As the last summer of this decade comes to a close and “best of the decade” talk starts to pop up on various corners of the internet, we’ve decided to post a concise list of our favorite albums of the ’00s. We wanted this to be a small post/discussion, as opposed to some overwrought, massive thing, so we pared the list down to the 20 albums that, for us, defined the last 10 years. The list is below, with a foreword from Carles of popular weblog Hipster Runoff:
“You continue to come back to Gorilla vs. Bear for a reason. It seems to be ’simple’, like ‘not making a big deal’ about sharing emerging artists. While many blogs continue to generate zany memes, muckraking ‘newsbits’, and spiral into a terrible voice that cannot be corrected, Gorilla vs. Bear stays pretty ’straightforward’ and has never really ’shot itself in the foot’ by expanding beyond its core competency.
In the final 4 months of 2k9, you will see more ‘Best of the Decade’ gimmick lists than have ever been generated at the twilight of any decade. It seems like the ‘list’ gimmick has been exhausted, but there is still a responsibility of ‘relevant’ voices to generate a list, not only for the ‘mad hits’, ’search engine optimization’, and ’shitload of comments’ , but to give your followers a ‘landmark’, saying ‘We have lived through this. Now we shall reflect upon this.’ While some outlets can do this naturally because of their brand/voice, it seems likely that most people will ’seem like ass holes’ for making lists.
This is the top albums of the decade list by some bros who live in Texas, but seems like it means ‘more’ because the bros behind it have a ‘respected blog.’ While you are above concepts like ‘lists’, ‘time’, ‘labeling periods of time’, and ‘judging art’, it is a social responsibility of a relevant tastemaker to make ’seminal lists.’”
Does your dog scratch in the summer? Does your dog get hot spots? Does your dog mutilate himself and frustrate you and others to no end? You can’t find a solution. You’re tried creams, sprays, baths, vets, natural remedies, frontline, steroids from the vet (grrr) etc but nothing seems to work!
My super dog, Bombay is allergic to fleas so if he gets even one measly flea bite, forget it, it’s over. He will scratch and scratch and bite and bite until he’s ripping away at his tender skin! After trying literally every single possible remedy, I finally tried something most would find taboo: Marijuana. My fiance and I were going nuts over Bombay’s incessant scratching until one day I finally decided to go against everything I yelled at my fiance for in the past and blow a little weed smoke in Bombay’s face. Now Bombay is no stranger to weed. He’s closely cuddled with pot smokers nearly every day so we already knew he kind of dug it. While my fiance blew the smoke in his face Bombay drew his face closer to my man’s lips, inhaling the sweet smoke. Lo and behold, 30 seconds later, not a scratch…just a happy, little, ol’ dog snuggling on my lap. We were truly amazed by this miraculous use of the most wonderous natural medical drug, marijuana! After all, we know its physically harmless and drastically helps sufferers of MS, cancer, aids, depression, muscular dystrophy, glaucoma, and much much more.
Since then we’ve decided we don’t want to risk damaging Bombay’s little lungs so we put a teensy amount of leaves in some peanut butter or tuna fish and feed it to him when he starts to scratch. I can’t even begin to tell you how relieved little Bombay is as well as all of the humans who love and adore him. Some of you may want to call the animal cops on me and some of you immature, deuche bag or anti social types might want to take advantage of this knowledge and start blowing smoke in every animals’ face but be forewarned: this is not a joke, you should only try this if your pet has a serious allergy problem that leads to harmful skin irritations from scratching and biting.
Also, for topical inflammations, open cuts or scabs, I find putting aloe directly on the skin works best.
Let me know your thoughts on this people. I’d love to hear how it works out for you loving pet owners and your pets!!
If you own a caged pet, please let it out of its cage and give it some exercise and affection…same goes for those of you who chain/tether your dogs (which is now illegal in CA). When animals are distressed, they often turn to self mutilative behaviors.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Gandhi
This is what the man sitting next to me yelled at the Borgata Event Center in Atlantic City on Friday right before the three men, David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Steven Stills walked onto the stage. I’ve heard the hits, mainly released in the 70’s, and I heard whispers in the crowd, “You know, I was at Woodstock!”It is certainly no secret the fame and influence these men had in their heyday, and if anyone wasn’t sure, it was made obvious by the intense excitement and exploding anticipation of the audience as the lights rose on the stage.I was eager to see what these so-called “legends” had in store for the night here in 2009.
