Top 10 Albums of 2010

Here is my Top 10 Albums list.  I compile my top10 list every year, or at least have for the past 5 years or so, but this is the first time I am actually publishing mine (publish... ha.  on my lil baby blog.).

My criteria is ultimately just what I listen to the most.  Because if I like it a lot, and it means something to me, then I listen to it a lot.  There's that.  Extra comments are added with each entry.  Several other albums are also mentioned at the end.  About half of my albums have been on lots of top 10 lists, and the other half have not.

Sit back and enjoy the pretty album covers.

10. Salem - King Night
This album more than likely would have been higher up on the list had I not just started listening to the band right after Thanksgiving.  Cody and I both heard the title track in the Urban Outfitters in Santa Monica when we were wandering around and quickly found each other in the store to ask if the other one heard it.  The album is dark and I love it.



9. jj - no3
jj's music always sounds very summery to me but it seems like I always end up listening to it the most when it is cold and dreary or snowy outside.  I listen to this album a lot when I am cleaning.  P.S. does jj release like one new album every 6 months or something?!



8. Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle
I feel like nobody knows this album exists.  Except for me.  Not as phenomenal as 23, but definitely really good.



7. Black Keys - Brother
I am really big on having a good album opener, and Everlasting Light is definitely a great start to begin a great album.



6. Stars - The Five Ghosts
Pretty pretty pretty.  My favey band.  I still think Heart was their best album though.



5. Beach House - Teen Dream
I decided when I first listened to this on January that it was going to be in the top 5 of my fave albums of the year.  I was right.  Less drone-y than their previous stuff... I like it to be more mnstrm sorry.



4. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
This man can do no wrong in my eyes.  The album did not disappoint.  Worth the wait, definitely.



3. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
Another very winter-y album in my mind.  I have very distinct memories of listening to this album while painting the dining room and kitchen with Kate, when it was really snowy outside.  Some of their songs on this album sounded like Animal Collective and I even thought some sounded like TV On The Radio.

2. Phantogram - Eyelid Movies
I wrote about Phantogram back in February (here) - their catchy wonderfulness has stood the test of time.  Or a year, at least.  You Are The Ocean is a pretty pretty song.  Also their music video for Mouthful of Diamonds is great if you like midcentury modern cabins in the snow (and it seems to be, some sort of shovel man?).



1. Gayngs - Relayted
This one wins by a landslide.  I have so so so many good memories and experiences attached to this album.  Not to mention, Justin Vernon, autotuned.  It's great that an album that was originally intended to be a bit of a parody actually ended up being pretty phenomenal.



Honorable Mention (2 categories, and in no order)

Albums that were in the 11th - 20th place range:
Horse Feathers - Thistled Spring (soooo good to take naps to)
Chemical Brothers - Further
White Hinterland - Kairos (listen to that album a fair amount while cleaning too)
Broken Bells - Broken Bells
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
M.I.A. - /\/\ /\ Y /\
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Kanye West - My Dark Beautiful Twisted Fantasy (YES this was good, NO not the best in all of music history, but again, Justin Vernon, autotuned, I rest my case)
Sleigh Bells - Treats
Tame Impala - Innerspeaker (and I likey the album art)

Albums that probably would have booted others if I had listened to them more than like once in the car when I am not really paying attention:
Girl Talk - All Day
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
Blakroc - BlakRoc

Also Geographer - Animal Shapes was really good but it was only an EP so I didn't include it.

2010 was a good year for music, also for life in general.  After a couple kind of "meh" years, 2010 brought in some very nice surprises.  It was a very good year.

Here's to an exciting 2k11.  Hooray!

Happy Christmas to me/I am turning into my mother

The Christmas celebrations this year were great.  I had four Christmasses this year, as opposed to the one I am used to.  That basically made it four times as much fun.  One in Tulsa on the 25th, one in Oklahoma City on the 26th, one in Duncan on the 27th, and one in Claremore on the 28th.  It was relaxing and nice.  I'm thankful that all the families I spent the holidays with are so laid back.  Makes holidays so much more enjoyable.  Also I consumed more meat in those four days than probably the last four weeks!  (Plus someone very special got me a binary wall clock and some moccasin booties and the grey Stars + Small Stakes print!)

