I have seen two excellent movies recently, and both had excellent soundtracks so I thought I would share:

• Slumdog Millionaire, winner of multiple awards at the Golden Globes, is definitely one of the year’s best films. The film is superbly enhanced by the amazing soundtrack, with songs by M.I.A. and A.R. Rahman, one of Bollywood’s best soundtrack engineers. The frenetic and energetic Mumbai, India is shot beautifully on film and the accompanying music could not fit more perfectly.

• Waltz With Bashir, the animated Israeli film about the 1983 Lebanon massacre that won Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes, is powerful stuff indeed. The film is moving and thought-provoking and intense and beautiful and even funny at times. The score, by English composer Max Richter, is phenomenal and fits with what’s on screen perfectly. Other songs, including a modified version of the Cake song “I Bombed Korea” are excellent as well, creating an overall amazing soundtrack.

Images: Amazon

Feel like dancing tonight? Well you have a few options to choose from:

• There will be great dance music in all rooms at Webster Hall. The Main Room has Switch, D.I.M., A.C. Slater, and  The Captain. The Marlin Room has Grandmaster Flash and Dimitry!!!. The Studio has The Asteroids Galaxy Tour (11:30), The Mood (10:30), and Soulshaker DJs (TKOmri + DJ Baron). To get advance $10 tickets click here.
• One Step Beyond returns for its monthly show at The Museum of Natural History and tonight Nick Catchdubs and Michna will be there. For tickets and info click here.
• Get Down! is at Studio B with Todd Terry and Junior Sanchez, along with UK producer Chewy Chocolate Cookies and resident djs Alexander Technique and Van Scott.

Diesel is celebrating their 30th anniversary with concerts in 17 cities simultaneously this Saturday, October 11. Luckily, we live in a huge metropolis so there is of course one in New York. The NY lineup is M.I.A., N.E.R.D., Hot Chip, and O Fracas and it’s at Pier 3 in Brooklyn. To get tickets (which I think are free) you can go to a Diesel store, or go to Earwax Records, Lit, Other Music, Fat Beats, or Turntable Lab. For more info go here.

Deerhunter at Pitchfork Festival ‘07. Photo Credit: Devorah Klein

McCarren Pool is home to some of the best shows this summer. So far, only ticketed shows have been announced, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the free ones. So far we know M.I.A. and Death Cab for Cutie are playing there, and now we have a few more:

Gogol Bordello on June 10

Devo and Tom Tom Club (whaaa?crazy!) on June 26

And in an interview with Pitchfork, Black Lips mentioned they will be there with Deerhunter and King Khan and His Shrines.

Can’t wait for summer!!!

Photo by Chad Nicholson, licensed under CC by SA.

McCarren Pool is back for another summer as a concert venue–woohoo! Last year I saw many excellent bands there, including Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Ghostland Observatory, Spank Rock and friends, and the Thermals. This year, the first show they announced is not a free one (boo), but it is a good one–M.I.A. and Holy Fuck on June 6. Tickets go on sale Saturday at noon.

The time has arrived for me to do my Best Albums of 2007 list. I know you have all been waiting with bated breath. Well, here we go:

30. Plague Park, Handsome Furs

29. Liars, Liars

28. Marry Me, St. Vincent

27. Strawberry Jam, Animal Collective

26. Armchair Apocrypha, Andrew Bird

25. Myth Takes, !!!

24. Viuex Farke Toure, Viuex Farke Toure

23. Attack Decay Sustain Release, Simian Mobile Disco

22. †, Justice

21. The Cloud of Unknowing, James Blackshaw

20. The Shepherd’s Dog, Iron and Wine

19. 100 Days, 100 Nights, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings

18. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Spoon

17. Cryptograms, Deerhunter

16. Boxer, The National

15. Alive, Daft Punk

14. Friend EP, Grizzly Bear

13. The Flying Cub Cup/Lon Gisland EP, Beirut

12. Mirrored, Battles

11. Kala, M.I.A.

10. Friend and Foe, Menomena

9. Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, Of Montreal

8. Andorra, Caribou

7. Person Pitch, Panda Bear

6. Graduation, Kanye West

5. In Rainbows, Radiohead

4. Neon Bible, Arcade Fire

3. From Here We Go Sublime, The Field

2. Night Falls Over Kortedala, Jens Lekman

1. Sound of Silver, LCD Soundsystem

What do you think? What am I missing?