Thursday, December 27, 2012

2012: Top Twenty-five Tracks

1. Japandroids:  The House that Heaven Built
2. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: Thrift Shop
3. the Lumineers: Ho Hey
4. Alabama Shakes: Hold On
5. Josh Ritter: Joy to You Baby
6. Kendrick Lamar: Backseat Freestyle
7. First Aid Kit: Emmylou
8. Fiona Apple: Werewolf
9. Nicki Minaj/ David Guetta: Turn Me On
10. Frank Ocean: Bad Religion
11. Of Monsters & Men: Little Talks
12. Cloud Nothing: Stay Useless
13. Frightened Rabbit: State Hospital
14. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: Same Love
15. Fun.: Some Nights
16. Passion Pit: Carried Away
17. The Gaslight Anthem: "45"
18. Chairlift: I Belong In Your Arms
19. Twin Shadow: Five Seconds
20. Ellie Goulding: Figure 8
21. Youngblood Hawke: We Come Running
22. Band of Horses: Knock Knock
23. Grizzly Bear: Yet Again
24. Tegan & Sara: Closer
25. Kelly Clarkson: Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)
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Monday, December 24, 2012

2012: Top Twenty-five Albums

1. Grizzly Bear: Shields
2. Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel is Wiser...
3. Japandroids: Celebration Rock
4. the Lumineers: the Lumineers
5. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: the Heist
6. Frank Ocean: Channel Orange
7. Kendrick Lamar: good kid, m.A.A.d City
8. Alabama Shakes: Boys & Girls
9. Cloud Nothings: Attack on Memory
10. Twin Shadow: Confess
11. Dirty Projectors: Swing Low Magellan
12. Sharon Van Etten: Tramp
13. Sigur Ros: Valtari
14. Purity Ring: Shrines
15. First Aid Kit: Lion's Roar
16. Fun.: Some Nights
17. Passion Pit: Gossamer
18. The xx: Coexist
19. Beach House: Bloom
20. the Avett Brothers: the Carpenter
21. Wild Nothing: Nocturne
22. the Walkmen: Heaven
23. Chairlift: Something
24. the Gaslight Anthem: Handwritten
25. Of Monsters & Men: My Head is an Animal
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

My Best of 2011: Top 25 Albums


1. Bon Iver: Bon Iver

2. Feist: Metals

3. Wilco: the Whole Love

4. Radiohead: King of Limbs

5. James Blake: James Blake

6. Iron & Wine: Kiss Each Other Clean

7. the Civil Wars: Barton Hollow

8. M83: Hurry Up We're Dreaming

9. Other Lives: Tamer Animals

10. Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues

11. the Head & the Heart: the Head & the Heart

12. Explosions in the Sky: Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

13. the War on Drugs: Slave Ambient

14. SBTRKT: SBTRKT

15. the Weeknd: House of Balloons

16. Gillian Welch: the Harrow & the Harvest

17. the Decemberists: the King is Dead

18. the Joy Formidable: Big Roar

19. Real Estate: Days

20. Ryan Adams: Ashes & Fire

21. Ben Sollee: Inclusions

22. Los Camposinos: Hello Sadness

23. Ha Ha Tonka: Death of a Decade

24. Cults: Cults

25. Lykke Li: Wounded Rhymes

Next Five:

Frank Ocean: Nostalgia, Ultra
Youth Lagoon: the Year of Hibernation
St. Vincent: Strange Misery
the Weeknd: Echoes of Silence
Noel Gallagher & His High Flying Birds: Noel Gallagher & His High Flying Birds

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My Best of 2011: Top 25 Tracks

I'm sure I missed a few on this list, that probably deserve to be in the top 25, but for me these stood out in my memory of 2011. (click on the title to listen, and see video. some of these contain explicit lyrics and PG-13 type videos)

1. Holocene: Bon Iver

2. Wildfire: SBTRKT

3. Wilhelm Scream: James Blake

4. Lotus Flower: Radiohead

5. Art of Almost: Wilco

6. Go Outside: Cults


8. Helplessness Blues: Fleet Foxes

9. Rivers & Roads: Head & the Heart

10. Tree By the River: Iron & Wine

11. Helena Beat: Foster the People

12. Can't Hold Us: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

13. Mountain Song/ Woman for Me: Rayland Baxter

14. Wicked Games: the Weeknd

15. Tamer Animals: Other Lives

16. Whirring: the Joy Formidable

17. Video Games: Lana Del Rey

18. Free Press and Curl: Shabazz Palaces

19. Lucky Now: Ryan Adams

20. Punching in a Dream: the Naked & Famous

21. It's Real: Real Estate

22. Barton Hollow: the Civil Wars

23. This is Why We Fight: the Decemberists

24. Heartbeat: Childish Gambino

25. Amor Fati: Washed Out

Next 5:

