(My) Top 10 Movies of 2008

Most of these movies are gone from theaters, but you have Netflix, right? Load up your queue!

10. Rachel's Getting Married
Anne Hathaway was excellent in her role as a complete trainwreck. A cringe-inducing trainwreck that makes you wonder if you should feel pity for the character or just plain hate her. As with almost everything else in life, it's probably somewhere in between, a little bit of both, I guess. There were so many memorable scenes/moments in this film. How many movies can you name off the top of your head with a dishwasher loading skills showdown? There's a wedding band that plays for just about the entire weekend, non-stop, and the wedding itself is like something out of a dream. It's a full-blown, multiracial, multicultural celebration of life and love, with incredible music, dancing, and good vibes that create an avalanche of positive energy that should not be missed.


9. Encounters At The End Of The World
If you ever read or saw "Into The Wild," you'll remember Christopher McCandless. His desire for what he considered to be a "real" or "true" existence took him to the wilderness of Alaska and ultimately cost him his life. Some people say that with a little bit of local knowledge, he would've been just fine and completely able to walk out of his predicament, but his fate and what could've been done to prevent it isn't what I want to write about here. I brought him up because many of the adventure seeking travelers interviewed in this Werner Herzog doc reminded me of him. Where can you go that's more extreme, more off the beaten path than Antarctica? Werner also visits with scientists and researchers, all with mesmerizing personalities and incredible stories about what brought them to the "End of the World."


8. Atonement
I remember liking this movie a lot when I saw it way back in January, but for some reason I haven't watched it again. It was sitting right there on my DVR for weeks and I wasn't the least bit interested in watching it. Hmmm.... Maybe, for that very reason, it shouldn't be on this list, but first impressions should count for something, right? I just remember liking the fact that they gave you the happy ending without actually giving you the happy ending. They played both sides, and it worked for me. Even though I don't feel like watching it ever again.


7. Son Of Rambow
This was a cutesy, feel-good movie that I almost didn't see. I'm glad I did, because it gave me a movie to recommend to my mom. Yeah, she loved it, "just like Juno." So maybe that will tell you something.


6. The Wackness
One of Ben Kingsley's 38 movies this past year. This is pretty basic, coming-of-age type stuff, but it's done very well. Most high school movies are shot in the 'burbs (The Breakfast Club, Dazed & Confused, all of the other John Hughes movies, Fast Times, etc.), so maybe this one being shot in New York gave it a different feel, but at the same time it stuck to many of the things that work in movies like these. Being eaten alive by a person you have a hopeless crush on, parents bumming you out, smoking pot with/selling pot to your shrink... They even managed to get "All The Young Dudes" in there, which is still good, I think.


5. There Will Be Blood
I was wondering what list to put this on, '07 or '08. It was included in a bunch of critics' lists from last year, and it won Oscars honoring movies from '07, but how the fuck are you supposed to include a movie on your Best of '07 list if it came out on December 26th?! And that was just New York and LA! Chicago was Early '08, for crying out loud! I'm going through that now with "Milk" and "The Wrestler." Screw it, they'll be on the '09 list and TWBB goes on the '08 list. The trailer for this movie really hinted at something horrific, something bloody, since, well, you know, "Blood" is in the title and everything, but... There isn't much, really, except for a satisfying final scene.


4. Man On Wire
Philippe Petit is the man who walked on a high wire between the World Trade Center towers in 1974 and this is a documentary about the entire process. The film focuses on what made Philippe decide on the WTC, his background in the art of high wire (including some of his previous work), and the seemingly thousands of things that had to come together for him to achieve his dream. And yes, this really was his dream. He enthusiastically tells you all about it in this film, and by the time the footage of the WTC walk comes around, you're rooting for him like the underdog in a thousand Hollywood feelgood movies.


3. The Dark Knight
You saw it. I don't need to write anything.


2. Let The Right One In
A Swedish, teenage vampire flick, but from what I understand, nothing like that one that came out this year in the States with that one teen heartthrob guy that plays baseball in the movie and who according to Yahoo!, just cut his hair. I never saw it and I'm too lazy to look up the name of it, but you know what I'm talking about, right? OK, this is nothing like that. "Let The Right One In" follows a young boy around that's being bullied at school and who has a new neighbor. The neighbor is a girl near his age, who can hang around outside, at night, in Sweden, with nothing but a t-shirt on and not feel cold. Yes, she also drinks blood, and there are a few excellent scenes that show how she gets it, but the best parts of the movie focus on their friendship. She initially decides against befriending the boy, but curiosity gets the best of both of them, they grow closer, she persuades him to stand up for himself (and helps out a bit herself, too), gives him some newfound confidence with the opposite sex, and makes it seem that being best friends/BF-GF with a vampire is do-able.


