By my count we’ve got just a little over six weeks remaining in the year 2008.  With the arrival of Thanksgiving on Thursday of next week, not only does the official holiday season begin but for many blogs, print publications, and radio stations so begins the annual rite of passage known as “The Best of the Year” music lists and album countdowns.  Yes, it’s time once again to begin thinking about the concerts, artists, albums, and songs that moved you the most during the year that was twenty aught-eight.  For at least one local Charlottesville radio station the road to “Best of” countdown has already begun.

WNRN 91.9 FM has just recently kicked off their campaign to compile the best albums of 2008 by asking their listeners to start submitting their own lists of this year’s music album favorites.  Once all the lists have been added up, Ronda Chollock will end the year with a live on-air countdown of your 100 favorite albums.  The countdown begins on December 31 at 10am.

So start thinking now about what albums would be on your Best of the Year list and then head over to WNRN’s home page and submit your choices.  (You can submit up to 20 albums)  [Here’s the direct link to WNRN’s Best of 2008 online poll].  O yeah,  and here’s the best part:  Everyone who votes and who includes their name and email address will automatically be entered to win the Top 20 Albums of the Year on CD as well as dinner for two.  Personally, I think 20 albums and a free dinner would fit nicely in someone’s Christmas stocking.  So let’s hear it, who do you think should be considered in the running for the Best Album of 2008?

Popularity: 9% [?]

Here’s an event taking place in Charlottesville later this week that serves as a perfect bookend to this past weekend’s “Aliens”-themed Virginia Film Festival.  It also should be exciting news for fans of the Oklahoma-based band of “fearless freaks”, The Flaming Lips.  On Friday (11/07), WNRN 91.9FM will be presenting a special FREE screening of the film “Christmas on Mars”, the psychedelic science-fiction movie written and directed by the Flaming Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne.  The screening will be held upstairs at Boylan Heights (on the UVA Corner) at 8pm.  All ages with a limited menu available for movie-goers.

Here’s how Coyne describes the film on the band’s website:

“Maybe Eraserhead or Dead Man crossed with some kind of fantasy and space aspects, like The Wizard of Oz and maybe A Space Odyssey, except done without real actors or money, and set at Christmas-time. The story that unfolds is intended to hint at childlike magic within a tragic and realistic situation.”

The film, which debuted at this year’s Sasquatch! Music Festival, stars the Flaming Lips’ multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd as the movie’s lead character Major Syrtis and features a cast which includes all of the members of the Flaming Lips as well as appearances by Adam Goldberg, singer-songwriter Steve Burns, and SNL’s Fred Armisen.  “Christmas on Mars” hits stores on DVD on Tuesday, November 11.  The accompanying 12-song film soundtrack will also be released the same day.  [Watch the trailer for “Christmas on Mars” here]

Popularity: 18% [?]

The concert series at the Four County Players Theater in Barboursville kicks into an electric high gear as they present local blues sensation Eli Cook with his band Electric Holy Firewater for two back-to-back shows showcasing the music of the legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix.  The Second Annual Classic Hendrix Concert featuring the aforementioned Cook and his band takes place this Friday and Saturday night at “Central Virginia’s longest running community theater” which has been in operation since 1973.  [directions]

The inaugural Classic Hendrix Concert was held back in January of this year as a one-night event and was a sold-out success.  As a result, the concert event has now been expanded to a include a second show.  Performances both nights kick off at 8pm.  Doors open at 7pm.  $15.  General admission.  For more info call the Four County Players Box Office at 540.832.5355.

Eli Cook recently stopped by the WNRN studios for an interview and in-studio acoustic performance with Anne Williams, host of the station’s Acoustic Sunrise morning show.  [you can listen to the interview below]

Listen:
MP3:  WNRN interviews Eli Cook

Popularity: 21% [?]

In advance of tonight’s Sons of Bill / Wrinkle Neck Mules co-bill at Toad’s Place in Richmond, WNRN 91.9FM invited two of Bill’s sons into the studio for a live interview and performance on Friday.  Anne Williams interviews James and Sam Wilson of Sons of Bill on WNRN’s Acoustic Sunrise below.  By the way, WNRN is presenting this show.  [And if you haven’t yet taken the time to do so, also check out my interviews with S.O.B.’s James Wilson and Andy Stepanian of the Wrinkle Neck Mules]

Listen:
MP3:  WNRN interviews James and Sam Wilson 10.10.08

Popularity: 17% [?]

