Rock Star alter egos are growing in numbers "You're forming a fake band -- that's what you do," says Sadri, calling the game "the best part of karaoke, adding in a drummer and guitars."
The Magpie Developer Jeff Atwood is one of the best programmer/writers around. I love reading his stuff, some I agree wholeheartedly with, other stuff we disagree, but this post is about a dead-on as they come. This idea has been floating in my head for a long time, but it is hard for me to conceptualize it in words, Atwood does a brilliant job at it. Must read for any developer.
Andy Olmsted's Last Blog Entry. (Warning: Pretty rough) No matter how you feel politically about the war, this reminds you that each number people throw around as statistics is a human life. This is extremely well written, and pretty rough on your soul towards the end, but something everyone should read. Its a shitty situation all around, but there is always a human face behind the statistics and I want to make sure I never forget that.
To preserve his body during the voyage home, the second-in-command stored Nelson's body in the ship's vat of rum and halted all liquor rations to the crew. Not a bad idea, but when the ship reached port, officials went to retrieve Nelson's body and found the vat dry.
Disregarding good taste (in every sense), the crew had been secretly drinking from it the entire way home. After that, naval rum was referred to as Nelson's Blood.
making vodka pills in 24 hours Recently, Chef Fabian was experimenting further with the Adria/Torreblanca technique of making 'vodka pills.' I use this word to describe the process of making liquid-filled candies by pouring flavored alcohol syrups into cornstarch and letting it set until a hard outer shell forms.
Strategy Letter VI - joelonsoftware.com As a programmer, thanks to plummeting memory prices, and CPU speeds doubling every year, you had a choice. You could spend six months rewriting your inner loops in Assembler, or take six months off to play drums in a rock and roll band, and in either case, your program would run faster. Assembler programmers don’t have groupies.
Entire Article is Dead On. A must read for anyone in the software biz.
I recieved a few emails from people asking if I was doing a top 25 list this year as I did in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and I said of course! I just need to get some time to get everything together. Luckily I discovered imeem this year, so I don't have to link to annoying myspace pages for some of these bands and you can just listen by the streaming playlists to see what you think. If you sign up for a full imeem account (no $$ just an email address) you should be able to stream the entire songs also. Please feel free to comment, I would love to see responses. This year was a pretty good year imho for music, so without further ado here are, in order, my top 25 albums of 2007:
#1. Iron & Wine - The Shepard's Dog
Hands down best album of the year. There was no other album that even came close for me this year. For some reason Sam Beam can sound like all 4 parts of CSNY at once on this album. Absolutely THE must purchase album of this year.
#2. Radiohead - In Rainbows
Even ignoring the brilliant marketing/release of this album, I still find this to be an amazing and haunting album. I downloaded the first disk, but had not heard the second disk until a few days ago. I personally think that '15 Steps' is Radiohead in full stride, but the more I listen to 'Down Is The New Up' the more I think it might be the strongest song on the 2 disk version. Both are on the player below.
#3. Culver City Dub Collective - Dos
I really started getting into Dub a lot this year. I had heard Culver City on the Jack Johnson surf compilation 'A Broke Down Melody' and immediately went looking for more music by them. They had only released an EP, but later came out with this full album in the past few months. Excellent Mellow vibe, and great for coding.
So Infectious. Every single song is a pop gem. From the visuals of a newsroom orgy on the title track, to the lonesomness you feel for Shep Shapiro to the beating you can imagine to the gambling schlep in Strapped for Cash. Brilliant writing all the way through.
#5. The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
By Far my most played album this year. Sea Legs and Australia are probably both my favorites. I don't watch music videos too much, but I happened to see Phantom Limbs video with Joan of Arc played out like a school play which was great. Again whole album is superb.
#6. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
Alternate Reality Game turned album, turned dark vision of a dystopian future this album replaced 'Pretty Hate Machine' as my favorite NIN album to date. I can't help but think of a 'Children of Men'-ish future where the Nanny state has turned into the 'Prison-Guard-We-are-watching-your-every-move go-ahead-and-test-us state'. Its dark, its dreary, and it is the best halo out of all 24. Period. Also, the more and more I read about/interviews with Reznor the more and more I see a person who is hunched on the precipe of not only the music industry but also highly technical adept and loves to move his fans from viewing music as a $15 CD to viewing it as an entire art form that can weave into other art forms.
#7. The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
I pretty much listen to anything Damon Albarn puts out, hearing him with a full band again made me go out and find all TGTBATQ's EPs with B-material. The band meshes very well together and was a great release. I have heard there will probably only be one more Gorillaz album left before he turns to 'other projects', I hope that this band is one of those 'other projects'.
