Fuel 90.3 Host: Matt Schichter

I started in radio to get music out there to the masses.  I realized the bands I was playing in weren’t paying the bills and decided to switch things up.  I wanted to stay in music and figured radio was a good choice and it certainly has been.  I started at a college station in Kitchener, Ontario while attending a Broadcasting program.  I got my own show called The BackStage Pass and started interview bands.  I think I got really lucky because George Stromboulopoulos sat down with me and really gave me insight into interviewing and within the first year of the show Third Eye Blind, 3 Doors Down, Simple Plan, Sam Roberts & BB King all sat down with me for conversations.

A couple of years passed and I got the opportunity to intern in Los Angeles at Indie 103.1. Sadly the station is no longer around, but it was one hell of a learning experience. Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols did the afternoon show; Dave Navarro,  Matt Sorum, Danny Masterson (aka Hyde from That 70s Show), Henry Rollins and other celebrities all had their own shows on the station.  I only had a temporary work visa so the States booted me and I came back to Canada.

I got a job offer in Windsor/Detroit at 89X to do the overnight show on the weekends. So Friday afternoons I would make the 3 hour drive from my hometown of Waterloo to Windsor and record 18 hours of radio and drive back.  My salary barely paid for the gas it would take every week, but I knew it would lead to bigger and better things which it certainly did.

The Program Director at 89X was leaving and moving to Calgary to start up a brand new radio station from the ground up.  I guess he saw something in me cause he asked me to help him put the station together.  It was quite possibly the best learning experience for someone in the business fresh out of college.  To start a station from the ground up taught me everything that I know about radio. For one it didn’t take the 2 months I had expected to get everything ready.  I moved to Calgary in October 2006 and we didn’t launch until March 2007, a full 6 months later!

In the 2 years since FUEL launched I’ve accumulated over 250 interviews with some of your favorite bands, all of which can be streamed here.  I’ve engineered over 100 sessions from bands coming by the studio to record their songs for FREE DOWNLOADS.  I’ve hosted countless events, found love, and am currently working on a TV chat show similar to The Hour.  Not sure when the TV show will be ready for public consumption but it’s definitely in the works.

Here’s an interview with Hawksley Workman that I recently did:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Furthermore, if you want to read SPIN online please go to www.digital.spin.com

Okinawa is the extreme south of Japan and quite tropical. It’s beautiful here and is between 20 and 25 degrees everyday. Yesterday I walked barefoot on a reef while the tide was out and onto a small island. It’s been awesome so far. I have reconnected with a few people that I met here last time and have met many more. I’ve been promoting my album and so far it has been very well received. I’ve gotten a few shows because of it too!

One man I met owns a live music cafe on a busy street and offered me a regular gig every Friday night before even meeting me! I have also got a few opening slots at venues that I was familiar with from my last trip! I’m hoping to do a radio spot in the next few weeks (an experience that I got to enjoy last time I was here as well) and also hoping to get rid of all of the cds I brought with me. So far both look promising!

Eating lots of sushi, drinking lots of green tea, bowing a lot and saying thank you, and generally being Japanese as best I can. That also involves taking lots of pictures and videos!!

If you’re interested in listening to my music please feel free to visit http://www.myspace.com/kaleykinjofor more information please visit www.kaleykinjo.com as well!

My album is currently up on iTunes, CDbaby, ad Kerfmusic as well so please find me there too!

That’s it for now, please feel free to write to me, send me msgs, or post hellos!! I will be back on March 3rd.

Sorry for the long winded message!

Take care everyone!!

KALEY

Furthermore, if you want to read SPIN online please go to www.digital.spin.com

My name is Lindsay Ell, and I am a nineteen year old guitarist/songwriter from Calgary, AB.  Over the past two years I have had many amazing experiences including, working with Randy Bachman and opening for Chicago’s Blues Pioneer Buddy Guy.  I want to let you know about my acoustic album that is coming out at the beginning of February 2009.  I’m very excited about it as compiling everything together has been a great learning experience.

Lindsay Ell

For once I was able to take some new songs and play them simply ‘me and my guitar’.  It sure is a special feeling when you are part of every process in the project.  After doing the writing, arranging, producing, recording, designing, pressing, and everything else (with lots of help), there’s a whole new meaning to finishing a record.  The album is called ”Alone” and is built on the concept of avoiding over-producing a song, which there sometimes is a place for, but can overtake a track.  ”Alone” exposes my voice and guitar playing with only the songs themselves.  I wanted to make a record like this because I felt it was important for me to learn how crucial having a great song truly is. When everything is taken away, the song is left by itself… and only then can you tell if it’s something special.

