This is just too funny not to report:

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” caused a stir at a New Hanover County (North Carolina) school. A parent complained about the song’s religious reference and got it pulled from her child’s kindergarten Christmas show at Murrayville Elementary School. The song was pulled “because it had the word Christmas in it,” said Rick Holliday, assistant school superintendent.

A Jewish mother, who didn’t want her name published, objected to what she called “religious overtones” in the song. So the principal agreed to pull it from the program.

Of course, the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was written by a Jewish-American songwriter, Johnny Marks. He also wrote “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Also written by Jews: “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire),” and of course, the mother of all Jewish-written Christmas songs, “White Christmas,” by Irving Berlin. Why, you could almost say there’s a conspiracy by Jews to dominate the Christmas-jingle-writing industry!

DOWNLOAD: Toby Keith & Stephen Colbert - “War on Christmas”

• Author: Marky Smith

Towards the end of Ray Davies set at the intimate Music Box at the Borgata in Atlantic City, after playing about a dozen Kinks songs and a few songs from his recent solo records, he acknowledged the music that he had made with the Kinks and asked the audience to applaud the band. The fans went wild and made more noise than they had all night. Ray then asked the audience to applaud his brother Dave and again the fans showed their love. It was clear that while the Kinks haven’t recorded an album in 15 years or played a show in more than 10 that Ray Davies is full of nostalgia for the band he and his brother started in the 60’s. He then let the audience know that he and Dave had been getting together and playing music again and alluded to a Kinks reunion. The people went bonkers and he went straight into Tired of Waiting.

While a Kinks reunion would be something I’d probably sell one of my kidneys to attend (look for it on craigslist when the kinks reunion is announced) it shouldn’t be overstated how incredible Ray Davies is on his own. I was expecting to see an electric show with a full band which is how he’s performed all the other times I’ve seen him but tonight he played a stripped down acoustic show with only one member of his band accompanying him on guitar. The small room which seats maybe 1,500 was the perfect setting for such a performance. And let me say, this was not a mellow, quiet acoustic show. This was a rocking night full of jokes, stories, interaction with the audience and lots of sing along moments. From the opener of I Need You, people were up and singing along and they stayed that way for Where Have All the Good Times Gone and Dead End Streets. Nearly every song that followed was preceded by a story that either related to the song or to something that was going on his life at the time the song was written. For the recent track ‘Morphine Song’ he told about getting morphine in the hospital after he was shot in the leg and how the person next to him was in severe pain but didn’t have the coverage to get the morphine. Before the classic ‘All Day and All Night’ he spoke about the beginning days of the band and how they were turned down by nearly every record company because their groundbreaking sound of distorted, loud guitars was seen as nothing but noise.

One of the great things about seeing a performer like Ray Davies is that his joy for the music and sharing it with the audience really comes shining through. There wasn’t one moment during this show where he wasn’t smiling or just beaming with joy. It’s so obvious when watching him that he loves his music, he loves performing and he absolutely adores his fans and their enthusiasm for him. Unlike most performers that ignore the many requests that are shouted out from the audience throughout the show Ray Davies has always encouraged them. Every time I’ve seen him perform he’s played multiple songs, or at least parts of them, that the audience members yell out or throw on stage written on pieces of paper or paper plates and last night was no different. Someone had yelled out for Apeman and almost immediately he started playing it, playing nearly the entire song. Someone else requested Alcohol off of the classic Muswell Hillbillies album and he played the first part of the song up to the chorus. Other songs such as This Time Tomorrow, which was recently used in Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited, he played just a few bars from and then moved on.

For the encore of the show he brought the opening band, young pop-y, mod rockers Locksley up on stage to act as his backing band for two final electric numbers, the classics You Really Got Me and Lola. It was a powerful, electrified end to a great night of amazing tunes.

After the show my friend and I ran into the guys from Locksley and we invited them along for a drink at B Bar in the hotel. They turned out to be really nice guys and we had a fun time getting drunk together at the bar. Gotta say the Borgata has some cool bars and seemed to have great tunes playing everywhere we went, including the elevator (at 3am I held the elevator door open for ten minutes while I watched Keith Richards sing two songs at a live Stones show. badass). We gambled a bit, where we got a bit drunker off of the comped drinks, lost a bit of money, but a had a blast doing it, and then got fatburgers at 2am from the 24 hour Fatburger in the food court. All in all it was a kick ass, fun night. I look forward to going back for another show very soon.

