kiss out the jams

2011 A-LIST: ALBUMS

2011-12-16T07:28:00.001-08:00

1. Tyler, the Creator – Goblin
2. Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, ULTRA.
3. Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels
4. Wussy – Strawberry
5. Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Tell My Sister
6. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
7. Lady Gaga - Born This Way
8. Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
9. tUnE-yArDs - W H O K I L L
10. The Roots – undun

11. Low Cut Connie - Get Out the Lotion
12. Group Doueh - Zayna Jumma
13. Dum Dum Girls - He Gets Me High [EP]
14. Das Racist – Relax
15. Eric Church – Chief
16. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
17. Mike Doughty - Yes and Also Yes
18. Let's Wrestle - Nursing Home
19. Wavves - Life Sux [EP]
20. Jay-Z/Kanye West - Watch the Throne

21. Arctic Monkeys - Suck It and See
22. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
23. Gotye - Making Mirrors
24. Beyoncé – 4
25. Teddybears - Devil's Music
26. Saigon - The Greatest Story Never Told
27. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
28. Neon Indian - Era Extraña
29. Britney Spears - Femme Fatale [Deluxe Version]
30. Withered Hand - Good News

31. Bombino – Agadez
32. Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
33. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
34. Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What
35. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient
36. Justice - Audio, Video, Disco
37. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
38. Jens Lekman - An Argument with Myself [EP]
39. Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts
40. Yuck – Yuck

41. Mayer Hawthorne - How Do You Do
42. Best Coast - iTunes Session [EP]
43. Brad Paisley - This Is Country Music
44. Art Brut - Brilliant! Tragic!
45. Stephin Merritt – Obscurities
46. David Bazan - Strange Negotiations
47. Lana Del Rey - Lana Del Ray A.K.A. Lizzy Grant
48. Miranda Lambert – Four the Record
49. Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams
50. Emperor X - Western Teleport

51. Tom Waits - Bad as Me
52. Nicki Minaj! - The Summer Is Mine
53. Tycho – Dive
54. Ski Beatz - 24 Hour Karate School
55. Parts & Labor - Constant Future
56. Wussy – Funeral Dress II
57. The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck
58. Battles - Gloss Drop
59. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
60. Lil Wayne - Sorry 4 the Wait

61. Wild Flag - Wild Flag
62. Open Mike Eagle - Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes
63. Carolina Chocolate Drops/Luminiscent Orchestrii - Carolina Chocolate Drops/Luminiscent Orchestrii [EP]
64. Various Artists - Rave on Buddy Holly
65. Lupe Fiasco – Lasers

THE 10 BEST ALBUMS OF 2011

2011-12-15T22:35:00.000-08:00

#10 The Roots - undun

If Sonic Youth is truly done—one of many heartbreaks in the worst year for music since I’ve cared about music—then the Roots are eligible to take their place as my longest-running favorite band. The similarities are more structural than sonic but they’re there: both bands started academically, making crappy avant-garde. Sonic Youth’s early albums were equal parts of garage demo and museum installation; only with the addition of all-time-underrated-drummer Steve Shelley did they develop the sweetness and tension/release that earmarked the richness to follow. Having developed such a hard-echoing drum sound and viciously locked-in flow over years that touched on human beatbox, tuba, hard synth and Scott Storch, The Roots’ early “jazz” albums—where keyboards were keyboards and hooks weren’t hooks—sound like muzak in retrospect.

Both bands are “growers”. With a handful of exceptions, every successive Sonic Youth and Roots album has meant exponentially more to me since the year of release and many underwhelmed me initially. Hooks are plentiful but sideways, and if you’re not attuned to their universe you may never hear them at all.

But most crucially, both bands are taken for granted because they’re institutions. undun is a slight album, maybe their fifth best, but it’s another brick in the foundation of a canon where slightness adds up. It’s comfort food the way Jay-Z and Kanye albums—including the celebratory, weird, inspired Watch the Throne—will never be. That is, I’ve played the “lesser” act a lot more because they’re easier to stomach. The Roots are the only rap I can calm down to. Which doesn’t mean boring: the tension of 2008’s “I Can’t Help It” or 2004’s “Boom!” is as hot and contained as Roni Size in 1997 or Fela Kuti in 1977. These guys are all self-management, focus and sequential logic, which is why Black Thought raps like a drummer and ?uestlove schmoozes the media like a rapper.

undun is notable for its odd pace, with sleepy single “Make My” at the top of a reverse-death cycle that claims to be a concept album without any non-narrating characters or discernable actions. I love it because it sounds like them. The Roots™ are such a perpetual idea machine that after eight straight winners they can steer the damn ship as long as they keep the concept albums to 40 minutes. So what if “The Otherside,” “Tip the Scale” and “Stomp” are just more biscuits; building that familiarity and varying it is exciting in itself. And they gave Sufjan Stevens the perfect amount of stage time: four minutes.

#9 tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l

In an artsy-fartsy indie-“rock” landscape that couldn’t be bothered for comment, she first established her lyrical vitality on the psychotically underrated BiRd-BrAiNs (after overrating scores of unfinished Bradford Cox analog twaddle, has there ever been a more call-it-as-you-smell-it sexist moment than the same people complaining about her digital mastering?) by poking at the real emotional stuff: (“rock”?) boyfriends treating her badly, wishing her own skin would crawl off. The boxier w h o k i l l isn’t as surprising or resourceful—no banging on silverware or bending ukulele strings to truly harmolodic places to achieve the right wrongness—but it established a few of Merrill Garbus’ bona fides. There’s social commentary as plainspoken as her internal stuff: “What’s a boy to do if he’ll never be a gangsta” was taken the wrong way by all the right rap critics, though I doubt Mitt Romney will ever hear “My Country.” There’s a command of hi-fi instruments like a horn section that took say, TV on the Radio years to assimilate so effortlessly. And most crucially, there’s a turn toward grooves (the D’Angelo-ish “Doorstep”) and abstractions (the DiFranco-esque “Es-So”) as buoyant as her true songs even if I wished for a couple more of those. The self-described “Powa” bridged the two, along with the musical, sexual and intellectual all at once.

#8 Fucked Up - David Comes to Life

Like all rock operas, this clever bastard of an 18-song marathon sounds awesome at first. Frontloaded enough to make the words “album of the year” cross your mind on first pass through track eight or so, you eventually notice the Reich- or Branca-like uniformity wearing off and after the dozenth attempt to meet Act III halfway you just want it to be over. This makes it hardly a disgrace to Hüsker Dü’s Zen Arcade, which it bests sonically, lyrically and conceptually. With three songwriters and who knows how many guitar techs overdubbing every syllable and riff to adhere to the anarcho-Shakespearian theme, you root for all of it, forgive the standstill “Life in Paper” and come to accept that merely three songs have those fantastic counterpoint vocals from various guest females. Forget “punk”—no one (lovingly) labored harder to keep rock fresh, fast and pleasurable in 2011, even providing a not-useless bonus “soundtrack” to the biggest project these blithe Torontoans could currently dream. And in the starring role, Damian Abraham deserves a special award for his almost rap-like contributions to what’s probably the first hardcore album in all of history played entirely in a major key.

#7 Lady Gaga - Born This Way

What ultimately put this over Femme Fatale and 4 for me was the pacing. Born This Way starts politely pro forma, peaks in the middle and blows up stratospheric for the final act, with all filler innocuous enough to provide just the right number of intermissions—approximately three—for 14 tracks. For all its bubble-pop-electric and perfect chintz factory hook-sounds, the Britney album’s just too mechanical, while Beyonce’s calculated tastefulness has always undercut her own pleasurable sound effects (even that token unserious “boof boof” one).

Gaga reaches for neither a Grammy nor sublime career sleaze; she just wants to make a great album, and her idea of such is a museum of “greatness” signifiers. A Madonna rip down to the goofy rapping. Warped thrash guitar from Michael Jackson’s new jack period. Clarence Thomas’ big-boss sax solos. A perfect country lighter-waver turned Mutt-Lange earthquake. “Hair” is too good for Broadway while “The Edge of Glory” is too good for uh, The Killers. “Americano” establishes camp value while “Heavy Metal Lover” grinds so deeply into club-subwoofer’s paradise it’s almost invisible at first. A few songs even get by on sound effects and tastefulness. And for all talk of how weird she is, she’s the most all-encompassing pop star in recent memory, without a vengeful tune to date (unless the perfectly-timed “Government Hooker” counts as an JFK indictment). None of the positivity sacrifices her flair, her wit, her intelligence, her outspokenness or her appetite for subversion. Or her charisma: “I could be your girl, girl, girl, girl, girl, girl, girl/ But would you love me if I ruled the world, world, world?” goes my favorite hook. Who could say no?

#6 The Weeknd - House of Balloons

This is who Drake’s supposed to be: the annoying twerp who nonetheless wins you over with his creeping truths. Not being able to stop playing something you’re trying to loathe says something for the critical process, as well as addiction, which is Abel Tesfaye’s greatest subject. These nine tracks are slow, long, beholden to Siouxsie and Beach House (twice!) and celebratory of activity that sounds shittier than most rappers’ because it sounds realer. Tesfaye’s initial anonymity helped create the illusion that he was the invisible man among Drake’s entourage, chronicling all that guilt and confusion (and pleasure) with a more worried man-on-the-street POV—as well as the unenviable task of being elected to find the girls to plead into the threesome. But the follow-up was never going to be good. Don’t critics know the first rule of addiction? No hit’s ever as good as the first, especially with qualities this unlikely in the first place. And the anonymity helped.

#5 Kate and Anna McGarrigle - Tell My Sister

I’m a novice so maybe these third-disc demos wouldn’t have hit me so hard if I knew the( always admired) first two albums front and back. But reducing such a smart, melodic essence to voices, wit and the simplest, prettiest chords—just piano or fingerpicking—exhumed in a dismal year for melody and song structure could leave anyone demanding no fewer than two versions of “Heart Like a Wheel” per sitting. Soul, heart, etc. sure, but this just never gives up. And it never needs to reach too far outside of these naturally rich arrangements; the songfulness is so assured, relaxed, wise. Listening back, Dancer with Bruised Knees sounded a little overarranged. Fucking Dancer with Bruised Knees!

#4 Wussy – Strawberry

The worst thing about my generation’s rockcrit values is the idea that people shut down by the time you praise the fourth straight album by a band. This never happened to the generation of Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper and the white album. If that comparison makes you mad, I hope you’re not claiming those were only great because of the lack of competition at the time to have divided your attention. This Totally Normal Band has too much competition for Pitchfork to take notice, though they're extraordinarily above the norm in all musical (PJ Harvey can bend over for Lisa Walker's "Chicken," while Yo La Tengo could learn more about themselves from "Waiting Room") and literary departments ("shatter like a mirrorball" and "outside the Pizza King you tremble like an earthquake" are typical vividities). Yes, they’ve just banged out their fourth straight—well, maybe Left for Dead wasn’t all that—great album. Ignore the remarkably consistent Totally Normal Band if you will but do not talk to me about Spoon.

#3 Pistol Annies – Hell on Heels

Great albums sometimes just happen. That’s too slight for people who’d rather buy a SMiLE box set than bother themselves with the idea that Wild Honey was better. But they do. The only chance taken on Hell on Heels is giving Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley equal billing with the great Miranda Lambert, and wins big, with Monroe’s standalone lead “Beige” the melodic highlight and Presley’s “The Hunter’s Wife” one of the cleverest. Lambert herself contributes “Trailer for Rent,” whose diamond-plated wit (“Comes with some holes and dents where i got tired of his shit/ Call if you’re interested”) hasn’t been so fruitful since Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which rocks harder and smokes this in theory. But I always have trouble remembering the last two songs.

#2 Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, ULTRA.

If we can lump Tyler in with his photographer-assaulting crony Left Brain, why are people so quick to distance Frank Ocean from his other friends? If he didn’t share their irreverence and rejection of authority, he wouldn’t be in Odd Future, and quite possibly we would’ve never heard his masterpiece, “released” as it happens via Tumblr after losing patience with his label. It’s possible for an R&B singer to make two great albums. But even with the year’s most gifted songwriter this is unlikely; too much of the best music on Nostalgia, ULTRA. comes from MGMT, Coldplay and the fucking Eagles. As much as we love The Private Press, it was a sigh of relief rather than an audacious surprise like Endtroducing…DJ Shadow, whose out-of-nowhere perfection relied at least in part on recognizing familiar sounds selected for new tasks. That Ocean’s still diamond-crucial to Tyler’s “She” and Jay-Z/Kanye’s “No Church in the Wild” fosters hope, but it would be no shame if he never tops “Novocane,” “Nature Feels,” “Songs for Women” or “Strawberry Swing.” The shame is already his not being able to sell it.

#1 Tyler, the Creator – Goblin

The key lines on the best album of 2011 are not “I’m a fucking walking paradox/ No I’m not,” or “I’m awesome/ And I fuck dolphins,” two of its most quoted, but rather “This is the type of shit that makes a Chris Brown want to kick a whore” and “I’m a fucking unicorn and fuck anyone that says I’m not.” In the first one, note the antihero cannily separating himself from “a Chris Brown.” Sure, as the Roots have now learned, the word “whore” is still collateral damage that conceivably mars the sentiment. But nonetheless, this is a provocative musician distancing himself from the provoke-able. Maybe that’s one reason he’s “the Creator” and not a goon like Plies or a thug like Fat Joe. Tyler’s not in thrall to other peoples’ idea of fun, including kneejerk moralizers. If that means Jasper Dolphin has to insinuate “and yes, we do punch bitches” to draw the line between the freedom of Tyler’s crew and the rest of the planet’s pathetic adherence to rules, then so be it, because that’s all it means. just like the title it’s in, “Bitch Suck Dick,” is resolved into “bitch suck dick like bitch suck dick.” Meaninglessness coded in dare-you-to-flinch stupidity. He’s a unicorn. Tell him he’s wrong, he dares. Twist yourself in knots trying to explain the sky is blue, not red. Who’s the stupid one now?

The thing about Tyler is that he’s not a paradox; not actually as confused as most rappers. He knows the difference between right and wrong. He doesn’t feel the need to justify any of his wrongdoing because he wrongdoing exists only in his brain and mouth. And he takes absolute delight in seeing how much of a reaction he can get from doing just that, with no fear of jailtime. If people don’t understand what’s so new or thrilling about that, well, we’ve never seen what an anonymous 4chan troll looks like before. Or thinks like, sounds like, or how he came to be that way (like that daddy issues thing). Since Tyler’s more concerned with disclaimers (“don’t do anything I say in this song”) than daring kids to jump, we do find it poignant when he lies to his friends about a girl moving to Nebraska in lieu of rejecting him.

Right, Left Brain really assaulted a photographer who’s rightfully pressing charges after the group’s publicist called her a liar. The “kill this bitch” fantasies are the least fun exhortations on Goblin, which gets its best juice from circular-logic tantrums, fantasy double dares, like-it-or-fuck-you playground wordplay and black-hole beats as disruptive and jazzy as those on Flaming Lips’ Embryonic. I hope next year’s Wolf indeed makes good on Tyler’s promise that the rape and murder threats are out of his system, because it would prove Goblin’s need to exist as an isolated, ugly item unceremoniously hocked into a musically and lyrically inoffensive year. A year that nonetheless ignored the cognitive dissonance of Chris Brown’s multiple BET award nominations while this boy who cried swag ate up most of the public criticism for his moral failings.

But along with Azealia Banks, who’s just as delightful at brandishing the word “cunt” (in both literal and pejorative senses), Tyler’s creating a wave of black-identified teenpunk that puts a long-alienated minority of black teens in the spotlight and do what Green Day and Nirvana did for white people. Like Green Day, he wins via masturbating and talking about what a loser he is. Like Nirvana, he loves to invert tropes, because those represent rules by adults meant to be broken by “kids” like him, a demo he name-checks on “Radicals,” which is also against school. People think rock and roll has outgrown this mentality and they’ll be wrong as long as the mentality exists. They’re also wrong that it doesn’t have its uses; in “Sandwitches” he calls out people with “401(k)s.”

