Largehearted Boy

Today's Updates to the Year-End "Best of 2008" Books & Music Lists (December 1st, 2008)

Today's additions to the "best of 2008" books and music lists (keep up with daily additions at the update archive page):

"Best of 2008" Books Lists additions:

Book Design Review (favorite book covers)
Christian Science Monitor (best nonfiction books)
Epicurious (best cookbooks)
Financial Times (best business books)
New West (best Western books)
NPR (best foreign fiction)
Project Foodie (top baking cookbooks)

"Best of 2008" Music Lists additions:

88 Days in My Veins (top albums)
About.com (great debut albums)
Atrocity Exhibition (songs)
Bandwagon (songs)
Barb Designs (top albums)
Berkeley Place (best mixtapes)
BLITZ Portugal (albums)
Blood On My Vans (top albums)
Bmore Musically Informed (top Baltimore albums)
brokenbranches (albums)
The Echoes Blog: John Diliberto (top albums)
Eric Ryan Anderson (albums)
Gibberish (best albums)
Gorilla vs. Bear (favorite albums)
Great Eclectic (albums)
Headphone Infatuation (top albums)
The Hurst Review (best EPs and compilations)
Invisible Thoughts (top albums)
Jazz Beyond Jazz (best albums)
Jazzwise (albums)
The Kitchen Sink (top albums)
Ladytron (top albums)
Largehearted Boy (favorite albums)
Lucky Young Matador: Dav (favorite albums)
Metro Distortion: JK (top albums, EPs, songs)
The Middle Distance Runner (top EPs)
Music OMH (best albums)
The Needle Drop (best albums)
Mind Musings of the Tin Men (top albums)
Oceans Never Listen (best Australian artists)
Pax Arcana: Perry Ellis (top albums)
Post swim cap ... pre-headband (best albums)
Seth Lakeman (gigs, albums)
Sneakmove (top songs)
Stephen King (best albums)
textura (top albums, EPs, singles)
Sweeping the Nation (albums)
This Is PR Public Speaking (top songs)
This Winki's (worst albums)
Trailblazin Ministries Blog (top albums)
Watarimono (best albums, singles)
XLR8TR (top albums)

also at Largehearted Boy:

daily updates to the 2008 year-end "best of 2008" books & music lists

2008 Online Year-end Book Lists
2008 Online Year-end Music Lists
2007 Online Year-end Music Lists
2006 Online Year-end Music Lists
other lists
MP3 Downloads
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
directors and actors discuss their film's soundtracks
52 Books, 52 Weeks

tags: books literature list lists indie 2008 fiction nonfiction music

Largehearted Boy Favorite Albums of 2008

Here is my list of albums I personally enjoyed the most in 2008. Please feel free to share your favorites in the comments, or consult others' online "best of 2008" music lists.

My favorite eleven albums of 2008, along with free and legal mp3 downloads (where available):

Alina Simone: Everyone Is Crying Out to Me Beware

Alina Simone : Everyone Is Crying Out to Me Beware is the most ambitious album of the year. Alina Simone chose to release a Russian language Yanka Dyagileva folk-punk covers album as her sophomore release, and the resulting collection is filled with breathtakingly dark beauty that transcends any language barrier.

"Half My Kingdom" [mp3]

Beach House: Devotion

Victoria Legrand puts in the year's premier vocal performance on Beach House's sophomore release, and her voice puts the "dreamy" in dream pop.

"Gila" [mp3]

Fleet Foxes : Fleet Foxes

The Fleet Foxes self-titled debut has been widely acclaimed, and the vocal harmonies on this album alone are one of the year's musical highlights.

"White Water Hymnal" [mp3]

Haley Bonar: Big Star

Haley Bonar's 3rd album, Big Star, features richer production than her first two albums with bigger hooks and lyrics that bounce around in your head long after the CD has stopped spinning.

"Big Star" [mp3]
"Something Great" [mp3]

The Helio Sequence: Keep Your Eyes Ahead

When I first heard Keep Your Eyes Ahead early this year, I knew it would make my year-end list. The Helio Sequence continues to evolve its sound, and this album impresses from the first track to the last.

"Keep Your Eyes Ahead" [mp3]
"Can't Say No" [mp3]

Larkin Grimm : Parplar

Grimm's voice is eclectic and her fingerpicking guitarwork divine, combined they form one of the year's most stylistically diverse albums. This is neofolk music at its best, Appalachia moved to the big city.

