Photo by Daniel Patlán

Clear eyes, full hearts, let’s go!

I attended my second concert of the year last weekend and it was pretty good. Before they announced their date here, I had never heard anything by this band. As soon as I heard they were coming, I found the perfect excuse to go visit this city and I started listening. I was impressed, it wasn’t an immediate thing, but I liked it. A couple weeks later I decided and bought my ticket. 

I left Friday evening and had a pretty good trip while reading a book about non-conformity and shit like that. It’s interesting, really. It was all going well until I arrived Friday night and went out. I’m not gonna talk about it, but let’s just say sometimes I hate that city. Or rather, the people that live in it. Anyway, Saturday started with a pretty hungover me and I had to work hard at recovering fluids for that night. Night came by and I arrived at the place around 8 PM. It wasn’t very crowded, I stood in line and waited, alone, while looking at the hipsters talk about whatever hipsters talk about. Clothes, I guess? I wouldn’t know, my city has few hipsters and they all hide in their… hipster places. I don’t know. See, hipsters in my city are like a myth, nobody really knows if they’re there. They are like unicorns. Maybe they don’t even exist.

About 30 minutes later we all went in and I went close to the stage to wait because I was alone and I was too hungover to go get drinks or meet people/hipsters. A few minutes of awkward glances at the other attendees went by and then I was approached by this one guy. I thought he was gonna rob me so I looked up at him and then I recognised his face as he walked towards me. He was some dude I had met at a Spoon concert a few months ago. I honestly never expected to see that guy again in my life. We talked about an hour about concerts and new music and Radiohead and shit and then The Radio Dept. came out.

I can recognize most of their songs, but not by name, so I can’t really tell you exactly what they played, but they played for about an hour and a half and it went by FAST. It was good. Great, in fact. I honestly wasn’t expecting them to sound so natural, given their genre and stuff. Their drum machine didn’t get in the way of their performances, and even though a good part of the concert felt very “recorded”, they managed to pull off an amazing feeling. I was expecting “Where Damage Isn’t Already Done” and “Your Father”, but complaining about setlists is bullshit. I wanna say the audience wasn’t really cheery, but it was really me who was in a shitty mood and hungover.

The sound wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t annoying either. At first I was like “what’s up with the vocals?” but then I got over it and thoroughly enjoyed the concert. I mean, had I been in a better mood I would have enjoyed it a lot more, but it was still a great concert and I’ll surely remember it at the end of the year.

Also, I met the band the day after the concert at a bazar. It was awkward, as it always is when you meet artists, but they seemed like nice guys. I went over to say hi to them and I decided to not be to them, like I was with the Spoon guys. I wanted to tell them about how I really expected them to play “Where Damage…”, but you know, what’s the point?

About one or two years ago I really got into this electronic/rock band, which is also incorrectly labeled dance-punk (there isn’t much punk in their music, in my opinion).  I’d heard of them before, and I was even familiar with some of their songs like “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House”, but I never had a reason to listen to them. It was one of those bands that you keep hearing about but don’t really care enough to listen to. Until I finally “got” it. They are called LCD Soundsystem.

If I remember correctly, the first time they caught my attention was when I was presented a weird, and kind of boring video of a bearded chubby dude singing something about music elitism and general hipstertude; it was “Losing my Edge”. I liked the song a lot and something about the video got me hooked, so I got their first album, LCD Soundsystem. It sat on my library for a long, long time, until I was traveling around the United States and one afternoon I ran out of music to listen to and somehow ended up listening to it. That was the first time that it really “clicked” with me. Up until then I didn’t know why I was listening to that music, it wasn’t really my style. But then I understood it. I actually remember the moment where I was walking around and thought “Wow, this is a band I can get into”. It was during “Beat Connection”, and I was walking under the bright fluorescent lights of a department store.

I never really got into that album. I liked some of the songs from the first disc like “Tribulations” and “Movement”, but for the most part I thought that disc was average. The second one was better with “Losing my Edge”, and the two versions of “Yeah”, but it still wasn’t mindblowing. At least not in comparison to Sound of Silver. Maybe it’s the fact that Sound of Silver is more condensed and focused, but that album is just really, really damn good. I have some very good memories of driving around with that album. It was right around the time when I was into The Hold Steady. Those two bands were pretty much the only music playing in my car for couple of months. Especially Sound of Silver and Boys and Girls in America.

Then their third and allegedly last album came out, This is Happening. I had mixed feelings about it. Subjectively, I loved it. It was danceable and smart, just like everything they’d done before. But there were also some songs that were stupid or boring or too long. I didn’t get “Pow Pow” until I heard it live in their London Sessions recording. I still think “Somebody’s Calling Me” should have been shoved off of the album, and instead they should’ve put something like “Yr City’s a Sucker” in. “Drunk Girls” never really bothered me, but a lot of people hated it. I thought the video was really funny. Then there are also some songs that are among the best that LCD has done. Personally, I think the opener and the closer are the best parts of the album. “Dance Yrself Clean” makes you wait and turn up the volume, but when it explodes into a multitude of noisy synths and drums, it makes it all worth it. “Home” is catchy, honest and I just fucking love it. “You Wanted A Hit”, I believe, is a response to “Drunk Girls”, and it says a lot of things about labels and shit like that. “All I Want” is comparable to the role “All My Friends” plays in Sound of Silver. It’s sort of the feel-good anthem of the album, but it falls short in comparison to the allmighty “All My Friends” (more on that later). “I Can Change” is great and very danceable and fun, but sometimes it bores me. I like this album a lot, it flows very well, but is also feels long at times. Is it LCD’s best? Maybe. I guess objectively it is, and it’s also a great last album for them. The perfect closer.

