Sometimes you eat the Bear, sometimes the Bear eats you. So says Sam Elliot. So says all of us. The bar of the Goat ate the Sheep of the Conrad, but it's the year of the Rat and my Dogs are barking.
LIST!
The Oldest Album (in terms of length of time in my library) That I Listened To This Yearthe Angel Heart soundtrack
The Album I Wanted To Love But Didn't
All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone (Explosions In The Sky) did nothing to grab me.
This Year's Favorite Albums
The Best Band I Really Should Have Discovered Years Ago
Gogol Bordello
A Book I Finally Got To
A Canticle For Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller, Jr.)
A Great Work Of Fiction I Read
Shadow Of The Torturer (Gene Wolfe)
Movies I Wanted To Love But Didn't
Pan's Labyrinth, like all of Del Toro's stuff, misses the mark. Tone, plot, violence (both real and fantastic) -- they weren't mixed properly. The souffle did not rise. Also, Corpse Bride is a huge disappointment.
The Best Time At A Movie Theater
Plan 9 From Outer Space and The Apple at the So Bad It's Good Film Festival monthly screening. It made me late for work the next day, but it was a great time in a shitty theater. The Apple must be seen by all to be understood.
This Year's Favorite Films
Ratatouille, Once, Hot Fuzz. These are my trifecta, all near-perfect. Of rentals, Funny Games (a really painful film that HATES its audience and their expectations) had the most impact -- and Take Care Of My Cat is very sweet.
This Year's Favorite Songs
New(ish) songs:
- "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" (Jarvis Cocker)
- "Bathtime In Clerkenwell" (The Real Tuesday Weld)
- "Still Alive" (Jonathon Coulton -- sorry for the geeky, predictable nature of that)
- "Say It To Me Now" (Glen Hansard)
- Track 1 of disk 2 of the Tsuji Ayano compilation (it's in Japanese, dunno what to call it)
- "Strange Chameleon" (The Pillows)
Sad clown!
Old songs:
KC did not listen to old music this year. No good goddam KC.
This Year's Song
"Avalanche" (Thea Gilmore): rumbling, angry, under-boiling passion behind a calm veneer.
The Funniest Thing I Saw
Internet meme junky.
Everyone drifts here, all the time. It's impossible to drive straight.
Best Decision Of The Year
Quit my job/went back to school.
Epiphany Of The Year
Living according to others' expectations will suffocate me, yet here I still drown.
Most Embarrassing Addiction
I really don't owe you this, but...
This year the Goat did almost nothing. No excuses: life happened. But here's a list -- a taste of things to come. A stocking stuffer!
The Oldest Album (in terms of length of time in my library) That I Listened To This Year
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Albums I Wanted To Love But Didn't
Neon Bible (The Arcade Fire), Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (Aphex Twin)
This Year's Album
Metallic K.O. (Iggy And The Stooges)
The Best Band I Really Should Have Discovered Years Ago
The Grateful Dead
A Book I Finally Got To
The Short-Timers (Gustav Hasford)
A Great Work Of Fiction I Read
Watchmen (Alan Moore)
Movies I Wanted To Love But Didn't
Inland Empire (David Lynch), Valentino (Ken Russell)
The Best Time At A Movie Theater
Grindhouse
This Year's Favorite Films
Zodiac and No Country For Old Men are mesmeric. I can't rank them yet. Rented films I fell in love with are Roman Polanski's Tess and My Bloody Valentine, a slasher pic from the 80s.
This Year's Song
"Never Comes The Day" (The Moody Blues). Hippie folderol, but it touched on a year of growth (or did it?).
This Year's Favorite Songs
2007 releases:
"Photograph" (Air)
"No Cars Go" (The Arcade Fire)
"Tonight" (Jarvis Cocker)
"Hold Tight" (Death Proof soundtrack)
"Someone Great" (LCD Soundsystem)
"Ever Present Past" (Paul McCartney)
"Mistaken For Strangers" (The National)
"Bros" (Panda Bear)
"Young Folks" (Peter, Bjorn And John -- a carryover from last year)
"Turn On Me" (The Shins)
Old songs:
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" (The Box Tops)
"Sunshine Of Your Love" (Live Cream: Volume 2)
"Why" (Yoko Ono)
"Shame Shame Shame" (Shirley And Company)
"Raw Ramp" (T. Rex)
"Winterlong" (Neil Young)
The Funniest Thing I Saw On TV
A small girl licking a pickle on The Soup (E! Television).
A New Skill I Took Up
Nothing new. But I get better at two things: interviewing, and playing guitar.
Best Decisions Of The Year
Quitting two jobs; interviewing for the one I have now; not buying a condo.
Epiphany Of The Year
I'm a generous person.
A roundup.
Pavement
Pavement is a prefab cult band. Because the music is verbose and deliberately throwaway, it's model college rock. As slacker-dandies given to lo-fi snobbery, they're very clever. I used to hate them. Today the rubble is warm and inviting. And that makes it fun. (Hear: "Kennel District," Wowee Zowee (1995).)
Pixies
With plenty of cheek, cactus and Dali, theirs is a ghost-town approach. (Hear: "Havalina," Bossanova (1990).)
Radiohead
Ten years on, the sound of OK Computer (1997) is full and bright. People hoped this would be their next record (not just Radiohead's). Believers sang like Thom Yorke. They couldn't wait for Jonny Greenwood to play the guitar again.
But the band dulled. More and more, contrivance is boss -- and pure sonic fascination has its rewards, but not at the expense of melody or good old-fashioned hooks. Today our glum chums are mad at Tony Blair, and they're still bent on being abstruse. However, In Rainbows (2007) is something else.
I continue to listen. (Hear: "Fake Plastic Trees," The Bends (1995).)
Stereolab
Patisserie for commies: They make furniture music that smells like vinyl. (Hear: "Les Yper Yper Sound," Cybele's Reverie EP (1995).)
JC - 2007-11-13 - 11:31:18 PST