Podcast: John’s Best of 2010

2010 is done, and I believe most of us have now gotten used to writing down 2011 on letters/emails/what-have-you’s. It was a good year. It had some nice, solid albums (Hot Chip; Broken Social Scene), some duds (Hold Steady; Mystery Jets), some nice returns of old favorites (Blur; Velvet Teen), and then some songs you wish were never made (read: anything by the Black Eyed Peas). In particular, I think Tokyo Police Club‘s sophomore effort Champ is one of the standouts of the year. Really, really great stuff.

So even though it’s no longer mid-November, here’s a podcast remembering the year in music. This by no means is a comparative list of what I deem to be the best songs of the year. Nooo. This is really just a snapshot of some of the great songs made this year while I’ve been searching for jobs, interviewing at the worst jobs (again, don’t ask), and successfully job getting (twice) (finally). Here’s to 2010 being one better than 2009. – John

 
Podcast: John’s Best of 2010

Featuring Fang Island, Apples in Stereo, Blur, Los Campesinos!, Tim Kasher, Gorillaz, Marching Band, Tokyo Police Club, The Velvet Teen, Broken Social Scene, Sex Bob-Omb, Kanye West, The Thermals, Ben Folds & Nick Hornby, Beck, Rabbits Running, OK Go, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, and The Hold Steady.

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Details after the jump…

Podcast: Dominick’s Best of 2010

Now that 2010 is actually over, John and I will be sharing our favorite songs and albums of 2010 via podcast; this week belongs to me and the following will belong to him. Paring my list down to a reasonable length (that is, short enough to fit on a CD, though I’m sure I’m flattering myself by imagining that people actually will take the time to burn it) was difficult, which certainly says something good about this year’s releases. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I’ve abandoned the whole year-end list nonsense, having found ranking albums to be both reductive and unproductive, but I feel that a podcast like this is a good alternative. These are the songs I love the most from the albums I love the most. I want only to share. That said, if I had to encourage you to go out and buy only one album that was released this year, it’d probably be Public Strain by Women, both because it’s phenomenal and because I’m hoping that good album sales will encourage them to reunite (they broke up a couple months ago following a brother-on-brother onstage brawl; dramatic, right?). Anyhow… enjoy! And be sure to check back next week to hear from John, who will doubtless offer an entirely different perspective on the year in music. – Dominick

 
Podcast: Dominick’s Best of 2010

Featuring Warpaint, Kanye West, Woods, Future Islands, Menomena, Gil Scott-Heron, The Black Keys, Shad, Deerhunter, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Das Racist, Women, LA Font, Bonnie “Prince” Billy & The Cairo Gang, Shearwater, Swans, Asura, and Spoon.

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Details after the jump…

Podcast: To Izzy in Portland

This summer, before she left California to go to college in Portland, my friend Izzy Harada made me a pair of mix CDs to make up for missing our show at Echo Curio. I thought they were awesome and promised her I’d return the favor. The result is this podcast. Izzy, I hope this finds you well. Enjoy! – Dominick

 
Podcast: To Izzy in Portland

Featuring Gil Scott-Heron, The Walkmen, Future Islands, Shearwater, Grouper, Liars, Women, Meneguar, Themselves & WHY?, The Tallest Man on Earth, Akron/Family, Mount Eerie, Ugly Casanova, tUnE-yArDs, Parts & Labor, The Pixies, Bruce Peninsula, St. Vincent, Deer Tick, and The Cave Singers.

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Details after the jump…

Podcast: Dominick’s Hip-Hoptimistic

If you’re like me, you get sick of mainstream hip-hop very quickly. I mean, like, we get it, Jay-Z, you’re filthy rich and dating Beyonce. I’m still waiting for a rep from Universal to come out and admit that Lil Wayne’s career is just a long-running, well-written joke. And does it not bother anyone that 50 Cent can’t even rap? (I think Doseone said it rather well when he likened the styles of Lil Wayne and 50 Cent to “two grandmas kissing.”) At any rate, that’s why I made this podcast. This is rap that gets me inspired, that reminds me that hip-hop can be intelligent, constructive, powerful, ambitious, poetic, and responsible. This is 48 minutes of rap that helped make me a believer.

I mean, check some of this stuff out. Invicible’s guest spot on Finale’s “Waiting Game” is like good boxing, deadly but gorgeous, not to mention proof that a white woman can rap circles around your average black male rapper. GZA’s “Paper Plate” is a chorus-less series of verses over a skeletal beat that’s so relentless it’s a struggle to keep up, which is pretty much par for the course when you’re talking about GZA, who’s been rapping since the seventies and is still white hot. The last minute of Edan’s “Making Planets” puts the whole rest of the track in perspective, like a story-ending Joycean epiphany. “That’s That” witnesses DOOM cramming so many rhymes into one song that it’ll make your head spin. “Rapping4Money” will make you wish Yoni Wolf still rapped and remind you why Doseone should never stop. Black Milk’s “Losing Out” attests to the magic that can happen when a producer pays real attention to detail; check out the way he cuts out the percussion in the third verse, raps “boom-bap-boom,” and drops a low 808 hit under the third syllable.

