The Head and the Heart

Performance on Austin City Limits:
(Concert runs from about 1:30-27:00)

Peter, Paul & Mary - Blowin' in the Wind

A beautiful live performance from 1966. God, Mary was so incredibly pretty.

Lists of 2011

I have compiled a list of my favorites from 2011. As usual, this is not a complete list -- there are plenty of things I wanted to listen to/read/watch in 2011 that I didn't get a chance to. Also, I tried to keep the lists limited to Top 25 or less.

Favorite Music: 
I'm proud of myself for actually having the strength (yeah, that's the right word) to narrow it down to a Top 10 list. With the concession being that I created an honorable mentions section. The Top 10 I selected just stood out to me as complete albums, in which I enjoyed nearly every track (or every track). With some albums in the honorable mentions section, the separation between them and the Top 10 is very slight. And then some honorable mentions are a distance from the Top 10's greatness, but they were still albums I liked. These albums had some really good songs, but then also some not-so-great ones.

(The embedded songs are not necessarily my favorite track on the album, just the song I felt like putting on today)

1. The Decemberists - The King is Dead



2. Adele - 21



3. Beirut - The Rip Tide



4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues



5. Bon Iver - Bon Iver



6. Wye Oak - Civilian



7. Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials



8. Lisa Hannigan - Passenger



9. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne



10. Milo Greene - The Hello Sessions* / Other Lives - Tamer Animals

*The reason this is a tie is that I felt Milo Greene definitely needed to be in my Top 10, but they technically don't have an album yet. The closest they have to an album at this point is a 4-song sampler. But I'm so in love with this band. And everything they do, I love. If they had a full album out, they would be higher up on the list. But as they don't, I felt they deserved to be in the Top 10 but probably should be at the bottom. And in case anyone thought it was a cop-out that they're on the list despite not having a full album, I decided to include the next album on my list -- so that at the very least I have 10 full albums in the Top 10 list. Thus, Other Lives.





Honorable Mentions:
11. The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow (I went back and forth between this album and Other Lives for the #10 spot. I had the hardest time deciding. So I feel like it deserves an embedded song)



12. Thao & Mirah - Thao & Mirah
13. The Head and the Heart - The Head and the Heart
14. The Black Keys - El Camino
15. Tennis - Cape Dory
16. Wilco - The Whole Love
17. Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest
18. Feist - Metals
19. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
20. Eisley - The Valley
21. Bright Eyes - The People's Key
22. Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire
23. Death Cab For Cutie - Codes and Keys
24. Dawes - Nothing is Wrong
25. David Bazan - Strange Negotiations

---

Favorite Movies: 
1. Midnight in Paris
2. Bridesmaids
3. Beginners
4. The Artist
5. Win Win
6. Even the Rain
7. Incendies
8. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
9. Tree of Life
10. Moneyball
11. 50/50
12. The Descendants
13. Abel
14. Le Havre
15. Submarine
16. Jane Eyre
17. My Week With Marilyn
18. The Future
19. Martha Marcy May Marlene
20. Another Earth

Documentaries:
1. Our School
2. Life in a Day
3. Catching Hell
4. Hot Coffee
5. The Learning

---

Favorite TV:
If I did a Top 25, I'd pretty much just be listing every show I watch -- so I'm making a list of shows that I felt were exceptional or "special" this year (e.g., 30 Rock was great this year. It's great every year. But it was pretty much the same old 30 Rock this year. Nothing really stood out as different or exceptional).

1. Breaking Bad (!!!)
2. Community
3. Boardwalk Empire
4. Homeland
5. Portlandia
6. Louie
7. Curb Your Enthusiasm
8. Game of Thrones
9. Parks & Recreation
10. Big Love (A great final season to end the series)
11. An Idiot Abroad
12. The Women's Soccer World Cup (not exactly a show, but it provided some excellent TV watching this summer. So much drama!)

