Oh, Warfair & Therapy

One EskimO

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:23:00 +0000

London's One EskimO comes to Madison Friday, on tour with paisanos Gomez and supporting their own debut album, All Balloons. Their and icy music showcases vocalist Kristian Leontiou's lyrics and vocals. Leontiou channels Michael Stipe as much as Dave Matthews (don't hold it against him), Damien Rice and Gomez's Ben Ottewell-- which is to say, his vocals are quite nice. But perhaps more than that, it's the creativity surrounding the band.

First, there is no shortage of writing in this band's resumé-- first clue is their blog. But it doesn't stop there. The Adventures of One EskimO, a visual album as the band calls it, is an animated set to Balloons.

Check this space over the next few days for an exclusive interview with the band as well as a ticket giveaway to see them at the Majestic opening for Gomez. In the meantime, check out EskimoSpace or their website to stream some tunes. Check WB for more info about the visual album.

Now Writing for Examiner.com

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:54:00 +0000

Howdee all....

I have recently joined the local dispatch of online newspaper Examiner.com. I'd greatly appreciate it if you would subscribe to my page, to stay current with Madison's local music scene as well as to help my ratings!

Simply take this link and to the right of my lovely photo, click 'subscribe'. Don't worry, you won't get spammed by the site-- you'll just receive news of my articles. Feel free to comment on stories at will [it can be anonymous, too-- no login necessary!] as that helps out my cause a little, too.

Hopefully writing for them will mean the slow demise of this here masterpiece, OHWNT, will be staved off a little. Only time will tell. I still like giving my opinion, which I'm not supposed to be doing over there, so.... yeah.

If you are in PR or representing a band in some manner or another and are coming to Madison, please email me @ MadisonMusicExaminer[at]gmail[dot]com so I can report on it!

Have a great day.

FaveSongs2009 is coming! In the meantime.... a Teiam Player mix

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:29:00 +0000

I'll be finally finishing up my FaveSongs2009 list over the weekend, so check back soon. But in the meantime, enjoy another part in my series of mixes which is sort of a Best of 2009 series anyway.

Below, both streamable and downloadable from my SoundCloud [listen at work! put it on your iPod!] is Taking Off Heads vol 3 [vol two exists and will be along shortly; I like being unpredictable].

This one starts off in about the same vein, with some chill MillionYoung [you'll hear more of the Floridian in 2010], works through some good chill tunes before eventually picking up pace with some Dan Deacon, finally rounding out with some Major Lazer and melodic but grimy dubstep of a Doorly remix.

Tracklist:

MillionYoung - Chlorophyl

Beach House - Lover of Mine

Toro Y Moi - Blessa

Tune-Yards - Hatari

Animal Collective - I Think I Can

White Denim - Regina Holding Hands

Gold Panda - Quitter's Raga

Dan Deacon - Surprise Stefani

Yeasayer - Tightrope

Major Lazer feat Santigold - Hold the Line [LehtMoJoe remix]

Calvin Harris - Not Alone [Doorly remix]

Taking Off Heads vol 3 by Teiam Player

If you missed the first one, you need to check it out. I'm egotistical and like all the work I do, but vol 1 was one of my favorites. Lots of good chill music there.

FaveAlbums2009 part 3: 10-2

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:33:00 +0000

Here it is! The top 10 [except for the #1 which of course I already mentioned here].

Find 11-25 here and 26-50 here.

Without further....

10 - Akron Family Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free

So many times this fall when I'd get sick of listening to everything else I'd put this on. "River" has long been a favorite, but it was "They Will Appear" and its imploding from the inside-out halfway through, a lá the Annuals' "Brother", that first blew me away. The scattered sound of the album opener "Everyone is Guilty" and the way it bursts in and then breaks down is a perfect introduction to the album. Every song isn't a 10 like the three I just mentioned, but that's probably why it didn't get much higher on my list.

9 - Ramona Falls Intuit

I'm not sure [and sorta ashamed] of two things about this album: how I hadn't heard about a Menomena side project until after hearing this and how I didn't recognize Brent Knopf's distinctive delivery, voice and vision until I read it was him. "Duh!" my ears exclaimed, and then I couldn't believe how I didn't hear it before. As with several albums on this list, Intuit has a couple of my favorite songs of the year, "Clover" and “Going Once, Going Twice”.

Sometimes I judge good lyric writing by my ability to understand what the writer is talking about-- and often times the same result can mean two completely different things. With Knopf, I can never say I'm quite sure. Sure, a lot of the same themes are covered as in half the other indie albums released this year [umm, right?]. But I don't care what it all means. It's emotional music, and that's what I love about it. It makes me feel something really good inside, like I want to identify whatever it is he's singing about so intently. And maybe that's it—maybe it's all about introspect. As I type that sentence Knopf cries out pleadingly "my heart wants just to know that it exists." Well played, Sir.

8 - Passion Pit Manners

I definitely anticipated this full length debut more than I anticipated Merriweather Post Pavilion. Their 2008 EP Chunk of Change totally blew me away--"Sleepyhead" was constantly in my head and on my phone [I made at least two different ringtones from the song]. So delighted was I when Manners it dropped and it actually lived up to the hype! It's a pure pop party, and was perfect to welcome the flower buds and sunshine and pastels of early Spring, when it arrived.

Some people hate Michael Angelakos's falsetooey oozey coo about relationships--I can't get enough. The year-old repeat "Sleepyhead" was even a welcome inclusion, even if it didn't change a lick since the home-produced EP release.

7 - The Decemberists Hazards of Love

Last year I hadn't even really considered TV on the Radio's Dear Science one of my favorite, or the best, albums of 2008 because it hadn't lived up to expectations I had of them. But when removed from the earth shattering Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes and Return to Cookie Mountain, it's a stellar piece of work in its own right. The same thing happened this year with the Decemberists.

Hazards of Love is an astounding rock opera. Period. Taking a page from their own book, they have done it again and again. Rock operas, that is. First there was The Tain, then the The Crane Wife, and now this. I came to love Colin Meloy and his league of extraordinary musicians after only their second album, but I have loved everything ever since.

