#196 - tracks & snacks 2011.

for the past two years, when this time of year rolled around & i sat down to compile my top ten tracks & snacks of the year, it's been a relatively painless process. not so this year. in the past, i've always been able to open up itunes, take a look at my list of most played tunes & easily compile a list. this summer, my computer finally decided to kick the bucket for good, taking all the precious "most played" info with it & forcing me to rely on my memory, a task which is a dicey proposition at best. 

...so there's inevitably something i'm forgetting but i have to give nods to das racist, st vincent, cut copy, adele, shabazz palaces, los campesinos, atlas sound, pj harvey, destroyer, girls, anvil hands & cities aviv who, if this was a top 22 list, all had songs worthy of being on it. in the end, each artist on this year's list has never been in my top ten before although three songs from the albums on my mid-year top five list made it into the 2011 top ten.

...so if you're the type who's looking for a shiny new band to call your own, there are ten great candidates below & links to videos for eight of the songs & "listen" links for the other two. ALSO, since spotify has finally made its way to america, i've tossed up a playlist of the nine top ten tracks that are available on it, so if you swing that way, have at it here. BRING ON THE TRACKS! BRING ON 2012! SMELL YA LATER 2011!

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the fifty states project #5: NY.

if i ever see that car commercial again, the ad with the new york yankees' derek jeter tooling around in a ford whilst jay-z's "empire state of mind" plays in the background, i might have to take a hostage. don't get me wrong. i ♥ new york. i'm indifferent to fords. though i hate derek jeter as a yankee, i respect him as a player. what gets me is that friggin' song. i know it's got the state nickname in the title & all, but it's been played SO often & in SO many places that we risk opening a black hole if we continue to revisit it. let's instead honor new york by co-opting "across 110th st." since interpol's now irrelevant, maybe they can sell off "NYC?" i'd even tolerate the sting version of "englishman in new york" for a while if it meant putting "empire state of mind" to bed. of course, all of these songs are about new york city & not new york state, but that's ok, because new york state is pretty much all about new york city anyhow. deal with it, schenectady.

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#189 - time to get away.

back when i was in my mid-to-late twenties, i went to a handful of concerts every month. these days, not so much. in 2010, i think i went to four, maybe five shows & i haven't been to one yet this year. other than the usual financial reasons, it's mostly because at some point along the way i burnt out on constantly standing around for hours in packed clubs to see my favorite bands. lucky for me, technology now lets folks stream their concerts LIVE on the interwebz, allowing me to see bands whilst lounging on my couch in whatever stage of undress & inebriation i so desire.

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#141 - where you been?

if you're a obsessive loyal occasional eat!drink!snack! reader, you may have noticed that over the last ten days, the blog portion of eat!drink!snack! has gone somewhat dormant. i'd like to say that it's because of something sweet like me being kidnapped by somali pirates or because i'm recovering from a boob job, but it's neither of those things. instead, as the holidays came on, i amazingly broke from my winter "sitting on my ass" routine & actually found myself out & about & doing things, so my time was a bit limited.

also, i decided that since the designated calendar-based demarcation was upon us, it was time for me to shake things up a bit at the blog, so for the past ten days, rather than writing, i've been brainstorming redesign ideas for the blog, culminating with a power meeting last night at my awesomely talented designer bro's greenpoint apartment. it's safe to say that there are a lot of intriguing things in store for eat!drink!snack!, stuff that'll make you go "wow. this is the best website ever made ever. screw fark." i'm planning on rolling out the first changes this month & don't want to give too much away yet, but here are a few things i've been kickin around:

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