17, 2009 at 01:27 AM

  SUMMER RECORDS AUDIO DOCUMENTARY!

  

  Back in the day before these new fangled teevees and computer monitors, there was a little thing called radio.  And every Saturday night, the family would gather 'round this radio to listen to the latest bit, of well, whatever.  Sportin' events, horse-racing, a fireside chat from a reigning political despot - things of that nature. The fine Canadians over at CBC have put together an audio documentary for CBC Radio about the Summer Records Anthology we put out last year.  It's fantastic piece that features interviews with owner/producer/engineer Jerry Brown, Noel Ellis, Adrian Miller (from Earth, Roots and Water), Willie Williams, and the one, the only Kevin "Sipreano" Howes.  It's a beautiful 53-minute piece produced by Ian Cauthery and hosted by Shaun Dhani, and you should certainly pull some chairs around your 40-inch plasma screened computer and give her a listen. CHECK IT OUT RIGHT HERE!

• July 09, 2009 at 09:11 AM

  THE FIRST PART OF OUR ROAD-TRIP DOCUMENTARY AND A FREE DIGITAL 3-SONG ROAD TRIP EP!

  In May we sent four burly men down the West Coast with a van-load of records and one goal in mind: hit every record store possible between Sea-town and San Diego.  Our mission?  To bring a taste of the old school way of from-the-trunk record sales to this increasingly digital world.  It happened, we cheered, we cried, and then it was done. Yet, we can't let sleeping dogs lie, so we gave sweet Cody Hurd (one member of comedic super-duo Black Daisy) free reign to take the reels and reels of digital film he'd accrued over the course of this monster endeavor and turn it in to a series (a four part series that is) of behind-the-scenes videos to give you a further taste of just what occurred. CHECK OUT THE VIDEO HERE!

  

  The first part (a delightful mash-up of the whole road-trip, a sort of three minute adrenalin shot of road trip madness) is being released today with each additional piece following over the next three weeks. AND THAT'S NOT ALL Every road trip needs a soundtrack, so we've decided to make our own personal completely free, three-song digital EP (with exclusive cover art by general artistic genius Drew Christie) to whet your own little road trip yen. DOWNLOAD IT HERE!

  

  The EP includes these tracks: 1.  Karen Dalton - Leaving For The Country 2.  Rodriguez - Heikki's Suburban Bus Tour 3.  Noel Ellis - Memories DOWNLOAD IT HERE! One a week, for the next four weeks!

• April 19, 2009 at 04:24 PM

  RECORD STORE WEEK AFTERMATH: END OF AN EAR, AUSTIN, TX

  Well the festivities have died.  The bands have slunk back to their dark holes.  The rare 7"s and cassette tapes have been tucked away in the humidors of record geeks the world over. Yes, Record Store Day has come and gone. But we here at Light In The Attic, angels that we are, still have a handful of our favorite record stores to shower our unconditional love upon.  Thus, let us recover from the hangover of music gluttony hair-of-the-dog style. End of the Ear has been doing Light In The Attic quite the solid for a good many years now, and we've develope a love for them, and for Austin in general that evokes rainbows and garter belts.  It's sultry and delightful. We'll leave the details to your imagination, gentleman take it away. STORE OF THE WEEK: End Of An Ear, Austin, Texas

  

  1.  Store Description, history...etc- We opened in May 2005 with the goal of being our own favorite record store.  We're an independently owned and operated store specializing in new and used LP's and CD's. We provide all genres, but specialize in more obscure titles and underground music in general. We also carry music and movie DVD's, t-shirt's, accessories, books, magazines, and collectible VHS tapes. We feature a different art show in our store every month and host in-store performances of local and touring bands. Genres we maybe focus on more than other stores: Experimental, Psychedelic, Progressive, Reggae, Avant Jazz, etc. We want to be the record store that would make us do back flips. 2.  What is your favorite record right now? Too many to mention - but some that come to mind instantly are: UFO "Phenomena", Destruction "Sentence Of Death", Ranking Dread "In Dub", Death "For the Whole World To See", Ofege "Try And Love" and the new Alley Cats compilation album.

