December 2011
39 posts
“‘I must admit I have not really followed you but your recent stance on Ron Paul...”
– “Kelly Clarkson Sales Spike After Endorsement of Ron Paul.”
AHA (via marathonpacks)
America is such a weird place.
My Listening Hours: December - Pretty Goes with... →
Seems a little anti-climactic amidst all the best-of-11 blog posts, but nevertheless here is my rundown of new acquisitions of the last month. Nicolas Jaar, Julia Holter, The Caretaker.
“Which got me thinking of soundtracks, which made me first think of the song...”
– Nicolas Jaar and George Kranz’s Drugs of Choice - Pretty Goes with Pretty
Best of 2011, part II: Resurrection of the... →
Almost everything on this list is awesome.
Just refreshed the design for Pretty Goes with... →
Every time I try to design or re-design a blog, I always wind up with a slight variation on what it already was—white background, simple text, not too busy. I did add a little color (gray!), took away the image of my 14-month-old book (though it’s still for sale and would make a great stocking stuffer and/or “I didn’t get what I really wanted” present to yourself!)
Other...
When people hate Los Angeles →
rawkblog:
Let’s get this out of the way: I hate LA.
I hate LA the way that any good New Yorker hates LA, with a passion bordering on paranoid psychosis. I hate the faux culture, I hate the vapid people, I hate the unctuous politics. I hate their smug attitude toward snow, unless it involves indie movie premieres near ski slopes. I hate the things that are too cliché to even mention hating:...
“Imagine: it’s 3 am on New Year’s Eve, and a drunk Rod Stewart is in...”
– Oh No It’s Winter and I Haven’t Been Listening to the Walkmen - Pretty Goes with Pretty
A List of Noteworthy Lists - Pretty Goes with... →
In which I highlight a few others’ end-of-year lists that yielded some good finds. (PS: my own best of 11 list is here.)
“…just as there are singles bands and album bands, R.E.M. is best viewed at...”
– One Week One Band: R.E.M.
2 tags
PS: YOU ALL KNEW KIM JONG-IL DIED, RIGHT?
Nothing in my tumblr dashboard about it - I assume that’s because you’re all out celebrating the end of war in Iraq?
The Year End List 2011 | The Decibel Tolls →
Looking forward to digging into this list. I like everything I recognize, and I only recognize about a third of it.
2011: Blind Spots - Pretty Goes with Pretty →
In which I run down my favorite new-to-me acquisitions of the year. From krautrock to calypso to country, and a few others thrown in for good measure.
Anthony Is Right: Critic-Approved Archetypes It... →
anthonyisright:
Post-hardcore E Street Bands.
Female vocalists who sound like they’re auditioning for a Bond theme until they either swear or reference modern conveniences.
Theoretical dance-pop vocalists who apparently abstain from not just auto-tune, but second takes.
Rappers who drop hate speech before…
For at least the last six years bands have been saying “more...
My Listening Year: 2011 →
Not a Best of 2011 list (I did that already), but a quick statistical look at everything I acquired in 2011 and what that says about where my mind is, listening-wise.
“In a lot of ways I feel I’ve been in a fog in 2011, and I’m pretty...”
– I Think I am Writing about My Favorite Albums of 2011, but I May Not Be - Pretty Goes with Pretty
I set out to write a list of my favorite albums of the year, but it got personal. Of course, if it’s not personal, then they’re probably not your favorite albums of the year.
Rockets & Rayguns: Music-related thoughts, 2011 →
rocketsandrayguns:
Holy shit there was a lot of music released this year. Or I’m just buying too much music. Or both. I’ve got a ludicrous backlog of CDs, vinyl, tapes, and MP3s to listen to. I’m in no position to tell you what the “best” 2011 releases are.
This was the first year I felt like I was using Twitter…
Read it all.
“Here’s that list in more copy/paste friendly format so you can post on your...”
– Stereogum’s Top 50 Albums Of 2011 - Stereogum
1000 Times Zzz: Hasty opinions on 224 2011 buzz... →
rawkblog:
Probably going to regret posting this.
Did all of these bands generate buzz? I think your ear is too close to the blade.
“When Coop discovered the black circles inside the square packages lining our...”
– Best Songs of His Year, Per My Small Child - Pretty Goes with Pretty
Here’s an antidote to all the 2011 lists making the rounds this morning—my 22-month-old’s favorite jams of the year. Which is really more like his favorite jams of the last couple of months, because he...
“It’s a nice feeling—and, weirdly, a increasingly foreign experience—to...”
– This Week’s Soundtrack - Pretty Goes with Pretty
Singing In The Wire: I wish I could just enjoy... →
singinginthewire:
Lately I’ve been preoccupied with the fact that my taste in music has been regressing farther and farther back in time to before I was born. But all attempts to really get into music have been stymied by my obsessive need to know exactly how the song I’m hearing fits into the context of its time…
Nice thoughts from Paul—the antithesis of the anxiety a lot of other...
rachael maddux: In case you missed it last night →
rachael-maddux:
Yesterday I set up Unbest, which (um, hopefully?) will be a great or at least fun experiment in people (writers, fans, artists, anyone) sharing stories about the music that meant the most to them in 2011. “Meant the most” can and should be interpreted widely; the principal aim is to offer some…
Sounds like a great idea and I hope a lot of people do this.
Taking suggestions on any blogs/tumblrs I might...
Speak up.
“These blogs are the source for a lot of my musical development of the last...”
– There Are No Perfect Blogs, But - Pretty Goes with Pretty
Highlighting some of my favorite blogs/bloggers/writers/trainspotters/people of the last year. Tumblr-pertinent excerpt above. Also I can already think of somewhere between five and nine people who I left out, sorry.
PS I can’t be the...