The Best of 2008 – CD’s

here is my list, in alphabetical order…

alejandro escovedo – “real animal”
ben sollee – “learning to bend”
bob dylan – “tell tale signs – rare and unreleased 1989-2006”
carrie rodriguez – “she ain’t me”
cat power – “jukebox/dark end of the street”
cowboy junkies – “trinity revisited”
david byrne & brian eno – “everything that happens will happen today”
johnny cash – “johnny cash at folsom prison: legacy edition”
kathleen edwards – “asking for flowers”
kris delmhorst – “shotgun singer”
over the rhine – “live from nowhere volume 3”
ray lamontagne – “gossip in the grain”
rodney crowell – “sex and gasoline”
ryan adams and the cardinals – “cardinology”
shelby lynne – “just a little lovin’ ”
teddy thompson – “a piece of what you need”
tift merritt – “another country”
the waifs – “sundirtwater”

*and i’m combining cat power’s “dark end of the street” [ep] with “jukebox.” they are out of the same sessions and it is just like an extension of that project.

and here is “Rolling Stone’s” top 50 albums of 2008:

1 | TV on the Radio: Dear Science
2 | Bob Dylan: Tell Tale Signs — The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
3 | Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III
4 | My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges
5 | John Mellencamp: Life, Death, Love and Freedom
6 | Santogold: Santogold
7 | Coldplay: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
8 | Beck: Modern Guilt
9 | Metallica: Death Magnetic
10 | Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
11 | Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes
12 | Guns n’ Roses: Chinese Democracy
13 | Blitzen Trapper: Furr
14 | Ryan Adams and the Cardinals: Cardinology
15 | The Black Keys: Attack & Release
16 | Randy Newman: Harps and Angels
17 | B.B. King: One Kind Favor
18 | Lucinda Williams: Little Honey
19 | Erykah Badu: New Amerykah: Part 1 (4th World War)
20 | Kings of Leon: Only by the Night
21 | Kaiser Chiefs: Off With Their Heads
22 | Jackson Browne: Time the Conquerer
23 | Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst
24 | Girl Talk: Feed the Animals
25 | The Magnetic Fields: Distortion
26 | Mudcrutch: Mudcrutch
27 | Brian Wilson: That Lucky Old Sun
28 | The Knux: Remind Me in Three Days…
29 | Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago
30 | Duffy: Rockferry
31 | MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
32 | Jamey Johnson: The Lonesome Song
33 | Ne-Yo: Year of the Gentleman
34 | Stephen Malkmus: Real Emotional Trash
35 | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
36 | The Hold Steady: Stay Positive
37 | Nine Inch Nails: The Slip
38 | Ra Ra Riot: The Rhumb Line
39 | Taylor Swift: Fearless
40 | Jonas Brothers: A Little Bit Longer
41 | AC/DC: Black Ice
42 | David Byrne and Brian Eno: Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
43 | Nas: Untitled
44 | The Raconteurs: Consolers of the Lonely
45 | Be Your Own Pet: Get Awkward
46 | The Academy Is…: Fast Times at Barrington High
47 | Of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping
48 | Raphael Saadiq: The Way I See It
49 | Hot Chip: Made in the Dark
50 | No Age: Nouns

New Music/CD Releases – October 07, 2008

BILL’S PICK OF THE WEEK

Rachael Yamagata – Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart (2 CD)
1 Accident
2 Brown Eyes
3 Don’t
4 Duet
5 Elephants
6 Elephants (instrumental)
7 Faster
8 Horizon
9 Little Life
10 Over And Over
11 Pause The Tragic Ending
12 Sidedish Friend
13 Sunday Afternoon
14 What If I Leave

