Looks like RJD2 is sold out tonight, hopefully no one was planning on getting a ticket at the door. Happy New Year's everybody!!!!

So last night I dreamt I had become friends with Dizzee Rascal. But in my dream, he was American and living in Chicago. Also, I think his real name in my dream was John or something. Then I wanted to introduce him to my friends as a "rapper," but I wasn't sure if that would annoy him or not. Weird.

My top 20 is up on www.radiofreechicago.org. Good times.

iPod is up through the Faint now . . .

I'm now up through Devendra Banhart in my iPod. Slowly but surely, people, slowly but surely.

I've been listening to a lot of RJD2 in preparation for this Friday night, which will now official see the reunion of former PFFR hosts Nicole and DJ Lazer!

Can I get a 'huzzah!'?

Another Xmas, come and gone. I received the first season of Arrested Development, a book, a desk calendar, towels, a stuffed frog that was supposed to be some veiled reference to my French-ness, and an iPod. My iPod now has 1300 songs on it, with like, 3,000 more to add. I should be done with that by next Christmas.

In extremely small world news, in the article I wrote for TMT about the 10 best shows I saw this year, I mentioned this guy dressed like a skeleton at the Mouse on Mars show. Apparently that skeleton is a writer for Tinymixtapes, as he informed me by email. He did the article where he drew his favorite songs. SMALL SMALL WORLD.

New Andrew Bird album coming out this February, followed by some touring!! Yay! More info on his website.

Non-music related, but this is brilliant.

Another small list: best albums of 2003 that I didn't hear until 2004

Menomena- I Am the Fun Blame Monster
Unicorns- Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
Songs: Ohia- Magnolia Electric Company
Frog Eyes- The Golden River
Califone- Quicksand/Cradlesnakes
Sufjan Stevens- Greetings from Michigan, the Great Lakes State

Tinymixtapes big year end issue is up now! I wrote the blurb about Joanna Newsom (#6 on the top 25!) and an article about my fav concerts of the year. I know none of you are getting much work done with Xmas coming up, so read away.

Motorcycle Diaries. That's my 5th movie to add to the list. 2 1/2 hours of a beautiful man riding around in beautiful scenery. Sigh.

Madison in the fake news

As long as we're all making lists, here's my fav movies of the year. It was a pretty slow year for movies overall.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Before Sunset (I was sure I was going to hate this movie, so you can imagine my shock when I loved it)
Garden State (though it needed to end about 5 minutes earlier)
Sideways

Hmmm, I was going to try to make 5 but I can't think of any others I saw this year. I'll think about it some more.

Huzzah!

If i were to have an honorary 11th best song of the year, it would be the Hold Steady's "Killer Parties." And I think the Hold Steady Almost Killed Me would be honorary 21st best album. Maybe I should have squeezed it in the top 20, but hey, it's too late for that.

Meanwhile, the filling of the music collection gaps continued this weekend with a trip to WLUW that netted me RJD2's "Deadringer," Pulp's "Different Class," Boards of Canada's "Music Has the Right to Children," and two older Superchunk albums. My thirst for new music is still not quenched as I have the new Stars album on the way, Annie's "Anniemal" on back order, and I'm trying to track down a new album by a band called Scientific American that isn't being sold in pounds. I might have to take a break from music sometime soon.

RJD2 tickets have been purchased. Lazer, keep us updated on whether or not we'll be seeing you that night.

Meanwhile, my Menomena concert review is up on tinymixtapes . . . let's just say this one's got a slightly different tone than others I've written.

Finals
There is no escape
I can't hide
I need a hit
Baby, give me it
They're dangerous
I'm not lovin it
But just one left

Great Spoon show, probably the best of the three I've seen. They did indeed play "Everything Hits at Once," and it was great. "Paper Tiger" was probably the best song of the night. The new stuff sounded pretty good, we'll see how that album sounds when it comes out in the next few months.

Also, I spontaneously stopped by Reckless last night and finally bought Sufjan Steven's "Michigan." I don't know why I resisted getting it for so long because it's amazing. And his next album is going to be about Illinois!

Spoon! Tonight! Be there! They should be playing lots of good stuff off their upcoming yet-to-be-named album. And hopefully "Everything Hits at Once." But I'll survive this time if they don't.

