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Top 30 Albums of 2011

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1. SBTRKT – SBTRKT 2. Thundercat – The Golden Age of Apocalypse 3. Other Lives – Tamer Animals 4. Real Estate – Real Estate 5. The Head And The Heart – The Head and The Heart 6. James Blake – James Blake 7. DJ… Read More »Top 30 Albums of 2011

Emika – Emika

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This post is syndicated from Indie Shuffle.

What’s so good?

Poignant yet fierce, striking and soft, the UK-born and Berlin-based Emika is a much needed beacon in electronic music, a space seemingly laden with emo-ridden dudes sporting thoughtful beards with a five o’clock silhouette for any given niche.

Emika shakes things up by bringing some serious skin to the game. She’s a force to be reckoned with — the anti-Ellie Goulding — leaving behind anything sugar-coated and sweet that offers a gently affected tonality for remixers to deepen. Emika singularly achieves depth by speaking through her superb technical and artistic prowess. Her style is unique with a tonality that’s consistent. And this is just her first album.

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Eleanor Friedberger – Last Summer

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This post is syndicated from Indie Shuffle.

What’s so good?

I saw avant-pop duo The Fiery Furnaces perform an acoustic set a few months back at the Largo in L.A. and was immediately captivated. The first thing I thought about was the remarkable result of the brother and sisters’ stripped-down set paired to their signature poetic lyrics.

“The cool affectation of Matt and Eleanor is gripping – they’re clearly favoring their art over any commercial notion of entertaining that coerces objectification.”

The second thing I thought was: ”God I’m starving! What’s for dinner?”

I had listened to albums by The Fiery Furnaces in the past. And like many artists, it took going to a live performance before I really understood what they’re all about. I expressed interest on Twitter that night for a book of their lyrics to read. Like a changing green light at just the right moment before pause, I was thrilled to learn that there was in fact such a book.

Arty? Refreshingly so. Entertaining? You betcha. Spoken word tends to validate itself well, particularly so on paper.

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The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 29]

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“Self-censorship is not just self-betrayal and self-abandonment (which would be bad enough), but soul-betrayal and betrayal of our Muse, out inner voice, our highest self.”

Too often we censor ourselves, our actions, and our work in hope or fear of what might happen if we otherwise don’t. What words would you write today, and what actions would you take, if you had nothing to fear, nothing to lose?

(Author: Tanner Christensen)

This is an interesting challenge and I’d love to read others’ remarks on the topic. In a way, we’re bringing to the forefront what it is that we really care about.  What makes us annoyed deep down inside? Which public official is being a pain in the ass? Where do we need to see change? And why the hell isn’t the A/C on in here?!

I’m always ticked off about various issues in technology policy and the lack of our progress in furthering the arts on both a national and international level.

The political machines and subsequent organizations that dictate policy are decades behind where we need to be — and seem to stifle innovation.

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The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 27]

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“The world belongs to the energetic.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s easy to blame our failure to meet our goals or to live our dream lives on a lack of energy, and we don’t always stop to think about the quality of energy in our lives. Yet we can choose to create and manage our own energy flow.

Think of an instance when you’ve been so involved in an activity that you’ve lost track of time, and then identity the passions and energies you were feeding. Who was there with you? What were you doing? What will you do to make time for moments like that one more often?

(Author: Julia E)

This is a great prompt because I feel this way all the time! Our energy levels often dictate how much we can accomplish in any day, week, month, or season. Sometimes our resources allow us to do less and we must work with what’s given to us, even if that means cutting out things like social time (d’oh!) to do so.

A DJ friend from college used to lament that he didn’t have enough money to put together the dream production studio he always wanted. He also believed that once he got a job and was able to fund this studio, he then wouldn’t have the time or energy to use it.

So why do it? Why should he fight for the resources to build his dream studio if he won’t be able to use it? Was this reasoning merely a cover up for his fear, or a legitimate circumstance to create a workaround for? Maybe a little bit of both.

Read More »The #Trust30 Day Challenge [Post 27]