I Aught to Know: Music

OK, Albums!

Based on not was technically the best, but what I probably listened to the most. Also, some favoritism was given to the second half of the decade because even though Weezer's Green Album got a ton of playtime on my CD player in 2002, I can't bring myself to add it to the list.

In alphabetical order...

Arcade Fire
"Funeral"

I actually might like Neon Bible better and (thanks to mine and Sarah's road trip across South Africa) might have listened to it more). But, this was the album where I "discovered" Arcade Fire, so it will always leave the bigger impression. Plus, if I was doing a list of favorite singles from the aughts, "Backseat" would probably be on that list.




Beirut
"Gulag Orkestar"

Who knew that a 23-year-old kid from New Mexico playing what sounds like Eastern European gypsy folk music in the streets of Paris would be one of my favorites. But, from the time it was release in, like 2006 till now, it's been a favorite. Funky and ecclectic, while also accessible and poppy. His follow up Flying Club Cup is also excellent.





Broken Social Scene
"You Forgot It In People"

Along with their later self-titled album, this was basically the soundtrack to Sarah and I planning our big trip. Like Arcade Fire, this band somehow manages to capture something that reminds me of growing up in the suburbs... I'm not sure why, or why that would appeal to me, but it does. The sing-songy "Athems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" will be stuck in your head for days.




David Byrne & Brian Eno
"Everything That Happens Will Happen Today"

As much as I love Byrne, most of his solo work hasn't connected the way his Talking Heads stuff did. That said, this is probably the best thing he's done ever, in my opinion. Period. Eno's music elevates Byrne's songs to the rank of "secular gospel" that they aspire to. The album of 2008 for me.




Gorillaz
"Gorillaz"

I remember stumbling across the video for their first single, "Clint Eastwood" months before the CD was released in the US, and watching it probably 18-hundred-dozen times. Then, I went to a Canadian CD website, bought the album there, and had it shipped to me here in the US for way too much money. Then, I spent the next year or two listening to it non-stop. Their follow up, Demon Days was excellent too.



Postal Service
"Give Up"

I'm pretty sure I put this album in my CD player sometime in 2003, and didn't take it out until Sarah and I left on our Round the World trip in 2007. Probably, if backed into a corner, this would be the album I'd admit most defined this decade for me.

(On a side note, I remember, when this album came out, I wished there were more albums like it. But, recently, when I discovered the band, Owl City, it actually mad me a little angry to here someone so obviously aping Postal Service's shtick.)

Ryan Adams
"Demolition"

Ryan came out with something like 84 albums this decade. And most of them got a lot of play time at the Hill-Stach residence. But, Demolition is probably my long-term favorite. Entertainingly, his never-released "Destroyer" session was probably our second most listened to Ryan Adams CD, and also contains mine and Sarah's wedding song.



The Shins
"Oh, Inverted World"

The song "New Slang" might be a indie-music-hipster cliche, but I still remember hearing it for the first time. In the movie Garden State, Natalie Portman's character shares that song with Zach Braft saying "You gotta hear this one song, it'll change your life I swear." And while that sounds a little hyperbolic, it was one of those songs that stuck me the very second I heard it.



White Stripes
"White Blood Cells"

I might have listened to Elephant just as much (and "Seven Nation Army" might be the song that springs most imediately to mind), but White Blood Cells started it off. In fact, this album sort of kicked off several years of listening to a lot of retro-garage rock bands, but the Stripes are one of the few that still holds up today.




Wilco
"Yankee Hotel Foxtrot"

One of those rare albums that was a critical darling, that I loved and that I listened to a ton. In fact, the song "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" was easily on the Top 10 for my most listened to individual songs. And, has some of my favorite, borderline nonsense lyrics.

Oh, and here are some runners up: The Streets A Grand Don't Come For Free, New Pornographers Mass Romantic, Vampire Weekend's self-titled release, Decemberists Crane Wife, Neko Case Blacklisted, PJ Harvey Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, Death Cab For Cuties' Transatlantism, Andrew Byrd Andrew Byrd & the Mysterious Production of Eggs, Blue Scholars Bayani, Outkast Skankonia and, of course, Weezer the Green Album.