Other good TV this year: 30 Rock, Modern Family, Dexter, Nurse Jackie, The Big C, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The United States of Tara, The Walking Dead, The Hour, The Ricky Gervais Show, Hell on Wheels, Top Chef: All-Stars

Notes: The Office is doing better than I thought it would without Steve Carrell -- but it's still kind of struggling. I enjoyed the Glee episode dedicated to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album. I felt they ended United States of Tara well. The Killing was frustrating. I'm still pissed there was no Mad Men in 2011.

---

Favorite Books: 
This list consists of books I read in 2011 and not necessarily books released in 2011. I was planning on doing Top 20 fiction and Top 5 non-fiction (as I tended to read more fiction this year), but Travels With Charley was begging to be on the list. So it'll be a 19-6 split.

1. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
2. The Art of Fielding- Chad Harbach
3. A Visit From the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
4. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
5. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
6. The Tiger's Wife - Tea Obreht
7. Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann
8. So Much For That - Lionel Shriver
9. The Cat's Table - Michael Ondaatje
10. Freedom - Jonathan Franzen
11. Room - Emma Donoghue
12. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz
13. The Marriage Proposal - Jeffrey Eugenides
14. Great House - Nicole Krauss
15. Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
16. State of Wonder - Ann Patchett
17. A Gate at the Stairs - Lorrie Moore
18. In the Woods - Tana French
19. The Fates Will Find Their Way - Hannah Pittard

Non-Ficton:
1. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot
2. The Warmth of Other Suns - Isabel Wilkerson
3. The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
4. Bossypants - Tina Fey
5. Unfamiliar Fishes - Sarah Vowell
6. Travels with Charley - John Steinbeck

Sam Cooke - How Far Am I From Canaan?

It's a Sam Cooke kind of day.



I've been reading Isabel Wilkerson's book The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (an excellent book), and it has me on a serious gospel music kick.

Sad Songs

Remember how I was just talking about sad songs? Well, here's another!

Kathleen Edwards - Alicia Ross

This song isn't just sad, it's devastating. Kathleen Edwards is no stranger to writing (gorgeous) sad songs, but this one has an extra deep level of sadness because it's based on a real life person. Alicia Ross was a 25-year-old from Canada that went missing and the investigation got a lot of media attention. Her next door neighbor eventually turned himself in for killing her. This song gives me some serious chills.





I am a girl with a forgettable face
And no matter my color, no matter my name
At work there is a boy and he treats me well
And my old friends from high school, well I see them around

And August is here. I can't believe how fast
And soon there will be winter and snow on the ground
And maybe by then I could get my own place, closer to the city if that's ok

Mama, can you feel me as I dragged on my day's last cigarette?
He pulled me so hard off my very own backdoor steps
And he lay me in his garden, all the years I've watched him tend
And then he took me, mama, so I could never tell you about it

And inside of this moment there are things that I wish I could know
Like your ring size, and my ring size, the hour I was born, and my dad's middle name, and your favorite song...
Was your darkest day as dark as this one?

Mama, can you feel me as I dragged on my day's last cigarette?
He pulled me so hard off my very own backdoor steps
And he lay me in his garden, all the years I've watched him tend
And then he took me, mama, so I could never tell you about it

Now I'm a girl who's face they'll never forget


(I love the outro)

Noooo!

The Cincinnati CityBeat interviewed Nate Query, the bass player for The Decemberists:

CB: There have been other mixed reports that I have been reading that you guys may be taking a very long break. Is there any truth to that? 
NQ: We're going to be taking a long break. We don’t have an end (to the hiatus) completely settled, but we were talking like three years or something like that, which is a pretty long time. Many bands take that long to put a record out, but we are making it kind of a break where we are not planning on doing shows together or anything. We are letting everybody focus on other stuff. We usually take a break in between records, but a lot of times we end up doing a few shows here or there in the summer. We're trying to make it more of a real hiatus and let everybody go to their own little corner and do their own stuff for a little bit.

