Happy New Years Eve!

I hope you all have somewhere fun to be tonight and an excellent New Years Eve. See you next year.

When Scenesters Get Violent

This is literally a clash between two scenes that actually accrued in the '60s in England. I just thought it was funny because I can't really imagine Hipsters and Heavy Metal Kids or any other group of scenesters clashing in a giant brawl today.

Top 20 Albums of 2007

This is my take on the top 20 albums of this year. It's not fancy or anything because I'm not very technologically savvy, but it gets the job done. I originally planned on having the titles and album covers together, but that wouldn't work, so the titles are listed first then the albums in corresponding order. Also, just know that I didn't get around to listening to every album that came out this year, so there may be some that you are surprised that didn't make my list. If so, tell me. I'd love to hear about other good albums. Here it is.

1. Marry Me - St. Vincent

2. Boxer - The National

3. Armchair Apocrypha -Andrew Bird

4. In Rainbows - Radiohead

5. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - Spoon

6. Cassadaga - Bright Eyes

7. In Our Bedroom After The War - Stars

8. Sky Blue Sky - Wilco

9. Spirit If... - Kevin Drew

10. Phantom Punch - Sondre Lerche

11. Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? - Of Montreal

12. Keren Ann - Keren Ann

13. The Fragile Army - The Polyphonic Spree

14. A Weekend in the City - Bloc Party

15. 23 - Blonde Redhead

16. Icky Thump - The White Stripes

17. Living With The Living - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

18. Myths of the Near Future - Klaxons

19. Costello Music - The Fratellis

20. RoadKillOvercoat - Busdriver

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. I hope yours was as excellent as mine. Here's a little Christmas video for you to enjoy.

Keren Ann

I was first introduced to Keren Ann by a friend who invited me to go to her concert. I had never heard of her so my friend provided me with some songs and I checked out her other material and was intrigued. At the end of the night, I was much more then simply intrigued; I was blown away. She was magnificent. She now ranks among my all time favorite artists.

She has a total of five albums with her most recent self-titled album having been released earlier this year. Keren Ann grew up in France and thus her first two albums were entierly in French and were only released (to my knowledge) in Europe. They were released in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Her first U.S. debut, titled Not Going Anywhere, came out in 2003 and is my favorite. Her follow up to Not Going Anywhere, titled Nolita, is excellent as well and is partially in French which adds a little something extra because I think her voice sounds even more gorgeous in French. Her most recent album sticks to all English, but has a different twist. Instead of just sticking to her soothing, slower melodies, Keren Ann has decided to throw in some rougher tunes that are focused on the heavy electric guitar. I must say I'm more partial to her older stuff, but the new songs are certainly interesting.

For all you lucky Chicago folk, you now have the ability to expierence the magic that is Keren Ann live just as I did last year. She has recently announced a show at the Lakeshore Theatre, which is where I saw her lst time. It's the perfect place to see Keren Ann because it's small and intimate. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Lakeshore Theatre ( I know I wasn't last year since not many shows get booked there), it's in Boys Town about a block away from the intersectio0n of Clarke and Broadway. You can get there via the El. I highly recomend checking her out and going to the show. You can bet that I'll be there. I've posted her video for "Not Going Anywhere" (obviously off her album titled Not Going Anywhere).

Millie Auditions

Break a leg everyone! I'm sure you'll all be fantastic. Just like Suton Foster in the video below. I'm quite excited for Millie. It's going to be one of the best things we've ever done.

More videos a la AP Gov't

These are just some more videos we watched in AP Government. I enjoyed them, so I decided to share the love. Enjoy.

Addicted to Speed

Here are some more World's Fastest... videos. I must say, they're pretty sweet. These come to you courtesy of Julia Nicole. ありがとう!

Fastest Clapper In The World

We were talking about this video in Government today, so I thought I'd look it up. It's pretty sweet. Enjoy.

The RIAA made a deal with the devil. What else is new?

For quite some time one of my friends has done a segment called "The RIAA has no soul Tuesdays" on his blog. You can find these posts here. Due to some recent controversy between him and a reader of his blog, he clearly stated his views and opened the floor to debate. You can check it out what people have been saying so far right here. I recently threw in my two cents about how I think the RIAA is unjust and I disagree with the laws that have been set out. I also posted a link to a petition of the RIAA. I figured I might as well show that I really do believe in this by posting the same link on my page. Please click here and help stop the insatiable madness that is the RIAA. It will only take a few moments of your time and if you need motivation to do this, go read some of Keith's posts (first link listed) about some of the awful things the RIAA has done. Thanks for your help.

Vampire Weekend

These fine young fellows are some quality up-and-comers. Trying to describe them is difficult though. They have been described as a "blend of Afrobeat, New Wave, and indie pop" and influences that they have cited include everything from popular African music to western classical music. They describe themselves as being "Upper West Side Soweto". The only real way to figure out what they sound like is to simply listen to their music.