When I first listened to Crane Wife I could instantly hear it filling a theatre, just as I had heard them fill a theatre three times before. I had the same feeling when the Love opera reached the third part of the medley “The Rake's Song”//”The Abduction of Margaret”//”The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing”. My Brightest Diamond Shara Worden guests as the Queen and she totally steals the show. Well, if it were a show [and it were a show, really, as Colin & Co toured this past summer playing the album/opera in its entirety. And here I was in Cyprus, missing my second straight Decemberists visit to Madison]. Awesome song, awesome album.

6 – Japandroids Post-nothing

Finding this album on my top 10 list is as much a shock to me as it may be for anyone who knows me. But then again, maybe not. Afterall, I was once a teenager just like [it seems] these boys sing about. I was in love. I love fuzzy guitars. I love pre- Green Album Weezer and Hum. And I sometimes love to wear my heart on my sleeve. This is what Post-nothing is all about. I consider “The Boys Are Leaving Town” to be great first for keeping my mind from wandering anywhere near the Thin Lizzy classic of a similar name. This album isn’t groundbreaking. It’s not complex. It’s just catchy as hell and it rocks and I can’t stop listening to it.

5 – White Denim Fits

So MPP dominated myTunes the first couple months of 2009, Miike Snow the next couple, Manners the middle couple. Fits dominated my iPod once I arrived to Cyprus. If you came into my office any time between 5pm and 11pm in July/August/September, chances are you heard the bluesy garage rock coming from the unfit Altec Lansing computer speakers we’re tortured with. It’s sort of fitting, however, that a stripped down album like Fits [is that feedback I hear? Aw, who cares] would be rocked so much on such a stripped down stereo experience. Like Post-nothing, there isn’t a whole lot of complexity here, however I’d wager it’s still about six times as complex as Post-nothing.

Halfway through we’re give a break with the instrumental dream sequence jam session interlude “Sex Prayer”. “Say What You Want”, “El Heart-Attack DCWYW” and opener “Radio Milk How Can You Stand It” rock the most, while “Regina Holding Hands” and my personal favorite “Syncn” close out the album perfectly with its slow build. I got into this album so much that I tried desperately to find anything else like it—Black Lips, Black Keys, The King Khan & BBQ Show, Almighty Defenders…. While those are all pretty good in their own right, nothing was ever nearly as good as Fits.

4 – The xx xx

I don’t know how these kids did it. But I imagine it may have gone something like this: “Fuck it, let’s just make an album already. It’ll have a drum machine, a bass, your voice, my voice, the twinkling of a piano, only we’ll use a guitar instead of a piano, and.. we’re missing something…. Oh, I got it—complete fucking crisp dead black silence every second an instrument or voice isn’t heard. Fuck it.”

And holy hell if that equation didn’t work. These are kids making this music?! The Japandroids are late twentysomethings writing teeniebopper love songs and early twentysomethings xx write songs that give the impression they learned from Leonard Cohen.

It took me a while to get into this album—when I first listened to it, I always wanted something more. But the adage/cliché is true—sometimes less is more. Everything is so stripped down and crisp, and their voices seem to just be hanging out there on threads. Sometimes, as in “Infinity” the voices face each other, and other times I imagine vocalists Romy and Oliver standing back to back as they sort of call and respond in “Crystalized”. Superb. Give this album to a love interest.

3 – Grizzly Bear Veckatimest

Another GB album and more Beach Boys and Beatles comparisons. More wonderful, warming choruses to sing along to. More melodic indie anthems to play over and over and over. What more could we ask for?

While I still consider Department of Eagles’ In Ear Park to be better, you can’t ignore any of this. The Iron & Wine-alike opening of southern nod of “Southern Point”. The smile-inducing power of “Two Weeks”. The all-around near perfection of “While You Wait for Others”. Or the building suspense of pre-chorus “All I Ask” and the singalong that ensues. “I can’t get out of what I’m into with you”, Grizzly Bear. And I love every minute of this relationship.

2 – Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca

Whew. How do you write about an album like this? It wasn’t difficult at all to realize this was one of my top favorites of the year. You’ve read it a couple times already that this and that dominated my speakers, but I just didn’t want to spoil the surprise—Bitte Orca was there all along. This album wasn’t officially released until June, but it leaked months before—as early as February or March if I remember correctly. I had actually just barely gotten my feet wet with DP’s Rise Above for some reason [I don’t know how I hadn’t fallen for it back in 2007] shortly before I nabbed the leaked Orca.

And it’s better! Rise Above is brilliant, but Orca is just about as perfect a merging of pop and experimental [whatever the hell that really means anymore] music you can get these days. Is MPP pop music? Just because it’s more mainstream than it’s ever been before doesn’t make it pop. I called Miike Snow’s debut pop, and I stand by that. Maybe I don’t even know what the word means anymore. And maybe I never did.

Critics have said Orca is the most accessible Projectors’ album to date. I always hated reading that sort of line, but it makes perfect sense with this. While Rise Above had the same lilting vocals, Bitte Orca wraps them up in something a little more…. poppy. Opener “Cannibal Resource” may have a scary name, but it’s quite harmless--in fact, it's extremely charming. And even though the opening chords remind me of the Jackass show/films, I get past that and swept away as David Longstreth, Angel Deradoorian and Amber Coffman make their way up and down the scales. I want to sing along, but of course I can’t hit most of the notes these guys can. But that doesn’t stop me from trying.

“Temecula Sunrise”, “Stillness is the Move” and “Useful Chamber” are the standouts, and I can’t decide which of the latter two I love the most—each time I listen, those two play tug of war with my heart. Longstreth and Deradoorian’s harmonizing and scatting/yodeling of “Stillness” lend a beautiful backdrop to Coffman’s r’n’b-esque vocal delivery, which makes this a contender for tune of the year. But “Useful Chamber” has that mood swing that I love so much [as recently mentioned above about Akron/Family’s “They Will Appear”, White Denim’s “Syncn”, Ramona Falls’s “ et al]. It begins with a bounce and it ends with screaming guitars, shouts and cymbal crashes, and with has everything between. It’s totally a Ry-style track—epic and rollercoasterly emotional.

