- Interview with Diablo Cody, the writer of Juno.
- Article on Head of NBC Entertainment, Ben Silverman
- Internet Movie Piracy...in Pornography
- Lot's more cool stuff to come
1. "Spring and By Summer Fall," Blonde Redhead - This is the song of the year for me. Makes you want to drive really fast and roll down the windows and smoke cigarettes and change lanes without even signaling.
2. "Fa-Fa-Fa," Datarock - These guys are Norweigan (and the album was released two years ago there) but they sound like Jamiroquai to me (that's a compliment).
3. "Four Winds," Bright Eyes - The new album doesn't match his last two, but this song is as good as anything on Lifted or I'm Wide Awake. As Becker would say, it's incendiary.
4. "Myriad Harbour," The New Pornographers - As you know, my unhealthy obsession with Neko Case usually means I gravitate toward the Pornographers' songs with her on lead vocals. But this one is so weird and cool it stands out.
5. "Cold Hands," Black Lips - Despite the garage-band sound, I get an REM vibe from this band (an they're southern!).
6. "The Underdog," Spoon -- The horns never sound right when I listen to this song, but it's still a great representative track from another great Spoon album. Can't wait to see them in Austin.
7. "Tears Dry On Their Own," Amy Winehouse - True story: At SXSW in March, I heard this song coming from one of the showcase venues on Sixth St. I popped my head in and couldn't see the stage, so I just assumed it was a middle-aged black soul singer in town for one of the retrospective shows. About a month later I almost couldn't believe it when I saw who that voice belonged to.
8. "Antichrist Television Blues," Arcade Fire - A tough choice from this album ("Keep the Car Running" is great too) but this feels a little more anthemic, like it will endure for a while.
9. "No Relation (MTV Song)," The Procession - An LA band I really like, no pretention or hipness, just fun, well-made songs.
10. "Until You Leave," Stoney - Nic Harcourt (the KCRW host) gave me this CD when I interviewed him for Esquire, and it's a really interesting mix of conventional pop songs and unconventional instruments and sounds.
11. "I Feel It All," Feist - She's more of a Sunday Morning type, but even us non-sensitive types can get sucked in by that voice.
12. "All Coming Back to Me," Intercooler - These guys are Australian I think. Shows that pure pop music doesn't have to be embarrassing to listen to.
13. "Stronger," Kanye West - And even if it is a little embarrassing, it's still worth it.
14. "Bodysnatchers," Radiohead - I paid zero dollars for this.
15. "Hunting for Witches," Bloc Party - These guys could record the "Grey's Anatomy" theme song and I'd probably buy it. Some people didn't like the second album, but I did. Especially this song.
16. "Fluorescent Adolescent," Arctic Monkeys - Another under appreciated follow-up to a deservedly appreciated first album. They'll be around a long time, I think.
17. "Hard Sun," Eddie Vedder - This whole soundtrack is fantastic (the movie too).
18. "Let's Duet," John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer - Besides being hilarious, this song really makes me miss working at the Lair. Not because it would be great to see Patrick Nagle and Emily Forbes perform it on stage (though it would). I'd just love arguing all summer long over whether we could get away with performing it on stage (answer: sadly, I don't think we could).
