1. 455 Camp Rd Stevens, Pa 17578
2. Zip Lining Near Philadelphia
3. Antony Johnsons Crying Light Zip Line Youtube

Blog 2009/12/19 - KWANZANNUKAXMAS MADNESSHolidays are here, and as per is traditional around these parts, I've prepared a selection of alternative holiday songs.What's that? 2 selections of holiday songs!Who loves ya?Oh yeah, oh yeah.OK, well it's mostly xmas songs, but meh. What are you going to do?At the bottom of this post I am also going to point out the 2007 and 2008 edition as well. If you're new here, that means 4 albums of the awesomest holiday music. Guaranteed to make your holidays better. Blog 2009/12/14 - BEST OF 2009 The top 10 albums of 2009We're here!

Finally, the money shot. The blow-off.And while this list doesn't have much in the way of hierarchical order, I just have to declareTHE BEST ALBUM OF 2009:Dirty Projecors - Bitte OrcaIt really had to be declared. Simply the bestest.The top 10 albums of 2009Dirty Projectors - Bitte OrcaAntony & The Johnsons - The Crying Light (& Another World EP)Bat For Lashes - Two SunsThe Antlers - HospiseBrother Ali - UsGrizzly Bear - VeckatimestOhbijou - BeaconsThe XX - stVA - Dark Was The NightAnd So I Watch You From Afar - And So I Watch You From AfarDirty Projectors - Bitte OrcaA master can take a genre and see all of its tropes, conventions, structures and cliches for what that they are. They see to the core of the concepts at play, and with their insight can snip through them uniformly, leaving staggering patterns where once expectations were. And with the master's strokes, the honeycombed remains congeal and have their own internal logic, bringing together a hole that builds on all of the component pieces and reveals a whole new way of doing things.Bitte Orca is the most accessible pop album that the Dirty Projects have released, but it is tops for its ability to seduce even the fans of only the poppiest rock and the edge-sitting hipsters alike. It has pop structures so clever they become avant, and has avant structures so delightful, they become pop.There is no other album of 2009 that I can continually listen to and be startled and overjoyed towards.It will continue to reveal itself to you, and it only gets better and better.Antony & The Johnsons - The Crying Light (& Another World EP)There is a pastoral wisdom in Antony's voice, an ancient light that is evoked through the delicate inflections. When this came out in January, it immediately inspired a prediction that it would be in the top, and it is a true testament to it's quality that 10 months later, it is still in regular rotation here.

This is not music for the immature. This is music for the gloriously wounded, the optimists that are old beyond their years, and the poetic survivors.I almost never couple in an EP, but really Antony has done EPs so perfectly over his career, that this one is no exception.

It is essential listening. If you are a fan, you should track down all of the EP bonus material, since there are ample rewards. But more specifically, how can one live without a song like Shake That Devil? It is truly one of the most sublime singles of the year.Antony is truly one of the greatest musical gifts the world has.Bat For Lashes - Two SunsBat For Lashes have such a fully formed gem with Two Suns.

Building with what at a glance is a synthpop legacy, the composition itself actually owes more to mid-90s Sonic Youth and Mogwai than any Ladytron revival. There are no toss-aways, and no pieces that don't work as part of the entire construct.This album is an epic emotional adventure movie, with all of the grit and cynicism of adulthood recontextualizing what was once an innocent paradise.I hereby declare you an emotionless automaton if this album doesn't spin you with a sense of wonder. I'm throwing down that Moonchild gauntlet right now.I only wish pop albums could all be constructed like this, but I'd be so terrified because so many would try.

And so many would fail.Why don't you do what you dream?The Antlers - HospiseThe beauty of death can often startle us. Beyond the juvenile gothic obsessions, death plays a foundational role in the artistic languages since the beginning of time. But to not address death directly, to instead focus on the avenues and rituals of death, is to pay contemporary respects and deal with the modern day alienations head-on.Most people don't have the happiest memories from hospitals, but the important emotions swirling around those institutions are vital to our experiences. They evoke our most fragile emotions. To call this album 'brave' is to understate the success of it's execution.

This album is evocative genius.It at times unfolds like a prayer, or a codeine induced haze on a gurney.It sometimes reveals itself like a vivid recollection of past relationships.But it always feels like the inevitability of our situation is upon us, and we quiver at that beautiful might.Like the new Mountain Goats album, this record addresses the pain and confusion that our inevitable brushes with cancer will stir. Through desire for transference, complex grief, and the transference that catches us unaware, a narrtive is built that perhaps could have passed by in an instant.For me, this album is 2009's Black Sheep Boy, by Okkervil River, another masterful encapsulation of a focused thread of our human condition. This album stays confined within hard walls instead of being free travelling, but the achievement is similar.Brother Ali - UsBrother Ali is going to save hiphop or destroy it, depending on what your perspective is.