So there ya have it. Take it again from the top if you haven't done so.

And stay tuned for the other two lists: FaveSongs2009 and FaveEPs2009.

The FaveEPs is a very valuable addition, if I may say myself, because it includes a lot of EPs that others have on their album lists. There were so many good EPs [and albums] this year, I decided to keep them separate. Look forward to Mesita, Washed Out, Bon Iver, Suckers, Banjo or Freakout, Colourmusic, ZAZA, Delorean, Ducktails, El Perro del Mar, Mt Kimbie.... and more!

If you were missing some downloads on this page, those will be coming soon. Rest assured the FaveSongs list will be nothing but downloads. Well, that and my silly comments of course.

FaveAlbums2009 part 2: 25-11

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:46:00 +0000

Alright, now it gets srrrrious. Here are my favorite albums of 2009, from 25-11. If you somehow missed my first installment, which included #1 FaveAlbum2009 as well as #s 50-26, go catch up!

25 - YACHT See Mystery Lights // The Juan MacLean The Future Will Come

Yes, DFA holds it down completely to round off the top 25. I just couldn’t decide if it should be one or the other, or someone else completely, and so they share it. YACHT…. What can I say? Jona Bechtolt is a beat making genius. I saw him open up for Vampire Weekend early last year and he blew me away. Laptop artists are one thing, but Jona took it to another level. He’s the only artist I’ve known to rock a PowerPoint presentation. Über geeky, and über cool. On Lights, “Psychic City” was quick to make friends with me. Those who follow YACHT should know “Summer Song” from last year, released as a standalone single. What else is good.. everything! Opener “Ring the Bell” is a slow funky buildup to a rocking stomp. I critique Memory Tapes for being too stompy and 4/4—but YACHT is another story.

The Future Will Come is another dance album, with trademark Juan MacLean epically long tracks. This is a dance album you don’t dance to. Well, moments like “Happy House” you definitely dance—you shimmy, shake, bounce, hop, slide, too. And “The Simple Life” definitely makes me wanna dance. So what the hell was I talking about? Well…. It’s as much of a headphone listen as it a dancefloor record. The spacey disco is minimal enough to have on and simply listen to, drifting in and out of conscious listening mode. “Happy House” is the standout [one of my FaveSongs2008]. Other notables are “The Simple Life” and “One Day”.

24 – Memory Tapes Seek Magic

I don’t know if I got sick of listening to this or if I got swept away with other things but there was a time when I thought for sure it’d be in my top ten. I think if there were fewer 4/4 jams on here, it would have remained in the top ten. Like, more tracks like opener “Swimming Field”. Or, like…. If Mr Memory Tapes Dayve Hawk and Washed Out or Toro Y Moi made an album together, I would have never stopped listening to it.

“Bicycle” is still a contender for my very favorite song of 2009. True statement [read this space in the next few days to see if it beats out everything else in the FaveSongs2009 list]. I loved “Bicycle” so damn much that I think I may have hyped up Seek Magic a little too much for my own good. Still, tracks like “Green Knight” are great, as is aforementioned “Swimming Field”. It also bugs me that this was released as an album, but with nine tracks barely hitting over 40min, it really feels much more like an EP.

23 – Raekwon Only Built for Cuban Linx Pt II

Holy shit, he actually did it. GZA/Genius kinda did, but RZA sure as hell couldn’t. Ok, so Ghostface did, twice. Method Man wasn’t ever close. And I won’t even bother with ODB. Nobody else even really tried. And who the hell thought Raekwon could? But he did. He followed up one of the best hip hop albums, ever, with another straight banger. This reminds me so much of Ghostface’s 2006 Fishscale, and with good reason—many of the same producers, like MF Doom, J Dilla and Pete Rock, and, of course, many of the same guest appearances. Those guests would of course be other members of the Wu-Tang Clan.

I’m no hip hop expert and so I won’t get into this much. Expertly used samples, and expertly versed rhymes. Period. Besides Clipse, Birdman/Weezy and Lupe Fiasco, this and Fishscale are easily the most dominant hip hop records in my collection [of albums released in the past five years, I should mention]. And until Gang Starr come back with another album, they will continue to be.

22 – Discovery LP

Come on, this album is great! Don’t deny the pure pop bliss, even if it can be cheesy as hell sometimes. They had fun with it, and so should you. I got hold of this the same time Miike Snow and Passion Pit’s records were being blasted, and I think the three together made quite the perfect dreamy springtime soundtrack. Put all three records on, select ‘random’ and you knew you’d have a ray of sunshine beaming on you for the next two hours.

And how could this not be good? Vampire Weekend piano-and-synth-man Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot vocalist Wes Miles with their respective bands have made two of the best indie rock/pop albums in recent years. They get cheeky with Autotune, steal some r’n’b ideas and even get Dirty Projector Angel Deradoorian to help out! It’s wonderful. I listened to it and loved it so much it should probably be much higher than this.

21 – Girls Album

This album is marvelous. I haven’t listened to it all the way through for a few weeks, but each time I do I remember how much I actually like it. Originally, I was kinda surprised I liked it as much as I did. I found myself listening more and more. It’s a kid who grew up listening to Elvis Costello and the Smiths, and then ended up recording an album in California on which a lot of times he sounds eerily like Elvis Costello. “Hellhole Ratrace” was really once again an unlikely favorite, but I kept putting that track on repeat—which is strange because much of the track itself is a big repeat of the same lines over and over. But I loved it. “Lust for Life” and “Laura” are other strong tunes.

20 – Bibio Ambivalence Avenue

Bibio released THREE albums this year [ok, so two albums and one EP]. Who knows when the material was actually produced, as I’m certain the man has unfinished tracks lying around all over the place. Avenue is the middle album of the year, released in June. Since I liked it much more than his first, Vignetting the Compost, I’m curious if the third release, The Apple and the Tooth [that one that's really an EP], will be even better. I need to give it a few more attentive listens, but I have a feeling sometime in early 2010 I’ll decide it is just as good if not better than this.