Oh, “All My Friends”. It is one of my favorite songs by LCD. It just says so much without saying much. The thing about LCD’s music, and especially, their lyrics, is that they make “dance” music sound smart and relevant instead of just saying stupid shit that they came up with 5 minutes before they recorded (although, not always). They may not have the most eloquent writing ever, but at least they try to talk about real stuff. “All My Friends” is an example of this. I can’t really tell you what it’s about, but it just brings this sense of nostalgia and sadness with lines like “If I could see all my friends tonight” and “I wouldn’t trade one stupid decision for another 5 years of life”. I don’t know why, but that song always gets me. There’s something about that piano that slowly turns into a celebration of joy and memories and rainbows. It’s one of those songs that sounds monumental even though it has just a few instruments mixed in.  One of my favorite songs, ever.

Last December I got a chance to catch them live. It was very, very hard for me to get there, but I did it. I sort of knew it was going to be my only chance to catch them live, and they are one of those bands that you have to see live. The concert was at 8 on a city that is 3 hours away from my city and I had a final exam that was ending at 6. I wasn’t going to make it, especially with traffic. I tried rescheduling the final for about 2 months but everyone told me it couldn’t be done. I had to literally force someone so that I could take the exam earlier that day and it was all very shady. I don’t know why they made a big deal about it, I just wanted to take it a few hours before. I finally left my city, alone, at about 3 PM. All my friends (ha!) are poor and/or ignorant, especially when it comes to indie/hipster culture. Throughout the ride I listened to a selection of LCD songs, as well as the self-titled album from The Drums, I remember it clearly. I got to the city pretty late and I had to take public transportation from one part of the city to the other side. The bus took about 2 hours to get me close to the venue and I still had to walk for about 20 more minutes before getting there. On the bright side, I saved about $20 that I would have payed for a cab. I got to the venue around 8:30, but when I entered the place it seemed pretty empty.

Weird, I thought, and then went to get a beer. I met and talked with a dude with dreadlocks for a while and after I questioned his hygiene, I started wandering around waiting to see what was up. Soon after that, a hipster came out and started DJing for us. He was good, and he played for about 30 minutes. Apparently, he was a local. Shortly after him, LCD came out. I should probably mention that the place was already full by then, and I had a pretty good spot. I was already on my sixth beer, enough to get me dancing and yelling things to Mr. Murphy. They opened with “Dance Yrself Clean”, and probably heard my girly orgasmic screams until the explosion thing happened and everybody started dancing to the grooviest song ever. I have since declared that song the best opener I’ve heard in a concert. Other songs happened and everybody kept dancing awkwardly in their spots. “Get Innocuous!” got everybody loosed up and they just kept the hits coming. Then “All My Friends” happened and I got into that concert mood where you don’t really give a fuck about anything that isn’t happening on the stage. I was just staring at James and company while my body was being pushed around. That moment right there, is why I go to concerts.

But it still got better. After AMF, they brought out their most danceable songs in a combo and decided to turn the place into a big dance-off. The disco ball was rolling and “Tribulations” started. Crazy, crazy moves. But then “Movement” happened and everybody lost their shit. No more, I thought, but then “Yeah” happened and I got the feeling that my body was too tired to make it through that song. That part where they go into a jam was pure ecstasy. They elongated it, too. Then they played “Someone Great” after that triple combo and gave us a chance to rest. I like that song. It’s lovely. “Losing My Edge” followed and I  sang along with James through the whole god damned song. After all, it was the song that introduced me to LCD. I don’t remember when the encore happened, but I’m sure it was during the last 3 songs. Anyway, “Home” was the closer. Except it wasn’t. After “Home”, they started playing “New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down” and I thought, fuck me and fuck you LCD Soundsystem for being so awesome. But then, something of a miracle happened. It was like a holy vision or some shit like that. They stopped in that part where “New York…” stops, but instead of going into the really noisy loud part after the silence, they started playing “By This River” by Brian Eno. People were crying and shit and I thought, fuck me and fuck you LCD. I can die a happy man. “By This River” ended, and they went back to playing that noisy part of “New York…”. James said goodbye and left while the rest of the band finished the song and closed the night. It was a great concert and a crazy night. I won’t describe the rest of the night, but it involved a foreigner, a cab driver and his “hoes”, DUI, and me sleeping on a bus at 3 AM on winter. It was worth it.

As you may have already heard, last weekend LCD Soundsystem announced their last concert would happen in April at MSG, scalpers included and everything. As I predicted, I wasn’t going to see them live again. I’m just very glad I got to see them and I’m also happy that they are ending on a bright note, unlike most bands. They delivered 3 great albums, they put on amazing shows, and now it’s time to go. They pretty much molded their own genre and gave rise to a lot of current bands. They were a big part of the sound of the last decade.  And they were part of a chapter in my life that I will be remembered of through their music. Farewell, LCD Soundsystem. It’s been nice. I’m excited to hear what you’ll all do next.

So, where are your friends tonight?

About a week ago, a copy of the new, and allegedly last Bright Eyes album got leaked. Don’t judge me, I’ll buy it when it comes out. A few days later, on what I guess was a defensive move by their label “Saddle Creek”, the album went streaming for free on NPR.

