My Top 50 Favourite Records of 2010

Excuse the lengthy hiatus between posts. Would you believe that I have been agonizing over putting this list together so much that the madness consumed me wholly, leaving you (my intrepid reader) entertainmentless?

No?

Well, in truth, it is a crazy time of year, and between finishing up assignments and exams for school, and getting some last-minute Christmas shopping in, my brain wasn't really feeling up to writing extracurricularly for a while. But I'm past all that now, and I have the post that you've all been waiting for: a thorough list of my favourite records from the past year.

I joked earlier, but in a way, I have been paralyzed by this list. I began my process by ranking all of the albums I listened to this year (that were from 2010) in order from favourite to least favourite. Each new entry in the list was placed relative to other entries, and so the list grew. Instead of presenting those findings in their entirety, I narrowed the list down to a Top 50 (since all the cool kids are doing Top 50 lists anyway, right?). All of this was fairly easy to do, but placing the top ten entries (and even more so, the top five) has proven to be quite a challenge for me. Even now as I write this, I have a list whose top ten is still in flux… Only I will know its arrangement for sure when I hit the "Publish Post" button later this evening.

Why I Love Winter; Or, a Love Letter to Canada

"Is he having an identity crisis? Didn't he just write a blog post called 'Why I Hate Winter'?"

It reminds me of when Leonard Nimoy released his second autobiography, "I Am Spock." Twenty years earlier, his original book ("I Am Not Spock") came out to fan outrage because people felt as if Nimoy was somehow turning his back on the character he played on the popular television show Star Trek. This was in fact not the case at all, but to set things right, he deliberately chose a contradictory name for his second autobiography to rectify the misconception.

Now, do I hate winter? No. As a child, I loved all the pleasures that are associated with it: tobogganing, building snowmen, snowball fights, etc. Naturally, as we age, these activities become outdated, but there are still things I enjoy about the season. Things like snow days. Things like candy cane hot chocolate at Tim Horton's. Things like watching the snow collect outside from inside a warm house. Most of all though, I think I enjoy the association that snow has with Canada.

Why I Hate Winter; Or, There is No Such Thing as Altruism

Winter hit big last night.

I woke up this morning and was greeted with a good couple feet of snow on the porch and driveway. The few peers I have that are up that early on a Monday were busy flooding Facebook with questions about whether the university was having a snow day. Whispering a silent prayer, I logged on to Western's site to be greeted with the unapologetic headline, "University remains open." (Edit: Oh sure, now they cancel classes.)

Except it didn't even matter in the end, because after waiting thirty minutes at my bus stop for a late bus (after trudging through the unplowed roads and sidewalk to get there), I decided to turn back around and call it a lost cause. Upon discovering that I was now locked out of my house, and no one else was awake yet inside, I undertook the arduous task of shovelling the driveway instead.

Shovelling used to be more bearable when my brother still lived at home. Sure, his sense of what constitutes "half" of the driveway was always askew, but at least he was out there with me in that icy hell. Nowadays it's just me and my thoughts, and those thoughts are often soured by the old people at the end of our court.

It just so happens that we have a lot of retired old people populating the circle at the end of the road. While I have nothing but bile for a huge snow like we had last night, it's as if it is what those people live for. They congregate and laugh about it, and they do so much too early in the morning. They start up their snowblowers and clear their driveways. Then they begin their systematic clearing of neighbours' drives.

This is the part I hate most.

My November Playlist

I thought it would be fun to put up a monthly playlist of what I'm listening to at the moment so you can share in my enjoyment. After all, walking on campus with earbuds in is a pretty solitary experience, but listening to music doesn't have to be! I've got a good mix for you this November; you can download it here, and I'll list the tracks and a bit about them below:

1. When They Fight, They Fight by Generationals: Catchy song full of throwback instrumentation and vocal style.
2. Living in America by Dom: This is how you use synthesizer in 2010!
3. DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake by Art Brut: I've been listening to this record like crazy lately. Punchy bass punctuates witty lyrics.
4. Clawing Out at the Walls by Dominant Legs: Chill track that kind of reminds me of Talking Heads.
5. Gorgeous by Kanye West: His newest record wasn't my favourite, but this track has a hell of a hook.
6. Miami by Foals: I like this guy's voice.
7. Walking Far From Home by Iron & Wine: His first release off his upcoming 2011 record; it's a departure from his traditional style, but I really like the new direction.
8. Your Soul and Mine by Gil Scott-Heron: Industrial beat mixed with Scott-Heron's engrossing spoken lyrics.
9. Eyesore by Women: My friend Stefan raves about this record. While I'm not sure I'm sold on it yet, this track is pretty damn great. Great way to end the record, so I cribbed it to end my playlist as well!

Disclaimer: These MP3s are purely for sampling purposes, and if you like the music, you should support the artists somehow. If you own the rights to any of the music posted on my blog and want it removed, simply let me me know, and I will comply 100%.

Hope you guys dig it! More music posts to come as I begin deliberations on my Top 2010 Records list. :)