Trumblog

Only a few more hours of shopping before Christmas and I am here to help with my annual list of my top albums of 2010. I’ve even included handy links to Amazon.com so that you can gift these albums to those friends and family who you have waited until the last minute to shop for.

Before I get to it, let it be known that
1. This is not a list of the “best” music of 2010
2. This IS a list of the music released in 2010 that I listened to the most this year
3. The measurement for this list is based on identifying the albums released in 2010 that I downloaded and listened to and then averaging the total number of tracks played by the number of tracks in the album
4. I am fully aware that this measurement process benefits albums released earlier in the year, is impacted by the timing of travel (where I am more likely to listen to a new album repeatedly), my decision to rip my CD collection, which lead to lower new music listens this fall and a general interest in the back catalogs of some artists which lead to catching up with older bands rather than new music. But let’s face it, the album is a construct, the calendar is a construct, my decision to measure based on listens rather than preference is a construct, lists that stop at 10 are constructs. Accept it for what it is, live with it and c’mon it’s just my list no one is getting rich or famous off of this.

1. Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM

My first love of 2010 and that quirk of timing results in it topping the list. I went through a bit of a phase with her father a couple years ago and Beck, who produced the album, has been a favorite for a while so when the single “Heaven Can Wait” was released I snapped it up and was primed for the album. Charlotte and Beck did not disappoint with what sounds like a Beck album by a chanteuse. Beck leans on the Serge Gainsbourg stylings that he used on Sea Change and Charlotte is a chip off the block with songs about S&M, but where Serge was cool and insinuating (or out and out graphic) his daughter is cool and sexy and Beck’s production delivers the perfect atmosphere for her.

2. Broken Bells – Broken Bells

I knew that this album would be on the list because of how much I listened to it this spring, and I was prepared to issue a major caveat that despite its position I just didn’t care for it as much as the others. You see I listened to Broken Bells a lot at first, rather enjoyed it at the time and then didn’t revisit. That became a vicious cycle, I didn’t listen to it again because I hadn’t listened to it lately and assumed it was because I’d stopped liking it and that the album didn’t stand up. But I listened again for this review and as you probably know from it’s inclusion on lots of other “Best Of…” lists, this is a great album. Danger Mouse’s production is fantastic and his partnership with James Mercer, while resulting in very different music than what he did with Cee-lo, has a similar structure and yields alt-rock songs with a experimental edge. I take it back guys. Well done.

3. Josh Ritter – So Runs The World Away

If you have not heard this album stop reading now, you have something better to do which is to go, buy, download and listen to So Runs The World Away. Seriously, now that I know this about you I can guarantee that reading my blog is a waste of time compared to that. For those of you who have heard So Runs The World Away you already know the astounding mix of musical inventiveness, creative songwriting and storytelling that Ritter delivers in this album. The middle of the album slumps a bit, but when you have songs like “Change of Time”, “The Curse”, “Another New World” and “Rattling Locks” on the album the other songs have a lot to live up to and the lesser tracks give you a chance to catch your breath. Unlike Broken Bells, this is an album that I never had doubts that I would return to over and over for the years to come.

4. MIA – Maya

I tweeted that this could be my album of the summer and it certainly was the album of my road trip to a Family Reunion that resulted in enough listens to make it my 4th most listened to album this year. If Maya didn’t get the love that MIA’s earlier albums got. Maybe it isn’t as strong as her last 2 albums and the revolutionary chic is wearing thin on people, but that shouldn’t get in the way of a good album. While Arular and Kala combined music and sounds in ear twisting ways, on Maya MIA does some genre testing with tracks that are straight up reggae, rock and pop along with the hip-hop/world music in a blender tracks that we fell in love with her for. No matter what a weaker MIA delivers better juxtaposition of sounds with funky beats than anyone else I can think of.

5. Louisa Maita – Lero-Lero

Every music collection and I’d dare say every life has room for some beautiful music from Brazil. Personally, I tend to commune with this muse on Sunday mornings and hot, lazy summer evenings and this year I prayed at the altar of Louisa Maita. A beautiful voice, but less classic than Babel Gilberto. Rhythmically experimental, but less electronically driven than Ceu or Cibelle, though there is a Maita Remixed album. Loida Maita’s gorgeous voice and dynamic backing musicians deliver a lovely album for those cool mornings and hot nights where it is needed.

6. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

The Suburbs took some getting used to. It did not deliver the heart pounding lump in the through awestruck response that Neon Bible did and let’s you know from the first track that features a jangly piano rather than a wall of sound. The Suburbs is a more reflective and melancholy album on growing up in the suburbs and getting older. Instead of embracing you with sound the way that other Arcade Fire albums do Suburbs highlights lyrics first, which takes a few listens to absorb and then the music makes sense and pays rewards handsomely. I think of the teenager who imagined the scenario from “neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” now older and looking back on his childhood and meditating on middle age writing this album. The songs don’t grab your lapels and shake, they set the scene and explain, but he can’t help but give you a thrill with the “Heart of Glass” -like “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains).”

7. Vampire Weekend – Contra

No sophomore slump for Vampire Weekend, actually Contra sounds like a second disc of their first, eponymous album and that’s just fine. More West African style guitar, more wry songs about the life of the bohemian prep school set. I couldn’t have been happier.

8. Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record

What do you know, after a bunch of side projects Broken Social Scene regrouped this year and produced Forgiveness Rock Record. Is it a great album? Maybe not, but it’s a quality album from a band that I like, as opposed to say Belle & Sebastian’s Write About Love that did nothing for me. There are some quality tracks like “World Sick,” “All To All” and “Ungrateful Little Father” as well as some filler, but the balance is positive and filled my earbuds nicely during quite a few commutes this year.

9. Standard Fare – Noyelle Beat

There are some sounds that when a band has it I just can’t help myself and that punky, electric guitar and drums skiffle with a female lead singer is one of them. I think that it started with Velvet Underground’s Mo Tucker singing “I’m Sticking With You” and was what I loved about The Vaselines. The Moldy Peaches caught my ear for the same reason. This year it was Standard Fare that hooked me with that sound. I didn’t listen to this so much as an album, but more like a set of individual tracks that I’d run into on random play and then star as favorites. The pop-punk sound, authentic interplay between Emma Kupa and Danny How and lyrics focused on yearning and regret guarantee that if I was 15 at least one Standard Fare track would appear on each mix tape that I gave to a girl I was wooing.

10. Sade – Soldier of Love

Frankly, I’m shocked that Sade made the list, not because I disliked Soldier of Love, but because I couldn’t remember it. Until I relistened to the album for this post I couldn’t hum the title track. With a few exceptions I just didn’t dig into albums this year the way that I have in others, but with a recent downloads playlist and repeat play they get listened to. Basically, if you are hoping for something new and different from Sade, sorry, more of the same smooth soul/ smooth-jazz. But if you like Sade, and I have been a fan since Smooth Operator hit my teen ears in the middle of a serious Depeche Mode jag, then you will not be disappointed.

2011, the slate is clean.  Bring it on.

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

In my post earlier today I forgot to mention another free benefit of voting today besides that snazzy “I Voted” sticker. No, I don’t mean bringing a sparkle to the eye of the senior citizens working the polls, I’m talking about the I Voted 2010 Foursquare badge. Just check in when you vote, and I suggest adding an “I voted” shout just in case your polling place doesn’t have the right category set up and the badge is yours. Already voted? The shout with any checkin today should do the trick.

Now quit reading my blog and go vote!

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Today is the first Tuesday in November. It is the day to vote in the US. While voting is not mandated in the United States it is a right of anyone 18 or over and in my view a responsibility.

I’m going to let you in on a secret about voting. People notice. And by people I mean politicians. Sure that may not mean much when you are talking about the President, a Senator or even your Representative, but get to the local races for state or city office, the ones where you are more likely to have that official actions directly impact your life, and trust me the politicians know who votes and who doesn’t. If you want something a regular pattern of voting does wonders for getting a local politician involved.

So if my plea to exercise your civic responsibility or the benefit of personal response from politicians doesn’t move you how about the nice sticker that the polling folks hand out?

Don’t know where your polling place is? Google’s got you covered. Now you have no excuse. Go vote.

(1 votes, average: 1.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Without a doubt my scariest movie experience was watching the original, black and white, “Night Of The Living Dead” at a sleep over in 4th grade.