I’ve been pursuing this album for a while. There were rumours about it coming out and being their last album, but we didn’t really get a confirmation until “Shell Games” was released in December, I think? About a month ago I contacted this friend on Last.fm who had some songs from the album on his library, but he never answered back. Last weekend I was in Guadalajara in a Whitest Boy Alive concert and I came back to my house around 3 AM. I had a shower and then I decided to take a quick look at my email before I went to bed. I saw an email from said guy and got excited, it was a link to the leaked album and it came with instructions not to share it too much. The link was down, but after doing a quick Mediafire search on Google I found a few other copies.

I loaded the album to my iPod and made it through the first couple songs before I fell asleep (I was really tired). The first song had elements I’d never heard in a Bright Eyes song and I liked it a lot; I was excited to hear the rest of the album, but also too tired to stay awake. There was a time when I really liked Conor’s writing and felt very close to it, but lately I felt like he had gotten stuck. There’s something about the eloquency of his writing that I find very honest and easy to relate to.

The next day all I listened to was this album, and that has pretty much remained the same these days, along with the few albums of The Radio Dept., who I’ll be seeing live in a couple weeks. I still dont’t know what to think about it. NPR called it the best album Oberst has done, and that could be true, but I personally feel that there’s something missing from this album. It feels distanced, not really as honest as his previous work with this band, or any band, actually. Put simply, the structure of the album, the production, the music; everything is great, but the lyrics — which are always my favorite part of Bright Eyes, along with the intensity and contrast of them with the music– seem to be lackluster and shallow in comparison to his older stuff.

That has been my complaint about pretty much everything Conor has done after his I’m Wide Awake/Digital Ash days. Cassadaga may have been a good album if another band had done it, but I expected heartfelt lyrics and themes from Mr. Oberst. His solo album and his Mystic Valley Band project were a lot of fun, but then again, “fun” is not what Conor does best. His contributions to the Monsters of Folk seemed to pick up on his eloquence, but the themes seemed distant to him, not really personal (notice how he started writing in second person, “Map of the World”).

Now we get this record, where I guess he tries to combine his maturity with his old writing style. And that’s fine. It’s not that I want Conor to be depressed, and dosed in alcohol, drugs and sadness in order for him to write good, honest songs. He has grown up, and as such, his interest has changed as he has matured. He isn’t a teenager anymore, I get that. But that does ‘t mean he needs to stop writing about real adult themes like The National and Arcade Fire do.

Let’s get off-topic a bit. See, the way I think of it, there are two kinds of songwriters. The ones who focus most of their efforts on the music and just come up with lyrics that suit the music and have a nice rhythm. Think of how sometimes LCD Soundsystem’s lyrics feel stupid, like “your city is a sucker, my city is a creep”. Sounds good and fits in the music, but it doesn’t mean anything. Then there’s the second type, the ones who rely heavily on the lyrics to make the most emotional impact. A good example of this is I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning by Bright Eyes. The lyrics in that album are what stands up the most when you hear it, it’s made that way.

That said, I like the direction Conor took with this album. He feels honest again. Well, sometimes. A lot of people have compared this album to his semi-electronic album Digital Ash In A Digital Urn, but I don’t really feel that. For one, this album isn’t as “electronic”, in fact, it still had its own folky moments in places like “Ladder Song”. Also, it lacks the awesome drums that Digital Ash had and that were  one of my favorite parts about that album. Also, I recall Digital Ash being highly emotional and intense, and I remember it having this really tense moments ala Arcade Fire, like that one part in “I Believe in Sympathy” where he went all emotional on us near the end and the instrumentation got so loud and intense and needy of attention that it made it almost imposible to listen to, but yet so gratifying; or that part in “Hit the Switch” where he started singing about how he was such an alcoholic that he got this burn when he peed.

I have not, and I will not study the lyrics in this album. The lyrics are always the last part that “clicks” with me, and the music is always the first thing, so I always try to give an album a few listens before I pass judgement on it. I have not, however, felt anything from this lyrics in the nearly dozen times I’ve heard this album. When I used to hear older Bright Eyes’ albums, I heard parts from the songs and I thought, “well, that’s something I’ve felt before but never been able to put into words”. I haven’t had those moments with this album. I’m sure it still has some great lyrics and phrases in it, but they haven’t “jumped” to me. I feel like I’m repeating myself. Maybe because I really, really wanted this album to be like the older ones, when it really isn’t. But I guess it’s for the best. I wouldn’t want Conor to get into “formulaic” albums where he just keeps repeating himself even though he doesn’t feel anything he is writing about.

Like I said, it’s more mature. Conor isn’t venting how he is “sitting drunk on the piano bench” or how the “sound of loneliness makes him happier”. He is still, however, “angry with no reason to be”. It’s a good album, but it’s not as emotional as his earlier works. It’s just good, adult music.

What an awful conclusion, I know.

Concerts
The year already looks really great when it comes to concerts. I already attended my first concert of the year this weekend, and from now on I will only spend my money on trips and tickets to concerts. Just the way it should be.

The Whitest Boy Alive @ GDL, Teatro Estudio Cavaret, January 28th
Last friday the year started out in concerts for me with the WBA in Guadalajara. I wasn’t so excited to see them as I’m not a big fan but I went because a)I have money,  b)some friends were going, and c)because I heard that their live performances were great. It was fun, they definitely have some experience and the connection that they had with the audience was remarkable (this was their 4th time playing this city, I believe). The trip could have been better, but the concert was fun and it was a free ride, so, cool.

