Top Stuff

It's that time of year again. Is it just me, or do I seem way off in some bizarre left field...
Top 10 albums
Burial Untrue (Hyperdub)
Ghislain Poirier No Ground Under (Ninja Tune/Outside)
Tinariwen Aman Iman (World Village)
Mavado Gangster for Life (VP)
Vieux Farka Toure self-titled (Modiba)
Arcade Fire Neon Bible (Merge/FAB)
Andy Palacio & the Garifuna Collective Wátina (Combancha)
Skream Rinse 02 (Rinse FM)
Sdunkero Edladleni Vol. 1 (House Afrika)
King Jammy’s Selector’s Choice Vols. 1-4 (VP)

Bottom 3 albums
Bunny Rabbit Lovers and Crypts (Voodoo-Eros)
Sinead O’Connor Theology (Koch)
Shaggy Intoxication (VP)

Best song: Teddy Afro, “Abebeyehosh”/Mutya Buena and Groove Armada, “Song 4 Mutya” (tie)
Worst song: Natasha Bedingfield, “I Wanna Have Your Babies”
Best show: Ghislain Poirier, la Tulipe, Nov. 2
Worst show: Benga and Hatcha, Death of Vinyl, Oct. 27

“My cheerleading of Ghislain continues. Heaps of fun as always, his launch demonstrated just how much fun an audience crammed with Montrealers can be. Benga and Hatcha came out swinging, but the crowd was far less than stellar. It’s pot, not coke, that goes with dubstep, kids! If that’s my biggest complaint though, things seem to be quite all right. Now, if only I could convince someone to launch a kwaito/2-step night, this city would be perfect.”

Cocktails, Cocktails and Countdowns

Last Thursday I hosted a no beer/no wine party--seulement les cockatails! I also insisted (because I like to makes demands of my friends) on cocktail attire. For photos check here. I had a few too many Woohoos, Ameretto Sours, Coke and Wines (thanks Pierre), Alize and Juices, Lemon Jacks, and, I think, Jedi Mind Tricks. After a while it was really tough to tell. Clearly I was intoxicated, else I wouldn't have allowed Ms. Vero to do this. Anyhow, it was a whole lot of fun, so thanks to all who showed up and gave me an opportunity to wear my prom dress again.

The next day I had to write my top ten of the year--no real surprises, except maybe that I'm totally crazy for Keak da Sneak. How great an album is Kunta Kinte? I was at the Mighty Crown dance on Friday (unfortunately not as well attended as one might have wished, but still fun) and they palyed a number of versions of "Ridin' Dirty." Not bad, but when I am going to hear dancehall voicings of hyphy tunes? How great would that be? Seriously.

Imagine what Sizzla or Capleton could do with this: