2009 Year-End Comp

[Slosh]

http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq41/Slosh_album/2009YEC.jpg

FLAC (Level 8) (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2956428/2009%20Year-End%20Compilation.zip)

MP3 (Lame 3.98 V0) (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2956428/My%20Favorite%20Songs%20Of%202009%20%5BMP3%5D.zip)

[noddin0ff]

Excellent, and Thank you!

Already started picking up some albums. You already completely sold me on Cosmos. Lee Harvey Osmond is in the mail but have listened to it several times on myspace. Robyn Hitchcock is terrific and always an autobuy for me. Those 3 albums will be in my top 5 albums for the year. Probably will pull the trigger on Califone, Super Furry Animals, and Iron & Wine. John Vanderslice, Black Heart Procession, Wilco, and Old Canes are on my maybe soon list.

Spurring the economy through YECs. Another good comp!

[Mr MidFi]

I thoroughly enjoyed the beta version of this stellar comp on a long plane flight (and on the return flight). The perfect way to soothe the mind and drown out the screaming lap-child three seats away.

Thanks again, Slosh. As usual, yours is a very tough act to follow. I'll try to get mine up, just as soon as I figure out how to open a MediaFire account and upload 22 tracks. (I'm a tech spaz, so wish me luck.)

[bobsticks]

Gracias Oh Sloshing-One....my first experience with the Old Canes and Cosmos and I liked 'em both....

[Finch Platte]

...as soon as I figure out how to open a MediaFire account and upload 22 tracks. (I'm a tech spaz, so wish me luck.)

Tell me how when you find out. :thumbsup:

[Stone]

You don't need to open an account to upload.

[Finch Platte]

FLAC (Level 8) (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2956428/2009%20Year-End%20Compilation.zip)

MP3 (Lame 3.98 V0) (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2956428/My%20Favorite%20Songs%20Of%202009%20%5BMP3%5D.zip)

Uh, I tink dere's sometin' wrong wit de MP3. Ain't workin' for me (to poop on).

[Slosh]

Uh, I tink dere's sometin' wrong wit de MP3. Ain't workin' for me (to poop on).
How so? Did you unzip it (D'uh)? A couple of my friends are telling me it worked fine for them. :confused:

FWIW, the only difference between this one and the one in Swish's What's New thread is the Holopaw track is now VO (was 256CBR before).

[Slosh]

I'll try to get mine up, just as soon as I figure out how to open a MediaFire account and upload 22 tracks. (I'm a tech spaz, so wish me luck.)I recommend Dropbox now. MediaFire, YSI, SendSpace, etc. limit you to 100MB so splitting up a 509MB comp would require six separate folders (PITA). Dropbox gives you 2GB to play with. It took me a bit to figure it out but to get the download link you right-click on the Dropbox icon and select launch Dropbox website, then open your public folder and right-click on the file/folder you want to paste the url from. Plus it uploads and downloads way faster than MediaFire (I was getting 675kb/s down vs. about 1/10th of that speed from MediaFire).

[ForeverAutumn]

Thanks Slosh. I'm looking forward to hearing this.

[ForeverAutumn]

Some nice stuff on here that I'm going to have to investigate. But the one really delicious standout for me is the Iron and Wine tune.

I've heard some older tunes by this band that I didn't really care for so I've stayed away from them. But the tune on this YEC, Die, is a wonderful little song. Is the rest of the album like this? I think perhaps I may have judged too soon.

[Troy]

Thank you. Downloaded and playing now.

A few technical notes for next time:

I'm using the mp3. Sounds fine in iTunes.

For some reason, where the title is listed, it has the name of the artist and then the song title ie: "Califone- Polish Girls" and then it has the artist name under artist as well. But not on all of them. Did you modify these after you ripped them? Why?

The track order is different than the one listed in your OP. It's not alphabetical either. Weird.

The bit rates are all different and seem random. Why?

I had to create it as a playlist manually, pulling songs from their places alphabetically. Suggest putting something like "Sloshy best of 2009" in the album field so that it can all be sorted as a playlist without having to search for the songs.

And put better songs on it next time, woodja?

[Stone]

I had to create it as a playlist manually, pulling songs from their places alphabetically. Suggest putting something like "Sloshy best of 2009" in the album field so that it can all be sorted as a playlist without having to search for the songs.

And put better songs on it next time, woodja?


Why not just create the playlist in iTunes, and drag and drop the mp3s into it from the source folder?

[Luvin Da Blues]

And put better songs on it next time, woodja?

I'll keep 2 or 3 tracks (flac). The rest is way too compressed, I can't (won't?) listen to stuff that sounds that flat when there is so much out there that has decent dynamic range. :sleep:

Sorry Sloshy :)

[Troy]

Why not just create the playlist in iTunes, and drag and drop the mp3s into it from the source folder?

