I know for a fact that Dr. O’C and I have differing opinions on this, but for me it has just run away. We’re in the home stretch now and I don’t know where it has gone. With Boy Z in the picture there is little time to wax philosophical or read pregnancy books or stress out or to panic. There have been no antenatal classes and little shopping for baby gear. For the most part, I’ve spent this pregnancy chasing Boy Z around. Now, suddenly, it is July and it is time to start figuring out just what the hell we’re going to do with two kids.

Trying to clean out my e-mail inbox this evening, I ran across one from Nichole suggesting that we do a baby pool. I’m always up for a contest and I feel like we need to do something to mark this pregnancy, so what the hell. As I understand it*, the way these things work is that you the contestant make a bet on the sex, birth date and name of A Free Fetus and the person who comes the closest wins. Easy peasy.

Now typically, each entrant puts in a couple of bucks and the winner takes home the pot. But we’re in a slightly different situation here, so you get to enter the A Free Man baby pool for free. Of course, you get what you pay for so the prize won’t be that good either – how about our antenatal playlist on CD for the winner? It’s a pretty good one. Boy Z and I can probably go and hunt you up a kangaroo scrotum coin purse as well. And, most important of all, glory.

So if you’re interested – leave a comment here with your guess for sex, birth date and name**.

Ah, yes, the official due date is 28 August.

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*I’ve got an e-mail in to Nichole asking for clarification so I may need to change these rules if I’m wrong.

**Dr. O’C, for obvious reasons you are not allowed to enter.

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One of my favorite British acts, The Broken Family Band released their latest LP, “Please and Thank You” earlier this year. If it stands up to 2005’s “Welcome Home Loser” it is worth the purchase price. Get these two and more by the Broken Family Band at .

I’m coming to realize this week that holidays (vacations) as I knew them are over. In the past, holidays with Dr. O’C have been leisurely affairs – sleeping late, consuming novels like candy, leisurely walks on the beach, wandering through the ancient cities of Europe, luxurious dinners. Well, with the introduction of a toddler terrorist into the equation things have changed. There is certainly no sleeping in together. We did take a walk on the beach yesterday, but there’s a difference between leisurely and zigging and zagging in a generally backward direction after a toddler who’s recently learned to run. In fact, most of our holiday thus far has been spent chasing Boy Z, making sure he doesn’t take a flying leap off of a jungle gym. Seems to me that young boys are biologically programmed to kill themselves.

The result? Complete exhaustion by Boy Z’s bed time. After that wonderful exhalation that slips involuntarily out of my lungs when I’m sure the boy is asleep, an overpowering weariness sets in – fatigue so strong that I can’t read, write or anything other than cuddle up with Dr. O’C in front of the TV, in fact we’ve become completely addicted to the American version of The Office (on DVD) this week. Don’t know what we’re going to do when we run out of episodes. Oh well, I’m back to work on Monday where I can relax a bit.

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All this preface is just an excuse for being a blogging slacker for the last few days. My intent was to finish my Top 10 list before the end of the year and with two to go on New Year’s Eve, I’ve run out of time. So, let’s jam them in before the deadlie. Here’s where we were when last we spoke:

10. The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”
9. The Black Angels – “Directions To See A Ghost”
8. Sun Kil Moon – “April”
7. Frank Turner – “Love, Ire & Song”
6. Vampire Weekend – “Vampire Weekend”
5. Jon and Roy – “Another Noon”
4. Frightened Rabbit – “Midnight Organ Fight”
3. Okkervil River – “The Stand-Ins”

Coming in at Number 2 is the latest from one of my favorite bands of the last decade. With two lines from their 1998 debut “Gangstabilly”, the Drive-By Truckers made me a life long fan:

The devil says the only thing that’s buggin’ him
is Hell’s filling up with Republicans…

Alabamans who settled in Athens, Georgia about the same time I did, the Drive-By Truckers built up a dedicated local fan base with their first couple of records of clever, tongue-in-cheek country before garnering deserved national attention for “Southern Rock Opera” in 2001. With this record, the band made the transition from a kind of novelty act to a proper Southern rock band and became the best that genre has seen since the 1970’s. 2003’s “Decoration Day” was the band’s masterpiece, and probably one of the best records of the decade.

The band has been in a constant state of flux since then. They added a third guitarist, the outstanding Jason Isbell, who has since left on a solo career. I worried a bit for the Truckers, as their last album seemed slipshod, but with the release of “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark” earlier this year they made a statement that they are in it for the long haul. It’s a rambling beast of a record and has earned comparisons to The Stones’ “Exile on Main Street” and Wilco’s “Being There”. It is by no means a perfect album, nor is it the Drive-By Truckers’ best album, but it is another great one from a band at the top of their game. Have a listen to the opener and if you like what you hear, buy “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark” from .

