The Syndicate Blog

Top 10 Albums:
1. Gogol Bordello – Super Taranta
2. The Gaslight Anthem – Sink Or Swim
3. Against Me! – New Wave
4. Bruce Springsteen – Magic
5. Jose Gonzalez – In Our Nature
6. Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
7. Balkan Beat Box – Nu Med
8. World/Inferno Friendship Society – Addicted To Bad Ideas
9. Tegan & Sara – The Con
10. State Radio – Year Of The Crow

Gogol Bordello rocked 2007 because.
This album is way cooler than the Iowa Caucus and, in my opinion, Gogol Bordello is the best live band touring right now. However it took me some time to get into this one and wasn’t until I picked the CD back up in August or September that I really fell in love with it.

Favorite thing of the year: Over Labor Day weekend I nearly cut my thumb off in a bizarre accident involving a pocketknife, a tiny frog, a young French family, a furious redneck and his Hummer and a horse farm. This was definitely not one of favorite things. Wait…I think I misunderstood the question…

What did you wish you did more of in 2007: I wish I could have traveled more in 2007. It’s a pretty typical/boring answer but true nonetheless.

What are you looking forward to in 2008: Getting awesome.

Top 10 Albums:
1. Gaslight Anthem – Sink Or Swim
2. Against Me! – New Wave
3. Idlewild – Make Another World
4. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
5. Band Of Horses – Cease To Begin
6. Jose Gonzalez – In Our Nature
7. Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light
8. Manchester Orchestra – Like A Virgin Losing A Child
9. LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
10. Dustin Kensrue – Please Come Home

Jose Gonzalez rocked 2007 because:
It seemed I could not escape Jose this year. No matter what I did or where I went, he was there. Even though he’s just a guy with a guitar, he’s captivating to watch live. His music is delicate and solid at the same time. I’m not sure if it’s strumming technique, his punk rock roots, or his willingness to cover electronic bands like The Knife and Massive Attack. It seems there’s not much that Jose Gonzalez can’t do. And there’s even less that he can’t do amazingly.

Favorite thing of the year? The return of relevant and great rock music. I like ridiculous and superficial music as much as the next person, but 2007 restored my faith in artists and their ability to say something meaningful. From a veteran like Bruce Springsteen putting out an amazing album, to Against Me! finally getting heard outside my shouting distance. Even newcomers The Gaslight Anthem came in and blasted people away. 2007 was all about being bands you want to be and not waiting for someone else to do it. While on the topic, those three bands should tour together, great idea if I say so myself.

What did you wish you did more of in 2007? I wish I spent more time reading books that I’ve been meaning to read as well as seeing more movies that I wanted to see. I’ve also yet to end up on a clip show answering questions with the tag “music know-it-all” listed under my name as I discuss the rise and fall of Britney Spears.

What are you looking forward to in 2008? An end to the writer’s strike so my TiVo will no longer hate me. The new Whigs record. As well as new albums from The Gaslight Anthem, Death Cab For Cutie, The Hold Steady, Eagles Of Death Metal, Margot & The Nuclear So & Sos, Nada Surf, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Spiritualized, and Joseph Arthur.

Outside of work I’d like to finish building cd shelves in my house that I’ve threatened to build for the last year and a half. As well as put up trim around my windows, ya know…man shit!

Top 10 Albums:
1. Baroness – The Red Album
2. Porcupine Tree – Fear Of A Blank Planet
3. Radiohead – In Rainbows
4. Throwdown – Venom And Tears
5. The End – Elementary
6. The Ocean – Precambrian
7. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
8. Between The Buried And Me – Colors
9. Minus the Bear – Planet Of Ice
10. Machine Head – The Blackening

Baroness rocked 2007 because:
The Red Album was definitely my favorite album of the year. It combined the aggressiveness of Mastodon and the ambient groove of Isis with a Southern rock twang. Amazing live show at the Bowery Ballroom as well.

Favorite thing of the year? For my department, I would say working with the legendary Dethklok, the awesomest cartoon band ever (with apologies to Gorillaz and Jem and the Holograms).

