My Year In Lists

So, lets finish up our music roundup for 2008.

You can find my top albums of 2008 here. In this post, we're going to look at my top eps, best compilations, top songs, and some other shit. So let's go.

The top 4 eps of 2008:
4)Little Boots-Arecibo
3)Animal Collective-Water Curses
2)Be Your Own Pet-Get Damaged
1)Fleet Foxes-Sun Giant
I really didn't listen to that many eps this year, so this list is a tad bit incomplete. Fleet Foxes Sun Giant ep would probably still be the number one choice though.


The Top 7 Compilations/Mixtapes:
7)The Long Blondes-Singles
6)Diplo & Santogold-Top Ranking Mixtape
5)Various Artists- Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump: Original Heavyweight Afrobeat Highlife & Afro-Funk
4)Esau Mwamwaya + Radioclit-"The Very Best" Mixtape
3)Arthur Russell-Love Is Overtaking Me
2)Jay Reatard- Singles 06-07 & Jay Reatard-Matador Singles 08
1)Wale- The Mixtape About Nothing
D.C. rapper Wale put together a mixtape that is devoted to 90s sitcom Seinfeld. Yes, you read that right...Seinfeld has entered rap culture. It is fantastic. The highlight of the mixtape is "The Kramer", on which Wale samples Michael Richards infamous rant at L.A. comedy club The Laugh Factory to make a thought-provoking thesis on the use of the N-word. Also, there is a confusing/out of place/pathetic cameo by Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfuss that should derail the mixtape completely, but luckily doesn't last long enough to do much harm.


The Most Disappointing Album Of The Year:
For something to be disappointing there had to have been a build up of hope prior to it's release that made the albums disappointment all the more painful. So out the door goes Weezer's Red Album because I don't think anyone thought that would be good. Out goes The Raveonettes Lust, Lust, Lust because I gave up all hope for them after I heard "Aly, Walk With Me". This really comes down to three choices: Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak, Scarlett Johansson's Anywhere I Lay My Head or Philip Jeck's Sand. Jeck's album was completely built up for me as being this masterpiece, yet when I heard it, I couldn't make heads or tails of what I was listening to. Kanye's 4th album was coming off of his highly enjoyable Graduation, so, yeah, it had a lot to live up to...but this was almost like Kanye wasn't even trying. The first time I heard "Love Lockdown" I couldn't believe it was Kanye...not because he was singing, but because it sounded so...fake. To it's credit though, 808s & Heartbreak does contain the awesome "Robocop", so it can't be a huge disappointment with that.

No, the most disappointing album of the year is Scarlett Johansson's Tom Waits cover record Anywhere I Lay My Head. Note, it's not the worst album of the year, just the most disappointing. I love Scarlett...and Tom Waits is my favorite artist of all time...but the two of them together just doesn't work...even with a David Bowie appearance hidden on "Falling Down". The album isn't unlistenable...it's just unremarkable...and that's something that a Tom Waits inspired album should never be. Anywhere I Lay My Head should have been a thought-provoking journey to a world where pin-up models could sing the blues and femme fatales fall victim to the same desperation as the drunk on the street. Instead I felt absolutely nothing from this album. That's why it's a disappointment.

The Worst Album Of The Year (that I heard):
This would easily be Weezer's third self-titled album, Weezer (also known as The Red Album). Here's an excerpt from a review I wrote for the album earlier in 2008:

I can see it now: I'd compare Weezer's Red Album to the regurgitated food the cow re-chews on it's way from it's 1st stomach to it's 2nd stomach. If you think it's as good as the first time, then I'm sorry my friend, but you enjoyed cow vomit. Calling it "Pork and Beans" doesn't fool anyone.

And I was going easy on the album there. Red Album is an attempt to revisit the magic that Weezer had on their first self-titled album (The Blue Album), but they don't even come close, falling far below even the level of quality on their second self-titled album (The Green Album). The songs range from "could be decent if it wasn't by Weezer" ("The Greatest Man That Ever Lived") to "oh my God that is horrible make it stop make it stop" ("Heart Songs"). Also, in the case of "Heart Songs", I think I'd vote that in as easily the worst song of the year. It's only fitting that Weezer gets wrong a song that is all about nostalgia, on an album that is attempting to rely on our nostalgia for anyone to give two shits. Weezer...it's time to retire. Go away, and stop ruining my good memories of you.



Most Overrated Album Of 2008:
TV On The Radio-Dear Science.
It wasn't bad at all, but I didn't think it was anywhere near as good as Return To Cookie Mountain. Some people get all obsessive about these guys, and yeah, they are good, but this was not album of the year. Sorry.


Most Underrated Album Of 2008:
Nico Muhly-Mothertongue
This album is so underrated, that I didn't even include it on my top albums of the year list! Nico Muhly's Mothertongue starts off with an avant-garde classical piece that evokes the work of Philip Glass. Over the rest of the work, Muhly echos Bjork, Steve Reich...and folk music. It's quite an experience, and perfect for fans of minimalist classical music.

Best Album I Discovered Because Of Taylor Long:
My former editor, and the mind behind the T-Sides music blog, Taylor Long has a tendency to suggest albums to me that I never would have heard elsewhere. Last year she brought Patrick Cleandenim's excellent Baby Come Home to my attention. This year it was Dengue Fever's Venus On Earth. Dengue Fever combine Cambodian pop music with American indie rock, to create an album that almost seems like a piece of alternative history. Most of the album is sung in Khmer, the main language of Cambodia (with a few songs in English), but don't let that scare you away. The album is terrific.

Best Album I Discovered Because Of Nick Psillas:
Like Taylor, Nick Psillas, of the band The Broosevelts also has passed my way many music suggestions. The best album he told me about this year was Little Joy's self titled debut, Little Joy. Little Joy is a side project of Fabrizio Moretti of The Strokes and Rodrigo Amarante of Los Hermanos. As a fan of both those bands, this album represents almost a dream pairing, but I was still skeptical. The last Strokes album left me pondering the need for a band like the Strokes anymore, and the last time Los Hermanos did anything new was 2005. Could this just be another disaster? Well, obviously it isn't. This is what the 3rd Strokes album should have sounded like. This is the return to form we wanted. Now let's see how these rumors of a new Strokes album in 2009 turn out.

