While watching Headbangers Ball I thought it was fitting to finally blog/post my albums of 2009. I usually stop buying music around early December to make the Holiday shopping easier but this year I did have a few albums sneak in more towards mid-December, and they are all welcome. So, lets start the close of 2009 with my album picks of the year.
If you have read last years blog/post you'll notice I kept some of the same format but them added some stuff and subtracted some stuff. I may be moving towards a perfect award system or it just may be the year that determines the final list. As last year I don't really talk about each album, I know I should, I will make it a point, time permitting to talk more on each category. But, if you have any questions or want a response feel free to post a reply. Anyway, lets do this.
Music Awards 2009
Sponsored by With Teeth Exposed
This list was compiled from 47 albums purchased or downloaded legally.
Metal/Hardcore Album of the Year
Mastodon “Crack the Skye”
Honorable Mention
The Chariot “Wars and Rumors of Wars”
The Black Dahlia Murder “Deflorate”
Between the Buried and Me “The Great Misdirect”
Rock/Alternative Album of the Year
Murder by Death “Red of Tooth and Claw”
Honorable Mentions
Yeah Yeah Yeahs “It’s Blitz!”
mewithoutYou “It’s All Crazy!, It’s All False!, It’s All A Dream!, It’s Alright!”
Rise Againts “Appeal to Reason”
Folk/Country Album of the Year
Star Anna “Crooked Path”
Honorable Mentions
The Avett Brothers “I And Love And You”
Hip Hop/Rap Album of the Year
The Roots “Rising Down”
New Artist (too me) Album of the Year
Grizzly Bear “Veckatimest”
Honorable Mentions
Okkervil River “The Stage Names / The Stand Ins” (Two Albums)
Grizzly Bear “Yellow House”
Rediscovered Album of the Year
Mastodon “Leviathan”
My brother introduced me to Mastodon in early 2000 right before we left for a Poison the Well show. It was a few year later that I moved away from burned copies or mix cd's with their music and bought their Blood Mountain release and then Remission. Once I got Crack the Skye right when it dropped and loved it I knew I had to complete the collection and get Leviathan. Having their new release plus rediscovering music my bro introduced to me and I fell in love a few years back was the perfect combination that kept Mastodon almost constantly played this year.
Honorable Mention
Ghostface Killah “Ironman”
Most Played Track of the Year
(tie)
Bowie Poison the Well “II/III”
Ghostrider Rollins Band “The Crow”
Album Art of the Year
(tie)
The Chariot “Wars and Rumors of Wars”
Hand printed and numbered, you can 't beat that innovation and craftsmanship and DIY attitude that's been the backbone for hardcore music and what keeps the love for it strong.
The Black Dahlia Murder “Deflorate”
A new album with a metal cover that could hold strong when metal covers were at their best when albums were still on vinyl and the thirteen year old boy that just discovered metal would just stare at the cover while listing to the album. I sat in the Best Buy lot for a good moment just admiring this cover.
Album of the Year
Poison the Well “Tropic Rot”
Honorable Mentions
Mastodon “Crack the Skye”
Murder by Death “Red of Tooth and Claw”
Poison the Well is one of my all-time favorite groups, a title only shared with the Deftones. And as exciting is having one of my favorites putting out some new work and being almost certain it was a shoe-in of my album of the year there is also a lot of room for disappointment. Not because of the work but because of the anticipation and hype placed of the new album. But, Poison the Well delivered and not only meet my crazy notions but blow them away. They are my number one album, if that means anything, not because of my love for the band but because they put out a great album, one that will be listened too and loved like new and old down the road.
Metal of 2009
There were five metal albums nominated or won my silly awards this year.
Mastodon “Crack the Skye”
Poison the Well “Tropic Rot”
The Chariot “Wars and Rumors of Wars”
The Black Dahlia Murder “Deflorate”
Between the Buried and Me “The Great Misdirect”
2009 was a great year for metal. Here are ten albums that should be honored. The other ten, in no real order, metal or hardcore albums that should be listened too, bought and worshiped.
