List time: Best ofs, albums and shows

The best five albums of 2008, according to my ears and brain: 1. Portishead "Third" 2. Deerhunter "Microcastle 3. Wolf Parade "At Mt. Zoomer" 4. Atlas Sound "Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel" 5. Vampire Weekend "Vampire Weekend" And since I saw more live music than heard new albums, here's: The top 10 shows of 2008, according to my ears, brain and eyes: 1. Radiohead @ Hollywood Bowl Aug. 25 2. Radiohead @ Chula Vista, Aug. 27 3. Entrance Band @ Great American Music Hall, Nov. 23 4. Lanterns, Silian Rail, Japandi, Planets @ The Bike Kitchen, Jan. 11 5. Wolf Parade @ Fillmore, July 17 6. Worker Bee, By Sunlight, Silian Rail @ Gingerbread House, July 11 7. Entrance Band @ Henry Miller Library, May 10 8. Les Savy Fav, The Dodos @ Great American Music Hall, April 27 9. Entrance Band, Menomena, Broken Social Scene @ Sunset Junction Festival, Aug. 23 10. Holy Fuck, A Place to Bury Strangers, White Denim, Veil, Veil Vanish @ Bottom of the Hill, Feb, 29 10.1 Metallica @ Oracle Arena, Dec. 20

Listen up: Pitchork's 1-25 tracks of 2008

Pitchfork's staff ranked its top 100 tracks of 2008 and posted nearly all of the songs in their entirety. It's pretty cool -- you can go to the Pitchfork site and listen to 100 songs you may have missed this year. Now I'm not really considering this list as a "best of 2008" and judging it as such, but more using it as a reference to discover new bands. Today I checked out their #1-25. Here's what I thought: 1. Hercules and Love Affair - "Blind." Boring disco dance track that feels like going for a casual stroll through an antique British town, if you know what I mean. 2. Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal." Oh how much I'd love to pan this band sheerly for spite, as I'm kinda sick of hearing how great they are. But how great they are. 3. Hot Chip - "Ready For the Floor." Boring disco dance number. 4. Santogold - "L.E.S. Artistes." Sounds like something I'd hear at 24 Hour Fitness. And the vocals are all "Gwen Stefani." Enough said. 5. M83 - "Kim & Jessie." If I wanted to get back to 1985 I'd hop in a DeLorean. 6. Deerhunter - "Nothing Ever Happened." Ah, a fuzzy good marathon of weirdo rock. So on my Christmas list. 7. Cut Copy -"Hearts on Fire." - Another '80s disco dance number, blech. 8. Air France - "Collapsing on Your Doorstep." Boring. Disco. Dance. Number. 9. Portishead - "Machine Gun." Already kid-tested and mother-approved, though let me just say "The Rip" is more my jam. 10. Estelle - "American Boy." - So this is the song that's always playing when I walk into a Forever 21. 11. David Byrne and Brian Eno - "Strange Overtones." Totally refreshing and relevant from two legends. 12. Cut Copy - "Out There on The Ice." Get me out of the discoteque. Now. 13. Kanye West - "Flashing Lights." The 24 Hour Fitness Theme Song. Totally. 14. Lil Wayne - "A Milli." I just don't get it. 15. Amadou & Miriam - "Sabali." Africa has unofficially entered the space age. Sweet and stimulating. 16. The Mae Shi - "Run to Your Grave." Singalong children's song. Just not my style. 17. Wiley - "Wearing My Rolex." The first dancey track on the list I dig. 18. Women - "Black Rice." Two thums up! 19. Vivian Girls - "Where Do You Run To." Twee girl rock. Um, no. 20. The Juan Maclean - "Happy House." Now this is a track - 12 1/2 minutes And it's dance! 21. Hercules and Love Affair - "Hercules' Theme." B.D.D.N. 22. Santogold - "Lights Out." Still not sold on Santogold. 23. Beyonce - "Single Ladies." Surprisingly better than a lot of the stuff preceding it. 24. Gang Gang Dance - "House Jam." B.D.D.N. 25. The Hold Steady - "Constructive Summer." Another rock song in the top 25? Vocals not my cup of tea, though. As you can tell, I'm not too keen on electropop dance crap. But these are first impressions. To sum, the good in the top 25: Already knew about Fleet Foxes, Deerhunter, Portishead, David Byrne and Brian Eno Bands for further exploration: The Juan Maclean, Amadou & Miriam, Women, Wiley.

