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2010 Top Songs

mizidy — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:29:17 +0000

Following up the top albums list, here are my top ten songs for the year. Let me know what you think in the comments.

How You're Bound - The Get Up Kids
Real Love - Delorean
We Used to Wait - Arcade Fire
Norway - Beach House
Giving Up The Gun - Vampire Weekend
...And The World Laughs With You - Flying Lotus
Runaway - The National
The Gaudy Side of Town - Gayngs
Littlething - Jimmy Eat World
The High Road - Broken Bells

Honorable Mention

Sun - Caribou
Diamond Eyes - Deftones
Too Dramatic - Ra Ra Riot

2010 Top Albums

mizidy — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 22:00:56 +0000

While I don't have time to comment about each of these albums, I will make a general statement that I thought this year was a bit of a down year for new music compared to last year. I also threw in a few other categories as well at the end to add some variety to the list, so check those out too. Feel free to add your thoughts, including the obligatory "these are all the same genre" statement in the comments section.

Top Albums

The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Black Sands - Bonobo
High Violet - The National
Black Noise - Pantha du Prince
Contra - Vampire Weekend
Subiza - Delorean
Infra - Max Richter
Cosmogramma - Flying Lotus
Go - Jonsi
Teen Dream - Beach House

Honorable Mentions

Swim - Caribou
One Life Stand - Hot Chip
Broken Bells - Broken Bells

Top EPs

Simple Science - The Get Up Kids
Klavierwerke - James Blake
After Parties 1 - Dntel

Top Soundtracks

Tron:Legacy
Inception
Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Top Reissue/Greatest Hits

Quarantine the Past - Pavement
Beatles Remastered Albums
Pretty Hate Machine - Nine Inch Nails

2010 Top Albums Prep

mizidy — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:11:02 +0000

As usual this time of year, I throw out a list of albums that I have listened to from this year. This gives you all an idea of what I have been listening to in preparation for my end of the year list, and an opportunity for you to add albums that you think I should check out before making my best of list. In general, I think this year has been a pretty down year, but there are some stand outs. Here is the list, alphabetical by artist.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Autolux - Transit Transit
Beach House - Teen Dream
Bear McCreary - Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Original Television Soundtrack
Best Coast - Crazy For You
Bonobo - Black Sands
Broken Bells - Broken Bells
BT - These Hopeful Machines
Caribou - Swim
Christian Scott - Yesterday You Said Tomorrow
Corinne Bailey Rae - The Sea
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Delorean - Subiza
Dinosaur Feathers - Fantasy Memorial
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
Four Tet - There Is Love in You
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
Gotan Project - Tango 3.0
Hans Zimmer - Inception
Hot Chip - One Life Stand
j.c. wilson - Thought Music
jj - nº 3
Jónsi - Go
Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts
Maps & Atlases - Perch Patchwork
Max Richter - Infra
Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu Steps Ahead
Pantha du Prince - Black Noise
Pavement - Quarantine The Past
Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard
Ratatat - LP4
RxRy - RxRy
Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago
Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP
Surfer Blood - Astrocoast
Tame Impala - InnerSpeaker
The Black Keys - Brothers
The Get Up Kids - Simple Science
The National - High Violet
Toro Y Moi - Causers Of This
Vampire Weekend - Contra
Various Artists - Brownswood Electric
Various Artists - Chopin 200 Years: The Greatest Collection
Various Artists - The Palm Sampler
Yeasayer - Odd Blood

August’s eMusic

mizidy — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:55:42 +0000

Had 10 bonus tracks this month, so woohoo!

InnerSpeaker by Tame Impala - 6 (of 12) Credits

Picking up the rest of the album from the previous month.

Crazy For You by Best Coast - 12 Credits

Supposedly one of the best albums of the year, it would be difficult for me to find a way to be more disappointed. There are a couple of stand out tracks, like Boyfriend and Crazy for You, but that is it. The rest is hot garbage, which is the worst type of garbage.

All Delighted People EP by Sufjan Stevens - 12 Credits

This one was a stretch at 12 credits for 8 songs, but the bonus helped me pull the trigger. If you have not heard Sufjan Stevens, I would not recommend this as your first experience, not because it is bad, but it just isn't his best effort. I would still recommend it to folks who like his styling though. The first track is a little bit of a trip too.

Transit Transit by Autolux - 10 Credits

Where Best Coast disappointed, Autolux matched my expectations exactly. They do their thing (not very often albiet) but still put out good moody rock. Not going to rock your world, but worth a listen for sure.

July’s eMusic

mizidy — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:46:05 +0000

Just one month late, and I had a bonus from eMusic to give me 40 total credits!

(don't forget to) breathe by Various Artists - 12 Credits

The Promise Ring, Christie Front Drive, Hot Water Music, Knapsack, and Mineral are all on this emo sampler. You won't find an emo sampler with more "big" names than this.

Infra by Max Richter - 12 Credits

The score for a ballet in Europe, this is one of Max Richter's finest works. Haunting at times, just moody for the rest, this album is great for one of those rainy days, or background music for when you need to focus.

InnerSpeaker by Tame Impala - 6 (of 12) Credits

One of the hyped albums of the year that actually lives up to some of it. The standout tracks are in the first 6, but this is still an album worth checking out.

June’s eMusic

mizidy — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:39:53 +0000

Just one month late, and I had a bonus from eMusic to give me 40 total credits!

Purple Rain by Prince - 9 Credits

I had never listened to this entire album, and it is pretty much a classic, so now I own it. And it still holds up, in case you were curious.

