Friday, December 26th, 2008

Best EPs of 2008:
-
One Day As A Lion - One Day As A Lion: The Rage isn’t back, but the passion of Zach is.
-
Cool Kids – The Bake Sale: Hip-hop is not dead, it’s alive and well with The Cool Kids.
-
The Decemberists – Always a Bridesmaid: One song bugs me, but the rest is lovely.
-
Animal Collective – Water Curses: An exciting view into what’s in store for 2009.
-
Air France – No Way Down: I don’t need a new Avalanches record, all I need is this EP…and this lamp.
Best Gadget I Couldn’t Live Without:
Best Music Blogs of 2008 (aside from Gorilla vs. Bear and Brooklyn Vegan):
-
Motel De Moka: Stunning artwork mixed with the best minimalistic, experimental, and ambient music I’ve never heard of.
-
ipickmynose: His weekly song obsessions quickly become my song obsessions. Plus his view into the Bay Area indie scene helps me understand this strange new land I’ve found myself in.
-
Captain Obvious: His library of covers is unrivaled as well as his detailed and spot-on album reviews.
Best Books I Read This Year:
Biggest Musical Disappointments:
-
The Ben Folds album…blows
-
Kanye West experiements…fails
-
No Portishead US tour
-
Foo Fighters just can’t rock like they used to
-
Scarlett Johansson covers Tom Waits, nuff said
Most Anticipated in 2009:
-
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
-
Dan Deacon – Bromst
-
Mastodon – Crack The Skye
-
dredg – tba
-
M. Ward – Hold Time
-
Division Day – tba
-
Jeremy Enigk – Ok Bear
-
Cage – Depart From Me
-
Weatherman Album?
-
The One AM Radio – tba
-
The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
-
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
-
Rival Schools – tba
-
Kiss Kiss – The Meek Shall Inherit What’s Left
-
The Arcade Fire – tba
-
Battles – tba
-
Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
-
mewithoutyou – tba
-
Cursive – tba
-
Burial – tba
-
Wilco – tba
-
Menomena – tba
-
The Album Leaf – tba
Other Songs That I Loved This Year
Astro Raw – I’m The One With A Smile
Beach House – Gila
Bill O’Reilly – Bill O’Reilly Flips Out (Dance Remix)
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – So Everyone
Chairlift – Evident Utensil
Cloud Cult – Everybody here is a Cloud
The Cool Kids – A Party (For Everyone) (Logarhythmik remix)
The Dear Hunter – Battesimo del Fuoco
Delta Spirit – Trashcan
Department Of Eagles – No One Does It Like You
The Dodos – Fools
Entire Cities – Talkers
Facing New York – Cops On Bikes (WP PM5K RMX)
Frightened Rabbit – Fast Blood
God Is An Astronaut – Remaining Light
Grizzly Bear – While You Wait For The Others
The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
Jolie Holland – Mexico City
The Limousines – Very Busy People
Little Joy – Brand New Start
Lykke Li – I’m Good, I’m Gone
Mason Proper – Friendship
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Jesus Of The Moon
Port O’Brien – Fisherman’s Son
Portugal. The Man – Lay Me Back Down
R.E.M. – Supernatural Superserious
Rye Rye – Tic Toc (ft. M.I.A.)
Sennen – Your Hand In Mine
The Sound Of Animals Fighting – The Ocean And The Sun
Vampire Weekend – Ottoman
White Denim – Sitting
Tags: Astro Raw, beach house, Bill O'Reilly, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, chairlift, Cloud Cult, Delta Spirit, department of eagles, Entire Cities, facing new york, Favorites of 2008, Frightened Rabbit, God Is An Astronaut, Grizzly Bear, Jolie Holland, Little Joy, Lykke Li, Mason Proper, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Port O'Brien, Portugal. The Man, R.E.M., Rye Rye, Sennen, The Cool Kids, The Dear Hunter, The Dodos, The Hold Steady, The Limousines, The Sound of Animals Fighting, Vampire Weekend, White Denim
Posted in Favorites of 2008, Music, News | 9 Comments »
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

Minus the Bear at Bimbo's 365
Here’s some concert photography from the following shows…
Minus the Bear / Annuals / Helms Alee at Bimbo’s 365
Facing New York at The Bottom of the Hill
Well it’s Turkey Day week; so whether you’re going home to family or spending it friends, here’s a few “things to do” in the Bay Area before you stuff your face with extreme yummy-ness.
Sunday (Today):
Drive-By Truckers / The Hold Steady
The Fillmore
1805 Geary Boulevard
San Francisco CA 94115
Note: The Hold Steady will be headlining on Monday at the same venue.
Monday:
Portugal. The Man / Wintersleep / Earl Greyhound (HIGHLY Recommended)
Slim’s
333 11th Street
San Francisco CA 94103
Deerhunter / Times New Viking / Common Eider, King Eider
The Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell Street
San Francisco CA 94109
Tuesday:
The Decemberists / Loch Lomond
The Warfield
982 Market Street
San Francisco CA 94103
Wednesday:
wallpaper. / The Lovemakers / Hottub
Mezzanine
444 Jessie Street @ Mint
San Francisco CA CA 94103
Thursday:
What are doing looking here? You should be with people you care about on this day! And what kind of venue would open their doors on Thanksgiving Day anyway? You obviously aren’t a very good businessman to think that this is possible. Phhhh.
Friday:
M83 / School of Seven Bells
The Fillmore
1805 Geary Boulevard
San Francisco CA 94115
Saturday:
Dizzy Balloon / The Frail / The Picture Atlantic
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell St
San Francisco CA 94102
Let me take this time to share some Kata Rokkar news (among other things). Before you go…
We have a Facebook Fanpage that you can instantly make yourself cooler by joining. Also, two older Kuestionnaires with Division Day and Robby Roadsteamer are the TheHyp.net.
Oh yeah, Chinese Democracy is out. Pick up your free Dr. Pepper. (I think the website crashed though, heh)
Far is currently touring the UK right now. So if you’re in that neck of the woods, do yourself a favor and see them live. This may not happen again…
Members of Death Angel, Will Haven, Phallucy, Eightfourseven, Death Valley High and other “special guests” will take part in a benefit concert for Deftones bassist Chi Cheng on Saturday, November 29 at Fat City in San Francisco, California.
Fat City
314 11th Street @ Folsom
San Francisco, California 94103
Cost: $12
All proceeds will go to Chi’s family.
wallpaper. – Evrytm We Do It
Deerhunter – Wash Off
Drive-By Truckers – Zip City

Dizzy Balloon – Raise A Glass
Loch Lomond – Tic

School of Seven Bells – Connjur
Portugal. The Man – Stables and Chairs
Tags: Chi Cheng, Chinese Democracy, Deerhunter, Dizzy Balloon, Drive-By Truckers, Earl Greyhound, facing new york, Kuestionnaires, Loch Lomond, M83, minus the bear, Portugal. The Man, School of Seven Bells, the decemberists, The Hold Steady, wallpaper., wintersleep
Posted in Concerts, Music, News | 1 Comment »