Jon's 2005 Year-End List

Lordy. 2005 is over? What? This was a tumultuous year for me, so my list is lighter than I'd like.

Favorite 3hive Artists Posted in 2005 (in no particular order):
Low
Mike Doughty
Explosions in the Sky
The Cars are the Stars
The Morning After Girls

Favorite 3hive Songs of 2005 (again, no particular order):
"Men of Station" by 13 & God
"Destroy Everything You Touch" by Ladytron
"Kinda Kinky" by Ursula 1000
"Blue Bird" by The Rosebuds
"California" by Low
Goop Soup by Nnnj (new addition that I forgot about!)

Favorite Wish-I-Could-Put-Them-on-3hive Artists of 2005:
Everything that Sigur Ros has done. Ever. In lieu of that, hit their media page and get a bunch of older stuff.

Joe's 2005 Year-End List

Recently, Sam sent two e-mail messages to the 3hive crew. The first contained a link to a recent blurb about 3hive.com in Wired, and the second listed how many times Sam and Sean's year-end list pages had been loaded. On the surface, they both seem like benignly positive messages. The first is great press for the site, and the second is a simple reminder to the rest of the gang to get our lists done. However, because of the holidays and the excessive amount of time I've been spending with my family, I'm going to read Sam's messages a little differently. (In my family, the holidays are all about planning and/or rooting out nefarious conspiracy theories because, hey, isn't that what families do? Plot against each other?) I'm choosing to read the first message, which links to an article that notes that 3hive is composed of only Sam, Sean and Jon, as notice that my job with the site is up-for-grabs and in no way guaranteed, kind of like if I worked for GM or Ford. As for the second message, I have to assume that if my page is loaded the most, I'll be loved the best, which would then mean a big, juicy bonus check. So I'm going to be loading my page 100 times a day until I go back to work, and I'd appreciate it if you'd all do the same. Peace.

Favorite 3hive Artists Posted in 2005:
Ted Leo & Pharmacists
The Weakerthans
Andrew Bird
Sambassadeur
John Vanderslice
Magnolia Electric Company
Finest Dearest
New Buffalo
Tender Forever
Silversun Pickups

Favorite 3hive Songs of 2005:
"Ghosts" by Ted Leo & Pharmacists
"Loyal to My Sorrowful Country" also by Ted Leo & Pharmacists
"Me and Mia" also by Ted Leo & Pharmacists (I REALLY like Ted Leo — thanks Shan!)
"Between the Lines" by Sambassadeur
"Empty Save the Oxygen" by Clue to Kalo
"27 Jennifers" by Mike Doughty
"A Quoi Bon" by Delaney
"Take It Off" by Tender Forever
"The Greatest" by Cat Power
"Charity Case" by MC Frontalot
"Capitol Hill" by Truckstop Honeymoon
"Casimir Pulaski Day" by Sufjan Stevens
"Woman King" by Iron and Wine

Clay's 2005 Year-End List

Now's it my turn. Let me add my thanks to you, the 3hive reader, for your patronage and support during 2005.

Favorite 3hive Artists Posted in 2005 (in no particular order):
Low
The Glass
The Gossip
Sambassadeur
Empress
The Lovekevins
Mazarin
Kiss Me Deadly
Tender Forever
Twink

Favorite 3hive Songs of 2005 (again, no particular order):
"In Action" by We Are Scientists
"Island of the Honest Man" by Hot Hot Heat
"Whatever Season" by Sambassadeur
"Destroy Everything You Touch" by Ladytron
"Treetops (Demo Version)" by Beat Radio
"Dance 1" by Kiss Me Deadly
"Captain Obvious" by Machine Go Boom
"Summer Holiday & Me" by The Jessica Fletchers
"A Happy Medium" by Malcolm Middleton
"Thirty Seconds" by Polara
"Stop Being Perfect" by The Lovekevins
"We're Already There" by Mazarin
"Shut Shut Up" by Emperor X

Favorite Wish-I-Could-Put-Them-on-3hive Artists of 2005:
Yeah, um, about that, I didn't really keep track of that this year. Too busy finding good stuff for 3hive.

Sam's 2005 Year-End List

Here's my go at it. Like Sean said, it was a good year. Next year will be even better. Thanks for being our friend.

