TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2011

With Pitchfork and Stereogum about to release their top albums of the year, I figured I’d pre-emptively (is that a word?) drop my Top 10 on their/your domes. Because obviously my Top Ten albums of 2011 is important and I spent a shit ton of time on it.

10. Das Racist- Relax
9. WU LYF- Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
8. Iceage- New Brigade
7. St. Vincent- Strange Mercy
6. Beirut- The Rip Tide
5. Clams Casino- Rainforest EP
4. Hooray for Earth- True Loves
3. The Weeknd- House of Balloons Mixtape
2 . Small Black- Moon Killers Mixtape
1. Youth Lagoon- The Year of Hibernation

 Best Band That Didn’t Put Out a Record in 2011: Purity Ring
 Most Overrated Album 2011: Bon Iver- Bon Iver (9.5 Pitchfork?)

GET FREE-ER MIX

Just for you, a mix of the best of what's free.

1. Small Black- “Moon Killer” (Moon Killer mixtape)
2. Charli XCX- “Stay Away”
3. Beirut- “East Harlem”
4. Pandr Eyez- “Little Bit”
5. The Big Pink- “Stay Gold”
6. Iceage- “White Rune”
7. The Weeknd- "The Birds Part One"
8. Purity Ring- “Belispeak”
9. Frightened Rabbit- "Fuck This Place"
10. Youth Lagoon- "Bobby"
11. Saskatchewan- "Dreamboat"
12. Nas- “Nasty”
13. Azealia Banks- “212”
14. Kingdom- “Let You No”
15. Warm Ghost- "G.T.W.S."
16. Mr. Muthafucking’ eXquire- “Huzzah! (Remix)”
17. WU LYF- "Dirt"

BLOG FORECAST: BRIEF HIATUS FOLLOWED BY PROLONGED PERIODS OF NERDERY, ABI HUYNH AND WITHERED HAND

A new school year is upon me and nerding is limited to history/psychology again for a bit. Still, last week I happened upon a fantastically simple design for teacher evaluation forms by Abi Huynh (for the NY Times) that gets to the core of how students really feel about their teachers/professors in plain, sometimes pictured terms. I can't help but wonder how I'd measure up. As he says:

I was asked to do an illustration in NYT Magazine's college issue, the article was about the effect of faculty / instructor evaluations at Universities and Colleges in the US. I decided on a slightly subtle approach through an exaggerated take on the standardized test / survey. Whenever I was asked to evaluate my instructor, the specific categories (questions) the survey contained were pretty difficult to answer and it came down to the basic notion that some students that really liked the teacher ... and some who really hated them. The tests strive to have an objective aura, and that is reflected in a systemic idea and measure of 'good teaching', with this illustration I wanted to show the subjective nature behind the evaluation surveys.

In the meantime, go check out Withered Hand, a Scottish songster who keeps it real. Here's a taste, a gem called "Hard On"(mp3)

THE STATE OF DIGITAL DOWNLOADS: THE VERY BEST "WARM HEART OF AFRICA"

The much anticipated new album from The Very Best (Esau Mwamwaya and British production duo Radioclit) is now available digitally from Green Owl Records. The site includes the album download for a meager 8.99 and a full preview for those looking for transparency. I (and every one else on the web) have been alerting the masses to every single/download/leak for the past few months and for me personally, it has affected my opinion of the full-length and the music industry in general. Let me explain:

First, it's clear that, surprise, CDs are dead in the water (see below, courtesy of the NY Times) but digital music is still relatively new in terms of total sales and may have brought with it the demise of the quality full-length album. (people have been saying this for years) This sea change in format has obviously changed how music is distributed (songs are now sold individually) and perhaps less obviously, how it's marketed. Where singles had always accounted for a tiny fraction of the sales that full-lengths garnered, digital singles sales have now overtaken digital album sales (again see below). While this might not seem like a big deal, the focus of the music industry (which thankfully is diversifying) has seemingly shifted from selling full albums to selling singles or at least constantly marketing/leaking singles to hype album sales. Couple this with our new ability to cherry-pick tracks for download and suddenly, within the past few years the amount of songs per band/mc/producer in my iTunes has decreased dramatically (meaning I now have so many singles or cherry picked songs instead of full-lengths, if said bands/mcs even have a full length available)

