The Best of 2010

Year's just about over and this is my first official best of list, so enjoy peoples! Go download these now: Check mishkanyc.com/bloglin for some other great reviews and free mixtapes!

Best of 2010 (in no particular order)
Albums
1. LCD Soundsystem: This is Happening
2. The Black Keys: Brothers
3. Yeasayer: Odd Blood
4. Vampire Weekend: Contra
5. Free Energy: Free Energy
6. Klaxons: Surfing the Void
7. Girl Talk: All Day
8. Das Racist: Sit Down Man
9. Das Racist: Shut Up, Dude
0. Surfer Blood: Astro Coast
1. Local Natives: Gorilla Manor
Singles
1. Wavves: Post Acid
2. The Black Keys: Tighten Up
3. Deftones: Diamond Eyes
4. Holy Ghost!: I Will Come Back
5. Klaxons: Echoes
6. Sia: You've Changed
7. Neon Indian: Sleep Paralyist
8. LCD Soundsystem: I Can Change
9. Washed Out: Feel It All Around
0. Oh No Ohno: Helplessly Young
1. Smith Westerns: Weekend
2. Cool Kids: Delivery Man
3. Chromeo: Don't Turn the Lights On
4. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.: Bang Bang Bang
5. Duck Sauce: Barbara Streisand
6. Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti: Round and Round
7. Mayer Hawthorne: Maybe So, Maybe No
8. Big Boi: Shutter Bugg
9. Yeasayer: Madder Red
0. Das Racist: Nutmeg
1.Vampire Weekend: Run
2. Surfer Blood: Floating Vibes
3. Local Natives: Sun Hands
4. Major Lazer + La Roux Feat. Gucci Mane: I'm Not Your Lemonade (Heroes & Villians Remix)
Best Shows I Saw 2010
1. Black Keys
2. The Dead Weather
3. Dead Meadow
4. Best Coast
5. Chromeo
6. Neon Indian
7. Phoenix
8. Vampire Weekend
9. Mayer Hawthorne
0. Free Energy

Can't wait for next year's shows and records, looking for Girl Talk and Chromeo to go on tour coming soon!

Las Vegas 11/19-11/23/10

Well I just recovered from Las Vegas. I mean two days ago. Vegas is awesome but I can't handle that place. I've been three times now and this was by far the best and the wildest. The best part was defintely seeing my old pal Diaz and hanging out with the Warren family. I got to go to an Elvis themed wedding and took shots in a bar that was 5 degrees below. That was cold. I got to drink Fat Tire beer all week, in the mall, on the streets, everywhere. I saw O by Cirque Du Soliel and it was quite impressive. The only bad part was the weather: it was real chilly. Being outside the casinos was brutal after hours and the wind was crazy. Hanging out with everyone was great and although I didn't win a lot I had a great time with the group I went with. I love that city and hopefully when I return I'll be ready to handle all the splendors of Las Vegas once again.

DJ Shadow 11/16/10

It's been a while but it's been a busy couple a weeks. Between work and play I've been quite active. In the mean time I went on two adventures, Richmond and NYC. Richmond is pretty good for a weekend and NYC, well it's pretty awesome. So, in the spirit of the great American road trip I spent Tuesday with my buddy Gary in the Big Apple. Without a plan or a place to stay we managed to do some searching en route and found my favorite dj playing a show that night in Brooklyn. We arrived in SOHO/NOHO/NYU to check out Other Music, a record store of course, and just take in the city. I probably was last in NYC in '93 so everything around us was new and exciting. We checked out a few stores then took the subway to Times Square. After getting blinded by the lights we linked up with a fraternity brother in the financial district and had a few drinks. By 2130 we finally arrived at the Brooklyn Bowl to catch the tail end of DJ Shadow's set. I missed him in Baltimore and was more than excited to check him out in a great music town. The venue looked great and it actually had a bowling alley inside. That makes for a great evening, bowling to DJ Shadow. The master dj mixed an incredible finish from my favorite albums ...Endtroducing & The Private Press and the visuals were intense. It was smooth and people were really getting into it. I love that. After the show we went next door to a great whiskey bar and took shots with the bartenders. Great time but now I'm super tired. Big ups to Brooklyn! Next trip: Vegas...

