Goobye 2007

There might've been more lows than highs this past year.

So, I'm gladly anticipating 2008's arrival. Things will be healthier this year.

Be wonderful
miguel

Last year's top 40(+2)

While procrastinating on naming a top X0 for 2007, I dug back into the AgainAgainMixCD blog to pull up this post about my fave 2006 tracks.

I'm thinking that the music of that year meant a little more for me than the music this year.

There's no obvious #1 like Crazy, and the Swedish contingent failed to follow up their #2,#3,#4 trifecta with anything classic. And without a proper Soul Brunch this year, Wiseacre and Caparro didn't get me pumped about anything dance-wise.

Anyhow, my favorite songs from last year (email me your snailmail address, and I'll send you a cd with all of these mp3s.

m





The Top 40 songs of 2006:

These are the songs that lodged themselves in my head and in my life this year. For those of you that work with me, you’ve no doubt heard a badly sung version of every single one of these.

Without further rambling, my Top 40(+2) of the Year:

1. Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
Everyone's favorite of 2006, possibly? Post.
2. I Wish I Could See You Soon – Herman Dune
Swedish pop sweetness. Post.
3. Sweet Summer’s Night on Hammer Hill – Jens Lekman
Swedish sweetness that goes 'bum-ba-dum-ba-dum-ba-dum-dum-dum-dum' during a drunken woozy dancing house party.
4. We’re from Barcelona – I’m From Barcelona
Swedish innocence with cuteness in abundance. Everyone can be friends, if we don't take ourselves too seriously.
5. Star Witness – Neko Case
Alt-country noir from the biggest best belting voice in alternative music.
6. Pata Pata – Miriam Makeba
A 40 year-old world music gem from a South African block party. Saw her in Zurich on her farewell tour.
7. Love Generation – Bob Sinclair
Sundrenched balaeric dance pandemonium. A favorite of the Soul Brunch crew.
8. Lived in Bars – Cat Power
Another chanteuse, backed by memphis horns. See her live when you have the chance.
9. Alone Again Or – Calexico
High-desert Southwestern rollicking but heartbreaking cover of an Arthur Love classic.
10. Young Folks – Peter, Bjorn and John
The whistling song on Grey's Anatomy. The song I whistled while... never mind.
11. Never Went to Church - Streets
English rapper Mike Skinner's eulogy for his dad. Can I bring a tear to your eye.
12. Lazy Eye – Silversun Pickups
Sure they sound a lot like the Smashing Pumpkins. But this *rocks*.
13. Don’t Feel Like Dancing – Scissor Sisters
We could all use a little more flamboyantly gay songs in our life.
14. You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes – Johnny Boy
Phil Spector girl group production = pure pop moments.
15. Music is Power – Richard Ashcroft
Curtis Mayfield sampling Britpop. One of the few 'deep' songs on this list.
16. Sun Comes in Circles – Brice Frillici
From out of nowhere, Beach Boys by way of the Mission District
17. Chewing Gum – Hey Willpower f. Annie
A total tart of a pop song for those of us who are over Gwen, Fergie & Xtina.
18. Steal Yr Face – Bobby Birdman
Downtempo. Stolen melodies from a fellow Portlander.
19. Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken – Camera Obscura
Straight ahead alternative pop song. I mean this in the best possible way.
20. So Far We Are – French Kicks
Brooklyn hipster's disaffected anthem. Post.
21. Made Up Love Song #43 – Guillemots
London hipster's besotted spellbound joyous hymn. Post.
22. Spoon Me – Ohm
Digital Swedish goodness. Toes the line between 80s new wave and something newer and better.
23. Phantom Limb – The Shins
A grower, for shore. It won't change your life like in Garden State, but may lead to a slight improvement in it.
24. Northern Lites – Super Furry Animals
Summertime horns and salsa beat from, erm, insane Welshmen.
25. Parentheses – The Blow
Another grower. Sweet handholding from a couple more Portlanders.
26. Do the Whirlwind – Architecture from Helsinki
Eclectic Australians wander all over the place but never stray from a good melody.
27. Treehouse – I’m From Barcelona
Eclectic Swedes (not Barcelonans) sing the joys of bringing someone back to your treehouse. Not a metaphor.
28. Teenage Feeling – Neko Case
That voice again. Remember the way it used to feel? Let's find it again.
29. Wildcat (E*vax mix) - Ratatat
Slightly more uptempo mix of the arena 'snarling cat' electro classic.
30. Eanie Meany – Jim Noir
The Adidas world cup song.
31. Jogging – Islands
More alternative pop goodness from the former Unicorns.
32. Happy Birthday, Dear Friend – Jens Lekman
Second appearance in the top 40 for Jens' wonderfilled, sweet guileless goodness.
33. Come to Me – Koop
Jazziest, smoothest laid-back lounge number of the year.
34. He Knows the Sun – Legends
Crap! More Swedes. And, predictably, more synthpop melody.
35. Steady As She Goes – The Raconteurs
36. One Night – Brothers and Sisters/By Your Side – Beachwood Sparks
One's a Sade cover done Easy California rock style, the other its more indie twin.
37. Chinese Translation – M Ward
A blues number that asks questions than loops the story back into itself.
38. Dancing with Myself – Nouvelle Vague
Brazilian-tinged lounge cover of the Billy Idol classic.
39. Kelly – Van She
Might well have been lifted out of a John Hughes 80s movie.
40. America – Razorlight
In a year of bands second more serious albums, Britpop wasn't left out.
41. Gold Lion – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Karen O rocks my world. Such charisma. Such pipes.
42. That Old Pair of Jeans – Fatboy Slim
In which DJ Norman Cook looks for that uplifting post-break up song.

