The Maxx was one of my favorite shows in High School, probably my favorite animated show. For the past seven years or so I have been checking to see if it was available on DVD and it never has been until now. Tonight, I randomly checked and it's now available for the very reasonable price of $17.99. My copy is in the mail.
I wanted to post my favorite albums of the year with just a little commentary. As I was putting this list together, I realized that lately I'm really into music that surprises me. When I am not expecting an album to be anything special and it blows me away, that is what keeps me so excited and interested in music, so that's how I ordered my list this year: by most surprising and exciting.
(p.s. All links below go to Spotify if you want to have a listen, or, you can listen to all of them in one big playlist here)
Their last album, Some Loud Thunder, is one of my favorites, so I was anticipating the follow-up. It's a solid album but not quite as good as their others.
This is the first Bon Iver album I've bought. I like the band quite a bit but they do suffer from not being overly exciting or as varied as I like in music. This album is really well done but too flat throughout for me to really love it.
Say Hi to Your Mom is one of those many bands I love who puts out consistently great work every year, and this year was no exception. Actually, this may be their most accessible album in my opinion. If you haven't heard this band yet, start here.
Another consistant-and-frequent band that I love. Their last album, The Life Of The World To Come, was not my cup of tea, so I was really happy to see they went back to what they do best- an incredibly well written indie/pop album despite the lead singer's polarizing voice. I loved it.
Mike Doughty, probably my favorite artist. This album did not disappoint. Not over or under produced, just a bunch of awesome songs. I hope he never stops making music.
This album threw me off. It's really good but it isn't like any of their other albums. It took me a while to figure it out but I think this album is the least catchy of all the MoS albums- but- I think like that. The songs are more complex than usual and the writing also has a lot more substance than some of the writing on their old albums. I love the direction they're going and only hopes it gets better.
Sara and I fell in love with this band- we even saw them at the Larimer Lounge before realizing they were a Colorado band. That's awesome. They are doing the somewhat trendy 50s/surfer-rock thing but they are doing it really, really well. I hear they are already working on a new album that will be produced by the Black Keys' Patrick Carney. Should be a hoot.
Matt and Kim is the most fun you will have listening to music. They are also known to be the best live band touring today, so I was really sad I missed them this year when I was out of town. I won't let that happen next year. I have been a little Matt & Kim obsessed this year.
I probably don't need to say much about the Decemberists, but they are far and away the band making the most consistently amazing music out there and The King is Dead is no exception. The blue-grassy feel of this album is perfect.
Alexander came in at #1 because I was blown away by how good the lead singer of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's solo album was. There is something so familiar, but so unique about his voice that makes this my favorite album of the year. When you hear him sing, it's as if you're listening to someone who has lived for hundreds of years and has the courtesy of distilling all of his wisdom down to a 10 track album for you to revel in. If you have not done so, listen to this album.