If It's The Beaches

The climatic scene from The Champ, with Ricky Schroder crying over his father, is (scientifically) considered the saddest movie scene. It's the scene, used in a laboratory setting, that elicits the most sadness. Even more so than the scene in which Bambi's mom dies. Psychologists often use the clip from The Champ to get participants sad in order to study the effects of sadness (e.g., one study found that people are more likely to spend money when they are sad).

Researchers say it's a good scene because it produces one dominant emotion. Some suggestions for sad movie scenes were eliminated because they elicit a mixture of emotions like sadness AND anger. So I guess that's probably why my go-to heartbreaking scene from Steel Magnolias didn't make the cut. It's too complex. There's sadness, anger ("I just want to hit something!"), and it even makes you smile at the end ("Take a whack at Ouiser!"). That's right, it's too complex for you lab rats! (Also, I wouldn't be surprised if psychologists wouldn't want to use it because some male participants probably would be too stubborn to cry at Steel Magnolias. Because it's a girrrrl movie. Whereas, macho guys maybe allow themselves to cry when it comes to sports movies. Like Brian's Song. So maybe The Champ is universally crying-acceptable).

You might think that I will now discuss what movie scenes I think are the saddest. And while I do have a list of obvious contenders (i.e., movies where people die: Steel Magnolias, Beaches, Terms of Endearment, Boys on the Side...I've talked about these before) and not-necessarily-so-obvious contenders (i.e., scenes -- or moments in scenes -- that aren't necessarily sad, but they make me sad. Like in Almost Famous when William says to his sister's boyfriend -- as they're packing up to move away -- "take good care of her....man." And it's how he insecurely inserts the "man" at the end in order to sound cool. He's going to miss his sister and he's looking for approval from his sister and her boyfriend. And the boyfriend just rolls his eyes and laughs. That always breaks my heart a little), I'm not actually going to be discussing sad movie scenes for this post.

While the article did make me think about sad movies scenes, it then evolved into me thinking about sad songs. And while I was compiling a list in my head of sad songs, a sad song actually started playing on my itunes in the background (further proof that my itunes/ipod is sentient). And that's the point of this whole entry, to present this sad song. This sad song about not accepting that your significant other doesn't want to be with you anymore, and you're begging them to not end it, and that you promise you'll be someone that they want.

The Avett Brothers - If It's The Beaches


(The creator of this video took the 'beach' part of the song and ran with it...)

Don't say it's over, 'cause that's the worst news I could hear
I swear that I will do my best to be here just the way you like it
Even though it's hard to hide, push my feelings all aside
I will rearrange my plans and change for you
If I could go back, that's the first thing I would do
I swear that I would do my best to follow through
Come up with a master plan, a homerun hit, a winning stand
A guarantee, and not a promise, that I'll never let your love slip from my hands
If it's the beaches...if it's the beaches' sands you want, then you will have them
If it's the mountains' bending rivers, then you will have them
If it's a wish to run away, then I will grant it
Take whatever you think of, while I go gas up the truck
Pack the old love letters up, we will read them when we forget why we left here

Amy Winehouse

A brilliant marriage of classic soul, R&B, and jazz with modern pop music. Think what you will of Amy Winehouse as a person, but this girl was talented. From Amy's songwriting abilities, Mark Ronson's amazing producing skills, and Amy's distinct contralto vocals, Back to Black was a fantastic album. What a tragedy that Amy Winehouse's demons (seemingly) got the best of her. She was only 27.

The Way It Goes

Gillian Welch performs my favorite song off her new album on Conan.



David Rawlings is such an amazing guitarist.

Use Somebody

This is a gorgeous video, but it's incredibly sad. If you're not in the mood for seeing something sad, don't watch the video...but at least listen to the song. It is hauntingly beautiful.

Scala & Kolacny Brothers - Use Somebody (Kings of Leon cover)

(Be sure to watch it in full screen)

Rocky Votolato & Matt Pond

Last night I attended an amazing concert with Rocky Votolato and Matt Pond (off Matt Pond PA, of course). How perfect that they're touring together -- that's like an all-star dream team for me. These are two of my favorite artists. I always get excited every time they release an album, and their albums never disappoint. Both are such great songwriters and singers. I've seen them both in concert numerous times and I'm always so impressed with their live shows.