Have a listen to one of my favorite tracks off the album, the title track, Alone.  I’ll be having a CD Release Party in Calgary on February 6th, but it will also be available on iTunes, or on  https://killthe8.com/Lindsay_Ell.htm

Hope you all enjoy!

Linds

Listen to “Alone”:

For more information please visit www.lindsayell.com or www.myspace.com/lindsayell

All American Rejects covering Britney Spears’ ” Womanizer”… in Pirate Rock Style:

Milow covering 50 Cent’s “Ayo Technology”:

Boyce Avenue covering Wyclef Jean’s “Sweetest Girl”:

Enjoy!!!!

Amazon Top 50 Editors Picks: www.amazon.com

1.  Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
2.  Santogold - Santo Gold
3.  Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
4.  Al Green - Lay It Down
5.  Adele - 19
6.  Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
7.  Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
8.  Estelle - Shine
9.  Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind
10. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
11. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
12. Joan as Police Woman - To Survive
13. REM - Accelerate
14. Johnny Flynn - A Larum
15. Duffy - Rockferry
16. Throw Me the Statue - Moonbeams
17. Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
18. Portishead - Third
19. Metallica - Death Magnetic
20. She & Him - Volume One
21. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
22. Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim
23. TI - Paper Trails
24. Beck - Modern Guilt
25. M83 - Saturdays=Youth
26. Roy Hargrove - Ear Food
27. Ashton Shepherd - Sounds So Good
28. BB King - One Kind Favor
29. Esperanza Spalding - Esperanza
30. Coldplay - viva La Vida
31. Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
32. Thao - We Brave Bee Stings and All
33. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
34. The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
35. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
36. Little Jackie - The Stoop
37. Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer (Dig)
38. Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams
39. Dr. John - city That Care Forgot
40. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
41. Think of One - Camping Shaabi
42. Juno - Original Soundtrack
43. The Mighty Underdogs - Droppin’ Science Fiction
44. JJ Grey - Orange Blossoms
45. CSS - Donkey
46. Katy Perry - One of the Boys
47. The Raconteurs - Consolers of The Lonely
48. Calexico - Carried to Dust
49. Jamie Lidell - Jim
50. Jeff Healey - Mess of Blues

Blender Magazine: www.blender.com

1.  Lil’ Wayne - Tha Carter III
2.  Girl Talk - Feed The Animals
3.  TV On The Radio - Dear Science
4.  Metallica - Death Magnetic
5.  Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
6.  Robyn - Robyn
7.  Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
8.  Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
9.  Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
10. Fall Out Boy - Folie A Deux
11. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
12. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
13. Al Green - Lay It Down
14. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
15. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
16. Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
17. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
18. Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
19. Katy Perry - One Of The Boys
20. Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing
21. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah: Pt. One (4th World War)
22. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
23. The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale
24. The Roots - Rising Down
25. Santogold - Santogold
26. Usher - Here I Stand
27. Mariah Carey - E=MC²
28. Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
29. Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
30. Young Jeezy - The Recession
31. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
32. Taylor Swift - Fearless
33. Hayes Carll - Trouble In Mind

Filter Magazine: www.filter-mag.com

1. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
2. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
3. Dr. Dog - Fate
4. TV On The Radio - Dear Science
5. Foals - Antidotes
6. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
7. She And Him - Volume One
8. M83 - Saturdays = Youth
9. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colors
10. The Dears - Missiles

Hype Machine Blog: www.hypem.com

1.  Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
2.  TV On The Radio - Dear Science
3.  Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
4.  Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
5.  MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
6.  Portishead - Third
7.  Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
8.  Sigur Rós - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
9.  M83 - Saturdays=Youth
10. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
11. Deerhunter - Microcastle
12. Santogold - Santogold
13. Frightened Rabbit - The MIdnight Organ Fight
14. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals
15. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
16. The Walkmen - You & Me
17. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
18. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
19. No Age - Nouns
20. The Dodos - Visiter
21. She & Him - Volume One
22. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
23. Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
24. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
25. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
26. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
27. Beach House - Devotion
28. Department Of Eagles - In Ear Park
29. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
30. WHY? - Alopecia
31. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
32. Foals - Antidotes
33. The Black Keys - Attack & Release
34. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
35. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
36. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
37. The Gaslight Anthem - The ‘59 Sound
38. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
39. of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
40. Beck - Modern Guilt
41. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
42. Sun Kil Moon - April
43. Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
44. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
45. R.E.M. - Accelerate
46. Shearwater - Rook
47. Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
48. Glasvegas - Glasvegas
49. The Kills - Midnight Boom
50. Mates Of State - Re-Arrange Us

