And the winners of my 2013 music awards are?

The last "concert pic" of my show going career (The National at Riverside Theater in Milwaukee)

Welcome to my annual year end music review post. If you have the patience to read all of it, you will see:
- My ten awards with winners and runners up
- Embedded Spotify Playlist of my Favorite Tracks
- More explanation of how I chose my award winners
- Photos of note I posted to Instagram from the shows I attended
[Previous Year End Reviews: 2012, 2011]

1. The “Perpetual Repeat” Song of the Year: "A New Life" by Jim James
Runner up: "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams


Jim James - A New Life - Jimmy Fallon from Robert McMahan on Vimeo.

2. The “Share with All Friends” Album of the Year: Random Access Memories by Daft Punk
Runner up: Hummingbird by Local Natives

3. The “If Every One Could Be Like This” Concert of the Year: Jim James at Pabst Theatre
Runner up: Björk at Pitchfork Music Festival

4. The “Phoenix” Becoming Too Big To Not Easily See Again: Junip
Runner up: Phoenix *note- award established a few years ago, they are still growing*

5. The “Franz Ferdinand” Must Now See Every Time They’re In Town: Savages
Runner up: Pet Lions

6. The “Bon Iver” Regret of the Year: Not seeing The Postal Service's final performance
Runner up: Staying for STRFKR after Blackbird Blackbird

7. The “Medulla” Most Disappointing Album: Bankrupt! by Phoenix
Runner up: Reflector by Arcade Fire

8. The “Should I Quit You” Most Disappointing Concert: PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL RAIN!
Runner up: Janelle Monáe

9. The “Shadenfradue” Guilty Pleasure Track of the Year: "Harlem Shake" by Baauer
Runner up: "Clarity" by Zedd featuring Foxes!

10. The "Buy an iPod stereo for the car" Best Decision I made in 2013: Quitting all in-concert photography.
Runner up: The last minute decision to drive to Milwaukee to see The National.




1. 2013 is the year I escaped Suburbia and moved into the city limits of Chicago. "A New Life" by Jim James was intentionally the first song I played in my new apartment. Little did I know when I first heard the song in February it would have the meaning I eventually assigned. The above clip from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon instantly floored me and seeing the song performed live early in the year cemented it atop my personal standings.

In any other year, "Get Lucky" would have ran away with this award. I will be playing and loving it forever. Other songs that would've been tops in other years include "Husbands" by Savages and "Hidden Xs" by Fuck Buttons.

2. Many of my favorites came back with new recordings this year, but none was more anticipated than the promise of new Daft Punk. And where some others fell short of expectation - I felt no such disappointment with Random Access Memories. I enjoyed the new-retro sound and think it was the response the Electronic Dance Music world needed after 2012's rise of Dubstep.

My opinion on Local Natives used to be, "ah, they're okay, I like'em." But their Hummingbird album is just too good to be ignored, as I would end up listening it front to back over the majority of the year.

3. I would've paid $100 for a recording of Jim James at Pabst Theatre at the end of that concert. The first six songs were especially jaw dropping. The only thing that could have stopped this show from being #1 was a natural disaster, which is actually what happened: Björk was building to a crescendo I had been waiting patiently for 20 years to see before an incoming storm prompted the Pitchfork Music Festival to end early

4. If you see an act at Lincoln Hall that sells out quickly, you just know you won't get that opportunity again. Junip, please take your place along LH greats such as The xx, Foster the People, and M83.

5. Every band that has a breakout hit like Savages should take advice from Savages. The version of "Husbands" I heard wasn't the version from their album, but a super sized version worthy of it's place high atop my Songs of the Year playlist. Especially awesome about Savages: they had the confidence to close their set with a new song not heard by most in attendance. No band I saw in 2013 had more balls than the all female Savages.

*Pet Lions is a tough label to assign "every time they are in town" because they are a local Chicago band. This runner-up place usually goes to the supporting act that ended up having a better set than the headliner. My 2014 goal is to check out / support more local talent.

6. If I'm going to complain about anything music related in 2013, it's that I wasn't able to see The Postal Service's farewell performance at Metro. Maybe I should not have tuned into XRT to hear the live feed, because it was the sonic equivalent of eating sour grapes... My STRFKR regret is entirely based on not making the decision to leave earlier - which would've prevented my friend from becoming the unfortunate victim of a crowdsurfer.

