PlasticBoy

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Now that the Rhapsody editors’ best of list is out I guess I’d better post mine. I’ve limited my self to 25 tracks so that you can listen with your free 25 tracks even if you don’t have a Rhapsody subscription.

Best Music of 2005: Excerpts from Rhapsody editors’ favorite releases from the last year. 1. Pull Up The People - M.I.A. 2. Dare (Soulwax Remix) - Gorillaz 3. Gideon - My Morning Jacket 4. Forever Lost - The Magic Numbers 5. Heard ‘Em Say (Album Version (Explicit)) - Kanye West 6. Hung Up - Madonna 7. Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 8. Que’ Onda Guero - Beck 9. Drop The Pressure - Mylo 10. M’bifé - Amadou & Mariam 11. Feels Just Like It Should - Jamiroquai 12. Winter in the Hamptons - Josh Rouse 13. Strange & Beautiful (I’ll Put A Spell On You) - Aqualung 14. Ch Ching (Cheque 1-2 Remix) - Lady Sovereign 15. The Corner (Album Version (Explicit)) - Common 16. I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab For Cutie 17. Banquet - Bloc Party 18. Panda - Dungen 19. Tap Water - Dengue Fever 20. Bad Man (Featuring Vybez Cartel & M.I.A.) - Missy Elliott 21. I Turn My Camera On - Spoon 22. Just Let Go (Thin White Duke Remix Radio Edit) - Fischerspooner 23. Disco Infiltrator - LCD Soundsystem 24. The Weight - The Band 25. Modern Music - Black Mountain 26. Dutchman Falls - Dr. Dog 27. Little Ghost - The White Stripes 28. General Principles (Album Version (Explicit)) - DJ Muggs Vs. GZA 29. Pi - Kate Bush 30. 49 Percent - Royksopp

Kottke’s list of the best links of 2005 is lengthy and excellent.

Ed Dumbill has an interesting article on developments in the HTML standards.

Holiday Favorites: Christmas? Hanukkah? Kwanzaa? Here are some seasonal tunes to keep you warm and cozy regardless of what you celebrate. 1. Do They Know It’s Christmas? - Band Aid 2. Father Christmas - The Kinks 3. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2 4. The Chanukah Song - Adam Sandler 5. Up On The House Top - The Jackson 5 6. Step Into Christmas - Elton John 7. 2000 Miles - The Pretenders 8. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Pointer Sisters 9. The Man With All The Toys - The Beach Boys 10. I Have A Little Dreidel - Barenaked Ladies 11. Winter Wonderland - Macy Gray 12. Fairytale of New York - Pilate 13. Christmas All Over Again - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 14. Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses 15. Peace On Earth / The Little Drummer Boy - (with David Bowie) - Bing Crosby 16. Frosty The Snowman - Ronettes 17. Do You Hear What I Hear? - Whitney Houston 18. Spread A Little Love On Christmas Day - Destiny’s Child 19. Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah - Barenaked Ladies

Ken Tucker of Fresh Air puts out another of my favorite year-end top ten lists. This one includes albums, songs, a book, and a DVD.

Cool Yule: Classic Christmas tunes from some of the most beloved names in rock and soul. 1. Jingle Bells - Wilson Pickett 2. Baby, It’s Cold Outside - Dean Martin 3. Noel - Martha and the Vandellas 4. Merry Christmas Baby - Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band 5. Christmas Must Be Tonight - The Band 6. Soulful Christmas - James Brown 7. You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch - Dr.Seuss 8. Back Door Santa - The Holmes Brothers 9. Blue Christmas - Johnny Cash 10. Goin’ Home For Christmas - Merle Haggard 11. Silent Night - Al Green 12. Drummer Boy - Ben E. King 13. Amazing Grace - Jeff Beck 14. Winter Wonderland - Louis Armstrong & Friends 15. Jingle Bells - Earl Scruggs

Modern Rock Christmas: Check out future holiday classics from Beck, Death Cab for Cutie and other alt rockers. 1. The Christmas Song - The Raveonettes 2. The Little Drum Machine Boy - Beck 3. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab For Cutie 4. Back Door Santa (Non Album Version) - Jet 5. Christmas Time Is Here - Ivy 6. 2000 Miles - The Pretenders 7. Winter Wonderland - Brian Setzer Orchestra 8. Christmas On TV - Chris Isaak 9. Snow Day - Bleu 10. Good King Wenceslas - Crash Test Dummies 11. Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight) - Joey Ramone 12. Is Zat You, Santa Claus - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy 13. Blue Christmas - The Perishers 14. Christmas At The Zoo - The Flaming Lips 15. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Single Version) - Street Drum Corps 16. Chirstmas Is Going To The Dogs - Eels 17. Santa Doesn’t Cop Out On Dope - Sonic Youth 18. Last Christmas - Jimmy Eat World 19. Maybe This Christmas - Ron Sexsmith 20. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Hem

I didn’t get many hits in Rhapsody on any of the other genre lists from Other Music so I just combined it all into one big playlist.

I love this time of year because all of the year-end favorite music lists come out and I always discover a lot of great albums that hadn’t made it onto my radar. The list put out by Other Music in NYC is one of my favorites and always contains lots of obscure picks. There’s some overlap here with what will be on my year-end list but also a ton of stuff I’ve never heard of. I made a playlist of the stuff I could find in Rhapsody from their Rock picks. I’ll post versions of their other genre lists later.

Best Jazz Releases of 2005: It was another banner year for mainstream jazz, with albums by old masters being matched by the stellar work of younger acts. 1. Green Chimneys - Wynton Marsalis 2. Autumn In New York - Joe Lovano 3. O Rio Para Tras - Celso Fonseca 4. Why Was I Born? - Sonny Rollins 5. Knives Out - Brad Mehldau 6. The Source - Terence Blanchard 7. Last Minute Man - Dave Holland Big Band 8. Modinha - Luciana Souza 9. As Far As The Eye Can See - Wayne Shorter 10. Who Cares - Bill Charlap 11. Midnight Special - Joey DeFrancesco and Jimmy Smith 12. Please Stand By - Greg Osby 13. Peace - SF Jazz Collective 14. You Don’t Know What love Is - Kenny Barron 15. La Dolce Vita - Tommaso-Rava Quartet 16. Welcome Road - The Benevento Russo Duo 17. The Lover Mourns - Kenny Wheeler 18. Leaving Avignon - Ravi Coltrane 19. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall - Bill Frisell 20. I Remember - Robert Glasper

2006 Grammy Nominees: This just in: Grammy contenders announced! Tune in on February 8, 2006, to find out if any of these songs will win. 1. Gold Digger (Album Version (Explicit)) - Kanye West 2. Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz 3. Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani 4. We Belong Together - Mariah Carey 5. Sitting, Waiting, Wishing - Jack Johnson 6. Mr. Brightside - The Killers 7. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams (Single/Album Version) - Green Day 8. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson 9. Speed Of Sound - Coldplay 10. Bless The Broken Road - Rascal Flatts 11. So What The Fuss - Stevie Wonder 12. Wonderful Night (Radio Edit) - Fatboy Slim 13. Ordinary People - John Legend 14. Welcome To Jamrock (Explicit) - Damian Marley 15. Devils & Dust - Bruce Springsteen

They Might Be Giants have a podcast. I haven’t listened yet but it sounds like fun.

New releases are pretty sparse these days so I’m digging into the archives. The album of the week is Animal Collective’s Feels.