"Ride that Cyclone" [mp3]

Mountain Goats: Heretic Pride

As John Darnielle's songwriting continues to evolve, so do his albums. Heretic Pride is simply orchestrated, which brings the lyrics of America's greatest living songwriter (in my opinion) to the forefront.

"Sax Rohmer #1" [mp3]

No Age: Nouns

No Age's DIY approach and work ethic combine to produce one of the year's most intense and just plain fun albums.

"Eraser" [mp3]
"Teen Creeps" [mp3]

Okkervil River: The Stand Ins

Originally intended to be released as a double album with 2007's The Stage Names, The Stand Ins once again showcases Will Sheff's clever lyrics about desperate, lost characters.

"Lost Coastlines" [mp3]

Shearwater : Rook

Jonathan Meiburg's ornithological obsession comes to life in this richly detailed album that reveals itself further with every listen.

"Rooks" [mp3]
"Leviathan Bound" [mp3]

Vivian Girls : Vivian Girls

The Vivian Girls' debut self-titled album seamlessly melds shoegaze with Phil Spector's Wall of Sound to a wonderful lo-fi result. I fell in love with this album on first listen, and am still infatuated.

"Where Do You Run To?" [mp3]

also at Largehearted Boy:

other online "best of 2008" music lists

2007 Largehearted Favorite Albums
2006 Largehearted Favorite Albums
2005 Largehearted Favorite Albums
2004 Largehearted Favorite Albums
2003 Largehearted Favorite Albums
2002 Largehearted Favorite Albums

tags: music lists indie

This Week's Interesting Music Releases (December 2nd, 2008)

I have been streaming Neil Young's Sugar Mountain - Live At Canterbury House 1968 at NPR for the past week or so, and am looking forward to watching the accompanying DVD of the performance that catches Young in an early solo performance. This disc has me eagerly awaiting the next installment in the Neil Young Archives Performance Series.

Aside from the Neil Young live disc, I only plan to pick up the import version of Mark Olsen & Gary Louris's Ready for the Flood, the reunion of the Jayhawks members, while rummaging through the bargain bins and finishing my holiday shopping.

What new releases can you recommend? What music are you giving as holiday presents?

This week's interesting CD releases:

Akon: Freedom
Bob Marley & The Wailers: Bob Marley & The Wailers (5-CD box set)
Britney Spears: Circus (deluxe edition with DVD)
Carly Simon: Sing Songs for Children
Crosby Stills & Nash: Allies (import reissue)
Kylie Minogue: X (2008 Tour Edition with bonus tracks & DVD)
Madonna: Miles Away (import single) (vinyl)
Marianne Faithfull: Easy Come Easy Go (import)
Mark Olsen & Gary Louris: Ready for the Flood (import)
Neil Young: Sugar Mountain - Live At Canterbury House 1968 (with DVD)
Panic! at the Disco: Live in Chicago (with DVD)
Scarface: Emeritus
Various Artists: Cadillac Records (soundtrack) (vinyl)
Various Artists: Best Of Chess: Original Versions Of Songs in Cadillac Records

also at Largehearted Boy:

2008 Online Year-end Book Lists
2008 Online Year-end Music Lists
previous CD & DVD release lists
Try It Before You Buy It (music from this week's CD releases)

tags: music cd list indie album releases

This Week's Interesting DVD Releases (December 2nd, 2008)

As the year winds down, DVD release lists get shorter and shorter... The film adaptation of Wanted is the week's highlight for me.

Other features worth checking out this week include the Criterion Collection's edition of Samuel Fuller's White Dog (which features the unlikely combination of Paul Winfield, Burl Ives, and Kristy McNichol).

Noteworthy television releases include the animated "squigglevision" The Best Of Dr. Katz, the sixt season of Law and Order, the fourth season of Saturday Night Live and the second season of Metalocalypse.

Music discs out tomorrow include Paul Weller at the BBC and a limited edition of Arctic Monkeys At the Apollo that includes a vinyl album of the performance.

What can you recommend buying or adding to the Netflix queue from this week's DVD releases?

