I’m not as obsessed with lists as some of the music bloggers out there are. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I’ve become increasingly blasé towards year-end lists in general. Sure, they’re always an interesting read, something to kill the time as you make your way through your newsfeeds and subscriptions. But as far as creating them… well, in this constantly changing, media-saturated culture of ours, lists, which by their nature are intended to be definitive to some degree, often feel woefully archaic and limiting.

And yet there’s always this inherent desire to catalog and press order onto chaos, an instinct that seems doubly strong in music obsessives. So instead of wracking my brain this year, trying to come up with a list of the best albums of 2007—a list that was outdated before I even started typing—and in an attempt to continue the Christmas spirit just a few more days, I offer you a mix CD.

I won’t claim that the following are the best songs of 2007, the songs that defined the year—they’re simply some of my favorites. They’re songs that have brought me great joy (and sometimes a dash of sorrow), made me wish I was in a band again, opened my eyes to Truth, blown my mind and left me picking my jaw up off the ground, caused me to dance around whilst playing air guitar in my office, helped me through long projects at work, and in short, have done all of those things that I always hope music will do.

(If you’d like a copy of this mix, send your mailing address via the contact form.)

“Slow” (The Mary Onettes, The Mary Onettes)

I’m not listing these songs in any particular order, but I will put “Slow” first because it is, quite simply, my favorite song of 2007. And I don’t think I can explain why any better than I did back in April: It’s a pop song that’s so effortless and gorgeous, it makes you want to live forever out of the hope that it might just be blasting on Heaven’s PA system whilst you and your loved ones dance away into the night. Listen to it here.

“Ocean Of Noise” (The Arcade Fire, Neon Bible)

Sure, there are other songs on Neon Bible (my review) that are more inline with the group’s storied incendiary sound. But “Ocean Of Noise” has stuck with me even moreso than, say, the revised version of “No Cars Go” (which is pretty damn good too). It’s the most haunting song in the band’s catalog, and its tale of failed relationships both human and Divine, packs as much of a wallop through its sorrow as the band’s other tracks do through their explosive nature.

“Drop Alberto Like It’s Hot” (100dbs, Aphex Twin Mashups)

The best mashups are those whose delightfulness comes, not so much via the humor or novelty factor, but from realizing a nigh-mystical connection between the most disparate of songs. “Drop Alberto Like It’s Hot”—which unites Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and Aphex Twin’s “Alberto Balsam”—certainly falls into that category. There’s just something right about the way in which Snoop’s laidback, even seductive vocals blend with Richard D. James’ inimitable beats and haunting atmospherics. Few musical moments were as sublime for me as the third verse. Listen to it here.

“Dragonfly” (Low, Drums And Guns)

One of the things that I’ve loved most about Low is that they’ve never been afraid to reinvent themselves within the confines of their chosen style. And so what do they do after releasing their most accessible album (The Great Destroyer)? Why, release the starkest and most challenging album of their career. Indeed, Drums And Guns (my review) often feels like it’s been recorded in the most abrasive manners possible. And yet, there are incredibly haunting moments throughout, and none moreso than “Dragonfly”, during which Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker lament both personal and global tragedies.

“Bookshop Casanova” (The Clientele, God Save The Clientele)

The Clientele have built their entire career around pursuing a singular sound. And so it was a real thrill to hear them change things up a bit with this track, which takes the group’s breathy, dreamy pop sound and gives it a good swift kick in the pants with a disco-y beat and some trilling strings without taking anything away from the nostalgia, pining away for lost loves, and all of that other gorgeously melancholy stuff we’ve come to love and expect from the band. Listen to it here.

“Salka” (Sigur Rós, Hvarf-Heim)

I’ve found myself becoming rather frustrated with Iceland’s favorite sons as of late. On the one hand, their music is often unspeakably gorgeous. On the other hand, they approach that same music with such a laissez-faire attitude that I find myself wondering if they even give one whit about any of it. Which is incredibly frustrating when it comes to a track like “Salka”, which falls into that “unspeakably gorgeous” category, with its soaring string-driven climax and Jonsi’s characteristically angelic voice. Listen to it here.

“I Know” (Sally Shapiro, Disco Romance)

I don’t know many times I went to Sally Shapiro’s MySpace page just so that I could hear this track, which is easily the highlight from this year’s Disco Romance. Shapiro’s cooing vocals seem almost absurdly out-of-place with the italo disco beats and arpeggiated synths—and yet it works in a wonderfully awkward and retro-futuristic manner manner. It’s the sort of song that you’d expect to hear on mix CDs from the future—as it was imagined back in 1970s-era discotheques. And that synth solo that starts around the 3:40 mark? Totally bitchin’. Listen to it here.

