Brad Barrish

As the sun comes up in the morning, it will be the 1-year anniversary of my dad’s death. I have so many thoughts swimming around in my head. I can’t even believe it’s been a year, but I draw incredible strength from the fact that I’ve made it through the last year. It’s been a rough one. I was reading back through the blog entries I made during the final weeks of my dad’s life, amazed at how they made all the emotion rush back into me. There’s not a single day that goes by that I don’t miss him intensely. My life just isn’t the same. How could it be? I do try and live my life a certain way that honors him. I promised myself that I would and I will continue to do so. Wherever you are, Dad, I love you. May your memory continue on in the minds and lives of the people who loved you.

Next Tuesday, I will be casting my vote for Barack Obama. Over the course of the campaign season Obama has demonstrated that he is the only choice if we want to change the direction of America, change the international opinion of America and bring hope back to a country that has spent the last 8 or more years going down the wrong path. I find him to be extremely inspirational, spiritual without coming across as a religious nut and someone who represents my core values. 

Regardless of who you like as a candidate, please take the time to vote. It’s a privilege that we often take for granted in this country.

A friend of a friend made this gorgeous and strangely(?) inspirational video.

I ordered a pair of Nike Dunk High Pro SB Bruts, but the order somehow got cancelled because they didn’t have my size. I’ve moved on and picked up a pair of the new SB Blazer Low, in black of course.

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the U.S. Some of us have the day off from work, but it’s not a day off. It’s a day on. We must take this as an opportunity, if for nothing else, as a day to reflect on peace, humanism and compassion. Most years I go to a celebration of Dr. King’s life, but I’m laid out with a nasty flu today so I looked around online for transcripts to some of his speeches, particularly the ones that the media didn’t cover, and there are quite a few. There’s a good article on fair.org that explains why, which makes for an interesting read. It mentions Dr. King’s speech entitled, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” It’s amazing (or not) how applicable this speech is to today’s state of the world. Take the time to read and/or listen to him give the speech and enjoy your day on.

I’ve been keeping a monthly music journal for over 10 years now. Many of my friends get my monthly mixes and I’ve had more than a few ask me just how I go about doing it and what tools I use. Up until last year, I didn’t have a good answer, but now that I do, I’m willing to share the secrets to making the perfect digital mixtape. This isn’t about the mix itself. That’s something else entirely and is a pretty personal thing. I don’t mess around with Windows much, so this is only going to help the Mac users out there. Perhaps someone else can write something up for the PC users.

Step 1: Gather your tools. First and foremost, I highly recommend an iPod of some kind. The reason that I make my mixes on my iPod is because I have music on a few different computers and I don’t want to have to worry about not having the right computer in front of me when I make a mix. As long as the music is on the iPod, then I’m set and so are you. The three pieces of software you’ll need are iTunes, ID3 Editor and Senuti. ID3 Editor will cost you $15, but if you spend any time making mixes for people, then it’s worth it to have good metadata embedded in your MP3s. I’ve tried all the free programs out there for managing ID3 tags and there’s none that works better. Senuti is a simple donationware program that will allow you to get your music from your iPod onto your computer. Don’t worry, it’s not going to break your iPod or your computer.

Step 2: Copy our mix from your iPod to your computer. Before you do this, you need to make sure you have the Senuti preferences set up properly. Just make sure your preferences look like mine.

You’ll probably want to create a folder on your desktop (or somewhere else) that will have all of the MP3s from your mix inside. That way, when it comes times to zip the folder up and upload it somewhere, you’ll be one step ahead. So, assuming you have your preferences all set, choose the playlist on your iPod from within Senuti, select all the tracks in the right-hand pane and then click on the transfer button. It will ask you where you want to transfer the songs and you’ll choose ‘Other…’ from the drop-down menu and choose that folder you created a minute ago. Once Senuti finishes transferring the songs, you should now have a folderfull of MP3s.

