Snobfest 2010!

It is that time again kids! Actually it's a bit early, but patience is not something in which I excel. Anyway, here is Snobfest 2010! A collection of some of my favorite songs from 2010. There should be at least one song on here for someone. Except for the hip-hop fans. All my favorite hip-hop tracks were from artists on previous Snobfests or just too popular. Hit the link below for the zip file. You can also buy the songs on iTunes just search for Snobfest 2010. The iTunes playlist is short a few songs because they don't have the tracks. Either way, enjoy. If you would actually like a hard copy on disk with artwork rather than make your own let me know.

SNOBFEST 2010

Directions: Download and unzip file. Put file in music folder. In iTunes select "import playlist" and choose the Snobfest 2010 text file in folder. Print jpg cover if you want

For Those Who Wished There Was a Modern Day ABBA (Yes, I Realize That Includes Everyone of Us)

Don't deny it! If you look deep down inside your heart you will find that part that bursts with joy when you hear "Waterloo." Enjoy.



Whoa-whoa-whoa-oh-oh!

So, This Might Only Be of Interest to Jiff's Buddy Steven, But At Least It's Not Idol or Baseball Post

What's up family, and friends, and people who Google image searched Judas Priest album covers? It's time for me to bore you with another post about a band I really like, and most of you don't. It's not the Twilight Singers/Afghan Whigs, but the second band I've written the most about...The Hold Steady. One of the reasons they show up so frequently is that they release albums as often as I date. Which is pretty frequent for an artist. Not so frequent for me.

Since their album Separation Sunday, they have become a first day of release purchase for me. In fact they have become and anticipated release artist. I look forward to it. I mark it in my Blackberry's calendar. 7/15/08 is when their new album hits stores. Today, they put their first single, "Sequestered in Memphis," up on myspace. See it's good for music, not just cyberstalking. I've already played the song six times today. It's The Hold Steady with power chords, and organ, and piano, and horns, and sing-a-long choruses. They even include some hand claps in the breakdown. Yes, Finn is still singing, which means most of you will only be able to get past 24 seconds of the song. Jiff's buddy Steven likes them, so maybe he will stumble upon this post and click on the myspace link and listen to the song and enjoy it.

Let's keep this going for a little bit. Today is my second guitar lesson with a guy named Steve. Imagine if Jerry Garcia as a surfer and about a hundred pounds lighter, and you've just pictured what my teacher looks like. His "teaching room" is basically a walk in closet in this guitar shop. He sits in this old 70's like chair like a California Buddha, and spouts out his guitar knowledge. He also sprinkles it with a few ramblings, and pauses while he tries to collect a memory from a most likely weed clouded mind. I'm basically saying that I couldn't have a more entertaining guitar teacher. His one comment about me, "You seem practical, so lets go with that."

One of the Bad Things About LA

Last night I drove all the way into Hollywood to see the Gutter Twins at the Avalon. The band sounded great. Dulli roared and Lanegan growled. From "God's Children" to "Live With Me" to "St. James Infirmary" the band rolled along not missing a beat. They closed the set with one of my new favorite songs, "Front Street." Dulli commanded the stage like he always does. He said goodnight. So far a wonderful night of rock and roll. Then the house lights came up. That's right...no encore. I was a little bummed and felt a little stupid standing there clapping and cheering for an encore. Then I got over it because I knew why there was no encore. The audience was awful. Even by LA standards it was an awful audience, and I'm not one of those people who thinks encores should be standard. Were there people screaming their heads off, clapping and dancing? There were but they only accounted for about a fifth of the audience. So, yes those us got screwed out of an encore. I consider it like being Kevin Garnett on all those years on an awful Timberwolves team. You can put as much heart and soul into it, but sometimes it's those around you that keep you from making the playoffs. After blasting through Idle Hands and seeing mostly blank stares, I started thinking that we wouldn't get an encore. Maybe it was the rainy night, but I've better crowds on worse nights. Maybe it was the Avalon, but a year ago it was one of the best crowds I've seen at the same venue. So, I don't know what it is, but I am getting a little tired of it. LA crowds on the whole tend to act too cool for school. Maybe I need to start seeing concerts in other states.