This week's interesting DVD releases::

60 Minutes - The 44th President and The Next First Family
Abba: Gold
Air Gear: Complete Box Set
Arctic Monkeys At the Apollo (Limited Edition with bonus LP, Film Poster and Postcards)
Austin Powers Collection: Shagadelic Edition Loaded With Extra Mojo (Blu-ray)
Bakugan: Vol. 1-2
Bakugan, Vol. 2: Game On
Bam Margera Presents: Where the #$&% is Santa? (Blu-ray)
The Best Of Dr. Katz
The Bone Collector
Book of Revelation
Cannon - Season One, Vol. 2
Casablanca (Ultimate Collector's Edition) (Blu-ray)
Children of Men (Blu-ray)
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Three-Disc Collector's Edition) (Blu-ray Three-Disc Collector's Edition)
The Contract
Day of the Dead (Blu-ray)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Blu-ray)
The Dead Don't Scream
Erin Brockovich (Blu-ray)
Fly Me to the Moon
Frost/Nixon: The Original Watergate Interviews
Hey There, It's Yogi Bear
Home Alone (Blu-ray)
I Claudius & Epic That Never Was
Immortal (Blu-ray)
In the Gutter
Inuyasha Season 6 Box Set
Inuyasha Season 6 Deluxe Edition Box Set
Jake and the Fatman - Season One, Vols. 1-2
Jake and the Fatman - Season One, Vol. 2
Jingle All the Way (Blu-ray)
Kyo Kara Maoh: Season 2, Vol. 9
Law and Order: The Sixth Year
Long Way Round (Deluxe) Long Way Down (Deluxe) Race To Dakar (Complete 8 DVD Box Set)
The Longshots (Blu-ray)
Lower Learning
The Man Called Flintstone
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Blu-ray)
Metalocalypse: The Complete First Two Seasons
Metalocalypse - Season 2
My Father My Lord
My Mexican Shivah
Mythbusters: Big Blasts Collection
Neo Ned
One With Everything (Blu-ray)
Paul Weller - At the BBC
Perry Mason - The Third Season - Vol. 2
Rise of the Footsoldier
Saturday Night Live - The Complete Fourth Season
Secrets of the Clown
Seeding of a Ghost
Shadow Company (special edition)
Shadow People
The Shawshank Redemption (Blu-ray)
Sin City (Blu-ray)
Sky Blue (Blu-ray)
So, You've Downloaded a Demon
Step Brothers (Blu-ray) (2-DVD edition)
The Story of Saiunkoku: Season 1, Part 2
Stranger Than Fiction (Blu-ray)
Toward the Terra Movie (Remastered)
The Trap
The Trojan Horse
Vans Warped Tour 2007
Wanted (Blu-ray) (Blu-ray collector's gift set) (collector's gift set)
Wisegal
The World Within: C.G. Jung In His Own Words
The X-Files - Fight the Future (Blu-ray)
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (3-DVD special edition) (Blu-ray)
White Dog - Criterion Collection

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous CD & DVD release lists
Soundtracked (directors and composers discuss their film's soundtrack)

tags: music movies dvd list indie film

Shorties

Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij talks to Diamondback Online about the band's next album.

"I think we want to have a clear break in terms of a new sound, but also an evolution," he said. "I think, ultimately, the goal is that you know it's our band, but … after we put out like five or 10 albums, you can say, 'Oh, that was the sound of their second album' just by hearing one song. I think that's the goal."

The New Yorker features a new short story, "Waiting," by Amos Oz.

VICE magazine offers a unique "best albums ever" list.

Number 16: Cheesy pop band masquerading as 'wonky-pop'/'nu-pop'/'underground pop', which only barely disguises the fact that they're Roxette with alt. dress sense.

Den of Geek lists 20 pop songs featured in the British television series Doctor Who.

The Sacramento Bee recommends holiday-themed books.

The Times Online lists the 100 best films of 2008.

The Los Angeles Times has posted the first installment of a three-part interview with author Neil Gaiman about his comics series, The Sandman (which has its 20th anniversary this year).

Sci-Fi Wire lists 8 reason's why Gaiman is "the coolest."

Daytrotter's Monday session features in-studio mp3s from The Hush Sound.

The Guardian profiles cartoonist Alison Bechdel.

Two years ago, Bechdel published a book that she hoped would act on her family like a miracle cure. "I had this fantasy that this book was going to heal us and bring us all together. I was going to tell the truth and everything would be out in the open." The truth of her father's not-quite repressed homosexuality, and the day he stepped in front of a truck and was killed, in what she believes was suicide, required a lot of healing. And? She smiles in understatement.

The Book Design Review lists its favorite book covers of 2008.

The National Post offers a primer to Alabama rap.

NPR's Weekend Edition interviews ESPN reporter Sal Paolantonio about his book, How Football Explains America.

