Issue 23, Dec. 2008

The Shining - Don't Be Scared, It's Just Our Faves of '08
Another year has gone by.
As we get older, they seem to fly by faster than ever before. We see our kids growing older, becoming well-balanced, truly amazing teens with ambition and interests; we see ourselves collecting wrinkles and grayer hair at a somewhat alarming rate.
Capturing all that goes by in a single year is tough. You go to work, come home, maybe go on a vacation or two... and then the year is up.
So it’s time to spend a few minutes remembering what we’ve done for the last 12 months. And since we’re a music magazine, we’ve spent this issue remembering the shows we’ve seen and the CDs we heard.
So here it is, our fourth annual end-of-the year Favorites Issue.
As you’ll read, we had a little trouble choosing our favorite CD of the year, so we awarded two our top honor. “Honeysuckle Weeks” by the Submarines (we loved them even before they got famous from their iPhone ads) and the pleasant end-of-the-year surprise, Jenny Lewis’ “Acid Tongue.”
And as favorite performer, well, it was tough to top Kathleen Edwards rocking out at the Paradise.
For all of our year’s favorites, check out Pages 6-7.
We are also really excited about our first-ever Special Report, an in-depth look at music blogs and the music industry’s love-hate relationship with them. We talk to musicians, label reps and the bloggers themselves to suss out where they fit in the Circle of Musical Life.
And finally, as we put the finishing touches on this year, we also find ourselves looking ahead to next year, and the change in this country’s leadership.
Not to get all political, but we sure are glad we will have a new president, and the choice of Barack Obama brings hope for a change of philosophy in the way the US is led.
With this, we dig deep inside our iTunes playlist to bring you songs that mirror our new hope.
Peace to all.
To download the new issue, click HERE.

MA5 - SONGS
Songs that helped us survive this issue.
1. “Pretty Bird,’’ “Acid Tongue,” Jenny Lewis. Hauntingly wonderful.
2. “A Man Needs a Maid,” “Harvest,” Neil Young. Not getting ideas, just an amazing tune.
3. “No Bad News,” “Children Running Through,” Patty Griffin. It’s fun to hear her rock out.
4. “Better,” “Begin to Hope,” Regina Spektor. The more I listen to this album, the more I love it.
5. “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Ain’t No Sunshine,” Bill Withers. Just one of the all-time great songs.