As a side note, normally when I compare the mores of parents in the 70′s concerning childhood freedom versus parents of today I usually think about how at the age of 8 I rode unescorted on the bus from one side of Washington DC to the other for swim team practice everyday, at act that would be considered parental negligence today. But perhaps a better indicator of the parental thinking thirty-some years ago was the judgement call that it would be ok to allow a group of 9 year old boys to watch 2 hours of zombie blood-lust and entrail gobbling. Compare that to the angst that my wife and I went through wondering if it would be ok to screen “Charlie’s Angels” at my daughter’s 12th birthday party.

View on YouTube

Anyway, at my less permissive childhood home watching the work of George Romero wouldn’t fly, but that doesn’t mean that my mom and dad didn’t like a good scary movie, it’s just that their taste leaned more to the arty and campy.

The DC airwaves of my youth were awash in dubbed Japanese horror and robot movies. Why? Were they Amy Carter’s favorite? Leftovers from a Smithsonian Folklife Festival? Pennance for Watergate? Who knows. But we watched a lot of Japanese monster movies when I was a kid, and “Matango”, AKA “Attack Of The Mushroom People”‘ a 1963 movie about shipwrecked survivors on an island of Mushroom people sure caught our imagination (we still talk about it) and looking back on the trailer you can see how it would be fascinating to a pre-teens and 30-something moms alike.

View on YouTube

The other film that made an impression on us, and maybe led me to film school in Boston and my mother to haunt Sunday art films at the National Gallery to this day was “Nosferatu” AKA “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror,” the silent German expressionist vampire movie classic. It must have been on PBS because I can’t imagine a silent movie not getting bumped for a Godzilla knockoff or kung fu on the UHF stations where we usually got our terror fix. The image of shadows of the Vampyr’s fingers sliding over the sheets gives me shivers to this day.

View on YouTube

Wherever you are George Romero, Friedrich Murnau, Max Schreck, Ishirō Honda and Takeshi Kimura thank you for scaring and entertaining me. Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim thank you four YouTube and making these childhood treats available. Happy Halloween, boo!
The

(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

One frustrating thing about the iPad is that the applications are not integrated. On my Android phone once I download the Tumblr app I can share the webpages that I browse, the pictures I take, etc on Tumbler directly from the browser or gallery. On my iPad I have to copy and paste to the app, which is especially a pain when you want a URL and a page name or something like that. I’ve found an easy workaround with bookmarklets that enable social media sharing in Safari, help me to get around the lack of Flash support that makes getting YouTube embed codes a pain and as an easy way to view the page source.

Here is my tutorial for adding a bookmarklet to your Safari browser on the iPad and a list of my favorite bookmarklets.

How To Create A Bookmarklet

In Safari, click the + sign at the top of the browser and select “Add Bookmark.”
On the Add Bookmark screen change the name of the bookmark to whatever you want. For the purpose of this demo I used “Bookmark Name,” but you can use something generic, the name that you ultimately want the bookmark to be or just leave it and change the name later (you’ll have another chance to edit it later in the process. When you’ve made this enormous decision click the save button.

Click the Bookmarks icon (an open book) and click the edit bottom in the top right.

The dropdown will shift revealing delete and edit icons on either side of the bookmark names. Click the bookmark that you just made in order to edit it.

You now have a second opportunity to edit the bookmark name and more importantly the bookmark URL. For the bookmarklets that I have been using for enhanced functionality I swap the URL for some JavaScript. Just select the url of the dummy site and paste the JavaScript into the bookmark.

Click “Bookmarks” and “Done.” You’re all set and can begin using those bookmarks.

My Favorite Bookmarklets

Here are the bookmarklets with JavaScript that I’m using to extend the functionality of the Safari browser on the iPad, especially where it comes to social media, social networks and blogging. If you have some additions please let me know in the comments.

Tweet This
javascript:(function(){window.twttr=window.twttr||{};var D=550,A=450,C=screen.height,B=screen.width,H=Math.round((B/2)-(D/2)),G=0,F=document,E;if(C>A){G=Math.round((C/2)-(A/2))}window.twttr.shareWin=window.open(‘http://twitter.com/share’,”,’left=’+H+’,top=’+G+’,width=’+D+’,height=’+A+’,personalbar=0,toolbar=0,scrollbars=1,resizable=1′);E=F.createElement(‘script’);E.src=’http://platform.twitter.com/bookmarklets/share.js?v=1′;F.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0].appendChild(E)}());

