2007: Best Music   1.Spoon/Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (another edgy rock masterpiece from these indie veterans, this one’s near-perfect)   1a. Neil Young/Live at Massey Hall 1971 (“these are a few new songs I’ve been working on…”: mind-boggling acoustic soundboard set)   2.Beirut/The Flying Club Cup (mournfully joyous orchestral pop, unique and moving; a quantum leap forward)   3.Radiohead/In Rainbows (stripped-down and organic yet still complex – a beautiful, satisfying rock album)   4.Ted Leo and the Pharmacists/Living With The Living (surprisingly melodic punk record fueled by anti-war anger and the need to rock, hard)   5.Menomena/Friend and Foe…

Lucinda Williams – World Without Fear You’ve got to love and laud Lucinda Williams. At fifty, she not only delivers the hardest rocking, most heart broken record of her career but also unearths the great lost Neil Young & Crazy Horse album.If you think I’m going to say anything bad about ‘World Without Tears’ you’re crazier than I ever claimed to be. Album of the year, hands down. (Lost Highway) The Wayfaring Strangers – This TrainThe search for intelligent musical life on Earth is over. Matt Glaser’s spacious and victorious vision of bluegrass opens the horizon like no other. Free…

Alright , so my first and foremost for 2002 was recorded before most of you were born. So what! With all the sampling going on out there who knows what is original and what is new any longer. However, this recording is the real deal. Recorded December 1964, and re-released many times over in vinyl, 8 track, and cassette, this recording gets a new feel for 2002 as a double CD set. Besides the original recording, add all the out takes, plus the only known live recorded version of the suite, and ultimately adding the long time rumoured mystery tracks…

    Buy new or used through Amazon 1. INTO THE WOODS – SLEATER KINNEY These ladies build a sound then crash right through it. An exhilarating ride if you take it. And some solos you can actually like. Land ho!!!   Buy new or used through Amazon 2. I’M WIDE AWAKE, IT’S MORNING – BRIGHT EYES When I finally stopped being impatient and got to the end I realized what I had been missing. A talent to be reckoned with. “No one ever plans to sleep out in the gutter. Sometimes that’s just the most comfortable place.” This could…

Best of 2001 1.) The Avalanches – Since I Left You 2.) The White Stripes – De Stijl 3.) Ike Reilly – Salesman and Racists 4.) The Strokes – Is This It 5.) JJ72 – JJ72 Rufus Wainwright – Poses 6.) Elbow – Asleep In The Back 7.) Bob Dylan – Love and Theft 8.) Pete Yorn – Music For Teh Morning After 9.) Lucinda williams – Essence 10.) White Stripes – White Blood Cells 11.) Super Furry Animals – Rings Around The World 12.) New Order – Get Ready 13.) Missy Elliot – Miss E …So Addictive

Top 10 of 2001 1.) Modest Mouse – The Moon + Antarctica 2.) Nick Cave – No More Shall We Part 3.) Lovage – Songs To Make Love To… 4.) Mogwai – Rock Action 5.) Bright Eyes – Oh, Holy Fools 6.) Tomahawk – Tomahawk 7.) The International Noise Conspiracy – A New Morning 8.) Fugazi – The Argument 9.) Murder City Devils – Thelema 10.) The Priests – Street Walker

POOP MMVI Once again I have waited until the last minute (actually, I have 240 minutes to go ’til the clock strikes midnight) to gather my thoughts and music purchases for the past year, spread them out in front of me, and try to figure out which are worthy for mention in the preeminent “best of” publication of the year. I spent the better part of 2006 ignoring popular music, hence my list will seem somewhat limited when compared to the expansive sonic options touted by our fellow taste makers. I’m finding as I get older, the emotional link to…

Thanks to John L, I hear a lot more interesting CD’s this year; things I never have ventured to try. But with his box of goodies and plenty of time, I jumped right in. There was Ballboy, Caria Bozulich, Califone and Neil Young’s “GREENDALE,’ amnong others. 1 – WHITE STRIPES – Elephant 2 – JOE STRUMMER – Streetcore 3 – CALEXICO – Feast of Wire 4 – DAVID GRISMAN – Life of Sorrow 5 – GILLIAN WELCH – Soul Journey 6 – SUN KIL MOON – Ghosts of the Highway 7 – SLIPSTREAM – Trancendental 8 – MILES DAVIS –…

Fix’s Favorites of 2001 1. Wilco — – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 2. Divine Comedy — – Regeneration (Alphabetical) • BRMC — – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club • Bjork — – Vespertine • Cannibal Ox — – The Cold Vein • Fugazi — – The Argument • Ocean Colour Scene — – Mechanical Wonder • Jim O’Rourke — – Insignificance • Pernice Brothers — – The World Won’t End • Radiohead — Amnesiac And finally, can’t we please stop yapping about The White Stripes and The Strokes?!

