My Lists for 2005

I am going to do something a little different this year for my lists. Since my taste in music has dramatically changed over this past year and a half I have decided to make a few lists. None are definitive, all might change, excluding the first list and it was a lot of fun to make. I love making these lists, I love trying to explain how these following musicians make me feel. I seem to never really find the right words, but I hope these words will do for now. One list is just totally for fun, for my own enjoyment, my own lustful thoughts and something that if I was Ross Geller I would have laminated. Enjoy the following:

My 5 albums of the year:




5. Hard Fi - Stars of CCTV
This band is undeniably fun and the cockney accent that you can hear so clearly in each song makes them even more fun. There’s a hole in my pocket…




4. Coldplay – X & Y
I wasn’t going to originally have this on my list at all. I saw them this past summer in VA and thought they were amazing. I think sometimes all I need to get the full experience of a band is to be in the thick of it in the pit. But even after seeing them I wasn’t going to put it on my list, but then I saw Austin City Limits the other night and I have, thank goodness, changed my mind and it’s on here!!



3. Spoon – Gimme Fiction
They are incredible and Brit is just plain sexy. And they should be BRITISH!!



2. KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope
The moment I put this album in my computer to listen to it, I fell in love. She has such a good voice. It’s soulful, melodic and soft when she wants to be. She’s seductive in a shy way. It’s not like Joss Stone who after a while you start to realize she’s incredibly monotone. I think she’s a Villa, siren, a harpy and you get hypnotized by her beauty and hair and you don’t realize that she’s not that great. But KT is unbelievable and I look forward to seeing her when she comes to America. I don’t usually like chick singers; I like Kelly Clarkson and KT and sometimes Alanis. So for me to put a chick on this list is a huge deal for me.


1. Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have it so Much Better
They are just an amazing, amazing band. The energy they bring and the cheekiness that they have are just downright great! When Paul is bashing away on his drums during “the Outsiders” and “Villain” like Animal, from the Muppets, I have never felt the urge to jump out of my skin and dance my heart out. It also really makes me want to take up drumming, but then I get pulled back in by Nick’s guitar and think I should continue with my wretched guitar playing. This is just a great album.


Which brings me to my next list: I think it’s time for me to make my favorite bands list. I haven’t really done this in a while and maybe only mentally have done it, but I think I can say that it wasn’t that easy for me to come up with this list.

10. Radiohead
I know that I might not deserve them to be on my list and yet at #10 and not closer to the top, but I am new to the genius that is Radiohead. I do know that they should be on this list and in time I have a feeling they will be closer to #1.

9. Spoon
Because they are sexy and when I listen to their music I feel sexy!! And if that’s not a reason, I don’t know what is…

8. Foo Fighters
I have had a long love affair with this band, which might come to a shock for some. But that Dave Grohl is a crazy mastermind of the rock world. He’s like the Jay-Z of Rock. It’s just good old fashion American Rock and Roll. And they are so great live.

7. Coldplay
Watching that Austin City Limits with them, it just made me realize the true awesomeness that is them and I truly appreciate them. I love that Chris and Johny are gay together, it makes them so adorable. I am jealous of Will Champion and his talent, his drums, his guitar and his piano, I’m jealous of Chris Martin’s writing, but the jealously causes me to love them, not hate them… maybe one day they can share the genius?

6. Muse
Talk about fucking genius. I think the way most people feel about Radiohead is the way that I feel about Muse. They are explosive in concert. Each song is an epic battle of its own. Some times I can’t even believe that I was at that show with Honey where we were 3 feet from the left stack, probably receiving some sort of permanent hearing loss, which was totally worth it. It doesn’t even feel real. They are so incredibly talented.

5. Keane
These are my sweet boys, even the grumpes Richard and depressed Tim and Jolly Olly, better known as Tom Oliver Chaplin. His voice is angelic and Tim’s music and words are beautifully depressing, and Richard plays his drums with great precision it’s hard not to love them. Being in Tom Oliver Chaplin’s arms is a highlight for me in meeting bands.

4. Franz Ferdinand
I don’t know if I need to explain further than what is in my Fave Albums of the year list, but I will. Being in the GA for this concert was extraordinary. I have never felt that I was simply floating on air, bc with everyone jumping and dancing the whole room was shaking and the floor was lifting you up and it you felt weightless, like being in space. It was an incredible feeling. Refer back to what Paul and Nick make me feel like. Also, the fact that we were at their after party and met cute bob and paul has nothing to with them being so high on my list. And meeting Rebecca from Domino records and her sending me the magazine cover and all of them had signed it for me was just too cool.

