The club was packed last night.  There were times when you could not move for about 20 minutes.  We decided to leave around 2 am, and checked out some other places in Roppongi. At the time of writing this we have overstayed our check out time by 35 minutes.  We are hoping that they will understand when they see what condition we are and that it is a national holiday.

We are heading to Nikko shortly to do some sightseeing.  We met a couple of really cool locals last night that I wish we would have run into sooner, it would have made the last few days a lot easier.

I am recovering from an exaughsting day of walking and sightseeing. As Jake has mentioned on his blog, it is really hard to find people who understand English here. It’s impossible to find a menu in English anywhere, every meal includes the interesting and sometimes frightening combintaion of guessing and pointing. You choose an item, based on a picture, and if you’re lucky you get chicken instead of liver, which I ordered the first day.

I vistited a couple temples yesterday, one of them Asakusa. On your way up the the temple you have to wash your hands and mouth to clean yourself before you enter.

Many people choose to shake a box filled with wooden sticks that contain a Japanese word that you match up with a certain drawer that contains your fortune. If you receive a fortune that you don’t want to come true, you tie it on one of the many lines that are nearby. I decided to tie mine, it was pretty brutal.

We went searching for a place to ring in the New Year tonight and settled on the area of Roppongi. We spent a significant time in this area last night which can best be described as the Las Vegas of Tokyo. We went to a place called GasPanic, which was filled with hip-hop loving individuals that new every word to every 50 Cent song played, but couldn’t speak or understand much English when you talked with them.

Just before heading to GasPanic, as the day was beginning to wear on all of us, we walked down a small little hill into the city. I noticed neon on a bar from a distance, that appeared to say Milwaukee. Sure enough we walked the spiral staircase down to a basement bar called Bar Milwaukee. It was a pretty nice place and passed our time playing foosball.

Roppongi got the best of us, and we soon realized that we had forgotten that the last subway train left at 1am. We raced through the subway system to arrive just in time to catch the last train back home, or so we thought. It dropped us off about halfway, and completely out of walking distance. We had to take a surprisingly inexpensive cab ride the remaining couple of miles. I swear at times that cab driver was pushing 120 miles per hour.

Tonight we are going to be ringing in the New Year at a place called Velfarre. The place features Trance/Hard House/Techno, which isn’t really indie rock, but I think it will be a blast judging from the sneak peak we got at the place last night.

This morning I realized how much I really enjoy Modest Mouse’s latest album, “Good News For People Who Like Bad News.” It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to it, but it sounded almost perfect today.

I’m sorry these pictures are so small, I got a new version of WordPress, and don’t know how to resize the images.

I just got to my hotel, it’s 9pm here. We are staying at a pretty sweet place, although it was very hard to find. Thankfully, we’ve all gotten the chance to take showers and are now prepared to check out the night life.
The flight was nice, I was able to sleep for probably 75% of it. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it is to find places in this city. Addresses are divided into 3 numbers; ward, block, and buliding. That’s helpful, but they aren’t arranged in any particular order. We are staying in the 6th ward (village), on the first block, in the second building. If it was only that easy to find, we’d probably have about 3 beers in us by now.

　Ｃｌｉｃｋ　ｏｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｉｃｔｕｒｅ　ｆｏｒ　ｏｕｒ　ｔｅｌｅｐｈｏｎｅ　ｎｕｍｂｅｒ．

If you post comments make sure they are PG-13, as some of my younger family and friends will be checking in here.

RSM

My bags are packed and tomorrow I board a plane to Japan for a much anticipated vacation. I will be ringing in the New Year in Tokyo, and plan to tour the rest of the country with two of my best friends. In the next few days, this blog may remain unchanged, or it may change into a journal of my jaunt through Japan. Either way, it’s been an amazing year for music and this blog. Thank you to all my readers, lurkers, and fellow music bloggers. I wish all of you the best in the New Year.

Here are my favorite albums of 2005, you can click on each one for more detailed information.