Anyway.. Avenue is for fans of Boards of Canada, Caribou and other Warp and Mush artists, but it’s so much more than that may sound. I think it has pretty broad appeal. Sure, I’ve listened to “this sort of music” for years and so when I hear “weird” bleeps and bloops and unconventional drum patterns, it’s nothing to get all offended by. There are plenty of vocals and poppy moments on this, like “Lover’s Carvings” for instance, that should be able to hold the attention of fans of more mainstream stuff. Give it a chance.

19 – Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

It’s not that I don’t think this is a crazy good album like everyone else does—I just wasn’t blown away by it right off the bat. In fact, I still haven’t been. That’s probably why it’s #19 on this list. I need to let it soak in and hear it’s brilliance throughout. Don't get me wrong, it's damn good [everything on this list is! That's kinda the point]. It's just not.... original enough and so I've let it slip by. I'm saying right now I'm sure it's better than I've let it be.

The first two single, “Lisztomania” and “1901” totally do it for me—they got me moving and singing at the top of my lungs the same way “Napoleon Says” did three years ago. They’re good. They’re both good enough to make my FaveSongs list, I just haven’t loved the rest of the album enough yet, mainly because I haven’t given it a chance.

18 – Fuck Buttons Tarot Sport

On someone else’s blog somewhere recently I likened this record, or the tracks that make it up anyway, as being like Dan Deacon tracks, only dropped in tempo and without the chipmunk vocals. I stand by that extremely insightful and thoughtful comparison. It’s hard to pull any of the tracks fromTarot away from the others and still not hear the others humming along within. No, that doesn’t mean they all sound alike—but hey, so what if it does? Dan Deacon’s songs sound a lot alike. Much of Tarot Sport sounds like a lot more of Tarot Sport. Big deal.

If you’re into this sort of emotional build-up stuff like me, then it's not hard to fall in love with. Try to listen to “The Lisbon Maru” without losing your shit when the guitars screech in or when the drums finally come in full volume. Album closer “Flight of the Feathered Serpent”—which sounds exactly how I expect a flight of such serpent would—also sounds like they hired ex-Underworld beat programmer to supply the drums. In other words, it’s bloody brilliant.

17 – Dan Deacon Bromst

I saw Dan Deacon and his immense ensemble for the first time earlier this year, and it was intense. Seeing them live and listening to the same exact music at home are two completely different experiences, however, each of course enjoyable in their own ways. The album is great because while it’s quite obviously the same goofy-ass Dan Deacon from Spiderman of the Rings, sonically he matured. The same arpeggioed piano and xylophone [and whatever else] phrases are there, as are the same chipmunk vocals and snippets and samples—it all just sounds a little more full and put-together than Spiderman. Personal faves are opener “Build Voice” and “Surprise Stefani”, which are both strongly supported by their long builds. But hell, each individual track builds, not unlike Fuck Buttons record at all. And that's most likely one of the things I like about it the most. It should be noted neither Dan Deacon nor Fuck Buttons should be listened to be schizophrenics.

16 – Culture Reject Culture Reject

I didn’t know much about Culture Reject before, and I still don’t know much about Culture Reject, except for the fact that it’s hard to not call them Culture Rejects—a habit, which out of respect for the band, I need to quit doing. Album opener “Ain’t it on the Floor” is a sublime instrumental ease into the album, which altogether is a great summery indie pop album complete with handclap happiness [as executed perfectly on “Inside the Cinema”], acoustic guitar and piano [as on “Overflow”], horns galore and beachiness throughout.

15 – The Very Best Warm Heart of Africa

If you didn’t have last year’s mixtape from Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit’s collaboration as The Very Best, you missed out. That and this year’s Warm Heart are both sunny mixes of native East African music and western influenced pop. Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koening guests on the title track and it’s a welcome addition. While Koening arguably makes that track, Esau carries himself on the bulk of the album. “Rain Dance” features MIA, which is another nice departure from the rest of the album but all in all the album would be great without guests, too.

14 – Antony & the Johnsons The Crying Light

It’s hard to imagine that this actually came out in 2009. It seems like it was so much longer ago I was stuck in the dark and silent stacks on the sixth floor of UW’s Memorial Library, with Antony’s distinct voice in my ear. Pained and heartbroken, Antony Hegarty reminds me of Elliott Smith, but without the alcohol and drug addiction and horrible affliction of depression. With Antony, there’s hope to share—he yearns for your ear as he sings achingly for a perfect world, the certainties of life and death, and the future. I join Antony in hope whereas with Elliott I empathized, slugged back some bourbon and joined in his pain.

I first heard Antony on Coco Rosie’s Noah’s Ark and I very decidedly hated his voice. It’s definitely not for everyone in the same way that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!’s Alec Ounsworth isn’t, but once you finally come around, it’s beautiful; now I absolutely adore it.

13 – Basement Jaxx Scars

Basement Jaxx are so great and timeless. Like Daft Punk, they have such a distinct style of dance that they never abandon. While Daft Punk is famously robotic and spacecraft sterile, Felix and Simon have a more organic approach. Neither is right nor wrong, of course. The opening title track “Scars” is a perfect example of the sorta off the wall Jaxx production: the affected-vocal “Baaaaaaasssse-meeeeeennnt Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaxxxxxxx” intro, the omnipresent bugs or fairies whizzing by all around [or is it just me who hears that?], the simple drum intro [not unlike Rooty's “Romeo”] and the wonderful lyrics. As with every other Jaxx record Scars contains great guest spots, but perhaps the most notable, Santigold, is actually the album’s least desirable. On the other hand, “Raindrops” is a dance pop gem, and has a solid spot on my FaveSongs list for sure.

12 – Tune-Yards Bird-Brains

Tune-Yards is Brooklynite Merrill Garbus, and she has one of the best female voices in all of the borough’s indie corners. She rivals both Angel Deradoorian and Amber Coffman, and all three share the same passion of using their gifted voices as a leadinstrument—in the case of the Dirty Projectors, it’s three lead vocal instruments in a band, but in lo-fi wunder-one-woman band Tune-Yards, Merrill’s voice is inarguably the only lead instrument.

