:: Philadelphia Events, Arts, Restaurants, Music, Movies, Jobs, Classifieds, Blogs :: Philadelphia City Paper
Bookmark and Share
ARCHIVES . Articles

December 29, 2005-January 4, 2006

music

Critical thinking

Who Picked What

Mike Pelusi
  1. Art Brut Bang Bang Rock and Roll (Fierce Panda)
  2. Gorillaz Demon Days (Virgin)
  3. Sons and Daughters The Repulsion Box (Domino)
  4. DangerDoom The Mouse and the Mask (Epitaph)
  5. Kanye West Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella)
  6. The Spinto Band Nice and Nicely Done (Bar/None)
  7. Sleater-Kinney The Woods (Sub Pop)
  8. Supergrass Road to Rouen (Capitol)
  9. The Chris Stamey Experience A Question of Temperature (Yep Roc)
  10. Saint Joan One at Twilight (Dakota)
Casie Wexler
  1. Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine (Sony)
  2. Common Be (Geffen)
  3. Cosmic Game Thievery Corporation (Eighteenth Street)
  4. Decemberists Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
  5. M.I.A. Arular (Xl/Interscope)
  6. Death From Above 1979 You're A Woman I'm A Machine (Vice)
  7. Stars Set Yourself on Fire (Arts and Crafts)
  8. Annie Anniemal (Big Beat)
  9. New Order Waiting for the Siren's Call (Warner Bros.)
  10. Death Cab for Cutie Plans (Atlantic)
James Saul
  1. Deerhoof The Runners Four (Kill Rock Stars/5 Rue Christine)
  2. Of Montreal The Sunlandic Twins (Polyvinyl)
  3. The Spinto Band Nice and Nicely Done (Bar/None)
  4. M.I.A. Arular (XL/Interscope)
  5. Hella Church Gone Wild/Chirpin' Hard (5 Rue Christine)
  6. The Decemberists Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
  7. Out Hud Let Us Never Speak of it Again (Kranky)
  8. Dungen Ta Det Lugnt (Subliminal Sounds)
  9. Make Believe Shock of Being (Flameshovel)
  10. Sigur Ros Takk (Geffen)
Neal Ramirez
  1. Architecture In Helsinki In Case We Die (Bar/None)
  2. Belle and Sebastian Push Barman to Open Old Wounds (Matador)
  3. Bloc Party Silent Alarm (Vice)
  4. The Decemberists Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
  5. The Go! Team Thunder, Lightning, Strike (Sony)
  6. The Hold Steady Separation Sunday (French Kiss)
  7. Jens Lekman Oh You're So Silent Jens (Secretly Canadian)
  8. The Lucksmiths Warmer Corners (Matinee)
  9. Milky Wimpshake Popshaped (Bitter Like the Bean)
  10. The Mountain Goats The Sunset Tree (4AD)
Ashlea Halpern
  1. Antony and the Johnsons I Am A Bird Now (Secretly Canadian)
  2. Coco Rosie Noah's Ark (Touch and Go)
  3. Bloc Party Silent Alarm (Vice)
  4. Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better (Sony)
  5. Wolf Parade Apologies to the Queen Mary (Sub Pop)
  6. The Spinto Band Nice and Nicely Done (Bar/None)
  7. The Mars Volta Frances The Mute (Universal)
  8. Stars Set Yourself on Fire (Arts and Crafts)
  9. Sufjan Stevens Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
  10. Tullycraft Disenchanted Hearts Unite (Magic Marker)
Carolyn Chernoff
  1. Queen A Night at the Opera (Hollywood)
  2. Mad Professor Method to the Madness (Trojan)
  3. The 101'ers Elgin Avenue Breakdown (Astralweks)
  4. Ladybug Mecca Trip the Light Fantastic (Nu Paradigm)
  5. Missy Elliott The Cookbook (Atlantic)
  6. The Evens The Evens (Dischord)
  7. Sleater-Kinney The Woods (Sub Pop)
  8. Annie Anniemal (Big Beat)
  9. The Blow Everyday Examples of Humans Facing Straight Into The Blow (K)
  10. M.I.A. Arular (XL/Interscope)
Trey Popp
  1. The Mountain Goats The Sunset Tree (4AD)
  2. Spinto Band Nice and Nicely Done (Bar/None)
  3. Spoon Gimme Fiction (Merge)
  4. Son Volt Okemah and the Melody of Riot (Sony)
  5. Flotation Toy Warning Bluffer's Guide to the Flight Deck (Misra)
  6. Bruce Springsteen Devils & Dust (Sony)
  7. Bob Dylan No Direction Home: Soundtrack (Columbia)
  8. Iron & Wine Woman King EP (Sub Pop)
  9. Amadou & Mariam Dimanche a Bamako (Nonesuch)
  10. King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan (Ropeadope)
Pat Hogan
  1. Nickel Creek Why Should the Fire Die (Sugar Hill)
  2. John Hiatt Master of Disaster (New West)
  3. Chris Thile Deceiver (Sugar Hill)
  4. Brendan Small Home Movies Concept Album (brendonsmall.com)
  5. Bain Mattox Prizefighter (The Orchard)
  6. Fiona Apple O Sailor (Epic)
  7. Gorillaz Demon Days (EMI)
  8. Ra Duality (Republic)
  9. Glen Phillips Winter Pays for Summer (Lost Highway)
  10. Dolly Parton Those Were the Days (Sugar Hill)
Shaun Brady
  1. Ulver Blood Inside (The End)
  2. Residents Animal Lover (Mute)
  3. James "Blood" Ulmer Birthright (Hyena)
  4. Friendly Bears On Oceans, Light and Sleep (Pralaya)
  5. Andrew Bird Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs (Righteous Babe)
  6. Fantomas Suspended Animation (Ipecac)
  7. Chris Whitley Soft Dangerous Shores (Messenger)
  8. Dalek Absence (Ipecac)
  9. Sleater-Kinney The Woods (Sub Pop)
  10. Big Business Head for the Shallow (Hydra Head)
David Faris
  1. My Morning Jacket Z (Ato)
  2. Son Volt Okemah and the Melody of Riot (Sony)
  3. Kathleen Edwards Back To Me (Zoe)
  4. Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better (Sony)
  5. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Cold Roses (UMG)
  6. Erin McKeown We Will Become Like Birds (Nettwerk)
  7. Coldplay X & Y (Capitol)
  8. Death Cab For Cutie Plans (Atlantic)
  9. Sufjan Stevens Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
  10. Laura Veirs Year of Meteors (Nonesuch)
Drew Lazor
  1. Why? Elephant Eyelash (Anticon)
  2. The Decemberists Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
  3. My Morning Jacket Z (Ato)
  4. Kanye West Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella)
  5. Sufjan Stevens Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
  6. Aesop Rock Fast Cars, Danger, Fire & Knives (Definitive Jux)
  7. Gorillaz Demon Days (Virgin)
  8. Beck Guero (Interscope)
  9. White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
  10. V/A This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute To The Beatles' Rubber Soul (Razor and Tie)
Jesse Delaney
  1. Spoon Gimme Fiction (Merge)
  2. Sufjan Stevens Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
  3. Sleater-Kinney The Woods (Sub Pop)
  4. New Pornographers Twin Cinema (Matador)
  5. Wolf Parade Apologies to the Queen Mary (Sub Pop)
  6. Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better (Sony)
  7. Decemberists Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
  8. The Hold Steady Separation Sunday (French Kiss)
  9. Beck Guero (Interscope)
  10. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah! (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah)
Deesha Dyer
  1. Jamiroquai Dynamite (Epic)
  2. Common BE (Geffen)
  3. Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine (Epic)
  4. Gilles Peterson The BBC Live Sessions (Roots "N' Fruits)
  5. Leela James A Change Is Gonna Come (Warner)
  6. Jamie Lidell Multiply (Warp)
  7. Jamie Cullum Catching Tales (Verve Forecast)
  8. Stevie Wonder A Time To Love (Motown)
  9. Jneiro Jarel Three Piece Puzzle (Ropeadope)
  10. Reef the Lost Cauze Feast or Famine (Eastern Conference)
John Vettese
  1. The Books Lost and Safe (Tomlab)
  2. Architecture in Helsinki In Case We Die (Bar/None)
  3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Howl (Red Ink / R.C.A.)