The Radio Dept. @ Mexico City, Lunario del Auditorio Nacional, February 19th
Ever since I temporarily lived in this city last summer, I’ve missed it dearly. Lately I’ve gotten this uncontrollable urge of visiting it, and this concert seems like the perfect reason. I’d heard of these guys in Last.fm’s recommendation radio, but I’d never really payed attention to them. When I heard about this concert I digged through their short discography and I was surprised about how much I liked them. I still need to take care of some stuff, and get payed, but as soon as I get my paycheck next week I’m getting my tickets.

Indie-o Fest 2011 (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Childs, The Concretes, Bear in Heaven, Zola Jesus) @ Mexico City, Polyforum Siqueiros, March 12th
Meh. Another excuse to get out of my boring city. I might or might not go. It depends on my economy.  I like some of these bands but not really that much. We’ll see.

Andrew Bird @ Mexico City, Teatro de la Ciudad de México, March 17th.
I would go to this concert if it wasn’t on a Thursday. It’s also very close in date to the Indie-o Fest, so I don’t know. A friend might go, and if he goes, I’ll go.

Spring Quesadilla Tour (Local Natives, OK Go, Yeasayer, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros) @ Mexico City, Infield del Hipódromo de las Américas, March 25th
Fucking expensive is what this concert is. I really want to see the Local Natives, and Yeasayer and Edward Sharpe would be nice, but damn this is expensive.

Two Door Cinema Club @ Mexico City, Lunario del Auditorio Nacional, April 2nd
I’m going. No excuses. April, Saturday, Two Door Cinema Club.

Vive Latino @ Mexico City, Foro Sol, April 8th
I really don’t want to go to this festival,  but The National is going and if The National goes I have to go. I’m gonna wait to see if they open a date of their own. I really hope they do. The Chemical Brothers and Jane’s Addiction are also going. Everything else is not really my taste, and the people that go to this event, argh.

Foals, @ Mexico City,  Vive Cuervo Salón, May 11th
First off, fuck you promoters for making events on weekdays.  Good thing I might be out of school by then. I hope I’m not on finals.

U2 @ Mexico City, Estadio Azteca, May 15th
I’m not very much into U2. I used to be, though. I wouldn’t pay full price for one of their concerts, because they are crazy expensive. I have a friend who bought 2 tickets of the most expensive ones and is willing to sell me the 2nd one for a moderate price. I’m going. I’ve heard many good things about their live performances.

Bonnaroo 2011 @ Manchester, Tennessee, Great Stage Park, June 9-11
This is the event I’m the most excited for. It’s gonna be crazy. Fucking awesome. More on this later.

Interpol @ GDL, Auditorio Telmex, July 1st
It’s Interpol. And there’s still a lot of time left.

Games
Oh, videogames. If you weren’t so expensive here I would buy more of you. Right now I’m looking forward to Little Big Planet 2, which already came out, and Killzone 3. I don’t really know what else is coming out short-term, so I’ll decide on everything else as time goes by. I do know I want to play Mass Effect 2, which just came out on the PS3, and I am really, really looking forward to the new Elder Scrolls (Skyrim) which is supposed to come out this year. Also, the yearly Call of Duty, Uncharted 3, and I heard something about LA Noire finally coming out? I still have to get through a lot of games right now. My latest obsession is the zombies in Call of Duty: Black Ops. So, we’ll see how my economy goes. I’m sure I’m missing some games, but whatever. Oh, Portal 2.

Californication
My favorite TV show took a break last year, but it’s back now with its 4th season and it’s looking great so far. Watch this shit, it’s great.

That’s it for this list. Albums are hard to look forward to since they don’t really ever get a release date until a few months before, but off the top of my head I could think of Bright Eyes’ new album (which I’m listening to right now) and the new MMJ album. I heard Kanye is coming up with something new, as well as Arcade Fire, but who knows. I’ve been into the new Iron & Wine, Cake and Decemberists albums. Of course, this list will grow as the year goes on.

Community
Community is a recent discovery of mine. I started hearing a lot of great things about it and I decided to give it a try. It’s a great show, it has clever humor combined with a great heart. Season 2 picked it up a lot, and started being a lot more funny and touching. I devoured all of the available episodes in about a week. I love it, can’t wait for it to come back. I might call this the best comedy right now.

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Back in September when I went to see Spoon I happened to catch an episode of this show with a friend and we both thought it was hilarious. When I came back, I started watching it and it truly is something else. It’s not a very smart kind of humor, but it gets the job done and they really pay a lot of attention to the details, which is great. The recent seasons haven’t been so good, but the new one is on par with the old ones.

Modern Family
I found it hard to get into this show, but once I did it became really enjoyable. It’s not great, but it’s something fun to watch and relax.

The Sopranos
My brother borrowed me the first seasons of this show and I finally got a chance to see it after all the hype I had heard. It’s good. In fact, it might be some of the best TV I’ve watched. HBO sure knows how to put on great shows. Throughout the whole series, I never felt like any season dropped off the quality or like it got boring. It was always a constant stream of great acting, brilliant writing and clever plots.

Mad Men
Another show that I heard a lot about before. I just started watching it and I have not fallen in love with it, but I can understand why people like it. Gonna have to spend more time with it, I guess.

Top Gear
This is a show that I watch occasionally. I’m not really into cars, but it’s always fun to catch an episode or two once in a while. The guys are always funny and the things they do are incredibly stupid.

