Based on the amazing Battles album art. Created on iPad using a Jot Pro stylus and Procreate 1.6.

I’m obviously no musician, but this thing is awesome!

Jason Yang

Malukah

Charlie Parra del Riego

It’s my 10 favorite albums of 2011!

10

Cure for the Common

Cure for the Common

Bozeman’s own Cure for the Common released their debut album this year, and it seriously rocks. This unique funk-jazz-rock-hip-hop blend packs some killer grooves and fresh flows.

9

Audio, Video, Disco

Justice

A departure from their previous work, Audio, Video, Disco finds Justice mixing their signature dance sounds with cheesy 70s rock music. An odd move for sure, but the results are pretty interesting.

8

One for Sorrow

Insomnium

Insomnuim beats out releases from Amon Amarth and Turisas to be only metal album on my list this year. One for Sorrow lives up to it’s name with a powerful sound of strong melancholy and an underlying beauty that shines through in the melodic guitars and clean vocals.

7

Turtleneck & Chain

The Lonely Island

Turtleneck? Check. With another on deck. Case I spill something on it. Like some light beer? Yes.

6

Join Us

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants took a break from children’s music (which was also quite good) to put out their 15th studio album. The Johns’ may be getting old, but their unmistakable style is still as sharp as ever.

5

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Beastie Boys

It’s been 7 years since the last true Beastie Boys album, but the long awaited Hot Sauce Committee Part Two did not disappoint. The boys returned with a few new tricks and a lot of old school flavor.

4

Wondervisions

Delicate Steve

Announced with a fictional press release and featured on NPR, Delicate Steve appeared in 2011 with a guitar-focused instrumental album that is minimal, a bit experimental, but most importantly, a lot of fun.

3

Deerhoof vs. Evil

Deerhoof

Deerhoof finally harnessed their experimental side with a collection of tracks that retain a certain amount of unpredictability, while remaining very listenable. This is Deerhoof’s most consistent album, and one of my favorites this year.

2

XXX

Danny Brown

Danny Brown isn’t your typical new hip-hop artist. His weird voice, wild sense of humor, and awkward flows might be too much for some listeners, but I love it. His free full length, XXX, is simultaneously one of the darkest and funniest albums of the year.

1

Gloss Drop

Battles

I discovered Battles this year with their release of Gloss Drop. This album is packed so full of multi-layered rock music it sometimes sounds like it might burst. Math rock, post-rock, whatever you call it, it’s the kind of album I can listen to over and over and still find something new inside. Album of the year.

So, that’s my top albums of 2011.

What were your favorites?

Hey! It’s my favorite music of the year!

Best New Artist

Das Racist

Brooklyn rap group Das Racist introduced themselves with not one, but two excellent free mixtapes in 2010 (grab them here). Their unique brand of hip-hop bounces from political to irreverent to absurd and back again without warning, creating an odd, yet compelling and completely enjoyable sound.

Runners up: Sleigh Bells, Die Antwoord

Best Albums

10

Trans-Continental Hustle

Gogol Bordello

Gogol’s weakest album (I blame Rick Rubin), but it still makes my top 10. Still some great tracks on here.

9

Sea of Cowards

Dead Weather

This album was a huge improvement over 09′s Horehound. Jack White is single handedly keeping rock music alive at this point.

8

Odd Blood

Yeasayer

Yeasayer stole the psychedelic pop crown from MGMT and ran with it. The multi-layered tracks on Odd Blood are fun and catchy without feeling hollow.

7

Everything Remains (As It Never Was)

Eluveitie

Celtic folk metalers Eluveitie couldn’t top their previous albums this year, but had a solid release with Everything Remains.

6

Sit Down, Man

Das Racist

Like their first mixtape, it’s a bit long and lacks focus, but there are some absolute gems in here.

5

Tron: Legacy

Daft Punk

I love Daft Punk, and I can get into a good score. Combine them and you have something really, really cool.