1. Zao “Awake”
2. Dethklok “Dethalbum II”
3. Job for a Cowboy “Ruination”
4. Gwar “Lust in Space”
5. Every Time I Die “New Junk Aesthetic”
6. Despised Icon “Day of Mourning”
7. Bury Your Dead “It’s Nothing Personal”
8. Behemoth “Evangelion”
9. Austrian Death Machine “Double Brutal”
10. The Banner “Frailty”
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
everything...different
It still doesn't feel real. One year of work. I haven't talked much about this here just because I wanted to...I don't really know. Maybe just have a moment like this where I can announce that one year of work with a close friends comes to a end and a beginning. That with today we've not only completed a project with all the writing, drawing, coding and planning but that we've also started a new adventure. Our online comic Side Quest is finished and up today. As of now it's a weekly adventure updated every Monday. I can't say much right now it still feels new and exciting. I just hope all who go there enjoy. Side Quest
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
metal: the universal language
First, summer is over. Bummer. And now we can begin. I've had a love hate relationship with chain stores, Best Buy, and the way they've abandoned physical music. Actual CD's. Only stocking too few copies of good music and braking the bank on crap. And you need four rows and a kiosk of G&R's waist of ten years? Okay? Every week Pop and Hop-Hop (Love lots of Hip-Hop that's not on the radio) dribble gets prime shelve space and supply while actual good music gets barely ten copies. Now I know that everyone thinks their music selection is better than everyone else so I know this argument can be combated by a simple; uh-huh. But, I digress I could bore all with many arguments on modern music and the business but I will end here...
The real post is how of all music genres metal seems to be a universal language among people. Once you find out some is into metal, real metal not that radio-rock-friendly-crap but, real metal. A friendship is formed even if you don't agree on all your discussion topics you know you just meet someone else like you that walks among the world. I met a metal friend today and at a time when I was going to abandon all hope for the yellow tag and start a long trek to find music elsewhere which where I live would cause much headache. Even among my close friends I am alone on talking about metal and my list of metal heads is my brother who lives out of state and my wonderful girlfriends brother. So I am glad to find a new metal friend.
Metal I've grabbed of recent:
Black Dahlia Murder "Deflorate"
Bury Your Dead "Nothing Personal"
Every Time I Die "New Junk Aesthetic"
Job For A Cowboy "Ruination"
The real post is how of all music genres metal seems to be a universal language among people. Once you find out some is into metal, real metal not that radio-rock-friendly-crap but, real metal. A friendship is formed even if you don't agree on all your discussion topics you know you just meet someone else like you that walks among the world. I met a metal friend today and at a time when I was going to abandon all hope for the yellow tag and start a long trek to find music elsewhere which where I live would cause much headache. Even among my close friends I am alone on talking about metal and my list of metal heads is my brother who lives out of state and my wonderful girlfriends brother. So I am glad to find a new metal friend.
Metal I've grabbed of recent:
Black Dahlia Murder "Deflorate"
Bury Your Dead "Nothing Personal"
Every Time I Die "New Junk Aesthetic"
Job For A Cowboy "Ruination"
Thursday, September 17, 2009
the failure and the cowards
During the long and cold winter that we recently lived through and are slowly creeping towards again a close friend and I created a character to live inside a blog. The idea was influenced by the character Darcel and I wanted to do something similar but in a completely different direction. I never want to copy someones ideas. Instead of a hip New York socialite very cleverly and unequally commenting on city, pop culture and contemporary life. Very great very original. My friend and I created a character around the idea of a alien or robot sent from an other galaxy or planet to learn about our culture and life and then destroy us. But, the hitch was that the character would start to be corrupted by our cultures especially pop culture and begin to love us. The idea was sound and the creation of the character was a great experience and even though I am still kicking myself for doing such a thing but with all that is going on I just don't have the time for another side project that would take on a life of his own. So, I am the failure. But, in order to give our character, LADO (Learn, Adapt, Destroy, Objective), the credit he deserves here are the imagery that was posted and ones that where in line.
The First
This was a simple image to announce LADO's arrival.
