Year End Music List

My Favorite Music of the year

1. Bright Eyes- The People’s Key
2. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
3. Bon Iver- S/T
4. Iron and Wine- Kiss Each Other Clean
5. The Head and The Heart- S/T
6. Paul McCartney- McCartney (reissue)
7. Feist- Metals
8. Wilco- The Whole Love
9. Girls- Father, Son, Holy Ghost
10. Ryan Adams- Ashes and Fire
11. The Elected- Bury Me in Rings
12. Death Cab for Cutie- Codes and Keys
13. Manchester Orchestra- Simple Math
14. Blind Pilot- We are the Tide
15. The Decemberists- The King is Dead


Honorable Mention
1. Deer Tick- Divine Providence
2. Middle Brother- S/T
3. Yuck- S/T
4. Explosions in the Sky- take care, take care, take care
5. Gary Clark Jr. – Bar Lights EP
6. City and Color- Little Hell

Favorite Discoveries
1. Caitlin Rose- Own Side(this one came out in 2010 or it would have been on my top albums)
2. Ray LaMontagne (I’ve never listened to him until this year. great stuff)
3. The song Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells (also came out last year. I hate the rest of the album)
4. Peasant- Shady Retreat ( another one that came out last year)

Favorite Songs (in no particular order)
1. Video Games- Lana Del Ray
2. The Mountain Goats- Damn These Vampires
3. Shook Down- Yuck
4. Chair- Big Deal
5. Honey Come Home- The Head and The Heart
6. Jejune Stars & Ladder Song- Bright Eyes
7. Montezuma & Helplessness Blues- Fleet Foxes
8. Glad Man Singing- Iron and Wine
9. Dearest- Black Keys (Buddy Holly cover)
10. Countdown- Beyonce (possibly my favorite song of the year)
11. Blue Eyes- Middle Brother
12. I Might- Wilco
13. Vomit & Alex- Girls
14. Lucky Now- Ryan Adams
15. Codex- Radio Head
16. We Found Each other in the Dark- City and Color
17. The Circle Married the Line- Feist
18. The Strokes- Undercover Darkness
19. Calgary- Bon Iver
20. Main Street- Deer Tick

I wish I could talk to my grandpa about Tim Tebow and how well the Broncos are doing right now. I miss him.

I'M GONNA LIVE!!

I've found a way to increase my life by at least 10 more years. Right now on average I have at least two Dr. Peppers a day. If your counting calories that's 500 a day. That's a quarter of my government approved daily intake. Throw in a Snickers bar and BAM! That's right around 800 calories.
Sorry for rambling.
I have found a solution to my over indulgence. Drum role please. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dr. Pepper 10.
It taste like Dr. Pepper, it kinda looks like Dr. Pepper, but it only has 10 calories per serving (20 calories if you buy a 20oz.).
It has a slight diet after taste, but its really not too bad. Since yesterday I've had three and I haven't really wanted a regular Dr. Pepper.

I'm not opposed to women drinking it. I think the add stupid.

"I will fight no more forever"

"I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are all killed. Looking Glass is dead....The old men are all dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no food. No one knows where they are....I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever."
-Chief Joseph

"The Indians throughout displayed a courage and skill that elicited universal praise. They abstained from scalping; let captive women go free; did not commit indiscriminate murder of peaceful families, which is usual, and fought with almost scientific skill....Nevertheless, they would not settle down on lands set apart for them...and when commanded by proper authority, they began resistance by murdering persons in no manner connected with their alleged grievances....They should never again be allowed to return to Oregon."
-William Tecumseh Sherman

Then, Joseph and his people were loaded onto the train. They were not going home, they were now told, but far away, into exile in the northeastern corner of Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma -- nearly 2,000 miles from their beloved Wallowa Valley. Once there, they found conditions unsanitary, medicine scarce. Sixty-eight of them perished in the first year alone. Soon, they had a cemetery set aside solely for babies, with 100 graves.

