The Year In Review

The countdown has begun... the food & drinks are being prepared (and probably already started for some), the football seasons are winding down... and you know what that means. The end of the year. So we look to Conan O'Brien for the year in review.

Also, for those of you that missed the Stewie meets Shatner link. Here it is. Search for "Rocketman" on the page and then follow the links to UTC glory. Well worth the look. I recommend watching Shatner's version from the 1978 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Awards first, since Stewie's is a impression of Shatner's. Remember, Stewie knows what it takes to be cool. "And I think it's gonna be a long long time..." See you in 2006...

Since nobody stepped up this week....

Better late than never....

You knew it was coming

The movie soundtrack says it all.



Flash - ah - saviour of the universe
Flash - ah - he’ll save every one of us
Flash - ah - he’s a miracle
Flash - ah - king of the impossible
He’s for every one of us
Stand for every one of us
He’ll save with a mighty hand
Every man every woman every child...its FLASH!


This movie was Star Wars before Star Wars. A Man. A Hero. (Lucas wanted to make this but Dino DeLaurentiis beat him to the punch.)



PLOT
Flash is a football hero (J E T S JETS JETS JETS QB!) who is skyjacked aboard Dr. Zarkov's rocketship along with beautiful Dale Arden. The threesome are drawn into the influence of the planet Mongo, controlled by Ming the Merciless (played by the brilliant Max Von Sydow). Ming has been testing the Earth with unnatural disasters, and deeming it a threat to his rule, he plans to destroy it. He also intends to take Dale as his concubine. Flash must avoid the amorous attentions of Ming's daughter and unite the warring kingdoms of Mongo to rescue Dale and save our world.

This movie is filled with memorable performaces by the worst James Bond (Timothy Dalton) and the voice of the Gungan King, Brian Blessed.


An incredibly hot Mings Daughter Aurora rounds out the main players.
Fun Movie. Decent Special effects for 1980, and a soundtrack that sticks in your head for days. Add some Cheesy acting and you have yourself a fun filled movie.

Forget Serenity.
How can you lose with lines like
Flash, Flash, I love you, but we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth!

or

Klytus: Who are you?
Flash Gordon: Quarterback, New York Jets.

Classic. Simply Classic.
I LOVE THIS MOVIE.

The worst idea for a movie...EVER!

A little background on this one.

Back in the 70's before alot of you youngins were out of diapers, my mom bought me my 1st album. Vinyl. It was the Beatles, Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. I wore a grove in this record. Still for me probably the greatest album in history. I know every word.

In 1978 A movie came out based loosely on the Album (And some Abby Road mixed in as well). Since it was the 70's it was cast with Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. I think of this because this movie came in the Independent Film Channel and like a trainwreck I had to watch.

All the characters were named after Beatles songs! Starring Billy Shears (Peter Frampton) and the Hendersons (the Bee Gees) "were all there" as well, "Sgt. Pepper" featured Strawberry Fields (Sandy Farina) as Billy's leading lady, and Mr. Mustard (Frank Howerd) was "such a mean old man." Let's not forget Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Dianne Steinberg), the Sun King (Alice Cooper), and Sgt. Pepper played by an old Beatles protege (Billy Preston). The movie also depicted countless cover versions of Beatles songs, including Earth Wind & Fire's "Got to Get You Into My Life." As the narrator, Mr. Kite (George Burns) even covered "Fixin' a Hole." YES I SAID A BEATLES COVER BY GEORGE BURNS!

Cameos by Steve Martin (Dr Maxwell and his Silver Hammer) and AeroSmith (As the Future Villian Band) Could not save even 1 inch of this movie.



The plot goes like this. Sgt Pepper was an old man who had magical instruments. Peter Frampton and the Gees went to Hollywood from a small town and made it BIG! Later these instruments were stolen by Aerosmith, Steve Martin, Alice Copper Etc. The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton went to get them back. Aerosmith kills Stawberry Fields, They sing some Beatles Ballads. Sgt Pepper is resurrected from an old white guy to a Black man and brings strawberry fields back to life. Then there is a huge musical number at the end that includes Bowser from Sha Na Na, Tina Turner and Hank Williams Jr.

And no...Im not kidding

This movie surpasses Joes list of "So bad they are good" list. Top this to a "So bad you'll cry, laugh, and wonder how in the hell you will get the last 90 minutes of your life back"

This one hurts. Goes deep into the core, and destroys the image of Gooses alltime favorite album. Image Hollywood doing this to your greatest music Album of ALL TIME!

