Seriously now, what are you people doing? Christmas shopping? Spending quality time with your family? Doing the job your employers pay you good money to do? Good grief!

Well, since I said last week that I would post some year end faves I may as well get that done instead of bitching at others. First, a brief list which probably reiterates those printed in other publications but hey, what can you do if other people have good taste too?

Albums/EPs

'Be' – Common – feel good, groovy, intelligent, poppy, just good
'Late Registration' - Kanye West – sometimes too poppy but enjoyable
'Arular' - M.I.A. – like a shot of adrenaline, recommended for the treadmill
'Illinois' - Sufjan Stevens – doesn’t tire
‘Picaresque’ – Decemberists -
'Feels' - Animal Collective – energetic, inventive, weird, wonderful
'Strange Geometry' - The Clientele – warm bath harmonies, like a lost Byrds record with better sound quality; what Teenage Fanclub would be if they were “great”
'Woman King' - Iron & Wine – Sam Beam’s voice.
'In Case We Die' - Architecture in Helsinki - kind of like the Fiery Furnaces, in more easily digestible (shorter) portions, but with more instruments and singers
‘Black Sheep Boy’ by Okkervil River, another reason why KEXP in Seattle, where I first heard their music, should be replicated in Toronto someway, somehow.

Songs

‘Golddigger’ – Kanye
‘Engine Driver’ – Decemberists
‘Feel Good Inc’/’Dare’ – Gorillaz
‘Sunshowers’ or ‘Hombre’ – M.I.A.
‘On a Holiday’ – Green Day
‘I Turn My Camera On’ – Spoon
‘Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood’ – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
‘Something Beautiful’ – The Real Tuesday Weld
‘Evil’ – Interpol (technically last year’s release but I really only listened to it in 2005 and it’s a song that makes sensible use of the ‘repeat’ button on your cd deck)


Disappointments: 'The Cosmic Game' - Thievery Corporation. I've liked their 3 previous discs but I guess this just seems like more of the same, without any interesting new twists or directions. Thought that appearances by David Byrne and the Flaming Lips on a few tracks would be interesting but these tracks are actually the weakest on the album.

‘Solarized’ – Ian Brown. Though I’ve read others rave about this and I know, Stuart, that you kind of dug it, this is one that never quite did it for me. Maybe it’s because he seems to be doing a pale imitation of his earlier solo and Stone Roses stuff.

Grew on me:

No Title - 'Petra Haden and Bill Frissell' - An album of cover songs which at times can get a little too sugary sweet for my taste (ie. not sure why they chose to redo 'when you wish upon a star'), petra's voice is quite pretty and frissell's arrangements on 'Yellow', 'Satellite' and 'I Believe' make it worthwhile for me.

‘Guero’ – Beck – Sarah bought it and I resisted it for months, even after rave reviews her and Derek but am now digging it large. He’s a great songwriter and this disc is up there with ‘Odelay’, albeit with less distortion and more quieter, straightforward, acoustic numbers.

Old Music but New for Me:

Brian Jonestown Massacre – pretty much all their discs, most notably ‘Take it from the Man’. I wasn’t all that familiar with their music until seeing the documentary ‘Dig!’ this year but have been hooked on their sound ever since. Their jangly, psychedelic rock at times channels the best of the Rolling Stones (without sounding too derivative) and at other times more contemporary bands like Primal Scream and Verve.

‘Remember the Future’ – Creeper Lagoon, a 5-song ep of sweet, dreamy pop songs. Heard one of the tracks while listening to the forementioned KEXP on my laptop in an airport lounge, surfed over to emusic and downloaded the whole thing for a buck and change, then transferred it to my mp3 player for listening on the plane. Music I want, at a reasonable price, in seconds. What this whole digital music—ecommerce thing should be.

‘Madvillainy’ – Madlib & MFDOOM and “Vaudville Villain” – Viktor Vaugh
With thanks to Derek, who leant me these discs. A lot of the tracks stop just when they’re getting going but somehow I love the smooth, rhythmic delivery of both MCs, the sometimes strange but effective mix of drum and accordion samples, old b-movie clips, and scratching, the humourous pop culture references. Hip hop that’s more geared to lounging on the couch than it is to the dance floor.

That's all for now. Back to work.