I really should title this blog: "The Top 10 Covers of all the music I enjoy... according to me." or something like that. Because, frankly, it's more of a list of my favorite covers rather than the opinions of the rest of the RCA staff... however, here I shall commence.

So, my knowledge of music is very minutia, thus my opinion about the top 10 song covers seems a bit counterintuitive, right? I mean, who cares what I, a 23 year old recent college graduate now teacher in lower New York state, has to say about music? Well, I hope…

Welp, it's that time of the year again, folks: Every publication on the planet publishes top album and song lists--and we are no exception. 2011 was a great year for music. Highly anticipated albums fully delivered (Manchester Orchestra, Bon Iver), and local music is making a comeback. (P.S. Local band people and musicians, we want your favorites lists. Send them to kelly[at]raincityambience.com so we can post another blog.)

This time we are keeping it convenient: One blog for all of the staff picks. Albums and songs, with a few links for staff Best-Of-2011 Spotify playlists. If you have…

Exclusive clubs and memberships are pretty awesome. We all have those clubs we belong to. Personally, I belong to "Red Sox Nation," "Rain City Ambience," and "The Nyack Regional Library." I think the exclusive clubs I belong in are pretty great. However, nothing beats being an exclusive member of "Club 27." To be a member of this club, you must do a few things:
1. Die at the age of 27.
2. Be an excellent prime musician paving the way for musical generations

Sounds simple enough... Actually, the idea conjured up of such an exclusive club is rather haunting and…

Seriously, there are a bunch load of albums jumping into game play on Tuesday. I'm sure thankful to our newest staffer Chris Bateson for the hookups with spotify. (I'll probably write something next week on my personal review of spotify... for now, all I can tell you is it's a database where you can stream whole albums... for free)

ANYWAYS, Here's a list. Get to downloading!



1. All Shall Perish - This is Where it Ends

2. Back Pocket Memory - Beneath the Trees

3. Daniel Bashta – The Sounds of Daniel Bashta

4. Heartsounds - Drifter

5. Joss Stone…

Well, readers (all 3 of you), here are my top albums of 2010. To make up for the fact that I should have posted this blog last year, there are a few bonus favorites at the end of the list. Next time I'm going to start compiling this thing in November.

Enjoy!


10. Deadmau5 - 4x4=12

Notable tracks: Sofi Needs a Ladder, Raise Your Weapon, Cthulhu Sleeps

9. Vampire Weekend - Contra

Notable tracks: Horchata, Cousins, White Sky

8. Hellogoodbye - Would it Kill You?

Notable tracks: When We First Met,…

This year we decided to do things a little differently; instead of just posting staff top ten lists, we wanted to hear from local artists as well. This may or may not have been partially an excuse to stall posting my favorites of the year, but you didn't hear that from me.

All lists are albums unless mentioned otherwise.

Man Without Wax wins the participation award this year, as all five members of the band sent us their top picks.

Spencer Mertel:
1. Kings Of Leon - Come Around Sundown
2. Foxy Shazam - Foxy Shazam
3. Neon…

Here's my annual top ten! We had some good stuff this year...

Jasenka's Top 10 Albums of 2010

10. Jonsi - Go


9. Margot & The Nuclear So and So's - Buzzard


8. Beach House - Teen Dream


7. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest


6. Spoon - Transference


5. The Dead Weather - Sea Of Cowards


4. The National - High Violet
…

The eggnog has turned; the gifts are unwrapped. The family has come and gone, and New Years taunts us. Ah, 2010... What a great year you were. You brought some highs and lows, some lefts and rights. As the new year creeps upon us, I'd like to reminisce on the last 365 days (well, more like last 360... since we have only a few days left of 2010). So, I've compiled a commemorating list honoring 2010: The Top 10 Albums of 2010, The Top 10 Singles of 2010, and The Top 5 Most Anticipated for 2011. These lists are a…

Well, it's that time of year again. I'm not talking about Christmas... I'm talking about the END OF THE YEAR lists we love to come up with. Before doing the "BEST ALBUMS OF 2010" list, I think I shall do something I didn't think of until today:

THE TOP 5 MUSIC STORIES THAT ROCKED MY WORLD IN 2010

5. Craig Owens to leave Chiodos, FOR GOOD.
Yes, this happened at the end of last year, but we didn't really see the affects of it until this year. Oh boy, was it a huge sigh of relief! His voice is so…

Halloween is approaching, whether we like it or not! It's one of my favorite holidays, because I love to dress up. In years past, I've dressed up like Lady Gaga and Kevin Federline. (Yes, all these photos can be found on my facebook.) As I was scoping out twitter this afternoone between neglecting my unfinished homework (Senior year is simply killing me) and nap time, I saw in the trend's section the words "Zombie Cougars".

ZOMBIES ARE TAKING OVER THE WORLD! We are now finding passionate, dramatic people zombiafying themselves whenever appropriate. Halloween is no exception to this…

First off, let's all give a giant hand the size of TEXAS to our programmers for fixing ALL our bugs! /does backflip

Well, I'm a big fan of free music (legally, of course) and I bet you are too. PLUS, every OTHER music site does "FREE MUSIC FRIDAY", and to be ahead of the curve, here we are. With that said, I've compiled a list of AWESOME bands (literally or sarcastically) who are sharing some pretty AWESOME music.

1. Hawthorne Heights acoustic version of Nervous Breakdown. (oh, break DOWN, HH!)

2. Innerpartysystem's "American Trash" from their new EP…

You heard that right, fans! There's been some Gingers in the news, well, at least in my world. I think there's a steady trend. They might take over the world. Anyways, here is my quick top 5 list brought to you by Rain City Ambience. :D


5. Conan O'Brian
Since my favorite comedian of 2009 got shafted by NBC quicker than yesterday's hooker, he's been doing some growing. Well, some personal growth could do him some good. It's attached to his face! That's right! Conan is now sporting the unemployment beard! I didn't know he could grow facial…

A bit late, but here you go regardless.


Top 10 Albums of 2009


10. Keith Urban - Defying Gravity

Matter of fact songwriting, with one of the best guitar players in the biz today.

9. Sherwood - Qu

Nothing but catchy melodies. Great use of what is now becoming classic "indie" production instruments.

8. Muse - Resistance

This album is a compositionally enlightened album. All the string arrangements were done with great consideration to classical music eras. To fuse it with rock music is pure genius.


7. Manchester Orchestra -…

Everyone loves End-of-the-Year lists, right? They appear everywhere at the end of the every year, and it's always exciting to listen to peoples' top picks that you have never heard before.

Music lists:
PureVolume's Top 20 Unsigned Bands of 2009. Tacoma's He is We was the number one pick. Why am I not surprised? I can honestly say that I haven't heard of any of the other bands, so I think I have some research to do.

AbsolutePunk's Top 30 Albums of the Year. A couple of surprises, but nothing to pee your pants over.

Read | Posted by Kelly Mason | Jan 4th 2010, 8:14^pm | Lists