L'shana Tova...

This morning...on a day off...I woke up earlier than I do for work, and got more dressed up than I do for work. Yippie. Went up to Central Synagogue for services with my Father and Grandfather. I'm not a very religious boy, but I like to get up for these things...I'd feel guilty not doing it for some reason.

Anyway...I spent alot of time wandering around today when I got back downtown...all dressed up in a suit and tie hopping from indie record store to indie record store in search for the elusive Arcade Fire LP with no luck. Everybody told me they were gonna get it in later today...so we'll see. I've more or less heard every song off the album between KEXP and mp3s, and have loved it all...Now I'm anxiously searching for the whole thing.

I did, as I always seem to do, buy a couple things anyway during my searches...one of which is the Bloc Party EP, which I've listened to twice in a row already since getting home and am totally loving it. Banquet is maybe my favorite song of the year. Check them out at the Knitting Factory Sept 30th...

I also picked up the import DVD of the directors cut of Hero, which was the second best movie I've seen all year (behind Eternal Sunshine). Looking forward to watching it again soon.

Also during my trek, I noticed The Thrills are playing a in-store set at Tower on W 4th today at 6...a heads up if you're interested.

So...last night I went to see Wolf Parade and Modest Mouse in the hood at Webster Hall. I loved Wolf Parade for the first 2 songs...to the point I was gonna go see if they had an EP or something in between sets...but after a while my interest wained, and I got kind of bored of them. Weren't bad tho. Modest Mouse on the other hand was great through and through. Man, do they play a lot of instruments! I was impressed! I hadn't seen them since Siren last year, and that barely counts...They played a fine mix of old and new stuff, and I was glad I went.

Webster Hall as a venue is supriseingly nice...A little bigger than Irving, but doesn't feel too imposing. The only big problem was the exit...I mean...open another door or something. It took 20 minutes to get out once the band went off...that's unacceptable.

Finally, I've said before that I love gimmicks...so I thought between now and Yom Kippur, I'd count down my favorite albums of the Year 5764. It's not gonna be the indiest and most hardcore underground list you've ever seen, but it's what I've listened to and enjoyed the most over the last 12 months. Take it for what you will...I'll post #20 and #19 later today.