  4. Mike Doughty Haughty Melodic (Ato)
  5. The Decemberists Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
  6. My Morning Jacket Z (Ato)
  7. The Go! Team Thunder, Lightning, Strike (Memphis Industries)
  8. Sinead O'Connor Throw Down Your Arms (That's Why There's Chocolate And Vanilla)
  9. The Cat Empire Two Shoes (Virgin)
  10. The Mountain Goats The Sunset Tree (4AD)
Kevin Almasy
  1. Kanye West Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella)
  2. Sufjan Stevens Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
  3. My Morning Jacket Z (Ato)
  4. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Cold Roses (UMG)
  5. M.I.A. Arular (XL/Interscope)
  6. Sigur Ros Takk (Geffen)
  7. Wolf Parade Apologies to the Queen Mary (Sub Pop)
  8. Wilco Kicking Television (Live in Chicago) (Nonesuch)
  9. Damien Marley Welcome to Jamrock (Universal)
  10. Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine (Sony)
Daniel Muessig
  1. Icon the Mic King Intricate Spectrum (Beyond Space)
  2. Awar Glory Days (Pitch Control Music)
  3. Jehst Falling Down (Low Life)
  4. Sean Price Monkey Barz (Duckdown)
  5. Silent Knight Fall of Ignorance (Nugit Productions)
  6. Grafh The Grafh Classic Mixtape (Black Hand)
  7. Kill the Vultures Kill the Vultures (Jibdoor)
  8. Power Strugglers Arson at the Petting Factory (New Disorder)
  9. Beanie Siegel The B Coming (Def Jam)
  10. Blockhead Downtown Science (Ninja Tune)
D.J. Short
  1. Sufjan Stevens Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
  2. Stars Set Yourself On Fire (Arts and Crafts)
  3. Iron & Wine Woman King EP (Sub Pop)
  4. Bloc Party Silent Alarm (Vice)
  5. Chad VanGaalen Infiniheart (Sub Pop)
  6. Broken Social Scene S/T (Arts and Crafts)
  7. Cage Hell's Winter (Definitive Jux)
  8. Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (Saddle Creek)
  9. The Decemberists Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
  10. Micah P. Hinson Micah P. Hinson & The Gospel of Progress (Sketchbook)
Justin Bauer
  1. The Hold Steady Separation Sunday (French Kiss)
  2. DangerDoom The Mouse and the Mask (Epitaph)
  3. Art Brut Bang Bang Rock and Roll (Fierce Panda)
  4. Spoon Gimme Fiction (Merge)
  5. The Spinto Band Nice and Nicely Done (Bar/None)
  6. The Detroit Cobras Baby (Bloodshot)
  7. Gogol Bordello Gypsy Punk (Side One Dummy)
  8. The Kills No Wow (Rough Trade)
  9. Little Brother Minstrel Show (ABB/Atlantic)
  10. Beck Guerolito (Interscope)
Danny Adler
  1. The Evens The Evens (Dischord)
  2. Bloc Party Silent Alarm (Vice)
  3. Bruce Springsteen Devils & Dust (Sony)
  4. Bob Dylan No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (Columbia)
  5. Sufjan Stevens Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
  6. Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane At Carnegie Hall (Blue Note)
  7. Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (Saddle Creek)
  8. John Frusciante Curtains (Record Collection)
  9. Propagandhi Potemkin City Limits (Fat)
  10. Spoon Gimme Fiction (Merge)
Maura Johnston
  1. Celebration Celebration (4AD)
  2. Wilderness Wilderness (Jagjaguwar)
  3. Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine (Epic/Clean Slate)
