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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.

Either Way

September 8, 2010 in Music, Personal, Random Musings with 2 Comments

Do you remember the first time you heard your favorite band? Do you remember how it made you feel after hearing the very first song by them?

At the time you probably didn’t think they would eventually become your favorite band. You might have thought “oh this is a catchy tune” and thought nothing else, but sometimes that tune stirs something inside of you and it makes you listen intently to the music and lyrics. Its a life changing experience and I experienced it with my best friend on a chilly November night in 2007.

2007 was a weird year. It was the year where I became disillusioned with my position at work, the year where I lost my Bright Futures and felt that I was never going to finish school because I just didn’t have it in me, and the year where my heart was broken and I continued to break my own heart for my very own sick and twisted reasons. I was lost in the emotional woods per se without a map, and no survival kit and I was making all the wrong decisions.

I was a mess. I was cranky, moody and depressed. I had for quite a while let go of many friendships over the years and grown apart from others. In 2007 I somehow started to reconnect with people that I was once very good friends with and started to make friends with other people. I was branching out in order to escape my self destruction.

One constant in my life had always been music softly playing in the background. Sadly most of the music that I had listened to at that point reminded me of things that I had lost up to that point. That is the bad thing about associating songs with people, whenever they come on you are always reminded of them.

Thanks to Joe my tastes started to branch out and I started to go out to more places with him. The conversations were always deep and we always went some place new. We might go out for a beer in St. Pete one day, then Tampa the next, eat lunch in Safety Harbor another or just spend some time in Dunedin. He would constantly keep me busy so I wouldn’t feel depressed.

One night we were driving back from Pinellas Park after eating some delicious pho. I was telling him how frustrated I was at not being able to listen to bands that I used to before and out comes out Wilco‘s “Sky Blue Sky“. He said that this would really resonate with me.

It did.

Cover of "Sky Blue Sky"
Cover of Sky Blue Sky

I had heard of Wilco before, but never did I actually listen to them before. I was mostly familiar with their VW commercials that they did. I thought the commercials were interesting and I liked them, but they didn’t make me want to go out and buy their album. Mostly because I wasn’t aware that it was Wilco that provided the soundtrack to those commercials. You must remember them.

“Either Way” hit me hard. Jeff Tweedy‘s song about love that is lost and may or may not be found once again was exactly how I was feeling at the time. It was going to be okay one day. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but the sun will shine eventually.

I had a hard time trying not to cry after that song was finished. We drove in silence listening to the album in complete silence not saying anything to each other just driving and enjoying the music. As we drove the CD kept playing and soon we found ourselves listening to “You Are My Face” and then being rocked sonically by “Impossible Germany” and soothed by the title track “Sky Blue Sky”.

I borrowed that CD that night after a long night of drinking coffee and smoking copious amounts of Camel Lights. I put the CD on and sat back and downloaded the entire Wilco discography from iTunes. Everything they ever created was mine that night all because of one simple song. I had to have more.

I was amazed by the simplicity and the complexity of Wilco’s songs. How could I have not been into them before? I needed to rectify such a travesty.

Devouring their music was exactly what I did. Suddenly I could not get enough Wilco. I discovered a new song every other day that I was obsessed with and that seemed to have been written just for me. I was once again a pre-pubescent boy discovering the wonders of music and I could not be more excited.

Since that night I have searched far and wide for new music. I have listened to a lot of bands, but none of them can ever compare to what Wilco means to me.

It wasn’t until 2009 that I saw them live, after nearly two years of being a hardcore fan. I was invited to Memphis to visit my step-brother’s family and to see Wilco for the very first time ever with my sister-in-law, Katie. I can’t tell you how excited and amazed I was at the band. It was truly the best time of my life. I had been to loads of shows before and this was just as great as the New Years Eve concerts that I went to see Barenaked Ladies at. They weren’t that full of energy, but they just as emotion packed for me. My favorite band is right in front of me and I am being rocked both figuratively and metaphorically.

Not a day goes by that I don’t listen to Wilco. Something will happen I need to listen to one of their songs. It might be a song from “A.M” or from “Summerteeth” or from their opus “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” but there is not many songs from them that I do not care for and even the ones that I do not care for are amazing in their own way that I can’t help but sing along to them.

Thank you Wilco.

Without you my life would be pretty boring and less musically diverse, and let’s face it; why wouldn’t I want to listen to the best American band that has come from the past decade?

Wilco performing in support of Sky Blue Sky at...
Image via Wikipedia

P.S.- The title for this blog comes from the song “Summerteeth” by Wilco. In it Jeff sings the line “He hits snooze twice before he dies” and its always been one of my favorite lines of his. I have this bad habit of setting my alarm clock to go off earlier than what I want it to so that I can hit the snooze button. This drives my parents crazy since I get up, walk sleepily ten feet to hit the snooze button and drag myself back to bed for eight more minutes of sleep. I repeat this a second time and then I reluctantly wake up. I have been known to hit the snooze button for nearly an hour which prompts my mom to come in and give me a lecture about getting up when I need to and to have responsibility.

In my defense, I like to get up two hours before the time that I need to be somewhere. It gives me time to eat breakfast, take a shower and get there early in case of any unforeseeable traffic delays.