Best Albums of 2013

In alphabetical order by title:

• Camper Van Beethoven, La Costa Perdida*

"For 30 years and counting, Camper Van Beethoven have existed in a parallel-universe borderland, coming across like a punk band perpetually on a Balkan bluegrass bender. But they finally bring it all back home to their native California on 10th album, La Costa Perdida, recalling '60s-vintage West Coast pop filtered through their timeless, idiosyncratic prism."--David Menconi, SPIN, January 14, 2013

• Henry Plotnick, Fields

"11-year-old Henry Plotnick, like Mozart before him, is a childhood virtuoso, and his debut album Fields illustrates his indebtedness to his own teachers: Philip Glass, Brian Eno, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Keith Jarrett, and Cluster." --Paul Gleason, Caught in the Carousel

•  The Dangers, Gold

" . . . the influence of The Kinks and The Beatles runs as strong as ever through the band’s power pop gems." --Vanessa Franko, The Press-Enterprise

• Jonathan Segel, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades

If you like Adrian Belew, George Harrison, Sparklehorse, and Lou Reed, you will love Jonathan Segel.

•  Felsen, I Don't Know How to Talk Anymore

 

“Felsen's 'I Don’t Know How To Talk Anymore' - it’s the band’s most potent and thought-provoking album yet. There are individual gems, including the title track, as well as 'Gunfighting at Dawn,' 'Tierra Del Fuego' and 'Lorazepam.' But Andrew Griffin and company have also succeeded in making the album a cohesive entity. Powerful songs."--San Jose Mercury New 

• Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, Under the Covers Vol. 3

Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs have great taste in music. They cover favorite songs from the '80s including Girls Talk by Elvis Costello, More Than This by Roxy Music, and Train in Vain by The Clash. What makes this album special is that all of the songs are easier to sing along to than the original versions. If you like to sing, you will love this album.

*Since "la" is an article, I alphabetized this album under "c" for Costa.

Alternative Christmas songs

Here are a few of my favorite not-so-merry Christmas songs:

River by Joni Mitchell

It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on. . .

Mitchell, Joni. Blue. Burbank, CA: Reprise, 1971. Sound recording. 

Merry Christmas, Emily by Cracker

Emily was twenty three
Sitting on the ground
Under a dead palm tree
6th and Speedway
On Christmas day . . .

Brick by Ben Folds Five

6am, day after Christmas
I throw some clothes on in the dark
The smell of cold
Car seat is freezing
The world is sleeping
I am numb. . .




Christmas in Prison by John Prine

It was Christmas in prison
And the food was real good
We had turkey and pistols
Carved out of wood . . .




My friend Chris LeRoy does a great cover of this John Prine song. I like it as much as the original.



And speaking of John Prine . . .

My family had a very John Prine Thanksgiving:



And speaking of family . . . 

My cousin Allen Covert produced this Chanukah favorite:


Click to here to buy the song.

ps. It's pretty raunchy,  but I really liked Allen's most recent movie, That's My Boy.

See the guy in the red Izod shirt? That's my cousin!

pps. Happy Holidays, Love Rebecca.

Back from ALA

I just got back from the annual American Library Association conference. It was in Anaheim, California which is the perfect locale for a summertime convention--no humidity and lots of hotels close to the arena.

Here are a few highlights from the convention. (I'll write about the meetings and programs later.)

*I was very honored to make the American Libraries Magazine list of top conference tweets.

*Had a lovely chat with the charming author/publisher Arthur Levine. (At first I didn't realize that he was the Arthur Levine!) He signed my copy of the new book, The Letter Q.

Moon, Sarah, and James Lecesne. The Letter Q: Queer Writers' Notes to Their Younger Selves. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2012. Print.

*I also met co-contributors Brian Selznick who is most famous for his Caldecott winning book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and David Levithan who is most famous for Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist.



*I got to see a couple of my Crumb friends! (I'm not the only librarian/library supporter who is a Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven/Chris LeRoy fan.)


*Our hotel was across the street from The Cheesecake Factory. I was a bad influence and talked Jamie and Judy into joining me for carrot cake 3 out of 4 nights. No wonder I gained 4 pounds! Who knew that carrot cake is the most fattening item on the menu? 1,500 calories per serving!

*It was great sharing a room with my colleagues Nora and Jamie. They are both fascinating conversationalists, and since they are both sound sleepers, I wasn't worried about my snoring.

*More conference news later!

Hickman/LeRoy Songbook

My very favorite Myspace site is the Hickman/LeRoy Songbook. Chris LeRoy and Johnny Hickman have been making music together since they were little kids. You know Johnny from the band, Cracker, and Chris from Death of Me.

The Songbook features new and old songs by the duo. I think it is really interesting to see how a song becomes a song--how a song can take on a life of its own and continue to grow and change.







The Songbook is truly an interactive site. Fans' reviews, artwork, and video picks are showcased every week. For instance, I write a book review for the Songbook called The Book I Read. The title is a reference to one of my favorite Talking Heads songs:





And speaking of the Talking Heads . . .

Here's a story about the day I met Chris Frantz.