There's DEFINITELY nothing wrong with liking Toxic. I hated to admit that I think it's a fabluous song, but it is...
Finals are killing me...
killing...
me....
i'm dying....
maybe Toxic will save the day - I shall play it NOW (yes, it is on my computer)

Last night we checked out the free Wes Anderson Rocks! show at the Metro. I grossly underestimated how many crazed Wes fans there were out there, as the show was shockingly packed, more so than any other show I've ever seen at the Metro. The bands played covers of songs from Wes Anderson movies, such as Abstract Giants' hip-hop take on "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard," and movie clips played in between. Didn't see as many people dressed like Richie Tennenbaum or Max Fischer as I'd expected, but some people took that extra step. This was the best idea EVER. Also, Andrew Bird still rocks my world.

I've changed my mind. There is nothing guilty about loving "Toxic," and now it's on my top 10 as well. I think that should do it, unless I see another car commercial that reminds me of something else.

I just revised my top 10 songs of the year because I completely forgot about how awesome "C'mon, C'mon" by the Von Bondies is after hearing it on a car commercial.

Also, if I had a top 10 guilty pleasure songs of the year, "Toxic" by Britney would be on it.

Updated ODB news

Well, I guess it's a good thing I'm missing out on the final Guided by Voices show this New Years Eve at the Metro, if this review is any indication. That's ok, I was happy enough with my Guided by Voices viewing experience last year, I didn't need to pay $75+ to hear some really great songs and even more filler again.

It's official . . . I'm the new Tinymixtapes articles editor!!! This means I have more power, more recognition . . . and I'll get my own tinymixtapes email address!

*Cheers*

Best pick-up advice ever.

This is kind of random Blockbuster news

It's official- beginning in mid-January, I'll be back on the air!!!! 4-6 AM, Friday mornings. I will be resetting each of your alarms when you aren't looking to be woken up at 4 AM to my glorious voice.

Since there has been a significant lack of new music lately, I've been going back in time to fill in the holes in my music collection, mostly by burning CDs from WLUW but also by hitting up Reckless. Some recent additions:

Frog Eyes- The Golden River
Stereolab- Emperor Tomato Ketchup
Mum- Finally We Are No One
Slint- Spiderland
Superchunk- Foolish

Definitely time I got more into Superchunk I'd say.

Something to think about when doing your Christmas shopping this year . . .

And for New Year's Day . . .

Saturday, 1/1/2005 - 5:00 PM
The Fourth Annual Schubas' New Year's Rehab Night
featuring Bowl Games on the BIG screen all day
plus Live Band Rock 'n' Roll Karaoke with The Hootenanners at 10:00 p.m.
It's FREE

Live Band Karaoke is glorious- more info here

Can it be true? The Perfect Face for Radio, reunited, on New Years Eve? With the hot beats of RJD2 in the background? I think I'm about to faint from excitement! My DJ Lazer withdrawal can yet be soothed. It's a miracle!

From your perfect face for radio correspondent in New York:
First up, I would probably be down for going to RJD2 on New Year's Eve. We could stop by one of my friend's parties beforehand too.
All is well. I am in the middle of finals and hope to make it back to Chicago in the next two weeks.
I am plotting, scripting, planning, and contacting http://www.wbar.org/ for this summer's radio drama. Interest among my classmates is high. Already promised plot elements include, but are not limited to: A Giant Lobster attack.
Last summer's radio drama has now been distributed to both coasts of the US and northern Europe. Surprisingly, someone has yet to admit to hating it.
Finally, yes, the article in this week's Onion about killing mice directly applies to my current research where I, basically, dissect a whole lot of newly born mice, after which I slice their brains into thin sections to look at under a microscope. I assure you though, I am humane, and follow the oversized posted slogan in the mouse facility, which reads : "BE NICE TO THE MICE."

I was hanging out at WLUW today, and whoever was doing their show from 7-8 played some DPC! "Manifest Destiny" it was. Glad to see Madison bands are getting some representation on the air.

Some good shows that have just been announced in Chicago for January:

Friday, January 14: Neko Case w/ the Sadies at the Metro
Saturday, January 15: Constantines w/ Oakley Hall at the Empty Bottle
Sunday, January 16: Saturday Looks Good to Me w/ the Impossible Shapes, Canasta and the Dials at Schubas
Wednesday, January 19: Colin Meloy (of the Decemberists) at Schubas

Megan and I are currently closing in on that wholly coveted 4-6 AM Friday morning spot at WLUW for next semester!!!! Stay tuned, we should know in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully it won't take more than a semester for me to get enough seniority to move to a time when people are actually awake to listen (and I'm awake to DJ)- though I might be able to catch a few early risers. And hey- WLUW is webcast, for all you people in various parts of the country who are dying to hear me play the latest indie rock hits before the sun is even up. It'll be mid afternoon in Europe though- maybe if I just play a lot of Air and Stereolab I'll garner a strong French audience. You never know.