7. Please don't misunderstand: I like both new albums by Phoenix and Arcade Fire... But in the year of Daft Punk and Jim James (and Foals) homeruns, I expected more from my favorites.

8. Will Björk ever come back to play? Indoors please? Overall, it was still an amazing experience as 59 minutes of her is better than zero. If only her legion of Icelandic backup singers/dancers could've consoled me in my time of post-pop-princess need? In other sadness, I bought tickets to Janelle Monáe before hearing her second album, which is quite inferior to previous efforts. Even her amazing showmanship couldn't make up the difference.

9. I enjoyed the "Harlem Shake" meme of 2013. It was done best by Matt and Kim:
 

10. I was over thrilled to have Danger!Sound post the 500 word essay I wrote explaining my decision to quit all in concert photography. Please click over to D!S to read it.

Special Music Mention of 2013:
The significant moment of my music life of 2013 was my escape from suburbia. The event has much larger meaning to my life (and I will be writing a separate year in review post to address it in more depth), but it had immediate impact on my music fandom. I am now much more inclined to only purchase single tickets and have already found a small group of local friends who are as musically inclined as I.

This year had multiple songs that could have been Song of the Year had they not been competing with each other. One such song is "Hidden Xs" by Fuck Buttons because they performed the hell out of that track when I saw them live at Subterranean... But the story/environment surrounding me at that time and place will keep that song in my heart forever:

1. I bought a single ticket because I knew I was never going to convince anybody to go see an act named Fuck Buttons.
2. When the show date came around, I didn't know I would be living 3 blocks away from the venue.
3. I was able to meet up with someone who I initially "met over Twitter" and he was nice enough to introduce me to other friends his there.
4. It was a late show on a weekday, made incredibly easier from only needing to walk 3 blocks to my apartment.

Top three crazy band names I've seen live this year:

• STRFKR (pronounced "Starfucker")
• Fuck Buttons
• Diarrhea Planet

It's been an amazing year.

Finally, here are my Instragrammed concert moments of 2013. You will easily see when I made the switch in strategy to abide the promise posted in Danger!Sound. My final picture is the one I chose to also post at the top as my favorite photo (because it is my last):

Blackbird Blackbird (Metro in March)

STRFKR (Metro in March)

Pet Lions (Empty Bottle in April)

Ducktails (Empty Bottle in April)

Jim James (Pabst in April)

FUTUREBIRDS (Schubas in May)

Foals (The Vic in May)

Night Beds (S.P.A.C.E. in May)

Junip (Lincoln Hall in June)

Mac DeMarco (Union Park in July)

Wire (Union Park in July)

Björk (Union Park in July)

Foals (Park West in August)

The National (Riverside in August)

Washed Out (Metro in Septembre)

Savages (Metro in September)

Phoenix (Aragon in September)

Franz Ferdinand (The Vic in October)

Fuck Buttons (Subterranean in October)

Janelle Monáe (The Vic in October)

Holy Ghost! (Metro in November)

Cut Copy (The Riv in November)

Brendan Canning (Beat Kitchen in November)

Jon Hopkins (Lincoln Hall in November)

If it's too loud, you're too dumb

ETY•Plugs®

One of my favorite concerts of my show attending career was the Cut Copy Lollapalooza Aftershow at Metro on August 6, 2010. Dragonette had a killer opening set and during the encore I literally danced out of my shoe when the Aussie group played “Sands of Time” (my “totally obscure favorite song never expected to be heard live” track). It was also recorded in my personal history as my last concert without ear protection.

Not gonna lie: the decision did not come easy. Not just due to the realization of my mortality or maturity, but also because I previously scoffed at the idea. I once held the close-minded opinion of equating the practice with wearing a blindfold to a movie. I thought people would also tease in a “look at Old Man McGrampa / Go back to The Home and save up for Miracle Ear” way. I realized that for what I wanted in my life, I had to preserve my ears for a marathon instead of a sprint.

“If it’s too loud, you’re too young" – an insult from the young

“Get off my lawn” – a reply from the old

I’m not the only one realizing that it’s getting louder out there. Over half of the responders to the All Songs Considered poll wear ear plugs (Question of the Week: Are Concerts Too Loud? - NPR Music's All Songs Considered Blog).

As a fan of music, hearing loss scares the soul out of me. Aren’t the ones most passionate about star gazing the ones convincing us to view eclipses through a hole in a box? The popular opinion among music aficionados should be pro-plug, but it's not and that's wrong. Anybody wanting to hear more music should be aware they may be robbing themselves of future experiences, but careful foresight isn’t exactly punk rock.