So back to The Very Best album. It's a great album don't get me wrong, but I already had 8 of the 13 songs available (all legally and one is only a minute long so really it's 12) before its release and guess which songs are worth listening to? The best singles "Warm Heart of Africa" "Yalira" and "Julia" were all previously available for download and "Kada Manja" and "Kamphopo" were off last year's mixtape. ("Ntende Uli," "Chalo" and "Rain Dance" feat M.I.A were also readily available but not as quality as the aforementioned gems) So the album would have been FANTASTIC had I just heard all the tracks for the first earth-shattering time, but it's been broken up, "hyped" and exposed to such an extent that there can be no actual anticipation or realistic expectation of quality. That joyful moment when we hear an album for the first time as a cohesive piece of music with a beginning and an end seems to be gone. (for better or for worse) It used to be that we would hear one track before an album was released and you had to buy that ish. (tape singles represent) Today record companies put out half the album to hype it, but unfortunately there's usually nothing left to look forward to. (to be fair, the Sunset Rubdown album which was hyped/leaked like crazy is still awesome, but that's only because every song is quality. The new Big Pink album is not as fortunate)

With all of that said, digital music recording/distribution is cheaper, faster, more environmentally friendly and more readily available than ever so it's hard to get salty about the possible demise of the quality full-length album.

And yes, I realize that I often post new singles and contribute to the "hype." I can't help myself. (via Green Owl)

TAPE IN THE STREETS: BUFF DISS

Australian street/tape artist Buff Diss may not be the only tape arter out there, but he's definitely one of the most prolific. A few months back, Upper Playground's Walrus TV (how can a Wallace not support the Walrus?) featured Buff Diss and his mostly legal work. Next time you tape off your windows and outlets before you paint your walls, you best give respect due.






(via Cakehead Loves Evil)

DUNKIN' DON'T: TEN REASONS TO AVOID DUNKIN' DONUTS

Considering the amount of coffee Americans consume and the social, environmental, and economic impact of coffee production and sales, choosing the best coffee house is a very important decision. So I feel compelled to explain definitively why you should NOT choose Dunkin Donuts, the nation's largest coffee retailer with over 8,800 locations worldwide and sales of over 6.9 billion in 2008. The advantages of large chains are well documented (availability, consistency, prices) but here are ten reasons that should persuade you to avoid Dunkin Donuts altogether: (in no particular order)

1.Dunkin Donuts coffee is not fair trade. While their espresso drinks are fair trade, their coffee is NOT. Espresso drinks make up approximately 10% of their total business so the impact of using fair trade espresso is big, but nothing in comparison to the impact the nation's largest coffee retailer could make by brewing fair trade coffee. Paying foreign farmers a fair wage would only cost DD a few pennies on the pound, but it can make an enormous difference to the farmers' families and countries. Why fair trade? Click here.

2.Eating Dunkin Donuts products makes you fat. Now this isn't necessarily DD's fault, it's our responsibility to eat well, but it's not like they make any food/drinks that are remotely good for you. Their donuts and breakfast foods still contain small amounts of trans fats (anything under a half-gram is considered 0 grams so their foods have just under a half gram of trans fats) and their coffee drinks, which should contain very few calories/fat are loaded. According to the nutritional information on their site:
-A large 32 oz. DD iced coffee w/regular cream and sugar contains 240cal/8g saturated fat (12g total fat)
-A large Iced Mocha swirl latte (32 oz)= 440 cal
-A plain bagel contains 300 cal and w/cream cheese 450 calories
-A crème filled donut contains 310 cal/16 g fat.

