I’ve been neglecting this for quite some time…
have tons to update, but I’m still recovering from my time in Austin for SXSW this past week.

stay tuned.

I’ve been having a bit of a busy January and now it’s almost over! I have a lot of catching up to do!

I realize I never got around to posting my top records of 2008. I got a bit overwhelmed with it and instead of just not contributing one to the various music lists I’m on, I put together a top 10 and then just listed alphabetically the rest of the records I listened to a lot in 2008. Forgive me, I had quite a rough December!

I’m pretty conflicted about everything, except my top two. There’s so much I never got around to buying in 2008, with a lot still in my list to buy from various places. I will have to say that while I’ve always loved music and it is truly my drug, I really think 2008 is when I’ve gone back to the true “kid in a candy store, oh, you really must listen to this….lots of exclamation points, etc” sort of feeling of music.

I know a lot of people feel it wasn’t a great year for music, but I’ve been diggin’ lots and lots of new stuff, and revisiting old stuff too (Feelies anyone?). The internet, myspace, facebook, bebo, google reader, and internet radio has really now more than ever made it a global experience for me. If I even tried to name all the great new bands I’ve found out about this past year, I’d truly explode!
here it is:

1. Frightened Rabbit-Midnight Organ Fight/Liver! Lung! FR!
I’m combining the electric and live acoustic albums since no matter how, where or when the songs are played, this album definitely rocked my world this year. They were on my radar before I started prepping for SXSW, but I must tell you, sometimes a live gig just punches you in the gut. It was that Wednesday afternoon day show, where I was feeling a bit glum, uncertain at how my experience of my first SXSW in 13 years would go…a bit bummed to be on my own so-to-speak, but then I realized I’m not sure if anyone would want to follow me all the places I wanted to go. the amazing raw energy and emotion in these songs and the performances that go into them is a lot like the raw energy and emotion that’s swirling in my head at any given moment. I realize and recognize it daily. and while it’s not necessarily the same things Scott Hutchison is writing and singing about, I can completely identify with it.

2.Two Cow Garage-Speaking in Cursive
While I didn’t have an advance of this as some are so lucky to have had, I have been “friends” with a bunch of these songs for quite some time. It’s their best yet and as I always say, Micah and Shane are like the younger brothers I’ve never had.

3. Dropkick-Dot the I
must be Scotland’s most prolific band, with the first of two releases for 2008. While I’ve never met or spoken with any of them, it’s become sort of an inside joke that I’m their biggest fan! ok, maybe not really, but when I finally get to Scotland, the trip would not be complete without seeing them live! This record continues their lush Scottish pop sound

4. R.E.M.- Accelerate
I’ve been a fan since I was about 15 or 16 years old. I can appreciate and even love everything they’ve ever done, but I took on this record with reckless abandon, and it proves you can have fun with a rock n roll record and be socially/politically conscious while doing so.

5. Attic Lights-Friday Night Lights
I have had a couple tracks from blogs and the one on emusic for a couple months, but it wasn’t until I was seriously sorting out my top 10 that I just HAD to have this. And one night in the last week of December, I wasn’t going to sleep until I did. I listened to nothing more the last week of 2008 than this album. It definitely helped me out of the doldrums of December 2008.

6. Marching Band-Spark Large
As if my obsession with Scottish music isn’t enough, I’ve developed one for Swedish pop again. Thanks to listening to the “Three from Leith” podcast, I immediately downloaded this from emusic as soon as I could.

7. Oppenheimer-Take the Whole Midrange and Boost It
my Belfast friends, sophomore album is lovely. another band that is basically the younger brothers I’ve never had. I “adopted” them a few years back,
and might have frightened them initially. They are the first band I
didn’t personally know or had friends who knew them, crash at my place
when they’re in town. “Look Up” is a great pop song and the kids dance
to it (I have video proof!) no song is over 4 minutes and I love that
there’s a song called “Fireworks are illegal in the state of NJ”
because it reminds me of the night I was there with them in Atlantic City, on the beach setting off fireworks, knowing full well as the only American amongst 6 Belfast residents, that the AC police would show up almost immediately. In fact, of the times they’ve had brushes with the law in the US, I’ve been present for two of them!

8. Dropkick-Patchwork
the 2nd release of 2008. I joked that they aren’t working hard enough and 2009 should see 3 records, not just two. This is the more “alt-country” album of the two. more pedal steel and banjo. I didn’t have as much time with this one, but a couple of the songs are ones I go to regularly and any time the songs come up on shuffle, I turn it up and sing along.

9. Neil Halstead-Oh! Mighty Engine
another late edition…riding the train home to NJ for Christmas, I hadn’t put together a playlist of my potential top 2008 records, but I did have a video podcast on my laptop that I watched of Neil Halstead perform most of the songs off this record, and realized I needed to get the album asap. I heart Neil and my favorite show I’ve ever seen of his was solo acoustic matinee at IOTA one year. you could hear a pin drop it was so quiet and the crowd so attentive.

