My Top 25 Favorite Albums - #11 to #20

Continuing on with my top 25 favorite albums, plus one extra that I realized that I forgot. I'm sure there are a couple others that I forgot that deserve recognition as well. And really, #20 to #11 could be shuffled up into any order and I'd be fine with it...

P.S...To those of you reading in a reader, I know it looks terrible. It's looks fine and is easier to read if you click over to the post.

Forgotten Favorite
Sir Mix-A-Lot - SWASS - If you grew up in the Seattle area in the early '90's, you surely know and love the ultimate Seattle anthem, "Posse On Broadway". I really don't think there's a better song out there about Seattle and I'm a big sucker for any song that refers to Dick's as "the place where the cool hangout, the swass like to play and the rich flaunt clout." That song alone would be enough, but SWASS also rocks "Buttermilk Biscuits", "Rippin", "SWASS" and the world's only song about Bremerton, "Bremelo". Classics all of them. Mix-A-Lot isn't just "Baby Got Back"

20.
Beck - Midnite Vultures - Odelay could easily be here instead of Midnite Vultures but I actually think I listen to this album more often than Odelay. All of the songs are a blast, it's Beck at his most fun and most ridiculous. I think he was trying to be the bastard son of Prince with this album and surprisingly it worked in a way. I especially love "Debra" for it's random mention of Zankou Chicken.

19.
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head - I love the Beastie Boys, they are one of my top five favorite bands. However, only Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head are albums that I listen to straight through so that's why one of my favorite bands is so far down the list. Check Your Head is probably their most stylistically diverse album and at first listen can seem very chaotic. But every song ends up working in conjunction with the previous or the next and makes for a very cohesive work amidst the chaos. In many ways, that's what I look for in an album.

18.
Killers - Hot Fuss - I resisted The Killers for quite some time when Hot Fuss was released. I had convinced myself that they were nothing but a poser rock band that was all style and no substance. But then I saw the video for "Mr. Brightside" and developed a man crush on Brandon Flowers. Then I heard "All These Things I've Done" which quickly became one of my favorite songs and suddenly, I owned the album, knew all the words and I sang every song at the top of my lungs while I drove to work.

17.
Green Day - Warning - This album was overlooked by many simply because it didn't have a good radio single. "Warning" is a great song, but it doesn't have a solid radio hook that could attract the masses. All the songs deal with complex issues of growing into full-on adulthood and the optimism and pessimism that goes along with that growth. I think that this album hit home with me because it was that same growth that I myself was experiencing at the time. Your mid-20's are a weird time. You feel very young, but are expected to start being an adult ready or not. Green Day and I were at the same place in our lives at the same time and I still feel a strong connection with this album even if I didn't really have much love for Green Day has before or after this album (I hate American Idiot).

16.
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News - Good News was Modest Mouse's biggest hit with "Float On" reaching a level that I could never have imagined them hitting after seeing them drunk and drugged struggle through a KGRG benefit concert shortly after their debut album was released. To see how far they had come and to see Isaac Brock write music so personally optimistic was a welcome relief after the beautiful but sometimes troubling The Moon & Antarctica. The optimism of a lot of Good News' songs is what makes it stand over Modest Mouse's other albums, despite my love for them. It's also their most edited and cohesive album, it all flows together fairly seamlessly.

15.
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison - I'll never forget the first time I heard the song "Folsom Prison Blues". I was driving on the Southern Tier Expressway in New York on my way from school in Bowling Green to see Death? in Ithaca. It was late at night and I was scanning the radio trying to find something to listen to. I came across one of those little radio stations in the middle of nowhere that play whatever they want (that sadly are almost gone) and they were playing a bunch of old country songs. "Folsom Prison Blues" came on and rocked my world. The next song he played was "A Boy Named Sue" and my Johnny obsession was born. When you're on a lonely highway at night, Johnny Cash can really speak to you. Anyway, At Folsom Prison was the first of his albums I bought and I've slowly been adding to it ever since (he has a lot of music).

