Leave this off your fucking charts!

The problem with year end lists, at least for me is that I use them as a guide to what I missed out on during the year. So my list is going to look nothing like Pitchfork's, or a lot of the amg lists, a lot of the albums on there I will be listening to during the first few, slower months of the year (Panda Bear, the National, Justice, etc). So now for something completely different, the list of what you should have been listening to this year (15 albums and 20 songs):

1. El-p - I'll sleep when you're dead - Vanilla Ice, he ain't. Coming out earlier in the year, so people tended to forget about him, especially with the plethora of highly hyped hip hop albums coming out towards the end (Kanye, Jay-Z, Wu-tang). But that doesn't change the fact that this is the smartest hip hop album to come out this year, hands down. You need to invest time into it to get its full effect, but trust me, it's well worth the effort.

2. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite worst nightmare - While not as good as Whatever people Say... this is a very worthy followup and further cements the Monyeys place as one of the best new acts out there. From the tornado-esque riff at the beginning of "Brainstorm," to the mellower vibes of "505," these guys are here to stay.

3. Nine Inch Nails - Year zero - Trent fanboyism aside, this is light years ahead of his last effort, the inconsistent With Teeth. This album is best listened to as a whole, not just because of the concept album arch, but because the songs fit so well together. Oh, the whole viral marketing scheme was pretty cool too.

4. M.I.A. - Kala - If you would have told me at the beginning of the year, that one of the best songs of the year would feature a loop taken straight outta Bollywood, I would have called you bat shit crazy. Fortunately, you didn't, so I don't have to eat my words.

5. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of silver - This record has single handidly created more faux hipsters than the works of the Shins, Of Montreal, and the Arcade Fre combined. james Murphy must be proud.

6. Spoon - Ga ga ga ga ga - This is wha pop music should sound like. Easy on the ears, but complex enough for you to sound cool when you talk about it. Bonus: the video for "Don't You Evah" totally rocks.

7. Brother Ali - The undisputed truth - Ali has always had a way with words, coming off confident without sounding cocky. He gets very personal this time around, with topics ranging from his ex-wife to the war in Iraq, and he's never sounded better. The truth is here, now people just need to listen.

8.Radiohead - In rainbows - With In rainbows, Radiohead has put out their fourth best record. Still, their number 4 is still miles ahead of what most other people accomplish with thier best. Forget the pay what you want method of release, the best thing here is it's thier most solid body of work since Kid A.

9. Queens of the stone age - Era vulgaris - Like Lullabies to paralyze, this record took some time to grow on me. And while I'm still not completely convinced it holds up with thier best bodies of work, this is still pretty kick ass desert rock from start to finish.

10. Jay-Z - American gangster - The best album based on a movie, but not actually affliated with said movie, EVER. Welcome back, Sean.

11. Arcade Fire - Neon bible - OK, I'll admit it, I'm a bandwagon jumper. After failing to be that impressed with their first album, Neon bible totally rocks. Saying that they were never anything special, those are words that I will eat. Just make sure you throw some salt on there first.

12. The Rakes - 10 New messages - This one comes out of left field. Not as instantly catchy (or grabby) as the Monkeys, The Rakes are more of a subdued dance rock/brit pop/whatever group. They never really overwhelm you, but are still able to make you groove. Hot song title: "When Tom Cruise crys" methinks someone's not getting invited to this years Scientologist circle-jerk.

13. Saul Williams - The inevitable rise... - Fuck it, it's a long title and I don't feel like typing it. Not quite rap, not quite spoken word, but entirely kick ass. Trent Reznor provewds a perfect compliment to Saul's diatribe and the result is his cleanest, most inspired musical outting to date. This is for the thinking man, but then again, if you are still bumping "Crank That," chances are you don't know who he is anyway.

14. Aesop Rock - None shall pass - Along with having the joint of the year (the tile track), Mr. Rock proves why he's one of the most gifted lyricists out there, all the while confusing the hell out of you. Few can make that work. Aes doesn't just make it work, he makes it good. Touche.

15. Here's to Kanye West and Pharoahe Monch who put together solid albums, but left the taste of filler in my mouth. And to Sage Francis who basically made a spoken word album. Still good, but felt like it was missing something. And !!! who made enough noise for me to figure out how to actually pronounce their name. And finally to guys like The Wu-tang Clan and Lupe Fiasco, who's albums came out too late in the year for me to have a proper pass at them.