Step 3: Edit the ID3 tags. I suggest doing this as a two-step process. The first step is to clear out any extraneous metadata from the files and to change the album name to your mix name on all of the files at once. If that confuses you, you’ll see what I mean in a minute. First, open ID3 Editor. You’ll notice that nothing happens, but it will say ID3 Editor next to the apple in the upper left hand corner of the screen. From the File menu, choose ‘Open group…’ and select all of the MP3s in that folder you created during the last step. Make sure there is a checkmark next to everything, including the attributes in the Extended section as well. The only entries that you’ll want to fill out in the ID3 v2 pane are Tracks (how many tracks is your mix?) and Album (what are you going to call your mix?). Optionally, you can use some artwork that you may have for your mix as well. In the ID3 v1 pane, the only attribute you will fill out is the Album.

Once you’ve finished with that, click the ‘Update’ button. Now, go to the folder that has all of your files, select all of them and drag them to the ID3 Editor icon that’s in the dock. This will result in a bunch of windows opening up in ID3 Editor, each one representing the individual songs. You’ll need to make sure that the data that is in each of these is accurate, or at least as accurate as you want. In other words, make sure that the Track data of each corresponds to the track number on your mix, the song name is correct, the genre is correct and any other info you want. I know it’s time consuming, but the people that get your mix will thank you for it.

Step 4: Check your work. Remember, the title of this handy how-to includes the word PERFECT. And in order to make sure your work is perfect, you’re going to want to check it. The easiest way to do this is to open iTunes, create a new playlist and drag the folder into that playlist. Everything should look really nice and they should be in the right order. If they aren’t in the right order, there’s a chance that you’re not seeing the Track Number column in iTunes, which you can make visible by going to the View menu, choosing ‘View Options…’ and making sure there’s a checkmark next to Track Number.

Step 5: Zip and upload. You’re now ready to zip the folder up and upload it to a server of your choice. I upload mine to my own personal FTP, but you may want to use something like YouSendIt or Drop.io to distribute your mix. Macs have the ability to compress things into a .zip file built-in, so no need to install any extra software for that. Just go to the folder on your desktop, right click (or ctrl-click if you don’t have a mouse) and choose ‘Compress whatever-the-name-of-your-folder-is’ and it will create a .zip file of that folder, which you can then upload to your server of choice.

Happy mixing!

There were a lot of great albums released this year, many of which didn’t make the Top 25. After the list, there’s an alphabetical list of the albums that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another.

25. Battles Mirrored

26. Justice ✝

27. Les Savy Fav Let’s Stay Friends

28. Klaxons Myths Of The Near Future

29. Kanye West Graduation

30. Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

31. Sea Wolf Leaves In The River

32. Datarock Datarock Datarock

33. The Hold Steady Boys And Girls In America

34. LCD Soundsystem Sound Of Silver

35. Feist The Reminder

36. Mark Ronson Version

37. Bat For Lashes Fur & Gold

38. Thurston Moore Trees Outside The Academy

39. Charlotte Gainsbourg 5:55

40. Arcade Fire Neon Bible - I have a love/hate relationship with Arcade Fire. I love them for their artistic integrity and ability to consistently make incredible music the way they want to. I hate them for not being more open to whoring themselves out. Truth be told, it’s totally selfish. I want to work with this band more than any other band in modern music. Even more than Radiohead. Refocusing on the album, if only for a couple of sentences, I’ll say that there’s no reason that this album won’t go down as one of the best albums of the last decade. It’s innovative, pioneering, strangely beautiful and smart. And let’s face it, if you don’t have this album, it’s quite likely you’ve let yourself go in the music department.

41. The Good, The Bad & The Queen The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen are a supergroup. Let’s just establish that straight away. Damon Albarn (Blur/Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Tony Allen (Africa 70/Fela Kuti) and Simon Tong (The Verve) mix everything from dub to African to Brit rock to Reggae and soul. Oh, and they transcend decades of music styles just to keep things interesting. While the album could be described in more ways than I care to go into, at the core are a bunch of really talented musicians having a good time and calling it an album. Bob Marley said it best, “Music is music.”

42. Cherry Ghost Thirst For Romance - I haven’t really seen anyone else talking about this album, at least not in the States. If you’re a Wilco fan, which I will be again when they make a good album, you’ll recognize where the band’s name came from. And it might give you a small indication of what you’re getting into before you put the album on. There’s something to be said for a band that just makes good music. Thirst For Romance could have been released 10 or 20 years ago and it would still be a compelling album and there aren’t many others I could honestly say that about.