Mayer Hawthorne & The County VIP! 10/21/10

First off I would just like to thank both The Black Cat and Mazda for letting me win a VIP Meet & Greet with Mayer Hawthorne and putting together a great event. It was very cool. I'm always entering contests for anything that comes around but on my birthday I got an email stating that I was going to be meeting Mayer Hawthorne @ The Black Cat. Love this guy and I dig the venue and its neighborhood. I didn't know what to expect going into the VIP since I had never heard of this done at the venue before and was really excited too. Got there on time at 1830 and once inside I received a VIP pass and two drink tickets then was escorted to the Back Bar for some fan interaction with the Mazda people before Mr. Hawthorne made his appearance. They got pizza from the Italian Store and the beer was pretty good too. After about an hour I got my CD signed and my sister got a nice message on a poster, something about Twitter. After hanging in there we got upstairs to check the first band Gordon Voidwell. If you can imagine Matt & Kim where Matt is black and Kim is a white guy and you've got them visually. I was surprised how infectious their sound was, it was electronic keys and drums but very danceable rhythms. They started off with "Heart of Glass" and flowed together the rest of their own material in that same style. Next up was The Heavy. These guys sounded like Sevendust, no joke. A rocking band with an intense black man singing, with a British accent! Ok not so much Sevendust especially with their horn section but they weren't that bad and they played a good long set. After they got done the house DJ played most of "Illmatic" while The County got ready. When they came out the place went nuts. I saw these guys at the Rock And Roll Hotel earlier this year and they killed it. Mayer brought new songs this time with a bigger stage and it worked. It was a genuine Motown band, that's the best way to describe them. I wasn't around for the groups and solo acts back then but all the old footage I've seen was Mayer's perfect homage to some great music. Had to have been in the top five shows I've seen at The Black Cat and that's without the VIP package. Free shows are great but I'd pay hard cash to see this guy, next time he's in town I won't miss it. Great night for sure.

Oktoberfest Shirlington 10/2/10

Kicking off the best month of the year in style heading out to good ole Shirlington for the season's first Oktoberfest. The weather was incredible, even hot at times, and the crowd was large. I like Shirlington's downtown outdoorsy set up and it was great Saturday event. The only bummer was the fact that you couldn't buy advance tickets which led to one hell of a line to get inside the area. The beers were good and the tents wrapped around but honestly I kinda used my ten measly tickets for beers 1. I never heard of and 2. had no line. With a great slate of college football games on later that day it didn't matter that the tickets ran fast as my gang ended up in Baileys Ballston to close out the best 3:30 games. Saw a lot of old friends and even some German dance crews and all in all it was a great time. The DC area is pretty awesome at street festivals and the like. Enjoy.

