THE SONGS OF THE YEAR!

In my opinion!

Annuals - Hot Night Hounds

Augie March - Lupus


Bodies of Water - Darling, Be Here

Born Ruffians - I Need a Life


Boston Spaceships - You Satisfy Me
Bound Stems - Taking Tips From The Gallery Gang
Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning - Churches Under The Stairs
The Broken West - Auctioneer
I would have preferred "Invitation to Love," but this is my second choice:
Catfish Haven - Devastator
Centro-Matic - Rat Patrol and DJs


Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree
Chairlift - Planet Health
A Classic Education - Stay, son
Cloud Cult - No One Said It Would Be Easy
Cold War Kids - Dreams Old Men Dream
Conor Oberst - Sausalito
The Constatines - Our Age


Crooked Fingers - Cannibals
The Cure - The Only One
Cut Copy - So Haunted
David Byrne and Brian Eno - Home
Dead Confederate - Goner
Death Cab for Cutire - Your New Twin Size Bed
The Delta Spirit - Trashcan


This may be my favorite song:
The Dodos - Jodi
Dr. Dog - From


The Felice Brothers - Frankie's Gun!
Avett Brothers - Souls Like Wheels


The Envy Corps - Rhinemaidens (not so great band name)


Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why
Flight of the Conchords - Ladies of the World


Flogging Molly - Punch Drunk Grinning Soul


Another big favorite:
Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper
Fucked Up - No Epiphany
The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
Grand Archives - The Crime Window
Hallelujah The Hills - Nurses 5 Float Past
Since I can't decide between these 3:
The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
The Helio Sequence - Lately
The Helio Sequence - Hallelujah

Jason Anderson - Watch Your Step
Jay Reatard - Nightmares
Land Of Talk - Young Bridge
Laura Marling - Shine

Even more of me not being able to decide on a favorite:
The Little Ones - Morning Tide
The Little Ones - Rise and Shine
The Little Ones - Boracay
Love as Laughter - Coconut Flakes
Lykke Li - Breaking It Up
Manchester Orchestra - I Was A Lid
Marching Band - Sparkle

A cover, but a great cover!
Marnie Stern - Don't Stop Believin'

Mates of State - The Re-Arranger
The Morning Benders - Waiting for a War


Nada Surf - I Like What You Say
Natalie Portman's Shaved Head - Beard Lust


This is another favorite and I actually posted this video before
The Night Marchers - Jump in the Fire


Noah and the Whale - 5 Years Time
The Notwist - Good Lies
Okay - My
Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines
Paper Rival - Foreign Film Collection (wow. bad name.)


Parenthetical Girls - Four Words

It was between this and "solemn show world". So...this
Parts & Labor - Nowhere's Nigh


PAS/CAL - Summer is Almost Here


Yes I know the video is great for this song...
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
Plants and Animals - Bye Bye Bye

Plus/Minus - Snowblind


Pomegranates - Appreciations
Port O'Brien - Fisherman's Son

REM - Supernatural Superserious


Ra Ra Riot - Can You Tell
The Rural Alberta Advantage - The Ballad of The RAA
Santogold - L.E.S Artistes
School of Language - Disappointment '99

She & Him - Sentimental Heart


Shearwater - Leviathan, Bound
Shugo Tokumaru - Green Rain
Spiritualized - Soul On Fire
Tall Firs - So Messed Up

Thao Nguyen - Bag of Hammers


Tilly And The Wall - Pot Kettle Black
Tokyo Police Club - Tessellate
TV on the Radio - Golden Age
The Walkmen - In the New Year
The War On Drugs - Arms Like Boulders
Wax Fang - Cannibal Summer
The Week That Was - The Good Life

Wild Beasts - The Devil's Crayon


The only really good song on this sophmore slumper:
Wolf Parade - California Dreamer
Women - Lawncare
Wye Oak - Obituary
Frances - All the While
The Old Believers - Granny's Song
Arms - Shitty Little Disco
The Middle East - Blood
My Morning Jacket - Smokin from Shootin

Blitzen Trapper - Furr


Thrown together and way too lengthy, I am finally finished.

Movies that enjoyed me watching them...

