At the end of every year folks like to make their “best of” lists, so I figured why I shouldn’t join in on the festivities. But, I figured I’ll keep things simple with the best album of 2008.

This honor would go to Kings of Leon’s Only By The Night.

I’ve been a casual fan of KOL since their 2003 debut Youth & Young Manhood. Over the years I’ve watched them gain mild success, but for the most part, they were one of those bands that no one had really heard of, at least here in the States.

The other day I sat down with some friends of mine who just dropped their debut album and are getting into marketing mode. For months now I’ve been telling them to get their asses on ReverbNation, and they finally were ready to listen.

We were going to sit down at the local Central Perk (yes, it’s really called that I know lame) but the students had overrun it with their usual Sunday study-cramming, so We decided to walk back to my place. The whole time their drilling me with questions about Reverb. What is it exactly? They do the same as Tunecore? And manage your email list? What about – and I cut them off. I told them that they needed to just see it for themselves and that they’d “get it”, and would be preaching about how cool the tools are as soon as they saw them

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Let’s be honest here. I don’t like Coldplay. Never have, most likely never will.

However, when I heard that they were being sued for plagiarism by Joe Satriani, I found it hard to believe. I just couldn’t see Coldplay stealing from someone like Satch. And, since there are also so many notes to go around in music, accusations of plagiarism nothing new.

Since December 24 is here in a week, wow where did the time go? I decided to do an extended song of the week, or should I say songs of the week.

For some unknown reason Christmas time just makes me feel all tingly inside, just a good 90′s track. So here’s a glimpse of some classic Christmas tunes done 90′s style.

Pearl Jam – “Someday At Christmas”: I know I’m biased, but the guys absolutely kick ass on this Stevie Wonder track. You can listen, and even download, the song right here.

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Not that long ago Weezer did a neat little project.

The band covered six Christmas tunes for the iPhone game “Tap Tap Revenge Christmas with Weezer”. While it may not sound that amazing, just consider that this was the first time that a band specifically recorded songs for an iPhone game. I could see this very easily becoming a popular trend, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Anyways, the game was so popular that Weezer decided to digitally release the tracks today through iTunes and Amazon for $4.99.

The tracklisting for Christmas With Weezer:

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I’ve been listening to Chris Cornell’s new single “Scream” a lot lately. It’s defiantly been tattooed inside my head. For longtime fans of Cornell it’s a lot to digest, so I got to thinking about his career and how he’s evolved over the years.

With that, I present a bio on the one and only Chris Cornell.

*Christopher John Boyle was born in Seattle on July 20, 1964.

* Chris Cornell started piano lessons at a very early age, but he disliked the lessons so he taught himself. By age 8 he had enough music to play a full set with a music teacher for the music faculty at the University of Washington.

Well, since it’s the tenth of the month, it naturally means that’s time for the monthly fix of Pearl Jam.

If you’re a member of Pearl Jam’s Ten Club, then you know the running joke about the annual Christmas single, which usually arrives to fans closer to Easter than Christmas. However, last the guys shocked us, because the single actually arrived during the right time of year.

I was also surprised to see not one, but two Christmas tracks, as opposed to a live cut or some other sort of unreleased track.

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I’ve been really busy over at ReverbNation this week as I begin expanding my artist roster to include to local acts which I have had the pleasure of helping out over the past year, 61 North and Julian Day. We’ll have some more info on those acts here at evolvor shortly, but first I have to talk about one of the featured artists I saw while over the site.

His name is Val Kilmer! Yes, the man who magically channeled the lizard king himself as Jim Morrison in The Doors is alive and writing southern twangy folk music.

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I was flipping through the good, old radio earlier this evening and caught the tail end of a song that was kind of interesting.

It turned out to be from a Philly band called Fat City Reprise. On a quick side note, the station was 93.3 WMMR and the DJ was a dude named Jaxon, who does a lot to promote local bands in the area.

Now I would have normally just stored this band somewhere in the depths of my brain, but Jaxon started talking about the video. So, I came home and checked it out, and was very impressed.

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The guys from AIC have been putting up some short video clips of them in the studio. Nothing groundbreaking, but still a great way to keep fans, like myself, at ease until a new fucking Alice in Chains album!

What really caught me attention though, was an update from this dude named Baldy last week, and here’s what he had to say:

Here we are in December, the holiday season is in full swing, and William & Jerry are just a few days away from recording vocals. Guitars and bass are heading down the home stretch, and although the drums are done, Sean is coming in almost every day to provide input and give full body massages to anyone he can get his hands on.

There was a time when an unknown band could turn to an indie label to get their music out there. Nowadays, this seems harder and harder to do.

Most of us keeping an eye on the music industry have been closely watching it’s demise, and now it’s getting worse. Instead of a major label self-destructing, there has been the news that the UK indie scene is going to go through some tough times with the bankruptcy of Pinnacle Entertainment.

So how exactly does this hurt indie labels?

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I’ve been a bum and haven’t done a “song of the week” for sometime. But, since it’s December, which means Christmas time, I’m making sure to keep up with it. So, for the next few weeks I’m going to share some of my favorite Christmas tunes.

This week I’m gonna share one of the silliest Christmas songs out there, “Don’t Shoot Me Santa”. What else could we expect from a band like the Killers?

The song was released as single in November of 2007 as a digital download, with proceeds going to AIDS charities. The song is about a dude pleading with Santa not to kill him. Pretty odd take on a beloved character like old St. Nick.

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It seems that during the last two years a lot of bands of reunited. Everyone from The Police to Rage Against The Machine to Blind Melon to Stone Temple Pilots.

With 2008 almost over a lot of bands are reuniting for 2009, some good, some bad. Here’s a quick glimpse of the bands that are giving it another round.

A lot of people were thinking that Axl Rose‘s long overdue album Chinese Democracy was going to save the industry.

Well, it looks like it won’t.

Estimates for Chinese Democracy have been revealed, which really aren’t that dominating for all the hype, and waiting. The album is expected to sell around 300,000 copies for it’s first week. While that’s not too shabby for most bands, it wasn’t even close enough to top the charts. Kanye West’s 808′s and Heartbreak has that honor with between 450,000 to 500,000 copies. Meanwhile across the pond in the UK, The Killers landed the top spot with Day & Age.