Another year coming to a close

Well, another year coming to a close, and it’s been a great up and down roller coaster as usual. I have to be thankful that Kristen and I both have good jobs, and we have a healthy daughter. I got to go to some amazing shows over the year. ACL was amazing for the fact I got to meet the Flaming Lips and be on stage for a major festival show, but the one show that keeps standing out to me is The Hold Steady in Dallas. Sometimes you find yourself down and to me music is probably the most uplifting thing you can listen to, to get you up a little. It was the first time I ever went to a show by myself, and I couldn’t have picked a better band to see. The best thing about Craig Finn’s lyrics is he doesn’t sugar coat anything, he lets you know that you aren’t the only one that is having a hard time. It was the best medicine for that time for me. If you want to check out the Hold Steady, I recommend the album Boys and Girls in America.

Well, I do have two shows on deck for the New Year, Kristen and I are going to see Girl Talk in Austin in January, and yours truly won two tickets for Tokyo Police Club in Dallas in February. I am pumped about both; hopefully Kristen can get that day off too, so she can go with me. So I have a few things on deck for next year. I am hoping that the ups and downs of this year will just give all of us a better new year. We do get to have a small Christmas vacation and go to Houston for Baylor’s bowl game, one thing that we have been planning since we became bowl eligible, so Kristen and I have been looking forward to this, not only for a few months, but the five years I have worked for Baylor. Well I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a very happy and lucky new year.

Well I guess it’s time to do my top 30 albums of 2010. The Rolling Stone and Spin both released theirs this week, so to keep up with them I might as well do it too. Check out these albums, I don’t think you will be disappointed . So with that said here we go:

30. The Roots- How I got Over
29. Yeasayer-Odd Blood
28. Spoon- Transference
27. M.I.A.- Maya
26. Beach House-Teen Dream
25. Neil Young-Le Noise
24. Big Boi- Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
23. The Walkmen- Lisbon
22. Robert Plant- Band of Joy
21. Against Me!- White Crosses
20. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists- The Brutalist Bricks
19. Sleigh Bells- Treats
18. WAVVES- King of the Beach
17. Gorillaz- Plastic Beach
16. Cee Lo Green- The Lady Killer
15. Best Coast- Crazy For You
14. Kid Cudi- Man on the moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager
13. Tokyo Police Club- Champion
12. The Gaslight Anthem- American Slang
11. Drake- Thank Me Later
10. Kings of Leon- Come Around Sundown
9. Eminem- Recovery
8. The National- High Violet
7. The Dead Weather- Sea of Cowards
6. LCD Soundsystem- This is Happening
5. Vampire Weekend- Contra
4. The Hold Steady- Heaven is Whenever
3. Kanye West- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
2. Arcade Fire- The Suburbs
1. The Black Keys- Brothers

Good luck comes in pairs

Well, once again, it’s been a few weeks since I wrote a blog. I haven’t had much to write about, and we have been busy as usual. I had a great birthday and even better surprise present that Kristen got me, not only did she get me Pearl Jam- Backspacer on vinyl she also got me a guitar as well. I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, and now I have no excuses. It was a nice Thanksgiving Break for all of us, and we had a great Thanksgiving with a bunch of our friends over for food and drinks. I got some great gifts for my birthday, got an awesome book, Austin City Limits: 35 years in Photographs. For some reason I feel they have way more pictures than that book could hold. I got some new Adidas kicks, and a few other cool presents. I am very lucky.

Well to start off the week, and to shake the cobwebs out, I started off the week listening to the entire catalogue of Wilco and Dinosaur Jr. Sometimes you forget how great bands really are, and I always forget how much I love Dinosaur Jr. Also I hate to admit this, but Wilco is a new love for me. They have always been out there and I have listened to their stuff, but I really got to listen to them at work (where I do most of my music listening) and man they are an amazing band. Don’t worry I have listened to a few new albums. As of right now I am getting around and listening to Warpaint. They played at ACL this year and opened up an aftershow for Sonic Youth. It’s an all girl band and they are really good. Mostly slower stuff, much like a Sonic Youth type band.

