Merry Xmas!!!!

Well, Christmas once again came and went amidst a whirlwind of eggnog, intense overeating, unneeded stress, presents, and time spent with loved ones. I seriously think I gained 10 pounds over the last few days from all the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, ham, cabbage rolls, chocolates, pie, etc etc. No wonder people gain weight over the winter. As with every Christmas season, I always get a chance to catch up with family and friends I haven't seen a while who are in town for a few days. So in the last couple days I was able to catch up with two old friends that I really haven't seen in four years or so, Rob and Megan. It was nice to touch base with them again. Sometimes it can be like pulling teeth trying to catch up with old friends because people can change a lot in a few years, but Rob, Megan, Mark and I pretty much just carried on where we all finished up a few years ago. I also got to see Tina, Gianni, as well as my cousins George and Tino, Jenn and Dwayne, Shelene, etc, as well as see Sonic Orchid in action. I have to thank Christina and the rest of the good folks in Sonic Orchid for letting me sing "American Idiot" with them. It's always a blast getting my ya-ya's out onstage. Well, without further ado, here are some of my holiday pics.

My Year End List

Well, it's that time of year when every music mag or website shoots out their annual "best of" lists for best albums and songs of the year. So instead of wasting your time seeing what Rolling Stone, Spin, Chart, Harp, Q, Mojo, etc have to say, just go out and but these albums. You'll be that much better for it. Cheers. ;)

JJ's TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2006

1. Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards. This is hands down the best album I have heard all year. 54 songs and all amazing. You want blues? Check. Mellow folk songs? Yup. Gypsy circus music? Yeppers. A spoken word piece about army ants? Of course! Tow Waits is the man. When I am 57 years old, I want to be Tom Waits. You will never find a better lyricist than Waits: "...she got hit by lightning seven or eight times and she hated the sound of rain..."
Highlights: "Danny Says", "Lie To Me", "Long Way Home", "Road To Pace", "Tell It To Me", etc... too many to name.

2. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam. After a decade of experimenting with their sound, they decided to get back to basics and making a straight ahead, Ramones-inspired rock album. It's nice to see a band try new things, but sometimes it's nice to see a band just excel at what they are great at.
Highlights: "World Wide Suicide", "Severed Hand", "Life Wasted", "Comatose".

3. The Killers - Sam's Town. No doubt sensing that if they overly relied on the whole new wave revival sound that made them famous that they would be just another flash in the pan, The Killers have stripped down their sound a little bit and have made a stellar album from top to bottom. This album almost demands to be listened to from start to finish.
Highlights: "Sam's Town", "When You Were Young", "Read My Mind"

4. Billy Talent - Billy Talent II. Not much of a departure from their first album, but if it ain't broke, why fix it? Crunching guitars, call-and-response vocals still abound here, and the songs are arguably better than their last disc. There isn't one dud in the bunch here.
Highlights: "Devil in a Midnight Mass", "Red Flag", "Fallen Leaves".

5. The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth. After a mediocre second album, The Strokes came back with a vengeance on this album. My only complaint is that this album is very top-heavy. The first half is far better than the last half.
Highlights: "Juicebox", "Heart in a Cage", "Razorblade".

6. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers. In his side project from The White Stripes, Jack White excels in a full band set up, sharing vocal duties and songwriting credits. 10 songs, 38 minutes (?). SHort, but definitely sweet.
Highlights: "Steady As She Goes", "Hands", "Level".

7. Amy Millan - Honey From The Tombs. In her first solo outing from Stars and Broken Social Scene, put together a folky, country album that perfectly suits her soft, whispery voice. Plus if anyone needs a drinking game to play over the holidays, you could just take a swig every time she sings the word "whiskey."
Highlights: "Baby, I", "Losing You", "Skinny Boy".

8. Super Juice - Appetite For Dysfunction. I may be somewhat biased since I am friends with Chris Real, Jai Mo and Ryan Coke, but these guys have done a kickass job in putting this album together. "Trust Me" and "Devil's Disco 999" are two of the best songs I've heard all year... Tom Waits and Pearl Jam included. There definitely is talent in Regina.
Highlights: "Trust Me", "Devil's Disco 999", "I Love Her 'Cuz She's Got the Best Drugs", "Animated Dynasty".

9. Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton - Knives Don't Have Your Back. Another solo project from the Broken Social Scene collecetive. Metric's lead singer takes a much more mellow, piano-based route on her solo album. This is great music to sit at home with a glass of wine and the lights dimmed or while suffering under the covers during the morning after.
Highlights: "Our Hell," "Doctor Blind", "The Maid Needs a Maid".

10. Memphis - A Little Place in the Wilderness. Torq Campbell, the main guy from Stars, also put out a side project album. Memphis doesn't stray too far from the Stars formula, but the songs are still great. Campbell reminds me of a more subdued Lou Reed.
Highlights: "Incredibly Drunk on Whiskey", "In The Cinema Alone", "A Little Place in the Wilderness".

