Archive: January, 2011

Ten great music moments of 2010, part 2

This is a continuation from last week’s post of some of my favorite music moments from 2010. Below, the list concludes with five more selections.

Groove Armada, “Time and Space”, 2:00

Groove Armada’s “whatever works” approach to dance music can have decidedly mixed results; I often find much of their output (for the exception of their debut, Vertigo) unlistenable, yet one or two singles off each album are exceptional, the vessel of which often comes in the form of a massive, catchy hook. The 2010 single “Time and Space” follows the trend, grabbing the listener’s attention with the first chorus driven by swirling, fuzzed out guitars mixed together with high pitched electronic bleeps. It’s a rousing change from the more mellow intro and verse portion and loses little of its appeal with repeated listenings.

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Ten great music moments of 2010, part 1

2010 was, from my perspective, a great year for music, not just in the electronic genres that comprise the bulk of my listening but also in a wide variety of other music sources: indie rock (The Walkmen, The National), 90s dark trip-hop bands morphing into melody driven dance and desert rock (Massive Attack, UNKLE), pop-fueled mixes of r&b, disco, and soul (Gorillaz, Groove Armada) and a genre I otherwise usually neglect, hip hop (Kanye West.)

In such a creatively strong year, what stood out? Many online have focused on top albums and singles; for something a bit different I’ve compiled below ten of my favorite musical moments from albums released in 2010. I’d emphasize these are moments and not songs, little bursts of creativity and sound that made the year so listenable. I’ve split the list into two posts, the first five moments detailed today, the remaining five for a post next week.
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Top Twitter finds of 2010

As I look back at what changed for me in 2010, Twitter grew in stature significantly. My followers doubled and I used the Twitter iPhone and iPad apps more during idle moments. In addition, the social media source largely overtook RSS to become my “go to” starting point to explore the latest news in tech, film and other subjects.

None of this would have been possible without having a great set of people to follow in the first place. Interestingly, while there’s a very smart population on Twitter, I find the majority tweet too infrequently or keep content strictly self promotional. Thus to make this list, it was important to be prolific and insightful with the 140 character limitations of the medium itself.

What follows below is a handful of Twitter users I’m happy to have started following in 2010, organized roughly by subject matter.

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The Mac App Store: First impressions and recommendations

Since the Mac App Store opened yesterday and general online hysteria ensued (seemingly around 30% of my Twitter content focused on the App Store) I, like almost every other tech guy on the planet poured over the interface and content in depth. Now that I’ve had a day to get my hands dirty, I wanted to elaborate with a few thoughts and, in a sea of 1000 plus initial applications, a few download recommendations.
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