• Author: Halified

First off, let’s acknowledge that this isn’t a list of the 20 worst albums of the year, rather it’s a list of albums that disappointed me. My expectations were high or I was interested in hearing these records for one reason or another and in the end felt let down. Let me go album by album and try and explain myself.

20. Chinese Democracy - Guns N’ Roses The reason this isn’t number one on the list is that I’ve had fourteen years to come to terms with them not having Izzy Stradlin as their lead songwriter. The thing that makes this album a true disappointment though is that it actually has six or so tracks that could have been really good if you stripped away the awful production and those extremely long and insufferable opening build-ups on every track.
19. Partie Traumatic - The Black Kids The stars of CMJ 2007 had all the hype but delivered on none of the talent with this underwhelming and flat record.
18. Electric Arguments –The Fireman Under the name The Fireman, Paul McCartney and Youth quietly released two excellent ambient records, Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest in 1993 and Rushes in 1998. Those albums were released without any promotion and found an audience before anyone found out who was twiddling the nobs. For Electric Arguments, Macca and Youth wrote more straight-forward songs and did a little p.r. push, but the results don’t come close to the power of their past two efforts.
17. Weezer (Red Album) - Weezer I continue to wait for them to release something on par with their first two albums and I continue to be let down. At this point, I’d be happy with something that just didn’t suck.
16. Untitled Nas Album - Nas Nas’ long-delayed and much-hyped album was to be called Nigger, but was changed after obvious controversy ensued. No matter what the album would’ve been named this “Untitled Nas Album” is weak beyond belief. Nas’ rhymes are off and his usual-poetic lyrics are weaked by the constant use of the N-word. Nas tried to make a statement, but ended up making a pile of shit.
15. Go Away White - Bauhaus Bauhaus are brilliant. Ignore this album and continue to respect them. Honestly, you’d be better off digging out a Love & Rockets lp from the remainder bin.
14. LP3 - Ratatat There was a time when I looked forward to a new Ratatat album, not I’m more interested in their hip-hop remix albums, which always seem far superior to their standard albums.
13. ¿Cómo Te Llama? - Albert Hammond Jr. I know this is only the second official Strokes side-project, but I’ve already had enough of The Strokes side-projects that sound like Stroke albums that aren’t their 4th studio lp.
12. Donkey - CSS I was hoping I was really hoping that Cansei de Ser Sexy would build if their self-titled debut into something that would be inventive, or at least more ambitious. Instead they released a donkey.
11. 808s & Heartbreak - Kanye West The album where Kanye’s ego outshines his rhymes and beats.
10. Death Magnetic - Metallica Metallica lost their magic and even Rick Rubin couldn’t squeeze some inspiration out of them. Rick has been able to get Neil freaking Diamond to record two excellent albums. Hell, he even made the Dixie Chicks into an excellent band.
9. Couples - The Long Blondes This album explains why they broke up. It’s the sound of a band falling face first out of the giddy stratosphere.
8. Santogold – Santogold After all the commercials and the hype and the rave reviews, what you’re left with a good album. Nothing great. A solid, fun album. But is this really worth all the hype?
7. The Age of the Understatement - The Last Shadow Puppets I thought that I’d get sick of the Arctic Monkeys because of the Arctic Monkeys, but they surprised me witha strong seecond album, which I liked better than their debut. I thought this side-project would be inventive and show that those kids really got some magic in them. It didn’t.
6. The Bedlam in Goliath - The Mars Volta Can’t At The Drive-In just reunite already so we can be done with this prog-rock Mars Volta shit.
5. Cardinalogy - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals Ryan has been really good at holding his “A” material for his proper releases. Somehow, Cardinology is nowhere near up-to-par with Cold Roses or Easy Tiger. It sounds like something he should have released for free.
4. Mountain Battles - The Breeders I love all things Pixies and have a soft spot for Kim Deal, but it’s hard to ignore that this album is no Safari or Last Splash…or event Title Tk. I don’t know what Kim was going for with this album and I spent a lot of time trying to dig it, but never could get into it. When I saw them live over the summer, the Mountain Battles tracks were such low-points in the set that it really set in how disappointed I was with the album.
3. Diamond Hoo Ha - Supergrass Here’s the thing with this album, it will likely be on my best albums of the year list. The thing is, it won’t be top ten, which to me means it’s a disappointment. I love Supergrass and think they hit a real high point with 2005’s Road to Rouen . Diamond Hoo Ha, though, sounds like the band trying to do their best Franz Ferdinand. It sounds like nothing inventive or esential. It sounds, argh, generic. It has tracks that still rock, but I’ve caught myself skipping over these tracks whenever they come up on shuffle.
2. Beautiful Future - Primal Scream Bobby G’s 9th studio album with Primal Scream is such a mess that it was almost number one on this list. In a career that has been hit and miss, this album is clearly a major miss. First off, when I first heard the album, I was convinced that I had gotten an unfinished demo or that the label sent me a messed up copy where all the tracks accidently looped. Every time I think a song is in a groove, I’m disappointed to find out that every track goes nowhere. The lyrics are shit and the beats are annoying. Everything on this album is wrong. This album needs a flux capacitor.
1. Forth - Verve The mighty comeback of The Verve was supposed to be the highlight of the year. Richard Ashcroft and guitarist Nick McCabe getting back together was supposed to rock my socks off. When they played two nights at the WAMU Theater at Madison Square Garden, they were amazing. The new songs they debuted got me so stoked for their upcoming album. I was very excited. Then I heard the album and it was just a let down. It’s hard to blame any one track or even say the album doesn’t work as a whole. I still can’t quite put my finger on what makes this album just not live up to its potential. Somehow, The Verve finally failed me.

• Author: Jason Gordon

Here is a list, in no particular order, of albums that have been released in 2008. Feel free to add additional records that I may have missed in the comment section.

Viva La Vida – Coldplay
Hard Candy – Madonna
Accelerate – R.E.M.
Rockferry – Duffy
All I Intended To Be – Emmylou Harris
Narrow Stairs – Death Cab for Cutie
Mudcrutch – Mudcrutch
Consolers Of The Lonely – The Raconteurs
Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
Third – Portishead
Forth – The Verve
Modern Guilt – Beck
The Odd Couple – Gnarls Barkley
Hold On Now, Youngster - Los Campesinos!
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed - Los Campesinos!
Country Doctor Museum - The Lisps
The Slip – Nine Inch Nails
Funplex – The B-52’s
Home After Dark – Neil Diamond
Tha Carter III – Lil’ Wayne
Anthems for the Damned - Filter
God Has A Voice, She Speaks Through Me - CocoRosie
Little Honey – Lucinda Williams
Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
Evil Urges – My Morning Jacket
Lay It Down – Al Green
Jukebox – Cat Power
Arm’s Way - Islands
Disco - Health
Here I Stand - Usher
Here We Stand - The Fratellis
o - Tilly & The Wall
Life, Death, Love and Freedom - John Mellencamp
Beautiful Future - Primal Scream
Fasciinatiion - the Faint
Intimacy - Bloc Party
The Block - New Kids on the Block
Death Magnetic - Metallica
Loyalty to Loyalty - Cold War Kids
Something Else - Robin Thicke
Break Up The Concrete - The Pretenders
Ode to J. Smith - Travis
Heart On - Eagles of Death Metal
I Am… Sasha Fierce - Beyonce
Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust – Sigur Ros
New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War – Erykah Badu
Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
Disco - Health
Warpaint – Black Crowes
Oracular Spectacular – MGMT
Volume One – She & Him
Last Night – Moby
Weezer (Red Album) – Weezer
Cardinology - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
Attack and Release - Black Keys
Only by the Night - Kings of Leon
Paper Trail – T.I.
19 – Adele
Falling Off The Lavender Bridge - Lightspeed Champion
From The Mountain To The Sea - Birdmonster
The Black Ghosts - The Black Ghosts
Santogold – Santogold
Shine – Estelle
For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver
To Survive - Joan as Police Woman
Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Alas, I Cannot Swim – Laura Marling
Saturdays=Youth – M83
The Rhumb Line – Ra-Ra Riot
Dear Science, - TV on the Radio
We Started Nothing - The Ting Tings
Distortion – Magnetic Fields
Trouble in Dreams – Destroyer
Furr – Blitzen Trapper
Donkey – CSS
Carried to Dust – Calexico
Vivian Girls – Vivian Girls
Receivers – Parts & Labor
Youth Novels – Lykki Li
Snowflake Midnight – Mercury Rev
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today – David Byrne & Brian Eno
Lucky – Nada Surf
Lust Lust Lust – The Raveonettes
Lie Down In The Light – Bonnie “Prince” Billy
The Seldom Seen Kid – Elbow
You & Me- The Walkmen
In Ear Park – Department of Eagles
