RIP JAMES BROWN



..on a lighter note I've added all sorts of delicious links to the sidebar including Stereogum's list of top 10 blogs of 2006, and all of my favourite band sites. Aren't you lucky!

Gorilla vs. Bear posted his favourite music videos of 2006 (among other things). I hadn't seen any of them but I was very familiar with the songs (as they were a couple of the best of 2006), so i checked them all out. His favourite was Peter, Bjorn and John's 'Young Folks' video:



which was good, but not as good, I'd say, as one of his runner ups Hot Chips 'Over and Over' video:



Also one of my favourites is still The Concretes video for 'The Chosen One' which I've posted earlier..

Work has been keeping me down. In the meantime check out brooklyn vegan's list of favourite 2006 albums or one of Pitchfork Media's many lists for 2006.

Turns out that the rare VU record that was on ebay, which reached a price of 155,000 on the auction won't be sold to the mysterious buyer "mechadaddy".



The buyer's friend apparently went onto his account and bid on the rare acetate while he was unawares. mechadaddy "can't even afford to pay for gas" and sent an apolegetic email to a frusterated Warren Hill explaining them mess. Brooklyn Vegan has the whole story...

I just want to say that Beck, although seeming to be a bit merose at times, is a fantastic performer. I'm in love with 'Clap Hands' which isn't even worth hearing unless you see it live with the whole dinner table thing, and his posse of troubadors and hipsters make my day a lot better. Here is 'Clap Hands' and 'Nausea':

Has anyone ever noticed that The Decemberists "Crane Wife" and Neutral Milk Hotel's "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" are very similar albums?



Not only the cover art (similarily old-time drawings), the concepts (both tragic stories made into albums) and the general song structure (opens with upbeat acoustic song, followed by instrumental song with a little more diverse instruments and a long 10-minute ballad thrown in the middle) but even the tunes are written the same way. Both bands wield their acoustic guitars religiously while throwing in a trumpet or piano here and there. The lyrics are both lamentable but moving and profound. Don't mistake this as me bashing them, because I think they're both great albums, but maybe the decemberists should try to mix it up a bit next time.

I bought Neko Case's "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood", Girl Talk's "Night Ripper", and Tom Waits "Orphans:Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards" this weekend. I kind of went crazy out of Grooves withdrawal. I was about to buy Joanna Newsom's "Ys" instead of Girl Talk, but the friendly Grooves clerk said it was horrible. I then heard a single off the album on the way back up to school on the radio and immediately regretted not buying it, because it was a great song. I gotta say I do really value that mans opinion and this is the only time he's done me wrong.

I'm loving this Concretes video I caught on Much Music's Wedge (the only much music show i watch, the rest is filth). Not only is it a great song, but the video is awesome. Enjoy!

You've seen everyone else's, and now here's mine. The list of 2006's Greatest Albums! In some ways the easiest, and some ways the hardest thing I've done all day (and i wrote a history exam this morning). The top three I couldn't have chosen faster. They jumped out as me as the greatest albums I've listened to all year hands down and deserved their titles. But as I went on I found it harder and harder to narrow it down to a final cut. So I present to you the revised, and rerevised masterlist! Enjoy!

10. M. Ward - PostWar



The soft and muffled, but simplistic sound of M. Ward's music is a refreshing vacation from the hustle and bustle of a lot of music today. What's the matter with just a guitar and a set of beautiful and unforgetable lyrics? Bob Dylan did it in the 60's, revisited by Neutral Milk Hotel in the 90's, and M. Ward is doing it again with Post War. Don't like to hear politics in your music? Neither do I. I associate politics with complications and technicalities, which Post War is not. The name is misleading as the album is incredible, no strings attached bliss.

9. Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye



This is a clear top-tenner. Junior boys put out beautiful electronica beats. Hands down. 'Nuff said.

8. Amy Millan - Honey From The Tombs



I'm not really one to buy a country album, but I made an exception this year with Amy Millan's alt-country wonder. She's already one of the indie queens of our generations (of Broken Social Scene and Stars fame) and when she goes ahead and puts out a solo CD, of course its worth checking out. And it was definitley worth the while, because it's a great album. Beautiful melloncolic songs about skinny boys, losing boys and drinking. So what if it's country?

