smoosh ralph nader

Ralph Nader seems determined to hand the white house to the republicans on a silver platter every time. I think he really hates America. Please help me think of ways to get rid of him. Here's one to get things started: maybe we should just ignore him? Post a comment with your ideas.

everything's coming up milhouse

Feb 1: Park West: DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist on 8 turntables, playing all original 45s, with realtime looping using guitar looping pedals, very cool. The highlight: Stairway to Heaven with the lyrics from the Gilligan's Island theme song. Opener Kid Koala was good, though I've basically seen that set before.

Feb 2: Plaid at Abbey Pub. The music was good, didn't stay for the whole set. Opener was good, a Chicago duo, I think they were called Opus.

Feb 8: Caught Yeasayer at Schuba's, since I liked them when they opened for Shapes & Sizes. After they finished, the lights stayed off and no music came on, which usually means there's a possibility of an encore. The crowd demanded one, clapping and chanting. The lead singer came back and declared that they couldn't do an encore because they didn't know any more songs.

Feb 10: Keren Ann at Lakeshore Theater. I'd never been to Lakeshore Theater before, and I have to say I like it. It's got theater-style seating like you're seeing a play, and they're comfortable seats like a modern movie theater. But it's general admission, so you can sit anywhere you want. Keren Ann was great; I hadn't realized she plays guitar on every song. The only downside was she only played for an hour. I think it was technically a split billing with 'Dean and Britta' (who many people in the audience seemed to actually be familiar with!).

the 20 best songs of 2007

20. New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down - LCD Soundsystem
19. Smile - Lily Allen
18. Evil Bee - Menomena
17. Me & Mr. Jones - Amy Winehouse
16. Headphone Song - Junior Senior
15. The Salmon Dance - The Chemical Brothers feat. Fatlip
14. The Wrath Of Marcie - The Go! Team
13. Carol Of the Bells - The Bird and the Bee
12. 1 2 3 4 - Feist
11. Rotten Hell - Menomena
10. You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb - Spoon
9. Hip Hop a Lula - Junior Senior
8. Brandy Alexander - Feist
7. Either Way - Wilco
6. Disaster - The Besnard Lakes
5. Addicted - Amy Winehouse
4. The Underdog - Spoon
3. Paper Planes - M.I.A.
2. The People - Common
1. Happy Warriors - Jill Cunniff

the definitive 10 best albums of 2007

Sorry for the pompous title, but I get sick of all the usual suspects on everybody's year-end lists. Yeah Arcade Fire is good, but they're not THAT good. Seriously, you know there's multiple genres of music, right? And I love Radiohead, but In Rainbows just wasn't their best work. Same with LCD Soundsystem, and Springsteen. So this list represents the best music of 2007. This ain't no career achievement award.

10. Finding Forever - Common
Common brings back the usual cast of collaborators for more of that sweet Chicago hip-hop, with excellent production work by Kanye and others. And of course Common himself is in fine form on vocals. "Driving herself crazy like the astronaut lady" joins the list of awesomest silly lines. "The People" is probably the best song of the year.

9. Kala - M.I.A.
No sophomore slump, Kala delivers alot of the stuff that made Arular one of 2005's best albums, mainly unabashedly hard-hitting beats and politically-charged subject matter, delivered artfully but bluntly. While not quite as groundbreaking as her debut, Kala takes small steps such as throwing in some Bollywood references (or direct samples).

8. The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse - The Besnard Lakes
Unlike in recent years, this list is mainly people I'd already heard of. The Besnard Lakes probably offer the highest awesomeness to knownness ratio here. Where'd they come from? Canada, I think. On this, their debut album, they experiment with alot of interesting atmospheric stuff and the result is excellent.

7. Proof of Youth - The Go! Team
No sophomore slump, Proof of Youth delivers alot of the stuff that made Thunder Lightning Strike one of 2005's best albums, namely lo-fi indie rock with a healthy mob mentality. Again, not quite as amazing as the debut, but still excellent. And it turns out this is one of those albums that gets better with every listen. You haven't lived until you've seen these guys rock out live.

6. The Bird & the Bee - The Bird & the Bee
I was a little late to the party on this one, but very glad I found it. The main musical force of the duo, Greg Kurstin must really know his music theory, as he does some really great stuff with chord progressions and harmonies. Definitely going to keep an eye on these guys. Also check out the 'Please Clap Your Hands' EP, and an amazing reworking of my favorite x-mas song, Carol of the Bells, which I believe is only available through download.

5. Friend and Foe - Menomena
I don't even know what to say about this one. Technically, it's rock and roll without too many crazy frills or experimentation, but they do so much original stuff, and there's not a mediocre track on the album. Iduno, just listen to it!

4. The Reminder - Feist
Alot of people probably think this is a sophomore album since Monarch used to be impossible to find and she doesn't play it live. You should be able to download it by now, I did a long time ago. Anyway, the Reminder delivers alot of the stuff that made Let it Die one of 2005's best albums: Feist's wonderfully distinct vocals and excellent rock and pop (sometimes separate, sometimes together). It's a close call, but this might actually be the better album of the two. She mixes it up a little more here, getting a little more pop-ish than she had before with songs like 1234 and I Feel it All.

3. Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
Not much remains to be said about this one. It made alot of year-end lists, rightfully so. In fact, I wouldn't trust a list that didn't include it. Most of the time, I have to listen to a new album a couple times to get a feel for it before I realize how much I like it. A funny thing happened the first time I listened to this one (on the bus, no less). I realized I was in love with it before I even got to the end. I immediately knew I hadn't heard anything that great in a long time. Retro, throwback, you already know, just go listen to it again (and make sure your version has 'Addicted').

2. Hey Hey My My Yo Yo - Junior Senior
I was surprised to see this album on pretty much not a single year-end list. 'Mirrored' was good, this is better. To me, this is one of the best electronic albums in years. I don't even know how to describe it, except as really really really well-made dance music. If you've never heard of Junior Senior, they had one hit dance single called Move Your Feet, a great song, but nothing much came with it in terms of success. I thought this album would reboot their career, but as I say, it didn't get that much press. Nevertheless, if you like being happy (the mood of the album is very upbeat), do yourself a favor and listen to Hey Hey My My Yo Yo.

1. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - Spoon
Another album that leaves me writer-blocked, as it does so much without bending or breaking the molds of what we expect from rock music. Instead, it implements them in ways that don't seem new until you hear the music. Ten tracks, ten fantastic indie rock songs with a little punk and a lot of personality. There's no doubt this is the best album of the year.