But the most important thing about hopefully Tyler if not his photographer-assaulting hanger-on from MellowHype is that he knows how to compartmentalize that mentality and reduce inarticulate anger to words and sounds. “They had the fucking nerve to call me immature/ What the fuck you think I made Odd Future for?” Presumably so he wouldn’t kick a whore. I hope it works; I rather enjoy compartmentalizing Goblin myself.

buffy the vampire slayer

2011-02-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

Seasons ranked: 5 >> 3 > 2 >>> 6 > 4 >> 7 >> 1

Characters ranked:

Anya >>>>>>>> Spike >>>>>>> Buffy >>> Giles >>>>>>> Jonathan >> Andrew >> Xander >>> Drusilla > Cordelia > Willow >> Oz > Angel >>>>> Dawn >> Tara >>>> Jenny Calendar >> Wesley >>>>>> Robin Wood >>> Faith >> Riley >>>> Darla >> Kendra >>>>> any fucking “slayerette”

Big bads, ranked:

Mayor Richard Wilkins III >>> Glory >>> Caleb >> The Trio > Angel/Spike/Drusilla >>>>>> The First >> Adam > The Master >>> Dark Willow

The 20 best episodes:

1. s05e16 the body
2. s02e03 school hard
3. s03e22 graduation day (part 2)
4. s07e07 conversations with dead people
5. s04e22 restless
6. s06e19 seeing red
7. s04e17 superstar
8. s03e06 band candy
9. s02e17 passion
10. s03e08 lovers walk
11. s06e08 tabula rasa
12. s07e16 storyteller
13. s03e18 earshot
14. s05e18 intervention
15. s06e05 life serial
16. s04e09 something blue
17. s04e10 hush
18. s03e17 enemies
19. s03e09 the wish
20. s03e20 the prom

Other favorites, honorable mentions (vaguely in order of preference):

s05e22 the gift
s07e18 dirty girls
s06e18 entropy
s02e11 ted
s03e19 choices
s02e06 halloween
s01e10 nightmares
s04e02 living conditions
s03e16 dopplegangland
s07e09 never leave me
s05e07 fool for love
s04e12 a new man
s02e14 innocence
s05e11 triangle
s02e16 bewitched, bothered and bewildered

The 10 worst episodes:

1. s05e01 buffy vs. dracula
2. s01e12 prophecy girl
3. s07e22 chosen
4. s02e19 I only have eyes for you
4. s07e17 lies my parents told me
6. s06e14 older and far away
7. s04e14 goodbye iowa
8. s04e18 where the wild things are
9. s07e19 empty places
10. s06e21 two to go

Creepiest “small” bad:

s07e03 same time, same place

Best endings:

1. s04e04 fear, itself
2. s03e18 earshot
3. s06e19 seeing red
4. s05e22 the gift
5. s06e20 villains

best of 2010

2010-12-19T13:58:00.001-08:00

My 2010 A-list, which neatly turned out to be 50 albums:

1. Vampire Weekend - Contra
2. Taylor Swift - Speak Now
3. Against Me! - White Crosses
4. Robyn - Body Talk
5. M.I.A. - /\/\/\Y/\
6. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
7. Jaill – That’s How We Burn
8. Sleigh Bells - Treats
9. The National - High Violet
10. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
11. No Age - Everything in Between
12. Happy Birthday - Happy Birthday
13. Tokyo Police Club – Champ
14. Soulja Boy – The DeAndre Way
15. Liz Phair – Girlysound
16. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
17. Allo Darlin' - Allo Darlin'
18. Robyn - Body Talk Pt. 1 [EP]
19. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
20. Lil Wayne - I Am Not a Human Being [EP]
21. Care Bears on Fire - Girls Like It Loud [EP]
22. Elizabeth Cook – Welder
23. Caribou – Swim
24. Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils
25. Best Coast - Crazy for You
26. Women - Public Strain
27. Curren$y - Pilot Talk 2
28. Fucked Up - Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009
29. The Vaselines - Sex with an X
30. Old 97's - The Grand Theatre Volume One
31. Spoon – Transference
32. Rick Ross - Teflon Don
33. The Books - The Way Out
34. Triángulo de Amor Bizarro - Año Santo
35. The Extra Lens – Undercard
36. Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer
37. Quasi - American Gong
38. Ne-Yo - Libra Scale
39. Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love
40. The Roots - How I Got Over
41. The Radio Dept. – Clinging to a Scheme
42. Eskmo – Eskmo
43. The Bird and the Bee - Interpreting the Masters Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates
44. Tyler, the Creator - Bastard
45. Various Artists - African Pearls: Congo - Pont Sur le Congo
46. Kate Nash - My Best Friend Is You
47. The So So Glos – Low Back Chain Shift [EP]
48. Shad - TSOL
49. Sam Amidon - I See the Sign
50. Das Racist - Sit Down, Man

Albums I tried very hard to A-list but couldn’t, roughly in descending order of quality:

Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
Beach House - Teen Dream
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Curren$y - Pilot Talk
Laurie Anderson – Homeland
Yeasayer - Odd Blood
James Blake - CMYK [EP]
Earl Sweatshirt - EARL
Jenny and Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now
MC Esoteric – Saving Seamus Ryan
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
We Are Scientists - Barbara
The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards
Everybody Was in the French Resistance...Now - Fixin' the Charts Vol. 1

songs:

1. Taylor Swift - The Story of Us
2. Robyn - Hang With Me [album version]
3. LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls
4. The Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire
5. Robyn - Dancing on My Own [EP version]
6. Weezer - Smart Girls
7. Laurie Anderson - Only an Expert
8. Vampire Weekend - Giving Up the Gun
9. M.I.A. - Born Free
10. The Books - A Cold Freezin' Night
11. Laura Veirs - July Flame
12. Taylor Swift – Mean
13. Sam Amidon feat. Beth Orton - You Better Mind
14. Robyn – Fembot
15. Against Me! - I Was a Teenage Anarchist
16. Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait
17. Tokyo Police Club - Favorite Food
18. We Are Scientists - Rules Don't Stop
19. Weezer - Trainwrecks
20. Ke$ha - Grow a Pear
21. Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em – Speakers Going Hammer
22. Rick Ross – MC Hammer/B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)
23. Elizabeth Cook – Rock ‘n Roll Man
24. Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
25. Foals – Blue Blood
26. NDF – Since We Last Met
27. Devo - Mind Games
28. The Bird and the Bee - Heard It on the Radio
29. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Say No to Love
30. Lil Wayne feat. Eminem - Drop the World
31. LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change
32. Serena-Maneesh - Ayisha Abyss
33. Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg – California Gurls
34. Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi – Tightrope
35. Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce – Telephone

See you in 2011.

best new year

2010-11-30T02:34:00.000-08:00

so pitchfork awarded an absurd 53 BNMs this year. no wonder i concurred with them so much--law of averages.

for fun i wanted to count how many of them i actually heard so i made myself this neat little chart

an X indicates that i played it once or at least gave it a hard skim (41 of the 53)
an XX indicates that i played it more than once and would claim to know it well enough to render a useful opinion (27)
an XXX means it made my own a-list (14 counting some fence-straddlers)
an XXXX means it's making my top 10 (7 counting kanye and no age, which i'm still scrutinizing)

and they're in chronological order:

XXXX 1. vampire weekend 8.6
X 2. owen pallett 8.6
XXX 3. surfer blood 8.2
XX 4. four tet 8.6
XX 5. beach house 9.0
6. charlotte gainsbourg 8.4
XX 7. hot chip 8.4
8. gil scott-heron 8.5
XX 9. local natives 8.4
10. pantha du prince 8.3

X 11. joanna newsom 9.2
12. gonjasufi 8.4
X 13. liars 8.1
X 14. gorillaz 8.5
XX 15. titus andronicus 8.7
16. fang island 8.3
17. the morning benders 8.2
18. the tallest man on earth 8.5
XXX 19. caribou 8.4
20. delorean 8.4

XX 21. the radio dept 8.3
X 22. crystal castles 8.5
X 23. broken social scene 8.3
XX 24. flying lotus 8.8
XXXX 25. the national 8.7
XX 26. male bonding 8.5
XXXX 27. sleigh bells 8.7
XXX 28. lcd soundsystem 9.2
X 29. janelle monae 8.5
XX 30. james blake 8.3

31. tame impala 8.5
XXXX 32. robyn 8.5
33. wild nothing 8.2
XXX 34. ariel pink's haunted graffiti 9.0
X 35. emeralds 8.3
36. julian lynch 8.5
37. ceo 8.5
XX 38. wavves 8.4
XXXX 39. big boi 9.2
X 40. the-dream 8.6

XXX 41. best coast 8.4
XXX 42. curren$y 8.4
XXX 43. arcade fire 8.6
X 44. matthew dear 8.4
45. the walkmen 8.6
XX 46. das racist 8.7
XX 47. how to dress well 8.7
XX 48. deerhunter 9.2
XXXX 49. no age 8.8
50. twin shadow 8.4
51. sufjan stevens 8.4
52. girls 8.7
XXXX 53. kanye west 10.0
XXXX 54. robyn 8.7

theon's gonna yell at me for this retarded 5 am nadir of my whole existence but i'm 60 pages into his novel so he can eat a big box of dickholes

2010-06-28T06:33:00.000-07:00

i don't expect people to "follow" this blog or the tiny changes i make to the sidebar over there every time i bump something up on my a-list or insert a link to a new review. but i'm not sure if interested parties are even aware of them. so while i self-promote all over twitter and facebook as is, i'm still compelled to maybe throw you a few "update" posts of my work from the last several months in this space. forgive my ego.

first my voice stuff from 2010 so far:

definitely cooled on this hot chip album by now, though i can see why i loved it in february (untapped valentine's day marketing there on "one life stand"): it's so punchy and in-your-face with its trope-y sentiments that i mistook airtight songwriting as i usually do for irresistible songwriting.

i'm baffled and flattered to have been asked to do another live music guide for the spring arts preview issue. at the last minute i chose the xx over gogol bordello (who i'd still love to interview, though i wish i liked trans-continental hustle more) for the feature part of it. romy madley croft had a lot of quiet personality over the phone that maybe didn't translate so well in quotes, though i'm really proud of the kicker. i think i'm starting to get good at those. and i'm overjoyed that i got her on tape wishing my katie a happy birthday. katie loves the xx.

i love the new against me! album so much that i used some outrageous hype in my review - thankfully one of my LAS writers, cory tendering, emailed me incredulously (and deservingly) with a list of bands who sound like them. my point of course was that no one in 2010 sounds like generic-guitar-radio-whatever and does it well, but it got away from me a tad. i'm happy enough with the weezer analogy and i probably won't get to use "aborted fetuses" in a review again anytime soon.

on sleigh bells' treats

2010-05-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

i really do like music that makes me have to think about whether i like it or not - really, most of my favorite music does. but with progressively more acclaimed things in the last couple years that leave me with a stalemate at best, i really appreciate sharing something so boneheaded - the sort of thing i play for pleasure and ease between trying to decide if i like other records - with a big mass of other critics and people for once. and it's also kind of neat to watch other people struggle with this and pour their visceral do-i-don't-i reactions the way i do with say, joanna newsom. i would've liked to to see people's reactions firsthand to the tea-kettle whistle in "terminator x to the edge of panic" too.

entering the second third of 2010

2010-05-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

i'm just gonna do this in odds of getting on my pazz ballot rather than any actual logic to what i'm feeling about music in 2010 right now, which i just haven't had the aptitude to notice much on my own other than the most obvious, labor-free stuff: against me, kate nash

joanna newsom - have one on me

it would take a hell of an outsider to make me wander through this again. christgau of course but i'd settle for alfred soto. what i can recall of this pleasant bore really represents the worst trend in poptimism infiltrating indie criteria, that because she is trying to meet me halfway, and because it was so darn nice of her to tone down that racket, i should be so patient. the racket was why i should take exception in the first place, lady. odds: 100-1

the hold steady - heaven is wherever

i haven't given it a fair shake, but separation sunday and stay positive each missed my top 10 by a couple - what chance does this have? lyrics i haven't read yet notwithstanding, i got the general idea the guys who impressed us playing old and wise didn't exactly turn out both. odds: 90-1

beach house - teen dream

my weakness for odd guitar took me to “norway” a couple times, but not since i've tried pitching paid reviews for it. and i don't expect it to open up melodically like yo la tengo's summer sun or anything, but if i could fit it into my sleep routine i'd be willing to declare “stereolab” and walk away clean. odds: 90-1

the national - high violet

i like to mock them but maybe i shouldn't. still, their variety and attack peaked with alligator and i feel like i'm in a game of dare-to-dismiss-the-grower ever since. a lot of growers get dismissed, i think i'll live. odds: 90-1

gogol bordello - trans-continental hustle

on first listen this didn't rock and wasn't funny. this band isn't supposed to be a grower. dick rubin strikes again. odds: 80-1

robyn - body talk vol. 1

because they're still new to pop, i'm okay with critics who haven't yet figured out that not every pop album they actually want to root for is the shit. i have “fembot,” others have “dancing on my own,” and like all pop stars, robyn's best shot at a great album someday remains her willingness to try anything. odds: 80-1

drive-by truckers - the big to-do

good, rocking first listen. haven't returned; waiting for someone to tell me i should. worked with the last one. odds: 70-1

four tet - there is love in you

by stapling his drum-freakout impulses to a frenetically motorik beat, dan snaith reigned in his foldout dioramas of suns and mirrors and glares and sand. but kieran hebden was getting along fine. worse, his beat is several bpm below snaith's. i ought to punch whoever slipped him an adderall. odds: 70-1

yeasayer - odd blood

when i reviewed it, dug “o.n.e.,” et cetera, my pathological obsession with unseating animal collective took over. but i played “my girls” this week and it sounded like a standard. that hasn't taken place with “ambling alp” yet. odds: 60-1

titus andronicus - the monitor

there is a fallacy here: punk bands don't make you earn it. that's the province of the emerson, the lake and the palmer. their most tuneful setups, in the franz nicolay middle rundown of “a pot in which to piss in,” in the most normal section of “fear and loathing in mahwah, nj,” and the minor chord in “titus andronicus,” all repeat one or zero times, so i don't trust them. fun live. but anyone who passed over conor oberst or cassadaga for these lyrics should double-check. odds: 50-1

hot chip - one life stand

they need the tension and humor to set them apart. because unlike most of their peers, their loveliest melodies aren't their best ones. like most of their peers, their most respected feelings are their most trite. odds: 50-1

spoon - transference

finally britt daniel's minimalism is as perverse as he wants it. the one-chord songs set up two-chord surprises and so on because you can't not notice when the second chord drops in, or when the song cuts out entirely. finally he's seeing the joy in sneaking up behind our expectations - so much for “most consistent band of the decade,” eh? he's still lacking in sweet spots and the best notes are the missed ones. odds: 30-1

the apples in stereo - travellers in space and time

people won't talk about it so i actually worry i'll forget: annoying pop on the surface that always ends up surprising me at year's end with their indispensability. not counting anything out in these times. odds: 30-1

surfer blood - astro coast

i feel stupid. it's not that i didn't remember to remember “swim,” it's that i forgot to remember “take it easy,” “fast jabroni,” “floating vibes” and (vampire weekend fans take note) “catholic pagans,” to name a few. even though i knew every damn song live, and when's the last time i let my weariness with a production trend cloud my judgment? still doesn't feel like a great album, but more than anything else on here except yup, vampire weekend, i feel like i can actually get comfortable with this one, and not in a conceding way. play it for me now and i'll try my best to sing it to you next year. odds: 30-1

caribou - swim
sam amidon - i see the sign

the best and most obvious parts of these albums are good bets for me. i play “how come that blood” and “you better mind” and “odessa” and “bowls” a lot and the modestly odd sounds i notice ticking and hammering have continually convinced me to not dismiss the parts that make me fidget in my seat when i listen up. both still fall about a third short of the feeling i get from a great record. but they have my undivided attention, and as a folkie and psych-laptopper that took some doing. odds: 25-1

kate nash - my best friend is you

i don't trust my impulses with this one. either the tunes fell too easy or for once i'm succumbing to guilt. i'll be hounding this one til i figure it out. odds: 20-1

lcd soundsystem - this is happening

i love “drunk girls,” “i can change,” “home” and the first third of “dance yrself clean,” in that order. “all i want” is good, “you wanted a hit” finishes well. like sound of silver, it all comes down to the rest. sound of silver didn't make it. but while that mixed bag was top-heavy and gave me little incentive to finish my plays, this has the good stuff more sprinkled through. still, i see a plea bargain for the singles shot. hard to remember the last time an album where the two best ones were by far the shortest made my top 10. odds: 15-1

sleigh bells - treats

new song is the best one yet, and it's the opener to boot. going back to their myspace demos, the other four achieved hypno-interlock that sustained the vibe instead of annoying it. if the remaining seven are as tuneful as “tell 'em,” classically rock and roll hype can live to tell another day. it's all i've got. i'm betting the farm. odds: 10-1

against me! - white crosses

the be your own pet principle: not only is this band doing everything right and making it sound butt-easy, but there's an added urgency because right now simply no one else is doing it. how could i turn my back on the only thing i ever carp about? great singing, great lyrics, great concerns even--i'm sure some tea party boor will turn “what god doesn't give to you/ you've got to go get for yourself” into some tax-panic bullshit theme, but they can't take away those harmonies. still, i'm finally at the age where i worry if simplicity alone will do the trick - released today, new wave would still make my shortlist, no age's nouns would not. odds: 2-1

vampire weekend - contra

a beautiful listen that (like spoon) often feels too slight for me even though every song - even “horchata” - makes sense to me now, but (unlike spoon) continues to offer obstacles and red herrings and offbeats that confuse me in the best way. like prime dismemberment plan, the highest compliment i could give. odds: even

Songs: 2000-2010 (#1-10)

2010-04-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

Number of months I spent working on this list: 9

Number of rap songs (counting the Streets but not M.I.A.): 146 (at least two of which - both Lil Wayne - are alleged freestyles)

Number of R&B songs (counting Prince): 27

Number of country songs (counting Taylor Swift and some "alt-country" but not Clem Snide, Bright Eyes, Jenny Lewis, Wussy, Drive-By Truckers, Marah, Old 97s or Wilco): 25

Number of songs not sung in English: 3 (I'm very disappointed in this, but most of the non-western music I listen to goes long and resists singling out individual tracks - hard to do that with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan say, though I feel like I should've noticed some Youssou N'Dour)

Number of female vocals (no samples or features): 183 (Not even a quarter of the list. Disappointing. 5 in the top 10 though. 23 in the top 100.)

