Fresh tunes

I've been slipping on the music posts since my Best Songs of 2011 list.

PK - Berelain
I'm definitely going to catch these guys live. Mark my words - they're a band to remember. I think the video uses the set from Back To The Future.



Mumford & Sons - Ghosts That We Knew
I can't wait for their new album!



The Joy Formidable - A Heavy Abacus
Not exactly brand new, but you may have never heard this.



Tyga ft. Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne seems to be on every good rap song these days.



Fun. - We Are Young
This one is more mainstream - it's already on regular pop radio and commercials. Catchy catchy.

I Went and Found a Girl

When I first moved to California last year, my friend Rameen linked me up with a Kentucky girl named Lindsay. We only hung out once in 2011 but chatted back and forth online pretty frequently while working. I'm still not quite sure how I wore her down, but we went on our first true date a few weeks ago and it looks like this could be a very good thing. I haven't felt this kind of potential in YEARS, and that's not just the infatuation talking. I mean, I am infatuated, but still. She has all of the traits of my ideal girl and that's something I haven't found since high school. She seems to like me too, so I didn't hesitate in posting all of this here. It's nice to have someone that recognizes the same potential in you.

Now that my project is wrapping up in California, I had the chance to go back to Australia or back to Atlanta if I chose. Both were tempting, but I'm going to stick it out here for a while. I don't think I'll ever get tired of living on the beach and this might be something worth staying to see what happens. I've spent a lot of time on the road over the past few years - this blog has been based around that. I might have actually found a reason to keep coming back here.

I heard a song by Dawes called Time Spent In Los Angeles that summed it up nicely. I know it's cheesy and whatever, but give me a break. It's been a long time coming.

These days my friends don’t seem to know me
Without my suitcase in my hand
Where I am standing still
I seem to disappear
But maybe that's how I found you
Maybe that's taugh me exactly what I want
Maybe meeting you so far away from home
Is what makes it all so clear

But you got that special kind of sadness
You got that tragic set of charms
That only comes from time spent in Los Angeles
Makes me want to wrap you in my arms

Insanity... setback

Things have been going well with my Insanity workouts... until today. I haven't missed a workout yet - that means 6 days a week I've put in the DVD and completed it for the past 6 weeks. With only 3 weeks left, I'm on the home stretch. It wasn't easy at first and the workouts kick my butt every day, but the routine of taking time to work out every afternoon hasn't been that bad. I started playing basketball in a league on Sunday nights with Eric, my friend Anna's husband back in December. It's probably against practical advice to ignore the rest day on Insanity and I paid for it. I did something to my right ankle in the second of a doubleheader we had to play tonight. I didn't turn it or even fall down, but I can barely walk. It looks like I'm going to have to take at least a week off of the program to try to rehab it. I'm not sure what kind of effect that will have on my results, but I'll try to get back into it as quickly as I can. I guess I'll redo week 6 whenever I heal up and hit it hard on the last 3 weeks.

Insanity

New year, new goals. I'm not one to make New Years resolutions, but I asked my parents to get me Insanity for Christmas. You might have seen the infomercial below.



The program is 60 days and is split up into 2 sets of DVDs - 5 for the first month and 5 for the second.  The before and after pictures are pretty convincing.  The program comes with nutrition recommendations but I'm not sure I want to be that strict about it.  I also went to GNC for some vitamin supplements and protein recovery mix.  The Insanity program recommends their own supplements, but I figured that it would be easier and cheaper to get them separately.

I thought I could use the fitness boost since I've been back in Atlanta for a few weeks without access to waves. Paddling on my board along with pullups and pushups over the past year to bulk up my arms has kept my strength up, but the cold weather and travel have pulled me away recently.  One of the best benefits of the Insanity program is that I only need DVDs with no extra equipment.  I can go anywhere and pop in a workout.

Here is one of my 'before' pictures... I'm not out of shape by any means, but we'll see if I can get the results they promise on the video.  I'm starting out at about 12% body fat and 190 lbs.  We'll see where we go from there!

Which way to the gym?

