The Variety Playhouse had quite the bill last night. Holy Fuck, The Fiery Furnaces, and Super Furry Animals were in town, so a good time was pretty much guaranteed. The Variety Playhouse’s shows are about as prompt and predictable as Mussolini’s trains. That is to say, they start as soon as the doors open. So we didn’t make it in time for Holy Fuck, however I would like to talk a bit about the Fiery Furnaces.

The Fiery Furnaces put on an amazing show. Their set was a lively combination of their newest album Widow City, favorites from Bitter Tea, and a sprinkling of new tracks. They have a pretty interesting style that seems to fuse Brooklyn noise, indie-pop, jerky time signatures, sludgy keyboards, and even some Deerhoof caliber silliness. It was intense. After the show I was able to get their new album on vinyl. It includes a code to download the digital version of the album for free. I think all records should include free digital versions of the album, but I guess that’s just me.

Also, the Super Furry Animals played. You know, the actual headliner. Well, to be honest, SFA never really did it for me, and last night was no exception. I mean they were good, and they are amazingly accomplished musicians, I just couldn’t seem to muster excitement for a set that felt a little sterile and tired. Regardless, after the Fiery Furnaces played, it was all just icing on the cake. Now I can look forward to my next big show, Simian Mobile Disco at MJQ!

It’s finally here. I know you’ve been losing sleep, biting your nails, and just had an overall difficult time waiting for it. In what is definitely gaining steam as a tradition among my friends, here are my picks for the top 10 movies, albums, and games. This year I will do something amazingly clever as well, I will put them in reverse order to build suspense. Brilliant!

Movies

10. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
9. 2 Days in Paris
8. Superbad
7. Juno
6. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
5. Sweeny Todd
4. Eastern Promises
3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2. No Country For Old Men
1. Ratatouille

Now before you comment about my horrible movie misappropriations, first know that there were some movies that I just didn’t get a chance to see. Here are some movies that I didn’t get to see, but could have very possibly been on this list.

Honorable Mentions - Year of the Dog, Persepolis, Savages, Michael Clayton

Games

I really do consider 2007 to be the greatest year for video games ever. We have 3 great consoles constantly competing for our attention, and the next step in some pretty amazing game franchises. I could have just as easily made a Top 25 list.

10. Desktop Tower Defense
9. Crackdown
8. PGR 4
7. Mario Galaxy
6. Halo 3
5. Call of Duty 4
4. Guitar Hero III
3. Rock Band
2. Half-Life 2: The Orange Box
1. Bioshock

Honorable Mentions - Mass Effect, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

Albums

That’s means music, sonny.

10. The Clientelle - God Save the Clientelle
9. Deerhunter - Cryptograms
8. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunities
7. Black Kids - Wizard of Ahhhs EP
6. Bjork - Volta
5. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna
4. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
3. M.I.A. - Kala
2. Jens Leckman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
1. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

Honorable Mentions - The Black Lips