August

This August Mix ranks up there as one of my tops of the year. January was excellent. March was great. April turned into one that can last, but this one might take the cake. Stay tuned for my top 5 mixes of 2011!

Here's August:

1. Blitzen Trapper - American Goldwing

I love the lyrics, I love that down-home feel it has going on. Great tune.

2. Young Buffalo - Full Metal Whacket

Syncopated hand claps and a simply effective guitar riff with driving drums. Noice!

3. Grouplove - Tongue Tied

This group is climbing the charts, especially with their song 'Colours.' I like this one better and I guess Apple did too!

4. Atlas Genius - Trojans

Not to be confused with Atlas Sound (Mona Lisa). It took me a long time to not think about condoms when listening to this one.

5. Mathieu Santos - I Can Hear The Trains Coming

Ra Ra Riot's frontman heads out on his own in this catchy, electro-pop single.

6. Black Light Dinner Party - Small Boxes

Dark and dancy with a singable chorus.

7. Mates of State - Maracas

My girlfriend loves this band and this is the first tune I could easily latch onto one of their songs. I'm coming around though.

8. Rubblebucket - Came Out of A Lady

First introduced to me by the one-and-only Tim Dries, they won an award for best low-budget music video.

9. Hoquets - Chaud Boulet

Repetitive and in French, you might not like this one. What sold me is the fact that these guys built their own acoustic instruments and electrified them. Check out the video.

10. Fair Ohs - Baldessari

I wave, I wave, I wave good-bye to boats! I wait, I wait, I wait by the coast.

11. Snakes Say Hisss - Comes and Goes

I love the fuzz and the synth syncopations.

12. TV Girl - Benny and the Jetts

Just a solid tune. My favorite part is the Pips in the background.

13. Little Dragon - Ritual Union

It sounds so simple, but the underwater beats will keep you grooving.

14. Tom Vek - Aroused

You look arouse-duh! You look awake. You are a ligh-tuh! Turned on.

15. The Morning Benders - Last Night

Probably on par with the original on how much I like this.

16. The Panics - Majesty

I love the booming and glorious drums and the way this song keeps on building.

17. Banded Stilts - Forest, Oh Forest, Protect Me

You had me at Forest.

18. Motopony - King Of Diamonds

I thought it was difficult to discern whether the singer was male or female. Listen and decide for yourself before checking out the video.

19. Beirut - Goshen

I'm not sure what the title refers to, but this song is utterly gorgeous

20. the Middle East - Months

A great voice and determined beats build this song into sweeping melodic lines.

21. Debbie Neigher - My My My

Just a girl and her piano.

22. Portugal. The Man - Sleep Forever

This band (originally from Wasilla, AK) is enjoying an upturn in popularity. Probably my favorite track from their new album, I just want to sleep forever.

Joooooly

You'll be glad to know, over Christmas break I finished October, November, and the Autumn Honorable Mentions. When I return to Alaska and have access to a 10-disc burner again, I will be churning them out like a boss and hope to have another 5-pack ready to mail by early January.

This means for the first time in half a year, I am actually listening to new music in the month it came out! Hooray for December! Maybe I will quit sleeping and finish December before the month ends!

Check back soon to see how my mixes stand up to Pitchfork.com and Rolling Stones' top tracks of the year. And, of course, you'll see my top tracks as well!

Here's July!

1. The Natural Shocks - The Plane

The chorus is just great. A nice opening number.

2. Patrick Wolf - The City

I like trying to sing like this.

3. Hope and Social - Sleep Sound

You gotta love the intro and that fine group singing. Plus, it's a nice message.

4. I'm From Barcelona - Charlie Parker

Get it? Charlie Parker was called 'Bird' and this is a song about birds. HA!

5. The Travelling Band - Sundial

A great folksy tune. And yes, the band's name is spelled incorrectly.

6. Luke Temple - Ophelia

Fuzzy with great harmonies and a slice of creole.

7. The Loose Salute - Happy I Don't Count

Just a nice, mellow tune.

8. The Rosebuds - Woods

I appreciate the toy piano sounds and the soaring chorus.

9. Imaginary Cities - Hummingbird

Backward cymbals and a unique voice make this a catchy song.

10. Vetiver - Can't You Tell

Well, I can't tell what he's saying, but you just have to groove to this guy.

11. Cold War Kids - Finally Begin

Decent Cold War Kids selection

12. The Cinema - Kill It

Everyone has told me this song sounds nice, but the lyrics suck. I guess they're right. How does one "move like a freeway?" I do love the line, "I know we'll kill this."