#8. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
I had multiple people email me asking why I had not put out my top 25 list a few weeks ago, and honestly there were 2 reasons. One I just had not had the time to sent down and collect all this information, and second I was waiting on the new Rivers Cuomo (Weezer Frontman) solo album to come out in case I wanted to include it on this list. I think the Cuomo album will probably only appeal to the hardcore Weezer fans (I enjoy Weezer, but I didn't dig the solo album to much) but I am glad I did wait on it to be released because also that week I picked up this album. I have never been a big Bruce Springsteen fan. My dad used top have all his records and I heard him a lot growing up. I never hated his music, I just never really got into him, nor saw why people liked him so much that they would follow him from concert to concert. This album changed that for me. Quite simply it just rocks. I was talking with someone the other day about why this album struck such a chord with me when his other albums didn't. It took me another few spins of the entire album before I realized what it was: This album doesn't sounds like a Bruce Springsteen album, it sounds like an E-Street Band album with Bruce Springsteen as a front man. The Entire band (and Bruce) is just on all cylinders on this album. It just sounds a lot more rich to me that his previous albums. I think the first single Radio Nowhere is as catchy as you will ever hear and as infectious, and I think that Gypsy Rider is very underrated and should be a single. Good stuff.
This was the surf compilation soundtrack cd that I mentioned that I heard Culver City Dub Collective for the first time on. Since this wasn't really one person/group who did this album I was hesitant to put it on the list, but man one album with Matt Costa, Jack Johnson, Eddie Vedder, M. Ward, Kings of Convenience and new material like Culver City Dub Collective, older stuff like Johnny Osborne
#10. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
40s/50s Rhythm + Doowap + brutally honest lyrics = good stuff. I am sure there are many people who are sick of Winehouse by now, but I am not one. I think I can listen to 'Tears Dry On Their Own' a million more times. The entire album has a "Fuck You" swagger and the sound is just something that I don't hear except in older recordings from another time.
#11. Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
This album came out right as I finished up reading his Biography (which is a great read) and I admit I might have been a little biased after reading about the ups and downs of Sir Paul's life. He is one of the people in the music industry that I think everyone thinks they kinda know, but I am sure we have no clue. I have no clue how a man that has created some a metric shit-ton of the most catchy songs in the entire history of humanity still can create something as foot stomping as 'Dance Tonight'. My favorite song on the album by far is the suicidal Mr. Bellamy. It reminds me of Eleanor Rigby only without the ashes. Call him the king of starbucks, or whatever but Sir Paul still knows how to write music better than almost everyone in the world.
I was kinda surprise that I didn't rank this one higher after than I did, especially after I have ranked his previous 3 albums so high in past years. This album to me was much more mellow country and I was glad to see him backed by the Cardinals again.
#13. Travis - The Boy With No Name
After the so-so-ness I felt about 12 memories (too preachy?) The Boy With No Name was amazing. If I had to pick one song that I think is the most well written lyrically and musically I think that 'Under The Moonlight' on this album would take the cake. It isn't complicated, just good.
#14. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
A band with some roots in Athens is on here this year. I enjoyed a lot of stuff from Orange Twin this year, but I think I enjoyed this album a lot more than Apples in Stereo just because of the absurdity of some of it. I won't claim to know formal music standards, but this album will switch tempo on a dime and it still sounds excellent. It just seems to meld from part ot part.
#15. Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
Ahh Pumpkins... I was primed for a let down on this album. I just don't know of this many big name comebacks that result in something good, much less as an album as good as this. Zeitgeist was a huge chance, and man did it work. Everything sounds in its place. I hear parts that would fit in well with Gish, and I hear parts that are just completely new to the pumpkins, but it all works.. and works well.
#16. Feist - The Reminder
"Have you heard that chick from Kings of Convenience's solo album?" "Umm... no it doesn't sounds like something that would interest me." That was my initial reaction. Then I was listening to some net radio one day and heard 'I feel it all' and could not get it out of my head. So now here I am almost 6 months later and I must say that there are numerous songs on this album 'Sea Lion Woman', 'My Moon, My Man' and the ubiquitous '1-2-3-4' that haunt my head on almost a daily basis.
I loved 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not', It ranked it at #9 on my Best of 2006 list, and although they slipped a because of some stiff competition this year, don't let that fool you into thinking that their 2nd album to hit the states is something not to check into. It is as gritty and as raw as their first album. Alex Turner is one of the best lyricists and songwriters of our generation. I expect there will probably be another Arctic Monkeys Album on the 2008 list.
