Top 10 Artists of 2010

I don't write this as an audacious claim to have some sort of higher knowledge of music than you do, or that only the bands I like are the ones worth listening to. Honestly, I'm writing this only because I saw that another blogger/musician that I follow made one and I, being the unoriginal wanna-be that I am, want to make one too. Is that so terribly wrong? It probably is. But that's how I write most of my songs, these days. I hear someone else materialize a concept for me that I would never have heard of otherwise. A melody going a certain way, guitar picking in a certain style, using instruments that aren't really instruments. And I make something new out of it. It may not be the most original way to live your life, but hey. As the good book says..... um.... well... you know. (I've been watching Fiddler On The Roof. Teehee!)

Oh! And real quick before I ramble on too much. I have a new song out! I wish I could post the audio file right here _______________ , but I can't. If you know how, tell me yo!
So, you'll have to settle with following this link: http://purevolume.com/somebodysomewhere
to download it. Mishap!
This song is a product of listening to too much of The Tallest Man On Earth . Click on his name to hear his beauty. His voice is raspy, but with a sort of noble, optimistic vibe. You feel me? And his guitar work (which is probably one of my biggest influences) is just magical. Do I sound too much like Disney?

Anyway... While I'm not really getting to the point of anything, I'll also share this.






























Sound familiar? No? It should.... following me yet? substitute his words with "Well, I am a sailor from the Pacific coast, sailing a boat out to sea." Hmmm? Yes?
Yeah.... honestly and truthfully, I probably never heard that song before I wrote Sailor Song. If I had, it was probably in my sleep. Hmmmm... I wonder.
Isn't that funny? I'm in trouble with copyright issues if I get famous. And that's the plan... getting famous.

And so! with much deliberation, I present to you my long, drawn out speech about My personal top ten artists of 2010.
Oh, also mind that when I say Artists of 2010, I don't mean Artists that have produced their album in the year of 2010. I'm not that legitimate with my musical background. I know. I'm cheating. And so my vote doesn't really count anyway. But seeing as only about four of you read what I say anyway (Hello, faithful four!), I shall make my own rules. So yeah. All I mean by this is that I've found out about these bands within this past year. A bit different, yes. But I'll try to stick within the 2010 zone as much as possible.

1. Jonsi                                  Go Do (22 March, 2010) 

2. Freelance Whales              Weathervanes (April 13, 2010)

3. Mumford and Sons            Sigh No More (February 16, 2010)

4. Jeremy Larson                   Salvation Club (December 23, 2008)

5. Priscilla Ahn                     A Good Day (June 10, 2008)

6. Yann Tiersen             Tabarly (June 6, 2008) To be fair, his new cd came out this October. It's     supposed  to be really experimental. I'm tempted to buy it right now, but just spent my monies on Priscilla Ahn's A Good Day (No. 5). It's called Dust Lane.

7. Mew                                 No More Stories Are Told Today (August 25, 2009)

8. Good Old War                  Only Way To Be Alone (November 4, 2008)

9. Editors                              An End Has A Start (June 25, 2007)

10. This is a tie. I know. Illegal play on the field. But I just can't decide. It's between The National's High Violet (May 11, 2010) and Ben Folds's Rockin' the Suburbs (September 11, 2001) (I'm such a late bloomer when it comes to Ben Folds).

And I think that represents my music tastes pretty thuroughly this year.

Thanks for reading.

Isaac

Requiem

Under the wide and starry sky

Dig the grave and let me lie,

Glad did I live and gladly die,

And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:

Here he lies where he longed to be,

Home is the sailor, home from the sea,

and the hunter home from the hill.

Robert Louis Stevenson was Scottish, of all things. I never expected that. From now on I shall read his lit'rature with a Scottish bounce. 

I'm off for a trim. I'll show you how it goes.

Hello, Mr. So-and-So. How was your Christmas? Good? Good. Get anything exciting? Oh, some golf clubs? That's nice. I've golfed once. Never could get my swing down just right, though. Oh you took lessons? Well, that's swell. You didn't get those slippers you wanted? Oh, wrong brand? Brand is everything, I agree. You're right. Doesn't matter if they are twenty dollars and fifty cents more. When you need comfort, you must pay for it. I couldn't agree more.