Here the bar has been raised to such an extreme that naysayers will dismiss it entirely, and fans will just not be able to bother with the bullshit anymore.Brother Ali throws it down: Fuck you and your shitty politics. No wait, not just fuck you, I'm going to rhyme circles around your unschooled ass, too.The beats are tight, with masterful production of in-studio musicians, all looped up and tightly controlled. There isn't an less-than-masterful moment behind the boards.But the magic of the music also perfectly matches Ali's near-perfect cadence mastery. His voice is still rich and buttery, and the years of road-wear only weaken his voice when he's reaching for the most heart-felt sentiments.Heart-felt?

455 Camp Rd Stevens, Pa 17578

Yeah, there's another part of it. He continues his inner explorations, and finds new ways to express the beauty and complexity of our interactions in this world. Everyone's going blah blah blah Raekwon this year, but fuck Raekwon pretending to be all ghetto-games and revelling in misogynistic characters. I can't be bothered with a rapper that is voer 30 year olds that still wants to rhyme like a 17 year-old.Instead, Ali flips lyrics about the joys in working hard and finally buying a home for his family. Of mourning lost friends.

Of woman who is dealing with sexual assaults. Of the intersections of alienation between children of divorced parents, immigrant children, and a young gay man in a religious household. Of loving so much, you are ready to let them leave you.And of course, there is ample braggadocio and ample exhibition to validate it.Brother Ali makes so much of the 2000s rapper facades just plain embarassing. But the bar has been raised so high, most lesser rappers will probably just ignore it.Grizzly Bear - VeckatimestYou just can't deny this album, and you will be listening to it 5 years from now. There's the Fleet Foxes charm, the Brian Wilson writing, and even that Animal Collective shamble-tinge that just makes it a total package.But Grizzly Bear aren't some new band out to prove themselves to the world, this just cements their accolades.Pop music will owe much to this album for years to come.Ohbijou - BeaconsEpic folk. Does that exist as a term? Because here it is as an album.

Swells of sound and immensity of vision that far outstretch what might at first glance only seem like a normal folk record.There are incredible depths of sound to be plumbed here, and epic indeed is the brilliance and emotion of this fine fine record. Preciousness of voice is measured with waves of strings. The seduction of the lyrics is matched perfectly in time and mood.2007 gave us Acorn's wonderful Glory Hope Mountain.2008 gave us Rae Spoon's perfect SuperiorYouAreInferior.2009 it is Ohbijou as the best band Canada has to offer.People of the world: take notice.The XX - The XXPeople attend concerts by The XX and huddle forward, straining to hear it all, like the story I heard of a Glenn Branca show where they played with maximal intensity, but without any amps plugged in. There is intensity in that strain.Channeling a smokey 60s Nico and a demeanour like we just peeked in to their diaries, The XX just astound with their simple songs, subtle delivery and altogether infectious aural experience.This is Kim Gordon on a good day, the 60s with better production values, and pretty much the best possible result of an aimles and angsty post-college world.VA - Dark Was The NightI'm going to start this just by listing who is involved.

If the person is more famous for a band they lead, I will list that band instead of their name.Dirty Projectors, Talking Heads, The Books, Jose Gonzalez, Feist, The Postal Service, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, The National, Yeasayer, My Brightest Diamond, Kronos Quartet, Antony & The Johnsons, The Decemberists, Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens, Spoon, Arcade Fire, Beirut, Sharon Jones, Buck 65, The New Pornographers, Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, Andrew Bird, Blonde Redhead, Broken Social Scene, Bright Eyes.How's that for a lineup? Pretty much the best thing ever, that's how. And it's good, too.

This collection is a marvel of curation, with so few toss-offs, as you would expect from a comp like this. Almost every brings their A-game here.

Blog 2009/12/09 - BEST OF 2009 15 Amazing albums of 2009 (#s 25 - 11)Oh we are getting oh so close! Oh!If you're on a budget, the cutoff line starts just before this post. The top 25 albums are ones you simply must buy.The quality level is so high, so refined in it's utter awesomeness, that you just need these records.Are you ready?

I'm ready, are you sure you're ready? Blog 2009/12/06 - BEST OF 2009 (# 50-26) 25 good albums from 2009And it begins! CPI here, counting down the best 50 albums of the year.

Zip Lining Near Philadelphia

Finally!We covered other good albums from 2008,We covered the best in comps, collections, mixes and live,We covered the ebst in experimental music,And we even looked at awesome beats with a recent mix of mine,But now we're down to SERIOUS BIZNESS!As I mentioned in the first introductory post, I'm going to avoid full rankings and just spread love the way it is supposed to be spread: Through ill-defined hierarchies that create homogeny despite the intricate needs of the component parts! Hierarchies of love. Tra la la la!So here we have the first 25 albums, basically 50 through 26 on the top 50 list. Next post will be 25 thorugh 11. Then the best 10 as it's own post. The albums here have been placed in random order, thanks to my fling with Excel.To appeal to your desire for something, anything, tangible to connect with, I have included 2 songs from each album.