The Top 60 Songs of 2008:
60)"Time To Pretend"-MGMT
59)"The Vowels Pt. 2"-Why?
58)"Dance, Dance, Dance"-Lykke Li
57)"Run To Your Grave"-The Mae Shi
56)"In The New Year"-The Walkmen
55)"House Jam"-Gang Gang Dance
54)"Robocop"-Kanye West
53)"Saved By Old Times"-Deerhunter
52)"The Next Messiah"-Jenny Lewis
51)"Kids"-MGMT

50)"Walcott"-Vampire Weekend
49)"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)"-Beyonce
48)"Don’t Stop The Music"-Rihanna
47)"The Rip"-Portishead
46)"Paperback Suicide"-Evangelicals
45)"Sentimental Heart"-She & Him
44)"The Modern Leper"-Frightened Rabbit
43)"Too Drunk To Dream"-Magnetic Fields
42)"L.E.S. Artists"-Santogold
41)"Kiss With A Fist"-Florence and the Machine

40)"Lately"-The Helio Sequence
39)"A&E"-Goldfrapp
38)"The Next Time Around"-Little Joy
37)"Which Song?"-Max Tundra
36)"Oh My God"-Ida Maria
35)"Fatalist Palmistry"-Why?
34)"Shut Up And Let Me Go"-The Ting Tings
33)"The Kramer"-Wale
32)"Black Albino Bones"-Fucked Up
31)"Bete Noir"-The Gutter Twins


30)"Trolley Friend"-Pattern Is Movement
29)"Soul On Fire"-Spiritualized
28)"All I Wanna Do"-Jaimie Lidell
27)"Where Do You Run To?"-Vivian Girls
26)"Teenagers"-Department of Eagles
25)"Strange Overtones"-David Byrne & Brian Eno
24)"Take My Love With You"-Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves
23)"Shake That Devil"-Antony & The Johnsons
22)"My Year In Lists"-Los Campesinos!
21)"Eraser"-No Age


20)"I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me"-Annie
19)"Easy Does It"-Bonnie “Prince” Billy
18)"Gobbledigook"-Sigor Ros
17)"Winter"-The Dodos
16)"Skinny Love"-Bon Iver
15)"Blue Ridge Mountains"-Fleet Foxes
14)"Lights Out"-Santogold
13)"Mykonos"-Fleet Foxes
12)"Lover’s Day"-TV On The Radio
11)"You! Me! Dancing!"-Los Campesinos!


10)"Becky"-Be Your Own Pet
9)"Nous Tombons Dans Elle"-Dominique Leone
8)"I’m Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You"-The Black Kids
7)"Constructive Summer"-The Hold Steady
6)"Sweet Darlin’"-She & Him
5)"American Boy"-Estelle (Featuring Kanye West)
4)"Put On"-Young Jeezy and Kanye West
3)"The Nun’s Litany"-Magnetic Fields
2)"Oxford Comma"-Vampire Weekend
1)"Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!"-Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Ok, that's it for the music of 2008! I'd like to do a movie list, but I'm not sure when I'll get that up. Hopefully soon. Thanks for reading!

Top Albums Of 2008

For the first time in a long time, I actually struggled with picking my top ten albums of the year.

That's a good thing, I guess. When so many great albums are released in a year, it's the listeners and music fans who win. My job should be this hard all the time.

Of course, by limiting this list to ten, I've left off many deserving albums. It was originally a list of 30 that I had to par down. Sadly, this left no room for some releases that everyone else on the internet has been hailing as the "best albums of the year". Whatever. I think these albums are better.


I now present:

DANTE'S INFERNAL RACKET'S
TOP ALBUMS OF 2008

10)The Hold Steady- Stay Positive (Vagrant)

Many bands wear their influences on their sleeves. The Hold Steady just won't stop talking about them.

The first line in album opener "Constructive Summer" bellows: "Me and my friends are like/the drums on 'Lust For Life'". The band then goes on to reference The Dillinger Four, The Clash, and Husker Du, all before getting out of the first song.

Of course this makes perfect sense considering what else The Hold Steady sing about. On Stay Positive they sing stories about people who are stuck in adolescence, people who are confused spiritually, and people who aren't sure about where life is taking them. They sing songs about people who are "stuck at the mill until [they] die" and people who smoke in the woods with "townies". They sing songs about the youth in red states, the sing songs about the youth in the suburbs. All they know of the cities is what they've been taught by Led Zeppelin and Bruce Springsteen. All they can do (to quote Pulp) is "dance and drink and screw/cause there's nothing else to do."

But unlike on their past albums, The Hold Steady take this a step further. Stay Positive is their most grown up album, not in a sense of being more mature, but rather in being old enough to look back and see what's happened. No, the band is still as confused and discouraged as they always are, but now they see what they went through happening to the next generation, and they want to help them through it. The next generation needs to stay optimistic, to think positive. Stick to your goals, and remember your influences and you'll get out of the rut of being a Hold Steady character. After all, The Hold Steady did. Raise a toast to Saint Joe Strummer indeed.

Best Songs: "Constructive Summer", "Stay Positive", "Magazines"

9)Portishead-Third (Mercury/Island)

It seems like forever since Portishead released an album. 11 years in fact, and it feels like they haven't been gone at all.

There is something about Portishead that makes them seem so haunting and bleak, and yet at the same time, so...upper class. When listening to Third, I get the feeling like I'm sitting at a British aristocracy dinner banquet. The music just fits with the ambiance in the background as we eat and discuss the latest business in front of the House of Lords. I assume British aristocratic gatherings aren't anything fitting of a Portishead album, but it just gives me that feel. Maybe I've seen King Ralph too many times.

Beth Gibbons voice calls back the likes of Jackie DeShannon and Nico. On top of that, Portishead approach Third with a very 60's pop feel, while still maintaining their identifiable sound; like if Burt Bacharach wrote songs for Iron Butterfly. Third isn't a retread of Dummy, and for that we're all relieved. After an eleven year wait for a new album, it's reassuring to know that Portishead aren't ready for the 'classic 90's bargain bin' yet, and I hope their fourth album takes a little quicker to make than their third.

Best Songs: "The Rip", "Machine Gun", "Hunter"

8)The Magnetic Fields- Distortion (Nonesuch)

It's 90's week here at Dante's Infernal Racket! First Portishead and now Stephin Merritt's catchy-pop outlet The Magnetic Fields! All we need now is the new Weezer album! (on second thought...no).

For some reason, Distortion didn't seem to be too well received by many critics this year. I'm not quite sure why. Distortion mixes Magnetic Fields style catchy pop with Jesus and Mary Chain distorted rock. Yeah, it isn't like 69 Love Songs...but is that what everyone wants? A remake of 69 Love songs?