43. Okkervil River The Stage Names - Can I be honest with you about something really trite? I hate the band’s name and I was late to the game because of that. You’re rolling your eyes, aren’t you? Look, I’m not proud of it and I’m coming clean so how about you cut me some slack, hipster. This album has Austin written all over it, and incidentally, that’s where they hail from. And while there’s an undeniable yet faint twang, you’ll be be hard-pressed to call this anything but alt-country. Gorgeous layers of guitar, piano, strings and, well, happiness keep me listening to this album over and over. Am I the only one who thinks they sound a lot like the Old 97’s?

44. Band Of Horses Cease To Begin - I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that was worried about a sophomore slump for this band. Their debut was critically acclaimed and there was quite a bit riding on their follow-up. When I first listened to the album, I wasn’t taken by it. There wasn’t anything that particularly stood out to me, but damn if it didn’t grow on me. Seeing them live really sealed it for me as well. There’s enough hope in the music to keep me from thinking something bad is gonna happen, but the excitement of not knowing for sure keeps me listening more intently than I normally do. I still haven’t figured it out, but that’s ok.

45. Menomena Friend And Foe - If I wasn’t paying attention to release dates, I would have totally passed this one over. Menomena first appeared on my monthly mixes last year, thanks to my friend Van at Barsuk (their label), but the album was released in January. I digress… Friend And Foe was the first time I heard Menomena and it’s the only album I can tolerate. I’m a little at a loss for words on how to describe why I like this album so much. The rhythm is unconventional and the song structure isn’t what I’m normally drawn to, but maybe that’s why this particular album is so appealing to me. Somehow, through all of the asymmetries I find the music compelling, if not just short of brilliant. And if I sound a little like a scientist trying to apply logic to my fondness for this album, you’ll understand when you listen to it. It should also be noted that despite working in an office with people that are musically ambivalent (not you, Mara), everyone enjoyed it when I played this album. I’m just sayin'.

46. Radiohead In Rainbows - I can’t bring myself to justify Radiohead’s inclusion on my list. If you don’t understand, there’s nothing I can say to change your mind.

47. The National Boxer - I think I might be in the minority with regards to not placing this album at the top of my list, and I feel a little guilty about it. Simply put, this is one of the most exceptional albums I’ve heard in years. If Boxer was a sweater, it will be tattered, pilled and in dire need of replacement. There’s something inexplicably gorgeous about lead singer, Matt Berninger’s voice and the finely balanced instrumentation. There isn’t a song worth skipping on this near-perfect album.

48. Maps We Can Create - I’m a sucker for electronic and rock music in a blender. And I’m not talking about repetitive rave kind of electronic music. We Can Create is sonic euphoria. An epic album that mixes psychedelia, pop and electronica with precise balance. When I listen to this album, I feel free. There’s an unmistakable familiarity that brings me comfort and makes me feel as though everything’s going to be alright.

49. Kings Of Leon Because Of The Times - I’m hard-pressed to find a band that records a better sounding rock n’ roll record than the Followills. The album hasn’t left my car CD player since it came out. They put on one of the best shows I saw all year and while they rarely dive deeper than sex, drugs, rock n’ roll and god, they’ve got the magic formula down. This album is fun. It’s probably not an album you’ll sit down with to ponder life, but sometimes you need a vacation from the bullshit. Because Of The Times shall serve as your guide.

The ones that got away

Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger Against Me! - New Wave The Bees - Octopus Beirut - The Flying Club Cup Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha Blonde Redhead - 23 Brother Ali - The Undisputed Truth Caribou - Andorra Common - Finding Forever Dan Deacon - Spiderman Of The Rings Dean & Britta - Back Numbers Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond Dungen - Tito Bitar Editors - An End Has A Start El-P - I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead Fink - Distance and Time Grinderman - Grinderman Jay-Z - American Gangster Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3 M.I.A. - Kala Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank Kate Nash - Made Of Bricks Fionn Regan - The End Of History Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight Soulsavers - It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s the Way You Land Bruce Springsteen - Magic Taken By Trees - Open Field UGK - Underground Kings White Rabbits - Fort Nightly Amy Winehouse - Back To Black

There were a lot of great albums released this year, many of which didn’t make the Top 25. After the list, there’s an alphabetical list of the albums that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another.