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That just leaves Number 1. My Top 10 list is mine and thus I get to make the choices. There have been a couple of criteria throughout. First, all the albums are by unsigned artists or artists signed to a truly independent label. The Big Four lost my business earlier by clamping down on bloggers in a desperately Orwellian fashion. They’ll get no more of my money, nor will I shill for them for free anymore. The second criteria is simple – albums that I listened to over and over and that made me happy this year. The latest record from the husband and wife team Mates of State is the perfect example of that latter criteria. There’s nothing groundbreaking or original about “Rearrange Us” – it is just perfectly crafted pop music. It’s wonderfully written. There isn’t a bad track on the record. And it’s perfect to sing-along to. Do you need more? The record kind of got panned by the critics. I don’t know why. It’s as close to a perfect pop album as I’ve heard in years and it was my favorite album of the year. I can give you A Free Man guarantee that if you buy this one from you will not be disappointed.

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Oh, and there’s the little matter of the Grand Prize winner – the lucky reader who will be receiving all ten of my favorite albums of 2008. There was a total of forty entrants and to insure complete randomness, I used random.org to generate a random number between 1 and 40. And the winner is…

Heather from Ghost of a Smile!

But because this particular prize won’t cost me any money and so there will be slightly fewer disappointed readers, I’ve decided to pick a couple of other winners

Father Muskrat (thank god, because I’m pretty sure he was going to kick my ass if he didn’t win) and Mickey from The Prettiest Denny’s Waitress. For those of you who didn’t win (i.e. losers), don’t fret. I’m going to try to come up with a little post-New Year’s thank you gift.

Congrats to Heather, Father Muskrat and Mickey. I’ll be in touch with you guys after I’m back from vacation with details on how to claim your prize.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to this:

One of the wonderful things about Okkervil River is that music lovers of any age seem to really get these guys. I’ve passed their music on to Arizaphale’s 13 year old daughter and Dr. O’C’s fifty-something uncle and they both love it. How many bands out there are accessible to teenage girls, baby boomers and everyone in between? To me, this indicates that you’ve got something musically that transcends generations.  That’s something special. And so is “The Stand Ins”. It’s a bit too short with a bit too much ’space’ – in reality it’s just a long EP. It’s not as strong an album as last year’s “The Stage Names” or 2003’s “Down the River of Golden Dreams” – but if you like good music, I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll like Okkervil River. Have a listen to “Singer Songwriter” and if you like what you hear, buy “The Stand-Ins” and other Okkervil River albums from .

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Tomorrow is Xmas in Oz. You’re not likely to see a warm and gushy festive post here, but you never know. If you’re like me – in other words, dreading most of the day (I know there are some of you out there) – then remember it’s just another day, remarkably similar to December 24 and December 26. Get through 24 hours and it’s done for another year. Boxing Day is the big day for me as that is when we start our vacation at the beach. Posting will probably be sparse until after the New Year, so I’d like to wish my gentle readers a tolerable Christmas and the best of luck in the New Year. Appropriately enough, I’ve also posted a ‘Christmas’ song from Okkervil River.

And I hear that song sometimes and imagine us much more than friends – like if
we stayed in this town, bought the first house that
went up on sale, and how each
Christmastime would bring
in-laws and snowdays and
holiday mail.

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Just a reminder on the final contest of the year. Win electronic copies of each of my top 10 albums of the year. All you’ve got to do is leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Good luck.

10. The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”
9. The Black Angels – “Directions To See A Ghost”
8. Sun Kil Moon – “April”
7. Frank Turner – “Love, Ire & Song”
6. Vampire Weekend – “Vampire Weekend”
5. Jon and Roy – “Another Noon”

One of the toughest things about living in Britain was making friends. The English are notoriously reserved, tend to put up a front for public consumption and are not particularly fond of Americans – so it was tough to get to know many people in the early days in England. Scots, however, are a different kettle of fish. They are more outgoing than the English, particularly with a drink or three in them and lack the guile to be disingenuous. Plus, they don’t dislike Americans as much, largely because their hatred is reserved for the English. What this means is that a lot of my best friends in Oxford were Scots. There was the Glaswegian Oxford Don who kept me sane in an unpleasant job by sharing strength and hope. Another Glaswegian, the wine steward at one of the colleges in town, kept me sane by letting me rant at him once or twice a week over coffee. And then there was the Ph.D. student from the Highlands who kept me sane by periodically stabbing me. Good times.