Hey, just because I cut up pictures of my favorites justices from the Washington Post to add to my bedroom mural, doesn't mean this article is about me...
And I think EVERYONE has fantasy scenarios about what kind of decision Justice Rehnquist will make in the matter of Jill L. Brown.

Look, the Onion finally wrote an article about Liz!

Looks like Hoobastank is up for Song of the Year at this year's Grammys, more proof that the Grammys stopped being relevant a looooong time ago.

Follow up on file-sharing article

This news blurb on Fox News and the Simpsons is hilarious. I'm just going to copy and paste it here since it came from a members only website I use for work.

FAUX NEWS

Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes can look you straight in the eye and insist that his cable news network is fair and balanced and isn't a shill for President Bush and the Republicans.
So, you can only imagine the rancor with which he viewed Sunday's episode of "The Simpsons" on Fox.

In Episode #FABF22 / SI-1522 "She Used to Be My Girl," Marge recognizes a TV news reporter named Chloe as somebody she went to high school with. Chloe, it turns out, works for Fox News, and there are some hilarious scenes featuring a Fox News satellite truck with a huge Bush-Cheney bumper sticker while the rock group Queen's classic "We Are the Champions" blares over the soundtrack.

According to Pulitzer winning TV columnist Tom Shales, the wicked sendup was "pretty ballsy since 'The Simpsons' plays on the Fox network, but it also shows how firm is the image of Fox News as Bush whores."

Lloyd Grove reports in the New York Daily News that "Simpsons" Executive Producer Al Jean ran into trouble "with the (Fox) broadcast standards and practices department, which told us we couldn't air it prior to the election because then it would present an 'equal time' problem."

The network's ethics cops simmered down when Jean assured them that the Bush-Cheney joke was for after the election.

Last November, show creator Matt Groening claimed the Fox News Channel threatened to sue him over a spoof news ticker.

Groening said the news channel backed down because it would have caused Fox to bring a lawsuit against itself.

The episode showed a rolling news ticker at the bottom of the screen, which read: "Pointless news crawls up 37 per cent... Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com... Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer... Dow down 5,000 points... Study: 92 per cent of Democrats are gay... JFK posthumously joins Republican Party... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple..."

Groening told National Public Radio....
"Now Fox has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls [tickers] on the bottom of the screen in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news."

Article on file-sharing from CNN

When did I start succumbing to 2-day hangovers???? I can't be that old yet.

Slow concert December continues, though Madison's The Treats are playing in Chicago this Friday at the Big Horse Lounge, everyone's favorite venue-in-the-back-of-a-burrito-joint.

Meanwhile, New Year's Eve plans are being finalized, and it's down to 90 Day Men/the Ponys/Pit er Pat at the Empty Bottle for $20, or RJD2 at the Abbey Pub for $30. Chicago Rock n' Roll at my favorite venue or electronic/hip-hop dance party? If anyone wants to hang out with us here in Chicago that night and has a vote, please let me know.

Cool Chicago website to help increase anyone's burgeoning knowledge of electronic music: www.modsquare.com

Here's a pretty good article about/interview with Death From Above 1979 from the Badger Herald.

An unconfirmed (read: possibly false?) list of 2005 Coachella bands has been circulating the internet. Even though nothing is for sure until it goes up on the Coachella website, I'm going to post it here to continue to fuel the speculation. Just for fun. If it is true, though, I have serious questions about day 2's headliners.

April 30th, 2005
DAVID BOWIE
NINE INCH NAILS
PJ HARVEY
INTERPOL
THE FAINT
FRANZ FERDINAND
THE POLYPHONIC SPREE
BOARDS OF CANADA
TV ON THE RADIO
YEAH YEAH YEAHS
SQUAREPUSHER
CLINIC
FRENCH KICKS
SECRET MACHINES
PHOENIX
BEEP BEEP
DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS
DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979
THE HELIO SEQUENCE

May 1st
R.E.M.
TEARS FOR FEARS
WILCO
MODEST MOUSE
BRIGHT EYES
JIMMY EAT WORLD
MOS DEF
BADLY DRAWN BOY
THE STREETS
SPOON
CAKE
THE POSTAL SERVICE
THE SHINS
SLEATER-KINNEY
RILO KILEY
RADIO 4
DOVES
IRON AND WINE
THE ARCADE FIRE
MOVING UNITS

I'd just like to take a moment to pledge my undying love to Craigslist.org. You can find anything or anyone there. It's glorious.