. dave alluded to "the insane amount of ' best of ' lists floating around" in his last post , so i thought i'd take the opportunity to throw mine out there as well...if i took a little more time (i.e. wasn't so lazy), i'd probably write something about each of these (& try to make it sound as good as this ), but as it is i'll just let the music speak for itself...these are my favorite releases from 2007. . [...]

curb your enthusiasm's hilarious season finale aired over a month ago, but another great hbo show, extras , is closing up shop for good this weekend with an extended christmas special...even if you've never watched a single episode, tune in sunday, because it looks amazing ...anyways, our fifth holiday compilation is a bit of a mixed bag, with great tracks from dr. john, smokey robinson, & joni mitchell, as well as my favorite song from my morning jacket's fantastic xmas fiasco style ep...i do feel a little self conscious about including mariah carey [...]

i realize it's still november, but after seeing charlie brown's christmas special on tv the other night it's starting to feel like the holiday season has officially begun, so i thought i'd start sharing a few of the christmas mixes i've put together over the past couple years...i know there's a lot of similar music being posted this time of year that is more hip & eclectic than most of these tracks, but i guess i'm drawn to songs that have a little more familiar feel around the holidays...also, i thought i'd mention that this set is broken [...]

The above image has nothing to do with the sonic goodness contained below. Enjoy. (more...)

Image: Mina Magee On Tuesday Chicago was Minnesota: Land of 10,000 Lakes. A late afternoon cloudburst (4 inches in 45 minutes) and our capricious sewers flipped the off switch and hit the picket line; viaducts turned into churning gray sludge pools and generally smooth east-west arteries were sudden stroke victims. I made it by diverted "express" bus as far north as Lake Shore Drive and Addison, then walked the rest of the three miles home. Which wouldn't have been dire if I'd been [...]
SON OF A PREACHER MAN Video Dusty Springfield Dusty in Memphis Atlantic : 1969 [Buy It] SON OF A PREACHER MAN Aretha Franklin This Girl's In Love With You Atlantic : 1970 [Buy It] SON OF A PREACHER MAN Mavis Staples Only The Lonely Stax : 1970 [Buy It] SON OF [...]
the takeovers father's favorite temperature the takeovers molly & zack the takeovers my will mavis staples on my way neko case hold on hold on danny cohen motel sex Find more mp3s by searching the HYPE MACHINE .
MP3: "On My Way" by Mavis Staples from We'll Never Turn Back, out now on Anti. Check out a classic Staples Singers video after the jump......
A quick competition before some April highlights. The kind people at Lex Records sent me over a spare copy of Le Sac & Pip's massive " Thou Shalt Always Kill " 73. I'm led to believe its rarer than a genuine apology from Tony Blair, so if you'd like a copy answer EITHER of these simple questions: " What does Kid Acne feed to Pigeons? " ( See YouTube video here ) or mail me [...]
The legendary Mavis Staples has returned with a wonderful new collection of soul music that encompasses blues, R&B and gospel in a way that only Mavis can deliver. Her new album We'll Never Turn Back was released this week on Anti- Records and was produced by Ry Cooder. On My Way - Mavis Staples Mavis's myspace

The National - Fake Empire (goodhodgkins.com) Lil' Wayne - Ride 4 My Niggas (marathonpacks.com) Mark Ronson - Apply Some Pressure (Feat. Paul Smith) (songbytoad.com) Shannon Wright - Everybody's Got Their Own Part to Play (pitchforkmedia.com) Lucky Soul - The Great Unwanted (pitchforkmedia.com) Chikita Violenta - Laydown (pitchforkmedia.com) The Bittersweets - Hurtin' Kind (officenaps.com) The Intruders - Together [...]
Minus The Bear return on Aug 21 with a new album called Planet Of Ice. The internal temperature in the blogosphere on this one is red hot, we may have to move to a shelter in the desert. Judging from the sounds of this one, they've taken a tip or two from Tom Sawyer . At least it's not Mr. Roboto . Damn this song is good. Dr. L'Ling - Minus The Bear More of [...]

Rufus Wainwright at The Triple Door photo by Jessica Warren Song of the Day: Every Monday-Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. The podcast features exclusive in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that KEXP DJs think you should hear. Today's featured selection, chosen by Morning Show host John Richards, is by The Besnard Lakes and is found [...]
We'll Never Turn Back is what music should be. Gut-wrenching blues, earth shaking beats, hip swaying rhythms, deeply moving lyrics, and a rich voice that defies description. Produced by Ry Cooder and... **Click on the link to read the full post, download mp3s, and comment.**
SINCE I FELL FOR YOU Doris Duke I'm A Loser Canyon : 1970 [Buy It] SINCE I FELL FOR YOU Nina Simone Nina Simone Sings The Blues RCA : 1967 [Buy It] SINCE I FELL FOR YOU Fontella Bass The "New" Look Checker: 1965 Available on: The Very Best Of... [Buy It] SINCE I FELL [...]
You know Ace Records , of course. For a long time their heavy full colour catalogue was my only pornography. Ahh, the music on that label, and one of the artists i found was Mavis. Mavis Staples . Ace had a collection called "Don't change me now" and i played it until it was unplayable. Mavis is back now with a new album, and i'll bet some money on that it (It's called "We'll never turn back"), will be one of the albums that will top some best of lists this year. Here's one track [...]
(Editor's note: By all rights music from Mavis Staples upcoming record, We'll Never Turn Back, should be all over the blogs. Unfortunately some of the most popular mp3 blogs are also the most apolitical. Many others are content with keeping things snarky and sarcastic and not addressing any of the real issues the country faces (besides whose hair was too long on American Idol, or how Apple will cope with a DRM free world, or which leak landed on the p2p networks this week). With the election fervor starting to kick I hope this record [...]

A seemly thing it is, dearest ladies, that whatever we do, it be begun in the holy and awful name of Him who was the maker of all. Wherefore, as it falls to me to lead the way in this your enterprise of storytelling, I intend to begin with one of His wondrous works, that, by hearing thereof, our hopes in Him, in whom is no change, may be established, and His name be by us forever lauded. 'Tis manifest that, as things temporal are all doomed to pass and perish, so within and without they abound with trouble and [...]

Faithful visitors to this blog may remember a time, nearly 350 days ago, when I attempted to post 60 songs throughout the course of November. All was going well and I was on track to complete my task when suddenly, in a post about Jenny Lewis's cover of the Travelling Wilburys' "Handle With Care," STEREOGUM linked to my site where the original was hosted. Literally thousands of people visited PIMPS OF GORE in a matter of hours, and my bandwidth for the month was kaput. I found it a little bit amusing that my site was crippled not [...]