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

Countdown 111!!!!!!!!!111!!!!!! Haha.

...Because exclamation points and 1's are on the same key! Hilarious.

It's a good countdown this week. And for you "Punchy Intro" fans, the last 4 intros were recorded POST-MIDNIGHT!!!

Countdown #111

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun.
Gotye
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Linkin Park
M83
Of Monsters and Men
The Offspring
Silversun Pickups

Countdown #110: With Plenty of Time to Spare!

Even though I'm writing this post at 10:58pm on the night before it goes up, it's only because we were at Rehoboth Beach all day and I only just got home. Seriously, doing the intros on the iPhone is tres unstressful and they tend to get me down recording quicker. I hope it's not because I'm sacrificing content...

If I am, bear with me as I grow accustomed to this new way of doing things and then bear with me again when I get my new laptop and then everything will be great.

When you see the next Countdown, it'll be the day before my 29th birthday! I'm going to do another Birthday edition of Off the Charts and hopefully that will go up in the same month as my birthday (or at least the same year!)

Speaking of birthdays, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY DAD!! (who will likely read this) and HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!!! (who is less likely to read this)!!!

Here's this week's countdown! Enjoy!

Countdown #110

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun.
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Linkin Park
M83
Of Monsters and Men
The Offspring
Silversun Pickups

Countdown #109: Road Show

I won't go into the explanation of the title on here, but suffice it to say, I have a great new way of making these things and I'm very excited about it!

It's a pretty standard countdown this week, which is to say, FANTASTIC.

Enjoy everyone!

Countdown #109

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun.
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Linkin Park
M83
Of Monsters and Men
The Offspring
Silversun Pickups
Smashing Pumpkins

Countdown #108! Greetings From the Void.

Oftentimes, I do this podcast and I feel like only my family is going to hear it and it doesn't matter what I find on the Internet, I'm pretty much alone. And then I hear back from the lovely people over at Having Said That and I realize that there are ACTUAL people out there that I've not met and they might notice if I talk about them! It's a wonderful feeling of connectedness. I mention them again on this episode. Don't be jealous :)

Countdown #108

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Linkin Park
M83
Now, Now
The Offspring
Of Monsters and Men
Silversun Pickups

New Countdown with another close call!

Did I almost forget about this week's countdown? No. Did I almost not get it recorded? Yes. That happened. Sometimes having a life outside of the blog is so inconvenient! ;-)

Big shoutout to Having Said That in this episode. Let's just say I tried something. I don't know if it's something i'm going to continue to try or what. I guess we'll have to see.

This one starts slow and builds up a good head of steam. Enjoy!

Countdown #107

***Featuring***

The Black Keys

Bon Iver

fun. featuring Janelle Monae

Gotye featuring Kimbra

Grouplove

Imagine Dragons

Linkin Park

M83

Neon Trees

Of Monsters and Men

Silversun Pickups

11 years and 1 week later: This Week's Countdown

Wasn't the Flashback last week fun? I wonder if people who didn't graduate that year got as much nostalgia from it as I did. I hope you enjoyed it in either case.

We're back to present day this week and there's a bit of movement to come back to.

I can't believe we're going into the THIRD summer of these countdowns. I love it.

Countdown #106

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Linkin Park
M83
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Silversun Pickups

A New Countdown for your Memorial Day enjoyment!

Hey all! Hope you are enjoying Memorial Day weekend! It's supposed to be nice where I live and I hope that it is nice where you live!

Enjoy this countdown. I think that if you're looking for punchy, you're going to find it in the first 3 or 4 intros. Just a little tip!

See you next week for a Flashback Countdown! We'll count down the top 10 from the first week of June 2001.

Here's this week's countdown:

Countdown #105

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Linkin Park
M83
Neon Trees
Nine Inch Nails
Of Monsters and Men
Silversun Pickups


And here's the video I mention at one point!

We'll always have Countdowns...

Even though I'm adjusting to my new schedule at my new job and that's making it hard to do my other normal postings, I have enough experience making these podcasts that I can do them in one sitting if I put my mind to it.

I should have a new laptop sometime this summer and I think that's going to mean a renaissance for this blog. I will have email submissions, my external hard drive, and my recording location all in one place. It's going to be killer.

So. I made you a countdown. Hope you like it!

