Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Top Ten Records, 2005
My Top Ten Records For The 2005 Calendar Year
(these aren't really ordered in any way, though I think since we're talking about ordering both Ryan Adams CDs would be at the top, so I'll start with them....)
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Cold Roses : This album is CRAZY and I am more and more astounded every time I put it on. I could go on forever, so I'll leave it at that.
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Jacksonville City Nights : an old-skool '70s country record, that blows the doors off everything else I heard in the alt-country space this year (Which I will admit was markedly less than it could have been, given I spent so much time listening to Ryan's new stuff...)
Matt Mays & ET, Matt Mays + El Torpedo : This guy is going to be humongous. In 15 years we'll all be bragging to people about how we saw him play smaller shows the same way people talk about early 'Hip shows right now.
Kathleen Edwards, Back To Me : This woman rocks and I can't get enough of her. And I disagree with Andrew - I think it IS as good as her first. I think both records are sort of 'one'. I think her poetry has really grown up. Exhibit A:
"You say you like me in your memory
You've got to be fucking kidding me"
Exhibit B (Ballsiest lyric I've heard from a female in AGES):
"I've got ways to make you run
And my daddy is coming for you"
I could go on....
Willie Nelson, Countryman : What some people have called the "reggae" album (which is balogney). I think this is some of the smartest stuff in music this year. It's totally country (again, old-skool outlaw shizzat) but with a definite mix of his more contemporary and diverse influences, including the psychedelics. Two tracks that stand out are "One In A Row" and "I'll Still Be Thinking Of You"
C'mon, In The Heat Of The Moment : no self respecting rock'n'roll fan could deny the pleasure, the power, intensity, and filth dripping from every analog note of this record. The friggin' song title read like a rock lyric on their own: This is yr captain, come taste the rock, call my name, desperate hearts, my witness, kingdom of soon, gonna get some, I don't wanna, cut me down, I got a fever, burn all night, bad angel, it's done.
Daft Punk, Human After All : I know not everyone will be into this record... Despite the criticism they've taken for this release (and I've taken it right along with them) - mostly in the form of zero press coverage and zero promotion - this record will be a stronghold of the modernization of dance music. These dudes are the best in the business, and for anyone who can get anything out of dance music at all, this record deserves to be in your collection.
Esthero, Wikked Lil' Grrrls : 17 tracks of erotic, semi-political, intelligent R&B/Dance music that will hopefully at least make her enough money to make another record. I know not everyone will be able to give E much love either, but I think she's the best around.
The Cardigans, Super Extra Gravity : I know that I probably like this record more for its connection to their previous release (Long Gone Before Daylight) than for its own musicality, but I don't care. This was a great follow-up to LGBD, and though it doesn't blow me away the way that record did, I think it will be hard for any record to beat me up the way that one did. In its own right, this is a release to be reckoned with.
Broken Social Scene, Broken Social Scene : the last track (It's All Gonna Break') is enough to propel this one to this list for me, but the rest of the record is super solid too. I miss some of the more 'ambient' stuff they did on 'You Forgot It In People' like "Pacific Theme", etc, but I LOVE the collaboration on this record (I think it's a characteristic that's very 'central Canada' - it's also what I love about the BV3000 stuff)
The new Ryan Adams CD (released YESTERDAY) might contend now that it's out, but I pretty much had my list formed, so let's just call it brilliant and make like it's assumed that anything Ryan releases would go into my top ten lists.
I wish I had more than ten spots so I could include these records:
I wish these records had qualified as 2005 releases:
I was somewhat disappointed by:
In response to a colleague who wrote:
I say:
Another comment in regards to my dissapointment with "The Revolution Starts Now":
(these aren't really ordered in any way, though I think since we're talking about ordering both Ryan Adams CDs would be at the top, so I'll start with them....)
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Cold Roses : This album is CRAZY and I am more and more astounded every time I put it on. I could go on forever, so I'll leave it at that.
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Jacksonville City Nights : an old-skool '70s country record, that blows the doors off everything else I heard in the alt-country space this year (Which I will admit was markedly less than it could have been, given I spent so much time listening to Ryan's new stuff...)
Matt Mays & ET, Matt Mays + El Torpedo : This guy is going to be humongous. In 15 years we'll all be bragging to people about how we saw him play smaller shows the same way people talk about early 'Hip shows right now.