Personally, I’m torn. I finally got with the times and got an XBox 360, which has contributed to countless hours of wasted time, but that’s not my favorite thing of the year. I’d say great meals with good friends and the alcohol that goes with it, but that’s every year. I could also say my favorite thing of the year is the few weeks i get off of at the end of it and the time i get to spend with friends and family, but that’s a little too sappy for this blog. I’ll just say “Vegas,” because that’s where i’ll be in about 48 hours after this post. I’d tell you what happens once i get back, but you know the saying…

What did you wish you did more of in 2007? Blog

What are you looking forward to in 2008? Grand Theft Auto IV, a Metallica album that’s better than St. Anger, the new Batman movie, and absinthe, now that it’s legal in the states.

Top 10 Albums:
1. Pharoahe Monch – Desire
2. Little Brother – Get Back
3. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
4. Justice – Cross
5. Radiohead – In Rainbows
6. Devin The Dude – Waitin To Exhale
7. Battles – Mirrored
8. Sea Wolf – Leaves In The River
9. Brother Ali – The Undisputed Truth
10. Dan Deacon – Spiderman Of The Rings

Pharoah Monch rocked 2007 because:
It’s been about 8 years since Pharoahe Monch’s debut album and there are not a lot of rappers who could step it up after that long of a wait. Pharoahe Monch however, should teach a class on how to do so. His second album, Desire, is produced amazingly with influences of a lot of soul and jazz sounds creating a much smoother and mellow vibe to the whole album. I’ve always considered him one of the top MC’s in hip hop and was pleasantly surprised to hear that he has definitely not dropped off. I don’t think I’ve stopped listening to this album a few times a week since it came out and don’t think I will for a while! I’d have to say the song that impressed me the most was the re-make of Public Enemy’s “Welcome To The Terrordome” – the mellower sound of the horns and his Monch flow make for an amazing track. I’d say he’s still in the top in my book

Favorite thing of the year? Mario Galaxy on the Wii system…It has got to be the best video game I’ve ever played in my entire life.

What did you wish you did more of in 2007? Traveled and then traveled some more!

What are you looking forward to in 2008? Getting my turntables out here from San Francisco, Going to lots of shows, Exploring and tearing apart more of New York, and WARM WEATHER!

Top 10 Albums
1. UNKLE – War Stories
2. Grinderman – Grinderman
3. Jaylib – Champion Sound
4. Queens Of The Stone Age – Era Vulgaris
5. Oh No – Dr. No’s Oxperiment
6. Mustache! – Babes Say The Hottest Things
7. Dethklok – The Dethalbum
8. Justice – †
9. Liars – Liars
20. Battles – Mirrored

UNKLE rocked 2007 because:
Psyence Fiction was an album that has consistently proven itself as an influence in my taste of all music. When I first heard that album so many years ago, it simply blew my mind, opening me up to a whole new realm of music the likes of which this small town boy from Indiana had never heard. The guests on the album made me realize that HipHop wasn’t all the gangster noise I had heard for so many years, but that there was AMAZING music being made that I hadn’t had access to. DJ Shadow’s work on it made me a Shadow fan for life. Drums of Death is still one of the sickest tracks ever.

Fast forward to today, and I don’t dare even count the dollars I’ve spent on UNKLE’s music. Every import. Every two-disc special edition by a band featuring an UNKLE remix. Money that I wish I could spend on artwork by Futura (he did the cover on that badboy). A rekindled love for Music Videos. All of these things were born of that single album. But in all honesty, the last couple had let me down. It felt at times that LaVelle was spending to much time in clubs… But War Sories, this album has changed all that. At first listen, I was right back to where I had started, and UNKLE, the dark, brooding UNKLE of the Psyence Fiction days was back in full force. Just as strong (If not stronger) as it once was.

The first video for the album for Burn My Shadow was right on par with Rabbit in Your Headlights. UNKLE had brought it all back. The imagery, the depth, all of it. And once again, the guestlist roster simply cannot be beat. QOTSA. Autolux. Two of my absolute current favorites were – wait for it…ON THE ALBUM?! My head exploded. And once again, the guests that I didn’t know already brought me in to find more new artists (The Duke Spirit). Ian Astbury’s vocal work throughout the album is… Perfect. The tone doesn’t just work – it MAKES the lyrics. A dead-on match. The coverart is powerful. Tasteful. Brilliant. There is nothing bad that I can say about this album. Nothing I would change.

