1. Books to Give for the 2008 Holiday Season

Covering politics, comic books, nude self-portraits, futuristic architecture, and humorous basketball profiles, ALARM lists five awesome books as gift ideas for your musically, artistically, or culturally interesting friends.

2. Commentaries on the Golden Path: The Allure of Belonging to America

Columnist Andrew Williams analyzes his love of American creations and how they often conflict with his sociopolitical ideology.

3. DIY Venue Spotlight: The Dayton Dirt Collective

ALARM's ongoing series exploring the best grassroots, non-traditional music venues profiles The Dayton Dirt Collective, a punk/experimental establishment situated near a local porn shop and church-supply outlet.

4. Lollapalooza 2008, Day 1: A Diverse Collection of Garbage

With pie chart in hand, publisher/editor Chris Force breaks down the whack hip hop, corny music for alt-jocks, sleepy singer/songwriters and more from Day 1 of last year's Lollapalooza.

5. Q&A: East Coast Avengers Discuss War Obsessions, 9/11, and Fox News

Following national notoriety for the release of "Kill Bill O'Reilly," politically outspoken hip-hop trio East Coast Avengers spoke with ALARM online editor Scott Morrow just before the historic 2008 election.

6. Q&A: God of Shamisen's Shredding Cultural Collisions

Led by Tsugaru-shamisen master Kevin Kmetz, Santa Cruz's God of Shamisen creates cultural collisions in the form of shredding, Japanese-infused progressive metal.

7. Q&A: Grails Guitarist Discusses Creating Album Art for Doomsdayer's Holiday

Fusing Indian music, 1970s film noir, and psychedelic sounds into heavy acoustic and electric rock, Grails is a wonderful anomaly. Publisher/editor Chris Force recently spoke with guitarist Alex Hall, who created the artwork for the group's new album.

8. Tim Fite: Tears of a Clown

Genre-defying folk rapper Tim Fite discusses the making of his most recent creation, Fair Ain't Fair, an album of violent regrets recorded during one of the lowest emotional points in his life.

9. Tinariwen: Malian Rebel Rock and Roll

Members of the nomadic Tuareg ethnic group, Tinariwen sings of independence from the Malian government. And despite a lengthy international touring schedule, the group's songs still tell the stories of its home — bleak tales of survival and cautious hope, desperation, and escapism.

10. The Top 10 Cover Songs by The Bad Plus

Hard-hitting jazz trio The Bad Plus knows how to pen pieces of proprietary gold. But its three members are also known for their genre-leaping renditions of rock songs, propelled by the chops of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer David King.

11. The Top 10 Parts of The Shape of Punk to Come

Just prior to an acrimonious breakup, Swedish hardcore group Refused released its magnum opus, The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombination in 12 Bursts. It was as much an assault on capitalist philosophy as it was a striking stylistic evolution, and it did its best to advance hardcore in the way that its titular influence, Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come, did with jazz.

12. The Top 10 Songs by Faith No More

Faith No More didn't revolutionize the rock landscape, but for much of its tenure, its members created some of the genre's best mainstream songs while courting radio success. Along the way, Mike Patton and crew peppered other styles into their expanding repertoire, wedging lounge sounds, incoherent squeals, and even an angelic choir into songs that ran alongside pummeling rock tunes.

Though the case can be made for the detractions of continued corporate sponsorship and a focus on "Kidzapalooza," the all-too-radio-friendly three-day festival mostly suffers from a predominantly average lineup. That was certainly the case on Friday, when uninspired acts such as Silversun Pickups, The Rapture, The Black Keys, Electric Six, Sparklehorse, and Satellite Party were scattered about an eleven-hour schedule.

Even festival organizer Perry Farrell, whose mid-day press conference spoke of the strength of coummunity, the advantage of blogging, and the event's carbon neutrality, couldn't change the lackluster nature of Satellite Party, his newest band, by opening with a cover of Jane's Addiction's "Stop," one of his most popular works.

Thankfully, a number of the other performers were watchable or slightly enjoyable. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists got the afternoon going with some rousing power pop and a closer lamenting the Central Intelligence Agency; protest punks Against Me!, led by the throaty, piercing vocals of singer/guitarist Tom Gabel (shown left), continued as one of the day's only other voices of dissent.

Alt-experimenters Blonde Redhead, one of the lineup's biggest throwbacks to '90s-style indie rock and not too dissimilar in sound to Sonic Youth, mesmerized concertgoers with delayed clean-channel guitar, dirty rock riffs, sampled drums, sequencers, and the whispy, near-falsetto vocals of multi-instrumentalist Kazu Makino (left of image).

Multi-ethnic rapper M.I.A. (shown left) earlier offered up hot beats and mild gyration, although her act and vocal style quickly grew tiresome. Sadly, the highlight of her party-flavored set was when she climbed a riser during the penultimate song and dropped lines atop a large speaker.

However, Kuti (below) and his backing band, The Positive Force, acted as one of Friday's saving graces. Clad in matching green and purple outfits, The Positive Force provided a forceful backdrop for Kuti to rock harder than anyone else on the bill.

Between funky, succinct bursts of brass and traditional African rhythms, the Nigerian musician fired up the crowd with frenzied eruptions of organ, saxophone, encouraging lyrics, and spinning, kicking dance moves.

Earlier in the afternoon, the dozens of performers from The Polyphonic Spree appeared to crave heat stroke while all dressed in matching black attire. With singer Tim DeLaughter at the forefront, the small orchestra inundated its audience with triumphant, typically distortion-free, über-heavy pop in support of recent album The Fragile Army.

The group, which flaunts a flautist, harpist, and two drummers among its mammoth roster, then switched into white robes for an encore that included a massively layered rendition of "Lithium" by Nirvana.

At the end of the evening, famous electronica duo Daft Punk dazzled dance fans with the same fantastic stage setup it has used at festivals in recent years. Though the outdoor venue was less conducive to getting down than a club setting, the ever-changing pyramid of lights in which the two played was a site to behold.

- Scott Morrow

Photo credits: Tanya van Kampen