LastFM: www.lastfm.com

1. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
2. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
3. Portishead - Third
4. NIN - Ghosts I - IV
5. Ting Tings - We started Nothing
6. The Kooks - Konk
7. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
8. Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
9. Jack Johnson - Sleep Through Static
10. Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

Metacritic: www.metacritic.com

1.  Amadou & Mariam - Welcome To Mali
2.  The Bug - London Zoo
3.  Plush - Fed
4.  TV On The Radio - Dear Science
5.  Shugo Tokumaru - Exit
6.  Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
7.  Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
8.  Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
9.  Hercules And Love Affair by Hercules And Love Affair
10. Robyn - Robyn
11. Steinski - What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective
12. Randy Newman - Harps And Angels
13. Fortress by Protest The Hero
14. Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
15. Shearwater - Rook
16. Harvey Milk - Life…The Best Game In Town
17. Portishead - Third
18. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
19. Fucked Up - Chemistry Of Common Life
20. Kasai Allstars - In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish And Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic
21. Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista
22. Scarface - Emeritus
23. The Music Tapes - Music Tapes for Clouds & Tornadoes
24. Neil Young - Sugar Mountain: Live At Canterbury House 1968
25. Titus Andronicus - The Airing Of Grievances
26. Black Milk - Tronic
27. Teddy Thompson - A Piece Of What You Need
28. Sam Phillips - Don’t Do Anything
29. B.B. King - One Kind Favor
30. Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal

Mojo Magazine: www.mojo4music.com

1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
2. The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
3. Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
4. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
5. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
6. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
7. Glasvegas - Glasvegas
8. The Week That Was - The Week That Was
9. The Bug - London Zoo
10. Neil Diamond - Home Before Dark
11. Portishead - Third
12. Don Cavalli - Cryland
13. Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
14. British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
15. Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves - Roll With You
16. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
17. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
18. Pete Molinari - A Virtual Landslide
19. Beck - Modern Guilt
20. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
21. Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali
22. Mercury Rev - Snowflake Midnight
23. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
24. Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
25. Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
26. Peter Broderick - Home
27. M83 - Saturdays=Youth
28. Neon Neon - Stainless Style
29. Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
30. The Night Marchers - See You in Magic
31. Duffy - Rockferry
32. Seasick Steve - I Started Out With Nothin’ and I Still Got Most of It Left
33. Kasai Allstars - In the 7th Moon, the Chief Turned Into a Swimming Fish and Ate the Head of His Enemy by Magic
34. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
35. Our Broken Garden - When Your Blackening Shows
36. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
37. Gavin Bryars & Philip Jeck & Alter Ego - The Sinking of the Titanic
38. Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
39. Abe Vigoda - Skeleton
40. The Black Keys - Attack & Release
41. The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent
42. Juana Molina - Un Día
43. Aimee Mann - @#%&*! Smilers
44. Goldmund - The Malady Of Elegance
45. Metallica - Death Magnetic
46. James Hunter - The Hard Way
47. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
48. AC/DC - Black Ice
49. The Neil Cowley Trio - Loud… Louder… Stop
50. Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul

NME Magazine: www.nme.com

1.  MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
2.  TV On The Radio - Dear Science
3.  Glasvegas - Glasvegas
4.  Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
5.  Foals - Antidotes
6.  Metronomy - Nights Out
7.  Santogold - Santogold
8.  Mystery Jets - Twenty One
9.  Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
10. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
11. Neon Neon - Stainless Style
12. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
13. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
14. Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
15. Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of Understatement
16. Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
17. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
18. Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel
19. Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
20. Spiritualized - Songs in A and E
21. Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off The Lavender Bridge
22. Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
23. Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I Lay My Head
24. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
25. Portishead - Third
26. Verve - The Forth
27. Hercules And Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair
28. British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
29. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
30. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
31. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
32. Mogwai - The Hawk Is howling
33. Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
34. Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
35. Cass Mccombs - Dropping The Writ
36. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
37. Primal Scream - Beautiful Future
38. Beck - Modern Guilt
39. Chairlift - Does You Inspire You
40. The Kills - Midnight Boom
41. These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid
42. School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms
43. Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
44. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
45. Black Keys - The Attack & Release
46. Blood Red Shoes - Box Of Secrets
47. The Gaslight Anthem - The ‘59 Sound
48. Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart
49. Bloc Party - Intimacy
50. Heartbreak - Lies