Listening to this as I write, I really want to put it higher on the list, but I can’t bring myself to change this blasted thing anymore. "Lions" carries one of the most unforgettable deliveries of the year, where Merrill almost hatefully spits: "we can pretend it's Christmas while we're locked here in this box / while my brother and all his friends whip out their tiny teenage cocks / if I scream they'll hear us so let's count along with clocks". If there’s any fault of this whole album, it’s that on one of my favorites “Hatari”, right at the beginning of the big breakdown there is really clumsy editing. It’s something which lo-fi lovers may find charming, but as an editing perfectionist I find it annoying.

11 - Miike Snow Miike Snow

Nine months ago seldom was a moment when this album wasn't being blasted on my home stereo, my iPod on the way to class, or at my girlfriend's house. Six months ago I was still sure I'd claim it to be #2 or 3 on this list. But I can't remember the last time I listened to this the whole way through, and I think time is very telling about how good an album really is, or how much you even like it. Still, because it totally dominated myTunes for a good portion of the year, it's hard to ignore. Besides, it's an incredible album!

Miike Snow [it's /MEE-kuh/, people!] lead singer Andrew Wyatt is also in the great band Fires of Rome, and I'm a fan of them as well. I think I'm mostly a fan of Wyatt's voice, but the production of this is wonderful, too. It's Euro mainstream, really: it's a dancey pop album, and it doesn't sound like something that would come from America. And it isn't--production team Bloodshy and Avant are Swedes. "Sylvia", "Animal", "Burial", "A Horse is Not a Home" are all highlights--it's hard to not find a track on here that's fun to listen to.

Again, if you missed the first batch, find it here.

Be sure to check back soon for the top 10 OHWNT FaveAlbums2009.

OHWNT FaveAlbums2009 part 1: #1 and 50-26

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:32:00 +0000

Well hello there.. welcome back.

In 2007, the first year of this here blog, I think I neglected to come up with a list of my favorite albums of that year. But it was no secret that my favorite, from about July of that year, was Yeasayer's All Hour Cymbals. Animal Collective's strong Strawberry Jam and Menomena's Friend or Foe were up there, too, but Yeasayer was above and beyond anything I had listened to that year.

In 2008 I also neglected to come up with a proper list, but I was very vocal about Department of Eagles' In Ear Park-- I was a fan of [Grizzly Bear member] Daniel Rossen's band before I had ever heard of Grizzly Bear [something which I'm obviously sort of proud of]. Fleet Foxes' self-titled album was near the top last year, as was Ratatat's LP3.

So there's a theme.. and there should be: no big surprises. If it's a contender for my favorite album of the year, chances are I've been listening to it for a good part of the year. Also, I'm not trying to like weird stuff other people don't like. Well, ok perhaps I actually am. But in the end, I'm usually not actually liking it anymore than everyone else.

Sure, I joke about still liking buttrockers Clutch and stoners Monster Magnet sometimes [which not too many indie blog readers will attest to these days] but when it comes to noisemakers like Wavves, catcallers like Joanna Newsom, pimple-faced teens Smith & Westerns, or bleep-and-blooping Neon Indian, no matter how much hype anyone gives them, if I don't like it after several attempts to see what the big deal is, then I just don't like it.

While I'm on that thought.... earlier this year I deleted all of the Neon Indian songs I had, and re-downloaded them all again, because I kept wondering to myself "am I listening to the same stuff that everyone else is? This can't be what everyone's raving about. Maybe I got some corrupt files. Maybe I got some mp3s that were improperly tagged." No, it was indeed the real [crappy] deal. What can I say? I gave it a try. And another. And still another. I just don't see the big fucking deal.

So anyway.... the two trends: no surprises and I like what's good. Pretty simple, huh? So in the spirit of this obvious statement, I'm doing my first ever [can't believe it's happening, myself] FaveAlbums list. And I'm going to do something slightly different than most blogs: I'm giving you my #1 favorite up front, because it's not really worth the suspense. It's not a big surprise. 99% of blogs and magazines and newspapers out there are all saying the same damn thing, and it's hard to refute the obvious. Trust me, I tried.

1 - Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion

I tried to will this away from the top of my list. I've never been much of a conformist [except when I'm paid to be in uniform]. I don't like being like everyone else. Ask my mom. I stopped listening to the album for days, maybe even weeks. But then the harmonies and drums and ghostly soundscapes began haunting me. Avey Tare's yelps. "In the Flowers"'s handclaps. The grinding and dodging of "Summertime Clothes". Synthstabs of "Daily Routine". The "Brother Sport" breakdown at 3:01. And, of course, the "My Girls" chorus.

Ignoring the pure brilliance of albums as wholes, I looked at ranking favorites quantitatively: giving numerical ratings to the standout tracks of each one, and then tallying up the scores. Even by looking at the stars I give each song in iTunes, I didn't need to do any counting. MPP is easily way ahead—dammit if 82% of the songs don’t have at least three stars by their names [yes, that’s 9 of 11 tracks; can you guess which two weren’t my favorites?].

Howabout the album's play count? Well, because I have two computers and got a new laptop halfway through the year, those numbers are inconclusive [and because I often leave my apartment forgetting a playlist is on repeat, the numbers are a little skewed]. However, I know like hell I listened to MPP more than anything else [even Teiam Player tracks/mixes!].

So there it is. I hopped on the bandwagon. So what? Now on with the rest.

Below are 50-26, which definitely deserve, at the very least, to be mentioned. Rankings are admittedly a little more loose here than they are on the top 25.

