I make my resolutions public so it stings all the more when I fail. That's how I roll.
2012 RESOLUTIONS
- Self-explanatory. I plan to bring my exercise total up to "some" from "virtually nil".
- I became way too intimate with my overdraft limit this year. I hope to dead that issue in the twenty dozen. On the business front, I was a participant in the Art of Managing Your Career course, so I now have the tools to be my own boss. Time to make it happen.
- Draw every day, or at least every other day. Why not? I have no excuses, especially with resources like this around.
- Organized, in every way. Lessen the clutter. A place for everything, and every thing in its place. We'll see how long this attitude lasts.
- One of the best things about having your own workspace is putting up stuff on the walls. I put up three awesome things this year, and I need to put up more. Cool stuff on my walls makes me want to create. Needless to say, this is really good.
Stuff I Loved The Most:
- Danny Brown's XXX
- Birdapres' Catch An L
- Blueprint's Adventures in Counter-Culture
- Tom Waits' Bad As Me
- Army Girls' Close to the Bone
- The Roots' Undun
I can say the same about Catch An L. The immediacy of dusty breaks combined with Bird's brainy flow made this a winner for me. Take a listen to "Show No Flair" (with John Smith blazing the second verse), and you'll be taken back to '89 with your feet still planted firmly in this day and time. Grab it from Marathon of Dope, and don't forget to donate.
Blueprint's Adventures was a fine display of an emcee attempting to spread his wings musically, and I think he showed a lot of growth here. The gem of this album? The passionate "Radio-Inactive".
It's clichéd to say so, but there are people that are Tom Waits fans, and there are those that are not, sometimes vehemently so. I don't know where I'm going with this. Bad As Me is just really good. So there.
I have Michael Elves to thank for introducing me to Army Girls via his blog. I love me a two person rock 'n' roll combo. They remind me of a punchier Inbreds, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Yo, I could go on and on about how amazing and smooth Undun is, but all I really want to talk about is the open ?uestlove drums on "The OtherSide" and "Tip the Scale". I could listen to those ALL DAY. LOOPED. Them shits do amazing things to my brain.
Stuff I Need to Spend More Time With:
- The Black Keys' El Camino
- Phonte's Charity Begins At Home
- This Hisses' "Surf Noir"
- Pip Skid's People Are the Worst
- Tim Hoover's More Napkins (Hey, did I mention that I have this release on cassette?)
- The Cool Kids' When Fish Ride Bicycles
- Mayer Hawthorne's How Do You Do
MY FAVORITE POSTERS & ART PRINTS OF 2011
Posters:
- Alamo Drafthouse Dracula poster by Vania Zouravliov and Aaron Horkey: http://omgposters.com/2011/01/12/dracula-poster-by-vania-zouravliov-and-aaron-horkey-onsale-info/
- Circa Survive poster by The Silent Giants: http://www.gigposters.com/poster/137472_Circa_Survive.html
- Lucero Poster Set by Chris Huth: http://omgposters.com/2011/02/11/lucero-poster-set-by-chris-huth/
- Deerhoof poster by Shawn K. Knight: http://www.gigposters.com/poster/139057_Deerhoof.html
- Saucy Yoda tour poster by Rory Phillips: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24327290@N02/5467820584/
- Kevin Tong's Appleseed Cast poster: http://omgposters.com/2011/03/29/kevin-tongs-poster-for-the-appleseed-cast-plus-art-print/
- Rich Kelly's The Hold Steady poster: http://www.gigposters.com/poster/141825_Hold_Steady.html
- Landland's Black Keys poster: http://www.gigposters.com/poster/143471_Black_Keys.html
- Phish poster by Rich Kelly: http://www.gigposters.com/poster/144500_Phish.html
- Majesty poster by DX: http://www.gigposters.com/poster/139656_Majesty.html
- 2 Hum posters by Jay Ryan: http://www.gigposters.com/poster/147174_Hum.html and http://www.gigposters.com/poster/147175_Hum.html
- Valdez poster by C. Gomez: http://www.gigposters.com/poster/147182_Valdez.html
- X poster by Lil' Tuffy: http://www.gigposters.com/poster/148166_X.html
- Portugal, The Man's poster by BlackYard http://www.blackyard.ch/?p=2054
- Andrew Bird poster by Hero Design http://heroandsound.com/?p=4113
- Good Old War poster by T-Bone and Aljaxx: http://www.gigposters.com/poster/148631_Good_Old_War.html
Art Prints:
- "Glory Is Forever" art print by Hero Design Studio: http://heroandsound.com/?p=3479
- Weapons of Mass Creation (red bomb version) art print by Justin Kamerer: http://www.angryblue.com/index.php?pcat=1&item=902
- Nunavut art print by Jay Ryan and Aaron Horkey: http://thebirdmachine.com/detail.php?uid=DD4865
...and one poster I should've added last year, but I was sadly unaware of it – Brett Stenson's Built to Spill poster: http://www.gigposters.com/poster/132661_Built_To_Spill.html
Well, I think that's all the stuff I've got in my head, spilled out before you via ones and zeros. I hope 2011 treated you well, and that 2012 treats you even better. Personally, I'd rather forget 2011 existed, but I'm not gonna harp on that any longer. It's time to kick some ass!
G'night, folks!