Of course, most of you know, I am a hip-hop fan, so yes I have picked up Kanye West’s new album. I have been interested in it, ever since I read in Rolling Stone and Spin about the album and the unusually very high marks they gave the album. After a few listens it is very good, and I love the way he went very far out of the box making this album. The guests on the album range from indie-folk artist Bon Iver (one of my favs), to Jay-Z, to Kid Cudi, and the one person that I feel comes off the best in the song “Monster” Nicki Minaj. If she holds true she will be huge in the next year.

So to get to why my title of this entry is about good luck. Well to start off the past month, Kristen is going to try and go back to school here at Baylor and finish her degree. Last night we found out that she is officially able to go to Baylor starting this semester. On top of that good news, I constatantly try to enter every contest to win tickets to shows I really want to see. Well on top of her good news, the luck traveled down to me and I won two tickets to see Tokyo Police Club in the best venue in Dallas (the best venue I have seen a show in) the Granada Theater. If you get a chance to see a show there, please go, it is very intimate and you get to see great acts up close. So it was a good news day for us yesterday.

I am going to try my best to get this thing updated. I have a ton of music to write about. Check out Warpaint, Kanye West, Kid Cudi for this week. Also if you have not got the Black Keys album Brother, do so now. My pick for album of the year. Also reminds me, I will have my top albums of the year in the next few weeks.

Growing older this month

Well, I am now figuring out that I came out of the gate strong with this blog thing, and I have now started to slack off and write blogs every few weeks. Of course I am now getting a little busy around work with football going on, volleyball still hanging around and of course basketball starting this week. On top of this, I still have a very busy wife that works crazy hours at the hospital and a seven year old that is also starting basketball this month. On a side note, I did get to full fill a childhood fantasy of owning a pair of Air Jordan’s through Sloan this past week. I got to buy her, her first (and hopefully not last) pair of Jordan’s. Let’s hope she channels Michael during her tryout for basketball in a few weeks.
Well, for those of you that read this blog and know me, I am turning a little older this month. If I didn’t know, the beard and the precious hair I have left on my head is now telling me, with the taunting of grey hair it feels it should expose while growing out now. I am hoping once my beard comes part of the way in I look more like MCA (Adam Yauch) from the Beastie Boys than some old looking guy trying to look and dress younger. Either way, I am going for the older guy Beastie Boys look.
I can tell the past few months that is has been getting to me a little that I am getting closer to 40 and moving further away from my 20’s and early 30’s. I never thought much about getting older, unless you could the 16th, 18th, and 21st birthdays. The milestone birthday’s if you will. I guess this birthday is getting to me a little more than any other. I guess the good thing to keep my mind off of it, is that not only do I work that day, but I also have a basketball game. So I will be busy all day long. Well, so far I have seen and lord knows I have done a lot to fill up all 3? years I have been here. Since I do try to write about music, I figure that I should do almost a top 3? albums that I have owned over the years that have an importance. I will also start with number 1 and move my way down, giving away my age still hurts a little right now. So here we go, Kevin’s List of albums.

1. Ten-Pearl Jam
2. Straight Outta Compton- N.W.A.
3. Willie And Family Live- Willie Nelson
4. Nevermind- Nirvana
5. Liscense To Ill- The Beastie Boys
6. Raising Hell- Run D.M.C.
7. No Code- Pearl Jam
8. Green- R.E.M.
9. Fight For Your Mind- Ben Harper

I will start with the next 9 for next week, and I should be able to end the list on my birthday. I have to say for the first 9 I am pretty happy about.

Austin City Limits Festival, The Flaming Lips, and my horrible blog procrastination

Over the past couple of weeks I have been trying to wrap my head around how to write down the experience I had at ACL this year. Along with writers block, emotions, and basic procrastination, it has now taken me almost two weeks to finally put up a new blog. Along with me trying to figure out how to write about finally seeing The Black Keys live, and they were amazing, it also made me think about just the privilege of seeing some of these bands live. It’s not every day you get to see 130 bands across 3 days with two great friends, and one very understanding wife to let me go. Not only do I get to cross a few bands off my bucket list to see (I am sure I am going to cross them off that list numerous times), but I did get to cross a huge one off the list…..seeing a live show on stage.