Like my previous Best of the 2000s entry, if there are any of these albums you are considering buying, why not buy them through my General Store. Thanks!

Link-O-Rama: 12/16

A run down of the sites and videos that have caught my attention in the last week or so:

You know how to make boring photos entertaining? Replace all the beer, wine and liqour bottles with cats using Photoshop. World, meet Boozecats.

This little animated video is a thing of a hilarious thing of beauty. As Drawn describes it:

The TV Show, animated by Sugimoto Kousuke and featuring the music of Takayuki Manabe, features a creative use of colour as a variety of narratives, nested within each other, soon begin to meld together. And what a fun video it is.

If anyone wants to buy me a Christmas present two months after Christmas actually happens, feel free to by me this: "Here Lies Love." It's David Byrne and Fat Boy Slims long anticipated 2 CD, 1 book & 1 DVD set exploring the life of Imelda Marcos. A soundtrack of club music, featuring singing by a host of (primarily) female vocalists ranging from Sia and Santigold to Nelly McKay and Natalie Merchant. In Byrne's own words:

“The story I am interested in is about asking what drives a powerful person—what makes them tick? How do they make and then remake themselves? I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if—as this piece would be principally composed of clubby dance music—one could experience it in a club setting? Could one bring a ‘story’ and a kind of theater to the disco? Was that possible? If so, wouldn’t that be amazing!”

Apparently, BBCs Channel 4 is airing a pilot for a new TV show featuring Will Arnett and David Cross. As a huge fan of Arrested Development I hope that we'll get to watch it over on this side of the pond someday. Until then, we can bask in the glory of the first scene of "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret" in this clip:

(Not Suitable for Work, by the way. Unless, of course, they like swearing in the workplace as much as Will's character apparently does.)

I Aught to Know: Movies

The 10 Best Movies of the 2000s

...Well, according to me, at least.

Anyhow, these are my relatively random picks for the 10 Best Movies of the 2000s. There's a good chance that I'll look at these next week and be embarrassed by what I picked. But, until then, here's what I thought was excellent, in alphabetical order.

City of God - This one actually just barely made it on the list. But, when going down my long list of options, I keep coming back to it. The historical angle, exotic locale, visual flair and unrelenting nature of this film makes it pretty exhilarating to watch. Tracking the life of a young man, Rocket, in the eponymous slum city; it's an often brutal film but also a dazzling one.

...Plus, including it on this list might provide me and my brother with another chance to argue about it, since he thinks its over-rated.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - I obsessed over this movie when it came out. And, rewatching it earlier this year, I was surprised to find that it holds up. I would have thought that with the wave of wire-working martial arts films that came after it, it would have seemed watered down. But, like Pulp Fiction, it set off a wave of imitators that could never quite match it.

Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind - Visually creative and emotionally resonating. It's rare that those two get effectively paired in a movie. And, it surprising how -despite its fanciful premise- this is one of the most emotionally accurate relationship films I've ever seen.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Bundled with Kill Bill Vol. 2 and Inglourious Basterds) - The Kill Bills should really be one movie, but if I was forced to pick, I'd go with the more audacious Vol. 1. Tarantino's love letter to Grindhouse cinema features a great soundtrack, an animated interlude, Uma Thurman in a yellow leather suit and copious amounts of blood. It also proves that Tarantino can even make exploitation films meaningful.

Lost in Translation - Another movie I obsessed over when it came out. I have a soft spot for films that are basically tone poems... where the director sets out to create an emotional or visual tone or feeling, and just tries to maintain it. This was probably the most successful movie of that kind for this decade. Plus, like Eternal Sunshine, its got one of the most emotionally resonate relationships I've seen on film.

Memento - Dark Knight might be more popular now, but I think I still prefer Nolan's first film. I may be 75% timeline gimmick, but its probably the most effective timeline gimmick in a movie ever. Plus, there is a great style and mystery that help keep things interesting.