“Eleven Continents” (RF & Lili De La Mora, Eleven Continents)

I’ve been a fan of Ryan Francesconi’s electronic/ambient music for many years now. His latest album, a collaborative effort with Lili De La Mar (and others) eschews much of his trademark organic electronic sounds for an almost entirely acoustic affair. It’s still extremely gorgeous, though, especially with the title track. Francesconi and De La Mora are joined by Joanna Newsom on harp and vocals, and the result is a silvery little musical world of swirling guitars, harpstrings, and ethereal vocals.

“House Of Cards” (Radiohead, In Rainbows)

Like Aaron, I had basically given up on Radiohead after Kid A. It’s not that their subsequent albums were bad; they just didn’t bowl me over. And after OK Computer and Kid A, I had come to expect nothing less from Thom Yorke et al. And so it’s with great delight that I can say that In Rainbows didn’t bowl me over so much as it refreshed and invigorated me, simply because Radiohead themselves sounded so refreshed and invigorated. “House Of Cards” was a prime example of this, with Yorke’s effortless falsetto careening over guitars and drums that sounded almost—gasp—funky. And the fact that he was singing about seduction and destruction somehow made it all the sweeter. Even in this new relaxed state, Yorke still wasn’t afraid to stare into the void and sing about what he saw there.

“Beach Baby” (Miracle Fortress, Five Roses)

When I first listened to Five Roses, I handily dismissed it as the work of someone too enamored with the likes of Brian Wilson and Sufjan Stevens. And then I realized that I couldn’t get those dang melodies out of my head. I gave the album another spin, and it sank its claws in even deeper. And maybe it’s just the expectant father in me, but “Beach Baby” hit me especially hard, as Graham Van Pelt sang about the effects, fears, dangers, and promise that a newborn brings with it. “With the birth of a child comes the end of an age/Like turning a phrase that erases a rage,” indeed.

“Getting Special” (The Lodger, Grown-Ups)

Another track that I initially dismissed, but which slowly and surely sunk its considerable hooks into my brain until I just couldn’t ignore it any longer. “Getting Special” has the crunchy, dancy rhythms, staccatto guitars, and snotty vocals that you’d associate with a group like Franz Ferdinand, but once the chorus kicks in, it turns into something else—something considerably more delightful and just as catchy. Surprisingly, this was one of the first songs written by the band, as its craftsmanship implies considerably more experience. Listen to it here.

“The Stars In Spring” (Epic45, May Your Heart Be The Map)

I previously lumped Epic45 in with an assortment of artists that I labelled as “nostalgists”, and on their latest album (my review) is perhaps the perfect summation of that particular sound. Listening to “The Stars In Spring” is like going through an assortment of old postcards, photographs, diary entries, and home movies. Each silvery, twilit guitar note practically drips with memories, most of them faded to near obscurity, and I find it impossible to listen to the song and not find myself staring outside the nearest window, lapsing into a particularly reflexive mood. Listen to it here.

“Apreludes (In C Sharp Major)” (Stars Of The Lid, And Their Refinement Of The Decline)

Few bands are as adept at sounding timeless and vast as Stars Of The Lid. And Their Refinement Of The Decline was their first album in six years, but the duo didn’t so much break new ground as continue to explore the same territory they’ve been exploring throughout their career. Which, when you’re talking about a geography as endless as their’s, isn’t that big of a deal. At just under four minutes, “Apreludes (In C Sharp Major)” is one of the shortest songs on the two-disc affair, and yet its stately drones were more expansive than anything else I heard this year. Every time I heard this song, I found myself thinking in cinematic terms—it sounded like an alternate soundtrack for 2001, when mankind makes its first real foray into the universe and the wonders it contains. Listen to it here.

“Dulce Et Decorum” (Alsace Lorraine, Dark One)

Countless bands these days are shamelessly ripping off the sounds of 1980s new wave and post-punk. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you. However, Alsace Lorraine’s music isn’t so much influenced by those sounds (The Smiths, New Order, etc.) as it sounds like it’s coming over from some parallel universe where the 80s never really died out, where those genres never passed from popular conscience but continued on unabated. Which is to say that “Dulce Et Decorum” sounds awfully familiar and yet strangely new and unique all at the same time, a curious blend of nostalgia and the new. And the denouement, with its interweaving synth melodies and tones, still gets me every time, sounding like the band is slowly retreating back to that parallel universe to dream it up all over again. Listen to it here.