Yeah, I guess I coulda done it that way . . .

I didn't realize until after I opened them in iTunes that it was going to just be a bunch of loose songs instead of being built as a comp.

[ForeverAutumn]

Yeah, I guess I coulda done it that way . . .

I didn't realize until after I opened them in iTunes that it was going to just be a bunch of loose songs instead of being built as a comp.

I did the same thing Troy.

[Slosh]

I'll keep 2 or 3 tracks (flac). The rest is way too compressed, I can't (won't?) listen to stuff that sounds that flat when there is so much out there that has decent dynamic range. :sleep:
Do you listen to music or the recording?

[noddin0ff]

I usually solve the iTunes problem simply by selecting all the songs, getting info [command-I], and

1) filling in a name for the album "Slosh's 2009 Year End Comp" for example
2) Identifying it as a compilation by checking the box.
3) Quickly renumbering the tracks.

It takes all of 5 minutes and then you have an Album that works like an album in iTunes.

minor hassle, sure. but not a deal killer. imo.

[Slosh]

Thank you. Downloaded and playing now.

A few technical notes for next time:

I'm using the mp3. Sounds fine in iTunes.

For some reason, where the title is listed, it has the name of the artist and then the song title ie: "Califone- Polish Girls" and then it has the artist name under artist as well. But not on all of them. Did you modify these after you ripped them? Why?Simple answer- iTunes is dumb.


The track order is different than the one listed in your OP. It's not alphabetical either. Weird.again, stupid iTunes.


The bit rates are all different and seem random. Why?variable bit rate (320kbps peak)


I had to create it as a playlist manually, pulling songs from their places alphabetically. Suggest putting something like "Sloshy best of 2009" in the album field so that it can all be sorted as a playlist without having to search for the songs.Mac people think iTunes is great only because they never have the chance to try something better. But as I thought I made clear, the folder already has a playlist file included (that even iTunes should be able to play correctly in the intended sequence).


And put better songs on it next time, woodja?I'll put bitter songs on next time. :D

[ForeverAutumn]

For some reason, where the title is listed, it has the name of the artist and then the song title ie: "Califone- Polish Girls" and then it has the artist name under artist as well. But not on all of them. Did you modify these after you ripped them? Why?

I found this also. But just now I went into my playlist in iTunes and clicked on each song and the artist name just vanished. So "Califone-Polish Girls" became just "Polish Girls" with the artist as Califone.

It was like magic. :)

[Slosh]

Okay, so I haven't used iTunes in several years but if I remember correctly you just import the playlist file into iTunes and not the folder. Then it will show it in the playlist pane and the tracks will be in the intended sequence.

As Troy mentioned, the individual songs will show up as Artist-Track Title. This is an iTunes quirk. Every other media player software I have ever used shows it as in the screenshot.

[Slosh]

Some nice stuff on here that I'm going to have to investigate. But the one really delicious standout for me is the Iron and Wine tune.

I've heard some older tunes by this band that I didn't really care for so I've stayed away from them. But the tune on this YEC, Die, is a wonderful little song. Is the rest of the album like this? I think perhaps I may have judged too soon.That song and the Spoon track are from the Dark Was The Night (http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Was-Night-Various-Artists/dp/B001KVW574) comp.

[ForeverAutumn]

Okay, so I haven't used iTunes in several years but if I remember correctly you just import the playlist file into iTunes and not the folder. Then it will show it in the playlist pane and the tracks will be in the intended sequence.

As Troy mentioned, the individual songs will show up as Artist-Track Title. This is an iTunes quirk. Every other media player software I have ever used shows it as in the screenshot.

The way I did it was to clicked on each song in the file I downloaded, and the file opened and was automatically saved in iTunes. Then I created the playlist and dragged each song into the playlist.

Mine's not in the order that you show either. But that has nothing to do with iTunes. The order was different when I unzipped the file...before the songs were transferred to iTunes.

[ForeverAutumn]

That song and the Spoon track are from the Dark Was The Night (http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Was-Night-Various-Artists/dp/B001KVW574) comp.

Thanks. I just added that comp to my shopping cart. I'm going to investigate Iron and Wine too.

[Slosh]

The way I did it was to clicked on each song in the file I downloaded, and the file opened and was automatically saved in iTunes. Then I created the playlist and dragged each song into the playlist.

Mine's not in the order that you show either. But that has nothing to do with iTunes. The order was different when I unzipped the file...before the songs were transferred to iTunes.Sheesh, I didn't think people would be having any trouble with this.

The tracks in the folder are in numerical order and there's a playlist file at the very end called "My Favorite Songs Of 2009" ("Slosh 2009 Year-End Compilation" for the FLAC version). All you have to do is click on it and hit play in iTunes. You can also click on it and hit import into iTunes.

