If Mixtapes|Heartbreaks had been around for 2006, here are some things we would have told you to pay attention to.

*Note - if something was already reviewed here, it’s not on this list. Read the review to see if we liked it or not. Thanks!*

Nothing is in any order of rank; the only logically ordered thing is the albums section by release date.

[ALBUMS]

THE STROKES - FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF EARTH - 1.3.06
Standout Tracks:
1. You Only Live Once
3. Heart In A Cage

WE ARE SCIENTISTS - WITH LOVE AND SQUALOR - 1.10.06
Standout Tracks:
1. Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt
7. It’s A Hit
9. Textbook

THE SOUNDS - DYING TO SAY THIS TO YOU - 3.21.06
Standout Tracks:
3. Tony the Beat
8. Hurt You

TAKING BACK SUNDAY - LOUDER NOW - 4.25.06
Standout Tracks:
1. What It Feels Like To Be A Ghost
4. Up Against (The Blackout)
7. Spin
9. Miami
10. Error Operator

RATATAT - CLASSICS - 8.22.06
Standout Tracks:
2. Lex
3. Gettysburg

THE KILLERS - SAM’S TOWN - 10.3.06
1. Sam’s Town
4. Bling (Confessions of a King)
5. For Reasons Unknown

[SINGLES]

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE F/T.I. - MY LOVE
BECK - NAUSEA
NELLY FURTADO - PROMISCUOUS
THE SUBMARINES - PEACE AND HATE
COBRA STARSHIP - BRING IT (SNAKES ON A PLANE)
BRANDTSON - NOBODY DANCES ANYMORE
JAMIE LIDELL - MULTIPLY
SAY ANYTHING - WOW, I CAN GET SEXUAL TOO
T.I. - WHAT YOU KNOW
RIHANNA - S.O.S.
[BANDS THAT WERE WORTH PAYING TO SEE, REGARDLESS OF IF I PAID OR NOT]

Taking Back Sunday
Brighton, MA
Jonny Lang
Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
Hayward Williams
My Morning Jacket
The Appleseed Cast
Ben Lee
Seu Jorge
Death Cab For Cutie

***LET US KNOW WHAT YOUR FAVORITES WERE…POST IN THE COMMENTS SECTION!***

The back cover to Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan reads as follows:

nick: “I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next five minutes?”
norah: “I answer his question by putting my hand around his neck and pulling his face down to mine.

No picture, no advance praise, no frills save the price and barcode stamped on the lower right corner. Though cheesy, I was intrigued.

N&N is presented in an alternating narrative of the title characters Nick and Norah, penned by Cohn (Norah) and Levithan (Nick). It’s a neat idea, and their writing styles fit together quite well — both of them thirty-somethings trying to sound like teens and overdoing it.

I mostly read this book for the promise of the music tie-in. The title is Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, so one would expect a heavy music backdrop. In one sense, it’s there — Norah is the daughter of a powerful record exec, Nick is the straight bassist of a queercore band. There are a few fictional bands, including “real” punks Where’s Fluffy (I think they’re supposed to be somewhere between Anti-Flag and Rise Against), and the oh-so-clever (read: not at all) Are You Randy? and Hunter Does Hunter. I was looking for more real-world bands to pop up, along the lines of Marc Spitz’s How Soon Is Never?.

Real band names are dropped here and there, with Norah giving Nick the ultimate compliment of being able to mix “Cesaria Evora to Wilco to Ani followed by Rancid, capped off with Patsy Cline blending into a Fugazi finale.” To be honest I think Ms. Cohn picked band names with “street cred” out of a hat and decided that fictional Nick could do it. I challenge Ms. Cohn or Mr. Levithan to produce a good mix with those bands. Mixtapes are our passion here and I want to know if it can be done.

Some positives about the book include the section where Nick and Norah first split for the night — the characters do capture a certain angst that is probably experienced by most teens. And that’s their target audience. At 23 I think I’m a bit past such blatant, woe-is-me, my life is going to end (END!) if so-and-so doesn’t feel the same way drama. Now it’s more internalized and fueled by alcoholic evenings and bad decision making. Oh, college.

Also, being so close in age to these 18 year old protagonists, I can still remember being that age and what life was like. Maybe things are different for Jersey kids than they were for my Eastern Pennsylvania high school years, but my take is that Nick and Norah are what 14 year olds want adulthood to be: having a car, staying out til all hours of the morning, and making out with dreamy rocker boys and scene girls.

In all the book isn’t bad, I could even push the scale over to the good side. It’s just a bit much to handle at my age and with my experience with music and musicians. However, as mentioned, for a 14 year old itching to get out from mom and dad’s rule, it’s not a bad escape.

Don’t forget to tune into the Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 10:30 PM CST) this Wednesday, December 20th. Chris Funk of The Decemberists will be facing off against Mr. Colbert in a guitar-playing challenge.

Recently, The Decemberists teamed up with MTVU for the “Reanimate the Decemberists” Contest. Fans are asked to use green screen footage of the band playing “O Valencia” off their new album The Crane Wife and animate around them.

Stephen Colbert recently held a similar contest for his fans. When he got wind of The Decemberists’ contest, he counter-challenged his own fans to edit his green screen footage into the “O Valencia” video.

