It’s worth noting…
…that the album list was ARoB’s 1000th blog post. And this is the 1001st…
…that the album list was ARoB’s 1000th blog post. And this is the 1001st…
I think that perhaps we forgot to do one of these best of the year music wrap ups for 2007. Apologies! Inspired by Dr. Ladysounds over at ScaryGoRound and her annual Top 20, I thought I’d pull out the Top 8 of 2008. Mostly this was because it’s much easier to write descriptions of only 8 albums, but let’s pretend it had something to do with the year, shall we?
Without further banter:
8. Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree
This album had me so very excited when I downloaded it. New Goldfrapp! Songs about robot wolves eating zombie babies while sexy ladies dance! And then it was…cheery and folksy. Friends, I was enraged. But, after the screams subsided and I was able to hear this release, I was sold. It really is the perfect companion to a Saturday in with a cup of tea. The videos for both singles “Happiness” and “A&E” are instant classics, too. I enjoy your little break, just don’t forget electro, Alison!
7. She & Him – Volume One
Zooey Deschanel is adorable. She was the Tricia (Trillian) McMillan of my dreams in H2G2. And now she’s half of the equally adorable She & Him, a duo that released my #7 pick this year. You’d not imagine Zooey singing soulful, retro tunes like “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” but when you hear it, it totally makes sense. And makes you feel warm and fuzzy – which is probably what it’s like being Ms. Deschanel.
6. The Ting Tings – We Started Nothing
Full disclosure: the fact that my sister is in this band does not sway my opinion. Talk about getting a style and running with it! Despite the fact that this duo is from Scotland, they really grabbed the stereotypical LA sound and didn’t let go. The result is a to-the-letter skinny jeans and tossled hair tribute to the left coast – with just enough Euro smarts to add some polish. “Shut Up and Let Me Go” provides a terrificly fun video to boot!
5. Uh Huh Her – Uh Huh Her
With the apparent death of Cliptip and the fact that MTV plays no music videos ever, I’ve turned to Logo for high quality videos from talented artists. Uh Huh Her was well-received when I caught “Not a Love Song” but they really captured the #5 spot with their single “Explode.” The sexy video combined with the catchy guitar track and brooding lyrics was a perfect recipe for getting this album back onto my iPhone – and this list!
4. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
The video for “Crimewave” (sorry, I can’t find it…it has a zombie, though) caught my attention one day on Logo. And then this performance from British TV kept it. I have no idea what the lyrics actually are and most of the songs sound like they’ve come out of a dot matrix printer, but I just can’t stop listening. And I suspect that was the point.
3. Ladytron – Velocifero
A new album. From Ladytron. If you do not know Ladytron, watch this, this, this and this. Okay, now you know Ladytron – and why this album is so important. “Ghosts,” “Black Cat” (Bellatrix’s theme) and “Runaway” are definitely my favorite on an album that just won’t quit.
2. Hercules and Love Affair – Hercules and Love Affair
A controversial choice (because Dusty hates them) but I was completely smitten with Hercules and Love Affair this year. If you loved Antony Hegarty’s vocals on Björks Volta then you are very, very likely to enjoy tracks like “You Belong” and “Blind.” It doesn’t hurt that the videos look like high-budget fantasy sequences from Absolutely Fabulous.
1. The Presets – Apocalypso
I cannot even count the number of times I’ve listened to this album during 2008. In fact, I thought that it didn’t count because it was a 2007 favorite. Friends, I listened to this so much, I thought I had owned it for an extra year! Be that as it may, I still get excited for each track as though I’ve never heard it before. Top picks are certainly “This Boy’s In Love” and “If I Know You.”
Ultra Bonus!
0. Ladyhawke – Ladyhawke
There was no way I could go without adding in this latecomer to my iTunes Library. I had heard “Paris Is Burning” sometime closer to this debut album’s September release and then forgot to actually acquire it. So, though I’ve only had a chance to listen since December, I know that Ladyhawke will be filling my brain with sounds well into 2009. Defo check out “Magic” if you haven’t!
Sometimes my mom amazes me. She received this email from me in July:
Subject: Do you think you can…
Body: …make something like this?
With no instructions, no patterns and only a screen grab of the front of the sweater, my mom completely and totally knocked off a $550 Prada design. Go Mom!
