The Hafner Awards: Music
Posted: December 28, 2011 Filed under: Music Leave a comment »
One of my favorite things about this time of the year are end of the year lists! Earlier this month the Grammy’s announced their so-so list of who they thought were the most deserving nominees in their respective categories. While I respect the institution of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, I fail to see eye to eye with many of their choices so I have taken it upon myself to offer an alternative, more prestigious award: The Hafner Award!
Here we go!
Song of the Year:
Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People
No other song this year stuck in your head on repeat like this hoppin’ track from this LA band’s debut album. Pumped Up Kicks dominated the radio waves till you were absolutely sick of it and continued to dominated till you fell in love with it all over again, twice as hard. Also these guys know how to put on show, there concert in Columbus this past summer was a standout.
Other Great Tracks from 2011: Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes, Lonely Boy – The Black Keys, Man or Muppet – Jason Segel, Beth/Rest – Bon Iver, Sail – Awolnation, Some Children – Holy Ghost (Best Dance Song)
Album of the Year:
1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
There’s no denying it. These are transcendent, beautiful songs that altogether make up something greater then the sum of it’s parts, and the parts are pretty great. It wasn’t uncommon for this album to be on repeat in my house for 24 hours any given day this summer. Yet Justin Vernon and his band have put together such a beautiful LP that it could define any season. Every time I listen to the amazing opener “Perth”, it takes me right back to when I first heard it back in May. Bon Iver helped me fall deeper in love not only with music but with people, notably the woman who is now my fiance’. ”Holocene” and the stunning closer “Beth/Rest” are highlights but truthfully Bon Iver needs to be listened to in its entirety as an album.
2. The Black Keys – El Camino
This all-killer-no-filler machine gun of an album comes at you hard and fast and never lets up. A knock out rock and roll album that would stand out any year. “Little Black Submarine”, a tribute to Led Zeppelin, offers the only breathe the albums takes in it’s opening half then the distortion turns on and the track transforms into something that is just pure loud rock and roll glory.
3. The King is Dead – The Decemberists
With a new alt/country vibe, The Decemberists produce their best LP yet.
4. Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
The title track alone is enough to put the whole album on the best of the year list even though the whole thing is exceptional.
5. Circuital – My Morning Jacket
Leave My Morning Jacket to go from the battle cry opener “Victory Dance” to the soft folky ballad “Wonderful” to the huge, brass, 60′s rock parade that is “Holding on to Black Metal” and pull them all off in equal composure. A band that continues to stretch itself and put on the best live performances of any rock band in the past 5 years.
6. Middle Brother – Middle Brother
A super group made of members from Deer Tick, Delta Spirit, and Dawes make a killer good disc loaded with boozy southern sounds better then any one of the aforementioned bands individual efforts, and thats saying a lot.
7. Old Habits – Hot Bodies in Motion
Best find of 2011. Just seven tracks on the disc but they’re all great and enough to earn a spot in the top ten.
8. Ashes & Fire – Ryan Adams
I always have and will be a devout Ryan Adams fan. His first solo album comes right after the break up with the Cardinals and displays some of his best song writing yet.
9. Watch the Throne – Jay Z & Kanye West
A collaborative effort between the rap industry’s two kings doesn’t quite hit you as hard as you’d think but still offers some solid tracks including “Otis” “Murder to Excellence” and “That’s My B***h”
10. Mylo Xyloto – Coldplay
Continuing in the direction they started with “Viva La Vida”, Chris Martin and co. produce their best record since 2002′s “Rush of Blood to the Head”.
Best of the Rest: Barton Hollow- The Civil Wars, The Reckoning – Needtobreathe, Ceremonials – Florence & the Machine, Early in the Morning – James Vincent McMorrow
I believe 2011 will go down as one of the greatest in music history with so many exceptional albums from some of my favorite bands both old and new. What were some of your favorite albums/songs of the past year?
More that need mentioned (for the avid reader):
Song: Lotus Flower – Radiohead, Love is Blindness – Jack White, Man in the Middle – Chris Thile and Michael Daves, I Just Had Sex – Lonely Island, Go Outside – Cults, Art of Almost – Wilco, We Found Love – Rihanna, Fall Creek Boys Choir – James Blake & Bon Iver
Albums: I’m With You – Red Hot Chili Peppers, Little Hell – City and Colour, Stone Rollin – Raphael Saadiq, and Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 – The Beastie Boys
Mylo Xyloto: An Album Review
Posted: November 5, 2011 Filed under: Album Review Leave a comment »
Coldplay 2011 is not the same band as Coldplay 2002. A Rush of Blood to the Head is one of the best albums of the previous decade, with almost every song on it being a modern classic, or at least recognizable to even a non fan. For better or worse, Coldplay has officially hit their Kid A stage as a band with Mylo Xyloto. By this I mean that the direction of their creativity and music has evolved into something we wouldn’t have anticipated from Chris Martin and Co. ten years ago.