Scots can be pretty good musicians as well. Beyond the obvious traditional Scottish music and The Proclaimers, there are bands like Belle & Sebastian, Idlewild, Jesus & Mary Chain, Beta Band and Arab Strap making lusciously dark music in the gloomy north. To that list, I’d like to add Frightened Rabbit. The Selkirk quartet released their second LP, “Midnight Organ Fight” (Fat Cat) back in April and it’s been a regular favorite for me since then.

I’m running on empty here in the lead up to Christmas and was struggling to come up with words to describe Frightened Rabbit’s music. Dr. O’C and I were listening to “Old Old Fashioned” on the way to Sellick’s Beach yesterday and I asked her of what the song reminded her. With no hesitation, she replied “Counting Crows”. And she’s right – there’s a real roots feel to a lot of Frightened Rabbit’s music as well as that yearning euphoria that Duritz and Co. did so very well. The album is diverse – a lot of exploration of genres – but if you like this track, chances are that you’ll like most of the album as well. Go out and support an up and coming independent band by purchasing “Midnight Organ Fight”.

Check out my interview with Frightened Rabbit from back in April for more about the band.

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Now to the important business. It is time to announce the winner of the Tagline Contest. I struggled with this one for quite some time. There were several great entries and I suck at making decisions. I’m as big a fan of genital humor as the next guy, so Nichole’s entry – A Free Man: Now with 99% more Kangaroo Scrotum – definitely tickled my fancy, but didn’t seem quite the image I was after. Father Muskrat, a bit piqued after not making the cut in the limerick contest, gave me the vaguely threatening A Free Man: Bantha Fodder. Then there was Jamie’s predictably wordy entry – A Free Man: The adventures of one crazed, belligerent North Florida Redneck transplanted into a sea of crazed, belligerent Antipodean Rednecks. Up until late last week, I was pretty sure that the winner was going to be a collaborative effort between Boyhowdy and Headbang8 – A Free Man. Free the mind, and the man will follow.

I really like that one. In fact as I write this I’m still torn and am thinking that maybe I made the wrong decision. But my favorite, for reasons known to a few of you, came in late and on the wrong post, from Mongolian Girl.  I’m a stickler for the rules, well for my rules, and I almost threw her entry out for violation of those rules. But it’s just too perfect for me to ignore:

A Free Man – Stepping Up From Down Under.

So, congratulations to Mongolian Girl, your music will be on the way as soon as I can be bothered to go to the post office. I think that your share of the prize includes the latest from Setting Sun, which I was listening to this morning and is just excellent.

Now, if you’re starting to feel aggrieved that your limerick/tagline wasn’t chosen, here’s one more opportunity to win a musical prize this December. To one lucky winner I’m going to give away electronic copies of each of my top 10 albums of 2008. All you’ve got to do to win is leave a comment on this post. You can tell me what you’re favorite music was this year, you can tell me how wonderful I am, you can leave a comment saying “This is a comment so that I might win”. Whatever. One winner will be chosen at random when the #1 album is announced (some time before the New Year). If you’ve previously entered either the limerick or tagline contests, you’ll get an extra entry and an extra chance to win.

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Buy Frightened Rabbit’s “Midnight Organ Fight” from .

Image credit:

Scotsman

Until today. While walking the dog beach with Boy Z and Timmins, I saw a huddle of a half dozen people on the shore looking nervously out at a shadowy form in the surf. We jogged over to have a look and saw what was very clearly a fairly large shark about five meters from shore. (I know that I recently misidentified a coromorant as a penguin, but today there were others their to confirm my i.d.) Regrettably, I didn’t have my camera, but I’ve got to tell you it was pretty exciting. I suspect the big guy had figured out that the dog beach was a good source for little canine treats. Since my close encounter, I’ve been reading about shark attacks in South Australia. This is something that I need to stop doing right now.

But that’s not what I came here to talk about today. I came to talk about the sixth best album of the year by an unsigned or independent artist. Just a reminder of where we’ve been thus far:

10. The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”
9. The Black Angels – “Directions To See A Ghost”
8. Sun Kil Moon – “April”
7. Frank Turner – “Love, Ire & Song”

I love a good pop band. Unfortunately, most Top 40 radio is populated by really crap pop bands. So, when I find one that is exceptional, it’s easy for me to fall in love. And earlier this year, I fell in love with New York’s Vampire Weekend. There’s nothing exceptional about their self-titled debut (XL), it is just masterful, joyful, ska-inspired pop music. But I challenge you to listen to them and not be almost immediately smitten. I was living in Oxford at the time the album came out and spent a good couple of months skipping along to “Oxford Comma” even though I’m sure that the song has pretty much nothing to do with the university town in the south of England. Have a listen to that track and if you like what you hear, buy the album from .

