Deerhoof @ Mercy Lounge, 2/4

Tokyo Police Club @ Exit/In, 2/5

Oberhofer @ Mercy Lounge, 2/12

Yelawolf @ Mercy Lounge, 4/12

Matt and Kim @ Vanderbilt University, 4/16

The Kills @ Cannery Ballroom, 4/22

Fleet Foxes @ Ryman Auditorium, 5/13

Beirut @ Terminal 5, 9/22

Yuksek @ Tobacco Warehouse, 10/15

Atlas Sound @ Tobacco Warehouse, 10/15

Eleanor Friedberger @ Public Assembly, 10/19

Emmy the Great @ Fat Baby, 10/19

We Are Scientists @ The Studio at Webster Hall, 10/20

Yuksek @ Santos Party House, 10/20-21

Metronomy @ The Fader Fort, 10/21

Active Child @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, 10/21

We Are Scientists @ Pianos, 10/22

The Rapture @ DCTV Firehouse, 10/22

MGMT @ Guggenheim Museum, 11/11

Housse de Racket @ Webster Hall, 12/8

Top albums
1. Yuksek – Living On the Edge of Time

It’s been a weird year for me, considering that I’ve spent it living in three drastically different places. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to spend as much time with music as I would like to, and I know there’s a lot I still need to catch up on. Out of this year’s new releases that I have given proper attention to, nothing has really affected me the same way Vampire Weekend’s Contra did last year. Still, something has to be #1 on my list, and at this point, I think I am comfortable with putting Living On The Edge of Time by Yuksek in that position.

I was familiar with Yuksek only in name before this year, and stopping by his set at The Creators Project’s festival was more than a pleasant surprise. After that show, I went on to see Yuksek two more times that week during CMJ. (It would have been three, if one of his shows hadn’t been canceled because of technical difficulties.) The French electropop producer, aka Pierre-Alexandre Busson, has a quietly commanding stage presence that is magnetic in its own way. The way he focuses on the performance is cool and detached, but still feels intimate–just like the record.

Living On the Edge of Time comes across as a rather personal album, even though Busson is perhaps distancing himself a little by writing in English rather than his native language. It’s a record to get lost in, a much more cohesive effort than his debut Away From the Sea that still shows off his stylistic range. Awash in synths, the classically-trained Busson still hangs onto his dance sensibilities while also crafting a sound that’s softer and more mature. Songs like “Always On the Run” and “On a Train” see him dealing with the inevitability of change, backed with lush instrumentation; his lyrics speak to escapism, but are ultimately grounded. “White Keys” features Busson’s vocals at their rawest as he gets introspective, as well as a chorus repeating, “White keys or black keys, it’s not so funky/We are restless, just music junkies.” It’s not his most elegant lyric, but that last line sums it up, really–Living On the Edge of Time brings together a sophisticated, versatile album with a voice that’s not ready to settle down yet.

I’m going to acknowledge that I may have been subliminally influenced by the fact that Busson is pictured in a Uniqlo advertisement that I see on the subway pretty much every other day*, but Living On the Edge of Time is truly a lovely album to spend time with.

*By this logic, I should also be eating Momofuku pork buns at every opportunity, which I would totally do if it didn’t require significantly more time and money.

2. Metronomy – The English Riviera

3. Peter Bjorn and John – Gimme Some

4. Friendly Fires – Pala

5. Beirut – The Rip Tide

6. The Rapture – In the Grace of Your Love

7. The Weeknd – House of Balloons

8. Los Campesinos! – Hello Sadness

9. James Blake – James Blake

10. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l

11. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

12. Eleanor Friedberger – Last Summer

13. Summer Camp – Welcome to Condale

14. Slow Club – Paradise

15. Cut Copy – Zonoscope

16. Smith Westerns – Dye it Blonde

17. The Kills – Blood Pressures

18. Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting

19. Theophilus London – Timez Are Weird These Days

20. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

21. Coeur de Pirate – Blonde

22. Katy B – On a Mission

23. Wild Beasts – Smother

24. Destroyer – Kaputt

25. Sondre Lerche – Sondre Lerche

Top singles
1. Beyoncé – “Countdown”

2. The Rapture – “How Deep Is Your Love?”

3. tUnE-yArDs – “Gangsta”