50 - Surfer Blood - Astrocast

49 - Universal Studios Florida Ocean Sunbirds

48 - Múm Sing Along to Songs You Don’t Know

47 - Le Loup Family

46 - Yppah They Know What Ghost Know

45 - Here We Go Magic Here We Go Magic

44 - Nosaj Thing Drift

43 - PhaseOne Thanks But No Thanks

42 - Mountain Goats The Life of the World to Come

41 - Taken By Trees East of Eden

40 - The Isbells The Isbells

39 - The Moore Brothers Aptos

38 - Washed Out High Times

37 - No and the Maybes No and the Maybes

36 - Deastro Moondagger

35 - Major Lazer Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do

34 - Simian Mobile Disco Temporary Pleasure

33 - The Kills Keep On Your Mean Side

32 - Junior Boys Begone Dull Care

31 - Bombay Bicycle Club I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose

30 - Fires of Rome You Kingdom You

29 - Magic Arms Make Lists Do Something

28 - Mumford & Sons Sigh No More

27 - Freelance Whales Weathervanes

26 - Fool’s Gold Fool’s Gold

Places 25-2 will be coming along very very shortly, don't you worry.

Thanks for reading thus far.

Teiam Player x the Isbells

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:22:00 +0000

If you haven't heard Belgium's the Isbells, do so soon. Their self titled debut album is one of my favorites of the year, and "Reunite" is on my top ten of FaveSongs2009 list [check this space in the next few days to actually see the list].

I absolutely adore the original song "Reunite"; I merely wanted to add just a little bit of something to it. It's merely a.... well, it's just a subtle re-edit using only elements of the original, not anything added from the outside.

For me, the Isbells along with Mumford & Sons helped filled the niche that the Fleet Foxes records have been in for nearly two full years now. Lead singer Gaetan often sounds a lot like OHWNT favorite and Jose Gonzalez, so if you can imagine a crossbreed of he and Fleet Foxes, you're imagining quite the flannel-clad superpower.

Download a copy of my refix from my Soundcloud page.

Reunite [Teiam Player's Reu-edite] by Teiam Player

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:11:00 +0000

The xx x Teiam Player

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:18:00 +0000

The xx "Infinity" - Teiam Player Wicked Game edit

The xx - Infinity [Teiam Player Wicked Game edit] by Teiam Player

Taking Off Heads - a Teiam Player Mix

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:20:00 +0000

Taken by Trees

YACHT

Dirty Projectors

Toro y Moi

Washed Out

Delorean

The Very Best

El Perro del Mar

and wonderful others.

Listen and enjoy.

Taking Off Heads by teiamplayer

una vuelta?

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:41:00 +0000

Department of Eagles, YYYs/MSTRKRFT

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:32:00 +0000

As far as I can tell, this has nothing to do with the lyrics, but then again what the hell do I know.

It's still pretty damn awesome video for one of my favorite songs of last year.

And another non-downloadable tasty nugget:



Zero (MSTRKRFT Remix) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Decemberists, Grizzly Bear

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:22:00 +0000

The new Decemberists album The Hazards of Love fell from the skies last night and into my ipod. Anyone see them when they came to Madison's Barrymore and rocked us with a rare live encore performance of The Tain in its entirety? That was wicked.

It seems to this snooty blogger that each full album since The Tain has become more and more conceptual, and more and more sonically like that 20+ minute rock symphony, seemingly inspired equally by Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath, creepy nursery rhymes and seafaring deckhands.

In any event, this album rocks and is just as creative as any of their other masterpieces. I don't care if you hate that they sound like pirate music. I love these guys and can't wait til they come to Wisconsin.

The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid

The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing

Annan Water

The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)

Go preorder the album from InSound right here

This Grizzly Bear album has to be the most highyl anticipated album since tight-jeaned hipsters queued up online to download fake leaks of Animal Collective's album in January. Well, a 'ok-quality' rip of the album Veckatimest leaked recently, and I had to be all over it. Department of Eagles's In Ear Park was by far my favorite album of last year [you'd know that if you've been around these parts much, or if I ever got around to publishing a favorite albums list].

Anyway, it'll happen that this album will hit Pitchfork's end of year top 10, whereas DoEagles's beauty insultingly barely made their honorable mention. And the crazy part of that is that this sounds more like Department of Eagles than GBear's last album, Yellow House.

The cover art is beautiful, too.

Told ya.

Go preorder the album directly from the band via GB // Ed Droste's blog right here

See, I haven't totally abandoned y'all.

NASA: oh, holy crap, something worthy of a new ohwnt post

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:06:00 +0000

what do you get when you get two of the most unique, iconic and mysterious artists of the 80s and 90s? pure awesomeness. more on tom waits and kool keith later.

NASA, a collaboration of producers sam spiegel and dj zegon, has a new album. it is really really good. i had my doubts, partially because it's all guest spots and lots of hype and those kinda things usually kinda suck. but this doesn't.

the album is a who's who list of 00s indie and hip hop artists: kanye, santogold, spank rock, MIA, cool kids, lovefoxxx, amanda blank, etc, but also features david byrne [!!] on not one but two tracks. and the talking head delivers [much stronger than his appearance on this year's other superstar-laden guest-spot album by norman cook aka fatboy slim aka the BPA].

anyway.. then you got these two goofnuts:

NASA feat tom waits and kool keith - spacious thoughts

more from the album the spirit of the apollo:

NASA feat david byrne, chuck d, ras congo, seu jorge & z-trip - money

NASA feat sizzla, amanda blank & lovefoxxx - a volta

NASA feat spank rock, MIA, santogold & nick zinner - whatchadoin?

NASA feat the cool kids, ghostface killah, scarface & dj am - the mayor

puchase the album:

InSound.

iTunes.

these tracks is hot.

welcome back.

Te!am Playa @ Nattspil

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:53:00 +0000

Tell your friends to grab their coats, tell mothers to hide their daughters, it's Teiam Player @ Nattspil Thursday night.

....and then he just disappeared.... thanks MandoPhotography.

I'm going to try and do something a little different with this one, so all of you "friends" who don't normally show up, maybe you should consider doing so.

Pow!

Download a nifty little mix I did last fall, entitled Hustlin. A seamless mix, it features awesome eclecticness by Warren G & Nate Dogg, Modest Mouse, CSS, Ratatat, TV on the Radio before getting into gritty electro house and finally into some jukin booty and b-more sweaty sex beats/jawns.