The songs on Distortion feel almost...more solid than on previous Magnetic Fields albums. Maybe it's the electric guitars of this album compared to the acoustics of 69 Love Songs, or maybe it's the more playful feeling the album gives off...I don't know, but it just feels like I'm getting more out of these 13 songs than I did on all three discs of 69 Love Songs.

The album starts off very nice with the Breeder's sound-a-like "Three-Way". The ranting "California Girls" flows nicely from the opener's surf guitars, setting up the records upbeat sound quite well. The sing-a-long opening of "Too Drunk To Dream" is probably the most fun I've ever had with a Stephin Merritt song and along with "Please Stop Dancing" and "Drive on, Driver" form the most enjoyable section of the album. The album's highlight though is the clever "The Nun's Litany" which I'm pretty sure I've played more times this year than I have most other songs from better albums. I keep on coming back to Distortion whenever I need a burst of pop and fun. To me, that makes it one of the best albums of the year.

Best Songs: "The Nun's Litany", "Too Drunk To Dream", "Drive On, Driver"

7)Why?-Alopecia (Anticon)

Is Why? a hip-hop group or are they an indie rock band? If you Googled the un-Google-able band, that's what you'd find...lots of discussions about what genre Why? could possibly be. Why? is the perfect candidate for my most hated genre selection on iTunes: 'Unclassifiable'...and that's only because the idea of a bunch of indie-rock white boys raping about how much they like Whole Foods confuses people who think genre is a rule and not a suggestion. These are the same people who write in their 'favorite music' box on facebook "Everything but country!!!" and think that actually defines anything.

If you want to use a comparison to describe them, they're Faith No More for the 2000s or maybe Alice in Chains for the health food nut.

The stand out song on the album is "Fatalist Palmistry" a bright, happy-sounding pop number stuck right in the middle of the album. The song revolves around the idea of palm reading and numerous times mentions loving life, yet it's surrounded on both sides by songs about death, sex and darkness. I guess it's only fitting then that the song starts and ends with references to dying: "I sleep on my back cause it's good for the spine/and coffin rehearsal" and "I'll be embalmed with it long before you'll see". This seems to be Why?'s topic of choice. All their songs act as stream of consciousness diatribes on the uncertain and inevitable, or rather, sex and death. On the album opener "The Vowels, Pt.2": "I'm not a ladies man/I'm a landmine/filming my own fake death." On "Simeon's Dilemma" "But I still hear your name in wedding bells/Will I look better or will I look the same rotting in hell." Most of the songs on Alopecia discuss one of these two topics in sometimes awkward and hopefully tongue-in-cheek ways. On "Good Friday" rapper Yoni Wolf mentions there are lots of things he wouldn't even say to his psychiatrist. He seems perfectly content with relaying it all to us though. If I didn't like it so much, I'd demand my own prescription pad.

Best Songs: "Fatalist Palmistry", "The Vowels Pt.2", "Song Of The Sad Assassin"

6)Marnie Stern-This is it and I am it and You are it and So is that and He is it and She is it and It is it and That is that (Kill Rock Stars)

I can't think of a way to describe Marnie Stern's second album. It's not really metal, even though her guitar work is on the level of Eddie Van Halen. It's not really pop, as this could never be played on mainstream radio. It's sort of like she created her own genre...a type of Progressive Pop.

Marnie Stern's work needs to be heard to be understood. The album is weird and choppy. It's not candy to the ears. It's angular, it's awkward. It's like the last few seconds of the Beatles "A Day In The Life" when the orchestra just says the hell with it and creates nightmares.

And even that's not really a good description. Stern's songs play with pop structure. They are pop songs, just...not in the right order. Remember in Pulp Fiction how the story structure was all mixed up...how you'd get half of the story, and then we'd cut away to Bruce Willis, and he kills John Travolta, but then we got back to the middle of the first story and Travolta's still alive?

Ah fuck it. That description sucks too. Really, I have no fucking clue how to even approach this album for a review. It's uncomfortable progressive pop metal. It's "Karn Evil #9" meets "Fuck and Run". It's a cyclone and a siren put together. Take album highlight "Ruler". It starts almost like hoe-down music and then turns into a Sleater-Kinney song. How else can this be described? It shouldn't work, but it does perfectly. Not only am entranced by it, but I can't stop listening to it. Just give it a listen yourself.

Best Songs: "Ruler", "Roads? Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads", "Prime"

5)The Dutchess & The Duke-She's The Dutchess, He's The Duke (Hardly Art)

This one is simple. The Dutchess & The Duke sound like acoustic Aftermath era Rolling Stones with a little dash of Richard and Linda Thompson. They play 60's blues and folk songs. That's either a selling point to you or not.

Best Songs: "Out Of Time", "Mary", "Strangers"

4)Hot Chip-Made in the Dark (EMI)

Hot Chip is probably the epitome of the slur "Pitchfork Artist". Pitchfork promotes the hell out of these musicians, and because of that, there is normally a sort of resentment towards them around the internet (See also: Deerhunter). Including Hot Chip's Made in the Dark on this list is certainly not earning me any brownie points from the music blog community, but to not include it would be to ignore a very enjoyable album simply because some guy in an office in Chicago compared them to Giorgio Moroder.

Made in the Dark is electronica, but it is poppy electronica. The music bares a closer resemblance to Interpol than it does Prodigy. Almost like The Rapture's "Echoes" by way of Daft Punk's "Digital Love". Their music is extremely catchy and easily danceable. Plus they reference Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything?. And I LOVE Something/Anything?.

Best Songs: "Wrestlers", "Ready For The Floor", "Shake a Fist"

3)Bon Iver-For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)

Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago was originally self-released in 2007, but since it's official release was 2008, and since I had no clue it existed until this past year, I'm going to consider it officially a 2008 album.

2008 was a good year for the 'Americana' sound. Bonnie "Prince" Billy released a pretty damn good album with Lie Down In The Light, The Fleet Foxes had a fantastic EP and LP and Bon Iver came out with For Emma, Forever Ago. Bon Iver is really just Justin Vernon, formerly of folk band DeYarmond Edison. He recorded most of For Emma, Forever Ago Walden style...isolated in a cabin in Wisconsin for four months. The album reflects Vernon's experience. It's a haunting debut, filled with the psyche of a man isolated in nature.

Vernon's voice alternates between a Will Oldham style growl to a TV on the Radio-esk falsetto (though it mostly stays in the falsetto). More than anything the album sounds like the latest release from Iron & Wine, or maybe even Ray LaMontagne, but neither of those two have made an album this coherent before. For Emma, Forever Ago is a quite fantastic piece of folk music.