Number of instrumentals (counting the Books and Burial but not Squarepusher or "A Glorious Dawn"): 6

Number of songs I realized I forgot and wrote down the day the first entry of this went live: 18

Number of cover songs: 9

Number of songs with the word "Oops" in the title: 3

Number of songs where I considering listing the Weird Al parody instead because it arguably destroys the original: 2 (Chamillionaire and Usher, though I'm serious, "White & Nerdy"'s probably better)

Biggest surprise omission: Beyonce solo scored three times, but as many of you probably noticed, I lost my taste for Destiny's Child. I tried to force myself to reconnect with most of the hits, but nothing post-"Say My Name" in 1999 (which would've made it) stuck. Not "Survivor," not "Lose My Breath," not even "Independent Women Part I." Freelance Hellraiser's genius novelty, a mash-up of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Bootylicious" tickled me more than all of them.

Biggest number of entries: Eminem with 12 entries counting D12. Other big winners included Liz Phair, Jay-Z, Wussy, Weezy, Ghostface, The Roots, The Mountain Goats, Kanye, Yo La Tengo and (who says he peaked with Illmatic?) Nas.

Biggest embarrassment: 6 Death Cab picks + 2 Postal Service = 8 fucking Ben Gibbard entries. I hate myself.

Biggest 180s: Declared "A Milli" unlistenable the first time I heard it. Deemed Burial too basic. Called "When You Were Young" something like the worst song of the year at the time. I'm pretty sure I called Arcade Fire "disco Bright Eyes ripoffs." People change.

Bassline of the decade: "The Bad Touch." You know it, I know it, stop complaining.

Number of Panda Bear songs: 1

Number of songs from High School Musical 2: 1

Number of lists I plan on making ever again: 0

Without further ado, because this shit took forever, my 800 favorite songs of the last decade. Here are #1-10:

10. Miley Cyrus - 7 Things (2008)

9. Lil' Wayne - A Milli (2008)

8. Be Your Own Pet - Food Fight (2008)

7. Ghostface Killah - The Champ (2006)

6. Sleater-Kinney - The Fox (2005)

5. Wussy – Jonah (2007)

4. Jay-Z – Takeover (2001)

3. The Cardigans - Give Me Your Eyes (2005)

2. Eminem - The Real Slim Shady (2000)

1. Jay-Z - 99 Problems (2003)

The Breakdown:

Year: # of entries (highest ranked song of year)

2000: 91 (#2 Eminem - The Real Slim Shady)
2001: 66 (#4 Jay-Z - Takeover)
2002: 86 (#17 The Mountain Goats - No Children)
2003: 58 (#1 Jay-Z - 99 Problems)
2004: 74 (#34 Nas feat. Olu Dara - Bridging the Gap)
2005: 84 (#3 The Cardigans - Give Me Your Eyes)
2006: 81 (#7 Ghostface Killah - The Champ)
2007: 101 (#5 Wussy - Jonah)
2008: 118 (#8 Be Your Own Pet - Food Fight)
2009: 40 (#36 R. Kelly – Echo)

Analysis: Looks snobbish but numbers don't lie. Exponential growth took place in 2007, the year I began doing rockcrit professionally. 2008, which some people consider a weak year especially for rap, was a juggernaut: three songs crashed the top 10 at the last minute. I assume the big dropoff in 2009 (when I started making this list) has more to do with the lack of hindsight than any quality difference. It's already picking up for me; when I voted in Pazz & Jop in December, I ranked R. Kelly's "Echo" #5 or so. In retrospect it certainly would've been my #1. Likewise, it took years for me to realize how often I played personal favorites like the Cardigans' "Give Me Your Eyes" or say, Yo La Tengo's "Today Is the Day," for pleasure. I'm surprised 2003 was the runt of the litter - I had 2004 pegged for sure. "Crazy in Love" (well, Beyonce's anyway) and "Seven Nation Army" never did move me much. I suppose with time I finally conceded what a big deal "Float On" and The College Dropout were. Animal Collective killed that perspective quick.

Thanks for reading.

Intermission: Missed/Overlooked/Outtakes/et al.

2010-03-31T23:46:00.000-07:00

Another 100 that just proves I could've kept going and going if I didn't stop myself now. These songs were either considered and ultimately cut, forgotten entirely (as in the case of Rufus Wainwright's cover of "One Man Guy," which would've made the top 200), or gave me trouble deciding for someone who I felt should be on the list (fun fact: Modest Mouse was by far the most difficult band for me to pick individual tracks from). Some I discovered late: put off by "Feel Good Inc." in 2005 I regret that I never checked out Gorillaz' "Dare" until this year's Plastic Beach. I'm over my phobia of James Murphy and laughed for the first time to "Losing My Edge" too late after years of eye-rolling. The Ashlee Simpson tracks would've definitely been in the top half of the list. In five years I expect to wish that I picked more from the xx.

In some cases I cut because I realized I was just listing every song from a great album (Against Me!, DOOM, Spoon), or in a case like the Format I just do not listen to those enough to justify four or five slots on the list. By contrast, with my favorite band of the 2000s, Be Your Own Pet, I could've listed a dozen more songs if I didn't stop myself - during their brief existence they didn't release a single tune I disliked and most of them I loved. What became the deciding factor for what was included was whether or not I treated something as a great standalone single or part of a great album. Still, four or five of these should've been in the upper reaches and I could've easily switched 20 of these in for almost anything in the bottom hundred.

Here's the cutting-room floor, in alphabetical order for the author's sake, with no links:

(#1-10 on Friday, I promise)

Christina Aguilera, Mya, Pink and Lil' Kim - Lady Marmalade
Against Me! - Piss and Vinegar
Against Me! - Stop!
The Apples in Stereo - Go
The Apples in Stereo - Look Away
The Apples in Stereo - She's Telling Lies
Art Brut - Modern Art
Ass Ponys - Love Tractor
Badly Drawn Boy – Disillusion
Badly Drawn Boy - Once Around the Block

Be Your Own Pet - Bitches Leave
Be Your Own Pet - Creepy Crawl
Be Your Own Pet - Damn Damn Leash
Be Your Own Pet - Fire Department
Be Your Own Pet - Love Your Shotgun
Be Your Own Pet - Super Soaked
Be Your Own Pet - You're a Waste
Beck - I Think I'm in Love
Beck - Lost Cause
Frank Black - Strange Goodbye
Blitzen Trapper - Devil-a-Go-Go

Brand New - Jude Law and a Semester Abroad
The Breeders - We're Gonna Rise
Bright Eyes - Four Winds
Bright Eyes - I Must Belong Somewhere
Bright Eyes - Road to Joy
Bright Eyes feat. Emmylou Harris - Landlocked Blues
Chicks on Speed - Give Me Back My Man
The Coathangers - Don't Touch My Shit
The Coathangers - Dreamboat
The Coathangers - Gettin' Mad and Pumpin' Iron

Elvis Costello - Button My Lip
Elvis Costello - Daddy Can I Turn This?
Del the Funky Homosapien feat. Casual - Jaw Gymnastics
DOOM - Batty-Boys
Eminem - Big Weenie
Encre - Trouves-En Un Autre
The Format - If Work Permits
The Format - The First Single
The Format - Oceans

The Format - Time Bomb
Goldfrapp - A&E
Gorillaz - Dare
Hot Hot Heat - Running Out of Time
Hot Hot Heat - You Owe Me an IOU
Jay-Z - Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)
Jay-Z - Lucifer
Jay-Z feat. Eminem - Renegade
Jimmy Eat World - The Middle
Kelis - Milkshake

LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge
LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum
Lil Wayne - La La
Lil Wayne - You Ain't Got Nothin'
Ludacris - Get Back
M.I.A. - Pull Up the People
MC Paul Barman - Cock Mobster
Modest Mouse - Dance Hall
Modest Mouse - Dashboard
Modest Mouse - Gravity Rides Everything

Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty
Modest Mouse - People as Places as People
Travis Morrison - Snacktime
The Mountain Goats - First Few Desperate Hours
Mr. Lif - Brothaz
Nada Surf - Inside of Love
No Doubt - Underneath It All
Old 97s - Book of Poems
Pernice Brothers - Automaton
Pernice Brothers - Saddest Quo

Pernice Brothers - Subject Drop
Katy Perry - Waking Up in Vegas
Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead
The Polyphonic Spree - Light and Day
Rilo Kiley - Breakin' Up
Rilo Kiley - Paint's Peeling
The Shins - Fighting in a Sack
Silkworm - Slave Wages
Ashlee Simpson - La La
Ashlee Simpson - Little Miss Obsessive

Sonic Youth - Unmade Bed
Regina Spektor - Fidelity
Elliott Smith – Memory Lane
Spoon - I Summon You
Spoon - All the Pretty Girls Go to the City
Spoon - Paper Tiger
Sufjan Stevens - The Dress Looks Nice on You
Sunny Day Real Estate - Killed by an Angel
System of a Down - Old School Hollywood
System of a Down - Streamline

Teenagers - Homecoming
Turbo Fruits - Lotta Lotta Ladies
Usher - Trading Places
Rufus Wainwright - California
Rufus Wainwright - One Man Guy
Wavves - No Hope Kids
A Wilhelm Scream - Me vs. Morrissey in the Pretentiousness Contest (The Ladder Match)
The XX - Basic Space
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cheated Hearts
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control

Songs: 2000-2010 (#11-50)

2010-03-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

Without further ado, because this shit took forever, my 800 favorite songs of the last decade. Here are #11-50:

11. Eminem – Stan (2000)
12. Burial – Archangel (2007)
13. Radiohead - Pyramid Song (2001)
14. Eminem - Kill You (2000)
15. Ashlee Simpson - Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya) (2008)
16. The Dismemberment Plan - The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich (2001)
17. The Mountain Goats - No Children (2002)
18. OutKast - Ms. Jackson (2000)
19. Lil' Wayne – Upgrade Freestyle (2007)
20. Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats (2005)

21. Clipse - Wamp Wamp (What It Do) (2006)
22. Miranda Lambert - Famous in a Small Town (2007)
23. Arcade Fire – Intervention (2007)
24. Brad Paisley – Ticks (2007)
25. M.O.P. - Ante Up (2000)
26. Be Your Own Pet - Black Hole (2008)
27. Mystikal - Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against the Wall) (2002)
28. Ghostface Killah - Shakey Dog (2006)
29. Yo La Tengo - Today Is the Day (2003)
30. OutKast - B.O.B. (2000)

31. Mistah F.A.B. - Ghost Ride It (2006)
32. The New Pornographers - The Laws Have Changed (2003)
33. Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx - Gold Digger (2005)
34. Nas feat. Olu Dara - Bridging the Gap (2004)
35. The Mountain Goats - Against Pollution (2004)
36. R. Kelly – Echo (2009)
37. The Postal Service - We Will Become Silhouettes (2003)
38. The Magnetic Fields - I Thought You Were My Boyfriend (2004)
39. Rilo Kiley - It's a Hit (2004)
40. Wussy - Soak It Up (2005)

41. Be Your Own Pet - Bunk Trunk Skunk/ Bicycle Bicycle You Are My Bicycle (2006)
42. The Fever - Gray Ghost (2004)
43. Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothin' (2007)
44. Rilo Kiley - With Arms Outstretched (2002)
45. At the Drive-In - Invalid Litter Dept. (2000)
46. Conor Oberst - I Don't Want to Die (In the Hospital) (2008)
47. The Dismemberment Plan - Time Bomb (2001)
48. Ashlee Simpson – Autobiography (2004)
49. Eminem – Kim (2000)
50. Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You (2009)

Songs: 2000-2010 (#51-100)

2010-03-30T04:09:00.000-07:00

Without further ado, because this shit took forever, my 800 favorite songs of the last decade. Here are #51-100:

51. Primal Scream - Kill All Hippies (2000)
52. Gogol Bordello – Sally (2005)
53. Sleater-Kinney - The Professional (2000)
54. Old 97's - Buick City Complex (2001)
55. The Raveonettes - Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed) (2009)
56. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction (2009)
57. Wussy – Airborne (2005)
58. 50 Cent – Ski Mask Way (2005)
59. The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations (2006)
60. Kathleen Edwards - The Cheapest Key (2008)

61. The Killers - Mr. Brightside (2004)
62. Lil' Wayne feat. Robin Thicke – Shooter (2005)
63. Rhett Miller - Terrible Vision (2002)
64. T.I. - What You Know (2006)
65. Lil' Jon feat. Ying Yang Twins - Get Low (2003)
66. Buck 65 - The Centaur (2005)
67. Bright Eyes feat. Jim James - At the Bottom of Everything (2005)
68. Freelance Hellraiser - Smells Like Booty (2002)
69. Against Me! - White People for Peace (2007)
70. Kanye West feat. T-Pain - The Good Life (2007)

71. Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running (2007)
72. The Shins - New Slang (2001)
73. The Dismemberment Plan - Ellen and Ben (2001)
74. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - How Near How Far (2002)
75. Amy Rigby - Dancing with Joey Ramone (2005)
76. Ciara - Like a Boy (2007)
77. The Hives - No Pun Intended (2004)
78. Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes (2009)
79. Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend (2007)
80. Blink-182 - Online Songs (2001)

81. Amerie - 1 Thing (2005)
82. Against Me! - Thrash Unreal (2007)
83. Death Cab for Cutie - Little Bribes (2009)
84. Brad Paisley – Alcohol (2005)
85. Arcade Fire - Black Wave/Bad Vibrations (2007)
86. Andrew W.K. - Party Hard (2002)
87. At The Drive-In - Pattern Against User (2000)
88. The Apples in Stereo - Can You Feel It? (2007)
89. Chicane feat. Bryan Adams - Don't Give Up (2000)
90. PJ Harvey - Big Exit (2000)

91. Wiley - Wearing My Rolex (2008)
92. Drive-By Truckers - The Righteous Path (2008)
93. Old 97's - Nervous Guy (2001)
94. Nellie McKay - It's a Pose (2004)
95. Britney Spears - Unusual You (2008)
96. Living Things - Bom Bom Bom (2005)
97. Morningwood - Nth Degree (2006)
98. Weezer - Pork and Beans (2008)
99. Eric Bachmann - Man O' War (2006)
100. Andrew Bird - Fake Palindromes (2005)

Songs: 2000-2010 (#101-150)

2010-03-29T00:26:00.001-07:00

Without further ado, because this shit took forever, my 800 favorite songs of the last decade. Here are #101-150:

101. Head Automatica - Beating Heart Baby (2004)
102. The Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy! (2006)
103. Jens Lekman - A Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill (2006)
104. Sonic Youth - Nevermind (What Was It Anyway) (2000)
105. Fountains of Wayne - Someone to Love (2007)
106. Paramore - That's What You Get (2007)
107. Missy Elliott - Work It (2002)
108. Girl Talk - Hands in the Air (2008)
109. Eminem – Criminal (2000)
110. Be Your Own Pet – Becky (2008)

111. We are Scientists - After Hours (2008)
112. Yo La Tengo - Moonrock Mambo (2003)
113. Death Cab for Cutie - Brothers on a Hotel Bed (2005)
114. My Chemical Romance – Teenagers (2007)
115. Idlewild - When I Argue I See Shapes (2000)
116. Soulja Boy - Crank That (Soulja Boy) (2007)
117. Warren Zevon feat. David Letterman - Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song) (2002)
118. Clem Snide - All Green (2003)
119. Ghostface Killah feat. Trife da God & Mr. Maygreen – Good (2005)
120. Okkervil River - Pop Lie (2008)

121. Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder (2007)
122. Stephen Malkmus - The Hook (2001)
123. The Format - The Compromise (2006)
124. Wide Right - The Pill (2005)
125. Sleater-Kinney – Entertain (2005)
126. Britney Spears – Toxic (2004)
127. Wu-Tang Clan feat. George Clinton – Wolves (2007)
128. Jay-Z - Girls, Girls, Girls (2001)
129. Jens Lekman - Black Cab (2006)
130. Crooked Fingers - You Can Never Leave (2003)

