Yoga Pop: Volume 7

Designed to play for the duration of a 75 minute vinyasa practice.

Song. Artist. Album
(Order is important)

1. Ready Lets Go. Boards of Canada. Geogaddi
2. 11 Ghosts II. Nine Inch Nails. Ghosts I-IV
3. Midnight to 4am. Blackfilm. Blackfilm
4. Singing Sand. Quiet Village. Silent Movie
5. Acrostico. Gui Boratto. Chromophobia
6. The Magic Stick. Dosh. Wolves and Wishes
7. Time Difference II. Montag. Alone, Not Alone
8. Ketto. Bonobo. Days to Come
9. Disconnect the Cables. Japancakes. The Sleepy Strange
10. Velvet Pony. Psapp. Tiger, My Friend
11. As The Stars Fall. The Cinematic Orchestra. Ma Fleur
12. Unknown Title. Figurines. When the Deer Wore Blue
13. One Swan Swim. Tenniscoats. Tan-Tan Therapy
14. The Rising Sun. Arp. In Light
15. I'm Rewinding It. Bibio. Fi
16. Bright Angel Park. Frankie Sparo. Welcome Crummy Mystics

Yoga Pop: Volume 6

Designed to play for the duration of a 75 minute vinyasa practice.

Song. Artist. Album
(Order is important / Time crops noted)

1. Everywhere All At One Time. Cloud Cult. The Meaning of 8
2. A Heart-Warming and Beautiful Flower Will Eventually Wither Away and Become Dirt. Susumu Yokota. Love or Die
3. Tesselation, Formerly Plateau One. Mahogany. Connectivity!
4. Please Sing My Spring Reverb - B.Fleishmann Mix. Mum. Please Smile My Noise Bleed
5. Abbesses. Birdy Nam Nam. Birdy Nam Nam (6:13)
6. Ready Set Glow. Atlas Sound. Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
7. We Own The Sky. M83. Saturdays = Youth
8. Neon Rider. Junior Boys. Last Exit
9. Send and Receive. Tycho. Past Is Prologue
10. Alienation. Lali Puna. Faking The Books
11. Ambulance For The Ambiance. Broken Social Scene. Bee Hives
12. Hazeldub. Alpha. Come From Heaven
13. I Know You Are But What Am I?. Mogwai. Happy Songs For Happy People
14. Aircastles. Our Sleepless Forest. Our Sleepless Forest
15. Last Orders. Richard Hawley. Cole's Corner

Music for Any Predilection

Modern day music trawlers would have a hard time subsisting without sites like Allmusic.com. Artist genealogy, discographies, influences, genre trees, and historical billboard chart inclusions are a few of the things you’ll find at this online music equivalent to The Library of Congress. But there’s one database attribute that makes this site unique. An attribute that puts this virtual library on my short list of internet obsessions: MOODS.

Each band in Allmusic's mammoth encyclopedia is assigned with as many moods from this list as are applicable to their musical sound. One can use mood as either a search characteristic or an umbrella designation to view critically acclaimed bands / albums. First, the thoroughness and accuracy of this database is mindboggling. Second, my hat goes off to this mysterious crew of professional mood-assigners; most likely the same people who review the music (right?). I don’t know who you are but know there’s at least one person out there who cares about you deeply. Third, as much as I enjoy thinking about music this way it’s pretty difficult not to snicker at the absurd precision implicated by some of these moods. I can't imagine that there are many people out there thinking “Boy, I’m really in the mood for an album that's uncompromising yet wry.” Other favorite ridiculous moods from their list include: clinical, earnest, sardonic, stately, ramshackle, austere, naïve, and brittle. Fourth, I do so wish that my music collection (read: my life) could be organized and sorted by mood. Let’s all hope ITunes and the many cultural collators to come co-opt this database methodology allowing users to apply MULTIPLE genres, moods, and (who knows what!) attributes to single pieces of file-away media.

Ipod Switcharoo

You and me.

Here are the rules.

1. Delete everything on our Ipods.
2. Create five playlists, each titled with a different theme, mood, idea, or personality characteristic. Examples: More Happyness, Clinical, Space Cadet, I Love Montana, Magnanimous, Yellow Fever, Misanthropic Argonaut, My Bloody Bloody Heart, Dodecahedron, Pluto Planetarium, Siamese Cat Parade.
3. Fill each playlist with five songs that interpret and describe your chosen titles.
4. Exchange Ipods for a designated period of time.
5. Learn about each other.

Yoga Pop: Volume 5

Designed to play for the duration of a 75 minute vinyasa practice.

