My Favorite Things in 2009...

I started listening to podcasts (namely Bill Simmons B.S. Report)
I saw the Handsome Furs live at Southgate House
I started working 1st shift
I saw Damien Jurado in a recording studio with about 30 other people
I deleted my MySpace (and stayed off of Facebook/Twitter)
I started listening to the works of Philip Glass
I rekindled my love for early Metallica (and heavy metal as a whole)
I discovered that I absolutely love Young Jeezy
I saw Animal Collective live in St. Petersburgh, FL
I ditched Comcast for DirectTV
I finally watched "Purple Rain"
I finally got into The Jesus and Mary Chain
I saw the Deerhunter/Dan Deacon/No Age mega-show at the Southgate House
I ditched Verizon for AT&T
I finally got around to watching "Undeclared"
I met Gallagher in the Kroger deli
I stopped watching Sportscenter and made the switch to ESPN News
I I saw Built to Spill live at the Southgate House
I discovered the wonderful website peopleofwalmart.com
I finally got around to watching 'Evil Dead' and 'Evil Dead 2'
I co-hosted another great Halloween party
I DJ'd my first wedding reception
I continued to be surrounded/supported by the people who make me who I am: my friends

Old Music (Still Good Music): Counting Crows - "A Long December"...

"And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe, maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass..."

Still amazing.

Old Music (Still Good Music): Merle Haggard - "If We Make it Through December"...

This little ditty only gets better with age.

25 Years Ago Today: Sam Peckinpah Dies in Mexico...

David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah (February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved his status following the release of his 1969 Western epic 'The Wild Bunch'. He became one of the major filmmakers of the 1970s, with his innovative and explicit depiction of action and violence, as well as his revisionist approach to the Western genre.

Peckinpah's films generally deal with the conflict between values and ideals, and the corruption of violence in human society. He was given the nickname "Bloody Sam" due to the violence in his films. His characters are often loners or losers who desire to be honorable, but are forced to compromise in order to survive in a world of nihilism and brutality.

Peckinpah's combative personality, marked by years of alcohol and drug abuse, has in many ways overshadowed his professional legacy. Many of his films were noted for behind-the-scenes battles with producers and crew members, damaging his reputation and career during his lifetime.

Peckinpah was seriously ill during his final years, as a lifetime of hard living began to catch up with him. Regardless, he continued to work until the last months before his death. He died of heart failure on December 28, 1984. At the time, he was in preparation for shooting an original script by Stephen King entitled "The Shotgunners".

Suggested viewing:

Top 5 Songs I am Currently Listening To...

1. Lou Reed - "Coney Island Baby"
2. Sparks - "The Number One Song in Heaven"
3. SALEM - "Skullcrush"
4. Björk - "Unison"
5. oOoOO - "NoSummer4u"

Old Music (Still Good Music): Ben Folds Five - "Brick"...

I will have this cued up to play during my drive to work tomorrow morning at 5:30 a.m.

Old Music (Still Good Music): Vince Guaraldi Trio - "Christmastime Is Here"...

This song contains what little bit of joy I still hold close to my heart for Christmas.

Top 20 Albums of 2009...

The top 20 albums I consider to be my favorite from 2009...

(in order)

1. Animal Collective - "Merriweather Post Pavilion"



2. Grizzly Bear - "Veckatimest"



3. The Antlers - "Hospice"



4. Fever Ray - "Fever Ray"



5. Memory Tapes - "Seek Magic"



6. Neon Indian - "Psychic Chasms"



7. Atlas Sound - "Logos"



8. Japandroids - "Post-Nothing"



9. Jay-Z - "The Blueprint 3"



10. Papercuts - "You Can Have What You Want"



11. The Field - "Yesterday and Today"



12. Handsome Furs - "Face Control"



13. Fuck Buttons - "Tarot Sport"



14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "It's Blitz!"



