Healamonster & Tarsier - Cupcake Cave

#1 Independent seller!!! Elements of ambient pop with experimental electronics and acoustic psychedelia.

Jon Hopkins - Insides

Super cinematic backdrops with heavy breakbeats that contrast very well.

Michna - Magic Monday

Kind of like early DJ Shadow or RJD2 with a modern day feel and production level.

The Delta Mirror - Machines That Listen

Shoegazy guitar mixed with drony vocals over MPC/synth driven electronic production.

Binary Field - Binary Field

Local production team take you to drone city. Tilted UFO music.

Kim Lenz and Her Jaguars - It’s All True

The A-Bones - Not Now!

Billy Childish - Archive From 1959

Albert King w/ Stevie Ray Vaughan - In Session

Dexter Romweber Duo - Ruins of Berlin

Let The Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)

Written by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let The Right One In is one of the most beautiful and unique vampire movies I've ever seen. Not only does a Swedish approach add sophistication and simplicity to a subject matter that has been done time and time again, but the vampire is physically portrayed as a lonely female child, adding a sense of duality to the innocent nature of the character. Shot perfectly against snow and institutional Swedish architecture, the feeling you get from watching this movie is eye-opening and refreshing. I really didn't think that I'd ever see a contemporary vampire movie that immediately made me want to watch it over again. Although a vampire movie, this film doesn't exploit what it is. If you like filmmaking and movies that extend themselves beyond the norm, you'll appreciate this movie.

Thin Lizzy - Still Dangerous

For those Thin Lizzy fans who love Live & Dangerous but always wondered what the album would sound like without the added overdubs and sound added in post-production. Well, Phil's people made it! I am a bit biased, but the unadulterated sound of Lizzy's 1977 "Bad Reputation" Philadelphia show, recorded on Still Dangerous really captures how rock 'n' roll the band really was. This is first release for Thin Lizzy Productions, and includes tracks from the "Live & Dangerous" tour that were never available on the original album.

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

I love Neko Case, and unless she pulled a Bjork and started singing like an undecipherable wild animal all of sudden, I don't think she could make a bad album. She's a great songwriter and has always had very skilled musicians playing with her. If you've never heard Neko Case and you like powerful singers accompanied by beautiful music...do yourself a favor.

tip: Don't knock it 'till you've tried it

Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel

Lotus Plaza - The Floodlight Collective

Deerhunter - Microcastle

Some of you might notice a pattern emerging. So far, everything on my list is Deerhunter related. Sorry! I can't stop listening to this stuff.

Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns

This is my anglo-pop pick for this year. Sure, it's commercial, but so what. I gave up the fight to be cool all the time years ago. Also, despite allegations against them for being overly earnest, Snow Patrol's really endearing quality is a searing and somewhat naive honesty that I find refreshing in a world of nauseating attempts at cleverness.

Jeremy Enigk - OK Bear

I love everything this guy does. From Sunny Day Real Estate to The Fire Theft and previous solo efforts, Enigk seems to be the one to really carry the legitimate torch of the Northwest music movement of the '90s. Seamlessly blending pastoral textures with heavier, electric elements (even metal-esque at times, but the way Zeppelin was), and topping it all off with wonderous, ethereal melodies and gloomy introspective lyrics. Count me in!

So I'm stationed in Used Rock and we're trading stories again. Mine has something to do with seeing Mayhem live, and how guys I meet either want to bite me too hard or are terrible at communication. Then he tells me the best one yet, involving Freaks and Geeks as a parable for his existence, and how nerds have no input other than other nerds, and it's not their fault. "If only I'd seen this a week ago, I'd never have gotten into this mess." All I can do is think to myself "he's on a roll again," but this particular roll is quite astute, and amazing. The only sad thing is that no one but a select few gets to hear these. I'm definitely one of the lucky ones. He asks if I'm going to this week's Guns 'n' Bro'ses/Sean Carnage event, while commenting on a neighboring girl's bangs, and the effectiveness of her skirt-pants combination.

Back to work, kids, back to work.

But seriously, the best moments of expression happen while intermingled with the world at hand. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open.

Gentle Giant - Acquiring the Taste (Fontanta Island)
Bobb Trimble - Iron Curtain Innocence (Secretly Canadian)
Sinoia Caves - The Enchanter Persuaded (Jagjaguwar)
Dandi Wind - Yolk of the Golden Egg (Tell Me Records)
King Crimson - Red (E.G. Records)
Cabaret Voltaire - The Voice of America (Mute US)
Isengard - Vinterskugge (Peaceville UK)
Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Dolores (Ipecac)
The Fugs - Tenderness Junction (4 Men With Beards)
Counts - What's Up Front That Counts (Westbound)
B-52's "Butterbean" on repeat as a depressional aid
ANYTHING ON LIVING TAPES!!!

