Stuck In A Pagoda With Motoko Aoyama

Leave it to my favorite blogger in the IW blogosphere, Vee Hoffman, to give me the excuse to finally sit on my ass and do something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile. I have to apologize in advance for the slightly shitty microphone I used on this debut podcast, as I had plugged into my $1700 Windoze Blister laptop a $2 microphone I’d gotten on the spur of the moment via a “cheap deals” link Tara had hipped me to. This was slightly impromptu, but if the reaction is good to this experiment, I’ll try to outdo myself on Episode 2 (and get a better microphone). Enjoy!

Direct download:

ETA 4.20.08 6:02 PM. Apparently Odeo.com, which is hosting the stream and RSS feed of this podcast, has briefly gone kerplotz. My apologies, but that part of the equation is unfortunately out of my control. Good thing I put the direct DL up, huh?

ETA 4.21.08 10:48 AM. Since Odeo.com is proving rather unreliable, I’m hosting the show through Podshow.com now and have removed the Odeo.com flash stream. You can stream or download the show, or grab the RSS feed for this and future episodes through this URL:

I’ve also put this new location’s RSS feed through iTunes for those of you that like to download podcasts in that manner; I’ll let everyone know when it becomes available soon as I get an update from Apple.

ETA 4.22.08 8:29 PM. The Pagoda Podcast is now available through iTunes. Click here to subscribe!

Playlist:
“The American Invasion” (intro) / CJ Marsicano / WMX8 EP
“Pinch!” / Yui Horie / Ho?!
“SwEEt dREAM” / Tommy February6 / Tommy Airline
“Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)” / Parliament / Mothership Connection
“Hello Orange Sunshine” / Ai+BAND / Hello! We Are Ai+BAND!
“Yumi Wo Mimashita” / Yukki / Sotsugyou EP
“Mrs. Robinson” / Natsumi Abe & Yuko Nakazawa / FS5 Sotsugyou

After many a delay (engagement announcement preparations, day job bullshit, inability to keep my hands off of my new USB turntable, and finally, the goddamned flu), I’ve finally gotten around to doing my top albums of 2007 list. Since trying to do individual reviews for the ten albums is a bit out of the question of the moment (I’ll be starting anew this week with a couple of slightly overdue reviews), I’ll use this as an excuse to reignite the Pagoda Five feature for 2008 as well.

10. Desoto Jones - Aurora (Deep Elm) An up-and-coming post-emo group led by three brothers deals with tragedy in the form of having to bury their father during the time they were recording the album. One can only hear this and wonder what kind of an album Hawthorne Heights will deliver as the follow-up to If Only You Were Lonely once they kick Tony Brummel to the curb and finish mourning their fallen comrade Casey Calvert. (http://www.deepelm.com - available on limited edition CD and through iTunes and eMusic.)

9. Northern Liberties - Ghost Mind Electricity (Badmaster) Third album from the Philadelphia trio that discovered the fine line between Joy Division and the Misfits. Recorded at the legendary Inner Ear Studio in Virginia (home of 98% of the Dischord catalog) with its equally revered owner/engineer Don Zientara, its’ the trio’s most accomplished recording yet. (http://www.northernlibertiesband.com - available on CD)

8. Paramore - Riot! (Fueled By Ramen) The trolls at PunkNews.org that complain about this album not being punk enough or being terrible don’t know what they’re talking about. “Misery Business” and “crushcrushcrush” are only the tip of the iceberg on this group’s second album. (http://www.fueledbyramen.com, available on CD, limited edition vinyl and limited edition CD/MVI combo)

7. Koda Kumi - Black Cherry (Avex Trax). A concept album? Looks like one to me, even if that wasn’t Kumi’s intention. The only difference between this and Dark Side Of The Moon is that Ms. Koda didn’t have to fly to Pompeii to make the companion movie. (http://www.rhythmzone.net/koda, available on CD)

6. Tommy Heavenly6 - HeavyStarryHeavenly (DefSTAR). A stronger effort from Tomoko Kawase’s darker alter-ego than her eponymous 2006 release, and her best solo work since Tommy Airline. Earth calling Amy Lee: You’ve been out-gothed; turn in your piano and quit ripping off Tori Amos and your ex-bandmates. (http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Tommy/)

The top five of this list in about an hour…