I have a few other posts coming. Im going to introduce Jayne to MY favorite SCI FI Movie (Train knows whats coming) plus a Synopsis of all 3 King Kong Movies now that I have see the third.


Goose

Top 5 Movies: So Bad They're Good

Back in college, my roommate and I started a Bad Movie Night -- where we would invite a bunch of people over, drink & watch an absolutely terrible movie -- and do our own MST 3000 dialogue over the movie's actual dialogue. It is a ton of fun, ya'll should try is soon. Trust me, it's good times guaranteed.

Top 5 Movies: So Bad They're Good:

#5. Left Behind :: starring Kirk Cameron

After selling billions of books, Left Behind went straight to video. It was that bad. Seriously, I think even God hated this movie. Just a glorious movie to get drunk & watch. I'm not even kidding, toss back a few and drop the MST 3000 like Jayne snorting pixie-sticks before jacking off watching Serenity.

#4. The Postman :: starring Kevin Costner

Post apocalyptic mail service? Didn't Kevin Costner have email in 1997!?! A friend of mine that lives in Hollywood had a great story about Costner. Quick story... I guess he was working at a restaurant and Costner called up for a reservation, so my friend decided to act like he didn't know who Costner was. And Costner got really pissed and started naming off all of his films over the phone, still my friend didn't give in. I've always wondered if Costner getting mad sounds as fake as his real acting. Actually, now that I think about it, The Postman is just plain bad.

#3. Pootie Tang :: starring Lance Crouther

Appearances by Dave Attel, David Cross, Wanda Sykes, Chris Rock, etc. Pootie Tang, the musician/actor/folk hero of the ghetto, is chronicled from his early childhood to his battles against the Man. Need I say more? Sa da tay!


#2. Battlefield Earth :: starring John Travolta, Barry Pepper & Forrest Whitaker

The script is unbelievably terrible. I'll admit I've never read the book and have a thing against scientology after seeing TomKat go completely insane -- but Battlefield Earth is so bad it might be great. Maybe the best MST 3000 movie of all-time.

#1. Cool As Ice :: starring Vanilla Ice
It's basically a cross between Footloose, Say Anything & crack cocaine. When you have Vanilla Ice popping off lines like -- "Drop that zero and get with the hero!" -- can you go wrong? Yes, yes you can. And it's wonderfully amazing. I actually hunted for this movie throughout college before receiving a VHS copy of it as the best birthday present ever. Plus, any movie that has music videos that pass the time in the script and where Vanilla Ice rides crotch-rocket motorcycles has to be a clear #1. I recommend Cool As Ice for UTC scale's sake alone.

"The only reason I know that is because that's what almost happened in The Paradise Syndrome when Kirk lost his memory and became an Indian god"

So, Train has advised me that maybe I should back away from art house and foreign films on my weekly movie recommendation. Actually, he said I should go “more mainstream”. Well, to me that just seems redundant. No one needs someone to tell them about “King Kong”, or whatever big Hollywood film is out this week. I intentionally try to choose movies on the outskirts, because the only way they get seen is entirely through word of mouth. But…I will try and compromise. I was originally planning on doing a really weird French film, but I think I’ll go a different route…

Free Enterprise

Synopsis (Courtesy of IMDB)
Young filmmakers (Rafer Weigel, Eric McCormack) trying to hawk a movie titled "Bradykillers" about a serial killer who goes after victims Marcia, Jan, and Cindy meet their screen idol, William Shatner. Shatner, appearing as himself, has fun poking fun at his own image. The two young men, who idolize him and in their fantasies have seen him as a shadowy fairy godfather figure, are alarmed at the reality of the middle-aged non-Captain Kirk man that they meet. However, their relationship helps anchor the two more into reality.