4

Treats

Sleigh Bells

Without a doubt the loudest and most catchy album of 2010. What it lacks in substance, it makes up for with raw energy.

3

Hard Dream

Copy

Copy’s third and best album takes his familiar electro snap beats in a softer direction. The result is a relaxing, atmospheric album with no need for vocals.

2

Plastic Beach

Gorillaz

Plastic Beach is simply the best Gorillaz album so far. It’s grand scope and multitude of styles somehow fit into a cohesive album where almost every track is a standout.

1

LP4

Ratatat

It’s true that LP4 doesn’t cover as much new ground as LP3 did in 08. But the way LP4 refines and perfects LP3′s sound is just brilliant.

So, there you have it. My top 10 albums of 2010.

Agree? Disagree? What were your favorites this year?

What do you do when all your devices are multi-touch?

Reinvent buttons as a new feature!

Source: Apple

The final day of Coachella. The lineup wasn’t as packed as Saturday, but Gorillaz proved to be a fitting end to an epic festival.

But first, it was over to the Saraha for some Rusko dubstep.

Rusko got things going quickly and seemed really excited to be playing.  His mix moved fast, almost too fast, like he was trying to squeeze a much longer set into his 45 minutes.  Even so, each beat drop got the crowd going and it was a party from start to end.

Glitch Mob were a no-show, so we chilled near main stage while De La Soul gets their groove on.  We caught the end of Club 75 which was disappointing to say the least, but they at least played one Justice track so it wasn’t a complete loss.

Next, it was over to the Mojave to see Gary Numan.  Unfortunately, Gary’s flight was delayed by volcanic ash, so the stage was mostly empty. Yann Tiersen had moved into Gary’s slot so we decided to stay for a front row spot.

So glad we did.  Tiersen is know for his work on the Amelie soundtrack, but his band was a great mix of  ambient keys, guitar, violin, and melodica that was amazing to see up close.

And, finally.  Gorillaz.

Nobody was quite sure what to expect from Gorillaz, a ‘virtual band’ that have used different performance methods in the past.  What was going to show up on stage?  A video show?  Holograms? Puppets?

Nope.  Instead, frontman Damon Albarn showed up with Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash, Bobby Womack, De La Soul, Little Dragon, and the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music to play almost all of Plastic Beach in front of the biggest, brightest HD video screen I’ve ever seen.  The screen showcased Gorillaz visuals, both new and old, to compliment each track.

After killing it for over 90 minutes and 18 songs, the set came to a rather awkward end with Womack’s “Cloud of Unknowing” and Damon leaving the stage without a ‘thank you’ or ‘good night’.  No encore. Oh well.

So ended Coachella 2010.

Thankfully, parking was not nearly as bad on Saturday.  We got in early enough to catch Old Crow Medicine Show bring some old-timey folk and bluegrass to the main stage.

After that, it was over to the Sahara to see Craze & Klever drop some beats and rock the turntables.  The DJ Kool > Bloody Beetroots drop was way cool.

The crowd for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros was huge, so we wandered over to the Mojave to get down with Gossip.

Back to the Sahara for some Bassnectar.  I’ll just say, Bassnectar in the Sahara is quite a different experience than Bassnectar in Bozeman, MT.  He played some tracks I missed before including Churn of the Century and even some Metallica.

We then watched, but couldn’t hear (thanks Do-Lab), Faith No More on the main stage while grabbing a bite to eat, and it was time for MGMT.

I’d heard people say MGMT just isn’t that good live, so I was curious to see what they would do with their new material, and how the fans would react.

Due to the enormous crowd, I had to rely on the video screens to see what was happening on stage.  I think everyone agreed they should have played the main stage.

They kicked things off with Flash Delirium which sounded great, but there was one problem.  The crowd.  It was a  younger crowd, and maybe it was their first concert or something, but there was no dancing, no jumping, and barely any applause.  With a crowd that huge, having dead air in between songs is just wrong.  My hunch that most of this crowd hadn’t even bothered to listen to the new album was confirmed when, after Flash Delirium, I yelled “I don’t think anyone knew that song!”, and a kid turns around and says “Yeah, play what we know, right?”.  I’m pretty sure he wasn’t being sarcastic.

