slow hello to 2007

wow, tonight was one of those lost nights, willful, almost forced, procrastination in the face of all the things i ought to do, people i should call. but work today was perpetual motion, and refreshingly un-ADD, so i guess every yin has its yang. thank god parish called, reminding me that i ought to get some sort of handle on whatever the fuck i will be doing in new orleans in, um, 4 days or so. of course, updating my damn blog at 1 am is probably the last thing i need to be doing, but it's already the 2nd (well, 3rd) and the geek in me just couldn't stand it any longer. i don't even have the tolerance to read that many year-end lists any more but i'll be damned if i can resist the urge to make them. i'm just wired that way.

so first, the records and stuff, based primarily on what i listened to the most.

varsity:
* jennifer o'connor, "over the mountain, across the valley..."--i defy anyone i know to dislike this record. no relation. i wish.
* mission of burma, "the obliterati."--more vital than ever. maybe even their best. clint conley is almost as old as my dad, but he can eat crackers in my bed any day. ahem.
* portastatic, "be still please"--a grower, but perhaps the best yet? touching, rocking, delicate, honest, and angry.
* neko case, "fox confessor brings the flood"--singular and gorgeous.
* the thermals, "the body, the blood, the machine"--i've always dug them, and felt that hutch harris's turns of phrase were overlooked (when he wasn't being totally dumb, of course), but it's like their first two records never existed. giant leap forward on every level. i know that a punk rock sorta-concept record about a future american theocracy sounds pretty bad on paper, but BELIEVE IT.

jv:
* the blow, "paper television"--club bangers for introverts. could almost have fallen prey to cloying twee navel-gazing, but doesn't. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT.
* the hold steady, "boys and girls in america"--i can understand why people don't like 'em, but well, i do.
* tv on the radio, "return to cookie mountain"--i know, how cliche, right? except that it really is that impressive. the first 6 or 7 songs at least. wounded and sharp.
* the plastic constellations, "crusades"--unlikely faves, perhaps, but i turn to this album all the time. it single-handedly got me through finals in may, and many a run since then. heavy as fuck, hooky as hell, and idealistic. that sounds horrible, but whatevs. trust me. even if you don't, you should still read their guitarist's blog, which has probably been the most consistently entertaining thing i've read all year: pureheartedwarriors.blogspot.com. you should start with the george wendt entry, but really, it's all pretty great. deftly uses irony without being "ironic."
* the phoenix, "it's never been like that"--another sort-of grower. different from their signature sound but somehow their strongest album in its consistency. i don't know what the fuck mr. sophia coppola is singing about, but the songs are so elegantly catchy. i agree with the last paragraph of what this guy says.
* girl talk, "night ripper"--fuck the backlashers, this is the funnest. any record that can sample x-ray spex, beyonce, elastica, biggie, sonic youth, the temptations and pavement in a coherent, danceable whole, has my heart. doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eyes, either.
* the pernice brothers, "live a little"--unlike most people, i liked the last record ok, and found this one a grower, teenage-fanclub-aping "somerville" aside. but i came around, and this might be their best. perfect melodies, literate lyrics that should be so pretentious but aren't. and even if they were, well, i think "grudge fuck (2006)" would equalize things.
* someone still loves you boris yeltsin, "broom"--under the radar fave, like a less jaded beulah. from columbia, missouri! fave song--"pangea"--continental drift as relationship metaphor? love it.

and not forgetting: tapes 'n' tapes, "the loon", camera obscura, "let's get out of this country" (minus the overly connie-francis-y songs), channels, "waiting for the next end of the world", sonic youth, "rather ripped", ghostface killah, "fishscale" (i know that comes off as "token hip-hop record for the white girl", but 1) i don't claim to be a hip-hop expert and 2) while i dig lupe and the clipse, et al., and while there is a great deal of art to be found therein, this one has had the most staying power), the evens, "get evens", the life and times, "the magician", 50 foot wave, "free music."

favorite songs/"singles":
* beyonce, "check on it"--is this from last year? whatevs, so loping and catchy. love the sputtering snare drum.
* ghostface killah--"shaky dog." whoa. so many narrative details, it's like an epic poem. i direct you to this guy, who actually managed to summarize it pretty well. (random side note: he's also done some hilariously snarky takedowns of this year's sadly sub-par season of "gilmore girls".)
* beck, "no complaints"--the album is more than uneven, but this might be his best song since "sea change." just basic.
* the blow, "parentheses"--if something in the deli aisle should make you cry, of course i'll put my arm around you and i'll walk you outside, through the sliding doors, why would i mind? see, it has me quoting lyrics like a 14-year old on livejournal, meaning it's a GOOD SONG.
* snow patrol, "eyes open"--i hate their ballads, like any self-respecting girl, but i can't hate this one. the riffage, the winsome, clever-enough, self-deprecating lyrics? i'm sold.
* neko case, "the needle has landed"--mournful and melodic, somewhere in-between girl-group and folk-rock. with heavenly background vocals. i'm a giant fan of visqueen, but, maybe "houston" aside, before this record, i would never have thought that rachel flotard could sound so spectral.
* tv on the radio, "i was a lover"--my nocturnal urban claustrophobic stress jam. you can imagine my suprise when i heard it on the radio in merriam, kansas. good on them.

best nostalgia records for indie fangirls--the lilys, flin flon, the delgados bbc sessions

album slept on last year that i am obsessed with now: the national, "alligator". seriously, we're all so inundated with data these days that great things get lost in the tide. i got this last year, but didn't "get it" until one day in november, at the coffee shop, when i should have been studying, when it hit me HARD. epic and bleak and funny and gorgeous.

band i am now embarrassed i had a boner for: human television

best shows:
* broken social scene at lollapallooza--magic. i won't say any more because it would just make you feel bad.
* the hold steady at the metro--i was happy, they were on, and sean na-na made ridiculous jokes and played "princess and the pony." what more could i ask?
* portastatic at schubas--electric. they played pretty much every song i would have wanted to hear, and that's a lot of songs. except "spying on the spies." fuck a john mayer. if somebody wrote a song like that about me, i would crumble.

non musically...

best meal: the all-day foodstravaganza in new york that began with dim sum (and a sesame/red bean ball, AND a scoop of almond cookie ice cream at "the chinatown ice cream factory,") and ended with korean food, and then failed to die with belgian pomme frites. i love you, jess. (in my defense, i had walked miles and was totally hormonal. and, um, it was all amazing.) close second (tie): vietmamese at the tank with christine; the funnel cakes at pitchforkfest

best store: target

best product at target: wine cube

best fruits: (tie) pluots and clementines

best evidence that america is going to hell: (tie) watching two girls in the space of five minutes take their fucking lap dogs into the bathroom while standing in line for the ladies' room at o'hare; my burrito-eating bet with schad

best times: NYC with lauren and jess (and loren and ben and tara and thomas and julie and ellis) , watching "curb your enthusiasm" with my tipsy mom, my KC friends' visit in may, any of the thursday night outings last spring, lollapalloza with kastrup and jen, any outing to piece with loren, the inexplicably successful three days of partying around halloween (EDIT: and at work after day two of said partying, when i was (again) inexplicably hyper and laughed more and harder then i ever have in my adult life, owing to schad and the incredibly crazy people i work with), south bend trip with the fam, getting hugged by john darnielle

i need to go to bed. i'm leaving out a ton of everything because, ultimately, despite some speed bumps, it was a GREAT YEAR.

but, oh! resolutions:

1. be more confrontational
2. psyche myself out less
3. procrastinate less
4. be a better friend
5. get my fucking refund from fucking united airlines

ha. that's it! happy new year, and i'd better see you on friday!