The Office
I’ve watched this show since it began and I’ve always found it fun, but the recent seasons have felt like a drag. Just end it, please! It’s still fun to watch, but it’s not the same thing it used to.

Kenny vs. Spenny
A friend introduced me to this show about 2 years ago. I’ve been watching it when I get a chance, it’s a lot of fun. Kenny is an evil genius. Those canadians really are something else. I hear it ended a few days ago, but I haven’t watched the final episode yet.

Diggnation
Not really a TV Show, but I watch this religiously. Fun Fun Fun.

The Totally Rad Show
Another show from the Rev3 family, I have found myself watching these pretty much everyday since they switched to the daily format. I get a lot of recommendations through these guys.

Californication took a break this year, so that’s why it’s not included. Otherwise it’d just be number one, always. It is coming back in about a week, so, excitement!

Kindle
I got my Kindle around September and it has become one of my favorite devices. My reading has increased greatly since I got it, because it makes it easier for me to get new books. I just regret not getting the 3G one.

Appstorm
Another thing that happened in September is that I started working as a freelance writer in a little website called Mac.Appstorm (it’s actually not little). My favorite thing about being a writer is that I can call myself a writer and be a douche about it. See, I can be as much of a Hank Moody or a Tucker Max as I want now. It’s like a free pass, you are expected to do those things and behave a certain way while being a payed writer, not just a shitty writer on an unsuccessful personal blog  (like this one).

Seriously though, I love my job. I want to do it forever. I’m thinking of expanding to other blogs next year. It’s been great. And I think I got the job because of my early writings on this blog, which is awesome. Throughout my young life, I have had numerous jobs, and I haven’t enjoyed any of them, until now. This is a “job” that I am excited about and that I truly like and look forward to do. Please don’t fire me, ever.

By the way, I got the domain for this site with my first paycheck, just like it should be done. Now I’ve invested money into my mediocrity.

Bukowski
I started reading Bukowski this year and I almost got through all of his novels. There was a time this year when I was very, very much into him.  But then he got repetitive and a little boring. He has become one of my favorite writers and I truly enjoy his character, but it’s easy to get tired of him and his old man ramblings. Women is now a monumental book in my life. It’s hard to explain, but I felt like it was very honest and like it spoke to me. So did Ham On Rye, but I got a bit bored through it.

Evernote
I had used this service before, but I never found a real functional use for it. This year I found myself in need of it and I started using it again. Now it is the centerpiece of my life (exaggerate much?). It is now the home of my resolutions, lists of various stuff, reminders, quotes, websites, notes, recipes, and just about everything else.  Part of why I love it so much is because I get to use it from the web, my computer and my iPod. Best app ever.

GTD Apps
Because of my job, I get to review and test a lot of new and interesting apps. One of them was an app called Wunderlist, and it is a Getting-Things-Done app. I had heard about these type of apps but I had never used one of them, until I reviewed this one. And since then I have been using it – a lot. It’s amazing how many things I forget to do. This app is a great help for remembering stuff to do.

Arcade Fire Live
Because of where I live (I use this excuse a lot), I don’t get to see many concerts. So, my experience with concerts is not exactly wide, and whenever I see one it is a pretty big experience for me. Well, this one was extra special. I got to see the closing tour date of one of my, if not my favorite band, and it was truly an unforgettable experience. The setlist was great, they gave us “Laïka” as a gift, Regine cried during “In The Backseat”, they played “In The Backseat” and I screamed like a 12 year old girl throughout the whole concert. Great times. I got very, very sick after the concert (medication + beer + 3 AM october cold is never good for the body while you are already sick), but it was worth that and another dozen near-death diseases.

Mexico City
Throughout the summer, I spent some time living in Mexico City, partly working and partly not working. I had a lot of free time to get to know the city and use its public transportation services. I went for a run in some of its popular parks. I got robbed and I returned pretty much empty handed to my hometown. I got lost on a rich neighborhood while listening to Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs on repeat (that was back when it came out). I was driven by a cab driver who literally cried his problems to me while I pretty much ignored him (I didn’t know what to do). It was a different experience. I didn’t spend much time there, but I learned to love the city. When I went back there later in September to see Spoon, I met interesting people and I got lost again. I love that city now. The weather is great, there is plenty to do and there’s a certain ambience to it that I’ve gotten used to. I couldn’t live there, but I love visiting it.

Pavement
Pavement is one of those bands that you hear about over and over again but you never get around to checking out. I’m glad I got to check them out, because I never expected to like them so much. Great stuff.

The Four-Hour Body
This is a book by Tim Ferriss that came out a couple weeks ago. I’ve been a fan of him for a while now, and even though his advice isn’t directed at people like me, I have learned a lot about him. I religiously read his blog and watch his Random podcast with another personality that I admire, Kevin Rose. I’ve been waiting for the release of this book since he first announced it and when it came out I devoured it. It’s interesting. It debunks a lot of long-time beliefs about health and a healthy lifestyle (I am into that sort of things, I am the kind of person that enjoyed Fast Food Nation). It will definitely change a lot about me, like the things I eat and the way I work out, if anything just to see if his theories are right. This guy is a great personality and everyone should learn from him.

