every word of it.

Just in time for Christmas, here is my Christmas Playlist –

Baby Jesus… Born to Rock

1. Low – Just Like Christmas
2. El Vez – Feliz Navi-nada
3. Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – Christmas Eve
4. Saint Etienne – My Christmas Prayer
5. Snow Patrol – When I Get Home For Christmas
6. Sufjan Stevens – Get Behind Me, Santa!
7. Manic Street Preachers – Last Christmas (Live)
8. Vince Guaraldi Trio – My Little Drum
9. Mogwai – Christmas Song
10. Belle & Sebastian – The 12 Days Of Christmas

Just a warning, it’s no Deck the Halls/Jingle Bells/Frosty the Snowman. It’s a little more sedate.

because other Top 10’s are 2 worse.

Here is my Top 12 of 2009. Something to consider – it’s not ranked. It’s just a collection of 12 songs from 2009 that I think are excellent. But if you forced me to pick a #1, it’d be jj – From Africa to Málaga.

1. Bat for Lashes – Glass
   I saw Bat for Lashes live earlier this year. It was my concert of 2009. Listen to Glass with a quality set of headphones, you’ll thank me later.
2. The Joy Formidable – Cradle
3. Florence And The Machine – Dog Days Are Over
   Florence and the Machine was my favorite for the Mercury Music Prize.
4. Delorean – Deli
5. The Drums – I Felt Stupid
6. The Horrors – Who Can Say
7. Peter Bjorn and John – Living Thing
8. jj – From Africa To Málaga
9. Bloc Party – One More Chance
   I think I’m the only one who liked this song. Once you listen to it, it never leaves. That could be a bad thing or in my case, a great thing.
10. Art Brut – Demons Out!
    Contains my favorite lyrics of 2009 – On your visa, it says ‘entertainer’/You’d better step it up or they’re gonna detain you
11. Get Back Guinozzi! – Low Files Tropical
12. Bruno Coulais – Exploration

For your convenience

I’ve been meaning to write this for a while, but never got around to it. So since it’s the end of the month, let’s turn this in at the last minute.

Quick summary – ACL 2009 was good. How would I compare it to 2007? Bands-wise – not so good. Weather-wise – much better. I’ll take rainy over heat any day of the week. And 2007 headliners can’t compete with Björk and Arcade Fire.

In my previous post I mentioned that I had a tough choice to make – Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Kings of Leon. I ended up choosing Kings of Leon. And, I chose poorly. King of Leon were such rubbish. Long was smart, he chose Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Afterwards, I wanted to scoop out his eyes and steal his ears so I could experience Yeah Yeah Yeahs live. By the time I gave up on Kings of Leon and trekked to the other side of the park, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were finishing up their encore SADFACE

I still like Kings of Leon, but I wouldn’t pay money to see them live ever again. It was such a terrible show, I decided to rate the bands I saw in KOL. 1 KOL = 1 Kings of Leon Live Performance. I believe I gave using the portable toilets 1.5 KOL.

The highlights of this years ACL?

Pearl Jam. Yea I used to listen to Pearl Jam, but I was never a huge fan. I know a few songs, and I think No Code is underrated. Their show was spectacular. Eddie Vedder is a tambourine genius.

Bell X1. The first band I saw on Saturday after Kings of Leon on Friday night. They were great fun to see, and they were having fun. The exact opposite of Kings of Leon.

Arctic Monkeys. 2nd ACL, 2nd time seeing Arctic Monkeys at ACL. Enthralling show. Arctic Monkeys may be my favorite band of the decade.

Passion Pit. I’ve never heard of Passion Pit before ACL. I selected them the night before as filler between Arctic Monkeys and Pearl Jam. This is gonna sound stupid, but they really got the crowd moving.

Mud. My last ACL was at the end of September, and it was hot. AT&T were giving out fans and they were cherished by all. This year, Friday was perfect. Saturday was rainy. And Sunday was muddy.

And Green Man.

See you at ACL 2010!

This Friday night I will have to make a tough decision. Do I see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Kings of Leon?

