“CAN’T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD,” by Kylie Minogue

You’re right, Kylie, I can’t get that horrific song of yours out of my head. “Won’t you stay/Won’t you lay/Stay forever and ever and ever/La la la/La la la la la.” The song is atrocious and I’m at wit’s end. I write this in my car, in the garage, engine running, garage door closed. Farewell, cruel world.

CONCH SHELLS

They sound terrible when played but who cares, you’re playing a conch shell! How often can you play a sea-dwelling mollusk anyway? It’s a crude bugle – it’s a marine gastropod! It’s in the 1939 symphony “La Noche de Los Mayas” – it’s in the sea grass in warm tropical waters!

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William Cremin really loves Raisinets. Maybe he’ll marry them in 2007.

1. Midlake – The Trials of Van Occupanther
My year-end top ten is not based on what I think is the best as much
as it is a list of my personal favorite records. This one was the most
important to me by far. I really love the quaintness of the lyrics,
and the songwriting blows me away on every listen.

2. The Pipettes – We Are The Pipettes
This is one of those albums where it’s physically impossible to be
surly while in its presence. I found myself reaching for it in a
similar way that I go after Raisinets: frequently and with reckless
abandon.

3. My Brightest Diamond – Bring Me The Workhorse
I saw her play with Sufjan Stevens, and I was instantly smitten. Her
moodiness and staggering proficiency sort of remind me of Jeff
Buckley.

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Ray LaMontagne – Till the Sun Turns Black
Album Leaf – Into the Blue Again
Regina Spektor – Begin to Hope
Hem – Funnel Cloud
Decemberists – Crane Wife
Angels & Airwaves – We Don’t Need to Whisper
Kaki King – Until We Felt Red
KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope
Eels – With Strings: Live at Town Hall
Beck – The Information