Newb...I mean NEW Countdown

I realized when recording this one that there are a lot of bands that are either touring in support of, or in the process of making, their debut albums. It'd be fun to see a show with all of them together. And I think it would work, genre-ically. If I win the lottery, I will host an annual year end concert with all of the bands that made the countdown, but have only released one album (LP) at most. What would I call it?

ANYways....

Countdown #130

***Featuring***
Alex Clare
Atlas Genius
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Mumford and Sons
Muse
Passion Pit
R.E.M.
Youngblood Hawke

Festive Fifty 2011 Top Ten

Each day this week, in anticipation of the deadline for voting on the Festive Fifty 2012 Shortlist, I'll be listening to the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifties of yore (2012's will be the 6th!) and trying to track down the videos of the Top 5!

The big drama of last year was the battle for the #1 spot between the HUGE POP HIT and the underground indie rocker. It worked out the way these things usually do, but it was so close for most of the voting period. We have something similar going on this year. It's a real nailbiter. :)

You can listen to the 2011 Festive Fifty here: (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

10. Wilco - I Might
9. M83 - Midnight City
8. Half Man Half Biscuit - Fun Day in the Park
7. Wooden Shjips - Lazy Bones
6. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

5. Dawes - A Little Bit of Everything

4. Radiohead - Lotus Flower

3. Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks

2. The Lovely Eggs - Don't Look at Me (I Don't Like It)

1. Adele - Rolling in the Deep

Festive Fifty 2010 Top Ten

Each day this week, in anticipation of the deadline for voting on the Festive Fifty 2012 Shortlist, I'll be listening to the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifties of yore (2012's will be the 6th!) and trying to track down the videos of the Top 5!

This was a big year for me. It was the first year that I assumed my role as "Statman". I was so stoked to do this one and it came out pretty well. It's absolutely a coincidence that both of the years that I've done the stats, the winner has been a mainstream pop hit... :-D Seriously, though. It's a coincidence.

Oh! Also, definitely listen to the intro for #1. It's, in my mind, a CP classic.

You can listen to the 2010 Festive Fifty here: (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

10. Caribou - Odessa
9. Broken Bells - The High Road
8. LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
7. Kings of Leon - Radioactive
6. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Home

5. Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man

4. Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can't See Land

3. Arcade Fire - Ready to Start

2. The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio

1. Cee-Lo Green - Fuck You

Festive Fifty 2009 Top Ten

Each day this week, in anticipation of the deadline for voting on the Festive Fifty 2012 Shortlist, I'll be listening to the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifties of yore (2012's will be the 6th!) and trying to track down the videos of the Top 5!

The 3rd year was the first year where I had a guess for what would be #1. My pick made it to #4 and I got to introduce it! This was also the beginning of the several years where there were lots of songs from 1 or 2 albums. Oh! And my wife made her CP debut introducing #10!

You can listen to the 2009 Festive Fifty here: (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

10. Lily Allen - The Fear
9. Phoenix - 1901
8. Morrissey - Something Is Squeezing My Skull
7. Fanfarlo - I'm a Pilot
6. Meursault - William Henry Miller, Part 1

5. Camera Obscura - French Navy

4. The Decemberists - The Rake's Song

3. Withered Hand - Religious Songs

2. Animal Collective - My Girls

1. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

One More Shortlist song!

This is a song that was nominated and made it to the shortlist....BEFORE IT WAS RELEASED! The person who nominated it heard the band play it in concert this summer and was so confident that it would translate to the studio version that he put it on his list. So here it is, to complete your research of the songs on the list.

The North Sea Scrolls - Witches in the Water

Festive Fifty 2008 Top Ten

Each day this week, in anticipation of the deadline for voting on the Festive Fifty 2012 Shortlist, I'll be listening to the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifties of yore (2012's will be the 6th!) and trying to track down the videos of the Top 5!


By the 2nd year of the Festive Fifty, I was ready. I had my list set to go before the call came for submissions and I even knew a lot of the songs on the shortlist! This was the year when I actually found new bands to love having only heard them on the Festive Fifty. I'm thinking specifically of Frightened Rabbit.


