three-posts-in-three-days shocker!

--In my Neko post below, I neglected to mention the wonderful artist she has for her posters. We bought one from her back in Toronto in 2006 and got it signed by the artist, Neko, and Neko's dog(!); it hangs prominently in our living room. She (the artist)even remembered Sheila and I from then and signed this year's poster to us (Neko unfortunately didn't come out to sign). Behold the works of Judge!

--BTW, did anybody else catch Neko and Kelly on Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Sunday? Jaw-dropping.

--totally loving the new Destroyer CD; who'da thunk I would be such a Dan Bejar fan this late in the game? I think his Hello, Blue Roses project deserves much more love than its been getting as well.
Update:I stand slightly corrected.

--playlists firming up, should be some up by week's end. Lost on Thursday!

Which TV Dog is Your Ideal Pet?

Created by BuddyTV

le sigh...Neko in Ithaca 26 Jan 2008

I'm not much of a concert goer these days, but two in one week make me stand up and cheer. The Fiery Furnaces were last Monday at the Bug Jar, and while I expected their helter-skelter arrangements and dizzying tunes-within-tunes, it was still great to finally experience them live like they are meant to be listened to. Plus, I was gratified how accessible they were afterwards.

But the real gem was of course Neko Case last night in the State Theater in Ithaca. It was my sixth time seeing her in some fashion, a record for me, and it was the best, maybe because she was test driving some new material and the element of surprise was magic. I was all set to post a setlist that I snagged when I saw over on the Porchlight forums that she was a bit tentative on the new material and someone posted the setlist from the Tarrytown show with a disclaimer. If you're adventurous enough, go troll for it, but I can tell you she did five new songs, all bursting with finalized potential, and three covers: Tom Petty's "Listen To Her Heart"(!), Harry Nilsson's "Don't Forget Me"(!!), and Sparks' "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth"(!!!). The new album is supposed to be out next January, which cannot etc. Sheila and I had front row seats, and outside of the occasional expected asshole ("Marry me, Neko!"), it was just about perfect.

Playlists for February firming up, stay tuned....

Best of 2007: the shortlist

Just dropping by to give the full list of the SR's best of the year:

1. Prefab Sprout, Steve McQueen (Legacy Edition)
2. The Mendoza Line, 30 Year Low
3. The New Pornographers, Challengers
4. various, I'm Not There soundtrack
5. Broken Social Scene presents Kevin Drew, Spirit If...
6. Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam

As I mentioned on the air, those records caused me to have an even greater appreciation of each artist (in the case of the soundtrack, the music of Bob Dylan) and to actually go back to previous works and reevaluate them in a new light. Higher praise for an artist's newest release I can't imagine. In the case of BSS and the New Ps, they also provided my favorite concert moments of the year as well, with I'm Not There being my favorite movie. Kudos all around.

I've got a small list of some more honorable mentions to come over the weekend. For now, here's a couple of upcoming playlists:
1/14: Hello Blue Roses, Cinammon Girl (Neil Young tribute), The Fiery Furnaces
1/28: Vampire Weekend, Jason Collett
2/5: Apostle of Hustle, Los Campesinos, Brian Joseph Davis
Additions and corrections forthcoming. No show on 1/21, cuz I'm finally going to see the Fiery Furnaces, actually coming to our fair city at the Bug Jar. I've always heard that you haven't fully understood them thil you catch them on stage, and this is as good a time as any. More soon...