For ramblings on how I came to compile this list go here. And for commentary on previous selections: [#50-46] [#45-41] [#40-36] [#35-31] [#30-26]25. Kid A - Radiohead (2000)While I completely understand my own enthusiasm for this album, I can't say that I really get why everyone else loves it so much. I've noticed that it's already topped some other 'best of the decade' lists and it was also Ra...
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Bobby B's Top 50 Albums Of The Decade (#25-21)
Bobby B's Top 50 Albums Of The Decade (#30-26)
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For ramblings on how I came to compile this list go here. And for commentary on previous selections: [#50-46] [#45-41] [#40-36] [#35-31]30. Heartbreaker - Ryan Adams (2000)The argument that most of the world's greatest art is derived from sadness is one that I've always worked hard to refute, but a guy like Ryan Adams doesn't make it easy for me to do so. It doesn't get much sadder than his sol...
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CONTEST: Win tix and CD's to the Hottest Indie Showcase in Toronto!!!!
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I hope that you're enjoying my deliberately dragged out and unabashedly self indulgent list of the top 50 albums of the decade, as selected by me; but I currently interrupt the countdown to bring to you this very special announcement and contest.There have been many exhilarating unions made in the past: Superman and Muhammad Ali; Run DMC and Aerosmith, and Vodka and Red Bull come to mind, but n...
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Bobby B's Top 50 Albums Of The Decade (#35-31)
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For ramblings on how I came to compile this list go here. And for commentary on previous selections: [#50-46] [#45-41] [#40-36]35. Ys - Joanna Newsom (2006)I get an amazing number of hits to my site from people googling the phrase "I Hate Joanna Newsom", simply because the word 'hate' is in the title of this here blog, and I've talked about Ms Newsom on a few occasions. Of course, they're usual...
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Bobby B's Top 50 Albums Of The Decade (#40-36)
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For ramblings on how I came to compile this list go here. And for commentary on previous selections: [#50-46] [#45-41]40. Goodbye Doris - Fox Jaws (2007)Barrie's Fox Jaws are easily one of my favorite live bands, and I make a point of trying to catch their show every time that I can. For whatever reason, their debut album has really struck a chord with me personally, and whenever I put it on, ...
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Bobby B's Top 50 Albums Of The Decade (#45-41)
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For ramblings on how I came to compile this list go here. And for commentary on previous selections: [#50-46]45. The Weekend - The Weekend (2000)Probably the most obscure selection on my personal list comes by way of London Ontario's now defunct The Weekend. At the turn of the century I was listening to a lot of embarrassing music and, as expected, when I took the time to revisit some of those ...
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Bobby B's 50 Albums Of The Decade (#50-46)
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After spending several hours and TTC rides with my iPod revisiting literally hundreds of albums spawned from the decade that began at the turn of the century, I managed to whittle down a pretty extensive list to a mere 50 choices. These are not the best albums of the decade, these are simply the ones that have spent the most time in my headphones. And I rambled enough about that here, so let's ...
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"Spiders are singing in the salty breeze ... spinning out webs of deductions and melodies"
Precursor Ramblings To Bobby B's 50 Albums of the Decade...It's hard to believe that we're already 10 years into this millennial decade. It seems like only yesterday we were all in fear of Y2K and all of the nonsense associated with that. I always assumed that by this time I'd be flying around in my fuel efficient time machine Delorean, paying $400 for a Coke and fighting intergalactic battles ...
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Easy Targets / Postcards / The Hoa Hoa's / Volcano @ Rancho Relaxo
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Under normal circumstances, the four band lineup has become something that I do not look forward to as much as I once did. My attention span and irritability level after 10pm is not what it used to be, and the thought of attending a late show with a bill of more than two bands just seems like too daunting a task sometimes. It also often results in me becoming a bit of a harsher critic by the ti...
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"She's coming after me, she's like a honeybee..."
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Artist:Friendly Rich & The Lollipop People
Quick Blurbs about Friendly Rich, The Hoa-Hoa's & KrupkeFriendly Rich & The Lollipop People - Pictures At An ExhibitionTo describe Friendly Rich Presents: Modest Mussgorsky's Pictures At An Exhibition as an eclectic piece of music is an incredible understatement. His personal reworking of the Russian composer's 1874 suite is as bizarre as it gets, sounding a little bit like the unique instrumen...
