Ah yes, the hall of famers.
Hoodlums. Each and every one of them. Don’t let their new gigs as teachers, or bankers, or major label big shots, or whatever “real job” they have now, fool ya. They are still hoodlums.
(OK, there might be a suit or two. We still haven’t heard from Martin, Justin, Marla, or Vinny, and we can’t find Ash or Alisa. For all we know, they could be turning their backs on music.)
Anyway, when we put the call out (read: direct video harassment) to our old friends and fellow hoods, many of them reaffirmed our faith in society by actually showing us that they were still listening to new music way into their twenties (and thirties for a couple of the former little shits, eh?).
As you can see, they cover a lot of ground… and like I said in the call out… they all do their lists differently. Sincere thanks to all of our Hall of Famers who took the time to participate.
Wanna know more about these goofballs? There’s still some info on all the hoodlums, current and past, on the hoodlums at Hoodlums page. And now, here’s their lists (except Maria, whose lists is with Joe’s, detailed in the Top Tens of a Diverse Household blog).
By the way… Vinny, you sorry dog, where are you? C’mon now, you OWN a record store.
The Hoodlums Hall of Famers Top Tens
Amanda the Hoodlum
No suprises from me! (except that I didn’t love the new Shakira)
Neko Case- Middle Cyclone
Sarah Jarosz- Song Up in Her Head
Mos Def- Ecstatic
Pete Yorn/Scarlette Johanson- Break Up
Regina Spektor- Far
Flo Rida- R.O.O.T.S
Paramore- Brand New Eyes
Norah Jones- The Fall
Mum- Sing Along to Songs You Don’t Know
John Mayer- Battle Studies
Dominec the Hoodlum
Music:
1.) Serengeti & Polyphonic – Terradactyl
2.) Converge – Axe To Fall
3.) Dan Deacon – Bromst
4.) Propagandhi – Supporting Caste
5.) The Xx – XX
6.) Burnt By The Sun – Heart of Darkness
7.) The Antlers – Hopsice
8.) Ulcerate – Everything Is Fire
9.) Gaza – He Is Never Coming Back
10.) Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue
Favorite Reissue: Company Flow – Funcrusher Plus
Movies (not exclusive to 2009):
1.) 3-Iron
2.) Walkabout
3.) The Elephant Man
4.) The Piano Teacher
5.) In The Mood For Love
6.) Persona
7.) Do The Right Thing
8.) Ikiru
9.) Ponyo
10.) Let The Right One In
Heath the Hoodlum
Top Eleven (no order):
Atlas Sound “Logos”
The Antlers “Hospice”
A Sunny Day in Glasgow “Ashes Grammar”
The XX “XX”
Drake “So Far Gone” Mixtape
Lightning Bolt “Earthly Delights”
Freddie Gibbs “Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs” Mixtape Baroness “Blue Record”
Japandroids “Post Nothing”
Animal Collective “Merriweather Post Pavilion”
Fuck Buttons “Tarot Sport”
Honorable Mention:
Miike Snow “S/T”
Real Estate “S/T”
Raekwon “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. 2″
Volcano Choir “Unmap”
Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
Neon Indian “Psychic Chasms”
Mayer Hawthorne “Strange Arrangement”
Re-discoverd:
Sonny Clark “Sonny Clark Trio”
Shameless Promotion:
Ribbons “Daytrotter Session 10/31/09″
Not with a Top Ten foot pole:
Girls “Album”
Fever Ray “S/T”
Dirty Projectors “Bitte Orca”
Lloyd (original co-owner and hoodlum)
Here’s what I enjoyed this past year:
U2 – No Line On The Horizon
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below
Miike Snow – Miike Snow
Ladyhawke – Ladyhawke
Harper Simon – Harper Simon
The Sounds – Crossing The Rubicon
Fun. – Aim & Ignite
Diamond District – In The Ruff
Kitty Daisy & Lewis – Kitty Daisy & Lewis
Imogen Heap – Ellipse
My 2009 Playlist…
1. Passion Pit – Little Things
2. Donkeyboy – Sometimes
3. Camera Obscura – The Sweetest Thing
4. La Roux – Bulletproof
5. Ryan Leslie – Never Gonna Break Up
6. Jack Penate – Pull My Heart Away
7. The XX – VCR
8. Phoenix – 1901
9. Taking Back Sunday – Sink Into Me
10. Fun. – All The Pretty Girls
11. Pearl Jam – The Fixer
12. Kitty Daisy & Lewis – I Got My Mojo Working
13. Throw Me The Statue – Hi-Fi Goon
14. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Janglin, Home
15. Harper Simon – Shooting Star
16. Tragically Hip – Morning Moon
17. Tinted Windows – Nothing To Me
18. Franz Ferdinand – No You Girls
19. Sam Roberts – Them Kids
20. Miike Snow – Animal, Burial
21. The Sounds – Underground
22. Iglu & Hartly – Jump Out Of Your Car
23. U2 – Unknown Caller
24. Luke Tierney – My New Best Friend
25. Katy Perry – Waking Up In Vegas
26. Neko Case – People Got A Lot Of Nerve
27. Wilco – Wilco (the song)
28. Green Day – 21 Guns
29. Ladyhawke – My Delirium
30. Diamond District – Streets Won’t Let Me Chill
Other Things…
Tom Petty Live Superhighway website
Hall & Oates Box Set
Big Star Box Set and Replacements reissues
My daughters’ interest in random Paul McCartney songs (No More Lonely Nights, Take It Away)
Weeds
30 Rock
Eastbound & Down
U2 at the Rose Bowl
30+ Favorite Albums of the 2000′s (in no particular order):
