Ah, the year-end list… What a cliché. Isn’t there a saying about year-end lists, assholes, and belly buttons? Yet we can’t resist, can we? Over the years, Glorious Noise has been pretty laid-back about our list. We don’t have any strict rules for inclusion. The basic gist is: what stuff blew your mind this year?
2006 was good to GLONO. We celebrated our fifth birthday in February, and 8 months later threw ourselves a birthday party, the Black and Orange Ball. An annual event perhaps? We’ll see…
We also launched a couple of subsidiary sites, POLJUNK and the Out Route, focusing on politics and sports, respectively. But not respectfully, ha ha. Look for more expansion of the Glorious Noise media empire in 2007. But shhh, it’s a secret.
On the record label front, we released Riviera’s sophomore album, Capital, and we’ve been hearing great things about it, especially from those fantastic folks in the Netherlands. Who knows why, but the Dutch love some Riviera. A tour of Holland next year, maybe? Let’s make it happen! Thanks a bunch to everybody who’s bought, downloaded or listened to stuff by Riviera and Quasar Wut-Wut. We sincerely appreciate your support.
And thanks to everybody who’s ever posted a comment to GLONO, either in the articles or on the message boards. This would’ve gotten old a long time ago if it wasn’t for the feedback we keep getting from the members of this community. And that’s how we see it: a community. So all you lurkers out there (and we know you’re out there!), come on and make a New Year’s resolution to post some comments. Why not? You’re no dumber than any of the rest of us!
One more thing: we’ve gotta give some love to all the new babies and the expectant parents out there. Everyone we know seems to either be pregnant or parenting a newborn. We’re raising the next generation of music lovers, and that’s a serious responsibility. Congratulations to everyone! And good luck to us all…
Merry Christmas,
Jake and the GLONO Posse
PS – You can read our lists after the jump…
Jake Brown
Shows
• Golden Smog at the Vic
• The Raconteurs at Lollapalooza
• Belle and Sebastian at the Riviera
Albums
• Tom Waits – Orphans
• The Mountain Goats – Get Lonely
• Johnny Cash – Personal File
• Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am…
Singles
• Natalie Portman – “No More Questions”
• Justin Timberlake – “SexyBack”
• Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy”
• Beyonce – “Ring the Alarm”
• Weird Al Yankovic – “White & Nerdy”
• Primal Scream – “Country Girl”
• Lily Allen – “LDN”
• Rihanna – “S.O.S.”
• Serengeti – “Dennehy” (mp3)
Events
• The third release on Glorious Noise Records, Capital by Riviera
• The midterm elections
• Having a kid… Wow.
Derek Phillips
1. The birth of my boy, Donovan. Here’s to ya, kid!
2. GLONO site redesign – It was time to throw a new coat of paint on the old girl and so we figured we do some remodeling too. Top on my list – in addition to new kitchen cabinets – was a way to bring older content back to the top. On This Day ensures five years (and counting) of great writing from GLONO contributors past and present isn’t lost into the ether.
3. Carl and Pete – A couple great singles from Pete Doherty and a fine album from Carl Barat gave hope to Libertines fans that the duo would continue to put out great music and a whisp of forlorn that they no longer work together. An outstanding video piece on Carl’s Dirty Pretty Things helped launch yet another new GLONO feature.
4. The end of The OC coverage on GLONO – Our beloved Johnny Loftus is busy as the Music Editor for the Detroit Metro Times and so we bid adieu to his weekly coverage of everyone’s favorite teen drama. Next up: Tom M covers Friday Night Lights on the Out Route.
5. Guns N’ Roses Returns – Still no sign of the fabled Chinese Democracy, but Axl and co. made me eat (most) of my words with what has been a largely successful comeback tour. If Chinese Democracy is worth a shit, I’ll eat my hat.
6. YouTube – The emergence of YouTube has not only brought panty-clad girls dancing before webcams right into the homes of millions but it’s given a venue for long lost footage of some of the best rock and roll performances on tape. Top of the Pops may live no longer on the BBC, but it is alive and well (and free, for now) on YouTube. Thank God for developers with lots of time (and servers) on their hands.
7. The Sinatras: Then and Now – I finally got around to writing my love letter to the Sinatras. I’ve always had in mind and now they’re playing semi-regularly again. You’re welcome, world.