Best Songs: "Skinny Love", "Flume", "Re: Stacks"

2)Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (Mute)

Nick Cave is 51. You'd never know it from the way Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! sounds though. These days, when a rocker gets old, he usually resorts to recording crap like muddled vanilla versions of old standards. But not Cave. When he gets old, he rocks harder.

Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! opens with the title song, a spiraling epic about what happened to "Poor Larry" after he was risen from the grave. Cave uses the resurrection of Lazarus to return to one of his favorite topics: God. "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" chronicles a modern Lazarus's journey through despair and obscenity as he digs himself deeper and deeper into the ground, blaming it all on the fact that "he never asked to be risen up from the tomb/...no one ever actually asked him to forsake his dreams".

"Poor Larry"'s journey brings forward the notion that God's work might not be understood by us, but everything is happening according to some plan: "I can hear chants and incantations and some guy is mentioning me in his prayers./ Well, I don't know what it is but there's definitely something going on upstairs." This point carries Cave throughout the album, as he touches upon other cases of humans not understanding a greater thought, and in the end, rejecting it. On "We Call Upon The Author" Cave sings: "Rosary clutched in his hand, he died with tubes up his nose/And a cabal of angels with finger cymbals chanted his name in code/We shook our fists at the punishing rain/And we call upon the author to explain." Throughout the song, the effects of tragedy are questioned by those closest, asking God, their supposed author, why they must occur. The repeated chant of "Prolix, Prolix/Nothing a pair of scissors can't fix" obviously shows the questioners reaction to God's response...the result being a mutilated version of what they once believed.

In "Albert Goes West" Cave sings "I said the world is full of endless abstractions/And I won't be held responsible for my actions." Here, another challenge to a higher authority is made, this time the refusal of the protagonist to recognize any type of higher law (whether God's or the state's)due to their generality. The inclusion of the American West (another one of Cave's favorite topics) brings forward the imagery of a lawless society, one where no one has to worry about anyone judging them. The album's closer "More News From Nowhere" takes everything to it's logical extreme, with a world of moral anarchy, supplemented by the continued delivery of "more news from nowhere". A Dionysian orgy in a world where God is dead to the people, all because they don't understand his plan and instead have chosen to reject him. It all happens to "Poor Larry" in the opening song, and the only place it lead him was straight back to the grave. You think Cave is trying to tell us something?

Best Songs: "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!", "We Call Upon The Author", "More News From Nowhere"

1)Fleet Foxes-Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)

And to think, just a year ago, I was badmouthing Panda Bear for trying to sound too much like the Beach Boys, while meanwhile, on the opening to "Blue Ridge Mountains" The Fleet Foxes do a pitch perfect impression of the Wilson Brother's harmonies, and I'm praising them. My, how times have changed.

The Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut album is a perfect piece of chirpy 60's folk. Somehow though, possibly by use of time tunnel or warp zone, this 60's folk album came out in 2008. The Fleet Foxes hit every note they need to hit, from emulating The Byrds and the International Submarine Band to the aforementioned Beach Boys. They combine their folk with sunshine pop to create what is undeniably a west coast sound.

Every song on Fleet Foxes hits, from the crooning (and Beirut sounding) "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song", to the sing-a-long "White Winter Hymnal", to the possibly lost Gram Parsons recording "Meadowlarks". The album is as close to perfect as any album came this year, and for that it takes the number one slot on my list.

Best Songs:"White Winter Hymnal", "Blue Ridge Mountains", "Ragged Wood"

And since, I know someone is going to ask, here are, without comment, 11-20:
11)Dengue Fever-Venus On Earth (M80)
12)Santogold-Santogold (Downtown)
13)Vampire Weekend-Vampire Weekend (XL)
14)Times New Viking-Rip It Off (Matador)
15)Department of Eagles-In Ear Park (4AD)
16)Jenny Lewis-Acid Tongue (Warner Brothers)
17)Lil Wayne-Tha Carter III (Cash Money)
18)Be Your Own Pet-Get Awkward (Ecstatic Peace)
19)Bonnie "Prince" Billy-Lie Down In The Light (Spunk)
20)Juana Molina-Un Dia (Domino)

Thanks for reading! I'm going to have a music summary of 2008 post up soon (I promise) and hopefully soon after that, a list of my favorite songs of the year. After that, I'll probably tackle movies.

Also, there will definitely be unrelated posts separating these.

So, what do you think guys?

The Career Of Will Ferrell

One of the biggest shames in the world of comedy is the slow decline of Will Ferrell.

Ok, maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but let me ask you, do you know anyone who has any interest in seeing this:




Yeah, and here's the sad part. At one time, this would have been the role that Will Ferrell was perfect for. Roles that involve pompous, windbag, over-acting/reacting, Ignatius J. Reilly-like man-childs, allowed him to shine.

Sadly, it's come to the point where no one cares anymore. After one bad sports movie parody after another (after another, after another), is there anything left to get excited about? The last time I really looked forward to a Will Ferrell movie was 2004, when Anchorman promised to be the most absurdest piece of surreal-ness to hit the cinema since Airplane 2: The Sequel. Now even a much-talked about Anchorman sequel doesn't even get a rise out of me. And that's a shame, because the man has so much talent, and has shown it before numerous times. So, here is the best 5 Will Ferrell projects, and the 5 most overrated.

The best 5:

5)Elf (2003)


Feel-good family Christmas films haven't exactly been works of high art in recent years, or for that matter, even good films (or watchable), but there was once a time when a Christmas film didn't have to insult your intelligence, and could be, dare I say it, good natured AND a fine film. While "Elf" is not cinematic gold, it is an enjoyable family film where Will Ferrell plays his role perfectly. That child-like spark of enthusiasm in his eyes when he sees something fun just makes the movie. When his overacting is not making a meta-joke about acting itself, it's perfect for keeping kids entertained.

4)Stranger Than Fiction (2006)


"Charlie Kauffman-lite" was among the insults that were thrown at this movie (and I can't deny that I was one of the insult-slingers), but amidst the not-uncalled for comparisons, the actual movie was lost. Is it perfect? No, most of Will Ferrell's movies are not perfect. The movie is notable though for being an experiment to see if Will Ferrell can work in a more restrictive environment, and the answer is a huge "yes". When he's not overacting, it appears that Will Ferrell can adequately act. Now, if only he can do this in a better movie.