14.
Eels - Daisies of the Galaxy - The Eels have become one of my favorite bands because of how their music is so beautiful and dreamy but often hides much more serious, sometimes pessimistic, sometimes dark lyrics. I don't know why, but those are often my favorite types of songs - poppy and happy sounding with a touch of darkness underneath. No album on this list better mixes happy and dark better than Daisies of the Galaxy. It's got beautiful, dreamy melodies and soaring arrangements that perfectly compliment the fragile emotions of E's lyrics.

13.
They Might Be Giants - Flood - "Birdhouse In Your Soul", a song that can put me instantly into a good mood, is almost enough on it's own to make Flood one of my favorite albums. They could just repeat that song 15 times and it would make the top 25. But then there's "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", "Twisting", "Minimum Wage", "Particle Man" and...well, I could keep going. They're all good. Flood only is this low because of another TMBG album later.

12.
Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs - Death? says I'm cheating since this is three albums. Fine. I'll just pick Volume 1, the best of the three. 23 love songs that are all completely different in musical styles and sentiment and the album is like nothing else anybody has ever released. Not all are totally successful but with an undertaking as wide ranging as this, that's no surprise. Favorites for me are "Absolutely Cuckoo", "Chicken With It's Head Cut Off", "Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits", "The Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side," and "Nothing Matters When We're Dancing".

11.
Hot Hot Heat - Elevator - Elevator is forty minutes of fun, dancey, clever pop songs that I sometimes have a hard time believing are a product of the Pacific Northwest - Victoria, BC to be exact. It's so unlike anything that ever came out of the area. Just pure, unadulterated fun. I'm listening to "You Owe Me An IOU" as I type this and I'm fighting the urge to sing along at the top of my lungs like I would if I were in the car. My voice might be horse afterwards but I can't help myself, I'll sing every last song at full voice and look like a complete dork to all the stone faced Californians.

My Top 25 Favorite Albums - #21 to #25

Martymankins over at Banal Leakage did his favorite 25 albums a couple weeks ago (here and here) and ever since then I've been mulling it over. After going through my CD's, I think I've come up with my top 25. It was a tough call for me and ranking them was even harder. I think that on some days I would put my #25 album at #2 and my #4 album in the teens. And eliminating some albums was very hard. In fact, as you will see later, I had to cheat a little bit.

Today I give you #21 to #25 plus a couple bonus soundtracks that I love that could break the top 25 at some point in the future. Keep in mind, these are my favorite albums, not necessarily the albums that I think are the best. There really is a big difference.

BONUS SOUNDTRACKS
Once - There are probably soundtracks that I listen to more than these two bonus soundtracks, but none featuring original music. Once is one of my favorite albums period and it only doesn't appear in the top 25 because it's only been out for a little while. It's such a beautifully written and performed album that even without the movie it might be one of my favorites. Although without the movie, I probably would've never listened to this album and never been exposed to Glen Hansard and Market Irglova.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - Box of Cox - Right now the only way the entire 30+ songs from the movie are available is through iTunes and if you are going to buy the Walk Hard soundtrack, you have to go big. The movie itself wasn't great, but the music was. It's a parody/comedy album, yes, but a lot of the songs are very sincere and very well written and could easily, accidentally pass as real songs. Like "Let's Duet". That could easily be a real country song. I love how he means well in each song but just doesn't quite get the point, like "Mr. President", "Billy Don't Be a Hero" and my personal favorite, "Mulatto". Mulatto!

25.
Weezer - Blue Album - Right in the middle of all things grunge (actually, more like near the end, but I was a little slow) - a genre I liked but never really identified with - came Weezer. Nerd rock is exactly what I was looking for at the time, my ears were never quite the same. This would actually be much higher up if it weren't for the fact that another Weezer album appears later and I was kind of trying not to double up on bands.

24.
Elvis Costello - This Year's Model - I have a hard time believing that I missed out on Elvis Costello until only recently. His music, at least his early music, is exactly what I like. Intelligent, poppy, a little punky and This Year's Model is packed full with a good portion of his best. "This Year's Model", "Pump It Up", "Little Triggers", the underrated "Lip Service" and of course "Radio, Radio". I'm so confused as to which version that I actually own since there are at least five different versions that have been released. Oh well, they're all good.