Pitchfork: www.pitchforkmedia.com

1.  Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP/Fleet Foxes
2.  Portishead - Third
3.  No Age - Nouns
4.  Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
5.  Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
6.  TV On The Radio - Dear Science
7.  Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
8.  M83 - Saturdays=Youth
9.  Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair
10. DJ/rupture - Uproot
11. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
12. Lindstrøm - Where You Go I Go Too
13. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
14. Air France - No Way Down
15. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
16. Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls
17. Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
18. The Mae Shi - HLLLYH
19. The Walkmen - You & Me
20. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
21. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak
22. Santogold - Santogold
23. Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
24. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
25. Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
26. Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
27. Max Tundra - Parallax Error Beheads You
28. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
29. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
30. Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster…
31. Fennesz - Black Sea
32. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
33. Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
34. Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me
35. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
36. Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing
37. Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
38. The Bug - London Zoo
39. Times New Viking - Rip It Off
40. The Very Best - Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit are the Very Best
41. David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
42. Bonnie “Prince” Billy - Lie Down in the Light
43. Shearwater - Rook
44. Marnie Stern - This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That
45. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
46. Beach House - Devotion
47. The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave
48. High Places - High Places
49. Crystal Stilts - Alight Of Night
50. Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual

Q Magazine: www.qthemusic.com

1.  Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
2.  Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
3.  Coldplay - Viva la Vida
4.  Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
5.  Glasvegas - Glasvegas
6.  Duffy - Rockferry
7.  TV On the Radio - Dear, Science
8.  Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid
9.  Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
10. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!
11. Sigur Rós - Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
12. Keane - Perfect Symmetry
13. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
14. Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their Heads
15. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
16. Hot Chip - Made In the Dark
17. Adele - 19
18. British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
19. Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
20. Gaslight Anthem - ‘59 Sound
21. Razorlight - Slipway Fires
22. Killers - Day & Age
23. Beck - Modern Guilt
24. Last Shadow Puppets - Age of the Understatement
25. Metallica - Death Magnetic
26. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
27. Neil Diamond - Before Home
28. Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
29. AC/DC - Black Ice
30. Portishead - Third
31. Black Mountain - In the Future
32. Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
33. Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair
34. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
35. Hold Steady - Stay Positive
36. REM - Accelerate
37. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
38. John Mellencamp - Life, Love, Death & Freedom
39. Santogold - Santogold
40. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
41. Lindsey Buckingham - Gift of Screws
42. Liam Finn - I’ll Be Lightning
43. Joan As Police Women - To Survive
44. Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
45. Jack Johnson - Sleep Through Static
46. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
47. Verve - Forth
48. Randy Newman - Harps & Angels
49. Emmylou Harris - All I Intended To Be
50. Dido - Safe Trip Home

Rollingstone Magazine: www.rollingstone.com

1.  TV on the Radio - Dear Science
2.  Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
3.  Lil’ Wayne - Tha Carter III
4.  My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
5.  John Mellencamp - Life, Death, Love and Freedom
6.  Santogold - Santogold
7.  Coldplay - Viva la Vida
8.  Beck - Modern Guilt
9.  Metallica - Death Magnetic
10. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
11. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
12. Guns n’ Roses - Chinese Democracy
13. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
14. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cardinology
15. The Black Keys - Attack & Release
16. Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
17. B.B. King - One Kind Favor
18. Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
19. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Part 1 (4th World War)
20. Kings of Leon - Only by the Night
21. Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their Heads
22. Jockson Browne - Time the Conquerer
23. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
24. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
25. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
26. Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch
27. Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
28. The Knux - Remind Me in Three Days…
29. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
30. Duffy - Rockferry
31. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
32. Jamey Johnson - The Lonesome Song
33. Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman
34. Stephen Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash
35. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
36. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
37. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
38. Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
39. Taylor Swift - Fearless
40. Jonas Brothers - A Little Bit Longer
41. AC/DC - Black Ice
42. David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
43. Nas - Untitled
44. The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
45. Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
46. The Academy Is… - Fast Times at Barrington High
47. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
48. Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
49. Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
50. No Age - Nouns

