Good Music in 2005

Ryan Adams was a busy beaver this year... making my list twice

Alright boys and girls. Here it is... a list of all the music I loved this year.

Like SR over at Redonkulous Links, I have a top 15 along with some misc categories I thought were quite important.

Like to hear it... well, here it goes.

Top 15 of 2005

1. Common – BE
2. Ryan Adams – Jacksonville Nights
3. Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
4. Beck – Guero
5. M.I.A. – Arular
6. Devendra Banhart – Cripple Crow
7. Kanye West – Late Registration
8. Foo Fighters – In Your Honor
9. Ryan Adams – Jacksonville Nights
10. Gorillaz - Demon Days
11. Death Cab for Cutie – Plans
12. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
13. Jack Johnson – In Between Dreams
14. Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
15. Cage – Hell’s Winter

----Misc. Categories----

Most Played Track of the Year:

Evil - Interpol off the Antics album
( I know it's from 2004 but the playcount on this song was so high I had to mention it )

Best Hip-Hop Diss Song:

Jadakiss / Fat Joe - Checkmate VSL ( Fuck 50 Cent Campaign )

Most Anticipated Album That Wasn't Released:

Jenny Lewis – Rabbit Fur Coat
(Solo project from Rilo Kiley's lead singer also child star of the movie The Wizard)

Most Anticipated Album Just Announced:

Nas and DJ Premier collabo project.

New Album I Didn’t Get Around to Playing Enough to Add to the List:

Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have it So Much Better

Best New Music I was introduced to while in OZ:

Old Man River

George Byrne

Grand Fatal

Minus the Bear (From Seattle)

There it is kids.

PS. RSJ get yours up.

My First Sensai

Yesterday the world lost a great icon who impacted so many lives across the globe, Pat "Mr. Miyagi" Morita.

Mr. Miyagi was the reason I wanted to take up martial arts, eventhough I never did. Mr. Miyagi taught me that discipline and honor are a key part of life. They are also useful to have when waxing a car, painting a fence, playing a monkey drum, nurturing a bonsai tree and catching flies with chop sticks.

Also, Mr. Miyagi showed the world that a creepy,old Asian man can befriend a strapping, teenage lad without there being (much) sexual tension. Later he went on to prove to us that the same is true with blossoming, teenage girl who he trained with the same respect that he would a male.

Tonight I will feast and drink in your honor... and I hope you get a nice place in that giant dojo in the sky. You will truly be missed.

Musical orgy

Apparently Wilco, The Shins, The Walkmen and Polyphonic Spree got together had a few drinks and gave birth to Old Man River. I wish somebody had told me earlier so I could have watched.

Anyway, I saw this guy last night at the Houpetoun and it was awesome. At first it's him just strumming his gee-taur on stage for a few songs. Then he invites one of the guys that opened for him, George Byrnes, and they belt out some sick songs. Finally, he calls over his drummer and bassist and things took off. These guys fucking rocked ! I think at one point people from the audience were coming up on stage and strapping on guitars. Craziness. You guys shoud check him out.

Soundtrack to War

Today I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art. The current exhibit at the MCA is Interesting Times, which focuses on contemporary artists from OZ. I enjoyed most of the pieces and installations at the gallery, but one really stood out. It was a movie by George Gittoes, an Australian artist, called Soundtrack To War. The movie documents music and war. Gittoes interviews various US soldiers in Iraq asking them what music they listen to during war. Wether driving in the tanks, getting ready to leave for a mission, or just to get by in the hellish situation they are in. Some of the clips even show the soldiers performing there own music in the form of rapping, strumming gore metal riffs, or singing patriotic Toby Keith-esque country songs. It really shows how young and silly most the troops "protecting" our liberties really are.

You should check it out.

Drunk Dials

I made SOOOO many drunk dials last night. If you got a drunken, slurred message... I apologize. If you didn't, email me your cell phone number and I will.

PS. I drank for 16 hours straight yesterday!

and now... this.

Lovefest 2005

So as of last Firday my first semester of the Masters program is over. I am 1/3 of the way there. Also, I am on summer vacation until February ! School is like constantly hitting yourself in the head with a hammer. It hurts like hell when your doing it, but it feels so damn good when it stops.

To celebrate, a bunch of us attended the Lovefest in Newtown on Sunday. It was a huge outdoor music festival with 4 stages and tons of booths. I got there around 3 and was compeletley hungover but downed a 40 and was right back in it. From there we went to the Towny to grab a few brews. We ended the night at a party in Newtown where I met lots of interesting people.

Let me tell you a little about Newtown. Newtown is a very artsy, hippie, I'm too cool for school type fo area. There is an ongoing battle between Newtown and Surry Hills ( my neighborhood) over which part is cooler to live in. Obviously I think its Surry Hills, not just because I live there, because it is more central to the city, my school, and has a pretty solid nighlife and art scene. Anyways, the only real difference that stood out to me was the abundance of 20 something, white males, with dreadlocks. Geeez. We get it, white people can have dreads too.

Harlan McCraney

Being over here in the OZ, I don't get to watch the brilliantly amazing Comedy Central anymore. However, I do surf the internets... a lot !

I just came across a Comedy Central movie called "Harlan McRaney, Presidential Speechalist"

I only saw a bit of it but it looks HIGH-larious. Check it out here, and let me know if it has or hasn't already aired on Comedy Central. If anyone has the whole thing let me know so I can grab it from you.

(Source: Fabrica.it )