Kathleen Edwards, Back To Me : This woman rocks and I can't get enough of her. And I disagree with Andrew - I think it IS as good as her first. I think both records are sort of 'one'. I think her poetry has really grown up. Exhibit A:
"You say you like me in your memory
You've got to be fucking kidding me"
Exhibit B (Ballsiest lyric I've heard from a female in AGES):
"I've got ways to make you run
And my daddy is coming for you"
I could go on....
Willie Nelson, Countryman : What some people have called the "reggae" album (which is balogney). I think this is some of the smartest stuff in music this year. It's totally country (again, old-skool outlaw shizzat) but with a definite mix of his more contemporary and diverse influences, including the psychedelics. Two tracks that stand out are "One In A Row" and "I'll Still Be Thinking Of You"
C'mon, In The Heat Of The Moment : no self respecting rock'n'roll fan could deny the pleasure, the power, intensity, and filth dripping from every analog note of this record. The friggin' song title read like a rock lyric on their own: This is yr captain, come taste the rock, call my name, desperate hearts, my witness, kingdom of soon, gonna get some, I don't wanna, cut me down, I got a fever, burn all night, bad angel, it's done.
Daft Punk, Human After All : I know not everyone will be into this record... Despite the criticism they've taken for this release (and I've taken it right along with them) - mostly in the form of zero press coverage and zero promotion - this record will be a stronghold of the modernization of dance music. These dudes are the best in the business, and for anyone who can get anything out of dance music at all, this record deserves to be in your collection.
Esthero, Wikked Lil' Grrrls : 17 tracks of erotic, semi-political, intelligent R&B/Dance music that will hopefully at least make her enough money to make another record. I know not everyone will be able to give E much love either, but I think she's the best around.
The Cardigans, Super Extra Gravity : I know that I probably like this record more for its connection to their previous release (Long Gone Before Daylight) than for its own musicality, but I don't care. This was a great follow-up to LGBD, and though it doesn't blow me away the way that record did, I think it will be hard for any record to beat me up the way that one did. In its own right, this is a release to be reckoned with.
Broken Social Scene, Broken Social Scene : the last track (It's All Gonna Break') is enough to propel this one to this list for me, but the rest of the record is super solid too. I miss some of the more 'ambient' stuff they did on 'You Forgot It In People' like "Pacific Theme", etc, but I LOVE the collaboration on this record (I think it's a characteristic that's very 'central Canada' - it's also what I love about the BV3000 stuff)
The new Ryan Adams CD (released YESTERDAY) might contend now that it's out, but I pretty much had my list formed, so let's just call it brilliant and make like it's assumed that anything Ryan releases would go into my top ten lists.
I wish I had more than ten spots so I could include these records:
- Joel Plaskett, La De Da (it's great, but other great alt-country releases took the shine off)
- Dale Murray, Brighter Lives, Darker Side
- Wintersleep, Wintersleep II
- Beck, Guero
- Stars, Set Yourself On Fire
- Sheryl Crow, Wildflower
- Mark Bragg, Bear Music
- Queens Of The Stone Age, Lullabies To Paralyse
- The New Pornographers, Twin Cinema
- Harvey Danger, Little By Little
- Oasis, Don't Believe The Truth
I wish these records had qualified as 2005 releases:
- Tegan and Sara, So Jealous
- Sarah Harmer, All Of Our Names
I was somewhat disappointed by:
- Paul McCartney, Chaos And Creation In The Backyard
- Steve Earle, The Revolution Starts Now (was this a 2004 release?)
- Neil Young, Prairie Wind
In response to a colleague who wrote:
still cannot get into that BSS cd........ i tried and tried.
I say:
It's alright that you're not into the BSS disc. I can't wrap my head around the Arcade Fire stuff, so maybe we have some kind of genetic difference that precipitates in mutually exclusive personal taste?
When I mentioned the "zero press/promotion" for the daft punk cd I was forgetting about the huge iTunes ad that used "Technologic" - but that was it anyway, so though they were used to peddle the biggest thing in money-spending this year, I still think they got pants'ed by the powers that be.
