This is it, ladies and gentlemen! The TOP TEN! I know you're all as excited as I am and I'll have more than enough to say about these last ten songs--all of which I would undoubtedly put on a list of top 50 songs of all time--so let's get the ball rolling right away... 10. Funeral Diner - This Truly Is God's Country Yeah, yeah, more screamo. Hear me out. There was a period a few years ago for a couple of months where I just didn't see any point in listening to any band but Funeral Diner because nothing else measured up. Funeral Diner is one of those bands where no one instrument is the real star of the show because they all mesh together as one so perfectly. However, I will say that Matthew Bajda is one of my top 5 drummers of all time...even now that I don't listen to much Funeral Diner--or screamo in general--anymore. This song, like a lot of the screamo songs on the list, was picked because of the truly special "moments" in the song moreso th...

I know, I know, I've been slacking on this...but look on the bright side, we're now into the top 20. I personally am pretty excited because we're starting to get into some songs that I'm really gonna have a hard time not gushing like a fanboy about. Just looking over the top 10 right now, I can't wait to blather on and on and bore everyone to death about these 10 songs...they really are some of my favorite songs of all time...anyway, on with the show... 20. Mono - Halcyon (Beautiful Days) I'm convinced that this song is the audio incarnation of falling in love. It really does sound like a song from a movie soundtrack that would be played over a romantic, exhilarating new year's eve scene where two anxious, smitten lovers play out an out-of-this-world first kiss as brilliant fireworks explode over their heads. The great thing is that you can pinpoint exactly where the kiss happens and the fireworks explode at the overwhelming climax of the song. Li...

Captain America is Reborn or something little late to the party myself but I've been thinking bout the two caps and I remembered the old cap had a vice. Nothing quite says all American hero than a nice corn cob pipe. It's interesting how jovially it makes the captain seem. Not what I'd expect from him. I'd expect the All American New York city boy who served in the second world war to smoke either a cigarette or nothing at all. The corn cob pipe would fit a little better if Steve Rodgers was from Oklahoma or Kentucky. I could never imagine cap puffing this after a skirmish with Baltroc the Leaper. His arch nemesis the Red Skull however is pitch perfect with a long Cruela DeVille ciggarette. It highlights his European-ness, his villiany, and it looks odd perched on his deformed person. Strangley elegant, yet grotesque its the perfect design compliment for Cap's most well known foe. Been going through my old posts and found an old gem I'd like to expound upon. ...

6 reasons to enjoy Night at The Museum Battle of the Smithsonian 6. The production design on this film is superb. Everything looks crisp and old and glorious. I wasn't a fan of the first film and was hesitant to see this film but I'm glad I did because it was just good family fun. The films never really deliver on their full potential. You have the possibility to do some really suspenseful, dramatic, and cinematic things with the magical concept. instead we're played for light hearted simple laughs. 5. Hank Azaria was magnificent. His biceps were glorious and his voice really shines. He is such a tremendous actor who I wished had a bigger resume. Love him on the Simpsons, and in films like the Birdcage, and Run Fatboy Run. 4. His evil cronies were fun. I liked the Vader and Grouch cameos and I'll admit it's one of the reasons I actually went to see this film in theatres. Wish Napolean would've had more screen time. 3. Bill Hader is one of my favorite comedy acto...

I thought it only fair to do a little side feature about the songs that would have been on the list if I only had the energy to do a top 100 instead of a top 50...but uh...fuck that...so here's a look at the tracks that just missed the cut: Sigur Ros – Untitled Track 1 Converge – You Fail Me Converge - Plagues Queens of the Stone Age – First It Giveth Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows Queens of the Stone Age – Feel Good Hit of the Summer The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Pt. 1) dredg – Of the Room Mastodon – Sleeping Giant Mastodon – March of the Fire Ants Streetlight Manifesto – A Better Place, A Better Time Deftones – Passenger Deftones – Change (In the House of Flies) The Mountain Goats – No Children System of a Down – Toxicity System of a Down – Lost In Hollywood System of a Down – Soldierside The Weakerthans – Reconstruction Site The Weakerthans – Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call The Weakerthans – Presience of Dawn Ben Folds – Still Fighting It Propaga...

Sorry for missing a day or two but now is the time to start getting excited cuz we're starting to get into some songs I really, REALLY like a lot. Once we start getting into the top 20 I'm gonna start really gushing uncontrollably about some of these songs. Well let's get started already... 30. Mono - 16.12 A few years ago a friend of mine told me there was this band from Japan who were kind of in the same style as Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai and that I should check out their (at the time) newest album entitled--brace yourself--"Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined." I'm always up for some good epic ambient post-rock type stuff so I checked out the album. This is the first song on that album. It's a long journey, clocking in at over 10 minutes, but when the 10 minutes are over it will seem all too soon and you'll be anxiously awaiting the rest of the album. It starts with the soothing sound of waves crashing...

