Top 5 British Bands

Inspired by my rockin' trip to the UK, I present my current Fab Five bands from the 51st state. With the exchange rate, I thought that I would need to present 10 or 11 bands but I decided all their measurements are off over there. Some good... (20 ounces in a pint, mate) Some bad... (might I bum your yankee dollar bill to light my stogey).

5. Coldplay - "Do you know how I know your gay?" I'll take the bashing for admiting it. I like the music Chris Martin and the lads put out. It's not all bollocks, but mix in the choice cuts and you can put together a fine cool out.

4. The Fratellis - I am anxious to see if their follow up can rock me like their debut album. They drop a little here by the album being over a year old and them cancelling the concert I was geared up to see at Harlows. Mainly for the concert part.

3. Gorillaz - Pumping out a solid base line and some funky rhythms. They make me want to shake me generous bum. Clearly the best cartoon rock bank since Josie and the Pussycats. They are the only British band to take home the BS for song of the year with Feel Good, Inc. a couple of years ago.

2. Art Brut - They are the newest band to enter my world. Love them! Eddie is a funny bloke. They have skyrocketed to the top of my "band I most want to see live" charts. Excellent lyrics that I sing for hours after my ipod stops and a rocking beat that keeps my ipod going.

1. Arctic Monkeys - They nose out the competition by putting out the most consistent collection of rocking songs on this list. Their debut was stronger than their release this year. But there were enough choice cut on that album to make a smokin' itunes playlist.

Favorite Artists as of the end of 2007 (Paint Division)

I can't really have an artist of the year. None of the artists on this list are walking among us and haven't for decades. Nevertheless, 2007 has been a huge year for seeing art for me, so it seems natural for me to talk about it this year. I have been fortunate enough to see many of the world's finest art museums this year. I have been to the Art Institute of Chicago, Musee' du Louvre, Musee' d'Orsay, Centre Pompidou and the National Gallery in London. All in 2007. Now I do not consider myself an art critic and I enjoy the pretty pictures that much more if I have a guide who points things out to me. But that has not stopped me from making a top 5 list.

5. Georges Seurat - Seurat is the least famous of the masters on this list but I dig all the little dots of color he uses to make a picture. If you look very close it is like a dot matrix printer using a whole variety of colors withing the solid colors. Very cool.










4. Henri Matisse - I like his use of color and curves. Like all artists or all types, everything he did doesn't light my fire, but for the most part, I like to see a piece by Matisse.

3. Claude Monet - Monet was definitely obsessive. Between painting the Cathedral at Rouen, haystacks and waterlillies a thousand times under a thousand different conditions, he didn't have a lot of variety. But his pictures are ones I can just stare at. Like Seaurat, each color on the canvas is made up of several colors. I get the impression that I would like to be relaxing at this pond.









2. Vincent Van Gogh - Here's a nut job for you. He never sold anything while he was alive but I like his pictures from the time of his life when he went mental. He used chunky brush strokes and deep colors. Here's a little Starry Night for you...








1. Pablo Picasso - Picasso did a little bit of every type of art and lots of it I don't get with. But I do like his bold colors and curvy lines. It's true, I did just break him down to something that simple, but art appreciation is no more than the appreciation each person has for the painting. Here's Femme a la Fluer for you... (check out my French language skills... that means "woman with a flower")













I also like his sculptures. Here's me with one at the Picasso Musee in Paris.











Tough break for David, Renior and Charles Shultz all being on the outside looking in. I'm sure they are all broken up about it. Good thing they don't have access to the world wide web.