In the past year, I've seen these movies and enjoyed them very much. Many of them were released before this year. But you forgive me for that. I know you do.
So here it goes:

Boy A - Best movie
Son of Rambow
3:10 to Yuma
Bobby
Rambo - see it to believe it
City of Men
Charlie Bartlett
Great World of Sound
Teeth
Cloverfield
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
King of Kong
Slumdog Millionaire
Rocket Science
Children of Men
Wall-E - the other Best Movie of the Code of Ethnics year
The Orphanage
Rescue Dawn
Iron Man
The Dark Knight

Just Great!

This pisses me off!

Everywhere I go, all that I see are "Yes on 8" signs. I had no idea there were so many Mormons or Nazis in our beloved City of Angels.

How can anyone honestly support something that is based on hate and bullshit?

Of all the measures and propositions, this one seems to be the only one where it's simply a matter of right and wrong. Voting No is RIGHT. Voting Yes is WRONG.

If you vote Yes on this, you are not far off from Hitler. You are feeding people to the lions. Let's evolve. Become smarter and less stupid!

And seriously, have you seen the ads for the 'Yes on 8' campaign? I'm pretty sure they are about as stupid as they come. Even my parents don't support it!

-Paid for by Protectagainstprotectmarriage.com

What Do We Know - TV Funhouse

Deep thoughts copied and posted html code

DeepThoughtsByJackHandey.com

Wainy Days does it AGAIN!

Much better than the other episodes in this third season of Wainy Days.

More of the same! (Music-related post)

Dear Diary,
As I sit here watching the Guatemalan Handshake, I wonder where they got that wacky car. Besides that Bonnie 'Prince' Billy guy, is there any other reason to be curious about this movie?

Wild Beasts - The Devil's Crayon
It's like The Dodos having sex with XTC on a cargo flight from the land of Freedom to one of the British Islands.



The Rural Alberta Advantage - Goodnight
I don't know, it's just good in that sincere yet clever kind of way.



The Morning Benders - Waiting for a War
Maybe something like the Shins or the Little Ones?



And speaking of...
The Little Ones - Lovers Who Uncover
I rejected these fellows at first, for the obvious comparisons. The album cover didn't help their case. But this song proves an enthusiasm and mastery for this that makes them stand on their own 8 (10?) feet. Of which, I'm assuming, none are wooden.
If that's the case, then they suck.



The Night Marchers - Jump in the Fire
The Rocket From the Crypt guy won't go away and keeps starting new bands with more or less the same people. This song is like REM. Sorry about it being live.



And since I'm showing my oldness,
Unwound - Valentine Card
This is the best song by these assholes.

Boom Crash Opera (early 90's?)

I remember this video on 120 Minutes in the early 90's and I remember liking it.
The dance involving the fists...is pretty great. If not just pretty.

Neutral Milk Hotel

According to the 33 1/3 book, this song is a sort of companion song to Oh, Comely

Deatch Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs

This is my favorite song of the past two days.
I've got to hand it to Ben Gibbard. He plays perfectly to his strengths.
Which is not having a strong or very distinctive singing voice.
But he's perfectly suited for this.

Death Cab For Cutie - The Ice is Getting Thinner

The Code of Ethnics Hit Machine

I just listened to this Islands song on their Mypsacepage.
And, although I tired of the Islands songs I heard on their previous effort, this one might stick with me longer.
Islands - The Arm

The Dodos have taken the freak folk thing and made it less "freaky" and more listenable.



The Shout Out Louds obviously love The Cure, but after listening to this, maybe more bands should make it obvious. Or not. It's their choice.



Throw Me the Statue cover this Guided By Voices song in a very safe and pleasant way. But it's still a good cover. Since the song is pretty simple and lo-fi in the first place.



Thurston Moore playing a song that's mostly got acoustic guitar, still sounds a lot like Sonic Youth. Maybe it's that voice of his.



Port O'Brien with a wonderful video and a great song. This may be what the Decemberists would sound like if they would just stop reading for one second!



Plants and Animals with an Arcade Fire-y song. Minus the organs. But I think there's just as much Canada involved.



This song needs to be heard more by you.

Horrible People!