13. Stars - We Don't Want Your Body

I was pleasantly surprised to learn this band made uptempo songs. And I love her voice.

14. Noah & The Whale - Life is Life

Finally, something not too depressing from this British band. I also enjoy their parlay into synthesizers.

15. The Shivers - Used to Be

I think I like it cause it sounds like something I'd like to make.

16. Yacht - Shangri-La

If I can't go to heaven, let me go to L.A. Or a far West Texas desert or an Oregon summer day. If we build a Utopia, will you come and stay?

17. Fleet Foxes - Lorelai

Oh, so pretty. Period.

18. Death Cab For Cutie - Stay Young, Go Dancing

Probably one of my favorite tracks of the year. Great chords, melodies, lyrics.... ahhh.....

19. Priory - Lady of Late

I just love singing to this one. The octaves in the chorus get me every time. It has such a nice breakdown.

20. Boy Without God - Of Cowboys & Other Beautiful Men

If I was a waterfall, I would make water fall. Simple yet brilliant.

21. Stray Dogg - Drunk

Such a sad song.

J-J-J-June

Here's June's playlist:

1. Ten Twenty Ten - Generationals

I love this band. Someone should get me the album for Christmas.

2. Up Up Up - Givers

This is my song of the summer. Definitely one of my favorites of the year.

3. Eleven (ft. tUnE-YarDs) - Thao & Mirah

Gots a nice grooooove and such a nice message.

4. K is for Kelson - Bibio

A nice little tropical feel to it.

5. Kelly - When Saints Go Machine

It's hard to listen to this song without it stirring memories, but it is still a solid song.

6. East Harlem - Beirut

I love his new album and this is probably my favorite song on it.

7. Already Yours - Bahamas

I feel like I could have/should have written this song.

8. The Globe - Ben Sollee

Great tune. Well written, well sung, and filled with great cellos noises.

9. If You Wanna - The Vaccines

A perfect post-break-up anthem

10. I Roll - Buckeye Knoll

I really like the back-and-forth in the voices.

11. Lonely Avenue - Ben Waters & PJ Harvey

Solid blues and a lovely back-up chorus. A solid Ray Charles cover.

12. Oil And Vinegar - Kids Choice

I am arranging this song for my choir to sing at our Regional Competition. So cute, quirky, and lovely.

13. Calgary - Bon Iver

So chill and so good.

14. Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall - Coldplay

Love. It.

15. Roots - Audiafauna

I love songs that combine the ideas of nature with them.

16. Orono Park (edit) - The Wilderness of Manitoba

This is a band I'd love to be a part of.

17. Part Man Part Myth Part Time - Jon Fratelli

Half of 'The Fratellis' strikes out on his own and makes guitar-driven, blues-induced rock.

18. Taken For A Fool - The Strokes

That classic Strokes sound is hard to beat.

19. Billy Cruz - Metal Mother

Just something about this song that sticks with me.

20. Birds - Ricky Eat Acid

Sit back and relax

21. Rocket Man - Steven Drozd

A very excellent cover

22. Grown Ocean - Fleet Foxes

Definitely an inspiration this year, this song ends their sophomore CD Helplessness Blues and it ends mine, too.

Christmas Updates and more playlists to come soon! Keep checking back!

Revelry

Today, I'm heading off to LaX to celebrate my brother's completion of his studies in college. He still has to student teach next semester. Next time he enters a classroom, he will be on the other side of the desk. I'm so very proud. He deserves a good night of revelry.

Last night I went ice skating with Rosy and played guitars and djembes while she called me a hippie all night. What a lovely night with a long-standing friend.

I think I owe you May's playlist:

1. Love To Get Used - Matt Pond PA

Nice guitars and harmonies.

2. Airport Death - An Horse

There's something about her nasally voice that I really like.

3. My Mistakes - Eleanor Friedberger

The Fiery Furnaces' singer strikes out on her own with this sprawling story. I love the guitar, the keyboard during the chorus, and her odd musical phrasing.

4. Numb - The Airborne Toxic Event

Another tune where I liked their debut stuff and was probably blinded by it. Looking back, this song is only ok.

5. Whirring - The Joy Formidable

This is my favorite song by this Welsh band. It's one you can just sing without a care. I've liked all their singles so far. I should get the album. This one will be in my favorite songs of the year.

6. Not Enough - Xylos

Sexual, but innocent at the same time.

