TOP ALBUMS OF ’08!

Disclaimer: I didn’t listen to everything that came out this year (I know, it’s a shocker). There are albums that I know are good but that I didn’t listen to till way later than I should have (i.e. Fleet Foxes, She & Him), so I can’t really justify putting them on this list. Also, I can’t get the freakin’ apostrophe in the ’08 to go the other way and it’s really bothering me. Anyway:

15. Mates of State – Re-Arrange Us (Barsuk)
14. Okkervil River – The Stand Ins (Jagjaguwar)
13. Death Cab For Cutie – Narrow Stairs (Atlantic)
12. Adele – 19 (Sony)
11. Hercules and Love Affair – s/t (Mute)
10. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular (Sony)
9. Kaki King – Dreaming of Revenge (Velour)
8. Santogold – s/t (Downtown)
7. Amanda Palmer – Who Killed Amanda Palmer (Roadrunner)
6. Noah and The Whale – Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down (Cherry Tree)

Top 5 after the jump!

Live photos: Amanda Palmer @ the Magic Bag

Yes, anyone reading this knows I love Amanda Palmer. I went to see her on Tuesday (Dec. 2), expecting it to be almost the same as when I saw her in August, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t! Obviously, I liked the first show enough to see it again, but this time she had four members of Australian theater group the Danger Ensemble, and also a violinist and cellist to play with her on many of the songs that were much more stripped-down at the NYC show, where it was just her and her piano.

I unfortunately couldn’t see a lot of what was going on (thanks a bunch, guy with the freaking TOP HAT and tall dude in front of me), but she came on stage after a recorded track of Neil Gaiman talking about her being dead (my Gaiman-loving best friend was flipping out), wearing a veil, and I think the Danger Ensemble carried her but I couldn’t really tell …

Amanda and the Danger Ensemble lip-synced to her song “Guitar Hero,” which isn’t one of my favorite on her album, so the lip-syncing with cheesy dancing was pretty awesome. They did the same with Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” which was hysterical. Then during the encore they did “Livin’ On A Prayer” with openers the Builders and the Butchers (who we didn’t get there in time to catch), in honor of the economic crisis — while the (unpaid) Danger Ensemble went around to collect money in their shoes. Also amazing.

Amanda Palmer’s setlist:

“Astronaut”
“Ampersand”
“Blake Says”
“Bad Habit” (Dresden Dolls)
“Yes, Virginia” (Dresden Dolls)
“Strength Through Music”
“Guitar Hero” – lip-synced with the Danger Ensemble
“Look Mummy, No Hands”
“Coin Operated Boy” (Dresden Dolls)
Ask Amanda!
“Oasis”
“Have To Drive”
“Half Jack” (Dresden Dolls)
“Umbrella” (Rihanna) – lip-synced with the Danger Ensemble

Encore:
“I Will Follow You Into The Dark” (Death Cab For Cutie)
“Livin’ On A Prayer” (Bon Jovi) – with the Builders and the Butchers
“Leeds United”

TONS of photos after the jump!

Not-so-new music feature: Jena Malone’s The Shoe


(photo by Andrew Craig)

This story is in the fall 2008 issue of Venus Zine but just got published online today because the winter issue is now out (although I haven’t seen that yet, eek! Hopefully I’ll get it in the mail today).

I couldn’t get an interview with Jena Malone because her publicist said she “wasn’t doing interviews” at the time, but she had three shows in NYC/Brooklyn while I was there this summer, so I was hoping to just walk up to her and ask a few questions. This is the story of how that didn’t happen.

The Shoe’s MySpace
There Was An Old Woman Records

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