It is, in a sense, ideal.

Favorite thing of the year? The Dark Knight ARG. This marketing tool / new movement in games has seriously been blowing my mind. The depth of involvment, the sheer amount of creativity that has gone on in regards to a movie THAT IS STILL IN PRODUCTION is killing me!! Not only that, but I am one of the biggest Bats uber-fans ever so add on the base eagerness about the sequel to the BEST Batman movie ever, and excitied, enthralled, jazzed, psyched…These words don’t do it justice. Add in the crazy imagery showing up, the indo about there being a six-part anime that will release as an “inbetween” for the two films….MAN! Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled when Batman Begins came out – but to see a real joker on film, is going to be incredible.

You can check out one of the main sites for the game here – www.whysoserious.com but that’s just one of over a dozen sites for the game!!

What did you wish you did more of in 2007? The Dark Knight ARG If only I had had the time to really participate in the game, instead of watching from afar…Man, that would have ruled. To get packages from the Joker, phonecalls from corrput cops, The Gotham Times…Would have been simply incredible. But there’s hope! There are hints of new mission in the coming year…

What are you looking forward to in 2008? Batman. The Dark Knight. Have you not read all of the above?

Top 10 Albums:
1. Memorial – Berlin
2. Reign Supreme – 7″
3. Ceremony – Scared People
4. Gaslight Anthem -Sink or Swim
5. Pulling Teeth – Martyr Immortal
6. American Steel – Destroy Their Future
7. Soul Control – Involution
8. Government Warning – Arrested
9. Down To Nothing – The Most
10. Trap Them – Seance Prime

Memorial rocked 2007 because:
Memorial makes the top of my list this year and last due to the absolute beautiful music singer Pete Appleby makes, and based on how often I listen to the record. Renee Heartfelt, his last band, was on the top of my list the year before as well! It reminds me of Quicksand and Texas Is The Reason, but an updated version, which I listen to probably 10 times more than I do Quicksand and Texas Is the Reason. Some songs are a little softer and more emotional, and some verge on being aggressive, but I don’t think there is ever a time when listening to it doesn’t make me feel better. And they did the whole Radiohead thing of “send us money and we’ll email you the songs” months before Radiohead did. You can still get the songs in the same way by going to their myspace page.

Favorite thing of the year? Babycakes! This bakery has been around for a little while, but I discovered it this year. Their cupcakes are life-changing.

What did you wish you did more of in 2007? Travel more and book more shows.

What are you looking forward to in 2008?I want to get outdoors more – go hiking, camping, and basically pretending I’m Bear Grylls.

Top 10 Albums
1. Clutch – From Beale Street To Oblivion
2. Funeral For A Friend – Tales Don’t Tell Themselves
3. Greg Giraldo – Good Day to Cross A River
4. Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light
5. Minus The Bear – Planet of Ice
6. Mustache! – Babes Say The Hottest Things
7. Shadows Fall – Threads Of Life
8. Sherwood – A Different Light
9. The End – Elementary
10. Thursday – Kill The House Lights

Greg Giraldo rocked 2007 because:
I wish I had the ability to harness my anger into a money making scheme like telling jokes. Unfortunately I would sound just like Greg. So I’ll let him take the glory while I go back to inventing a cake the blows itself out.

Favorite thing of the year? BRAWNDO! Its what plants crave!!!!!!!

What did you wish you did more of in 2007? While impersonating Will Smith, rob a small bank in a ghost town. While escaping in a bright orange Studebaker, pick up a pack of hitch hiking alpacas on their way to Pakistan for purple pancake syrup. Upon completing the mission, use the money to Free Willy and take him out to a full meal at Willy’s California style burritos and eat a Willy Wonka chocolate bar for dessert. Once our bellies were full, I would drop him off at the hotel of his choosing and carry on with my mission to create a time machine. Upon completion return to the dawn of time where I will make a movie predicting the first ice age thus beating Al Gore to the Nobel Peace Prize. When I return to the current time, I will use the rest of the money to melt the remaining polar ice caps to fund the first global completely organic snocone distribution company serving flavors whose are best described by their actual name, like orange.

What are you looking forward to in 2008? Using a Delorean instead of the Studebaker. Might as well kill 2 cars with one stone.