#1 - The National - Alligator
#2 - Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
#3 - Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
#4 - Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
#5 - Lucero - Nobody’s Darlings
#6 - Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
#7 - My Morning Jacket - Z
#8 - Sleater Kinney - The Woods
#9 - M Ward - Transistor Radio
#10 - Magnolia Electric Co - Trials & Errors
#11 - Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures
#12 - Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
#13 - Lewis & Clarke - Bare Bones & Branches
#14 - The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
#15 - Jens Lekman - Oh, You’re So Silent Jens
#16 - The Light Footwork - One State Two State
#17 - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
#18 - Elbow - Leaders Of The Free World
#19 - Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm
#20 - Troubled Hubble - Making Beds In A Burning House
#21 - Iron & Wine - Woman King EP
#22 - Ryan Adams - Cold Roses
#23 - Superwolf - Superwolf
#24 - Spoon - Gimmie Fiction
#25 - The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
#26 - The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
#27 - Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
#28 - Atmosphere - You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having
#29 - Crooked Fingers - Dignity & Shame
#30 - Archer Prewitt - Wilderness
#31 - Smog - A River Ain’t Too Hard To Love

The National - Alligator

I listened to this album more than any other album in my collection this year. For awhile, I played it when I was getting ready to go to work, but now it’s the album I listen to right when I get home. I never get tired of hearing this album.

There are so many reasons that this is my favorite release of the year. The lyrics are serious one moment, and a few seconds later have me grinning because who wouldn’t grin at a line like, “I’m a birthday candle in a circle of black girls, God is on my side.”

I might be in the minority of people who love this album. It seems to get a fair amount of warm applause from blogs, but not many had it listed very high. I think this band was really overshadowed by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! and all the hype surrounding them, that the National got pushed aside and went somewhat unnoticed when the two bands toured together.

For me a great album has always been defined as one that I can listen to all the way through, and then be ready to play it again. I’ve done that with this albums many times. It’s been a soundtrack to parties, it’s been the first music I’ve heard in the morning, and the last album I listen to at night. It’s been the album that encapsulates so many memories that when I look back on the year 2005, it would be nearly impossible to not remember how much I enjoyed listening to this album.

If you didn’t get a chance to download the Mp3’s I posted from the National’s “Black Sessions” performance, or are not familiar with the band, please go here and check out the tracks.

What the critics say:

Pitchfork - [7.9]
Coke Machine Glow - 86%
Stylus Magazine - A-

Enter coupon code: muzzle05 for a 10% discount!!!

Madison readers, buy it locally from B-Side Records. If you’re a Milwaukee reader, may I suggest Atomic Records. Please support either store if you live in Madison or Milwaukee.

You can see the rest of my 2005 favorites (so far) by clicking here.

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

I owe an apology to Sufjan Stevens. I was one of the few, that didn’t fall instantly in love with this record, which you can see from this post I made in June of this year. I think Pandas That Won’t Screw To Save Their Species, was very correct in the comment they left on that post regarding the ‘Illinois’ album as a whole.

After the first couple of listens I couldn’t get over that a lot of tracks had a very similar musical sound to those that appeared on Sufjan’s ‘Michigan’ album. Then after a long courtship, about a million Sufjan posts on Gorilla vs. Bear, the album hit me like a magic kiss. I just couldn’t stop listening to it, and I still listen to it quite a bit. This is the album that should make Sufjan Stevens a household name, but won’t. This album has been selected as the album of the year by numerous publications and blogs alike and deservingly so.

Sufjan is a great musician and songwriter. Some of the songs on this record I find myself listening to over and over, which is something I’ve never really done before. The songs “Jacksonville,” “Chicago,” and “Casmir Pulaski Day,” all are in my “Top 25 Most Played” according to my iTunes. There isn’t much that can be said that hasn’t already been said about this album, so I won’t bother trying to echo anything.

I’m glad I didn’t give up on this album in June.

What the critics say:

Pitchfork - [9.2]
Tiny Mix Tapes - 4.5/5
Coke Machine Glow - 94%
Stylus Magazine - B+

Enter coupon code: muzzle05 for a 10% discount!!!

Madison readers, buy it locally from B-Side Records. If you’re a Milwaukee reader, may I suggest Atomic Records. Please support either store if you live in Madison or Milwaukee.

You can see the rest of my 2005 favorites (so far) by clicking here.

Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs

The first third of this year I played this album non-stop. I don’t listen to it that much anymore, but when I do, it’s always as refreshing and comforting as the first time I found it in my mailbox. I really can’t say for sure that I wouldn’t rank this number one on this list. In fact, this album and the two above it on my best of 2005 list could all be considered my favorite album of the year.

Andrew Bird is an amazing musician, who’s present masterpiece is sometimes overshadowed by his involvement with the Squirrel Nut Zippers. If you’ve been holding out on this album for that reason, stop being a fool and pick it up. One of the biggest disappointments I found with Pitchfork’s year end list of best albums for the year is that they left Andrew Bird off of the list.

Not only does Bird transform what he does on his albums, but he goes above and beyond that if you get the chance to see him in a live setting. I was lucky enough to see him twice this year, and each time was simply amazing and awe-inspiring.

