Resolutions

1. I've tentatively struck an agreement that a friend will stop drinking for three months if I stop watching TV and eat more fruits and veggies, so that's more than fair.

2. I vow to make some art every day. Even if it's just a subway doodle on a work day. I have a show in May, so with that deadline in mind, I will paint for at least 6 hours a week. I've threatened retirement, since I've had a lot of trouble actively making art lately, but hopefully building a habit will change that. The only reason I'm not switching careers is that I have no idea what else I could do that wouldn't require going into more training and debt. I hate how it sounds when people get all positivist about unpaid creative work, though. It's really not important and I just don't feel entitled to self-indulgence but, if anything, I do want to somehow communicate this cynicism.

3. This is not a resolution, but, Yom Kippur style, an apology for something I've particularly done a lot of this year. Men who I have pushed away as friends because I was afraid I'd try to make it romantic or just sexy, I am sorry. I will be your friend, I will not awkwardly try to bone you, and I will try to actually be good company. (If you do want to mate, it's your lead.)

4. I will stop cutting my hair, for the love of god. I mean, Jesus fucking Christ, lady, just stop. Hide the scissors if you have to. Let that shit grow out. I don't care if it feels uneven.

2010 albums

Hey!  You don't care what I like because I have no taste! I've limited the numbered list to 20 this year, but some other good ones were: Vampire Weekend - Cousins, Ratatat - LP4 , Bear Hands - Burning Bush Supper Club , LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
Anyway.  If you click on the links I think I might get some money no matter what you buy, so get to Amazon through me, thanks!

 
20. Woodhands - Remorsecapade

 
19. Holy Fuck - Latin


18. Wavves - King of the Beach


17. Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be


16. Girl Talk - All Day.

 
15. Robyn - Body Talk . Favorites: Fembot, Time Machine, Cry When You Get Older, Love Kills


14. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz. Favorites: Age of Adz, Too Much, Vesuvius, I Want To Be Well, Impossible Soul


13. Jenny and Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now. Jenny Lewis, Jonathan Rice. Favorites: My Pet Snakes, Big Wave, Animal, Committed


12. Wolf Parade - Expo 86. Favorites: What Did My Lover Say? (It always had to go this way.) , Yulia, ghost pressure, cave-o-sapien


11. Best Coast - Crazy for You . Sounds like missing L.A. from New York. Favorites: Boyfriend (quinceañera video), Crazy For You, When I'm With You, Bratty B


10. New Young Pony Club - The Optimist. Favorites: Lost a Girl, Dolls, Chaos, The Optimist. Mostly-female dry-voiced dance rock.


9. Janelle Monáe - The Archandroid (Metropolis Suites II-III)
If I were more into every song, instead of just Cold War (EMOBOT), Tightrope, Faster, and Come Alive, her persona and the urban SF messiah story which is not nearly central enough to the album, this would be top 5.


8. The Knife, Planningtorock, and Mt. Sims - Tomorrow, In A Year . This is nothing like a The Knife album, even the parts that mix techno in with postmodern opera and sound-evolution minimalism. Favorites: Minerals, Seeds, Colouring of Pigeons


7. Sleigh Bells - Treats . You either love or can't stand these Cool Kids, cheerleader-like vocals by 5th grade teacher Alexis Krauss and punk fuzzed guitar by Derek Miller.  I played it at work once and a toddler sang along. Favorites: Kids, Infinity Guitars, Rill Rill, Crown on the Ground, A/B Machines, Riot Rhythm


6. Marnie Stern - Marnie Stern . Supposedly she went through a dry spell of writing and the suicide of the ex that got her into "good music" provoked more abject songwriting. Though it's not the breakthrough I was expecting to come next, it's a grower. Favorites: For Ash, Risky Biz, Female Guitar Players are the New Black, Gimme, Building a Body

.
5. David Byrne, Fatboy Slim, a kajillion collaborators - Here Lies Love.  It's a disco biopic of Imelda Marcos told through the class tensions between her, her nanny, and other mostly female voices. Byrne's explanations of it suggest it's examining how the personal is political. Favorites: Every Drop of Rain, Don't You Agree, Please Don't, Order 1081, Why Don't You Love Me


4. Yeasayer - Odd Blood The video for ONE resembles a Samuel Delany story. Madder Red. Ambling Alp, Mondegreen, Rome.


3. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs . The Suburbs, We Used To Wait, Half Light II, Sprawl II (Mountains beyond Mountains). FULL OF WIN.


2. Crystal Castles II . I love them more than you'd expect of someone who's never done coke. Favorites: Doe Deer, Baptism, Empathy, Pap Smear (platform dance!)


1. Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me. It's big and long and it hurts so good. Favorite tracks: Have One On Me, Good Intentions Paving Company, Go Long, Soft as Chalk, Kingfisher

Some 2010 books

Despite spending 35 hours a week sitting in a bookstore, a good deal of which time I do spend reading, I haven't done an extensive survey of everything released this year that I should. HOWEVER, these 10 are recommended, and if you want one or two to be your holiday present and I know you that well, email me.

Also, if you follow these links and buy anything I get a little money from Amazon Associates so help a sister out.








(technically released last year, but got much wider print this year due to the Hugo nomination and win)


Also last year, but in softcover this year.




Re-released.