Top 10 Track Ones of All time (my all time)

Ryan Ward and myself have been throwing out the idea of doing a music podcast for a while. I think we're finally going to start it. It's mostly my fault that we haven't started already. I keep thinking I'm too busy, but I really want to make time to do it.
Today I was thinking of ideas for themes for the podcast. I think a good first show would be our favorite first tracks of albums. So here's a list of my top 10.

1. Like A Rolling Stone- Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited
2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band- The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
3. Smells Like Teen Spirit- Nirvana, Never Mind
4. I am Trying to Break your Heart- Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
5. To be young (is to be sad, is to be high)- Ryan Adams, Heartbreaker
6. Nebraska- Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska
7. At the Bottom of Everything- Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake it's Morning
8. Tired of Sex- Weezer, Pinkerton
9. The Good That Won't Come Out- Rilo Kiley, The Execution of All Things
10. Sleeping Lessons- The Shins, Wincing the Night Away

Before I Forget

Here is the set list of the best Bright Eyes show I've ever seen.

1. Another Travelin' Song
2. Four Winds
3. Bowl of Oranges
4. Take It Easy (Love Nothing)
5. Jejune Stars
6. Lover I Don't Have to Love
7. Shell Games
8. First Day of My Life
9. Landlocked Blues
10. Cartoon Blues
11. Hot Knives
12. Poison Oak
13. Falling Out of Love at This Volume
14. I Believe In Symmetry
15. Arc of Time
16. The Calendar Hung Itself
17. Ladder Song

Encore

18. Gold Mine Gutted
19. Wrecking Ball
    (Gillian Welch cover)
20. Road to Joy
21. One For You, One For Me

Thoughts on Becoming a Man

After four months of marriage you might think that I've already become a man. That's almost true. The truth is that you don't become a man until you fix a vacuum cleaner. That's right, fixing a vacuum cleaner is the final step that completes the becoming a man cycle.
This afternoon I used a screw driver to open up the bottom of the vacuum cleaner and what did I find a broken belt. From there I proceeded to ACE hardware store. To make a short story even shorter the vacuum was fixed and our carpets are clean.


Also it was a great week. We went to Denver to visit Christina's Aunt Marie. It was really great to spend time with her. My parents met us there on Sunday and on Monday we went to Water World. I'm not talking about Dennis Hopper or Kevin Cosner, but the LARGEST water park in the world (country, state, I'm really not sure). Then we all drove to Rexburg and camped at Rigby Lake for a couple of nights. In between all of that we made a trip to Yellow Stone. My parents can "mark it off of their bucket list now" as they say.




It was such a good week. Meghan, Brady, Jed, and Hannah were all missed. Also, Anna is the funniest little kid I know. We stayed up playing this game called Things and she was cracking us all up.

(I may or may not have called the Bissel Vacuum hotline to get help fixing the vacuum)

The Puffy Chair . . . . .

Was one of the worst movies ever. Don't watch it.

Bon Iver, Bon Iver

After considerable debate and discussion (mostly in my own mind) I've come to the conclusion that I really love the new self titled Bon Iver album.
I've never been this nervous for an album. For Emma was one of the greatest things I've eve heard in my whole life, and it made me scared to think of a second Bon Iver album. I don't love it as much as For Emma, but I still think its a great album, one of the best of the year for sure. . . . . . So, I highly recommend listening to it (not that my recommendation means anything).

Love,

Zach

My favorite albums 1/2 way through 2011.

I listened to All Songs Considered: The Year's Best Music (So Far) pod cast earlier this week and it made me want to make my own list. These are the albums I've listened to the most so far this year. There are still some really great albums coming out this year. Bon Iver comes out Tuesday. I pre-ordered it, so hopefully I get on release day. I heard the Avett Brothers are almost done recording their new album too, so I'm sure the list will get bigger by the end of the year.

1. Bright Eyes- The People's Key
2. The Elected- Bury Me in Rings
3. Radio Head- The King of Limbs
4. Death Cab for Cutie- Codes and Keys
5. Manchester Orchestra- Simple Math
6. The Decemberists- The King is Dead
7. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
8. Iron & Wine- Kiss Each Other Clean
   
9. Yuck- S/T

Thirty Day Song Challenge Sucks

I'm sorry I started it. Its ruining my life. I even posted this post in the wrong blog, that's how bad is getting. I quit. I'm bowing out. I'm donezo. Sayonara.