Bizness: tUnE-yArDs
Ice Cream: Battles
Novacane: Frank Ocean
D.D.: the Weeknd
Polish Girl: Neon Indian
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

My Best of 2011: Live Shows

1. Wilco - May 29th @ Sasquatch Music Festival, Gorge Amphitheater, George, WA
http://youtu.be/w7Ns7xkgLW0

2. Explosions in the Sky - September 8th @ Bing Crosby Theater, Spokane

3. the Civil Wars - June 25th @ A Club, Spokane

4. the Decemberists - July 22nd @ Big Sky Brewing Company, Missoula, MT

5. Josh Ritter - August 18th @ the Festival at Sandpoint, Sandpoint, ID

6. Other Lives - December 11th @ Tractor Tavern, Ballard/ Seattle

7. Scott Hutchinson (Frightened Rabbit frontman) - February 23rd @ Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR

8. Bright Eyes - May 30th @ the Knitting Factory, Spokane

9. Macklemore - November 17th @ Service Station, Spokane

10. Foster the People - May 29th @ Sasquatch Music Festival, Gorge Amphitheater, George

11. The Head & the Heart - October 22nd @ Key Arena, Seattle

12. Young the Giant - May 29th @ Sasquatch Music Festival, Gorge Amphitheater, George

13. Langhorne Slim - June 13th @ A Club, Spokane

14. Death Cab for Cutie - October 22nd @ Key Arena, Seattle

15. Ratatat - June 3rd @ Wilma Theatre, Missoula, MT
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Monday, December 26, 2011

My Best of 2011: Films

1. Martha Marcy May Marlene: a view into the scared and brainwashed life of Martha Marlene, portrayed exquisitely by Elizabeth Olsen (the Olsen twins little sister). John Hawkes ('Winter's Bone', 'You Me and Everyone We Know') is beginning to be a bit typecast as a creepy backwoods type, but he is really good at it, so go with what works. Sarah Paulson & Hugh Dancy also star.

2. Drive: a modern film noir with Ryan Gosling's best performance of the three films I saw him in this year. Carey Mulligan and Bryan Cranston also star.

3. Take Shelter: One of the most intense films that I have seen all year. Fighting with whether he is schizophrenic or foreseeing apocalyptic images Curtis (Michael Shannon) attempts to keep his family together somewhere in western Ohio. It will grip you and hold you in your seat as you hang on the edge.

4. Tree of Life: a sort of modern version of '2001: A Space Odyssey'. It is a film hard to explain. It is lengthy and confusing at times, but also enlightening as well. It made me think about how short life is and how we all should make the most of it. Cinematography and soundtrack create an almost dreamlike experience. Brad Pitt stars, and Sean Penn plays a small but important role.

5. Melancholia: another apocalyptic film with amazing cinematography. A great performance by Kirsten Dunst, as Justine, as a deeply disturbed young advertising art director who struggles with her recent nuptials and her overall mental capacity as well as strained relationship with her sister. This all occurring while a newly discovered planet brings about further questions and grave outcomes. Charlotte Gainsbourg & Kiefer Sutherland also star.

6. Bridesmaids: The funniest movie I've seen in years. Kristen Wiig is stellar as the lead, but it is Melissa McCarthy that brings it. Her character steals the show just as Galifianakis did in 'the Hangover'.

7. Hugo: a beautiful story of a young orphan boy who lives in the walls of a Parisian train station. It explores his struggles to remember his father through clockworks and films. Beautiful CGI imagery of 20s era Paris add to the beauty. Martin Scorscese directs.

8. the Descendents: I love Alexander Payne films. Sideways will always be in my tops of all-time list. This film is another classic look at relationships, life, death, and just ordinary life. George Clooney is great as always as a father and husband struggling with a sick wife and rebellious daughters in suburban Hawaii.

9. Beginners: Ewan McGregor stars as an artist that tells the story of him falling in love after his father passes away while also telling the story of his fathers final months as an openly gay man in his 70s after years of hiding it. There are voiceover sequences that will remind you of 'Trainspotting', the film that brought McGregor to our attention, without all the talk of heroin use.

10. 50/50: A sort of buddy film with cancer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogan are best friends, one of them has cancer and this follows their exploits of getting through it. Heartbreakingly funny.