Favorite 3hive Artists Posted in 2005 (in alphabetical order):
Ballboy
Boom Bip
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clue to Kalo
Danger Doom
DJ Format
Dressy Bessy
Paul Duncan
Ezekiel Honig
Thao Nguyen
The Notes and Scratches
The Octopus Project
Russian Futurists
Thee More Shallows
Tom Vek

Favorite 3hive Songs of 2005:
"Treetops (Demo)" by Beat Radio
"Gore Veil" by The Deadly Snakes
"Shut Shut Up" by Emperor X
"Kissing Families" by Silversun Pickups
"Destroy Eveything You Touch" by Ladytron
"The Only Night" by Ian Love
"Between the Lines" by Sambassadeur
"Little by Little" by The Chicharones
"All of My Lovin'" by Valley Lodge
"Destroy the Chemistry" by The Drips

Favorite Wish-I-Could-Put-Them-on-3hive Artists of 2005:
Ohmega Watts
Copperpot
Minotaur Shock
Cut Copy (second year running)
Edan (second year running)
Grandaddy (second year running)
Chris Whitley (RIP)
General Elektriks
Lali Puna
Electric President

Sean's 2005 Year-End List

3hive.com. Year two. I'm going to take the first shot at a year end list with my fine cohorts following sporadically through the end of the year. That way you'll have a chance to digest it all little by little. Speaking of those cohorts I want to thank Sam, Jon, Clay, Shan, and Joe for their time and taste, rare and refined, because without them I wouldn't be writing this, you wouldn't be reading this, and worst of all, we all would have missed out on 365 days of finely rolled joints, top choice cuts, or any other overly-metaphored term for quality tunes. And as our reader Josh recently reminded me, one of the best things about 3hive, and I'll add, any year-end list, is it gives you that extra kick in the pants to listen to things that you've been hearing about all year, but you haven't actually heard them yet. Start hearing:

Favorite 3hive Artists Posted in 2005 (in alphabetical order):

Blackalicious
Boom Bip
Dangerdoom
El Ten Eleven
Gotye
Jose Gonzalez
Low
Matt Pond PA
Mazarin
Of Montreal
Okkervil River
Quantazelle
Richard Swift
Rosebuds
Silversun Pickups
Sound Directions
The Coral Sea
The Morning After Girls
Thee More Shallows
Tom Vek

Favorite 3hive Songs of 2005
"Ancient Modern People" by The Coral Sea
"Braking (Hushed)" by Quantazelle
"California" by Low
"I Turn My Camera On" by Spoon
"Morning Wonder" by The Earlies
"Sanddollars" by Why?
"The Late Great Casseopeia" by The Essex Green
"The Move" by Boom Bip
"This Heart is a Stone" by Acid House Kings
"We're Already There" by Mazarin

Favorite Wish-I-Could-Put-Them-on-3hive Artists of 2005

CALLA (from Collisions)
Caribou (from Milk of Human Kindness)
Cosiner
The Evens
General Elektriks
Jamie Lidell
M.I.A.
Ohmega Watts
Quantic Soul Orchestra
Summer Lawns

A Christmas Podcast for You From 3hive

Podcast #14 is up and it's a very special, very 3hive Christmas edition.

Playlist:
Cepia "Christmas Time Is Here" (Ghostly)
The Spectacular Fantastic "Winter Song" (Ionik)
Deerhoof "Holy Night Fever" (Kill Rock Stars)
The Boy Least Likely To "Little Donkey " (Too Young to Die)
Matt Costa "Cold December" (Venerable)
The Walkmen "Christmas Party" (self-released)
Zooey "Grey Christmas " (self-released)
Hinkley "Frail and Poker Faced " (self-released)
Fonda "Last Christmas" (Parasol)
65 Days of Static "I'm Dreaming of a White Noise Christmas" (self-released)

Happy holidays dear friends, however you roll.

Love,
The 3hive Collective

Feed Me

Hey kids, if you subscribed to the 3hive feeds before Thanksgiving 2005, you might need to resubscribe. We've migrated the feed to Feedburner, and yeah, I forgot to mention this and yeah, that's coming out of my annual holiday bonus. We are doing a single feed now (Feedburner does the heavy lifting) and to subscribe, you can click here.