The Gift - Sons & Daughters
We Brave Bee Stings And All - Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
Does You Inspire You – Chairlift
Saturnalia – The Gutter Twins
Rook – Shearwater
Anywhere I Lay My Head – Scarlett Johansson
Do You Like Rock Music? – British Sea Power
Acid Tongue – Jenny Lewis
In Field & Town - Hayden
Liverpool 8 - Ringo Starr
The Bedlam in Goliath - The Mars Volta
Made in the Dark - Hot Chip
Diamond Hoo Ha - Supergrass
X - Kylie Minogue
Walk it Off - Tapes ‘N Tapes
Konk - The Kooks
Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
Elephant Shell - Tokyo Police Club
District Line - Bob Mould
Backwoods Barbie - Dolly Parton
Go Away White - Bauhaus
Float - Flogging Molly
Red of Tooth and Claw - Murder By Death
Brain Thrust Mastery - We Are Scientists
Welcome To Mali - adou & Mariam
London Zoo - The Bug
Hercules And Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair
Stay Positive - The Hold Steady
Chemistry Of Common Life - Fucked Up
Music Tapes for Clouds & Tornadoes - The Music Tapes
Brighter Than Creation’s Dark - Drive-By Truckers
The Visiter - The Dodos
Watershed – Opeth
Microcastle / Weird Era Cont. - Deerhunter
Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
In Ghost Colours - Cut Copy
April - Sun Kil Moon
Feed the Animals - Girl Talk
The Stand Ins - Okkervil River
@#%&*! Smilers - Aimee Mann
The Ruiner - Made Out of Babies
Where You Go I Go Too - Lindstrom
Real Emotional Trash - Stephen Malkmus & Jicks
At Mount Zoomer - Wolf Parade
Electric Arguments = The Fireman
Saint Dymphna - Gang Gang Dance
Fantasy Black Channel - Late of the Pier
22 Dreams - Paul Weller
49:00 - Paul Westerberg
In the Future - Black Mountain
Nouns - No Age
She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke - The Dutchess & The Duke
Seventh Tree - Goldfrapp
Rising Down - The Roots
Ghosts I-IV - Nine Inch Nails
Broken Hymns, Limbs, & Skin - O’Death
Only By Night - Kings of Leon
Songs in A&E - Spiritualized
Devotion - Beach House
A Larum - Jonny Flynn
Parc Avenue - Plants and Animals
Me and Armini - Emiliana Torrini
Momofuku - Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Appeal to Reason - Rise Against
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Skeletal Lamping - Of Montreal
Apocalypso - The Presets
The Lucky Old Sun - Brian Wilson
Fate - Dr. Dog
Dig Out Your Soul - Oasis
Nude with Boots - Melvins
Stop Drop and Roll!!! - Foxboro Hot Tubs
Rabbit Habits - Man Man
LP3 - Ratatat
Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea - Silver Jews
Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel - Atlas Sound
Sunday at Dirt Devil - Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down - Noah & The Whale
Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
Heretic Pride - The Mountain Goats
Black Ice - AC/DC
Glasvegas - Glasvegas
Chinese Demcoracy - Guns N’ Roses
Day & Age - The Killers
808s & Heartbreaks - Kanye West
Antidotes - Foals
This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That - Marnie Stern

• Author: Jason Gordon