Christmas gift!

Big thanks to Marcus for picking up this poster for me as a Christmas gift. (UPDATE: the poster comes from a designer named Erick Montes, who happens (if his website is up to date) be a student at Portfolio Center. Lots of other cool posters up at his site. Especially dig the Pretty Girls Make Graves one).

Many, many more available from many, many other bands at http://lonestarposters.com

Lazy Blogger Friday: Wild Thing (Peaches duet)

LBF: Quad City DJs

I miss The Box and calling up a 900 number just to see a video. Damn you, YouTube!

Live Rue Melo w/ Momma Stud @ Safari Sam's - Flavorpill Los Angeles

My fine friends at emoto music put me on the guest list on Wednesday night for a show by this young lady and her tight backing band. They had a good vibe, like when The Roots back up someone. She was sexy in what in Miami is called a 'red' kind of way. Super tight jeans and a midriff highlighting top (PB couldn't stop looking and felt slightly guilty about it. I told him that people'd be looking at his belly if he wore the same thing and that seemed to placate him.)

She exuded a certain sexiness and confidence that felt, well, a little off. Like she was playing at it while wearing her mother's pearls and make-up. But she undeniably has appeal and a nice voice. Interesting that her most ardent fans at the Temple Bar show seemed to be women.

Marcus says they sound like the Black Eyed Peas, which I agree with only in the sense that there's a pop/r&b/funk melange with hip-hop call and responses occasionally. Most of her music falls into a more standard r&b/funk stew with a touch of world music in her polyglot musings.

Anyhow, they're off to open for G-Love.

DOWNLOAD: Rue Melo - Enamorado

Rue Melo w/ Momma Stud @ Safari Sam's - Flavorpill Los Angeles: "Rue Melo w/ Momma Stud

Parisian chanteuse Rue Melo makes exactly the kind of music her name suggests: a soulful, low-key mashup of international accents (English, French, and Spanish) fleshed out with exotic, world-weary lyrics. The daughter of a French dancer mom and a Uruguayan guitarist father, Melo effortlessly ties together hip-hop, rock, dancehall, reggae, and flamenco. Though she's best known for the somber ballad 'Fallen' (recently featured on Showtime's The L Word), her recently released self-titled debut hits decidedly spicier notes, and her live show is a sweaty, on-your-feet affair."

Lists: gorillavsbear.net: favorite songs of 2007

Interesting how little overlap there is between their lists, and my prospective list.

There's no Crazy this year uniting everyone's opinions. Is this a function of music distribution becoming so spread out and decentralized? We're listening to a million different podcasts, not one radio station or even a few.

Looking through their lists, I see Girl Talk - Knife (remix), Leslie Feists's - I feel it all and .... and... and.... some Polyphonic Spree, which I don't expect to see on national lists (GvB is a Dallas blog). Oh, and LCD should get a little love here and there.

