So, it’s almost 2009 and I’m feeling a little burnt out. The general holiday pressures notwithstanding, trying to squeeze the rest of my 2008 “talkabouts” out this month, hoping to further shape my much “anticipated” Best Of list, was a bit tiring. I’m not Mick Jagger : Time is NOT on my side. So, in the interest of making sure my unfortunate stragglers get SOME due, here’s a list of what I failed to cover. My apologies to the following: Man Man Rabbit Habits Anti- Released: 4.8.08 Rating: 9.25 out of 10 “You think you’re so slick/I seen her lipstick ‘cross your dillsnick…” Juvenilia definitely penetrates the otherwise vibratory rush of xylophone that pushes through Man Man ’s “The Ballad Of Butter Beans.” But the Philadelphia-bred outfit’s tripping sailor music, a pop-ilicious combo of Waits -ian oceanic travelogue and Zappa lampooned avant-progression, is the work of musicians that take what they do very seriously. Rabbit Habits , their third album, crosses manic aggression (“...

Jazz trumpeter, Freddie Hubbard , died Monday at the age of 70. Only being somewhat familiar with his work, namely his work with Coltrane in Africa/Brass and Ascension , and on Ornette Coleman 's Free Jazz album, it's probably best to let this video clip speak for him. Here he is in 1982 playing alongside two of my heroes: Drummer, Tony Williams and bassist, Ron Carter . R.I.P. Mr. Hubbard. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

...hope you all have an enjoyable holiday season. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

No Ripcord Readers' Poll results. Individual lists for contributing writers. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

68 years old today. Hope you're celebrating where ever you are. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Between The Pine Friends, Foes, Kith And Kin Supply & Demand Released: 12.16.08 Rating: 9 out of 10 I must be depressed, because I really like this. Typically, someone like James Diotte , also known as Between The Pine , would be subject to my folk music magnifying glass. A couple days ago, I was having a conversation with a friend regarding folk music. She’s a fan, I’m usually not too receptive; reason being, folk music takes no prisoners. You don’t get more naked than folk music, even with a band behind you, and with the whole genre basically following only three or four shining stars, it’s seems very prone to monotony. Facsimiles of Elliot Smith , Nick Drake , Damien Rice and Sam Beam are everywhere it seems, flooding the video hits market, making the chicks swoon…distinctive folk acts are hard to come by. Basically: If you live by the acoustic, if your drawers are filled with flannel shirts and your guitar looks beat-up to symbolize your world-weary poetry, you better b...

Brian Wilson The Lucky Old Sun Capitol Released: 9.2.08 Rating: 6.25 out of 10 Love letter to L.A. Whatever. Cubicle bound on a cold and grey December afternoon, confronted with an infuriatingly long commute amidst an abundance of retail-hungry Christmas shoppers keeping me frozen in a line of traffic, keeping me from going home, Brian Wilson ’s latest foray into California rock operatic cuteness, The Lucky Old Sun , is tantamount to a denture-impediment of a “nyah nyah.” Is it somewhat of a slap in the face that Wilson morphed a 1949 blues song, (originally written by Beasley Smith and Haven Gillespie ), perfectly illustrating the desire to be anyone, or anything, else in the face of backbreaking hardship, into this ridiculously upbeat ode to Los Angeles, interspersing reprise after reprise before and following banally conceived spoken word narratives and otherwise inconsequential and sentimental crap? Think SMiLE II , with emphasis on the “II:” an unrealized attempt at duplicati...