WINTER BLIZZZZARD 2005!!

snow is falling in nyc and people are FREAKING OUT!

good lord.
i understand that it's a big city and people aren't used to getting snow here, but this is new york... aren't people are supposed to be tough?
people, in fact, are worried that the stores are going to be closed tomorrow (maybe even monday too?!? right...) and that no one will be able to buy food or toilet paper, condoms, tampons, shorts*, flip flops, floppy disks or widgets.
granted it's snowing... and it is snowing pretty hard**, but any moron can toss on a coat, hat, gloves, mittens, boots, thermal undies, snowsuit, and scarf can walk down the block, down the street, down two avenues and jump on the subway.
that's the miraculous thing about nyc... it's public transportation doesn't shut down! if you rely on buses you might be a little behind schedule... or if you're driver's a moron and got himself stuck... well maybe you're fucked. however, i'm still planning on jumping on the subway tomorrow morning and heading off to work. likewise, i feel like i could walk to the corner and buy most, if not, all of the aforementioned items at the corner store -- which, to this day, i have never EVER seen closed. EVER.

the news/weathercasters break in about every fifteen minutes to let us know that it's snowing, that it's still snowing, and it's going to continue snowing. of course, it might stop for a little bit, but then it's going to start snowing again. the most interesting points i've found from the interruptions have been that:
a.) they're hiring people to shovel and they're paying these hirees a mere $9/hr.***
b.) mayor bloomburg gave a breakdown of $1 million/inch of snowfall in Manhattan for 614 miles of roadways in Manhattan. c.) some "side-streets" may not get plowed until sunday night, early monday am, but most major streets are supposed to be "free and clear..." right...

i'll break back in about fifteen minutes now for an update on the snow, okay?

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* reporters out on the streets are asking people why they're out. most answers are "going to find a restaraunt," "going to a movie," "going to the videostore," "going to the store to buy a 40..." the one that takes the cake is the following:
reporter: "what are you doing out and about on this snowy saturday?"
girl: "out buying shorts!"
reporter: "shorts!?!? are you going on vacaction somewhere sunny?"
girl: "no, but you wouldn't believe the sale they have on shorts this time of year!"

back to you in the studio jim.

** around 2 o'clock i measured 4", around 7:30 i measured 8.5/9", and now around 9pm -- about 10"

*** $9!! Do they think people are going to shovel for more than a couple of hours at $9! This is not light and fluffy snow... it's heavy packing snow. Shit ton heavy. $9!! Trying to keep the cost down to around $990,000/inch, huh Mike?

tops of oh!four (a human jukebox post)

Usually, I like to be on top.
This past year it just didn't happen.
Granted the first few months of oh!four were spent holed up in a dark spot on the L.E.S.
Sure, I had a couple of good hold overs from oh!three, as well as some music downloads; however without a job, confined to a stone-aged-slow-dial-up connection, and with the eventual shit my hard drive took -- I was pretty much thirsty all year long.

So, I spent a good part of the year playing catch up...
So, let's get this shit up while it's still relevant.

Top Ten Albums of 2004 -- (alphabetically)

Aloha - Here Comes Everyone (Polyvinyl)
Apostle of Hustle - Folkloric Feel (Arts and Crafts)
The Arcade Fire - Funeral (Merge)
The Futureheads - S/T (Sire)
Lali Puna - Faking the Books (Morr Music)
Matthew Dear - Backstroke EP (Spectral)
Mission of Burma - OnOFFOn (Matador)
Pinback - Summer In Abaddon (Touch and Go)
RJD2 - Since We Last Spoke (Def Jux)
TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes (Touch and Go)

Honorable Contenders:
The Album Leaf, Battles, Deerhoof, Dirty on Purpose, The Go Find, The Go Team, Kings of Conveniece, Ted Leo/RX, Murs, Pedro the Lion, Q and Not U, Ratatat, Ulrich Schnauss, Subtle, and Wilco.

Ten Albums I Wish That I Had Heard:

Black Eyes - Cough
The Chinese Stars - Rare Sensation
The Eternals - Rawar Style
Fennesz - Venice
Hot Snakes - Audit In Progress
Pan American - Quiet City
Red Eyed Legends - Mutual Insignificance EP /The High I Feel When I'm Low 12"
Turing Machine - Zwei
The Warmers - Wanted:More
Wrangler Brutes - Zulu // S/T cassette*

Re-Issue of the Year:

Talking Heads - The Name of This Band... (Rhino)

Besides hearing all of the major singles over the years, this was the first Talking Heads album that I really listened to with great interest from begining to end. Of course this is a highly expanded release, but Rhino is nice enough to give the track sequencing for the original album.
I recommend it for intensity's sake.

Greatest Hits/Box Set/RePackaged:

Low - A Lifetime of Temporary Relief****

Best Thing to Happen to Music in the oh!four:

Mp3 blogging**

Funniest/Worst Thing to Happen to Music in the oh!four:

Ashlee Simpson's flub, subsequent booing at the Bowl, and the fact she still has a career.***

Most Overrated Trend that ultimately overshadowed a damn fine concept album****:

The Mashup/Blend vs. Dangermouse/Jay-Z - The Grey Album

Thank God It's Over:

Electroclash

It's a Command. Not a genre:

Dance Punk. (duh, there's an implied comma in there.)

Aforementioned Oh!Three Holdovers:

The Constantines - Shine A Light
Consonant - Love and Affliction
Enon - Hocus Pocus
The Stills - Logic Will Break Your Heart
Sunkillmoon - Ghosts of the Great Highway

First Quarter, (or so...) Anticipated New Releases:

Caribou (formerly Manitoba) - Milk of Human Kindness
Out Hud - Bring On The Drama
Boom Bip - Blue Eyed In The Red Room
Low - The Great Destroyer
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Worlds Apart
The Books - Lost and Safe
M83 - Befire The Dawn Heals Us
LCD Soundsystem - S/T
Prefuse 73 - Surrounded By Silence//Hideyaface
Solvent - Think Like Us//Elevators and Oscillators


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* technically a oh!three release, but I didn't find out about it until oh!four.

** Helped me catch up, kept me sane, introduced me to new stuff, reminded me about music I had forgotten (or tried to
forget.) Inspired me. This blog will feature mp3s.

*** As mentioned by someone... at least Milli Vanilli apologized...
and as far as I know, they never claimed to be punk rock.

**** More on this later.

Adjustments

Wow.
This place really cleared out.

What has it been, nine months?
I guess that's about right, huh?

Well... sometimes it takes that long.

Look for updates to appear more regularly here, but also over there.