Honorable Mention...

Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. This is an amazing album from start to finish, but it just seems like there were so many great albums out this year. Last year was hard for me to make a top 10 since I never felt compelled to buy that many albums. This year I almost had to ban myself form music stores because so many albums yelled at me from the shelves, "Buy me!!!!!!!!!!!".

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium. This is an album I wanted to love. It has great songs, but not many bands can pull off a double album of 28 songs. Somehow Tom Waits managed to put together 54 (!) songs and not bore me. Unfortunately, I still find it hard not to zone out when trying to listen to this in its entirety. If they would've whittled it down ot one disc of 18 songs, it would easily be in my top 3.

Bob Dylan - Modern Times. This is a great listen. I have the utmost respect for Dylan as a songwriter, but this is an album you have to be in the right mood for. It is pretty impressive for a guy in his 60s to still put out music this great.

Rock Star Supernova - Rock Star Supernova. This album SOUNDS great. Lukas SOUNDS great. Unfortunately, the songs are kind of lacking. However, "It's On", "Headspin", and "It's All Love" help salvage this album into the realm of the mediocre. While the guys were looking for a singer, they should've been looking for a songwriter too. Oh well. They got my money.

AFI - December Undergound. This is an album that I just stopped listening to for whatever reason. Maybe if I gave it another chance it would make my top 10. It's definitely not as good as their last album though.

Dashboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer. Another album I kind of forgot about. It's really good, but it obviously didn't stand out enough for me to keep it in my listening rotation. One highlight is a duet with Adam Duritz from Counting Crows, "So Long, So Long". It's Duritz's best work since shagging Jennifer Anniston and Courtney Cox.

R.E.M. - And I Feel Fine: The I.R.S. Years...1982-1987. I can't count this because it is a compilation, but this album perfectly defines what a great and different band R.E.M. were before signing to a major label. The song selection could not be any better. Plus the bonus disc contains some great rarities and live versions of songs. A nice package to tide me over until their next studio album.

U2 - U218: Singles. This has all their obvious hits, although not realy necessary since they recently put out 2 "best ofs" in recent years. However, this is worth it for the Green Day collaboration ("The Saints Are Coming") and "Window in the Skies".

The Replacements - Don't You Know WHo I Think I Was? The Best Of... This is the reason why the school in Heathers was called Westerberg High. This band never got the fame they deserved, but they helped pave the way for the "alternative" bands of the 90s and beyond. Paul Westerberg is a genius.

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema. I can't count this because it was released last year. If I could, it would easily be in my top 5. Plus it has the theme song to CBC's The Hour, "Use It".


Albums I Want, But Never Got Around To Buying...

Sloan's new one
Goldfrapp
Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonights
Pete Yorn
My Chemical Romance

Well, there you have it. You all still have time to put these albums on your Xmas wishlist.

Cheers.

Wow, it's been a while, eh?

I figured it's been a while since I last updated my blog, but I didn't realize it was almost a whole month. I mean, what have all my faithful readers done with their time in my absence? Well, fear not... I'm back. The end of my semester was insanely hectic with school, but I am now all done. And I am done for good. Now whenever I submit a resume, I can put my name as J.J. Elliott, M.A. which is kind of cool. But now comes the fun part of finding a real job until I go teach overseas because hosting karaoke one night a week won't quite cut it. So the next couple weeks will be interesting. I might get on with a movie crew in town here, I might get accepted to get on the Regina Folk Festival committee, helping to organize next summer's event, I may be another overqualified bartender or server, I may be the next DJ at The Pump, or I may be a high priced male escort. We'll see where life takes me. Okay, April may have some issues with the male escort thing. So scratch that. Maybe. But seriously, it is nice in a lot of ways to be done school, and it is especially nice to finish on a high note. I really liked my Creative Writing class this semester. I got lots of positive feedback from my professor and classmates regarding my short story writing, so I am going to try to get some pieces published in the next few months. I worked really hard this semester and shut myself off from a lot of people, but now I can pull my head out of the sand and live a little again.

The day after I handed in my final paper I was an extra in a tv show called Renegade Press. I've never seen the show, but after checking out the website, it appears to be similar to Degrassi. The scene was shot at The Exchange for an open mic/ jam night. Local band Yossarian got to mime to one of their songs so I got to see Robbie Green and co. basically shoot a mini-music video. Its nice work if you can get it.

And now Xmas is right around the corner. It's crazy but it seems the older you get the more time just flies by. But yesterday I finished my Xmas shopping except for some cards so I can pretty much relax for a while. With Xmas and New Years comes a few out-of-town friends and family coming to visit for a few days. A few weeks ago I pumped into an old friend Rob who I haven't seen for 4 or 5 years, so it will be nice to catch up with him and Meghan. As well, Tina and Gianni will be in town so I fully expect some crazy shenanigans to occur.