I met Patrick that night at the show

I’ve had a few people look down at me when I say I now bring ear plugs to every show. But nobody cares when I’m at the venue – because nobody notices. What is noticeable, however, were the multiple people visibly plugging their ears with their fingers (while still dancing) to Fuck Buttons at Chicago’s Subterranean this past October. In what was by far the loudest show I have ever attended, I was never more appreciate of Etymotic plugs.


There are exceptions of course: it makes sense when at a small venue that barely fit the over sized speakers plugged into an EDM act named Fuck Buttons, but not to hear Night Beds play their debut album Country Sleep at a venue named S.P.A.C.E. (Society for Preservation of Arts and Culture in Evanston).

Every passionate fan of live music should invest in high quality ear protection. Trust the technology – the best products reduce, not suffocate, sound. Don’t bother with anything made out of foam or sold in packs of 10+ pairs at Walgreens. I recommend the ones I use and have also heard great EarPeace reviews.

Let’s make “Have them in case there is a ton of bass” be the new “no glove / no love.”

Do you take pictures at concerts?

My Morning Jacket at Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion in 2012

Effective immediately, I am not taking another picture at a concert.

I sincerely hope I can hold true to this statement, for my “Instagram (Shows/Concerts)” FB photo album has been a source of pride since I started logging my concert pics. Although I believe I am not contributing to the problem, I wish this may be an opportunity to become a part of its solution.

On one level, concert photo taking (especially if you are using a “statue of liberty” method) is a very selfish move as the action not only blocks views from fellow concert attendees but also creates a visible distraction for anybody in eye-shot. Its bothered me for a while, and I’ve tried to keep my phone below my already tallish height, but it wasn’t until I started hearing complaints from artists that are making me want to keep my phone in my pocket.

Björk's message at the 2013 Pitchfork Music Festival

The turning point for me was at this past summer’s Pitchfork Music Festival, where Björk posted a simple and polite message requesting for people to refrain from picture taking / video recording during the show. She cited the distracting element to her personal performance in addition to the worry of people robbing themselves of an optimal live experience. It created a noticeable difference in my enjoyment – I felt a responsibly was lifted (because I tend to really want one good picture, which comes with various levels of difficulty).

Further supporting the idea, while reading Lollapalooza performer interviews, one of my all-time favorites (Foals) didn’t understand why so many fans are inside their phones during their shows. It doesn’t necessarily bother them, but I can understand how odd it might feel  to see fans paying increasing amounts of attention to them through phones than in reality. And then there was the report I heard from the Newport Folk Festival, in which The Lumineers literally stopped their mega hit “mid-Hey” requesting for people to enjoy the moment instead of capturing it.

Most everyone respects the picture taking requests of dramatic theater and live comedy performances. Why are musicians not extended the same courtesy? When I look at it from this perspective, having never considered taking a picture during a comedy show, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to quit.

More importantly, I’ve realized I’m just being a show braggart. For me, it started in December 2009 when I joined Instagram. Since then, I’ve been using it to keep record (no pun intended) of which shows I have attended. I can accomplish this through other means (the leading candidate: taking a picture of something off the band’s merch table) that won’t negatively affect the experience for the performers or fellow concertgoers.

Could not have said it better than this graphic from DO312

Quick clarification: I have never recorded video at a show. People that record entire songs need to be stopped and punished to the fullest extent of social embarrassment allowed by law. I am referring to fellow amateurs – not the expert photographers I follow on Twitter that have much better photo equipment and credentials than I.

I’m not asking you to stop taking pictures. Hopefully all pictures you snap are taken with the respect of everyone else in mind. This is something I think will make concerts better for me – and it’s that selfishness that first started my picture taking that’s going to make my new practice successful.

What are my favorite 13 songs from the first half of 2013?

Jim James performing at Milwaukee's Pabst Theater on April 19, 2013

Spoiler alert: "A New Life" by Jim James is going to be my 2013 Song of the Year. It's a winner by knockout. Last year I was waffling all December not confident where I would land and 2011 saw "Midnight City" by M83 make an incredible down the stretch run in my mind. But this song had a one-two punch of circumstance that is distancing itself so incredibly ahead of the pack (again, this is just the internal music monologue of my mind).

First was the song's magnificent debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon...

Second, as the case with nearly every Song of the Year since I formally began awarding the informal title, I saw the song performed live (picture above).