Teiam Player - Hustlin . ~120min, ~71mb

More muzics coming soon.

But for a refresher course on all things Teiam Player, to include awesome mixes and other mash-ups, take this link!

Bye

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:39:00 +0000

Antony and the Johnsons - Another World

I need another place

will there be peace?

I need another world

this one's nearly gone.

FaveSongs2008: Part Ocho

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:08:00 +0000

Photo by DanZim

Sorry I missed another day.

Wow, I missed two days, didn't I?

Really sorry, faithful leechers.

I'll try to make two posts today,

or just make this a monster post.

Tallest Man on Earth - Honey Won't You Let Me In

Passion Pit - Sleepyhead

Horse Feathers - Rude to Rile

Fleet Foxes - English House

TV on the Radio - Love Dog

Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms vs Bad Arms

The Teenagers - Homecoming

Van She - Changes

Beach House - D.A.R.L.I.N.G.

Neon Neon - I Lust U

Flight of the Conchords - Foux du FaFa

Jamie Lidell - Wait For Me

Landon Pigg - Great Companion

The Dø - On My Shoulders

Ketchup! ohwnt FaveSongs2008:

Uno . Dos . Tres . Cuatro . Cinco . Seis . Siete

Hype followers, bookmark this.

I have many many things to do now,

most notably: nothing.

FaveSongs2008: Part Siete

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:04:00 +0000

photo by Lea Wolf, courtesy of Ryan @ MuzzBees

Bon Iver is here in Madison, to play at the Barrymore.

My friend Julia has a final tonight at some crazy hour and so she can't see him.

I sent Justin an e-mail via MySpace, asking him if he'd stick around one more night and play at Julia's graduation party tomorrow night, at Cafe Montmartre.

That'd be one hell of a surprise performance.

And we'll just have to wait and see.

One Bon Iver song and several others, as I promised earlier today.

In case you hadn't noticed, by the way, all of the Bon Iver tracks I'm featuring in my FaveSongs series are from his MySpace Transmissions digiEP, which is available free right here.

The EP is comprised of four tracks from his wonderalbum For Emma, Forever Ago, which technically came out [at the very end of] last year. These MST versions are a bit tweaked and refreshing, though, and legit for this 2008 list.

Without further..

Bon Iver - Flume [MySpace Transmissions version]

Ratatat - Mumtaz Khan

Air France - No Way Down

The Cool Kids - Delivery Man

Justice - Stress [live version]

Delta Spirit - People, Turn Around

Portishead - Threads

Destroyer - Blue Flower, Blue Flame

Vampire Weekend - Bryn

Headlights - Get Your Head Around It

Psapp - I Want That

Ladyhawke - Paris is Burning

DJ/Rupture feat Max Normal - Homeboys

Ricardo Villalobos - Enfants (Olin remix)

Lil Wayne feat T-Pain - Got Money

Catch up! ohwnt FaveSongs2008 Parts:

Uno . Dos . Tres . Cuatro . Cinco . Seis

Listmongers, get a clue and bookmark this.

Oh, one more thing. Howabout allmighty Pitchfork's end of year list?

Department of Eagles album not cracking the Top 50? [whatever!]

Ratatat not on there at fucking all? [double whatever!]

TV on the Radio in the Top 10?

Kanye on the list period? And no comment about how the T-Paid/Akon sound is four years old?

Fleet Foxes at Numero Uno?

And of course we all expected to see No Age [eh] and Deerhunter [snore] in the Top 10.

So they didn't fail us there.

So.. what are your thoughts?

Sound off in comments below.

What are my thoughts?

Come back next week and see my FaveAlbums2008.

Alright, I have one more final, tomorrow [Saturday] morning @ 10am.

After that, I'm enjoying a beer with lunch,

and then going snowboarding the rest of the day,

and then hopefully see Bon Iver make Julia's party the best ever.

A wonderful weekend, if all that happens.

Word.

FaveSongs2008: Part Seis

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:33:00 +0000

Photo by my friend DanZim.

Yesterday was the first day I didn't get a post out.

I had one [this one] totally prepared,

but things happened, life happened, and it didn't get out.

I'm really sorry.

It won't happen again.

But because it did happen, I'll do two today! Woohoo!

Enjoy:

Jamie Lidell - Out of My System

Tallest Man on Earth - Pistol Dreams

No Age - Eraser

Wilderness - Chinese Whisperers

The Black Ghosts - Any Way You Choose to Do It

Born Ruffians - I Need a Life (Four Tet remix)

Delta Spirit - People C'mon

Ghostland Observatory - No Place For Me

MGMT - Kids

Neon Neon feat Spank Rock - Luxury Pool

Gameboy/Gamegirl - Fruit Salad

Love is All - Wishing Well

Mystery Jets feat Laura Marning - Young Love

Santogold - Icarus

Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines

Paper Route Gangstaz - Bama Gettin Money

The Kills - Cheap and Cheerful

Catch up! ohwnt FaveSongs2008 Parts:

Uno . Dos . Tres . Cuatro . Cinco

Listmakas, bookmark this, yo.

FaveSongs2008: Part Cinco

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:01:00 +0000

Photo by my friend DanZim.

More snow is on the horizon. And tests.

I am only excited about one of these things.

I am really excited about all of these things:

Depeartment of Eagles - Waves of Rye

Fleet Foxes - Oliver James

Buraka Som Sistema - Inna de Ghetto

Why? - The Vowels Part 2

Be Your Own Pet - Black Hole

Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper

Esau + Radioclit - Boyz

Beach House - Home Again

Flight of the Conchords - The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)

Hot Chip - Out at the Pictures

Destroyer - Dark Leaves From a Thread

Weezer - Pork and Beans

Wolf Parade - Call it a Ritual

Headlights - Cherry Tulips

Of Montreal - Id Engager

Nada Surf - See These Bones

Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance

Friendly Fires - Paris

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody

The Teenagers - Sunset Beach

The Tough Alliance - Neo Violence (Shazam remix)

Catch up! ohwnt FaveSongs2008 Parts:

Uno . Dos . Tres . Cuatro

Listmakers, bookmark this permatag.

