Top Albums of 2008

Just in time for Christmas, here is my annual listing of my favorite albums of the year. I'm not exactly sure why, but this year was a little dry in the way of new music. Graduate school and lack of time probably contributed to this the most, and I ended up listening to far fewer albums than usual. So I decided to only present my 10 favorite records of 2008. All of these albums are worth more than a passive listen, and as usual, this list encompasses a range of both new artists and old favorites, as well as various flavors of rock and electronica. Personal favorites of mine Ryan Adams and The Presets released fantastic new albums, and new artists like MGMT, Ra Ra Riot, and Fleet Foxes cemented themselves as intriguing artists who have a bright future. Here's the list!

1. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cardinology
2. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
3. The Presets - Apocalypso
4. Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
5. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
6. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
7. Sigur Ros - Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust
8. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
9. M83 - Saturdays = Youth
10. Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling

A quick note is in order. If you look back to last year, MGMT was listed as a 2007 release. Well, the initial digital release came out at the very end of 2007, with the physical release following in January 2008. Last year I didn't have enough time to appreciate how great a record Oracular Spectacular was, and so I include it in the 2008 batch in order to emphasize this. It is much better than a "mere" number 11 album!

And now I can begin to look foward to all the wonderful records that will surely follow in 2009 to wrap up what has been a fantastic decade in music!

Top Songs of 2008

Here is my annual list of my favorite tracks of the year. These are some pretty kick-ass songs, so you best be checking them out! I would've included more, but I wanted to limit it to 10 this year...mostly to see if I could.

1. The Presets - This Boy's In Love
2. M83 - Kim and Jessie
3. MGMT - Time to Pretend
4. The Smashing Pumpkins - The Rose March
5. Ra Ra Riot - Ghost Under Rocks
6. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Sink Ships
7. Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook
8. Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire
9. Annuals - Confessor
10. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal

Time heals, but I'm forever broken

Well, it certainly has been a long while. I haven't posted to this blog in almost a year, so I thought I'd give an update - a recap of 2008 if you will.

First, an update on the mathematics career front. A few cool things have actually transpired since I last blogged. I left off with finally passing my second and final qualifying exam at the beginning of last Spring semester. Later that semester I found that I had won a teaching excellence award from the graduate college (via recommendation from the math department). I also ended up getting grant money through my adviser for a research assistantship over the summer. During the summer, my adviser and I worked on what would end being my first paper. My area of research deals with Hopf algebras, and in the paper we completed the classification of Hopf algebras of dimension 2p^2 (for p an odd prime). At the beginning of the fall semester, after a long back-and-forth editting and revision process, we submitted the paper to the Journal of London Mathematical Society, a well-respected mathematics journal. We're still awaiting word on the status of its future publication - it usually takes a while.

This fall I ended up taking my Preliminary Exam, the next step towards my completion of the Ph.D. I made a presentation on my research and possible research goals for the future, and it went rather smoothly. My committee didn't grill me too much, and I passed the exam rather easily. This semester I also applied for a research fellowship from the Mathematics department and ended up winning it (along with my friend and officemate Jake). It is called the Wolfe Fellowship and it basically entitles me to a semester free of teaching (but with the same pay as if I were) in order to concentrate on my research. Apparently they see some potential in my research abilities (potential I have yet to witness for myself!). I was teaching a class called Survey of Calculus this semester - it was basically Calculus 1 but dumbed down and without any trigonometry. It was a rather distressing semester for teaching, as my students were very unprepared for such a course and completely resistant to the idea of actually learning anything on their own. It was worse than usual...and very frustrating. However, by the end of the semester I had learned how to deal with them and felt much less annoyed by their antics. A semester off from teaching will hopefully help me to forget those hardships and look forward to teaching again in the Fall. So now the Fall 2008 semester is over and I am on winter break. After not doing too much in the way of research since my Prelim exam, I am finally back on track with a new (and interesting!) research problem to work on...one that I feel I can wrap my brain around without too much guidance from my adviser. I will be forging ahead with this new problem during break and will hopefully produce another good paper during the course of the next semester.