Honorable mentions:

Hanna
Midnight in Paris
the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
the Adventures of Tintin
Like Crazy
A Little Help
Young Adult
Ides of March
Cedar Rapids
Moneyball
the Beaver
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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Music | Pop Culture: #4 - Top Ten of 2010 - Concerts

Spokane doesn't offer a lot of opportunity for to see great live shows, but every so often it surprises you. Most times as you would assume if you want to see a great show you have to trek over to Seattle or Portland which offer other great perks beyond the music (Pike Place Market: Seattle, the BEER: Portland). Each of these will actually have a brief explanation of why they were so great.
1. Josh Ritter at the Knitting Factory - Spokane (November 5th): Ritter was in top form for a near hometown crowd. Many people from Moscow, ID were in attendance including his parents and many family friends. This made him more chatty than usual, and he brought out the big guns and even more enthusiasm. Ritter and his band tore through classics that I had never heard live and in person. Highlights for me were "Kathleen", "Harrisburg", and "Folk Bloodbath". When you see a Josh Ritter show it changes you. Two of my closest friends from Spokane came to this show with me, having never really listened to a JR song. They walked away different men. They told me so. Ritter and his band's enthusiasm and charisma during those two hours you spend with them makes you forget about everything outside the walls of the venue. For two hours your life is really fucking good.


2. Frightened Rabbit at Neumo's - Seattle (May 16): I know the lyrics to most of their songs, so there were several moments of all out screaming along with moments that bystanders would have thought I was having a seizure. The band put everything they had into each song. There was power behind the meloncholy in each lyric. It also helped greatly that Ashley was there with me to see one of my favorite bands of the past five years.


3. Arcade Fire at Key Arena - Seattle (September 29th): MIND BLOWING!!!!! Everytime I hear "Wake Up" or "Sprawl II" now, I become one giant goosebump. Would be Number 1, but it was in a basketball arena, so the sound wasn't always there.


4. Avett Brothers at the Bing Crosby Theater - Spokane (July 20th) Raucous is the only word I can use that best describes a ABs show. Harmonies and stomping of feet fill your ears while camaraderie and beards fill your vision. Highlight for me was "Murder in the City".


5. Josh Ritter at the Wonder Ballroom - Portland (June 18th): First concert in my new favorite city. The Wonder Ballroom is a great place to see a show, and JR and his Royal City Band were really happy to be there. Show was heavy in newer tunes from the exquisite So Runs the World Away, but he did play many classics as well. Highlights of the night for me was "Last Temptation of Adam" as well as Josh and Zack Hickman taking the time to talk to the stragglers after the show for 15 minutes about life, love, and beer.


6. Main Stage of Sasquatch Music Festival - George, WA (Monday, June 1st) - She & Him, Band of Horses, Drive by Truckers, Passion Pit, MGMT, Temper Trap, Mayer Hawthorne, & the Heavy: I spent the last day of the festival directly in front of the stage. I can't explain what it is like to be surrounded by 20,000 people, but it was surreal and rather amazing. Throw in a group of musicians that produce some of the music that has soundtracked the past 3 or 4 years, and you have an unbelievable day. Highlights for me would be all of it, but Passion Pit really jumped out to me. I had never really listened to them, and didn't get it when I did. Seeing them live changed everything. It was also quite a pleasure to see Zooey Deschanel and M.Ward together. She is a real musical talent.


7. Tallest Man on Earth at Sasquatch Music Festival - George, WA (Sunday, May 30th) - Yeti Stage: Never heard this guys music until this day, and I was blown away and floored by the rawness of the lyrics and guitar picking. Amazing.


8. LCD Soundsystem at Sasquatch Music Festival - George, WA (Sunday, May 30th) - Main Stage: Have you ever seen 20,000 people move like an ocean. That is what LCD Soundsystem does. James Murphy and his backing band and doo-wop singers were the highlight of Sunday for me. Even more than the band I really came to see, Pavement.


9. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists at the Blvd - Spokane (March ?): I had only heard one record of Leo's and I knew I liked it, but wasn't blown away at first. To have such a talent play a dive bar especially in Spokane was a real treat, and it was definitely the right venue for the great punk tunes that Leo produces. His set was only an hour long, and I bet we still heard 20 songs. He was very chatty with the crowd and the crowd was very receptive to his musings. Highlights of the night was his solo cover of Big Star's "Ballad of El Goodo", and "One Polaroid a Day".


10. tie: Shout Out Louds at Neumo's - Seattle (May 15th) & Local Natives at Empyrean Coffee House - Spokane (May 26th): SOL were right on for the night. They grooved through their poppy Swedish rock with precision, but the reason it makes the top 10 is because Ashley was with me. She loves SOL, and we were able to set her up for a visit so that she may see them. It was a great night.

The Local Natives show was just awesome. I introduced three friends to their harmonies and unbelievable percussion, and it was great to see the small crowd really get in to the tunes. Highlight of the night was the crowd involvement during my favorite tune, "Sun Hands".


Just missing the cut:

the Swell Season at the Knitting Factory - Spokane (July 22nd)

Caribou at Sasquatch Music Festival - George, WA (Sunday, May 30th)

Hockey at Empyrean Coffee House - Spokane (August ?)

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