What a pleasant surprise to have spotted my album make David Bash's list of top 125 albums of 2008! As seen on Absolute Powerpop Monday, January 12, 2009 David Bash's Top 125 of 2008. One of the most eagerly awaited lists in the power pop community is David Bash's exhaustive year-end list of the top 125 albums of the year, and I'm proud to be bringing you David's 2008 list. Today I will post the Top 125 proper, and tomorrow I will post his ancillary lists (top EPs, reissues, compilations, tributes, etc.) So without further ado, here is David's top 125 of 2008: 1. Roger Joseph Manning Jr.-Catnip Dynamite (Pony Canyon) 2. The Doll Test-Mosque Alarm Clock (Unsmashable) 3. The Madd-Ongeneeslijk Beat (Excelsior) 4. The Junipers-Cut Your Key (San Remo) 5. Josh Fix-Free At Last (1650 Entertainment) 6. Adrian Whitehead-One Small Stepping Man (Popboomerang) 7. Three Hour Tour-B Side Oblivion (Martian) 8. The Resonars-That Evil Drone (Burger) 9. The General Store-Mountain Rescue (Brewery) 10. The Lackloves-Cathedral Square Park (Rainbow Quartz) 11. Big Kid-Big Kid III (Self-Released) 12. The Telepathic Butterflies-Breakfast In Suburbia (Rainbow Quartz) 13. Cliff Hillis-The Long Now (Tallboy) 14. Rob Bonfiglio-Bring On The Happy (Damask) 15. The Pop Project-Stars Of Stage And Screen (Suburban Sprawl) 16. Jeremy-Pop Explosion (Jam) 17. Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears-Flight Of The Knife (Black & Greene) 18. The Hi Risers-Once We Get Started (Spinout) 19. The Dress Whites-My God, The Shame! (Self-Released) 20. The 88-Not Only…But Also (Island) 21. The Handcuffs-Electroluv (OOFL) 22. Greg Pope-Popmonster (Octoberville) 23. The Feeling-Join With Us (Universal) 24. The Royal Purple-The Time Element (Umbrella) 25. Tim Morrow-Back To Delton (Self-Released) 26. Pugwash-Eleven Modern Antiquities (1969) 27. The Gurus-Now (Rock Indiana/Rainbow Quartz) 28. Graham Day & The Gaolers-Triple Distilled (Damaged Goods) 29. The Galaxies-Here We Go! (Self-Released) 30. Mari Wilson-Emotional Glamour (Beehive) 31. Rob Smith-Trick Of The Light (Zip) 32. The Goldbergs-Under The Radar (Kool Kat) 33. Kelly Jones-SheBANG! (Good Morning Monkey) 34. Beat Hotel-Move On (Self-Released) 35. The Well Wishers-Jigsaw Days (Thatwasmyskull) 36. Brent Cash-How Will I Know If I’m Awake (Marina) 37. The Respectables-Sibley Gardens (Self-Released) 38. Smash Fashion-A Gentlemen’s Guide… (ElectricPudding) 39. The Afternoons-Sweet Action (Self-Released) 40. Lindsay Buckingham-Gift Of Screws (Reprise) 41. Paul Starling-Doors & Windows (Rockshot) 42. Foxboro Hot Tubs-Stop Drop and Roll!!! (Jingle Town) 43. Garfield’s Birthday-Let Them Eat Cake (Pink Hedgehog) 44. Marmalade Army-Johnny Cake and Moonpies (Modern Artists) 45. Laurie Biagini-Ridin’ The Wave (Self-Released) 46. The Wellingtons-Heading North For The Winter (Zip) 47. Andy Reed-Fast Forward (Kool Kat) 48. Alan Bernhoft-Beatlesque One (Jaxalon) 49. Chewy Marble-Modulations (SideB) 50. The Bye Bye Blackbirds-Houses & Homes (American Dust) 51. Daisy-It’s About Time (Elements) 52. Stratocruiser-Egg Shells (New Atlas) 53. Private Jets-Jet Sounds (Sparkplug) 54. The Sunshine-I Heard A Rumour About You Boy (Self-Released)

55. The Mop Tops-Ground Floor Man (Sound Asleep) 56. The Breakdowns-Heartbreak Radio (Rock Indiana) 57. Leave-On A Happy Note…(Self-Released) 58. The Parties-Can’t Come Down (Rainbow Quartz) 59. The Explorers Club-Freedom Wind (Dead Oceans) 60. Kaiser Chiefs-Off With Their Heads (Universal) 61. The Pleasure-Travel Inside (Rookie) 62. Sarah Borges and The Broken Singles-Diamonds In The Dark (Sugar Hill) 63. The Rhinos-In Rhi-Fi (Rainbow Quartz) 64. We Should Be Dead-Forget Romance, Let’s Dance! (Pop4pop) 65. The Simple Carnival-Girls Aliens Food (Sundrift) 66. Kai Reiner-Kai Reiner (Self-Released) 67. Service Group-Principles Of Electronic Circuitry (Squid Vs. Whale) 68. The Temponauts-A Million Year Picnic (Teen Sound) 69. Dave Dill-Follow The Summer (Self-Released) 70. The Pete Best Band-Haymans Green (EMI) 71. All Day Sucker-The Big Pretend (Self-Released) 72. Deleted Waveform Gatherings-Baby Warfare (Rainbow Quartz) 73. Pinto-Hook Me Up (Self-Released) 74. The Cheeksters-Movers and Shakers (Caterina Sounds) 75. Andy Bopp-This Guitar Kills Singer Songwriters (Rainbow Quartz) 76. Poplord-Full/Filled (Self-Released) 77. The Jellybricks-Goodnight To Everyone (Primitive) 78. Adrian Bourgeois-Adrian Bourgeois (C Side) 79. Hundred Million Martians-Marseille (Plastic Passion) 80. Your Gracious Host-Your Gracious Host (Self-Released) 81. The Human Statues-The Human Statues (Self-Released) 82. Philip Vandermost-Automatic August (Self-Released) 83. Panic At The Disco-Welcome To The Sound Of Pretty Odd (Fueled By Ramen) 84. Pris-The Kiss Off (Thistime) 85. Dropkick-Dot The I-(Taylored) 86. Dimebox-Five And Dime Waltz (Avebury) 87. Young Sportsmen-If You Want It (Unsmashable) 88. Sextus-Stranger Than Fiction (Dramapants) 89. Junebug-Fifth (Planet 8) 90. Monkeeman-Life In The Backseat (Cargo) 91. Captain Wilberforce-Everyone Loves A Villain (Blue Tuxedo) 92. The Pillbugs-Everybody Wants A Way Out (Rainbow Quartz) 93. Rinaldi Sings-Bingo (Tangerine) 94. The Higher Elevations-The Protestant Work Ethic (Time For Action) 95. Derby-Posters Fade (Green Submarine) 96. Norman Kelsey-A Talent For Loving (Self-Released) 97. The Eisenhowers-Film Your Own Atrocities (Serali) 98. The Brigadier-The Rise & Fall Of Responsibility (Self-Released) 99. Baby Scream-Ups And Downs (Recorded Recordings) 100. Lund Bros-Songbook IV (Self-Released) 101. Sloan-Parallel Play (Murderecords) 102. The Stems-Heads Up (Invisible) 103. The Spongetones-Too Clever By Half (Loaded Goat) 104. Class Three Overbite-Horses For Courses (Self-Released) 105. Peter Colours-Welcome To The Show (Bip Bip) 106. Only Make Believe-Message From A Mockingbird (GreenTree) 107. The Powerchords-..Think I’m Gonna (Screaming Apple) 108. Starling Electric-Clouded Staircase (Bar None) 109. Do The Undo-Do The Undo (Excelsior) 110. *The Ringles-Rickenbacker Ballet (Jam) 111. Readymade Breakup-Alive On The Vine (Self-Released) 112. Black Hollies-Casting Shadows (Ernest Jenning) 113. Frank Barajas-Better Times (Operation Big Beat) 114. Epicycle-Jingle Jangle (Self-Released) 115. Triggers-Smoke Show (Self-Released) 116. The Pranks-Modern Communication (Screaming Apple) 117. Michael Mazzarella-Folk Songs For The Curious Few (Self-Released) 118. The Major Labels-Aquavia (Self-Released) 119. The Smith Bros.-Restless (Toin Coss) 120. The Top Drawers-You’re So Fine (Indiepool) 121. The Spring Collection-In Between (Blindspot) 122. Sugar High-Let The Sunshine Out (Thousandaire) 123. Brown Line Fiasco-Superstar (Self-Released) 124. Khalid Hanifi-Pamplemousse Presse (Cerberus) 125. Gigantic-Gigantaphonic Sounds (Zip) **The Orchid Highway-The Orchid Highway (Rainbow Quartz) **Vibeke-The World Famous Hat Trip (Pop Detective) **The last two would have been high on this list, but they were ranked in 2007 when they were released on their prev

(This review was written by Andrew Gladwin for his Cabinessence Blog) Ridin’ A Special Musical Wave Laurie Biagini, from Vancouver, has been an internet friend of mine on the various Beach Boys message boards and social networking sites over the past years. During this period, she has been living a musical dream by creating her own original music that has been distributed on the internet and has been getting airplay on various radio stations. Now her long awaited debut CD has been released, called Ridin’ The Wave. Laurie’s style is pretty straightforward 60s rock n’ roll, with a touch of surf music as well as the harmonic quality of Brian Wilson and Beach Boys. The lyrical material appeals to everyday experience -this isn’t esoteric art rock, but a simple rock and roll celebration of everyday life, including a “tribute” to the Vancouver Rain. The CD includes the song that started it all (Away On A Cloud), an appealing Dennis Wilson tribute bonus track (Bambuzled) and a trio of sweet love ballads (A Magical Night, Two Feet Off The Ground, That Feeling Inside). In a year of many nightmares, it is great to listen to a friend’s dream come true, and Laurie has certainly deserved all the accolades that she has been receiving. Head on to CD Baby and hear it for yourself.