But overall, I think a very scattershot year, single/mp3-wise. People be all over the map and shit.

My list to come over Christmas break, complete with a downloadable .zip file.

gorillavsbear.net: favorite songs of 2007

OPP Mix edition: An Elephant and an Apple Tree

Focusing my efforts on beating Guitar Hero III on Medium (Damn you Devil-that-goes-down-to-Georgia), so we're stealing other people's property today.

While looking through hype machine for The Shaky Hands - a Portland indie band that's hotly tipped - found this birthday mix and liked it.

Let's see today is or would've been Randy Rhoads birthday, Peter Buck's or Steven Wright's birthdays.

Also, happy birthday to Ella "Almost Day of Infamy" Wesson on her 1st birthday.
An Elephant and an Apple Tree: "Happy Birthday Mix"

Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good: It’s all like Ka-KOW! � Blog Archive � Best Music Videos of 2007

Lazily cribbing someone else's culling of music videos for you to watch. Head over to the always excellent Music for Kids Who Can't Read Good (Can't Listen Good?) for some neat visual/audio treats.

Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good: It’s all like Ka-KOW! � Blog Archive � Best Music Videos of 2007: "Best Music Videos of 2007 Here listed before you are hands-down the 22 best music videos of the year 2007. I’m not saying I watched every music video in 2007, but I’m just going to assume that all the other ones completely suck (for purposes of this list). I’m estimating it would take about an hour and a half to watch all these videos, but seriously, do you have anything better to do today? To make it easier though, I’ve embedded them all below. Also, except for the bottom three (which are the best) the order is completely random. As you can tell by the list I like videos that use stop-motion, videos all done in one take, bright colors, interesting effects, Wes Anderson nods, changing t-shirts, ridiculously high drum cymbals, etc. As always, If you have any favorites videos from the year that you think I missed, make sure to leave it in the comments. Also, you’ll want to click here to see the whole list."

Metallica is a Freakin' Rock Band

"It's a whole new world" - Celene Dion (or somebody equally as sucky).

Lots of interesting things to be happening as the music and video game worlds collide. Activision is merging with Vivendi Entertainment owners of the Universal Music Group, which should put some fire into downloadable tracks for Guitar Hero III and for Guitar Hero IV whenever that arrives. And now comes news that Metallica is seeking to release their first new track on Rock Band.

Cooler than releasing it at Starbucks a la Sir Paul, though I wouldn't put it past the Ulrich crew to purposely fuck with their audience by releasing their new stuff at the coffee giant.

Alternative means of distribution are going to be the rule, not the exception.

-mc

Oh, and +1 to the writer of this article for the great, wry note in the very last sentence of the article.


From http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/rock-band-gets-new-mettalica/18721/

New Metallica might not mean as much to some as "classic" Metallica but it certainly is something. One of the world's largest rock bands is planning on premiering their new album using DLC and Rock Band.

Posted by David Radd on Monday, December 03, 2007

Rock Band has already fared very well at retail, primarily because of the varietal base set of 45 licensed tracks. While there's already been an impressive list of announced downloadable songs from artists like Queens of the Stone Age, The Police and Black Sabbath, it turns out MTV is determined to make Rock Band a medium to premiere new songs before they even hit the radio. Today, the Rocky Mountain News confirmed that Metallica will premiere new material using DLC for Rock Band.

"There are a couple of things we've committed to, one of them with Metallica for example," said Paul DeGooyer, MTV's senior vice president of home entertainment, music and games. "They've reserved the right to give us their first single from their new album for the game."

"Playing (Rock Band) is really a new way to experience music at a time when music is at a substantial risk of becoming a lifestyle accessory. It really does let you climb inside the music you love and experience it in a new way. I think it has tremendous promise for the music industry," he added

Other confirmed future contributors to Rock Band DLC include The Who, Nirvana and The Grateful Dead, although their material will not be new.

OPmP3: Cat Power - Stuck Inside of Mobile with a Bob Dylan cover

Head over to Dead Flowers for the new Cat Power mp3 from the Bob Dylan 'biopick' - "I'm Not There" Dead Flowers: Anglophiles Anonymous: "Cat Power: Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (Dylan Cover)"