Back to studying.

FaveSongs2008: Part Cuatro

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:32:00 +0000

Photo by my friend DanZim.

It's snowing again! And it looks to be like a lot.

This means that the temp has risen a little.

And I'm done with rounds one and two of my final exams,

and have a break tomorrow to study.

Which is good, because

I'm spinning @ Natt Spil tonight.

I sort of completely forgot to tell anyone,

and now there's a blizzard on the horizon,

and it's a motherfucking Tuesday, and so

it'll probably be an empty bar most of the night.

Wonderful.

What is wonderful? These songs.

Listmakers, bookmark this permatag.

Ohbijou - Darcy

Ratatat - Shiller

Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma

Shearwater - The Snow Leopard

Studio - Brown Piano

Santogold feat Spank Rock - Shove It

Bon Iver - Lump Sum [MySpace Transmissions version]

TV on the Radio - Halfway Home

Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others

Busta Rhymes - Don't Touch Me

Passion Pit - Sleepyhead

DJ DLG - Paramount [Roger Seventytwo remix]

Don't forget the previous installments:

Part Uno

Part Dos

Part Tres

Go ski.

FaveSongs2008: Part Tres

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:10:00 +0000

It's cold here in Madison.

That middle one is totally wrong-- there's no way it's above 0.

Over the weekend it felt like March of April,

and a lot of the snow we received last weekend or early last week melted.

Cars now appear to be parked way too far away from the curb,

because the three feet of snow that separated them before is now gone.

My ceiling leaked onto my bed, and now there's a man in flannel and wool on the roof

trying to fix that, for the third time this year.

And now, all over the city, people and little clumsy dogs are falling on their asses

and cars are unable to move uphill because all that meltoff froze over

when the temp dropped like 40 degrees overnight.

Warm up with OHWNT favorites:

Lindstrøm - Grand Ideas

Lil Wayne feat Brisco & Busta Rhymes - La La

Boy 8-Bit - Ghost House [Suspense is Killing Me part 2]

The Dodos - Jody

Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream

Adele - Hometown Glory

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - D.A.N.C.E.

Vampire Weekend - Walcott

Horse Feathers - Helen

The Hood Internet - Lights Falsetto Music [The Dream vs Cut Copy]

MGMT - Electric Feel

The Dø - Unissasi Laulelet

Catch up with this end-of-year series: part one here and part two here.

Bookmark this permalink to come back and get the ones that follow.

FaveSongs2008: Part Dos

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:31:00 +0000

Photo by my friend DanZim.

I'm kinda liking this centered format.

Very poetic.

Without further....

Part two of my favorite songs of 2008,

which are being featured in

particular

order.

If you missed the first 16,

they are here.

TV on the Radio - Shout Me Out

Cyndi Lauper - High & Mighty [no, srsly, Cyndi Lauper]

CSS - Jager Yoga

Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof

Frankmusik - 3 Little Words

M83 - Kim & Jessie

Delta Spirit - Trashcan

Ghostland Observatory - Heavy Heart

The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name

Studio - Impossible

She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?

Okkervil River - Singer Songwriter

Bon Iver - For Emma [MySpace Transmissions version]

Get all of my faves, with minimal commentary,

all week and next week too,

right here.

Long Overdue: FaveSongs2008, Part Uno

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 05:29:00 +0000

Photo by my friend DanZim.

I'm at work. Or at least I should be. But I've had "best of" lists on the mind lately, and I've had these types of posts on the agenda for days, weeks even.

But since I have final exams beginning Tuesday and not ending til Saturday, these will be quick and concise lists. Enough cheering out there.

Check back in the coming days as I'm trying to post 10-15 of my favorite songs of 2008 each day until.... well, until I run out. But that may be a while because I already have over 100 lined up. To make it easy for you, which is always my goal, bookmark this link.

And the only song that receives any ranking here is my bar-none Favorite. Song. Of. The. Year. Period.

ohwnt #1 Favorite. Song. Of. The. Year. Period:

Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook

All the rest [of part uno, that is], in absolutely no fricking order whatsofrickingever:

The Cool Kids - Pennies

Department of Eagles - Floating on the Lehigh

Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire

Man Man - Mister Jung Stuffed

Air France - No Excuses

Horse Feathers - Curs of the Weeds

Portishead - Silence

The Kills - URA Fever

Santogold - Creator

Animal Collective - Street Flash

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - The Debtor

Maps & Atlases - Artichokes

Mount Eerie & Julie Doiron - Voice in Headphones

Bag Raiders - Shooting Stars [vocal mix]

Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

Aussiemeness

noreply@blogger.com (Ry) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:47:00 +0000

I've been holding onto some things lately.

It's not even midnight here at my Thanksgiving weekend getaway, but everyone else is in bed [in their defense, everyone else is either under six or over fifty-six years]. And so I'm tired. And bored. I haven't been able to make myself catch up with blogwork or schoolwork, until now. But even now I gotta admit to you guys I'm not totally into it.

I am, however, totally into these guys. All the bands tonight are from Down Under, and all have been getting a lot of rotation in my iPod and iTunes lately. Get all tonight's tunes in a zip, linked at the bottom.

Empire of the Sun from Walking on a Dream

We Are the People

Country

Swordfish Hotkiss Night

Pnau from Pnau

Wild Strawberries

With You Forever

Bang Gang from Ghost from the Past

Black Parade

One More Trip

And here're some other Aussome Aussie tunes I've shared recently:

Van She - Changes

Van She - Kelly

Muscles - Chocolate Raspberry Lemon & Lime

Mystery Jets - Half in Love with Elizabeth

All songs in a ~60mb zip.

We sell Aussie music right here in the US even:

Strictly Discs : iTunes : Amazon : InSound

Stay tuned for OHWNT's faves of 2008 to come very soon. FaveAlbums2008, FaveSongs2008, and.... no, actually that'll probably about do it for my lists.

G'night