There's no need to rename the tracks or albums or create a new playlist in iTunes. This is the whole point of including a playlist file.

[jonnyhambone]

worked great for me - in iTunes no less. The artist name disappeared and sorted itself out correctly as FA said above.
Really like the Bonnie Prince tune (been wanting that album for awhile), Cosmos is cool, always good to hear some Robyn H. Thanks

[Troy]

Simple answer- iTunes is dumb.

God forbid the possibility that mediamonkey is the dumb one . . .

My experience was exactly the same as FA's except I modified the titles before they could modify themselves automagically.

However hinky the process was, understand that I do appreciate anyone willing to make the effort to share musics with us.

And I actually DO like some of the songs. More on that later.

[ForeverAutumn]

I just assumed that I was the dumb one.

[noddin0ff]

Yeah, actually it all works the way its supposed to and the way you intended it, at least it did for me in iTunes. It's just an issue that the iTunes fields populate with the original track numbers from the parent albums (even though they play in the proper order), not the track numbers relative to the comp. The playlist puts them in the right order but when you start using the iTunes features to sort and browse your library you can get them out of order pretty easily. The iTunes album field also populates with the names of the parent albums so all in all it gets a little confusing over the long haul. That's why I rename and renumber, to clear up future ambiguities in my own library mental management.

Like I say, I don't find it a big hassle. My comments above all pertain to converting the flac to apple lossless using Max then importing to iTunes. All these intermediary conversions are generally pretty good for retaining metadata and album arts but I find that I prefer to twiddle it some myself to keep everything organized the way I like.

Music management in the digital age just required a different kind of devotion that not everyone is completely up to speed on, a little practice and it'll all work out.

[Troy]

About those songs . . .

You know, it's not bad, overall. Definitely a specific tonal range and sensibility.

The one that really sticks out for me is the Super Furry Animals track. Saw these guys open for Grandaddy. They really are a studio band . . . This is a great hooky, radio-ready production. Radio for this? Not in the US, unless it's a parallel universe. Had one studio album of theirs, tired of it quickly, but I'll definitely keep this clever, tongue in cheek track.

The slithery The Black Heart Procession track is another top-level keeper. Never heard this band before. Speeding ticket music. Is this typical of their sound? I need to do some R&D.

The Future of the Left are another band I'm going to want to learn more about. So British, so 1979. Are you a Cardiacs fan? There's a lot of similarity.

That Built to Spill singer makes me laugh . . . but I don't think it's supposed to. What a whiner. Nice 12-string electric thing going on though. I sold all my BTS albums a few years ago. That singer's like the indie Geddy Lee, a real deal breaker for lots of people.

I like The Fruit Bats. More of that rootsy '70s-style country rock like The Band that goatee'd BTS fans like. Bar juke box music.

The Doves track is real nice too, different then I remember them. Kind of a 1982 arty british new wave thing. Japan, Visage, one of those kindsa bands. I've had a few Doves albums over the years and I got over them pretty quick. A few nice tracks, but a lot of it felt filler-y. Coldplay-lite.

Pacer by Systems Officer sounds like the Doves that I remember. Kinda sleepy and over-produced. Totally prog. Indie prog, but prog, nonetheless. Not bad, but I think I'd tire of it quickly.

I love Lee Harvey Osmond's name. Does he ever rock or is this lounge lizard king thing all he does?

The Califone takes too long to get going. Again, kinda whiny. More indie-prog for hipsters turning 40.

The Decemberists sounds too much like Greenday here, though I do find the lyrics deeply amusing. Another painfully whiny band!

I'm a Hitchcock fan from way back. This sounds like a prototype RH song with it's jangly mid-tempo arrangement and it's cute/clever lyrics. This is enjoyable enough. Good album?

Jason Lytle is the guy from Grandaddy, right? Man, that band made 2 excellent albums this decade. What I've heard of the stuff after Sumday is too acoustic and slow. This is a little better. How's the album?

The John Vandersclice sounds like a generic '70s singer/songwriter. An Al Stewart clone.

The . . . And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead . . . song is like their name: They need the get rid of the pointless and deeply, eye-rollingly pretentious ". . ." at both ends, but that middle third is impressive and histrionic. I've always though this band was too densely produced. I like bands that have a more open and dry sound. The singer's a low point for them too. Totally prog.

Does Andrew Bird ever rock? Somebody slap that guy. Ditto the Iron & Wine. It should be "Iron & Whine." This stuff makes me feel like John Belushi in Animal House when he spastically smashes the singer's guitar and then meekly shrugs "sorry."

I have no idea what people see in Wilco. What an epic redneck snore. And the Bonnie "Prince" Billy track. Are you a country-fried hillbilly moonshiner or what?