Spin Magazine: www.spin.com

1.  TV On The Radio - Dear Science
2.  Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
3.  Portishead - Third
4.  Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life
5.  Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
6.  Santogold - Santogold
7.  Deerhunter - Microcastle
8.  Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
9.  Coldplay - Viva La Vida
10. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
11. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
12. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Pt. 1: 4th World War
13. No Age - Nouns
14. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
15. Beck - Modern Guilt
16. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
17. The Roots - Rising Down
18. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
19. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
20. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
21. Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
22. Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
23. Kate Nash - Made Of Bricks
24. Duffy - Rockferry
25. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
26. R.E.M. - Accelerate
27. The Streets - Everything Is Borrowed
28. Metallica - Death Magnetic
29. Nas & DJ Green Lantern - The Nigger Tape
30. Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
31. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
32. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
33. El Guincho - Alegranza
34. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
35. The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely
36. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
37. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
38. Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
39. Guns N’ Roses - Chinese Democracy
40. Chairlift - Does You Inspire You

Uncut Magazine:www.uncut.co.uk

1.  Portishead - Third
2.  Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
3.  TV On The Radio - Dear Science
4.  Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
5.  Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
6.  Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
7.  Neon Neon - Stainless Style
8.  Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!
9.  Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
10. Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
11. Drive-by Truckers - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
12. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
13. James Blackshaw - Litany of Echoes
14. Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
15. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
16. Wild Beasts - Limbo, Panto
17. Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
18. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
19. Shearwater - Rook
20. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
21. Howlin Rain - Magnificent Fiend
22. The Raconteurs - Consolers of The Lonely
23. Black Mountain - In The Future
24. Glasvegas - Glasvegas
25. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
26. Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
27. MGMT - Orcular Spectacular
28. The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers
29. Robert Foster - The Evangelist
30. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
31. White Denim - Workout Holiday
32. Flight of The Conchords - Flight of The Conchords
33. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
34. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
35. Toumani Diabate - The Mande Variations
36. Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lions Skull
37. Lambchop - OH(Ohio)
38. Endless Boogie - Focus Level
39. Beck - Modern Guilt
40. That Week That Was - That Week That Was
41. James Yorkston - When The Haar Rolls In
42. Metallica - Death Magnetic
43. Joan As Police Woman - To Survive
44. REM - Accelerate
45. The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent
46. Pete Greenwood - Sirens
47. Sic Alps - USEZ
48. David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
49. Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
50. Mercury Rev - Snowflake Midnight

Every year it arrives but once, thrust forward by Jack Frost’s icy fingers. Mothers of all ages will participate in the winter ritual of learning to body-check other shoppers mercilessly in their quest for toys to appease snot-nosed little tyrants. Dads will risk hernia and frostbite shoveling their driveways clean to avoid negligence lawsuits. Winter fires will be fueled for hours using nothing but Wal-Mart flyers, which seem to arrive with disturbingly high frequency. Cars will slide around as though on a skating rink.

Joel Klettke

Now before you call me a scrooge, let me say plainly that I truly love the Christmas season. It’s a time for family, baked goods, stuffed dead birds, the smell of pine in your living room and so much more. I like nothing better than to throw on some slippers, lay back in an easy chair and sip an eggnog in front of a Wal-Mart donated fire.

But there is one part of Christmas I truly, absolutely, unequivocally despise.
Christmas music.

A full month before the holiday is upon us, your radio will sandblast your eardrums with an endless tidal wave of “Fa La La La La’s”. It becomes impossible to enter a mall without hearing some poor sucker crooning “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” over the top-notch Zeller’s sound system, interrupted by the occasional “Body bag to aisle three, body bag to aisle three – we’ve got a stage 4 body-check victim. Body bag, aisle three.”.
Elvis rolls in his grave.

Sure, there’s the classics. If you start up a round of “Oh Tannenbaum”, also known as the original, german, beefier and manlier version of “Oh Christmas Tree”, you best believe I’ll chime right in and finish the whole thing in my mother tongue. Anything sung in German sounds like a war song fit for the trenches. Singing in German probably puts hair on your chest. And there’s the real, true, hardcore traditional Christmas tunes. Oh Holy Night, Joy To The World. Old school. Legit. I can dig it. But it becomes really difficult to appreciate such melodious sonnets in honor of the birth of Christ when they’re delivered from the lips of Mariah Carey three octaves higher than dogs can hear. All I want for Christmas is you to never hear that song again. Or see that mind-numbingly awful video on my television. It’s tough to find reverence or appreciate the comforting words of Away in a Manger as delivered by the achey-breaky vocals of Randy Travis. Even Twisted Sister put out a Christmas album.

