Favorite albums of 2011 & 2012

So it has been way too long..  Here are my new release favorites of 2011 and 2012:

Favorites of 2011:

20. Wilco : The Whole Love
19. Bon Iver : Bon Iver
18. My Morning Jacket : Circuital
17. Panda Bear : Tomboy
16. Kasabian : Velociraptor!
15. The Rapture : In The Grace Of Your Love
14. Austra : Feel It Break
13. Peter Bjorn And John : Gimme Some
12. The War On Drugs : Slave Ambient
11. Tapes 'n Tapes : Outside
10. Mates Of State : Mountaintops
9. Handsome Furs : Sound Kaptial
8. Smith Westerns : Dye It Blonde
7. The Vaccines : Hysterical
6. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah : Hysterical
5. The Decemberists : The King Is Dead
4. Bright Eyes : The People's Key
3. Fleet Foxes : Helplessness Blues
2. Beirut : The Rip Tide
1. The Strokes : Angles

Favorites of 2012: 

20. People Get Ready : People Get Ready
19. Andrew Bird : Break It Yourself
18. Menomena : Moms
17. Fanfarlo : Rooms Filled With Light
16. Yeasayer : Fragrant World
15. Howler : America Give Up
14. Divine Fits : A Thing Called Divine Fits
13. Animal Collective : Centipede Hz
12. Patrick Watson : Adventures in Your Own Backyard
11. Lord Huron : Lonesome Dreams
10. The Helio Sequence : Negotiations
9. Dirty Projectors : Swing Lo Magellan
8. Beach House : Bloom
7. Ramona Falls : Prophet
6. The Walkmen : Heaven
5. Kishi Bashi : 151a
4. Grizzly Bear : Shields
3. White Rabbits : Milk Famous
2. Django Django : Django Django
1. Oberhofer : Time Capsules II

My Favorite albums of 2010..

Well, it's been a while.. I wanted to share my favorite album releases of 2010. I may do a follow-up favorite movies of the year. As always, these are what I have heard.. I am always interested in hearing what you all are listening too as well! As an added bonus I included 2 extra songs! Woohoo!

22. Surfer Blood : Astro Coast

21. Stars : The Five Ghosts

20. Clinic : Bubblegum

19. Spoon : Transference

18. Jonsi : Go

17. Band of Horses : Infinite Arms

16: Sufjan Stevens : The Age of Adz

15. The National : High Violet

14. The Drums : The Drums

13. Delta Spirit : History From Below

12. Belle & Sebastian : Write About Love

11. Local Natives : Gorilla Manor

10. Interpol : Interpol

9. MGMT : Congratulations

8. Broken Bells : Broken Bells

7. Yeasayer : Odd Blood

6. The Soft Pack : The Soft Pack

5. Vampire Weekend : Contra

4. Arcade Fire : The Suburbs

3. Mumford & Sons : Sigh No More

2. Wolf Parade : Expo 86

1. The Walkmen : Lisbon

2009 Favorite Albums

So it is that time of year! Here is my list of favorite albums released this year. As always, this is my favorites of what I have heard. There is certainly a lot of stuff out there so I don't claim to have listened to it all, but here is my attempt at condensing my favorites of the year into a list of 20 albums. Hope you enjoy and let me know of any comments!

Favorite Top 20 Album releases of 2009:

20. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart : The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