The Second
This was used for a post about when a study was published that Red States, the faith based family first states were found out to be down loading more porn than the sinful Blue States. And, their only defense was saying that the study is bias because the Red States were legally purchasing their porn not the other way around like the Blue States. Sure. Hypocrisy. This was also the first time I crossed over into a political theme and really wanted to live there. My cohort and I decided that I would speak out against political and social issues and he would soften that edge with pop culture references.
The Third
An instant and emotional response to The Watchmen movie.
The Fourth
Title G0d Con-Plex this post was about the Great Pacific Trash Heap and how religion is stunting any movement into responsibility toward keeping our planet clean for generations.
These last two where not posted but where on deck for more posts.
Although this project is over the ideas and passion are still there. In the future there will be a second round of the ideas and creativity that born LADO. Just not at the moment. I fear that I need to create something moving in the next four years. I fear that these four years with Obama are going to filled with crazies attacking him and then they are going to elect a Palin and our country is going to really go to shit. I feel more of the youth needs to speak out and ideas like LADO need to be planted right now to blossom when ideas and movements are needed most. The world is going to get worse very soon. The cowards, the Glenn Becks, the Ann Coulters, the Rush Limbaughs and the fear mongering crazies have the platform to say their racist and ignorant comments and we have all the right to speak against their bullshit. Which we need more of. Speaking out against the ignorance and stupidity that is rooted in America right now is a great start.
So, I feel a bit of a failure. I gave up. But, not for long.
Sorry, Tim. Love ya, bro.
The First
This was a simple image to announce LADO's arrival.
The Second
This was used for a post about when a study was published that Red States, the faith based family first states were found out to be down loading more porn than the sinful Blue States. And, their only defense was saying that the study is bias because the Red States were legally purchasing their porn not the other way around like the Blue States. Sure. Hypocrisy. This was also the first time I crossed over into a political theme and really wanted to live there. My cohort and I decided that I would speak out against political and social issues and he would soften that edge with pop culture references.
The Third
An instant and emotional response to The Watchmen movie.
The Fourth
Title G0d Con-Plex this post was about the Great Pacific Trash Heap and how religion is stunting any movement into responsibility toward keeping our planet clean for generations.
These last two where not posted but where on deck for more posts.
Although this project is over the ideas and passion are still there. In the future there will be a second round of the ideas and creativity that born LADO. Just not at the moment. I fear that I need to create something moving in the next four years. I fear that these four years with Obama are going to filled with crazies attacking him and then they are going to elect a Palin and our country is going to really go to shit. I feel more of the youth needs to speak out and ideas like LADO need to be planted right now to blossom when ideas and movements are needed most. The world is going to get worse very soon. The cowards, the Glenn Becks, the Ann Coulters, the Rush Limbaughs and the fear mongering crazies have the platform to say their racist and ignorant comments and we have all the right to speak against their bullshit. Which we need more of. Speaking out against the ignorance and stupidity that is rooted in America right now is a great start.
So, I feel a bit of a failure. I gave up. But, not for long.
Sorry, Tim. Love ya, bro.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
holga
I've been trying to explore photography as an outlet for my art for a little over a year. I've made some progress, little, but it's a work in progress. The goals of tackling photography as an artistic growth and a hobby are too; in a short list.
To become...
...more spontaneous with my art.
...more in the moment.
...better with composition.
...strengthen my artistic eye.
...crack out of my shell.*
*The last one is the most important. I become very closed off while working on my art. Not closed off to the world but I am very seclusive. Not that it is a bad thing but to grow as an artist I need to become more open and capture art as I see it. Not lock myself in my room by myself.
So after months of me talking my girlfriends ear off about a crazy plastic camera called a HOLGA. My wonderful girlfriend bought me one for Valentines of '08. I've been using and loving my HOLGA ever since especially after the breaking of my digital I've exclusively been using my green plastic camera.
I have recently updated my Lomo Home, a digital place to post and share my HOLGA and other analog pics taken on the brands of Lomography. So I invite all over and share in my growing as a photographer. My Lomo Home.
It will also be added to my side bar under the My.. heading. Enjoy
To become...
...more spontaneous with my art.
...more in the moment.
...better with composition.
...strengthen my artistic eye.