1 Michelle Branch – – the spirit room 2 Britney Spears – – Britney 3 Shaldra – – Laundry Service 4 Ja Rule – – Pain is Love 5 No Doubt – – Rock Steady 6 Bob Dylan – – Love & Theft 7 Dan Bern – – New American Language 8 Alicia Keys – – Songs in A minor 9 Reba – – “I’m a Survivor” Volume 3 10 Ryan Adams – – Gold

1. The Waterboys: Universal Hall – Recorded in a studio under Universal Hall at the spiritual center Findhom, in Scotland, this record is filled with healing music of the highest order, built around acoustic instruments. Mike Scott continues to create the Big Music his own way with no regard to current trends or the hit parade. A true musical hero. 2. The Jayhawks: Rainy Day Music – The best record of their career. Amazing song writing and vocals from Gary Louris. The guitars ring out and you will not find bettor harmony singers in the world today. In addition the…

The following is not a top ten, but just a list of some records that I enjoyed enough to listen to several times. It’s also not in any particular order.     Buy new or used through Amazon Jess Klein: Strawberry Lover     Buy new or used through Amazon Kathleen Edwards: Back to Me     Buy new or used through Amazon Ryan Adams: Cold Roses     Buy new or used through Amazon Arcade Fire: Funeral     Buy new or used through Amazon Kaiser Chiefs: Employment     Buy new or used through Amazon Cyndi Lauper: The…

23. The Bronx- s/t 22. Lucinda Williams- World Without Tears 21. Kings ofLeon- Youth and Young Manhood 20. Burnt by the Sim- Perfect is the Enemy of the Good 19. 0utkast- the Love Below/Speakerboxxx 18. Elvis Costello- North 17. Ryan Adams- Love is Hell part 2 16. My Morning Jacket- It Still Moves 15. The Strokes- Room on Fire 14. Coheed and Cambria- In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 13. The Shins- Chutes Too Narrow 12. The White Stripes – Elephant- hype leads to hope and with their fourth release many were hoping that the White Stripes would fall…

The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow Super Furry Animals – Phantom Power Burnt By The Sun – The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good The White Stripes – Elephant Josh Rouse -1972 Ryan Adams – Love is Hell pt. 1 & 2 The Mars Volta – De-Loused in the Comatorium Iron and Wine – The Sea & the Rhythm (ep) The Postal Service – Give up Aesop Roek -Bazooka Tooth Outkast – Speakerboxxx / The Love Below Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Master and Everyone Every Time I Die- Hot Damn! Dysrhthmia -Pretest 5ive’s Continuum Research Project – The Hemophiliac…

Best of 2003 Albums: 1. Magnolia Electric Company, Songs: Ohia (Secretly Canadian) 2. Greetings from Michigan, Sufjan Stevens (Asthmatic Kitty) 3. It Still Moves, My Morning Jacket (ATO) 4. Transfiguration of Vincent, M. Ward (Merge) 5. Unearthed, Johnny Cash (American) 6. Down the River of Golden Dreams, Okkervil River (Jagjaguwar) 7. Farewell Sorrow, Alasdair Roberts (Drag City) 8. Master and Everyone, Bonnie “Prince” Billy (Drag City) 9. Catalpa, Jolie Holland (Anti/Epitaph) 10. The Meadowlands, The Wrens (Absolutely Kosher) 11. Soul Journey, Gillian Welch (Acony) 12. Hail to the Thief, Radiohead (Capitol) 13. You Are Free, Cat Power (Matador) 14. Chutes…

Electric Eighteen   Buy new or used through Amazon Amp Fiddler – Afro Strut (U.S. Version). A slice of early seventies soul made new with splashes of New Orleans funk and Fats Waller from Joseph “Amp” Fiddler who has produced and played keyboard for Prince and George Clinton.     Buy new or used through Amazon Idan Raichel Project – The Idan Raichel Project. You take Israeli pop songs and mix in an eclectic group of musicians from Ethiopia and other African Jewish traditions to shake things up. If you liked the French rap song from the last episode of…

  Buy new or used through Amazon 1. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer (PolyVinyl) It’s hard to comprehend, but 10 years have passed since their debut album first appeared. Truth be told, I hadn’t been following their releases in at least half of those years, as I’d pretty much figured out where they were going, which seemed pretty predictable. Well Kevin Barnes must have realized that he’s gone as far as he could with his shtick and decided to throw himself headlong into a nervous breakdown by moving to Norway with his wife in the dead…

1. Beck Sea Change DGC/Geffen Records Once again, he’s outdone himself. Even Jackson Browne should be suitably impressed with this gloom n’ doom beauty. Take Mutations and remove any semblance of humor. 2. Aimee Mann Lost in Space Superego Records I don’t understand how Bachelor No. 2 got raves and this one seems to fly under the radar for most. If she has more of these in her misery treasure trunk, by all means keep em comin! 3. Super Furry Animals Rings Around the World Beggars/XL Records A real mish-mosh of Beatle-pop, electronica insanity and 70s cliché-isms. A real feast…

Favorite Things ~ ALBUMS    Buy from Amazon B.J. Nilsen ~ Fade to White (Touch). Amazingly, the first new CD I bought in 2005 turned out to be the finest. January’s door had just opened, and here was the perfect soundtrack, one that remained in my CD player until the final frost and returned with the first flakes. “Fade to White” is an apt title for this masterpiece of sampled snow and devastating drones, whipping winds and white-out conditions. As the white noise builds to a tumult, the listener can easily imagine being snowed-in; the final icicle-thin pings sound like…

ALBUMS Buy from amazon Mum ~ Summer Make Good. “Will the summer make good for all our sins?” After the resignation of one of its lead vocalists, Mum retreated to a remote lighthouse in Galtarviti for inspiration. The result is their finest album to date, a treasure chest of creaks and anchors, kettles and coins. “Summer Makes Good” evokes wind-chapped faces, bulky, rain-drenched sweaters, tin cups clenched by a crackling fire. We hear whistles and chirps, violins and glockenspiels, a girls’ choir recorded in a cinema basement. All this and more are embedded in a spider’s web of skittery beats….