8. POLJUNK – Everyone’s political when it’s an election year. GLONO launched its own political mouthpiece this year and weighed in as the mid-terms loomed. I think we deserve a lot of credit for running the Republican majority out of town.
9. Riviera’s Capital released – Buy it. Seriously, do it now.
10. Fave Albums: Paper Airplane Pilots, Western Automatic Music; Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood; The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers, Camera Obscura, Let’s Get Out Of This Country; The Kooks, Inside In Inside Out; latecomer Holopaw, Quit +/or Fight.
Kristy Eldredge
Top Ten Things in the Bob Dylan Exhibit at the Morgan Library
• The first page of a high-school essay by Bob called “Was Steinbeck Sympathetic to His Characters?” Bob got a B, but his teacher wrote, “Your footnoting is wrong. Your bibliography too. Check the forms I passed out in class.”
• learning Bob Dylan was in the Latin Club
• seeing a picture of Echo Helstrom
• Woody Guthrie’s ancient, banged up guitar (a Martin)
• Letters from Joan Baez to her mother, breathlessly referring to Dylan as “you know who”
• The tambourine allegedly featured in “Mr. Tambourine Man” (it’s huge, and has an incredibly strong aura)
• A note from Dylan to the son of a family friend bluntly advising: “Don’t quit your day job.”
• The old broadsheets praising Dylan and then lambasting him
• Dylan’s copy of Woody Guthrie’s songbook with his underlining in it. Bob heavily underlined: “Sing in an everyday, conversational tone of voice” and “Don’t imitate anyone too closely”
• Dylan’s name advertised among others in a line-up, spelled “Bob Dillon”
Martin Halo
Top 10 NYC Concert Stops of 2006
One: Wolfmother at Hammerstein Ballroom, November 3, 2006
Two: The Raconteurs at Roseland Ballroom, September 25, 2006
Three: Chris and Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes, Birds of a Feather, at Town Hall, April 15, 2006
Four: My Morning Jacket at Roseland Ballroom, November 30, 2006
Five: The Strokes at Hammerstein Ballroom, March 1, 2006
Six: The Flaming Lips at Hammerstein Ballroom, September 24, 2006
Seven:The Black Keys at The Nokia Theatre, November 3, 2006
Eight: The Allman Brothers Band, March Madness, at The Beacon Theatre, March 2006
Nine: Roger Waters: Dark Side of the Moon Tour at Madison Square Garden, September 5, 2006
Ten: Pearl Jam at Irving Plaza, May 5, 2006
Sarah Horne
1. Ghostface Killah, Fishscale – The first track alone is a film in miniature, the rest of the record knocks you the fuck out and then stands over you laughing. (review)
2. TV On The Radio, Return To Cookie Mountain – Dense, abstract, beautiful and completely unsettling. (review)
3. Lupe Fiasco, Food & Liquor – Robots + skateboards + zombies + effortless, delightful storytelling = mainstream hip-hop, are you listening? Because this is your future.
4. The Bound Stems, Appreciation Night – Former Chicago high school history teacher and his friends make a first full-length record that sounds like pure, loopy joy. Keep an eye on these kids.
5. Justin Timberlake, Futuresex/Lovesounds – Yes, I am a total sucker.
6. Snowden, Anti-Anti – Proving that formulaic isn’t a synonym for stale. Overlooked by everyone but nerdy bloggers, and that is a damn shame.
7. Regina Spektor, Begin To Hope – Gorgeous, smart and impossibly endearing, it’s not your average sensitive-chick-with-piano joint.
8. John Legend, Once Again – He just makes everything look so easy.
9. the Mountain Goats, Get Lonely – What and who are we when we get lonely? If we are John Darnielle, we make a record that will break your heart and haunt you for weeks.
10. Maritime, We, The Vehicles – This is Midwest pop from some veterans of the scene at its finest and darkest.
11. The Futureheads, News And Tributes – This might be the one band that Vagrant hasn’t ruined. Yet.
12. The Walkmen, A Hundred Miles Off – The Walkmen go Southern-fried and punchdrunk, and it’s bliss. (review)
13. Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood – A happy anachronism from one of the most lovely voices ever.