New Music/CD Releases – October 07, 2008
Annuals – Such Fun
Antony And The Johnsons – Another World
Aqualung – Words & Music
Deerhoof – Offend Maggie
Department Eagles – In Ear Park
Bob Dylan – Bootleg Series Volume 8
Elliott Yamin – My Kind of Holiday
The Clash – Shea Stadium
Crystal Antlers – EP
Japanese Motors – Japanese Motors
Johnny Cash – Christmas Special (DVD)
Jolie Holland – Living and the Dead
Jon McLaughlin – OK Now
Lambchop – Oh(Ohio)
Land of Talk – Some Are Lakes
The Little Ones – Morning Tide
Michelle Williams – Unexpected
Oasis – Dig Out Your Soul
Of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping (Dig)
Pretenders – Break Up the Concrete
Rachael Yamagata – Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart (2 CD)
Rasmus – Black Roses
Rosebud – Life Like
Sarah Mclachlan – Closer: Best of
Streets – Everything Is Borrowed
Wu-Tang – Soundtracks from Shaolin

and remember, whenever possible buy your music directly from the artist(s) or your local independent record store. both could become endangered without your support.

click here for a list of exclusives available @ indie stores and for a list of stores

Wilco offers free song if you promise to vote

photo courtesy Richie Wireman

Wilco offers free song if you promise to vote
By Jeremy Medina [from Paste.com]

With the Nov. 4 presidential election looming and slowly becoming a reality (after what feels like an eternity of campaigning), Wilco has decided to take it upon itself to rally people to vote.

Through their website, Jeff Tweedy (above) and company are offering a free download of a cover of the 1967 Bob Dylan song “I Shall Be Released,” recorded with Fleet Foxes live on tour in Bend, Ore. All one has to do is simply enter a name and e-mail address and click the button “I pledge to vote,” and a download link is sent via e-mail.

“Such tumultuous times,” the band says on the site. “And in the spirit of giveaways that seem to be sweeping the nation, we’ve got something free for you. No it’s not a pile of cash (sorry) but rather an audio postcard of sorts from a summer’s night in Oregon with our friends the Fleet Foxes & a lovely Bob Dylan tune. All we ask is you check the ‘I pledge to vote in the 2008 Election’ button below.”

Notice how they never even mention either candidate. How diplomatic of them. Head here to give Wilco your pledge, and here to register to vote.

what’s on god’s i-pod?

in concert, linford detweiler of over the rhine, while introducing the title song from their new record “the trumpet child” often brings up the rhetorical question that he wonders “what’s on god’s i-pod?” you would think, being god and all, that he’s got a spiffy 160g that would hold a lot of music.

i think it’s a fun and interting question…

i’d guess there would be some classical; bach, beethoven, schubert, and the likes, but i have little knowledge of classical so i’ll move on.

i’m sure there would be some miles, coltrane, and mingus. the beatles would have to be there. along with the redemptive music of johnny cash and the carter family and the pain and lonliness of hank williams. there is little doubt to me that he would include the consciousness of woody guthrie & pete seeger and their more modern counterparts; dylan, marley and springsteen. the soul of marvin, aretha & ella and the blues of robert johnson, bb and muddy would also seem appropriate. i once heard the voice of tom waits described as “the sound of god clearing his throat” and can’t imagine his words, passion and humor would be skipped. i would also like to think that every once and a while, he’d like to rock it a little with the likes of the clash and maybe jam a little with the grateful dead. and of course, the soundtracks for “woodstock” and “the last waltz” would have to be among the first things he downloaded.

i’ve not even started on “current” music, but i’d have to think if i created something as beautiful as the voices of karin bergquist (over the rhine), chan marshall (cat power), margo timmins (cowboy junkies), ryan adams, patty griffin i’d sure be listening to them on a regular basis with a smile on my face and the accomplishment of a job well done.

and i’m sure i missed some obvious choices…your thoughts? drop them in the comments. i’d love to hear…

*also, this is meant to be a lighthearted music discussion, not a religious debate. so depending on your religious beliefs, feel free to answer the question as “if there is a god, what would be on his/her i-pod?”