25. Battles Mirrored

26. Justice ✝

27. Les Savy Fav Let’s Stay Friends

28. Klaxons Myths Of The Near Future

29. Kanye West Graduation

30. Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

31. Sea Wolf Leaves In The River

32. Datarock Datarock Datarock

33. The Hold Steady Boys And Girls In America

34. LCD Soundsystem Sound Of Silver

35. Feist The Reminder

36. Mark Ronson Version

37. Bat For Lashes Fur & Gold

38. Thurston Moore Trees Outside The Academy

39. Charlotte Gainsbourg 5:55

40. Arcade Fire Neon Bible - I have a love/hate relationship with Arcade Fire. I love them for their artistic integrity and ability to consistently make incredible music the way they want to. I hate them for not being more open to whoring themselves out. Truth be told, it’s totally selfish. I want to work with this band more than any other band in modern music. Even more than Radiohead. Refocusing on the album, if only for a couple of sentences, I’ll say that there’s no reason that this album won’t go down as one of the best albums of the last decade. It’s innovative, pioneering, strangely beautiful and smart. And let’s face it, if you don’t have this album, it’s quite likely you’ve let yourself go in the music department.

41. The Good, The Bad & The Queen The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen are a supergroup. Let’s just establish that straight away. Damon Albarn (Blur/Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Tony Allen (Africa 70/Fela Kuti) and Simon Tong (The Verve) mix everything from dub to African to Brit rock to Reggae and soul. Oh, and they transcend decades of music styles just to keep things interesting. While the album could be described in more ways than I care to go into, at the core are a bunch of really talented musicians having a good time and calling it an album. Bob Marley said it best, “Music is music.”

42. Cherry Ghost Thirst For Romance - I haven’t really seen anyone else talking about this album, at least not in the States. If you’re a Wilco fan, which I will be again when they make a good album, you’ll recognize where the band’s name came from. And it might give you a small indication of what you’re getting into before you put the album on. There’s something to be said for a band that just makes good music. Thirst For Romance could have been released 10 or 20 years ago and it would still be a compelling album and there aren’t many others I could honestly say that about.

43. Okkervil River The Stage Names - Can I be honest with you about something really trite? I hate the band’s name and I was late to the game because of that. You’re rolling your eyes, aren’t you? Look, I’m not proud of it and I’m coming clean so how about you cut me some slack, hipster. This album has Austin written all over it, and incidentally, that’s where they hail from. And while there’s an undeniable yet faint twang, you’ll be be hard-pressed to call this anything but alt-country. Gorgeous layers of guitar, piano, strings and, well, happiness keep me listening to this album over and over. Am I the only one who thinks they sound a lot like the Old 97’s?

44. Band Of Horses Cease To Begin - I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that was worried about a sophomore slump for this band. Their debut was critically acclaimed and there was quite a bit riding on their follow-up. When I first listened to the album, I wasn’t taken by it. There wasn’t anything that particularly stood out to me, but damn if it didn’t grow on me. Seeing them live really sealed it for me as well. There’s enough hope in the music to keep me from thinking something bad is gonna happen, but the excitement of not knowing for sure keeps me listening more intently than I normally do. I still haven’t figured it out, but that’s ok.

45. Menomena Friend And Foe - If I wasn’t paying attention to release dates, I would have totally passed this one over. Menomena first appeared on my monthly mixes last year, thanks to my friend Van at Barsuk (their label), but the album was released in January. I digress… Friend And Foe was the first time I heard Menomena and it’s the only album I can tolerate. I’m a little at a loss for words on how to describe why I like this album so much. The rhythm is unconventional and the song structure isn’t what I’m normally drawn to, but maybe that’s why this particular album is so appealing to me. Somehow, through all of the asymmetries I find the music compelling, if not just short of brilliant. And if I sound a little like a scientist trying to apply logic to my fondness for this album, you’ll understand when you listen to it. It should also be noted that despite working in an office with people that are musically ambivalent (not you, Mara), everyone enjoyed it when I played this album. I’m just sayin'.

46. Radiohead In Rainbows - I can’t bring myself to justify Radiohead’s inclusion on my list. If you don’t understand, there’s nothing I can say to change your mind.