One of the major events this year for me that didn't involve mathematics was going on a trip to Europe this summer with my friends Amy, Brent, Kelly, and Dan. We went to London, Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling), and Paris over the course of a 10 day vacation. It was pretty damn sweet, and the first time I've been to Europe as well. I was especially fascinated by Scotland, and really really hope to return there soon!

Another quick set of updates dealing with music is probably in order, too. I'll post my Top Albums and Songs of 2008 in a separate posting. This year was a little dry in the way of new music for me, so the list is only a top 10 this time around. I did get to see a handful of pretty sweet concerts this year. A few notable and particularly excellent ones include Ryan Adams and the Cardinals here in Ames, The Presets in Minneapolis, Ra Ra Riot in Minneapolis, and Wolf Parade in Omaha. However, by the far the sweetest experiences for me revolved around the 5 times I saw The Smashing Pumpkins this year. I saw them twice in August (in Davenport, IA, and Hammond, IN) and three times in November (once in Chicago, IL and twice in Kansas City, MO). I was a few rows back for the seated show in Davenport and front and center for the general admission show in Hammond. I also ended up being front and center for the two consecutive shows in Kansas City (got lots of sweet pictures, which I put up on facebook for those interested). I also got to meet Billy and Jimmy both nights and got to watch the soundcheck before the first night's show! Overall my experience in Kansas City was awesome to say the least! This next year promises to be awesome again as well, as Jake and I will once again be travelling to Austin, TX for South by Southwest. Our experience there 2 years ago was phenomenal, and we will for sure be having such an experience again this year!

That's all for this (yearly?) update. I hope everyone else had a great year, and a happy 2009 to you all as well!

Currently Playing:

Such Fun by Annuals

Move fast forward through the camera eye

I found out Friday afternoon that I officially passed the Analysis Qualifying Exam!! Pretty much everyone else passed their exams, too, it seems. They apparently decided to make this round of exams reasonable. How strange!

Left to blind destruction, waiting for our sight

Holy shit! I actually did REALLY well on the Analysis Qualifying Exam yesterday! The question were, surprisingly, very reasonable...and some were even really really easy. Despite having 4 hours now to do the exam, I finished it in under 3 hours (the old amount of time that I had on the last one)...feeling extremely confident in all my solutions that I turned in. There were 10 problems, and we turn in 6 of them, and there were even a few more problems I could have done had I needed to do more than 6. All that damn studying I did paid off, and I probably will never have to think about that stuff again!

Needless to say, it was a great feeling finishing that exam. I am sure that I passed, and now I can continue on my way to a Ph.D.

Most everyone else that took exams yesterday thinks that they did well, too. We had a great afternoon/evening of celebration after the exams...and I'm feeling a bit under the weather today because of it. Now I need to attend a meeting for calculus instructors this afternoon (more on that shit later) and prepare for teaching on Monday.

Currently Playing:

Our Love to Admire by Interpol

I can feel the soil falling over my head

On Thursday, less than three days time from now, I will take my second attempt at the Analysis Qualifying Exam. I've once again been working my ass off preparing for this task. I can say that I feel ready for this exam, but that's what I thought the last time. However, I do feel significantly MORE prepared this time than last. I'll just have to wait and see what kind of exam they give me - it could go either way.

Not much else has been going on, obviously. Once this exam is over, I must prepare for teaching again. I am once again teaching Calculus 1 next semester. I kinda wanted to teach Calc 2 again, as I enjoyed doing so this last semester. However, Calc 1 is still enjoyable, and certainly an easy class to teach.

The only other thing in my life at the moment, it seems, is music. I have been listening, as usual, to lots and lots and lots of stuff. The past couple months I seem to be listening to a lot of my favorite 'older' bands: Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths. Supremely good shit.

I will post an update after the exam...and hopefully I can say something good this time!

Currently Playing:

Power, Corruption, & Lies by New Order

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable time celebrating the coming of 2008.

The first great music release of 2008 has already been unleashed. The Pumpkins release American Gothic, a 4 song EP, via iTunes tomorrow. All four songs are in a more acoustic style, something which I believe to be one of Billy's strong points [for example, the tragically unreleased work of Djali Zwan and the Chicago Songs]. It is certainly a nice change from the 'burn the lies off your soul' heaviness of Zeitgeist. Check the EP out now!