Ghostly Holiday Tracks

Ghostly's holiday gifts have arrived. Three MP3s for the giving season: one original track from a new artist to the roster, Benoit Pioulard, and a couple classics covered.

Outputmessage "Carol of the Bells" [MP3, 3.5MB, 160kbps]
Cepia "Christmastime Is Here" [MP3, 3.7MB, 192kbps]
Benoit Pioulard "Rays in the Tallow" [MP3, 4.3MB, 192kbps]

Cepia's cover of "Christmastime is Here" is really putting me where I need to be. I can't get enough of anything having to do with Charlie Brown's Christmas, even after all these years, and Cepia chills out the track just right.

Ghostly has also been slowly releasing track info on their Idol Tryouts Two compilation. Hit their myspace page for a preview. Sounding like the wait will have been worth it.

The Nicest Thing Joe Has Ever Said to Me

I was talking to Joe on the phone the other night. He says, "Remember my former student, Katherine? She made this mix that has a couple of Mountain Goats songs that you have to hear ("Broom People" and "You or Your Memory" from The Sunset Tree)."

I say, "Yeah, you know I posted the Mountain Goats on 3hive a while back."

Then he says, "Well, I'm just now getting into them and these songs remind me of you. If you made music, this is what I think it would sound like."

I've known Joe for about 20 years now and that may be one of the nicest things he's ever said to me. And you were there.

3hive Makes Flavorpill's F-List

As longtime subscribers of Flavorpill's many top-notch cultural filters, we just got all warm and fuzzy inside when they recently alerted us to their first ever F-List. And what to our wondering eyes should appear, but 3hive's listed as one of their favorite music resources of the year.

Check out the rest of their picks:

Flavorpill's 2005 F-List

Links Fixed for The Weakerthans

My friend Tim Ortopan just said that the links for The Weakerthans were messed up, so I fixed them. He expecially likes the song "Aside," which apparently played during the ending credits to The Wedding Crashers. Maybe I'll hit him up for babysitting so I can go to the movies! Merry Christmas, T.O.

3hive's 2005 Guide to eMusic

Because I'm a bit obsessive and I'm really stoked on how vast eMusic's catalog has grown in recent months, I have compiled a 3hive Guide to eMusic. Surprisingly, better than half of the independent, unsigned, and somewhat obscure artists we have written up in the past 12 months are included. And, just in case you haven't heard, eMusic lets you buy legal MP3 downloads with no rights management at roughly half the cost of iTunes et. al.!!
(I know this sounds like an infomercial but when it comes to bargain hunting I'm a regular Ron Popeil.)

See 3hive's 2005 Guide to eMusic, Vol. 1
See 3hive's 2005 Guide to eMusic, Vol. 2

For you eMusic virgins, here's where you sign up for 50 free MP3s from eMusic.

The Truth About Au Revoir Simone

Joe just loves to incite band name controversy with his picks, doesn't he? Well, I believe the raging debate (or brief discussion) over Au Revoir Simone is finally over... As Justin points out in his comment, the band's name is actually a reference to Pee Wee's Big Adventure and not Nina Simone — which I should know, as it's one of my wife's fave movies. Justin was also kind enough to provide this audio evidence.

New MP3s by The Clientele and The Rosebuds

Check out updated pages for The Clientele, with "E.M.P.T.Y." and The Rosebuds, with "You Better Get Ready."

Dean Gray Mashup

Download the Green Day mashup: http://americanedit.org/home/ae/.

Iron and Wine + Calexico + Salvador Duran = Quality Entertainment

Patrick asked if I'd go to the Calexico and Iron and Wine show at the Majestic after his pregnant wife and 3hive's own Joe Cislo passed (both with valid excuses, mind you). I was glad for the chance to go but wasn't prepared for the show that it was. The groups interchanged members fluidly and brought so much combustion to their songs I just can't imagine going back to the studio versions. Salvador Duran was in tow, a Mexican troubador type with a voice that could stop a train. They played originals, they played covers, they played for hours...then they got back on stage and played some more as the crew was taking down their gear. Don't miss this tour unless you have already (in which case, you need better friends...or at least friends that consider you a good third choice).