In his Guardian blog, Jonathan Jones examines the parallels between ancient and modern superheroes.

also at Largehearted Boy:

Online "best of 2008" music lists
Online "best of 2008" book lists
daily mp3 downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists

tags: music books popculture indie news

Daily Downloads (New John Vanderslice Songs, Ryan Adams, and more)

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

Camper Van Beethoven: 2008-11-22, Chicago [mp3,ogg,flac]
"She Divines Water" [mp3]
other Camper Van Beethoven posts at Largehearted Boy

Dolly Varden: 2008-11-21, Chicago [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours (Stevie Wonder cover)" [mp3]
other Dolly Varden posts at Largehearted Boy

Grace Potter: 2008-03-29, Hattiesburg [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Getting In Tune" [mp3]
other Grace Potter posts at Largehearted Boy

John Vanderslice: 2008-10-18, New York [mp3,ogg,flac]
"The Snow Leopard (new song)" [mp3]
"Too Much Time (new song)" [mp3]
"Romanian Names (new song)" [mp3]
other John Vanderslice posts at Largehearted Boy

Local H: 2008-11-29, Detroit [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Everyone Alive" [mp3]
other Local H posts at Largehearted Boy

Ryan Adams: 2008-11-22, Southampton [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Grand Island" [mp3]
Ryan Adams: 2008-11-20, London [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Go Easy" [mp3]
other Ryan Adams posts at Largehearted Boy

A Silver Mt. Zion: 2008-11-01, Oporto [mp3,ogg,flac]
"I Built Myself a Metal Bird, I Fed My Metal Bird the Wings of Other Metal Birds" [mp3]
other Silver Mt. Zion posts at Largehearted Boy

Various Artists: ANTI label sampler [mp3]

Today's free and legal recordings of live shows, rarities, and demos available via bittorrent:

Centro-matic: 2008-11-12, Chicago [flac]*
other Centro-matic posts at Largehearted Boy

Deerhunter: 2008-11-28, San Diego [flac]*
other Deerhunter posts at Largehearted Boy

Elf Power: 2008-11-12, Sacramento [flac]*
other Elf Power posts at Largehearted Boy

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan: 2008-11-29, Lodz [flac]*
other Isobel Campbell posts at Largehearted Boy

Leonard Cohen: 2008-10-25, Paris [flac]*
other Leonard Cohen posts at Largehearted Boy

Neil Young: 2008-10-25, Mountain View [ntsc dvd]*
Neil Young: 2008-10-16, Winnipeg [flac]*
Neil Young: 2008-10-14, St. Paul [flac]*
other Neil Young posts at Largehearted Boy

Talking Heads: 1978 promotional video [ntsc dvd]*
other Talking Heads posts at Largehearted Boy

Vic Chesnutt: 2008-11-12, Sacramento [flac]*
other Vic Chesnutt posts at Largehearted Boy

*registration required

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous mp3 and bittorrent downloads

2008 Lollapalooza downloads
2008 Bonnaroo downloads
2008 Coachella music downloads
2008 SXSW music downloads and streams
2007 Austin City Limits Music Festival downloads
other music festival downloads

Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD release lists

tags: music download indie mp3 bittorrent

Today's Updates to the Year-End "Best of 2008" Books & Music Lists (November 30th, 2008)

Today's additions to the "best of 2008" books and music lists (keep up with daily additions at the update archive page):

"Best of 2008" Books Lists additions:

Abilene Reporter-News (top Texas books)
American Library Association (best books for young adults)
American Library Association (best teens books)
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (best books)
Grand Rapids Press (books)
Mark Athitakis’ American Fiction Notes (favorite books)
National Post (best value books)
The Written Nerd (books)

"Best of 2008" Music Lists additions:

Berkeley Place (best EPs)
Control Yourself (top albums)
Decibel (best metal albums)
The Flashlight (best albums)
Gospel Music Channel (best albums)
Hells Yeah! It's David Jett (top albums)
How Lonely......, Sits the City (albums)
Jordan Butcher's Blog (top albums)
The Observer (best albums lists by musicians)
Snob's Music (best non-studio albums)

also at Largehearted Boy:

daily updates to the 2008 year-end "best of 2008" books & music lists

tags: books literature list lists indie 2008 fiction nonfiction music

45 Down, 7 To Go "Jamilti And Other Stories" (52 Books, 52 Weeks)

Against Pain is the first collection of multipage anthology pieces by cartoonist Ron Rege, Jr, whose work I have always admired in anthologies and McSweeney's. Taken collectively, Rege's work has even more impact with its deceptive simplicity that draws the reader into its tales. Most impressive is Boys, a 22-page comic with an elegantly simple story on every page.