14. Twilight Singers, Powder Burns – Who knew Greg Dulli could make a record this excellent while completely sober?
Stephen Macaulay
Why 2006 Will Not Be Remembered As A Stellar Year
1. Dick Clark returns to the airwaves on Rocking Eve. For longer than he should have. Perhaps he should learn a few tricks from Keith Richards (see #6).
2. Barry Manilow gets advanced hip replacement work done. The man cannot be denied. He will continue to rock in a way that Rod Stewart can only dream of. Speaking of whom. . . .
3. Rod Stewart appears on “Dancing With the Stars.” His potbelly protrudes from a strained button on his shirt. Do ya think he’s sexy? Of course not. But apparently all of those desperate housewives who grew up listening to him do and he’s raking it in like never before.
4. Britney goes her own way and in a desperate attempt to regain some of the heat that she’d foregone when she wed, attempts to achieve a level of heat that she hadn’t had before. Perhaps sexier than Rod, but. . . .
5. Gwen Stefani puts out another disc with another lifting from another song from another realm. When the girl samples, she samples large. Does this portend a Julie Andrews comeback? No doubt.
6. The Rolling Stones continue to tour. Endlessly. Perhaps they really are vampires or other forms of the undead. (Face it: Richards didn’t fall out of a tree in Fiji. It was one of those trees featured in The Lord of the Rings, and it threw Richards from its trunk in a way that would have killed an Orc and a goblin and whatever else. But somehow, he survived. . . .)
7. With half the band dead, The Who continues to tour. See previous comment.
8. Beyonce appears on endless shows promoting albums, movies, etc. Often wearing clothes her mother designed, which just goes to prove that even an attractive woman in bad clothes can be, well, not particularly attractive. Perhaps a turn as a faux Diana Ross will turn things around and it will be hard to discern any clothes as a massive thicket of outsized hair will become the new look.
9. U2 releases U218 Singles. No one cares. Perhaps they should have followed up How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb with U238 Singles. More WMD power.
10. “Theme Time Radio Hour” laudatory quote page doesn’t include a citation from GloNo.
Tom Mantzouranis
• M. Ward, “Post-War” (buy)
• Islands, “Return to the Sea” (buy)
• Annuals, “Be He Me” (buy)
• The Decemberists, “The Crane Wife” (buy)
• TV on the Radio, “Return to Cookie Mountain” (buy)
• The Hold Steady, “Boys and Girls in America” (buy)
• Asobi Seksu, “Citrus” (buy)
• Hot Chip, “The Warning” (buy)
• Cat Power, “The Greatest” (buy)
• Band of Horses, “Everything All the Time” (buy)
Alan Paterson
top things in 2006
• ghostface killah – fishscale. the best album of the year, hands down.
• grape stomp (i know i’m going to hell for making this my favorite youtube video of the year
• neko case – fox confessor brings the flood. i love neko, but could she actually show up for an f’n new pornographers show once? seriously.
• favorite concert: dj shadow at the vic
• clipse – hell hath no fury – 2nd biggest surprise of 2006 (see below).
• sonic youth – rather ripped. i want kim gordon. bad. watching her dance like a teenager at lollapalooza still makes me smile.
• the beatles – love. the sound of this album blew me away.
• the roots – game theory. not their best album, but it’s dope. also has the best single of the year – ‘in the music’
• flaming lips – at war with the mystics. another lips album that gets better with every listen.
• the democrats finally f’n won something. (biggest surprise of the year)
• top movie: brick. made me want to pick up my videocamera again. it came out in late 2005, but i didn’t see it till 2006.
• top tivo show: 24. jack bauer kills people dead.