You can listen to the 2008 Festive Fifty here: (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

10. Portishead - The Rip
9. MGMT - Electric Feel
8. British Sea Power - No Lucifer
7. Flight of the Conchords - Business Time
6. British Sea Power - Waving Flags

5. Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma

4. Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines

3. Elbow - Grounds for Divorce

2. MGMT - Time to Pretend

1. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal

Festive Fifty 2007 Top Ten

Each day this week, in anticipation of the deadline for voting on the Festive Fifty 2012 Shortlist, I'll be listening to the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifties of yore (2012's will be the 6th!) and trying to track down the videos of the Top 5!

My snapshot impression of this inaugural edition of the Festive Fifty was that I hadn't paid ANY attention to what had come out in 2007 and I was also very unfamiliar with a lot of the nominees on the shortlist, so I just voted for names I knew! Oh, how times have changed....sort of. ;-)

You can listen to the 2007 Festive Fifty Here: (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

10. Bjork - Earth Intruders
9. Wilco - Impossible Germany
8. Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe
7. Arcade Fire - Intervention
6. Iron & Wine - Boy With a Coin

5. PJ Harvey - When Under Ether

4. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends

3. The National - Fake Empire

2. Spoon - The Underdog

1. Los Campesinos! - You, Me, Dancing!

Super-nerdy-link-post. Not worth reading :)

This post is to serve as a link to the post that I just made with this week's countdown. There were bonus songs I wanted to label, but I blew past the character limit. So, here's a link to that post. More content to come soon :)

New Countdown: Thanksgiving Bonus Edition!

Yeah I went kind of crazy on the bonus songs, but I'm very thankful for all of you listeners and I will not apologize! I'm sorry, but that's just who I am ;-)

I'm very interested to see if I can remember all of the artists featured on this episode. Let's find out together, shall we?

Countdown #129

***FEATURING***
Alex Clare
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
The Deep Vibration
Descendents
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Led Zeppelin
The Lumineers
Mumford & Sons
Muse
My Morning Jacket
Passion Pit
Sly and the Family Stone
Third Eye Blind
Youngblood Hawke

New Countdown: Strong Start. And then it was after midnight :)

Yeah, I really shouldn't do these podcasts so late. I really let myself spool out the ramble on this one. But I think it's actually ok. Just make sure you listen to it at like 12:30 am. :)

Countdown #128

***Featuring***
Alex Clare
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Mumford & Sons
Muse
Passion Pit
R.E.M.
Youngblood Hawke

What We Did During the Storm: A Podcast

So, last Monday (not LAST Monday, the LAST last Monday...the Monday when....it was October 29th) Sandy was hitting the east coast and my sister and I were bored. So we decided to make a podcast over the phone. I think it went pretty well. We had a very eclectic mix of songs and had a fun time talking about lots of different things related and unrelated to music!

Off the Charts #6: Sister/Rain

***Featuring***
Beach House
The Beatles
Gogol Bordello
No Use For a Name
P.O.S
Panda Bear
Smashing Pumpkins
Sufjan Stevens
Wu Tang Clan

Festive Fifty Shortlist Voting

It's that time of year again. Time to vote for the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifty!!! Rather than trying to find new words to explain what to do, here's an email I sent out last night:

Alright everyone! Here's the shortlist. We're 1/3 of the way there and the steps only get easier! 

Here's what's next:

1. From the list below, pick your 10 favorite songs

2. Arrange them in order from 1-10 with 1 being your most favorite.

3. If you choose to, you can give a negative vote to any one song.

4. Share the list! Get more people to vote! Facebook! Blog! Twitter! Tumblr!

Please do all of the above by Sunday, November 25th

Thanks,

Happy Voting!

