Favorite Albums 2009

I have been debating on whether or not to post a ‘top’ albums for 2009 list, mostly due to the fact that I might indulge in posting a top albums of the decade which would require a good bit of time.

Over the past decade I have listened to 90% of the music I have ever listened to in my life.  My musical pallet has sampled many a sound in that time.

This year I have also sampled a good amount of new music, some from bands I already enjoy and some from new bands that I have come to enjoy. Unfortunately some of the music I have come to love this year, was not necessarily released this year so I might just have to make that Albums of the Decade post after all.

Normally I would throw in some “key” songs for album reviews, but all of these albums are all good all the way through, so if you are going to give them a try, just go all the way. Go big or go home…

My top 5 picks are the albums that I listened to the most when I first heard them.  They inspired me and played with my emotions more than the rest.

In no particular order:

falloftroyPhantomonthehorizon

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Arablak – A3C @ 529, Odist EP Release @ Drunken Unicorn

Saturday October 3rd proved to be a stellar evening of music. To start the evening I was at 529 in the East Atlanta Village to catch my man Arablak open up the night for the A3C hip hop festival. Shortly after he went off stage I got word that my people Odist were setting up on stage and I rushed over to Drunken Unicorn to catch their set at their EP release show.

Lets start with Arablak. A good friend of mine that I have been working with as an engineer and producer for the past couple of years, Arablak aka Jermaine Edmonds, has been doing random shows down here in Atlanta, typically being on nights that my band 13 Day Mission has a show. That said I’ve been unable to catch his live set until last Saturday at the A3C festival.

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13 Day Mission – Last Show of 2009

Tonight, Monday Oct 5th, is 13DM’s last show of 2009. I could not be more excited about the line up to be honest.

13 Day Mission:  I’ve always liked these guys….

Vegan Coke: Another Atlanta instrumental band doing some mathy stuff, should be more of these IMO. We got a chance to see them at a BeAtlanta show that we played with 6 other bands on the bill.  These guys were by far the most exciting for me and I look forward to hearing them on the awesome sound system at DU.

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Recording, Mixing, and Mastering

In an attempt to start a new series for myself to maintain, I wanted to write a little bit about Recording, Mixing, and Mastering. Before I get into the specifics of each process, I wanted to give some background about my experience with recording and editing audio.

Back in 1998 while still in high school, my friend The O and I started tooling around with the Windows Recorder application.  We wanted a way to record skits that we were writing and other randomness.  While this was sufficient for short recordings there were not many options.  It was time to move on, The O finds Gold Wave, a very functional piece of software with a variety of effects for us to try.  Thus begins the musical group and movement Wireman.

goldwave

While Gold Wave was great, it would only allow us to edit one track at a time.  Continue reading