Review:
A word of warning: If you don’t have any geek tendency’s in your being…stay away from this movie. This movie is made by a pair of filmmakers who passionately love sci-fi and film in general, and this movie oozes references all over the place. And I’m not just talking Star Wars/Star Trek. I’m talking Logan’s Run, Rollerball, The Godfather, Alien, etc. The main characters in this film LOVE the movies, and they’re not afraid to show it. So if you’re unfamiliar with film in general…you’re probably just not going to get it.
However…if you’re the type that’s going to get references to blinking red lights on your hand and had a lot of action figures at some point in your life, you’ll probably really dig this flick.
Now, having said that…fear not, this is not a movie about how great classic Star Trek is. All of this Sci-Fi stuff is basically a backdrop to the story, kind of like Kevin Smith movies. There’s a ton of “geek” talk, but that’s not what its about.
It’s a movie about two friends in L.A who are just in a general state of unhappiness. Mark (Eric McCormack from Will & Grace) is freaking out over the prospect of turning 30, and Robert has just gotten dumped by his girlfriend. Once they meet their childhood idol, William Shatner, and have all of their illusions shattered are when the film gets interesting.
Now…Shatner. What can I say about Shatner? He’s rocks this movie. He pokes fun at himself in a way that few actors would dare. For example: When he first shows up in the movie, Robert and Mark are at a book store. When they look across the aisle there’s Shatner….looking through the porn section. There’s something bizarrely amusing about watching Captain Kirk look at porn in a bookstore…it’s hard to explain.
Anyway…this movie isn’t high art, and it doesn’t pretend to be, as it had a tiny budget (that sometimes shows). But…if you can understand the humor, it’s really funny, and totally worth checking out.

Jayne's Top 10 Films of 2005

10. King Kong – Can Peter Jackson truly do no wrong? When I was in high school, I was obsessed with “Dead Alive” and “Heavenly Creatures”. I even really dug “The Frighteners” (which just had a special edition DVD release which I totally recommend…it’s an under rated flick). So, when Lord of the Rings came out, it was nice to see PJ actually get some recognition for once.
Now, enter Kong. This is by PJ’s most masturbatory film. It’s like listening to Miles Davis “Bitches Brew”. Nothing in that film is for the audience. He did it entirely for himself. It just so happens that the film happens to work really well for audiences (even if it does drag a little in the middle). When it comes to doing BIG films, Jackson has found a way to over shadow the likes of Lucas, Spielberg and Cameron. Now I can’t wait to see what he goes back to small films, like he’ll do with his next flick, “The Lovely Bones”.


9. Kung-Fu-Hustle – This movie is what happens when you cross Quentin Tarentino, Looney Toons and Martial Arts. This movie is so over the top that it’s kind of like the matrix: One can not be told what Kung Fu Hustle is; one must see it with their own eyes.










8. Night Of The Living Dorks – I saw this German film at the Seattle International Film Festival, and I fell heads over heels in love with it. The movie tells the story of 3 high school losers who are killed, and then accidentally brought back to life from some Goth kids who are actually trying to resurrect Kurt Cobain. They realize that there are some serious benefits to being undead. You can’t be hurt and you have increased strength…if only your body parts would stay attached. Suffice to say shenanigans ensue. To me, this movie was even funnier than “Shaun of the Dead”. What works best about this film is the fact that the story is really just about being a loser in high school. They still have to deal with your parents; they get high and drink too much, and pine over the hot girl. It’s really like a cross between John Hughes, George Romero and Kevin Smith. Sadly, the film isn’t available on DVD, and has only played the film festival circuit in theaters. But it was one of the funniest flicks I’ve ever seen.

7. Crash – What can I say about this film that hasn’t been said by a billion critics? This film is amazing. It’s perfectly cast (which is really saying something considering Sandra Bullock is in it), and it’s just heart wrenching. This isn’t a film you watch. This is a film you experience. This film is the definition of dramatic morality tale. It’s kind of funny, I saw this movie nearly 7 months ago, and I’m still at a loss for words.







6. Constant Gardner – If Ralph Fiennes doesn’t win an Oscar for this film, I’m going to be pissed. Sure, Hoffman was good in Capote and Ledger was great in Broke-back, but this was the performance of the year. Fernando Meirelles shows us a side of Africa that Hollywood tends to shy away from, and he does so with incredibly cinematography. I used to think his previous film “City of God” was a brilliantly shot movie. Now, after seeing this, it almost looks amateurish in comparison. But, Fiennes is the true reason this film is on my list. He brilliantly turned his character into true every man. There’s nothing heroic about him when we meet him. He’s not particularly special by any means. He’s apprehensive, and flawed, but most importantly he feels real. He really feels like a human being who really exists, which is something you rarely see on film.



5. 40 Year Old Virgin – I loved “Freaks and Geeks”. It, for my money, is the most realistic portrayal of High School I have ever seen. And when it crashed and burned after 1 season, I was truly bummed out. So I made a point of following the creators on their various projects following the series. Last year, writer/creator Judd Apatow, jumped over to film with the movie “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy”. Judging from all of the times you’ve quoted this movie on the blog, I can safely assume you’re all with me as to how awesome that was. So, when I saw Apatow was jumping over to direct his first film with Steve Carrell I was uber-psyched. And damn, was I not disappointed. This was hands down the best comedy of the year. Whenever you make a sex comedy, you walk a fine line between being sweet and being raunchy. What works best about this film is that it has a lot of heart to it. Nothing these characters do is out of malice. The situations by themselves are what are funny, and the cast was able to milk every joke for everything it was worth.