Snobfest 2007: The Songs

Finally, we are at the end. Here are my favorite songs of 2007. If you live in LA, you can as always ask for a copy. For those who don't, I've decided to do things a little different this year. I've embedded a flash player for the playlist if you simply want to listen. I've also compiled them all into a zip file to download here. Let me know if you have a problem opening the zip file.

Now on to the songs. It is a little bit dancey this year.

Justice: D.A.N.C.E. - Sure this song has been played to death, but can you blame them?

Whitey: Wrap it Up - I have to support the funky Ohioan even if he is from northern Ohio.

The Virgins: Rich Girls - Nice little Clash-lite ditty that just rolls along in a comfortable groove. My favorite moment is the "you don't have to be such a...asshole all the time" line.

The Wombats: Kill the Director - Post punk guitars, background "oooohs," shout along chorus = great guitar pop song.

Cheap Beat: Club Cheap Beat - It's like they made this song with me in mind. They knew I wanted a growing dance hook of jangly guitars and bouncing bass, and just when I'm to the point of tiring of the hook they throw in a chorus of background "bahs." That alone would've been enough for me, yet they then throw in some background "ohs." Sigh.

Vampire Weekend: Walcott - This seems to be everyone's favorite track from my blog this year, so I guess I don't need to say anything about it. Oh, their debut album comes out this Tuesday.

Matt & Kim: yeah yeah - This song lead to this post. I want to make songs like this in my little apartment.

Ghosthustler: Parking Lot Nights - Or maybe a song like this.

breakbot: happy rabbit - For some reason at the beginning of this song I'm always reminded of the Peanuts theme.

LCD Soundsystem: All My Friends - Probably should have made the album list of Snobfest this year.

White Williams: New Violence - Ok, the dance portion is almost over. I imagine those of you who like your intricate chord changes are a litt-Oooh hand claps.

Jens Lekman: The Opposite of Hallelujah -

I picked up a seashell
To illustrate my homelessness
But a crab crawled out of it
Making it useless

And all my metaphors fell flat
Down on the rocks where we sat
She asked where are you at?

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova: When Your Mind's Made Up - I love how this song builds.

Lucky Soul: Add Your Light to Mine - How I like those sweet bouncy horns.

Dusty Rhodes and The River Band: Dear Honey - I have no idea why I like this song. It's like a San Fran flower child country band wrote a song based on the 90's alterna rock quiet loud song structure.

Blitzen Trapper: Wild Mountain Nation - How many slide guitars does a song need?

Cheyenne: The Whale - It's like a midwest power pop band wanted to write a dance hit. It just chugs along like it should fit between LCD and breakbot, but is doesn't.

The Broken West: Down in the Valley - My LA theme song for the year.

Dinosaur Jr.: Almost Ready - J. Mascis! Barlow! Murph! I wish this song was in Guitar Hero or Rock Band.

Vincent Vincent and the Villains: I'm On My Own - This is exactly what you should expect from a band with this name.

Ida Maria: Oh My God - The angry sing along song of 2007. It just drives itself home till you think it can't build anywhere and then there's that one "Oh My God!" that busts through what you thought was the song's ceiling and you suddenly find you voice a little ragged.

Snobfest 2007: Albums

So here are my favorite albums of 2007. I will follow this up with movies and then finally songs. For your viewing pleasure, I've embedded videos from the albums selected. Enjoy. A little warning: the Okkervil River and Afghan Whigs videos are slightly risque.

Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation + Cool Love #1 EP

Rarely do kitchen sinks album work, and work as well as Wild Mountain Nation. It's a mix of psychedelic, alt country, power pop, and even a little dash of The Dead. There's the swinging freak-out of the opener Devil's a Go-Go. The Dead like countrified jam of the title track. The Beckish pop of Sci-fi Kid that's hit a few TV shows. The most amazing things is that with all this mixture of different styles it actually holds together. There's a great exuberance and joy to the music. Then you add the EP which you should pick up simply for the title track, Cool Love #1. I just wish it included A Lover Loves too. Pick up these two records and dance the freak-out it will do you some good.



Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond

I hate to repeat myself, but rarely do reunion albums work. Actually, they never work. I can't think of one. At least I can't think of one that is close to being as good as this album. 19 years since the original trio put out Bug, they got back together and put out this album. And you know what nothing has changed. Maybe I am feeding my love for this album with a little nostalgia, but I don't care. It's a great rock and roll record.



