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.