4. Nicola Roberts – “Beat of My Drum”

5. Friendly Fires – “Live Those Days Tonight”

6. Fleet Foxes – “Helplessness Blues”

7. Metronomy – “The Bay”

8. Jay-Z and Kanye West – “N—-s In Paris”

9. Holy Ghost! – “Do It Again”

10. Los Campesinos! – “By Your Hand”

11. Beirut – “Santa Fe”

12. Girls – “Honey Bunny”

13. Azealia Banks – “212″

14. Yuksek – “Always on the Run”

15. Peter Bjorn and John – “Dig a Little Deeper”

16. James Blake – “The Wilhelm Scream”

17. Das Racist – “Michael Jackson”

18. Beastie Boys – “Make Some Noise”

19. Justice – “Civilization”

20. SBTRKT – “Wildfire”

21. Housse de Racket – “Château”

22. Katy B – “Easy Please Me”

23. Jessica 6 – “Prisoner of Love”

24. The Kills – “Satellite”

25. Cut Copy – “Need You Now”

26. Smith Westerns – “End of the Night”

27. Theophilus London – “Girls Girls $”

28. Washed Out – “Amor Fati”

29. Mayer Hawthorne – “The Walk”

30. Jai Paul – “BTSTU”

31. St. Vincent – “Cruel”

32. Foster the People – “Pumped Up Kicks”

33. Yelle – “Safari Disco Club”

34. Toro y Moi – “How I Know”

35. The Wombats – “Jump Into the Fog”

Miscellaneous non-single songs
Active Child – “Hanging On”
CANT – “Answer”

Live shows

A-Trak & Kid Sister @ Limelight, 4/23
Darwin Deez @ The End, 2/8
Fleet Foxes @ Ryman Auditorium, 5/13
Patrick Wolf @ Le Poisson Rouge, 9/18
Chromeo @ Terminal 5, 11/4
Sondre Lerche @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, 12/2
Yuksek @ Santos Party House, 10/20 (CMJ)
We Are Scientists @ The Studio at Webster Hall, 10/20 (CMJ)
Yelle @ Webster Hall, 12/8
Los Campesinos! @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, 11/17
Jens Lekman @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, 10/7

Movies
Beginners
Midnight In Paris
Shame
Submarine
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2
Martha Marcy May Marlene
50/50
Paul
Bridesmaids
Weekend

Photos: Deer Tick and MNDR at Rolling Stone Fest, Openhouse Gallery, 12/12 (QRO)

Quidditch World Cup V from Katie Chow on Vimeo.

On November 12th and 13th, Harry Potter fans flocked to Randall’s Island to celebrate the boy wizard’s favorite sport at the fifth annual Quidditch World Cup. The tournament was presented by the International Quidditch Association, which was founded in 2007 by Alex Benepe while he was a student at Middlebury College. Quidditch for Muggles, or non-magical people, was first developed at the Vermont school in 2005. In the Harry Potter series, Quidditch is a sport played by witches and wizards flying on brooms, competing to score points through hoops fixed high in the air. This is easy enough to adapt to the ground, but players are also in pursuit of the Golden Snitch. In the books, this is a winged ball that flies wherever it pleases. In Muggle Quidditch, the Snitch is a person who hides from the teams’ Seekers.

On that Saturday alone, 10,000 spectators visited the Quidditch World Cup. Additionally, there were about a thousand Quidditch players from close to 100 different teams, including one group that traveled from the University of Vaasa in Finland.

For more information, visit InternationalQuidditch.org.

Photos: Florence + The Machine, Atlas Sound, And Yuksek At The Creators Project, NYC (American Songwriter)

CMJ 2011 coverage

American Songwriter:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Full marathon photo gallery

QRO:
Active Child at Puma Union Square
Yuksek at Cameo Gallery
We Are Scientists at Pianos
Fool’s Gold Records 4th Anniversary
+Day 4 recap
+Day 5 recap

Photos: Friendly Fires and Theophilus London at Terminal 5 (QRO)

How To Help Indie Labels: A Buyer’s Guide

Photos: Special Needs with Trouble Andrew and Martha Makes Mistakes

Photos: CANT with Blood Orange

Live: Beirut at Terminal 5 9/22 (American Songwriter)

Live: Jens Lekman at the Music Hall of Williamsburg 10/7 (American Songwriter)

As I’m going to New York for grad school, I’m hoping to use this as more of a personal blog as well as a place for clips. I went to NYC last week to look for apartments with my parents and future roommate, and while I did check in at “My wit’s end” on Foursquare at one point, we did manage to find a good place. (There’s even laundry inside the building!) We’ll be moving in next month and there’s a lot to do before then, but for now I’d like to share some phone pictures that I took.