Once Sountrack

This will be the only time I will ever put a soundtrack on Snobfest let alone a soundtrack to what is basically a musical. If you still haven't seen this movie, I don't know what you are waiting for. It recently came out on DVD. Borrow it from a friend. Netflix the damn thing. If you did see it and didn't like it, you know what? You have no soul. That's right only the souless could not like this movie.



Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala

Damn those Swedes and their ability to make irresistible pop music. Jens has once again created joyful melancholy music. I have always admitted a love for sweet pop songs with string and horns creating the catchy as hell melodies. On top of these melodies Jens recites his witty lyrics in a wonderful deadpan delivery that makes you smile to his relatable tales. This is perfect for those long weekend drives when you aren't in a rush to get where you are going.



Okkervil River - The Stage Names

With this album and their last album and appendix, Okkervil River has been given my "first day purchase" seal of approval. I will buy their next album the day it is released without thinking. With Stage Names it seems Okkervil River have taken everything and compressed it all into a dense nine song album. The opening and closing tracks are the two standouts of a great album. I will take Okkervil over Mr. Bright Eyes' whiny naive preaching any day.



Lucky Soul - The Great Unwanted

This could probably be a nice companion album to Lekman's previously mentioned one. There's a little Motown, Beach Boys, and 60's girls group wrapped up into a wonderful pop album.



The National - The Boxer

Another artist that has received the "first day purchase" seal of approval. Once again The National have created a genius album that you can't really appreciate with a few passing listens while you clean your apartment. There are no "rockers" like "Lit Up" or "Mr. November" on Alligator. These songs still pack a punch. I hate assigning numbers my Snobfest selections, but if forced this is the best album of the year.



The Afghan Whigs - Unbreakable

What? Don't look at me like that. I know it's a compilation album, but come on. I finally get to put an Afghan Whigs album in Snobfest. I had to do it.

May I Suggest a Myspace Page...No Really...This Is Not a Joke

There is actually one thing that myspace is good for. Among all the page designs that can cause epilepsy, and never ending random friend requests from strange porn sites -I mean women (Candee does not really want to be your friend.) myspace is actually pretty good for both finding music and putting your music out there. Every time I hear or read about a band I can usually go to myspace and listen to three or four songs.

It turns out one the friends of this blog has decided to put his music out there, and I thought it would be only right to share. M.O.L. Jr. aka Fauss aka Ronnie Fauss has a myspace page and I highly suggest you check it out. Why would you want to do that you might ask? Good question. There's a really good chance you will like the music, and then you will tell a friend, and they will tell a friend, and so on till 50 years later people will be arguing who was the better Ronnie: Van Zant or Fauss? It could happen. You would also be supporting an all around good guy, and you will feel good by supporting a him. So at least do it for yourself. And if you happen to also have a myspace page why don't you friend request him and tell him how much you enjoy his music. He needs all the ego boosting he can get. So here we go the glorious myspace page of Ronnie Fauss. Enjoy.

Now is the time to enact the fairness doctrine. See I actually did remember something from Dr. Baker's law class on media. If I pimp one friend's music I must pimp everyone's.

I've discussed this artist before but I shall remind you. The Sound and the Fury has recorded some heartbreaking music as Blackbird Harmony. You can take a listen here.

Finally, you know him as the plumber, some know him as Dal, and some just know of him. He too has taken to blessing us with some ditties. Dal's myspace page.

My job is done here. You still have to go listen.

Let Me Try Something Different...

Instead of posting tracks of new music I like, I'm just going to post the album cover.
Clearly, this will be all you need to educate you on your next music purchase.

September's Heavy Rotation

The end of another month, and another playlist. A couple songs of note this time. We start off with Vampire Weekend who showed up last month with a little bouncy piano ditty. Here it's like they cover an outtake from Paul Simon's The Rhythm of the Saints. Which isn't a bad thing. The rest is enjoyable indie rock. I'm really looking forward to Cheyenne's album of power pop but that's just me. The playlist ends with another Link Wray song which I would like to discuss a little. Now I knew of Link Wray as the influential guitar instrumentalist who did the song "Rumble," and his other instrumentals have been in numerous soundtracks. I didn't know that in his later years he went and recorded a few albums on his farm in Maryland where he actually sang. I've been really enjoying these albums, and am upset that these were never pointed out to me. Also, just based on "Rumble" alone shouldn't he be in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame already?