  4. Scritti Politti Early (Rough Trade)
  5. Mary Timony Ex Hex (Lookout!)
  6. The Mountain Goats The Sunset Tree (4AD)
  7. LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem (DFA/EMI)
  8. Sleater-Kinney The Woods (Sub Pop)
  9. Bettye LaVette I've Got My Own Hell to Raise (Anti)
  10. R. Kelly Trapped in the Closet (Chapters 1-12) (Jive)
Brian Howard
  1. The Hold Steady Separation Sunday (French Kiss)
  2. 13 & God 13 & God (Anticon)
  3. The Constantines Tournament of Hearts (Sub Pop)
  4. V/A The Believer Compilation (McSweeney's)
  5. The New Pornographers Twin Cinema (Matador)
  6. Odd Nosdam Burner (Anticon)
  7. Coco Rosie Noah's Ark (Touch and Go)
  8. Wolf Parade Apologies to the Queen Mary (Sub Pop)
  9. Times New Viking Dig Yourself (Siltbreeze)
  10. Ellen Allien Thrills (Bpitch Control)
Eric Fiedler
  1. Eels Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (Vagrant)
  2. Man Man The Man in a Blue Turban With a Face (Ace Fu) 2004!
  3. Rilo Kiley More Adventurous (Warner) 2004!
  4. Kaiser Chiefs Employment (Universal)
  5. The Cloud Room The Cloud Room (Gigantic Music)
  6. The Killers Hot Fuss (Island)
  7. Bonk Western Soul (Ace Fu)
  8. Spoon Gimmie Fiction (Merge)
  9. The Detroit Cobras Baby (Bloodshot)
  10. Minus the Bear Menos el Oso (Suicide Squeeze)
Sam Adams
  1. The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
  2. Low The Great Destroyer (Sub Pop)
  3. Kronos Quartet You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood (Nonesuch)
  4. Decemberists Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
  5. Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley Welcome to Jamrock (Universal)
  6. Son of Nuggets (Rhino)
  7. Goldfrapp Supernature (Mute UK)
  8. Iron and Wine Woman King EP (Sub Pop)
  9. Teenage Fanclub Man-Made (Merge)
  10. Freakwater End Times (Thrill Jockey)
M.J. Fine
  1. Iron & Wine Woman King EP (Sub Pop)
  2. Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (Saddle Creek)
  3. The Peels The Peels (Dim Mak)
  4. Sleater-Kinney The Woods (Sub Pop)
  5. The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
  6. Laura Veirs Year of Meteors (Nonesuch)
  7. Coco Rosie Noah's Ark (Touch and Go)
  8. Regina Spektor Soviet Kitsch (Shoplifter)
  9. Maria Taylor 11:11 (Saddle Creek)
  10. Amandine This Is Where Our Hearts Collide (Fat Cat)
Lori Hill
  1. Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better (Sony)
  2. Sleater-Kinney The Woods (Sub Pop)
  3. British Sea Power Open Season (Rough Trade US)
  4. Bloc Party Like Eating Glass (Wichita/V2)
  5. The Spinto Band Nice and Nicely Done (Bar/None)
  6. King Britt King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan (Rope-a-dope)
  7. Kanye West Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella)
  8. The Decemberists Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
  9. Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene (Arts & Crafts)
  10. Dar Williams My Better Self (Razor & Tie)
Patrick Rapa
  1. The Hold Steady Separation Sunday (French Kiss)
  2. Regina Spektor Soviet Kitsch (Shoplifter)
  3. The Mountain Goats The Sunset Tree (4AD)
  4. The Decemberists Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
  5. White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
  6. V/A The Believer Compilation (McSweeney's)
  7. Tullycraft Disenchanted Hearts Unite (Magic Marker)