As the men came on stage the screams and cries from the women in the audience reminded me of the shrieks of 16-year-old girls at the sight of Justin Timberlake. However, these men were about three times the age of JT, and these women, well, let’s just they say they were not to 16.
The night began softly to ease the audience into their well known trancelike harmonies with songs like “Helplessly Hoping” and “Wasted on the Way,” but thenthey changed their tune by covering some songs from others like the Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday,” James Taylor’s “You can close you’re eyes,” and Bob Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country.” These were fun and unexpected additions that kept the audience reeling.
Then they returned to their own stock and played Crosby’s “Guinevere.” While reminiscing their years as lovesick young women with this smooth ballad, the now not quite as young women were near tears clasping their heart with both hands as they swayed to the not quiet as smooth harmonies. Nonetheless, this song was a hit with the audience and it was truly awe-inspiring to listen to this love song from the lips of CSN themselves.
The rockers then sped things up and invited the audience to “Go roll a big one” with “Marakesh Expresss,” to which everyone sang along. They then gave a shout out to the “Deadheads” in the audience with “Uncle John’s band.” Stills showed off his still stellar guitar skills with an intricate solo during “Long Time Coming.” Although it was slightly disconcerting seeing these nearly elderly men rock out hard (well maybe not that hard), it was these songs that gave the young people in audience their first glimpse into what made these dudes so damn cool.
Later they played Crosby’s “Déjà vu” which Nash referred to as “ the weird shit” and then, before singing the long awaited, “Our House,” they gave a dedication to some truly devoted middle-aged ex-groupies in row one, explaining “We didn’t get into Rock and Roll for the money…” Keep in mind they’re now in their late 60’s…yikes.
Anyway, the night rocked on and everyone shot out of their seats to sing along to Still’s badboy anthem “Love the one you’re with.” Then they slowed it down one last time with Crosby’s “Almost cut my Hair” which I have to say was my personal favorite. Crosby’s powerful blues-like crooning really blew me away. It was amazing the vocal power that can come of that 60-something. So far in their set, I think this was the one song I can say took me back to a place before my time.
They finished up with “Wooden Ships” and saved the best for last, with a final encore of “Teach Your Children Well” during which everyone ran up to the stage and sang along. In this jumble of middle aged men who want to be them, and women who want to be with them, all of the sudden we were back in 1974, and although their hair was a little whiter and their bodies a little frailer, I finally understood what that guy meant when he said “They guys are legends!”
Neil Young said “It’s better to burn out then to fade away,” but by the end of the show it was clear that these dudes, no matter how many harmonies that might go off, or lyrics that they might forget, what was once there undoubtedly remains and these three legends are far from ever fading away.
The weather looks good for TODAY which is great news since Pool Party #2 is set to be a good one. Excluding the upcoming Grizzly Bear/Beach House show, this is our favorite line-up of the series and it will undoubtedly be packed. The space is large, so we don’t expect people will be turned away, but it’s probably best to get there early. No booze allowed, but last week security was allowing people to bring in water and non-alcoholic beverages. Umbrellas were even being permitted for the sun-averse. Food and beer are available inside.
Collapse in illegal sharing and boom in streaming brings music to executives’ ears
2008’s best-selling albums by Coldplay, Kings of Leon (above) and Duffy sold more than 100,000 copies. Photograph: Frantzesco Kangaris/EPA
They are the record companies’ bogeyman: the 15-year-old in their bedroom ripping off a star’s latest album and sharing it with their friends has been blamed for bringing an industry to its knees.
But new research shows that the number of teenagers illegally sharing music has fallen dramatically in the past year.
The survey of 1,000 fans also shows that many14 to 18 year olds are now streaming music regularly online using services such as YouTube and Spotify.
At the same time less than a third of teenagers are now illegally downloading music, the survey suggests. In January this year 26% of 14 to 18 year olds admitted filesharing at least once a month compared with 42% in December 2007.
