BEST ALBUMS of 2008

Everybody's gotta have a best of, right? Thanks for reminding me, Erin...

BEST OF THE YEAR: Oracular Spectacular by MGMT

Close runner-ups, i won't even try to rate them:

In Ghost Colours by Cut Copy
Feed the Animals by Girl Talk
Only by the Night by Kings of Leon
We Started Nothing by The Ting Tings
Apocalypso by The Presets

NEWSFLASH Michael Jackson is not dying

As if anyone believed him, Michael Jackson is not dying. He's not even sick. Okay, not that kind of sick. He's prepping for a World Tour! Can this be a britney-esque comeback?

Even adults have fun at work

To all of you who are afraid of your boss, i just looked across the office and saw that the Vice President of my agency is watching this and singing/dancing along right now. There is a lot of air drumming going on.

And We're Live...Concert sales are up

Check it: The concert industry is on the rise!! While the recession has threatened everything (besides the whiskey industry.. looks like people need their medicine), music lovers have turned to their favorite live performances more than ever.. keep it coming!!

According to Billboard Magazine, concert sales grossed just under $4 Billion worldwide in 2008, up 13% from last year... crazy. Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna topped the list of total sales.. (i managed to miss all those shows, unfortunately..)

So what does this mean? i doubt we're safe from a loss in ticket sales now that the recession is escalating, but it's still nice to know that despite financial troubles, people still need their music. like i've said before, music is medicine.

Save Michael

Growing up near Neverland Ranch may have prompted me to have a soft spot for Michael Jackson, which is why I don't want to believe this. What do we think? Is Michael really dying?



reports have said that Michael is half blind and needs a lung transplant. hm.

yea right.



on another note, have you ever seen this music video? The video that he and Janet made for Scream might be the best ever. it cost $7M to make, and i believe michael's makeup alone took $3000. it makes sense: these days you could produce something like that easily with easy to use computer programs. this thing, in 1995, way surpasses its time, and reigns as possibly the most expensive music video ever made.

poor michael.

Don't get any ideas...

Music industry drops effort to sue song swappers..

Today, The Recording Industry Association of America announced that rather than suing music pirates, it will just try to get rid of a way for users to actually illegally download music!

In the article, i quote:

"The move ends a controversial program that saw the industry sue more than 30,000 people since 2003 for swapping songs online. The recording association said Friday that its new efforts with several leading U.S. Internet service providers would provide a meaningful deterrent, so it will wind down its legal assault. The group says it will still carry out cases already filed. The decision was first reported in The Wall Street Journal."

Now, just because you won't be sued.. DONT start downloading a bunch! seriously, unless it's that rare remix or some song that you just NEED to hear and can't find it.. pay the $.99.. do you remember when albums were $16-20? when everything else around us is going up in price, just think about how it's actually pretty great that albums are around $9.99 on ITunes..

Local Bands Rule: Room For a Ghost

I had the pleasure of hearing a few local bands the other night at Kimo's on Polk Street, a great little bar with an upstairs stage... My friends Jesse, Mike and Ben are the incredible talent of indie rock band Room For a Ghost.. they were the second band of four-- Mosshead, The Monarchs, and The Slow Trucks also played..

They played a short set, and have been playing just instrumentally at the moment, but those guys can really play.. i especially like the song "Burn".. listen in on their Myspace website.. although their sans-vocal sound is only temporary, it's refreshing to hear great musicians.. so much of the time a singer will take over the stage, losing the effect of the actual instruments..

Jesse's on bass, and besides wearing amazing snakeskin boots, he does this cool thing where he'll play with his back facing the crowd (just to switch it up a bit)...

Ben is on guitar and doesn't miss a beat.. i've heard through the grapevine that guitar playing is just one of many musical talents.. you can tell.

Mike is on the drums - i told him in my tipsy voice, "you are mesmerizing", because his intensity mixed with his long arms just draws you to him.. also, my friend Morgan mentioned that at one point he was fixing something on the bass drum while still playing with the other hand, and then switched to fixing with that hand and playing with the other... no barriers in his way.

they are in transition with a singer, and hopefully we'll get to hear the likes of her soon!! check them out if you can.. especially if you want to crash a house party with me tonight in Daly City to see them...