  8. Scout Niblett Kidnapped By Neptune (Too Pure)
  9. B.C. Camplight Hide, Run Away (One Little Indian)
  10. V/A Songs from the Sixth Borough (Plain Parade)
Nick Sylvester
  1. Isolee Wearemonster (Playhouse)
  2. Deerhoof The Runners Four (Kill Rock Stars/5 Rue Christine)
  3. Clipse We Got It 4 Cheap, Vol. 2 (no label)
  4. Art Brut Bang Bang Rock and Roll (Fierce Panda)
  5. M.I.A. Arular (XL/Interscope)
  6. Sufjan Stevens Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
  7. Various Artists Run The Road (Vice)
  8. Kanye West Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella)
  9. Serena Maneesh Serena Maneesh (Honeymilk)
  10. LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem (DFA/EMI)
Tami Fertig
  1. Lou Barlow Emoh (Merge)
  2. The Mountain Goats The Sunset Tree (4AD)
  3. Sam Prekop Who's Your New Professor? (Thrill Jockey)
  4. Various Artists The Squid and the Whale Soundtrack (Ultra)
  5. Sun Kil Moon Tiny Cities (Caldo Verde)
  6. Chris Yang First One's Free (TK)
  7. The Go-Betweens Oceans Apart (Yep Roc)
  8. Denison Witmer Are You a Dreamer? (Militia)
  9. The Lucksmiths Warmer Corners (Matinee)
  10. Feist Let It Die (Interscope)
A.D. Amorosi
  1. LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem (DFA/EMI)
  2. Deerhoof The Runners Four (Kill Rock Stars/5 Rue Christine)
  3. Bettye LaVette I've Got My Own Hell to Raise (Anti)
  4. Missy Elliott The Cookbook (Atlantic)
  5. Sufjan Stevens Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
  6. Beck Guero (Interscope)
  7. Art Brut Bang Bang Rock and Roll (Fierce Panda)
  8. Lady Sovereign Vertically Challenged (Chocolate Industries)
  9. Kanye West Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella)
  10. Animal Collective Feels (Caroline)
Nicole Pensiero
  1. U2 How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Interscope)
  2. David Gray Life In Slow Motion (ATO/RCA)
  3. Beck Guero (Interscope)
  4. The Magic Numbers The Magic Numbers (Capitol)
  5. Josh Rouse Nashville (Rykodisc)
  6. Sigur Ros Takk (Geffen)
  7. Coldplay X&Y (Capitol)
  8. Brazlilian Girls Brazilian Girls (Verve)
  9. Neil Young Prairie Wind (Reprise)
  10. Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion Exploration (New West)
J. Edward Keyes
  1. Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley Welcome to Jamrock (Universal
  2. TP Orchestre Poly-Rythmo The Kings of Benin Urban Groove (Soundway)
  3. The Mountain Goats The Sunset Tree (4AD/ Beggars)
  4. Amadou & Mariam Dimanche a Bamako (Nonesuch)
  5. Kanye West Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella)
  6. M.I.A. Arular (XL/Interscope)
  7. Sleater-Kinney The Woods (Sub Pop)
  8. The Hold Steady Separation Sunday (French Kiss)
  9. Mike Jones Who is Mike Jones? (Asylum)
  10. Mariah Carey The Emancipation of Mimi (Island)
Nick Norlen
  1. Of Montreal The Sunlandic Twins (Polyvinyl)
  2. Electric Six Señor Smoke (Wea)
  3. Stephen Malkmus Face the Truth (Matador)
  4. Secret Machines The Road Leads Where It's Led EP (Reprise/ Wea)
  5. Gorillaz Demon Days (Virgin)
  6. The Tragically Hip Yer Favourites COMP (Universal Music Can)
  7. Brian Eno Another Day on Earth (Hannibal)
  8. Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine (Sony)
  9. Beck Guero (Interscope)
  10. Bj°rk Drawing Restraint 9 SNDTRK (One Little Indian Us)

-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there
 
 
ADVERTISEMENT