July & August Heavy Rotation

Because of a lack of "new" songs in July, I decided to combine July and August for a heavy rotation. The list contains everything from dance rock, to indie rock, to rock with some other genres thrown in. A little bit of everything for everyone or no one.

ROCK!

So Saturday I went and hung with Anne Marie, because I can easily do that now. We can now hang out any time we want. Any time! We went and had lunch. We saw Stardust, which was...um...cute. This really is only slightly related to the topic of this post. I state this for other family members who are looking to further their education as an example of some of the fun that could be had if you went to one of the universities in the LA area *cough Mandy cough* . Or even for those looking to enroll to a University only about six hours away *cough Ben I. cough* it would be great to have you on the same coast and available for a nice long weekend visit. I'm just saying.

Back to topic. I've been in ROCK mood the last few weeks, and I blame this on Guitar Hero. This has lead to making room on my Nano for more AC/DC, Stones, Priest, Motorhead, etc. I've also been looking for more obscure "classic rock" bands. Much like when I stumbled across the band UFO awhile back. This leads up to this weekend when Anne and I went to Amoeba. After much searching after mind blanking on their name, I picked up a Hellacopters album "Grande Rock. They aren't really that obscure, but the other album I picked up is. The group is called Starz. Yes, that is a "Z" at the end. Anyway, I picked up their anthology as a sampler. Man it feeds that classic rock need I currently have. With such songs as "Cherry Baby," "Boys in Action," "Rock Six Times," and "Detroit Girls" it's amazing that their only semi-hit was Cherry Baby. I would also like to point out that they deserve a little credit for praising Detroit Girls as the greatest girls in the world, because I would've never placed the greatest girls as living in Detroit. California girls? That's not surprising. Southern Girls? That's easy. Detroit? Who knew? Thanks you Starz.



I'm also including Hellacopters "The Devil Stole the Beat from the Lord" because it's a great title and a great song.



One more thing, why don't the Guitar Hero games include more obscure classic rock bands like Starz, and UFO? I appreciate that they give a bunch of current unknown bands a shot in the unlockables. But, why not throw in a few of these older groups so they can be rediscovered?

Rock N Roll Questionnaire or (Fun with Album Covers!)

See if you can follow along kids with this experiment. Please leave your answers in the comments. If you have another answer, please feel free to include those.

So you are going to take an trip to another planet.
1. What is your spaceship of choice?

A. Boston's guitar spaceship that apparently has the power to fire a blue blaze of rock?









B. Electric Light Orchestra's Simon spaceship from Out of the Blue.









C. ZZ Top's part classic Chevy part Space shuttle from Afterburner.









D. Parliament's mothership from the Mothership Connection. Durability might be an issue.









Now that you have your spaceship you need a someone to fly the darn thing.

2. Who is your pilot?

A. Marc Bolan from T. Rex's The Slider.








B. David Bowie from his Aladdin Sane album. Previous space missions could be a red flag.









C. Elton John's Captain Fantastic.









D. Steve Miller's the Joker.









3. Who is your crew?

A. The group of misfits from The Doors' Strange Days album.









B. The Bee Gees from their Children of the World album.









C. Manowar.









D. Barry and Glodean










Space travel isn't the safest so you are also going to need weapons.
4. What is your killing device?

A. Foo Fighter's retro laser gun.










B. Molly's Hatchet









C. GZA's aka The Genius' Liquid Swords.









D. The big ass gun from RZA's Bobby Digital in Stereo album.










Having a pet could also help ease the pains of space travel.
5. What will you bring along as a pet?

A. The three legged dog from Alice in Chains self-titled album.










B. The metal falcon? from Judas Priest's Screaming For Vengeance album.










C. The goats from Pet Sounds.










D. This ape thing from Fleetwood Mac's Mystery to Me album.










6. What planet are you going to?

A. The land on the album cover of Yes' Relayer.










B. Asia's Alpha album cover.










C. Styx' Land of Illusion










D. Public Enemy's Black Planet.










You have reached the end of this questionnaire. Please put down your pencils and close the book.