Katsusuji Kineya, Kunitaro Kineya, Matasaji Sumida, Sanji Umeya and Shinnojo Rokugo - Geza Music From the Kabuki

The Explorer Series is consistently class. This mid-'60s recording, never before available on CD, is no exception.

The Tomb of the Cybermen

For a long time this was considered one of the lost episodes. It's a Patrick Troughton episode which involves the Cybermen and is so closely echoed by Star Trek's Borg interactions that Rob Bowman and Maurice Hurley should be taken into custody for questioning.

Gran Torino

Probably the best American film to come out last year, Gran Torino was unfairly overlooked by idiot film school critics who can't enjoy a film that's devoid of pretentious moral ambiguities. Though marketed as some sort of revenge thriller, it's mostly a hilarious observation of racial politics told with a mix of both old-fashioned expressiveness and low-key subtlety. As such, it didn't stand a chance with the critics who prefer schlock like the hysterical Canadian race fantasy, Crash, to the intentionally hilarious, well observed accuracies of this perfectly made masterpiece.

Zabriskie Point

Derided at the time for its inaccurate, inauthentic portrait of hippies in the late-'60s, ironically, now it's been re-claimed by the inauthentic, inaccurate, '60s-worshiping youth. The joke's on both of them. The famous, final, cut ending was of a skywriter writing "Fuck you America." There's no reason to think he wasn't addressing film critics and hippies as the film seems like a critique of flat, hollow sloganeering and is told with subtle humor and bold swathes of color.

tip: Notify me when the current horde of middling, anonymous, bland, faceless, bearded bands in western shirts go away. Until then, luckily, there's 130 years of recorded music from 200 or so other countries to explore. Unfortunately, though I can't recommend any venues for good music, check out http://www.filmradar.com/ to find out where all the good movies are showing and wait until the latest dancical comes out on DVD...and then still don't watch it.

Neil Young - Neil Young Archives, Vol. 1: 1963-1972

Well, it’s finally here after 20 years in all of its self-indulgent flawed glory, the Neil Young Archives Volume 1! Which version will you choose? The deluxe 10-disc Blue Ray edition, the 10-disc DVD edition, or the eight-disc CD set? I have the eight-CD edition, so that’s what I'm going to review. You know, it’s easy to find faults and frustrations with the way Neil compiled and released this material, ranging from what was included, what was not, how it was presented, and how it’s priced; in some ways it doesn’t make a lot of sense. But Hallelujah it's here, so let's just focus on the music. Bottom line, the music speaks for itself. The set starts off more as a history lesson in Neil’s songwriting trajectory with a performance dating as far back as 1963 when Neil was just 17 years old. But half-way though the first disc, by the time Neil’s 20 years old, he's already writing classic songs and the box set just takes off from there. The box set consists of live performances, unreleased songs, alternative takes, demos, B-sides, and re-mastered album tracks, all in chronological order from 1963 up through 1972. The sound quality is breathtaking; one can tell Neil really put a lot of thought and care into this release. If you're a Neil Young fan, you need this box set.

Leonard Cohen - Live in London

My guru, my spiritual guide, my main man. After a 15-year retirement from touring Leonard Cohen is back in the spotlight and this concert album is proof that, at the age of 74, the old guy still hasn't lost his touch. The set list consists of song from Cohen’s 40-year-career ranging from his most well known compositions to lost album tracks. Cohen has a top notch band supporting him for this performance and they bring a fresh and soulful vibe to the song arrangements. Cohen himself sounds reinvigorated, feeding off the enraptured crowd; he sings his lyrics with a fiery passion. Leonard Cohen is a saint, get this album and be blessed by him.

Bob Dylan - Together Through Life

Dylan's latest studio album is a laid back, lazy day record. The kind of record you listen to while you're cruising around in the car with the windows down, or relaxing the day away on your front porch. For some reason, I picture a little border town in the Southwest. It's a dry sunny day, but there's a cool breeze blowing. I'm sitting under an awning outside of a bodega. Music from the jukebox inside (Together Through Life, obviously) comes floating out the open door, and my eyes are focused on the distant horizon.

PJ Harvey and John Parish - A Woman A Man Walked By

PJ kills me every time and I knew I was done for just 30 seconds into the first song when she sings, "I think I saw you in the shadows/Move in closer beneath your windows/Who would suspect me of this rapture? Who but my black hearted love." This is a dark and hypnotic album; listen to it when you're in the shadows.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz

The new Yeah Yeah Yeahs is amazing, obviously. I believe in Karen O and I believe in summer love! "Do you? Do you? Do YOU?"