I think Kings of Leon would be a better festival band. But, I do like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs more. Loads more. And I have a feeling that they will put on a fancy show. But Kings of Leon, I think their primary function is to play outdoor festivals. What would you do?

Favorite Yeah Yeah Yeahs song – Y Control (Great video directed by Spike Jonze)

Favorite Kings of Leon song - My Third House (On Call B-side)

You know what’s great about having a much younger brother?

They ask you questions like this.

But seriously, I envy Kian. He’s going to listen to Ok Computer for the first time. His life will change forever.

Ok Computer for me really signified the break between 106.1 KISS FM Raishad and 88.7 KTCU Raishad.

I remember I bought it from Hypermart. I had heard Karma Police on the radio. It was a huge single. And after school one day, I asked my mom to take me to Hypermart to buy it. And after listening to it, it was a situation where I wanted all music to be like Ok Computer.

Ok Computer wasn’t my first CD, that was Green Day’s Dookie. But it did start a change in my approach to finding new music. I wasn’t so dependent on major commercial radio. This was 1997. Napster didn’t come into existence until 1999. And I was still accessing the internet using a modem. So the internet wasn’t a big influence – at least not until I found The Perfect Song Facsimile. So it was luck/necessity, I found college radio and 88.7 KTCU. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The next playlist challenge idea was something I stole from The Word Magazine Podcast. I forget the exact situation/podcast, but the idea was to pick a song that you would use to introduce a band to someone who has never heard of that band. The idea being, if they like that song, then they will like the band.

It’s a fun game. Do you go for a hit single that sounds nothing like the rest of the band’s catalogue or a deep cut? If I were doing Blur, would I pick ‘Song 2’ or ‘Tracy Jacks’? Song 2 sounds like nothing else in Blur’s repertoire, but it is one of their most well known singles and would surely win hearts and minds.

So for this playlist challenge, the bands were picked beforehand.

1. radiohead
2. The Beatles
3. Massive Attack
4. Björk
5. Modest Mouse
6. The Smiths
7. Belle & Sebastian
8. New Order
9. U2
10. Jay-Z

Here are my choices

radiohead – Million Dollar Question

I couldn’t pick an album track. I would lose all my street cred. So instead I went with a Pablo Honey B-Side.

The Beatles – No Reply

I stole this song from The Word podcast. They used this as an example – if you like ‘No Reply’, you’re gonna love The Beatles. I didn’t know this song before that podcast, and since listening to it – I think it may just be my favorite Beatles song as well.

Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy

What do you think of when you hear the name Massive Attack? A track with a nice heavy beat and female vocals. And that’s what ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ is.

Björk – Hunter

I’m pretty sure ‘Hunter’ was the first song by Björk I ever heard. It was on The X-Files movie soundtrack which I, of course, purchased. And I think it’s a good introduction to Björk. Hey, it worked on me.

Modest Mouse – 3rd Planet

Modest Mouse will never make another album like The Moon & Antarctica. 3rd Planet is everything you want in a Modest Mouse song – Isaac Brock shouting over guitars.

The Smiths – This Charming Man

What makes a song a Smiths song? Easy, jangly guitars and morose lyrics. Any of their songs would’ve worked. So I picked ‘This Charming Man’ because it’s one of my favorites. The version I picked is one they recorded for John Peel and was released on Hatful of Hollow and probably not the version you’re most familiar with.

Belle & Sebastian – Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying

I used to really be into Belle & Sebastian. This was a hard choice. I picked this one because every few months I catch myself humming ‘get me away from here, I’m dying’ and I have to listen to it again. It sticks with you. The version I used is from their live recording of If You’re Feeling Sinister.

New Order – Temptation 7" Mix

I’m not really familiar with New Order. The easy choice would be to pick ‘Blue Monday’ and call it a day. But I didn’t want to do that. Luckily I had rated ‘Temptation’ 4 stars at some point, so I gave it another listen and realized I was right. ‘Temptation’ is a great track and could only be done by New Order.