Ramblings (Just Post Something Please! Edition)

I've been daydream shopping again. The daydream part involves me having any musical talent at all. The shopping though has been rather realistic. I've found myself wanting a miniKORG. See, that's reasonable. It's fairly cheap and small enough to fit into my apartment. I'd also need a drum machine but I need to research that a little more. Part of me thinks that I might be able to somehow piece together a simple synth-dance-pop track after maybe five years. Why am I the only one in the family that didn't get the musical gene?

The Cubs are en fuego. Unfortunately, so are the Brewers.

This Sunday there will be another Bad Movie Night. I think there needs to be a more clever official name to this event other than Bad Movie Night.

I only have three more visits to the physical therapists office. I'm really down about this. I can't wait till I'm wealthy enough to hire a full time masseuse. My back aches just thinking about the lack of massages.

Is it only a month till Anne Marie moves out here?

For the first time in almost four years I wrote actual pages for a script.

I've found this lack of psoriasis is affecting my spending. Not having to wear a hat everyday has to not only needing to get my hair cut, rather than cut it myself, but products like face lotion with sunscreen. Things that were unneccessary before. I also have gotten over the phantom hat pains. For the first month or so I would constantly reach to remove or adjust a hat that wasn't there.

I'd like to recommend a free computer program called Simplify Media. You know how you can listen to other peoples iTunes that are on the same network that you are like school or work. Well simplify media allows you to do this and not have to be on the same network. So I can listen to Mandy's iTunes, or I can listen to the music I have on my home computer while at work. The only problem right now is that you can't listen to protected files like the ones you buy from iTunes. They apparently are efforting a way around that. Did I mention it's free?

Finally, I am Flunky the Clown.

Public Embarrassment No. 235

During my last year in the rare five year program at Cedarville I had the pleasure of taking a cake class called History of Rock Music or Modern Music or something like that. Maybe it was just History of music because I'm pretty sure they covered more than rock n roll and Cedarville would never allow a class called History of Rock n Roll. I think it was the first time the class was offered. Anyway, my thinking was that a class where all you did was listen and talk about music seemed like the perfect class to boost my grade point average up to the Mendoza line. Also, the professor once toured as the trumpet player for Three Dog Night. That clearly put him in the top five professors at Cedarville.

It was a great class except for one thing. The final project you had the option to either write a paper or give a speech. Because I'm a master at public speaking *cough* I decided to do a speech. Yeah, I have no idea what I was thinking. We had our choice of any subject to choose from. I chose to give a speech on the history of the rock band Journey. Yes, go back and read that last sentence. Are we finished laughing? Good. Let us proceed. I had recently bought the Journey box set. I'll wait again. The problem is this isn't the embarrassing part. Let me remind you I was still in my infancy in learning about music. In that box set was a booklet detailing the history of Journey. I was thinking this was perfect. I just change some words around and I can just recite the bullet points of this booklet.

The night before my presentation I wrote out my notes, and practiced my speech in the mirror. I pictured exactly how the classroom was set up and rehearsed and rehearsed. I would say I was pretty confident that I was going to nail this speech. As you can tell it all went horribly wrong. Most would point that it all went wrong when I decided to do a speech or when I chose Journey as my subject. At that moment though it all went wrong when I walked into class and saw the classroom was completely rearranged. It was no longer as I pictured it in my head while practicing. That was the moment I really started sweating. The second thing that went wrong was the speech I had to follow. Before me a student's speech was on how to line dance. What the hell? First off, why didn't I think of something that easy? Half of her speech time was taken up with teaching us the electric slide. Why didn't I think of doing a speech on something like the running man or the New Kids Dance? Second, how can I follow up a class participation speech with just me talking about Journey and playing a few songs? I was so screwed. Then the CD player didn't work right. Then my eyes were blurring. Then I just kept my eyes on my paper and read straight from that. I refused to make eye contact with anyone in the class. Realizing how bad I was tanking, I decided to try to save it. To pull this awful display out of the gutter and rescue it. On the last few lines I decided to say it like I meant it, like I believed it. The last line went something along the lines of blah and blah "shows that Journey belongs in the annals of rock and roll." Unfortunately, what came out of mouth was, "shows that Journey belongs in the anals of rock and roll." Yeah. Brilliant. I then scurried to my chair and hung my head. Eric and Adam, who had the pleasure of being in the class, still take joy in reminding me of public embarrassment No. 235.