* Shudder *.

At this point in history, Christmas music has nothing to do with Christmas and everything to do with squeezing another crap album out of the buttcheeks of already awful artists. I need go no further than the ear-searing rendition of “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” by Hanna Montanna (complete with choreographed Ginger Bread Dancers, a nice touch). Excellent lip synching, Miley Cyrus. Knock ‘em dead. Clay Aiken shot a Christmas album at light speed from his colon in 2004, simultaneously annoying everyone in the known universe.

But my hatred for Christmas music is unparalleled when I begin to describe the rage that wells up inside of me when I hear “The 12 Days of Christmas”. What douche bag wrote that song? 12 horrible repetitions of the SAME LINES. Some people are ballsy enough to try and play the entire thing in my presence. They promptly receive the unmentioned gift number 13 in the song: windmill kicks to the face until they cease breathing.

If the writer of this song were honest, the song’s lyrics would go: “On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: Divorce Papers, for subjecting her to the cruel and unusual torture of sitting through no less than six minutes and thirty seconds of a melody that wasn’t good the first time.” Hell is a place where Miley Cyrus sings you the 12 days of Christmas…forever.

But lest you think me a scrooge yet again, let me point out the single most awesome Christmas album ever recorded. Years ago in what can only be described as a divinely appointed time, the musical gods of Boney M released “Boney M Christmas”. The soaring vocal harmonies of these shimmering Adonis’s cascades over your ears like a warm hug from your creepy Uncle you see once a year – only in a way that you welcome. The electronic drumbeats pulsating, the kettle drums, the cheap piano effects… it’s pure magic. My parents used to toss this on every Christmas, and it burrowed itself into my skull like an angelic worm. I have unbridled love for this album in my heart.

So if you, like myself, am tired of hearing Christmas Carols-Gone-Advertising-Jingles on your radio, hole up in your basement, buy a copy of Boney M Christmas, lay back, sip your eggnog, and enjoy the Season. But mark my words – if you venture out shopping, bring earplugs. You may get the urge to impale yourself on the 50% off sales racks if you don’t.

Here, dear reader, is my gift to you this season. I triple dare you to get that synth line out of your head. Enjoy:

Furthermore, if you want to read SPIN online please go to www.digital.spin.com

Coldplay - Prospekts March

It seems odd that one of the largest bands in the world like Coldplay decided to release an EP.  Not so much that they released an EP but that they choose to release one this late into their careers.  Most bands release a EP early in their careers to generate buzz or to garner some attention to fuel their full length album.  However, on Prospekts March Coldplay just wanted to show off a body of songs that wouldn’t have fit on Viva La Vida, it’s not that the songs weren’t good enough - they just didn’t fit the concept of Viva.

As it stands Prospekts March has quite a bit of value to it.  This album is more then just a B-sides or a disc of extra’s, Prospekts March stands as more of a companion to Viva La Vida then anything else.   Many of the songs on this album are departure in some sense or manner from the classic Coldplay that most know and love.  This isn’t a problem as Coldplay shows a different side to their musicality while never sounding awkward or forced.  “Rainy Day”  is a pop song with quirky undertones as Coldplay does some light experimenting with their sound, the song  bops along from bar to bar and it’s the most “fun” sounding song that Coldplay has released.  “Glass of Water” is a strong song that wasn’t placed on Viva as it sounds more upfront and immediate than any other song on Viva La Vida.  The opener “Life in Technicolor II” adds vocals and loses the lo-fi sound quality that had many confused when first listening to Viva La Vida. Elsewhere on the disc, “Lost+” is one of two remixes on the album (the other being Osaka’s Suns remix of Lovers in Japan) and has had the industry buzzing as it features an unlikely pairing with Jay-Z.  Jay-Z  however is a perfect complement on the song in which he provides a strong verse capped off with one of the best lines ever featured on a Coldplay Song “And the question is, is to have had and lost better than not having at all? / Because I’m…”.  It’s a great song that sounds like the collaboration was planned rather than just tacked on.

In total Prospekts March features 8 songs which include two remixes and six tracks that were the left overs from the Brian Eno produced “Viva La Vida Sessions”, this should fool most listeners as the EP sounds more like a main course then anything else.

Rating: 7.5/10

Notable Tracks:Glass of Water, Life in Technicolor ii, Lost+

For Fans of: I think everybody by now knows what Coldplay sounds like

Released on: November 25, 2008