Next shows:

Tonight: House Show in Daly City w/ Bears Bears Bears, O Lucky Man, and Evacuee

1/4: Annie's Social Club w/Toiling Midgets and TBA

1/22: Bottom of the Hill (yay!) w/ TBA

2/1: The Crepe Place in Santa Cruz w/ Thorns of Life and Street Eaters

*wanna come to Santa Cruz with me to see them/go to Cafe Brazil (home of the famous Acai Bowl) my favorite place in the world?

A Housewife to Cher...hilarious.

You too can go from a housewife to Cher... just a few strands of human hair away.

One Sweet Day at the Mezzanine....

Hey all you girls and boys of the 90s R&B generation.....

those Boyz II Men are back.. definitely not boyz anymore, and playing a show at the Mezzanine on January 18... the influence to so many R&B groups such as KC & JoJo, Blackstreet, and even Jagged Edge, Boyz II Men made every girl weak with their sexy and soulful harmonies...

bottom line, i'm going. i may have been on the young side when i listened to Boyz II Men (i was more of the KC & JoJo era), and now that i listen to the lyrics again, i was definitely too young to engage in such things as the lyrics imply... but i will be there to be serenaded by those well-dressed men... hmmm will it be oldies or newsies?

My Christmas List

Dear Santa,

Please drop tickets on my doorstep for the following concerts, as i have no ways of getting them besides fluttering my eyes:

12/11 (TONIGHT) . Not So Silent Night at ORACLE arena
12/12 . The Killers at the Warfield
12/13 . The Ting Tings at 330 Ritch
12/18 . Tiesto at Ruby Skye
12/31 . Justice in Chicago please please please and a plane ticket? one way is fine.
1/7 . courtside Lakers tickets at the Warriors
1/18 . Boyz II Men at the Mezzanine

love,
dc

Why music is important.

I need music.

I have had this realization time and time again, but seriously, folks.

there are the days i sit at my desk with a cluttered mind, and the only medicine to straighten things out is music. i swear. turn on cut copy when you are having writers block at work and the pulsing beat will smooth everything out.

think of pre-homecoming game mixes for the jockiest of jocks. think of sad mixes for the emo-iest of emo. think of mariah carey or britney spears when the birthday sleepovers got boring. think of sublime when someone finds a guitar. and what about that song that makes you cry every time you hear it?

"Music's the medicine of the mind." -John A. Logan (i have no idea who John A. Logan is)

Don't do this at Work.

It's official, no matter how much sleep you get or coffee you drink in the morning, James Brown pandora radio is not the choice music at 9:00am.

Bwooooooooooschh You Rock!

After a full afternoon of Guitar Hero yesterday, and already hearing half the songs at work today (top gun radio perhaps?), i decided to do a little research...

Guess what? DJ Tiesto broke the secret that there will be a DJ-focused Guitar Hero game next year!!

First reaction: cool! all my favorite songs! time for a homemade dance party!

Second reaction: how in the heck are they gonna do this???? turntables? maybe i'll just stick to DDR for my techno fix. anyway, here's the article.

what do we think... destined for euro success? or is guitar hero taking it too far?

Fleetwood Fridays meet MGMT Fridays at ole PPC...

So, there's this tradition (okay, i started it) at my office that we play the Fleetwood Mac Pandora station every friday in honor of the weekend... It may be the best classic rock selection possible, and since Fleetwood Mac continues to be my favorite band of all time (no, really), it makes me really appreciate my job.. especially during winethirty.*

BUT- for the first time ever, last Friday my mind was wandering and i just couldn't get in the groove, so i changed it to MGMT fridays. WELL WELL WELL..... take a minute to listen to Little Lies and then listen to Electric Feel, with an open mind. Humor me: similarities? Could it be that one of the newest and greatest music groups of 2008 has a Fleetwood Mac influence? Stevie Nicks' sorcerer robes and MGMT's psychedelic outfits...similar instruments...drug use in general...

i think i'm on to something. and if i'm not, appreciate both bands anyway. Seeing Stevie Nicks in concert when i was 16 was one of the best musical experiences i've had. MGMT has a lot more to come after their debut album, and who knows? if they ignore their lyric, "live fast, die young" from "Time to Pretend" and choose to be around for a while, they could be one of the next greatest..

*winethirty is 4:30 in the afternoon when we open a bottle of wine at work. usually follows a stressful event.