I didn’t stick around long enough to see how upset they’d be when MGMT didn’t play Kids, I needed to get a good spot for Muse.

As expected, Muse’s epic sound was a perfect fit for the Coachella main stage.  The huge lasers and spark showers gave songs like Uprising, Starlight, and United States of Eurasia an extra punch.

After a good hour of Muse, I realized I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I missed Les Claypool, so it was off to the Mojave tent.

Les, who we saw signing autographs earlier, had a relatively small but dedicated crowd who were way into his songs.  The crowd can make all the difference, and Les was putting on a great show for people who really cared.

Next was my wildcard, Die Antwoord.

They might be a parody act, but as stage performers, Ninja and Yo-Landi are the real deal.  DJ Hi-Tek missed the beat drop on Enter the Ninja twice, but it was probably part of the act.  This was a really fun show.  It seemed to catch everyone off guard in a good way.  Die Antwoord may loose some (or all) of their appeal once they hit the mainstream, but I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Devo then closed the Mojave with a good mix of old and new songs.  Despite their age, these guys had a ton of energy and their new material actually sounds really good.  I’ll be picking up their new album for sure.

End Saturday!

Hotels near Coachella aren’t cheap, so to save money, we had the awesome idea of only booking the hotel for 3 nights.

So we catch our 6:30 flight, arrive in LA at 9:30, hop into a rental car, and we’re in the Coachella parking line by 1:00.  Awesome, we might be able to catch DJ Lance Rock at 2:15, Sleigh Bells at 3:30, and there’s no way we’ll miss Yeasayer at 4:20, right?

Wrong.

After an INSANELY long wait, we finally get a parking space and book it into the WAY overcrowded festival just in time to see Tom Morello of Street Sweeper Social Club invite Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk onstage to cover LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out.  It’s 6:00.

At least we made it in.  Later, we heard that the entry staff were mostly volunteers, some of whom were giving wristbands to people who slipped them cash.  Also, e-tickets weren’t scanning, so anyone with a paper ticket (valid or not) got a wristband.  They apparently ran out of wristbands meaning a lot more people got in than the 75,000 who paid for tickets to the sold out festival.

We headed over to the Sahara for Wolfgang Gartner, who absolutely killed it with a bass-heavy version of Undertaker.  The Sahara sound system is just as loud as i remember it.  Except that this time I brought a pair of Hearos earplugs so I could get up close without murdering my ears.  That was a good call.

We stopped by Gil Scott-Heron who told all the people who bet he wouldn’t show up, “You lose” and proceeded to sing the blues like a true bluesmaster.  He worked the crowd really well for an old dude.

Time for the headliners!

Them Crooked Vultures took the Main Stage.  These guys are pros.  Josh Homme, a Palm Desert native, welcomed everyone to his backyard and looked at home on the desert stage as they blazed through their set.  John Paul Jones rocked the bass, piano, and a handful of other instruments and looked like he was having a great time.  Dave Grohel is an absolute Animal on drums.

We grab a bite to eat while LCD Soundsystem takes their electronic jams to the main stage.

…and now, FEVER RAY.

With flickering lamps and incense smoke swirling in the air, the Mojave tent felt like more like a seance than a music festival as Fever Ray took the stage dressed as some kind of large snow beast.  The sound was perfectly strange and loud with more emphasis on percussion than is heard on the album.  The mirrored lasers added to the atmosphere, cutting through the smoke and pulsating to the beat.

From there, we caught the end of Deadmau5, saw Jay-Z’s fireworks go off, and started back to the parking lots.  Without traffic our hotel would have been a short 20 minute drive away.  But this is Coachella parking we’re talking about.  After 3 hours spent fighting our way out of the parking lot, we finally reached our beds at 4:00 am.

Talk about a long, awesome day.