3. Damien Rice and Band
I still think that the show that I went to with Honey at Beacon Theater was the best show I have ever been to!! Hands down!! I could listen to that show over and over and over again, in fact I have and I do, often. Meeting Damien twice in one night was also amazing. They are the sweetest people. Shane’s hugs are one of the best hugs I have gotten. Their music is like nothing I can really describe. Damien has quiet aggression when he plays and sings. Lisa’s voice compliments Damien like no other singer in a band. I think G-D what if they never met? That would be a true loss. The songs that totally rock my world are a bit odd; you would think that it would be “blower’s daughter,” “delicate,” “coldwater”. These songs are amazing and they do and did rock my world, but after seeing them live, “Me, my Yolk and I” and “I remember” are the most incredible pieces of music. I am desperate to see him live again.

2. U2
I know that Honey’s thinking it’s about fucking time. And I shall have to agree with her!! My love for U2 has nothing to do with my current obsession and love for the edge. I love all of them, and man alive that Larry Mullen, Jr. is one hot man!! I even love Adam with all his weirdness. I love when I am at their concerts and they just bring it to church, and this is coming from a Jewish girl. But they bring themselves to another level that really isn’t comparable to anyone else. When I hear the beginning cords of “where the streets have no name,” I have this feeling in my body that I can’t even explain. It’s a joy that is complete and hopeful, but sad. Songs like “in G-D’s country,” “with or without you,” and “Sunday bloody Sunday,” it’s no wonder that they are the biggest band in the world. The perfection in their song writing is beyond words. Seeing them live and then seeing them once we were in the ellipse was an experience that I will never, ever forget. I wish all my friends could experience that but I fear that it would be lost on most of them. To share the U2 experience with Honey, a super fan, had her body tattooed, and is crazy for Bono makes it all so much better. She understands what I am going through when I hear the music and see them live. She understands (somewhat) why I love The Edge so very much. Watching Bono running around the stage is so flippin cool. Who does that? Bono!!! And that is awesome!!! There music is just beyond anything I ever expected and I love that.

1. Dave Matthews Band
This is simple. This band will be a part of who I am forever. People to this day tell me, oh I heard a dmb song on the radio and thought, “how’s Yetta?” And that will always be, and I’m glad. The moments that I have had with this band are frankly not believable, if I wasn’t me, I would think I was a liar. Being picked up off the ground by Dave in a hug with his arms around my body still puts tears in my eyes. I CANNOT believe that was me. He said MY name on the radio!!! He came over to me after my persistent begging at Conan, bc he saw that it was me!!! That’s just crazy talk!! Having him listen to me, when I tell him that one of the reasons why I am still in this world is because his music helped me get better, and seeing him watch me cry and having him so touched at what I was saying he just put his arms around me and hugged me. Then only a few months later telling the same to Boyd and having him put his arm on my shoulder listening to me, then scooping me up in his arms and I felt like he was never going to let go. Thinking about all that, I am crying right now, at work. No other band has that affect on me. That simple moment I had with Boyd just the other week at their hotel, was just a deep understanding of my love for this band. And Boyd saw that and hugged me again like he was never going to stop. That’s just beyond anything I could ever dream. It’s more than just the music with them, it’s who they are. And I would think that after 32 concerts they should and always will be my #1.

Onward to a truly unnecessary, unavoidable and at times redundant list:

My Top 5 Hot Men
5. Bradley Cooper – the dimples and hair kill me, with those eyes and teeth - man alive!





















4. Tom Oliver Chaplin – I think we all know why!

3. Kiefer Sutherland – He’s just all hot man, and oh G-D that voice...











2. The Edge – Just look at him and watch him play – it’s that quiet thing too...










1. Dave Matthews - Just read what I wrote above, his nook is the best place to be!






My last list was very hard. It is All time Favorite Albums. It was so hard bc there are just soooo many!! I don’t think they need any explanation.
10. Led Zeppelin – BBC Sessions
9. Muse – Absolution
8. Damien Rice – O
7. Radiohead – The Bends
6. Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Volume 1 – 3
5. Jeff Buckley – Grace
4. Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape
3. Dave Matthews Band – Crash
2. The Joshua Tree – U2
1. Dave Matthews Band – Under the Table and Dreaming

And my last minute list: top 3 worst Albums for 2005:

3. Vertical Horizon – this is for making me think that I was buying a new album and then finding out when I get home that it’s the same G-D Damn album as their last one, minus a song, it’s just in different packaging.

2. Ricky Martin – It’s so bad they won’t even play it on the radio and for that I am grateful.

1. James Blunt – Quoting Honey “a special Yuck goes out to him” He sucks so bad, it makes me weep for the future of music that people actually think he is good. You are so NOT beautiful… especially when your eyes are opened wide looking through the tv, you are scary!!!