Bookmark On Del.icio.us
javascript:(function(){f=’http://delicious.com/save?url=’+encodeURIComponent(window.location.href)+’&title=’+encodeURIComponent(document.title)+’&v=5&’;a=function(){if(!window.open(f+’jump=doclose’,'deliciousuiv5′,’location=yes,links=no,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,width=550,height=550′))location.href=f+’jump=yes’};if(/Firefox/.test(navigator.userAgent)){setTimeout(a,0)}else{a()}})()

Tumble This
javascript:var d=document,w=window,e=w.getSelection,k=d.getSelection,x=d.selection,s=(e?e():(k)?k():(x?x.createRange().text:0)),f=’http://www.tumblr.com/share’,l=d.location,e=encodeURIComponent,p=’?v=3&u=’+e(l.href) +’&t=’+e(d.title) +’&s=’+e(s),u=f+p;try{if(!/^(.*\.)tumblr[^.]*$/.test(l.host))throw(0);tstbklt();}catch(z){a =function(){if(!w.open(u,’t',’toolbar=0,resizable=0,status=1,width=450,height=430′))l.href=u;};if(/Firefox/.test(navigator.userAgent))setTimeout(a,0);else a();}void(0)

Get YouTube Embed Code
javascript:void(location.href=’http://www.gorissen.info/Pierre/files/YouTube_codev2.htm?YouTubeURL=’+escape(location.href))

Share on Facebook
javascript:var d=document,f=’http://www.facebook.com/share’,l=d.location,e=encodeURIComponent,p=’.php?src=bm&v=4&i=1271771052&u=’+e(l.href)+’&t=’+e(d.title);1;try{if (!/^(.*\.)?facebook\.[^.]*$/.test(l.host))throw(0);share_internal_bookmarklet(p)}catch(z) {a=function() {if (!window.open(f+’r'+p,’sharer’,'toolbar=0,status=0,resizable=1,width=626,height=436′))l.href=f+p};if (/Firefox/.test(navigator.userAgent))setTimeout(a,0);else{a()}}void(0)

Add To Google Reader
javascript:var%20b=document.body;if(b&&!document.xmlVersion){void(z=document.createElement(‘script’));void(z.src=’http://www.google.com/reader/ui/subscribe-bookmarklet.js’);void(b.appendChild(z));}else{location=’http://www.google.com/reader/view/feed/’+encodeURIComponent(location.href)}

Get Bit.ly Shortened Link
javascript:var%20b=document.body;if(b&&!document.xmlVersion){void(z=document.createElement(‘script’));void(z.src=’http://www.google.com/reader/ui/subscribe-bookmarklet.js’);void(b.appendChild(z));}else{location=’http://www.google.com/reader/view/feed/’+encodeURIComponent(location.href)}

View Source
javascript:var%20sourceWindow%20%3D%20window.open%28%27about%3Ablank%27%29%3B%20%0Avar%20newDoc%20%3D%20sourceWindow.document%3B%20%0AnewDoc.open%28%29%3B%20%0AnewDoc.write%28%27%3Chtml%3E%3Chead%3E%3Ctitle%3ESource%20of%20%27%20%2B%20document.location.href%20%2B%20%27%3C/title%3E%3C/head%3E%3Cbody%3E%3C/body%3E%3C/html%3E%27%29%3B%20%0AnewDoc.close%28%29%3B%20%0Avar%20pre%20%3D%20newDoc.body.appendChild%28newDoc.createElement%28%22pre%22%29%29%3B%20%0Apre.appendChild%28newDoc.createTextNode%28document.documentElement.innerHTML%29%29%3B

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

I got back from yoga yesterday and found this clip in my inbox. It perfectly sums up why I practice, to silence the noise. Of course I thrive on that noise as well, it’s a yin and yang kind of thing. Enjoy.

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

I love both of these little marketing opportunities that caught my eye. You could almost miss them, unlike the bus shelters that I posted last week. And that is part of their charm. You discover them, are in on their secret and that makes you want to pass them on.

The first is a spoof of the ubiquitous lawn signs posted after fertilizer has been applied only this one is posted by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and promotes the lawn as being pesticide free. I hope these catch on and promote pesticide free yards.

The second is just a perfect sponsorship by the MSPCA, dog bowls. Anyone who walks their dogs knows the value of a well placed bowl and the halo effect that it brings to the establishment where it is found. This bowl delivers that benefit to both the shop it is in front of and the MSPCA that it immediately places top of mind for pet owners. I found this on the sidewalk of Newburyport and man does that town love its dogs. Not only does this ad reach the right audience, it’s in a great location to reach as many of them as possible.