There was an outside chance, in a year with new albums by some of my favorite due (Phoenix, Foals, Daft Punk, Franz Ferdinand, Arcade Fire) later in the year that it could change - but I feel comfortable calling it now.

I continue to build my Spotify playlist of my favorite songs, but I singled out 13 of them for my Top 13 of 2013's first half:

Top 13 of 2013's First Half

A few quick notes on these 13 tracks:

• Starred tracks indicate songs I've heard live (note: I have tickets for Phoenix later in the year, when I'll most likely hear "Entertainment")
• Pet Lions is an example of when I casually research the question, "who's opening tonight" and discover something much more
• If you liked Amy Winehouse, I can't recommend Jessie Ware highly enough: especially her Live Spotify Sessions if you have access to it
• Kacey Musgraves is not a typo - a bonafide country song has cracked this list for the first time ever
• Harlem Shake deserves to be on this list mainly because of Matt and Kim's fantastic effort

The back half of 2013 looks very promising as some all time favorites (including the #1 act I need to check off my Bucket List) performing live in Chicago. With how back loaded this year might become, I felt it was proper to write a first half recap. Thanks for reading.

Can you dance like nobody* is watching? (*ALL OF YOUTUBE)

Pardon me while I embed three of my favorite videos of people dancing. I just want to have all this wonderfulness in one place for when I need to smile, and dream, and believe, and hope, and know that there is level of self confidence in this world that will always match the stiffing unrelenting pressures of the society around us.

Which Postapalooza Show Should You See?

A hastily made Google Spreadsheet that helped me plan

It's Concert Lovers Christmas in early June!

My favorite concert news day of the year is not when the Lollapalooza lineup is announced, but rather when its Aftershows are revealed. Here are my recommendations, what I would see if I was ten years younger, and how I will act when they go on sale this Friday at 10 AM.

Wednesday July 31
My recommendation: Smith Westerns at Lincoln Hall
If I was ten years younger: Imagine Dragons at Metro
My target: [nothing]
Although SW@LH is tempting, Postapalooza now lasts five nights - best for me to not blast too hard out of the gate.

Thursday August 1
My recommendation: Hot Chip at The Vic
If I was ten years younger: Lana Del Rey at House of Blues
My target: [waiting and hoping]
Before the announcements I had Hot Chip very high on my list of acts I hoped to see on the Postapalooza Calendar. However I find it odd that there is no Metro show listed for this night (additionally, The Riv is completely empty of shows during the week). Last year I filled up my calendar too quick and missed out on seeing a later announced Franz Ferdinand show. This is mistake I will not repeat this year.  Sadly, Hot Chip will most likely sell out and I might have trouble getting tickets.

Friday August 2
My recommendation: Foals at Park West
If I was ten years younger: SBTRKT (with Disclosure) at The Mid
My target: Foals (with extremely large honorable mentions to Local Natives at House of Blues and Jessie Ware at Lincoln Hall)
There is no question in my opinion that this night is the best night of Postapalooza - there are three shows this night that are better than anything on any other night. However, I'm going to again learn from a past mistake and take the known entity of Foals as my pick. There is a 100% likelihood of having an awesome time seeing my fourth favorite band in a small venue. Not to mention, this decision all but pushes me down to St. Louis to see Local Natives at Lou Fest in September.

Saturday August 3
My recommendation: Band of Horses at Metro
If I was ten years younger: Kendrick Lamar (with Baauer) at Aragon
My target: [nothing]
Sadly, I have a bachelor party to attend this evening.  It would take a top ten favorite act to pull me from my friend's celebration. It's too bad, because this particular Groom-To-Be would probably want to see Two Door Cinema Club at House of Blues if he wasn't otherwise obligated.

Sunday August 4
The only act worth detailing on this night is Alt-J at Lincoln Hall. Last year I saw these kids (man, they looked so damn young) haul out their own gear after opening for Chairlift at the Empty Bottle for a Sunday Night 2012 Postapalooza show. In the year since they've played three sold out shows (Bottle, Metro, Metro) and are now at the too-small-for-their-current-level-of-fame Lincoln Hall. In my estimation, it will be the hardest ticket of all to get - especially with LH's will call only ticket policy.

Shockingly, I'm only planning to buy tickets to one show when they go on sale this Friday at 10 AM. I'm hoping to buy more, but I felt like I committed myself too early last year in this process closing off better opportunities that were later presented. And who knows, maybe I'll actually go to the actual Lollapalooza this year (slim chance).