New 3hive Podcast Ready to Fill Your Gadget

3hive Podcast #13: direct download

For the week ending December 3, 2005
Host: Sam

Playlist:
Jens Lekman "Black Cab" (Secretly Canadian)
Machine Go Boom "Captain Obvious" (Collectible Escalators)
Nic Armstrong & the Thieves "If We Can't Escape, My Pretty" (New West)
Climber "Always Right" (Sparklet)
Au Revoir Simone "Back in Time" (self-released)
Faux Pas "White Light" (self-released)
Gotye "A Distinctive Sound" (self-released)
Blue Bone Express "Sweltering Solar Rag" (self-released)

A Poem by Matt Rohrer

Matt Rohrer is a Brooklyn poet with a few books (A Hummock in the Malookas, Satellite, and A Green Light), a CD, and great wife and son. And I'm not talking up Matt because we were classmates in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan's Residential College, or because we had a fun playdate with our 2-year-olds this summer in Washington Square Park. His poems are imaginative, witty, strange and unsettling — all-around good stuff. You can check out an MP3 of Matt's poem "Mountain" on the website dragonfire, a collection of writing on a variety of topics hosted by Drexel University.

Play It As It Lays Frequent Flyers

The playlist from my KUCI show last night (tune in next week for The Coral Sea live in studio):

Play It As It Lays #218
November 29, 2005
FREQUENT FLYERS--most played artists in 2005

KUCI 88.9 FM | www.kuci.org | iTunes:Radio:Public
Tuesdays 10-Midnight PST

stream it
download it

FIRST CLASS:
Caribou--bees [leaf/domino]
The Quantic Soul Orchestra--get a move on [ubiquity]
Mobius Band--starts off with a bang [ghostly]
El Ten Eleven--lorge [bar none]
Minotaur Shock--(she's in) dry dock now [4ad]
Prefuse 73 vs The Books--pagina dos [warp]
Quantazelle--joy diversion [unschooled]
Four Tet--smile around the face [domino]
!!!--take ecstacy with me [touch and go]
Silversun Pickups--booksmart devil [dangerbird]

BUSINESS CLASS:
Summer Lawns--piano song [stunning models on display]
The Earlies--morning wonder [secretly canadian]
Lyrics Born--i changed my mind *stereo mc's rattlesnake mix [quannum]
Cosiner--the rainsmell [beautiful angry music]
The Free Design--i found love *styrofoam & sarah shannon mix [light in the attic]
Why?--sandollars [anticon]
Richard Swift--the novelist [secretly canadian]
General Elektriks--facing that void [quannum]
Solvent--wish [ghostly]
Emperor X--shut shut up [discos mariscos]
The Evens--all these governors [dischord]

COACH CLASS:
Hexstatic--chase me [ninja tune]
Tiger Baby--chinese fairytale [souvenir]
Supersystem--born into the world [touch and go]

Unfortunately, not enough time to play these:
Matt Costa
Mice Parade
Ohmega Watts
Ray Barbee
Sole
Spaghetti Western

Richard Swift MP3 Added + West Coast Tour

One of our favorite songwriters that more people need to hear about, Richard Swift, is making his way down the West coast:

12/08/05 Bellingham, WA - Night Light Lounge
12/09/05 Seattle, WA - Neumo's
12/10/05 Kennewick, WA - 321 Art Space
12/11/05 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
12/13/05 San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord
12/15/05 Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar
12/16/05 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland

Also check his entry for a new MP3, "As I Go," added to our arsenal.

!!! (Chk Chk Chk) Link Works Again

In case anyone was wondering... click here!!!

Introducing P. Williams: Visual Artist

P. Williams draws really good. Visit his new website for lots more visual fun.

More Clem Snide and Broken Spindles MP3s

We've posted new MP3s from Clem Snide ("Parable") and Broken Spindles ("Inward" and "This Is an Introduction").

Sufjan Stevens MP3s

From his (relatively) new album Illinois, we're adding MP3s of the songs "Casimir Pulaski Day" and "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" to our Sufjan Stevens page. (You might need to hit refresh, eh?) Pulaski Day — a day off from school on the first Monday of March, honoring the great Polish patriot — is easily one of the things I miss most about living in Chicago. Like the album cover says, "Come on feel the Illinoise."

(Not a New) MP3 from The Arcade Fire

Alas, the links on our old Arcade Fire post are dead. However, here's one that does work, off of their lovely album Funeral.
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)