:: My Divided Soul ::

I have been known in the past to put up lists of my favorite albums released in a year and talk about them. This year, I thought I’d do something a little different. What follows is a list of my favorite songs from the year, in no particular order. Not all of these are singles; they are simply my favorite songs from albums I have purchased and enjoyed in the past twelve months. I would recommend any of these albums in their entirety. However, if you feel like getting just one song, you can follow the links to preview and/or buy them from the iTunes Music Store.

• 30 Seconds To Mars - “Attack” (from A Beautiful Lie): I first hear “Capricorn” by 30 Seconds to Mars and enjoyed that song from their first album. But the rest of the album didn’t impress me too much. This song grabbed me much more than “Capricorn” did and I find the album to be quite spectacular. This first single mixes electronic sounds and raw rock energy to create a powerful song. The drummer also has a unique perspective on time that adds a lot to the album.
• 311 - “Frolic Room” (from Don’t Tread on Me): 311 has consistently released awesome music. I also recommend seeing them live, if you get the chance. Their latest album has a distinctly more reggae sound to it than previous works. Normally, I really dislike reggae, but 311 has a way of rocking it out in ther typical style that makes it very enjoyable. “Frolic Room” is the best example of the mix of reggae, funk, and rock on the album.
• Dark New Day - “Pieces” (from 12 Year Silence): I’ve already talked about the Dark New Day album. Nice, straight up, loud rock music.
• Eisley - “Lost At Sea” (from Room Noises): Eisley is just a gem of a band that has come out recently. I find their sound to be unique and great music for when you are in a happy, carefree mood. Lovely and hypnotic.
• Fort Minor - “Remember the Name” (from The Rising Tied): Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park proves to be a creative hip hop force on his solo debut. The beats on this album are fresh and exciting. This song in particular grabbed me the first time I heard it. How many hip hop groups do you know who take three string players out on tour to authentically reproduce the music on the album? Incidentally, the percentages rapped about in this song do add up to 100. I’d say that makes Mike Shinoda pretty lyrically adept.
• Idlewild - “Love Steals Us From Loneliness” (from Warnings/Promises): Idlewild is the best band you’ve never heard of. Chethan will back me up on their awesomeness. The latest album demonstrates a slightly softer side of the band that has come a long way from their early days as a pretty bad indy/punk band. This song, the first single from the album has the crunchy guitars and interesting lyrics (”Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the past/It’s only the future that didn’t last”) for which they are known.
• Jason Mraz- “Song For A Friend” (from Mr. A-Z): While this album is not as impressive as Mraz’s first one, it still has some stand out tunes like this one. Clocking in at 8 minutes, it’s also quite a long track for a pop album. After getting quiet for a time in the middle of the song, it kicks into this beautiful and inspirational climax for the end of the song.
• Maroon 5 - “Wasted Years” (from Live Friday the 13th): Without a doubt, the new track featured on this live album is my favorite Maroon 5 song. It has a funky feel to it from the moment the drums and keyboard drive the tune at the beginning.
• Nine Inch Nails - “With Teeth” (from With Teeth): Trent Reznor is a musical genius. He finds new and creative way to turn sounds that are ugly individually into unbelievable songs. The new album is much more straight ahead than his last effort, The Fragile, which is an awesome album. The title track off of With Teeth has a beat I find interesting and have trouble getting out of my head after listening to it.
• Sevendust - “Pieces” (from Next): I already talked about this song. Wow, it is loud and amazing. Listen in particular for the the measure in the middle when the drummer screams the words “You’ll know” over a pounding double bass drum roll.
• System Of A Down - “Hypnotize” (from Hypnotize): Much has been said about the Mesmerize/Hypnotize set of albums released by this band this year. System has really put forth the best work of their careers. The first single from the second album they released this year contains all of the classic System of a Down traits: unique songs that change in unexpected ways with intriguing vocal harmonies.

The ground is currently covered with a healthy layer of white stuff. The weather folk haven’t done the best job of predicting the snow, though. This is the second storm in as many weeks that they have claimed would bring plentiful snowfall, only to get little snow. Well, if you can call 3-4 inches a “little snow.” Instead of the 7-11 inches predicted, we got a bit of rain and freezing rain. I think the temperatures turned out to be a little higher than expected.

Nevertheless, I took advantage of the wet, heavy layer of snow resulting from the 33-degree temperature today to make a new friend:

He waves at those who pass by the house. He would have been closer to the road, but that big snowball on the bottom did not want to budge from its current location. It’s cool, though, because he gets to rest against the house.

Anyone have a good name for him?

I have added pictures from the CS Holiday Party this year. I’d say it was about what one would expect. As is the case now, you will need to register to get to the pictures.

The Joel Baines Trio, the band Dexter and I play in, have a show Saturday night at 9pm at the Fisherman’s Pub. We’ll be playing mostly modern rock tunes for the night. We even have a special guest singer with us, Stephanie May, who will belt out some classic songs. There will be no cover for the show, so bring all of your friends and celebrate the end of Cornell classes with us!

The Fisherman’s Pub is located at 323 Taughannock Blvd. (Old Taughannock Blvd., actually) , between Castaways and Kelly’s.

So to summarize:

What: Joel Baines Trio show with Dexter and me
When: Saturday, December 3 at 9pm
Where: Fisherman’s Pub, on Old Taughannock Blvd.
Why: Rock ‘n Roll!

If you’ll be in Ithaca that weekend, hope to see you there!