Musically Amusing’s Top 10 Albums of ’10

Generally I have a hard time coming up with a list of top albums from the year. Probably because there are few albums where I genuinely like over half of the songs. Entire albums tend to disappoint me, especially when you check out a band because of one particular song only to find out the rest of them suck. With that said, this list is serious. The following albums from this year demand your attention if you haven’t given it up already. Oh, and I tried to put them in order of relevancy, but I can’t. Some are easily in the top half, some are easily in the bottom half; but I just can’t differentiate and after 3 tries and the third not being a charm, I quit. (Hahaaaa!)

 10. MenomenaMines

Favorite song: “Oh Pretty Boy, You’re Such a Big Boy”

9. The LimousinesGet Sharp

Favorite song: “Internet Killed the Video Star

8. School of Seven BellsDisconnect from Desire

Favorite song: (It’s a tie!) “Windstorm” and “Heart Is Strange”

7. Two Door Cinema ClubTourist History

Favorite song: “I Can Talk”

6. Broken BellsBroken Bells

Favorite song: (another tie!) “October” and “Trap Doors”

5. JavelinNo Mas

Favorite Song: “The Merkin Jerk”

4. SuckersWild Smile

Favorite Song: “Roman Candles”

3. Wolf ParadeExpo 86

Favorite song: “What Did My Lover Say?”

2. Matt & KimSidewalks

Favorite song: “Block After Block”

1. Girl TalkAll Day

Favorite song: “That’s Right”

 (The back cover is even cooler!)

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Wakey! Wakey! Show @ Brillobox

Mike Grubbs and I

There are quite a few different reasons you might have heard of Wakey! Wakey! If you are from New York, particularly the Brooklyn area, not only are you familiar with the band, but you’ve likely seen them perform. Other reasons might be because you are an avid reader of Spin, NME, Pitchfork and the like. But, the biggest reason you might have heard Wakey! Wakey! is from a show called One Tree Hill. The main man of the band is Mike Grubbs, who debuted as a character on the show last November.

Click to read more at Pop Damage

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Free Christmas Songs!

Target has partnered with some of music’s finest contemporary artists to help get everyone into the swing of the holiday season with a free holiday soundtrack, The Christmas Gig. The soundtrack (which includes a Best Coast and Wavves collaboration as well as tracks by Coconut Records and Crystal Antlers) is an exclusive album of original holiday tracks available as a free download at Target.com/HolidayAlbum
 
Each of the songs on Target’s holiday soundtrack captures a holiday experience as told from the perspective of a contemporary artist. The collection is an eclectic mix of music that includes country, folk, hip-hop, Latin, and pop- from the soulful “Mrs. Claus Ain’t Got Nothin’ on Me” by Little Jackie to the comforting “Tiny Tree Christmas” by Guster to an unforgettable Latin song “Super Mama” by The Pinker Tones.  

Also, Sleepy Rebels have a free sugary-sweet mp3 available called “California Christmas.” Songwriters, producers and multi-instrumentalists Jeremy Adelman and Bruce Driscoll began making music together when Bruce and his sister, Brazilian-American singer/songwriter Erica Driscoll, were looking for a drummer for their band Astaire (now Blondfire). After recommending many great drummers, Adelman, who had been a performing member (keyboards & trumpet) of Brookville, touring with Goldfrapp and Tahiti 80, realized he had always wanted to play drums in a band, and volunteered to fill the seat himself.
 
At the same time Adelman began asking Bruce and Erica to sing on a variety of compositions he was creating for his day job as a music composer for TV, film & advertising. By 2007 the three artists had become constant collaborators and friends, and decided to create Sleepy Rebels to capture their collaborative energies.

Click here to listen and download “California Christmas”

Okay, one more! Little & Ashley are a cute little duo that you may have heard on the Amazon Kindle commercials. They have released their Winter Night EP featuring two new songs and a playful cover of “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” In addition to the holiday EP being available digitally on Amazon, the title track “Winter Night” is currently offered as a free MP3 download in Amazon’s “25 Days Of Free”. 

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Whoa, whoa, wait…what?!

I have just learned via Pitchfork of a new highly anticipated album due out next year. It’s from a new group called Mister Heavenly that consists of…wait for it…

Nick Thorburn (frontman of Islands)

Joe Plummer (drummer of Modest Mouse)

and main Man Man man Honus Honus

From Pitchfork:

Talking to Spinner recently, Honus Honus said that the new band would occupy some aesthetic middle ground between his own work and Thorburn’s: “It actually sounds like a mash-up of our two styles. For the Man Man stuff, if you like our doo-wop-y stuff, ‘Doo Right’ or ‘Ice Dogs,’ that vein. If you like what Nick does, the stripped-down pop stuff and the Unicorns stuff, it’s like that.” A press release gives that style a name: “doom-wop”. We’ll have to see if the term catches on.

Tonight, the band heads out a small tour opening for Passion Pit. Their last show has them headlining in Salt Lake City!

11-30 Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
12-01 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
12-02 San Francisco, CA – Cafe Du Nord
12-03 Santa Cruz, CA – Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
12-04 Pomona, CA – The Fox Theatre 
12-05 San Diego, CA – Soma
12-07 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
12-08 Santa Barbara, CA – The Granada Theater
12-09 Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
12-10 Salt Lake City, UT – Kirby Court

 

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Show Review: Plants and Animals

Post classic rock is the descriptive term the members of Plants and Animals sometimes use when categorizing their band. Some might refer to it as plain and general indie rock (but really, what can’t be called that?) or a jam band. They can be called all of these genres; what matters is that this 3-piece band ROCKS.

Click here to read more over at Pop Damage

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NEW Single From Cut Copy!