Todd Totale
2006 BAKER’S DOZEN
1.) CAT POWER – The Greatest
2.) T.V. ON THE RADIO – Return To Cookie Mountain
3.) MASTODON – Blood Mountain
4.) THE DECEMBERISTS – The Crane Wife
5.) DESTROYER – Destroyer’s Rubies
6.) THE ARCTIC MONKEYS – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
7.) TAPES ‘N TAPES – The Loon
8.) LOVE IS ALL – Nine Times The Same Song
9.) WHITE WHALE – WWI
10.) CLIPSE – Hell Hath No Fury
11.) YO LA TENGO – I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Be Your Ass
12.) BORIS – Pink
13.) SONIC YOUTH – Rather Ripped
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
• ROBYN HITCHCOCK – Ole Tarantula (review)
• THE RACONTEURS – Broken Boy Soldiers
• COMETS ON FIRE – Avatar
• BOB DYLAN – Modern Times
• M. WARD – Post War
• THE HOLD STEADY – Boys And Girls In America
• NEKO CASE – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
• THE FLAMING LIPS – At War With The Mystics
• GHOSTFACE KILLAH – Fishscale
• LIARS – Drum’s Not Dead
• IRON MAIDEN – A Matter Of Life And Death (review)
• MISSION OF BURMA – The Obliterati
• MORRISSEY – Ringleader Of The Tormentors
TOP 5 SINGLES:
• GNARLS BARKLEY – “Crazy”
• THE SOUNDS – “Song With A Mission”
• JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE – “SexyBack”
• CHRISTINA AGUILERA – “Ain’t No Other Man”
• PRINCE – “Black Sweat”
TOP FIVE REISSUES:
• VARIOUS ARTISTS – What It Is! Funky Soul & Rare Grooves
• VARIOUS ARTISTS – Tropicalia: A Brasilian Revolution In Sound
• THE CLASH – The Singles
• SEBADOH – III
• THE PRETENDERS – Pretenders
Nate Seltenrich
Albums:
1. The Thermals – The Body, the Blood, the Machine
2. Silversun Pickups – Carnavas
3. TV On the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
4. Crime in Choir – Trumpery Metier
5. Slackers – Peculiar
6. Supersystem – A Million Microphones
7. Optimus Rhyme – School the Indie Rockers
8. Two Gallants – What the Toll Tells
9. Benjy Ferree – Leaving the Nest
10. Trainwreck Riders – Lonely Road Revival
Songs:
1. Built to Spill – “Going Against My Mind”
2. The Thermals – “A Pillar of Salt”
3. Silversun Pickups – “Little Lover’s So Polite”
4. TV On the Radio – “I Was A Lover”
5. Teddybears – “Punkrocker”
6. Ratatat – “Wildcat”
7. Slackers – “Propaganda”
8. Supersystem – “The Lake”
9. Benjy Ferree – “In the Countryside”
10. Street to Nowhere – “Tipsy”
Vitas Zebraitis
Best albums of 2006:
• Cat Power – The Greatest
• Bob Dylan – Modern Times
• Band of Horses – Everything All The Time
• Bonnie “Prince” Billy – The Letting Go
• Jon Langford – Gold Brick
• Calexico – Garden Ruins
• Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics
• Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat
• Solomon Burke – Nashville
• Big Buildings – Water Everywhere
Mentionables:
• Magnolia Electric Co. – Fading Trails
• Espers – II
• Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
• Frida Hyvonen – Until Death Comes
• Joanna Newsome – Ys
• Califone – Roots & Crowns
• TV On The Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
• Yo La Tengo – I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
• Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
• Pearl Jam – Pearl Jam
• Loose Fur – Born Again in the USA
• Johnny Cash – American Music V
Other good things:
My nephew being born, friends having babies, sea change in American politics, camping/hiking in Wisconsin, Wilco/Califone at the Auditorium Theater – November 25th, schadenfreude over political scandals (Foley, Abramoff, “Macaca”, shotgun meets face), endless & senseless parade of videos on youtube.com, season 4 of “The Wire”, Chicago Politics (particularly the Foie Gras and Big Box ordinances that were used to set the ground for the mayoral elections in 2007), Hugo Chavez at the UN, coming across New Glarus Brewing Company, Penn Jillette on Free FM, “Metropolitan” finally released on DVD, “Even Dwarves Started Small” screened at the Music Box, Robert Altman getting the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement and then making his exit.
Did we miss anything? Let us know! And what are you excited/nervous about for 2007?
See previous GLONO Top Shelves from 2005, 2004, 2003, and 2002.
congrats to everyone who had babies this year…3 cousins and my little brother also contributed to this new crop of baby boom ’06.
i’m goose bumps excited and colon twisting nervous for the new beginning i will embark on in ’07. Here’s to hoping Spain is very kind to me and I don’t get homesick.
Wow. 2006 was (and still is) a terribly sucky year for me. Lots of trouble and turmoil, not much good stuff.