“Springtime” (Rumskib, Rumskib)

Like The Mary Onettes, Denmark’s Rumskib wear their influences on their sleeve unashamedly, in this case the shoegazer and dreampop textures of My Bloody Valentine and The Cocteau Twins. But on a track like “Springtime”, those influences are manifested so perfectly that it sounds like Rumskib is the first band exploring those sonic areas. Jonas Munk’s production lends the track his usual electronic grace, but ultimately, it’s all about those layers of overdriven guitars and indecipherable vocals floating high overhead. Listen to it here.

“Psalm 42” (The Trees Community, The Christ Tree)

If you’re lucky, you’ll hear at least one song in the course of a year that is, for lack of a better term, a religious experience. A track that speaks directly into your soul—even if you think you don’t have one—and, to borrow a phrase from Buechner, leaves you with tears and great laughter. “Psalm 42” was just such a song for me. Not surprisingly, the song was recorded by a Christian commune in the 1970s who travelled around and performed at monasteries. Re-released by Dark Holler this year, the music feels both prescient and timeless. Prescient in the fact that folks like Joanna Newsom are now receiving heaps of praise for the sort of richly arranged, image-laden music that the Trees Community recorded thirty years ago, and timeless in the same way that all truly mystical art is freed from the constraints and demands of aging, fads, and relevance. But the greatest thing about “Psalm 42” is how both joyful and fearful the music sounds. There’s a sense of reckless play as well as a sense of reverence and worship, both of which are always humbling and refreshing to hear. Listen to it here.

About a month ago, I wrote about 100dbs’ Aphex Twin mashups. The man is back with a new mix, just in time for the new year. Entitled Freak Mix 2k7, the 42 minute track blends together tracks from Prince, The Cure, Rick James, The Beatles, DJ Blaqstarr, and many others, and just in time for your New Year’s Eve bash.

I’m listening to it right now, and any mix that includes “Let’s Go To Bed” gets my seal of approval.

It’s been over a year since I made the switch to ExpressionEngine as my CMS of choice for both personal and professional projects (read the tale here). And suffice to say, I couldn’t be happier with the switch.

It’s a rare thing when a software package has so much impact on your life. I can honestly say that EE has allowed me to reach new career heights over the last twelve months or so, to become better, more productive, and more profitable.

I’ve been able to tackle projects that would otherwise have been beyond my resources. EE has allowed me to develop websites more efficiently and thoroughly. And those websites more effectively meet client demands and specs.

So, just how does EE do that? What are its “killer features”, its primary selling points for me? Here are a few:

• The ability to run multiple weblogs at the same time Granted, this is not something that is unique to EE.  However, I think EE takes the concept of weblogs to some interesting new heights. However, some folks get confused by the term “weblog”.  A better way to think of a “weblog” in EE is as a section, or better yet, a generic container for your website’s data.  How you shape, structure, and present the data in these containers is up to you.
• Custom fields If there was any feature that truly “sold” me on EE, this would have to be it, as it overcomes an issue that I have with many other publishing packages out there. Jeff Croft goes into great detail concerning the fundamental issue here. Basically, most content management systems out there force you to organize your data according to their layout.  Which typically means that you have to squash all of your data into a handful of predefined fields (like “Subject”, “Body”, and “Extended Text”). Some packages, like WordPress, do allow you customize that somewhat with custom fields, but I’ve found the implementation to be rudimentary at best.  EE, on the other hand, has a very powerful and flexible method for creating groups of custom weblog fields. These allow you to customize your website to fit your data, not the other way around. This is especially nice if you’re anal like me and want to keep your data organized right down to the last jot and tittle. It also makes it easier to develop websites, and can make it easier and more intuitive to manage and administer the website.
• The “Query” module EE is modular in nature; all of its major features and functions are handled by various modules. For example, there’s a “weblog” module for handling website entries, a “photo gallery” module for managing and displaying photo galleries, an “RSS” module for handling newsfeeds, and so on. One of my favorite modules is EE’s “Query” module, which allows you to create your own MySQL queries to retrieve and display your website’s data. I don’t use it all that often, but like a Swiss army knife, there are those times when it’s a real godsend. For example, there are times when I know exactly what piece of data I wish to retrieve, and therefore I know what query to use. I could use one of EE’s default tags, such as {exp:weblog:entries}, to pull out the data, but that would be overkill and less efficient in this case. That’s where the “Query” module comes in real handy.
• EE makes no assumptions about the websites I’ll create This isn’t so much a feature as a philosophy held by EllisLab (the folks behind EE). However, it impacts so much that I want to include it here. Essentially, this means that EE doesn’t assume that I’m going to use it to build a blog, a corporate website, a portfolio, or any other type of website for that matter (the first two items on this list are results of this philosophy). The upshot of this is that I can use it to build practically any website I want, in the way that I want to, without EE’s functionality or features getting in my way or forcing me down a path that I don’t want to take. This also means that there’s no one right way to build a wesbite in EE. Granted, some ways are better than others, but ultimately, EE allows me to build a website in the way that I see fit. Having been a developer and programmer for many years, I know how much of a challenge this can be. On the one hand, you want to give your users a lot of power and capability, but on the other hand, you don’t want to get in their way. I’ve found that EE walks that fine line very well.
• Community These days, having a community of developers, programmers, and users surrounding your web software is a must-have, and EE has a great community. This makes it incredibly easy to get help when you’re stuck, learn plenty of cool new techniques, and in the interests of good karma, offer your own advice and expertise to help others. The EllisLab folks frequent the forums as well. It’s not uncommon for the company’s vice president or one of the lead programmers to chime in on the forums, making suggestions, troubleshooting, and listening to user’s requests. What’s more, the community is always coming up with additional modules, plug-ins, and extensions to make EE an even better platform. Folks like Solspace, Mark Huot, and Lodewijk have all contributed incredibly useful add-ons for EE. Indeed, so many add-ons are being created that EllisLab recently instituted a certification process for third-party add-ons.
• Documentation You can have the greatest software, CMS, or platform out there, but if folks can’t figure out how to use it, it’s worthless. This seems like such a no-brainer, and yet it’s all too often overlooked. Put simply, EE’s documentation is second to none. It’s incredibly indepth but never needlessly complicated and it’s written in a very concise and practical manner. What’s more, users can also contribute their own notes, tips, techniques, workarounds, and best practices. Beyond the manual, there’s also a knowledge base and a wiki that are packed with helpful tips and articles that touch on working with third-party systems, optimizing and customizing EE, and SEO, among other topics.