Song. Artist. Album
(Order is important)

1. The Birdman of Ec1. Saint Etienne. Tales From Turnpike House
2. Behind The Bushes. The Knife. Deep Cuts
3. Steady State. Andrew Peckler. Cue
4. ...Passing By. Ulrich Schnauss. Far Trains Passing By
5. Veridis Quo. Daft Punk. Discovery
6. Flying Officer. Skalpel. Konfusion
7. Building Steam with a Grain of Salt. DJ Shadow. Endtroducing
8. Arp She Said. Lindstrom. It's A Feedelity Affair
9. Loud Pipes. Ratatat. Classics
10. Paddington. Hauschka. Room To Expand
11. Cruel Girl's Beauty. World's End Girlfriend. Ending Story
12. Big Milk. Dan Deacon. Spiderman of the Rings
13. What Do You Go Home To?. Explosions In The Sky. All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
14. Alone. Adrian Klumpes. Be Still

Favorite Music of 2007

Favorite Album Releases of 2007
1. The Clientele - God Save The Clientele
2. Shout Out Louds - Our Ill Wills
3. World's End Girlfriend - Hurtbreak Wonderland
4. The National - Boxer
5. Blonde Redhead - 23
6. Menomena - Friend and Foe
7. Richard Hawley - Lady's Bridge
8. Cinematic Orchestra - Ma Fleur
9. Sally Shapiro - Disco Romance
10. Explosions In The Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone

Other Much Liked Albums
The Fiery Furnaces, Great Lake Swimmers, Justice, Hauschka, Keren Ann, Mum, The Rosebuds, Lucky Soul, Simian Mobile Disco, Of Montreal, My Teenage Stride, Matthew Shipp, The 1900s, Lymbyc System, The Field, Jens Lekman, Aesop Rock, Andrew Bird, Maps, Mice Parade

Favorite Album Cover
Efterklang - Under Giant Trees

Favorite Lyrical Verse
"Do you really think you can just put in a safe behind a painting lock it up and leave...?"
The National - Start a War

Favorite Bedtime Album
Japancakes - Loveless

Favorite Song
Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse

Yoga Pop: Volume 4

Designed to play for the duration of a 75 minute vinyasa practice.

Song. Artist. Album
(Order is important / Time crops noted)

1. Hymn 1. Eluvium. Copia
2. Introductory Nomenclature. Telefon Tel Aviv. Fahrenheit Fair Enough
3. Crystalnight. Alpinestars. White Noise
4. Fall Bicycle. Lymbyc System. Love Your Abuser
5. Wooo. Vitalic. Ok Cowboy
6. Don't Give Up. The Whitest Boy Alive. Dreams
7. Useless Information. Apparat. Walls
8. Ghost of a Horse Under The Chandelier. World's End Girlfriend. Hurtbreak Wonderland (4:50.7)
9. Sincetta. Plaid. Double Figure
10. Valentine. Justice. Cross
11. Forgive. Burial. Burial
12. Stretch (You Are Alright). Tortoise. It's All Around You
13. The Light. White Magic. Dat Rosa Mel Apibus
14. Soul. Spacemen 3. Take Me To The Other Side
15. Winter (What We Never Were After All). Mum. Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy
16. Space Fertilizer. M83. Digital Shades Volume 1
17. Goodnight. Triosk. Moment Returns

Yoga Pop: Volume 3

Designed to play for the duration of a 75 minute vinyasa yoga class/practice.

Song.Artist.Album
(Order is important)

1. Prologue. Kraftwerk. Tour De France Soundtracks
2. Valley Of The Dolls. Mylo. Destroy Rock & Roll
3. Hairy Trees. Goldfrapp. Black Cherry
4. Flutter. Bonobo. Dial "M" for Monkey
5. Ramble On. Various/Led Zeppelin. Pickin' On Zeppelin Tribute
6. O Mexico. Dosh. The Lost Take
7. Collarbone. Fujiya & Miyagi. Transparent Things
8. Leyendecker. Battles. Mirrored
9. I Am The Sub-Librarian. Piano Magic. Low Birth Weight
10. Noah's Ark. CocoRosie. Noah's Ark
11. Don't Think. Lali Puna. Scary World Theory
12. Disaster Location. Julian Fane. Special Forces
13. Random Summer. Mum. Yesterday Was Dramatic Today Is Ok
14. Distractions. Zero 7. Simple Things
15. Bluebird of Happiness. Ulrich Schnauss/Mojave 3. Spoon and Rafter
16. Onsay. Fennesz. Venice
17. Hands Playing Butterfly. Efterklang. Under Giant Trees

Yoga Pop: Volume 2

Designed to play for the duration of a 75 minute vinyasa yoga class/practice.