I got lucky enough, not only to see a band from Oklahoma on stage, but a pioneering band that I have literally listened to from the time I have gone to college to now, and that band would be The Flaming Lips. I got the amazing experience of being one of their dancers on stage in front of 45,000 people. I have to say it was one of the coolest experiences I have had. That was a rush of emotion that I have only felt three times in my life. One was the first time I met Kristen (actually the second time we met in a week for the record). And the other times, not very many people can pin point the dates, but one was March 17, 2003 and seeing Sloan for the first time ever, and the second was Nov. 17, 2003 when I married Kristen.

Some people have running marathons, traveling, Iron Man Triathlons, or pushing themselves to the limit, but for me I love the experience of seeing a band live with a crowd of people with similar interests to make me feel alive. I have to say when the Lips hit the first of “She don’t Use Jelly” I actually got choked up and knew that I was in a special place at that point, I guess you could say it was one of those “pinch yourself moments” just to make sure you weren’t dreaming. All the worries, fear, and anxiety I had felt the past few months melted away while watching Wayne Coyne shoot confetti and balloons into the crowd. That is why people should go to live shows, to let all of your troubles go away for a few hours or for me over a weekend.

Sometimes people get so wrapped up in day to day life they forget about the little things. They get so wrapped up in training for the next big race, or the next travel destination, or the next time you get to go out, that sometimes it’s ok just to slow down, put some music on, and sit in the living room and just listen. So for me music is my escape, sometimes music helps me with my emotions, sometimes it reunites friends that haven’t seen each other in 8 years, sometimes it connects you with new friends, but the best thing about it is you can put on an album and escape with someone you love, with your daughter (that will be too cool for Dad too soon), and at times it helps you get through the good and the bad.

There were a bunch of amazing bands there that weekend, Muse, LCD Soundsystem, Blind Pilot, Portugal. The Man, The National, Band of Heathens, Bear in Heaven, and many many more, but that one experience and emotion I got to have thanks to a friend and Wayne, will resonate with me for the rest of my life. That is what it’s about, having that one experience of emotion ,good or bad, to make you feel alive and to take it with you as you move on to the next one. Thanks Wayne, it was amazing.

Music for the Week:
Seeing that I have procrastinated for two weeks, I guess you can say music for the past two weeks. So I will do my best to describe the albums, but the most important thing is to just listen to them. If you like them great, if not, send me a suggestion, I always like new music.

Kings of Leon-Come around Sundown
Not to sound like a douche, but I have been listening to KOL for a while before all the soccer mom’s started singing “Sex On Fire”. Some people say they have sold out, I have to say they are just getting better. My favorite album will probably always be Because of the Times, but Come Around Sundown will probably hold a close second. From the first song to the last it is a great album. The more I listen to it the more I am loving it. Check out the songs The End and Pyro.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists- The Brutalist Bricks
I just picked up their vinyl (yes vinyl, and I love it) album this past week. I got to listen to them a little at ACL and what I heard I really liked. They have a nice mix of indie rock and punk. This is their sixth album, and I really like it. Check out the songs Ativan Eyes and One Polaroid A Day.

The Bravery-Stir the Blood
I have been wavering on The Bravery for a while. I have really liked some of their songs they have released, but sometimes XM will play them into the ground and I grew tired of them. I decided to give their newest album a shot. They worked on this album with the same producer that worked with Santogold and M.I.A. They remind me a lot of the current flow of “Killers” type bands such as Interpol, The White Lies, etc. I have to say I like all three bands, so I am liking this album. Check out the songs Slow Poison and Adored.

The Drums-The Drums
Another band that I heard a few months ago on XM that I started to like. They are along the lines of these new “surf” rock bands that are coming out much like the Wavves, The Best Coast, Surfer Blood, Real Estate, ect. It’s a nice laid back indie rock, it’s wearing on me, but I am starting to like this album. Check out the song Let’s Go Surfing and Skippin’ Town.