I guess the most important lesson learned this year is that one should never take one's eyes off of a drink at a club. See the previous post for an explanation of this lesson.
I should write one of those lists recapping the best of 2005, but it's really hard to keep track of all of the music that comes out in one year and harder still to remember what were the arse-kicking releases of February, 2005. I don't want to neglect anything. Really, I don't.
Another thing I learned this year is that reggaeton is, perhaps, my least favorite style of music. Every time I pull into a Valley parking lot and hear the synthetic Oktoberfest sound of Daddy Yankee, I must fight the urge to start throwing things at cars while screaming, "There is no reason for your bass to be up that high while you are driving. You suck! You're music sucks and this incessant need to play crap music at high volumes is one of the many reasons why I hate living here! Well, that and fake eyebrows."
As far as 2006 is concerned, I hope for the demise of reggaeton, the plague of Gwen Stefani look-a-looks across Southern California and Lindsay Lohan's music career. I doubt that any of this will happen. I really hope that people have enough sense not to revive grunge as a reaction to teen pop because Nirvana was a completely overrated band and the only thing remotely interesting about Soundgarden was Chris Cornell's set of lips.
I would like to see more folks outside of the Ultragrrrl blog and Indie 103.1 take an interest in Nightmare of You because this band's self-titled debut should be a part of record collections across the country. The music is sweet and the lyrics are as dirty as anything Jarvis Cocker might right. "I Want to be Buried in Your Backyard," the radio track, is my personal favorite, but, by no means is it the only good song on this album. NOY will make you happy.
I hope more people pay attention to LA bands this year, excluding the Like and other bores whose names aren't registering with me right now. The Tender Box should be huge by this time next year and Winston and the Telescreen should release their album and be the buzz band on everyone's lips.
As for the out-of-town artists, more DJs should come to Los Angeles. Yeah, we know, LA isn't known for dancing. In fact, it pretty much sucks for dancing, but we need to change that. I also hope that maybe Dahlia can bring her electro-cabaret act to Los Angeles and that Man in Gray can head out west and bring Mary with them.