3)"The Landlord" and "Good Cop, Baby Cop" (both 2007)




Alright, so the reason that both of these www.funnyordie.com skits were funny is because of little Pearl McKay. But, the joke would have fallen completely flat if not for Will Ferrell's reactions to Adam McKay's daughter. But you knew that already.

2) The Oblongs (2001-2002)


The critical reaction to The Oblongs was less than enthusiastic. In fact, I can't find one good review. On show creator Angus Oblong's website he makes a list of all the bad reviews and displays them proudly.

Oblong himself claims the show was a disaster. I disagree. Ok, I'm sure it could have been better, but from the episodes that I've seen airing on Adult Swim, I think it's genius.


1)Anchorman: The Story of Ron Burgundy (2004)


As I mentioned above, Anchorman was a mash-up of surreal gags, non sequiturs and Will Ferrell-style overacting that on paper seems like it should be the biggest mess in cinematic history. (In fact, the original script, which is more closely represented in Anchorman's "sequel" "Wake Up Ron Burgundy", is a huge unfunny mess. Most of what you see in Anchorman was the improvised scenes and last minute gags that happened on-set). Anchorman is the perfect example of Will Ferrell set free on screen to do whatever he wanted, his id just blazing about. The movie is one of the most spectacularly funny movies of the last decade, and possibly rivals the Marx Brothers for the wackiness content.

It's claimed that on the set of Dumb and Dumber, Jim Carrey's improvisations made a horrible script into a comedy classic. The actors of Anchorman did the same here.

Also great Will Ferrell projects: Most of his career on SNL, his supporting role in Zoolander, and his great cameo in Wedding Crashers. I'll mention Melinda & Melinda as well, as there was nothing particularly wrong with the concept of the movie, but Will Ferrell's acting was very held back, almost as if Woody Allen didn't know what he was getting into when he hired him.

The 5 Most Overrated:

I originally called this the "5 worst" until I looked at Will Ferrell's imdb page and remembered his was in Superstar, The Ladies Man, Boat Trip and Starsky and Hutch. Overrated is a lot better a choice than reliving those atrocities.

For something to be overrated people have to like it. At least more than a handful of people. So, something like "A Night At The Roxbury" doesn't count, because if you actually enjoy that movie, I think you can qualify for state aide.

5)Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)


It's been a little while since I've sat through this movie, but I remember that I hated it. Will Ferrell shouldn't have been anywhere around this. In fact, it should be a rule that unless Kevin Smith has worked with the actor since before they were really famous (Ben Affleck, Jason Lee), big stars should never be in a Kevin Smith film. They only end up distracting from the script and compromising characters. Granted, Will Ferrell wasn't what ruined this movie, but his presence totally didn't help.

4)The Producers (2005)


You know who likes this movie? Drama majors and people who have never seen the original.

3)Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby (2006)


Exec #1: Hey, you know what my son was really into this year? That Will Ferrell comedy. What was it called...Anchorman?

Exec #2: Yeah we should make a another movie that's a complete retread of that one, colon and all...but we should include that other thing that people like...NASCAR!

Exec #3: Yeah! I saw Jay Leno make fun of NASCAR last night! He's funny! *


*Note, all movie executives talk like badly written characters from first drafts of scripts. How else could you explain "Hide and Seek"?

2)Blades of Glory (2007)


My eyes still hurt.

1) Old School (2003)


Ok, here's the thing. This isn't that BAD a movie. It's just that if I hear one more person make a Frank The Tank reference, 5 YEARS LATER, I might strangle them. You know what, I take back what I said. This is a terrible movie. Yeah, ok, it made me laugh, that scene where Luke Wilson walks in on his wife having an orgy was hilarious, but other than that, every joke in this movie has been done by some other movie before in some form or another, and it was funnier then! This is the movie that defined the regrettable "Frat Pack" and that right there should define why I hate this movie...Frat humor. No, not humor about fraternities, but rather humor that people in Chris Miller-like fraternities would find funny. I have as much use for this movie as I do for another frat staple, Dave Matthews. So call me elitist, I don't care. Call me a film snob if it makes you feel any better, but don't call me a fan of this movie, because that insults me. God, it's even got a friggen Snoop Dogg cameo in it! And I love Snoop, but come on, could we be pandering to the frat boy demographic any more obviously here. These are the type of people that, when I was Managing Editor of Nonsense Humor Magazine, would come up to me and ask for more fart jokes. These are the type of people that...dhsdfhsbfjffdbfdznmAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

...

...

...

I'm sorry, but I'm angry. Damn you Will Ferrell. Damn you.

Good Time Music for 2007

I've been a baaaaaaaad boy.

I haven't updated in quite some time.

And the worst part...I have content. I really do. Here's something now:


Finally. Dante's Infernal Racket is proud to present:



Like the saying goes, better late than your mama's a whore.


10) Panda Bear-Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)



After holding up this list just to make sure that I got the full potential out of this album, I decided that it wasn’t good enough to make the cut. I enjoyed it, there was no question on that. I just didn’t think it had anything that I hadn’t heard before on one of Animal Collectives more accessible albums. For a day straight I listened to the album, trying to pull something out of it that I hadn’t heard the first time around. I kept playing through my head what everyone else was saying about it. Beach Boys. Beach Boys. Yeah, I hear where they’re getting Beach Boys from. Noah Lennox’s voice is a dead on Brian Wilson impression. The back up harmonies have that late-sixties sunshine pop feel. But that wasn’t a selling point to me anymore. Since before SMiLE came out, every other band is trying to sound like the Beach Boys. As a huge Wilson brothers fan, it pains me to say…stop it! Don’t try to emulate one of the best bands to ever make music. Be original. Be creative. Don’t try to be Brian Wilson.

I was fine with it when The Thrills first appeared because they were the first to wholesale rip the Boys off…but even they got tired of their sound and changed. Other sometimes-sunshine-poppy bands like Belle and Sebastian and Supergrass have so much else going for them, and so many other sounds, that their echoing didn’t annoy me much either. But now Panda Bear, which can best be described as a combination of the Beach Boys and Animal Collective…they’re just trying to remake Pet Sounds. Yes, it’s interesting, and yes, “Comfy in Nautica” and “Bros” were almost spot on. But can’t I get the same enjoyment (and possibly even better) from actually listening to The Beach Boys? Can’t I get the same (if not better) experimentation from putting Animal Collective’s Sung Tongs into my CD Player?

