30 albums: 10 and 9
10. m ward - transistor radio
here comes the fun part. the top ten. m ward. one of my favorites and probably my favorite solo artist right now (thinking...thinking...yep!) i've seen him live about seven or eight times, although the first two i didn't really pay him much mind (or maybe it was just the first time). he opened for bright eyes at st. andrews with the bruces (i REALLY wish i would have paid attention then...) and i was in bright eyes fanboy mode and didn't care about the openers. i think. my memory for things like this isn't the greatest, shows tend to blend together for the most part. anyways, i think the first time m ward really caught me was while opening for rilo kiley, that or another bright eyes show, but i think it was the rilo kiley one. but i paid attention that time and was captivated. his voice, his guitar playing. i'm captivated. i picked up all his records and wow. i can't say enough good things. one of the best shows i've ever seen was him in toronto right as this album was released. it was just him, a guitar, a piano, and a backpack full of harmonicas. it was amazing. this album is just as amazing. it's bookended by a pair of covers, opening with an instrumental version of the beach boys' you still believe in me, and closing with bach's the well-tempered clavier. there isn't a bad song inbetween. my favorites are paul's song, here comes the sun again and deep, dark well. the entire album is an homage to the radio stations he listened to growing up. how they would play anything, mix up styles and genres...and how that isn't the case anymore. sigh. i think i've written lots about m ward in here previously, and i really don't want to repeat myself. however, i will talk about m ward at any time! also, keep this date in mind: august 22! the new album "post war" comes out!! i am so excited. if it's even close to being as good as this one (and there's no reason to think it won't be) it'll right up there for my 2006 record of the year.
09. face to face - big choice
face to face is one of the bands that 'changed my life'. my favorite band throughout high school, the first concert i went to (89x christmas show with mazzy star, sebadoh, bloodhound gang, goldfinger, and pluto) and everything else. i helped work on the unofficial (then official) band website, met the guys, blah blah blah. my whole experience with that band was surreal. face to face always seemed more personal to me than any other punk band. the lyrics were always so direct. i know that they hate the way this record sounds, and i must agree, but it has some of my favorite face to face songs, especially velocity. i used part of that song for my senior yearbook quote and caryn taylor used it to call me out in the school newspaper. we didn't get along for awhile and i still don't really know why. but hey, that's what high school is for, right? plus, we're cool now even though she dropped off the internet seemingly. maybe she reads this though.... i don't listen to this album much anymore but think it's better like that. when i do put it on (or any f2f for that matteR) i'm instantly transported back to my youth, going to shows with ryan, singing along in my car, having fun. i will always have a place in my heart for face to face and especially this record. in fact, i tried ordering a vinyl copy on ebay last week but it ended up going for over $200! what is that?!!!! i still really want one. man, i love that band.