The Concerts
This year I got to see more concerts than I’ve ever seen any other year. They weren’t a lot, but they were plenty for me. I got to see Arctic Monkeys, Spoon, Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem. To Arctic Monkeys, I went with a bunch of friends and it was a great, fun experience. Awesome night of debauchery. To Spoon, I went to Mexico City with a friend and it was fun, but the kind of classy fun, not the kind of drunk-insult-puke fun. That concert was great, though, and I got to meet Britt Daniel and Rob Pope before the concert and exchange a few awkward words with them. Then, Arcade happened and I got sick because it was so awesome. Ans to end the year I went alone (sidenote: sad face) to LCD Soundsystem after a couple of friends let me down. It turned out to be a great night, I danced myself clean and I met some cool people. Next year: Bonnaroo?

Switching to Mac
Yep, I made the move and became a douche. It was long overdue, really. I’ve been an Apple fanboy for a while now and I was just waiting to get a Macbook. Then it got stolen and I got another one. My next objective is getting an iPad and one of those new Macbook Airs (those things are sexy!).

Food Mob
Food Mob was a short-lived Rev3 show that got me into cooking. They decided to finish it because they didn’t get the response they expected from it, but hey, neither did I with this blog and I kept it going. I’ll miss you, Food Mob.

The Strangulation
This blog started as a personal project of stuff that I like; at first I thought of it as sort of an archive. I was inspired to start it by Gary Vaynerchuk and his Crush It! book, except that I never expected to make a dime off of it (that’s why I have my freelance projects). Not only did it help me to improve my writing skills and indirectly get a job, it also is an outlet for my lackluster hipster music knowledge, and a way for me to share my opinions with the world. It helps me realize things, but especially, it makes me feel good about myself. It makes me feel productive. Like, I’m contributing something to the world, even if the world doesn’t appreciate it. I hate not feeling productive.

Well, that’s it for a great year. In the next few days: The Strangulation’s Favorite Games and TV Shows!

10. Kick-Ass
I guess it was because of the hype, but I didn’t really enjoy this movie as much as I thought I would. I still liked it for its premise, but the humor in it was pretty much non-existent for me, and it ended up being just entertaining.

9. Hot Tub Time Machine
A really good comedy, but it doesn’t really do anything new and I found its humor to be lackluster through most of the movie. I think the idea of it was very good and I was entertained by it, but it had potential for much more.

8. Easy A
Emma Stone, in slutty clothes for an hour and a half. No matter how bad this movie was, it was bound to end on this list for that reason. And it actually was quite fun, I enjoyed it.

7. Get Him To The Greek
It didn’t really work that well as a spin off of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and I constantly laughed through it. That Aldous Snow dude is hilarious, especially for his accent and his eccentricity.  And Jonah Hill is always ok.

6. Paranormal Activity 2
Liked the first one. This one is pretty much the same, but with a few additions. I liked that they didn’t really swerve from their original premise, not even because they had more money than the world. Again, entertaining but not perfect.

5. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
I never read the comic, because I don’t read comics (except for web comics), but I heard all the hype it got and I had high expectations for this movie. For the most part, it kept up to them. This was a really, really fun movie, and I was laughing constantly at its own ridiculousness.

4. Toy Story 3
Pixar, bla, nostalgia, bla.  I didn’t cry in it like most of the people I know did, but I did find it touching.

3. The Social Network
Oh, I liked this. When I first heard about it I thought it was the stupidest idea for a movie ever, but it ended up being really, really good. The script was genius. The soundtrack went along with it perfectly. Jesse Eisenberg surpassed expectations that were pretty much non-existent for him. I guess the genius of this movie is more in the fact that everybody expected it to be boring but it ended up being pretty dramatic.

2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
2009, I know, but I didn’t get to see it until this year. Also, it’s sort of an “indie” release, so those never really have a definitive release date. I loved this movie and I’ve watched it about 3 or 4 times. It’s lovely!

1. Inception
Well, no surprises there. In my humble opinion, this movie was perfect. I just re-watched it a couple days ago and it’s even better, as there are many things you don’t notice there the first time around.

Movies I wish I could have seen:

True Grit

127 Hours

I’m Still Here

The Fighter

A Prophet

Enter my list:

25. Heaven Is Whenever – The Hold Steady

24. Astrocoast – Surfer Blood

23. My Best Friend Is You – Kate Nash

22. Infinite Arms – Band of Horses

21. Contra – Vampire Weekend

20. The Wild Hunt – The Tallest Man On Earth

19. All Delighted People (EP) – Sufjan Stevens

18. Transference – Spoon

17. Beat The Devil’s Tattoo – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

16. Stuck On Nothing – Free Energy

15. The Drums – The Drums

14. Big Echo – the morning benders

13. Together – The New Pornographers

12. How I Got Over – The Roots

11.Broken Dreams Club (EP) – Girls

10. Total Life Forever – Foals

9. Teen Dream – Beach House

8. Brothers – The Black Keys
Brothers is a rock solid album, there’s no second spared in it. In this release, for the first time (I think), the boys brought on more instruments, but managed to make it without getting rid of their bluesy two-man band vibe. A great record, and I have not stopped coming back to it since it came out.

7. False Priest – of Montreal
Here’s a controversial choice. of Montreal is a thing of the past for most people, but honestly, I think False Priest is close to being their best release. I think it’s funny, catchy, lovable and charming. For once, the music isn’t the only cheery thing about Kevin Barnes’ music, as the lyrics also take place in the positive vibe of the album. I don’t care that they aren’t writing about drugs and addiction anymore, this new of Montreal is fun!

6. High Violet – The National
I highly anticipated this album, and it didn’t disappoint me. It might be The National’s saddest and darkest album, but it’s also a beautiful piece of art.

