My Favorite Albums of 2012

Well, it's already time once again to reflect on all the great music that has come out over the past year. Here are my favorites, in no particular order.

Of Monsters and Men - My Head Is An Animal: Last January, I dubbed these guys my new favorite band of the year. (This was before their album even came out in the US, because I am suuuuch a hipster). This band is totally deserving of all the attention they received, and I'm so happy that they found success here as well as Iceland.

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel: Fiona is my queen. This album is genius. Etc etc. 

The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten: I'm basically obsessed with this band and lead singer Brian Fallon these days. Every time I listen to this album, I fall a little bit more in love with it.

The Chevin - Borderland: David Letterman said it best when these British lads played on his show: "Holy crap! That's good."

Green Day - ¡Dos!: I thought American Idiot was fantastic and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. That said, Green Day's take on retro-y garage rock on this album is just so damn fun. I love ¡Uno! and ¡Tre! too, but this is my favorite of the three. 

A Fine Frenzy - Pines: I have such a girl crush on singer Alison Sudol. She could put out a dubstep record and I would still buy it. Thankfully, she channeled her energies into this vibrant, nature-inspired album instead.

The Lumineers - The Lumineers: I don't mean to toot my own horn, but The Lumineers are another band that I totally discovered before they were famous. (#trendsetter) But thanks to Mumford & Sons and that Bing commercial, the rest of the world is discovering how fabulous this three-piece folk band is. I also interviewed lead singer Wesley Schultz back in April, right as the band really started to take off.

Blaqk Audio - Bright Black Heaven: I'm not usually an electronic music fan, but I'll buy anything singer Davey Havok wants to sell me.

The All-American Rejects - Kids in the Street: This band has yet to disappoint me. Right when I moved away from home to NYC, they released a mature album about growing up and figuring out who you are. Thanks for reading my mind, guys.

The Horrible Crowes - Elsie: Okay, this album actually came out last year, but I just discovered it and have listened to basically nothing else since. 

Thanks 2012, it's been real.

The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Fiona Apple came into my life during a very poignant time for me—high school was ending, college was approaching, and of course, there was boy drama. Because of the timing, my connection with Fiona's music has always been very emotionally-charged. Every song is so familiar that I know every note and every breath by heart. Her first three albums have been my source of comfort whenever times get rough.

I do not yet have an emotional connection with her new album, The Idler Wheel, (by that, I mean I have not yet bawled my eyes out for hours over it). So naturally, the album feels almost a stranger to me still. That said, let's hope I can get familiar with these new songs without having to go through more teenage angst—I think I'm too old for that now.

Despite the fact that there's still so much left to experience with The Idler Wheel, it's already clear that this has the potential to be her most important album yet. It's raw and challenging, yet beautiful and timeless at the same time. Each song has its own unique personality and sound. Her lyrics are brutally honest as always, and the pure emotion pouring out in songs like "Daredevil" and "Left Alone" makes me want to scream and smash things for no particular reason. She draws out female fury like no other.

Whether you've been a Fiona fan for ages, or just getting into her now, this is a record worth checking out. Here's hoping that her next album takes less than seven years to make.

Favorite songs (so far): "Daredevil," "Werewolf," "Periphery"

The sounds of summer

Every spring, I compile a giant playlist of music for the sunny days ahead. The songs put me in a good mood all summer, and when the weather turns cold, I have a souvenir of the good times I had (and okay, songs to weep to when I'm wrapped up in eight blankets and desperately wishing January would be over already).

Here are some of my favorites from this summer's playlist, in a handy 8tracks mix for you to enjoy.

Soundtrack to Summer 2012 from xanne on 8tracks.

Track list:

1. "Anna Sun" - Walk The Moon

2. "Numb Bears" - Of Monsters and Men

3. "Equestrian" - U.S. Royalty

4. "Werewolf" - Fiona Apple

5. "Runaway Train" - Brandon Boyd

6. "Gonzo" - The All-American Rejects

7. "Red Hands and White Knuckles" - The Bravery

8. "Hey Joe" - Jimi Hendrix

9. "Stubborn Love" - The Lumineers

10. "Paralyzed" - Rooney

11. "Bliss" - Blaqk Audio

12. "Oh, Love!" - William Beckett

13. "MoneyGrabber" - Fitz and the Tantrums

14. "Breath Of Life" - Florence and the Machine

15. "Hacienda Motel" - Pickwick

16. "Motorcycle Drive By" - Third Eye Blind

17. "Mind Eraser" - The Black Keys

Nothing wrong when a song ends in the minor key.

I'm sorry, but I can't focus on writing a coherent post when Fiona Apple keeps releasing new songs. Is it June 19th yet?

While I might not be able to stop squirming in anticipation long enough to write something about Fiona, there are some great new interviews and photos in the New York Times, Black Book and Spin. (Hey Spin, this doesn't make up for you publishing nasty reviews of When The Pawn..., just FYI.)