Where some albums that I’ve enjoyed this year have had certain songs or things about them that I couldn’t get passed, there isn’t much on this record that I don’t love. Bird’s voice and instrumentation is better than ever, and he’s got some other pretty nice releases that a lot of people haven’t given the time of day either. If you’re looking for a new artist to monopolize your ears for a few months, check out Andrew Bird.
What the critics say:

Stylus Magazine - B+
Coke Machine Glow - 83%
Tiny Mix Tapes - 4/5
Pitchfork - [8.3]

Enter coupon code: muzzle05 for a 10% discount!!!

Madison readers, buy it locally from B-Side Records. If you’re a Milwaukee reader, may I suggest Atomic Records. Please support either store if you live in Madison or Milwaukee.

You can see the rest of my 2005 favorites (so far) by clicking here.

Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene

I have no doubt that if I was writing a mid-year best of list, and had the opportunity to spend another 6 months with this album that it would be at the very top of my list. Without a doubt this is one of the albums that I listen to on an almost daily basis. It’s really hard for a band to follow up an album like “You Forgot It In People,” but Broken Social Scene was able to do so with great success in my opinion.

Initially, I had some strong reservations about the production of the album, as there was so much going on and it made it tough to listen to at times, and I will still maintain that there are definitely areas that are a bit much. However, the more I listen to this, the more that it becomes a big time favorite.

What the critics say:

Stylus Magazine - B+
Coke Machine Glow - 74%
Tiny Mix Tapes - 4/5
Pitchfork - [8.4]

Enter coupon code: muzzle05 for a 10% discount!!!

Madison readers, buy it locally from B-Side Records. If you’re a Milwaukee reader, may I suggest Atomic Records. Please support either store if you live in Madison or Milwaukee.

You can see the rest of my 2005 favorites (so far) by clicking here.

Lucero - Nobody’s Darlings

Lucero is one of the more underrated bands on the internet in my opinion. Anyone who has witnessed one of their Whiskey soaked concerts can attest that these guys pour their heart and soul into every note in every song.

In addition to releasing “Nobody’s Darlings,” the band also put out a DVD of the recording process called, “Dreaming in America.” The DVD is a good look into a band that is on the brink of survival and just how important it is that we support the artists we like by going to their shows and buying their records.

According to iTunes, “Nobody’ Darlings” was one of three albums I played at home the most during the past year. I’ve given away my original copy of this album twice because friends have liked it so much. I believe it was on the “Dreaming in America” DVD, that lead singer Ben Nichols states that the bands catalogue includes “66 songs about woman and 2 about my grandpa.” This record features a lot of those songs about woman, with the same general theme scattered about, so why do I like it so much? A lot of people aren’t too big on Ben’s voice, but I really enjoy it, and I think he writes some great lyrics as well. Combine that with some great guitar hooks and the production done by none other than Jim Dickinson, this album is bound to be one that I listen to for years to come.

What the critics say:

Pitchfork - [7.5]

Enter coupon code: muzzle05 for a 10% discount!!!

Madison readers, buy it locally from B-Side Records. If you’re a Milwaukee reader, may I suggest Atomic Records. Please support either store if you live in Madison or Milwaukee.

You can see the rest of my 2005 favorites (so far) by clicking here.

Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary

Oh the hype surrounding this band. It was so much I put off listening to the album. “The next Arcade Fire” echoed from the indie Rolling Stone chambers and thousands clamored and embraced the words as gospel. The truth is that I see very little musical similarities between Wolf Parade and the Arcade Fire. I can hear the Modest Mouse touch that Issac Brock brings to the table, and I guess I can hear the Bowie similarities as well.
After I finally gave in to the pressure and listened to the album, I wasn’t immediately hooked. It took a bunch of listens, with a few favorite songs, and then a few favorite blocks of songs, and finally a liking for the album as a whole. This album has been in my car’s cd player for a couple of weeks now; I just like driving to it so damn much.

For the two or three of you that haven’t heard this Wolf Parade record, check it out. They aren’t the Arcade Fire, David Bowie, or Modest Mouse, and it may not grab you right away, but give it some time, and I promise you’ll warm up to it. It’s an acquired taste.

What the critics say:

Tiny Mix Tapes - 4/5
Coke Machine Glow - 92%
Stylus Magazine - A
Pitchfork - [9.2]

Enter coupon code: muzzle05 for a 10% discount!!!

Madison readers, buy it locally from B-Side Records. If you’re a Milwaukee reader, may I suggest Atomic Records. Please support either store if you live in Madison or Milwaukee.

You can see the rest of my 2005 favorites (so far) by clicking here.