5. Age of Adz – Sufjan Stevens
Mr. Soofy returned with this album after (sort of) a 5 year hiatus, and it is very much hit or miss for most people. Personally, I love it, just like anything Sufjan does. In this album he took a more electronic vibe and his complicated arrangements got maximized and shot up to the sky. Despite its abstractness, it is very easy to get into it and it’s very relatable. It might be Sufjan’s most personal album. And “Impossible Soul” is probably the song of the year.

4. The Monitor – Titus Andronicus
One solid contender for the best of the year, and it was my favorite for the most part of the year. It was hard deciding its position, but the truth is their live performances are a buzz kill and the album does not age as well as I thought it would. Still, this album is very close to my heart. Teenage angst and mediocrity at its best.

3. This Is Happening – LCD Soundsystem
Here’s a band that definitely won’t be coming back, and this album was the perfect closer for their awesome carrer and trilogy of albums. Like them or not, they did create a new semi-genre and gave rise to dozens of new bands that would follow what they did. They took danceable music and mixed it with real lyrics, that talked about daily stuff with a clever air to it. I personally think they couldn’t have ended on a higher note, their live performances  are the shit and I totally agree with the whole “let’s kill it before it’s dead” train of thought. Maybe The Office should take a page out of James Murphy’s book of life (I would totally read that if it was a real book).

2. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
It’s been at the top of most year-end lists, and even though there’s a lot of controversy around whether it should or shouldn’t be the best album of the year (as always). It truly is a piece of art and everything the media has made it to be. Kanye is a douchebag. He’s quite an eccentric character, and I find that very ballsy and cool. This is his masterpiece. Technically, everything he does after this should be mediocre compared to this, but we’ll have to see that.

1. The Suburbs – Arcade Fire
The Monitor was my favorite record for a while, but it came out early in the year and boy, did awesome stuff come out after it. I heard The Suburbs heavily while I was temporarily living in another city, and it really stuck to that experience. Everything about this album was great. It was different from their previous album, but not that much of a surprising leap. The songs are structured differently but they achieve the same emotional tension that has become so characteristic in their work. It is the climax of a great band, and it was a beautiful evolution to presence. I saw them live back in October, in what could possibly be one of my best nights (even though everything around the concert was pretty boring, and I got really, really sick after the concert). I have never felt such a connection with a band as with Arcade, and I thank them for making awesome music.

Honorable Mentions:

The Social Network – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

Inception (Music From The Motion Picture) – Hans Zimmer

Volume Two – She & Him

Everything In Between – No Age

Congratulations -MGMT

Sea of Cowards – The Dead Weather

Sit Down, Man – Das Racist

Amador – Adanowsky

Treats – Sleigh Bells

Albums I wish I had heard:

Plastic Beach – Gorillaz

The Adventures of Bobby Ray – B.o.B.

The Orchard – Ra Ra Riot

Surfing The Void – The Klaxons

Wake Up! – John Legend & The Roots

New Amerykah, Pt 2: Return of the Anhk – Erykah Badu

The Lady Killer – Cee Lo Green

Update:
Throughout the holidays I have gotten a lot of listening time with a few albums that I hadn’t had time for before. Especially, The Archandroid by Janelle Monáe and Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons, but also including Lisbon by The Walkmen, Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter, In This Light And On This Evening by the Editors, Odd Blood by Yeasayer, Man On The Moon II by Kid Cudi and The Winter of Mixed Drinks by Frightened Rabbit. I’m sure some of those would have made the list if I had listened to them previously.

Living With Yourself – Mark McGuire
I heard this guy on some mix back in October and I thought “Well, this is some cool ambient music”. I eventually got his album and I can say that it’s pretty much the same song I heard (Brainstorm (For Erin)), in a whole album, which isn’t necessarily bad. If you like ambient/psychedelic/instrumental/spacey music this is beautiful. If you aren’t that kind of horrible person, move on with your boring life. The guitar work is amazing here, by the way.

Throat – Little Women

I don’t know if I should be even talking about this, but I was recommended this album earlier this year and for some reason I did end up getting it. I loathe dislike avant garde and this didn’t change much with this album. Except I can actually stand it, and it even peaks my interest sometimes. It’s stressful and annoying and I would even say damaging, but it makes me feel all those things, which is something. When I hear this album something happens in my brain and I start feeling strange and I want to scream and throw something at someone. It’s a different experience. It makes me want to kill myself.

This is Happening – LCD Soundsystem
As the hipster that I am, I love LCD. I will be seeing them live in December (don’t expect a huge “In Retrospective”, I have finals) and I am very eager to go there and get drunk and be mindfucked. This album is one of my favorites this year, and supposedly, LCD’s last. Well, it’s a great closer for a great career. “Dance Yrself Clean” is a surprising experience the first time you hear it, “All I Want” has that charm that made me fall in love with “All My Friends” and “Pow Pow” has that funny aggressiveness that is so characteristic in LCD’s work. It has everything, just like any other LCD album. Is it better than Sound of Silver? Perhaps. It’s a matter of personal taste.
Some people find them boring, but I love this band.

Inception Soundtrack – Hans Zimmer

Yes, I loved the film. I had to get the soundtrack. I did. It is amazing. Especially when I’m studying or doing something where I don’t really pay attention to the background music. Otherwise it’s just boring.

Stuck On Nothing – Free Energy
These guys were touring with Titus Andronicus earlier this year. That may or may not have influenced me picking their album. I don’t really remember.  But it’s good that I did get it, because it’s tons of fun. They have this awesome 80’s vibe to them with their simple sound and their crazy solos. They go along with Titus because Titus is kind of depressing and pessimistic and these guys are the opposite, yet they sound pretty similar to normal people (not me). “All I Know” is one of my favorite songs this year.