7. Some Boys - Death Cab for Cutie

I like how this song rolls and the way Ben Gibbard crafts a song is a thing of beauty.

8. 'Girl U Want' - Freelance Whales

A most beautiful and sad Devo cover.

9. Damage Points - Slow Runner

A nice ballad with a sweeping end.

10. Lost In My Mind - The Head And The Heart

Love. LOVE. LOVE! I played this song ALL SUMMER.

11. The Immortals - Kings of Leon

Come Around Sundown was an underrated album. I hope their lead singer gets cleaned up so they can keep making music...

12. Sweetness - Pearl and the Beard

Clapping, stomping, cellos, and joyously in love lyrics.

13. Techno Fan - The Wombats

This song makes me laugh.

14. Boring Horror - Gobble Gobble

This one is weird, so watch out. It's one of those I can see people just dancing ridiculously to.

15. Balloon - Echo And The Empress

A nice voice and good orchestration.

16. Betelgeuse - Joywave

Token dance number

17. Driving - Stolen Jars

Claps, guitars, and cute girls.

18. You're a Winner - Wild Ones

Another lovely voice and some sweet organ.

19. I've Got This Friend - The Civil Wars

Such a cute song.

20. Oh Annie - The Morning Benders

I love this San Fran-based ensemble. I'm very much looking forward to their new album. Yes, this single is about the infamous Annie Hall.

21. Sydney (I'll Come Running) - Brett Dennen

Though his voice gets to me, I love the chorus and the revivalist feel it gives me.

22. The Key & The Rose - I Was Totally Destroying It

A great chorus and a great band name.

23. L-O-V-E - Boat

Just a quick ditty about the title.

Keep getting ready for Christmas team! Someone's got a birthday coming up!

Resolution

So, I would like to get this going again. I've revamped the color scheme and will continue to post my playlists here.

Alternately, I have gotten into this site (linked above) called 8tracks.com. It allows me to post my mixes for free. Now, you can take a ZZIPA-approved list anywhere you go!

I hope to turn this into more of a music blog and pick out songs/artists/albums that are stuck in my head and tell you about them.

I will keep posting updates about life in AK, but the focus will be on music. For pictures, please check out my FB. Ugh. I can't believe I said that.

So, since many of you will be getting 5 or so CDs in the mail soon, I figure I should have the tracklists posted. I'm going to post one a day until I am caught up.

Here is the Male Version of the Spring Honorable Mentions:

1. Helena Beat - Foster the People

I loved "Pumped Up Kicks" instantly (see October 2010), but the rest of the album took me a bit to appreciate. I think it was 4 listens. That's dedication. This is probably my second favorite track.

2. The Greatest Song I Ever Heard - OK Go

A bold choice for a title. Not the greatest song I've ever heard, but a good song about the greatest song.

3. Second Chance - Peter Bjorn and John

Their songs of late have been a change from the mellow "Young Folks." I like the fuzzy roughness of it all.

4. Light Leaves, Dark Sees - Los Campesinos!

Probably one of my favorite bands, actually. I don't think there's been a song I couldn't get into by them. They broke up for a while but are back strong. More to come from them on October 2011 and November 2011.

5. Open Arms - Elbow

A wonderful, little waltz.

6. Greenleaf - Generationals

Another one that took a long time to grown on me, even though I love this New Orleans-based band.

7. The Fear - Lovett

Woo! This song sounded so familiar at first, I had to go back and check previous mixes to see if I had it somewhere else. It's not, so here it is!

8. Because of the Blood - Sin Fang

I really like the double chorus thing it's got going.

9. Bloom - The Veils

Just a nice guitar-driven song

10. Annie You Save Me - Graffiti6

Almost like Gnarls Barkley perhaps?

11. King of Assmilk Flowers - Gnarlo (ft. Tyler, the Creator)

Some accessible rap from an up-and-coming shock-rapper. A mashup of 'King of Carrot Flowers pt. One' by Neutral Milk Hotel and 'Assmilk' by Tyler the Creator (ft. Earl Sweatshirt). If you don't like it, I'm "sorry as fuck."

12. Royal Blue - Cold War Kids

Ain't no "Hang Me Up To Dry," but still a solid song.

13. Running With Insanity - Alcoholic Faith Mission

Anyone using a squeezebox like this gets props from me. Plus, it has handclaps so it is solid in my book.

14. Obnoxia - Yip Deceiver

Token dance number.