The tracks:

1. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
2. El-p - The Overly Dramatic Truth
3. Nine Inch Nails - In this Twilight
4. Modest Mouse - Dashboard
5. Cool Calm Pete - Get with the Times
6. Arctic Monkeys - Do me a Favour
7. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
8. LCD Soundsystem - All my Friends
9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Down Boy
10. Bloc Party - I still Remember
11. M.I.A. - Jimmy
12. Dizzee Rascal - Where's da G's
13. Spoon - Don't you Evah
14. Art Brut - Direct Hit
15. Brother Ali - Daylight
16. The Rakes - We Danced Together
17. Queens of the Stone Age - Turnin' on the Screw
18. Radiohead - All I Need
19. Jay-Z - No Hook
20. Kanye West - Good Life

The war on education

"Ever notice how we don't do all that well in wars on nouns?" –Michael Moore

Gotta give it up to Tony Snow. In speaking the Academy of Leadership & Liberty at Oklahoma Christian University recently, Snow made this proclamation:

“The average Iranian is more Pro-American than virtually any college faculty in this country.” he also spoke about the war on terror and “the second war in this country, the war on God.”

In trying to make his point that the vast Christian majority in this country is being oppressed worse than Jews were during the Holocaust, he actually declares war on something else: education. You sly dog you! By calling college faculties across the country “Anti-American,” he is more or less saying, the only way you can be a good citizen and love this country is to be stoopid. And not just can’t figure out how to get the new DVR to work stupid. We’re talking, high school drop out stupid.

First, I’d love to know where he got his little statistic about the “average Iranian.” Is he referencing some imaginary poll? Or maybe he’s talking about the Presidents’ falling poll numbers. Because, of course, if you disagree with the President, you obviously hate your country. And probably are making bombs in your basement. Right now. Never mind the fact that protest is in fact patriotism, and that the reason people dissent is (for the most part) that we do love our country and we’re upset in the direction that it’s headed. So in wanting to have things change for the better, we question. And protest. But in order to do those things, in order to think rationally, one has to get educated.

So what’s Mr. Snow’s answer on how to get rid of the scary secular-progressive boogeymen? Call them Anti-American because they got educated at the evil universities of this country. Love your country kids, stay stupid! Getting an education might make you start to question things, which is clearly un-American! It sickens me that someone like this was spewing forth propaganda for so long. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really surprise me though.

Tolerance levels

This weekend I was called “too tolerant.” Not just tolerant, but too tolerant, as an insult. This came about after one (of many) discussions of race between myself and another individual. Though discussion might be too strong of a word. You can’t discuss something with someone when every other word out of their mouth is a racial slur. So this was more like listening to a whiny six year old, you let them talk their crazy talk, try to bring up some valid points, and then eventually just give up when you realize all your attempts are futile. At which point (just like a six year old), they believe they’re the smarter person because you refuse to acknowledge their outrageous claims anymore. It was somewhere during the course of this that I was called “too tolerant” because I was defending people of other ethnicities. To clear the air, there is one group of people who I cannot stand and am extremely not tolerant of. That group is racists.

It’s not that I’m really that offended by a majority of the slurs themselves, if someone drops one on occasion, I’m likely just to shrug it off and let it slide. But when someone bases their entire argument on slurs and stereotypes, that’s when it really becomes a problem. Not only are you showing a lack of class, but you are demonstrating a complete incapability of holding an intelligent conversation, let alone the severe risk you hold if getting your ass beat if you’re talking to the wrong guy. A few of the gems from this weekend (excluding the 2,000 utterances of the N-bomb in a variety of forms):

“Would it really be that bad if New York City got wiped off the face of the earth?”
“Is it just a coincidence that the only guy getting yelled at by security was a black guy?”
“I hope you’re happy when everyone turns gay and it’s the end of the human race.”

Etc., etc. Some of this, on the surface, would seem to just be baiting, throwing out ridiculous statements to see who’ll bite. I would chalk it up to that except for the fact that the only two things out of this guy’s mouth all weekend were sports comments and racial slurs. At some point you have to start thinking that maybe he does really think like this. And not only does he think like this, but he vocalizes it, completely oblivious to how stupid he sounds.

I would have hoped, by this point in history, after getting past slavery, women’s rights, the abolishment of the “separate but equal” laws, etc., that we’d be beyond this as a society. That racism/sexism/pure hatred really wasn’t that prevalent anymore. Or at least people wouldn’t be so stupid as to make their feelings so obvious. Maybe I’m just giving people too much credit. Or maybe I really am too tolerant and most black people just want to rob and kill me. You know, seeing it put like that, fuck him. Racist scumbag. How’s that for tolerance?