June's Real Heavy Rotation

About a week after I posted the previous June's Heavy Rotation, I realized my mistake. By saying it was June's heavy rotation I was basically prediciting what I was going to be listening to in June and that's ridiculous. In reality it was May's Heavy Rotation because those were the songs I was listening to most often in May. So here is the real June playlist. Some of you might notice that some of these songs don't fit what I usually post on here. That's right I've gone on somewhat of a binge. I blame that really late night a few weeks ago where I stumbled across site like BigStereo,
BibaBidi, missigtoof. This has lead to a slight devouring of current dance music, which is very un-me. Anyway, enjoy or don't or enjoy some of them or maybe a lot of them. Also, for those who might have written off the HBO show Flight of the Conchords as simply a musical ripoff of Goodness please give the show a chance. Last night's show was very funny. Video after the playlist.





Steve!

Ramblings (It's Been Such a Long Time. I Think I Should Be Going Edition)

I would like to blame an exciting and busy life for my lack of blogging. Unfortunately, it would be a lie. But let me give you an update on the mundane that is my life.

It's been three days now in a row that I haven't worn a hat. The Enbrel's working well. Now if everyone would stop pointing out that I'm not wearing a hat I'd be set.

My therapist was thrilled when I showed up at the office without a hat. It's the happiest I've seen her during our sessions. She still pauses for extended periods of time in order to force me to carry the conversation. It drives me a little batty to the point that I just want to throw out something like: "I've found myself becoming more distracted and forgetful. Like this morning I completely forgot to put out the new air fresheners I bought last night. All day I was stressed out that someone will smell the dead body in my closet."

Speaking of therapy, I've come to terms with the massages for my physical therapy. It helps that the aide that gives me the massages is cute, and either really likes me or is easy. I guess either way that's a win. Still, if I ever did actually ask her out she would have the upper hand considering the vulnerable position she has me in twice a week. I should wait till after I finish physical therapy.

As promised, I picked up the new Blitzen Trapper album Wild Mountain Nation. It's been stuck in heavy rotation since I picked it up. I guess you could call them a psychedelic country rock group, but they hit on other genre's too like the indie pop of Futures & Folly, the Beckish Sci-Fi Kid, or the Supergrassed glam of Murder Babe. Things is they cross from genre to genre effortlessly and with such joy that it works. There is still that twang and oodles of slide guitar that makes me keep this band in the psychedelic country rock category.

Saw the movie Once, and really enjoyed it. The scene where they first play together in the music shop caused the room to get a little dusty. That was then followed by numerous scenes where the dust in the room kept building up. It's such a simple and joyful film. I do have one question though: Is this movie a musical? It's loaded with music and the characters in the movie sing the songs on screen. It's just that when they sing it's natural. They sing when they are writing or playing a song, not out of the blue the whole cast breaks into song norm of the standard musical. I don't think it is a musical, but some reviewers list it as a musical. I just don't want to admit I like a musical.


This weekend the horror movie you've all been waiting for opens in LA and NY. Get ready because it's coming soon to a theater near you. Well, except for Mandy. I doubt your little theater is going to book this.


Sometimes weird just works in a music video. I kept waiting for one of them to screw up.

June's Heavy Rotation

Some Musical Notes

Nothing much is going on, so I thought I would throw out a couple albums that have recently caught my attention.

First off, I stumbled across the pure joy album of Lucky Soul's album The Great Unwanted. With groups like the Pippettes it seems reinventing the 60's girl group sound is the upcoming niche of choice. Lucky Soul fits into that category, but there sound isn't twisted with modern day irony or modern musical flair. From the opening track "Add Your Light To Mine" to the closing "The Last Song" it is simply an album chock full of great happy/sad love songs. My current favorite track is "Struck Dumb" with its timpani in the chorus. Unfortunately there is no video for that song, so here is one for the title track "Add Your Light To Mine." I apologize now for getting the song stuck in your head.



On the other end we have the new album from The National called Boxer. This is one of those albums that you have to let grow on you. It's not as uptempo as Alligator. This albums just creeps in on you till it won't let go. It's in the running for album of the year.



Also, next week Rhino is releasing an Afghan Whigs retrospective called Unbreakable. As a hardcore fan there are songs I'd like to be added, but that's always the case. It is though a very good selection that covers their whole history even their Up In It album and Uptown Avondale EP. For those who might be interested in a nice starter for the Afghan Whigs I highly recommend it.