1. Slumdog Millionaire
I knew nothing about the movie when I saw it, just a trailer that showed a girl being forcefully taken away from a crowded Indian train station while her boyfriend(?) looks on, helpless, from a distance. I'd like to leave it at that, and just say how sad it is that this movie is showing on just a couple of screens in and around Chicago. It's complete bullshit that a movie like this, that should be up for Best Picture this year, is next to impossible to find, while crap like Kevin James as a mall cop will get a massive release. I know that the indie/foreign films will always be harder to find, and that's one of the reasons that seeing them can be so rewarding, but Slumdog is a slam dunk! How can someone that decides on what movies are shown where, see this movie and not think that it would rake in massive amounts of cash if people were just given the opportunity to see it? WTF? I've seen gritty, hard to watch indie/foreign flicks this year that are not for everyone ("Ballast," "4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days," to name a few), but Slumdog is nothing like that. I'm hoping that this movie is nominated for a few Oscars, so maybe then it'll get a bigger release, but if things stay the way they are with this movie... What a crime.

(My) Top 10 Albums of 2008

I've realized something in the past few days. Albums don't matter as much as they used to. Don't get me wrong, I love listening to a good album from front to back, but the way we listen to music has changed. I was trying to figure out which albums were my favorites of the year, and it suddenly dawned on me that I'm much more interested in my 25 top songs of 2008 (or maybe even a top 80 minutes of music that can fit onto one CD). We get an album, listen to it a couple of times, and if there's a song or two that really jump out at us, we make a mental note of it, and then drag that song or songs into our next playlist that we make for a run, or a road trip or whatever. But as long as albums exist and they continue to be the way that most music is presented to us, I'll gladly do a top albums list. Let's get to it.

10. Santogold - Santogold
Loved her set at Coachella back in April, and the Bud Light Lime ads were a bit of a bummer at first, but artists need to eat, so what the hell do I care if her songs were heard in what seemed like every other commercial break during NFL games for a couple of months? The record is good and the more people hear it, the better. Right?


9. TV On The Radio - Dear Science
I played "Crying" on the radio tonight and I had to talk about the fact that you won't be able to find a best albums of 2008 list without "Dear Science" on it, and that should include the XRT Listener poll, or I'm gonna be bummed.


8. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
It took a little while for me to buy into this album for some reason, but when it clicked, it clicked. God, I suck at writing. I have to mention that every year. But back to CC... A damn good record to run to, and I'm glad to see that the mighty X-Sport Fitness 24 Hour mega-gym I go to now has the song that you hear below in their music video rotation. Australian dance jams rule, what can I say?


7. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
A duo from Toronto that played Chicago recently, but it was one of those god damn all ages shows that start at 6:30 or whatever. Who can get out for the night at 6:30? Would've liked to have seen 'em. Oh, well... A solid, catchy electro record, that again, is good to run to. AND.... Their name will always remind us of this bad ass game. (You're realizing that I'm being super lazy with these little blurbs about each record, right?)


6. Pop Levi - Never Never Love
That's his real name! Well, it's Jonathan Pop Levi, I believe. This is a party record for the most part. It would've been nice to see more written about this album in '08. It starts off with a bang. "Wannamama" is the name of the song that gets it started and it's a Bolan-esque, uptempo jam that even has a few little Prince-y parts to it. Slower pop songs can be found too, but all in all, an album that will put a smile on your face.


5. Nada Surf - Lucky
I fell in love with "Whose Authority" the first time I heard it, and seeing the video made me like it even more (that's the one below) because it's exactly how I get to work every day. And as much as I like the video, it's a little odd, I guess, just following a guy on his bike around the city. Oh, well.. Ever since "Let Go" in 2002/2003, I've had a soft spot for these guys, and I really enjoyed their set at Metro last month. Welcome the the #5 slot, Nada Surf!


4. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
What do you call these guys? Indie psych-pop? How about a band that put out one of the best albums of 2008? I fell in love with "Electric Feel" .89 seconds into the chorus and the riff in "Kids" is unforgettable. My girlfriend works at Jake's Pub at Clark & Wellington and when it's slow in there, or people are being lame and not feeding the jukebox, the bartenders will throw their own tunes on. MGMT was in the rotation for a few months, and people would always ask who they were hearing. Still pissed that I missed 'em jamming with Beck at one of our Studio X shows at Martyr's. They played for quite a while too. We'll be airing that show soon on XRT. Can't wait.


3. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
It's all in the title. It's distorted as hell, but underneath the feedback are some A+ pop songs. Listen to "California Girls" below and you'll see what I mean. If you dig The Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins and bands like that, this is a slam dunk.


2. Yelle - Pop Up
It wouldn't be a proper list without some French pop, right?


1. Portishead - Third
ELEVEN years since the last album and they drop this on us? How is that possible?

Colbert vs. BEARS!!!!

Since I'm obsessed with the Report, I need to have one of his videos up here. When he started out on his own, I was a little skeptical of the idea. I'd watch the Daily Show and not really pay much attention to the Report. But when he roasted President Bush right to his face back when the media still hadn't called him out on much (or maybe they weren't being given the opportunity, I'm not sure), that, to me, was one of the greatest moments in the history of... Uh, fake pundits mocking presidents while they're sitting at the same table, I guess? Anyway, now I watch both The Daily Show and The Report every night, but if I had to pick one, it'd be this guy below.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Godless Killing Machines

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Oh, how we're going to miss W.