Welcome to the TRIUMPHANT REBIRTH of Hobbitcore's College Football Corner. Those of you familiar with "the corner" (VLV) know how this works but for those who don't, I will be picking 10 of what I deem to be the most relevant games played each week and providing a little insight and a prediction for each game. "Game of the Week" is pretty self-explanatory: the biggest game of the week...this section will also include a "Keys to the Game" feature (presented by GM--making cars you want to buy since 20??) and will carry the distinction of being the only game I pick the score for. There will also be "Upset of the Week"...also fairly self explanatory. I'll also be including a collection of teams that should be on "Upset Alert" for a given week and possibly an "Out of Whack Spreads" or a "Betters' Corner" at some point (it's week one so there aren't many spreads that are too out of whack). Also...

I thought it would be fun if I made a list here of all the albums I'm currently considering for my customary list of the top 10 records of the year...here are (some of) the nominees for 2009 (there could certainly be new contenders arising between now and December 31st): Thrice - Beggars (likely will be #1 barring some sort of miracle) Converge - Axe to Fall Baroness - Blue Album Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion Mastodon - Crack the Skye Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest Amorphis - Skyforger Kylesa - Static Tensions Isis - Wavering Radiant Dredg - The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind Buried Inside - Spoils of Failure Propagandhi - Supporting Caste Wilco - Wilco (The Album) Coalesce - OX Thursday - Common Existence The Mars Volta - Octahedron Minsk - With Echoes in the Movement of Stone ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead - The Century of Self Poison the Well - The Tropic Rot Wu Tang Clan - Chamber Music Lucero - 1372 Overton Par...

40. Deftones - Knife Prty I have to admit that I have a pretty heavy bias when it comes to this album--as the old cliche goes, "this album got me through some tough times." I have a lot of very emotional memories attached to this disc but I promise that didn't influence me in picking this song (too much). This song is just such an emotional ride and features some impressive drum work by Abe Cunningham. The epic, swirling ending featuring the chilling vocal performance of Rodleen Getsick gives me goosebumps every time. Just such a powerful, epic, haunting, borderline disturbing song by one of my favorite bands since high school, I had to give it a spot on the countdown. 39. Dredg – The Canyon Behind Her To say this is the most epic song in the diverse Dredg catalog is a far bigger compliment than you might even realize. I've always thought Dredg was one of the most underrated bands I had ever heard. Every time I show this band to someone they're always blown ...

The other day I saw that Pitchfork Media did a staff list of their top 500 songs of the last decade so I decided it would be fun to make my own (much more esoteric) list. As with most lists like this I make, while it is not merely a list of my favorite songs and I do make these lists with a degree of objectivity, it is also very much a biased list. I also put far more emphasis on sheer musicality and songwriting than I do on popularity or "social significance" and therefore don't expect many people to agree with my choices...but that's why it's fun, right? Anyway I'll be posting a series of five entries in the next five days counting down my own person top 50 songs of the last decade in increments of 10...starting with 50-41: 50. System of a Down - Tentative When I started getting into more underground/DIY (and, thus, better) music, I sort of wrote this band off. Even though they were still one of the few "nu metal" bands I thought had some merit...

X-Men Origins: Wolverine = waste of time You'd think a Wolverine movie would be easy. Set up a bunch of cool action sequences put Weapon-x in them and watch bad guys get sliced and diced. Instead they adapted the weaker part of Wolverine's origin. I didn't like the focus on Victor and James/Logan as brothers the dynamic doesn't work for me. It doesn't feel natural and the movie never really sells it. We never get to see brothers being brothers, instead we get guys fighting and killing stuff in lame pg-13 fashion. The new Sabretooth Liev Schrieber is pure genius. I wish we could go back and put him in over tyler mane's lumbering grunting Sabretooth from the original fox x-men film. Ryan Reynolds is used far to little. Blob was better than I thought he would be but he didn't fit in the film and should've been in Last Stand instead. WillIam was atrocious and should please stick to singing. Stryker was fantastic and he was a great heavy which is difficult to...

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Ugggh! What wasted opportunity. The Harry Potter series in my opinion has been grossly mishandled. The books should have been adapted as hour long tv shows or mini-series. maybe turning every chapter into an episode or or every half book into a movie or something to that effect. I think that the film series started off well enough Sorcerer's Stone was faithful enough as was Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban added more style to the series which the following films carried brilliantly. I as very upset with the massive changes in Goblet of Fire and the Order of the Phoenix run time. This film also similarly flabbergasting story choices that I felt unnecessarily deviated from the awesome things that actually happen in the book. The Half-Blood Prince is very much a companion piece for death;y Hallows and in that way it works well in book form i fail to see how the films will blend and tell the upcoming story. I was disappoin...