Hollowpaw has a ridiculous singer. That falsetto vibratto thing he's doing is horrifying. Mixed with the flat sounding trumpet? This is the worst track on the disc.

Not terribly moved by these Old Canes, Spoon and Cosmos tracks either way. They sound ok for what they do, but what they do is not involving for me. A total flat line.

I'd make one of these comps, but I didn't buy enough music in 2009, it would only have a halfdozen songs! Maybe we should do them for the decade . . . Limit it to 10-15 songs, make 'em count.

[Slosh]

About those songs . . .

You know, it's not bad, overall. Definitely a specific tonal range and sensibility.

The one that really sticks out for me is the Super Furry Animals track. Saw these guys open for Grandaddy. They really are a studio band . . . This is a great hooky, radio-ready production. Radio for this? Not in the US, unless it's a parallel universe. Had one studio album of theirs, tired of it quickly, but I'll definitely keep this clever, tongue in cheek track.This song sounds like Prince to me. It's not really typical of their overall sound. They're more of glam-prog-ish band.


The slithery The Black Heart Procession track is another top-level keeper. Never heard this band before. Speeding ticket music. Is this typical of their sound? I need to do some R&D.Most of their stuff is slow, somber piano driven. If you like being depressed this is your band.


The Future of the Left are another band I'm going to want to learn more about. So British, so 1979. Are you a Cardiacs fan? There's a lot of similarity.This is ex-McLusky and this track is representative. Fast 'n punky with silly lyrics


That Built to Spill singer makes me laugh . . . but I don't think it's supposed to. What a whiner. Nice 12-string electric thing going on though. I sold all my BTS albums a few years ago. That singer's like the indie Geddy Lee, a real deal breaker for lots of people.I'm more a fan of Perfect From Now On so for me including this song is more of a tribute to their past work than a great song in of itself (I still like it though it seems a bit out of place in this context.


I like The Fruit Bats. More of that rootsy '70s-style country rock like The Band that goatee'd BTS fans like. Bar juke box music.Yeah, total '70s AM radio here.


The Doves track is real nice too, different then I remember them. Kind of a 1982 arty british new wave thing. Japan, Visage, one of those kindsa bands. I've had a few Doves albums over the years and I got over them pretty quick. A few nice tracks, but a lot of it felt filler-y. Coldplay-lite.Agreed, except I think they're better than Coldplay.


Pacer by Systems Officer sounds like the Doves that I remember. Kinda sleepy and over-produced. Totally prog. Indie prog, but prog, nonetheless. Not bad, but I think I'd tire of it quickly.It's one half of Pinback, basically. Not a great album but obviously I do like this song.


I love Lee Harvey Osmond's name. Does he ever rock or is this lounge lizard king thing all he does?Most of the album is more country/roots-rock. Lounge Lizard vocals throughout.


The Califone takes too long to get going. Again, kinda whiny. More indie-prog for hipsters turning 40.

The Decemberists sounds too much like Greenday here, though I do find the lyrics deeply amusing. Another painfully whiny band!


I'm a Hitchcock fan from way back. This sounds like a prototype RH song with it's jangly mid-tempo arrangement and it's cute/clever lyrics. This is enjoyable enough. Good album?If you like this you'll like the rest of the album.


Jason Lytle is the guy from Grandaddy, right? Man, that band made 2 excellent albums this decade. What I've heard of the stuff after Sumday is too acoustic and slow. This is a little better. How's the album?Acoustic and slow.


The John Vandersclice sounds like a generic '70s singer/songwriter. An Al Stewart clone.

The . . . And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead . . . song is like their name: They need the get rid of the pointless and deeply, eye-rollingly pretentious ". . ." at both ends, but that middle third is impressive and histrionic. I've always though this band was too densely produced. I like bands that have a more open and dry sound. The singer's a low point for them too. Totally prog.

Does Andrew Bird ever rock? Somebody slap that guy. Ditto the Iron & Wine. It should be "Iron & Whine." This stuff makes me feel like John Belushi in Animal House when he spastically smashes the singer's guitar and then meekly shrugs "sorry."

I have no idea what people see in Wilco. What an epic redneck snore. And the Bonnie "Prince" Billy track. Are you a country-fried hillbilly moonshiner or what?

Holopaw has a ridiculous singer. That falsetto vibratto thing he's doing is horrifying. Mixed with the flat sounding trumpet? This is the worst track on the disc.

Not terribly moved by these Old Canes, Spoon and Cosmos tracks either way. They sound ok for what they do, but what they do is not involving for me. A total flat line.

I'd make one of these comps, but I didn't buy enough music in 2009, it would only have a halfdozen songs! Maybe we should do them for the decade . . . Limit it to 10-15 songs, make 'em count.Thanks for playing.

[Audioman00]

thanks for the music! very cool thing to do \m/
awesome! happy listening.