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1. The Go Find, “Dictionary.”

2. The Flaming Lips, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Almost too pointillistically accurate until it gets into the “Beshmillah!” section, then it will remind you of those uber-demonic vocal arrangements Dave Fridmann and the boys put together during the Priest-Driven Ambulance period.  

3. Hot Chip, “Colours.”

4. Saint Etienne, “Sun in My Morning.”

5. Dustin O’Halloran, “Opus 23.”

6. Patton Oswalt, “Wackity Schmackity Doo!” Our sick troll friend could peel the happy off the Wiggles with the ferocity of his brilliantly nasty standup. He never goes where you expect, and Werewolves and Lollipops is a worthy follow-up to 2004’s Feelin’ Kinda Patton. He is my favorite current comedian, and I’d listen to him in the car if I weren’t either afraid of plowing into the divider or turning my son into a complete sicko ahead of his time. On Werewolves, he takes down a heckler with such merciless rancor that the guy’s probably either still crying or turned monastic, or both.

7. The Fratellis, “Whistle For the Choir.”

8. Papercuts, “Dear Employee.”

9. Dios, “Starting Five.”

10. Shuggie Otis, “Happy House.” Everyone who hears Inspiration Information is an instant convert. For those who don’t know the story, Shuggie is the son of Johnny Otis and recorded only one unreleased disc in the early ’70s before disappearing. Earlier this decade, David Byrne and Luaka Bop unearthed the disc and re-released it, and it still sounds remarkably fresh. It also includes his 1969 original version of “Strawberry Letter 23,” later recorded by the Brothers Johnson at the request of Quincy Jones. Shuggie is known to show up and play at bars around the Bay Area, but it seems no amount of adoration can get the man into a studio again.

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Any way you don’t want it

First came its revival on MTV’s “Laguna Beach” a couple of years ago, then the song was chosen to abruptly end the most revered television drama of our time. For a relic from the days when giant beetle-shaped warships were considered perfectly fine album art material, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” suddenly has disproportionately huge cultural cache.

So this morning, Staticblog received a press release from the last remaining Journey-men, saying that the second guy they have hired to sing their arena-rock castrato arias since Steve Perry jumped scarab, Jeff Scott Soto, and the band have “just decided to go our separate ways, no pun intended,” according to lead guitarist/Catskills comedian Neal Schon.

Now, if millions of people just listened to your song on “The Sopranos,” wouldn’t it make sense, in these reunion-mad times, to collect your old soprano and go out on tour? You just know that “Journey Featuring Steve Perry” is going to happen at a casino near you, and we only have David Chase to blame.

Now, what’s the proper way to express gastric distress in print? Blurg?

David Chase

Alan Sepinwall at the Newark Star-Ledger scored an interview with David Chase, but the “Sopranos” creator is keeping mum on his intentions regarding the cut to black at the end. The ball is clearly in our court. Find it here.

This morning, I watched a particularly moronic report on CNN’s “American Morning” offering ill-informed analysis of the Sopranos “Made in America” finale. Much of it focused on viewer reaction to the episode, which was anedotally hostile toward the abrupt ending, and Kiran Chetry’s superficial comments about the supposedly shocking discussion of President Bush’s Iraq policy and gas-hungry SUVs.

As a rule, I stay out of discussions involving the cost and availability of Starbucks Coffee in Kuala Lumpur, sports medicine and trigonometry because I know absolutely nothing about these subjects. It’s a good policy, Kiran. A great one, in fact.

All CNN had to do was get this guy into the studio — he was 30 minutes away in Newark, and could have offered superior insight into what was ultimately a fitting and superior sendoff to the fairweather viewers’ desire for a “Say hello to my little friend!” cataclysm.

And you can hear our podcast response to the final episode here.

This weekend marks the end of possibly the greatest series in the history of television. On Thursday, join me along with managing editors Mike Shannon and Joe Hight and metro editor Kathryn McNutt for a special “sit-down” podcast in honor of the final episode of “The Sopranos.”

The body count in last weekend’s episode is particularly high and tragic: anti-heroes fell, the most important hit ever ordered by Tony Soprano got botched, and the final scene showed Tony alone, clutching an automatic weapon on a bed, and the camera panned away ominously to the bedroom door. We will discuss how Tony got there, and what is possibly on the other side of that door.

The podcast will be available for download Thursday evening. We’ll see just how right Tony was when he once told Silvio, “All due respect, you got no … idea what it’s like to be Number One. Every decision you make affects every facet of every other … thing. It’s too much to deal with almost. And in the end, you’re completely alone with it all.”

Cast your vote - will Tony Soprano get whacked in Sunday’s finale? Vote here.