Caught in the Carousel

Letter from the Editor - January 2007

By Alex Green

And so 2006 is over, which means that the Carousel has now officially turned one and like all parents of infants, we find ourselves not getting enough sleep and bragging to everyone else about how smart our kid is. It's never a great thing to extend metaphors too far, so we'll stop there—plus, there are things to report, so here we go:

**Our First Annual Caught In The Carousel Distinguished Achievement Awards are in and below this missive you'll find a list of the winners. If you haven't heard some of these bands, it goes without saying that we think you should check them out. Now. We'll wait.

**Caught In The Carousel is delighted to begin 2007 with an interview with Steve Lambert, the former lead singer of Roman Holliday. It's been nearly two decades since Steve put out a new album, and in his interview with our own Alex Green, he discusses this, among other things, quite candidly.

**CITC is proud to announce that we have hired several new writers whose work will be published here next month. If you're interested in writing for us, do drop us a line.

**In February we will be posting a comprehensive interview with Jim Shepherd of the Jasmine Minks. We're really excited about this, since the 'Minks are one of our favorite bands, but what's made the process so wonderful, Alex tells us, is that Jim is a tremendously nice guy and has been more than happy to talk about the old days and the new days of his recording career.

**We've got tons more up our freshly laundered sleeves, but you'll have to be patient. Trust us, it'll be worth it. Until then, don't be shy—we've seen your work: alex670@earthlink.net

THE ANNUAL CAUGHT IN THE CAROUSEL DISTINGUISHED ACHEIVEMENT AWARDS, 2006

Top 10 Albums Of The Year:

1. Robb Benson—A Collection Of Songs I Forgot To Tell You About
2. The Music Lovers-The Music Lovers' Guide For Young People
3. Mojave 3—Puzzles Like You
4. Camera Obscura—Let's Get Out Of This Country
5. Belle And Sebastian—The Life Pursuit
6. Decemberists—The Crane Wife
7. Ill Lit—Tom Cruise
8. Teddy Thompson—Separate Ways
9. Quincy Coleman—Come Closer
10. Matthew Puckett—Five Dreams Of Being

Top 10 Songs Of The Year: (But we're going to give you 12!)

1. "Girl In The War"-Josh Ritter
2. "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)—The Decemberists
3. "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken"—Camera Obscura
4. "Lollipop"—Hidden Cameras
5. "Olden Days"—Channel
6. "Cowboys And Aliens"—Dept. Of Energy
7. "There Goes My Outfit"—The Dears
8. "Barcelona"—Soft Complex
9. "Up The Junction"—Chris Difford
10. Anyone"—The Feeling
11. "Mumble, Mumble"—Get Him Eat Him12. "Death Of The Party"—Keene Brothers

Best Album Opener: Dirty Pretty Things—"Deadwood"

Best Album Closer: The Music Lovers—"The Music Lovers' Guide For Young People"

EP of the Year: (Tie)
Dept. Of Energy—Self Titled
Start A Rage—Steve Lambert

Best Male Singer: Robb Benson

Best Female Singer: Quincy Coleman

Best Guitarist: Ray Mason

Best Bassist: Jon Brooder (The Music Lovers)

Best Drummer: Devon Shirley (The Photo Atlas)

Import Of The Year: Augie March-Moo, You Bloody Choir (Australia)

Rookie of the Year: The Changes

Band To Watch In 2007: The View

Best Cover Version: (Three Way Tie):

Doleful Lions—"Astrozombies" (Misfits)

Boy Least Likely To—"Faith" (George Michael)

Matthew Puckett—"I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" (Prince)

Best Music Book: Rough Trade—By Rob Young (Black Dog Publishing)

Best Music DVD: Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out

Alex Green
Editor, Caught In The Carousel
Alex670@earthlink.net