  

  3.  What is your favorite LITA release? Both Betty Davis records, Noel Ellis, Summer Records Anthology 1974-1988, and the new Serge Gainsbourg "Histoire De Melody Nelson" reissue is getting much love. 4.  Favorite record to play in the shop? Mrs. Miller's "Greatest Hits" / Melvin Van Peebles "What The #@&! You Mean I Can't Sing..." 5.  What is the best in-store performance? We've had a lot of good ones. But the best so far this year have definitely been The Homosexuals, and Powell St. John performing with his band and half of Cold Sun.

  

  6.  Funniest story about the shop? One of our regular customers had a total meltdown when she saw Legendary Pink Dots shopping at our store. She cornered Edward Ka-Spel ranting and raving to him for like an hour and basically forced him to let her do video projections for their show that night at Stubb's. Then she was using our phone to call a "film crew" which turned out to be some friend to whom she was screaming over the line-"Be there at 8:00 sharp! Don't fuck this up man, this is the opportunity of a lifetime!!!" They left looking bewildered with her in tow telling her-"You know there's no money in this for you, right?".

• 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

• November 17, 2008 at 02:19 PM

  HOLIDAY SALE: FEATURED ITEM - JAMAICA TO TORONTO LP BUNDLE

  Second monstrous week in our monstrous 1st Annual Light In The Attic Holiday Sale and we're just tossing out more and more discounts to help lighten the stress on your wallet this holiday season.  Our second featured bundle is a doozy ... you might need to sit down, maybe get a brown bag for you hyperventilators, because we present to you:

  This week's Featured Bundle: JAMAICA TO TORONTO LP BUNDLE!

  

  Ohhhhh, we see, you're one of the in-touch individuals who've already dug deep in to our critically acclaimed Jamaica To Toronto series.  You've grooved out to Jackie Mittoo, felt the low-key shiver of Earth, Roots and Water, and the sweet softness of Noel Ellis. And oh man, how we applaud you for your intitiative in searching out some truly under-loved treasures.  We ask you this though friend, how many of these jams do you have in the beautiful, big, love-soaked format of the vinyl LP?  Oh, none?  You don't even own a record player?  Hmmmm ... well, uh, jeez, you should get on that, and then when you do, you should add this stunning set of LPs to your (obviously minute) record collection.  They'll change the way you not only look at that stack of clunky CDs you have piled next to your 80s ghetto blaster, but the way you listen to this treasure trove of absolutely blissful cuts. Jamaica To Toronto LP Bundle Includes: *  Summer Records LP *  Earth, Roots, & Water LP *  3 7"'s of our choosing *  Jamaica to Toronto Sampler

• October 13, 2008 at 12:30 AM

  ALTON ELLIS, 1938 - 2008

  

  Another one of the greats has left us.  Father to Noel Ellis, Alton was considered to be the Godfather of the more laid-back rocksteady sound that emerged from Jamaica in the 1960s. This is truly a sad day. Alton, we'll keep you in our thoughts, and on our record players.

• 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!

• December 18, 2007 at 03:34 AM

  Sad News From London

  Our good friend Sipreano sent over this saddening news story this morning: "Alton Ellis, the man acclaimed as 'The Godfather of Rocksteady', has, for several weeks now, been in hospital in London undergoing treatment for cancer of the lymph glands and is scheduled to start chemotherapy soon. " Alton Ellis is one of the great figures in reggae and has played alongside some of the all-time legends. He is Noel Ellis' father and appears on our very first Jamaica to Toronto release Wayne McGhie and The Sounds of Joy. In the words of The Observer's Basil Walters: "Alton Neamiah Ellis was born 63 years ago and is regarded as one of Jamaica's finest musical treasures for almost 50 years." Read the whole story HERE. So, during all the joy and happiness of the holiday season, make sure you keep Mr. Alton Ellis in your thoughts and prayers. Everyone here at Light In The Attic surely is.