Currently they only have an EP and their single Mansard Roof (both digital and vinyl) out, but their self-titled debut album is being released January 29th. You can stop on by their website by clicking here to stream one song and download another. Since I work for the street team that promotes them, I got an early copy of their album and I must say it is superb. It's original and the most interesting blend of different sounds I've ever heard. I'm not quite sure yet, but I think Oxford Comma (which you can stream at their website) is my favorite song on the album.

Vampire Weekend is playing a show at Schubas on December 11th, but it's sold out. I'm quite glad for them that they sold out their Chicago show. If you like what you hear at their website, I highly recommend picking up their album when it hits stores in January. I posted a video of Vampire Weekend performing Oxford Comma live below.

Rock for Barack

I actually got an email about this a few days ago, but I keep forgetting to post something about it. For all you cool Chicago Democrat folk, this is a great opportunity to support (in my opinion) the best candidate out there AND listen to some quality music. What is it you say? A concert for Barack of course! Filling the bill will be Jeff Tweady (of Wilco), Stephen Jenkins (of Third Eye Blind), Jill Sobule, Cool Kids, The Changes, and Canasta. Quite the line-up if you ask me. The show will be at the Riviera this Friday (the 7th). Doors open at 7 pm. You can't buy tickets there, so make sure to buy them before hand. To buy tickets, go here. Tickets are a little pricey (ranging from $50 to $500), but it's worth it. I don't think there are any service charges though, so the price that it says it actually how much the ticket is (imagine that!). There is a good chance that Barack will be there. If I can scrap up some money, I'll see you all there.

Winter Soldier

I just got an email about this and I thought it was interesting, so I decided to share my knowledge with everyone. Here's the email:

As many of you already know, Iraq Veterans Against the War is moving forward with plans to hold a new Winter Soldier hearing. Based on the 1971 Winter Soldier hearings, where over a hundred soldiers testified in Detroit about atrocities that they witnessed in Vietnam, the new hearing will be an ideal way of reaching the American people with the actual effects of their occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The hearings are scheduled to happen at the University of Maryland and will commence on March 13, 2008. We need to help in every way possible with outreach, logistics, information, multimedia, press...ect...

Please join this facebook group: http://rutgers.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6054676169and invite all of your friends and check out http://www.ivaw.org/wintersoldierhttp://www.ivaw.org/wintersoldier for more information. Please sisgn the petition of support too!!!

Sounds interesting to me. I hope it sounds interesting to you too. Please help support this step towards peace. Thanks

Smells Like the 90's

You may not like Nirvana and the whole grunge genre, but this movie was revolutionary and should be appreciated. Enjoy.

The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass hasn't been released yet, but there was a one day early release shown today in many theatres across the country. I just so happened to see one of these afore mentioned showings and all I have to say is absolutely phenomenal. It was amazing. I am a huge Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter fan (not a fanatic, mind you) and I feel that The Golden Compass ranks along side those other classics. Everything about it from plot to special effects, which are necessary when you have armored polar bears in the story, are amazing. In some respects, the movie is a montage of the better parts of the classic fantasy movies. Even many of the actors are from the classic movies I listed. Some of the actors in The Golden Compass are Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig (James Bond: Casino Royale), Freddie Highmore (August Rush, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland), Ian McKellen (Lord of The Rings (Gandalf) and about 75 other things), Christopher Lee (Lord of the Rings (Saruman), Star Wars (Count Dooku), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, many more)

The film is an adaptation of Philip Pullman's book, The Golden Compass (or as it is known in the U.K. Northern Lights). It's actually apart of a trilogy entitled His Dark Materials (which is currently being expanded with supplementary books). After seeing the first episode in the series, I can't wait to see the next two. Pullman has sited John Milton's Paradise Lost as a major influence on his works. Pullman and his books have received a number of prestigious awards in the U.K., but haven't received as much acclaim here in the U.S..

To increase your interest, the Catholic church, and several other Christian's faiths, have openly told people not to see this movie. Yes, that's right. Battle scenes, talking animals, and religious controversy! How could it get any better? Philip Pullman has been deemed England's most outspoken atheist and his books (at least the His Dark Materials trilogy) don't hide this. A large part of the story line has to do with a controlling institution that doesn't want people to know about something called "dust" (which symbolizes knowledge). In the story, the people's ancestors experimented with dust along time ago and it is what makes people become free thinking and independent. Can anyone think of an institution like this in our world? Pullman has stated that his trilogy is the rebuttal to the C.S. Lewis's Narnia trilogy, which was over saturated with a plethora of Christian allegories. This link to the real world is what makes the movie not just another fantasy book series.

I truly believe that you are missing out if you don't see this movie. It's real release date is December 7th, so go see it this weekend. You will not be disappoint (unless you're an Jesus freak in which case go cling to your Narnia books). If that wasn't convincing enough, here's the trailer: