So, And Thus...

2010 - The Year in Music

2010 was really a great year for music. It seems that everyone was on their game... well, almost everyone (As Madonna would say, "you'll see").

Again, I have my friends and the "internets" to thank for exposing me to some hidden gems. There's only so much you can discover on your own.

Attention all bloggers: Keep up the great work!

My Top 10 Albums for 2010

1. Goldfrapp - Head First
   • 

     "Head First" (Goldfrapp)

   • They top my list... again! Solid melodies and fun arrangements on this 80's flavored album. I love how this group isn't afraid to change it's sound. These songs will stick in your head.
2. Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite
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     "Aphrodite" (Kylie Minogue)

   • Great dance record. Kylie doing what Kylie does best. Executive producer Stuart Price was a great choice.
3. Deluka - You Are The Night
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     "You Are The Night" (Deluka)

   • Dance +  rock +  punk = all fun! Solid songs. I swear I can I hear Deborah Harry in her voice.
4. Pipettes - Earth vs. The Pipettes
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     "Earth Vs the Pipettes" (Pipettes)

   • Fun , fun, fun, fun, fun! There are hints of the 60's sounds used on the first album, but this one takes on an 80s feel, possibly because of producer Martin Rushent (who produced Human League). The trio of original members are all gone, but the duo, sisters Gwenno and Ani Saunders, are perfect for the groups new direction. Think of Bananarama with more pizzaz!
5. Marina and the Diamonds - The Family Jewels
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     "The Family Jewels" (Marina And The Diamonds)

   • Love how creative she is. Lot of character to her voice. Could she be the daughter of Lene Lovich?!
6. Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now
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              "All You Need Is Now" (Duran Duran)
       
   
   • This album just came out, but it made such an impact on me. Glad to hear them go back to their roots. Mark Ronson did a great job producing the album with the group.
     
   
   
7. School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire
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     "Disconnect From Desire (Dig)" (School of Seven Bells)

   • Another group with sisters (Claudia and Alejandra Deheza)! Album feels like it could have been from late 80s, early 90s. Reminds me of groups like the Cocteau Twins and Voice of the Beehive. I really miss this type of music. This album probably should be higher on my list, but I though it would be appropriate to keep it at number 7.
8. Seal - Seal 6: Commitment
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     "6: Commitment" (Seal)

   • Seal returns to his Art-Pop sound on this one, though there is a lot on this album suited for adult contemporary audiences. David Foster Captures the essence of Seal's early sound, stretching more than I've every heard him in the past. Foster's production might not be as adventurous as Trevor Horns' production, but it's clean and it works.
9. Tracey Thorn - Love And Its Opposite
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     "Love & Its Opposite" (Tracey Thorn)

   • More of an acoustic setting compared to her last album. Much of this album reminds me of Everything But The Girl in the late 80s, which could never be wrong.
10. HURTS - Happiness
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      "Happiness" (Hurts)

    • Love the mood of this album. It's grand and cold, like a landscape of ice.

 

Honorable Mentions:

• The Bird and the Bee - Interpreting The Maters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates
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    "Interpreting the Masters, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall & John Oates" (The Bird and the Bee)

• Dragonette - Mixin' to Thrill
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    "Mixin' To Thrill" (Dragonette)
    
    
• Fibes, Oh Fibes! - 1987
  
  • (ok, I know this came out last year, but I discovered it this year)

    "1987" (Fibes Oh Fibes)

• Gabriella Cilmi - Ten
  
  • 

    "Ten (Incl. Bonus Track)" (Gabriella Cilmi)

• Katie Melua - The House
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    "The House" (Katie Melua)

• Robyn - Body Talk Pt. x
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    "Body Talk" (Robyn)

• Scissor Sisters - Night Work
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    "Night Work" (Scissor Sisters)

• Shelby Lynne - Tears, Lies & Alibis
  
  • 

    "Tears, Lies, And Alibis" (Shelby Lynne)

• Shena - 2079
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    "2079" (Shena)

Moments this year:

• Alexis Jordan - Happiness (Dave Aude Mix)
• Chris Sorbello - So Lonely
• Deluka - Cascade
• Donna Summer - To Paris With Love
• Dragonette - Easy (Buffetliber Mix)
• Dragonette - Our Summer
• Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now
• Gabriella Cilmi - Hearts Don't Lie
• Gabriella Cilmi - On A Mission
• Goldfrapp - Alive
• Goldfrapp - Rocket
• HURTS - Wonderful Life (Freemasons Mix)
• Incognito (featuring Chaka Khan & Mario Biondi) - Lowdown
• Katie Melua - The Flood
• Kelly Rowland - Commander
• Kylie Minogue - All The Lovers
• Kylie Minogue - Get Outta My Way
• Marina and the Diamonds - Oh No!
• Marina and the Diamonds - Shampain
• Mark Ronson - Bang Bang Bang
• Mary J. Blige - Whole Lotta Love
• Matt Alber - End of the World (Morgan Page Pop Mix)
• The Pipettes - Call Me
• Robbie Williams - Starstruck
• Robyn - Daning On My Own
• Scissor Sisters - Invisible Light
• Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Bittersweet

 

Biggest Disappointments:

• Sade - Soldier of Love
  • I was SO disappointed with this album. There was nothing memorable for me. Nothing matched even the poorest of songs from their previous albums. Yes, the album is safe to put on a background music, but it doesn't hold any interest for those who want to listen intently.
• Sia - We Are Born
  • There are moments on this album that are great (Like her version of "Oh Father" and the upbeat "You've Changed"), but the rest of the album just didn't hit me.. and I really tried to like it.

The 2010 Holiday Video Card

Koala Holiday 2010

 

Hope you enjoy it.

Did you know...

• These is no "video" for 2009 since I was majorly stressed.
• Ein Oso makes cameo appearances in this video.
• La Magnifica makes a cameo appearance in this video.
• Koala works so hard on these projects that sometimes he doesn't eat.
• I've discovered that there aren't a lot of fun Christmas songs out there.
• No koalas were harming durning the making of this video.

No More Walkman

I didn't even know there were still making these things:

Goodbye Walkman, thanks for the iPod | Apple - CNET News

Sony has announced it will retire the Walkman tape player in Japan, marking the sad end of one of the most successful consumer gadgets of all time.

I had quite a few Walkmans (Walkmen?) when I was growing up. My favorite was my splash-proof yellow one, complete with hand grip! People now take it for granted that you can access a ton of your music whenever you want, but back then, it was such a great new concept.

My Walkman really helped me through my parent's divorce. I wanted to be alone and walking was how I spent most of my time. I walked so much during that time and remember two albums in particular that helped me through a tough time: Steve Perry's "Street Talk" and Prince's "Purple Rain".

Ohm Studio - Online Music Collaboration

This looks like a great way to collaborate with other musicians.

Ohm Force unveils Ohm Studio - Real Time Collaborative Music Software - MacMusic

Ohm Force is announcing the first real collaborative music workstation in the history of music production: the Ohm Studio — a project with which they aspire to redefine the meaning of online music collaboration.

We're talking about real time collaborative MIDI/audio editing, envelopes, a piano roll, audio effects, and virtual instruments: the very same tools we computer based musicians already enjoy, but that you'll now be able to use with your friends, online.

This is basically a portal for an online community. You will be able to post a profile and search for other musicians.

Right now, Ohm Studio looks like it can only handle midi information and effects. I hope they would develop a way to get audio into the system to open up collaboration with vocalists and instrumentalists.

It would be nice to see other music production companies work on collaboration tools like this.

AT&T And iPhone To Have An "Open" Relationship?

Relationship status change: It's complicated.

AT&T Insiders Report iPhone Exclusivity Going Away On Wednesday - HotHardware

According to an inside source close to the going-ons involved in all of this, a new tablet of some sort may not be the only thing on deck for next Wednesday though. We have been led to believe by an inside source that AT&T will lose their iPhone exclusivity on the same day, though it's not yet clear what other carrier (or carriers) will be stepping in to also carry the phone.

This blog is talking about the Apple event schedule for Wednesday, January 27.

Of course we won't really know if AT&T will lose their exclusive carrier rights until this Wednesday, but there has been so much talk about this for quite some time now, I would tend to believe the rumor.

So all you old Verizon customers out there, please switch back so our network won't be so taxed!

So, And Thus... 4 Years!

(I like Koala's beauty mark)

Grab a beer and celebrate with us! So, And Thus... 4 Year!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by!

iPhone Users To Pay Even More?!

AT&T hasn't been doing well lately. This is NOT going to help.

Tiered AT&T pricing to target heavy data usage | Signal Strength - CNET News

AT&T wants its iPhone users to use less wireless data, and it plans to introduce new pricing models to curb users' data usage as it tries to keep up with growing demand.

At an investor conference in New York on Wednesday, Ralph de la Vega, AT&T's head of wireless, announced that the wireless operator plans to introduce new pricing for heavy wireless-data users.

...

iPhone users on average consume five to seven times more data per month than average wireless subscribers, according to analyst firm Sanford Bernstein. And all this usage is clogging the network, causing many iPhone users, especially in large cities such as New York and San Francisco, to experience dropped calls, slow 3G service, and issues connecting to the network at all.

AT&T has been reluctant to admit that there is a problem, but recently, the company has acknowledged that problems exist. According to The Wall Street Journal, de la Vega admitted that New York and San Francisco have been experiencing service issues. And the company recently launched an iPhone application that allows users to report service problems.

AT&T has been upgrading its network to the next generation of 3G wireless service to increase network capacity. But now the company is saying it needs to actually curb usage in order to get a handle on demand.

So why do they advertise all that you can do on an iPhone when they can't handle it? In reality, the iPhone for AT&T has been a mix blessing. Of course they wanted new subscribers, but they can't handle them.

I'm guessing when the iPhone is no longer exclusive to AT&T, a lot of folks are going to bolt. That would automatically help alleviate AT&T's network. Will Verizon encounter the same problems? Who knows, but I'll have to stick with AT&T since I signed a contract.

Spectrasonics Trilian

I'm sure most serious computer-based music producers out there already had the original "Trilogy" virtual instrument by Spectrasonics. The company finally updated this bass softsynth to make it compatible with Intel-Mac, adding a ton of new sounds along the way (34 GB core library!).

Spectrasonics Trilian is now shipping ! - MacMusic

Trilian's massive 34GB core library featuring highly-detailed new Acoustic, Electric and Synth basses - as well as enhanced versions of the classic Trilogy sounds. With a brand new user interface and numerous software innovations, Trilian is the first 64-bit native software based on Spectrasonics next generation STEAM Engine, and is the first virtual instrument to feature full library integration with the flagship Omnisphere synthesizer.

Trilian is now shipping, and the MSRP is $299/€229. All Trilogy customers can upgrade to Trilian for $99. There is also a special FREE upgrade offer for Trilogy customers on the Intel-Mac platform and for customers who purchase Trilogy in 2009.

Ok, I think it took too long for the company to get this out (they were concentrating on their Omnisphere synth), but I'm just happy to have it.

Happy Birthday, La Magnifica

Will you keep your hat on all day?

2 Billion Downloads

Amazing. 2 Billion. An there are over 85,000 applications now!

I'm glad that Apple added the Genius feature for applications now, otherwise, I'd be lost looking for applications. Like the feature for music, Genius takes a look at the applications you have install on your iPhone and will make a list of recommended applications accordingly. 

Apple App Store hits 2 billion downloads, 85,000 apps | The Digital Home - CNET News

Apple announced Monday that over 2 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store since the e-commerce shop's launch in July 2008. The company also said that there are now more than 85,000 apps available.

More numbers: There are currently 50 million iPhone and iPod Touch customers, as well as over 125,000 developers in Apple's iPhone Developer Program. All that has combined to make the company's App Store the world's largest applications store, Apple claims.