Top 5's of 2008

Top 5 Albums:

As a whole, I'm not as excited about my top picks this year as last year. This might have been a down year. Around the middle of the year I reached a saturation point where very little interested me and everything started sounding the same. In the last few weeks I think the pendulum has started to swing again and I'm excited about finding some new music in 2009. On to the list...

5. Jenny Lewis--Acid Tongue: Just got this one but it made the cut for the top 5. The title track is my favorite, but other good songs are "Sing a Song for Them" and "Carpetbaggers" (with a guest from Elvis Costello).

4. Tift Merritt--Another Country: We saw a great show by Tift at Carolina Theatre this year where we were interviewed for a documentary being made about Tift. Look for us in a theatre near you!

3. Joan as Police Woman--To Survive: This album surprised me. It's basically singer-songwriter stuff, kind of jazzy with nice production flourishes. I think I learned to appreciate it listening to it during night feedings. Mel, you would really like this.

2. The Hold Steady--Stay Positive: Even though all of their albums sound the same, I like the sound. Craig Finn's songs tell stories and he has some great lines. I'm a little surprised I like this band as much as I do since most of the topics are about the dark side of rebellious youth, drinking and drug use--you know, a page out of my own book. ;)

1. Cloud Cult--Feel Good Ghosts: I just found this band this year although they've been around a while. This album was written after one of their members died, but is actually very positive in the face of death. I am a sucker for vaguely spiritual anthems of hope, especially when dressed up in busy, orchestral pop.

Top 5 Albums that Need More Listens in 2009:

5. Lambchop--OH (ohio): This is one of those bands that, based on everything I read, I should really like. I've tried some of their earlier albums, but often get bored with the pace. I think a lyric sheet would help for this band.

4. Rosebuds--Life Like: Kind of forgot I got this one a couple of months ago. Not sure I've even made it through one listen yet.

3. Vampire Weekend--Vampire Weekend: This album got lots of hype, but in spite of the high expectations I remember really liking the album. Just didn't sit with it long enough.

2. TV on the Radio--Dear Science: Always a favorite.

1. Elbow--The Seldom Seen Kid: Won the Mercury prize for best album in the the UK. I like it and it's growing on me.

Top 5 Songs:

I've already written about some of the great songs I found this year about being a father. Here are some non-father related songs that I also dug this year.

5. M83--Graveyard Girl: If you need a shot of 80's synth pop but want to stay current.

4. Okkervil River--Singer Songwriter: I loved the portrait of this rich kid born into a family of artists but with no real talent himself.

3. My Morning Jacket--I'm Amazed: As I've already mentioned, I have a soft spot for this song.

2. El P--Up All Night: Great workout song. Around March I went on a rap spree. Wouldn't you know it, half of the stuff I bought turned out to be from white guys. I'm so white I even by rap by white guys.

1. Elbow--Weather to Fly: ahh, falsetto

Top 5 Bands I Gave Up on This Year:

Critics raved, I tried, but nah.

5. The Walkmen--their entry in Popless might draw me back in, but I saw them in concert this year and wasn't that impressed.

4. Portishead--too dark, although on paper I should love everything about this band. Can I put it under "appreciate" but not love?

3. Bon Iver--too slow

2. Shearwater--ditto. Sometimes side projects (Okkervil River) just don't measure up.

1. Animal Collective--not melodic enough

Top 5 Baby Helpers:

Becoming a father this year has been amazing. Here are my Top 5 things to help the transition to parenthood.

5. Miracle blanket--Newborns like to be snuggled tight and this contraption does just that. Think "baby straight jacket" and you've got the idea. But she loved it. We had to stop at about 4 months when she learned to roll from front to back and needed her arms to get her face off the mattress.

4. Sharing night duty--Mon's outlook improved dramatically when we started giving a bottle at night, which meant I (and Mel when she was here) could take the night feedings. Divide and conquer.

3. Feeding schedule--Regardless of where you come down on the "structure" vs. "attachment" debate, a regular 2.5-3 hour feeding schedule is a great idea. It really helped us be able to interpret cries in context because they all sounded the same to us. If we knew when she ate and slept and the state of her diaper we could usually figure out the problem.

2. Happiest Baby on the Block--This guy has a simple set of things to do to calm a baby. The 20 minute DVD is supposed to be good and it would get the point across. We felt empowered that we had something we could do to help when Noli was upset.

1. A happy baby--We have been lucky to have a baby who's default mode is to smile. I'm really not trying to rub it in, but she's the best ... baby ... ever.

It's That Time of Year Again

I got my Paste this week and they had their year-end picks. Voting for top albums is open at All Songs Considered. This week's Sound Opinions is a year in review show.

That's right, it's Top 5 List time!

So get to thinking about your favorite albums of the year. And for the non-music people out there, we always do a top 5 favorite things of the year, which could be anything that's made your life better this year.

I'll probably post mine over the Thanksgiving break.

I'd love to see others' lists, so please leave them in a comment, leave a link to them in a comment, email them to me, or facebook them to me (is that a proper verb now?).

Noli has had a week of firsts, some not so exciting and some a pretty big deal. This week she decided to sleep through the night! We are awfully proud of that one and hope it becomes a standing rule. She also put her own pacifier in, knocked over her first very full drink into Justin's waiting lap and sat up for about one minute. Good on ya, Noli!

Yes We Can?

On Tuesday we elected the first black president of the United States. For me the beauty of the celebration on Tuesday, and for Obama's entire campaign, was that it was not primarily about race. The celebration crossed all lines of race, class and gender. I did not vote for Obama because he was black but because he was the best person for the job. He is intelligent, even-tempered, and eloquent in laying out his vision for the country.

And he is also a powerful symbol of what is possible in this country, even for those that for hundreds of years have been persecuted and discriminated against.

Magnolia will grow up with African Americans as friends, teachers, principals, and as president. I hope these role models will help her to see others as people first, just like her, and the color of their skin second.

However, the Hope represented in the presidential election was tempered by the stark evidence of remaining bigotry in the country in the results of several ballot initiatives prohibiting gay and lesbian couples the right to marry and adopt children. Several similar measures passed in the 2004 election cycle as well. As the mayor of San Francisco pointed out, this is the first time in California's history that the state constitution has been amended to take away rights of its citizens.

I believe this is the civil rights issue of our generation. I sincerely hope that Magnolia's generation will look back at these political results, and similar positions taken by churches, in the same way that we now look back on Jim Crow, segregation, and separate-but-equal, as incomprehensible and embarrassing signs of our recent discriminatory past.

There is always hope.

"In the end, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand--that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us." Barack Obama