Thirty songs. Day 6

Thirty Songs. Day 6. A song that reminds you of somewhere. This song reminds me of Sasquatch 2009.

Artist: Bon Iver
Song: The Wolves (Act I and II)
Album: For Emma, Forever Ago

Thirty Songs. Day 5

Thirty Songs. Day 5. A song that reminds you of someone.
So you would think this song reminds me of Christina (I guess it kind of does), but this song reminds me of my dad. Winter 2010 when I was home for the semester I would come down stairs and my dad would be listening to either this song or the Avett Brothers.

Artist: Rodger Miller
Song Little Green Apples

Thirty Songs. Day 4

Day 4. A song that makes you sad. Let me rephrase that. . . A song that used to make you really sad.

Artist: Dashboard Confessional
Song: Screaming Infidelities
Album: Swiss Army Romance

Thirty Songs. Day 3

Day 3. A song that makes you happy

Artist: Her Space Holiday
Song: Sleepy Tigers
Album: Sleepy Tigers

Thirty Songs. Day 2

Your least favorite song. This one is easy.

Artist: Nickleback
Song: Photograph
Album: Who cares what the name of this album is. How anyone could finish a complete Nickleback album is beyond my comprehension. Just listen to the first verse of this song and you'll understand why this song is so bad. My favorite bad line is, "what the hell is on Joey's head." Enjoy or should I say Don't enjoy?

Codes and Keys

How does Death Cab keep getting better? I was expecting to finally be disapointed with Codes and Keys, but it's great just like the other albums.

Maverick Chips

I've got four things.
1st: Yesterday was xTina's bday. It was a really great day. We ate blue berry pancakes with fresh squeezed OJ (not the football player/actor/murderer), hiked a mountain, ate fries, bought clothes and finished it with cake and ice cream. I can't believe it was our 3rd June 4th together.

2nd: Maverick has these new chips that are really good. They are only $1 a bag and come in lots of good flavors. Try all the flavors expect one called flavor explosion (I'm not sure that's the name, but its the only one that's not a normal flavor.). It's awful. I made me want to throw up (literally).
But yeah the other ones are good. I usually get the sour cream and cheddar or the sea salt ones.

3rd: Another good value (cha ching!!). Go to the MC market on campus at lunch and get the 79 cent corn dogs. You won't be disappointed (or maybe you will because they are corn dogs after all).

4th: There is a ton of good new music out there just waiting to be listened to. Death Cab, Danger Mouse, Fleet Foxes, The Elected, Iron and Wine, Cass McCombs, Radiohead, Manchester Orchestra, and some others I'm sure I'm forgetting. They all have new albums that are really good.

Thirty Songs. Day 1. Your Favorite Song

So I saw this 30 song challenge on Facebook, but I really don't want to post it on my wall so I've decided to put it on my blog.
There's a theme for every day.

Day 1: Your favorite song
Artist: Ryan Adams
Song: Come Pick Me Up
Album: Heart Breaker

I Like This Guy

Same Beam from Iron and Wine

Sufjan Stevens

“That record has really meant a lot to me. It is probably the record I have connected with the most over the last five years or so. Not only because of its emotional content but also musically I feel like I’ve never heard music like that before. It’s one of the most groundbreaking records we’ve ever had as humans. It is weird to me that it hasn’t gotten more acclaim. I mean, it has gotten a lot of critical acclaim but I saw the records making critics’ album of the year lists and I just couldn’t believe that record wasn’t on top of all the lists. Anybody who really loves music and loves the art form should see that it was the most fantastic, most exceptional record made that year.”

Kevin Barnes on The Age of Adz

My top 10 artists of the week according to my last.fm account.

1. Fleet Foxes
2. Cass McCombs
3. J. Tillman
4. Fleetwood Mac
5. Adele
6. The Low Anthem
7. Beach House
8. Patrick Watson
9. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
10. Other Lives
    

Helplessness Blues.

