So the Arcade Fire's next album, Neon Bible, comes out in 2007, and then we'll see if we all blew our load too soon after Funeral. In a very bizarre and not very technologically savvy marketing ploy, if you call 1-866-NEON-BIBLE ext. 7777, you can hear first single, "Intervention." It sounds pretty good, very Bowie-ish, but it's hard to really get a feeling for a song you hear over the phone, you know?

Well, I got my new video iPod for Xmas to replace the old black-and-white iPod of yore, and am about halfway through getting the music collection onto my brand-spankin' new 160-gig external hard drive (it looks like a book, it's so cute!). Never again shall an iPod failure deter my ability to have my entire music collection in the palm of my hand.

Now I want to get my music collection in the palms of my co-workers' hands. Anyone know if it's possible to share music over a network directly from my iPod? Itunes seems to be set up to only share music from the hard drive.

Meanwhile, check out the Onion's Least Essential Albums of 2006, always good for some laughs. The kids' album w/ Rachael Ray has the most priceless cover, that's for sure.

CHRISTMAS CONVERSATIONS WITH MY FAMILY, PART TWO:

ME: Oh, James Brown died today!

MY DAD: Oh really? Wow!

(pause)

MY DAD: Who's James Brown?

CHRISTMAS CONVERSATIONS WITH MY FAMILY, PART ONE

MY BROTHER: Oh, Nicole, I downloaded some new music this week.

ME: Yeah? Like what?

MY BROTHER: I downloaded some stuff by TV on the Radio. But it was kind of lame.

ME: Ok great, I guess I'm taking back my Christmas gift to you then.

MY BROTHER: Oh, oops. Well, maybe I'll like it.

Last night's Colbert vs. the Decemberists episode of the Colbert Report, aka the "Rock and Awe Countdown to Guitarmaggedon" aka "Mourning Becomes Eclectic" aka some other pun I can't remember was predictably insane and hilarious, featuring all sorts of music-related inside jokes and totally random guests (the Apples in Stereo singer doing a tribute to Stephen? Peter Frampton pinch hitting for Colbert at the last second? Henry Kissinger directing Stephen to start shredding? Poor telemprompter reader Eliot Spitzer as a guest judge?). The actual shred-off wasn't as funny as the first 10 minutes leading up to the shred-off (mostly because I was hoping Stephen would actually have some guitar skills). I wonder who the indie rock-loving writer/producer was that orchestrated this whole thing. I also wonder if any Colbert footage will actually make it into the Decemberist's "O, Valencia" video. Only time will tell!

After a couple days of poorly timed technical difficulties, Tinymixtapes has the big year-end extravaganza up today, with articles, drawings, the Eureka list of experimental favorites, and of course the top 25. Our number 1 was a no-brainer, but there are definitely a few unexpected albums that graced the list. Check it out.

And here's some songs I liked this year:

Joanna Newsom- Sawdust and Diamonds
The Thermals- Here's Your Future
Califone- The Orchids
Grizzly Bear- The Knife
Junior Boys- In the Morning
Justin Timberlake- Future Sex/Love Sound
Calexico- All Systems Red
El Perro Del Mar- Party
TV on the Radio- I Was a Lover
Herbert- Something Isn't Right
Neko Case- Dirty Knife
Nathan Fake- Stops
Asobi Seksu- Thursday
Mountain Goats- Woke Up New
Band of Horses- Wicket Gil
Tapes 'N Tapes- 10 Gallon Ascots
Emily Haines- Our Hell
Sunset Rubdown- The Men Are Called Horsemen There

Pitchfork's top 50 list was mostly expected, though my nearly correct predictions of a 1-2 Joanna Newsom/TV on the Radio were supplanted by the unexpected Knife album at the top. I downloaded Silent Shout a few months ago; it's interesting for sure (and very dark), but it hasn't entirely captured me yet. Maybe I should give it a few more spins.

Here are my top 25 albums of the year, in reverse order. Enjoy.

25. Annuals- Be He Me
24. Islands- Return to the Sea
23. Cat Power- The Greatest
22. The Hold Steady- Boys and Girls in America
21. Thermals- The Body, the Blood, the Machine
20. Nathan Fake- Drowning in a Sea of Love
19. Decemberists- Crane Wife
18. Herbert- Scale
17. Asobi Seksu- Citrus
16. M. Ward- Post War
15. Mountain Goats- Get Lonely
14. Calexico- Garden Ruin
13. Tapes ‘N Tapes- The Loon
12. Band of Horses- Everything All the Time
11. Hot Chip- The Warning
10. Parenthetical Girls- Safe as Houses
09. Emily Haines & the Soft Skeletons- Knives Don’t Have Your Back
08. Beirut- Gulag Orkestar
07. TV on the Radio- Return to Cookie Mountain
06. Neko Case- Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
05. Grizzly Bear- Yellow House
04. Califone- Roots and Crowns
03. Sunset Rubdown- Shut Up I Am Dreaming
02. Joanna Newsom- Ys
01. Junior Boys- So This Is Goodbye

This is really interesting: Reckless just sent out a list of their top 20 selling albums as of today. Fascinating to see what the Chicago kids are purchasing. Behold:

1. joanna newsom "ys"
2. sufjan stevens "songs for christmas"
3. swan lake "beast moans"
4. clipse "hell hath no fury"
5. shins "phantom limb" single
6. sunn o)))/boris "altar" 2cd version
7. beck "information"
8. fucked up "hidden world" lp
9. tv on the radio "return to cookie mountain"
10. bonnie 'prince' billy "letting go"
11. mucca pazza "a little marching band"
12. and you will know us by the trail of dead "so divided"
13. neil young "live at the fillmore east" w/ dvd
14. decemberists "crane wife"
15. mark kozelek "little drummer boy" live
16. white magic "dat rosa mel apibus
17. chin up chin up "this harness can't ride anything"
18. pj harvey "peel sessions: 1991-2004"
19. yo la tengo "i am not afraid of you and i will beat
"your ass"
20. bound stems "appreciation night"

I'm embarrassed to say that I've watched the first few episodes of the Real World Denver (due to a night sick on the couch when Top Chef was a rerun), and they've quite possibly brought together the biggest train wrecks yet. And here's your chance to party with them!

The office Christmas party is tonight, and let's hope I don't make a repeat of last year's office Christmas party debacle. But I will do this: request Justin Timberlake, and then dance to it.

Last night I saw Central Services at the Crocodile Club (Seattle)--which I would definitely recommend. Very fun and upbeat. A couple of guys in the band are also in the Math and Physics Club. And, so random, the guitarist is the computer guy at my law school and rides the same bus as me.

Some fun new shows that have been added:

Friday, February 2: Camera Obscura w/ the Essex Green @ Logan Square Auditorium (Hello, British twee with female vocals!)

Friday, February 9: Grizzly Bear w/ the Dirty Projectors @ Subterranean (Glad to see GB pouncing back after all their gear was stolen. And I bet the Dirty Projectors are just weird live.)

My last show of the year this morning featured much of my favorite 2006 music. Get an early peek at what will show up on my top 25 of the year, including what my #1 album will be (can we guess?). I'll post my personal list next Monday. In other year-end news, we at tinymixtapes are working hard at getting our year-end extravaganza ready to publish next Wednesday; not sure what our collective #1 will be, though I could wager a guess (Joanna).

Never mind that Hidden Cameras Reckless in store- they've had to cancel their tour due to Canadian border issues! Bummer.

Oooh, another Reckless in-store this week, though they forgot to mention what time it's at:

Hidden Cameras
Monday December 11th
Wicker Park store

I'll guess 5PM. I just love that this band has a song called "Music Is My Boyfriend."

In exciting PFFR news, next Tuesday will be my last show at 6-8 in the morning. Starting next January I'll be moving to the much-coveted 8-10pm Monday night slot. True, it means a smaller listening base than morning drive-times provided, but not having to wake up at 4:45am and then try to make it through 9 hours of work afterwords makes it totally worth it. And now all those of you who haven't been able to listen because it was on too early will have no more excuses!

Here's an intriguing addition to the otherwise bland New Year's Eve show offerings: The Hold Steady @ the House of Blues Back Porch Stage. Is that pretty small?

Nice. Perhaps instead of suing every grandmother who's granddaughter downloaded a Kelly Clarkson song, the RIAA should just give everyone a "stern talking to."

Hey kids,

The Renegade Holiday Craft Fair is this weekend, and I'll be merrily DJing in one of the rooms from 2:30-5:00pm on Saturday. It's at the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse in Wicker Park as usual. Stop by and say hello! 2 1/2 hours is a long time to DJ, so I'll welcome the company :)

Reckless has some good in-store performances this week:

LES GEORGES LENINGRAD
Thursday December 7th
Wicker Park store
4pm (possibly later)

DJ SPOOKY
Saturday December 9
Wicker Park store.
5:30pm

I'm sad I can't make the Les Georges Leningrad in-store cause those guys are crazy, but DJ Spooky should be pretty cool.

It's been a long time since I've gone to a show to see a band I wasn't too familiar with- usually I'm bringing along friends to see bands I love but they don't know. Other than what I heard watching Little Miss Sunshine, I didn't know much about Devotchka other than the fact that RFC's Kirstiecat is obsessed with them (see her raving review of the show as well as pics here on RFC today), so it was on her recommendation that I went. I have to say it was a really great show that lived up to the promise, and I've already got How It Ends on order from Amazon. They've got a really unique sound (gypsy meets indie rock), a lot of personality and character, and play some really neat instruments (a massive tuba decorated in Christmas lights). Plus I'm always a sucker for the accordion. Nick Uruta's voice is incredible, powerful and aching, the kind that can give you chills, and he's definitely got a great stage presence. It's interesting, I don't feel like this band has been the subject of an excessive amount of buzz (other than the movie I guess), but the show was sold out and packed with serious fans who knew every word, not the slightly disinterested crowd who saw a big indie movie hit like it could have been. Good stuff.

So the big TinyMixTapes redesign that has been in the works for, oh, two+ years is finally complete! Well, not exactly, but complete enough to go live today. It's pretty shocking at first because it is such a change (and we've started advertising!), but once you get used to it I think the new design is really great- clean, fun, very TMT. The editor is still working on fixing all the bugs, getting all the archived material up, etc., but you'll get the picture.

DAMMIT!

I ended up having some writing workship this morning and missed getting online at 10AM for Andrew Bird tickets . . . and it's sold out!

Anyone pick up extras for me? :)