Another comment in regards to my dissapointment with "The Revolution Starts Now":
Agreed on Revolution Starts Now (even though I'm pretty sure that was a 2004 release). In his defense it was thrown together to try and make a difference in the election.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Mental
I've resisted the urge to post about this blog's longest running joke Sim Wong Hoo many times over the last couple of months. I was sort of hoping that people in the world would forget about who (Hoo?) Creative even is/was - and then the world could continue on quietly without them. No big deal.
But the friggin' sod keeps coming back with more and more crappier crap, and I just have to publicly flog him for it.
Go check out the newest thing from Creative: the Zen Vision:M (with video)
Great name eh?
Anyways. If this thing isn't a flagrant ripoff of the iPod's now famous interface, I don't think there could possibly be one. They DID use a slightly different font, though maybe Morgan can tell us if it's in the same 'family' as the Myriad fonts used in the newest iPods.
And their player DOES have more features (FM radio, built-in microphone).
Oh, and they DID use a different radius on their corners.
WTF do the two bottom symbols mean? (I think that's my first public 1337!)
Friday, December 02, 2005
Flog The Naughty Journalist
An email I sent this morning to the Associated Press :
The article titled "PRODUCT REVIEW: Latest iMac tiptoes into Media Center domain" by Mr. Matthey Fordahlap, as seen at this web address this morning (http://news.tmcnet.com/news/2005/dec/1216496.htm)
has a few glaring mistakes that I think you should be aware of.
Mr. Fordahlap writes :
"Apple's way of dealing with the TV problem was to simply ignore it. Front Row doesn't display live TV and, more significantly, it can't output anything -- videos or pictures -- to an external display such as a big-screen plasma."
Mr. Fordahlap's lack of research is exposed, as a product reviewer should have known that the iMac does in fact output video, which can be viewed on a television screen. Apple's own product webpage states this clearly : (http://www.apple.com/imac/graphics.html)
"Mirror, Mirror - Mini-VGA
Treat your friends to a slideshow of your latest vacation photos right on TV. All iMacs offer a mini-VGA port so you can use the Composite/S-Video adapter to mirror your iMac display on television. You can also mirror your creative output to an external projector via the Apple VGA Display Adapter (adapters sold separately)."
Later on in the article he makes the following incorrect statement:
"The entire program is actually just a shell that makes it easier to control the Mac's underlying programs from a distance with the remote. Each option opens up an underlying library from iTunes (music and video downloads), iPhoto (pictures) or iMovie (home movies)."
The error is small, but significant. The video option in Front Row's interface is in fact not a link to "an underlying library from ... iMovie (home movies)", as iMovie has no such library. Both iTunes and iPhoto are 'database' or 'outline' applications, which keep a database that allow the user to catalog their content, while iMovie has no such ability. The only purpose for iMovie is for the creation (post production) of video content. The Front Row 'Videos' option does use the iMovie icon, but essentially it just provides a '10-foot interface' to the movies in the user's 'Movies' directory, in their home directory (which, incidentally, also uses the same icon).
As well, nearer the end of the article, Mr. Fordahlap makes the statement:
"Of course, the all-in-one design and lack of a video output seriously limits the expandability -- and means you'll be stuck with a dorm- or studio apartment-friendly display even if Apple someday introduces TV capabilities in Front Row."
This may be a matter of perspective, but I think you would be hard pressed to find a computer accessory or addition that did not come in either a USB or FireWire version, or both. Most people would agree that with 2 FireWire ports and 3 USB 2.0 ports, the iMac could hardly be considered to have 'limited expandability', despite it's all-in-one design.
Apple lists the following connectivity options on it's iMac webpage: (http://www.apple.com/imac/)
"# Banish clutter with built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking
# Go cable-free with Bluetooth for a wireless keyboard and mouse
# Capture video from DV camcorders or add external hard drives via two FireWire 400 ports
# Connect printers and peripherals with three USB 2.0 ports
# Mirror video to your TV, display or projector with mini-VGA"
I hope that steps will be taken to remedy this situation. There can be no excuse to justify such alarming misrepresentation. Especially when considering that Mr. Fordahlap states in his article that he actually tested the 20-inch version of the product, which implies to me that he would have, at least for some time, had the product in his possesion.
Thank you for your time.
-Joel Dunham