Music was extremely important to me this year as a result. Being my only emotional escape, I would lay down on the couch and bliss out to music for hours.
Anyway, here’s the good stuff from 2006 that helped stave off hard drinking:
The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
The Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am Thats What I Am Not
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
The Darkness – One Way Ticket To Hell …And Back
Cat Power – The Greatest
Cheap Trick – Rockford
Riviera – Capital
Also, watching the Republicans go down in flame. Heh eh eh!
——
Here’s the bad stuff that made think longingly of opium:
My dad passing away.
Steve Irwin taken out by a lousy stingray.
Possibly the worst year of television in history (although it did make me give up tv, finally. So maybe that was a good thing).
RIAA goons continuing to sue grandmas, children and poor people to make examples of them for sometimes downloading songs (except when they actually didn’t).
——
There’s a whole lot more crappiness from 2006, but why rub your nose in it? Good riddance to this lousy year…
my album list is changing every day…as is my ‘soundtrack of the year’. someday i’ll blog it. someday. it was a good year though.
Top 5 albums that blew my mind this year:
1. Neko Case- Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
2. Asobi Seksu- Citrus
3. Calexico- Garden Ruin
4. The Duke Spirit- Cuts Across the Land
5. Mogwai- Mr. Beast
Honorable mentions go to Golden Smog and Built to Spill for a couple of damn fine albums as well.
Top 5 Songs I wouldn’t shut up about this year:
1. Gnarls Barkley- “Crazy”
2. Built to Spill- “Goin’ Against Your Mind”
3. Weird Al Yankovic- “White and Nerdy”
4. Editors- “Lights”
5. Essex Green- “Don’t Know Why”
Noticeably (and disappointingly) absent from my list is Morrissey’s Ringleader of the Tormentors. Sorry Moz, maybe with the next album.
Top Ten of 2006:
1. Entertainer of the year: Justin Timberlake
2. The Fags, Light ‘Em Up (Idol)
3. Ghostface Killah, Fishscale (Def Jam)
4. Dabrye, Two/Three (Ghostly International)
5. The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America (Vagrant)
6. Boris, Pink (Southern Lord)
7. Isobel Campbell, Milk White Sheets (Matador)
8. TIE: Heartless Bastards, All This Time (Fat Possum); The Black Keys, Magic Potion (Nonesuch)
9. Clipse, Hell Hath No Fury (Re-Up/Zomba)
10. The Drones, Gala Mill (ATP Recordings)
Top Ten singles of 2006:
1. JoJo, “Too Little Too Late” (The High Road)
2. Natalie Portman, “No More Questions” (SNL digital short)
3. Entrance, “Grim Reaper Blues” (Prayer of Death)
4. T.I., “What You Know” (King)
5. The Hadituptoheres, “On a Tryst” (Are Bringing the Hammer Down)
6. Justin Timberlake, “My Love,” “SexyBack” (FutureSex/LoveSounds)
7. The Killers, “When You Were Young” (Sam’s Town)
8. Clipse, “Wamp Wamp (What it Do)” ft. Slim Thug (Hell Hath No Fury)
9. My Chemical Romance, “Welcome to the Black Parade” (The Black Parade)
10. Goldfrapp, “Ooh La La” (Supernature)
I don’t get all this Natalie Portman love, other than possibly WOO LOOKIT THE CUTE GIRL USE CURSING WORDS AND STUFF. Can someone explain it to me?
That is, I mean, FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
Sarah,
What else do you need?
Thou hast learned me, my good sir.
We love you, Natalie!
“I wanna F you too!!!!”