This is all obvious stuff, but a nice, quick summary of some of the damage done....

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

From fmqb.com...

Is a Creed reunion in the works? Billboard reports that negotiations are under way for "a lucrative 2009 reunion tour" for the platinum-selling rockers, who split in 2004. While frontman Scott Stapp's solo career has stalled, the rest of the band formed Alter Bridge with singer Myles Kennedy, who have released two records and toured steadily. Kennedy has been the subject of speculation as a possible stand-in for Robert Plant on a tour with the members of Led Zeppelin.

Rapid reaction? Best movie of '08.

I didn't want to post the entire review (which you can read here), or even a trailer because I didn't want to give anything away. These are Ty Burr's words from the Boston Globe. The first sentence sums it up for me...

"I'll keep this simple: Cancel whatever you're doing tonight and go see "Slumdog Millionaire" instead. Yes, you, the girl obsessed with "Twilight" and the guy still hung up on "The Dark Knight." Take the grandparents, too, and the teenagers. Everyone can play.

You've never heard of the actors. A third of the film is in Hindi. Much of it takes place in the most fetid, poverty-ridden corners of the Indian subcontinent, and most of it isn't nice. Yet this sprawling, madly romantic fairy-tale epic is the kind of deep-dish audience-rouser we've long given up hoping for from Hollywood. "Slumdog" is a soaring return to form for director Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting"), but mostly it's just a miracle of mainstream pop moviemaking - the sort of thing modern filmmakers aren't supposed to make anymore. Except they just did."

More New Tunes! It's about time, I know.

SO lazy lately with the blog... But, I've come back with a super strong record for you. Marty Lennartz turned me on to these guys. The Black Ghosts are a couple of dudes from the UK, one of which used to be in the band Simian. The electro-pop thing has been done before, but these guys do it so well, I thought that they deserved a mention on a blog that gets literally tens of views per week. This is the second song on their newest album, which is self-titled.

Can't recommend this movie enough!

Saw it as part of the Chicago Int'l Film Festival, and I'm not quite sure when and where it'll be released in Chicago or on DVD, but if you have Netflix or some other online DVD rental service, set a reminder, save the movie, do something! Just see this when you get the chance. I'm a dork and grade movies after I see 'em and this one was one of a few "A" grades I've handed out this year (in case you were wondering).

Update! It'll be released in Chicago on 11/21 at the Landmark Century Theater on Clark St. just north of Diversey. Now make plans to see it!

Listen to Pop Levi!

Yeah, that's his real name. Jonathan Pop Levi to be exact. His new album is called "Never Never Love" and it's a gem from front to back. There's an uptempo rocker or two, but it's mostly a pop record. Go figure, huh? The video for the title track is below and his myspace page is here. If you click on the link, be sure to listen to the "Hear First" selection from a couple weeks ago, "Wannamama."

Anyone else miss Arcade Fire?

The world is a much better place with this band. Since they haven't been to Chicago recently, here's a quick vid to help hold us over until they return or bless us with a new record.

Thanks to Listener X for the assist on this one. (Forgot your name. Sorry!)

Gotta Love the "Stuff White People Like" blog

Pea Coats?!?! Awesome.

Check out the rest of the list. I counted 59 out of 111 for myself. No, I'm not that into farmer's markets like the one above, but that's funny. Really funny.

Party Tunes!

I've been a bit lazy lately copying and pasting a bunch of articles on the economy and national debt. Not the sexiest topics, but pretty important stuff I've been angry about lately. I could write some embarrassingly incoherent pieces on the economy and debt on my own, but I think that fellows at the Brookings Institution can do a better job than I can, so that's why you've seen a few of those recently...

So, let's get back to the party tunes. I've posted his work before, but it's ALWAYS a good idea to visit Party Ben's blog. He has a ton of downloads for you to play at your next fiesta.

Eddie Money vs. The Ting Tings!

Lily Allen vs. Howard Jones!

Queen vs. House of Pain!

And who can forget the classic Police vs. Snow Patrol jam?!

More Money Talk

Dude. Wait, check that. DUDE!!!!!! WTF is going on?! If Mr. Easterbrook's numbers are correct, the national debt went from 5 trillion in 1998 to 11 trillion today? MORE THAN DOUBLE IN ONE DECADE?!?!?!?!? I'm kind of obsessed with the fact that we SUCK with money nowadays. I read this guy's columns quite a bit. He writes about football, the mysteries of the cosmos, and cars that get terrible gas mileage. I'm gonna copy and paste a piece from this week's column. Please, read on.

"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! Last week, TMQ asked why no one was paying attention to the fact that the national debt ceiling was quietly raised by $800 billion during the summer. Well, toss that column: The White House just asked the national debt ceiling be raised another $700 billion, for the proposed financial-sector bailout. If that happens, in 2008 alone, $1.5 trillion will have been added to the national debt: every penny borrowed from your children and their children. Stated in today's dollars, in 1979 the entire national debt was $1.5 trillion. George W. Bush and Congress have in a single year added an amount equal to the entire national debt one generation ago. And the year's not over!