For one month, enter the coupon code "LHB001" at Atomic Books and receive 15% off this title.

My next book is Best American Comics 2008, edited by Lynda Barry.

also at Largehearted Boy:

52 Books, 52 Weeks (2008 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2007 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2006 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2005 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2004 Edition)
Online "best of 2008" book lists
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)

tag: books ronregejr comics graphicnovel

44 Down, 8 To Go "Jamilti And Other Stories" (52 Books, 52 Weeks)

Rutu Modan impressed readers (including myself) last year with her graphic novel, Exit Wounds.

Jamilti And Other Stories collects Modan's earlier shorter works. These are seven well-told, powerful vignettes often filled with the idiosyncratic characters Modan draws so well and brings to life with her text. If you enjoy short stories, check out this comics collection.

For one month, enter the coupon code "LHB001" at Atomic Books and receive 15% off this title.

My next book is Against Pain, by Ron Reg.

also at Largehearted Boy:

tag: books rutumodan comics graphicnovel

Shorties (2666, Bon Iver, and more)

The Boston Globe reviews Robert Bolano's 2666.

Reviewing Roberto Bolano's "2666" is like reviewing the ocean. To call it a thing of nearly unfathomable breadth elides the intimacy of experiencing it; to focus on the relentless, pounding rhythm of its violence does no justice to its shimmering beauty. One strains to make sense of it, intuits forces moving in the darkness far below the surface, and tries to divine their purpose from what can be seen. That its cross-currents will converge into a tsunami seems both impossible and inevitable - the imposition of order on chaos, and the mapping of a specific nightmare onto an ancient, diffuse one.

The New York Times reviews Kirsten Menger-Anderson’s debut short fiction collection, Doctor Olaf van Schuler’s Brain.

The Chicago Tribune profiles indie musicians who found inspiration in nature, including Bon Iver's Justin Vernon.

But over the course of the harsh Wisconsin winter, Vernon wrote and recorded the intimate, soul-purging "For Emma, Forever Ago" (Jagjaguwar), one of a handful of stripped-down, back-to-nature albums released either this year (Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut, which plays like spring to Bon Iver's winter) or looming on the horizon (William Elliot Whitmore's "Animals in the Dark," expected on Anti in February). Even the New York City-based Antony Hegarty of Antony & the Johnsons sought inspiration from the natural world for his forthcoming "The Crying Light," writing a handful of songs after returning from a 2006 trip to the island of Svalbard in the arctic.

Rock's Backpages lists the most heartbreaking songs of all time.

This One Next recommends books, music, and movies ased on your personal taste.

The Guardian reviews Art Spiegelman's latest book Breakdowns, comparing comics to music in the process.

Comix, mostly thanks to Spiegelman's example, went from being exuberantly and experimentally childish and druggy to being often obsessively introspective, a bit like the difference between Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett and Roger Waters. Because that worked commercially, it has now become the established default setting for modern American graphic novelists like Chris Ware. It's serious, it's respectable and it sells, but it's also a bit of a shame.

nyctaper shares mp3s of Naked Hearts' recent Brooklyn performance.

At NPR's Weekend Edition, Vagrant Records' Jeremy Maciak discusses the importance of marketing bands online in the internet era.

"It's about a slow build and having that intricate and honest conversation with our fans and potential audience," Maciak says. "Sometimes that takes months, years, to build."

Tampa Calling profiles singer-songwriter James McMurtry.

The Americana music icon speaks slowly. His voice is deep. His answers are straightforward and marked by an economy of words - and a drawl that reflects both his native Virginia and decades spent in the Lone Start State. You get the sense he’s incapable of feeding you bullsh8t, and its the same way with his music. Whether recounting the machinations of a crystal meth cooker in the fan favorite “Choctaw Bingo,” or telling me how his world-famous father Larry McMurtry’s one shortcoming as a novelist/screenwriter is that “he always gets firearms wrong,” the younger McMurtry’s words smack of integrity.

The Los Angeles Times' Pop & Hiss blog profiles new KCRW music director Jason Bentley, who is taking over for the legendary Nic Harcourt.

The New York Times reviews Sarah Vowell's latest book, The Wordy Shipmates.

At Blogs.com I listed my favorite literature blogs.

also at Largehearted Boy:

Online "best of 2008" music lists
Online "best of 2008" book lists
daily mp3 downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
this week's CD releases

tags: music books popculture indie news