I was thinking last night that it's been almost ten years since the first time I saw Rocky Votolato and Matt Pond PA in concert (MPPA was at Kilby Court. Rocky Votolato was at DV8, or whatever it was called back then. Didn't it go through like a billion name changes? Wasn't X-scape another name? I just googled Club DV8 and found out that the club actually burned down in 2008 and the building was demolished! Wow). Almost ten years. That kind of blew my mind a little bit -- where has the time gone? It also made me think about how not every musician/band I liked in high school has stood the test of time. There's stuff that was listenable to me back then but isn't so much now (Well, to be fair, it's still listenable. It's listenable in the sense that hearing it brings back feelings of nostalgia. But if I just heard it today, with no connection to any memories or events or history, it would not make the cut). But Rocky Votolato and Matt Pond PA have stood the test of time -- I love them just as much as I did back then, if not more (as the catalog grows, you appreciate it even more in its fullness).

Matt Pond is touring as a "solo" act -- in that he's touring as Matt Pond and not with the band Matt Pond PA. However, he played (stripped down) Matt Pond PA songs and he had some friends accompany him (a lead guitar player and a cello player. I was so glad to see the cello player -- hearing MPPA songs without a cello present just seems wrong). Both Matt and Rocky played songs from several of their albums, which I really appreciated and enjoyed. It was a great sampling. Although, as I was feeling nostalgic after reflecting on the fact that it's been 9 years for Rocky (or 11 if you count Waxwing) and 11 years for Matt Pond PA since I first bought their albums, I was (selfishly) hoping they would play something from what I consider my introductory albums. While Rocky did play a few songs as far back as Suicide Medicine (LOVE that album), I was hoping he would play at least one song from Burning My Travels Clean -- that's the album that first got me into Rocky as a solo act. I would have loved to hear "Don't Walk Out On Me" or "Like Silver". Matt played stuff as far back as The Green Fury. It really took me back. Though, I was really hoping he would play "The Hollows" from Measure. That's where it all started for me. Regardless, I still loved all the songs they played. They played a lot of my favorites.

The highlight of the night was when Matt sang with Rocky on "White Daisy Passing" and Rocky sang with Matt on "New Hampshire". Both are some of my favorite songs of theirs, and to have those be the songs they sang together was such a treat.

New Hampshire

Objects: Changing Records

I don't know if it was because I heard that The Strokes have a new album coming out soon. Or if it was because the temperature outside was in the 60s, the windows were all open in the house, and I felt like dancing. But I had the urge to pull out The Strokes album "Is This It?" It had been so long since I had listened to this album.

I loved this album when it came out. I had previously heard the songs on their "The Modern Age" EP and really liked them, and so when I saw my local record store had the UK release of "Is This It?" (which came out before the US release. The US album wasn't out yet), I had to get it. This was also during my big vinyl record phase (I love records and will always love records, but there was a time when I opted to purchase the record instead of the CD. Those days are no more. Actually, CD-buying days are pretty much no more, as well). Anyway, like I said, I loved this album. This album was so catchy and fun. Hearing it now, it reminds me of when I was a senior in high school. It particularly makes me think of this one drive that my friend Shannon and I took to Provo (correction: I think it was Lindon) for a show our band was playing. I remember us dancing along to the music in the car, with the windows open and the sun shining. I remember feeling carefree (the high school version of 'carefree' pretty much translates into having a license, a car to drive, and being able to drive around with friends. No parents! YES!).