Black Diamond Skye 9/26/10

I cannot believe the years steady rollin' to a close and I finally (FINALLY!) got to a metal show. First and foremost living in Fairfax County doesn't get me any closer to good venues but every now and then someone good comes to George Mason University's very own Patriot Center. Last Sunday I got to see Mastodon, Deftones, and the new revamped Alice In Chains. Titled Black Diamond Skye in reference to the three bands latest album titles. Absolutely blown away at the performances. These guys can flat out play, especially when you are in to metal as much as I am. First up was openers Mastodon, who I have been totally in to since I first heard last year's Crack The Skye. Having missed their Halloween Patriot Center performance last year due to work I was not going to miss out. The band played great songs from their last three albums including "Oblivion", "The Crystal Skull", and closed out with "Blood And Thunder". Very metal and it was great to finally see them live. After a short break Deftones took the stage opening with "Rocket Skates" off their new album "Diamond Eyes". I can honestly say that I have never heard a bad Deftones album nor been to a bad show. They have a great stage presence as lead singer Chino Moreno was all over the stage sweating like he just ran a race. They cranked out my favorite songs from every album and right as the flow was continuing I saw a fan hand Chino a piece of paper during a song that he looked over and after the song was over called for lights and did something totally unexpected. The note was from a guy that had a question from his friend that Chino read: "Will you marry me?" At a Deftones show, a marriage proposal. Never seen one. Ever. I live near the Nation's Capital and I have never seen someone get down on one knee at a monument or a sporting event or at a park but at the Deftones show? Whatever man, and I've been told that I'm not romantic! Anyway, they followed that up with "Change" and the crowd was ecstatic again. After their set we hung out some more and Alice In Chains hit the much larger stage layout. They had a hanging curtain that was lowered as they opened with "Them Bones". These guys came back with a new singer/guitarist that sounds somewhat like the late great Layne Staley. My buddy Palmer said he saw them when it was just Jerry Cantrell fronting the band a few years ago and said they were great then so I was excited. They actually sounded good and they played the two new songs I liked and the rest were songs in their catalog that really defined the bands original early '90s grunge sound. Great way to end the weekend and got home early with my ears still ringing! Long live metal!

Virgin Free Fest 9/25/10

It's Virgin Free Fest time and what a festival! Overall great price (free) for the amount of talent there at Merriweather. It was a stellar day with good, if not hot, weather. I was happy to have made it when we did as three bands I really wanted to see all played at or near the 3 o' clock time frame. I heard Yeasayer while in traffic and I liked what I heard so they'll be a separate show for the future. We checked in and to our immediate left sat the dance tent (actually more of a forest) and Neon Indian was playing. They seemed to have an electronic sound on disc but I was surprised to see a guitarist and a drummer. The sound quality was amazing and they played all the songs I knew and even my sister got into it. Very beat driven danceable songs. I would love to see them by themselves, preferably a club setting. Next we walked out and about and saw Joan Jett start and we kept a going. She's kind of outdated with her pop punk and all, just saying. On the way to the outside stage we saw Thievery Corporation begin their set. They had DJs, sitars, and tribal funk that was infectious. I can't dance that hippy jive but I would have liked to! After a few songs we went back to see Matt & Kim on the main stage. One guy singing and playing the keyboard and one super smiley chick banging in the drums. They didn't really make me a believer and their best songs were impromptu jams of old school rap songs you knew the words to faster than their own songs. We caught about five songs from Chromeo next. Very great live band. I would love to hear them play their 80s electro soul vibe anywhere but outside amongst the trees was pretty cool. My sister then insisted we see Ludacris next. He said it was ten years ago he put out his first platinum hits. I saw him then too. Ludacris has a ton of recognizable hits from songs he did solo to that awful new Taio Cruz song. But he performed without all those jokers and kicked ass. I cannot believe they let M.I.A. play after him to close the 2nd stage but I'll get on to that soon. We left Luda early to hear this summers most hyped band Sleigh Bells. Honestly they sound like heavy metal for the cheerleader set, or maybe cheerleader music for heavy metal types. Either way I was ready to be impressed. They had the largest crowd for the dance area and yet they probably played the shortest set. The songs sounded awfully loud as if they would break the speakers yet I only saw one guy playing the guitar sparingly. The lady singing was hot from the distance I was at but she did a lot of "ah ah ah ahhing". It was actually a weak set. More blown speaker sounding guitar mess and the jumpy singing. Not a fan nor did I see what the fuss was about. Maybe I'm getting old cause M.I.A. didn't kill it for me either! She was about ten or so minutes late, big difference since everyone else was on time. Then the DJ played a drone ten minute mess that was followed by M.I.A. staring out at the crowd yelling "DC" and some other unintelligible stuff. She had so many distractions on stage and sang/rapped so sparingly that she lost me after two actual songs. The worst part that after I left I was so tired and dirty that I stayed through only three great LCD Soundsystem songs. I'm probably going to see them again but overall great day of seeing a tons of great bands. And it was free! Next show Black Diamond Skye!