Top 10 Albums of 2003 that I haven't heard yet because I don't have high speed internet/do not want to buy Copy Control CDs in Australia:

1. The Thrills - So much for the City
7 piece Dublin band who've been listening to Pet Sounds, alot. Then proceeded to kick U2s ass in the Irish version of the Grammies.
2. Joe Strummer - Streetcore
Final work from a legend. Actually heard some of it on triple j - Didn't miss a beat.
3. Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
More noisescapes than melodies. Not my cup of tea, but noteworthy.
4. The Postal Service - Give Up
Emo meets electronica. Does electronica still have a pulse? What about acid-jazz?
5. The Thermals - More Parts Per Million
I would have purchased this one if CDs weren't so damn expensive ($22USD)
6. Sufjan Stevens - Michigan
If I could find this one locally I would shell out the cash. I hear good things about this one, like a less rough around the edges Will Oldham.
7. Centro-matic - Love You Just The Same
These guys are a pretty recent discovery for me. Redo The Stacks and Navigational are in regular rotation. Love You should be joining in soon.
8. Bonnie Prince Billy - Master And Everyone
I do love me some Will Oldham.
9. Pernice Brothers - Yours, Mine & Ours
Scud Mountain Boys rawked when I was at UMass. Bostonian Joe Pernice is building a catalog to rival Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters) and Stephen Merritt (Magnetic Fields). This means he's a good, intelligent songwriter thats flying completely under the radar.
10. Mojave 3 - Spoon and Rafter
Ex shoegazers from Slowdive making some of the best sadcore/country/dreampop. Ask me Tommorrow (their debut) made me a fan forever. I guess a cheap fan is more accurate.

Back to bidness

Now that NZ is a distant memory, its all about getting ready to go back. Works pretty busy wrapping things up, at this point I'm not starting anything new, just getting everything set for my aussie counterparts return.

Got my flight back sorted, arriving on Saturday Dec 20th. Unlike the trip out here, no long layovers scheduled. I'm then taking the entire holiday week off, so give me a holler err email me so we can catch up.

After a bout of rainfall, the weather has finally acquiesced here - warm and sunny, giving me some sembance of summer. Quite the opposite to what I'm about to go back to. Not looking forward to short, cold days and shitty driving conditions.

Shins and Iron & Wine put on a great show the other night. I checked the shins tour dates - they started off in New York and haven't been to Boston yet. May check them out again. You can stream the KRCW show here . I'm doing that at this very moment.

Picked up the Tenacious D DVD last week. Pretty damn funny stuff. Also checked out Mystic River to get my chowdah head fix. Tim Robbins had a pretty weak southie accent but Sean Penn blew me away. His performance was a Pedro-esque.