Gearing up for the prime summer/festival season can be a daunting task. It’s tough to decide where you should spend your hard earned dollars for tickets. Many promoters have gone to great lengths to make sure their festival has the hottest lineup, guaranteeing them blogger and fan buzz. One of the ways this is done by taking those popular bands of yesteryear getting them to dust off their monitors and reunite to the adoration of others.

With many bands reuniting this summer we only felt right to come up with our own list of bands that we’d like to see get back together for another shot at glory.

As with any list, there’s bound to be criticism. So check out what we’ve come up with and tell us why we’re “complete fools for not including band x” in the comments. (more…)

Everyone loves music lists. They are meant to inspire discussion, debate, and ultimately make us want to make our own list that will definitely be a better list than the original that inspired us.

With that being said Spinner.com has just launched a list of The 25 Most Exquisitely Sad Songs in the Whole World. Now we have to admit, as soon as we saw it we started into our rant “How could they have forgotten this song?!”, or “What were they thinking?”. We do have to agree with some of the choices on the list (great call with Sam Cooke, Jeff Buckley, and Radiohead). But there of course is always room for debate.

However, we were way to lazy to make our own list of sad songs so we’d rather just share Spinner’s list with you instead.

Read: The 25 Most Exquisitley Sad Songs In The World

If there are any songs you would like to see make the list, leave them in the comments. We’ll make our own list based on what you all think.

The folks at Pirate! seem to think their summer event is cooler than our summer event. So much so, yesterday they published the Top 12 Reasons Why Flag Day Is Better Than Hoodstock (note: They were only able to come up with 6 reasons).

Anyway, here at The Syndicate we feel it’s about time for you to hear the truth, so without further ado:

The Top 12 Reasons That Hoodstock Is Better Than Flag Day

1. “Hoodstock” is a delightful play on words, while the name Flag Day is simply plagiarized from a 5th rate holiday. Flag Day isn’t even a federal holiday. Amateurs.

2. Woodrow Wilson was the President who founded Flag Day. Nobody cares about Woodrow Wilson.

3. Hoodstock has been historically held on July 24th. The same day that:

- Amelia Earhart and Jennifer Lopez were born!
- British lecturer Gerald Brooke was returned to London after four years in a Soviet jail!
- Lance Armstrong won his seventh consecutive Tour De France!

4. One morning Don Larsen heard about Hoodstock. He then went on to pitch a perfect game in game five of the 1956 World Series

5. Number of cars lifted by forklifts during Flag Day: 0 
    Number of cars lifted by forklifts during Hoodstock: 1

6. Bruce Springsteen lives in New Jersey. Tourists and rats live in New York.

7. July 2002: The Syndicate decides to throw a pirate themed installment of Hoodstock. Petey the Pirate attends, hilarity ensues.

  Winter 2004: Doug and Steve decide to start a company called Pirate…Coincidence?

8. Outside of the States, in places like India, China and the UK, “flag day” refers to when a charity raises funds by collecting in the street and door-to-door. We think charity is cool and whatever, but come on - that is sooo annoying.

9. According to a recent Associated Press article titled, “Teen talk: Can You Hang With The Slang?” - Young hip trendsetters in various US metro areas have been observed using the word “hoodstock” in text messages to mean, ‘a role model or individual who has courage and integrity. Ex: “u want 2 com oVr N watch Senator Barack Obama’s speech on Net Neutrality 2nite? Dat dood iz hoodstock.”

10. Dead bodies found in lot where Flag Day takes place: 0
      Dead bodies found in lot where Hoodstock takes place: 1  (proof)

11. In addition to Flag Day, other notable events which occurred on June 14th:

- Anna Slesers becomes the first victim of Albert DeSalvo, better known as the Boston Strangler. (1962)
- Paris falls under German occupation. (1940)
- A weeklong product tampering scare occurs as customers throughout the USA discover syringes in unopened cans of Diet Pepsi. (1993)

Boy…Really makes you want to have a party, doesn’t it?

12. Doug Blake has nothing to do with Hoodstock.

Flag Day: 2
Hoodstock: 12

Blabbermouth.net has come up with a list of who they deemed to be the Ugliest People in Music.

It turns out that Pogues frontman, Shane McGowan landed the #1 spot on the list. We can only assume that he made the list for his keen look, snaggletooth smile and, curly kinky hair. Congrats Shane if there’s anyone deserving of the award it’s you.

Others landing a spot on the coveted list included punk pioneerGG Alin as well as Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Gene Simmons of KISS.