It took the United States 209 years, from the founding of the republic till 1998, to compile the first $5 trillion in national debt. In the decade since, $6 trillion in debt has been added. This means the United States has borrowed more money in the past decade than in all our previous history combined. Almost all the borrowing has been under the direction of George W. Bush -- at this point Bush makes Kenneth Lay seem like a paragon of fiscal caution. Democrats deserve ample blame, too. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leaders of the Senate and House, have never met a bailout they didn't like: Harry and Nancy just can't wait to spend your children's money. Six trillion dollars borrowed in a single decade and $1.5 trillion borrowed in 2008 alone. Charles Ponzi would be embarrassed.

If you borrowed, borrowed, borrowed, you could afford to live high for a while -- then there would be a reckoning. Hmmm … that sounds a little like what many Americans did with gimmick mortgages in 2005 and 2006. They were only imitating their political leadership! Why is it both parties in Washington think the United States can borrow, borrow, borrow without a reckoning ever coming? Bush, Reid and Pelosi seem poised to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars of borrowed public money to political insiders on Wall Street and in banking, whose bonuses will now be tax-subsidized. The capitalist maxim is, "She who reaps the gains also bears the losses." Now Washington wants those who reaped the gains to shift the losses to those who lived humbly. The young will pay and pay for these cynical ploys to insure the luxury of the powerful old. Why aren't the young outraged?

TMQ's pal Isabel Sawhill, among the leading public-policy economists of our day, says Washington does indeed need to intervene in the financial system -- the harm to the average person of letting credit markets freeze would be greater, she thinks, than the harm caused by more public debt. Fair enough. But it doesn't inspire confidence that on Sept. 12, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the financial system had been fixed and "under no circumstances" would there be further bailouts; on Friday, Paulson said the system was collapsing and another $700 billion was needed. Suddenly Paulson is insisting the country has no choice other than immediately to hand over $700 billion to Wall Street fat cats, with barely any debate or even explanation of the plan. Why should anyone believe this guy, when just one week previously he said no further bailouts would occur? It seems clear Paulson had no idea what he was talking about then, while if the problem is really as bad as Paulson says now, his past delay in facing the problem has made the cost far higher. With such a poor track record, why is the treasury secretary suddenly viewed as a superbrilliant genius whose marching orders must be followed?

It is not public intervention that is objectionable. University of Chicago Nobel Prize winner Gary Becker, among the top conservative economists, just said, "I have reluctantly concluded that substantial intervention was justified." Rather it is size of the bailout, and the hurry-up-give-the-money-don't-stop-to-think aspect, that are troubling. Much of the $700 billion will flow to investment-community friends of Paulson, Bush and other administration figures. Average Americans who behaved irresponsibly by signing gimmick mortgages may get some taxpayer aid from the Paulson proposal, and maybe they should get none. But in the end, average Americans will still be liable for most of what they owe -- that is, will still be held responsible for their actions. Wealthy, politically connected insiders who run banks and companies such as American International Group will be exempt for responsibility for their actions, and will stuff taxpayer-subsidized millions into their pockets.

On Sunday, Paulson called the self-serving actions of top Wall Street figures "inexcusable" -- yet the plan is not only to excuse them, but to shower them with free money. Paulson said Wall Street pay levels were "excessive," but should be discussed later, after the bailout is done. Now is the moment of maximum leverage! Once they are holding the public's money and laughing about how easily they got it, financial executives will have no incentive to compromise on pay. Here's an idea: Any company that participates in the bailout agrees to limit its top-tier executives to the federal minimum wage. That is, after all, the amount Washington says is enough to live on. Meanwhile, of the two jokers who drove Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the ground, one was paid $19.8 million in 2007, the other $14 million; each will get nearly $5 million in taxpayer-funded "retirement" bennies.

Yet there's scant outrage. Maybe this is because in an era of fiscal irresponsibility by both parties, everybody wants a bailout. Wall Street, bankers, homeowners who lied on their mortgage applications, Detroit automakers, farmers -- gimme, gimme, gimme! Rather than asking whether the $700 billion giveaway is too large or being structured in a way that benefits the rich, numerous members of Congress are instead demanding more bailouts be appended: for seniors (see below), cities, states, more "stimulus" checks, you name it. Give money to whoever will fund my re-election! The money is being forcibly extracted from the pockets of our children and their children. Every dollar borrowed today by the irresponsible old of Washington will subtract two dollars from future economic growth, leaving our children and their children a legacy of stagnation.

The 1980 Chrysler bailout, which was nationally debated for months before happening, cost $3.2 billion, in present-value dollars, and was financed by revenue rather than by borrowing. Here is the borrowing that's happened in 2008 alone, with precious little public debate:

• $29 billion to bail out Bear Stearns.

• $40 billion in the first mortgage-holder bailout.