19. Camera Obscura : My Maudlin Career

18. Brendan Benson : My Old, Familiar Friend

17. Kasabian : West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

16. The Dodos : Time To Die

15. Starlight Mints : Change Remains

14. Peter Bjorn and John : Living Thing

13. Rural Alberta Advantage : Hometowns

12. Pomegrantes : Everybody, Come Outside!

11. White Lies : To Lose My Life

10. Editors : In This Light and On This Evening

9. Julian Plenti : Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper

8. Islands : Vapours

7. Andrew Bird : Noble Beast

6. Bricolage : Bricolage

5. Ramona Falls : Intuit

4. Fanfarlo : Reservoir

3. Sunset Rubdown : Dragonslayer

2. Harlem Shakes : Technicolor Health

1. Julian Casablancas : Phrazes for the Young

All Points West Festival 2009

So I have attended 3 festivals / outdoor concerts so far this summer. While the others are equally worth mentioning, probably the biggest one was All Points West Festival by far. This year was a good line-up, and my hopes were high that the festival organizers would be able to learn from lessons from last year's inaugural festival. I think that they succeeded on improving both the functionality and options available, but unfortunately mother nature was not on the side of them this year. Probably the most memorable thing most people will speak of when they hear of APW 2009 can be summed up in one word: MUD. Now this was no Woodstock '69, but the Liberty State Park + weeks of rainy weather = a messy festival. It was fun in the sense of bringing out my primal instincts of playing in the mud, but I tell you it was a little annoying after a while. I honestly think the rain kept more people away than would have come otherwise. This year the festival organizers have added some options of comedy and the "renegade art tent" which includes local artists with their work for sale. I thought both were good additions. Now for the music! I thought the line-up was quite good. My personal favorites were Arctic Monkeys, Fleet Foxes, and Cage the Elephant. Unfortunately due to rain and my own schedule I wasn't able to attend the 3rd day, which included some of my favorite artists.. I was a little surprised at the last minute choice for Jay-Z to fill in for the Beastie Boys. I know there wasn't much time for a fill-in, but I find him to be rather a bad alternative. I find myself especially more excited about the lesser known artists too at the festival instead of the headliners. Overall, I was pleased with the selection even though I didn't see all the bands I planned to. The last thing the stood out at the festival to me was the level of commercialism that is prevalent there. I was particularly annoyed this year when I was denied access to the festival if I didn't dispose of my bottled water! What?! I cannot bring my own purchased water in here?? When I pressed them on the point they admitted it was so you can buy their own water inside the festival!!! Wow, I was livid! I made it a point not to buy there water the whole day till I broke down before I left. It annoying that the festival has to be so concerned about the money. It's all about the art and music, right?! Well not entirely... Very sad... Anyway, besides the commercialism and the rain, it proved to be a great musical experience. Since they were filming most of the performances, I am assuming you should look out for a DVD/Blu-ray disc coming out in the near future..

Elevator etiquette...

At the prompting of my good friend this is dedicated to you and our discussion today!

The following is my 10 points for elevator etiquette that should be observed while using the elevator with friends and fellow coworkers from my experience in NYC:

1. Never be "that person" who pushes door open or blocks the door from closing just so they can make the elevator in time. If others have waited long enough let it go and be courteous of others and 'wait out' the next one.

2. Never push door closed when in sight of a friend or coworker trying to get on the elevator. This can lead to an awkward encounter later.

3. The elevator should NOT be used for traveling ONE floor... get some exercise for goodness sake.. Don't be THAT lazy.

4. Don't be that person on the phone in the elevator. We are in very close spaces and your loud conversation is not helping!

5. When you get on the elevator - your quick action should be the following: push your floor number and then quickly step back out of the way. Don't linger in front of the button panel blocking others.

6. Don't try to cram into a full elevator.. This annoys all in the elevator. Wait for the next one. We do not want to be that close to a stranger!

7. Please step out of the way to allow people to exit the elevator. Standing in the way won't get you to your floor faster!

8. Talking to people in the elevator should be kept to a quiet conversation.. all can hear so be careful what you are saying!

9. Don't be the person who calls the elevator and then changes your mind. Stopping at a floor for no reason is NOT something we enjoy..

10. Step out of the way to allow people exiting the elevator before you enter... Running into the elevator before people exit just causes confusion and wastes time!

My favorites for 2008
So it has been forever since I have posted and I at least want to post my favorites for the past year. Anyway, see below for a few of my lists..

