new blog

my new blog is:

www.beadearandcalltheparamedics.tumblr.com

so head there if you want to keep up with me.

perfection

utes.

best books of 2008

these didn't necessarily come out in 2008, i just read them in 2008.

fiction
1. the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay - michael chabon
2. extremely loud and incredibly close - jonathan safran foer
3. the road - cormac mccarthy
4. crossing to safety - wallace stegner
5. the kite runner - khalid housseini

honorable mentions:
outer dark - cormac mccarthy
the power of one - bryce courtenay

nonfiction
1. (tie) what is the what - dave eggers
1. (tie) a heartbreaking work of staggering genius - dave eggers
2. long road to freedom - nelson mandela
3. jesus for president - shane claiborne
4. the zanzibar chest - aidan hartley

honorable mentions:
the devil in white city - erik larson
inside the jihad - omar nasiri
the soloist - steve lopez
jesus wants to save christians - rob bell

technically what is the what is in the fiction section, but it is based on a true person and a true story so i've thrown it in with nonfiction. good year for me and dave eggers. definitely someone who should be on your bookshelf if you're a reader.

best shows of 2008

1. broken social scene - gallivan center
2. explosions in the sky - in the venue
3. andrew bird - gallivan center
4. colour revolt - solid ground cafe
5. minus the bear - in the venue

just to clarify...

okay i put it together and here's my top 9 (i couldn't come up with a 10th):

9. coldplay - viva la something
8. sigur ros - med sud ejakdslfds jfdksl;fjewrklewfjd
7. brendan canning - something for all of us
6. bon iver - for emma, forever ago
5. girl talk - feed the animals
4. fleet foxes - fleet foxes
3. santogold - santogold
2. the new frontiers - mending
1. colour revolt - plunder, beg and curse

honorable mentions:
margot & the nuclear so and so's - animal
denison witmer - carry the weight
underoath - lost in the sound of separation

if you don't own colour revolt, better go buy it. if a.a. bondy is considered a 2009 release then it would be number 3 on the list this year.

top cds of 2008

the 2008 season of music is all but over and for me, it's all colour revolt and the new frontiers this year's. from there, the list isn't a whole lot to talk about. sadly, combined those two bands probably didn't even sell 40,000 records.

last year there were so many amazing cds that it's bled over into 2008. most of what i have listened to this year came out last year. this would also include the new frontiers cd - it pre-released about 6 months before it came out this february. 2007 cd's like bowerbirds, aa bondy, spoon and laura veirs would have worn out this year if i'd actually bought a cd. which raises an interesting point: sometimes it takes longer than a year for a good band to break out. the speed at which a band pings across the indie-scene point radar is not the end-all measure of a band. the slow ping has already killed the new frontiers, hopefully in 2009 colour revolt will start to come into their own.

for the rest of the list:

fleet foxes is in my top ten, blah, blah, blah: we don't need anyone else to write about how they've single handledly saved the universe a million times over for their stunning wonderfulness throughout the universe.

santogold is amazing and is easily in my top 10. i'm not huge on m.i.a. - santogold refines what m.i.a. does and has created a better complete project with less gaps and shortcomings. girltalk's feed the animals is so great and still makes me smile when i catch something in the mix that had previously gone unnoticed. bon iver's for emma, forever ago is in my top 10 also. aa bondy is a top 10 of this year even though that cd technically came out in 2007 and we released in 08.

margot and the nuclear so & so's new cd is really good, but i would put it in the honorable mention category, as is denison witmer's carry the weight.

so that's pretty incomplete, but it's been a sparse year. i liked ben folds' new cd too, but not enough to crack this almost top 10. sigur ros i would put in the top 10. also brendan canning and coldplay maybe.

for disappointments...

lovedrug & copeland: i'm combing these two cds beacuse they came out around the same time and both left me bummed. i had high expectations for the new lovedrug, but it was too much of the same powerfully delivered, scorching lyrics without a solid musical composition. i expected zero from copeland and it was actually pretty good so i guess it wasn't a disappointment.

cold war kids put out a decent album, but i expected more i think. i'll write about best concerts soon.

wrap up

it's almost the end of 2008 and i want to do all the lists.  best movies, best books, best concerts and best cds...so i'm not quite sure what order and all that, but the book one is going to be hard.  i've had the pleasure of reading so many incredible books in 2008.  first lindsay introduces me to dave eggars and then jimmy drops cormac mccarthy into my life and just right there we have a top books list.  also extremely loud and incredibly close and the kite runner.  dang.  this will be a tough list.  i've also stumbled upon some impressive non-fiction as well.  maybe i'll have to split the book list.  

for movies, well it's gotta be that new hulk.  easily the best movie ever made.  

oh and the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay too.  such good books.