"Can we listen to the Okkervil River with the bone head?"

"Can we listen to the Okkervil River with the bone head?"  That is the question posed to me often when my daughter, who is 4, wants to listen to Okkervil River's latest release, The Stand Ins. She does pronouce "Okkervil" correctly, which is more than even some fans of the band can say.  Her favorite song is Lost Coastlines.

Now I just have to figure out if she wants to listen to the record with me, the bonehead, or if she means she wants to listen to the record with the skull on the cover.  "Skull" hasn't quite entered her vocabulary yet.  I'd like the believe it's the latter, I'm sure it'll be the former as she enters her teen years.

When a 45 is not a 45

I just got my copy of the 7 inch single of Okkervil River's Will Sheff covering The Wren's song, "Ex-Girl Collection" with the B-side of The Wren's Charles Bissell covering Okervil River's "It Ends With A Fall".  Back in the day, I woulda called this a "45", however, this is a 33 1/3.  Like they say, if it looks like a 45, walks like a 45, is little like a 45, and has two songs like a 45, it must be a duck. It's not a 45, or a duck, as I found out without reading the fine print.  Will Sheff ended up sounding like Alvin (my favorite Jonas Brother. . . oh wait) as I had the record on the wrong speed.  Okay, so I'm not the first person to do that but isn't it a shock to the system when you forget to change the settings from 45 or 33 (or 78) or vice-versa?

So once I got the record on the right speed the Sheff cover of one of my favorite Wren's songs of all time is outstanding.  Sheff enunciates some of the lyrics I couldn't understand from the original, though the original is better.  Bissell does a good job with "It Ends With A Fall" but at this point I'd rank the Sheff cover a little higher.

My Top 10 Records of 2008

Here is a not so quick run down of some of my favorite records of this past year.  I would say it was a pretty decent year for music.  If you continue to say that today's music is awful, you aren' t looking hard enough.  There's a lot of great music out there, you just have to search for it.  For some of you reading this, I know I am preaching to the choir.

1.  Gentleman Jesse - Introducing Gentleman Jesse

Rockin' little power pop record with great sing-a-long choruses, jangly guitars, and wonderful harmonies.  Here is his myspace page:  http://www.myspace.com/gentlemanjesse

2.  Foxboro hot tubs - An alter-ego to a more famous band.  Look them up and then buy the record.  Turn it up!  The website has a cool picture of the record cover

3.  Calexico. - Carried to Dust

Emotional output from Tucson's finest.  Joey Burns and John Convertino are truly masters of their craft.  How do you classify Calexico?  You can't really, literate lyrics, masterful instrumentation, spanish lyrics, whistling, hard to top.  Find them on Quarterstick records

4.  Okkervil_River - The Stand Ins

Singer-songwriter Will Sheff never ceases to amaze with his songwriting.  Quite possibly one of the great living songwriters of this time.  It's a shame he's not a household name.  Buy it on viny!  okkervilriver.com

5.  Matthew Sweet - Sunshine Lies 

Jangly guitars, harmonies, this is what Matthew Sweet does best and this record is no different.  Those of you with just "Girlfriend" may have to pay a vist to this record.  The vinyl has 4 bonus tracks.  Also, a nice picture of Jeff Goldblum in the gatefold!

6.  The_Black_Keys - Attack and Release

Criminally under-rated not only in the "2 piece hard-rockin' outfit" genre but under-rated in the rock world as a whole.  Dangermouse handles the production duties.

7.  The_Raconteurs - Consolors of the Lonely 

Jack White and Brendan Benson's 4 piece ode the classic 60's and 70's rock.

8.  Head_of_Femur - Great Plains

Is there a trend here with me with pop, or power-pop records?  This one is no exception other than it is exceptional.  Download "Covered Wagons"

9.  Centro-Matic - Dual Hawks

Double album by Centro-matic and their alter-ego South_San_Gabriel with SSG being the more melow of the two.  Another great song-writer named "Will" is in this band in the form of Will Johnson.

10.  Will Quinlan - Navasota

Anyone here looking for 1997 era alt.-country?  This gem truly captures the moment of that time.  They'd have been the "No Depression" cover boys instead of that bratty Adams kid.  ;-)

Here is another blog entry that I could only hope to write:  http://www.hearya.com/2008/11/14/will-quinlan-and-the-diviners-navasota/

Nice long url I got there, right?  

Well, there they are, thanks for reading and even reading this far down the page.  Ask me tomorrow what my Top 10 may look like and it may have3,4 or 8 different entries.  Enjoy your day and most importanly . . . Enjoy the Music!

Other records that warrant consideration for this list

Dr. Dog - Fate

Deerhunter - Microcastle

The 49 minute Paul Westerberg Amazon download

Nada Surf - Lucky

Jay Reatard - Matador '08 singles

Sea and Cake

Vampire Weekend

British Sea Power

Fleet Foxes