My favorite 2008 album releases:
20. Anathallo : Canopy Glow
19. Envelopes : Here Comes the Wind
18. Coldplay : Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends
17. Albert Hammond, Jr. : Como Te Llama?
16. Fleet Foxes : Fleet Foxes
15. Secret Machines : Secret Machines
14. The Stills : Oceans Will Rise
13. Cold War Kids : Loyalty to Loyalty
12. The Last Shadow Puppets : The Age of Understatement
11. The Submarines : Honeysuckle Weeks
10. Travis : Ode to J. Smith
9. Okkervil River : The Stand Ins
8. Little Joy : Little Joy
7. Department of Eagles : In Ear Park
6. Wolf Parade : At Mount Zoomer
5. The Helio Sequence : Keep Your Eyes Ahead
4. The Morning Benders : Talking Through Tin Cans
3. David Byrne / Brian Eno : Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
2. Dr. Dog : Fate
1. Vampire Weekend : Vampire Weekend

Honorable Mentions for my 2008 favorites:
Sigur Ros : Med Sud I Eryum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Tapes 'N Tapes : Walk It Off
Bon Iver : For Emma, Forever Ago

Wanted to Like More:
Walkmen : You & Me
Islands : Arm's Way
The Spinto Band : Moonwink
The Dears : Missiles
These New Puritans : Beat Pyramid

Gets me movin':
Black Kids : Partie Traumatic
The Ting Tings : We Started Nothing

New music and festivals/concerts..
It is has been forever since I have posted. I have to admit.. I have been a little lazy in not posting anything. Besides my England trip of June '08 and my soon purchase of a new iPhone (those #%@!# lines at Apple) I thought I'd share my other recent news of my latest music purchases and festivals/ concerts. OK here it goes.


Latest purchase highlights for new releases:
Coldplay - Viva La Vida - Excellent.. love the new instruments.. produced by Brian Eno!
The Maccabees - Colour it In - Awesome British rock CD.. and very upbeat
The Dandy Warhols - Odditorium - This is OK, but not like their earlier stuff..
Albert Hammond Jr. - Como Te Llama? - the most upbeat member of The Strokes has a good follow-up to his first. Veers off in a different place though.
Islands - Arm's Way - a more polished, less experimental/indie pop sounding version of their previous album. It has a more grown up sound. Still getting used to it.
The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing - Get's me moving and oh so much fun!
Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer - Excellent follow-up!! They continue the good music!
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement - Excellent collaberation of the lead singer from The Arctic Monkeys with Rascal's singer.
Scissors For Lefty - Underhanded Romance - Very funky rock.. Love the sound!
The French Kicks - Swimming - Nice follow-up to their previous...

I have also purchased some older albums of Lou Reed, Blonde Redhead, Roxy Music, The Get Up Kids, Eurhythmics, My Morning Jacket, etc.


Festivals and concerts:
Foals - Pretty good. They were very energetic and tight...
The Cold War Kids / Elvis Perkins
Love the Cold War Kids! They were awesome! Elvis was more laid back but excellent
Siren Festival 2008 - Coney Island, Brooklyn
Wow.. what an awesome festival.. the only thing that was bad about the day was the terrible heat wave (agh!). I felt like I had heat exhuastion today! The bands I saw here were the following:
-Film School - Great cross between Sonic Youth noise/guitar and post punk sound... They were good!
-Annuals - Mixed bag of upbeat almost emo sound (at least live) and quieter ballads. I enjoyed them!
-Ra Ra Riot - They were good live. Strings mixed with post punk sound. I will check them out more online.
-Jaguar Love - Only caught part of this. It was good, but maybe not exactly my style (or maybe the heat was getting to me by this time!)
-Islands - Excellent! Maybe I am partial to them. I have been wanted to see them in concert for a while. They didn't disappoint. Although, not too familiar with their new stuff. It still was all good!

I would have stayed later to see Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks and The Broken Social Scene, but the heat the crowds of people had worn me out.

Any good music you heard or listened to?