1. The Format – Interventions & Lullabyes
2. Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American
3. U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
4. Kanye West – College Dropout, Late Registration
5. Supergrass – Supergrass
6. Rival Schools – United By Fate
7. Chromeo – Fancy Footwork
8. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
9. Ryan Adams – Gold, Easy Tiger
10. Pete Yorn – musicforthemorningafter
11. The Kooks – Inside In/Inside Out
12. Bruce Springsteen – Magic
13. No Doubt – Rock Steady
14. Matt Costa – Unfamiliar Faces
15. Shelby Lynne – I Am Shelby Lynne
16. Margot & The Nuclear So & So’s – The Dust Of Retreat
17. Kathleen Edwards – Failer, Back To Me
18. David Mead – Mine & Yours
19. Rooney – Rooney
20. Brendan Benson – Lapalco, Alternative To Love
21. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
22. Tom Petty – Highway Companion
23. Damone – Out Here All Night
24. The Roots – Game Theory
25. Tift Merritt – Tambourine
26. Van Hunt – Van Hunt
27. Radiohead – Kid A
28. Rhett Miller – The Instigator
29. Robin Thicke – The Evolution Of Robin Thicke
30. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Live Anthology, Runnin’ Down A Dream movie
30 Favorite Songs Of the 2000′s
1. All These Things I’ve Done – The Killers
2. Elevator Love Letter – Stars
3. The First Single – The Format
4. Square One – Tom Petty
5. I’m Dead – Instruction
6. No Tomorrow – Orson
7. Let’s Talk Turkey – Ima Robot
8. Down Here In Hell With You or Dust – Van Hunt
9. Closet – Pete Yorn
10. Good Things – Rival Schools
11. In The Music – The Roots
12. Fury – Little Big Town
13. California Waiting and Sex On Fire – Kings Of Leon
14. Out Here All Night – Damone
15. The People – Common
16. 99 Problems – Jay-Z
17. Idioteque – Radiohead
18. Walk On, City Of Blinding Lights, Unknown Caller- U2
19. St. Petersburg – Supergrass
20. Longest Days -John Mellencamp
21. Big Brat or Do The Panic – Phantom Planet
22. Too Young – Phoenix
23. Wait It Out – Tift Merritt
24. Daft Punk Is Playing At My House – LCD Soundsystem
25. Somewhere Only We Know – Keane
26. Golden Age – TV On The Radio
27. The Way We Get By – Spoon
28. New Slang or Phantom Limb – The Shins
29. If I Ain’t Got You – Alicia Keys
30. Pop Goes My Heart – Hugh Grant
Of course, any household that includes the tastes of the Hoodlums’ store manager is automatically in the running for this title. If you’ve been around the store awhile, you probably know that Joe is the most “eccentric” listener of the Hoodlums’ hoodlums.
Which brings us to the other half of this equation, his girlfriend, roommate, and Hoodlums’ Hall of Famer, Ms. Maria. While equally opinionated, Maria’s list can be counted on to be a little more “accessible” than that of her hubby (as are yours, mine, Andy’s, Becky’s, and the entire Hoodlums’ Hall of Fame) .
Thank goodness. In addition to rolling their eyes when the BS gets too deep, the girls usually play different and often interesting stuff, which means the old guys (read: me) get to hear even more diverse selection of music (than strictly guy junk..which I also love).
These lists are from young Andy, who you will find working nights and weekends. That’s his cartoon over there (we just unveiled it, he’s kind of a scruffy character, eh?). It should have been drawn sooner (sorry, pal).
For a long time now, I’ve been sending videos to my friends in lieu of email. I don’ t profess to be cute enough for video (yes, it pains me to have to look my goofy hair, etc), and the lighting isn’t exactly studio-quality, but it allows me to inject a bit more personality than when I am strictly writing (which I like to do as well).
Let me say first off that while I am a huge jazz fan, and while I have built a pretty decent collection over my twenty plus years in record stores, there are undoubtedly thousands of people that know more about the genre. What I am saying is that I am not an expert. However, I do know a little… and I know what I like.
Start with the heavyweight champions of jazz. Coltrane, Miles, Bird, Louie, Billie. If you have heard of them, there’s probably a reason. So ask your questions, figure out what you like, do your homework, and then start obvious. You can get cooler and more diverse as you go. As it is, the classics are usually about as cool as cool comes anyway (I still listen to Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue as much as anything in my collection), and in most cases, they are cheap.
Trade in some of your unused stuff for some new jazz. Bring in your old CDs, DVDs, or vinyl. We’ll give you trade credit while you browse the jazz section, or look at the 
Thelonious Monk. Monk’s Music. (Fantasy). Great lineup. Amazing musician and composer. Killer album. Like all the artists on the list, it’s one of those “where do you start” situations when recommending.