And that just leaves your daily reminder about the December giveaways here at A Free Man. I’ve got a metric ton of great new music to give away and two contests currently running. There are a lot of good entries for the Tagline Contest, but none that I’m completely sold on yet – so there’s a window of opportunity to win some free music. All I need from you, gentle readers is a new pithy tagline for A Free Man. Leave your inspired creation as a comment on this post. The Noble Savage is ahead in the limerick contest by a nose, but there’s a lot of time left. Head on over and vote for your favorite.

Image credits:

Shark

1. Dr. O’C spent the weekend wading through limericks and has come up with a winner. Now I want to point out that the limericks were given to her without names attached, so there was no favoritism involved. I say this because the results are slightly dodgy. The winning Anti-Christmas Movement Limerick is:

You’ll find him hiding away
From all events of Christmas Day
A Free Man will go
“There is just no snow
And sand doesn’t work with a sleigh.”

Well, there’s no accounting for taste. That little diddy was penned by the Strange Scottish Girl who, suspiciously, has already won a contest this Christmas season. I looked hard for indications of bribery, coercion or other fraudulent behavior but it looks above board to me. So, congrats to the Strange Scottish Girl.

2. Good news for those of you who aren’t strange, Scottish or female – there are still lots of chances for you to win some musical prizes this month. Just a reminder about the Tagline Contest, the winner of which will receive a Santa’s bag sized delivery of hot new CDs. Leave your choice for a new tagline for this site as a comment on this post.

3. To help clear my site from accusations of favoritism, I need your help to find another limerick writing winner. I’ve picked my five favorite limericks from those remaining:

First we have The Noble Savage’s ode to pervy relatives…

Uncle Bob hung the mistletoe with care
Over my bed when he knew I’d be there
The lecherous man
I chopped off his hands
And now he’s only able to stare.

Heather from The Ghost of a Smile weaves a tangled web of booze and deception…

So you bought the kids some more junk
And now you’re gonna get drunk
Try not to fall down
While Gramma’s around
Or your Christmas secret is sunk.

Oxford Old Boy Runs Deep shows us what one can do with an Oxbridge education…

The once was a free expat Yank
Who reckoned that Chrimbo was wank
Consumerist heathen!
Nowt under your tree then!
Just be glad there’s more in yer bank.

Formerly Fun’s Chris tells my own story better than I could…

There once was a lass named Sinead
Who moved with her man to Adelaide
They bought them a car
But their Z barfed up hard
Now they silently pine for a sleigh.

And finally, Arizaphale paints a pretty picture of Xmas Down Under…

Christmas in Adelaide sucks
The retailers inhale your bucks
And you might as well know
That it’s too hot for snow
And the ‘chests’ that are roasting ain’t ‘nuts’!

Now let’s clean up contests here at A Free Man. I’m calling for the democratic process to be reinstated. Vote for your favorite below and the author of the limerick with the most votes as of Monday next (the 22nd) wins the other half of the Fanatic schwag.

10. The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”
9. The Black Angels – “Directions To See A Ghost”
8. Sun Kil Moon – “April”

Well I guess I should confess that I am starting to get old.
All the latest music fads all passed me by and left me cold.
All the kids are talking slang I won’t pretend to understand.

Frank Turner featured on my  Top 10 list from last year and he’s back again in 2008. The wonderfully lyrical folk-punk of 2007’s “Sleep Is For The Week” really caught my ear while living in Oxford last year and Frank was kind enough to give me my first blog interview. I had high expectations for his sophomore effort “Love, Ire and Song” (Xtra Mile), which was released this spring. It is by no means a perfect album, but it marks a progression from his debut and it’s a great listen. I did a review of Turner’s new one back in April and rather than rehashing, I’ll just send you there.

Turner has not gotten much attention outside of the UK, which is a damn shame. If you’re a fan of Billy Bragg, Joe Strummer or Elvis Costello, then Turner may be just your cup of tea. Have a listen to “Photosynthesis”, which would easily make my list of Top 10 singles of the year, and if you like what you hear then how about supporting an incredibly talented and regrettably unknown artist. Buy “Love, Ire & Song” from .

And if all you ever do with your life
Is photosynthesize
Then you deserve every hour of these sleepless nights
That you waste wondering when you’re gonna die.