3. Dunkin' Donuts is the coffee equivalent of conservativism. I realize it seems difficult to connect a retailer to political ideologies, but DD's ad campaigns and political stances (there are few of them) suggest their support for the conservative side of things. (if you're a conservative, more power to you) Historically, 78% of Dunkin Brands/Allied Domecq/Bain Capital (former and current owners) political contributions go to Republicans (though private equity firms usually favor the GOP and lately they've been mostly split) Their advertisements consistently attack Starbucks/local coffee houses as being snooty, elitist and connect non-english words (see #10) with these negative stereotypes to garner support from more conservative/supposedly working class Americans. For example, ads in late 2008 stated that more "hardworking Americans" prefer Dunkin Donuts coffee over Starbucks, which sounds suspiciously like campaign ads for Republican candidates over the years. I realize the company is simply out to make a buck and the “hardworking”, xenophobic people of the U.S. make up an untapped market for coffee, but how far are they willing to go to cater to them? In 2008, they pulled an ad starring Rachel Ray (don't get me started) in which she wore a scarf that vaguely resembled a traditional keffiyeh ( men's scarf loosely associated with Palestinian/Jordanian nationalism) because it apparently symbolized Palestinian/Arab “terrorism and jihad” to brain dead conservative political pundits like Michelle Melkin. (note: the keffiyeh, worn since the 30's throughout the Middle East including the Jewish people, couldn't possibly be used to keep cool/clean in arid climates or wrapped up as turbans. And for the record, Palestinian nationalism does not mean jihad either)

4.DD is cheap, but not that cheap and you get what you pay for. DD products are generally 5 to 10 cents less expensive than the two local establishments I frequent in Portsmouth and Dover, NH (I can't comment on coffee houses elsewhere) A large DD iced coffee is $2.54 and the average cost of a local large iced (Breaking New Grounds in Portsmouth and Adelle's in Dover*) is about $2.65 for a large FAIR TRADE iced coffee (definitely worth the extra 10 cents!) Now, if you drink DD coffee every week day for a year, you'd save a whopping 25$ a year. So their famous slogan “It's breakfast, not broke-fast” is accurate only if you ignore foreign farmers' struggles to feed their families and/or your hospital bills from the heart attack you'll have from eating/drinking their food.

6.DD's customer service, coffee and food isn't worth even the shortest drive. Low paying positions and poor work conditions guarantee poor service from young workers who don't know jack about a decent cup of coffee or breakfast food. The customer service disasters are well documented, but your in-house experience doesn't stop there. The often drab and dirty atmosphere must be unsettling to those people ordering items beyond coffee. Or perhaps not, the egg on your bagel or croissant is a frozen patty that gets marginally tastier with the additional American cheese and a long trip in the microwave. None of the food is cooked in house, its all frozen and nuked or, like the doughnuts, made at a production facility. They don't even put your cream cheese or peanut butter on your bagel for you (it comes with a plastic knife and individually packaged condiments.. see environmental practices below) With all that said, the coffee isn't bad, but it's not worth seeking out either.

7.DD costs taxpayers millions of dollars because they won't give their employees decent wages or healthcare. In 2008, their 1,950 uninsured employees in Massachusetts cost tax payers almost 8 million for state subsidized health care costs. This number is larger than even Wal-Mart and #1 on the list of self reported state subsidized care in Massachusetts.

8.DD strongarms the very franchisees that provide their products to America. Many people talk about the company being “owned” by franchisees, but this simply is not the case. There is an entity that makes stringent rules for all the stores, step out of line in the slightest way and you'll be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. Since 2006, 144 franchisees have been sued by their beloved parent company. Since DD is always expanding, it should come as no surprise that they try to get rid of franchisees who own a small number of stores since they typically don't have the capital to expand quickly. Unfortunately, many of them are immigrants and lose their livelihoods at the hands of DD.

