a week late
Here's the Endless Records Top 10 of 2010:

As I said elsewhere, I think the best gateway for getting into the Beach Boys when you come from a rock background is the Carl period, roughly from the album "Surf's Up" through "Holland." That was the only time they ever approached rocking in any serious way.

As a Jew I never thought I'd say this, but I agree with Hitler. If you think laptop recording added anything to the average sound quality of music you need your ears checked. Drums, in particular sound awful—the frequencies are basically decoupled and digital artifacts are a huge problem that most people just…

Nah man, you don't want to get into that early Beach Boys kindergarten shit… Actually there is a Beach Boys live record that should turn around your opinion on them—it's called "The Beach Boys In Concert" and is a double LP from 1973 when they had these two South African ringers in the band—Blondie Chaplin & Ricky…

Et tu Meatloaf?
Pretty good for recent Meatloaf, but I don't get why he sings in falsetto for the whole thing.

Hey, I actually liked Celebrity and (to a lesser extent) Small Time Crooks. Never got the big deal about Manhattan either. It's shot beautifully, but watching a Woody Allen movie for the cinematography is kinda like reading Playboy for the articles—kind of besides the point.
I almost think the critical community flips…

What are you talking about Modell? Star 80 is pretty great
C'mon, Star 80 is a pretty awesome Bob Fosse picture. Eric Roberts is insanely great in it, Mariel Hemingway is perfectly cast, and other than the ending—which while true, felt totally heavy-handed and unnecessary, it's an almost "Boogie Nights"-ish depiction…

You got me on the release date for Holland, but it's still after 1972. Hmm, it is much harder to make a credible argument for the Beach Boys existence after that record, though I'm sure someone out there could do it. "Love You" has a pretty rabid cult following, but that record hasn't done much for me—too much…

Come on you guys, you're totally wrong on both the Beach Boys and The Kinks. Stop at '72 and you miss my favorite BB album, 1974's Holland. Sure, the Mike Love song about the she-eagle mating with her son is creepy and sucks, but it contains my 2 favorite Beach Boys songs ever—Brian's "Sail On Sailor" and Carl's…

Nichols & May! Nichols & May!
Four pages of comments and nobody has mentioned the great Elaine May & Mike Nichols from the sixties? WTF?

This year's Christmas Mix
Here's my 2009 Xmas comp:

Shining the light in him? He's dead—it's kind of past the point a colonoscopy can help. Seriously though, Jim Dickinson is an amazing producer. The stones never sounded better than when they recorded with him, and his work with Royal Trux twenty odd years later was just as good. Most producers have a hot streak, five…

THIS ISN"T ABOUT YOU. IT'S ABOUT ME AND MY EVER IMPORTANT REACTIONS TO MUSIC I HEAR.
I know, I don't want to be that guy, but in this case I can't help it. Sure, what Modest Mouse did isn't a fan-betrayal on par with the career of bands like Weezer or the Psychedelic Furs, but I don't know how anyone can listen to the…

The Inevitable Decline
Who are half those people in that band photo? Once upon a time, Modest Mouse were a pretty great trio. The more people they add, the worse they get. Isaac Brock used to be a pretty great guitar player, now he just hires Johnny Marr. WTF? I officially got off this train like two albums ago.…

Joel R.L. Phelps
I wonder what your take on Joel Phelps is, Noel? It's a shame you didn't fit him in the article anyplace. With and without Silkworm, I think he's one of the best kept secrets out there for people into Neil Young & Crazy Horse style singer/songwriter rock.