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Favorite 2011 Albums

December 26, 2011 in Entertainment, Just for Fun, Music, Random Musings, Rants with 0 Comments

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

I love Year End “Best of” lists. I look forward to lists from various publications about the best new recipes, television shows, books, movies and my favorite best albums of the year, which I use to discover new music and to get upset when some of my favorite bands don’t get a high enough score in certain lists or are completely left out. Usually, I get really upset at Pitchfork for leaving someone out or putting one band higher than another, but then again Pitchfork is a very frustrating online music magazine—I love and hate them.

So there really isn’t an order to the list. I just added them as I searched through my iTunes library to see what was released this year, so the number 1 spot is not really the number 1 album per se to me, it just happens to be the one I happened to list first. By the way, this is much harder than I thought it would be. I am always afraid of leaving something out or what to say in describing the albums. I eliminated getting heat for ranking an album higher than another by putting the disclaimer of it being ranked in no particular order. I know its a cop-out, but this is my blog and you will deal with it! I could have listed them in a bulleted list, but I started with numbered lists and I was too far ahead in making the list to change it.

  1. Wilco- The Whole Love: Okay, so I lied. I have to list this as the number one album on the list because they are my all time favorite band. I was anxiously awaiting this album, and it did not disappoint. To me the very first track of a Wilco album has really set the mood for the entire catalog of songs, and “Art of Almost” is this wonderful medley of noise, pops and wizzes which ends in a head-bopping Nels Cline shred.
  2. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues: This was my second most anticipated album of the year. I loved the first Fleet Foxes album for its rich harmonies, beautiful melodies and deep lyrics and their sophomore album did not disappoint. To be quite honest, this is the true album of the year and the last track on the album, “Grown Ocean”, became a favorite of mine. I love that song so much that I have it as my opening track in a playlist entitled “To Get Yourself Pumped Up”.
  3. The Decemberists- The King is Dead: This is probably one of the most underrated albums of 2011 in my opinion. Usually a The Decemberists album is created around a theme, concept or story, but this one is not. Its a more Americana version of  The Decemberists, that still retains their unique Decembersists sound. Its a solid album, and it perplexes me as to why it is not in a lot more Best of 2011 lists.
  4. Destroyer- Kaput: I discovered Destroyer when I was listening to my favorite podcast The Dinner Party Download. I decided to check them out and I loved the album so much. Its not an album I would expect to love, but its fantastic. Next time a band tries to emulate 80s soft-rock, sign me up to be a fan!
  5. Bon Iver- Bon Iver: This is the year that I learned how to pronounce Bon Iver correctly after being a fan for a while. By the way, in case you’re interested its not pronounced Bon Eyever but pronounced Boni Ver. A friend once told me that he always pronounced Bon Iver by imagining himself walking in a freshly snow covered forest in Norway. Sounds about right.
  6. Cults- Cults: This is such a catchy little band. Someone I follow on Tumblr posted “Going to see them tonight” and a link to their song “Go Outside”. Instant falling in love, guys. I fell for them hard.
  7. Real Estate- Days: I also randomly heard of them thanks to a random post on Tumblr. I “loved” the track and reblogged it and as the original poster blogged more and more of their tracks I went out and bought this album and their previous album. It was a very wise decision.
  8. Jay-Z & Kanye West- Watch the Throne: Was this the most anticipated album of the year or what? It did not disappoint at all. I had it on repeat several times since it came out.
  9. Childish Gambino- CAMP: While Watch the Throne was all about excess and how their huge megastardom has affected both Yeezy’s and Jay’s lives, CAMP is the complete opposite. Here Donald Glover does not talk about how fame has changed him, but in how he has struggled to not ever belonging into any worlds and how that has affected him. He just wants to be Donald.
  10. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks- Mirror Traffic: I really liked how Beck put a stop sing on some of Stephen Malkmus jams. Not to say that I did not like his jams, but sometimes they felt a bit too long or that they did not fit in a song. It still sounds like a Malkmus release, but its more polished. Thanks Beck!

Others albums I enjoyed this year were:

  • Mariachi El Bronx- Mariachi El Bronx II- Punk + mariachi music? How can you not love this. In the words of my mother “This is disgusting and vile”, but its so damn good.
  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.- It’s A Corporate World: really fun album, even funner name.
  • Of Monsters and Men- My Head is an Animal: I heard them on NPR and found out they’re from Iceland. Also, this is as good as time as any to say that I cannot stand Sigur Ros, but this band gets a pass because I can understand them.
  • Feist-Metals: Just put on this album and enjoy the melancholy.

So there you go! My favorite albums of 2011. If you have Spotify there is this wonderful playlist that has all the best of 2011 albums in one convenient location. Its four days of wonderful music and its from your wonderful friends from Reddit! If you have Spotify just click on this link right here to open the list.

Ten-Days Challenge: 2 Songs

February 10, 2011 in Entertainment, Just for Fun, Music, Personal, Random Musings with 1 Comment

This is the second to last blog post in the blog challenge made by my good friend Huma. Each challenge gets a bit tougher and tougher each time I sit down to write down that day’s challenge, like this one for instance. Why is this one tough? Because I go through phases where songs are my absolute favorites and then they become songs that I listen to on occasion because I just cannot listen to that song one more time.  Its not the song’s or artist’s fault that I get sick of their song, but mine: I do not practice restrain with certain things and just indulge myself until I get no utility out of something. Wow, did I just mention something out of economics here? Maybe that class was worth something after all.

So, what two songs should I post? I think I will post my all-time favorite song from my all-time favorite band and a song that I am currently obsessed with. Sounds good? Good.