• $80 billion for an additional year of Iraq war operations. (Another $150-$200 billion in war costs such as future veterans' disability benefits were incurred but not funded.)

• Up to $85 billion to bail out AIG.

• $153 billion to households for "economic stimulus."

• $200 billion, and possibly more, to bail out Fannie and Freddie.

• $290 billion in farm subsidies, despite agricultural prices and grains profits being at record highs.

• $700 billion general bailout of securities backed by bad debt. (The International Monetary Fund estimates this figure will rise to at least $1 trillion.)

That comes to $1.6 trillion, explaining the debt-ceiling rise, and does not include roughly $300 billion in essentially interest-free cash issued to banks by the Federal Reserve on an emergency basis, which may or may not be repaid, but which in any case make all existing money somewhat less valuable. Why is the debt aspect of the splurge barely being remarked on by the mainstream media and by politicians? Why are the young not furious? And about that $700 billion about to the shoveled to the Wall Street elite -- in 2007, George W. Bush vetoed an increase of $7 billion per year in health care spending for the poor, saying the country couldn't afford it."

Listening to Koushik right now. Join me!

He's listed, er, sometimes described as a Canadian hip-hopper, but these tunes have a little '60s psych thrown in, are a little on the slower side of things, and quite satisfying overall. Here's a track to download called "Lying In The Sun." Hope you dig it as much as I do!

When did it become cool to spend more than we bring in?

OK, yeah, gloom and doom stuff, right? Well..... This doc seemed to be pretty non-partisan. It wasn't so much about pointing fingers as much as it was about bringing to light facts and figures that are ignored year after year. It's bad for us to spend more money than we bring in, right? Isn't that what mom and dad taught us? Isn't that common sense? A business that finishes in the red year after year, goes under. Why does the federal government get to do it seemingly without consequences? Oh, wait. There are consequences. A weak dollar, a weak economy, inflation... Holy crap!

If the long term health and security of our economy interests you, you might want to watch the movie...



Or read the book (which is a little more opinionated). Amazon reviews can be found here.

Videos! More videos! We'll have text soon, I promise.

EVERYONE'S seen it by now, but just in case you haven't...

Whoa! Watch Noel Gallagher get thrown into the crowd by some nutty guy!

This was at the Virgin Festival in Toronto recently. Good thing the dude wasn't carrying a firearm. We could've had another Diamond, er, Dimebag Darrell situation. It happens about 1:30 in. And thanks to Pitchfork for pointing it out.

I know you're bummed that you missed Judas Priest on Jimmy Kimmel's show last night

So, I'm here to save the day. They were really good in Tinley Park a few weeks ago. There's always a soft spot in my heart for one of the metal bands I grew up with. Notice that KK and Glenn are wearing the EXACT same stuff they were rocking 25 years ago! Excellent stuff.

Crispin Glover from, like, 20-plus years ago

A quick hit from the past for you...

So, I'm sitting around, watching "At Close Range" last week. Super good flick with Christopher Walken and Sean Penn, based on a true story, yada, yada.. Crispin Glover has a small part in the movie, and surprise, he plays a creepy dude! It reminded me of this classic clip from Letterman's show back in '87. Enjoy.

Another candidate for fav movie of the year?!?!

Oh yeah, that's right, summer is ending, fall is around the corner... And that means that there's gonna be way too much cool stuff to keep up with. The summer is dead (except for street festivals and other free events here in Chicago) and now fall is coming. If you're a TV/music/movie geek, you have a new football season, Academy Award hopefuls released, Chicago Int'l Film Festival, a new TV season, a bunch of new albums, and shows at actual clubs here in Chicago again! As cool as they are, Lolla and Pitchfork kinda bleed the scene dry for months, but now shows at our local venues will be back, on top of all that other stuff listed. Here's a movie to get you started on the busy season ahead..

A new band worth your time

More psych-indie records! You liked the Panda Bear album? Here's more. Start with "The Parade Devine."

Probably my fav movie of the year

Didn't get stellar reviews across the board, but I dunno... The character is two years older than I am in the movie (Class of '94) and the learning to get your heart broken thing with a bunch of drugs around and a cool old dude that likes to tag with big fat markers is cool too.

DRHST

Just saw this last night. Highly recommended. Not in all theaters, so you'll have to search a bit, but you'll dig it if you take the time. Gonzo!

Mas música

Yeah, the last music post was música en Español. Spain just won Euro 2008. XRT in 1972 was Spanish during daytime hours! This is all liked somehow.

The name on the albums is Cineplexx. He's an Argentine living in Barcelona and his real name is Sebastian Litmanovich. Download an mp3 here! See his website here.

The magic of Loggins, Cross, Hall, Oates, McDonald, etc.

This is one of a series of videos that are a couple years old. Some of the vids are a little out there, but the fact that the series uses the term "Yacht Rock" deserves some serious credit. Ever wonder how the song "Rosanna" came to be? Well, of course you didn't, but, uh.... Just watch.



And if you liked it, here's the vid from the video.

New/old sounds

I'm kinda bummed I don't live close enough to Brooklyn to check out the bar "Barbes." Give a listen to this piece from NPR.

And if you like the style/mini-genre, they have some songs here.

A few listeners have me bummed

Terri Hemmert played this record for our "Hear First" segment a few weeks ago and we received several e-mails from people that didn't like the record and wanted us to stop playing it. Good move, guys! Way to encourage safe, ball-less radio! Hey, if we play something that's a little too much for you, or a bit off your radar, hit the button and turn on another station that's playing "White Wedding" for the 145,935,497th time and then come back when it's over. We appreciate your feedback, we honestly do, but when you act like you're scared of monsters, and tell us to STOP PLAYING records you don't like, especially newer, more adventurous stuff, all you're doing is encouraging us to take fewer risks. And I DO know that 98% of the audience did enjoy the record, or at least liked the fact that they were hearing a band as cool as Portishead, it's just a few squeaky wheels (squeaky for all the wrong reasons), that can bring something new and different down.

Sorry, Beth.

Viva Video Arcades!

I'll always appreciate a vintage video arcade. Now I know where to go in Chicagoland! Excellent work done here by Christopher Borrelli from the Tribune, 6/5/08.

I don't even know what to say about Terry McAuliffe at this point

I used to almost root for this guy on the talking heads shows until I realized that the party chairmen are blowhards.

Amy Winehouse + Pete Doherty = a big huge bowl of amazing

May I interest you in a rad pop record?

Her name is Yelle, she's from France and I'm loving the album "POP-UP" right now. Watch this video, and enjoy the excercise scenes. And those red shorts. Jesus.

The Cure @ Allstate, 5/17/08

OK, first read this piece from someone who knows how to write.

Now, my thoughts...

I thought they sounded incredible. The review in the Trib was talking about sound issues and Robert having problems with his voice. Really? Uhhh, I may be an idiot, but I didn't notice any of that stuff. I thought the sound was good and Bob's voice was in fine form. My ride had to bail a bit early, so I missed the tail end of the show, but I did enjoy "The Walk," "One Hundred Years," "Plainsong," to name a few... Interesting hearing the band with no keys. Porl Thompson and Bob's guitar licks take the place of some of the keyboard parts, so it was fun to hear a different, some would say more of a rock spin on some of the older tunes we're used to hearing with synth and keys. I was super satisfied with the whole show, and can't wait to see Bob and the boys again. B+

SUPER simple summer drink recipe

Fill up a large glass/cup with ice, pour in a shot/shot and a half of rum. I used Captain Morgan, and DO NOT add too much rum! Now, fill the glass with ginger beer (NOT crappy ginger ale, get some nice, ginger beer like the stuff on the left you can find at Trader Joe's) and squeeze half a lime's worth of juice in there and mix it up. It's heavenly stuff. Seriously.

A record to listen to

Don't know that much about him, but I've been listening to the mp3 stream of the album for the past half hour and it sounds pretty good. Give a listen to Douglas Armour.

OK, he's from L.A. I just looked that up.

Winning hearts and minds

Look, not to get all preachy and soapboxy on you, but WTF?!?!? What would be a worse experience, torture or wrongful imprisonment? Oh, hell! We do both! More examples? Here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here.

We pay for this. War, torture, wrongful imprisonment.... And stadiums for millionaire owners of sports teams! Stadiums with new luxury suites is worth tax dollars, but a healthy American populace is not. $%!#$*!#$%!(#)$&!@#$!!!!!!!!


OK, I'm done now. Back to the music!

Coachella '08

Here are my top 10 performances from the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, 4/25/08 - 4/27/08. I didn't see everyone I wanted to and neither did anyone else. Who the hell can do that at these festivals? They aren't designed for you to see everyone, but they are designed to give each concertgoer a unique experience. I once heard one of the Goldenvoice (creators of the festival) people say that one person's Coachella could be completely different from another's, and if that is the goal, then they score on one of those super rare, super awesome bicycle kicks. Here are my Top 10 performances from the acts that I did manage to catch at least 15 minutes of...

Oh, and I tried to include some Youtube links to pieces of the actual performances, but they sometimes get taken down because of legal violations, so if you don't see the video by clicking the band's name, that's why.

10. Metric

9. Does It Offend You, Yeah?

8. Hot Chip

7. My Morning Jacket

6. Prince (screw it, the audio has either been removed or the whole video has been taken down entirely)

5. The Raconteurs

4. Roger Waters

3. The Verve

2. Portishead

1. Kraftwerk

A new Rock 'N' Roll movie that's up your alley

"Young @ Heart" is the name of it. It's a doc about the oldest cover band in the world. Watch the trailer here. It was just released on 4/18 and you can find it at AMC River East 21 downtown, Landmark in Lakeview, and that one in Evanston.