23.
Mos Def - Black On Both Sides - I always relate this album to Harlingen, Texas. Seriously, Mos Def reminds me of a crummy little border Texas town. But that's because we listened to Black On Both Sides almost nonstop all summer long. A great mix of poppy songs, furious political statements, a little punk rock all done with great intelligence and amazing flow, creativity and humor. Great from start to finish.

22.
Reverend Horton Heat - Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em - I love the swaggering hellfire psychobilly that is The Reverend. It's fast, it's furious and it's a ton of fun from start to finish. Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em was the Reverend's first and it's release on Sub Pop and it's inclusion with a lot of that period's grunge was a very striking contrast. "Eat Steak", "Marijuana" and "Psychobilly Freakout" are classics anthems.

21.
A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm - A Tribe Called Quest was the first hip-hop album that I really connected with on a level other than just being pop music. I liked other rappers and rap groups before this album, but it was very superficial and more along the trying to keep up with what the cool kids were listening to. I first picked up this album after hearing "Left My Wallet In El Segundo" and was then exposed to "Push It Along", "Bonita Applebaum", and "Can I Kick It" and my reasons to listen to rap were never the same.

While I'm Hating

While I'm ranting about my hatred of the fucking Eagles, I might as well tell you about my hatred of two other classic rock bands.

1. The Doors - I went through a phase where I was really trying to get into classic rock and one of the bands that I tried to like was The Doors. I blame my wanting to like The Doors on both the comparisons people made between Jim Morrison and Eddie Vedder (I loved Pearl Jam at the time) and the Oliver Stone movie.

At some point, I gave up. Even though I thought I should like them if I really was into rock, I just couldn't do it. I started to unabashedly hate The Doors and I still hate them today. I hate Jim Morrison's stupid lounge singer voice and I hate all the keyboard and I hate their whole drugged out persona and I hate that their idiot fans defaced Pere Lachaise Cemetery where Morrison is buried and I hate...well...everything about them.

God I hate The Doors.

2. Led Zeppelin - I never even attempted to like Led Zeppelin. I always knew that I hated them. And I know exactly why it is - Jimmy Page's Robert Plant's voice. Oh god it grates on my nerves unlike any other singer. And I can't take their bluesy stuff, it just pisses me off. There is one song in particular, and I don't even know what it's called, that makes me want to smash a radio every time it comes on. I used to have to listen to the classic rock station in Ventura and they played it at least once, maybe twice a day. I eventually had to leave the room and go to the bathroom or find something else to do when it came on or else I would've, sooner or later, jammed a handful of pencils in my ears.

My hatred of Led Zeppelin doesn't run as deep as my hate for the fucking Eagles or The Doors, I can at least understand why someone would like Led Zeppelin.

Lebowski Friday - The Fucking Eagles

"I hate the fucking Eagles, man."

That one line alone is almost enough to totally endear The Dude and The Big Lebowski to the staggering amount of those of us that hate the fucking Eagles but, since the fucking Eagles are a strangely revered, almost untouchable band, were unable to say "I hate the fucking Eagles, man." It was so nice to have someone finally say it somewhere that it empowered all of us fucking Eagles haters.

I hate the fucking Eagles, man.

I hate "Take It Easy". I hate "Witchy Woman". I hate "Desperado". I hate "Hotel California". They are, to me, the most overrated band ever. They are a shitty country band, they are a shitty rock band, they are a shitty, shitty band.

I hate that when I was in high school and the fucking Eagles reunited for Hell Freezes Over, I felt compelled to like them because they were shoved down our throats and I was in a very vulnerable, trying to love the classic rock, trying to fit in position. I even had the damn unplugged album at one point. I still don't know why.

And if my cabbie were listening to the fucking Eagles, it would even be worth getting kicked out of a cab in the middle of Los Angeles if he wouldn't turn it off. That's how much I hate the fucking Eagles.

They blow and I hate them and I'm grateful for The Dude and The Big Lebowski for finally speaking up and giving a voice to those of us that hate the fucking Eagles.