That was Arrested Development?

Steve Holt?

The following are my initial thoughts after watching Arrested Development season 4 over the first 48 hours once all 15 epsisodes became available on NetFlix:

Beggars can't be choosers, right?

It became clear early into my binge that Mitch Hurwitz was correct in advising against marathon viewing. To that extent, I really wish he would have been able to instruct NetFlix to meter out the episodes - because there was zero chance I wasn't going to mainline AD. I also want to note that I expect the episodes to flourish with repeat viewings (I will no doubt watch all 15 episodes at least two more times) as I was so happy to have new content to behold I was sacrificing the foreground to see the background - knowing that I was choosing confusion for the promise of a later payoff.

As for the episodes, and it's overall quality, I had a rougher opinion until I read an excellent review from The A.V. Club that expertly noted the shortfalls but held it up against a new, not the same, standard. For various reasons (NetFlix budgets / actor schedules), the format of the show is different. The show remains groundbreaking with it's innovative method of storytelling, albeit for new reasons which differ from its prior seasons. The show refused to rest on it's laurels, and dared to venture out to make something larger. There was zero chance this storytelling format could have been attempted on a weekly aired network schedule.

Here lies my largest disappointment with the new episodes. The strength of the past method of storytelling utilized the show's best asset (the diverse talents of its awesome cast) to jump from 'A story' to 'B story' to let jokes snap or linger with precision. The new, still adventurous, method of storytelling is to portray each puzzle piece in great detail and hide the overall mosaic. The single character focus at the near total expense of any 'B story' and editing style sacrificed the timing I adored. Personally, in my amateur opinion, the change wasn't for the better. To further detriment to the show's pacing - each episode's increased length exaggerated the issue.

The storytelling also failed to gel the cast in the few instances in which they shared the same space. There are three major gateposts  that nearly all characters pass through: The police station immediately after the end of season 3 (which works well), a contrived premise of a hotel hosting three completely different events, and a Cinco de Cuatro festival that bookends the new episodes, but fails to give the overall season any meaning.  In fact, the major arc of the season was the incarceration of Lucile Bluth, in which the entire family is missing from the trial and the character that would most be impacted by it (Buster) is missing for the majority of the season. My misgivings aside - I actually have grown to appreciate how the final scene ended. It makes sense to me now (although did incite some rage instantly upon credit roll).


I also had issues with how the cast was treated/written. Characters like G.O.B. & Tobias felt as strong as ever, with showcasing episodes allowing them to flourish. The biggest happy surprise was the growth of George Michael Bluth and Maeby Funke. However, I felt George Sr. and his polar twin Oscar were neutered both literally and spiritually. Others have noted that Michael Bluth was alwasys, like the rest of his family, a bad person only to appear better in relation.  Without the ensemble, or the direction they provide, Micheal's character sunk to depths I felt too low (Bad parenting is not a new motif for AD, but they never took it to the shower or bedroom). Fringe characters came back with perfect notes (for example: Carl Weathers and Bob Loblaw), whereas others felt way too integral to the story (Lucile 2 might have had triple the screen time of Buster). Oh - and there was incredibly way too much Ron Howard: I understand there was a lot of lost time in need of his exposition voice over work, but that doesn't forgive the appearances.

On the bright side, Isla Fisher was awesome (and Maria Bamford to a lesser, but also stellar, degree).  Quick Sidebar: Hollywood needs to make a Anna Kendrick / Isla Fisher franchise with many installments. The rest of the stunt casting grew distracting. Why did we need to have different actors play George and Lucile in flashbacks? I would prefer to see Walters and Tambor in Wigs instead of one Wiig (although with an incredible impression).

Please know that I'm eager to watch these episodes again, and to appreciate them for what they are (instead of what I hoped). My favorite episode was the seventh G.O.B. focused "Colony Collapse" that was most definitely aided by the inclusion of Ann Veal (in recent years, thanks to Parenthood, I've become a big Mae Whitman fan). I'm confident the first six episodes - expect for maybe the George Sr. spotlights - will appear less jagged now that I understand the whole puzzle.

One thing is undeniably certain for me: I'm very happy we have new AD episodes. These past months, as many of us chose to watch our favorite episodes again, prompted an increase in Bluth Quoting (never a bad thing).

The Banana Stand is no more, but now we have Fake Block.