My Dinner With Andre (1981)

This is one of my favorite films and it’s finally available on DVD through Criterion Collection. The movie is just 2 guys talking over dinner, but it’s the topic(s) of their conversation that makes it so moving and profound. And always remember, "You're ok, hang in there!"

Happy-Go-Lucky

Mike Leigh is such an intense filmmaker. It doesn't matter what the subject matter is or what period it’s set in, his films will affect you on a guttural level and make you react. His latest film, Happy-Go-Lucky, captures life through the eyes of a loving, caring, hopeful woman. Her life isn't always perfect, and some disturbing things happen along the way, but she always maintains her unique perspective on life throughout. I found this film very inspiring.

Milk

Masterful filmmaking from Gus Van Sant and moving performances by Sean Penn and the rest of the cast. This movie has an important message that everyone should hear. This was the best film of last year, you need to see it.

Wendy and Lucy

They don't make many movies like this anymore. It's about a girl on the road, searching for something and in the process loses her car, her money, and then her dog. A simple story told in a meditative and poetic fashion. I highly recommend it.

Billy the Kid

"These years of loneliness have been murder." Everyone has felt this way at one time or another but Billy Price is the only one who could say it and mean it with complete sincerity and honesty. Billy the Kid is a documentary about a very special 15 year old boy who's a lot like me and you. He wants to be a rock star, he doesn’t care what other people think, and he believes in true love. The only difference between Billy and us is that he isn't paralyzed by fear of humiliation and insecurities when it comes to showing the real person that’s inside. This film is inspiring and heartbreaking, everyone should see it.

The Moments/Ray Goodman & Brown - The Best of...Love On A Two-Way Street

To know me is to know how I feel about the Moments a.k.a Ray Goodman & Brown. I play them every day. I see them every day, I feel them every day. They are Harry Ray (R.I.P.), Al Goodman & Billy Brown with honorable mention of two new members, Kevin Owens & Larry "Ice" Winfree. To me their entire body of work is EXCELLENT! This is how I feel: Harry Ray sounds like your first love, your current love, your future love. Al Goodman brings in that bass - it is all muscle, all man, you feel fully protected. Billy Brown well...when God created song, Billy was the first to get his. Put them all together and you have Sexy, Lovelaced, Powerful voices that give life. That's how I feel!

Picks from: The Best of the Moments: Love On A Two-Way Street:

"Just Because He Wants to Make Love (Doesn't Mean He Loves You)"
- Harry Ray lead:
I was at a loss for words just trying to tell you how much this song means to me & how much I am in love with Harry Ray. All I can say is if I was left in the world with only one record to play this would be it. It's the greatest lyrics & music ever created.

"Sexy Mama"
- Harry Ray lead:
Wow! This record goes beyond sexy. Harry says, "This afternoon I know you liked me, by tonight you're gonna love me." He had me at his parent's conception! It is 8 minutes long & good. My only wish was to have been in the studio at this recording. Be careful you might get pregnant just listening! Always practice safe listening!!

"Another Day" & "Rocky Raccoon"
- Al Goodman lead:
"Another Day" makes me smile wide & big, the bass of Al's voice singing how he just needs "Another Day" with the woman he met at 8:00 Saturday night, but she just left an hour ago Sunday morning! He sounds so happy, so cool, so very sexy - wherever she had to be she should have cancelled! Al's unique vocals are strong, bold & manly. No one else sounds like Al Goodman.

"Rocky Raccoon." OK, take a song written by the famous Beatles and have Al TURN IT OUT! This remake is more fun, more country, more rock & roll and more gangster smooth! Al Goodman, the voice of a CHAMP!!

"I Do" & "Lovely Way She Loves"
-Billy Brown lead:
Now that you know the definition of song is Billy Brown, well, these two songs are sung so strong, so sexy, so very powerful. He means what he says, I believed him, as snow is white, as the sky is bright and Billy Brown makes every song OUT OF SIGHT! Billy has a way of making you cry tears of joy at every note, it is so effortless. I think he can sing and drink a glass of water at the same time! Imagine the most beautiful thing, person or place for you...that is the vocals of Billy Brown, simply beautiful all the time, no matter what the lyrics or music. Billy Brown's voice is heaven's song!

Well now you know me better and to know me is to know the greatest SOUL, R&B GROUP EVER! THE MOMENTS aka RAY GOODMAN & BROWN! I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!

tip: Nothing but old school all the time!
Put the needle on the record and feel the music!