The 11 Best Songs of The Year (so far):

I'm a sucker for a request.  Had no intention of doing this...but if the fans want it...then...

Here are the 11 Best Songs of the Year (so far):

1.  I Was A Teenage Anarchist - Against Me! (White Crosses)
2.  25 To Life - Eminem (Recovery)
3.  Odessa - Caribou (Swim)
4.  Soft In The Center - The Hold Steady (Heaven Is Whenever)
5.  You Wanted A Hit - LCD Soundsystem (This Is Happening)
6.  Giving Up The Gun - Vampire Weekend (Contra)
7.  Valleys of Neptune - Jimi Hendrix (Valleys of Neptune)
8.  End Love - OKGo (Of The Blue Colour of The Sky)

9.  Can't Hear My Eyes - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti (Before Today)
10.  Flash Delirium - MGMT (Congratulations)
11.  The Fourth Night of Drinking - The Drive-By Truckers (The Big To-Do)

Buy any of the great releases from 2010 and more!

The 11 Best Songs By The Hold Steady

Tonight I celebrate my 7th wedding anniversary...and to ensure I have an 8th one...I'm keeping this short.

Rock on.

Here are the 11 best Songs By The Hold Steady:

1.  Stay Positive (Stay Positive)

2.  Stuck Between Stations (Boys and Girls in America)

3.  Sequestered in Memphis (Stay Positive)

4.  Cattle and the Creeping Things (Seperations Sunday)

5.  Both Crosses (Stay Positive)

6.  Hot Soft Light (Boys and Girls in America)

7.  Constructive Summer (Stay Positive)

8.  You Can Make Hime Like You (Boys and Girls in America)

9.  Your Little Hoodrat Friend (Seperations Sunday) 

10.  Chips Ahoy! (Boys and Girls in America)

11.  Slapped Actress (Stay Positive)

Buy the Hold Steady's new album, Heaven is Whenever!

The 11 Best Albums of 2008 (Part 5)

At the end of the day, my decision on this top 11 came down to one thing...listenability. Which albums held up to repeat listens... Which albums didn't get dated by the 3rd spin... Which albums still sounded fresh a month after the novelty wore off... Which albums I felt confident recommending to friends...

Bon Iver's album became that one album that stood above the others. It's the one album I kept going back to...the one album I could listen to on repeat...the one album that reminded me why I love music so much...

The 11 Best Albums of 2008:

1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (Flume - Daytrotter)
2. Beck - Modern Guilt (only $5.00)
3. Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
4. She and Him - Volume One (Get Free)
5. Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line (Dying Is Fine - Daytrotter)
6. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals
7. TV on the Radio - Dear Science (only $5.00)
8. Coldplay - Viva La Vida (only $5.00)
9. Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy
10. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
11. Little Joy - Little Joy

The 11 Best Songs of 2008

I'm excited to try out this Amazon Widget a bit more...so I'm jumping the gun on the Best albums of the year and moving forward to the Best Songs of the year. I've installed all the songs on the widget...so take a listen. The widget is the app in the right side bar that says "Best Songs of 2008." Just click it to listen.

Here are the 11 Best Songs of 2008:

1. Kids - MGMT (Oracular Spectacular)
2. Dancing Choose - TV on The Radio (Dear Science)
3. Grapevine Fires - Death Cab For Cutie (Narrow Stairs)
4. I Stand Corrected - Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend)
5. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon (Only By The Night)
6. Ghosts Under Rocks - Ra Ra Riot (The Rhumb Line)
7. Sequestered in Memphis - The Hold Steady (Stay Positive)
8. Discipline - Nine Inch Nails (The Slip)
9. That Was Just Your Life - Metallica (Death Magnetic)
10. Everybody Here Is A Cloud - Cloud Cult (Feel Good Ghosts)
11. Viva La Vida - Coldplay (Viva La Vida)

I never do this but...Honorable Mentions:

Chemtrails - Beck (Modern Guilt)
Wreck My Flow - the dirtbombs (We Have Your Surrounded)
Hearts on Fire - Cut Copy (In Ghost Colours)
Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur - Sigur Ros (Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust)
Prostitute - Guns N Roses (Chinese Democracy)

I've also created my own MP3 store on Amazon...so check it out. I should have the widget up shortly. Many of the albums are only $5.00 right now (like Beck, Ra Ra Riot, Death Cab, Vampire Weekend, TV on the Radio, Metallica, Killers, Fleet Foxes, Coldplay)

The 11 Best Hold Steady Songs

Why do old people want to touch my baby? We have our 2-week -old baby in her car seat, sitting in the shopping cart with the seat hood pulled over her and covered by a blanket. One guess what she's doing: SHE'S SLEEPING. How come every person over the age of 90 has to walk by the cart and pull back the blanket and look at her? Seriously, what the hell is wrong with these people? Do you know what would happen if I walked into an elderly person's room at some unGodly hour like 9:00 Pm (get it? old people go to bed early)...and I pulled back their covers? They'd have a heart attack and die. Which is the reason why I don't do that to them. So...they should respect me for not coming into their room and waking them up by not scaring the crap out of my 2-week-old daughter. Think about it from her perspective. She's fast asleep in a nice quite environment...then suddenly an old woman's face pops up cackling. That's enough to scare me...imagine what mental trauma is being embedded in her psyche.

The 11 Best Hold Steady Songs:

1. Cattle and the Creeping Things (Seperation Sunday)

2. Chips Ahoy! (Boys and Girls in America)

3. Your Little Hoodrat Friend (Seperation Sunday)

4. Hot Soft Light (Boys and Girls in America)

5. Teenage Liberation (Boys and Girls in America B-Side)

6. Stuck Between Stations (Boys and Girls in America)

7. Stevie Nix (Seperation Sunday)

8. You Can Make Him Like You (Boys and Girls in America)

9. You Gotta Dance (Crisp Songs)

10. Hostile, Mass (Almost Killed Me)

11. Party Pit (Boys and Girls in America)

Buy the new Hold Steady...Stay Positive. Get 3 bonus tracks with the hard copy, too!