Source [blabbermouth]

How’s everybody doing over the holiday break? I’ve rocked the hell out of Viva Piñata and Gears of War on my Xbox. Waiting til Tuesday to throw some of my old vinyl on eBay and make back some of my gift-giving cash. Coalesce vs. Get Up Kids spit 7″ anyone? Yeah, right, like I’d part with that. I spent a few days in Atlantic City where I won around $100 at the Blackjack tables, then lost it all on the last day. Last Sunday saw 70 degree temperatures on the boardwalk! In Mid-December! It was such a strange feeling basking in the sun at this time of year in a T-Shirt, watching women walk around in tank-tops. This isn’t Miami! I’m scared shitless people…scared shitless…

Anyway, it’s occurred to me that I haven’t posted my personal Top 10 Favorite Records of 2006. Next week I’ll post my personal most anticipated of ‘07.

1. Converge - No Heroes (Epitaph)
2. Cursive - Happy Hollow (Saddle Creek)
3. Mastodon - Blood Mountain (Reprise)
4. Thursday - A City by the Light Divided (Island)
5. Lamb of God - Sacrament (Epic)
6. Murder by Death - In Bocca Al Lupo (Tent Show/East West)
7. These Arms Are Snakes - Easter (Jade Tree)
8. ISIS - In the Absence of Truth (Ipecac)
9. Zao - The Fear is What Keeps Us Here (Ferret)
10. Lawrence Arms - Oh! Calcutta! (Fat Wreck Chords)

You should go out and buy those today.

I present to you, Bill Shouldis’ Top Ten Records of 2006:

1.  Appleseed Cast - Peregrine
2. The North Atlantic - Wires In The Walls
3. The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes
4. Murder By Death - In Bocca Al Lupo
5. No Trigger - Cayoneer
6. Cursive - Happy Hollow
7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
8. The Format - Dog Problems
9. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
10. Muse – Blackholes and Revelations

I present to you, Gray Blue’s Top Ten Records of 2006:

1. Murder By Death - In Bocca Al Lupo
2. Hot Chip - The Warning
3. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
4. William Elliott Whitmore - Song of the Blackbird
5. Spank Rock - YoYoYoYoYo
6. Eagles of Death Metal - Death By Sexy
7. Johnny Cash - American V
8. Various Artists - Chrome Children
9. DFA - The Remixes vol. 2
10. Cut Chemist - The Audience’s Listening

TOP 10
1. COLD WORLD/WAR HUNGRY - split 7″ (Six Feet Under Records) TIE WITH LUCERO - Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers - (Liberty & Lament / East West)
2. LION OF JUDAH - Universal Peace - (Youngblood Records)
3. BETRAYED - Substance - (Equal Vision)
4. HAVE HEART - The Things We Carry - (Bridge 9)
5. IRON AGE - Constant Struggle - (Youngblood Records)
6. CLOAK/DAGGER - Pinata (Grave Mistake Records)
7. BRACEWAR - self titled - (1917 Records)
8. GUNS UP - Outlive - (1917 Records)
9. PULLING TEETH - Vicious Skin - (A389 Records)
10. DOWN TO NOTHING - Higher Learning (Revelation Records)

TOP 10 RECORDS WE WORKED
1. MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN - Self-Titled (Warner Brothers)
2. THE NORTH ATLANTIC - Wires in the Walls (We Put Out)
3. MURDER BY DEATH - In Bocca Al Lupo (Tent Show / East West)
4. HOT CHIP - The Warning - (Astralwerks)
5. CASKET SALESMEN - Sleeping Giants - (Longhair Illuminati)
6. THE RATCHETS - Glory Bound - (Pirates Press)
7. THE RAPTURE - Pieces of the People We Love - (Universal)
8. CONVERGE - No Heroes - (Epitaph)
9. SOME GIRLS - Heaven’s Pregnant Teens - (Epitaph)
10. LUCKY STIFFS - Gold In Peace, Iron In War - (Pirates Press)

I present to you, my Top Ten Records of 2006:

1)   The North Atlantic - Wires in the Walls
2)   Beirut - The Gulag Orkestar
3)   Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
4)   The Sword - Age of Winters
5)   Murder By Death - In Bocca al Lupo
6)   Tarantula A.D. - Book of Sand
7)   Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
8)   120 Days – Self-Titled
9)   Lansing-Dreiden – The Dividing Island
10) The Blood Brothers – Young Machetes

1 - Rx Bandits …And The Battle Begun (MDB)
2 - These Arms Are Snakes Easter (Jade Tree)
3 - Man Man Six Demon Bag (Ace Fu)
4 - Murder By Death In Bocca al Lupo (Tent Show)
5 - Planes Mistaken For Stars Mercy (Abacus)
6 - The North Atlantic Wires In The Walls (We Put Out)
7 - Lucero Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers (East/West)
8 - 7L & Esoteric A New Dope (Babygrande)
9 - Maps & Atlases Tree, Swallows, Houses (Sargent House)
10 - Riverboat Gamblers To The Confusion Of Our Enemies (East/West)