...crack out of my shell.*
*The last one is the most important. I become very closed off while working on my art. Not closed off to the world but I am very seclusive. Not that it is a bad thing but to grow as an artist I need to become more open and capture art as I see it. Not lock myself in my room by myself.
So after months of me talking my girlfriends ear off about a crazy plastic camera called a HOLGA. My wonderful girlfriend bought me one for Valentines of '08. I've been using and loving my HOLGA ever since especially after the breaking of my digital I've exclusively been using my green plastic camera.
I have recently updated my Lomo Home, a digital place to post and share my HOLGA and other analog pics taken on the brands of Lomography. So I invite all over and share in my growing as a photographer. My Lomo Home.
It will also be added to my side bar under the My.. heading. Enjoy
Monday, September 7, 2009
summer ends
The last few grains of sand fall from this summers hourglass and the same bitter sweet feelings about the dieing of summer and the birth of the frozen winter are all too familiar.
First off, weather wise, this summer in the Midwest was crap. It was cold and rainy, although good for running, bad for enjoying the summer air and swimming. Living in the Midwest and having such a long, cold and snow filled winter having a cold summer is just a slap in the face. We pack so much into our summers to enjoy it as much as possible and by the end we are all just run down. After weddings, trips, relay and summer parties my friends and I are all looking for a good break. Not from each other or fun or even the summer-ish weather but from spending money and time away. From June to September there are seventeen weekends and I was, or will be, gone or had major plans for eleven of them. And, like I lamented in my other summer time posts art and design have suffered greatly from my busy schedule. Not only where my weekends filled but having a non regular schedule my Mondays are really important to get work done. I had a good stretch in July and August where I only had a few Monday to work so in short I am still really behind. I've been working on the same few projects, making progress, but still plugging slowly away.
Another sign, non weather related, that summer is coming to a close is when my friends and I start to gather our fall/winter '09 race schedule. I'll be starting my racing in mid September and will provide some racing reports later.
It was nice to be finishing up summer yesterday with my girlfriend doing a bike pub crawl for charity. The charity was to help American Brain Tumor Association and children fighting life-threatening diseases. We donated some money to a good cause, rode thirty miles on our mountain bikes and had some tall beverages. Great time but my legs hate me today. The real end of summer is coming soon and me and my girlfriend will be closing summer in Chicago this weekend. Going to have a great time and see U2 all at the same time.
Another great summer leaves us. Had an amazing time with my girlfriend and my friends. Made wonderful memories and spent time with the people I love all summer and witnessed wonderful moments and weddings, parties, races and just small moments away.
After this coming weekend no more lamenting about art and design not finished. I managed to get some stuff done in the little moments and will be looking forward to posting some of the great work I've been putting together.
Now I leave summer with this. I remember liking this song at the beginning of summer and feel it's a fitting end. I think The Cold War Kids will be a band I get more involved with in the near future. There is a line in the song that says "How's it going to feel when summer ends. Out of money. Out of friends". Well I am not out of money and never will be but, money is gone. Without reading to much into this songs I dig it and feel it's a great way to close summer.
Enjoy!
First off, weather wise, this summer in the Midwest was crap. It was cold and rainy, although good for running, bad for enjoying the summer air and swimming. Living in the Midwest and having such a long, cold and snow filled winter having a cold summer is just a slap in the face. We pack so much into our summers to enjoy it as much as possible and by the end we are all just run down. After weddings, trips, relay and summer parties my friends and I are all looking for a good break. Not from each other or fun or even the summer-ish weather but from spending money and time away. From June to September there are seventeen weekends and I was, or will be, gone or had major plans for eleven of them. And, like I lamented in my other summer time posts art and design have suffered greatly from my busy schedule. Not only where my weekends filled but having a non regular schedule my Mondays are really important to get work done. I had a good stretch in July and August where I only had a few Monday to work so in short I am still really behind. I've been working on the same few projects, making progress, but still plugging slowly away.
Another sign, non weather related, that summer is coming to a close is when my friends and I start to gather our fall/winter '09 race schedule. I'll be starting my racing in mid September and will provide some racing reports later.