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1. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart-Wilco. Who didn’t think I would not include any Wilco on this list? No one? Gah, I hate being so predictable. Anyways, this song is right off their smashing album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and if I had to be honest my favorite Wilco song changes weekly, but this one is constantly my favorite; that and Jesus, Etc. I love that whenever you see Wilco live they play this song early on in the set, and just how amazing it sounds live, so much better than the album version. For some reason, this song always makes me think of Chicago and when I go to Chicago, I will be playing it on my iPod either as I land or as I am making my way through O’Hare.

2. Raised by Wolves-Voxtrot. This is my current song obsession and I am trying to really limit myself to how many times I listen to it because I do not want to get sick of it yet. I don’t actively look for it on a playlist or do I go straight to the artist on iTunes to listen to it. If it comes on, then it comes on. Simple as that. I got into Voxtrot thanks to the Dinner Party Download podcast (the only podcast I listen to besides Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me) when they played Long Haul for their One for the Road Segment. I went out and got more Voxtrot, fell in love and was heartbroken when I found out that they were breaking up. If I had to recommend any album by Voxtrot its definitely Raised by Wolves. Its amazing.

Ten-Days Challenge: 3 Movies

February 9, 2011 in Entertainment, Just for Fun, Personal, Random Musings with 1 Comment

Almost there! After this its two more post until this challenge is almost over and done with. Its both a good and bad thing! Good because I have really liked this challenge and bad because the challenge is also over. Fear not! I am searching for other challenges to partake in and we shall see how that goes. Alright, so let’s get started with today’s challenge: three movies.  This is going to be hard, folks.

1. The Empire Strikes Back. Yup, Star Wars. I loved Star Wars as a kid and the Empire Strikes Back was always my favorite one of the original trilogy. Why? Because the Empire was winning. Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for being part of the Rebel Alliance, but I know that if they kept winning it would get boring and very predictable. That is why Empire Strikes back is so damn amazing: excellent story, Yoda!, Han and Leia sexual tension, Jedi training, Cloud City, Lando Carlissian, Vader vs. Luke, Han being frozen in carbonyte, and most importantly NO EWOKS.  Yup, I hate Ewoks. Deal with it.

2. Its a Wonderful Life.  Jimmy Stewart is the greatest American actor of all time. There, I said it. I love everything about Jimmy Stewart and all his movies but my absolute favorite is Its a Wonderful Life, which may be the greatest movie ever made. I don’t know that many people that have not watched it and not loved it. Its just amazing in every single way.  I won’t lie that I cry every time I see this movie. One of my professors, who is going to show it during class, questions why they consider this a holiday movie. Uh, maybe because the setting of the movie is during the Holidays? Anyways, like I said before, its the best American movie ever made.

3. The Shawshank Redemption. I want to thank TNT for introducing me to this movie when I was 11. It was on randomly, so I saw it 30 minutes in. Good thing that they decided to play an encore presentation of it and since then it has never veered from my top three movies.  Curiously, I have never bothered to read the short story that the movie is based off. I have a feeling that if I read the story than it would be disappointing to me, but then again I felt the same way about Sideways but I devoured that book in one sitting. One day I will.

Coincidentally, have any of you tried to watch all of AFI’s 100 Greatest Movies of All Time? It was a goal of mine for a while, but I think I am going to pick it up again, even re-watching those that I have already seen to make it more legitimate. This will be fun.

Tacos! Tacos! Tacos!

July 23, 2010 in Entertainment, Food, Just for Fun with 1 Comment

The simplicity of tacos astounds me. No matter how simple they are to make –wheat or corn tortilla, with your choice of beef, chicken pork, seasfood, vegetables or cheese– not all tacos are made the same. Sure, you can easily go to your local Taco Bell, Moe’s or Chipotle and get their imitations of tacos, but they are not the real thing. If you go to these places for your taco fix, please stop and re-evaluate what it is that you are doing: its really not that cheap and in all honesty not that good. Do a quick Google search for tacos on Google Maps and dozens of taquerias should be around your area. Trust me, you will thank me later for whatever new and delicious Mexican food that you find this way.

I usually go to one place and one place only for tacos: Asadas Comprades or as it was known before, Taco Madre. They are located in this small strip mall in Cleartwater, FL where the Greyhound bus station is and across from the original Hooter’s restaurant. Their tacos are simple and delicious and I just can’t get enough of them. I try to go once a week to get my fix, but being Mexican having a constant flux of tacos is ingrained into our DNA. Its a marvelous and maddening disease that all Mexicanos suffer. Still, this may not be the best taco in all of Tampa Bay.  This though kept peculating in my mind until I saw the tweet from my tweep @kiltsandstilts about something called @TacoTour2010. Their mission is to scour North East Ohio and save themselves from bad Mexican food (as should anyone else that makes frequent visits to Moe’s, Chipotle or Taco Bell!). After reading about that I came up with the idea to do something similar, but blog about all the taquerias in Pinellas and the Tampa area!

No sooner did I make a Twitter and Facebook update about my latest project, that I checked the St. Petersburg Times and they did something similar to what I plan on doing. They reviewed Asadas Comprades too, which made me happy and glad that they like it.

But fear not dear reader, just because the St. Pete Times has ran with my unoriginal idea it doesn’t mean that I can’t do it as well. So I decided to invited a few friends along for my little taco journey of discovery. I am going to go to the nearest place on their list, finish that and then venture out on my own and write about the tacos, the atmosphere of the place and exactly what is happening at that particular moment. Its not all going to be about the tacos, but about who I am with, what we are talking about and any random subject that might pop into my mind while under the influence of tacos.

I’m really looking forward to starting this tacologue. It gives me an opportunity to spend time with my friends and sometimes even just to venture out by myself to get my precious alone time. I can’t wait to see what other places do with their tacos and to experience all the different flavors of their tacos.

My mouth is watering at the thought already.