4. Sin City – If I ever become a filmmaker, I want to be Robert Rodriguez. This is a guy who does whatever he wants without any entanglements of Hollywood. What he did with Sin City was a thing of beauty. He didn’t adapt a comic. He re-created it. I never would have guessed that a comic book could be transferred on film so faithfully. It was all perfect; the lighting, the camera angles, the look…everything. And if you’re going to give a comic the royal treatment, there aren’t many better choices than Sin City. The comic is an institution. A perfect example of how crime noir could be explored in a totally new way. Of all the special effects and technology advances we saw in movies this year, I think that Sin City is going to be the one film with the most lasting impact.



3. Batman Begins – The perfect Batman film. There. I said it. It’s in print.
I have had major issues with every Batman film that has come before this one. But David Goyer and Christopher Nolan just nail it this time. Every single piece of that film was faithful to the comic book. Every piece of casting (except TomKat) was perfect. Christian Bale WAS Batman. One moment always sticks out for me in the film that really sums up the entire difference. At one point he’s interrogating a thug, and the criminal says “I swear to god”. The bat gets right in his face with the fire and anger of 1000 suns and growls “Swear to me!”
Never before has Batman been shown as a true creature of the night. As something that should truly be feared by criminals. He became the boogeyman, instead of just a guy in a nipple costume.

2. Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang – I already did a write up of this as one of my weekly movie recommendations, so you already know how I feel about it. But let me just reiterate: This movie @#$%ing rocks. You get a pair of career best performances out of Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr, plus an incredible script, and what more could you really want?



1. Serenity – C’mon, did you really think I would put something else here? Don’t worry…I won’t do another 5 page review of it…just see it!

Honorable mentions –
Wedding Crashers – Vince Vaughn shows the comedic brilliance that we remember so fondly in Swingers. And Rachel McAdams is hot too…

Me, And You, And Everyone We Know – By far, the best debut of any filmmaker this year. This is a great, quirky little film. Not for everyone, but the people that get it, will love it.

Broken Flowers – Jim Jarmusch makes his most mainstream film to date, and does an incredible job with it. Once again, Bill Murray is in top form.

Capote – Without Phillip Seymour Hoffman, this movie doesn’t even get a mention. His performance alone is worth seeing this movie. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s a very solid film.

High Tension – A great horror movie. A lot of people loved it until the end, but I actually really dug the ending.

Hope all members of the Lodge had a splendid Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza and so on. Is there any way that we could start a petition to get Christmas on a weekend every year? You can’t beat a three day weekend.

Here are a few Holiday notations that I made while relaxing over the weekend. I have nothing profound to say, sorry Joe no pictures. Just an easy post to get us through the the first day back to work - well for some of us.


Colt v. Hawks

Hawks can take a few things away from the colt’s game but only a few. Not really much of a test when over half the Colts starting D is on the sidelines for the whole game. No Freeney, Simon and June made this one really a mismatch from the beginning. The crowd new a big day was in order for Alexander when he scampered 8 yards on his first carry.

Hawks Defense played solid in the red zone but least we not forget there was no Harrison out on the end. The Hawks have perfected the bend but don’t break D this year and Saturday they bent a whole lot. The Train is thinking very hard about making his first ever Hawks clothing purchase and that purchase might just be a 51 jersey.

The 12th man again made its presence felt. I have to admit it’s freakin’ loud at the Q. Though I doubt any crowd can shake Manning but they did there best.

Seattle is a Good team and I think they have a legit shot at making SB XL but I don't know it they are great enough to win the whole thing.

Munich - I know this has been covered but I had to give my impression of the film

This movie really hit me in the gut. I wouldn’t recommend this to be viewed before a holiday. The movie kept me up most the night. I realized I know nothing of the Middle East and the Israeli struggle for independence. Something I will have to read up on. By the time the movie ends the viewer questions everything there country does. I tell you I thought to myself governments are bad not matter who is in office, what form of government and where it’s location is. Does any response no matter how measured justify murder and destruction? This is what I was thinking about when I should have been dreaming of sugar plum fairies and blah, blah blah but no I had mid east peace on my mind. The train will be hitting the books for the next few months. I think Steve S hit it right on with this picture. It just makes you think and that’s its intent.