Currently Playing:

American Gothic by Smashing Pumpkins

Top 25 Albums of 2007

Ah, 2007. I shall remember you for two of the best experiences of my life. The first was my week in Austin, TX for South by Southwest and all the amazing shows I saw and people I met. The second was seeing The Smashing Pumpkins for the first time in 7 years and finally being right up in front, a few feet away from Billy as he played a handful of my favorite songs. Another good thing about you, 2007, is your music. And now, as I do for every year, I give you what I consider to be the best records of the year, and beg you over and over to listen to them.

I think the definitive day for music releases was indeed July 10. I had been looking forward to that day for over 7 years. Yes, it was the day that Zeitgeist, the return of The Smashing Pumpkins, was released. My mind was blown, and the lies burnt off soul. You may notice however, that this album did not earn top honors from me this year. What artist could possibly top the Pumpkins in my mind? Well, the answer came that very same day. Also released on July 10 was the new Interpol album Our Love to Admire. Nothing short of a masterpiece, this album is dark and beautiful, proving again that Interpol is one of the best bands of this decade. In another similarity, I saw both of these bands in concert in October and both blew me away, becoming my favorite two shows of the year (Billy wins out for the best single show of the year, though...nothing could top that experience).

The rest of this list is comprised of old favorites making strong returns, and new artists impressing with excellent debuts. The star of last year, Band of Horses, gave us a new album this year, Cease to Begin. While it didn't obliterate the competition like in 2006, it is none the less an excellent album, and is a bit more reserved than Everything All the Time. Old favorites Idlewild and The National also released two great and very solid rock albums, and Two Gallants got a bit quieter this year, but got a chance to showcase their songwriting abilities. A bit farther down the list, I also enjoyed new releases from Ryan Adams, Radiohead, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. While not the best albums of their careers, they at least didn't disappoint.

Making waves this year, a bunch of new artists released their debuts and are on their way to promising careers. Making the third spot is the band Sea Wolf. I was blown away by their opening performance for Silversun Pickups this year and bought everything of theirs I could get my hands on. The album is whimsical and beautiful, containing a large number of extremely catchy songs. The Twilight Sad is another band worth mentioning. Hailing from Scotland, this band emanates youth - but not from immaturity. Sometimes while listening to it, I feel like I am listening to the Pumpkins first album, Gish. It has that same sort of chaotic energy and spirit. I had the good fortune of seeing The Cinematics live three times this year, and they put on three amazing shows. Their album, Strange Education, is fun and lively, and the singer, Scott, does an absolutely incredible job. Also debuts this year, I thoroughly enjoyed releases from the dancy MGMT and the gorgeous Fields - very strong albums.

Well that's all I'm going to say about these great albums. I beg you to check them out. Tell me what you think. Did I miss some incredible album? Does something not deserve to be on this list?

And now, ladies and gentlemen...the Top 25 Albums of 2007.

1. Interpol - Our Love to Admire
2. The Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
3. Sea Wolf - Leaves in the River
4. The National - Boxer
5. Idlewild - Make Another World
6. The Cinematics - A Strange Education
7. Two Gallants - Two Gallants
8. The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns, Fifteen Winters
9. Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
10. Fields - Everything Last Winter
11. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
12. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
13. Earlimart - Mentor Tormentor
14. Band of Horses - Cease To Begin
15. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
16. Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbal
17. Menomena - Friend and Foe
18. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder
19. Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
20. Radiohead - In Rainbows
21. Calla - Strength in Numbers
22. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
23. A Place to Bury Strangers - A Place to Bury Strangers
24. The Good, the Bad, and the Queen - The Good, the Bad, and the Queen
25. Beirut - The Flying Cup Club

Currently Playing:

Our Love to Admire by Interpol

Top 25 Songs of 2007

Before I post my favorite list of the year, detailing what I consider to be the best albums of the year, I want to share what my favorite individual songs of the year turned out to be. This list is always more difficult to create, mostly since I force myself to limit the number songs any single artist can have on this list to one. Also, there are just so many good songs to choose from.

This list always has a different tone than the "best albums" list. Obviously some very incredible albums don't have standout tracks, while some mediocre albums can contain one of the best songs ever created by mankind.