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I get a lot of great music from Fanatic Promotion in NYC.  When I was looking for prizes for my beloved readers, I asked and Jen from Fanatic came through in a big way. I’ve got enough CDs to give away to announce two more contests this week. So two lucky winner will split the treasure chest of CDs from Fanatic, which include:

• Quitzow – “Art College” (Featured as an MP3 of the Week)
• Setting Sun – “Children Of The Wild”
• Luke Jackson – “…And Then Some” (Excellent)
• Super XX Man – “Volume XII: There’ll Be Diamonds” (One of my honourable mention albums)
• Aviary Ghost – “Memory Is A Hallway (Featured as an MP3 of the Week)
• Steve Smith – “This Town”
• Caw! Caw! – “Wait Outside” (Bizarre)
• Soft Targets – “Heavy Rainbow”
• Dream Bitches – “Coke and Spriters”
• Mr. Gnome – “Deliver This Creature”

I’ve also got a couple of copies of Motel Motel’s “New Denver” that I’ll throw in as well – another honourable mention album.

Tell me I don’t take care of you my gentle readers. How do you win? Two ways:
Contest #1: All you limerickists did a great job. Dr. O’C is hard at work judging and after she picks her favorite on Monday, I’ll put my five favorites up for a public vote. The winner will receive half the album stash.

Contest #2: SSG came up with a great contest idea (and thus wins the Salme Dahlstrom album). I’ve been thinking of renovating the space around here and one way to start is a new tagline. “An American Expatriate, Upside Down, Down Under” is a bit jumbly, so your mission is to come up with a new one. Beyond the obvious fame and fortune that will come your way as author of my tagline, you’ll win the other half of the musical booty. Leave your tagline as a comment on this post and let’s set a deadline of Friday the 21st for entries.

Good luck and remember Frank Turner, “Love, Ire and Song”, .

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Image Credits:

Frank Turner

Thinking about bubblegum, if memory serves, back in my youth there was a brand of bubblegum that all of my friends in the Deep South loved and shared with one another. My mother refused to let me buy it for fear that I look like a common redneck. I tried to tell her that there were a lot of ball players that disagreed, but to no avail. First person that guesses which Wrigley product was banned from my childhood home wins the From Bubblegum To Sky prize pack.

While you think it over, here are a couple from their latest record.

MP3: From Bubblegum To Sky – “Even The Sunbeams”
MP3: From Bubblegum To Sky – “I Always Fall Apart”

* Restricted to readers in the U.S. and yes I recognize the irony that I wouldn’t be eligible to win my own contest.

-R.E.M. – “Beat A Drum”

Time for the announcement of the winners in my Happy Blog-day contest. Dr. O’C has again drawn names from a hat (and again I have prevented her from cheating).  A drum roll please, Z.

Right, could be waiting a while for that. Whithout further ado, the winners are:

NATUI

Jessica and…

Jason

I’ve decided, however, that even the losers should get lucky sometimes – it’s the socialist in me. I can’t afford the postage to send everyone a CD, but I’m going to upload the playlist and the album art to a special secret place here on afreeman.org. If you didn’t win but still want the tunes, then shoot me an e-mail and I’ll send you the link and you can make your own “Best of afreeman.org” CD.

Brad, the mysterious winner of the Mono in VCF contest, hasn’t turned up to collect his prize. The fascist in me has decided that he has lost his chance and the winner is now Angel. Congratulations, there’s nothing wrong with second place.

• All come to look for America
• How do you afford your rock’n'roll lifestyle?
• Words from Winnipeg
• Defiant in defeat.
• In A West End town, a dead end world
• Good Morning Son, I Am A Bird
• Great Interview Week: Iron Maiden Ruined Everything
• Braggin’ Rights
• He was the one made me what I am today
• Science Tuesday: In Response to an Animal Rights Apologist

To celebrate my first anniversary as a blogger I’d like to give my readers a gift, though I’m still waiting for my Father’s Day present. Regular readers should know that I tack a song onto most posts that I write. I’ve put together a mix CD of some of my favorites – the soundtrack to afreeman.org, if you will. I’m going to give away a few of these hand-made CD’s to you, my loyal readers.All you’ve got to do to win is tell me which post you’ve read here that turned your crank the most. The one that keeps you coming back in the vain hope that I may be able to write that good again. For example, Dr. O’C’s favorite is Apolitical Friday: Baby Bliss (she comes back because I badger her until she does). What is yours?

To enter, leave a comment with the title. Next Wednesday I’ll draw a few (depending on how many blank CDs I have around) entrants and send out your prize. Easy peasy. And hey, if you’re still lurking around on the banks of the comment stream what better opportunity to hop in as a commenter? The water’s fine.