Before the holidays, I ordered some things from the Land's End Canvas line.  I suppose it's a bit of a rite of passage to make a Land's End or LL Bean purchase on your own accord - I guess that means I am a mature adult now.  But my excuse is that the Canvas line is less Lands-End-y than their regular line.  I think that makes it okay.  Or at least that's what I'm telling myself!

Black leggings (I am on the search to find the perfect pair of black leggings, and these are pretty close to it, plus they are only $9.99 right now - they fit well and have a high waist, which I like)

 

Suede shearling boots

 



Boot socks

Top 10 albums of 2k10 coming tomorrow!

Things to do in 2k11

(Cody are you reading this?)

1. Take a trip to Switzerland
2. Stay in a Whitepod
3. Ski and spa and snuggle
4. Be happy forever and ever

These look amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.whitepod.com

Wreafs

When I first started at OSU, my mom gave me a bit of advice.  She said, "The elective you should take, that you will use the most, is floral design."  She was right.  And the class has given me an affinity for wreaths.  Here are some holiday wreaths that I like.  Pretty pretty, versatile and easy to make!

Here, deer. (holiday edition)

I love this lil reindeer photo print.

close up:

by Atlantic Treefox, here.

Cement Pearl Earrings

So pretty!

here.

TRON Legacy

Yes, I am a glasses-wearing electrical engineer who is obsessed with a little movie from the 80s about an alternate world with people representing computer programs.
Yes, I am going to the midnight premiere of the sequel on Thursday.  With my boyfriend and my dad.
Yes, I am more than a little excited.
Yes, I realize this makes me just about the biggest nerd in the galaxy.

P.S. Daft Punk is doing the soundtrack.  So.  Awesome.

Stars + The Small Stakes

Stars = my favorite band
The Small Stakes = my favorite gig poster designer

So I was pretty excited to see these new additions to his website.  The prints are so pretty!

here.

'Tis the Season

Time for a post where I actually use more words than pictures!

It's the holiday season.  I'm not one of those ILOVECHRISTMASOMGGGGGGGG types but it is definitely a nice time of the year.  The decorations, the wreaths, the lights, the family recipes, the heirlooms, and of course the music.  My faves are the Charlie Brown Christmas album, Mannheim Steamroller, Sufjan Stevens and Amy Grant (cause you don't have to be a child to love the mystery, MYSTERYYYYYYY).

When I was in high school, I was in concert chorus.  Every year we had a Christmas medley that we would learn and go around the Tulsa area to schools and different social functions, mostly involving really old people.  We wore Santa hats and Christmas sweatshirts with white dickies underneath.  Yes, they still sell dickies, or at least they did in 2002.  We even sang some songs on Channel 2's morning show.  The songs were the same each year - roughly 20 Christmas songs, mostly well-known so that the audience could sing along if they wanted.

One of our carols was written in 1954 by a lady named Wihla Hutson called We'll Dress the House.  The song talks about preparing your decorations, preparing a table for Christmas food, but then talks about something else: preparing your heart.  It's really quite a simple concept but I've always thought that she described it beautifully.  I won't really elaborate because I think the lyrics express it perfectly and poignantly, and much better than "NO I WON'T SAY HAPPY HOLIDAYS, YOU PAGAN, IT'S MERRY CHRISTMAS THANKYOUVERYMUCH."

We'll Dress the House - by Wihla Hutson

We'll dress the house with holly bright and sprigs of mistletoe
We'll trim the Christmas tree tonight and set the lights aglow
We'll wrap our gifts with ribbons gay and give them out on Christmas Day
By everything we do and say, our gladness we will show

We'll dress the table daintily, our finest treasures use
That all a-sparkle it may be and bright with lovely hues
Then for the feasting we'll prepare a kitchen full of wondrous fare
That each from all the dishes rare, his fav'rite one may choose

And ye who would the Christ child greet, your heart also adorn
That it may be a dwelling meet for Him who now is born
Let all unlovely things give place to souls bedecked with heavenly grace,
That ye may view His holy face with joy on Christmas morn

Sometimes it's really refreshing to recognize the theology that can be packed into things like Christmas carols about decorating your home.



(and yes I just realized that I have another post from like three weeks ago called 'Tis the Season but I sort of tend to overuse that phrase anyway so I'm going with it)