131. Miley Cyrus - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (2008)
132. Mike Doughty - Like a Luminous Girl (2008)
133. The Handsome Family - A Beautiful Thing (2000)
134. Phantom Planet - Do the Panic (2008)
135. Regina Spektor - Your Honor (2004)
136. Lil Wayne - I'm Me (2008)
137. Liz Phair – Extraordinary (2003)
138. Wussy – Conversation Lags (2005)
139. The Darkness - Dinner Lady Arms (2005)
140. The Roots feat. Cody ChesnuTT - The Seed (2.0) (2002)

141. The Hold Steady - Your Little Hoodrat Friend (2005)
142. Prozzak (Simon & Milo) - www.nevergetoveryou (2000)
143. Portishead - Machine Gun (2008)
144. Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin Down (2005)
145. Brakes - No Return (2007)
146. Living Things - Let It Rain (2009)
147. Ghostface Killah - Stapleton Sex (2009)
148. Black Eyed Peas - Don't Phunk With My Heart (2005)
149. Silkworm – Yrweb (2000)
150. Eminem - Rain Man (2004)

Songs: 2000-2010 (#151-200)

2010-03-26T09:26:00.001-07:00

Without further ado, because this shit took forever, my 800 favorite songs of the last decade. Here are #151-200:

151. The Mountain Goats - Palmcorder Yajna (2004)
152. The Shins - Gone for Good (2003)
153. Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing (2007)
154. Clem Snide - End of Love (2005)
155. Pernice Brothers - Dumb It Down (2005)
156. Tweet feat. Missy Elliott - Oops (Oh My) (2002)
157. Radiohead – Idioteque (2000)
158. Serengeti – Dennehy (2007)
159. Sleater-Kinney - You're No Rock 'n Roll Fun (2000)
160. The White Stripes - Fell in Love With a Girl (2001)

161. Ice Cube feat. Lil' Jon and Snoop Dogg - Go to Church (2006)
162. Paramore – Ignorance (2009)
163. The Killers - When You Were Young (2006)
164. The Ponys - Trouble Trouble (2004)
165. Wussy – Crooked (2005)
166. Big & Rich - Kick My Ass (2004)
167. The Knife – Heartbeats (2003)
168. Addeboy vs. Cliff - Beep My Beep (2009)
169. Black Eyed Peas - Let's Get Retarded (2003)
170. Animal Collective – Peacebone (2007)

171. PJ Harvey - This Is Love (2000)
172. Silkworm - ''Don't Look Back'' (2004)
173. Britney Spears – Womanizer (2008)
174. Radiohead - Everything in Its Right Place (2000)
175. DJ Shadow - You Can't Go Home Again (2002)
176. Shakira - Objection (Tango) (2001)
177. OutKast - The Whole World (2001)
178. The Dismemberment Plan – Following Through (2001)
179. Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is the Move (2009)
180. Rihanna – Disturbia (2008)

181. Kanye West - We Don't Care (2004)
182. Britney Spears - Piece of Me (2007)
183. Black Box Recorder - The Facts of Life (2001)
184. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends (2007)
185. Kelly Osbourne - Shut Up (2002)
186. Black Box Recorder – Brutality (2001)
187. Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (2007)
188. The Veronicas – Untouched (2008)
189. Rhymefest feat. Kanye West - Brand New (2006)
190. Big & Rich - Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy (2004)

191. XTC - Stupidly Happy (2000)
192. Atmosphere - The Bass and the Movement (2002)
193. Del tha Funky Homosapien - If You Must (2000)
194. Radiohead - How to Disappear Completely (2000)
195. M.I.A. - Paper Planes (2007)
196. Okkervil River - The President's Dead (2006)
197. The Good Life - Lovers Need Lawyers (2004)
198. Creeper Lagoon - Wrecking Ball (2001)
199. Bad Religion - Los Angeles Is Burning (2004)
200. The Walkmen - The Rat (2004)

Songs: 2000-2010 (#201-300)

2010-03-25T00:35:00.000-07:00

Without further ado, because this shit took forever, my 800 favorite songs of the last decade. Here are #201-300:

201. Willie Nelson – Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other (2005)
202. DOOM - Gazillion Ear (2009)
203. The Apples in Stereo - Sunndal Song (2007)
204. The White Stripes - Blue Orchid (2005)
205. Regina Spektor - Hotel Song (2006)
206. Yo La Tengo – Everyday (2000)
207. The Roots feat. Peedi Peedi & Dice Raw - Get Busy (2008)
208. Hayes Carll - Drunken Poet's Dream (2008)
209. Aimee Mann - Ghost World (2000)
210. Murs - D.S.W.G. (Dark Skinned White Girl) (2006)

211. Missy Elliott - Pass that Dutch (2003)
212. Primal Scream - Swastika Eyes (Jagz Kooner Mix) (2000)
213. Mariah Carey - Touch My Body (2008)
214. Luna – Astronaut (2002)
215. Kylie Minogue - In My Arms (2007)
216. Ben Kweller - Wasted & Ready (2002)
217. Cam'ron feat. Kanye West & Syleena Johnson - Down and Out (2004)
218. Britney Spears - Oops!...I Did It Again (2000)
219. Bob Dylan - Honest With Me (2001)
220. Basement Jaxx – Raindrops (2009)

221. Cam'ron feat. Juelz Santana - Oh Boy (2002)
222. Clem Snide - The Ballad of David Icke (2004)
223. Spoon - The Way We Get By (2002)
224. Beyonce – Ring the Alarm (2007)
225. The Handsome Family - After We Shot the Grizzly (2006)
226. Rachid Taha - Barra Barra (2001)
227. The Coathangers - Nestle in My Boobies (2007)
228. The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize?? (2002)
229. Of Montreal - The Past Is a Grotesque Animal (2007)
230. The Roots - Boom! (2004)

231. Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl (2008)
232. Big Boi feat. Andre 3000 & Raekwon - Royal Flush (2008)
233. Travis Morrison - Song for the Orca (2004)
234. Carl Sagan feat. Stephen Hawking – A Glorious Dawn (Remix) (2009)
235. Justin Timberlake feat. T.I. - My Love (2006)
236. Thunderbirds are Now! - Sleeping in the Lion's Mouth (2006)
237. Old 97's - The New Kid (2004)
238. Buck 65 - The Floor (2005)
239. El-P - Stepfather Factory (2002)
240. Hayes Carll - She Left Me for Jesus (2008)

241. Liz Phair - Table for One (2005)
242. Nas - Sly Fox (2008)
243. Beyonce – Irreplaceable (2007)
244. Scarface - On My Block (2002)
245. Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag (2000)
246. The Shins - So Says I (2003)
247. Dizzee Rascal - Pussy'ole (Old Skool) (2007)
248. Green Day – Minority (2000)
249. D12 - Fight Music (2001)
250. Clipse - The Magician (2004)

251. Dixie Chicks - Travelin' Soldier (2002)
252. Liz Phair - H.W.C. (2003)
253. Lily Allen - Not Fair (2009)
254. St. Vincent - Now, Now (2007)
255. Wu-Tang Clan - Careful (Click, Click) (2000)
256. Silver Jews - How Can I Love You (If You Won't Lie Down) (2006)
257. The Faint - I Treat You Wrong (2008)
258. Brad Paisley – American Saturday Night (2009)
259. GZA - Knock, Knock (2002)
260. Dragonette - I Get Around (2008)

261. Parts & Labor - New Crimes (2007)
262. The Decemberists - 16 Military Wives (2005)
263. Wolf Parade - We Built Another World (2005)
264. Liz Phair – Rock Me (2003)
265. Tricky - Diss Never (Dig Up We History) (2001)
266. The Mountain Goats - Woke Up New (2006)
267. Aly & AJ - Potential Breakup Song (2007)
268. The Long Winters – Ultimatum (2006)
269. Eminem - Square Dance (2002)
270. Wilco - Jesus, Etc. (2002)

271. Serengeti – Don’t Talk to Jueles (2007)
272. Flo Rida feat. T-Pain – Low (2008)
273. The Handsome Family - Flapping Your Broken Wings (2006)
274. Times New Viking - No Time, No Hope (2008)
275. Madonna - What It Feels Like for a Girl (2000)
276. Hamell on Trial - I Hate Your Kid (2000)
277. The Roots - Rock You/!!!!!!! (2002)
278. Audioslave - Like a Stone (2002)
279. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Timorous Me (2001)
280. Unwound - We Invent You (2001)

281. Conor Oberst - Souled Out!!! (2008)
282. Times New Viking - Faces on Fire (2008)
283. Belle & Sebastian - Stay Loose (2003)
284. Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham – Moonshot (2003)
285. Old 97's - Bird in a Cage (2001)
286. PJ Harvey - Who the Fuck? (2004)
287. Luna - Orange Peel (2002)
288. Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing! (2007)
289. Kelly Clarkson - I Do Not Hook Up (2009)
290. Justin Timberlake - Cry Me a River (2002)

291. Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To (2005)
292. Ida Maria - I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked (2008)
293. Joanna Newsom - Peach, Plum, Pear (2004)
294. Primal Scream - Blood Money (2000)
295. Nas - Made You Look (2002)
296. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue (2008)
297. Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma (2008)
298. The Apples in Stereo - 7 Stars (2007)
299. Junior Boys – Hazel (2009)
300. Fat Joe feat. Ja Rule & Ashanti - What's Luv (2001)

intermission

2010-03-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

took a break today from right-clicking. more enabling my unhealthy listmaking obsession tomorrow.

Songs: 2000-2010 (#301-400)

2010-03-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

Without further ado, because this shit took forever, my 800 favorite songs of the last decade. Here are #301-400:

301. Miranda Lambert - Guilty in Here (2007)
302. Ghostface Killah feat. Raekwon – Kilo (2006)
303. Mickey Avalon feat. Dirt Nasty & Andre Legacy - My Dick (2007)
304. PJ Harvey – Kamikaze (2000)
305. Mekons - Thee Olde Trip to Jerusalem (2002)
306. Ponytail - Beg Waves (2008)
307. Maroon 5 - Won't Go Home Without You (2007)
308. Arcade Fire - Crown of Love (2004)
309. Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong (2001)
310. Andrew Bird - Scythian Empires (2007)

311. Clem Snide - Something Beautiful (2005)
312. Rilo Kiley – 15 (2007)
313. Thom Yorke - All for the Best (2009)
314. Yo La Tengo - Little Eyes (2003)
315. Thunderbirds Are Now! - We Win (Haha) (2006)
316. The xx – Crystalised (2009)
317. Spoon - The Underdog (2007)
318. The Reputation - Face It (2004)
319. Weezer - Dreamin' (2008)
320. Jay-Z - Izzo (H.O.V.A.) (2001)

321. Nonpoint - Evil Ways (2000)
322. Los Campesinos! - Death to Los Campesinos! (2008)
323. Nelly Furtado – Maneater (2006)
324. The Dismemberment Plan - Come Home (2001)
325. 50 Cent - Many Men (Wish Death) (2003)
326. Lori McKenna – Unglamorous (2007)
327. Kanye West - Jesus Walks (2004)
328. Sleater-Kinney - Light-Rail Coyote (2002)
329. The Darkness - Friday Night (2003)
330. Ladytron – Seventeen (2002)

331. Rhett Miller - This Is What I Do (2002)
332. They Might Be Giants – Bangs (2001)
333. Playaz Circle feat. Lil' Wayne - Duffle Bag Boy (2008)
334. Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin' (2006)
335. The Killers - For Reasons Unknown (2006)
336. Lil Wayne – Fireman (2005)
337. Broken Social Scene Presents...Kevin Drew - Backed Out on the... (2007)
338. *NSync – Pop (2001)
339. Queens of the Stone Age - Feel Good Hit of the Summer (2000)
340. Kimya Dawson - The Beer (2003)

341. Jimmy Eat World - My Sundown (2001)
342. The Darkness - Growing on Me (2003)
343. Sleater-Kinney - The Swimmer (2000)
344. The Streets - Turn the Page (2002)
345. The Naysayer - Pure Beauty (2002)
346. System of a Down - Mr. Jack (2002)
347. Common feat. Kanye West - The Food (2005)
348. Blackalicious feat. Lyrics Born - Do This My Way (2000)
349. Ben Kweller – Falling (2002)
350. Nas - Coon Picnic (These Are Our Heroes) (2004)

351. Buck 65 – Sore (2003)
352. Nas feat. Keri Hilson – Hero (2008)
353. The New Pornographers - Use It (2005)
354. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Hysteric (2009)
355. Les Savy Fav - The Equestrian (2007)
356. Lil Wayne feat. Static Major - Lollipop (2009)
357. Jay Reatard - It Ain't Gonna Save Me (2009)
358. Cody ChesnuTT - Upstarts in a Blowout (2002)
359. Clinic - For the Wars (2002)
360. They Might Be Giants - Au Contraire (2005)

361. Travis – Turn (2000)
362. Thom Yorke - Atoms for Peace (2006)
363. Starling - Don't Deflate (2000)
364. The Roots feat. Malik B. - Game Theory (2006)
365. The Magnetic Fields - I Don't Really Love You Anymore (2004)
366. Old 97's – Question (2001)
367. The Big Pink – Dominos (2009)
368. Panjabi MC feat. Jay-Z - Mundian to Bach Ke (Beware of the Boys) (2003)
369. Prince - Get on the Boat (2006)
370. Beyonce feat. Sean Paul – Baby Boy (2003)

371. Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof (2008)
372. Cody ChesnuTT - Boylife in America (2002)
373. Bloc Party – Helicopter (2005)
374. Cassidy feat. Fabolous & Lil' Wayne - 6 Minutes of Death (2005)
375. Clipse feat. Pharrell & Roscoe P. Coldchain - Chinese New Year (2006)
376. Eef Barzelay - Ballad of Bitter Honey (2006)
377. Nas feat. Quan - Just a Moment (2004)
378. Major Lazer feat. Mr. Lexx & Santigold - I'll Make Ya (2009)
379. Sonic Youth – Do You Believe in Rapture? (2006)
380. *NSync – It’s Gonna Be Me (2000)

381. Bloc Party - Hunting for Witches (2007)
382. Pink – Don’t Let Me Get Me (2001)
383. Panic! at the Disco - The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage (2006)
384. Panjabi MC – Jogi (2003)
385. The White Stripes – Conquest (2007)
386. Sunny Day Real Estate - The Ocean (2000)
387. Switchfoot – Ammunition (2004)
388. Nada Surf - Your Legs Grow (2004)
389. Stereolab - Self Portrait With 'Electric Brain' (2008)
390. The Magnetic Fields - The Nun's Litany (2008)

391. Something Corporate - Punk Rock Princess (2002)
399. The Rapture - House of Jealous Lovers (2002)
392. Travis Morrison - Born in '72 (2004)
393. Taylor Swift - Love Story (2008)
394. Swizz Beatz - It's Me Bitches (2007)
395. Yo La Tengo - Our Way to Fall (2000)
396. Jens Lekman - A Postcard to Nina (2007)
397. Jenny Lewis feat. Elvis Costello – Carpetbaggers (2008)
398. Santogold – I’m a Lady (2008)
400. The Blow – Parentheses (2006)

Songs: 2000-2010 (#401-500)

2010-03-22T03:44:00.000-07:00

Without further ado, because this shit took forever, my 800 favorite songs of the last decade. Here are #401-500:

401. Think About Life - Havin' My Baby (2009)
402. Sonic Youth - Mariah Carey and the Arthur Doyle Handcream (2004)
403. Gwen Stefani feat. Johnny Vulture - Bubble Pop Electric (2004)
404. Travis Morrison Hellfighters - You Make Me Feel Like a Freak (2007)
405. Kanye West feat. Lil Wayne - See You in My Knightmares (2008)
406. The Postal Service - Nothing Better (2003)
407. Gogol Bordello - Wonderlust King (2007)
408. Luna – 1995 (2002)
409. Basement Jaxx feat. Dizzee Rascal - Lucky Star (2003)
410. Queens of the Stone Age - In the Fade (2000)

411. Shaggy - It Wasn't Me (2000)
412. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (2005)
413. The Roots – Criminal (2008)
414. Jay-Z - Hovi Baby (2002)
415. Raphael Saadiq - 100 Yard Dash (2008)
416. Lupe Fiasco - Dumb It Down (2007)
417. Jimmy Eat World - Carry You (2007)
418. Kylie Minogue - Love at First Sight (2001)
419. PJ Harvey - The Desperate Kingdom of Love (2004)
420. Modest Mouse – Bukowski (2004)

421. Neil Young – Fork in the Road (2009)
422. Rilo Kiley - Smoke Detector (2007)
423. Hamell on Trial – 7 Seas (2000)
424. Desaparecidos - Man and Wife, The Latter (Damaged Goods) (2002)
425. Les Savy Fav - The Sweat Descends (2007)
426. Lil Wayne - I Feel Like Dying (2008)
427. Gogol Bordello - Not a Crime (2005)
428. The White Stripes - My Doorbell (2005)
429. Sonic Youth – Incinerate (2006)
430. The Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You (2000)

