The AV Club's Best Music of 2008

The AV Club has released their annual list of the best in music, which means it is once again time for me to break that list down into an expose of my staggering ignorance of modern music. This is my fourth year of doing this, believe it or not, and it just keeps getting sadder.

This year, the AV Club has listed their top 30 albums, as voted on by their 19 (!) music critics. And it's a great crop, as far as illustrating my massive lack of musical awareness goes.

Literally, Swear To God, Never Heard Of Them (Unless They Maybe Appeared On A Previous AV Club List And Made Zero Impression On Me)

Beach House, Devotion
The Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead
Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
Department of Eagles, In Ear Park
Flying Lotus, Los Angeles
Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer
The Cool Kids, The Bake Sale
Black Mountain, In the Future
Frightened Rabbit, The Midnight Organ Fight
Mates of State, Re-arrange Us
Hercules and Love Affair, Hercules and Love Affair
The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound
Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
The Walkmen, You & Me
Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life

Heard Of Them, Never Listened To Them

Sigur Ros, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
American Music Club, The Golden Age
Sun Kil Moon, April
Lupe Fiasco, The Cool
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
Portishead, Third
Los Campesinos, Hold On Now, Youngster...

Heard Of Them, Heard Their Music, Don't Care For Them

Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs
Erykah Badu, New Amerykah, Part One: 4th World War

Heard Of Them, Heard Their Music, Secretly Believe People Who Claim To Like Them Are Just Pretending In Order To Fuck With Me Personally, That's How Much I Can't Stand Them

TV on the Radio, Dear Science

Heard Of Them, Heard Some Of Their Music, Still Undecided

Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
The Hold Steady, Stay Positive

Heard Of Them, Heard Their Music, Favorably Disposed Toward Them, Don't Own The Album

Flight of the Conchords, Flight of the Conchords
Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation's Dark

Own The Album

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And there you have it: Tom's Musical Ignorance, 2008. As far as what I actually did listen to this year, well, I liked the latest Weezer album, which probably means I totally suck.

Anything above you want to recommend? And keep in mind, I mostly like good old fashioned rock and roll. Loud and fast. If you're going to suggest something that could be described as "sadcore," or "Icelandic," for Christ's sake don't bother. But if there's an actual gem in there I'm missing out on, please let me know!

Where's my royalty check?

Hey, you know how I'm always ripping off The AV Club?

Well, today they ripped me off!

Turnabout's fair play, I guess. I don't see my name in that byline, though!

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I don't want to reprint my entire post, so if you don't want to click that last link (you should! It has pictures!), which listed ten films I consider among my most rewatchable, I'll summarize it here. In no special order:

Robocop
That Thing You Do!
The Princess Bride
Unforgiven
Rio Bravo
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Spider-Man 2
¡Three Amigos!
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Casablanca

Way, way back in the olden times of August 2007, when I ran that post, I said, "I really like The Big Lebowski, too, but I'm not a part of the ever-growing cult who worships it. (Yet.)" I'm definitely in that cult now, and would add it to that list.

And you folks? Again I ask you: what films, great or cheesy, do you find yourself rewatching most often? Don't be shy!

My First Album(s)

Once again, I steal an idea from the AV Club. In this article, the AV Club staff discuss the first albums they ever purchased with their own money. (Oh, and while I'm thinking of it: Noel Murray! Donna Bowman! Nathan Rabin! Where are your entries?) So I thought I would share mine. You're welcome.

I have a very clear memory of that day. It was at Blue Sky Music in Ojai. It was early '84, which means I was 13. And I bought two tape cassettes at the same time. That's right, tape cassettes: not as cheesy as 8-tracks, but equally as dead, the all-but-forgotten stepping stone between the retro-cool record album and the high tech CD (which itself is being driven to obsolescence by the mp3 -- damn you, change!!!).

The first:


ZZ TOP: ELIMINATOR
And the second:


"WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC IN 3-D
I regret nothing.

I got Eliminator because ZZ Top was everywhere that year. I don't know if you can recall back that far, you young folks, but when Eliminator came out, MTV was blanketed with ZZ Top videos, all of them featuring that car, those spinning guitars, and scads of hot, hot ladies. (Well, almost all of them, the exception being "TV Dinners," which was just weird as hell.) I don't think I'm exaggerating by saying these videos helped establish the identity of the still fledgling music channel and set the template for a generation of music videos to follow. I mean, just check 'em out:


Gimme All Your Lovin'


Sharp Dressed Man


Legs
Great videos, great album, great band.

I got the "Weird Al" tape because I was then, am now, and always shall be a huge nerd. I used to stay up late listening to Dr. Demento on the radio, hoping to catch a new "Weird Al" tune, and I was thrilled every time MTV would play the video for "Eat It," or "I Lost on Jeopardy" (which, back in the day, was a lot). I'm still a "Weird Al" fan, and 3-D is still entertaining as hell. So there.

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So what about you folks? What was the first album you ever bought with your very own cash? Tell me in the comments!