Total Life Forever – Foals

Foals were here last month. They played some festival and I heard they did great, I was too busy hearing Arcade Fire give the concert of their lives. I wish I could have seen them, I fell in love with their stuff the first time I heard it. Their sound is hard to explain; all I can really say is that I love their bass, and that they have a very natural, flowing sound. I guess the keyboards are what does it, but I honestly don’t know what makes them sound so original. Perhaps it’s the nearly monotonous voice, or the stereo beats. Whatever it is, it makes these guys sound awesome! Get this, now.

Sit Down, Man – Das Racist

I recently presented this to a dear friend of mine and he fell in love with the “hahaha jk” song. I don’t know why I listen to this. It pretty much is the music that you’d expect to be done by a stoner. With some really genius lines. Don’t listen to this, you’ll get hooked.

Brothers – The Black Keys

I used to hate these guys. I don’t know why, I had never heard them and I’d never seen them but for some reason I didn’t like them. Then I heard one of their songs somewhere and quite loved it (I think it was “Lies” from their previous album Attack & Release). I was eagerly anticipating this album and I’ve been constantly listening to it since it came out. I heard a friend say that it sounds like what they’ve been aiming for since they started and I can agree with that. Even though there is more instrumentation than their previous releases, they still sound simplistic and bluesy. Great album, perhaps their best to date.

Teen Dream – Beach House

I got this album because I heard someone say, and I remember this clearly, “I didn’t know I needed another dream pop album until I heard Teen Dream“. That pretty much sums it up. It’s not anything new or amazing but it is beautifully done. It’s catchy and relaxed. For some reason I don’t take it very seriously but I do like it a lot. These kids were here earlier this year and I deeply regret missing their concert.

Infinite Arms – Band of Horses

Band of Horses, in my opinion, are a band that has gotten progressively worse. Their debut album was really, really good. I liked it a lot. Alt country at its best. Nostalgia surrounds this record in my mind. Simpler times, I hear it say. Then I could never get into their second album. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t like it. I was pretty indifferent towards this album when it came out. I think I got it about a month after its release or something like that. At first I didn’t pay much attention to it and swore it was nothing worthy of my attention. Then, a few months later I decided to give it another chance and my opinion on it changed. It still doesn’t come close to Everything All The Time, forever and ever the best Alt Country album in recent years. But it’s still a good, solid album. Perhaps I should even give another chance to their second album, whatever it was called.

That pretty much sums up the most relevant albums that I’ve been listening to in the past months. There are still plenty more, but either I don’t like them a lot, or I don’t have much to say about them.

He’s also rapping. And sending chicks pics of his dick. And interrupting award shows. And calling out presidents. But damn, he really knows how to make good music. That was a Pink Floyd reference, by the way.

Now, I’ve been pretty anxious to get this album. I’ve been religiously following the G.O.O.D. Friday tracks and I have found some real gems there, as well as some mediocre stuff. I’ve watched the Runaway film a bunch of times, just for the music (I just hear it). I saw the VMA’s just to watch Kanye perform a new song (I regret that, even though the song was awesome, I am now scarred for life). Even though I’m not a big R&B fan, I do like Kanye’s music a lot. His production is just amazing, few people come close to him. And this might be my favorite release from him.

Let’s mention that this is probably Kanye’s darkest material, both in content and in execution. There probably won’t be any successful singles coming out of this album; perhaps “All of the Lights” might be the only exception. There’s just this pessimist air around the whole album. It’s not exactly happy. And there’s a LOT of contributions. Most of the songs are contributions, even if they aren’t marked like that. Bon Iver, Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, and a bunch of other people are in it.

The opener, “Dark Fantasy”, starts with a female dialogue before the music kicks in. The album ends just like that, with a male dialogue in “Who Will Survive In America”, which is sort of an extension to “Lost In The World”, which is probably my favorite song in the album. I don’t care much for “Monster” and “So Appalled”, I didn’t like them even when they were released as G.O.O.D. Friday tracks. “Runaway” is a great simple song, but it runs too long at the end, with the added extreme autotune voice. I like that sound, but it could be cut by a minute or so. I love the bass line in “Devil In A New Dress”, it has an old school feeling to it. “Hell of a Life” was one of my favorite parts of the film, but it’s changed in the album version and it’s not as good. “Power” is the most awesome song ever, and “All of the Lights” has a great bonafide thing going on that I like. The rest of the songs, like “Gorgeous” and “Blame Game” are not bad, but not great.

The samples here include “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath, “21st Century Schizoid Man” by King Crimson and what sounds like an autotuned version of “Woods” by Bon Iver. The collaborations are not really fundamental, but they do bring something new to the album. I especially like Nicki Minaj’s parts, she has a very unusual way of rapping that I like a lot, I’m getting her album as soon as it comes out.

Overall, this is Kanye’s most focused, weird, honest and darkest album. I’m having a blast with it, and that’s all that matters. I’ve heard many complaints about how Kanye has stupid lines, how he can’t rap, how this is so overproduces, how it runs very long; but honestly I don’t feel any of those. First off, I don’t think you can accuse anything of being overproduced after you heard The Age of Adz, and the stupid lines part, well I don’t really have an opinion on that because I don’t know anything about rap. I do think he has some awesome lines, but that’s just me.