8.DD is not an environmentally friendly company. Despite wide-spread awareness of the environment problems polystyrene has caused, Dunkin' Donuts still use styrofoam cups for their medium and large hot coffee drinks (that millions of cups a day) Styrofoam (technically, a plastic) is made from petroleum (non-renewable resource) is not recyclable and in addition to being a health risk when it contains hot items, is filling up land-fills all over the U.S. Even McDonald's stopped using styrofoam years ago. DD also use a ridiculous amount of unnecessary plastic packaging, even providing individually packaged servings of peanut butter, cream cheese, coffee creams, etc.

9.DD puts local shops out of business and promotes the homogenization of coffee in America. All the coffee Americans buy at DD means less coffee purchased at local, more socially and environmentally friendly shops who provide a community social scene and different (or should I say better?) coffee. These community hubs may showcase music or art and (sometimes) intelligent conversation and a place to meet new people. DD destroys the community by taking business from these local shops and because they don't foster the same atmosphere in their stores. (to put it mildly)

10.They don't understand the English language or world history. Their commercials claim "Delicious lattes from Dunkin' Donuts. You order them in English." This is an attempted shot at Starbucks and snobby coffee drinkers sure, but the commercial's xenophobic tone seems to deny the origin of coffee and it's just plain ignorant. Latte is an Italian word, so you can't order it in English since there is no equivalent in our language. Coffee originated in Arab countries, but Italy was the first European country to drink it and subsequently made several changes to the drink that are still around today. (Lattes being one of them) I'm aware that DD is smartly staking the claim to the down-home “common man's latte,” but read #3 for more on that. Also, since when is DOUGHNUT spelled DONUT?

NOTE: I am not suggesting that people who know and love DD are bad people and if you are one of them, then this probably won't change your view of the company. However, other people trying to make a wholly informed decision on where to purchase coffee may find this entry helpful as these points are not as widely known as they could/should be. Further, this entry is not a declaration of support for Starbucks and I don't necessarily suggest them as an alternative to DD. (though they are generally more socially/environmentally responsible)

*The opinions on this blog may not reflect the positions of these local coffee shops and they should not be connected in any way with my commentary.

THE BIG PINK: NEW SINGLE "DOMINOS"

British duo The Big Pink have released the third single off their debut album, A Brief History of Love due out September 22nd on 4AD. "Dominos" is a stadium rocker/electronic gem that will surely invade your skull. I've been humming the uber-simple hook for days and the kids at summer camp think I'm crazier than usual. Also included below is a link to download their earlier single "Velvet," (also on the album) a fuzzed-out, shoegazer jam with an equally big sound and similar lyrics about Robbie Furze's tumultuous love-life. (thus the album's title) The ambitious duo have already toured Europe with TV on the Radio and just booked a world tour even before the release of their first album. Upcoming New England shows include the Paradise in Boston on December 1st and two New York City shows on the 3rd and 4th.

Dominos Mp3
Velvet Mp3

(via Pitchfork, 4AD)

DISPOSABLE TECHNOLOGY AND E-WASTE: KYLE BEAN

As technology capabilities continue to progress at an incredible pace, the "life span" of tech products get smaller and smaller to the point where they are, in a sense, disposable. Kyle Bean has created his own Disposable Technology in the form of cardboard sculptures of popular electronic devices. Carefully crafted, each piece is made (approximately) to scale and even includes a seemingly bright screen. At the center of the work is a quote from the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, a San Jose-based group that promotes responsibility in electronics recycling, The increasingly rapid evolution of technology has effectively rendered everything disposable. The importance of the quote of course, isn't that things are used quickly and replaced, it's what happens to them after they're replaced. While I/we enjoy our tech conveniences on the daily, they unfortunetly are not made of cardboard and producing/disposing of them has had a tremendously damaging effect on the world's environment.