431. Ravi Bal and Daljit Mattu - Captain Bhangre Da (2006)
432. Sonic Youth - Free City Rhymes (2000)
433. The New Pornographers - Mutiny, I Promise You (2007)
434. Magik Markers – Taste (2007)
435. Young Jeezy feat. Nas - My President Is Black (2008)
436. VHS or Beta - You Got Me (2004)
437. Amy Winehouse – Rehab (2006)
438. Santogold - Lights Out (2008)
439. Panic! at the Disco - Build God, Then We'll Talk (2006)
440. The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic (2000)

441. Missy Elliott feat. Ludacris - One Minute Man (2001)
442. Tegan and Sara - Walking With a Ghost (2004)
443. No Age - Things I Did When I Was Dead (2008)
444. Travis - Why Does It Always Rain on Me? (2000)
445. Hot Chip - Made in the Dark (2008)
446. The Killers – Human (2008)
447. Weezer – Photograph (2001)
448. Man Man - Ice Dogs (2006)
449. The Hives - A Little More for Little You (2004)
450. The-Dream feat. Rihanna - Livin' a Lie (2007)

451. The Donnas - Take It Off (2002)
452. Brother Ali - Prince Charming (2003)
453. The Avett Brothers - Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise (2009)
454. Rihanna feat. Jay-Z – Umbrella (2007)
455. Clem Snide - Happy Birthday (2003)
456. Kaiser Chiefs - Everyday I Love You Less and Less (2005)
457. Jay Reatard - Don't Let Him Come Back (2006)
458. Rilo Kiley - Portions for Foxes (2004)
459. Baby feat. Clipse - What Happened to that Boy (2002)
460. Chris Cornell - You Know My Name (2006)

461. The Roots - Here I Come (2006)
462. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero (2009)
463. System of a Down - Prison Song (2001)
464. Wu-Tang Clan feat. Issac Hayes - I Can't Go to Sleep (2000)
465. Amy Winehouse feat. Ghostface Killah - You Know I'm No Good (Remix) (2006)
466. Paramore – Misery Business (2007)
467. Panic at the Disco - Nine in the Afternoon (2008)
468. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Angels' Share (2004)
469. Michael Jackson – Threatened (2001)
470. Death Cab for Cutie - Title Track (2000)

471. Nada Surf - Always Love (2005)
472. The Go! Team - We Just Won't Be Defeated (2005)
473. Nelly - Country Grammar (Hot Shit) (2000)
474. Jay-Z feat. Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek and Freeway - 1-900-Hustler (2000)
475. Mike Doughty – Laundrytown (2004)
476. Modest Mouse - Float On (2004)
477. Liz Phair - Shallow Opportunities (2003)
478. The Living End - Silent Victory (2001)
479. The Books - It Never Changes to Stop (2005)
480. Talib Kweli - Good to You (2002)

481. Semisonic – Bed (2001)
482. Estelle feat. Kanye West - American Boy (2008)
483. Harvey Danger - Happiness Writes White (2005)
484. They Might Be Giants - Man, It's So Loud In Here (2001)
485. Liz Phair - My Bionic Eyes (2003)
486. Alicia Keys - Fallin' (2001)
487. Coldplay – Shiver (2000)
488. Fat Joe feat. R. Kelly, T.I., Lil Wayne, Birdman and Rick Ross - Make It Rain (Remix) (2007)
489. Atmosphere - Modern Man's Hustle (2002)
490. The Chemical Brothers feat. Q-Tip – Galvanize (2005)

491. The Darkness - One Way Ticket (2005)
492. Lyrics Born feat. Joyo Velarde - Bad Dreams (2003)
493. OutKast - Hey Ya! (2003)
494. The Thermals - A Pillar of Salt (2006)
495. Feist - Brandy Alexander (2007)
496. The Streets - Can't Con an Honest Jon (2006)
497. Robyn - Be Mine! (2005)
498. The Bottle Rockets - Man of Constant Anxiety (2003)
499. Belle & Sebastian - The Model (2000)
500. Los Campesinos! - We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives (2007)

Songs: 2000-2010 (#501-600)

2010-03-19T10:11:00.001-07:00

Without further ado, because this shit took forever, my 800 favorite songs of the last decade. Here are #501-600:

501. Justice – DVNO (2007)
502. The Kills - Last Day of Magic (2008)
503. The Hives - Hate to Say I Told You So (2002)
504. The National - Secret Meeting (2005)
505. M.I.A. – Bird Flu (2007)
506. TV on the Radio - Shout Me Out (2008)
507. Test-Icicles - Circle. Square. Triangle (2005)
508. The Incredible Casuals - I'll Do Anything (2005)
509. The Shins – Australia (2007)
510. The Mountain Goats - Dance Music (2005)

511. Marah - Faraway You (2000)
512. The Breeders – Overglazed (2008)
513. Panda Bear - Good Girl/Carrots (2007)
514. Primal Scream - Deep Hit of Morning Sun (2002)
515. The Dodos – Fools (2008)
516. The Coup - 5 Million Ways to Kill a CEO (2001)
517. Mystikal feat. Pharrell - Shake Ya Ass (2001)
518. Okkervil River - For Real (2005)
519. Lifter-Puller - Space Humping for $19.99 (2000)
520. Gogol Bordello - Start Wearing Purple (2005)

521. The Capricorns – The New Sound (2002)
522. Fountains of Wayne - Stacy's Mom (2003)
523. We Are Wolves - T.R.O.U.B.L.E (2005)
524. Panic at the Disco - Pas de Cheval (2008)
525. The White Stripes – Effect & Cause (2007)
526. The Shins - Know Your Onion! (2001)
527. Thunderbirds Are Now! - Why We War (2006)
528. T-Pain feat. Akon – Bartender (2007)
529. Pet Shop Boys – Minimal (2006)
530. The Distillers - The Gallow Is God (2003)

531. The Wrens - Everyone Choose Sides (2003)
532. Nas - Who Killed It? (2006)
533. *NSync – Gone (2001)
534. Japandroids – Wet Hair (2008)
535. Rihanna – S.O.S. (2006)
536. Kimya Dawson - Everything's Alright (2002)
537. M. Ward - One Life Away (2005)
538. Imperial Teen - My Spy (2002)
539. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (2008)
540. The Streets - The Irony of It All (2002)

541. Liz Phair – Why Can't I? (2003)
542. Todd Snider - Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males (2004)
543. Ani DiFranco – Slide (2003)
544. Sum 41 - Fat Lip (2001)
545. Friendly Foes - Couch Surfing (2008)
546. Sun Kil Moon - Neverending Math Equation (2005)
547. Drive-By Truckers - The Man I Shot (2008)
548. The Academy Is... - Black Mamba (2005)
549. The Hold Steady - Sequestered in Memphis (2008)
550. T.I. - Whatever You Like (2008)

551. Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining (2007)
552. Weezer – Troublemaker (2008)
553. Wilco - Wilco (the Song) (2009)
554. Sugarland - Take Me as I Am (2008)
555. The White Stripes - Icky Thump (2007)
556. The Weakerthans - This is a Fire Door Never Leave Open (2000)
557. Avril Lavigne - Sk8r Boi (2002)
558. Feist – Mushaboom (2005)
559. Death Cab for Cutie - Cath... (2008)
560. Aerosmith – Jaded (2001)

561. We are Scientists - The Great Escape (2005)
562. Air - Cherry Blossom Girl (2004)
563. U2 - Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of (2000)
564. The Coup - My Favorite Mutiny (2006)
565. The Moldy Peaches - Who's Got the Crack? (2001)
566. Pink - So What (2008)
567. Blackalicious – Deception (2000)
568. Cody ChesnuTT - Look Good in Leather (2002)
569. The Hold Steady – Two-Handed Handshake (2008)
570. Kate Nash – Foundations (2008)

571. Travis Morrison - People Die (2004)
572. N.E.R.D. feat. Vita – LapDance (2002)
573. System of a Down – Toxicity (2006)
574. The Knife – Neverland (2006)
575. Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) (2004)
576. Pretty Girls Make Graves - Speakers Push the Air (2002)
577. The Juan MacLean - One Day (2009)
578. The Juan MacLean - Happy House (2008)
579. The Killers - Read My Mind (2006)
580. Aesop Rock – Daylight (2001)

581. Blitzen Trapper – Furr (2008)
582. R.E.M. – Living Well Is the Best Revenge (2008)
583. The Vines - Get Free (2002)
584. The Notwist - One With the Freaks (2002)
585. Coldplay - Green Eyes (2002)
586. Coheed & Cambria - Blood Red Summer (2003)
587. Xiu Xiu - I Luv the Valley OH (2004)
588. The Willowz - Meet Your Demise (2004)
589. Hamell on Trial - Father's Advice (2006)
590. Menya - Oh! (2008)

591. The Get Up Kids - The One You Want (2004)
592. Neil Young - Living with War (2006)
593. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead (2008)
594. Travis Morrison Hellfighters – Hawkins’ Rock (2007)
595. Kanye West feat. Mr. Hudson – Paranoid (2008)
596. Pink – Who Knew (2006)
597. Sleater-Kinney - Leave You Behind (2000)
598. Handsome Furs – I’m Confused (2009)
599. Fleet Foxes – Mykonos (2008)
600. Mos Def - The Embassy (2009)

Songs: 2000-2010 (#601-700)

2010-03-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

Without further ado, because this shit took forever, my 800 favorite songs of the last decade. Here are #601-700:

601. tUnE-yArDs - Fiya (2009)
602. Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm (2008)
603. Broken Social Scene - Fire Eye'd Boy (2005)
604. Clipse – Ride Around Shining (2006)
605. Okkervil River – Black (2005)
606. Ghostface Killah & Trife da God - Be Easy (2006)
607. Dixie Chicks – Tortured, Tangled Hearts (2002)
608. Eminem – Cleaning Out My Closet (2002)
609. Against Me! feat. Tegan Quin - Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart (2007)
610. Feist - I Feel It All (2007)

611. Imperial Teen - Our Time (2002)
612. Coldplay – Yellow (2000)
613. T-Pain feat. Yung Joc - Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin') (2007)
614. Sleater-Kinney – Sympathy (2002)
615. Madonna - Don't Tell Me (2000)
616. Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood (2001)
617. The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight (2008)
618. I'm From Barcelona - Chicken Pox (2006)
619. R.E.M. - Horse to Water (2008)
620. Sigur Rós – Gobbledigook (2008)

621. The Mountain Goats – Oceanographer's Choice (2002)
622. The New Pornographers – Letter from an Occupant (2000)
623. Nouvelle Vague - The Guns of Brixton (2005)
624. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Satan Said Dance (2007)
625. Cursive - Butcher the Song (2003)
626. Maximo Park - Our Velocity (2007)
627. Aesop Rock - No Regrets (2001)
628. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound (2008)
629. Eminem - My Dad's Gone Crazy (2002)
630. The Dresden Dolls - Sex Changes (2006)

631. The Fire Theft - It's Over (2003)
632. The New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno (2005)
633. Incubus - Here in My Room (2004)
634. Jay-Z feat. Pharrell - I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me) (2006)
635. Okkervil River - Unless It's Kicks (2007)
636. Ludacris - Southern Hospitality (2000)
637. Mos Def - Sex, Love and Money (2004)
638. Yo La Tengo - You Can Have It All (2000)
639. Liz Phair – Lazy Dreamer (2005)
640. The Go-Betweens - Going Blind (2000)

641. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Tick (2003)
642. El Guincho – Kalise (2008)
643. Akon – Trouble (2005)
644. D12 - My Band (2004)
645. My Morning Jacket - Off the Record (2005)
646. Squarepusher - My Red Hot Car (2001)
647. Deerhunter – Cover Me/Agoraphobia (2008)
648. Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened (2008)
649. System of a Down - Vicinity of Obscenity (2005)
650. Cansei de Ser Sexy - This Month, Day 10 (2006)

651. Clinic – Harmony (2002)
652. My Morning Jacket – Mahgeetah (2003)
653. Tegan and Sara - Call It Off (2007)
654. Reggie and the Full Effect - Mood 4 Luv (2003)
655. Coldplay - Death and All His Friends (2008)
656. H2O - Memory Lane (2001)
657. The Mountain Goats – Jenny (2002)
658. Nelly - E.I. (2000)
659. Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows (2002)
660. Jay-Z - Oh My God (2006)

661. Kate Nash – Mouthwash (2008)
662. Afroman - Because I Got High (2001)
663. Camper Van Beethoven - 51-7 (2004)
664. Wilco – Walken (2007)
665. Max Tundra - Until We Die (2008)
666. The Mountain Goats – The Best Death Metal Band in Denton (2002)
667. Say Anything - Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too (2006)
668. Fountains of Wayne – Fire in the Canyon (2007)
669. Radiohead - Where I End You Begin (2003)
670. Weezer - Dope Nose (2002)

671. The Ampersands – Winterspring (2008)
672. Wussy – This Will Not End Well (2009)
673. Chamillionaire feat. Krayzie Bone - Ridin' (2006)
674. Bobby Conn - We Come in Peace (2004)
675. Elvis Costello – Episode of Blonde (2002)
676. Modest Mouse - Paper Thin Walls (2000)
677. MGMT - Time to Pretend (2007)
678. No Doubt - New (2000)
679. Kellie Pickler - Rocks Instead of Rice (2008)
680. Cannibal Ox - Raspberry Fields (2001)

681. tUnE-yArDs - Hatari (2009)
682. Franz Ferdinand – Jacqueline (2004)
683. Guns 'n' Roses - I.R.S. (2008)
684. The Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch (2000)
685. Avril Lavigne - Complicated (2002)
686. Comet Gain - Love Without Lies (2008)
687. The Flaming Lips - Watching the Planets (2009)
688. Zac Efron - Bet on It (2007)
689. Usher - Confessions Part II (2004)
690. Kaiser Chiefs - Never Miss a Beat (2008)

691. Jesus H Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse - Obviously (2006)
692. The Go! Team – Ladyflash (2005)
693. Black Eyed Peas - My Humps (2005)
694. Marnie Stern vs. Lil' Mama - Lip Gloss (Marnie Stern Remix) (2008)
695. Young Buck - Get Buck (2007)
696. Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Mysteries (2003)
697. Gwen Stefani - What You Waiting For (2004)
698. Dilated Peoples - The Platform (2000)
699. Coheed & Cambria - A Favor House Atlantic (2008)
700. Los Lobos - Good Morning Aztlán (2002)

Songs: 2000-2010 (#701-800)

2010-03-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

Without further ado, because this shit took forever, my 800 favorite songs of the last decade. Here are #701-800:

