I’ve never made a list of my favorite albums of the year, and since I’ve seemed to discover a bunch of new music this year, I thought it’d be time to start.

10. The Rapture, Pieces of the People We Love – I could stick a number of albums here and be content. Some others that I enjoyed this year but didn’t make the list: Neko Case, Regina Spektor, Gnarls Barkley, Arctic Monkeys, and Joanna Newsom.

9. TV on the Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain – I like this album a lot, but not as much as some people. There are some great songs, such as “Wolf Like Me.” I predict that this album or Joanna Newsom’s Ys to be Pitchfork’s album of the year.

8. Tapes ‘n Tapes, The Loon – I started listening to this band after reading some music blogs. I think it technically came out in 2005, but didn’t get a major release until this year. I don’t have anything else to add, so I’ll list some albums I still need to listen to: Peter Bjorn & John, Writer’s Block; Grizzly Bear, Yellow House; Guillemots, Through the Windowpane; Mew, And the Glass Handed Kites.

7. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat – This is the solo debut of Jenny Lewis, the lead singer of Rilo Kiley. I wrote a little bit about her in my post about the Death Cab concert.

6. The Decemberists, Crane Wife - I didn’t like this album quite as much as their 3 previous ones, but it’s still very good.

5. Clipse, Hell Hath No Fury – I thought I should include one rap album on this list, and I picked Clipse over Ghostface. I liked Fishscale, but don’t find me listening to it often enough to be an album of the year for me. Maybe I’ll grow tired of Hell Hath No Fury, too, but for now I’m loving the beats and biting lyrics.

4. Sunset Rubdown, Shut Up I’m Dreaming – Sunset Rubdown is the side project of Spencer Krug, better known for his work as the keyboardist / vocalist of Wolf Parade.

3. Voxtrot, Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives – I think Voxtrot may be my band of the year. I hadn’t heard of them until this year. They haven’t put out a full-length album yet, just 3 EP’s, but every one of them is solid. They’re from Austin and have a brit-pop sound to their music. I think some people may find their music a bit light, but I still love it. You can find 3 MP3’s on their website.

2. The Knife, Silent Shout – I considered choosing this as my album of the year. The Knife are made up of a brother and sister duo from Sweden. I never thought I would be into electronic music, but this album changed my mind. My favorite track is “We Share our Mother’s Health.” Find songs by The Knife on the Hype Machine.

1. The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America – My album of the year. I started listening to The Hold Steady last year when they released Seperation Sunday, but never really got into it. I think this album is more approachable because each song stands alone as opposed to Seperation Sunday, which is a concept album about drugs and religion. The title of Boys and Girls is from a Jack Kerouac quote, “Boys and Girls in America have such a sad time together.” The entire CD deals with relationships between girls and boys, and while every track is solid, my favorite is “First Night.” If you were at all dissappointed with the Killers attempt to immitate Bruce Springsteen with a classic American rock sound, you should check out The Hold Steady. Download “Chips Ahoy” from Vagrant Records

I just got from one of the first concerts I’ve been to in a long time. This was only the third concert I’ve been to in my life. The second was Bob Schneider at Fat Daddy’s in Denton back during the summer of 2003. My first was Tripping Daisy at the end of my senior year in high school, so around April 1999. I had thought about getting tickets the day they went on sale, but decided against it for absolutely no reason. About a week ago, I changed my mind about not wanting to go, and luckily found some on eBay for face value in Row F. I’m incredibly glad I bought them. I’ve never been a big Death Cab guy, and this concert didn’t really change that. They make some enjoyable and very catchy tunes, but nothing that ever grabs me. I’m always happy when they come up on shuffle on my iPod, but I never sort through artists to play one of their albums. I thought Ben Gibbard (the lead singer and also the guy behind Postal Service) was fantastic. However, at times it seemed like it was his show and the band was just along for the ride. The other thing that kept me from thinking they were great is that I was never surprised. Even though I haven’t been to that many concerts or listened to a ton of Death Cab’s stuff, they put on the exact type of show I would expect. It’s great for fans of the band, but it left me wanting more. I was pleased that they played a good mix of early and new stuff, so they mixed songs like “Photobooth” and “The Sound of Settling” in with “Soul Meets Body.”

To be honest, I was more excited about Jenny Lewis (lead singer of Rilo Kiley) than Death Cab. I haven’t listened to Rilo Kiley, and only recently got into her solo album with the Watson Twins. I’m not sure what took me so long, but now I’m sold. There’s something incredibly sexy about her voice that I love. I also like country/bluegrass influences in her music. If I had to guess where’s she’s from, I’d go with Tennessee, but I know it’s LA. Unfortunately, most of the people there were there to see Death Cab, so people weren’t into her as much. The two guys in front of us were however, and one had some interesting dance moves. During the show, everyone was seated, and it was holding this guy back. If you want to try out these moves, bounce up and down in your chair and alternate punching your fists in the air. Congratulations, you’re now dancing like a white hipster. My only problem with her performance is that it was way too short. Her set lasted at most 45 minutes. I guess that’s expected since she was the opening act.

I had a great time at the concert and am definitely not waiting for another 3 years before going to my next one.

