Category Archives: Music

Top 20 Albums of 2011

It doesn’t matter how rarely I post, I can’t help but throw out my list of favorite albums each year. What I do hate is trying to order them! I love them all equally!! Well… almost. Anyhow, here are the album’s that I’ve most enjoyed this year in some sort of loose order. If you’re on Spotify, I have a Best of 2011 list where you can listen to them all. My username is carmonium23.

#20 Phantogram – Nightlife

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#19 Alela Diane – Alela Diane and Wild Divine

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#18 WU LYF – Go Tell Fire to the Mountain

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#17 Ollabelle – Neon Blue Bird

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#16 The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

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 #15 Braids – Native Speaker

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 #14 Neon Indian – Era Extraña

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 #13 Snowman – Absence

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 #12 EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints

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 #11 Smith Westerns – Dye it Blonde

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 #10 Yuck – Yuck

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 #9 Bon Iver – Bon Iver

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 #8 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

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 #7 Washed Out –  Within and Without

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#6 – Wild Beasts – Smother

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 #5 Papercuts – Fading Parade

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 #4 Cults – Cults

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 #3 Future Islands – On the Water

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 #2 The Antlers – Burst Apart

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 #1 Forest Fire – Staring at the X


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Top Albums of 2010: 10 – 1

#10 AutoluxTransit Transit

Autolux - Transit Transit

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#9 – K-X-PK-X-P

kxp-kxp

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#8 Mi AmiSteal Your Face

Mi Ami - Steal Your Face

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#7 PS I Love YouMeet Me at the Muster Station

PS I Love You - Meet Me at Muster Station

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#6 – Tobacco Maniac Meat

Tobacco - Maniac Meat

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#5 – Sleigh BellsTreats

Sleigh Bells - Treats

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#4 FoalsTotal Life Forever

Foals - Total Life Forever

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#3 Tame ImpalaInnerspeaker

Tame Impala - Innerspeaker

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#2 LCD SoundsystemThis Is Happening

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

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#1 No AgeEverything in Between

No Age - Everything in Between

 

Top Albums of 2010: 11-20

#20 !!! (Chk Chk Chk)Strange Weather, Isn’t It?

!!! - Strange Weather, Isn't It? album

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#19 Salem King Night

Salem - King Night album

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#18 Frog EyesPaul’s Tomb: A Triumph

Frog Eyes - Paul's Tomb: A Triumph

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#17 Frankie Rose and the OutsFrankie Rose and the Outs

Frankie Rose and the Outs - album

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#16 Girl TalkAll Day

Girl Talk - All Day

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#15 Arcade FireThe Suburbs

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs album

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#14 The Naked and Famous – Passive Me, Aggressive You

The Naked and Famous - Passive Me, Aggressive You album

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#13 WarpaintThe Fool

Warpaint - The Fool album

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#12 Diamond RingsSpecial Affections

Diamond Rings - Special Affections album

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#11 Ariel Pink’s Haunted GraffitiBefore Today

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today

(#1-#10 next week…)

Warpaint – Undertow

I’ve been pretty busy the last couple of weeks – trip to Seattle and then a camping trip to Moab. While in Seattle I saw The xx, Warpaint and Zola Jesus play at the Paramount. It was an incredible show. I’ve been pretty obsessed with Warpaint over the past year. Their new album, The Fool, is out later this month and if it’s as good as their EP, I have a feeling it’ll nudge its way into my top 10 this year. Here’s a new video for their song Undertow which I’ve had stuck in my head off and on for 3 weeks now. Take a listen.

♫ Favorite Albums of 2010 (so far) ♫

It’s been a long time since I’ve made a music post so I decided to make a top 10 list of my favorite albums of the year so far. Narrowing it down was pretty challenging but I think I’ve finally done it! I was surprised (and delighted) to see that half of them are from artists that I’ve been listening to for years.

So here they are in no particular order with a little sample song from each.

AuTOLUX

Transit Transit

“Census”

MI AMI

Steal Your Face

“Latin Lover”

Tame Impala

Innerspeaker

“Solitude is Bliss”

LCD Soundsystem

This is Happening

“Dance Yrself Clean”

Arcade fire

The Suburbs

“Ready to Start”

The Foals

Total Life Forever

“Miami”

Broken Social scene

Forgiveness Rock Record

“Texico Bitches”

Tobacco

Maniac Meat

“Heavy Makeup”

K-X-P

K-X-P

“18 Hours (of love)”

sleigh bells

Treats

“Infinity Guitars”

The Thermals – I Don’t Believe You

Ooo! A new Thermals album already! Happy, happy me!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Earth and Space Eagles

I have  two demands today.

1. It’s Erf Day so go do something nice for mother Gaia! Or make a commitment to do something nice all year. I’m vowing to ride my scooter to work most days as soon as it warms up.

2. Check out a new album from one of my favorite bands, Alaska in Winter. Space Eagle is definitely still AIW but with Tron-esque deliciousness sprinkled all over it. I purchased this cassette tape directly from their myspace page and will be getting a poster with the same amazing graphic which I fully intend to  hang in my office at work. As if my Octolope print wasn’t enough. The album is also available in various places in MP3 format. How can you resist something with a description like this (from the band)?

Alaska in Winter has finally finished Space Eagle [the motion picture soundtrack] with nothing but synthesizers and lasers- a musical story intended for the film, “Space Eagle”, which is due to be released winter of 1986.

♫ Short Stack ♫

The Hoof and the Heel

“Fireworks”

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Plants and Animals

“The Mama Papa”

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Kammerflimmer Kollektief

“Spookin’ the Horse”

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Black Tambourine

“For Ex-Lovers Only”

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The Art Museums

“We Can’t Handle It”

Spike!

Spike Press comes out with some of my favorite band posters. The first 3 pictured below, for the National, are incredible. Does anybody know what the images are that make up the colored portion of the prints? It looks like Rodin’s Gates of Hell (which is mind-blowing in person – check it out if you’re ever in Paris) but it seems like it would be hard to make a print from a sculpture, so I’m lost. You can purchase prints from their site or view a collection of prints from past and present at Gig Posters.

Road to Waist

I’m loving these belt buckles made from recycled license plates by Vintage in Retrospect. You can have them write whatever you want on the cassette tape before they seal and ship it. Awesome. I’m trying to remember what cassette tapes I used to rock… The Misfits, The Descendents, Face to Face, The Smiths… Oh and Cyndi Lauper! What about you?