At first I said yes. Things changed. On Saturday I was having an AIM conversation with my former editor and the mind behind the T-Sides blog, Taylor Long. After being scolded for taking so long on this list, the topic of overrated albums came up…and I mentioned this one. “Billy! You, a huge Beach Boys fan don’t realize the greatness of this album!” “I’m sorry Taylor, I just thought it was overrated and not as amazing as everyone said it was.” “It’s more accessible than everything Animal Collective has ever done! Who cares if everyone else is doing the same thing! They’re doing it better! Listen to it again you mugwump!” *

So, I went back to my CD player and put the album in again. But this time I switched things up. I played the songs out of order. I paused the CD in between tracks. I made sure that the residue from the previous track was not still in my mind when I heard the next one. The result: success. (aside from a few snarky comments in my mind about the song titles “I get it, Carrots=Vegi-tables! Bros? The Wilson Brothers!”). Ok Taylor, I concede. It works as an album…when I’m not thinking about how much I hate the current crop of Beach Boy rip offs.

*Note, Taylor was not actually this excited/mean, nor did she use the word ‘mugwump’.

9) TIE: Nellie McKay- Obligatory Villagers, Patrick Cleandenim-Baby Come Home (Hungry Mouse, Broken Horse)




At certain points I feel like I’m the only fan Nellie McKay’s got. From her first album Get Away From Me, I fell in love with her song writing, her humor and her jazzy leanings. As one reviewer put it, “She’s like Frank Sinatra mixed with Eminem. A punk Norah Jones.” She was new, different, yet embodied in an older sound. If Debbie Harry came of age now, she’d be Nellie McKay. Her second album, Pretty Little Head, was a step in a different direction, but still an amazing piece of work, and maybe her best album. Now, her third full length album, Obligatory Villagers, is another reinvention of her sound…and though not as strong as Pretty Little Head, it is her most interesting album.

The password is ‘Broadway’. The album is full of showtune influence, and yet, the same energy and punky attitude that her former works had. “Identity Theft” sounds like it could have been the show-stopper in Wicked, and at the same time reminds me of Patti Smith (and even references Johnny Cash). “Galleon” would fit in fine with RENT, yet after the first minute would be mistaken for a Donna’s song. “Testify” is meant to portray a 1930’s prohibition revival meeting sound, another element of the old New York that McKay seems to be so fascinated with. It’s clear with this album, McKay is a New Yorker. She loves New York, and she wishes her life was just like the Great White Way.

Ironically, my favorite song on the album is not a Broadway style piece at all. It’s the opener, “Mother of Pearl”, a jokey Randy Newman-like ditty about feminists.

Now, Patrick Cleandenim. I had to put these two albums on the same number because of their similarities. Also because of how I got to find out of Mr Cleandenim’s work. It goes back to that same AIM conversation I was having with Ms. Taylor Long about Panda Bear (see above). At one point, I was trying to give her some Nellie McKay selections, and she mentioned that if I liked Nellie McKay that much, I should take a look at Patrick Cleandenim’s album. I also noticed that on her own top ten albums list, Baby Come Home made her number one rank. That’s pretty good for an album that I had never heard of before.

So I tracked down a copy of it (thank you iTunes!) and gave it a listen. Wow. Cleandenim is just as infatuated with early 20th century American music as McKay (and myself) are. I haven’t given it enough listens to write a full comprehensive review of the album, but I can promote this album as being one of the forgotten bests of the previous year. If you like Nellie McKay, or even the more poppyer work of Nick Cave and Tom Waits, give this a listen.


8)Rilo Kiley- Under The Blacklight (Warner Brothers)



Rabbit Fur Coat, Jenny Lewis’ 2006 solo effort, was one of my favorite albums of that year. The country sound that Lewis adapted for her solo release was far enough away from her work with Rilo Kiley, that it gave it the feeling of almost another band entirely. With the first Rilo Kiley album since Lewis’ solo experiment, Under the Blacklight, it seems that the rest of the band has adapted those same country influences (to an extent).

My only probably with the album is that the opening track “Silver Lining” has a guitar riff that at first seems like a George Harrison rip off (which is funny because the song in question, “My Sweet Lord” was deemed to be a rip off of the Chiffons' hit “He’s So Fine”.) Once you get past that, you realize how amazing the song actually is, but it seems a little odd to be that outright of a rip.

Almost all the songs on Blacklight seem to revolve around sex. Might it be to easy to jump to conclusions that some of these songs were inspired by the former relationships of the songwriters? If it weren’t for the fact that Jenny Lewis and her bandmate/ex-lover Blake Sennett had broken up some time ago, I’d say we must be hearing their breakup unfold, and would be drawing comparisons to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors. Hell, those comparison’s are still somewhat valid, since some of the songs seem to be about Lewis’s relationship with Sennett. The only problem with this is that unlike Lindsey Buckingham, Sennett doesn’t get a chance to respond. His only song written without Lewis at all, “Dreamworld”, cartainly seems to take a few shots at a female figure, but it’s no “Go Your Own Way.”

7)The White Stripes-Icky Thump (Warner Brothers)



I’m not sure what I could say about Icky Thump that hasn’t already been said by everyone else. The mix of styles is excellently done, the Patti Page cover (“Conquest”) is a highlight of the album, and the title track is full on Stripes goodness. I guess I could mention that there is a slight Velvet Underground influence in “St. Andrew’s (The Battle Is In The Air)”…think “The Black Angel’s Death Song”. And I guess I’ll say that all the problems of Get Behind Me Satan are gone with this album. It’s just great. Give it a listen.


6)Spoon-Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)



Contrary to the song’s name, Spoon was not “The Underdog” in indie circles this year. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was one of the most looked forward to albums of 2007, and ended up being one of the best reviewed as well. The bouncy pop of the aforementioned “The Underdog”, or the undeniable catchiness of “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb”, the introspectiveness in the lyrics of “Black Like Me”…everything here was a winner.

But, in the mainstream, Spoon are still nowhere. Even though the music is more catchy and more poppy than anything Avril Lavigne or even Gwen Stefani put out this year, the mainstream are still hesitant to latch onto Britt Daniel and crew. I guess that’s a good thing, but it’s also truly a shame that more people aren’t getting into this band. Do they sound too 70s to be accepted? Are they too minimalist? Will no one understand the spooky excellence of “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case”?

Well, it sucks for them, cause they’re the ones missing out.

5)Beirut- The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing!)



