Dziennik

Before I begin, I would like to apologise to Rob (aka g0rd0nb0mbay) for shamelessly ripping this idea for a journal from him:

Summary:

37, 613 Plays
832 Artists
53 Posts
138 Shouts
45 Friends
22 Groups

Top 8:

Incubus - 2256 Plays
Motion City Soundtrack - 1731 Plays
Nobuo Uematsu - 1329 Plays
NOFX - 919 Plays
Bad Religion - 871 Plays
blink-182 - 732 Plays
Hundred Reasons - 594 Plays
City and Colour - 580 Plays


Predictions For The Upcoming Year:

UP!
Four Year Strong (Currently 27th)
Ben Kenney (Currently 82nd)
I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business (Currently 87th)
Refused (Currently 148th)

DOWN!
NOFX (Currently 4th)
AFI (Currently 27th)
MxPx (Currently 35th)
HIM (Currently 37th)


Currently listening to:
salamander

Best of 2008.

Best album of '08:
Pretty. Odd. by Panic at the Disco
I find it funny that just around this time last year I never would have fathomed ever listening to a PatD album let alone calling it the best album of the year. I thought they were pretentious and quite annoying. But Pretty.Odd. changed my mind. It's melodic. It's catchy. It's not trying to be anything that it's not. Brendon and Ryan's vocals are perfect together. And the lyrics are provoking. I've probably listened to this album more times this year than anything else; I never get tired of it. I just hope that the band's next album is just as good. If they pull a The Academy Is... on me, I'll be super pissed.

Best Track of '08:
Lost! by Coldplay
What would a 2008 list be but incomplete if I didn't include Coldplay? I just love this song. I always find myself singing along to it. Almost all the tracks on the album are amazing, but this one struck a chord with me the first time I heard it.

…

Ever since getting my new iPod 80 gig classic, I've been into checking out new music, or just music that I never listened to much before. I just feel obligated to fill up the iPod since it has so much room on it.

Anyway, my favorite new bands from this little project of mine are The Acorn and The National. They both have completely different sounds, but that's why I love them.

The Acorn is this fairly unknown band that has a folk indie feel (is that even a style of music?) Flood Pt. 1 is by far the best song I've heard. It reminds me of nature and Indian tribes (don't ask) and it's just amazing. I hope these guys get more recognition because they deserve it.

The National is a bit more well-known (they have like 7 million plays I think). Their newest album Boxer is slow but not slow enough to put you to sleep. My fave tracks are Apartment Story and Racing Like a Pro. I enjoy their older albums too, but have yet managed to really get into them. I need to though, 'cause I'm positive that they are also great.
…

What was your first gig?
The Coral in about 2002

What was the last concert you attended?
Reel Big Fish 3 days ago!

Who was the best band to see live?
Incubus or InMe it's a tough call

Have you ever gotten something from the band?
Yeh! Lost Prophets two bottles of water.. and InMe guitar pic.

What genre is the best to see live?
Ska, defo.. Moshing, Dancing everything!

Who was the worst band to see live?
Zuprowski, wrong genre for the band they were supporting.

Have you met any band or band members in any concert experience?
- All of The Coral several times. They live locally :D
- Lead singer of City Sleeps

How long was the longest concert you’ve attended?
lostprophets

How short was the shortest concert you’ve attended?
Not sure.

What is the worst thing to buy at a concert?
Bottled Water... just get TAP!

What is the best thing to buy at a concert?
Official Merchandise

Have you ever worn a band shirt to the same band your seeing live?
…

Since I still need to scribe some write-ups for some of the albums on my best of ‘07 list, I figured I’d post this.

Question marks (?) indicate artists that have stated they’re writing new material, but an ‘08 release is not definite; although, at an educated guess- I’d say an ‘08 release is likely.

Bold font are albums I’m looking forward to. Bold font plus red are albums I’m really looking forward to.

If there’s any mistakes please let me know. Feel free to post releases I’ve missed, also.

¡Forward, Russia! ~ Life Processes
(+44) ~ tba
(Damn) This Desert Air ~ TBA
10 Years ~ Divisions
1997 ~ tba
3 Doors Down ~ tba
311 ~ tba
36 Crazyfists ~ tba
50 Cent ~ Before I Self Destruct
7th Son ~ tba
Æthenor ~ Faking Gold and Murder
ABC ~ Traffic
A Breach On Heaven ~ Through the Mirror (leaked)
A Different Breed of Killer ~ tba
A Hill To Die Upon ~ tba
A Loss For Words ~ tba
a shoreline dream ~ tba
A Silver Mt. Zion ~ 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons (leaked)
A Skylit Drive ~ tba?
…

Distance and Comfort is the third solo CD from Ben Kenney. He continues to change the way most people credit indie music to be by drawing from funk, punk and reviving the classic guitar solo. The way he blends genres and doesn’t confine himself to the normal Tuesday release shows a subtle disregard for the “rules” of the music industry. 
A personal favorite is the soulful "Get It To Go." The groove that rides through the whole song along with the lyrics make you wish the song was just a little bit longer and the story had more time to unfold.
Kenney continues his trait of including instrumental tracks with “When We Are Both Cats,” however, the best one of the bunch isn't technically "instrumental." "Some Days are Better than Others" has an ambient melody of overlapping guitars that instantly calms the soul. The subtle lyrics are deemphasized with reverb and never truly come to the foreground. "Some Days are Better than Others" makes you feel like…

Stone Temple Pilots - Grunge at it's best. Solid music and a lot of sweet acoustic tracks as well

Tool - Still on my list of bands to see live..cause I don't feel as if the CDs fully do what they intend

Dovetail Joint - 1990's baby..BRU classics. Awesome music, simply rock

Soulive - funk jam band...pure sex

Incubus - more of a fan of the older funkier stuff but the new stuff is pretty good rock.

311 - I've mentioned them enough...but they'll appear on my top very often

Metallica - used to be the shit...now it's just classic rock, I can get too much of them

Ben Kenney - current bassist for Incubus and former guitars for The Roots; his solo stuff is awesome. He plays all the instruments, his projects with his brother and other is also solid. Good musician all around

Divinci - Beats for Sol.iLLaquists Of Sound and a friggin sweet live show...his beats are nasty good

Led Zeppelin - I need not say more about rock's top

These are the best albums of 2006 as heard through the ears of a 24 year old rock enthusiast. I tend to gravitate towards music that is vivid, dynamic, and pushes the limits of musical genres. As a consequence, it also makes it difficult to describe with words. For that reason, I recommend checking out a sample or two from the provided links. Without further ado, here are the top 40 albums of 2006:

The Top 40

40.
The Black Angels - Passover
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m55/themediumofmusic/Passover.jpg
B
The first full-length release by this Texas group sounds much like a 60's era psychedelic rock revival. Unlike some other recent retro groups (The Darkness and Wolfmother come to mind), The Black Angels are able to conjure the past without sounding insincere. The album connects America's current political struggles to those faced in Vietnam, which casts something of a shadow on the mood of the album. Still, the incessant drumming and droning guitars push the album…