James

A.C. Newman - I'm Not Talking

Adele - Skyfall

Alabama Shakes - Be Mine

Alabama Shakes - Hold On

Amy Cook - Getting to You

Anais Mitchell - Young Man in America

Antlers - Drift Dive

Bat For Lashes - Laura

Beach House - Myth

Beach House - Other People

Ben Folds Five - Do It Anyway

Bill Fay - Cosmic Concerto

Bright Light Bright Light - Cry at Films

Brother Ali - Mourning in America

Bruce Springsteen - Land of Hope & Dreams

Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball

Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe

Cat Power - Ruin

Chromatics - Kill For Love

Chuck Prophet - Play That Song Again

Crocodiles - Endless Flowers

Curtis Stigers - Things Have Changed

Daughter - Candles

David Byrne & St. Vincent - Who

Dexy's - Free

Dexy's - Nowhere is Home

Divine Fits - Would That Not Be Nice

Django Django - Default

Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetary Sings

Field Music - A New Town

Fiona Apple - Every Single Night

First Aid Kit - Emmylou

First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar

Frank Ocean - Thinkin Bout You

fun. - Some Nights

fun. - We Are Young

Giant Giant Sand - Forever and a Day

Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Never Go Back

Grimes - Genesis

Grimes - Oblivion

Grizzly Bear - Sleeping Ute

Grizzly Bear - Yet Again

Harmed Brothers - A Letter to Lisa

Isaiah Toothtaker - LA Nights

Jack White - I'm Shakin

Japandroids - Continuous Thunder

Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built

Jason Lytle - Department of Disappearance

Kanye West et al - Clique

Kendrick Lamar - Backseat Freestyle

Killers - Runaways

Lana Del Rey - Video Games

Linden - If I Had Wings

Lumineers - Ho Hey

Magnetic Fields - Andrew in Drag

Metric - Breathing Underwater

METZ - Wet Blanket

Meursault - Flittin'

Meursault - Settling

Muse - Madness

Muse - Survival

Mynabirds - Generals

North Sea Scrolls - Witches in the Water

Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

Offspring - Secrets From the Underground

Offspring - The Future is Now

P.O.S - Fuck Your Stuff

P.O.S - Get Down

Passion Pit - Constant Conversations

Perfume Genius - Hood

Phantom Limb - The Pines

Ponderosa - For Here I Am Born

Psyched - Cut the Chord

Purity Ring - Fineshrine

Purity Ring - Obedear

Raul Midon - Sunshine "I can fly" (Live)

Richard Hawley - Leave Your Body Behind You

Santigold - Disparate Youth

School of Seven Bells - The Night

Sharon Van Etten - Serpents

Shearwater - Dread Sovereign

Shins - Simple Song

Sigur Ros - Ekki Mukk

Sigur Ros - Varud

Tallest Man on Earth - 1904

Tame Impala - Elephant

Tender Trap - Love is Hard Enough

Ting Tings - Hit Me Down Sonny

TNGHT - Higher Ground

Trampled By Turtles - Alone

Triggerfinger - I Will Follow (live)

Twilight Sad - Another Bed

Underworld - And I Will Kiss

Very Best - We Ok

Vespers - Better Now

Walkmen - Heaven

Wedding Present - Deer Caught in the Headlights

White Rabbits - Heavy Metal

xx - Angels

New Countdown: Hey! I can't find nothin on the radio!

So. Now it's November, huh? Well that means we have a new Best Alternative Album Grammy Winner to start poring over. And it's a good one. You'll see :)

This is a fun one, you guys.

Countdown #127

***Featuring***
Alex Clare
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
fun.
Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Mumford & Sons
Muse
Passion Pit
R.E.M.
Youngblood Hawke

November 2012 Media Update

Ok! I'm not late! Hooray! I am tired, though so I'm just going to get right into it.

Last Song/MP3 I listened to: On my drive home I put on the My Chemical Romance album Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. And my daughter and I listened to it all the way home. I think she enjoyed it! We stopped in the middle of Track 10...which is...."Hang 'em High". A very enjoyable song from a very enjoyable album!

Last TV show I watched: I wanted to make sure that my last show that I watched WASN'T Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. So I watched last night's Halloween episode of The New Girl which was funny and touching as usual :)

Last Movie I watched: Last night, K and I watched PART (a very small part) of Hocus Pocus (because it was Halloween) but the last full movie we watched was Aladdin which we showed to L. She paid attention almost through the whole thing which was sweet.

Last Written Work I read: I'm about 3/4 thorough a book recommended to me via Twitter. It's called So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman. It's like a whodunit and a psychological thriller and a portrait of a rural town all in one. Very much enjoying it!

I can't believe I only have one more of these! It may be that I'll do a 2012 wrap-up post, too. We'll see.