 Soma by hconover

This album also brings up another discussion. Directly after 9/11 happened, things were...different. I guess that's the best word. Everyone was deeply affected by this tragedy, but it resulted in some crazy reactions ("freedom fries", anyone?). The music industry was one of those areas where you saw some crazy reactions. "Is This It?" was affected by such reactions. The U.S. version of "Is This It?" was released shortly after 9/11, in October 2001 (the UK version was released in August 2001). Aside from the fact that the U.S. album cover art had to be changed because the original picture was too racy, the song "New York City Cops" had to be removed. The chorus had the line "New York City cops, they ain't too smart." And you can't be saying that about 9/11 heroes, right?! So they removed that song and added a different one -- which is pretty ridiculous, if you think about it. There was a lot of unnecessary tip-toeing and oversensitivity directly after 9/11. Regardless, it feels neat to own the uncensored album that includes the original cover art and the original track list.

Speaking of 9/11 changes, it also reminds me of Jimmy Eat World. They released their album "Bleed American" in July 2001. After 9/11, they changed the album title to "Jimmy Eat World" (self-titled).  [I believe in 2008 they released a deluxe edition of the album and they went back to the original album title -- I guess enough time had passed since 9/11 that the title was no longer a sensitive issue]. As I purchased "Bleed American" when it first came out, I have the original, pre-9/11 title.

Suze Rotolo

Suze Rotolo died a few days ago, at the age of 67. She was an artist who was probably best known as Bob Dylan's girlfriend/muse in the early 60s. She's the one walking with Bob Dylan on the cover picture of "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan". The song "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" is about her (as well as other songs).

I was looking for pictures of Suze on google, and I came across these great old pictures of her and Bob Dylan. They're so young in these pictures...

I Heart Colin Meloy

Colin Meloy, of The Decemberists, on their new album "The King is Dead":

When my parents got divorced, my dad took the Stones records and my mom took the Neil Young records, so I guess this record is my way of getting the albums back together.

Aww.

The interviewer also brought up "The King is Dead" reaching #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and he asked What if the records keep selling? Why couldn't the band be superstars? Meloy thought about that and then responded,

I am reminded of when we were recording the album and we would play a song for the label guys, and they would go, "Hey, that sounds like a hit -- in 1987." Then we'd play another. "Hey, that's a hit, too -- in 1991." In other words, I think we missed the boat.

Mumford & Sons + The Avett Brothers + Bob Dylan!

From last night's Grammy Awards

Man, Bob Dylan is getting old. I keep forgetting this, and then I see/hear him and reminded yet again. 

But Of Course

Today I watched a clip of Arcade Fire accepting their Grammy award for Album of the Year (Awesome! Also, just because there's a bunch of people that haven't heard the album, it doesn't mean the album is any less good or less worthy of the award). They gave their thanks and then played one more song. And guess who introduced them/presented them their award? Barbra Streisand...and KRIS KRISTOFFERSON!

The Great Outdoors

Rolling Stone has a clip of the song "The Great Outdoors", which The Decemberists wrote for an upcoming episode of Yo Gabba Gabba (damn, kids these days are hip!). Sadly, unlike previous musical guests on the show, The Decemberists do not appear on the show in person.

(There's an advertisement before the clip)

Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes have released the song "Helplessness Blues". This song appears on their upcoming second album (the album is also called "Helplessness Blues"). The album will be released in early May.

I'm really loving this song. I definitely hear some Simon & Garfunkel influences. I can't wait for the album to come out.

 Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues by hconover

Things I Liked About 2010, Pt. 1

I'm just now getting around to making my Best of 2010 list. I might be a little late to the party, but here it is nonetheless. Without further ado, I present my list of Things I Liked about 2010 (a very incomplete list).

Movies:
The Fighter, The King's Speech, Black Swan, The Social Network, Inception, Carlos (the longer version), Made In Dagenham, Never Let Me Go, Toy Story 3, Illégal, Certified Copy, Winter's Bone, The Kids Are All Right, True Grit, Mr. Nobody
Documentaries: Les Arrivants (The Arrivals), Waiting for Superman, Freakonomics, Exit Through the Gift Shop, The Other City.

Items of Note:
I saw Casablanca for the first time ever. Luckily, I was able to see it on the big screen at the AFI theatre. I loved it.