The top track this year is by Idlewild. Their release, Make Another World, is a typically accessible and great rock record. However, "No Emotion" stands above all of that, and above all other songs I heard this year. It is bombastic, clever, and extremely catchy (not to mention Roddy's incredible voice which I still cannot get enough of). I was hooked on this song like a drug the second I heard the opening few seconds. It simultaneously makes me want to rock out and dance at the same time. Truly wonderful! Two artists appear on this list without having released an actual LP, and only releasing a single new song this year - The Hourly Radio and Dangerous Muse. Both of these acts are new and continue to shine bright with talent and the promise of an incredible 2008.

Strangely, Dangerous Muse is not the only band to have a song featuring Halloween on this list. Ryan Adams joins them with the addictive "Halloweenhead." Despite a fairly boring and unimpressive release this year, a song by Dave Gahan, "Kingdom," made the list, too. The song is dark and dancy, and completely reminiscent of his work in Depeche Mode - and way better than anything else on the album. Another song worth mentioning here is the fantastic "Fly Low Carrion Crow" by Two Gallants. I fell in love with this band to such fierce songs as "Las Cruces Jail" and "You Losin' Out," but that ferocity is not present in this song (and is limited on the new album, too). Instead, the songwriting is the star here, and they have crafted a truly gorgeous song.

Obviously, this list couldn't avoid having a Pumpkins song, and coming in at number 3 is the seering "7 Shades of Black" from Zeitgeist. This song truly burn the lies off your soul, and harkens back to the more chaotic (and jumbled) songs on Mellon Collie. At 40 years old, Billy Corgan has lost none of his potency.

I could go on and on about any of the songs listed here, but I'll stop there. I highly recommend you listen to any song listed here that you have not heard yet. Whether you need to dance, to rock, or to weep a bit, there's something here for every emotion.

Without further ado, here are, in my opinion, the Top 25 Songs of 2007.

1. Idlewild - No Emotion
2. The Hourly Radio - Gun In Hand
3. The Smashing Pumpkins - 7 Shades of Black
4. Dangerous Muse - Everyday Is Halloween
5. Two Gallants - Fly Low Carrion Crow
6. Ryan Adams - Halloweenhead
7. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder
8. Band of Horses - Ode to LRC
9. Interpol - Pace Is the Trick
10. Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf
11. Arcade Fire - Intervention
12. MGMT - Time to Pretend
13. Earlimart - Answers and Questions
14. Dave Gahan - Kingdom
15. The Twilight Sad - Cold Days From the Birdhouse
16. Fields - Charming the Flames
17. Patrick Wolf - Augustine
18. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
19. Menomena - The Pelican
20. Jens Lekman - The Opposite of Hallelujah
21. Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place
22. The National - Apartment Story
23. The Cinematics - Maybe Someday
24. Yeasayers - 2080
25. Mobius Band - Friends Like These

Currently Playing:

Make Another World by Idlewild

Without peer, and without fear

So it has been a long, lone time since I last published a post on here. As I've already mentioned, I got really busy this semester. It was, strangely enough, probably my most exhausting semester in grad school yet. Most of that had to do with teaching at 5:00 in the afternoon and having to stay at Carver until the early evening every day. But the semester is now over and I am in the middle of studying hardcore for my analysis qualifying exam again. I've been at it since Thanksgiving break. I'm feeling confident at the moment, but I felt the same way going into the last exam, and you know how that turned out.

Luckily, I won't be teaching so late in the day again next semester. As of the moment, I am assigned to teach Calculus 1 again. I'm a little disappointed I didn't end up with a Calculus 2 class again, but teaching Calc 1 is still enjoyable (and incredibly easy).

A couple random notes - I am currently working on my annual list of the best albums and songs of the year. It's been a pretty good year in music, I must say, and it's hard to say just exactly what the best songs and albums of the year have been. I enjoy making such lists, though, so it will be a nice distraction when I need one in the next few days. Also, last week I saw the movie "Control" which is about the life of Ian Curtis, lead singer for Joy Division (one of my favorite bands). It was a really really good movie - I highly recommend it, even if you are not familiar with Joy Division (and you should be).

That's it for now. I'll be posting the "Best Of" lists soon.

Currently Playing:

Oracular Spectacular by MGMT