2011 In Review - Stuff I Liked This Year

Top Albums of 2011:

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

Black Keys - El Camino

Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne

Adele - 21

Cults - Cults

Thrice - Major / Minor

Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

MuteMath - Odd Soul

Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You

Amy Winehouse - Lioness: Hidden Treasures

Tech N9ne - All 6's and 7's

Lady Gaga - Born This Way

Beyonce - 4

Patrick Stump - Soul Punk

Thievery Corporation - Culture of Fear

Incubus - If Not Now, When?

Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Marketa Irglova - Anar

KMFDM - WTF?!

Rifles - Freedom Run

Radiohead - The King of Limbs

Hard-Fi - Killer Sounds

Kaskade - Fire & Ice

Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist

Favorite New Artist

The Weeknd

Favorite Local Band

AM Taxi

Best Reisssues

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Nirvana - Nevermind

Smiths - Complete Box Set 

Music Collector's OCD

I was reading one of my favorite music-related message boards, where someone posted the question: "What is the most obsessive-compulsive thing you've done with your collection?" This was my response...

-Ripped all 1600 of my CD's to iTunes
-Made sure each and every album had associated artwork
-Combed over every single artist, album, and track for proper spelling and capitalization
-Backed up the collection to an external hard drive

-Keep an Excel spreadsheet of the collection that lists the Artist, Album Title, Release Year, Year Purchased, and Additional Info
-Keep another Excel spreadsheet of new releases I want to buy, with their expected release date
-Keep an Amazon Wishlist of older releases that I want to buy to round out the collection

-Whenever I buy a new CD, I rip out the little security tag from the tray
-Store the CD's alphabetically by Artist, then chronologically by album release
-Still carry CD's to listen to at work, even though I can easily put the mp3's on my phone
-Still go to the music store almost every week to pick up new releases

Funny thing is, I've never considered this obsessive, just something normal of any collector! Anyone else out there do crazy things like this?

Also, to those who ask if they can plug in their hard drive to my computer and "grab" my collection, this is why I say NO! It's too easy to get music these days... I take pride in this, no matter how crazy it seems!

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...

I was recently clued into this excellent series produced by Elvis Costello and Elton John. Each show features a different musician, and takes a loose talk/interview format interspersed with live performances. Elvis interviews the guests on their influences, performance, and songwriting styles, asks them to play some tunes, and often joins in. I found it to be highly informative and educational, and was turned on to some artists I probably wouldn't have listened to otherwise. Some of the better episodes from the first season:

Elton John
Bill Clinton
The Police
Roseanne Cash/Norah Jones/Kris Kristofferson/John Mellencamp
Renee Fleming
Herbie Hancock
Diana Krall

The show first aired in the UK/Canada, then on the Sundance Channel in the US. The complete first season is available for streaming on Netflix, and Season 2 is coming out on DVD on June 7th, 2011.

Video: Sonic Boom Six - What Doesn't Kill You Make You Stronger

This band never ceases to amaze me... another mash-up of punk, reggae, rap, and dubstep like only SB6 can do! Great message on this tune as well. "It's better to regret the things you did, than all the things you didn't do."



Check out http://sonicboomsix.co.uk for info and merchandise.

R.I.P. Silverchair

After nearly a 20-year run, Silverchair announced today on their Official Website that they would be going on "indefinite hibernation" due to lack of inspiration and creative differences.

They were one of my favorite bands of the 90's and in my opinion had a highly underrated career, at least in the US. They released 5 albums in the course of their lifespan, each progressing in maturity and level of musicianship. They started out as a grunge inspired band (Frogstomp), but quickly carved their own niche of emotional hard rock (Freak Show) with beautiful orchestration (Neon Ballroom and Diorama). After a 5 year hiatus from 2002 to 2005 they came back with Young Modern, a back-to-basics and more melodic approach. A follow-up was in the works but apparently stalled in 2010.

The individual members are all working on new projects.

Smashing Pumpkins - Rock On

Funny how you can listen to an album over and over, and still have something new catch your attention. This happened to me today listening to Judas O, the Smashing Pumpkins B-Sides and Rarities album that was packaged with the Rotten Apples greatest hits collection.

Their live cover of the David Essex classic "Rock On" is brilliant. While this isn't the superior 6:06 version found on the album, here's a pretty good video:

Kosha Dillz - Yom Hashoah Freestyle

Kosha Dillz pays tribute in the form of a Yom Hashoah freestyle in remembrance of those that perished in the Holocaust.



Check out more from Kosha Dillz at www.koshadillzworld.com