15. Dirty Projectors - "Bitte Orca"



16. The xx - "xx"



17. Ducktails - "Landscapes"



18. jj - "jj no. 2"



19. Smith Westerns - "The Smith Westerns"



20. KiD CuDi - "Man on the Moon: The End of Day"



Honorable mention:

Flaming Lips - "Embryonic"
Dan Deacon - "Bromst"
Teengirl Fantasy - "Teengirl Fantasy"
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart"
Lotus Plaza - "Floodlight Collective"
Real Estate - "Real Estate"
HEALTH - "Get Color"
Girls - "Album"
The Big Pink - "A Brief History of Love"
Antony & The Johnstons - "The Crying Light"
CFCF - "Continent"
Bear in Heaven - "Beast Rest Forth Mouth"
Phoenix - "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"
Cass McCombs - "Catacombs"
Fool's Gold - "Fool's Gold"
Cymbals Eat Guitars - "Why They Are Mountains"
Built to Spill - "There Is No Enemy"
Sunset Rubdown - "Dragonslayer"
Cold Cave - "Love Comes Close"
Bibio - "Ambivalence Avenue"
Mos Def - "The Ecstatic"
Wild Beasts - "Two Dancers"
Clipse - "Til The Casket Drops"

Top 5 EP's of 2009...

(in order)

1. Washed Out - "Life of Leisure"



2. Animal Collective - "Fall Be Kind"



3. Memory Cassette - "Call & Response"



4. Small Black - "Small Black"



5. Pearl Harbor - "Something About The Chaparrals"



Honorable mention:

Best Coast -"Make You Mine"
SALEM - "Water"
No Age - "Losing Feeling"
Deerhunter - "Rainwater Cassette Exchange"
VEGA - "Well Known Pleasures"

Top 50 Songs of 2009...

My top 50 songs from 2009...

(in order)

1. Animal Collective - "In the Flowers"
2. Animal Collective - "Taste"
3. Grizzly Bear - "Foreground"
4. Washed Out - "Feel It All Around"
5. Animal Collective - "Daily Routine"
6. Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks (Fred Falke Remix)"
7. Animal Collective - "Guy's Eyes"
8. Pearl Harbor - "Lost at Sea"
9. Animal Collective - "My Girls"
10. Animal Collective - "No More Runnin"
11. Animal Collective - "What Would I Want? Sky"
12. Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"
13. Abe Vigoda - "Wild Heart"
14. Best Coast - "Sun Was High (So Was I)"
15. No Age - "Losing Feeling"
16. Atlas Sound - "Quick Canal (Feat. Laetitia Sadier)
17. Real Estate - "Fake Blues"
18. Neon Indian - "Mind, Drips"
19. The Fresh & Onlys - "Peacock and Wing"
20. Pictureplane - "Goth Star"
21. Jay-Z - "Empire State of Mind (Feat. Alicia Keys)"
22. Eminem - "Beautiful"
23. KiD CuDi - "Soundtrack 2 My Life"
24. Small Black - "Weird Machines"
25. Fever Ray - "If I Had a Heart"
26. The Antlers - "Wake"
27. Teengirl Fantasy - "Portofino"
28. Modest Mouse - "Guilty Cocker Spaniels"
29. SALEM - "Frost"
30. Lotus Plaza - "These Years"
31. Birdman vs. Washed Out - "Feel It on the Southside"
32. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Little Shadow"
33. Japandroids - "I Quit Girls"
34. Glasser - "Glad (Delorean Remix)"
35. Beirut - "My Wife, Lost in the Wild"
36. Fever Ray - "When I Grow Up (Lissvik Remix)"
37. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Skeletons"
38. Grizzly Bear - "Slow Life (Feat. Victoria Legrand)"
39. Fever Ray - "Keep the Streets Empty For Me"
40. Girls - "Hellhole Ratrace"
41. Small Black - "Despicable Dogs"
42. Jay-Z - "Real As it Gets (Feat. Young Jeezy)"
43. Bat For Lashes - "Daniel"
44. Vivian Girls - "Before I Start to Cry"
45. SALEM - "Skullcrush"
46. Fuck Buttons - "Olympians"
47. Wilco - "Country Disappeared"
48. Phoenix - "1901"
49. Washed Out - "New Theory"
50. Girls - "Lauren Marie"

Top 5 Artists of 2009...

(in order)

1. Animal Collective



2. Grizzly Bear



3. Fever Ray



4. Memory Tapes



5. The Antlers

Top 10 Best New Artists of 2009...

(in order)

1. Washed Out



2. Best Coast



(Tie)

Pearl Harbor



3. The xx



4. KiD CuDi



5. Neon Indian



6. Real Estate



7. Japandroids



8. The Fresh & Onlys



9. Teengirl Fantasy



10. The Smith Westerns