All of that being said, I realize that no system is perfect; there’s always room for improvement. And I know that EllisLab is hard at work on EE 2.0 even as I type this. So what would I like to see in the next major release?

• Improved Template Management There are several different kinds of templates in EE. There are your website templates, which contains all of your site’s (X)HTML markup, and also help define the URLs that are created by your site. However, there are also templates for discussion forums, the member profile manager, and various “specialty” templates (e.g. e-mail notifications, etc.). Right now, managing all of these templates can be a chore, as they’re spread throughout the control panel. I’d love to see this streamlined somehow, so that all of my site’s templates can be consolidated and more efficiently managed.
• Streamlined Control Panel This is somewhat related to the above item. EE is an extremely powerful and flexible system, but that comes at a price. Specifically, the control panel, which can be daunting and tiresome for even experienced users. I always tremble a bit when turning an EE site over to the client, because I know that I’m going to get a rash of e-mails as soon as they start making their way through the CP. EE currently gives you some control over who can see what in the control panel, which is good from both usability and security perspectives. But I’d like to see it be taken even further. I’m not asking for EllisLab to remove any functionality. However, I do think it could be organized and laid out more efficiently.
• Better support for moving entries between weblogs This is somewhat possible right now, so long as the weblogs in question use the same set of custom weblog fields. However, if you’re dealing with weblogs that use different field sets, you’re out of luck. You either have to try some tricky database wizardry (which may not always work) or re-enter the entry by hand (which is always a pain in the butt). I’d love for there to be some sort of interface whereby you select which field(s) in the new weblog correspond to which field(s) in the old weblog, with EE handling the transfer behind the scenes.
• Improved File Upload Manager When I first started using EE’s file upload manager, which allows you to add images, PDFs, and other files to your site entries, I thought it was pretty decent—especially when compared to Movable Type’s, which was what I was coming from. You can create multiple file upload directories and assign permissions to each of them, as well as various other parameters (e.g. allowable file types, maximum file size, etc.). Which is fine when uploading new images. But when you want to add a previously uploaded image to an entry, the manager stumbles a bit. Right now, it just gives you a list of filenames to search through. I’d love to see this improved a bit, with better browsing, searching, and viewing functionality.

Of course, that’s all easier said than done, and I’m not one whose going to be the doing. Mind you, none of the above are dealmakers or dealbreakers. I’d be perfectly content using EE in its current incarnation for a good long while. But, being the geek that I am, I can’t wait to see what Rick Ellis et al. have up their sleeves for future version(s) of the platform: I have a feeling it’s going to pretty dang cool, whatever might come.