Good eats in Wicker Park (& Lincoln Park)

Damn. Sultan's Market is awesome. I've lived in this hood since August and hadn't been there until a few days ago. Even if you're a borderline meat junkie like I am most of the time, you can go vegan here without even realizing it and love every second of it. They have meat dishes if you absolutely can't go without it, but the falafel is super yummy and the way to go on your first visit.

One HELLUV an album!

Crystal Castles ---STUDIO FOOTAGE +++ NEW VIDEO PREVIEW

Check out the band Crystal Castles. No relation to the CC on the upper left. The album is self-titled and awesome.

If you're a fan of things that are funny....

Click here. A buddy dusted this one off for me the other day.

New tunes worth your time

His name is Jim Noir. He plays with a band at live shows, but the record is all him. His second album was just released, it's self-titled, and it's worth the 12 or 13 bucks or whatever the record store is asking for it.

More new tunes

Been listening to the new record from Ghostland Observatory for the past couple of weeks. See what you think...

Wicker who?

I have to link to chicagoist.com at least once a week it seems. Good writeup on the "Wicker" in "Wicker Park."

From birth to death, they have you covered

Baby stuff, I get. I understand that. But I saw THIS the other day at the Costco @ Damen & Diversey. Holy crap! It was just a bit surprising walking out the door, finishing up one of their $1.50 polish dog/soda combos and seeing a casket display. Hey, if I'm dead, put me in whatever. I'd be fine with it.

Bus Tracker?!

Dude. Nice. Now you just need a $579 iPhone with a web browser to see where your bus is while you wait. No, it seriously is a step in the right direction. Here's to the CTA! Trains next?

One of the best music DVDs you can find

If you're looking for a cool music DVD for yourself or that special music geek in your life, you might want to check out The Old Grey Whistle Test. I talked this up a bunch around the holidays. The show was on the BBC for 15 years or so ('73-'87, I think), and this DVD has performances from Bill Withers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elton John, The Wailers, The Damned, a TON more, and while they were all at the height of their powers. Also, the bonus footage can't be beat. Interviews with Mick, Keith, Lennon, Robert Plant.... It's a good time.

See what I mean.... here, here and here. Oh, and we can't forget about the Captain!

A guide to Chicago

This is Vice magazine's guide to Chicago. It's a few years old, but the info is pretty good. Enjoy.

Top 10 Albums of '07

10. The Capstan Shafts - Her Versus The Sad Cold Eventually

9. Feist - The Reminder

8. !!! - Myth Takes

7. Prinzhorn Dance School - Prinzhorn Dance School

6. Sigur Ros - Hvarf-Heim

5. Radiohead - In Rainbows

4. M.I.A. - Kala

3. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

2. The New Pornographers - Challengers

1. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver

3,000,000,000,000?!?!? TRILLION? That's 12 zeros, right?

Read this ONLY if you want your head to explode.

Watch this ONLY if you want your head to explode.

Climbing Everest BLIND?!?!?!

A movie that's probably gone already

When you go to Music Box a lot, most of the movies are amazing, but the problem with the art house theaters is that the movies are there for a week, MAYBE two and then gone. You wanna tell people about 'em but by the time they get around to seeing the movie or movies that you're raving about, they're long gone. What kicks ass now is Netflix and other online DVD rentals. You can hear about a movie and if it's not in theaters, or even if it is, you can put the title in your queue and forget about it until it shows up in your mailbox.

Now, I can link to the actual movie. It's called "Chop Shop." See the trailer here. Ebert gave it 4 stars, and all I can say is that it's about as real as a movie can get. Seeing a young (and I mean YOUNG) kid busting his ass to get by on the streets of Queens is a world that I hadn't seen before. No twists and turns, no surprise endings, just an honest look at a different world. I'll go 3.5 stars.

One of the best Chicago sights from '07. Hopefully we'll see this again sometime soon.

Beyond The Bio

Marty Lennartz and I chatted for a while at Double Door recently. Am I interesting enough to have 30 minutes of interview time? Absolutely not. We're trying to fill our site up with tons of content, so if you feel like watching, see 30 seconds or so and then get to the more useful stuff on the XRT site and then come back here.

Top 10 Movies of '07

Top 10 Movies of 2007 (Trailers can be seen by clicking on the title)

Honorable Mention…

Sunshine
Pretty good Sci-Fi flick. Yeah, the premise of flying to the dying sun to give it a jumpstart with a nuclear bomb is a bit of a stretch, but I loved this movie from the start to the finish I hoped wouldn’t come.

Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer
Interesting. A movie that focuses on the sense of smell. They don’t make scratch & sniff movies as far as I know, but this would’ve been a good one to start with. A VERY over the top, where-the-hell-did-that-come-from type of ending, but the movie was as good as Ebert promised it would be. Hey, I’m a sucker for his 4-star reviews.

10. The King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters
When I told people about this movie, I described it as a docudramedy. It’s a movie about a down on his luck kinda guy, who buys a Donkey Kong machine and starts gunning for the all-time high score. Little does he know that tons of BS stand in his way. And yes, video game referees DO exist.