Speaking of The Fucking Eagles, they are a pretty kick ass Tacoma, WA band that headlined Lebowski Fest in Seattle a couple years ago, for obvious reasons.

Two States Down, 48 To Go

If you haven't heard the good news yet, the Supreme Court of California today overturned the ban on gay marriage. Yea! The sanctity of our marriage has finally been, well, sanctified now that many of our friends have the same rights as we do.

Death? and I were talking about this at lunch and she said "twenty years from now we'll look back and this and be amazed that it was ever an issue".

Personally, I don't think that will be the case. I think that gay marriage and other homosexual equal rights issues are going to be cyclical for years and years to come. I think that because so many Christians are (wrongly) feeling victimized these days, they will occasionally strike back and continue to strike back against these "moral" issues.

Gradually, slowly, things will improve, but I think it's going to take a long while and we'll never see homophobia as a taboo as much as racism is. It's going to be this slow burn, kind of like gender equality still is.

What do you think? Will we look back at this debate in twenty years and laugh? Will gay marriage end up sweeping the nation? Will man/goat love be next if it does?

My Life Spotting the D-List - *UPDATE*

Larry Hankin: University of Southern California Campus - We went to see our friend's screening of his excellent short film 1-900-DRINKING-BUDDY at the USC film school tonight. Three other short films were shown as part of the screening and the first film, Nebraska, featured character actor Larry Hankin, probably best known for his role as Tom Pepper, the actor Seinfeld hired to play Kramer in "The Pilot". So it shouldn't have surprised me to see him grabbing a bite to eat and a drink at the reception out front of the Eileen Norris Cinema Theater. As a huge Seinfeld fan, I was very excited to see Tom Pepper in person. Nevermind that he was only in one episode, he's still a star to me.

_________________________________________________________________

Past super exciting D-Listers spotted...

Brian Posehn: Disneyland - Perhaps the last place on Earth I would ever expect to see comedian Brian Posehn is the happiest place on Earth, Disneyland. But sure enough and without a doubt, there he was walking away from Critter Country on Friday afternoon. Maybe he was on the Winnie The Pooh ride, which is a dream come true for stoners of all ages. I would have loved to be on the same boat as him in It's a Small World. I'm sure his dry, sarcastic wit would make that ride palatable.

Brian Bosworth: LAX Airport - My first celebrity sighting came while standing in line at LAX. I was flying home to Seattle after a weekend of apartment hunting down here and he was standing in front of me in the Alaska Airlines check-in line talking very loudly and forcefully to someone about a real estate deal. It was a great thrill for a long-time Seattle Seahawks fan, even if he was a huge bust. I couldn't be happier that my first celebrity sighting was of the star of Stone Cold and One Tough Bastard.

David Spade: The Avalon Hollywood - David Spade is even shorter than you would ever imagine. We saw him chatting with some friends in the parking lot next to The Avalon Hollywood following a Dan Band show about a year ago. We weren't sure if he was leaving from the show or if he was just showing up for something else. Nonetheless, he was there, on the corner of Hollywood and Vine, a place that we read that we would never, ever see celebrities. It's too touristy.

Mike Farrell: Ca Del Sole Italian Restaurant - We went to this restaurant expecting laid back Italian food. Wrong. It was uppity and fancy, but the food was pretty darn good. Anyway, Mike Farrell of M*A*S*H came into the restaurant with a large group of people. I always loved M*A*S*H and Captain BJ Hunnicut so I recognized him immediately even without his mustache. After reading about all the liberal activism he has undertaken over the past 25 years, I am now an even bigger fan. And I like to think that he was as put off by the snootiness of the waitstaff as we were.

Wilson Cruz: Hollywood & Highland Center - I first spotted Wilson Cruz of My So Called Life and Tick...Tick...Boom! (an amazing play we saw him in earlier this year) fame while another fan was chatting him up late Saturday evening at Hollywood & Highland. I was impressed because he genuinely looked like he was happy to have a fan stop and talk to him. I got Death? all confused because I said that he played Angel in the movie Rent when, in fact, that's Wilson Jermaine Heredia. I always thought it was Cruz that played that part in the movie and when we saw Rent on Broadway. It's easy to understand my confusion, Cruz has played Angel before and both guys look very similar and they're both named Wilson. Oh well, I was still excited see Wilson Cruz. I told you you'd never guess.

