Hello

Hey, I'm Joe. Since 2004, I've been publishing (well, putting into Microsoft Word) lists of my favorite albums of the year. As the years have gone by and I have matured, I've made a lot of lists. For whatever reason, I find ordering things (mainly music-related things) to be tremendous fun.

Now, you might be asking yourself: "Why should I care about the lists some geeky Midwestern kid makes?"

And I will answer that internal inquiry with a resounding "I'm not exactly sure."

But then I'll think about it some more. And I'll tell you that I've put a (embarrassingly) good amount of effort into these, and I think I know what I'm talking about. For the most part.

Anyhow, if you feel the need to identify with me at all, I'll give you some info:

I am 17 years old

I am six foot one (and still growing, I might add)

I weigh about a hundred and eighty pounds (also still growing)

I have a size 12 shoe (not growing as much)

I have dark brown hair (nearly black)

I wear glasses (who doesn't these days?)

I live in Ravenswood in Chicago (it's near Lincoln Square!)

I'm Italian (grandfather was from Napoli)

And I'm Jewish (on the other side)

I like parentheses (clearly)

My favorite color is brown (subject to change)

My favorite fruit: avocado (I'm pretty sure it's a fruit)

My favorite toe is the second toe (next to the big toe)

My favorite guitar is my Jazzmaster ('62 Mexican reissue)

As far as music taste goes:

(As much as I love lists, I hate naming favorite bands. However, I feel it is necessary so that you know what you're getting into.)

My favorite bands/artists are: Wire, The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, Can, Sly & The Family Stone, My Bloody Valentine, Dirty Projectors, Talking Heads, New Order, The Modern Lovers, Animal Collective, The Stooges, David Bowie, Arthur Russell, Howlin' Wolf, Nick Drake, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Devendra Banhart, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, Tim Buckley, James Brown (there are more, sure, but this is a good start)

I'm guessing you like at least a few of those guys.

And I'm going to try to cover some jazz. I like jazz. And not a lot of the blogs I've seen talk much about jazz. I'll focus mostly on post-punk, electronic, punk, krautrock, and indie rock (how I loathe the term), but I think there'll be enough jazz and funk and hip-hop for all those Waxpoetics readers out there.

In case you were wondering, my favorite jazz musicians are: Albert Ayler, Coltrane, Anthony Braxton, Miles Davis, Roscoe Mitchell and The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Mingus, Herbie Hancock (Mwandishi era), Peter Brotzmann, Bird

Thanks, and I hope you read my blog (even though the name is a little bit lame.)

Sincerely,

Joe Bucciero