A.D. Miles of The Ten and Wainy Days-megafame, has his own show on the MyDamnChannel network. And it's going to replace your current favorite telenovela. I mean that, in the sense of it will now BECOME your favorite telenovela. Did I even spell that correctly? Jesus fucking Christ! I can't do anything right, mother.

Oh hell! Here!

This music has been recently enjoyed BY ME

Okay. OKAY. Back up. I'll get to all your questions in due time. I just want you to hear me out on what I have to say about some new-to-me music:

Firsties, I heard the Basia Bulat album called "Oh, My Darling" and it may not have broken any ground, but it's a solid piece of effort. Similar in many ways to Annie Clark and her St. Vincent. Only this girl is less curly, more blonde and much more Canadian.
Try this song
Basia Bulat - Snakes and Ladders
Also, the new R.E.M. album is a total hit machine.
Who knew those old farts had it in 'em to put out such an energetic record!
I think these fellows went back to college and got into the mind of the youngsters. Possibly by way of survey or extortion.
Check out R.E.M. - Accelerate !

Work is almost over for me, so I'm going to finish this off with these picks o' the week:
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down (or something like that) - Bee stings blah blah blah
School of Language
The Constantines - Kensington Heights
Fleet Foxes - the ep and the other things

Come to think of it, the Fleet Foxes releases are probably the best things I/you/me have heard or not heard at all this year.

Okay, this has fallen apart. But I have to go.

I'm offended

As a beautiful, surfer who earned all 4 of his degrees at UCLA, this really chaps my proud, perfectly tanned, Californian hide that these guys aren't even American!


Oh, by the way, The Thrills - Big Sur

Happy now?

New Music

Listen up!

I love new music. I just totally do.
I also love some old music.
But not all of it.
Do you know what I mean?
Now that I think of it, I definitely don't like ALL new music either.
In fact, I probably dislike most of it.

Let's drink to not making a commitment to much of anything.

Pau-erhouse Trade!

Yes, I stole that headline from some awful sports site.
But, it doesn't mean I wouldn't have thought of it eventually. Maybe three years down the line.

Pau Gasol coming to the Los Angeles Lakers Basketball Team of California, USA is probably going to mean some serious business to all those other teams that were losing to the Lakers anyway.

Also, he looks like Jesus. So, he's back and it's not even EASTER!!!!!!!

Panda Bear Person Pitch I Don't Get It

Really, I don't. I just don't think that this Freak Folk stuff is for me.

And if it's not for me, then why would you even bother making it?

I thought I was your muse. And this muse couldn't possibly inspire that noise. Which is the bad noise.

From now on, I'm sticking to boring, old-man music.

Or the 90's bands that old people like me remember.

Yeah! That!



And what's up with that album cover?
They're going into turn to prunes if they don't hurry up and get out!

Don't listen to this Panda Bear - Comfy in Nautica

There will be blood - Not My Review

Abraham Munoz said his favorite part of There Will Be Blood is when Daniel Day Lewis is standing on top of the hill holding a machine gun in each hand and he screams 'there wiLL BE BLOOD!!!!!!"

then the oil explodes out of the ground behind him

and he surfs down the river of oil on a wooden plank shooting indians

Wainy Nights

David Wain just won't stop putting out completely great, well almost completely great, material for our viewing pleasure.
Does this guy ever sleep?!? What a workhorse!
He's like a clydesdale delivering beer day after day.
Or week after week.
That means he only gets, like, 6 days of rest a week!?!?!?!
WTF!
I'm assuming that he spends all those other days at the Synagogue.

Hopefully MTV will get its butt in gear and release those State DVDs. ASAP.

And remember:

Luck is Opportunity Coupled with Preparation

Juno Soundtrack is out!

This movie is one of the best I've seen in a long time. And the soundtrack is just as good. I'd never paid attention to the Moldy Peaches or Kimya Dawson before this movie. Now I listen to them both some times. But not at the same time. Beware: some of the lyrics aren't for children or total weenies.

The Moldy Peaches - Anywhere But here

If nothing else, buy the shit out of it!

Horton Hatches an Egg

Skip ahead to about 6:45 and watch.