Alexandra Topping: ‘Kids are now using streaming sites’ Link to this audio
The research revealed that many teenagers (65%) are streaming music regularly, with more 14 to 18 year olds (31%) listening to streamed music on their computer every day compared with music fans overall (18%).
The picture may be more complex than a simple shift from filesharing to streaming, with people sharing music in new ways such as via bluetooth technology, on blogs, and through copying, also known as ripping content from friends’ MP3 devices.
Even though users of streaming services are not necessarily buying more music, the industry benefits by learning more about fans’ tastes. Steve Purdham, CEO and founder of We7, a music streaming service and download store, said: “They may not buy an album, though they have that opportunity, but you can sell them tour tickets and a T-shirt of their favourite band.”
We7 has 2 million users a month and works with artists including Florence and the Machine and Jarvis Cocker to stream new albums before they are available to buy.
Paul Brindley, CEO of Music Ally, which carried out the survey with media and technology research company, The Leading Question, said: “These figures challenge the idea that filesharing will just continue to grow. While we don’t think for a second that it shows the war against piracy is won, it does at least suggest that there is encouraging news for the music industry.”
The government has pledged tougher measures to crack down on illegal filesharing, including sending warning letters to people making illegal downloads of music and films. Repeat offenders could also have their internet connections slowed down.
Music fan Dominique Wakefield, 24, said she had stopped downloading music because of concern that it would infect her computer. “I didn’t even realise it was illegal for a long time, until I heard that the government were trying to stop it. That did put me off, but one of the big reasons I stopped doing it was because I would get viruses, more pop ups on my computer. While I was at uni I started listening to streamed music using MySpace. Bands would be friends with other bands and it was a great way of discovering new music. I don’t really feel the need to own all that music, I know it’s always there.
“I still buy the occasional CD, and sometimes use iTunes. If I find myself loving a whole album and listening to it again and again, then I will buy it. But it has to be quite special.”
The rise of streaming sites is far from assured. Daniel Ek, the founder of Spotify – an ad-funded streaming site which also offers a premium subscription model – recently admitted that the service, which launched in October 2008 and now has 2 million registered users, was not on target to make its revenue forecasts.
We7, which launched six months ago and relies on selling adverts of between three to seven seconds before each song, is yet to break even. But Jim Butcher, a spokesman for Spotify, said the company was confident that the quality of the product would win over users, premium subscribers and advertisers. “One of the fundamental aims of Spotify was to develop a service that was better than piracy,” he said. “We’ve always maintained that music fans don’t want to fileshare illegally but they do want to have everything at their fingertips instantly.”
Legal digital sales are also seeing an unprecedented boom, although sales are far from making up from the shortfall created by the collapse of the physical market. Digital singles were up 41.5% in 2008, while physical singles sales plunged 43.5%, according to the BPI. Last year three albums – Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, Kings of Leon’s Only By Night and Duffy’s Rockferry – sold more than 100,000 digital copies, and the impact of digital is nowhere more apparent than in the UK singles top 40, where Michael Jackson has 12 posthumous entries in the current chart.
The new research – which involved 1,000 face-to-face interviews and a series of focus groups – also revealed that a fraction more music fans are regularly buying single track downloads (19%) than filesharing single tracks (17%).
Geoff Taylor, CEO of the BPI called the figures “absolutely encouraging”. He said: “The industry has worked hard to licence new services, they are great music discovery tools and a new way for artists to get paid and drive new sales.”
Francis Keeling, vice president of digital at Universal, welcomed the news but said streaming had to be combined with new services, such as the company’s new deal with Virgin Media which will offer broadband users unlimited downloads for a monthly fee. “We are confident that the numerous legal alternatives to filesharing will result in a long term reduction in piracy,” he said.
Nine 7 Three is an ambitious mix of hip hop, rnb, and Brick Bandit club bangers including the booty bounce classics “Back It Up” and “Rock Yo Body,” and the new New Jersey anthem “Turn Me Up” (shoutout to Blaqstarr!) Bleszt & DJ LowKey - Turn Me Up (Jersey Anthem)