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The bands Birdlips and Birdmonster performed last night at the Gravity Lounge.  The crowd was small.  The bands soared.  We sang and played along.  It’s why we came.  [My thoughts after the break.  Plus we’ve got a song from Birdlips (”Dream Within a Dream” from the band’s debut album Cardboard Wings) and WNRN’s live on-air interview and performance from Birdmonster, both in MP3 form, for your listening pleasure.] »Read More

Popularity: 23% [?]

Canadian folk-pop sensation Basia Bulat [pronounced BASH-a BOO-lat] makes a stop in Charlottesville tonight, performing at the Gravity Lounge.  Her latest album, Oh, My Darling (Rough Trade America), has made the shortlist for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize which is awarded annually to the best full-length Canadian album.  (Other nominees include Plants and Animals’ Parc Avenue, Caribou’s Andorra, and Black Mountain’s In the Future) .  The winner will be announced later this month.

With a voice that has been compared to Feist, Natalie Merchant, and Joni Mitchell, Bulat’s music combines elements of traditional folk with a variety of styles including orchestra and acoustic indie rock (although Basia has described her own sound as chamber pop).  You can listen to WNRN’s interview and live in-studio performance from earlier today here.

Local singer-songwriter/composer Wes Swing opens.  Check out our profile post–Wes Swing:  Playing It Smart.  Show starts at 7:30pm.  $10.  [the latest video for the song “The Pilgriming Vine”off of Oh, My Darling is after the break]

[Basia Bulat photo by A. Von Seckendorf] »Read More

Popularity: 21% [?]

 The Gravity Lounge welcomes two Nashville-based Americana acts to Charlottesville tonight as Griffin House and The Bittersweets perform tonight with special guest Stephen Delopoulos (of Burlap to Cashmere).  Showtime is 7:30pm.  $8.

The Bittersweets are currently touring in support of their brand new album Goodnight, San Francisco (Compass Records) which was just released last Tuesday.  The band’s sound has been compared to the likes of Hem, Robinella, and even the folkier side of Jenny Lewis and the reviews thus far have been overwhelmingly positive.  Personally I’m hearing their music for the very first time so I’ll leave it to you to form your own opinion on the band’s music.  The Bittersweets stopped by WNRN for an interview and live in-studio performance this morning.  Give it a listen here.

Griffin House is a 28 year-old singer-songwriter from Springfield, Ohio who currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.  House has recorded five full-length albums, including 2004’s Lost and Found and last year’s Flying Upside Down, both of which were released on Nettwerk Records.  [check out the video for “I Remember (It’s Happening Again)” from House’s most recent album after the break]

[Griffin House photo by Rusty Ralston] »Read More

Popularity: 16% [?]

Has anyone else noticed lately that the Gravity Lounge has been booking more and more music acts in the indie / alternative rock vein?  It’s not an entirely new approach for the downtown music venue that recently celebrated its five-year anniversary, but it seems to be happening with a greater frequency these days.  That’s not to say it’s happening on a night-in, night-out basis, but it’s definitely a welcome addition to the Gravity’s already solid line-up of singer-songwriters, acoustic acts, and touring Americana artists.

[Gravity photo by Carey Clutts] »Read More

Popularity: 17% [?]

 James Jackson Toth (of the band Wooden Wand) is currently on the road promoting his brand new solo debut album Waiting in Vain which was released by Rykodisc Records back on July 29.  Toth is touring with the band The Dutchess and the Duke (whose album She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke was lovingly reviewed on these very pages by our own hevidius).  You can catch both performers live tonight as they share the Gravity Lounge stage.  The James Jackson Toth / The Dutchess and the Duke show is the second of two shows tonight at Gravity.  Showtime is 10:30pm and the cost is $7 at the door.

James Jackson Toth stopped by the WNRN Charlottesville studios for a live on-air interview and performance with Ronda Chollock.  In case you missed it, you can listen to the in-studio appearance here.  [also check out the video for Toth’s “Doreen” from Waiting in Vain after the break] »Read More

Popularity: 22% [?]

Jesse Harper, the guitar-playing frontman and songwriter in the Charlottesville-based band Old School Freight Train, celebrates the release of his solo album Jesse Harper and His Best Intentions with a performance tonight (08/16) at the Gravity Lounge.  Showtime is at 8pm and the admission cost is $8 at the door.

Harper stopped by the WNRN studios in C’ville on Friday morning and sat down with Anne Williams, the host of the station’s morning show Acoustic Sunrise, for an interview and to play a couple of  songs live on the air.  You can hear the interview and live performances in their entirity here.  [Also, if you’re a fan of Old School Freight Train, make note:  The band performs live at the Gravity on September 5]

[Jesse Harper photo by Aaron Farrington]

Popularity: 38% [?]