Ramblings: Recap of 2011

As 2011 comes to a close it is time to do a little reminiscing!

Last year I wrote, "2010 will be a hard year to top in overall experiences." Oh, I had no clue... absolutely no clue.

The year started with a trip back to Georgia. New Years Eve was unexpected, as I was passing through Memphis at 23:00 I figured I might as well drop by to visit some friends and chill with them as the year turned. New Years day was spent in Atlanta with my second Couchsurfing experience, a wonderful couple, still one of my favourite hosts. That moment I was laying down in a comfortable bed, having been fed an hour prior and shared great conversation, I realized this year was going to be great. But I had no clue how epic it was going to be.

January was a pretty dry month for music for me. I was working in Macon and driving up to Atlanta on the weekends to visit the Couchsurfing couple as well as a German friend I also made through CSing.
February was my first concert, an electronic show. It's not exactly my type of thing, especially since I felt like I was considerably older than 90% of the people there, but it was still really fun. And I got to crowd surf for the first time!

The rest of the year followed with some amazing planned experiences, and some mind-blowing unexpected experiences. So, here is my year in a nutshell!

Musical Experiences of 2011
Georgia
Steve Aoki
Caspian
-For A Minor Reflection
-Chiaroscuro
-Native
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Röyksopp
Tennessee
The Ascent Of Everest
-Youth Pictures Of Florence Henderson
-Deadhorse
Hungary
tapeunderground
Képzelt Város
-AANDO
-KisHerceg
God Is An Astronaut
-Marionette ID
Realistic Crew
Our Ceasing Voice
-Kokomo
-Képzelt Város
No Age
-Kanagawa
Slovenia
God Is An Astronaut
-Coma Stereo
Austria
Our Ceasing Voice
Oklahoma
*Norman Music Festival 4*
-The Non
-Pidgin Band
-Jesse Aycock and Paul Benjamin
-Los hijos del diablo
-Kite Flying Robot
-Colour Revolt
Pretty Black Chains
The Burning Hotels
The Non
Moon
Chrome Pony
Gum
The Appleseed Cast
-Hospital Ships
*Dustbowl Music Festival*
-Tim Miser
-Riley Jantzen
-Gentle Ghost
-Denver Duncan
-The Workweek
-Beau Jennings
-Sherree Chamberlain
-Dead Sea Choir
-The Pretty Black Chains
-Colourmusic
Explosions In The Sky
-Wye Oak
Texas
El Ten Eleven
*Homegrown Music And Art Festival*
-Burning Hotels
-The O's
-This Will Destroy You
-ISHI
-Astronautalis
-Neon Indian
Mogwai
Errors
Illinois
Labirinto
Massachusetts
God Is An Astronaut
-Muy Cansado
California
Marnie Stern
Thrice
-Moving Mountains
-La Dispute
-O'Brother
Russian Circles
-Marriages
-Deafheaven
New York
A Silver Mt. Zion

Memorable moments of 2011:
-Crowd surfing for the first time during Steve Aoki
-Pre-Europe road trip to attend concerts
-Shedding manly tears during Godspeed You! Black Emperor
-Achieving my dreams of seeing Képzelt Város and Marionette ID live in their own home country (Hungary)
-Experiencing Marionette ID's home town
-Finally seeing God Is An Astronaut, in Slovenia, then again in Budapest, and again in Massachusetts
-Attending the best Hip Hop concert I will probably ever attend (Realistic Crew)
-Spontaneously attending a No Age concert with a newly made friend and discovering an awesome new band (Kanagawa)
-My last night in Europe spent in Keleti Blokk rehearsal studio seeing a brand new band (the Corny) rehearse
-Meeting Labirinto in Chicago
-Meeting and hanging out with one of the guys from the Pakistani band, Basheer And The Pied Pipers.
-Experiencing and absorbing my three new friends' excitement to their first post-rock show (God Is An Astronaut)
-Visiting Caspian in their home town and experiencing some of the sights and sounds that inspire their music
-Being mentally and emotionally crushed purely by music (Arvo Pärt - Silouans Song)
-Experiencing music in an isolation tank
-István (félperc) telling me, "I wrote some new songs"

There have been some amazing albums that came out this year, way to many to count (or more accurately in my case, way too many to remember). But there have been a few that really stood out to me.

My Personal Favourite Albums of 2011:
Years Of Rice And Salt - Nothing Of Cities
Matt Stevens - Relic
Marionette ID - Alluvion
Blank Maps - EP 1
Realistic Crew - Blind Musician

Plans for 2012:
-Dead Sea Choir in Norman, Oklahoma
-Snowboarding with Our Ceasing Voice
-Meeting István (félperc) and Alkeos (These Portraits Never Spoke) in Vienna
-Lehnen
-Hidden By The Grapes
-Drinking and acting like ninjas with Képzelt Város again
-Rosa Parks in Győr
-Harcsa Veronika
-Mental Architects in Софиа (Sofia)
-Smallman in Асеновград (Asenovgrad)
-123 in Istanbul
-Büyük Ev Ablukada
-Move to NYC
-Catch a Caspian show in another state, most likely Massachusetts (so far I have seen them once every year since 2008 and each in different states... NY, TN, TX, and GA)


2010 was the year for Post-Rock for me. 2011, however, was the year for music exploration. Metal wasn't prominent this year, in fact, I probably listened to enough Metal artists I count with one hand. Post-Rock was fairly prominent as was Indie and Ambient. I fit Jazz in a little here and there. I finally revisited Classical, which I should try to dedicate more of 2012 to. I love minimalistic, modern Classical. However, my taste took a turn for the unexpected when Silouans Song destroyed me and I had to listen to something drastically different. I was instantly open to anything, then somehow Balkan and Gypsy Folk music was introduced into my life. Later in the year a certain Turkish friendship had also opened my ears and mind to various aspects of Turkish Folk, some styles that we're familiar with here in the US (such as the guy-sitting-on-a-stool-playing-an-acoustic-guitar style folk, hah hah) and other styles that feature the style of singing that we often associate with Indian music. I also tried a little more of some Avant-Garde styles of music... I still can't get into it.
It has definitely been a year for exploration for me.

What will 2012 bring? Besides the end of the world? (Hah hah) Oh man, who knows. Based on the events of this year, I'm really excited what is in store for the next 365 days.