That said I think Mylo Xyloto is a great pop album with unexpected instrumentation and hip hop beats that are pleasing to the ear but don’t necessarily carry the substantial or emotional weight of a song like Daylight or Fix You. Yet tracks like the opening Hurts Like Heaven and Princess of China great songs in their own right, not trying to change the world but have the same energy and soul of previous records. Paradise is a stand out track, sure to turn any listeners day around for at least the duration of the song. The video in particular is nonsense, but fun nonsense. These guys are having fun making their music and it shines through their new sound, and really that’s what it’s all about
Whether or not this Coldplay is better then the band we used to know or not is for you to decide. Regardless, Mylo Xyloto is one of the most fun albums of the year.
Top 5 Romantic Comedies for Guys
Posted: October 14, 2011 Filed under: Top 5 Leave a comment »By rule of thumb, we men can never admit to liking movies like The Notebook or Mean Girls, no matter how well told or acted they may be. So what are us men suppose to do on a date movie night in? Well after you’ve made your girlfriend/wife sit through Pulp Fiction and Braveheart 5 times each its time stop enlightening her and maybe watch something she’ll want to watch. No doubt it’ll will be something romantic. So how do we savor our masculinity after sitting through a chick flick? Below I’ve provided 5 safe options that you can enjoy with your woman without loosing any man points.
˚ When Harry Met Sally – Let’s get the obvious choice out of the way first. This movie has become the rom-com archetype, the one on which all others must be compared. Girls love it because it is a good story, and they seem to always identify with Meg Ryan for some reason. You’ll love it because Billy Crystal is hilarious and says just about everything you’ve wanted to to your significant other. It’s an honest performance delivered with comic brilliance.
˚ (500) Days of Summer – All of us guys like to see ourself as Han Solo, Joseph Gordon Levitt is no different. We like his character Tom because he’s charming, dresses well, and has good taste in music, so does Summer. Also we all feel like we’ve been unjustly wronged women we have loved but we’ve learned and moved on. At least some of us want to be Tom, he is the nerd/indie kids hero. (500) Days of Summer is entertaining and heartbreaking in the way that it’s told by Director Marc Webb, particularly the scene were Tom is invited to one of Summer’s parties post relationship.
˚Forgetting Sarah Marshall – Another story of a lovable (almost too lovable) guy who gets wronged by a woman he didn’t realize he didn’t deserve. Jason Segal is so great, he wrote the story based on a real life break up (apparently the naked scene actually happened) and get away to Hawaii. Segal’s Peter finds a new love interest in Mila Kunis on the Hawaiian islands and when Sarah Marshall shows up with her new boyfriend, Aldous Snow, hilarity ensues. Forgetting Sarah Marshall holds up, it only gets funnier with repeated viewings. It’s a gold mine of one liners and great supporting acts and cameos from other comic actors. By the end of the puppet show (yes puppets!) you’ll both be standing up cheering on Peter.
˚ The Princess Bride – I grew up on this movie so it was mind boggling to me when I found out that so many people in my life haven’t seen it. The Princess Bride plays to the classic fairy tale ideals that females have of being a beautiful princess and the males of being a swashbuckling hero but puts a comic twist on the whole tale. The Princess Bride truly has it all: danger, giants, torture, romance, electric eels, witches, swords, humor, and of course R.O.U.S.’s! It’s incredibly fun and an essential date movie.
˚ High Fidelity – High Fidelity is a romantic comedy for men. Another rule of thumb to being a man is that you have to like John Cusack, the same way we all have to love Kevin Bacon. This is his best movie. Cusack plays a record store owner who of course, just got dumped by the love of his life. Throughout the film he’s narrating the audience, often letting us know what his top five favorites are: records, track #1′s, etc. After the dumping he goes back through his top 5 toughest break ups, revisiting the woman who left the most impact on his life and brought him to where he is now. Despite the description, this is not your average romantic comedy. It has a solid supporting turn from Jack Black, maybe his only good one and boasts an awesome rock and roll soundtrack.
These are my top five, of course there are a few other great options but these are enough to get any good romantic movie night started. What are some of your favorites?
Need Something New to Listen To?
Posted: October 11, 2011 Filed under: Music, Playlist Leave a comment »During a recent secular music fast I was forced to discover more underground Christian artists to avoid the sometimes annoying and repetitiveness of modern worship music. Much of what I found has been pretty phenomenal, sometimes beautiful, and often inspiring, so much so I’d love to share some of it with you.
Both these artists have free albums on Noise Trade right now. Links are here:
http://noisetrade.com/jennyandtyler
http://noisetrade.com/joshgarrels
Josh Garrels album is particularly great, but both are incredible. Hope you enjoy!
Moneyball – It’s better then the Kevin Costner Story.
Posted: October 11, 2011 Filed under: Movie Review Leave a comment »
Granted they’re not even close to the same movie. I read somewhere that Moneyball is about baseball the same way last years The Social Network is about facebook. I’d think that’s accurate. Moneyball is less about baseball and more about Brad Pitt taking down the ‘system’ by trying to reinvent it. Think matured, business natured Tyler Durden.