:)

Oh. Hell. Yes.

Rant: The Grammy's - beggers can't be choosers; or can they?

So maybe I shouldn't bitch about the Grammy nominations announced today because a) my favorite band is up for five awards and b) I don't give a shit about a Grammy. But I have to admit my panties did bunch up when I saw that the Radiohead song chosen for nomination in the Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocals category was "House of Cards." Amazing song, and In Rainbows is up for Album of the Year. But it also makes me wonder: Why "House of Cards" of all tracks when there's "All I Need," or even more worthy, "Reckoner." Don't tell me that this has something to do with the song's use in NBA playoffs promo ads earlier this year. Or maybe I just told you. Suspicious Grammy nomination No. 2: Would M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" be up for Record of the Year if it hadn't been played in those Pineapple Express trailers all summer? How much does a song have to be crammed into the public consciousness via commercials and other advertisements before it can be nominated for a Grammy? Call me a cynic, but it's hard to take awards shows like this seriously. I do, however, get a slight kick out of the fact that a Grammy is awarded for Best Album Notes. All right, album notes writers. And how about that mouthful of a category, Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocals? I think I'll nominate that lengthy moniker for Best Worst Short Awards Category Name. Take that, Grammys.

Rolling Stone gets it right with "hot" multimedia feature

It's moments like this when I don't mind so much that Web journalism is supplanting print -- nevermind that nobody can find a job in today's news industry. For Rolling Stone's "2008 Hot List," in between crowning the "Hot New Winona Ryders" and "Hot Sci-Fi Beyonce," the magazine deemed hippie bastion Laurel Canyon in L.A. as this year's "Hot Rock Scene." Home to musicians and free spirits galore, who shack up in abodes nesting cozily in the woods and stage jam sessions that revive the spirit of residents of times past (Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne all once lived there), Laurel Canyon also claims none other than the Entrance Band as native sons. And the reason I'm happy we live in an increasingly multimedia world? Rolling Stone accompanied its online version of the Hot List's Hot Rock Scene entry with a video (scan to the bottom of the story) for which they commissioned the Entrance Band's Guy Blakeslee, Derek James and Paz Lenchantin to give a personalized tour of the Canyon. The short video proved to be a pretty cool complement to the story that offers a compelling visual and audio illustration to back up why Laurel Canyon is where it's at. I can see why the band calls it an inspiring locale. And yes, there does appear to be "ju ju everywhere." Hot, indeed.

Show review: Entrance Band @ Great American Music Hall, Nov. 23

Discovering the Entrance Band earlier this year was like finding a new religion, a rock 'n' roll religion that re-imposed upon my musical mind the staples of what rock should be: riffs and beats that sound as powerful and exciting as they instinctively feel; bona fide technical wizardry from three monster musicians; lyrics that explore life, death, love and everything else that matters; and just enough sex and drugs to be too cool to bring home to mom, unless she grew up in the '60s, of course. Now a faithful attendee of Entrance's Bay Area gatherings, the latest being a knockout show on Nov. 23, the sabbath, at the Great American Music Hall, I joined a devout flock of a hundred or so hippies and headbangers crowding the stage, flanked by a few curious stragglers along for the ride. For all the brilliance of the performance, however, I couldn't help but feel frustrated that more than half the audience left before the L.A. trio even set up their instruments, thereby missing one of the best shows of 2008. I guess co-headliner Rodriguez was a hard act to follow, as his resurgence (read his interesting story here) and own feast of '60s folk rock was satisfying enough for some. And let me make the point that Rodriguez rocks, no doubt about it. But not too many bands circa now can top the Entrance experience. And back to religion, I want to spread the word about the Entrance Band, not so much to convert but to connect. In the church of rock 'n' roll, the more the merrier. Singer/guitarist/shredder Guy Blakeslee (aka Entrance), bassist Paz Lenchantin and drummer Derek James straight up summoned spirits with the Middle Eastern rock dervish of an opener "Valium Blues," which sidetracked midway into famed Nirvana cover "Love Buzz." The Entrance repertoire that I've seen over the course of four shows doesn't pull out a bad one in the bunch. The GAMH setlist featured standouts "Still Be There" and "You're So Fine," peaking with "MLK" and an incendiary version of "Grim Reaper Blues" to close, which the band teased into a thundering climax. On an end note, Wolfgang's Vault posted Entrance's entire Noise Pop, Cafe Du Nord show, the performance that got me all up on the band's jock, on its Web site. Check it out.