Top Ten for 07

So, here we are, the year has gone by, and I have spend an excessive amount of time and money on music. Thus it is now time to come up with my picks for my Top Ten of the year. Once again, as I note every year, these are my favorites, and not so much which albums i think were the actual best ever of the entire year nothing else is better.

I don't roll that way.
I love music and I'm going to let you know what I loved the most this year.
Hopefully you find something of interest and maybe you will enjoy it too.


here goes:

10) Chelsea Lindley-Scott - Demo 07. Chelsea was one of the greatest things to ever happen to me. so much of my life has changed thanks to her influence and i am forever grateful for her. one of the things i loved was her music and how much she put into making it her own. we have since broken up, but are still good friends and though she lives far away, when i need to hear her voice, i just pop this cassette in. it's a bunch of her own songs, kind of prog acoustic as well as covers of rocky raccoon and wonderwall, a very important song. you probably will never hear this, but maybe some day you will hear her. i guess this isn't really a demo, but i'll call it that for now, just to make me happy. hippy songs for a pretty boy.

9) The Octopus Project - Hello Avalanche. I randomly stumbled across this album, mostly based on the fact that I loved the cover art and had randomly heard my brother talking about them a whiles back. so i grabbed the album. and have fallen in love with the dancey wonderfulness that is this album. especially Truck. definately especially Truck. just another fun filled album to have around, it puts a smile on my face when i need it most.

8) Annuals - Frelen Mas. another band that i stumbled across, pretty much by just picking random things off of daytrotter, but after listening to the songs that i had gotten i was hooked. over and over again the harmonies get stuck in my head and this album keeps getting play. as well, seeing them while i was in vancouver in november was definately a highlight, especially when all the members of manchester orchestra joined the band on stage, creating something i would define as epic, with, a guy playing air guitar on the side of the stage as there was no more room for him. beautiful tunes for beautiful days.

7) Battles - Mirrored. I got this album totally randomly, as you can read further down the page as part of the original creation of this blog, to get random cd's and write about it. that kind of died off once school started rolling, but i'm still a fan of the battles album, and more so of the video for Tonto. super catchy song, and really trippy video. this is probably at the top of alot of peoples lists this year, but it'll do fine at seven for me. definately a gem though.

6) the weakerthans - reunion tour. yes, this album should actually probably be higher up on my list, but here it is placed. still a phenomenal disc that sounds of the same quality of site, but with the same quirkiness and sadness of leaving. i've really enjoyed the album and there are some highlights, but i've still gone back to left and leaving and reconstruction site probably more still since this came out. the continued tales of virtute tho definately stand out, tho, i think i cried a bit the first time i heard that song. music is a powerful thing, and once again emotions have been toyed around with. curse you john k. for making music that moves me. and doesn't fool me with an empty hollow interior buried beneath that sweet candy coated exterior.

5) In Irons - Rome ep. the local edmonton music scene for me over the last little bit has kind of bummed me out. alot of my favorite bands that i loved to see and hear broke up, or moved away, or stopped talking, or kidnapped president's daughters and haven't been heard from since. i've been down, not gonna lie. some artists have stepped it up a notch and i have fallen in love with. but. not as much as In Irons. yes it's friends of mine from other bands that i have loved forever, but, the genius, skill, and emotion that are behind this creation have excited me since the first time i saw them in megan elizabeth's basement. the cd itself is only 2 songs, and really makes me want more and more tunes. but. it will do for now. and it gives me happy thoughts in regards to the local music community that i love so dearly.

4) Miracle Fortress - Five Roses. ever since i saw them this summer and that crazy evening that ended this band, as well as 2 other bands, on the floor at my apartment, i have loved this album more and more. live they put on such a delightful show, and that is carried over onto the disc. majestic tunes, and a brian wilson vibe that you can't deny has kept this disc in constant rotation, and makes me excited for the next time they're through town that's for sure. sweet people + sweet tunes = sweetness of epic beehive drenched proportions.

3) Poisonthewell - Versions. still personally one of my most favorite metal bands around, I had been greatly anticipating this disc, especially once i had heard that they had headed over to europe, deep in the heart of the great metal kingdoms to work on this new outing. and did it ever pay off. still evolving in leaps and bounds over their hardcore startings, and working past the phenomenal you come before you, versions still wows me every time with technical skills, and constant shifting between divine harmonies and unrelenting screams, and a seemingly unending assortment of instruments not normally used by most metal bands. thoroughly enjoyable, can't wait to see it reproduced live. intense.