It was nice to be finishing up summer yesterday with my girlfriend doing a bike pub crawl for charity. The charity was to help American Brain Tumor Association and children fighting life-threatening diseases. We donated some money to a good cause, rode thirty miles on our mountain bikes and had some tall beverages. Great time but my legs hate me today. The real end of summer is coming soon and me and my girlfriend will be closing summer in Chicago this weekend. Going to have a great time and see U2 all at the same time.
Another great summer leaves us. Had an amazing time with my girlfriend and my friends. Made wonderful memories and spent time with the people I love all summer and witnessed wonderful moments and weddings, parties, races and just small moments away.
After this coming weekend no more lamenting about art and design not finished. I managed to get some stuff done in the little moments and will be looking forward to posting some of the great work I've been putting together.
Now I leave summer with this. I remember liking this song at the beginning of summer and feel it's a fitting end. I think The Cold War Kids will be a band I get more involved with in the near future. There is a line in the song that says "How's it going to feel when summer ends. Out of money. Out of friends". Well I am not out of money and never will be but, money is gone. Without reading to much into this songs I dig it and feel it's a great way to close summer.
Enjoy!
Monday, July 27, 2009
late race reports
The last 5k, my race of choice, was in April, a local race, and I did okay for how much training I was doing. I ran a 28:44, not great by any means for what I should be running but like I blogged before I am coming off some injuries that made my normal training difficult. My fastest 5k time this year was in March at the Hanson's 5k where I ran a 27:50, some great progress at the time. I'll get back to my 5k later.
Since my last 5k in April I still have been racing: I did a 8k in May, the NCTR was in June, and I did a duathlon and the GLR in July. So I have been doing a fare amount of training and racing. Mid summer is usually the drop off of my 5k racing when the relays and more endurance racing starts. But, now that all the relays are over I am going to concentrate on getting my 5k time down before winter starts and my training slows to maintenance training.
Here is a look back at the past few major races I've completed.
The first was NCTR a drunken weekend with the friends that starts summer off with some adult sodas, good friends and some good running. I've only had one really great NCTR relay three years ago the rest have been hard runs that kick my butt into gear and remind me that GLR is a month away and my training needs to improve. I died on the first leg which was a 7.2 miler trail run. I ran it in about an one hour and forty minutes. Just miserable. After that long run tripping through the woods my back was shot and in pain. I was down for a nap in one of the cars and after that I felt a bit better and finished the day with a 3.5 miler that was slow but not to bad. This was not a great start to my running for the summer.
The next big race was my first duathlon. A first annual local race that was a 5k run, 20k bike and then a 5k run to finish. I ran the first 5k easy and relaxed, I have never done such a race before so I didn't want to die. I ended up running a lady into the ground that was trying to race the first 5k. She kept attacking and because I was running easy it wasn't to hard to control the pace and keep ahead. My first 5k was run in 30:22. Then the bike came up. I rode strong and for such an insane ride with huge uphill climbs I didn't die or get beat down by the ride. I've realized that I am a strong rider just not a brave rider. I could have taken a few down hills with a bit more bravado than I did. But I finished the ride in 01:02:27, which is close to how long it takes me to ride around 14-16 miles with traffic stops so the hills didn't slow me down to bad. The last 5k was hard. I past a few people but the last mile was just me trying to maintain my pace. I was glad to finish the last 5k at 35:45 with a 02:08:34 overall time. I was proud of myself for accomplishing my first duathlon and finished in a realistic time. I am hoping to compete in more duathlons if I can find ones that use Mountain Bikes, not a big Road Biker yet.
The last race report is for the GLR our yearly three-day drunken running fest. Lots of memories and funny stories from this year. A great time. My first run of day one was a 5.2 mile trail run. Good trails and I ran it easy at 01:03. My second run of day one was horrible a 5 mile trail run on overgrown sandy horse trails. Took me 01:17 to suffer through that run. Day two was a bit better I ran my first run a 5.4 mile trail run in 01:04 so I was on the same pace as the day before and it was cool to run the same run again after running it for my first GLR first leg six year ago. Then the mess comes out. I started drinking after my first leg and didn't stop. Ran my second leg a 3.5 mile trail run in 50 minutes of drunken stumbling running through the woods. Don't recommend running distance runs wasted. Day three I only had one run which I killed. It was a 5.5 mile run on two tracks, dirt and country roads. I ran it at a ten-minute pace finished the leg in 57:20. This is when I really realized that trail running sucks for me. I can't stride out like I can on roads. I had a great year this year. Oh, and between five drinks and five little helpers we drank ten cases of beer. So, yea, we had some fun.