This year Eagan and I took advantage of the many great special film events in the area. There were free screenings; advanced screenings; and screenings with discussions afterwards with the director, writers, and/or actors. This year we attended screenings that included Edward Norton, Sam Rockwell, Tony Goldwyn, Betty Anne Waters and Barry Scheck -- who were portrayed in the movie Conviction, Oliver Stone and the writers of South of the Border, the people involved with 8: The Mormon Proposition, Ambassador Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame -- who were portrayed in the movie Fair Game (the director, Doug Limas, was also there). And Neal Conan, from NPR, moderated two of the above discussion panels.
We also enjoyed the different film festival and film showcases in the area, including the Silverdocs documentary film festival, the European Union Film Festival, The Latin American Film Festival, and the Labor Film Festival.

During Thanksgiving break, the AFI was the host of a special road show of the full (uncut) version of Carlos. It was 5.5 hours long (with 2 intermissions!). That is definitely the longest movie I have ever seen -- and all in one sitting. It was a really fascinating film and didn't seem like 5.5 hours. Edgar Ramirez, the actor that played Carlos, did an amazing job.

TV:
Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Community, 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Parks and Recreation, Louie, The Walking Dead, The Ricky Gervais Show, Glee, Modern Family, Nurse Jackie, Dexter, The United States of Tara, The Big C, The Benson Interruption, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret

Music:
Rocky Votolato - True Devotion, Arcade Fire - The Suburbs, Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Girl Talk - All Day, Sarah Jaffe - Suburban Nature,  The Black Keys - Brothers, Matt Pond PA - The Dark Leaves, Stars - The Five Ghosts, Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP, She & Him - Volume Two, Broken Bells - Broken Bells, Jenny and Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now, Best Coast - Crazy For You, Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More, Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues, Azure Ray - Drawing Down the Moon, Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me, Band of Horses - Infinite Arms, Midlake - The Courage of Others, Jakob Dylan "Women and Country", J. Tillman - Tillman Sings 'Tonight's The Night'.

Items of Note:
Aaron Neville played a free concert in our neighborhood! He played all his major hits and other great R&B/Soul standards.

The best concert I attended in 2010 was an intimate living room concert that Rocky Votolato played in Ogden. One of the best shows I've ever attended.

Books:
The Best American Magazine Writing 2009 by The American Society of Magazine Editors; Franklin & Eleanor by Hazel Rowley; Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs by John Bowe, Marisa Bowe & Sabin Streeter; Everything is Going to be Great by Rachel Shukert; American Voyeur by Benoit Denizet-Lewis; The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson; The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall; The False Friend by Myla Goldberg; The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender; I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson

Items of Note:

I know it's not a book, but Eagan got me a subscription to The New Yorker this year as a gift and I love it dearly. Each weekly issue is usually 100+ pages, so it's pretty much like a book. Each issue is like a really great book of essays. There are great in-depth articles on politics, social issues, economics, science, pop culture, and profiles on interesting people.

We attended a lot of great book readings this year. My favorites were David Rakoff (for "Half Empty", Jonathan Franzen (for "Freedom"), Jonathan Safran Foer (for "Eating Animals"), Roxana Saberi (for "Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran", and Nell Irvin Painter (for "The History of White People").

David Rakoff and Jonathan Safran Foer (*swoon*)

Happy New Year

My dear acquaintance, it's so good to know you

For strength of your hand that is loving and giving

And happy new year with love overflowing

With joy in our hearts, what a blessed new year

Raise your glass and we'll have a cheer

For us all who are gathered here

And a happy new year to all that is living

To all that is gentle, kind, and forgiving

Raise your glass and we'll have a cheer

My dear acquaintance, a happy new year

All of those who are hither and yonder

With love in our hearts we grow fonder and fonder

Hail to those who we hold so dear

And hail to those who are gathered here

And a happy new year to all that is living

To all that is gentle, young, and forgiving

Raise your glass and we'll have a cheer

My dear acquaintance, a happy new year.

Happy New Year.