Last Saturday I was invited to drop a set for the Ottawa bass party Soulselecta, and I recorded the 90 minute affair.It's pretty approprite that I had this gig and that I post this now, right here in between the BEST OF 2009 frenzy. While not being exclusively 2009, far from it actually, this mix can in some ways offer up a BEST OF 2009: BASS kind of angle.Performers like La Roux and Ellie Goulding were shining stars of the year, with their gems of songs resulting in some of the most amazing remixes.Beth Ditto of The Gossip shows up, and she's always been reliable for dope source material.Producers B.

Rich, Bassnectar, Nero and Babylon Systems have been super hot.Also dope, but just not in this mix, are producers like Eskmo, Bounce Camp, DZ, Twocker and Starkey.This mix here is all about bass-heavy dancing. Crank this way up, and make sure your subwoofer is tweaked.

We're going from house to deep to dubstep to jungle.01) La Roux - In for the Kill (Skream vs Foamo Remix)02) Detboi - La La La03) Twista - Give It Up ft Pharrell Williams04) Major Lazer - When You Hear The Bassline ft Ms.

Antony and the Johnsons. Add to Favorite.Antony and the Johnsons are a Mercury Prize-winning music act from New York City, New York, United States. The band is fronted by Anohni (f.k.a. Antony) who was born in 1971 and is a transgender woman.During the mid 90s Antony started solo; after originally producing songs with Blacklips Performance Cult and other late-night cabarets she had a number of songs to work with. In 1995 she assembled a backing group—the self-styled Antony and the Johnsons—and began to focus on the musical side of her performances.

The group built up a cult following at hip New York clubs such as the Kitchen and Knitting Factory. Antony then received a NYFA for “performance art/emergent forms” which she used to record the Johnsons' debut album “Blue Angel”, that remained unreleased until Current 93 leader David Tibet signed Antony and the Johnsons to his Durtro label. The cast list of musicians on the album, released under the title 'Antony and the Johnsons' in 1998, included Baby Dee (harp), Francois Gehin (bass), Todd Cohen (drums), Charles Neilson (guitar), and a number of string and woodwind players. This album later were reissued in 2000 and in 2004 by Secretly Canadian.This collection of modern torch songs highlighted Antony's soulful, multi-octave vocals and the Johnsons' graceful chamber pop arrangements, reaching a peak on 'Cripple And The Starfish' and 'Divine', the latter a tribute to the late transvestite movie star. Further recordings by Antony and the Johnsons emerged in the early years of the new millennium, including 'I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy' and a shared EP “Live at St. Olave's” with Current 93, recorded live at Saint Olave's Church in London, England.In early 2001 released 3 song EP 'I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy', included covers of Mysteries of Love (Appeared originally on the film Blue Velvet) and Soft Black Stars.Split EP included two new songs from the Johnsons, the first being You Stand Above Me, only one minute and thirty-six seconds long but containing all the melancholy and drama one would expect from the Johnsons.

The other new track was The Lake which was an 1827 poem written by Edgar Allan Poe beautifully adapted to song. The Johnsons appear with Current 93 again on a 7”, with side B including the song Virgin Mary. This was limited to 500 copies, both released May 12th, 2003. By now the line-up of the Johnsons featured Todd Cohen, Jeff Langston (bass), Jason Hart (piano), Julia Kent (cello), Joan Wasser (violin), and Maxim Moston (violin).It was around this time that Lou Reed heard the “I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy” EP. Reed then recruited Antony for his album The Raven for guest vocals and took her on tour in 2003 which meant that Antony appeared on Lou’s live album Animal Serenade. With the band now attracting wider attention, Antony and the Johnsons signed to US based label Secretly Canadian. Secretly Canadian then reissued the band's debut to a wider audience in the USA.The Lake was released the following year through the new label.

Antony Johnsons Crying Light Zip Line Youtube

It’s another 3 song EP including 'The Lake' - Lou Reed appeared on Fistful of Love with guest vocals and guitar. The Horror Has Gone seems to be Antony expressing the end of a depressing phase in her life, a positive lyrical change from her debut style.In February 2005 Antony and the Johnsons released their second full length, I Am A Bird Now. It has guest appearances from Rufus Wainwright, Devendra Banhart, Lou Reed and Boy George. It went on to receive great critical acclaim in the UK and won Antony the Technics Mercury Music Prize for 2005.In 2006 Antony appeared in the Leonard Cohen tribute concert and subsequent film 'I'm Your Man.'

Her performance of 'If It Be Your Will' is perhaps the highlight of the film.The 5-song Another World EP was released on October 7, 2008. As promised, it shows a mixture of continuation of earlier songs' atmosphere as well as more experimental work.

Antony and the Johnsons' third album, 'The Crying Light', was released on January 19, 2009. This was followed by 'Swanlights' in October, 2010. Both of these latter albums are less melodic and more experimental in nature the Antony's earlier work and have met with critical acclaim yet little commercial success.Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.