The amazingness of Beirut's French jazz meets yeh-yeh pop hit me the first time I heard them. I guess I have a weakness for well done world music. Beirut is basically everything that you don’t hear in the mainstream, yet somehow still sounding familiar enough that the melodies are instantly recognizable, and the song sounds like a piece of imaginary nostalgia.

Zach Condon’s got a hell of a voice. It’s deep like Morrissey, and expressive like Billie Holiday and Jeff Buckley. His crooning alone could convey the whole emotion of the song. His music creates images of smokey French cafes where people like Jean-Paul Sartre sit and discuss existentialism or why Charles De Gaulle is a douche bag.


4)Jens Lekman- Night Falls Over Kortadala (Secretly Canadian)



Jens Lekman sounds like a happier Morrissey.

"When Shirin cuts my hair/It's like a love affair" Out of getting a haircut, Jens Lekman finds love. In "Your Arms Around Me", a song about accidentally cutting off the tip of your index finger, Jens Lekman sings about love. In "A Postcard To Nina", where our hero pretends to be his friend's boyfriend so that her parents won't know she's a lesbian, you guessed it, Jens Lekman says he'll do anything for love. Boy, Jens Lekman loves to sing about love, doesn't he?

The music can’t be seen as anything but happy, even when his lyrics are telling a tale of sadness. His chamber pop orchestration never slows down enough for the sugar high of the album to wear out. Like many perfect albums, it’s hard to write about, since there are no faults to point out. Just give it a listen yourself...Unless you hate being happy.


3)Radiohead- In Rainbows (self-released)



Radiohead’s come to a point where you either like them already or you don’t. They’re not going to be gaining any new fans they don’t have already, so my promotion of them isn’t going to mean squat. Let’s talk about how this album was given to the Radiohead friendly masses though.

As I’m sure you’ve heard already, Radiohead offered In Rainbows as a “choose your own price” type of deal. You went to the In Rainbows website, and typed in how much you were willing to pay for the album, and it was instantly downloaded to your computer. It’s quite a marketing concept, and as we all know it worked out in their favor.

Even if you’re not a fan of Radiohead’s music, you gotta appreciate what they did for the music business and the internet.

2)Kayne West- Graduation (Roc-A-Fella)



With the exception of the #1 album on this list, I don’t think I’ve ever played an album more times in a row than I have Kayne West’s Graduation. It was non-stop in my car for around two months. I couldn’t get enough of it. Every song was fantastic. The opening seconds of “Good Morning”, the Steely Dan sample in “Champion”, the use of Daft Punk in “Stronger”, the personal introspection in “Homecoming” and “Big Brother”. Every song. Perfect.

Except “Drunk And Hot Girls”. I could have done without that one.

1)Feist- The Reminder (Cherry Tree)



When Leslie Feist’s cover of the Bee Gee’s “Inside And Out” came out a few years ago, I remember thinking to myself that I wanted to hear more of that singer.

If I had to compare, I’d say that Feist sounds very similar to Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon, with the songwriting sensibility of Cat Stevens. She’s able to master every style, from pop to blues to soul. Her music is poppy and poignant at the same time. This lady’s got a future.

No matter what mood you start in, The Reminder leaves you in a happy mood. There’s just no escaping the contagiousness of this album.


Well. Now that that's done I can get to work on the top singles of 2007 list. Yeah, I'm going there. Let's hope I get that out before 2008 is over.

I also have a bunch more posts planned on a wide variety of topics, so fear not...there will be content!

The Movies of 2007

Well this has just been a shitty year for me and movie theater going.

I know, I said that last year too. Well, I still haven't improved upon the amount of movies I see when they come out.

Sadly, because of this, my top 5 movies of the year list is horribly inaccurate. Major movies, many of which I'm sure would have made my list, aren't going to. I need to see more movies in theaters.

Usually the months of January and February are filled with me Netflixing the movies I missed from the previous year...and so it might be smarter to do this list in say March instead of now...but I already made the graphic. So here, horribly incomplete, is:



The more I stare at that bad graphic, the more I don't regret doing it in Paint...at work...while constantly hiding it from my supervisor.


5)Futurama: The Movie: Bender's Big Score



This should show how bad a year it was for me...a movie that only came out on DVD is making my top 5.

Is it just like the original show? No. Is it perfect? Not at all. Was it incredibly enjoyable and did it make me laugh for more than half of it? Absolutely.

My main problem with the movie was that it seemed like they were trying to cram as many cameos as they could into the movie, rather than actually creating a working plot. I'm not saying that the plot wasn't good (they made a time travel movie work with no plot holes...that's gotta mean something), it's just that I don't think it was worth a movie...egh, whatever.

4)The Simpson's Movie



Two cartoons, yeah. This movie suffers from the same problem that Futurama does...too many cameos, not good enough plot. It was funny, I can't argue with that (it probably has something to do with all of the old writers, sans Conan O'brien, coming back to take up the writing chores), but, once again, it wasn't as good as it could have been. Albert Brooks was amazing in his role though. And let's not forget about Bart's skateboarding scene, possibly the best joke in the movie. Too bad last season sucked...again.

3)Juno



Another script with a problem. This time though, the problem wasn't plot, but rather pretentious dialogue. Every time Juno said something like "Honest to Blog" or I don't know, that dog diggity down shit, I cringed. Diablo Cody obviously has talent, and she can write, I'll give her that, but cut the pretentiousness, please.

2)Superbad


I saw this movie in a theater packed with junior high kids.

I still loved it.


1)Knocked Up



Apatow takes the top two. Not only is the movie hysterical, it also taught a valuable lesson about growing up. Apatow's movies at the end give feel good messages that make you get a certain feeling that most people only get from watching a Frank Capra film. Seth Rogan is the new Jimmy Stewart, and Judd Apatow is the new Capra. There, I've said it.



Just so you can see how bad a movie year it's been, I'm going to rate the rest of the movies I've seen in an EW format (just like I did last year).


300: It looked beautiful, no one can argue that. It was crap though. Enjoyable crap...but crap none the less. Just another piece of Frank Miller's later era "all style and no substance" writing.