No, I'm not using this time to complain about how commercialism has ruined Christmas. Christmas didn't even start out as a Christian holiday. There's this fantastic documentary on the origins of Christmas that I just watched, but can't recall the name of. According to it, Christmas started out as a five day holiday in Rome celebrating the darkest day of the year (the winter solstice). So to say that Christmas is all about Jesus is sort of silly. Christmas was never intended to be about God-- at least the God that we talk about in church and youth gatherings and Beth Moore books. It was more of a pagan holiday worshipping the Greek God or Goddess of What-not to bring abundance upon the people in such-and-such a thing. I don't remember the details. I'm just a man, good grief.

I do think it's a nice little time to remember Jesus' birth. But we are mistaken if we think that Christmas is what it was intended for. Mother believes Jesus was born in April, of all months, though she has no rationale to back it up. I like to believe he was born on February 7. This way, Jesus, Charles Dickens, and myself can all share the same birthday. 

It was my first white Christmas this year, which is rather a shame, because I have been too blase' this past break to appreciate anything out of the ordinary. This isn't something that I want to be, and am doing my best to rid myself of my disinterest in the world.  Nevertheless, I shared some moments with my camera.

Oh... Well, while I'm at it, I suppose I'll share my excursion through the changes of the seasons. I've never lived in a place that claimed four season. Usually, it's only been two-- Wet and Dry.

The rugged mood swings that nature makes have taken me completely by surprise, and consequently have kept me on my toes. I shall take this moment to say that this world is a very wonderful world, indeed.

So, I understand that my only winter pictures thus far have been of Jack. But what can I say? The dog's a model. At first glance of a camera,  he'll make a run for the Cutest Dog awards. I'd definitely vote for him.

Now back to God.... again.

I feel that in every conversation I'm in, or every blog I write, or every song I compose, somewhere along the lines, if you let it run on long enough, it comes back to some sort of spiritual contemplation. If you tried to have a normal conversation with me (Please try...) about poetry (go read the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and discuss it with me on the phone) or baseball (baseball?), something sort of goes wrong in the middle and we end up talking about the question of morality of homosexuality, or if the book of Jude really does belong in the Bible (Jude cites from books of the Pseudopigropha-- books that Christianity as a whole looks down upon with a pointed nose).
I suppose it's not all bad. I mean people should be aware of those kinds of things, perhaps. But honestly it makes me sad. What happened to the days where we could talk about Billy Joel and not have the conversation go any farther? I miss those days. A music conversation remained a music conversation. A politics conversation stayed more or less in politics. Biology remained biology and How many beers you drank last night doesn't go any deeper. Perhaps we would move onto other expoundable topics such as how great of a hangover you had afterward, but everything could remain sort of unspiritual. Is this a bad thing to wish for?

I suppose the greater questions of the Spiritual life have a bit more weight to them than the question of your favorite superhero (Tonight it's Wonder Woman!). Perhaps it is ultimately more important to spend your days letting your spiritually curious side get the better of you and "ruin" every conversation you hold with a "so tell me what you believe about the Virgin Mary" or "What are the stronger points of evolution?"
Maybe that's all very important.
But it's consuming me---- without my consent, no less!
I'm just tired. All of the unknown mumbo jumbo of this world is making me tired and a bit grumpy. I can't watch a movie now without bringing the theme of the story back to some sort of attempt at a deeper understanding of Spiritual living.

I guess you could say I'm being haunted by God. I want to rest and live my life and play my games... but his figure is always there in my mind, like in a scary  movie, when the main ditzy blond is brushing her teeth, spits and rinses her mouth, then looks back up at the mirror and sees the eyes of a creepy ghost-man staring deathly into the mirror at her. God is something like that. I can't go buy a wii... my mind always goes back to the stories of Jesus using whatever He had at the time to do the most good for the broken down people around Him,  and I just feel bad for not giving enough to the bundled up Salvation Army guys outside of Wal Mart. I can't get drunk at parties... God is there and tells my brain that I'm not ready for it. I can't even eat breakfast in peace--- God pops up and reminds me I should be thankful. I can't write a vain love song, because the big fat questions that God hasn't answered about Himself consume my mind and don't leave room for anything else. I'm constantly reminded of how sinful I am. I'm always aware of the selfishness of the human heart, and I'm always daunted by the big question mark that God wears as a robe.
Christianity has made me mad. Mad both in the crazy sense and in the angry sense. It has consumed me in the time that I don't want it to.

Now I have the desire to go buy a Wonder Woman comic book. I'll probably feel bad the whole time and wonder if I should be reading the comic book rendition of the Bible instead.
I wonder if they have those....