Nobody ever sees these journal entries on Last.fm anymore…but I'm placing it here out of tradition. Here we go.

10) Air Review - Low Wishes
Each year, whenever I hear a great record, I place a song in a playlist called “Best of the year- contenders.” Air Review, with their January 29 release, “Low Wishes,” was the first track in that playlist all year. Many other songs come and go from the playlist as my tastes become more fickle, but this quintet out of Dallas made an album that I just kept coming back to. Just slightly reminiscent of the…

I'm keeping my reviews brief this year.

10) The dB's - Falling Off The Sky
The last time the dB's put out a record was in 1987. Time has changed and so have these guys. It doesn't sound like a dB's record, but it sounds like a record that a dB's fan would enjoy. And that's good enough for me.
Listen to "That Time is Gone" http://open.spotify.com/track/3HmTAX89DPqLAEAkzGX249

9) My Tiger my Timing - Celeste
Sometimes sounding like Human League, sometimes sounding like Sleigh Bells, the british electronic quintet My Tiger My Timing have created a catchy album full of dark,…

About 18 months ago, my relationship with music changed.

It changes from time to time, as my life and technology has progressed. The way I listen to music - the where, the when and the how of it, affect the who, what and why of the music I listen to.

18 months ago, I decided to try out the music leasing model. I'd had a few backup hard drives die on me, and I'd lost a big chunk of my musical collection. And I was the kind of guy that digitized his CDs and then sold the CDs to Half-Price…

4. J Roddy Walston & The Business
Rowdy rock and roll isn't usually my cup of tea. It's something I can appreciate, but typically I don't seek it out.

Oh sure, there has been raucous music that has appealed to me. Punk like Atom & His Package or The Dead Milkmen has always made me smile. The Replacements and Cracker have always been great for boozy sloppy rock 'n roll….but for all of the music I listen to, bands like these are exceptions.

This year added another one.

J Roddy Walston & The Business are a rock quartet out of…

#10. The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night
If you're at all familiar with Pink Floyd's The Wall, you might remember the song "Waiting For The Worms," which featured Beach Boys-like harmonies over the dark Floyd grooves and lead vocals through a bull horn. I read somewhere that Floyd tried to employ The Beach Boys on the actual track, but it didn't work out.
Anyway, that interesting mix: summery harmonies and moody minor-key grooves, are all over The Besnard Lakes' 2010 release "The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night"
The married duo of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas create these…

I'm attempting to listen to every one of the "1001 Albums You Should Listen To Before You Die" this year. Each album, all the way through. At least once.
This blog is my attempt to keep track of what I've listened to. Bold albums means I've heard it this year.

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/lk/f/s/577f7cf1df30fa0e52ea138d1647ac54/486327.jpg

0001. – Frank Sinatra | In The Wee Small Hours
0002. – Elvis Presley | Elvis Presley
0003. – The Louvin Brothers | Tragic Songs Of Life
0004. – Louis Prima | The Wildest!
0005. – Fats Domino | This is Fats
0006. – Duke Ellington | Ellington At…

Sun 14 Mar – They Might Be Giants
Kinda sleepy (as was the band), so these are just notes. I may or may not clean this up into a proper review.

Songs performed:
Bed Bed Bed
Clap Your Hands
I Never Go To Work
Get Up And Go
One Dozen Monkeys
Pirate Girls 9
Dr. Worm
The Famous Polka
I am a paleontologist
Roy G. Biv
Older

What Is A Shooting Star?
High Five
Why Does The Sun Shine?
Particle MAn
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

encores:
813 mile car trip
Stalk of Wheat
The Alphabet of Nations

free swag: #1 TMBG…

Get Back: The 21 best albums of the 21st century

The Beatles - Love
It's like seeing the house you grew up in after it appeared on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." - the doors and windows are right where they should be, but the rest of the place looks brand new. Really? All you did was move the picture from the dining room into the kitchen? Well, it looks great in the kitchen!
Anyway, that's how I felt about "Love," The Beatles' collaboration with Cirque Du Soleil. It's a greatest hits album, but mashed-up, remixed and the result is breathtaking.…

Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress What I always liked about the voice of Belle & Sebastian's lead singer, Stuart Murdoch, was that he sounded much like Ray Davies of the Kinks. And what I like about "Dear Catastophe Waitress" is that it has a subtle precious vibe to it reminicent of the Kinks' "Village Green Preservation Society." – The songs have a sentimentality and sense of humor that seems very local.
And while songs like "Piazza, New York Catcher" may not be the most timeless of tracks, "If She Wants Me" or "Wrapped Up In Books" certainly are.…

Mon 1 Jun – The Decemberists, Blind Pilot

Set One:
The Hazards Of Love, in its entirety. With guest vocalists Shara Worden and Becky Stark.

Set Two:
Leslie Ann Levine
We Both Go Down Together
Billy Liar
Sleepless
Yankee Bayonet *with Shara Worden
Dracula's Daughter a/k/a "The worst Song I've ever written. Please don't share this on Youtube"
O Valencia!
SIxteen Military Wives
Crazy On You with Shara and Becky.

Encore
Eli, The Barrow Boy
Sons and Daughters

I was having a tough time explaining to my lovely wife, who joined me to see this concert, why I felt…