And before anyone says something about it being a pro-war film, let me remind you...it's a tale being told by a general trying to rally his troops. It's full of exaggerations and propaganda because, come on, he's got to get them hyped up about something. Either way, it still isn't as good as every guido in America claimed it was. B-

The Darjeeling Limited: And now, the sad truth. I don't want to call the movie boring...but it was yawn inducing, and drawn out (shockingly for a 90 minute movie). Anderson can still direct; and all the performance were fine; but the movie lacked something. Maybe it was a script that didn't seem like it had gone through all the drafts it should have. Maybe it was Wes doing the same thing he always does with his movies. Maybe the criticism has finally gotten to me that he makes the same movie over again each time/ minorities exist purely as fetishes for white characters. I'm not sure. I will say this, the only character that was fully characterized was Adrien Brodys' and maybe Owen Wilsons' (and not even until the very end). Every other character had to make due with 'quirks' being characterization. And that hasn't worked since Tenenbaums. I'm really sad that I didn't like this movie more, but I guess it was time for me to end my film-crush on Wes Anderson's films. He can comeback, of course, but right now Noah Baumbach is running circles around him. B


Farce of the Penguins: Well, this was just intolerably horrible. EVERY JOKE SUCKED. It mad me want to hurt comedians I like, just because of their association with this movie. Word of advice to Lewis Black : If Bob Saget comes to you asking to do a movie he wrote...again...don't do it. Please. F

Grindhouse: First off, if you didn't see this in theaters, then there's no point to see it. It was meant as a theater experience, and it won't be the same on your HD TV, no matter how much money you put into the system. It's all about the atmosphere, and that includes people too...

Basically this movie was the "Snakes on a Plane" for this year, only for some reason there was this delusion that it was good. Tarintino and Rodriguez are both great directors, yes, but...this sucked. They set out to make a homage to bad films, and they made...a bad film...no, strike that...two bad films. Egh. B

Spider-man 3: These are my problems with Spider-man 3:
1)Raimi tried to cram too much into this movie. It came to the point where nothing got enough time.
2) I hate to say it, but Sandman was not needed in this movie. It would have worked perfectly with just Venom.
3)That's if Venom was even in it.
4)You had to be familiar with the comics to even understand the Venom story, because they explained nothing. If you don't know the comics, you won't know why the suit does what it does, or why there is a sort of dependency between the symbiote and the wearer.
5)The thing that pissed me off the most was Raimi's constant use of homages. Now I'm not against homages (especially in a Spider-man movie), but Raimi went too far. He was using the homages to convey the emotions and state of mind of the characters, but it would have been much better suited to come up with something original (or at least from the comics)the non-stop references to Saturday Night Fever, Working Girl, Tootsie, Cabaret, etc just took me out of the movie.
6)The movie falls apart in it's second half.
7)The scene where Venom and Sandman team up is horrible. It reminds me of Joel Schumacher's Batman movies.

Here would have been a better movie: The relationship between Peter and Mary Jane is paralleled by the relationship between Peter and the black symbiote/Eddie Brock and Venom. Include the Gwen Stacy and Harry Osbourne parts of course. Make Venom the only villain. If you really want Sandman then fight him in the beginning while Peter is in the black suit. That might be a waste of Sandman though, so maybe it could be a smaller character. That's just my take. B-


The TV Set: It had so much potential, but blew it all by not developing characters. B-

Wild Hogs: Yeah, you read that right...I saw Wild Hogs. Some of my friends have REALLY bad taste in movies. I didn't pay for it though, so whatever...it wasn't my money that went to this. To sum it up: Yes, it was that bad. F


So, I haven't seen There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, Lars And The Real Girl, Michael Clayton, Sweeney Todd, etc. I might see There will be blood soon, cause my friends want to go, so maybe I'll have a new number one. Same with No Country. Sweeney Todd apparently puts manlihoods in jeopardy cause it's a musical, so I guess that's one for the rental queue. And so are the others. I'll see them all eventually.


UPDATED!!!!:

I forgot a movie, and saw another, so I'm adding them here at the end:

Shoot 'Em Up: Clive Owens kills people using carrots, knives, helicopter blades, needles, and other blunt objects, and then complains that guns kill too many people. D-

Smokin' Aces: An attempt to mimic Tarintino, but forgetting what makes Tarintino great. D-

The Revolution Still Has Not Been Televised

Yeah, I know I took forever in between posts...I'm already failing at the goals I set for this blog.

Egh, you'll get over it.

Anyway, I've been doing some top lists for 2007 and I figure now is the best time to debut some of them. (Mostly because I don't feel like writing that Hillary Clinton campaign ad article.) So, here is the first list:



Yeah, shitty graphic and all...the computer I'm doing this on isn't mine and doesn't have photoshop on it...fuck

anyway:

5) Flight of the Conchords (HBO)



The awkwardness of this show turned off a lot of people. To me though, that was what made it near perfect. There was no laugh track, there was no conventions, hell, most of the time there was no plot. It's the same kind of experimenting with the sitcom genre that HBO did last year with "Lucky Louie", except more accessible....and not as much full frontal male nudity. Also the music parodies were spot on:




4) The Sopranos (HBO)



Everyone was talking about that final episode. Yes there's a lot to talk about in it, but even without that abrupt cut to blackness (which had me cursing my cable company...I admit it) the rest of the season was brilliant. Everything from AJ's suicide attempt to Christopher's murder. I think I was more entertained by this season that I was for any previous.


3)Pushing Daisies (ABC)



No, this show wasn't without it's faults (when it leaves it's little make-believe world and strikes pop culture references that are more recent than the works of A.A. Milne I kind of shudder...the Vertigo reference was alright, but the Star Wars reference was a little out of place). They're still trying to figure out the shows voice. But look past that...it's as if Tim Burton created a TV Show. It's incredibly enjoyable and it can only get better.


2)Heroes (NBC)



Remember that the end of season one was in 2007 as well, and I don't think anyone would argue about the quality of that. Yes, Volume Two took off very slowly. Tim Kring apologized for that. Anyway, Volume 2 did get better, and I still looked forward to it every week.


1)South Park (Comedy Central)



Wow, what a season. Think back to earlier this year with that infamous episode where Randy Marsh made it to the final round of Wheel of Fortune. That my friends was gold. What else happened this year...Randy Marsh played World of Warcraft, Randy Marsh took a huge shit...hey, I guess this has been Randy Marsh's year. Also 9/11 conspiracy theories, Lice in a Michael Bay movie, a bomb up Hillary Clinton's snatch, and the awesome Imagination Land Trilogy. South Park strikes gold again.


Also notable this year: The first 6 episodes of the Sarah Silverman Show (the second group of episodes, outside of the blackface one, were really weak), Colbert Report and Daily Show, Weeds, Mythbusters, Frisky Dingo and Robot Chicken. And before people tell me other wise, I work during 30 Rock and The Office so I never get to see it. I need a Tivo.

Next I'll either post the top movies of music, I'm not sure...and hopefully it won't be 3 weeks later.