• November 02, 2007 at 05:05 AM

  JAMAICA TO TORONTO PLAYS TORONTO

  This is fucking exciting.  The kings of Canadian dub/reggae, Jamaica to Toronto, are heading back to the place where many of them made names for themselves to play what you could describe as a homecoming show.  Anyone that saw them at Pop Montreal this year (young, old, deaf, blind, beer-gutted) can attest that this is not an occasion to be missed.  These guys have been doing this music thing for years and years and years, and every ounce of experience is reflected in their outstanding live show.  Just look how fucking cool The Mighty Pope is rocking out at Club Lambi at Pop Montreal.  You want to go to this show. This is going to be fucking amazing.  Get on a plane, take a boat up a river, have your man-giant friend Ted carry you on his back - doing anything to see this show. Jamaica To Toronto:
  Soul, Funk and Reggae 1967-1974
  with special guest The Elizabeth Shepherd Trio
  music by DJ Chocolate & Patrick Roots
  Thursday December 13, 2007
  @ Mod Club Theatre (722 College St.)
  Tickets are $20.00 in advance and available at Ticketmaster, Rotate This, Play De Record & Soundscapes
  ** Tickets On-Sale Thursday November 1, 2007 @ 10AM ** 19+ Event, Doors @ 7:00pm, Show @ 8:00pm
  www.ramosent.com If you want to read the full press release, it will be after the jump. CKLN PRESENTS
  JAMAICA TO TORONTO:  Soul, Funk and Reggae 1967-1974
  with special guest The Elizabeth Shepherd Trio
  music by DJ Chocolate & Patrick Roots (TORONTO- Tuesday October 30, 2007) – REMG & CKLN proudly present Jamaica To Toronto: Soul, Funk and Reggae 1967-1974 featuring Jay Douglas (of The Cougars) with The Mighty Pope and many more! In 1963, the flight from Jamaica to Toronto was 8 hours. Today it's 3 1/2. Countless people have made the dwindling journey over the years, but in the sixties and seventies there was a new breed of traveler: the finest ska, rocksteady, and reggae recording artists the West Indies have ever produced. We're talking Studio One, Treasure Isle, Trojan, and WIRL veterans Jackie Mittoo, Johnnie Osbourne, Wayne McGhie, Lloyd Delpratt , The Mighty Pope, Noel Ellis, Jo-Jo Bennett, and many more. Arriving in their new Canadian home, these talented singers, songwriters, musicians, and performers simply did what came naturally to them. One by one, they hit the studio and captured some of the hardest tunes this side of Kingston. The Jamaica to Toronto tradition continues with the release of the Summer Records Anthology (1974-1988), the 5th release on Light In The Attic's Jamaica To Toronto series. The Summer Records Anthology captures a killer cross-section of the producer/label owner Jerry Brown's massive talent pool. Johnny Osbourne, Earth Roots & Water, and Adrian "Homer" Miller are all represented in the expansive package, which also includes a 25-minute documentary containing never-before-seen period footage of the Canadian reggae scene. Over the past year Elizabeth Shepherd has been nominated for a Juno Award, played "Live In Session" on Gilles Peterson's Worldwide show on BBC Radio 1 and Matt Galoway's "Here and Now" on CBC Radio One. Elizabeth has established herself as a true player in the Toronto and international jazz scenes. Don't miss this historic show Thursday December 13, 2007 at The Mod Club Theatre.

• September 25, 2007 at 03:01 AM

  SUMMER RECORDS IS HERE!

  The weeks of knotted anticipation have come and gone. The nights of cold sweats and fever dreams are a thing of the pass. The day is finally here: Summer Records Anthology: 1974 - 1988 is in stores. Grab your recently purchased copy of this fucking amazing compilation of the great, great hits of Jerry Brown's Summer Records, toss it in the old player, spark up a "winner", and breath a huge sigh of contented relief as the soothing grooves of Johnny Osbourne, Ranking, Noel Ellis, and a whole lot more wash over you. If you're not already dirtying your shorts in excitement, we're posting all three parts of the unreleased documentary that happily resides on the DVD side of this dual-disc release. Have you ever seen Jerry Brown riding a bicycle? You will. Watch the documentary, then buy the album from us, right HERE. Part II and III are after the jump. [youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=PKtTBXw9kvk] [youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=KLxIm8cbtYo] [youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=aHkLYoQEqKc] Pretty good little documentary huh? Well you can own it and 15 tracks of joy if you just click right HERE.

• September 18, 2007 at 03:57 AM

  So, You Like Noel Ellis?

  How could you not? That genuine smile, the faint resemblance to Eddie Murphy, those argyle socks, let alone his incredible musical talent - there is nothing not to like about this guy. Which is good for you because if you enjoyed Noel Ellis or the work this reggae virtuoso added to our Jamaica to Toronto Anthology, then your in for a real treat. One week from today (seven days, one hundred sixty-eight hours, a lot of minutes, even more seconds) our newest entry in to the Jamaica to Toronto series, Summer Records Anthology, is going to be released and it features a brand new, previously unreleased track by Alton Ellis' greatest son. And that's really just the beginning, it features new tracks from Johnny Osbourne (which you can download right HERE), Earth, Roots & Water, and Summer Record's founder, Jerry Brown. Must, stop, writing, eager anticipation ... making ... vision ... blurry.