Brownswood Electric by Various Artists - 15 Credits

One of the things I love about eMusic is picking up samplers. This one isn't fantastic, but with most samplers, you can pick out one or two songs. If you want one off of this, Wad by Pearson Sound is pretty good.

Rainer Maria by Rainer Maria - 6 Credits

More classic emo, and this is a classic release. If you like emo, you should have this. If you don't, well then ignore it. It is that simple.

May’s eMusic

mizidy — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:45:47 +0000

Just one month late, and I had a bonus from eMusic to give me 40 total credits!

Unfun (2010 Remastered Edition) by Jawbreaker - 12 Credits

As a former emo kid, I owed it to Jawbreaker to finally get their classic album, especially with it recently remastered. Sounds like early emo, so a bit more abrasive and punk than when I got into it, and way more abrasive and punk than when it became popular. You have been warned.

Mulatu Steps Ahead by Malatu Astatke - 9 Credits

A fun Ethiopian jazz album that serenades up and down the emotional chart. While I prefer his Ethiopiques efforts, this is not too bad for 9 credits.

Subiza by Delorean - 9 Credits

While Rebekah cannot stand the opening track, this is still an impressive dance album that grows on you with each listen. Someone compared the repeat listening experience to Merriweather Post Pavillion. While different genres for sure, you do get something new out of Subiza on each listen.

Yesterday You Said Tomorrow by Christian Scott - 10 Credits

Grabbed this one as it was recommended as the top jazz album so far of the year by Amazon, and eMusic gave it a Pick. And really, can you go wrong with a jazz cover of Thom Yorke? I need a couple more listens of this to really evaluate it, but so far I like what I hear

April’s eMusic

mizidy — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:35:41 +0000

Just two months late, it was a world music kind of month!

A Man and His Music by Ravi Shankar - 8 Credits

The legend Ravi Shankar at his finest. A steal at only 8 credits, you get nearly over 2 hours of amazing music.

Djelika by Toumani Diabate - 8 Credits

Just adding to the Toumani Diabate collection I have going. Once again, amazingly peaceful music that is complex but utterly listen-to-able.

Zoetosis by Telomere - 7 Credits

Some nice chill electronic music that is great for getting work done too. Mostly ambient, so no standout track really, but the album is pretty good.

Mysteries of Turkey by Talip Ozkan - 7 Credits

Adding some more world music to my collection, this time the long-necked lute from Turkey. Nice Middle-Eastern rhythms here and if you are into this sort of thing, you will enjoy it. Yeah, I know that is basically just an accurate statement, but I don't care

2 Weeks With an iPad

mizidy — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:29:30 +0000

Two weeks ago I got an iPad the day it came out and I have held off writing about it because I didn't want to comment on it before I really had a chance to use it. I could go on about how fast it is, the great display, etc, but instead I would rather tell you what I like and don't like about it which is likely more useful for you if you are deciding on whether to get one or not, so let's jump in!

Reading

Reading books on the iPad is a joy, and i can honestly say that it would be tough to have me go back to the printed version of books. That being said, I much prefer the Amazon Kindle app to iBooks with the primary reason being selection. There are so few books on the iBooks store compared to the Kindle, and when you add in the fact that you cannot disable the goofy page turning animation the Kindle app hits a home run to iBooks double.

In addition to reading books, and maybe more important, browsing the web on the iPad is the best way I have ever seen to browse. Being able to position the Internet where you want, then zoom in to just the content makes it absolutely amazing. Using a desktop or laptop browser after the iPad feels like using ancient technology, that is that impressive. Oh, and I don't miss Flash one bit.

Writing

The portrait keyboard is pretty much useless. The keyboard is too big to thumb type, but too small to use all of the fingers. Landscape is a different story. While it isn't perfect, it is pretty darn good for writing, especially short notes. I am writing this entire post on the ons screen keyboard and while it isn't great, I can get it done. Drawing apps are also a blast on here, and I was able to diagram something really quick on it.

Apps

While the apps are more expensive, it makes sense to me. The iPad apps are much closer to desktop apps than the iPhone, so the price should be closer to. The Netflix and ABC apps are killer first generation apps, along with the iPhone classics like Instapaper make it a good start, but really makes me excited for what the next generation of apps will be. My only gripe is there isn't a great Google Reader app yet, that is reasonably priced and not called NetNewsWire.

Overall, I love the device. It has caused me to try not having a laptop for work since I can do so much of what work I would do at home on it now. If you haven't tried one out yet, head to an Apple store or Best Buy and give it a whirl. You might not buy one, but you will definitely be impressed

March’s eMusic

mizidy — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 02:23:50 +0000

To encourage me to write more, I thought I would try covering what I get from eMusic with my 30 credits each month. Most of the time they will be full albums, but in the months where there are a couple extra credits, there will be some partial albums. So, without further ado, my March eMusic purchases:

Black Sands by Bonobo 12 Credits

I have been a fan of Bonobo since I was introduced to him in a promo video for Songbird. His newest album is his most complete album so far, with sweeping sounds throughout.

In the Heart of the Moon by Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabate 12 Credits

Grammy award winning album from the combo of Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabate. Just beatiful music, I picked this because I was seeing if eMusic had their new album (which they don't yet), but I didn't even have to preview this before getting it. I cannot imagine someone not enjoying this album.

Life of Leisure by Washed Out 6 Credits

eMusic recommended this based on my Air France downloads, and this is in the same vein. If you like the Cut Copy, Air France, Hot Chip sound, you will likely dig this too.