2) Most Serene Republic - Populations. one of my most anticipated albums of this year, and one i had been waiting for for quite some time, i was overjoyed when it was finally released. and. was it everything i wanted and more? oh yes, yes it was. the songwriting has improved over the enjoyable cinematographer, but especially though, Populations just seems alot more approachable than the last. alot of people were generally either love or hate as far as Most Serene goes, but this album is such finely crafted that really no one can find a fault with it. enjoyable by everyone, even your aunt Ida.

1) No Age - Weirdo Rippers - i hadn't heard of this duo up until a couple months back, when i was working in the cjsr library. i was labelling and shelving cd's, and had put aside a couple that were of interest that i wanted to hear. one of them was this 'No Age' disc. on the back it said Noise-Pop. Noise-Pop, now this i had to hear. i listened to it beginning to end, engrossed in the sweeping sounds of waves, random noisey bits, awesome keys, 60's pop vibe ( a little more brian wilson i think as well, seems to be the way to go), and a disc that i go back to time and time again. i have a hard time describing it to people, and generally just bust out the ipod and let people hear for themselves, but it's definately one of the greatest things i have heard in a long time, and will continue to for even longer i hope. beautiful, beautiful.



so there you have it. my picks for the year. i enjoy them, and maybe you will too.

zxo

it has begun...

so, the end of the year is upon us. and you know what that means?

albums of the year endless lists upon lists!!!
i'm still not sure what my favorite of all favorites is, but i thought i would just start listing the ones that i liked the most.
eventually i will get a good grasp on what my actual favorite is. so let's see:

bloc party - a weekend in the city
poisonthewell - versions
the octopus project - hello avalanche
joel harding - demo07
matthew good - hospital music
miracle fortress - five roses
means - sending you strength
battles - mirrored
feist - the reminder
annuals - frelen mas
buck 65 - situation
most serene republic - population
no age - weirdo rippers
limbeck - s/t
stars - in the bedroom after the war
the starting line - directions
unearth - in the eyes of fire
the weakerthans - reunion tour
circa survive - on letting go


there's just some of my favorites. i'll trim it down in a bit i think.

it's a new day

so i know that i haven't touched this thing in months. i pretty much got swamped with alot of things in getting ready for school and now have been consumed by school. and yes, i don't have much time to go and do random cd buyings. or the money for that matter.

on the plus side, i have started volunteering at CJSR in the hopes of having a show of my own one day, or at least being on an established show. we'll see how it goes. but the best part is working in the library and listening to awesome, random cd's i've never heard before.

and i don't have to buy them.

well i will if i really like it. i'll try and track it down.
like for instance. this amazing cd i heard, by this duo called NO AGE.

seriously amazing stuff. on the back they classified themselves as noise-pop and i would definately agree. there was alot of crazy sounds, feedback, weird samples of people talking, oceans, seagulls and the like. but interspersed were some of the catchiest pop rock songs i have heard in awhile.

all in all i listened to the whole album, and, was blown away by it. i definately need to hunt that down. it's on Fat Cat Records from LA if anyone is interested.

also. i am going to see The Locust on tuesday. that will hopefully blow my mind.
also. i leave for vancouver on thursday morning. which i am excited for.

now i should go and do some geog homework.
maybe.

week two. july twenty two. georgia satellites. the essentials.

.sorry this one is a little late getting out. i didn't make it out to go cd adventuring until friday and then i was busy friday night and all day saturday working and going to the sweet basement show. but i am back now and can finally regail all with my tale of wackiness that occurred during this weeks adventure.

.i had no idea what was going to end up happening this time out. i decided the next week would be when i expand my picks to cover the entire store and not just pop rock but for this trip i decided to still keep it simple. so i got my pick from ashley at work which was Tee Twenty Six Four and with my trusty side kick jamie i headed to the store to see what it was.

.and the funny thing was it ended up being tegan and sara. which i have all the albums. but also there was no fourth cd so i had to pick another one. so since jamie was with me i let him pick the next one and just as we headed off my friend nate who works at hmv showed up and asked ARE YOU DOING THE RANDOM CD THING AGAIN. indeed i was. so off we went to go to the jay section to see what i would get. and it was almost daniel johnston. but alas there weren't any of his cd's in at all. so off we went quickly picking another set of letters and numbers. rushing to see what it would be. it was actually really crazy as we were heavily anticipating what wacky selection it could be. or lame selection. hopefully wacky. but once again when we got to the unicorns there wasn't one. curses. so one last try and first cd this time so whatever it was if there was an artist there i would get that one.

