I was very disappointed to find out that even though "Agoraphobic Cowboy" is on iTunes, it won't be in stores till February 7th. I still came out on top yesterday I think:

Cat Power - The Greatest It's toe tappin. Not as hypnotic as "You Are Free" but the Memphis band clicks with her voice. "Willie" is my favorite track right now.
Sigur Ros - () I haven't given this CD a proper chance yet since it's sort of a ambient, concept album. It makes me want to move my stereo into my bedroom cause I imagine it would be great to fall asleep to.
John Lennon - Rock 'N' Roll I can't stand the production of the album, but it's still cool to hear "Come Together" in "You Can't Catch Me."
Gorillaz - G-Sides This was finally in the used section after wanting to buy it forever. Mostly for "12d3" which I could just loop forever.
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited All these remastered Dylan CD's are cheap right now so I've been picking one up every visit since I've never listened to Dylan and I'm slowly filling the gaps in my musical education. What's up with "Ballad Of A Thin Man?" Someone explain this song to me.
Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans This guy sure does love the Jebus. It would turn me off except his music is so darn catchy. This one's more quiet-banjo-picking then the others.
They Might Be Giants - No! The cleanest sound of any TMBG albums I have, which is good cause I can slip a few tracks into mix CDs without breaking he flow. "Where Do They Make Balloons?" "The House At The Top Of The Tree" "I Am Not Your Broom" and "Sleepwalkers" are my favorites.
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass I have this on vinyl but my record player is in my bedroom and I don't really listen to it enough. Great to finally have "My Sweet Lord" and "I Dig Love" on my iPod and at work.

Labels: amoebaeats, critiqua, listy

Since this is the season for lists I thought I'd sloppily sum up the year behind and the year ahead. Actually, these are more piles then lists since there's no particular order.

My Favorite Movies of 2005:
-Brokeback Mountain
-Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of The WereRabbit
-Mirror Mask
-King Kong
-Shopgirl
-Off The Map
-Yes
-The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
-Batman Begins
-The Brothers Grimm
-The Squid And The Whale
-Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire
-Sin City ("The Hard Goodbye" segment)

My Favorite Albums of 2005:
-Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine
-Beck: Guero
-Fruit Bats: Spelled In Bones
-Sufjan Stevens: Illionois
-Maude Maggart: Sings Irving Berlin
-Emiliana Torrini: Fisherman's Woman
-Sigur Rós: Takk
-Feist: Let It Die
-Gorillaz: Demon Days
-The Polyphonic Spree: Thumbsucker
-The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan

Non-New Bands I Discovered and/or Started Buying A Lot Of in 2005:
-The Shins
-Iron & Wine
-Cat Power
-Air
-Tom Waits
-The Zombies
-They Might Be Giants (yeah...I was mostly absent from the 90's musically)
-Yo La Tengo (see above)
-The Flaming Lips (ditto)
-The Beach Boys
-Solo Beatles stuff (how the fuck did I go 25 years without owning Ram or Plastic Ono Band?)

Concerts (and one play) I Had Fun At in 2005:
-The Polyphonic Spree with Jon Brion opening
-Beck (twice!) with Cat Power opening the first time and La Tigre the second time
-Sondre Lerche
-Nellie McKay (three times!)
-Tenacious D & Friends (Fiona Apple, David Cross, Sarah Silverman and some other dudes)
-Ryan Adams (actually I've bitched and moaned about this concert a lot, he's a real asshole...but in retrospect it was a fun show to mock for months afterwards)
-Theater of the New Ear: Anomolisa & Hope Leaves The Theater by Charlie Kaufman and Carter Burwell
-Dave Matthews Band (barely, I think my love for the band is finally wearing off, but it was the second row seat that got me)

Stuff That Bugged Me in 2005:
-Sin City (the other segments)
-Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
-Corpse Bride
-Fantastic Four
-Elizabethtown
-Crash (why is everyone praising this awful movie?)
-War Of The Worlds
-Munich
-Dave Matthews Band: Stand Up (it gets harder and harder to like a band that's hasn't had a good album since '98)
-Ben Folds: Songs For Silverman
-Rilo Kiley's Sunset Junction concert

Movies I'm Looking Forward To in 2006:
-Superman Returns
-A Scanner Darkly
-The Fountain
-Tideland
-The Inside Man
-The Wendell Baker Story
-Idiocracy
-Art School Confidential
-Lady In The Water
-Caótica Ana
-The OH In Ohio
-For Your Consideration
-The Film Is Not Yet Rated
-Sicko

Music I'm Looking Forward To in 2006:
-Radiohead's got a new album this year AND might be scoring "A Scanner Darkly" !!
-Sondre Lerche is releasing TWO new albums
-Nellie McKay left Sony which delayed her album "Pretty Little Head" (original release date: Jan 3rd) but hopefully it will be out in a few months
-Suzanna Choffel's "Shudders & Rings"
-Polyphonic Spree's "The Fragile Army"
-Cat Power's "The Greatest" (and she'll be in LA February 22nd)

Stuff That Scares Me in 2006
-Cars (I love Pixar...and the new trailer is better...but I just don't know)
-X-Men 3 (the trailer looks like kids playing make-believe in the backyard and the Beast make up looks LAUGHABLE...and Brett Ratner)

I can't think of anything else...what did I miss?

Labels: critiqua, listy