47. The National Boxer - I think I might be in the minority with regards to not placing this album at the top of my list, and I feel a little guilty about it. Simply put, this is one of the most exceptional albums I’ve heard in years. If Boxer was a sweater, it will be tattered, pilled and in dire need of replacement. There’s something inexplicably gorgeous about lead singer, Matt Berninger’s voice and the finely balanced instrumentation. There isn’t a song worth skipping on this near-perfect album.

48. Maps We Can Create - I’m a sucker for electronic and rock music in a blender. And I’m not talking about repetitive rave kind of electronic music. We Can Create is sonic euphoria. An epic album that mixes psychedelia, pop and electronica with precise balance. When I listen to this album, I feel free. There’s an unmistakable familiarity that brings me comfort and makes me feel as though everything’s going to be alright.

49. Kings Of Leon Because Of The Times - I’m hard-pressed to find a band that records a better sounding rock n’ roll record than the Followills. The album hasn’t left my car CD player since it came out. They put on one of the best shows I saw all year and while they rarely dive deeper than sex, drugs, rock n’ roll and god, they’ve got the magic formula down. This album is fun. It’s probably not an album you’ll sit down with to ponder life, but sometimes you need a vacation from the bullshit. Because Of The Times shall serve as your guide.

The ones that got away

Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger Against Me! - New Wave The Bees - Octopus Beirut - The Flying Club Cup Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha Blonde Redhead - 23 Brother Ali - The Undisputed Truth Caribou - Andorra Common - Finding Forever Dan Deacon - Spiderman Of The Rings Dean & Britta - Back Numbers Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond Dungen - Tito Bitar Editors - An End Has A Start El-P - I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead Fink - Distance and Time Grinderman - Grinderman Jay-Z - American Gangster Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3 M.I.A. - Kala Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank Kate Nash - Made Of Bricks Fionn Regan - The End Of History Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight Soulsavers - It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s the Way You Land Bruce Springsteen - Magic Taken By Trees - Open Field UGK - Underground Kings White Rabbits - Fort Nightly Amy Winehouse - Back To Black

I just fired a guy because a 12-day job hit the 10.5 week mark. Where the hell do you find dependable people? I’ve tried Craig’s List, Angie’s List and even the Yellow Pages on occasion and I always have problems. Is there such an abundance of work that people just feel like they can afford to not do what they say they’re going to do?? It makes no sense to me and if I had an answer, I would quit my job and start a business, because I know I’m not the only one. Amazon should start a service like Angie’s List. Angie’s List sucks because there just aren’t enough people participating on the contractor side or on the customer side. People aren’t as compelled to write about something when good things happen.

I met a paint contractor at the house this morning. It’s the third bid I’m getting to have the exterior of the house painted. Our house is currently blue with white trim and a white picket fence. We’re making things more natural looking with a nice bold red door.

You’d think it wouldn’t be hard to pick someone to paint, but if I have one more person doing something on our house that can’t come close to doing what they say they can do, I’m going to go completely mental. Here are a few red flags to watch for:

• They call themselves an "artist." Artist means they take too long and they should probably stick with canvases. I'm not looking for someone to paint the Mona Lisa on the side of the house. Solid colors, straight lines, clear outlines... It's not rocket science and it's not a gallery.
• It's 2007 and you should have email. I'll let this one go if it sounds like you know what you're talking about and have good references, but seriously, get some email.
• Don't tell me you don't have a car. I'm all for public transportation, but not having your own car means you can't pick things up at Home Depot when the need arises. Kind of a non-starter.

I am a snob about many things, not the least of which is my writing instrument of choice. I’m always trying a new pen and I recently found the pen of my dreams. I have no intention of being as thorough as Rands, I will say in order for me to even consider a pen, it must meet the following criteria:

I had been using the uni-ball Jetstream, which I still like, but it’s not quite fine enough and it has a cap. So, I’ve been on a quest for another pen for a while. I wish I could remember where I read about the Pilot G-2, but it was a rave review and I ended up ordering a box to see how I liked them. As soon as I started writing with it, I was sure this was the pen I’d been searching for. It met all of my expectations and I can’t imagine another pen that writes better than the Pilot G-2 05 ultra fine point.