So, back to 5k's. After all this crazy running I am really looking forward to running a 5k this Saturday and hopefully setting a new PR (Personal Record) that I am proud of. Got a week of rest last week, new shoes this week and starting to hit some good running. Hopefully I will hit a low 26 min or a high 25 min time. That would make me happy.
Since my last 5k in April I still have been racing: I did a 8k in May, the NCTR was in June, and I did a duathlon and the GLR in July. So I have been doing a fare amount of training and racing. Mid summer is usually the drop off of my 5k racing when the relays and more endurance racing starts. But, now that all the relays are over I am going to concentrate on getting my 5k time down before winter starts and my training slows to maintenance training.
Here is a look back at the past few major races I've completed.
The first was NCTR a drunken weekend with the friends that starts summer off with some adult sodas, good friends and some good running. I've only had one really great NCTR relay three years ago the rest have been hard runs that kick my butt into gear and remind me that GLR is a month away and my training needs to improve. I died on the first leg which was a 7.2 miler trail run. I ran it in about an one hour and forty minutes. Just miserable. After that long run tripping through the woods my back was shot and in pain. I was down for a nap in one of the cars and after that I felt a bit better and finished the day with a 3.5 miler that was slow but not to bad. This was not a great start to my running for the summer.
The next big race was my first duathlon. A first annual local race that was a 5k run, 20k bike and then a 5k run to finish. I ran the first 5k easy and relaxed, I have never done such a race before so I didn't want to die. I ended up running a lady into the ground that was trying to race the first 5k. She kept attacking and because I was running easy it wasn't to hard to control the pace and keep ahead. My first 5k was run in 30:22. Then the bike came up. I rode strong and for such an insane ride with huge uphill climbs I didn't die or get beat down by the ride. I've realized that I am a strong rider just not a brave rider. I could have taken a few down hills with a bit more bravado than I did. But I finished the ride in 01:02:27, which is close to how long it takes me to ride around 14-16 miles with traffic stops so the hills didn't slow me down to bad. The last 5k was hard. I past a few people but the last mile was just me trying to maintain my pace. I was glad to finish the last 5k at 35:45 with a 02:08:34 overall time. I was proud of myself for accomplishing my first duathlon and finished in a realistic time. I am hoping to compete in more duathlons if I can find ones that use Mountain Bikes, not a big Road Biker yet.
The last race report is for the GLR our yearly three-day drunken running fest. Lots of memories and funny stories from this year. A great time. My first run of day one was a 5.2 mile trail run. Good trails and I ran it easy at 01:03. My second run of day one was horrible a 5 mile trail run on overgrown sandy horse trails. Took me 01:17 to suffer through that run. Day two was a bit better I ran my first run a 5.4 mile trail run in 01:04 so I was on the same pace as the day before and it was cool to run the same run again after running it for my first GLR first leg six year ago. Then the mess comes out. I started drinking after my first leg and didn't stop. Ran my second leg a 3.5 mile trail run in 50 minutes of drunken stumbling running through the woods. Don't recommend running distance runs wasted. Day three I only had one run which I killed. It was a 5.5 mile run on two tracks, dirt and country roads. I ran it at a ten-minute pace finished the leg in 57:20. This is when I really realized that trail running sucks for me. I can't stride out like I can on roads. I had a great year this year. Oh, and between five drinks and five little helpers we drank ten cases of beer. So, yea, we had some fun.
So, back to 5k's. After all this crazy running I am really looking forward to running a 5k this Saturday and hopefully setting a new PR (Personal Record) that I am proud of. Got a week of rest last week, new shoes this week and starting to hit some good running. Hopefully I will hit a low 26 min or a high 25 min time. That would make me happy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)