Finally, do you remember...

American Idol Recap

Tonight is Barry Gibb night. Yes, I feel there should be an Indian Barry Gibb on Barry Gibb night. So it's all Barry Gibb songs which means Bee Gees and I'm assuming songs he's written or produced for other artists.

Before we get to Barry Gibb, I'd like to discuss an observation I made at the tail end of last weeks elimination episode. As I predicted, The Other Chris and Midnight Oil got the boot. The funny thing is that while The Other Chris was singing his farewell song, the camera cut to Jordin and the following events occurred. Jordin is smiling and watching The Other Chris sing. Jordin notices the camera is on her. Jordin immediately breaks out into tears. I marked Jordin off my list and am now fully behind Bobblehead. It perhaps seems a little cruel, but come on. Don't ever fake cry. I don't need to feel that you loved every other contestant on the show. Don't try to manipulate us. It completely irritated me, and caused me to jump from her bandwagon. Now back to Barry Gibb night.

Wow, Barry Gibb has got to shave. This is American Idol! Class it up a little Barry Gibb.

Bobblehead's first song is "Love You Inside and Out." At this point I would normally be concerned about with her doing falsetto, but she seems to always nail it. If she can pull of Bon Jovi, she can do anything. She does fine, but I think we are at the point where even though she is clearly a better singer than everyone else, we expect every performance to be knock your sox off good.

CCM is up with "You Should Be Dancing." He needs to go. I don't know why they keep giving him props for this. Randy thought the beat boxing didn't work. Paula says "Nobody, can do what he can do." Finally, they all trash him deservedly so.

Big Momma is up with the classic "Staying Alive." Man, everyone is sort of struggling with these songs. I think it's that these are dance songs. They all try to slow these songs down.

Jordin will be performing "To Love Somebody." Jordin has done the best so far tonight. Why is that? Because she did a ballad.

So that's it for tonight. I'm guessing it will be either- Oh wait. They are singing a second song. Hmm. Maybe next week I'll just plagarize someone else's recap. I'm getting burnt out on this. We all know it's going to be between Bobblehead and Jordin, so can't we kick them all off tonight?

Bobblehead's second song is "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" I think Bobblehead has picked the wrong songs this week. This does nothing for her. It doesn't show her off. It was better than the first song, but still...

CCM's second song is the less known "This Is Where I Came In." Stop this stupid beat boxing! This is the result of everyone loving that Bon Jovi butchering. Wrong song choice. This is a boring song. There's a reason it wasn't a hit. Simon agrees with me.

Judge Judy tries to take over the show.

Big Momma is going with the ballad "Run To Me." Everyone ends on the ballad.

Jordin closes it out with "Woman In Love." Jordin wusses out and does another ballad. It wasn't the best. They are really rushing the whole show. You'd think that they would finally figure out how to run this show by now.

So that's it. Another boring night. CCM or Big Momma will be going home tomorrow night.

Time to go see how much more of Griffith Park has burned. It can't be good when you can see the fire all the way from my apartment.

Some Questions

Have you seen Hot Fuzz yet?

Have you picked up Dinosaur Jr.'s new album Beyond? I was hesitant simply because it's basically a reunion album with Lou Barlow (Sebadoh, Folk Implosion) returning to the fold. It's no You're Living All Over Me, but it's really good. I still think J. Mascis is criminally ignored.



My follow up questions is: Why hasn't a Dinosaur Jr. song made it on any of the Guitar Hero games? I'd be happy playing the licks of "Feel the Pain."

How is it possible that the Cubs have scored 127 runs so far this season, have allowed their opponents to score only 98, and yet they are 12-14 and 5 1/2 games out of first place? That's a run differential of +29! Only the Mets and Red Sox have a better run differential. I hope this is simply and indicator that the Cubs have just had a little bad luck this month, and not that they are simply awful.

How am I going to make it another two weeks with just me and the boss in the office?

Remember when you used to be able to actually find deals on things worthwhile on ebay?

Why do I always scratch that itch?

When are they going to invent the machine that creates what my brain conceives? That way I could by pass my lack of talent and create exactly what I see in my head.

What happened to the MOL Nation?

If birds suddenly appeared every time I was near, wouldn't the girl actually be really creeped out or think I was in desperate need of a bath?