Hello iPod users! If you're into my sound, and would like to buy my songs through iTunes store, the album is now available there! Happy New Year!

Wow! Here is the first review I have seen of "Ridin' The Wave" as found at powerofpop.com LAURIE BIAGINI 13TH DECEMBER, 2008 POSTED BY KEVIN LAURIE BIAGINI Ridin' the Wave (Self released) As an avid Beach Boys fan, it is always re-assuring and comforting to know that the Beach Boys remain high on the agenda on numerous modern-day musicians' list of influences and inspirations. Already this year, you can point to the sterling work of the Fleet Foxes and the Explorers Club as proof positive of this phenomenon. Add British Columbia native Laurie Biagini to the burgeoning list. In fact, listening to Ridin' the Wave, you'd be convinced that Biagini is a lost-long Wilson offspring or distant relative (at least). Focusing on the Beach Boys 70s output, where Dennis and Carl Wilson held greater sway over the Beach Boys due to Brian Wilson's health - there is a certain affinity to those classic Sunflower/Surf's Up albums, not to mention traces of Dennis Wilson's solo Pacific Ocean Blues. In addition, Biagini's uncanny vocal invocation of the late great Karen Carpenter and Mama Cass, definitely brings in a different twist to the Beach Boys tribute that unfolds over the course of this wonderful album. The 16 tracks on display here (including Bambuzled - a heartfelt tribute to Dennis Wilson) effortlessly seque into one another like a seamless heady stream of sunshine pop extacy. My only reservation is that the music sounds like a little "canned" and lacks the immediency of a live performance, which I guess was a recording choice by Biagini. That said, if its melodic 60s/70s SoCal classic pop you want, then Ridin' the Wave will scratch that itch and more… Check out Laurie Biagini's Myspace page. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another great review has surfaced, this time at Powerpopaholic.com. Thanks to Aaron Kupferberg at Powerpopaholic.com for reviewing my album! Laurie Biagini "Ridin' The Wave" One of the better songs from the IPO11 collection was Laurie Biagini's "That Feeling Inside" so I decided to check out the rest of her music. You can guess from the cover and title exactly what it will sound like. It may be winter, but "Ridin' The Wave" is a sweet summer album of California sounds similar to The Malibus. In fact it wouldn't be a stretch to call Laurie the next generation of The Honeys. If you're not sure who The Honeys are, just imagine if the Beach Boys were Beach Girls instead. Laurie's voice is very reminiscent of Michelle Phillips and it fits the melodies perfectly here, from the sunshiny title track to the groovy psyche-pop of "Mr. Guru." Not only are the songs well performed, but Laurie's songwriting and musical composition do the job right, keeping everything bouncing along with plenty of catchy beats and memorable hooks. "Magical Night" and "Vancouver Rain" starts to enter Karen Carpenter territory with a slightly more serious approach. Obviously the songs suffer a little by being derivative of that past era, but you could do much worse. In fact, every song is enjoyable with no fillers through 16 tracks. Other highlights include "You're A Dangerous Thing," and "Doin' Nothing At All" and for fans of Sunshine pop and Surf pop it's the perfect wave! 8