Grand St., Williamsburg. I don’t know what this means. I also only saw two bearded guys with bikes while we were in Williamsburg and felt like the internet had, once again, given me unrealistic expectations for something.

Subway station art, Brooklyn.

Chelsea Market.

Coney Island on the Fourth of July.

I can’t actually remember what this is.

Bret and Jemaine’s building from Flight of the Conchords.

R.I.P. Li’l Sebastian.

More Chinatown.

Lion Brand headquarters.

Lobster fritters at Morimoto–my parents are huge Food Network junkies.

East Village, vaguely near our future apartment.

Harry Potter film props exhibition at the Discovery Museum.

M.I.A.: Behind the Backlash to the Backlash
I tried to avoid including articles that were really holdovers from 2010 subjects, but Vicki Leekx came out, and this was a great response.

What It Feels Like to be Kanye West is What It Feels Like to be American
USA! USA! USA!

Slow And Steady: Vinyl Survives

Odd Future, Hip-Hop, Misogyny, and the Internet
Like many other people, I read quite a lot about Odd Future over the past six months, and this piece stood out for its resounding sensitivity.

Joe Chip, What’s on Your iPod?

Nine Short Pieces on the Smiths

Review: Jessie J – Who You Are
An excerpt from this earned #1 Harshest Pitchfork Diss from SF Weekly, and for good reason. Jessie J’s album was deservingly panned all over the place, but this is the review that brought out the greatest sense of schadenfreude in the best way possible.

Death is Not the End: David Foster Wallace, James Murphy, and the New Sincerity
Out of all of the things I read about LCD Soundsystem, this was hands down the best.

Release The Pressure: The Weight of Great Expectations
The latest Arctic Monkeys album has a song called “Love Is A Laserquest” on it.

Everything You Know About This Band Is Wrong
I guess maybe I should pay more attention when I read press releases.

Every Time I Hit The Ground, I Bounce Up Like Roundball
I don’t know anything about sports, but I can recognize what an impressive effort this is, especially considering it’s just a blog post.

Why Miley Cyrus’s ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ Became the Osama Bin Laden Death Anthem
By the title, it kind of seems like it shouldn’t have even been an article at all, but it had to be.

Is hip-hop homophobia at a tipping point?
This is pretty high up on the list of best things I have read all year.

Tyler, the Creator: Visionary Rapper or Obnoxious Teenager?
Sometimes it’s necessary to analyze the existing analysis.

The Worst Thing About The New Generation Of “Raunch Pop” Is The Way It Makes Sex Utterly Boring

Lady Gaga’s Fame Ball Rolls On

What Cheryl Cole’s X Factor Dismissal Means For British Pop In America

Pulp matter more than ever in today’s cowed pop cultural landscape
I wasn’t born in the right place or time to enjoy Pulp at the height of their career, but I’ve always enjoyed reading about them. This is no exception.

Warning: Someone, Somewhere, Might Be Faking Something
This is mostly not about Kreayshawn.

Introducing the Queen of Pop
There’s always something about applying concrete numbers and statistics to pop music.

Visited:
Hogwarts

Read:
Eating the Dinosaur – Chuck Klosterman
French translation of the first Percy Jackson book
The Partly Cloudy Patriot – Sarah Vowell
One-Hit Wonder – Lisa Jewell
Size 12 Is Not Fat – Meg Cabot
Werewolves In Their Youth – Michael Chabon
A Visit From the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan
Bossypants – Tina Fey
Talking To Girls About Duran Duran – Rob Sheffield
French translation of the Princess Diaries 1/2 books, compiled
Kafka On The Shore – Haruki Murakami
The Wordy Shipmates – Sarah Vowell
The Infinite Wisdom of Harriet Rose – Diana Janney
Slacker Girl – Alexandra Koslow
The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History – Jonathan Franzen
Girl With Curious Hair – David Foster Wallace

Seen in theaters:
Bridesmaids
X-Men: First Class
Midnight In Paris
Beginners

Watched:
Party Down complete series rewatch
The IT Crowd S4
Portlandia
Parks and Recreation S2 rewatch with extended versions/deleted scenes
Undeclared
Louie S1
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret

Surprisingly not watched yet:
Gossip Girl S4
Cougartown
Pretty Little Liars
Teen Wolf

Had:
No life

Photos: Musicians Corner: A Day In Pictures, featuring Andrew Ripp w/ Dave Barnes and Sarah Buxton (Nashville For Free)