one year

It’s been one full year since Gilad passed away. A full year without our beloved brother, son, uncle, friend. A full year without that stunning smile that could light up a room, without that quick wit, without that unbending yearning to read and learn and understand both life and death.

On my way to work, I stopped by the place where I got the phone call, learning that Gilad had taken his last breath. I stopped by that bus stop in Waltham, and sat in my car for a few minutes, just remembering. Not remembering the horrible content of the call, or how our lives changed so much in its wake. Remembering those last moments when Gilad was still alive. Because that’s how I always want to remember him – smiling, alive, happy, and healthy.

Throughout this year, so much has happened and so much has changed. Right afterward Gilad died, I wrote about how I would think of something that I wanted to tell Gilad, immediately realizing that I could no longer do so, and the crushing feeling that comes with that. But as the weeks turned into months, that happened less, and the pain and sorrow became less constant; the never-ending throbbing in my heart turned into a lump in the back of my throat, and then to an ache that was only present here and there, as if brought on by changes in the weather.

This is the process of grief. We think. We remember. We laugh. We cry.

This past Sunday, we had the unveiling of Gilad’s gravestone. And like the weather, we couldn’t make up our minds as to the tone of the ceremony. As the sun turned to thunderstorms and back around again, our stories went from sad to happy, and both tears and laughter filled our faces.

We thought. We remembered. We laughed. We cried.

So it’s been a year. The crushing pain is far removed. Those once lucid memories are now somewhat foggy and muddled. But we still keep Gilad in our hearts and minds. We still think of Gilad flashing that charming smile. We remember him crawling through sewer pipes, copying his older brother’s outfits, playing guitar in the hallways at school, or just chilling. We remember him as he was – amazing, smart, charming, clever, and great.

Gilad, we miss you more than ever, but we’re doing our best to still be ok, and to continue living, even though sometimes it hurts so much to go on without you. We miss you, and we will always love you.

Bon Iver – Blood Bank

LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great

The Tallest Man on Earth – The Gardener

LCD Soundsystem – Final. Show. Ever.

LCD Soundsystem. Last show. Bootleg. No words.

Get all the files zipped up here, or the show as one file here, or the listen/grab the individual files below.

LCD Soundsystem – A Final Goodbye

I spent all Friday afternoon cranking LCD Soundsystem on my headphones at work, and as the beats slowly leaked out of my headphones into the office I thought about the fact that this band would be playing its final show the very next night.

And they did. And now it’s Sunday night, a day later, and the band is officially no more. I wish I had more intuition about this brilliant musician to be able to do a more complete analysis of his career and musical trajectory. If you’re looking for that, head over to Pitchfork; those guys put together a fantastic review of everything James Murphy ever did. And if you want to hear Murphy do a guest DJ spot at NPR, listen to that here.

My Favorite 25 Albums of 2010: 25 – 11

The album, unlike the single, is a complete offering. It’s not just verse, chorus, verse, chorus, interlude, chorus, outro. It’s not one lone musical idea. It’s an entire pallet of ideas. It’s an opera, a play, a novel. The album can be one of the greatest pieces of art, and when properly done, it’s magical.

And so, here are my favorite albums of 2010 (part 1):

My Favorite 10 11 Singles of 2010

In this musical day and age, the single has once again become the most important item to further an artist’s career. It started off as the single, in the 60s when bands were forced by their record companies to put out a new single every few weeks. Then we moved to the golden age of the album, where bands were allowed the creativity and given the time to properly craft entire musical theses, instead of mere thoughts. Then we moved to the music video, and now, in the age of the internet, mixtapes, and iTunes downloads – the single is the most powerful musical item once again.

While I prefer albums, I must admit that as a blogger, singles are my bread and butter. Leaked albums are few and far between these days, so single releases or leaks are what I’m able to hear, share, and write about the most. And so, I present to you my favorite 10 11 singles of 2010:

TSA Pat Downs For Everyone!

Wednesday is supposedly the most popular flying day of the year. And given the new possibly dangerous full body scanners, many people will be opting out of the scanner and settling for a supremely uncomfortable pat-down. Even if you go for the scanner, there’s still the possibility that you’ll get patted down by TSA employees.

I’ve heard and read of a bunch of suggestions of what to do: wear a kilt or strip down to your boxers; employees aren’t allowed to pat down under skirts or underwear, so these clothing options will leave you relatively free of a pat-down. It’s a pretty big fashion statement just to make a point, but I do respect those who make the effort to do that.

What will I do? I’m not entirely sure, but I’ll probably listen to of these songs to prepare for the inevitable uncomfortable situation.

My Morning Jacket – Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Part 2 (live)

New(ish) Music – LCD Soundsystem, The Decemberists, Lil’ Wayne, and Phish

Since last week’s music news was so well recieved, I figured I’d try it again:

• LCD Soundsystem is releasing a live-in-studio album that they recorded in London, aptly called “The London Sessions”, consisting of some of their songs re-recorded, live in the studio. This may seem boring, but this is a band that uses tons of overdubs, samplers, and all kinds of studio tricks on their albums. Onstage, however, the band sticks to their instruments, so this offering is a pretty cool glimpse into their live interpretation of their studio songs, albeit without the audience. Check out All I Want below.
• As many of you know, I ranked The Decemberists‘ most recent album “The Hazards Of Love” as my favorite album of 2008. I was chastised by you all, yet I regret nothing. So naturally, I’d like to share their new track Down By The Water, which you can download from their site here (in exchange for your email address).
• Lil’ Wayne was released from jail this week. While he himself hasn’t released any music within the past few days, DJ Alexei did just put out an album full of mash ups, featuring Weezy. If you like Girl Talk or any kind of mash-up type music, you should download the entire album on his site, or check out the song below.
• Finally, a bit of Phish. I’m not the hugest Phish-head, but I do love a great cover. Last Saturday night, at the pre-Halloween show, Phish jammed fantastically from Tweezer into

LCD Soundsystem – All I Want

The Decemberists – Down By The Water

Lil’ Wayne – Lollipop (Alexei Glycerine Acoustic Remix)

The Best 10 16 Albums of The 1st Half of 2010

We’ve just about reached the halfway point of the year, and with it comes the time for us to take a gander back at all the amazing new albums released this year. We had some great debut albums and  myriad later releases, in a year that has so far released few of the albums I was excited about (Radiohead, The Strokes, Arcade Fire) but still has managed to keep me highly entertained.

So here it is: my list of the best, the most interesting, the quirkiest, and the stuff I just love to listen to; all combined into a no-order-necessary and no-nonsense list. Check out the tracks, buy the albums, and as always – enjoy the music.

LCD Soundsystem – Live at Bonnaroo 2010

This is a band that I’ve only recently begun to listen to. I’m totally obsessed with his new album, and based on this bootleg, it’s clear that his energy and artistic vision translate brilliantly from the studio to the stage.

Enjoy!

Download the entire show here.

Intro

Us vs. Them