Countdown #104

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Green Day
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Linkin Park
M83
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men
Silversun Pickups

A Countdown I almost forgot to finish making!

Yes it's true. I don't always knock countdowns out in one sitting. Usually it's more like two. Sometimes three sittings. This time it was three, but the third very nearly didn't happen at all! Thank goodness I have a routine where I look at the blogs before I go to bed (is that what people will do instead of "reading the paper" in 20 years? Is it actually what people mostly do now?) and that jarred the idea that I publish on Sunday mornings!

But here it is in all it's glory. 103.

Countdown #103

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Linkin Park
M83
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Silversun Pickups

New Countdown in Stere-ere-o. In stere-ere-o. In stereoooo (Beastie Boys reference)

So MCA (Adam Yauch) from the Beastie Boys died on Friday. He contributed so much to music right up to the very end. And he will be missed. The show this week pays tribute to him and the Beastie Boys in general. Enjoy it!

Countdown #102

***Featuring***
Beastie Boys
The Black Keys
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Linkin Park
M83
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Shins

Countdown 101: Back to Basics

Whoa. So Blogger's all weird now. I know that probably most of my listeners don't blog themselves (you should though!), but I guess they've changed the setup of what it looks like when I write a blog post. Things are in different places. It's like someone cleaned my house and moved all my stuff around. Eh, I'm sure I'll get used to it.

So, we're in the 2nd 100 episodes now, huh? Pretty sweet. :)

Enjoy this week's show!

Countdown #101

***Featuring***
The Black Keys
Foo Fighters
fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Lostprophets
M83
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Countdown #100. That's Right. 100.

So, this is the 100th podcast I've made that I've labeled a "Countdown". There are Flashback Countdowns and Off the Charts podcasts and stuff, but this is the 100th proper countdown of current chart hits.

It's chock full of bonus songs, movement and perhaps for the first time on ANY podcast...Counting to 100 by 6!

Enjoy this one! Tell your friends.

Countdown #100

***Featuring***
All-American Rejects
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
Hoobastank
Keith Urban
M83
The Mars Volta
Neon Trees
Of Monsters and Men

Mushmouth presents A New Countdown!

I felt like I was on a first date with this week's podcast. I was talking too loud sometimes, too quietly other times, I was nervous, forgetting the points of stories......

But the music is great! :) It always is.

Countdown #99

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
M83
Rise Against

Oh, also, in honor of #99....wasn't Barbara Feldon a knockout on Get Smart?

Happy Easter! Here's a New Countdown!

I seriously found myself thinking just now, "Wow, so when New Year's is on a Sunday, Easter is on a Sunday!"....Yeah. So, that's where my head is. How are you? :)

We're quickly approaching 100 episodes and I couldn't be more stoked. Actually, I will be more stoked. Next week!

Countdown #98

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Blink-182
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
M83
Rise Against

A Countdown to Say Goodbye....

This has been a lot of fun and I'll never forget all the memories, but I think it's time for me to do something else with the time I have been using to do this podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for all the support.

Countdown #97

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Evanescence featuring Paul McCoy
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
M83
Pearl Jam
Rise Against
















APRIL FOOOOOOOOLS!!!!!!!!!!!
(See you next week :) )

Genre-hopping with the New Countdown

You know, if I ever featured a band called The New Countdown, I would have to be very careful about how I titled the post.

Yes, I really felt like this week's countdown mixed it up pretty nicely. There weren't a lot of back to back songs of the same genre and that always feels like a win to me.

I heard from a listener that she made chicken while listening to last week's show. Has anyone else tried cooking to the countdown? That sounds like an Appetite For Distraction/I Sing in the Kitchen crossover show, doesn't it?

Countdown #96

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
M83
Rise Against
U.S. Royalty

New Countdown: The Voice is Back! And it's working overtime!

No more croaking! Only some wild, youthful partying with a touch of rocking added to taste. Oh and more rambling than I've been doing recently (don't leave!). I'm liking where the countdown has been heading these past few weeks. What have you guys been thinking?

Also, has anyone come up with any Countdown #100 ideas? I certainly haven't.


Countdown #95

***Featuring***
AWOLNATION
The Black Keys
Foo Fighters
Foster the People
Fun. Featuring Janelle Monae
Gotye Featuring Kimbra
Grouplove
M83
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rise Against
Young the Giant