U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday

U2 is a band. And honestly, I’m not really that in to them. So, I picked a single because I couldn’t be bothered to listen to all of their albums to do some digging.

Jay-Z – Big Pimpin’

I’m not really familiar with Jay-Z aside from his singles. So I picked his best. This is from his MTV Unplugged album.

Remember Spring Break?

For Spring Break I flew to Washington, D.C and drove to Boston. Driving music was required. So I made a playlist.

The only requirement was that I fill an 80 minute cd. With rental cars, you never know if you’re getting one with an AUX input.

So here it is.

1. The Proclaimers – I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
2. The Jam – Town Called Malice
   
3. The Coral – Dreaming of You
   
4. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – The Impression That I Get
   
5. The Muslims – Extinction
   
6. Fear of Pop – In Love
   
7. Mystery Jets – Two Doors Down
   
8. Shout Out Louds – Hard Rain
   
9. The New Pornographers – Use It
   
10. The Pipettes – Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me
    
11. The Rumble Strips – Time
    
12. Jens Lekman – Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo
    
13. TV On The Radio – Wolf Like Me
    
14. Ted Leo – Since U Been Gone
    
15. The Libertines – Horror Show
    
16. Ben Folds – Such Great Heights
    
17. Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent
    
18. Maxïmo Park – Our Velocity
    
19. Pete and the Pirates – Mr Understanding
    
20. Those Dancing Days – Those Dancing Days (Radio LXMBRG Remix)
    
21. Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position
    

The rental car was a Dodge Avenger, and what an unsatisfactory car. My biggest issues, poor visibility and terrible turn stalk. Though it did have an AUX input.

The next challenge – the official Jack Donaghy Psyche Yourself Up Mix.

This was a difficult one to compile. I had no clue what I wanted. Originally I was just putting together songs that were fast and loud. But late last week, I think it sort of clicked. I can be proud of this one I think. Unlike the previous Wake Up Mix. That one was horrible.

Are you going to step up?

1. Ash – Kung Fu
2. Bloc Party – The Prayer
3. Superchunk – Hyper Enough
4. Elvis Costello – No Action
5. Hard-Fi – Hard To Beat
6. Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – Saturday Night
7. Manic Street Preachers – Stay Beautiful
8. The Jam – Going Underground
9. ¡Forward, Russia! – Eighteen
10. The Hives – Die, All Right
11. Longwave – Everywhere You Turn
12. Heartless Bastards – All This Time

People love twitter.

Some of those people love radiohead.

And of those people who love twitter and radiohead, they also like woot.

The Evidence:

Today’s Woot is a radiohead box set. As of 9:51AM CST, it’s sold out.

Head on over to TwitterSheep and search for radiohead

These are the results

As an aside – I didn’t purchase this, because I have all of the albums offered in the box set.

I have the special editions of Amnesiac (Library Book), Hail to the Thief (Road Map), and In Rainbows (Awesome). And my non special edition of Kid A has a hidden booklet.

My one regret in life is not purchasing the special edition version of Kid A when it came out. But I was in high school and didn’t have $30 to spend on a cd.

The next theme in the Playlist Challenge – a morning wake up mix.

1. iLiKETRAiNS – Joshua
2. Múm – Green Grass of Tunnel
   
3. The Boo Radleys – Wake Up Boo!
   
4. British Sea Power – Waving Flags (Wandering Horn Instrumental)
   
5. El Guincho – Antillas
   
6. HALFBY – Man & Air
   
7. The Smiths – Asleep

This was the hardest. Because not only did it have to be good, it also had to serve a purpose – getting you out of bed.

So for one, it couldn’t be too long. It’s about 30 minutes long, which is usually how much time I spend in bed before getting up (I’m lazy).

My reasoning – I wanted something gentle, yet strong enough to wake me up. That’s why I started with Joshua, an instrumental track that is all build up. Then I cool things down with Múm. It’s the next track that I use as my alarm tone – Wake Up Boo!. Waving Flags through Man & Air, is my final attempt to get myself out of bed. And then I end things with Asleep. Because at this point, just stay in bed.