• September 14, 2007 at 03:50 AM

  Summer Records - 09.25.2007

  A question: do you know who this is? It's Jerry Brown, founder of seminal Toronto-based reggae label Summer Records. A true giant of the field in our humble opinions. A man you'll get to know a lot better when you pick up Light In The Attic's branding fucking new reissue compilation, Summer Records Anthology. Not only is it a beautifully packaged, amazingly researched deal, it is also packed to the rafters with the most serene of cuts to ever flow from Summer Records. Tracks from the likes of Johnny Osbourne, Noel Ellis, and Earth, Roots, and Water that, will blind you with soul, wrap you in reggae, and put you to bed with a healthy dose of dub. We'll stop rambling sycophantically, and you can just find out for yourself when the album drops a week from Tuesday, on the 25th. Buy it, or live your life unfulfilled.

• October 05, 2006 at 07:42 PM

  Jamaica to Toronto: Roots Deep, Long Legs

  The heralded anthology "Jamaica to Toronto: Soul Funk & Reggae 1967-74," featuring the deep rare grooves of independent artists such as the Cougars, Noel Ellis, Wayne McGhie, and Jackie Mittoo, has been continuing to collect press raves months after its release. For example, Pitchfork gave the compilation an 8.1, UNCUT graced it with a magical four star rating, while beautiful spreads landed in Magnet, Now Toronto, The Fader, Toronto Star, and XLR8R. Since then, Everett True at Plan B in England said "Man, this stuff is HOT," and called the album "entirely recommended." The Beat magazine described "JATDOT" as showing how "creativity, talent, and pride transcended both place and circumstance four decades ago. The overall impression of the accompanying music is that those same qualities transcend time." It's really nice to see reviewers 'getting' the essence of this, the third release in the seven record series, and of the whole series in general: DJ Sipreano and Light In The Attic dove into these crates of underground soul music and came up with gems that never received the attention they deserved, but are finally getting the love. Check out this great conversation with Sipreano here. Now, the album has been reviewed for four and a half stars worth of posterity at All Music Guide, and the esteemed music journalist Fred J. Mills wrote the sixteen track deluxe reissue-collection up for the awesome Creative Loafing Meanwhile, the Jamaica to Toronto series continues with Noel Ellis, and his eponymous, incendiary solo album, recorded in 1979. The son of Alton has been featured in such magazines as Mean and XLR8R, and genre websites such as Reggae Vibes UK have been praising it highly. Please check out a free MP3 of Noel's "Rocking Universally"

• June 21, 2006 at 07:33 PM

  The Black Angels and Noel Ellis In Town

  On Monday, June 19, 2006, The Black Angels swaggered into Sea-town like your best friend at your 21st birthday party. They headlined the KEXP pledge drive concert with Jose Gonzalez at the plush and resplendent Triple Door ($500 a ticket!). The packed audience loved a bit of dark moonshine in the middle of a sunny summer afternoon. Thanks so much KEXP! That same night The Black Angels gave a virile, sweaty, heart-stomping sold-out performance at Chop Suey, priming old and new fans for their return on July 29 for the Capitol Hill Block Party! Meanwhile, Jamaican-Toronto legend Noel Ellis has arrived from London, and is confirmed for the Saturday, July 15th "Jamaica to Toronto" extravaganza to be held at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. Noel is looking dapper in some new London fashions, and should be cooking up some delicious soul-dub for the adoring 3,000 expected to be there. More Info: Jamaica to Toronto: Soul, Funk & Reggae 1967-1974 The Black Angels

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  Noel Ellis

  Noel Ellis (CD,MP3)

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  Noel Ellis features six dub-loved, heavy yet ethereal tracks, with contributions from OG reggae maestros Jackie Mittoo, Willi Williams, and Johnny Osbourne. The eponymous classic lost full-length includes the hugely influential "Rocking Universally, whose rhythmic influence was Willi Williams’ “Armagideon Time” (covered by The Clash) and the poignantly autobiographical “Memories” (about Noel’s upbringing in Jamaica).

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