701. mcenroe and Birdapres - Nothing Is Cool (2004)
702. TV on the Radio - Red Dress (2008)
703. The Hold Steady - Cattle and the Creeping Things (2005)
704. Dr. Dre feat. Eminem - Forgot About Dre (2000)
705. N.O.R.E. – Nothing (2002)
706. deftones – Teenager (2000)
707. Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (2001)
708. Hayes Carll - Bad Liver and a Broken Heart (2008)
709. Feist - One Evening (2005)
710. The Rakes - Work Work Work (Pub Club Sleep) (2006)
711. The Juliana Theory - White Days (2003)
712. Blu Cantrell - Hit 'em Up Style (Oops) (2001)
713. Grandaddy - The Crystal Lake (2000)
714. Art Brut - Good Weekend (2005)
715. Mika - Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) (2007)
716. The Roots - Don't Say Nuthin' (2004)
717. Basement Jaxx – Romeo (2001)
718. The Rapture - Get Myself Into It (2006)
719. Deerhoof - Milk Man (2004)
720. Miranda Lambert – Kerosene (2005)
721. The Hold Steady - The Swish (2004)
722. Why? - Fatalist Palmistry (2008)
723. Rick Ross feat. T-Pain, Lil Wayne and Kanye West - Maybach Music 2 (2008)
724. Death Cab for Cutie - Company Calls (2000)
725. Cursive - Art Is Hard (2003)
726. Cody ChesnuTT - Smoke and Love (2002)
727. The Dandy Warhols - Shakin' (2000)
728. Hamell on Trial - Mommy's Not Talking Today (2006)
729. Buck 65 – Protest (2003)
730. King Khan and the Shrines - I Wanna Be a Girl (2008)
731. The Thermals - An Ear for Baby (2006)
732. Eminem - Crazy in Love (2004)
733. Yo La Tengo - Nuclear War [Version 2] (2002)
734. The Cribs - Men's Needs (2007)
735. Bloc Party - Like Eating Glass (2005)
736. Wussy - Muscle Cars (2009)
737. Get Him Eat Him - 2 X 2 (2007)
738. Frightened Rabbit – Poke (2008)
739. XTC – I’m the Man Who Murdered Love (2000)
740. Kanye West - Everything I Am (2007)
741. Jennifer Hudson feat. Ludacris – Pocketbook (2008)
742. M.I.A. – Galang (2005)
743. Vampire Weekend - A-Punk (2008)
744. Mos Def – Pistola (2009)
745. Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Follow You into the Dark (2005)
746. Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On (2001)
747. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Lyre of Orpheus (2004)
748. Mr. Lif - Return of the B-Boy (2002)
749. King Khan and the Shrines - Welfare Bread (2008)
750. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The One Who Got Us Out (2004)
751. UGK feat. OutKast - Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You) (2007)
752. A Place to Bury Strangers - I Know I'll See You (2007)
753. Imperial Teen – Ivanka (2002)
754. The Handsome Family - All the Time in Airports (2006)
755. The B-52’s - Juliet of the Spirits (2008)
756. R. Kelly feat. Usher - Same Girl (2007)
757. Disturbed – Prayer (2002)
758. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mystery Girl (2002)
759. R. Kelly - Trapped in the Closet (Chapters 1-5) (2005)
760. deftones - Change (In the House of Flies) (2000)
761. Belle & Sebastian - I'm a Cuckoo (2003)
762. The Blow - True Affection (2006)
763. Transplants - Diamonds and Guns (2002)
764. Common - The 6th Sense (2000)
765. Battles – Atlas (2007)
766. Basement Jaxx feat. JC Chasez - Plug It In (2003)
767. Fugazi - Epic Problem (2001)
768. Art Brut - Emily Kane (2005)
769. Hot Hot Heat - Let Me In (2007)
770. Belle & Sebastian - Women's Realm (2000)
771. Band of Horses - The General Specific (2007)
772. Badly Drawn Boy - Cause a Rockslide (2000)
773. Sean Paul - Get Busy (2003)
774. Four Tet - My Angel Rocks Back And Forth (2003)
775. Marah - Round Eye Blues (2000)
776. T.I. - King Back (2006)
777. Aaliyah - Try Again (2001)
778. Black Kids - Look at Me (When I Rock Wichoo) (2008)
779. Gang Gang Dance – House Jam (2008)
780. Eagles of Death Metal - Wannabe in L.A. (2008)
781. The New Pornographers - The Body Says No (2000)
782. Incubus – Anna-Molly (2006)
783. Elliott Smith – Junk Bond Trader (2000)
784. Death from Above 1979 - Black History Month (2004)
785. Brand New - Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades (2003)
786. Aphex Twin - Avril 14th (2001)
787. Ghostface Killah – One (2001)
788. Common feat. MC Lyte – A Film Called (Pimp) (2000)
789. Beirut - Scenic World (2007)
790. Ludacris – Splash Waterfalls (2003)
791. Amadou & Mariam – Sabali (2008)
792. Band of Horses - The Funeral (2006)
793. Spoon - Everything Hits at Once (2001)
794. Built to Spill – Conventional Wisdom (2006)
795. Cut Copy - So Haunted (2008)
796. Tom Waits - God's Away on Business (2002)
797. John Mayer – Daughters (2003)
798. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Worlds Apart (2004)
799. *NSync – Bye Bye Bye (2000)
800. Bill Callahan - All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast (2009)

dollar a day

2010-02-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

my favorite interview i've ever done, the one foreshadowed in this infamous post, finally up six months or so after it took place. wussy's still great.

four tet on year-end consensus

2010-02-16T14:37:00.001-08:00

"I think the media does a pretty terrible job of covering what's come out. When you see these polls at the end of the year of everybody's favorite records of 2009, they're so terrifyingly similar. And you're thinking, "There's a hell of a lot of records that came out this year, do we really have consensus that these are the top ten?" [laughs] Is everybody just kind of falling into rank somehow because it looks better for the publication? I think people kind of take the easy way out with a lot of that stuff."

the stylus decade

2010-01-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

some nice things i wrote for the very nice stylus reunion (including an essay! on the dearth of protest culture's pop credibility!)

Essay: 9/11 Is a Joke

#15: M.O.P.

#31: Jay-Z

#52 & #44: Sleater-Kinney & The Mountain Goats

i've neglected this blog like a first wife for a bit, but my albums/songs/movies of the decade are coming soon.

2009

2009-12-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

1. DOOM - Born Like This (Lex)
2. The Raveonettes - In and Out of Control (Vice)
3. Wussy - Wussy (Shake It)
4. Serengeti - Dennehy (Lights, Camera, Action!) (Audio8)
5. Mos Def - The Ecstatic (Downtown)
6. Brad Paisley - American Saturday Night (Arista Nashville)
7. tUnE-yArDs - BiRd-BrAiNs (Marriage/4AD)
8. Clipse - Re-Up Gang Presents: The Saga Continues (BCD)
9. Ghostface Killah - Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry (Def Jam)
10. RL/VL - Chagrin (Hidden Shoal)

11. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
12. Mike Doughty - Happy Man Sad Man
13. Neil Young - Fork in the Road
14. The Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies)
15. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
16. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
17. The Coathangers - Scramble
18. Living Things - Habeas Corpus
19. Paramore - Brand New Eyes
20. Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
21. Jozef van Wissem - A Rose by Any Other Name: Anonymous Lute Solos of the Golden Age
22. Burial/Four Tet - Wolf Cub/Moth [7"]
23. Menya - Sleepover Series Vol. 1
24. Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
25. Death Cab for Cutie - The Open Door [EP]
26. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
27. R.E.M. - Live at the Olympia
28. Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next
29. Angry Angles - Apparent/Transparent [7"]
30. Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day
31. Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall
32. The XX - xx
33. Franco - Francophonic Vol. 2
34. Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
35. V/A - Dark Was the Night [Disc 1 only]
36. Leonard Cohen - Live in London
37. Miranda Lambert - Revolution
38. Monotonix - Where Were You When It Happened?
39. Marianne Faithfull - Easy Come, Easy Go
40. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
41. Eminem - Relapse
42. Girls - Album
43. Tegan and Sara - Sainthood
44. Polvo - In Prism
45. Art Brut - Art Brut vs. Satan
46. Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali
47. Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do
48. Glasvegas - Glasvegas
49. The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come
50. Superdrag - Industry Giants

reissues:

1. Tricky - Maxinquaye [Deluxe]
2. Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary/LP2
3. Pylon - Chomp More
4. The Beatles - everything
5. New Order - everything
6. Sinead O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got [Deluxe]
7. Lou Reed - New Sensations/Legendary Hearts
8. Feelies - The Good Earth/Crazy Rhythms
9. The Vaselines - Enter the Vaselines
10. Radiohead - The Bends/OK Computer [Deluxe]
11. Kraftwerk - Computer World/The Man-Machine/Trans-Europe Express

singles:

1. The Raveonettes - Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed) (Vice)
2. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction (Slumberland)
3. Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You (RCA)
4. Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes (Domino)
5. R. Kelly - Echo (Jive)
6. (Colorpulse) Carl Sagan feat. Stephen Hawking - A Glorious Dawn (Cosmos Remix) (Third Man)
7. Living Things - Let It Rain (Jive)
8. Lily Allen - Not Fair (Capitol)
9. Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is the Move (Domino)
10. Think About Life - Havin' My Baby (Alien8)

11. Laura Veirs - July Flame
12. Thom Yorke - All for the Best
13. Serengeti - Dennehy
14. Death Cab for Cutie - Little Bribes
15. Addeboy vs. Cliff feat. David Sandström and Erika Moeld - Beep My Beep
16. Junior Boys - Hazel
17. Major Lazer feat. Santigold & Mr. Lexx - Hold the Line
18. Ghostface Killah - Stapleton Sex
19. The Big Pink - Dominos
20. Ida Maria - I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked
21. Paramore - Ignorance
22. Kelly Clarkson - I Do Not Hook Up
23. Das Racist - Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Wallpaper. Remix)
24. Times New Viking - No Time, No Hope
25. Brad Paisley - American Saturday Night
26. Turbo Fruits - Lotta Lotta Ladies
27. The XX - Crystallized
28. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hysteric
29. Handsome Furs - I'm Confused
30. Basement Jaxx - Raindrops
31. The Raveonettes - Last Dance
32. Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind
33. Wussy - This Will Not End Well
34. Menya - (So What) I Hook Up
35. Jay-Z feat. Swizz Beatz - On to the Next One
36. Jay Reatard - It Ain't Gonna Save Me
37. Wilco - Wilco (The Song)
38. Japandroids - Wet Hair
39. Ghostface Killah feat. Raheem DeVaughn - Baby
40. The Roots - How I Got Over
41. Wussy - Muscle Cars
42. Chromeo - Night by Night
43. Trailer Trash Tracys - Candy Girl
44. Wavves - No Hope Kids
45. Phoenix - 1901
46. The Juan MacLean - One Day
47. Tegan and Sara - Alligator
48. Kelis - Acapella
49. A Camp - The Crowning
50. The Dutchess and the Duke - Let It Die

20 funniest shows of my lifetime

2009-11-02T16:06:00.001-08:00

ranked by funniest they've ever gotten, not 'on average' - in descending order:

30 rock
curb your enthusiasm
garth marenghi's darkplace
seinfeld
daria
simpsons
friends
arrested development
the office (american)
family guy
frasier
the larry sanders show
cosby show
late night with conan o'brien
just shoot me
ali g
married with children
peep show
south park
mr. show

conflict of interest alert

2009-10-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

spoke to beth ditto about music then fat

baffled by the scent

2009-10-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

the psychotic reactions to the incredible new ghostface album don't surprise me but they still suck, particularly the one that said 39-year-old gentlemen should be ashamed of their "dick as hard as a callus" (where are these people when three 6 mafia are pushing heads into their crotches? oh right, glowing). luckily, the scene is still insane enough to let me have the floor.

don't touch my shit

2009-09-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

very proud of this one and seeing them again tonight.

working my ass off

2009-09-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

where the hell have i been you ask? still here never left.

this decade-end singles business is tough

2009-08-21T16:23:00.000-07:00

fall out boy's "sugar we're going down" sounds better than ever. hoku's "another dumb blonde" doesn't hold up at all; the marching fake hiphop beat (with scratches!) is all wrong - only makes it look even more lightweight. a dance remix i'd consider if anyone knows one? expecting (hoping) for a 100-300 song list at most.

now pondering whether i should've gunned for the 25 most erotic rock critics

2009-08-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

Very cool: I was blown away that Freaky Trigger named me as one of the 25 best music critics under 25, and Tom Ewing even cited some crap from this blog as his evidence. Theon won the better praise as always though, for his astounding googleability.

In other news, I'm getting way too comfortable over there.

movies 2000-2009

2009-07-08T23:14:00.001-07:00

1. there will be blood
2. the squid and the whale
3. eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
4. zodiac
5. wedding crashers
6. spiderman 2
7. best in show
8. dave chappelle's block party
9. fracture
10. the descent

11. rachel getting married
12. a mighty wind
13. no country for old men
14. forgetting sarah marshall
15. ghost world
16. superbad
17. million dollar baby
18. knocked up
19. bowling for columbine
20. bad santa

21. secretary
22. up
23. o brother where art thou
24. coffee & cigarettes
25. brick
26. sideways
27. requiem for a dream
28. the royal tenenbaums
29. borat
30. lemony snicket presents a series of unfortunate events

31. kill bill
32. the science of sleep
33. amores perros
34. punch-drunk love
35. a history of violence
36. almost famous
37. igby goes down
38. match point
39. grindhouse
40. 8 mile

41. 28 days later
42. sherrybaby
43. sin city
44. a scanner darkly
45. hotel rwanda
46. munich
47. collateral
48. moulin rouge
49. shaun of the dead
50. ghost dog: the way of the samurai

51. the dark knight
52. closer
53. monsters inc.
54. iron man
55. fahrenheit 9/11
56. catch me if you can
57. lost in translation
58. batman begins
59. the emperor's new groove
60. lady in the water*

*special award for the most effectively entertained - that is, laughed out loud in the theater so much i paid and saw it again with different friends - i've ever been by a film for doing everything so spectacularly wrong...i'm not one for the mst3k set and snakes on a plane was really dull, but this is a high watermark of self-parody that deserves midnight showings

sarah palindromes

2009-07-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

wrote about my july 4 and upbraided this prick

heading up north in two days to kill me a moose and drink the syrup from its veins

i am a freak

2009-07-01T22:34:00.001-07:00

The 90 albums that made top ten Pazz & Jop from 2000-2008, in descending order of preference:

Ghostface Killah: Fishscale (Def Jam)
Sleater-Kinney: The Woods (Sub Pop)
Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP (Aftermath/Interscope)
Arcade Fire: Neon Bible (Merge)
Clipse: Hell Hath No Fury (Re-Up Gang/Jive/Zomba)
D'Angelo: Voodoo (Virgin)
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III (Cash Money)
OutKast: Stankonia (LaFace/Arista)
Radiohead: Amnesiac (Capitol)
Sleater-Kinney: All Hands on the Bad One (Kill Rock Stars)
Kanye West: Graduation (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop)
PJ Harvey: Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea (Island/Def Jam)
Sleater-Kinney: One Beat (Kill Rock Stars)
Portishead: Third (Mercury)
Jay-Z: The Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella)
TV on the Radio: Dear Science (Interscope)
The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
Radiohead: Kid A (Capitol)
Kanye West: The College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella)
M.I.A.: Arular (XL)
New Pornographers: Electric Version (Matador)
The Roots: Phrenology (MCA)
The White Stripes: White Blood Cells (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
Modest Mouse: Good News for People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (Matador)
Bob Dylan: "Love and Theft" (Columbia)
Arcade Fire: Funeral (Merge)
Tom Waits: Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (Anti-)
M.I.A.: Kala (XL/Interscope)
The Streets: Original Pirate Material (Locked On/Vice)
Radiohead: Hail to the Thief (Capitol)
Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch)
The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday (Frenchkiss)
Fountains of Wayne: Welcome Interstate Managers (S-Curve)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever to Tell (Interscope)
Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend (XL)
Bjork: Vespertine (Elektra)
Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella)
The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America (Vagrant)
Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine (Epic/Clean Slate)
The Streets: A Grand Don't Come For Free (Vice/Atlantic)
The Coup: Party Music (75 Ark)
Erykah Badu: New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War (Motown)
Kanye West: Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella)
Radiohead: In Rainbows (Self Released)
My Morning Jacket: Z (ATO/RCA)
Drive-By Truckers: Decoration Day (New West)
Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)
Gnarls Barkley: St Elsewhere (Downtown/Atlantic)
Bob Dylan: Modern Times (Columbia)
Eminem: The Eminem Show (Aftermath/Interscope)
LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver (DFA/EMI)
The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Warner Bros.)
The White Stripes: Elephant (V2)
Basement Jaxx: Kish Kash (Astralwerks)
Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head (Capitol)
The Strokes: Is This It (RCA)
Santogold: Santogold (Downtown)
Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino)
Green Day: American Idiot (Reprise)
The New Pornographers: Twin Cinema (Matador)
Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand (Domino/Epic)
Dizzee Rascal: Boy in Da Corner (XL)
Brian Wilson: SMiLE (Nonesuch)
OutKast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (Arista)
Loretta Lynn: Van Lear Rose (Interscope)
Jill Scott: Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 (Hidden Beach)
Lucinda Williams: Essence (Lost Highway)
TV on the Radio: Return To Cookie Mountain (4AD/Interscope)
Joanna Newsom: Ys (Drag City)
Beck: Sea Change (DGC)
Shelby Lynne: I Am Shelby Lynne (Island)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (Anti-)
U2: All That You Can't Leave Behind (Interscope)
The National: Boxer (Beggars Banquet)
Missy Elliott: Under Construction (Elektra)
Bruce Springsteen: Magic (Columbia)
Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti-)
Amy Winehouse: Back To Black (Universal)
Sufjan Stevens: Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
Rufus Wainwright: Poses (DreamWorks)
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand (Rounder)
Bruce Springsteen: The Rising (Columbia)
U2: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Interscope)
Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now (Secretly Canadian)
Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
Ryan Adams: Gold (Lost Highway)
Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)

michael jackson, 1958-2009

2009-06-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

My first musical memory was the "Black or White" video. I asked my dad, "why is that woman named Michael?" It premiered after The Simpsons and I was interested in everything about it: the face morphing, the crotch-grabbing, trying to decipher the rhythmic grunts because I (to this day still don't) trust my ability to hear lyrics, mesmerized by the guitar riff - which I didn't yet know was Slash, thought it was the coolest thing ever that he got Macaulay Culkin - a star I recognized at that age - to rap in the video. Much of grade school joking was spent about Michael Jackson molesting children, even before I really understood what that was, alongside such classics as Q: "How do you know Ellen's a lesbian?" A: "L...N." so he was over long before I cared about music for real, which was brought on by Dookie. But returning to the car-ride special Dangerous - whose album cover blew my mind at the time - and you have everything. Just...everything. Forgive me if Thriller's always sounded quaint to my ears (eerily, I stopped in the Continental last night in Manhattan, which was playing "The Girl is Mine" while I was on the john).

But Dangerous...that's the real Chinese Democracy. Michael Jackson invented the blockbuster album the way Jaws invented the summer movie. It's no wonder he was obsessed with stardom, his records weren't records but stuffed boxes. Madonna floated from cultural meme to cultural meme but compared to Jackson's time-capsule monoliths, her persona's lukewarm. The way people joke about Brian Wilson's grandeur is the way he put his life together. Not drums go here, guitar goes there--McCartney goes here, new jack swing under that, Eddie not available? Get Slash, get those Biggie tapes, get Elvis' daughter in the bedroom. By right, he should have died five years ago.