9. Control
A movie about Joy Division. Duh. This had to be on here. Luckily, it was REALLY good. Anton Corbijn did an excellent job with the black and white, and the music scenes (performed by the actors) were unbelievably good. Happy ending too.

8. The Kite Runner
It seems as if EVERYONE I told about this movie had already read the book. You think that you’re with it for checking out a movie that was pretty tough to find, only to find out that everyone you know is already way ahead of you. I gotta read more. Someone that read the book asked me if this scene and that scene were in the movie and everything seemed to match up, so I guess that’s good. What jumped out at me the most was seeing Kabul before the Soviets, the Taliban, and maybe, um, we messed it up. If it’s as depressing as they made it look in the movie, I can’t believe that people still live there, or haven’t risen up against the Taliban. Easy for me to say as I go to the freezer to pull out my PB Twix.

7. Into The Wild
Chris McCandless should’ve watched “Alone In The Wilderness” or maybe some episodes of “Survivorman” before he went to Alaska. Dude, some basic survival skills would’ve been good to have. I applaud his drive and priciples, but DUDE! Learn how to get by before you cut yourself off from our sick and twisted society. Again, another book I haven’t read. Damn, I suck.

6. This Is England
Watch this movie and try to comprehend how cool Shaun must’ve felt when the older “skinheads” took him in. A movie that shows how lame out of control nationalism can be. The soundtrack could’ve been better, but whatever.

5. After The Wedding
A brilliant movie. Since I suck at writing, I’m not even gonna try to explain why I liked this one so much. To be honest, I don’t really know why I liked this movie so much. I just did. Lame description, huh?

4. Juno
There’s been a bit of a Juno backlash lately but I saw this movie pretty early on, so I wasn’t affected by it. Yeah, no 16 year old girl is gonna talk like this, but there’s a ton of funny stuff AND Michael Cera is in it, playing none other than, well, the character he always plays.

3. No Country For Old Men
Uh, Coen brothers? Yeah, you guessed it, it was awesome. Javier Bardem killing people with a goddamn cattle gun? A cattle gun?!? The pitbull scene with Josh Brolin was amazing. Woody Harrelson sure doesn’t last long either. Another movie taken from a book. I NEED TO READ MORE.

2. Once
It’s a musical, but not like a jumping in the streets, English musical from the ‘50s. The movie focuses on music and the songwriting process, and it’s so simple, so bare bones, the movie is so good with such a simple storyline. I was being really annoying for a few days after, telling everyone I knew to see this movie. This thing would’ve been huge if it got a bigger release.

1. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
I told everyone I thought would give a crap to see this movie and everyone came back at me asking if I liked SidneyLumet’s other stuff. Uh, who? OK, I know who he is now, but at the time I didn’t. Again, I’m new to this whole seeing a lot of good movies thing. Philip Seymour Hoffman is awesome as usual, Ethan Hawke is good, and Marissa Tomei plays an awful c***. A HOT, awful c***, but still an awful c***. A depressing movie that really makes you feel something. You watch the characters get deeper and deeper into their messes, you walk out of the theater so thankful you’re not in a situation that resembles the ones you just saw. Saw it twice.

AWESOME food in Lakeview

Can’t talk Coobah up enough. The Clam and Chorizo Chowder is tough to beat and the Chicken Negra Modelo was the best meal I’d had in a LONG time. They’re open late too, so if you’re a wake-up-at-noon-everyday kinda person, they have you covered.

Good food near Western & North Ave.

If you’re in or around my neighborhood (Bucktown), and you’re looking for some eats, you can’t go wrong with Handlebar. Vice Magazine once referred to this place as “brunch’s secret weapon” because there’s never a line. The Huevos Diablos are way good.

Cubs baseball AND good tunes

The television play-by-play man for your Chicago Cubs, Len Kasper, is a bit of a music geek. Listeners of XRT know this because we had him AND Bob Brenly host an episode of the Eclectic Company a few months back. Anyway, Len got a nice writeup in the Tribune recently. Oh, and that was a beautiful job mentioning Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco.

Some Chicago history for the kids. Or people under 50.

Saw Chicago 10 a while back. It's long gone now, but should be on DVD soon. Look for it. Read the recent cover story in the Chicago Reader.

BBQ!!! Who doesn't like BBQ?

More quality eats. Well, not the heathiest eats, but SO damn good. Get the mac & cheese. And then hit the gym.

The Food Network loves it. See?

The chicagoist peeps were all over this place too. See the writeup here.

A newer artist worth your time

Been listening to the new Kelley Polar record for the past few days. Listen to a song or two on his Myspace page.

A movie you should see called "In Bruges"

The trailer didn’t do the movie “In Bruges” justice. Ebert’s review gives you a much better idea of what to expect.

Go to Hot Doug's!

As always, I’m talking up Hot Doug's. Doug is the coolest dude in town. He’s ALWAYS up front taking your order and he’s always happy to see you and answer any dumb questions you might have. He plays cool tunes in there too. I’m getting the feeling that he’s a big Elvis Costello guy, only because I hear Elvis 63% of the time I’m in there.