#18. Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild (Movie Sound Track)
I haven't read the book, nor seen the movie, but the Soundtrack is superb. Big Hard Sun reminds me of an Indigo Girls song for some reason, be sure to grab the full version off iTunes so you can get the gem 'Here's To The State (live)'.
#19. Akron / Family - Love Is Simple
Eddddd issss a porrrrtaaaallllllllllllll.... I love the grooves, reminds me of college and Rusted Root concerts if Les Claypool sang with them.
#20. Flight of The Conchords
It's Business Time. I would rank this as by far my favorite TV show of the year. There are two Conchords albums that I have seen, this EP which has 6 songs is still just cracks me up every time and also a 4 cd recording of the BBC version of the show that seemed to have been aired over in the UK before the show came out here (and uses some of the same material). You owe yourself to buy this EP.
#21. Brett Dennen - So Much More
'Ain't No Reason' (Title Track) is the most well written song of 2007 imho. I love Dennen's guitar playing, but his lyrics are the master piece of this album. If you like mellow acoustic/folk give this a listen.
#22. Band of Horses - Cease To Begin
I was trying to think of something really special about this band, the lyrics are really good but not great. The guitar is really good but not great. The vocals are really good but not that great. I think this album really just comes down to everyone in the band just doing what they do very well. It is in pretty heavy rotation on my ipod, and being from SC I get a little Drive By Truckers-ish vocal sound. It is just and all around great album.
#23. Michael Buble - Call Me Irresponsible
Buble is the modern day Sinatra. That pretty much sums it up. I am pretty sure he doesn't write any of his music, but he is one hell of a singer, and he travels around the world 'dueting' with hot european chicks while dressed like James Bond. Not sure it gets much cooler than that.
#24. Aqualung - Memory Man
Not as good as Strange and Beautiful, but a great album none the less. Pressure Suit feels like radiohead, and everything else is fair writing, but great piano.
I really enjoyed Beautiful Struggle, this album almost seems to pick up where that album left off. I am not a huge fan of rap, but Kweli provides it with intelligence and and takes his message and delivers it on a higher level.
Jason Isbell should have been up there. (But I know you didn't listen to his new CD, so I'm not to offended.) One of the best blues/Country CD's I've heard in a while. Especially the track "Dress Blues".
Travis - The Boy With No Name Travis is back. I wouldn't say I hated 12 memories, it was meant to be very political, I just thought it went a little overboard and was somewhat preachy. Then when the greatest hits CD came out to be honest I was really hoping it didn't mean the end to one of my favorite brit bands. Boy With No Name is everything they were capable of. Supurb CD all the way through. Every song is brilliant. Big Chair is probably my favorite song and the opening to the CD on 3 Times is as good as it gets in music imho.
Pop! Why Bubbles are Great For The Economys (Gross) One of the better economic books I have read in while, where the author gets their premise across in a well written, clear and concise manner. Basically Gross believes that the infrastructure left over after economic bubbles, provides companies with the ability to move forward (maybe more than the original bubble did). Not a hard read, I would definitely suggest it for a day and the beach/lake.
Feist - The Reminder I CANNOT GET "I feel it all" OUT OF MY HEAD. Period. Great album, angelic voice.
Catan - Xbox Live Arcade I am hopelessly addicted to this board-turned-video game on the xbox360. I had never played the board game but had seen it being played in some comic shops growing up. Click the Pick and play the demo, it isn't the 360 interface, but same game.
Arctic Monkeys - Favorite Worse Nightmare No Sophomore slump here. Just as good (if not better) than Whatever they Say.
Beautiful Evidence (Tufte) Tufte reads like a text book, most people would say bleh, but the information about "information" that he can deliver is top notch. My first Tufte book was "A Visual Display To Quantitative Information" and it was extremely well done, albeit confusing at time. I think beautiful Evidence is a little easier of a read (I am still only half way through it) and a little easier for myself to understand the ideas he is presenting..
Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather Fountains of Wayne are the Gods of pop music. If Welcome Interstate Managers was a collection of short stories in song form, then Traffic and Weather is an even better collection with more humor. I already feel like CNN has the hottest female anchors, imagining them throwing their lust around like the Title track to the CD makes it even better.
Game of Thrones (Martin) I started this book assuming it was going to be a high fantasy novel. Elfs, Dragons, Magic and the like. It isn't. It IS fantasy but more surrounding the politics and cunning of a few high ranking families. Incest, Murder, Intrigue, unscrupulous midgets. It has it all and more.