I could liken you to a werewolf the way you left me for dead,
but I admit that I provided a full moon.
And I could liken you to a shark the way you bit off my head,
but then again, I was waving around a bleeding open wound.

But you were such a super guy til the second you get away from me.
We're like a wishing well and a bolt of electricity.
But we can still support each other,
all we got to do is avoid each other.
Nothing wrong when a song ends in the minor key.
Nothing wrong when a song ends in the minor key.

I just really love Fiona Apple.

I am still in shock that I was this close to Fiona Apple a few nights ago. She sounded incredible, and she seemed much happier and healthier than when I saw her back in 2006. By that, I mean there was less incomprehensible screaming during instrumental breaks, and a lot more smiling and joking with the audience. It's amazing to have Fiona making a comeback, but even better to see that she seems to be enjoying herself as well.

"Paper Bag":

Fooling with the crowd, and then performing an incredible cover of Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe":

Somewhere in these videos, I am fighting the conflicting urges to bawl my eyes out and shriek with happiness. Did this all really happen, or did I dream it?

The triumphant return of Fiona Apple

AP Photo

A few weeks ago, I wrote an angry blog post about the Fiona Apple Ticketmaster fiasco. While I'm still unhappy about the situation, I have a confession to make: my friend Ali and I gave in to the scalpers and purchased tickets to the Boston date on StubHub (New York would have been more convenient, but the prices are just absurd for those shows).

I have some moments when I feel irritated that I gave those damn scalpers my money. Plenty of fans are holding strong and refusing to cave in. I completely support that idea, but let's be real here. You never really know with Fiona - for quite a while, I accepted that Extraordinary Machine just might be the last album she ever put out. I saw her once in 2006 and resigned to the fact that I might never see her again. Now that I have another opportunity, I'm snatching it up because maybe this is the last chance. You just never know. So forgive me for being weak, my friends.

Yesterday, Fiona performed at South by Southwest, and people have not stopped talking about her set since. My Twitter feed is blowing up and critics are naming it as one of the best performances of the festival so far. Plus, she played three new songs (gah!).



So I watch this video and feel giddy, knowing that in just a few weeks, I will be in the crowd while Fiona flails and shouts and acts like she's possessed. Welcome back, Fiona. I can't wait to cheer myself hoarse in Boston.

Rage against Ticketmaster

This post will not change anything but I need to write it so I have somewhere to direct my rage against Ticketmaster (aka THE WORST). Sure, they charge absurd service charges for no apparent reason and that's annoying, but I've dealt with it for years and at this point, I am resigned to it. My complaint now is about how I can no longer even reach the point to pay those crazy fees, because I CAN'T GET ANY TICKETS. To anything!

Three times in the past month, I've tried to buy concert tickets off of Ticketmaster, and all three times, the available tickets have sold out as soon as the shows are on sale. This morning, apparently Fiona Apple tickets sold out in about 8 seconds...if any were actually even available, because right now, Twitter looks like this:

Apparently, no one got tickets. My boyfriend, friend and I attempted to buy tickets for three different shows (hoping that one of them would work out for us) exactly when they went on sale, and nothing. Sure, I get it - the venues Fiona is playing only hold a couple hundred people and a lot of fans want tickets. I would be disappointed but accepting of it if other fans had bought all the tickets up and I couldn't get one. At least people who appreciate her got the tickets. But that's not the case. Let's talk about how many tickets are already available on StubHub from scalpers:

116 tickets for one venue are already available on StubHub, and the cheapest one costs over four times the original price. Not to mention, there was supposedly a limit of four tickets per person, yet some scalpers are offering up to 16 tickets. Craigslist is no better.

As if this weren't frustrating enough, this happened the last time I went to buy tickets on Ticketmaster as well, for Florence and the Machine. For that show, tickets had been "on sale" (aka sold out) for five minutes and there were already four pages of tickets available on StubHub. My friend went to buy tickets for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the same thing happened.

This is not fair to the fans, but it's also not fair to the artists. I don't know the process of how the tickets go from Ticketmaster to being snuck over to StubHub, but the artists cannot be making the extra profit. Other people must be making a lot more money off of Fiona and Florence's shows than they are. Shouldn't their management teams be upset about this?

I don't know what the answer is. I wish it were easy enough to just boycott Ticketmaster and LiveNation, but they've got the monopoly and I certainly won't stop going to concerts. All I know is that musicians and promoters are constantly complaining about poor ticket sales, so maybe they should figure out a way to fix this flawed system.

In the words of Fiona herself: "This world is bullshit!!" Seriously, if I don't end up with tickets to this show, I'm going to have my own Fiona-style breakdown. Ticketmaster, you are the worst.

UPDATE [2/28/12 5:50PM]: Today, I received a kind email from the creator of the Facebook group, "Scalpers Took My Fiona Apple Tickets." The group is growing steadily and has received some media attention. Best of all, some of the people are actually working productively to help the situation, including contacting Fiona's agency to make them aware of the situation, and signing a petition. So if you want to help out or if you just need a place to vent all your anger, be sure to check out that page.