…the internet at my parents house is absurdly slow…and really jumpy. Sometimes it will load three pages at a pace worth calling “DSL” and sometimes it will make me sit idly for a good five minutes before doing anything at all. And don’t even attempt to access a streaming video. I tried watching S12E2 of Top Gear last night and went to bed wanting that 45 minutes of hell erased from my mind.
It was -3º here last night. That’s three full degrees below fucking ludicrous. It was supposed to be around 24º as a low in Chestertown…a temperature that may have never even been reached in the middle of yesterday at home. Why do people live here?
I don’t have anything to do today. I suspect it’s too cold still to even wash my car. Maybe it’s a good day for reading in the bath well into the afternoon?
…in hopes that St. Visa soon would be there.
Here are the presents that a) should be shared with folks that are here or b) didn’t make it home in the first run at Thanksgiving. Perhaps you are in this pile, dear reader?
Hoovah told me this amazing story last night and even provided iPhone photo illustration/proof. To paraphrase:
“I was on my way over to my coworker’s apartment last night to help her set up her wireless network. I called her and she sounded as though she had been crying. When I arrived, I asked what was wrong and discovered that she had been sitting on her couch, trying to set up her network on her own. Apparently, completely out of nowhere, a deer broke through her living room window and proceeded to smash furniture, smear blood on the walls and break through the front door.”
Pictographic evidence:
Hoover has the best stories.
Footloose to the Future: The Adventure Begins
Chapter One: Kevin Bacon is Terrible
Kevin Bacon arose from his bed, terribly hungover and incredibly not good looking. Thankfully, he could remedy one of these. He slung on his tattered periwinkle bathrobe and stumbled into the mirror. His eyes were as red as the Tatooine sun. His hand was shaking visibly. He needed a fix.
(In the interest of the ladies, the graphic descriptions of drug use have been removed from this edition – ed.)
Temporarily satiated, Kevin moved on to his next mystery: What day was it? He looked at his 1982 LA Lakers calendar. Incidentally, this calendar was two years out-of-date and no help whatsoever. He turned on his ancient black-and-white that was left by the previous tenant. From the newscast he gleaned that today was a Tuesday, which meant that he had a job to do.
Kevin Bacon stumbled his skinny little ass down to the bus terminal and waited for Alamar, the night driver, to return. 15 minutes later, his bus pulled in. At least, he assumed it was his bus. There was something not quite right about it, but he could not quite put his cliché on it. In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you what was different: On this particular day, Kevin Bacon’s transit bus was augmented with both an industrial air conditioning unit and a crude time-travel-enabling device. That is what was different about it. Now you know.
Still in a drugged-up haze, Kevin Bacon boarded his bus. Alamar commented that Kevin Bacon did not “look so good.” Mr. Bacon shot back with a stabbing, “go back to Iceland.” It was a formidable parry indeed. Alamar either didn’t hear him or didn’t care, though, and exited the bus. His hulking mass transit machine was colder than usual, but again, in his stuporific state, Kevin noticed nothing. He put the bus in gear and headed out to start his route.
It was a typical day for Kevin Bacon. Ever since Footloose tanked at the box office, he had been getting by with his route. The hours were long and the pay was terrible, but he got by. Somehow. There wasn’t a day that went by that didn’t see Kevin Bacon crying in his dark apartment, razor blade in hand, one captain and tap away from ending it all. All of today’s passengers were boring, much more successful people, whose eyes only showed pity and disgust at the sight of their long-chinned driver.
Two stops from the end of his route, the bus picked up a particularly hairy young man. Obviously trying to hide the fact that he looked like Chewbacca or a bigfoot, the man was wearing high school colors and a red ballcap. Kevin came from terrible genes, and was unable to grow any sort of facial hair. He envied this young man’s hirsuteness and wished to pet him tenderly.
He noticed that the windshield was beginning to cloud and had to fiddle with the bus’s climate controls to keep it transparent. He also began to notice his breath coming out in visible white puffs. This was the worst hangover ever.
Chapter Two: No, Really, He Sucks
Thought you might like to see my photos from home at Thanksgiving, especially if you aren’t a Western Pennsylvanian. I’m sure these are still valid and will be through March, at least. Enjoy!