This is a man who, whatever his personal misgivings, stretched himself beyond the limits of already unreasonable celebrity living. Forget everything-to-everyone; he didn't have time for rock vs. pop, disco vs. rap, funk vs. metal...if he couldn't be the nexus of all of it, it wasn't worth it. Dangerous has a dark, paranoid edge because that's where pop was going, but also because he was imploding by 1989. For funk he wanted factories of industrial clanks, for ballads he demanded no less than a choir and pews. No emotion went un-dubbed over 100 times moreover, and what a mess of emotions. Imprison "his love" in the closet? Because he "can't let her get away"? Because she may be fucking his brother? That is dangerous. And then it shifts into the Free Willy theme. Most tragically, by abusing children he was abusing his celebrity, the most dependent drug for someone with no real friends, only signifiers of fellow fame (and for the record: I blame the parents. Who leaves their child alone with an adult celebrity? This isn't a daycare worker or babysitter, it's a pop star of significant eccentricity and alienation. I call it starstruck neglect, and don't think the ones who came forward were the end of the story when you have that much available to pay off the starstruck.) Sick or not, as a culture we brutalized and cannibalized and consumed him far ahead of Princess Di or Britney Spears, and he did not know how to get better (or if he ever was to begin with). He simply became rich enough to afford to not think about consequence. He was lonely, obsessed with fame, obsessed with childhood, it's a wonder he was able to spin music from this emotional purgatory at all, much less strong, iconic, funny and danceable music. It's difficult to fathom, but I hope he is finally at peace.

wussy

2009-06-18T02:37:00.000-07:00

wussy.

lisa walker is gorgeous in person. i was totally unprepared for that from pics and these don't even really do her justice. chuck cleaver is a giant. they are an adorable couple. she works in food service and he's a STONE MASON. during one of the best interviews i've ever given in my life chuck kept pausing after every question to say "man, that's a good question" and at different times called himself a "creampuff" and a "lummox". later told me it was the best interview he's ever done. that's fine, we really got into a zone. it was out of control when three different band members after the show thanked me for my crawdaddy review, the "best-written one they've ever had". (who the fuck reads crawdaddy)

show was good, even though they only played two from funeral dress. these guys are way louder than expected, they really lean on the drone and fuzz; "gone missing"'s jump into the chorus could've been dave grohl. "jonah" may be the greatest romance song of the 2000s. "muscle cars" and "airborne" killed. "sun giant says hey" became "sanjaya says hey."

hung out with them after for a bit. i had to buy this shirt just because it's COMPLETELY IDENTICAL to my luna tee. was gonna buy a men's small and walker insisted i buy a girl's small. later, their bassist and new drummer asked "aw you didn't pay for that did you," i said yes, so they made me take some free shit: some buttons and the only wussy cd i don't own, an ep (bassist: "that's our worst record" new drummer: "wanna know something? i haven't even heard it"). i think chuck cleaver was a little soused when he told me the new guy's "so much better" a drummer than the chick who (i thought) amicably left to start a family in dallas. they're the only band on shake it records, which is not really a label but a record store in ohio; their owner just likes cleaver's music and puts out whatever he gives him, so i assume hutlock's funded their entire career. when they signed my cd booklet joe the drummer drew his own face over the old drummer's.

anyway this being album of the year now obviously has nothing to do with the above and everything to do with the line about the mother who forgets her daughter en route to the mother-daughter banquet. andallthefreeblowjobs.

!ILLEGAL ACCORDION MIXTAPE!$

2009-06-16T20:58:00.000-07:00

Me and Andrew Casillas put together a wonderful mixtape with an awesome cover and some lovely commentary for Jonathan Bradley and my archnemesis. Download it like a good little freak.

death poems for the living gods of america

2009-06-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

In spite of pleasant ratings all around, some from colleagues and friends, I don't think much of my (probably) favorite band's new album. Sorry Alfred, Jason, general consensus. Swayed by a typically wired performance, my girlfriend, our friend Leah, Rob Harvilla, and $2 pulled pork sliders, I actively enjoyed four of the new ones at an Apple store appearance on Tuesday. But Rather Ripped didn't have to bribe me so.

breast nude poosdik

2009-06-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

wussy reatards

flake music

2009-05-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

count the number of bad gags in my shins review. count the number of bad dog jokes in my iggy screed. count how many capillaries i burst hating interpol in my julian plenti review. lastly, bye bye hero worship for jeremy enigk.

but you're only a boy

2009-05-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

Saw the reunited Vaselines last night. Wow.

were there fat people in preshistoric times?

2009-05-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.slate.com/id/2218400/

My beef is that Beam doesn't venture a guess to why people would sculpt "obese," "sexually suggestive" figures when by his estimation, they didn't have any. This is like proving President Lincoln owned a dildo and not spending a word on why President Lincoln would own a dildo.

21st century breakdown

2009-05-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

has a dozen near-nadirs up until the almost-good "21 Guns" before ending with "See the Light." skip right to it and sing "You Shook Me All Night Long" over it. The worst thing about 2009 Green Day isn't that they're delusional bigheads with too much money, received politics and string sections on call, because all of that would be tolerable if their hookcraft didn't sink from extraordinary to the laziest, dumbest knockoffs of like what, latter-day Offspring? The songwriting is a far drop from American Idiot (which I'm already not crazy about) but I probably prefer the production here. Crunches harder, harmonies brighter, ambitions are stupider-stupendouser, any good songs and it would've worked. Too bad the inevitable back-to-basics move to follow will be unplugged or something.

liveblogging the new eminem album

2009-05-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

"3 am" - lame, unimaginative concept, bad choice for an opener. or a song.

"my mom" is one of the best beats of the year. "3 am" really had me worried.

so's "insane" actually. this keeps up and we have easily the best production of his career, perfectly timed if his lyrics are gonna suck now.

ha, "bagpipes from baghdad" sounds like bagpipes from baghdad. these instrumental hooks alone.

annnnnnnnnnnnnd autotune.

least guests on an eminem album since his debut

maybe he had d12 shot and killed

maybe they did it on their own

have i mentioned how much i like the cover on this? eminem album covers usually blow. curtains and stages and shit we get it already

hey he's telling us what his name is again

new character! "tonya." when i heard a female voice in the rain i got really excited at first because i thought he was gonna find the unlikely new angle for the same thing over again by rapping as kim

these new voices are problematic. and does it count as maturity when he's killing unspecified nobodies minus the absurdist-comedist angle?

oh ha. "we made you" becomes the third eminem first single to improve in album context. loving the jingle bells and pianos and stuff. still haven't laughed since "insane."

one-ups bitch killer ice cube on "medicine ball": "homosexual dissector"

i like the "medicine ball" hook a lot. and the tastefully simple me-against-world i-run-rap braggadocio suits him. maybe he'll become a normal rapper now if he'll lose the stupid "ass like that" accent. why isn't this the opener?

good "paul" skit but i'm sad he didn't mention a gun

took a break to get chinese, accidentally hummed "we made you" the whole way. good sign.

"stay wide awake": someone listened to the red weezer's impression of him!

"old time's sake" is the most alive dre's sounded since...when has dre never not sounded dull? again, nice beat. eminem got fat learning photoshop and music theory for five years. i'm okay with this. more hooks on here should be like "medicine ball" and "we made you" though. nice growl though. i think his voice is returning to normal.

rhymed "dalai lama" and "jeffrey dahma." this serial killer thing might not be his worst idea if he can turn it into a DOOM-style supervillain persona. he'll probably get bored first but good.

weird thing that the first year in years that rap production sounds as expensive as people make it out is in the depths of the recession. maybe they're just being arrogant assholes. rappers.

these skits are mercifully quick, not the album's only advantage over the eminem show.

betting the reviews of this will quote "deja vu"'s "feel like i've been down this road before" in extrapolating their points. so have they.

prediction: "beautiful"'s gonna be huge and herald green day-sized dullness as he takes the cue all the way over the demographic hump to the elder statesman bank

oh hey, i didn't remember "crack a bottle" being this good -- whoops then he came in and ruined the nice little beat with this wordy impossible chorus that no one cares about. still, digging his new affection for bourgie-jazz plinking.

aw steve berman's back. this is overscripted. nice trailer for relapse 2 though.

awww "sometimes people ask me..." with the dramatic music is back! "underground," this is cool! some fitty (not fiddy) beat in a time signature i'm having trouble piecing with a cool choir doing his michael jackson dangerous work. full title is "underground/ken kaniff." i'm excited.

this is easily his sharpest rhyming on the album. a "fantasy" with an "amputee" in each track would've helped the dahmer shtick go down smoother though.

ok i laughed at the kaniff "we made you" callback: "this went over real big in gay.a."

our slumming genius is still entertaining on his worst album, if you care to be entertained. on to green day.

obsessive listmaking

2009-05-07T02:34:00.000-07:00

nearly halfway through 09 and enjoying it a lot more with new girlfriend in tow

1. Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
2. DOOM - Born Like This
3. Clipse - Re-Up Gang Presents: The Saga Continues
4. Rick Ross - Deeper than Rap
5. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
6. RL/VL - Chagrin
7. Neil Young - Fork in the Road
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
9. Burial/Four Tet - Wolf Cub and Moth
10. Wussy - Wussy
11. Living Things - Habeas Corpus
12. Death Cab for Cutie - The Open Door
13. Magik Markers - Balf Quarry
14. Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali
15. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
16. Superdrag - Industry Giants
17. Glasvegas - Glasvegas
18. Art Brut - Art Brut vs. Satan
19. Marianne Faithfull - Easy Come, Easy Go
20. Sonic Youth - The Eternal

1. Animal Collective - "Summertime Clothes"
2. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Young Adult Friction"
3. Junior Boys - "Hazel"
4. Basement Jaxx - "Raindrops"
5. Lily Allen - "Not Fair"
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Hysteric"
7. Living Things - "Let It Rain"
8. My Chemical Romance - "Desolation Row"
9. Friendly Foes - "Couch Surfing"
10. Kelly Clarkson - "My Life Would Suck Without You"
11. Death Cab for Cutie - "Little Bribes"
12. Art Brut - "Alcoholics Unanimous"
13. Pet Shop Boys - "Love Etc."

rick ross' deeper than rap

2009-05-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

My cynicism failed so I tried this. I don't like event albums by not-great rappers usually, stuff with supposedly expensive, expansive production....The Documentary, Dre 2001, "We Takin' Over." Supposedly these things are carried by their guests and lush beats, but usually they've led to "The Boss" or "The Next Episode," or "How We Do," some of the laziest, most pro forma shit ever to gain notice. It's gotten especially bad in the post-Timbaland dirty south why-fix-808s-that-ain't-broken era. Thank fuck for the new era of autotune and The-Dream's bubbly airiness, an actual style alternative to Broke, finally heralding an album that sounds like the rich guy invested some of his bucks in it. The X-Files synths on "Face," the divebombing guitar fills on "Maybach Music 2" (actually everything on "Maybach Music 2"), the gorgeous and shit-simple hook on "All I Really Want," the attenuation to chord changes and arrangements and Isaac Hayes string-soaked crunch with actual bass and snares and some lived-in dimension to it. One "Maybach" star's own Late Registration sounds a little dinky next to the positively regal closer "In Cold Blood." Ne-Yo's jellied "Bossy Lady" does make me retch a little, but if there's a "Money Make Me Come" or "Hit U From the Back" here it's buried too well to ruin just the thing for a recession that looks to last a bit. This is an unsolicited, beautiful-sounding record by a lucky shithead enjoying himself and why not. The only missing party is Bill Callahan.

leaves wwia inside me

2009-04-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

Doing the WWIA thing again, now for Crawdaddy, starting with Unwound's beloved Leaves Turn Inside You. Reviewed the Brakes too.

200 posts

2009-04-20T03:20:00.000-07:00

for my 201st trick i will make pitchfork's credibility disappear

i don't really blog anymore

2009-04-16T02:59:00.000-07:00

but i will steal from yours, thx

Rules to review by:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation–at least one extended passage–of the book’s prose so the review’s reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending. (How astounded and indignant was I, when innocent, to find reviewers blabbing, and with the sublime inaccuracy of drunken lords reporting on a peasants’ revolt, all the turns of my suspenseful and surpriseful narrative! Most ironically, the only readers who approach a book as the author intends, unpolluted by pre-knowledge of the plot, are the detested reviewers themselves. And then, years later, the blessed fool who picks the volume at random from a library shelf.)

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author’s ouevre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it’s his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser. Do not accept for review a book you are predisposed to dislike, or committed by friendship to like. Do not imagine yourself a caretaker of any tradition, an enforcer of any party standards, a warrior in an idealogical battle, a corrections officer of any kind. Never, never (John Aldridge, Norman Podhoretz) try to put the author “in his place,” making him a pawn in a contest with other reviewers. Review the book, not the reputation. Submit to whatever spell, weak or strong, is being cast. Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.

—John Updike

(jacked from todd burns, king of the editors)

an alternative universe

2009-04-14T23:33:00.000-07:00

Alfred Soto on the worst year for indie rock since...one when my A-list didn't have to resort to Lily Allen.

nearly resisted labeling this "disturbia"

2009-04-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

This excellent, unsettling, necessary article breaks my heart.

blender

2009-03-29T00:37:00.000-07:00

is dead. so is this blog it appears.

EDIT: My buddy Ian sums up the magazine even better than Xgau: "I was a regular reader since I randomly picked up an issue in a convenience store to mock it and stumbled upon a really insightful piece on Elvis Costello."

living things

2009-02-18T02:05:00.001-08:00

mawdaddy

matt and kim

2009-02-06T15:08:00.000-08:00

boom, roasted.

on miley cyrus' "7 things"

2009-01-31T00:03:00.000-08:00

savy5683 (16 hours ago) -1 Reply | Spam
i like this song but i dont get y girls r always the ones who care more and take time to actually write a song about how we feel when all guys do is be all perverted and try to be such players. i wish they were a lil more like girls. just a lil.

jonasandmileylover11 (1 day ago) 0 Reply | Spam
miley i love u but get over nick already

but what's the point

2009-01-20T14:54:00.001-08:00

As Jemina Pearl looks more and more like Bradford Cox, the more I become her Marc Hogan.

a.w.h.o.a.w.d.

2009-01-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

whitewhiteliesx: is it
KissOutTheJams: is what
whitewhiteliesx: are we human or are we dancer
whitewhiteliesx: or
whitewhiteliesx: are we human or are we denster
whitewhiteliesx: denser
whitewhiteliesx: it sounds like dancer to me.

Theon: who could possibly think it was denser

whitewhiteliesx: theres apparently a controversy about this.
whitewhiteliesx: so lame.
KissOutTheJams: pretty great tbh
whitewhiteliesx: wtf does that mean though
KissOutTheJams: $
whitewhiteliesx: what
KissOutTheJams: $$
whitewhiteliesx: explain.
KissOutTheJams: it doesn't mean shit have you ever read a killers lyric
KissOutTheJams: WE'RE RIDING ON THE BACK OF A HURRICANE
whitewhiteliesx: that makes more sense.
KissOutTheJams: what is the back of a hurricane
KissOutTheJams: it doesn't make more sense it's just grammatically correct
whitewhiteliesx: it makes more sense to me.

Theon: it makes more sense to me too

it's like the hurricane is their steed, like a horse but more

and it's really chaotic but they're riding it anyway

fucking duh

Dan: except it's not because hurricanes don't have backs, people can't ride them, and if we could brandon flowers certainly wouldn't be one of the select few

Theon: it's a metaphor you moron

"hurricanes don't have backs" what the hell

did you know love is not actually a game and you can't play it

Dan: did you know i'm all ears doesn't actually refer to people made of ears

Theon: she was all legs

Dan: but was she human or dancer

Mix: 69 2008 Songs

2009-01-10T18:08:00.001-08:00

Exactly what it says. I think I'm sharking Matos a little here. File is 350 mb, go crazy.

it's 2009

2009-01-06T12:46:00.000-08:00

Saw Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls on NYE.

I'm very proud of how the WWIA poll came out and have about half the ex-Stylus staff to thank.

Also wrote up Seun Kuti, Blitzen Trapper, Okkervil River and Of Montreal for Jeff Weiss' year-end.

