I'M GOING TO MEET HIM! HEEEEEE......!!!!!

Last updated: 3 October 2003

(Yep, still rather in love with that picture, thank you very much.)

Since "Faint" has been reigning o'er my personal playlist for over four months now and still manages to sound fresh and utterly addictive with pretty much each listen - no mean feat considering there have been times when I'd literally play it a couple of dozen times a day, and that's not counting the video, various live mp3s, TV appearances and the trading card - I think it's safe to say that we have a winner for Song of the Year.

I'M GOING TO MEET THEM! HEEEEEE......!!!!!

  • "Faint" - Linkin Park (see above. Oh, go on)
  • Meteora - Linkin Park
  • Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park
  • "In the End" - Linkin Park
  • "Carousel" (demo) - Linkin Park
  • Linkin Park Underground V2.0 (limited edition fan club CD) - Linkin Park (the incendiary live rendition of "High Voltage" here is a reminder of why I love the band in the first place)
  • "And One" - Linkin Park
(There are other bands? Where?)

80s SYNTH POP REDUX! HEEEEEE......!!!!!

Just kidding.

  • "Burn, Don't Freeze" - Sleater-Kinney
  • "Screaming Infidelities" - Dashboard Confessional (whoa, I see why...)
  • "Faces and Beer" - The Capitol Years
  • "Rhythm Bandits" - Junior Senior (fuck me, this is ACE)
  • "Come On, Let Your Limelight Shine" - The Lassie Foundation
  • "To Claudia on Thursday" - The Millennium (gosh, will I ever tire of this song? Why isn't it a classic already?)
  • "Heaven Is Rising" - Orange Cake Mix
  • "Storming" - Great Lakes
  • "Swing Swing" - The All American Rejects
  • When Your Heartstrings Break - Beulah (New album Yoko out now! BUY!)
  • "Hot Rock" - Sleater-Kinney
  • "Blueside" - Rooney
  • "Painkiller" - Turin Brakes
  • "Big Sur" - The Thrills
  • "New Slang" - The Shins
  • "NYC" - Interpol
  • "Maps" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
  • "Flashes and Cables" - Centromatic
  • "Haircut Economics" - Hot Hot Heat
  • "Curiosités" - Watoo Watoo
  • "Hey Ya" - Outkast
  • Happy Together - The Turtles
  • "Moi Lolita" - Alizee
  • "Troposphere" - Steve Burns
  • Goin' through Changes - Zumpano

Special honorable mention: Bill Swan of Beulah. Sings like an angel, writes like a.... well, not sure how an angel would write - if at all - but in any case check out his Coast studio diary here. (Sample entry: "On a day like today, one can only conjure up images of the skeptical architect with arms crossed and a long face with the occasional loud sigh in view of unfinished concrete pillars, metal rods, and a crew perpetually on lunch break.")

Okay, another sample cos I really love this one: "We are not Boyz 2 Men, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Backstreet Boys, or any other "boys." Nor are we the Statler Brothers, the Mills Brothers or the Everly Brothers. But the mixing board was once used by the Pointer Sisters, and we were "so excited" because we finally recorded our first live multiple ON KEY harmonies as a group." (asdfgdfalkjhfsh hi Bill, I'm single)

Honorable mention: Linkin Park, Rooney, Billy Martin of Good Charlotte, Roger Taylor of Duran Duran (eeeeee!!!!!), Jason Isaacs, Turin Brakes, Bill Paxton in Limp Bizkit's "Eat You Alive" video, Conor Deasey of The Thrills (whoa, are you sure his real surname isn't, like, Blunstone?), Tyson Ritter of the All American Rejects, Ted Casablanca (what?), Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, Brian Bell of Weezer, him from the Chemical Brothers' "The Golden Path" video, Patrick Stewart

Indie video of the month: "Know Your Onion!" - The Shins (How sad is this: I downloaded the video to my hard drive, and then went early Beatles when opening the file. That said, this video is truly awww-inducing in an "Island in the Sun" kind of way. Heck, it features a cute furry animal too. And James Mercer isn't exactly hard to look at.)

Creepiest video of the year: "Low" - Foo Fighters

Justice in the world, Pt. 8714: I'm going to MEET the sexiest man alive. Reader, wish me luck (not to mention composure, reasonable command of English, presence of mind, self control....)

[Hereupon the author pauses to steady herself at the very thought.

Oh.

My.

GOD.]