10. Elliott Brood-Mountain Meadows
Postcarder (www.postcardfromhell.com), Tualla gets credit for turning me on to them. I tend to hit repeat on “Miss You Now” a lot. this was a tough spot to fill, because there’s
so many records that could have been here too.

here’s the rest, in alphabetical order that were in consideration…as I said, there’s a ton I never got around to buying, and my head’s a swirl in sorting it out. these records just didn’t get as much spin or didn’t stand out, but are still favs. I really do think that my listening habits have been affected by the shuffling on ipod:

Beach House-Devotion
British Sea Power-Do You Like Rock Music?
Broadfield Marchers-The Inevitable Continuing
The Broken West-Now or Heaven
Roger Bryan & The Orphans-Recovery
Pelle Carlberg-The Lilac Time
The Decks-Becoming Nightblind
Dr. Dog-Fate
The Duke Spirit-Neptune
Electric Touch-Electric Touch
Escape Act-Loosely Based on Fiction
The Explorers Club-Freedom Wind
The Fratellis-Here We Stand
The General Store-Mountain Rescue
Green Peppers-Adventures in the Slipstream
Mic Harrison & The High Score-On the Right Side of the Grass
Juliana Hatfield-How to Walk Away
Have Gun, Will Travel-Casting Shadows as Tall Giants
The Heavenly States-Delayer
Cliff Hillis-The Long Now
Hollow Horse-Escaping from a Submarine
Japanese Motors-Japanese Motors
Julie Ocean-Long Gone and Nearly There
The Lodger-Life is Sweet
The Meadows-First Nervous Breakdown
The Mural and the Mint-Private Pockets
Old 97’s-Blame it on Gravity
Popup-A Time and A Place
The Quarter After-Changes Near
Will Quinlan & The Diviners-Navasota
Ryebender-Hollow and Drifting
She & Him-Volume One

Top songs of 2008:
1. Frightened Rabbit-The Modern Leper
2. Two Cow Garage-Skinny Legged Girl
3. The Heavenly States-Lost in the Light
4. Dropkick-Breakdown
5. Marching Band-For Your Love
6. Attic Lights-Bring You Down
7. Elliott Brood-Miss You Now
8. R.E.M.- Man-Sized Wreath
9. The Fratellis-Acid Jazz Singer
10. The Lodger-The Good Old Days

I’m sure there’s tons I’ve forgotten, but most of what’s missing from my list compiled here, isn’t here because I haven’t bought it to add to my collection yet.

ps. I want to give The Swimmers and IKE records an honorable mention.
I had both in 2007 at official cd release parties, so I included them
in my 2007 list.

just when I think everything’s going great again…
so far December 2008 has not been good to me.

I’ve really been in good spirits up until recent events.
December 8th, car accident…literally *JUST* after I’ve finally gotten over the one from February 6, 2005.
then, I end up with an upper respiratory and ear infection, which started December 13th and I’m still trying to recover from at this very moment.

It’s a bit frustrating, since I had all this momentum both professionally and personally to tackle a bunch of projects that have been on my to do list.

I don’t know how many more years I can spend NYE/New Year’s day hoping for a better year, because every single time things start to get better, the universe slaps me in the face and tells me otherwise.

no matter, I’m doing best to keep things in perspective and while I believe I’ve deservedly sat dwelling on my latest misfortunes, I also know that I have to let go of things I can’t control and things in the past.

Time to focus on the future.

I’m am extremely grateful for my family, friends, and coworkers who’ve been very supportive and who’ve sometimes had to tolerate my wave of emotions not only the past few weeks, but years.

I’m very much looking forward to 2009.

(oh, and it will be nice to have my car back again…it’s still being repaired)

In the time since I posted about The Waxwings, I discovered that Kevin (used to play bass and sing backing vocals in The Waxwings) is now in London based band, The See See!

check them out here:
The See See on myspace

They appeal to the psychedelic pop sound I love. definitely fits in with Paisley Pop, Rainbow Quartz.

I could see them touring with The High Dials. oh, and don’t get me started about the time I saw The Sea Beggars in Montreal. Trevor from The High Dials used to be in the Sea Beggars…it involves a 10 year gap of time and me being silly and sending messages to people I’ve only spent one night hanging out with and thus having to discuss my uncanny ability to remember entirely TOO much. my memory is a bit insane, only in that I have such a good memory, sometimes TOO good.

have I mentioned that my earliest memory is getting a bath in the kitchen sink? I was about 6-8 months old….perhaps that’s another post for a later time.

Recent events have me going back to The Waxwings…there’s a lot to say in the few years I got to see and know them. One way to describe my love affair with their music is the whole “kid in a candy store” effect. music is my drug. and The Waxwings are a high for me.

It’s hard for me to pick just one song that I like most. Right now, I’m listening to Firewood and I remember when they played in live in the studio at WJSE (a job I hated for the most part, except for the time The Waxwings played at the Hard Rock Cafe in Atlantic City, with other friends, The John Faye Power Trip aka IKE….an idea *I* suggested) and I got to take them all to McGuire’s afterward. And the only reason I couldn’t take The Waxwings home to my house for a rock n roll slumber party, was that my parent’s house only had room for one band not two!

At any rate, I often wonder what the boys are up to. I know Dean has been touring with Brendan Benson’s band, then The Ranconteurs, and as far as I know, he’s still with Queens of the Stone Age.

The Waxwings’ music is timeless despite how many memories I have associated with it. I know not everyone can hear every band from everywhere, but it’s always fun to discover and rediscover music no matter where or when it’s from. when I was younger, I remember having to send for stuff overseas and really having to dig for music across the miles. The power of the internet has changed that dramatically. If you give me the chance, I will indeed tell you how amazing it is that I can connect with bands from all over the world, simply through myspace or facebook or bebo or podcasts or whatever. None of this stuff really existed when The Waxwings were really getting out there and releasing records. Hell, I wrote them a hand written letter telling them how much I loved their album. I used to do that all the time. I still do to some degree. It sounds corny but anyone who’s working their ass off creating something or doing something, no matter who they are can appreciate a quick acknowledgment of what it is they’re doing. I don’t do it because I want something, or to be recognized, or for my own acknowledgment. I do it because it’s genuinely how I feel.

you can find more about The Waxwings in the following places:
the waxwings website
last.fm
The Waxwings wiki

here they are at the Hard Rock Cafe in Atlantic City, NJ

and at the Velvet Lounge in DC

I just found these videos on youtube: