I did not provide year end lists this year, but in lieu of that I am going to give you each 2 cds, (at the Lou Reed wake coming up), that I made for a friend, which comprise 80% new material from last year....
..........also I am just loving a disc from last year that I am late to by John Grant called Pale Green Ghosts. I was put onto this via Dereks year end list. I had totally missed it, but it really is fabulous. It has some 80's influence , but I hear 70's stuff too, and that is not to say that it is retro as it most definitively is not retro.  Great lyrics, smart and actually laugh out loud funny occasionally..
rdio has it , if you missed this too.  ( warning: it needed several listens to get it for me)
s

....
Did the entire crowd really pump their arms in the air with the two finger salute......yes
Did the drummer really spend the whole night twirling his sticks .... Yes
Did the singer really sing a song with the chorus"you are my daughters of darkness na na na     .......yes
Did the drummer really stand on his seat mid song to exhort the audience to give the two finger salute...yes
Did they really have a huge lit banner with strobe lights and their name aglow as the backdrop.....yes
Was the musicianship terrible ......no
Did that matter.....no
Would Derek have lasted past the first song?

Lou Reed wake;
In the spirit of Rob's (chilly) Bob Dylan event (birthday?) I was thinking that iconic music artist deaths are going to become unfortunately a yearly event over the next 2 decades..... As each of these giants lays to rest I for one will be toasting to their memory with their music (and perhaps scotch) ...I am offering to host the first one in January or February...a wake for Lou and his entire lifes work.....the music will only be that related to him somehow...Let me know if any of you are interested ... the great spirit of Islay and myself will be doing this regardless , so do not feel pressure to attend...
s

Best Albums of 2013

Early? Perhaps?  Does anyone care?  Perhaps Not?

So here goes 10 great fucking records for the last 12 months.  No dissension brooked.

Dodos - Carrier
Kingsbury Manx - Bronze Age
Mark Kozelek & Desertshore - Self Titled
John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts
Eleanor Friedberger - Personal Record
Mikal Cronin - MCII
Ola Podrida - Ghosts Go Blind
OMD - English Electric
Inc. - No World
Jon Hopkins - Immunity

Best party album of 2013 (no surprise given the title) "Tough Love" by Party Supplies.

Still working on:

The Pastels - Slow Summits
Califone - Stitches
Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven
Tim Hecker - Virgins

Best Songs of 2013

Wavves - Lunge Forward
Villagers - Nothing Arrived
Daft Punk - Instant Crush
Hot Chip - Dark and Stormy
Gun Outfit - Young Lord
Holydrug Couple - Counting Sailboats
Chris Stamey - You n Me n XTC
The House of Love - Lost in the Blues
Suuns - 2020
Matthew E. White - Will You Love Me
Chelsea Light Moving - Sleeping Where I Fall
Kurt Vile - Never Run Away
Young Galaxy - Pretty Boy
The Dodos - Confidence
Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle - You Missed My Heart

Done.  Looking forward to the rest of your lists.  P.S. no need at all to wait for the release of the new Arcade Fire.  Streamed it in its entirety on Pitchfork this afternoon and as expected, based on the single, it suuuucks!!

CD Club Pleeeeze!

Just saying that the last one was in June, 4 months ago, and it will only get tougher to squeeze in another as the end of 2013 closes in.  So let's get this locked in.  Suggestions for a date and venue?

I was having a drink with Mathew Jocelyn last night, ( Brian will know him as the director of Canadian Stage) he does a fusion kind of theatre with offshoots into film and dance. He was interested in hearing interesting current ( meaning within the last 5 years but preferably within the last year or two) music. I wonder if you lot could do  me the favour of naming songs that have a theatrical bent to them and instrumental is totally fine. I am thinking Godspeed you..., the rachels, the braids , austra, for starters....open to any ideas. I will assemble a cd for him....
thanks

The Difficult 4th Album

Having heard, quite by accident, the new Arcade Fire single 3 times in the space of 24 hours on satellite radio while driving, I am worried.  Being a big fan of their 3 albums on first listen to "Reflektor" my reaction was WTF and not in a good "hey what a great new direction" kind of way.  Hopefully the single is a misstep and the double album to follow continues their good run of form.

On the off-chance that the new record is a disco dud I have to say that three straight very good records is still a pretty good streak.  Would any of you like to offer up a similar run of good/great albums by any band from 1980 onwards, thus leaving out some of the obvious behemoths of pop/rock.  Doesn't have to be 3 to start a career could be at any point in a bands lifespan.

Not your mom's Grammy acceptance speech

Here is a link to Godspeed You Black Emperor's non-acceptance speech of their Polaris Prize win. Ha bloody ha!