Strong performance from Eric Bana in the lead roll. The best I have seen him in but that’s only 2 movies (Hulk and Black Hawk Down). Big shout out to Michael Lonsdale for his performance as Papa, the head of a crime family – think Corleone but international assassins. You might remember him from Ronin. He has a certain calming quality to his voice that really mesmerized me, very noble performance.

Spielberg did in excellent job in recreating the 72 games. It was freaky to watch it since I really know nothing of the event.

I want to also thank the Cincinnati bungles who delivered a first round by to the Broncos after a humiliating loss to the bills. Oh, and Chad Johnson’s end zone antics was a little supbar in my book but I don’t have that nice a books so…

We might have to have a meeting of the Lodge for a few playoff games. We have some interesting matchups that will need to be discussed.

The Train also got an awesome Christmas gift from his sister – a New HP laptop. Now you all know who's the smart one in the family, well not smart but she is the bread winner. Finally I have reached the space age.

"I am the last of my kind."

Being a fan of vampire movies, I was pleased to finally view Bram Stoker’s Dracula today. Francis Ford Coppola directed the 1992 release of the classic story told many times over. Coppola stayed true to Bram Stoker’s original novel and told a love story spanned throughout centuries. Apparently, Coppola received a lot of flack from fans and critics for the film. There were one too many shots that faded to and from glowing eyes for my liking, but overall I liked the classic angle he took, slowly easing us into the character of Dracula.

It begins, as it should, with the tragic story of Vlad the Impaler, who went off to fight the Crusades and returned to find that his beloved wife, hearing he was dead, had killed herself. And not just killed herself, but hurled herself from a parapet to a stony doom far below, in one of the many spectacular shots which are the best part of this movie. You feel true sympathy for him, a remarkable feat. Plus, these opening scenes are quite spectacular.

Vlad cannot see the justice in his fate. He has marched all the way to the Holy Land on God's business, only to have God play this sort of a trick on him. (Vlad is apparently not a student of the Book of Job.) He embraces Satan and vampirism, and the action moves forward to the late Victorian Age.

Despite a couple of not so inspiring performances (textbook overacting from Winona Ryder & Keanu Reeves, who haven’t ever really brought a good performance to date, Reeves’ accent is particularly horrid), the movie is entertaining and overall a good film. Gary Oldman & Anthony Hopkins deliver strong work as Count Dracula & Professor Van Helsing. Quick note, if you watch the flick, keep an eye out for a 30 year old Monica Bellucci, now 41 and still as beautiful as ever (& in my Top-5, for the record). Another hottie in the film to note is Sadie Frost as Lucy. Wow, not much else to say but… wow.

Coppola fails in his jumping around in the script, from London to Transylvania. You never really get a true sense that he trusted the actors or scenes (besides a few longer takes that include Oldman or Hopkins). An All-Star cast, but miscast in too many roles (Ryder, Reeves & Elwes) to be a great movie. That said, it’s a good film. The look and feel of the film still hold up after more than 10 years (and Jurassic Park & King Kong advances in special effects later). Not quite a classic, yet the classic tale is still enjoyable and worth a watch.

*** out of 4 stars.

Top Albums of the Year

Well I have to say my music consumption and the music I have purchased has gone down considerably this year. That being said, the aforementioned albums are great. I have heard pieces of Guerilla's and love the Stripes new album. So instead of recycling several choices I found a few to add to the list.

These are in no order:

1. Amos Lee : I heard this guy on my Dylan pilgrimage this last year when I spent two of the most incredible nights watching Dylan. As I layed and thought about that night, it stuck with me the opening act - Amos Lee. A musician with a guitar and a voice that echoed the Paramont. His album, like his performance will stick with you after you have listed to it.


2. Aqualung: Recommended by others so I won't say anything more than it's an enjoyable album to sit back and listen to.


3. Bob Dylan: Live at the Gaslight 1962: A great album I picked thanks to Erika G.E. of the Starbuck nation. This album is one of the first shows in Dylan's early career. Some great tracks which include "Don't think twice, it's alright" and "A Hard Rain is Gonna Fall." Also Dylan's No Direction Home. Vol 7 in the Bootleg Series. First of all, the bootleg series is excellent. If you get a chance, check them out but this bootleg accompanies Scorsese documentary on Dylan and the early folk revolution.