Song.Artist.Album
(Order is important / Time crops noted)

1. I Saw Drones. Boards of Canada. Geogaddi
2. Ivyhouse. Saint Etienne. Places to Visit
3. This. Brian Eno. Another Day On Earth
4. Lex. Ratatat. Classics
5. Light Pattern. Bonobo. Dial 'M' for Monkey
6. You And Me In Time. Broadcast. Tender Buttons
7. So Easy. Royksopp. Melody AM (3:45)
8. Birds of a Feather. Herbert. Scale
9. Mer du Japon. Air. Pocket Symphony
10. As Serious as Your Life. Four Tet. Rounds
11. Everyone's A V.I.P. To Someone. The Go! Team. Thunder, Lightning, Strike
12. Where. Colder. Again
13. The Valleys. Electrelane. The Power Out
14. Silence and Little Melodies For. Cyann & Ben. Happy Like an Autumn Tree
15. The Light. The Album Leaf. Into The Blue Again
16. Beauties Can Die. M83. Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (8:00)

Favorite Music of 2006

My favorite album releases of 2006, in order.

1. Camera Obscura: Let's Get Out of This Country
Scotland : Pop : Merge

2. Destroyer: Destroyer's Rubies
USA : Singer/Songwriter : Merge

3. Midlake: Trials of Van Occupanther
USA : Rock/Lo-Fi : Bella Union

4. Figuirines: Skeleton
Denmark : Rock/Pop : Control Group/TCG

5. Casiotone For the Painfully Alone: Etiquette
USA : Singer/Songwriter : Tomlab

6. The Brother Kite: Waiting for the Time to Be Right
USA : Rock/Pop : Clairecords

7. Peter Bjorn & John: Writer's Block
Sweden : Rock/Pop : Wichita/V2

8. Electric President: Electric President
USA : Electronic/Pop : Morr Music

9. Mojave 3: Puzzles Like You
UK : Rock/Pop : 4AD

10. Lonely, Dear: Sologne
Sweden : Singer/Songwriter : Dear John

.Other Much Liked Albums
The Fiery Furnaces, Junior Boys, Herbert, The Pipettes, Grizzly Bear, The Mountain Goats, Math and Physics Club, The Hold Steady, Sunset Rubdown

.Favorite Live Shows
1. Daft Punk: Coachella Music Festival (CA), May
2. Sufjan Stevens: Allen Room @ Lincoln Center (NYC), January
3. The Editors: Mercury Lounge (NYC), January
4. Jens Lekman: Bowery Ballroom (NYC), July
5. Figurines: Mercury Lounge (NYC), June

.Most Overrated and Overhyped Album of the Year
Beirut: The Gulag Orkestar

.Favorite Album Cover
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone: Etiquette

.Favorite Lyrical Verse
The Mountain Goats: Get Lonely - Wide Sage
"And some days I don't miss my family...
And some days I do.
And some days I think I'd feel better if I tried harder...
Most days I know it's not true."

.Favorite Song
The Long Blondes: Giddy Stratospheres

Favorite Music of 2005

2005 Favorite 10 Album Releases (in order)

1. Architecture In Helsinki - In Case We Die
Australia : Pop : Bar None

2. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
USA : Singer/Songwriter : Asthmatic Kitty

3. Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
USA : Singer/Songwriter : Righteous Babe

4. The Rosebuds - Birds Make Good Neighbors
USA : Pop : Merge

5. M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us
France : Electronica/Shoegaze : Mute

6. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
UK : Post-Punk : Atlantic/Wichita/V2

7. Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins
USA : Pop : Polyvinyl

8. Mice Parade - Bem Vinda Vontade
UK : Post-Rock : Bubble Core/Fat Cat

9. The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
UK : Pop : Capitol/Heavenly

10. Mew - And the Glass Handed Kites
Denmark : Pop : Sony/BMG

Other much liked albums:
Sigur Ros, The National, Antony & The Johnsons, Fischerspooner, Vitalic, Mountain Goats, Menomena, Bright Eyes

Favorite 3 Concert Performances:
1. The Dears @ Maxwell's - Hoboken, NJ (March)
2. M.I.A. @ Coachella Music Festival - Palm Springs, Ca (May)
3. Arcade Fire @ Coachella Music Festival - Palm Springs, Ca (May)

Favorite Cover: Take Ecstasy with Me - Magnetic Fields covered by !!!

Favorite Remix: It's Not the Worst I've Looked - Two Lone Swordsmen remixed by Lali Puna

Favorite Lyrical Verse: Banking on a Myth - Andrew Bird
"Deals in commodities of the abstract sort
Buys them in bulk but then he sells it short
Talent, genius, love, even signs of affection
He floods the market, there's no price protection"

Favorite Song: Hope There's Someone - Antony and The Johnsons