South by

Yeah, I survived another South by Southwest Music Conference. It's getting tougher each year. For music fans, it's still one of the most amazing bargains in the world. (Your choice of 1,300 bands, over five days, more or less, for $150) For music critics and others working, it's a marathon of 16-hour workdays -- though I'm not going to complain about seeing 50 or so bands and keynote speeches from Neil Young, Morrissey and Chrissie Hynde. Still too amazing to believe.


Anyway, here's some of my coverage for Newsday:

THE ROUNDUP::"I know," Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner told the crowd. "We're good, right?"

Well, yeah. But hundreds of the 1,300 bands at South by Southwest were good. Dozens of them were great - from their less-buzzed about British counterparts The Subways and rapper Lady Sovereign to buzz graduates Dashboard Confessional and Long Island's Straylight Run, who were even having a bit of an off night, truth be told.

And dozens more were ready to take Arctic Monkeys' place in the buzz line.

MORRISSEY:For more than two decades, Morrissey has found it hard to hold his tongue. He has found it hard to accept his role as iconic leader of The Smiths, hero to the disenfranchised and the dramatic, the bookish and those bewildered by life. He has found it hard to get comfortable with the world and his place in it. But slowly, then all of a sudden, he has seemingly changed his world view.

His new album, "Ringleader of the Tormentors" (Attack/ Sanctuary), finds the one-time "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" singer oddly upbeat and even, at times, happy. But don't worry, longtime fans, it's only sometimes.

PICKS: Corinne Bailey Rae and Dashboard Confessional

Grammy previews

My part of this year's Grammy mania package at Newsday:

Mariah, pariah no more: Grammy voters are very serious about comebacks -- from Tina Turner and Bonnie Raitt to Ray Charles and Tony Bennett. And few comebacks in pop-music history have been as spectacular as Mariah Carey's rise-fall-and-return in the past five years.

Who should win? Who will?: A. (1) Other people, mostly. (2) Mariah.

5 to root for: Kelly Clarkson, Bruce Springsteen, Nigel Godrich, LCD Soundsystem, Ramones' "End of the Century."

Photo: Island Records

The Envelope, please

Yes, it's official, I am a Grammy pundit. It says so right on the site. :>)

Of course, odds are 2/5 that I'm going to be wrong on one of the big categories. And if it's that damn Mariah Carey album, I will totally be caught out there. Not that I have any problem being wrong, but it's harder to stomach when surrounded by picks from my pal (and savvy Grammy pundit) Dave Bauder, the great Greg Kot and Tom O'Neil, the expert running The Envelope blog and has written tons of books about The Oscars and The Grammys.

Pazz and Jop

The Village Voice's annual Pazz and Jop poll is up, with Kanye West taking both the album and singles crowns. No problem with that. Here's my ballot (though it's actually the same as the Top 10s below -- no fronting here) and here's my ranking among other critics, according to Glenn McDonald's brilliant and geeky statistical analysis at The War Against Silence.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS: 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000.

Best of 2005

It's that time of year where we all take a breath and think about what has happened, before leaping into the unexpected once again. Ready? Go!

Anyway... here are the year-end music pieces I wrote for Newsday.

The year in review: This time last year, Mariah Carey was a punch line. Now she's hotter than ever. 50 Cent, not so much.

The best albums
1. Antony and the Johnsons, "I Am a Bird Now" (Secretly Canadian): Antony Hegarty's voice is simply stunning - vulnerable, yet powerful, a mix of Nina Simone and Little Jimmy Scott. The particulars of his songs, which run from gospel to alt-rock with an undercurrent of jazz, may startle some people, but the themes of looking for love and acceptance in "Hope There's Someone" and "You Are My Sister" are universal. And the artistry he brings to "My Lady Story" makes Antony almost impossible to forget once you are lucky enough to hear him.
2. The Hold Steady, "Separation Sunday" (French Kiss)
3. Bruce Springsteen, "Devils & Dust" (Columbia)
4. M.I.A., "Arular" (Interscope)
5. Kaiser Chiefs, "Employment" (Universal)
6. Kanye West, "Late Registration" (Roc-A-Fella)
7. System of a Down, "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" (Columbia)
8. Missy Elliott, "The Cookbook" (Atlantic)
9. Bright Eyes, "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning" and "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" (Saddle Creek)
10. Go! Team, "Thunder, Lightning, Strike" (Memphis Industries)


The best singles
1. Kelly Clarkson, "Since U Been Gone" (RCA): Bow before the power of The Clarkson! Oh sure, it may not be "hip" to like the Kellynator, but she had the smarts to turn up the guitars on this Swedish pop confection and enough Mary Tyler Moore moxie to make it work. Any song that can unite Ted Leo and Nile Rodgers in appreciation has to be something special.
2. System of a Down, "B.Y.O.B." (Columbia)
3. Arcade Fire, "Wake Up" (Merge)
4. Kaiser Chiefs, "I Predict a Riot" (Universal)
5. Fannypack, "Seven One Eight" (Tommy Boy)
6. Hawthorne Heights, "Ohio Is for Lovers" (Victory)
7. Amerie, "1 Thing" (Columbia)
8. Gorillaz, "Feel Good Inc." (Virgin)
9. Antony and the Johnsons, "Hope There's Someone" (Secretly Canadian)
10. Lee Ann Womack, "I May Hate Myself in the Morning" (MCA Nashville)

PREVIOUS BESTS: 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000