7. K-OS - Atlantis: Hymns 4 Disco



It only took one listen of this album before I loved it. I'm a self proclaimed K-OS fan and loved Joyful Rebellion, but Hymns for Disco feels right. It's a little more mature and a little better produced then Joyful Rebellion with many more hip hop elements (never fear, he still breaks it down this the acoustic guitar from time to time). Definitley deserves its spot.

6. Hot Chip - The Warning



Who wouldn't agree with this? As soon as I heard 'And I Was A Boy From School', I needed the album. As soon as i heard the album, I needed to see them live. Well I still have yet to see them live because I missed them when they came to Toronto, but it's gonna happen.

5. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche



Well I loved 'Illinois', so naturally I love 'The Avalanche'; It's mathematical! Sufjan writes beautiful indie rock music and definitley delivers on this 'Illinois' retake. I especially like the title track and 'The Perpetual Self', along with, of course, the many versions of 'Chicago'. Thanks Sufjan!

4. Beck - The Information



This album could show up on this list solely for the stickers. The delightful stickers that he included with the jacket with a blank cover you're supposed to decorate. And then I listened to it. By far my favourite Beck album to date.

3. Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope



I actually saw Regina live in concert before giving this album a good listening to. Sometimes I actually prefer to do that, because already there are songs that jump out at your when you do start listening to it. You hear them live, forget them, then as soon as you hear the album you remember them instantly and can sing along to the entire song. It's feels phenonimal.This album was much more refined than 'Soviet Kitsch's rusty appeal, but they're both fantastic albums. Regina is a charming and beautiful performer and songwriter, and has gained herself a life long fan.

2. Thom Yorke - The Eraser



I was never a big Radiohead fan short of their hits, but I really hit it off with Thom Yorke. I bought his album before I started to get into electronica (which was earlier this year, yes), and it really helped bridge the gap between pretty indie music and electronic drone (i mean that in a good way. I've grown to love the electronic drone).

1. Elvis Costello - My Flame Burns Blue



Not an obvious chart topper, I realize but most definitley deserves the title. I'm a self proclaimed Costello fanatic (by influence of my father) and always have been. Not only this one hell of a jazz cd, but it's live! And this is only one of two jazz albums he put out this year. And frankly the man is a human fucking jukebox, and should be commended for it. Haven't heard of this album? Do yourself a favour immediatley and pick it up.

When in rome...



Have you heard about the super rare Velvet Underground Chelsea street sale find? Of course you have! Who the hell hasn't?
One lucky sonovabitch, Warren Something, was rummaging through a street sale in Chelsea, New York when he found a weathered VU record and bought it for 75 cents. It appeared to be an old copy of the Velvet Underground and Nico's legendary album produced by Andy Warhol, but when he got around to playing it the record started with "European Son", not the same song as what the original album started with. So he did his research and found out it was the original recording of the album, BEFORE Andy Warhol got his hands on it and started pushing it to recording labels. This record is arguably the rarest piece of pop art material of all time. The auction started on ebay at 20K and now has gone up to $133,000! That's quite a profit...

I've added some links to the sidebar of some other real horrorshow blogs (where i get some of my delicious information). Please take a look!

After reading blogger large hearted boy's list of favourite albums from 2006, and the long list of other blogs and website that have listed their favourites, I've decided to compile my own list. Stay tuned for that...

In the mood for a blast from the past by any chance? And why not go one better and watch a one hit wonder from the vaults? I adore this video by Cake (who by no means deserve to be one hit wonders). It had some minor play on MTV and muchmusic and the like but its possibly only because of this adorable video. I love the street vendor grumbling about 'some super girl that feminists would approve of'. Enjoy!

My lack of blogging can be explained from my back breaking exam schedule this term.
I haven't had a moment to take to do any new music listening or anything of great import that the general public would like to read. The only news I've gotten is that if I do end up going to Montreal this spring, which i still hope is on, I will be seeing Of Montreal there. Thrilling? No but im excited, and that'll have to do for now. I will have delicious news after exams on the 12th.
Until then...