Moving on...

Head on over and update your bookmarks.

http://aintsuperstitious.wordpress.com

OK, OK...

"Ain't Superstitious, But These Things I've Seen..." will return.

On March 30.

With a new address, new file host and hopefully none of the rather unwarranted mass censorship by that which rhymes with frogger.

New interviews coming, new mixes, plenty of good tunes and good stories.

But confine this site for archival purposes if you ever need to know more than anyone needs to about something such as Oasis' Be Here Now. Or the good interviews and such.

And check back here for the new address on March 29.


P.S. - I ain't dead. Stop poking me with a stick. I'm just hibernating.

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Well,good greetings to all you dear readers. I hope 2009 finds you well off thus far, albeit without any rumblings from this side of the blog.

I'm in the process of moving this blog's home and shifting servers, so on and so forth as to try to elude the ever-growing contingent of web police that seem not to take too kindly to music bloggers today. I suppose this was to be expected sooner or later, and while I have my opinions on the matter, I realize plenty of others do too, and for every action, etc. etc. But before they handcuff us too much, I will still try to impart some knowledge and tunes from some little corner of cyberspace in the near future.

When the new site is up and running, the address will be posted here.

Hang on just a little bit longer...

2008: 15 of the Best. #1...

Alright folks, the list is complete and this year's 15 of the Best series can be downloaded in a zip file here (left click to go to download page). I'm going to be taking a holiday break, so I guess I'll talk to you again in a couple weeks when it's a new year. Happy Christmas, Merry New Year, etc. etc.

#1 - Old 97's - Color of a Lonely Heart is Blue

From: Blame it on Gravity
Label: New West
Released: May 13, 2008
Buy it: Here.

While Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller has always done well for himself in the spotlight both in terms of the band and his own solo endeavors, 2008 finally nudged that spotlight over in Murry Hammond's direction, however unwilling he might have been to embrace it wholeheartedly. In addition to a beautiful solo album, I Don't Know Where I'm Going But I'm On My Way, Hammond provided the masterpiece for the Old 97's new record too. Considering Blame it on Gravity contained the best material the band pulled together in seven (if not 11) years, that's no small feat. Described by its author as "Patsy Cline fronting Oasis," "Color of a Lonely Heart is Blue" perfected the heartbreaking country laments he'd contributed to every 97's album up to this point. As ethereal as it is devastating, the song proved that while Rhett's the showman and one able to turn the cleverest phrases, Murry is almost certainly the most affecting. Listen to the second verse again build to the bridge and chorus and then tell me this isn't the finest song released this year.

2008: 15 of the Best. #2...

Ed. note: OK, I'm officially done with FileDen. With tomorrow's #1 entry, I'll include a link to a .zip file of all 15 of the Best. In the meantime, wait one day and read about #2...

#2 - Paul Weller - Have You Made Up Your Mind

From: 22 Dreams
Label: Island/Universal, Yep Roc
Released: June 2, 2008
Buy it: Here.

Essentially Weller's "White Album" (and not just because it met double-LP length standards), the Modfather decided to deconstruct the trusty band that had pretty much been there from the start of his solo career (or in drummer Steve White's case, the Style Council days), and basically build up everything from scratch with co-hort Steve Cradock and assorted friends. The album is unarguably the most adventurous thing Weller's ever done, but like the White Album, it's an awful lot of information all at once. Maybe I'm boring and old hat, but I find the album's best moments to be in the most standard Weller songs, and the blue-eyed soul of "Have You Made Up Your Mind" is easily the album's soundest driving moment. If my memory of the liner notes serves me correctly (which it usually does), it's Weller and Cradock handling all instruments and vocals on here, so therein lies proof that two English guys can constitute a good little soul band, and maybe Weller made the right choice in deconstructing his comfort zone. Who are we to argue? If most musicians his age were still turning out songs of this caliber, the world would be a better place.

2008: 15 of the Best. #4...

#4 - The Last Shadow Puppets - Calm Like You

From: The Age of the Understatement
Label: Domino
Released: May 6, 2008
Buy it: Here.

Hand it to Alex Turner. When I pulled together my 2006 "15 of the Best" series and included "When the Sun Goes Down" off the Arctic Monkeys' debut, I noted great promise but also wary skepticism of the British press' overexcitement to always find the next big thing. This leads to a fantastic crash six months later, but not only has Turner continued to crank out smart, solid songs, he's also the only artist to appear in this year end list every year thus far. While The Age of the Understatement, his side project with friend and Rascals-leader Miles Kane wasn't genius through and through, it was a nice diversion down an off-road path that produced a few brilliant songs. "Calm Like You" is far and away the best, an almost insanely overblown and cinematic lament on the trials of unrequited love (Turner's really good at writing these), but one that almost understays its welcome and really makes you think about a lot of things. Life, love and the fact that if this is what the guy can do at the age of 22 in a side project, what else can he do? The Arctic Monkeys' new one should be out in 2009. I'm not doubting he'll stretch his run on this list to four straight.

2008: 15 of the Best. #5...

#5 - Yael Naim - New Soul

From: Yael Naim
Label: Atlantic
Released: March 18, 2008
Buy it: Here.

While "New Soul" didn't quite enjoy the same phenomenon Apple spun with Feist's "1234" last year, the song got enough acclaim selling MacBook Airs to merit a hardcopy release of Yael's self-titled album worldwide. Already content with my now couple-years-old MacBook, I really paid no attention to the ad, other than the computer fit snugly in a mailing envelope. It wasn't until my trip to Germany early this summer that I got wind of the song one morning when it was playing one morning on MTV Europe in my hotel room as I got dressed for a run around Munich. "Good song!" I kept exclaiming, amidst singing the "la la la la la-la" refrains to myself for the rest of the day. I, of course, also stupidly thought I was that far ahead of all my friends when I returned boasting of the great new song I'd heard while abroad only to be met with chortled "You mean the song from that Apple ad?" responses. Nevertheless... I still find this song's charms resoundingly abundant and even after one listen in the morning, I'm bound to be repeating the "la la la la la-la" refrains for the rest of the day still. This is solid pop right here.