Recently I’ve been wondering what’s the best way to find and get new music. Back in December, I bought a Creative Zen MicroPhoto so I could try out some the of subscription music services such as Rhapsody, Napster, and Yahoo!. I really enjoyed this approach at first, because I had a near infintie supply of music at my fingertips. Every Tuesday, I could listen to the latest albums with no commitment to buy them, ignoring the monthly subscription fees. I liked Rhapsody the best, and now am fairly impressed with the new Urge service. My main problem with these services is that I never own the music. It’s a great way to try new music and avoid purchasing CDs that suck, but at the same time I find it dissapointing that if I stop paying the montly fees, a large chunk of my music library will vanish. The problem is that I dropped my Zen, and now the hard drive is fucked. I’m back to using my iPod Mini, which is still a great player once I was able to replace the battery.

I’ve also been using eMusic, which is another montly service, but you download high quality MP3s without any copy protection. The only option is to download individual tracks, but an entire album will still end up being less than $4. The downside is major artists down participate, so you’re stuck with mostly smaller labels. I love these smaller bands, but at the same time I wish I could easily download Pearl Jam’s new album. For anyone that hasn’t tried eMusic, you should at least give it a try. You get 50 free downloads that you can keep as a trial. Here’s a list of albums that I highly recommend from eMusic.

• Bloc Party, Silent Alarm
• Arcade Fire, Funeral
• The National, Alligator
• Tapes ‘n Tapes, The Loon
• Better than Ezra, Before the Robots
• The New Pornographers, Twin Cinema
• Art Brut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll
• The Streets, A Grand Don’t Come for Free
• Interpol, Antics
• Sufjan Stevens, Come on and Feel the Illinoise!

There are more I could list, including all the White Stripes albums, but I think that list is long enough. The other music service I’ve been trying out is very new, and I’m not sure how hard it is to sign up for.

It’s call La La, and is a CD trading website. The idea is that you list all of your CD’s online, then make a list of all the CD’s that you want. If another member wants a CD that you own, you have the option of sending it to him. Once you ship a CD, you get a CD off of your want list. The total cost of the trade is $1.50, and La La supplies the shipping envelopes for you. It’s a neat service, and a great way to get rid of CD’s you no longer own and try some that you want. I have 9 invites left, so if you’re interested send me an email.

I'm going to Austin on June 16th to visit Brooke, and we're planning on seeing The Streets with Lady Sovereign that night at La Zona Rosa. Both are British rappers that are a part of the grime/garage scene across the pond. Tickets are $23 after fees. I'm really looking forward to the show. I've only been to two concerts in my entire life, which I know is pathetic. I didn't go to my first concert until I was a senior in high school when I saw Tripping Daisy at Rick's on Fry Street. It was another 4 years before I saw Bob Schneider at another Denton bar. Since moving out to California, my musical tastes have expanded, and I'm always looking for something new to listen to in the cleanroom or lab. Unfortunately, not too many bands come through here, especially the smaller ones.

I want to see a concert for this Austin trip, but there isn't much of a selection. It is either The Streets on Friday or Echo and the Bunnymen on Saturday. I think Echo and the Bunnymen could be a great show, but I didn't listen to many of their songs back in the day, and while I like post-punk, I'm not sure if I'd fully appreciate the show. I downloaded The Streets album, A Grand Don't Come for Free, from eMusic after I saw Pitchfork gave them a 9 point something. I didn't like him at first because I couldn't get over the accent. It just sounded cheesey. But, after a few listens, I really started to like it.

I think The Streets are definitely worth a listen if you're looking for something different. Some of my favorite tracks are "Fit But You Know It," "Blinded by the Lights," and "War of the Sexes." The songs certainly aren't about complicated subject matter. "Fit But You Know It" is about him checking out a girl at a bar who's hot and knows it (sort of obvious from the title). It opens with "See I reckon you're either an 8 or a 9 / maybe even a 9 and a half in 4 beers time," and goes on from there. If you're interested in going, let me know so we can meet up during the show, or party on Sixth afterward. Here are some links for The Streets.

Official website: http://www.the-streets.co.uk/

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thestreets

The Venue: http://www.lazonarosa.com/

Tickets: http://www.gettix.net//events/?EventID=1256&SubEvents=0

Lady Sovereign @ MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ladysovereign

As I said in a previous post, my Zen MicroPhoto is dead.  My Mini is working well now that I replaced the battery, so here's the first 5 songs I heard on my bike ride into the office today. 

Gnarls Barkley, "Gone Daddy Gone"

Kanye West feat. Talib Kweli and Common, "Get Em High"

Scissor Sisters, "Comfortably Numb "

The Postal Service, "Sleeping In"

Destroyer, "Rubies"

 I've started using the new Windows Media Player, and it's actually pretty good.  It's a lot cleaner and nicer to look at than the previous one.  I started a free trial of the URGE music service, and I like that a lot, too.  I tried using Napster, Rhapsody, and Yahoo when I first got my Zen, and my first impressions of URGE would put it above those three.  I'm going to keep playing around with it, but I plan at some point writing up my experiences with all of them in case any one that reads this is thinking of trying out a subscription music service.