You Dropped Something!

On my way home from the mall today there was a woman walking a few feet up ahead of me. As she passed by one of the trees that line the sidewalk, she gave a casual little toss of something into one of the planter boxes. Noticing this, as I passed by the tree I bent down to see what it was. No surprise there, it was a wadded up receipt. So I picked it up, and yelled at her "Hey! You dropped something!" To which she turned her head around at me a little bit, and just kept on walking.

That's right bitch, I caught you littering!

So for the next almost two blocks, I kept yelling "Excuse me, ma'am, you dropped your receipt..." and so on. Her pace quickened, and since I had Addie in a stroller, I couldn't scream the obscenities that I wanted to or run up to her and smash it all up in her face, so I just had to let it go.

Ahhhh...I caught the fucking cunt littering and she didn't even get punished!

Willful and wanton littering is something that I just can't abide. I don't know how people do it. All my life I was raised not to litter. In school, on TV, at home, everywhere, you were told that littering is something you don't do. I never litter, at least on purpose. I suppose I've done it on accident once in a while. I thought that it was something that we had gotten past as a society.

So when I see people drop a receipt in a planter box, open up their car door and put their soda bottle down on the the street, let trash go flying out of the backs of their pickup trucks on the freeway...etc. etc. - it pisses me off so much. Finding a garbage can is not that fucking hard. Putting the receipt in your pocket and throwing it away at home isn't going to kill you.

So to all you litterers out there, especially you you nasty bitch walking home from the mall that wouldn't even acknowledge that I caught your dumb ass littering, just fuck the fuck off already. Ok? Thanks.

WTF Is That?

Anybody care to guess what the hell this picture that I found on my cell phone is? I know, but then again I took the picture, do you?

While I'm posting cell phone pictures...


Mmm...Korean food - a big stone bowl full of rice and beef and egg and veggies and hot sauce. Now that's a good Mother's Day dinner. And if you ask me, I've bumped up from novice chopsticks handler to expert after this meal.

Lebowski Friday - Action Figures!

These are awesome! I have to have them. Walter comes with Donny's Folger's can and a dog. Not just any dog either, it's a fucking show dog with fucking papers. Don't worry though, he's not gonna take your fucking turn, Dude.

These are available all over the place, including here.

By Grabthar's Hammer

The week before Death? went into the hospital to have Addie, we got the movie Galaxy Quest in the mail from Netflix. In the excitement and the shuffle, it went missing. We searched high and low all over the house but we couldn't find it anywhere. A couple months ago, we gave up. We figured we'd either find it when we moved out in July or we accidentally threw it away and it was gone forever.

But today I found it, right in the place that I originally figured it must be. That figures, right? I don't know how we ever missed it, it was right there, hardly hidden at all. Somebody must be fucking with us. Stupid movie stealing goblins.

Anyway, Galaxy Quest was well worth the wait. It was a movie that looked so stupid when it came out and I totally dismissed it as another silly Tim Allen vehicle, but it turned out to be great. That's about as fun a movie as I've seen in a long time.

And what a killer cast. I'm not usually a big fan of Tim Allen, but he was really good and Sigourney Weaver was good as well. But the rest of the cast is what makes it so great. Alan Rickman? Sam Rockwell? Tony Shalhoub? Enrico Colantoni? Justin Long? A line or two from Rainn Wilson and even Corbin Bleu of High School Musical fame plays young Tommy.

I highly recommend Galaxy Quest for those of you that haven't seen it, but I have this feeling that I'm one of the few since I'm pretty sure it was bloggers that convinced me that it wasn't a stupid movie. But if you dismissed it like I did, you should definitely add it to your Netflix queue especially now that they finally have it back and in their rotation.

The nerve of some people keeping their movies for months and months and months!