.and lo and behold i ended up with the essential georgia satellites.

.i do not know much about this band. i do know that i fell in love with the cover and back tray pictures of the band. bad ass dudes from the mid to late eighties. jean jackets. big hair. way too much chest hair.

.it was glorious.
.and i went to purchase this amazing cd.

.really it's not too bad actually. i don't mind it too much. it's just some eighties southern rock that isn't too mind blowing but it's fun and it reminds me kind of of growing up and listening to rock back in the day especially such mind blowing tracks as Keep Your Hands To Yourself and Whole Lotta Shakin. it's pretty decent. it's nothing that i think i would ever get really into but i feel as tho it's good background music. something to put in the background while working on some project or writing a letter or even on some road trip playlist. my personal favorite track tho has to be Another Chance. a jangly southern ballad with extremely twangy guitars and a heavy skynnard vibe to it. not too shabby.

.all in all not a bad little listen.
.a nice greatest hits package i would think.

.guiltily pleasurable.

week one. july eleven. battles. mirrored.

.this is week one of my random cd adventures. i'll assume you read the introduction and you have a basic idea of what is going on. i am pretty excited about this idea and i have no idea what i will end up with each week so it will be interesting to see what gems i will find and what garbage i will spend twenty dollars on. but i love music and whatever happens will happen.


.the funny thing is though that i set out on an adventure to find something cool and interesting and different maybe and as it turns out my choice is something that many people are familiar with. well music lovers of the underground hip variety. i love how i am accidentally hip i suppose. maybe that's how i am in general.

.oh well. regardless.


.i went in to hmv looking for B twenty three number 4 and what i found i was not even remotely prepared for. i thumbed through until i got to number twenty three and that would be something called battles.

.i have never heard of this band at all but i knew that the packaging was definately intriguing and it was brand new so maybe i was on to something.
.so i went and paid for my mystery cd and a friend of mine was working and he seemed excited that i was buying the disc. I KNOW I SHOULD KNOW WHO THIS IS he said. i told him what i was doing and it was random I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS BUT IT LOOKS PRETTY SWEET said i. i paid my twenty dollars and was on my way.


.i headed back to the office and carefully opened the packaging and marveled in it's beautiful cardboard packaging and unfolded the mini poster of the bands instruments and jam space i assumed. and i popped the cd in.


.i still am not sure how i feel about the disc really. it caught me completely off guard. i had no idea what to expect really at all and even listening to it again i am still wrapping my mind around it. it's a pretty avant garde piece of musical goodness that is for sure. the garbled vocoder tinged melodies that dart back and forth throughout the songs mixed with the glorious keyboards that base most of the tracks. and the guitarists riffs seer and dance setting a mood of excitement and anticipation throughout the disc. it's definately an interesting rock album with a cyborg electric heart.

.i like it. it's really interesting and definately something alot more different than what i normally would pick up.
.i'm no musical expert that is for certain. i just like good music and like to experience things alot different than say listening to the same five songs on the radio. this battles disc has already made quite the impression on me and i'm sure after some more listening it will grow on me more.

.some songs are sweet.
.some are creepy.
.some are definately catchy.



.i'll definately be listening to this for some time to come i believe.

.enjoyable.

introduction

.this all began as a kind of joke at work. i was bored, and was thinking about getting a new cd but wasn't really sure what i should get. i am tired of just buying the same old things that i like so i decided to do something about it and buy something random.

.what a fantastic idea.


.so i start to talk to my co worker and we formulate a plan.

.i ask him to pick a letter from in the alphabet and that will be the name section to start in at the music store.

.then i ask him to pick a number between one and fifty that i think will cover alot of what he chose.

.and lastly choose between one and five for which cd is in the artists selection that i should get.


.so i head down to hmv with the numbers and letter i got. section B. the 23rd artist. and the fourth cd. and i honestly haven't been this excited in a long time. what could it be. what would i end up with. no matter what it was minus if it is something i already have i was going to buy it. i really had no idea what i was going to get. so once i got into hmv i headed to the rock section to B and started counting. the original choice .was number eleven. that would have been randy bachman. if it was twenty four it would have been bahaus. instead i got something i was not expecting at all.


.you can read about it in the next blog.

.but that is just the beginning of how this is going to work. i am going to do this once a week. and at least try other stores other than just hmv but it's convenient for me and does have a pretty vast selection. i am excited on this. i have no idea what i will end up with.


.but it's going to be an adventure nonetheless.