15. A New Day Has Begun - Roddy Woomble

I like his voice and his vaguely Irish sound.

16. Troubles Will Be Gone - The Tallest Man On Earth

He writes such a good song. I'm jealous.

17. Equestrian - U.S. Royalty

A cleaner sound than some of their other stuff.

18. Simple Math - Manchester Orchestra

I loved "I've Got Friends," and was probably blinded by that for this song. Math junkies might like it. I guess it is sort of a sultry, heartache ballad.

19. Everything - Luke Cleland

Good low sounds, and GONGS! Pretty sweet sound.

20. The Wilhelm Scream - James Blake

I haven't liked too much of his stuff, but Rolling Stone creamed itself over this guy. The auto-tuned, semi-R&B sound is good and unique, but I'm still unsure. He comes back on November 2011. The Wilhelm Scream, by the way, is a universal movie sound effect.

Ladies First

So, here's the scoop on my conference:

PEAK stands for Performance Excellence for All Kids. Basically, it is a teaching philosophy based on sports practices with the main point being "Our Kids Are Worth Whatever It Takes."

The idea is that when you are preparing for a sport, you keep drilling the fundamentals at every practice and then maybe learn something new and then apply it to those fundamentals. For example, at some point in my baseball career, I learned how to catch and throw. Now, once I got good enough at these skills to be successful, I didn't immediately move on to hitting and never throw or catch again. Instead, we played catch each and every day, revisiting these skills over and over while adding new things, like catching fly balls, or learning to throw with a crow's hop.

Therefore, when kids succeed at new information/topics/skills, we shouldn't just forget about them when we teach, but revisit them constantly, making them more difficult and higher on the taxonomy of thinking. Things like that.

Basically, I came out of the conference with a new, more effective way to plan my lessons and some great ideas for how to set my room up next year. I'm actually pretty excited to get back to school...for now.

Spring Honorable Mentions were split into Men and Women categories. So, here's the ladies:

1. Rachel Goodrich - Morning Light
2. Rachel Platten - 1,000 Ships
3. You Say France And I Whistle - OMG
4. Young Galaxy - We Have Everything
5. The Naked And Famous - Young Blood
6. Alex Winston - Sister Wife (Star Slinger Remix)
7. The Kills - DNA
8. YACHT - Dystopia
9. Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers
10. Cults - Abducted
11. Blithe Field - Peach, Plum, Pear (Joanna Newsom)
12. The Raveonettes - Forget That You're Young
13. Julia Stone - Catastrophe!
14. My Little Pony - Breakup With Myself
15. Danielle Ate The Sandwich - Two Bedroom Apartment
16. Cassis Orange - Kotzebue
17. Heart-Sick Groans - Man On The Rocks
18. The Submarines - Fire
19. Peter And Kerry - Clothes, Friends, Photos
20. Ham Sandwich - The Naturist
21. Paper Think Walls - NyQuil
22. Larkin Poe - Desert Dream

Zach's Notes
1. Just a catchy number
3. I love their playful banter
5. I can't get past the fuzz. I love it!
6. Ah, Mormons...
8. The only reason this didn't make it's month was because of it's explicit nature. I send out more generic months than Honorables, so it seemed like a safer choice.
9. So sexy.
14. Pretty sure the girl only sings sparingly here, but it seemed like a girlie topic.
16. A city in Western Alaska where my good pal Luke Williamson worked last year.
19. Another song that just seems to have a girlie topic rather than a female singer.

Men and links to come. Time to get out of Vail!

Fallin' Behind

My dear friends and associates, I am writing to you from the sunny slopes of Vail, Colorado as I have officially begun the second leg of my summer adventure.

Alaska proved to be awesome for the month I was there. I can't with friends down in McCarthy and Kennecott. I met a whole bunch of amazing, new people at a ridiculous Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Fairbanks. I took my friend Desiree to Homer and Valdez, including playing on 3 different glaciers and a trip to Seldovia. It was superb.

I will try to have pictures posted pretty soon (on here and the fb, I suppose) and I hope most of the rest of my summer will be extremely picture-worthy.

Tomorrow, I begin a weeklong educator's conference called PEAK (not sure what it stands for yet). It was highly touted by many of my close colleagues from Glennallen, so I signed up. I'm looking forward to learning how to be a better teacher, but I have some reservations. Alot of these conferences tend to be geared toward the general classroom teacher and I have FAR from a general classroom. I'm hoping to improve my grasp of elementary curriculum and to work on using my room for good, instead of evil.