If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
And you would wait tables and soon run the store

Gold hair in the sunlight, my light in the dawn
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
Someday I'll be like the man on the screen

The Elected

One of my favorite bands, The Elected, is releasing an album on May 17! They haven't released an album in 5 years.

Here's an old blog post I wrote about them. http://justchecktheblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-ate-too-much-butter-and-drank-too.html

Also here are a few little preview of the new album

http://stereogum.com/671562/the-elected-go-for-the-throat-stereogum-premiere/mp3s/

http://filtermagazine.com/index.php/news/entry/first_impressions_the_elected_bury_me_in_my_rings

If you want to listen to one of their older albums let me know and I'll send you one.

So I Married an Axe Murderer

We are married, not me and Thome but me and Christina.
It was a very nice little wedding. Then we spent a few days great days in Hawaii. Now we're back in Rexburg.
We're back to making vegan food, listening to music, and playing on the internet.
We're happy.

Thanks to all of our friends that made it California. You guys made a great day even better. To those of you who didn't come, may the wrath of hell follow you for 20 years.(I cracked myself up as I wrote that) I'm just kidding.
Dawgs, can you believe school starts back up in a few weeks? I can't. I'm kind of excited. I'm ready to be done. This is my last year of school. I have 5 classes this semester and 3 more in the fall. In the fall I have to take one extra meaningless class to get my financial aid. I'm thinking archery.

Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City

"Well now, evrything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe evrything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City"

R.I.P. The Format

I really miss the Format. For 4 years they were my favorite band. It used to be all I listened to. I wish they would have never broken up.
Tonight I listened to them for the first time in a while and really enjoyed it. It brought back a lot of good memories.
I remember one night me, Meghan, Steven, Brittany drove around in Meghan's car and listened to Dog Problems all the way through. It's one of my favorite nights.
fun is not The Format.

She Liked it So She Put A Ring On It.

Christina finally got me a ring!!!! It was about damn time.

Just a List.

In honor of the new Bright Eyes album and because the release date of that album is Feb. 15 I made a list of my 15 favorite Bright Eyes songs.

15. I Woke Up With This Song In My Head This Morning

14. Tourist Trap

13. The Calendar Hung Itself...

12. On My Way To Work

11. Blue Angels Air Show

10. Endless Entertainment

9. Make War

8. We are Nowhere and it's Now

7. Classic Cars

6. June on the West Coast

5. Loose Leaves

4. You Will. You?Will. You? Will. You?Will.

3. Happy Birthday To Me (Feb. 15)

2. Poison Oak

1. I Believe in Symmetry

February

I have a lot to look forward to this coming month. Christina is coming back (finally). I hope she's okay with how much I've changed. A lot can change a man in 7 weeks.
The Superbowl!!!, and a new Bright Eyes album. How much good can come from one month? Well, March should be pretty big too :)
Also, I've really enjoyed church lately. My new ward is really great. I feel very welcome there and I enjoy all three hours.

Very Funny and Very Literal

"Why are you so far away from me? I need help and you're way across the sea "

I'm sitting in the laundry mat at 11:43pm. It's where I hang out now. I don't have internet and the laundry mat is less than a block away so I come over at night and steal their WiFi. I'm such a coward. I don't want the laundry mat managers to kick me out for using the internet without doing laundry, so I usually bring a shirt or two and 50 cents and put them in the dryer so it actually looks like I'm doing laundry. It's pathetic I know, but that's who I am.

It's weird being in Rexburg without Christina. I'm not quite sure what to do. I've got good friends who I've been hanging out with, but I still miss her. I can't wait for her to get back.

I'm kinda proud of myself. Since she's been gone (by Kelly Clarkson) I've managed to eat semi healthy and not spend very much money. My goal is less than $5 a day and I'm usually under that. I did buy a $40 vacuum, though. It was necessary. I felt really grown up too.

Also I hate making important life decisions.
Also, listen to the new Beach House album, Teen Dream (and no, it has nothing to due with Katy Perry).