Spirited Away - My animated pick. I'm still looking forward to Stella being old enough to watch and enjoy this. A visual treat that's overflowing with great ideas and characters.

Return of the King - Really, this is a vote for the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. Epic in ever sense of the word. Flawed and overlong at times, but also larger than life, visually overwhelming and constantly entertaining. If only most big-budget movies had this level of depth and complexity.

Royal Tennenbaums - Darjeeling Limited might be my current fav, and Rushmore (from '98) might be my all-time favorite Wes Anderson film, but Tennenbaums will probably end up having the most staying power for me. Regardless, Wes Anderson produced a string of excellent films over the last decade, so I had to include at least one of them.

X-Men 2: X-Men United - Really, does this surprise you? The best X-Men movie, which makes it by default my favorite comic book adaptation.


So, there ya go, those are my picks. At least until I change my mind. If reading this list helped remind you of a movie you enjoyed or encourages you to check out any of these films, feel free to buy a copy of it in my shop, the General Store.

Link-o-rama: 11/30

A run down of the sites and videos that have caught my attention in the last week or so:

Have a tattoo you regret getting? Well, this should make you feel better: Ugliest Tattoos - A Gallery of Regret. (Oh, and some of that site probably falls into the catagory of "Not Safe For Work.")

I've recently noticed some old photos of my parents when they were younger kicking around their house. After seeing this site, I'm tempted to upload a few: MyParentsWereAwesome.com

A new video by the same guys who did this video. But, this time, they are interviewing Sarah Palin supporters standing in line at a book signing:



Wow.

Changing gears a little, here's possibly the coolest thing I've seen all week. I know that the 3-grader in my is geeking out big time...



Here's how they built it.

I'm not very good at singing songs...

Another video is making the round in YouTube-land that has caught my attention, and compelled me to watch it a half-dozen times in a row. It's one of those things that's just bizarre, campy, strange... yet affecting in a way that appeals to the little kid in me who used to leaf through books on space, and who still enjoys a star-filled night sky today. Enjoy!



..and something tells me that Carl Sagan might have enjoyed it himself.

A still more glorious dawn awaits
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise
A morning filled with 400 billion suns
The rising of the milky way...

But, what about tater tots?

A couple weeks ago, my friend, Jody, posted a link that I thought was worth putting up on General Admission: It's "simply" a list of The 50 Best Foods in the World and Where to Eat Them. No small claim there! Like a multi-course meal, I've been slowly reading my way through it, and each time come away hungry.

It seems like the sort of thing that, in certain circles, would be endlessly debatable. I mean, you might not agree with what they claim are the 50 "best foods" (I for one, am not a fan of items one or two on the list). Or, even if you like everything on the list, you probably know a place you think has the best Pho or the juiciest Hamburger. Still, there are plent of entries that make me want to grab my suitcase and do a culinary tour.

Yum! ...Can you tell its lunchtime?

Oh, and with regards to the title of this entry, actually item #41 on the list is "Best Place for Fried Potatoes." I guess that's close enough.

Bi-Czar

Generally speaking (sic), I don't get into politics much here at General Admission. Partially, that out of respect for friends and family members that might disagree with my opinions, but who follow this blog. But, its also because, if you really want to read someone's political opinions, there are definitely more informed (or at least more passionate) sites out there than this one.

That said, some things just beg to be posted here. For example...



Seriously?! I mean, wow. Where to start? Oh, how about here...

I'd think that, if you were going to go through the effort of making signs and T-shirts demonizing "Czars," you might at least want to have a vague functioning understanding of what the roll of a Czar is, in US politics. I mean, its one thing to oppose Obama's somewhat hyperactive tendency to appoint Czars for everything on the basis that maybe it's not the best usage of government money (at least that's a debatable argument). But, it's a whole different ball-o-crazy to be against Czars because you think they are the masterminds behind some sort of Neo-Communist-Illuminati-style takeover of the United States based on the historical lineage of the name "Czar" alone. It's not like the roll of Czars in US politics is Top Secret or something.