I'm going to post the tracklists one CD at a time. That will make me post a bit and then follow it up with some tracks.

It's going to be interesting producing the June and July playlists on the road, but knowing that this month caps my second year of discs has rejuvenated my spirit.

I hope you find at least one song per CD that you truly love. Here's April!

1. tUnE-yArDs - My Country
2. Rubik - Laws of Gravity
3. The View - Sunday
4. You Say France And I Whistle - Animal
5. Zoey Van Goey - You Told The Drunks I Knew Karate
6. The Eclectic Moniker - 2 Officers
7. Elbow - With Love
8. Florence And The Machine - Swimming
9. Of Montreal - L'age D'or
10. Star Slinger - How Will I Copulate? (Moranis Mashup feat. Whitney Houston)
11. Death Cab for Cutie - You Are A Tourist
12. Sloan - Unkind
13. We All Have Hooks For Hands - Amy's Room
14. The Joy Formidable - Austere
15. In These Woods - Always
16. Whale Tooth - 6 Billion
17. TV On The Radio - Caffeinated Consciousness
18. Fleet Foxes - Battery Kinzie
19. Seryn - We Will All Be Changed
20. The Morning Benders - Little Riot
21. Andrew Bird - The Twistable, Turnable Man Returns
22. Yellow Ostrich - WHALE
23. Lykke Li - Sadness Is A Blessing

Zach's Notes:
1. A modern patriot, I suppose
4. Crude, but catchy
5. One of the best starting lines of any song.
8. Who can't get enough Florence these days?
10. If you don't like this song, listen to it 4 times. According to Mark, you'll like it by then.
11. On the radio, this is their first single from their new album
12. This band is the Pearl Jam of Canada, celebrating their 20th year together with a new album. This is the first I've heard of them, but I love this song.
13. Great/Awful band name
14. I love the fuzzy, dark 90s sound
18. And the clean, folk Americana sound
19. This song snuck up on me and is incredible
22. This song was a hit at our Frisbee Tournament since our mascot was a giant, inflatable Shamu.
23. Second month in a row to end with a sultry Lykke Li number.

Catch Up

Oh, you poor, neglected blog. I'm surprised you're still here like an old, loyal dog and haven't trashed the place in my absence.

Anyway, school is out, summer is here, and I have absolutely zero intentions of slowing down. I've already been rafting, fishing, camping, hiking, grilling, driving, running, swimming, and climbing. This weekend I am going to run up to Fairbanks for my first Ultimate Frisbee Hat Tournament.

However, the music has still been pretty active. April has been done and ready to go for a while and May is being worked on currently. Plus, it's the season of Honorable Mentions for those who have been especially active in my life recently. I'm hoping to have them all mailed out by Friday or early next week.

The lovely Jackie Bordak has graciously reminded me that I have yet to post the March 2011 tracklist. So, here goes!

1. PS I Love You featuring Diamond Rings - Leftovers
2. Foo Fighters - Rope
3. Elbow - Neat Little Rows
4. Young Buffalo - Only We Can Keep You From Harm
5. TV On The Radio - Will Do
6. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - The Golden Age
7. Say Hi - Take Ya' Dancin'
8. The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness
9. Architecture in Helsinki - Contact High
10. Cake - Long Time
11. Bright Eyes - Shell Game
12. Oregon Bike Trails - High School Lover
13. Middle Brother - Middle Brother
14. Fishboy - Aaron The Afterthought Astronaut
15. Those Dancing Days - I'll Be Yours
16. The Dodos - Black Night
17. The Decemberists - Don't Carry It All
18. Fire is Motion - Smile, It Makes This Easier
19. My Little Pony - A Miracle
20. Jessica Lea Mayfield - Blue Skies Again
21. Lykke Li - Love Out Of Lust

Zach's Notes
2. New album, same sound. If I could hang out with one living person for the day it would be Dave Grohl.
3. I'm pretty sure Nick Smith tried to get me to listen to these guys years ago and I didn't like it or didn't want to and now I love 'em. Go figure.
4. I love the build-up and how one little word changes the emotions of the song
5. A great effing song!
6. As seen on a Heineken commercial I believe
8. New album just dropped and this is the title track. It's been 5 years and this single makes it seem like the wait may have been worth it.
10. Great song by a Great band
11. Yeah, yeah...I give up. I like his new album.
16. Crank this one up. So good!
17. This is my current choice for my personal SONG OF 2011.
19. A cute and well-written love song.