4. Bright Eyes: Digital Ash in a Digital Urn : This is a great album that was teamed up with another more mellow album. Good beats and out of the two albums that he has release, this one stuck with me a little more.



5. LCD Soundsystem: This album continues the idea of beats. This album full of housebeats is a great album to listen to as you are chillin' at home or on a car ride to the eastside or south end. This album is a double album that jumps up and gets you from the first track.


Honorable Mention:

The first two albums shown are Ben Folds albums. Songs for Silverman and Songs for a Goldfish are two albums released from the former frontman. Silverman consists of new material where Goldfish consists of live tracks from several different concert venues.




Slipknot : Live 9.0 - This album is makes your head spin. If you know anything of Slipknot you should have heard this album or own it already. I probably won't experience a Slipknot concert in my lifetime but I should got a good experience listening and knowing what it's like.

I have heard most of My Morning Jacket's album...I couldn't put it in my list because I don't own it or given it a fair listen but I trust this panel.

If you get a chance...check out KEXP Live Vol. 1 as well which includes The Shine, The Flaming Lips, Alexi Murdoch, and Ben Lee to name a few artists on the album.

Jimbo's not 2005, but the top 5 records that were heard during the year...

Resisting the urge to duplicate Joe 2.0 and Jayne's list, I've come up with a new definition of my top 5 albums of 2005...because honestly if I bought the album and have never heard it is new to me...lame I know...but I can honestly say that I didn't hear 5 full albums from artists this year so here goes, hmmm after writing this I think I did, but that doesn't matter:

honorable mention goes to : My Morning Jacket and Gorillaz...which would've made the list but they've already been covered and no one wants to read re-tread material do they?

*I have to mention because the Lodge looks out for one of their own:

World Leader Pretend-Punches...for my boy Matt Martin-lead guitarist, my guy in NO now Chicago...spend early part of High School in NO with this guy and well...he's with a pretty good band that's trying to make it happen...album is quality and at times sounds like a debut but has hooks and melodies of a 2nd or 3rd record, if I knew how to do it I'd put the album up...let me know if anyone wants to hear it...

5-Silversun Pickups/Amusement Parks on Fire- thanks to KEXP once again for some awesome podcasting that actually promotes record buying...note to music industry: its not the mp3's..it's the music...anyway...

Amusement Parks on Fire: from a bunch of 18 and 19 year-old's from Nottingham...just rock all the time with some fairly decent interlude's...very raw...look forward to this band or the songwriter developing...love me some rock



Silversun Pickups-Pikul: another debut record, but extremely good with unique vocals...once again all the way rock with great dynamics...definitely a band to stay tuned for...could be really good or could be one and done




4-DangerDoom-The Mouse and the Mask-Joe 2.0, I need a copy of the Grey Album...this teams up two favorites of the Jimbo...MF Doom, underground rapper with huge resume, who put's the old school game back in Hip Hop...and Danger Mouse who is quickly becoming the Rick Rubin of the 21st Century...haven't heard this record as much as I'd like, (just picked it up last week) but loving it so far...expanded beats and free-form slangin' by Doom

3-White Stripes-Get Behind Me Satan...always critized the group in the past for not bringing it on the other 95% of their records...but I absolutely love the strip down approach here...Jack and piano with minimal Meg...I challenge anyone to argue about the songwriting talents of Mr. White...love his approach to vintage recording and stripped down sound



2-Allman Brothers Band-Eate a Peach and Live at the Fillmore East-really a band that I should've gotten into about 10 years ago when I was driving around in my Jeep with tinted windows and the smoke stack coming out everytime the door opened, but better late than never...having serious southern roots and loving the now extinct 17min jam...this group is quickly moving up the charts as one of my favorites...during the recording of Live at the Fillmore East they played I think 3 to 4 shows until something like 3 or 4 in the morning...that's f'n rock n' roll...Eat a Peach incorporates the live feel, but some f'n excellent tracks and flows like a great record...or maybe it's just me

1-Bob Dylan-Nashville Skyline...really don't know what to say here, finally entered the Dylan phase of my life, about 7 years after Dude, but discovered how much I love this record, and after a half rack of PBR and bottle of Early Times you will too...the only man that could've given life back to a dying Nashville scene, completely brings it...from the Girl from the North Country w/ the MAN to Lay Lady Lay with the new Dylan Voice this album is perfectly timed, recorded and produced...highlights also on one of the most underrated cuts of all-time "I threw it all away"...if you aren't in to Dylan don't try this one...but, if you're looking for a place to start this is it...