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Yesterday morning I spent a lovely couple of hours reading The New York Times. To set the scene, it was a crisp fall morning, the dogs were walked, I had a cup of coffee beside me and my iPad was propped comfortably so I could read it and sip at the same time.

I’ve done this ever since I got my iPad using the New York Times app, which gave me the “Editor’s Choice,” the top 10 or so stories from the main sections of the paper, world and local news, business, culture, tech, opinion, and some video and photo features. Enough for my weekday morning commute, but not enough for a Sunday morning deep dive.

Now, in anticipation of requiring payment to read the newspaper online, The Times rolled out an enhanced app that gives you the whole enchilada from Top News to Obituaries, NY / Regional to Travel, the Magazine, Books, Automobiles, Sports. And these sections are not limited to the top 10 or so articles. While I didn’t do a cellulose to silicon comparison the stories are extensive and I found some pretty obscure columns and features that I’d never found in the original app. The entire newspaper plus the video and photo features from the original app and website along with a few NYTimes.com blog posts as well.

The app does a great job of helping you easily navigate through the paper. Every section of the paper is accessible from a pop-up menu on the left hand side of the screen on main page of each section. Once within the article you can scan all of the headlines in that section from a bar at the bottom of the screen and then jump to them with a click. Every story also has a very handy “share’ icon with links to email, tweet, share on Facebook or just copy the link, the better to attract more paying online readers my dear. Unfortunately links in the photo features, that must have been ported from the web did not work and would be a nice fix in the next few weeks of additions.

Personally, I don’t find the ads obtrusive and see them as a necessary trade off for a free, or at least subsidized experience. Unfortunately there just isn’t enough variety in them and I was pretty immune to any suggestion to see “Conviction” after the 20th time that I saw the ad. Some other ads would have been welcome.

Early next year The Times is due to start charging online readers who use the newspaper as their primary news source. In other words if you read a few articles a week you can probably get that for free, but if you plan on starting your day with The Times you’ll need to get a subscription. This app makes that option seem worthwhile both in terms of functionality and breadth of content.

But how about the newspaper experience? I didn’t miss the weight of the Sunday paper on the bed, more room for the pug. I did miss the satisfying “thwump” of a hearty Sunday paper on the dining room table. I didn’t miss the inky fingers or extra recycling, though it is handy under pumpkin carving and to start fires. I’m probably easier to engage over Sunday morning pancakes with a 9″ screen in front of me than with the broadsheet. I did miss sharing the paper, which is impossible unless your partner also has a device of their own, and if you can’t share then the family’s tolerance for your reading it goes down exponentially.

With this app The Times shows that they can deliver the news to you in an enjoyable experience. They prove that you’ll get the complete set of news online and not just a best of and the value of the New York Times curation is clear. How about the cost that we have come to expect? That’s still unclear at this point. What galls me about the Wired, New Yorker and other apps is that I pay $8 for my yearly subscription to Wired, but they want me to pay $4.99 each month for the app. I know the rationale for the magazine cost structure and why the news stand cost is higher than a subscription. Apple needs to take care of the subscription model so I’m not forced to pay top rates not because I’m unwilling to make a year’s commitment, but because Apple won’t let me. The same goes for The New York Times. If their price for a subscription isn’t fair, if I’m paying a one-off cost when I should be treated as a reader who makes a commitment, if I can’t share my “paper” with my household, then we have some issues. Boy I hope The Times gets it right.

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

I have to idea if the video below is real and of the 4 guys in the video below are actually playing live with their iPhones or not, but regardless, it’s sure possible that they could. Many of us walk around with more computing power in our pockets than power the space shuttle. Let’s keep using that power for art.

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

The latest production by the amazing Actors’ Shakespeare Project is called The Coveted Crown and is Henry IV parts 1 and 2 with parts of Richard II & Henry V bookending the plays to give them context.  Every ASP production that I have seen has been entertaining and I’m excited to see the company of actors take on this challenging production.

The plays run until November 21, 2010 and are Midway Studios in Fort Point, Boston.  Call for tickets at 866-811-4111 or you can book online.  The trailer of the play is below [DISCLOSURE: it was edited by my lovely and talented wife Angelica Brisk].

ASP | The Coveted Crown: Henry IV, parts 1 & 2 from Angelica Brisk on Vimeo.

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...