Pitt plays Billy Beane, real life GM for the Oakland A’s who are dismissed as a team because they can’t afford to buy players who produce wins. Enter Jonah Hill who turns America’s favorite sport into a numbers game. The story is actually remarkable but it’s performances by Pitt and Hill that elevate the film from good to great.
Moneyball ***1/2
Drive – What Happens When a Car Movie has a Plot
Posted: October 11, 2011 Filed under: Movie Review Leave a comment »Drive: ***1/2
Drive is the kind of movie that is made for movie lovers and sure to piss off the general audience. Reason being is that it’s not geared to any audience, except the people who made it. Director Nicolas Winding Refn and his crew made the exact movie they wanted to without giving a damn of what studios or audiences may think of it, and to the patient viewer it rewards.
In some ways Drive is a post modern film noir, with it’s cool antihero who says almost nothing and of course is nameless (in true Eastwood form). It is also part gangster part chase flick: pure B movie glory. It’s bloody violent in small yet gruesome segments, the rest is filled with tension building dialog and stares. Oh and there’s a snyth pop/80′s soundtrack to boot.
Drive is a real treat for the patient action movie fan. It has a well rounded cast of talented actors who really seem to be having fun with they’re dirty characters. Does it have style? Plenty to spare. Is it a movie of substance? Hardly, but a lot of badass stuff happens.
Fall Movies I’m Most Excited About
Posted: August 29, 2011 Filed under: Anticipation, Thoughts, Top 5 Leave a comment »
My favorite time of the year is almost upon us, readers get ready for the Fall Movie Season! We will finally start to see quality movies being pushed out by studios trying to earn Oscar gold. Thus far 2011 has proven slim pickings for good storytelling and has instead given us unhealthy, heathing portions of loud special effects loaded garbage or bad 2 hour long sitcoms, as they always do this time of year up until September. Of course there have been some exceptions, Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life was unlike any movie I have ever seen and many of the images and scenes from it are still vividly implanted in my brain. Judd Apatow and Kristin Wiig’s Bridesmaids would be one of the funniest movies of any year and Rango is a top notch, grimly beautiful animated movie that will blow the face of Cars 2 on Oscar night. I haven’t seen The Help or Midnight in Paris yet but I’ve heard only good things and plan on seeing one, if not both this coming week.
But enough about whats been, what do we have to look forward to? Glad you asked. I couldn’t be more excited about these five movies.
5. We Bought a Zoo – Cameron Crowe’s next directorial project since the under-rated Elizabethtown. Crowe’s Almost Famous (2000) to this day stands as one of my favorite films of all time and Zoo boasts a solid cast of Matt Damon, Scarlett Johanson, and Thomas Hayden Church and like all of Crowe’s movies, promises an excellent rock’n roll soundtrack.
4. Contagion – The trailer for this movie sends chills down my spine. People around the are falling down dead because of an incurable, incredibly contagious virus threatens the lives of (again) Matt Damon, Lawrence Fishburne, Gwenyth Palthrow, Jude Law, and Kate Winslet. With a cast like that and under the helm of a solid director like Steven Sonderbergh, well needless to say my expectations are high.
3. MoneyBall – Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman in adult sports drama. From the trailer it looks great and could potentially earn Pitt (a favorite of mine) a Best Actor nomination.
2. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – I was a huge fan of the Sweedish original and if anyone can make a better adaptation of the popular book it’s David Fincher, the best working director in my opinion. Again the trailer for this looks like Fincher is going even darker then the original which may turn off your average film go-er but I have faith. Trent Reznor’s score I also think will be pitch perfect for them film in the same way he complemented Fincher’s The Social Network last year.
1. Drive – Drive hosts the always impressing Ryan Gosling in a neo-nior original with a killer 80′s vein soundtrack. If this movie packs half the punch the trailer assumes it’ll have no problem making a top spot in my end of the year top ten list. It looks killer, dark in tone and has a strong supporting cast. Can. Not. Wait.
And that’s just the top 5, there are several more movies I’m excited for this fall such as the silent movie throw back The Artist and George Clooney’s the Ides of March. What movies are you looking forward to this year?
The Uncool
Posted: July 31, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »A clip from one of my all time favorite movies.
The Ghost in Black
Posted: July 19, 2011 Filed under: Music Leave a comment »I know this song and video are both old and like myself you’ve probably seen it a dozen times. If you are like me though, it still has the power to give me chills and reflect on my own life. Sung in such a haunted voice by a man who realizes he’s on the verge of of death, Johnny Cash looks at his life and asks “What have I become?” Will all we have at the end of our lives amount to a pile of dirt? I don’t believe so, but everyone fears it, even at 71. It’s a humbling ballad and the video provides a equal amount of powerful images to support it.
I feel as though I should note that this song was originally done by NIN but even Trent Reznor could admit that Cash took the words and was equally effective with them.