We call this "e-waste" and half of it is made up of electronics such as computers, monitors, printers, televisions, dvd/music devices, stereos, and cell phones. In the United States, a dismal 10-20% percent of electronics are recycled responsibly (depending on who you talk to) and Europe doesn't fare much better at 25%. (see below chart to see where the waste comes from and where it goes) This means 80% of the roughly 50 million tons of e-waste will be either burnt or put in landfills, allowing the hundreds of different dangerous chemicals (including lead, mercury, cadmium, etc) found in electronics to leak into the water or air. Much of the waste (computers) is sold to developing countries to be sold as is (they will still end up as waste at some point) or stripped to extract and sell the rare elements and materials used in the electronics. There is currently no U.S. law to curb or regulate the export of e-waste to countries in Africa and Asia and the E.U. laws (under the Basel Convention) are obviously not being enforced. We need federal legislation to make sure that A. the environment/world population is protected from e-waste's harmful chemicals/materials. B. to re-use the rare elements and materials that will disappear from the earth unless we learn to recycle them effectively and C. that recyclers actually do what they promise, because surprisingly, even groups that claim to recycle these devices responsibly have been found to export them to developing countries. A fantastic story by 60 minutes reported that 44 recyclers were simply exporting the e-waste overseas and according to National Geographic, even Goodwill has sold computers to Ghana.

If you have electronic/electric waste please contact the E-Stewards Initiative to find a local recycler and/or the manufacturer (Dell, HP and Apple all have recylcing programs) to find out how to properly recycle the product.
(via Design Boom, CNN, SVTC)

BUSY STREET ARTIST: GAIA

When done well, street art sneaks the beauty of the canvas/gallery and all its ideas and conviction into the lives of masses. NYC inhabitant Gaia (the embodiment of Earth in Greek and also the name of scientific theory concerning the inter-connectivity of the Earth's physical components) is featured in the above video wheat-pasting the crap out of a cinder block wall in what has been a busy year for the gallery/street artist. Directed by Nicolas Heller and featuring Diplo's newest project Major Lazer, Gaia's prints bring some of nature's creatures (mythical and otherwise) to society's unsuspecting eyes to create something he says is "more beautiful than what I have found in this daily life. Groping at something romantic that I have not yet located where I currently am." Perhaps as important as the image is the placement and Gaia's choices use space and location very effectively. Again, he states it best:
I feel like one of the most important responsibilities of artists who consistently get up in the streets is to forge new frontiers for spots. Finding a beautiful setting to apply the work that is in a neighborhood where Street Art is not generally found is important for a few strong reasons.
Firstly, whatever the piece is, by putting up work that goes beyond the usual areas where it is to be expected, the artist strengthens the collective body of street art and extends its limits. It essentially serves as an outpost for others to venture forth from. It radiates new work in an unfamiliar landscape and enhances itself with reinforcements as other people use it as a base of reference for spots.
Secondly, I feel that its impact is significantly heightened and accentuated when the work is encountered through coincidence. It becomes arresting in that moment of intimacy and such a situation of beautiful discovery that is ignited between the piece and the pedestrian is not as readily established if the viewer is anticipating the experience because it is in a setting like Williamsburg. In a new and more distant place, the work becomes more mysterious and autonomous.
Thirdly, it changes the artist as they become shaped in their exploration of the surface of neighborhoods and become familiar with novel terrain. It puts the artist in the uncomfortable experience of drifting from the nest and into a place where their individual voice and art must be asserted confidently. A practice of finding spots that are in the cut confronts the artist with other realities of lifestyle and culture. It is like visiting a new country in the very city that you thought you knew.
(via NotCot)

BEST BIRCH VESSELS: KOUTA FUKUNAGA

We're finally feeling the summer heat here in New England, so today I picked up some fresh mint and a few ripe limes to make a more refreshing water (add rum, club soda/seltzer and simple syrup to complete a mojito or just add simple syrup/honey to the drink to sweeten it) When all is said and done, I refrigerate the drink in a 32oz glass container, (normally it holds beer) but I would much rather use Japanese artist Kouta Fukunaga's hand-carved birch vessels to serve my beverages in style. Technically, he created them to serve sake and wine and I'm ok with that too. These award-winning vessels are from Hokkaido-grown birch trunks and exemplify great design and naturally beautiful materials.


(via daily icon)