My own full lists coming soon, but here's my Pazz ballot:

1. Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward/Get Damaged 24
2. Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III/The Leak 15
4. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals 13
3. Portishead - Third 13
5. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst 8
7. Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It 7
4. No Age - Nouns 5
8. Stereolab - Chemical Chords 5
9. TV on the Radio - Dear Science 5
10. The Roots - Rising Down 5

1. Ashlee Simpson - "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)"
2. Okkervil River - "Pop Lie"
3. Be Your Own Pet - "Becky"
4. Conor Oberst - "I Don't Wanna Die (In a Hospital)"
5. Kathleen Edwards - "The Cheapest Key"
6. Phantom Planet - "Do the Panic"
7. Lil' Wayne - "A Milli"
8. Britney Spears - "Unusual You"
9. Wiley - "Wearing My Rolex"
10. Rihanna - "Disturbia"

i'll be rude i'll be rude i'll be rude

2008-12-18T15:47:00.001-08:00

Saw CSS last night.

rejected title: rock the ca$bah

2008-12-09T20:57:00.000-08:00

Long promised and in the making since July, my own personal Chinese Democracy: my first big-ass Voice feature on the controversial Web Sheriff.

09 grammys

2008-12-04T13:09:00.000-08:00

I haven't heard three Record of the Year noms and I own four. What does that say?

"American Boy" would be a cool SOTY.

Hai Kylie!

The rock categories are dismal. Go nuts, "House of Cards."

Alt category's also dismal. Go nuts, Narrow Stairs.

Why isn't Lay It Down sweeping? He's old enough, he's good enough, and doggone it, people like him.

Songs called "N.I.G.G.E.R." don't win awards from associations that don't let people title albums Nigger.

Ditto songs called "Sexual Eruption."

FUCK WEEZY "Royal Flush"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was this even officially released?

Such an odd rap year...Jay-Z's album is the weakest of the five!

There's a "best remix, non-classical" distinction?

Knock em dead, No Age.

chinese democracy

2008-11-22T18:17:00.000-08:00

I never cared about Guns n' Roses before, so why should I now? Except I thought everyone did, so I played the damn thing. Whoops, it's pretty great! So why won't anyone I want to talk about it with play it? Whoops, it turns out no one cares about it at all. The few critics I know who have claim they excised their "morbid curiosity" and fled. Something about lyrics or processed production. I have no idea what people expect from a Guns n' Roses record if not this. Sensationalism farted through a megaphone of excess no one over 18 thinks is cool. I see Chuck Klosterman's happy.

this is awesome

2008-11-14T21:38:00.000-08:00

Perf Spot featured KOTJ today (scroll a tad) and posted my apocalyptic Sarah Palin Mix from last week in an awesome streaming-player format, so you can listen to the sad sounds at work without having to download to your 'puter.

it don't matter if you're black or white

2008-11-12T23:08:00.000-08:00

Thoughts on TV on the Radio and the Knux.

if i go to heaven i'll be bored as hell

2008-11-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

Me and Cat saw Bright Eyes on Sunday with Ben Kweller.

we can

2008-11-05T01:45:00.000-08:00

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Q: What's the name of Obama's Jewish brother?

2008-11-04T16:53:00.000-08:00

A: Baruch Obama.

Chilling on erection day and getting that paper.

we are beautiful, we are only posting when we have plugs

2008-11-03T00:06:00.000-08:00

To break up the monotony of only posting shiz like eh, eh and eh, I've cobbled a mix for you lads and lasses.

This is my I-Hope-I-Really-Know-Barack's-Gonna-Win-So-I-Can-Have-Fun-With-Fantasies-Of-A-McCain-Palin-Dystopia joint.

including all the unlikely shit I've been jamming in these tuneless, dissonant times.

1. Gang of Four - Paralyzed
2. A Place to Bury Strangers - The Falling Sun
3. El-P - T.O.J.
4. Portishead - Hunter
5. Liars - Loose Nuts on the Veladrome
6. Tom Waits - Lowside of the Road
7. Aphex Twin - [windowsill]
8. Burial - Endorphin
9. Tricky - Tricky Kid
10. Clinic - Circle of Fifths
11. Cannibal Ox - Raspberry Fields
12. Sonic Youth - Karen Koltrane
13. Brian Eno/Jon Hassell - Be-Benzele
14. Tortoise - Along the Banks of Rivers
15. Magik Markers - Last of the Lemach Line
16. TV On the Radio - I Was a Lover
17. Tool - H
18. Primal Scream - Blood Money
19. Sigur Ros - Svefn-G-Englar
20. My Bloody Valentine - Loomer
21. Boards of Canada - Roygbiv

and trust me, Tool does fit.

mercury's in retrograde

2008-10-20T04:57:00.000-07:00

Takes on two albums I liked a little but haven't heard since I wrote about them: Bloc Party and Annie.

it's friday night

2008-10-18T00:06:00.000-07:00

Listening to the excellent new Blitzen Trapper, watched Biden's beautifully, sanely intolerant retort to Palin's McCarthyism. Earlier, a whiskey sour and Knocked Up, a great film whose greatness is too easy to undermine in retrospect. Feeling really good. Next week, I return to the city for CMJ and if I'm lucky I'll squeeze in a few visits to new apartments. Can't wait to see Gisela, Cosmo, George Clinton and some of my fat crew.

Wrote about the new Murs for the Voice and Crooked Fingers for The L, too. Mr. Lif, of Montreal, Menya and Parts & Labor pieces to follow.

what does it mean and what can you do about it

2008-10-11T04:32:00.000-07:00

I interviewed Glenn Mercer of the reunited Feelies back when they opened for Sonic Youth in Battery Park and after some media kerfuffles trying to get it printed, it finally ended up at PopMatters. This is probably the smoothest-flowing interview I've ever done, but both Pitchfork and A.V. Club passed on it as too inside-baseball. Either way, I swear I didn't know Mercer and I went to the same college. I presume his tuition was lower.

swagger like us

2008-10-03T03:54:00.000-07:00

It's been hectic, in case you were wondering. I don't like to use this blog for personal affairs, but I'll just throw it out here that if any readers have a lead on an NYC job (preferably a stabilized gig) for a guy with one editorial internship and two years of clips under his belt, please forward that to my email. Breaking in has been one big, infuriating catch-22.

But the freelancing's still okay:
Jenny Lewis
Okkervil River
T.I. / Peter Bjorn and John
Conor Oberst

sexify my love

2008-09-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

my love.

palindromes

2008-09-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Tom.

Gisela

2008-09-06T01:15:00.001-07:00

It is 4:14 am; I've finally gone and caught up on your blog.

Your birthday was fun. I don't remember saying that about Vampire Weekend. I might have been lying about my Williamsburg promise. You and Lindsey look blasted.

whoop that trick get 'em

2008-08-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

All you Pitchfork thugs.

moar liek paper thin BALLS

2008-08-20T00:24:00.000-07:00

I join the ranks of some of my favorite people (again), with my first piece for the talented Mr. Weingarten.

lady don't tek no

2008-08-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

Some essential reading from a techno crony.

oh and i got mugged

2008-08-16T23:42:00.000-07:00

No no no. No no no. Oh and I got mugged.

all y'all

2008-07-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

I profiled Travis Morrison, formerly the singer of my favorite band and sometime WWIA guest blogger, for Perfect Sound Forever. May the Official Forkocaust Denial begin.

i interviewed a girl and i liked it

2008-07-28T18:39:00.001-07:00

Before you ask, yes, her album's diminished for me in the weeks following. It's still better than you think.

Microcastle

2008-07-28T02:18:00.000-07:00

Bradford Cox should've called this one Cryptograms; I don't understand what makes it go (neither does he), but going it is. Songs I guess? Songlike blobs anyway, with a voice so passively delivered it needs to dress in drag and pull PR stunts and exploit its jarring body to be noticed in the mix. The codas still don't accumulate much mass, and this will never be Best or New anything. But it is Music; the haze is more Leaves Turn Inside You than Spiritualized. Good.

your mouth is stuck to a thousand fags

2008-07-22T22:29:00.000-07:00

Only a year late, I got the words "fuck the heck, you guys" into Voice papers all over the region. Your move, Southall.

sexcapades

2008-07-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

Read all about my history of fucking to Portishead.

y'all exploit rap culture, then y'all flip on us

2008-07-16T22:48:00.000-07:00

to debate a few points I'm reading:

on the charge that Nas is "cynical."

"We trust no black leaders, use the stove to heat us
Powdered eggs and government cheeses
The calendars with Martin, JFK and Jesus
Gotta be fresh to go to school with fly sneakers
Schools with outdated books, we are the forgotten
Summers, coolin off by the fire hydrant
Yeah I'm from the ghetto
Where old black women talk about their sugar level - it's not unusual
To see photos of dead homie's funerals
Aluminium foil on TV antennas
Little TV sit on top the big TV, eating TV dinners
Girls dye their hair with Kool-Aid
They gave us lemons, we made lemonade"

...and that's from the one called "N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave & the Master)!"

Next, from the Pitchfork review, on the consensus embarrassment "Sly Fox":

"The main difference is that "Channel Zero" risked alienation by confronting its target head on, whereas when it comes to preaching to the choir and picking easy fights, Nas has no problem being the Morgan Spurlock of this rap shit."

I know the guy who wrote this, and I respectfully dissent: who was the target of "Channel Zero?" Women? TV? Women who watch TV? Why is it less "head-on" to name the target "Fox" in the title? The Morgan Spurlock comparison...fair enough, but this is hip-hop, a genre with a rich history of cheap attention-whoring, cheaper controversy and butt-blatant political talking points. Enjoying the Obvious on Parade boils down to personal taste I guess, but what are we expecting, the 9/11 Commission? The Roots' album ain't deep either; it's also great. These albums are to put us in the mood for "revolution;" music alone doesn't change shit. And please, if he didn't want C-R-E-A-M, he'd be in the non-profit sector. Let's not pretend that by announcing a polemic venture Mr. Jones was taking some kind of Bodhisattva vow.

At which point, someone will point out that the beats are dull. I count two of those: "America" and "Testify." And they're still pretty good, easier to handle being sandwiched around a rocker. Actually, there's more variety here most of Nas' historically dull past beats. Besides the no-argument-here excellent "Queens Get the Money" and "Fried Chicken": blues guitar on "You Can't Stop Us Now" giving way to tastefully regal horn charts, "Sly Fox"'s dated and fun riffs 'r' us, "Louis Farrakhan"'s quietly intense backward-string collage, and--like it or not--two beauteous synth-poppers to rest your head, one featuring--egad--a teen heartthrob. Maybe this is another matter of personal taste, but I like a little "I burn so many trees I keep environmentalists angry" and "I'm over their heads like a bulimic on a seesaw" between manifestos.

Is Nas confused? Yes. Has there ever been a rapper who wasn't?

crown heights get the money

2008-07-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

me: any thoughts on the upcoming randy newman

Alfred: it's slipped under my radar
is there a concept?

me: it's self-titled so maybe it's about kikes

Alfred: AT LAST
writing about Real People!

5 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

2008-07-16T01:01:00.000-07:00

Cover image is wrong!, June 12, 2008
By M. Bell "Jill Scott's #1 FAN" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

Lil Wayne is a joke. The cover pic of him as a toddler with gang symbols and bling is wrong. Role model he ain't. Crimminal he is.

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I miss

2008-07-15T00:53:00.000-07:00

the days when the Donnas were bubblegum in riot grrls' clothing.

Girl Talk

2008-07-14T03:45:00.000-07:00

See, artists usually get better. Munchkins I deemed overhyped in '04, '05, 06: Antony, Hot Chip, Dizzee, Weezy, and sure, Conor Oberst. Grownups making my year in '08: Antony, Hot Chi--you get the idea. The trend continues; maybe because there's been so much hype with the mp3 blog explosion around the above years that I should've known they were onto something. But Greg Gillis? I didn't have anything to expect from a guy whose deal is something I once claimed to be able to do myself. I'll listen back to Night Ripper, but I'm secure this deepening one-trick pony has never made a record as good as Feed the Animals, which has a lovely title in an AC/DC you-want-blood-you-got-it way.

Same deal, new mash-ups. But these are less name-that-tune and more tune-that-rap, and the samples are more practical and melodic and they last a little longer, just enough this time to actually get your fill. Miracles include the best "Since U Been Gone" I've ever heard (braided with Nine Inch Nails), the best "Jessie's Girl" I've ever heard (Chipmunked: perfect), the only "Born Slippy" I've ever needed, M.I.A.'s toneless warble tuning itself to the Cranberries, and my favorite moment: "Whoomp! There It is" over the celebratory guitar break from "In a Big Country." Thanks for the emphasis on palm-muted 80s guitar, the previously unknown correlation between "Ghetto Supastar" and Yo La Tengo, and the funeral Pimp C deserves...over Journey.

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

2008-07-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

I did a brief interview with Ponytail.

idolator sez

2008-07-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

List your favorite album from each year since you were born. So I'll play.

1985 - The Velvet Underground - VU
1986 - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto
1987 - Paul Simon - Graceland
1988 - Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1989 - Aerosmith - Pump
1990 - The Chills - Submarine Bells
1991 - My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
1992 - Alice in Chains - Dirt
1993 - Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville / PJ Harvey - Rid of Me (tie)
1994 - Sonic Youth - Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star
1995 - Tricky - Maxinquaye / Luna - Penthouse (tie)
1996 - DJ Shadow - Endtroducing...DJ Shadow
1997 - Radiohead - OK Computer
1998 - Sonic Youth - A Thousand Leaves / Sunny Day Real Estate - How it Feels to be Something On (tie)
1999 - The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs / The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I (tie)
2000 - Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
2001 - Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You
2002 - The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee
2003 - Yo La Tengo - Summer Sun
2004 - Nellie McKay - Get Away From Me
2005 - Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
2006 - Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
2007 - The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
2008 (so far anyway) - Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward

edit: ten bonus years just for the hell of it

1975 - Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
1976 - Brian Eno - Another Green World
1977 - Television - Marquee Moon
1978 - Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians
1979 - Nick Lowe - Labour of Lust
1980 - Jon Hassell/Brian Eno - Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics
1981 - X - Wild Gift
1982 - Lou Reed - The Blue Mask
1983 - R.E.M. - Murmur
1984 - The Replacements - Let it Be

oh and

2008-07-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

I did end up meeting Ned! And Alex in NYC! Good, slightly overpriced, times.

Nas

2008-07-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

Who cares that the title was excised by Pussies On Top? This is the real Hip Hop is Dead. Except it's America is Dead. Slyer and less dry than the Roots' excellent-and-still-gaining Rising Down, Nas is his smartest and most motivated album since his last smartest and most motivated one (he only has three). And while there will be more on this in my Illmatic essay for WWIA later this summer, anyone who thinks "sleep is the cousin of death" or "fuck with your soul like ether" is deeper than "Coon Picnic (These are Our Heroes)" or "Poppa Was a Playa" needs to check themself before they riggedy wreck themself.

shit.

2008-06-30T01:55:00.001-07:00

Heh, my computer died last week. New one's on the way. Crucial information has been missed in the intervening period...sorry Ned, Jason! I really did want to meet y'all! I owe Mr. Gross in particular a bajillion apologies for turning in my latest piece ever, the Travis Moz interview I laid to tiny, tiny tape months ago.

Consolation prizes:

D.X. Ferris's 33 1/3: Reign in Blood
Dizzee Rascal's Maths + English

why are all these

2008-06-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

MEN getting upset that Liz didn't thank them?

My Girlysounds boo has my eternal benefit of the doubt even though she shut me out of her NYC Guyville shows this week; her acoustic mini at the World Cafe for Somebody's Miracle was my favorite show of that year. And if someone wants the argument, I'll start it. Compare falloffs: Somebody's Miracle or White Chalk. Yeah, I'll take the tunes.

2008-06-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hey! Power to the people.

late-night playlist

2008-06-17T02:52:00.000-07:00

At the Drive-In - Enfilade
The Flaming Lips - The Spark That Bled
Built to Spill - Carry the Zero
No Age - Escarpment
Portishead - The Rip
Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl
Akrobatik - A to the K
Tab the Band - CYT
Weezer - Pork and Beans
My Morning Jacket - Two Halves
Lil' Wayne - A Milli
Snoop Dogg feat. Everlast - My Medicine
Sun Kil Moon - Neverending Math Equation
The Hold Steady - Sequestered in Memphis
Oruc Guvenc - Bismillah Ar-Rahman
The Streets - Empty Cans
The Notwist - Good Lies
Modest Mouse - Other People's Lives
Fleet Foxes - English House
The Dandy Warhols - We Used to be Friends
Jay-Z feat. R. Kelly - Guilty Until Proven Innocent

jigga, kelly, not guil-ty

2008-06-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm often asked why the fuck Tom Breihan is one of my favorite crits in the game, because a lot of people think he's fucking crazy, and while that may have something to do with it, it's mostly because he properly communicates the in-between in his convictions. Like me, he can't resist sprawling about first impressions and he's willing to admit when an album that took his fancy, like Young Buck's Buck the World, disappeared completely. It's important to me because I find not enough critics leave roadmaps, and an album as, say, rewarding but truly intrinsically difficult as Hell Hath No Fury that still makes little melodic sense 20 plays in, can be extra-irritating when it feels like the rest of the world bit from the get-go.

Anyway, this is some premature ejaculation shit....all that buildup just to link you here. Dude's responsible about conflating fandom with justice, and he sums it up with the right cautionary distance from his subject. Good job, B.