I could go on like this for days, obviously. But I won’t, because you should listen for yourself. As always, if you dig something you hear, go out and buy the album. These folks aren’t rapping for the money (and accordingly don’t make much), they’re rapping because they love it and because they believe in it.

 
Dominick’s Hip-Hop Podcast

Featuring GZA/Genius, Clipse, Finale, Themselves, Busdriver, Edan, Aesop Rock, DOOM, Black Milk, and Invincible.

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Details after the jump…

Best of 2009 Podcasts

In celebration of the fact that 2010 will be the year of the Kazai Rex, we’ve decided to kick it off with a couple of new podcasts. John and I each put together our own podcast with our favorite tracks from our favorite albums of 2009. There are a few overlaps (The Flaming Lips, St. Vincent, Yo La Tengo) so you can be assured those albums are double-good. If you hear something new you like, check that artist out and, if you feel so inclined, buy his/her album. Most of these tracks are by independent artists who really can use every penny they can get. Like one of my favorite rappers, Invicible, says: You want good music, you gotta support it. –Dom

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Dominick’s Best of 2009 Podcast

Featuring the xx, the Flaming Lips, Woods, Finale, Yo La Tengo, the Fresh and Onlys, Circulatory System, Califone, White Denim, OOIOO, St. Vincent, Themselves, Thee Oh Sees, Akron/Family, Bruce Peninsula, Magnolia Electric Co., Mount Eerie, and Bonnie “Prince” Billy.

>>Right-click, save-as to download in mp3 format

John’s Best of 2009 Podcast

Featuring Beirut, Phoenix, the Protomen, Ben Kweller, Wilco, Neko Case, Flight of the Conchords, the Flaming Lips, St. Vincent, Animal Collective, Karen O and the Kids, Andrew Bird, the Thermals, Sondre Lerche, Yo La Tengo, and Cursive.

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Details of both podcasts after the jump…

June 2009 Podcast – John

Featuring Medeski, Martin & Wood, Audrye Sessions, Josh Ritter, Beirut, The Thermals, Cougar, Ben Folds, Beulah, The Stills, Jackie Greene, The Littlest Man Band, and Tally Hall.

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More info after the jump.

May 2009 Podcast – Stacey

Featuring Ida Maria, The Ting Tings, The Shangri-Las, Dr. Dog, The Kills, DJ Blaqstarr and Rye Rye, The Ettes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Rilo Kiley, Eleni Mandell, and Vivian Girls.

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February 2009 Podcast – Dominick

Featuring Erykah Badu, Wooden Shjips, Larkin Grimm, Antony & The Johnsons, Lichens, Invincible, Eddie Vedder, Subtle, Radio Sumatra, TV on the Radio, Zola Jesus, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Van Morrison, Tunnels, Yura Yura Teikoku, The Soulsavers, Themselves and Spiritualized.

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More info after the jump.

January 2009 Podcast – Austin

Featuring George Harrison, Stephen Meenk, Modest Mouse, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Pfeifer Sam, The Dodos, Stephen Malkmus, and The Polyphonic Spree.

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December 2008 Podcast – Danny

Featuring The Cribs, Talking Heads, Dr. John, Supergrass, Sam Cooke, Mondo Diao, Alan Price Set, Elvis Costello, Oliver Morgan, The Beach Boys, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Spoon.

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November 2008 Podcast – John

Featuring Mystery Jets, The Benevento/Russo Duo, Eagles of Death Metal, I’m From Barcelona, Deerhunter, The Stills, The Depreciation Guild, Evil Wezil, Ben Folds, Ozma, Secret Mommy, The Velvet Teen, and Fu Manchu.

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More info after the break.

October 2008 Podcast – Stacey

Featuring Jenny Lewis, The Duke Spirit, Mother Mother, Samantha Crain & Midnight Shivers, Santogold, The Shaggs, Thao, Emily Wells, and Anya Marina.

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More info after the break.

September 2008 Podcast – Dominick

A light blend of folk and psychedelia featuring Twink, Fleet Foxes, The Tallest Man on Earth, Fursaxa, Mount Eerie, Silver Summit, Hayden, Religious Knives, Dirt Dress, Thao, The Dutchess & The Duke, and Crystal Antlers.

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More info after the break.