As long-time readers of my journal know, I keep track of all the albums I listen to in order to come up with a fair and accurate way to rate the albums I heard. So the results of the 2009 tallies will come your way New Year's Day. But before that, I thought it would be fun to look back to 2008 and see what an extra year of time will effect my charts. So for easy reference, let's show you my top 15 as of New Year's Day 2009 (there's a post you can look back to as well!)…

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Any other questions?

PrinceMorrisseyDavid BowieKool Keith

Tue 10 Nov – White Rabbits, Glass Ghost

Say what you will about the alleged sameness of indie rock, but even without considering a single note, White Rabbits made for a distinct and interesting view. The band consists of six members, and the most consistent line-up employs two drummers, two guitarists, a bassist and a keyboard player, which at least two vocalists on each song. However, the band members switched instruments and stage positions like schoolchildren playing dress-up. “Ooh, I want to wail on a single ride cymbal for two minutes!” “OK, I'll take your guitar then.” Such musical monkeyshines…

The Beatles, that's who. With In My Life, as it happens.

Yes, the Fab Four are the first artist in my last.fm library to the mythical four digits, with Sloan and R.E.M. the only other artists to even get past 900. The scary thing is that I do not yet possess the 2009 remasters, and so once I get those (and yes, if I'm getting it, I'm plumping for the box, natch!) expect the Beatles' listens to skyrocket and the distance between they and any other artists to widen even further.

Sun 4 Oct – Liam Finn & Eliza-Jane Barnes

This performance was an anomaly in quite a few ways. For one, it was held the same day as Madison's annual marijuana legalisation rally. For another, it was a break in Liam and Eliza Jane's regular schedule, which consists of warming up for Wilco. Whereas the duo would probably get 30-45 minutes tops in their supporting role, here as headliners they had all the time they needed. Although the crowd of 40-50 people was sparse, Liam & Eliza-Jane treated them to a freewheeling, good-natured 90 minutes of upbeat pop-rock.

The…

Sun 20 Sep – Carbon Leaf, Toby Lightman, Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers

Most of the time I go to a concert, I see it as a "preaching to the congregation" event, as I go in knowing quite lot about the band or bands in question. On this rainy Sunday night, the story was different. One of my co-workers had enthused the merits of the middle band on the bill, and I figured my lack of attendance to any live shows whatsoever has a bad habit that needed to be broken. On a personal note, it was a bit of…

OK, no time to do commentaries this year, but here's my top 50 artists tabulated since August 29, 2006. UP refers to a rise in position, down means a fall. Same means, well, you get it. The ++ refers to high jumps that due to lack of data could not be accurately numbered.

some other numbers of note as of 9/1/09 12 AM CST
total # of tracks = 70,375
total # of unique artists in library = 2,055
total # of friends = 23

1 The Beatles 965 (UP 1)
2 Sloan 930 (down 1)
3 R.E.M 895 (same)…

So the hot music news of the weekend revolves around a leaked mp3 that may or may not be an advance for a new Radiohead extended play release that may or may not be available for public consumption on Monday. They're speculating on Stereogum, they're pontificating on Pitchfork. Heck, the buzz on this has been so large it woke up grandpa at the old folk's home and he dutifully told his floormates at Rolling Stone. Whether or not there is an actual Radiohead release at the end of this Rainbow (pun intended) is not the point of this blog, at…

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For me, The Rolling Stones have been a band I respected more than I actually liked. Don’t get me, they are clearly one of rock’n’roll’s most iconic bands and the legacy of the Stones will endure long after I’m dead and buried. But still, I’ve always found their recent stuff quite weak and their overall career spotty. (Admittedly, my disaffection for the blues probably doesn’t help matters in that regard.)

Regardless to how I feel, the Stones clearly have affected many, and affected some far beyond collecting albums or attending shows. Two examples of the long reach of…

OK, stream-of-conciousness post based on what I'm listening to AT THIS VERY MOMENT so apologies because this post will be EVEN MORE rambling and disjointed as my posts usually are. Ahem. OK.

Hey Neko Case… I loves ya. Not in the carnal sense, natch – I mean, I'm happily married and I'm never even met you. But all the albums I've heard of yours leave me with the sense that you've got a lot of good thoughts and ideas in your head that you're able to transfer to tape and stage quite convincingly. In fact, so much thought and…