I'm Back Baby!!

I'm back in Nebraska with all of the cold weather. Can you tell I'm excited?

LCD Soundsystem, Winehouse Top Village Voice's Pazz and Jop

For those who don't know, the Village Voice Pazz and Jop poll compiles a "best of" list from about 300 critics - including some from Omaha and Lincoln. Top honors this year go to LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver with Radiohead's In Rainbows (my pick for album of the year) coming in second.















Here's the Top Ten:
1. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
2. Radiohead - In Rainbows
3. M.I.A. - Kala
4. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
5. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
6. Kanye West - Graduation
7. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
8. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
9. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
10. The National - Boxer


...for those looking for Omaha connections, Bright Eyes' Cassadaga placed 60th, two slots above Britney Spears' Blackout.










Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" gets single of the year, followed by:
2. Rhinna feat. Jay-Z: "Umbrella"
3. LCD Soundsystem: "All My Friends" (my pick for song of the year)
4. Feist: "1,2,3,4"
5. Justice: "D.A.N.C.E."
6. M.I.A.: "Paper Planes"
7. Kanye West: "Stronger"
8. UGK feat. Outkast: "International Players Anthem"
9. Peter Bjorn & John: "Young Folks"
10. Battles: "Atlas"

You Going To See The Rev?

Reverend Horton Heat is playing tonight at Sokol Auditorium with Nashville Pussy opening the show. I won't be making it because I am just recovering from a mild dose of the flu. Should be a great show as both bands are immensely entertaining.

At this time, tickets are still available.

You Wanted The Best! You've Got The Best! KISS Tonight at Waiting Room!

Well, not exactly. As part of its continuing series of "Rock Movie Nights," the Waiting Room (6212 Maple, Omaha) will be playing the 70s cult classic, KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. There is no cover charge, so there is no excuse to miss this. Here is a little description of the movie I wrote for the Waiting Room's website:

In 1978 KISS was the biggest band in the world. Their commercial heights and cultural impact had only been witnessed twice before, with Elvis and The Beatles. As with both Elvis and The Beatles, KISS seemed larger than life – beyond just being a band. They were a phenomenon. After the success of their 1977 Marvel Comic where the band members were portrayed as superheroes, KISS’ manager convinced the band that movies were the best way to go to continue to advance their career. Producers Hannah-Barbera (best known for cartoons like Scooby Doo) were tasked with writing and producing a KISS movie to be premiered on national television on Halloween 1978. The band was told the film would be a “cross between Hard Days Night and Star Wars,” but it was a far cry from either one. It was titled “KISS Meets The Phantom of the Park.”

Sounds like an Academy Award winning film, right? Actually, it is considered to be so bad that it ranks up there with “Plan 9 From Outer Space” as the worst film that you have to see in order to believe. The members of KISS themselves refused to talk about the film for years because of how poorly it turned out. In 1978, the film was the highest rated TV movie ever, and continues to be an international sensation despite its less than stellar acting and plot. KISS concert footage and music is interspersed throughout the film, and it has become something of a cult classic. For this showing, we will be playing the European theatrical cut of the film which was called “KISS – Attack of the Phantoms.” Enjoy.

Podcast #22 Available Now!!

My newest podcast, #22, is the second part of my "Best CDs of 2007" show. These are the best of the best - the Top 10.

Listen to the show here.

Download the show here.

Subscribe via itunes.

Barack Obama - opening act...Conor Oberst

First off, if you need something to do this New Year's Day, head to Iowa School for the Deaf in about two hours. Bright Eyes is opening for Barack Obama at a rally.

http://iowa.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/meeting/4vp88

Secondly...
Rolling Stone has a really good article about the death of high fidelity.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17777619/the_death_of_high_fidelity

According to the article, to ensure the best quality of downloads, do the following...
From your iTunes main screen...
1. Click the Edit menu and select Preferences.
2. From the iTunes window, click the Advanced tab.
3. Click the Importing tab.
4. Click the Setting drop-down box and select Custom...
5. From the AAC Encoder window, select '320 kbps' from the Stereo Bit Rate drop-down box.
6. Click OK.