In the best marketing move possible, The Decemberists made a counter-counter challenge, begging Colbert to duel them on guitar.
“We’d like to announce the very first ‘Decemberists vs. Stephen Colbert Guitar Solo Challenge’. Put down the pen, Colbert, and pick up the axe! Let’s see what kind of man you really are — Let’s shred.”

You can see Colbert explain and accept the challenge here.

I’m going out of town for the weekend, so there won’t be any updates. However, I’d like to leave you with something to occupy your time:

I updated the Brand New review’s first paragraph because let’s face it: that last one was crap.

Next time I write something so horrible, SAY SOMETHING.

Thanks!

Well Mogwai, you are certainly working your way into my heart.

On tonight’s episode of MTV2’s Subterranean, Robert Smith of The Cure was the guest and he (supposedly) picked all of the videos. Included was the fantastically weird / awesome video for Mogwai’s “Friend of the Night”.

Here you go:

The Devil and God are raging inside Brand New, and I think the Devil is winning. The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is the dark to Deja Entendu’s…light isn’t the right word, because that album is depressing as hell…let’s put it this way: TDAGARIM is Deja’s slightly less attractive but still totally appealing younger brother.

In a musical culture that is currently driven by singles (albeit via the Now! That’s What I Call Music series and iTunes as opposed to actually picking something up at the record store), Brand New goes against the grain, making a cohesive piece of rock goodness. Themes of faith, loss thereof, self-doubt, and personal failure pop up throughout the album. It doesn’t create a direct storyline, but the songs all make sense in the context of one another.

There are several instances of loud interrupting soft, fast taking over slow, and quiet musings versus angry rants, all playing into the feel of two opposing forces being at play. The songs range from acoustic to loud rockers, emo to an almost 90s-ish feel (does the chorus to “Luca” remind anyone else of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Breaking the Girl” in a weird way? anyone?), with a prime example of range being the sixth track, “You Won’t Know”. The beginning sounds like it could have been a track on Deja, but halfway through you think it could have been on Your Favorite Weapon. It is, I believe, the missing link. Rejoice.

Standout tracks include “Archers” and my favorite, “Jesus Christ”. The former is one of the few uptempo rockers on the album, while the latter best captures the themes of the album with its truly fantastic lyrics.

While it may take a few listens to acclimate yourself to the record, it’s worth giving it a shot. As I mentioned previously it’s no Deja Entendu, but few things ever will be.

Jamie Hanson, a 25-year-old University of Wisconsin - Madison graduate student and self-proclaimed “horrible speller” was kind enough to take a few minutes out of his day to stop writing a paper and tell me a little bit about Madison Pop Festival. Hanson, along with Danny Tenenbaum (a UW undergrad) co-founded the festival last year.

How did Madison Pop Festival come about? Mostly Danny. He was sitting in a class while studying abroad and just had the idea while some of his profs were yammering at him and he wasn’t paying attention. He knew every now and again I wrote grants for the Wisconsin Union Directorate Music Committee that we both volunteered on. The grants were to help fund really expensive shows that would be free [admission].

How does this year’s fest differ from last year? A bit shorter format, but across more venues. Last year we did two days at Madison’s Union South. They were marathon days filled with soooo many bands. By the time the headliners were coming on, I was tuckered out personally. So this year, there are less acts per day, but we are programming at Union South and Memorial Union. This year [has] a bit more diversity. Year one (last year) was mostly just “indie rock”. This year we have some indie rock, some world music, and some hip-hop.

Who or what are you most excited to see? To see how many people can cram into the Great Hall to see Joanna Newsom.

Did you encounter any major problems while planning MPF? The only minor problem was the response from some other local promoters. The fest is likely to draw a fair amount of folks, so some other promoters have expressed concerns about programming against a free, all-ages music festival. But hopefully we didn’t step on too many toes.

Will MPF be an annual event? Hopefully. I am hoping this year’s fest cements Madisonfest* as a major music event for the community. Once folks realize the potential of the festival, there is some hope that community sponsorship will increase. Most of the funding for this year came from things connected to the university. Danny and I wanted to try to create something bigger than just the university [and] its venues. We wanted to have a number of clubs in town working together on Madisonfest.

*[Editor's Note: Madisonfest was the name of last year's festival; this year it has been officially modified to Madison Pop Festival -- not to be confused with the University's annual hardcore festival that was this year renamed Madisonfest from the former title of Watch The World Explode.]

Who would you like to see play MPF in the future? Perhaps not who, but what is I would add, is the question I will answer. I personally love to dance, so this year and last, we never had any dance parties associated with Madisonfest. So perhaps next year I would like a big dance party, with Diplo or maybe some local DJs like The Glamour or Flosstradomas.

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Madison Pop Festival is a free, all-ages event that is open to the public. Check out their official website, www.madisonpopfest.com, for a schedule and directions to the venues.

I promise I’ll have the Brand New review up soon. Working full-time and having a life is really putting a damper on posting things in a timely manner.

Also, check back late tomorrow (Wed) or early Thursday for a feature interview with the creators of Madison Pop Festival.

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You can now add Mixtapes|Heartbreaks as a MySpace friend.

Your day just got better, I can tell.

http://www.myspace.com/mixtapesheartbreaks