Jeffrey Overstreet’s review of There Will Be Blood has just been posted on Christianity Today. And yeah, he likes it a little bit:

There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece. While it’s dedicated to Altman (who died in late 2006), Blood feels more like a collaborative effort from Stanley Kubrick, Terrence Malick, Peter Weir, and Francis Ford Coppola. And the film’s bizarre finale is 100 percent Anderson—a plunge into the unexpected that will bewilder and divide viewers. Decades from now, cinephiles will still be passionately debating this film.

The CT review is abbreviated, however: the full-length review will be posted to Looking Closer soon.

How weird is this? Will Arnett—you know, Gob from Arrested Development—will be providing the voice for KITT in NBC’s upcoming Knight Rider pilot/made for TV movie. Despite Knight Rider being one of my favorite TV shows as a child—we’re talking an almost religious devotion to the series, folks—I didn’t really care too much when I first heard about the remake. And when I saw that KITT was going to be a Mustang in the remake, I cared even less.

But this little twist does pique my curiosity somewhat. Maybe I will check out the movie when it comes out on February 17, 2008—if only to hear Arnett-as-KITT express frustration and concern over Michael Knight’s, er, Mike Tracer’s reckless behavior.

You can see and hear a little bit of the new KITT in this shorter-than-short teaser that NBC has released:

Being that it’s Christmas Eve and all, you probably have your holiday music already picked out. But should there be an extra slot in the CD player or some extra space on the iPod, might I humbly suggest giving A Candle’s Golden Glow a spin? Compiled by the dark-ambient/experimental label Dark Winter, A Candle’s Golden Glow is a good deal more left-of-field than your usual holiday arrangements. The comp’s fifteen artists reference the old standards (e.g. “We Three Kings”, “Silent Night”, “Hark The Herald Angels Sing”, etc.), but their more atmospheric and experimental takes ensure a completely different listening experience.

However, it’s no less reverent. I’ve found that some of the best Christmas music is that which veers off in darker, more mysterious directions—it captures the holiday’s more sublime aspects in a fuller and more rewarding manner. So if you’re looking for good Christmas cheer, then I suggest you stick with the tried and true. But if you’re looking for Christmas music that might cause you to think about the season a little differently, or put you in a slightly more contemplative mood—or if you just want something to purge your ears of all the holiday-themed pap you endured whilst wandering through the malls this year—check out A Candle’s Golden Glow.

In keeping with the spirit of the season, you can download the entire comp, plus artwork, for free—click here.

I posted something about Cinematic Titanic, the new project from Joel Hodgson (the creator of “Mystery Science Theatre 3000”), a few months ago. Joel Hodgson and the rest of the crew (Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Mary Jo Pehl, and Frank Conniff) have just wrapped up their first movie riffing project, and it looks to be a real doozy.

Prepare yourselves for… The Oozing Skull. From the Cinematic Titanic site:

Originally titled “Brain of Blood” for theatrical release and “The Creature’s Revenge” for television, it was shot in 1971 and somehow perfectly catches the spirit of the seventies-schlocksploitation zeitgeist. Once we found out we had a chance to obtain the rights to this find, we became kinda obsessed.

We began negotiating with Sam Sherman, one of the film’s producers and story creator, who’s a really nice man with a great sense of humor. Once Sam realized what we were intending to do to “Brain of Blood”, he granted us permission to license it, with the proviso that we change the name of the feature to avoid confusion in the marketplace with the original, unTitanic-ed version. This is such a great looking film, with so many unbelievable situations, it was an easy decision to oblige Sam’s wishes, and so we came up with the title “The Oozing Skull”.

You can watch a trailer here. However, don’t be expecting anything radically different from Hodgson et al. The silhouettes are still there, but more importantly, so are the bad jokes, puns, wisecracks, and everything else you could want from a “movie riffing delivery system”.

You can order the movie on DVD here. A downloadable version may become available in the spring of 2008, once various rights issues are cleared up. Until then, you’ll have to watch it the old-fashioned way: on the TV with a bunch of friends. The way it ought to be.

I think I might’ve been a little harsher in my review of Hellboy than I meant to be. I still think it’s a flawed film, but there’s plenty about it that I’ve found endearing and enjoyable in the long run. Suffice to say, I’m still rather excited about the upcoming sequel, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.

IGN has just released an HD version of the trailer for our downloading pleasure, and it looks like plenty of good, (literally) smashing fun will be had, with all kinds of of icky monsters, fiery girls, homunculi, fish-men, and of course, smart aleck-y half-demon heroes.