Click image to listen to "Take Me Over" at Modular People

Check out Cut Copy‘s newest single “Take Me Over” With an 80s romanticism and semblance of Fleetwood Mac, it’s making it harder to wait for the new album next February!

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Girl Effect – You Can Help!

In other countries, a lot of girls and their families face poverty. This is not new knowledge. But, did you know that most of them end up married and pregnant by the age of 15? They are no longer in school, and they’re now stuck in a vicious cycle that has no happy ending. In order to help provide for their family, they are forced into selling their bodies. This leads to the spread of STD’s and HIV.

“A survey in India found that girls who married before age 18 were twice as likely to report being beaten, slapped, or threatened by their husbands as were girls who married later.” – Internatl. Center for Research on Women

“75% of 15-24 year olds living with HIV in Africa are female, up from 62% in 2001.” – Global Coalition on Women and AIDS

 

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“OMFG” Innerparty System Remix MP3

Hailed by ZINK Magazine as “U.K.’s best kept secret” Deluka’s “OMFG” Innerparty System remix premiered yesterday.  Having remixed everyone from Katy Perry to the Killers, Innerparty System has infused a fast and intense beat into the electrifying hit song that is sure to get your body moving.  You can download the “OMFG” Innerparty System remix on The Street Date or here.
 
If you missed Deluka’s commanding performances at CMJ, the band has several new shows coming up. Baeble Music is also offering 3 lucky fans the chance to win a signed copy of You Are the Night and a Deluka t-shirt.  The contest ends 11/30, click here to enter.

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February’s New Music Seminar Held In LA

The New Music Seminar has generated huge buzz as one of the new key future of music industry events to attend. The next scheduled multi-day conference is hitting LA on February 14th through 16th, 2011 (the day after the Grammys). NMS NYC sold out this summer with a hot red carpet events and tons of talent/artists involved.  This upcoming LA event promises to be nothing less than stellar. The kickoff red carpet event, The After Grammy Jammy (the NMS Opening Night Party), will be held at The Music Box in Hollywood on Monday night, February 14th with the “Artist on the Verge Finals”, which selects one artist who will walk away with over $50K in promotion and marketing, Tuesday, February 15th at The Roxy. 

NMS founder Tom Silverman explains;

“The New Music Seminar is the epicenter of a new movement. The NMS is the creative crucible where new ideas are hatched and new collaborations formed.  The New Music Seminar is a meeting of the architects of the next music business; the creators, the investors, the technological visionaries, those for whom music is a passion that they cannot do without.”

Media partners and sponsors include: The Recording Academy, Grammy Museum, LA Weekly, Music Connection, Digital Music News, Reverbnation, KCRW, Indie 103.1, MySpace Music, Hypebot, IndiePower, Gibson, Filter Magazine, Soundexchange and a host of other new technology and traditional music and entertainment companies.

For NMS tickets please go to http://www.NewMusicSeminar.com. Register by November 26th and receive early discount price of $175.  All registered delegates prior to November 26th will have a chance to win two tickets to the Grammys on Sunday, February 13th.  NMS also is offering registered delegates a room rate of $169 plus tax at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, where all the networking will take place all day and night and will be the place to meet your next business partners.  All registrations and reservations are available by going to http://www.NewMusicSeminar.com

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Winter Music Conference Announces 2011 Dates

Ocean Drive night South Beach Miami Florida

Image via Wikipedia

Winter Music Conference’s 26th annual program will take place March 8 – 12, 2011 at the Miami Beach Convention Center and other venues throughout Miami Beach and the greater Miami area. Last year WMC attracted 3,763 registered music industry participants from 70 countries and over 100,000 event participants who took part in five non-stop concentrated days of seminars, workshops, exhibits and performances.

Over its 26-year history WMC has become known by industry insiders, audiophiles and fans alike as the pre-eminent date for merchandisers and manufacturers launching new music, technology and trends in the music business. According to Billboard Magazine’s April 3, 2010 issue, “WMC demonstrates (that) dance music retains a powerful allure among brands looking to connect with young, engaged consumers.”

During WMC, more than 500 annual industry gatherings and performance events boast one of the most sought after aggregations of legendary and emerging artists to be found in the world. WMC’s drawing power for assembling innovative music professionals and launching effective global campaigns is demonstrated year after year with career-launching performances and new releases by artists that have historically included Lady Gaga (WMC 2008), Rihanna (WMC 2006), the Black Eyed Peas (WMC 2009) and featured appearances in 2010 by artists like Deadmau5 and Grammy winner David Guetta, amongst hundreds of others. Of his appearance during WMC 2010, The Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am told MTV News “I think it’s important to come out to WMC to test out the new beats you’ve been making — rockin’ the crowds, learning from the crowds”.

For 2011 WMC will continue to roll out new initiatives as part of its development plan bolstering the ‘WMC Experience’. Unlike previous events the conference has hosted at hotels such as the Fontainebleau and most recently the Eden Roc, this year will offer nearly unlimited opportunities for expansion and growth with its move to the Miami Beach Convention Center in the midst of South Beach. Organizers say “for many years WMC has been challenged to configure its rapidly developing program into limited meeting space.” This year we are able to offer the best of all worlds – enormous room for expansion of the industry program at one of the best locations in South Beach with easy access to the top venues, restaurants and beaches. We are also able to offer our delegates a diverse range of official WMC hotels from the historically luxurious Raleigh and Albion hotels to the plush new Grand Beach Hotel to the business-budget-minded South Beach Courtyard. Virtually every class of service, location and amenity at a price point to fit any budget are offered. WMC is widely known as one of the highest hotel occupancy generating events of the year in the South Florida area – so book your hotel stay early.

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