Best Songs of 2011

I've gone through quite a few music posts throughout the year and it's time to compile a list of the best.  Take a look back at my previous posts for 2009 and 2010 (the 2010 post happens to be my #1 post of all time on this blog).

Honorable Mentions

• Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks
  I know, I know, I know.  Everyone is sick of this song by now. I first blogged about it back in April, before you could hear it on every pop radio station in the country.  They're still a good band though, and this song has logged 52 million + views on YouTube.
  
• Drake ft. Lil Wayne - The Motto
  A lot of people don't like Drake but this collaboration makes me bob my head.
  
• Kings of Leon - Back Down South
  Hopefully this band hasn't broken up for good after they canceled their tour.  I've had a lot of good times cruising to their music over the years.  This song reminds me of my old Kentucky home.
  
• Childish Gambino - Freaks and Geeks
  Half of the time I can't tell if he's serious, but he's also a comedian so I guess that makes sense.  His metaphors are pretty clever.
  
• Katie Herzig - Lost and Found
  You're just starting to hear this song in TV shows and on movie previews.  Expect it to make its way to radio soon.
  
• Chris Brown ft. Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne - Look At Me Now
  I was tempted to post Karmin's cover version, but I'll stick with the original.  I'm still dedicated to memorizing this and pulling it out on a karaoke night.

Top 10

10. Madi Diaz - Let's Go
I heard about this artist via NoiseTrade.  It's a great place to legally get free music.



9. TV On The Radio - Will Do
This band can put out some weird music, but I can listen to this song on repeat.



8. Jay-Z and Kanye West ft. TI - Niggas in Paris Remix
The original is good but I think that TI's verse makes it even better.  I heard that they rap this song 5 or more times in the Watch the Throne concert.  It's a good song, but really guys?



7. Josh Garrels - Ulysses
This is another artist I heard about on NoiseTrade.  The whole album is good... the song says that it was recorded in 2010, but it didn't come out until this year.  So it still qualifies for this list.



6. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math
This local Atlanta band has made it big and they're great to see live.



Click here to see the Top 5!

Best Songs of 2011 - Continued

Don't forget to check out songs 10 - 6 and the Honorable Mentions here.

5. Adele - Someone Like You
I had to include SOMETHING by Adele since she's the #1 selling artist of the year (worldwide sales of the album have passed 13 million!). This video gives some background behind the song, which is always interesting since she's the one that wrote it.



4. Cults - Go Outside
I expect a lot out of this band in the near future.  Mark them down as someone to go see live in 2012.



3. Dirty Gold - California Sunrise
This was my summer song and it will forever put me in a beach mindset.  It makes me want to go surfing right now... as I sit in Atlanta in December.




2. The Naked and Famous - Young Blood
I saw this band live in Austin back in April at the best concert lineup I've ever seen (along with Freelance Whales and Foals).  You're probably starting to hear them on the radio, but they just finished their US tour.  Catch them when they come back around.



And the #1 song of the year goes to...

Gotye ft. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know
I first posted this song back in April.  I've actually heard this song on the radio a few weeks ago, so you might see them become popular.  The lyrics are powerful and personally relevant to me.  Enjoy!



I know I'm leaving off some really great music.  The Black Keys, Noah and the Whale, Motorcade, Two Door Cinema Club, Grouplove, Matthew Mayfield, Death Cab for Cutie, Peter Bjorn and John all come to mind.  Looking back at this, I definitely could have made it a Top 20 list instead of 10!  But I'll stick with the format, and you'll just have to use the keyword 'music' in the upper left corner of this page to see the posts I've had throughout the year.

So, what else did I miss? Let me know. Post links in comments

Here's to more great music in 2012!

New Music For Your Consideration

Here's the last submission I'll do for the year before I pick my favorite songs from 2011. Stay tuned for my Top 10 list!

Madi Diaz - Let's Go



Crystal Fighters - Follow (song is a year old, but heard it on a new Puma commercial)



Madeon - Pop Culture (mashup of 39 songs... this kid is 17!!! Pretty cool to see him mixing them live on his mixing board)




Drake ft. Lil' Wayne - The Motto