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Roky Erickson w/The Sadies @ Lee's Palace
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If you're at all familiar with the sordid past of psych-rock pioneer Roky Erickson, than you know that it was only a few years ago that the possibility of ever seeing him perform live seemed about as likely as a warm winter in Toronto. His heavily permissive lifestyle back in the 60's while he was the leader of seminal psychsters the 13th Floor Elevators led to his being diagnosed with paranoid...
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Shotgun Jimmie @ Soundscapes (In-Store Performance)
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Shotgun Jimmie's latest release Still Jimmie (which I reviewed here) is not an album that I would say I pull out on a regular basis, but whenever I do, it instantly brings a smile to my face. It really is a solid album through and through, and I really don't know why I never think about it other than the fact that I listen to a lot of music and it's hard to remember everything. When I heard tha...
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'Sup in November: Ten Picks
I went to a lot of shows in October (including a Shotgun Jimmie instore and an historical Roky Erickson show with The Sadies that I still have yet to tell you about) which means that I think I'm going to chill out a bit for the month of November. I'll still be catching a few, but I'll likely be limiting it to a few of the smaller ones. Still, there's a lot to do, and here are my picks.For more ...
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My Top 10 Hottest Canadian Bands 2009
Well, it's that time of the year that every Canadian music blogger loves the most: I (Heart) Music's carefully calculated compiling of The Hottest Bands in Canada. Matthew is the head maestro of that high quality music blog from Ottawa and what he does is he asks several of the country's finest music aficionados (and me) for their personal picks of the 10 hottest bands in Canada. He then takes...
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Elvyn @ Silver Dollar
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Brothers Joel and Ryan Beerman have been playing music together as Elvyn for just over 11 years now, and their professionalism and abilities have only increased during that time. Elvyn's mix of pure pop and alt-country is as catchy and accessible as it gets, filled with soaring harmonies and heartbreaking lyricism. If you've ever listened to either their 2002 release Ten Car Stereo or their 200...
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Wilco / Liam Finn @ Massey Hall
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Jeff Tweedy's recent attraction to the mellower side of making music in the vein of mid-70's AM pop made me a little bit unprepared for last Wednesday's Wilco show at Massey Hall. Of course I was still excited (this is Wilco after all) but one could understandably be forgiven for assuming that the show was going to be more of a "sit back and relax" type of affair. While it's true that the last ...
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Loney Dear / Asobi Seksu @ The Horseshoe
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When I went to see Loney Dear at Lee's Palace a couple of years ago, the experience was far and away a much more thrilling one than I ever could have anticipated. I walked away from that show converted from casual fan to rabid fan, and I couldn't wait to see singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Emil Svanängen again. Sadly, my wait had to be postponed a tad when his bus broke down back in..
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Yukon Blonde / The Prince Brothers @ The Horseshoe
I have become convinced that the staff of Nevado Records sneak into my apartment when I'm not home and peruse my personal CD collection for inspiration. For now I'm afraid that I don't have any physical evidence to support this theory, and they haven't stolen anything yet so I guess that it's no big deal. But I can't think of any other way to explain the way that they consistently sign acts tha...
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CONTEST: Win tix to The Schomberg Fair's CD Release Show and a copy of their latest CD 'Gospel'
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Artist:The Schomberg Fair
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Album:Gospel
CD Review: The Schomberg Fair - GospelFor many, the phrases "gospel" and "punk rock" should never be lumped together unless one is having a discussion about opposites. But one listen to the latest release by The Schomberg Fair, and you come to realize that there really isn't any other more fitting description than to classify these roots rockers as an unusual amalgam of dirty punk and speed gos...
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Nuit Blanche 2009
This is the 4th year in a row that I've roamed the streets of Toronto all night to ask myself over and over again that invaluable unanswerable question: "What Is Art?" Toronto's Nuit Blanche is an event that I've consistently looked forward to every year since its inauguration, although I have to admit that my enthusiasm is as much about the urban experience itself, the thrill of watching a cit...
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