1. edie brickell and new bohemians – stranger things (nothnig else came close)
2. edie brickell – all the songs released on her website in a collection i called a better life (there are 16 in all i think)
3. paul simon – surprise
4. built to spill – you in reverse
5. frank black – fast man raider man
6 and you will know us by the trail of the dead – so divided (can’t believe a late entry has made it this high up)
7. guster – ganging up on the sun
8. angles and airwaves – we don’t need to whisper
9. tom petty -highway companion
10. the flaming lips – at war with the mystics
the bottom ten:
11. thom yorke – the eraser
12. juliana hatfield – the white broken line/live recordings
13. the secret machines – ten silver drops (this one came so close to staying in the top ten. we’ll see what happens as the end of the year comes closer)
14. regina spektor – begin to hope
15.the racontuers – broken boy soldier
16. some girls – crushing love
17. richard butler – richard butler
18. morrissey – ringleader of the tormentors
19. pearl jam – pearl jam
20. venus hum – the colors of the wheel
Fave shows:
Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds at La Féline: I had seen the show listed, and when I walked into this tiny bar in Belleville, I paid my 10 euros, bought a reasonably priced beer and wandered up to the end of the bar where drums and amps were set up. I asked the kid in the rock and roll clothes why the hell they were in this bar. He – the bass player, Kiki from Texas – told me they’d had a Paris gig cancelled and someone had lined up this bar show. Kiki, Kid and the drummer rocked as hard as all hell for the packed bar, which only held about 50 people, and did several encores. That, my friends, is why I love rock and roll.
“The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield” with William Parker, Dave Burrell, Amiri Baraka et alia at the Cabaret Sauvage: Groovy, tough and smart jazz versions of Curtis’s songs.
Blood Ulmer, Vernon Reid, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Melvin Gibbs and Joe Bowie at New Morning: They called themselves the “Punk-Funk Allstars” because you gotta have a gimmick. It was quite simply funky, powerful rock and roll from some kickass musicians.
Roseanne Cash at New Morning: I walk by the concert hall in my ‘hood early in the evening to see about getting tickets for me and my friends. I ask an obviously American woman standing outside with some digital contraption if she knew whether someone inside would sell them to me. She said she didn’t, then I said, oops, excuse me, I didn’t recognize you. Roseanne said that’s OK, come on in, let’s see if we can find somebody. We couldn’t. She said, don’t worry about it, you’ll get in, I’m afraid not many people have heard about the show. It was a respectable-sized crowd, but many more should have been there because R.C. got soul.
Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham at the Java: Legends. They simply sat at the piano and with a guitar and played some of the greatest songs ever written.
Davell Crawford at the Meridien hotel: A great piano player with a soulful, honeyed voice, and a very sweet guy. New Orleans’ loss was Paris’s gain in 2006, as many of the city’s musicians gave great shows here this year. Some among my faves are also new friends: Evan Christopher, Tom McDermott, Leah Chase and David Torkanowsky.
No more babies in my house, but I really wish those of you with little ones the best!
Some of my favorite music from 2006…
The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America
M. Ward – Post-War
Yo La Tengo – I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
Bob Dylan – Modern Times
Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3 – Tick…Tick…Tick
The Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Calexico – Garden Ruin
Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
The Flaming Lips – At War With the Mystics
Ray Davies – Other People’s Lives
Riviera – Capital (just got it two days ago, but I’m lovin’ it!)
Hey guys! Happy belated everything, and congrats to the new dads!
My tops of the pop:
10. Joanna Newsom – Ys
9. MSTRKRFT – The Looks
8. Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
7. Beck – The Information
6. Cat Power – The Greatest
5. YYYs – Show Your Bones
4. Kind of Like Spitting – LEARN: The Songs of Phil Ochs
3. The Mountain Goats – Get Lonely
2. Liars – Drum’s Not Dead
1. The Thermals – The Body the Blood the Machine
And I, too, love a good Natalie P swearfest. I think I watched it 37 times that first week…
Oh, and…
Best concerts:
Silversun Pickups
The Thermals
Metric
GOGOL BORDELLO
Best moments:
Graduating from college/landing dream internship
Meeting Greil Marcus
DVD release of “Wonder Showzen”
Anthony Minghella’s “Madame Butterfly”
Least best moments:
Almost getting expelled from college (for throwing a music festival!)
Being in the vicinity of CHYSY’s Alec Ounsworth (what a blistering prick)
The whole Madonna-goes-African thing
“Dreamgirls”
Welcome home, Stacey K. We’ve missed you, but I’m glad you landed an excellent internship and that you’re finding regular freelance work. You’re the best.
Don’t sleep on Stacey’s contributions to the Metro Times music section, too.
JTL
Absolutely. See, kids. It really pays to write for Glorious Noise!
Shucks, thanks Derek!
And Johnny, in the spirit of the season, sorry for the Detroit-and-incest jokes. (They will be better in the future.)