Diario

I attended 162 gigs this year, up 52 from last year and an average of a gig every 2.3 days. I've watched approximately 339 distinct band/artists. The best of these were:

• Refused, The Bots, Pettybone – The Forum, Kentish Town, 13-Aug-2012
  
• Nic Jones, The Halliard, Jim Moray – Cecil Sharp House, Camden, 22-Sep-2012
  
• Dan Stuart, Sacri Cuori – The Borderline, Soho, 11-Sep-2012
  
• Jeff Mangum, The Music Tapes – Union Chapel, Islington, 14-Mar-2012
  
• Eliza Carthy, Tim Eriksen – The Tabernacle, Notting Hill, 31-Mar-2012
  
• The Deep Dark Woods, The Arlenes, Deer Park – The Windmill, Brixton, 22-Feb-2012
  
• Carrie Rodriguez – Easton Farm Park, Easton, 1-Jul-2012
  
• Sharon Van Etten, This Is The Kit – Junction 2: The Shed, Cambridge, 7-Oct-2012
  
• Lydia Loveless, Misty Miller, The Near Death Experience – The Windmill, Brixton, 12-Nov-2012
  
• Bat For Lashes – The Junction, Cambridge, 13-Jun-2012
  As usual, open mike nights are not included in the counts above, but anything with an announced bill is fair game. …

Napalm Death - Utilitarian
Patti Smith - Banga
Go-Kart Mozart - On The Hot Dog Streets
Giant Giant Sand - Tucson
Waco Brothers & Paul Burch - Great Chicago Fire
Gretchen Peters - Hello Cruel World
Magoo - The Continuing Adventures Of
Jay Farrar - New Multitudes
Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
Jim Moray - Skulk

http://americanamusic.org/sites/americanamusic.org/files/imagecache/GalleryFinal/316861_10150340355654232_10169864231_8306299_947917759_n_0.jpeg
Americana fans, here we go again. I was going to title this the Good, Bad and the Ugly, but I didn't think y'all needed me going all political with you and the Empty Chairs. PR from AMA

September 5, 2012, Nashville: The Americana Music Association announced today the list of performers and presenters to appear on the 11th annual Americana Honors & Awards, presented by Nissan, Wednesday, September 12 at the historic Ryman Auditorium.

The performer list includes the best and brightest icons and rising stars: Bonnie Raitt, Alabama Shakes, Booker T. Jones, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Deep Dark Woods, Hayes Carll with Cary Ann Hearst, Guy Clark, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, John Hiatt, Justin Townes Earle, Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, Punch Brothers, Tom T. Hall with Lee Ann Womack and Peter Cooper, Robert Ellis, Sarah Jarosz, The Mavericks…

Welcome to my on going effort to promote the music of female vocalists and female fronted bands. I hope you find this research tool useful to you in growing a greater appreciation of these wonderful women singers and musicians. Some of these artists are well known while others are working hard to be discovered. The first link will take you to the artist's Last.fm home page. The following link(s) takes you to the website(s) where the artist is offering a free download.

I would like to give a special thanks to my friend Ken aka Pretty-Life, who has brought to my attention so many of the fantastic female artists found in this journal. Thanks, Ken!

Please know that I do not own or hold the copyrights on any of the below songs. They are all the property of their respective artists, songwriters and/or recording companies.

If you like my work, then please leave me a shout saying so. Thanks for stopping by.

George (music_man_76)


G

…

1 P!nk 280
2 Hole 224
3 Clint Black 197
4 The Mavericks 189
5 Johnny Cash 188
6 Mariah Carey 186
7 Fergie 171
8 Avril Lavigne 168
9 Catatonia 166
9 All Saints 166
11 Black Eyed Peas 163
11 Kelis 163
13 Garth Brooks 162
14 Vince Gill 159
15 Garbage 158
16 Trisha Yearwood 147
17 Alanis Morissette 144
18 Sugababes 133
19 Kylie Minogue 130
20 Elvis Presley 129
21 Destiny's Child 128
22 Rihanna 117
23 Girls Aloud 115
23 Gwen Stefani 115
25 George Strait 114
26 Jennifer Lopez 112
27 Alan Jackson 110
27 Buddy Holly 110
29 Lyle Lovett 108
30 Dixie Chicks 105
30 Dean Martin 105
32 Beyoncé 103
32 Natasha Bedingfield 103
34 Lee Ann Womack 102
35 Raul Malo 101
36 The Corrs 100
36 Billy Joel 100
38 Christina Aguilera 99
…

1 P!nk 280
2 Hole 224
3 Clint Black 197
4 The Mavericks 189
5 Johnny Cash 188
6 Mariah Carey 186
7 Fergie 171
8 Avril Lavigne 168
9 Catatonia 166
9 All Saints 166
11 Black Eyed Peas 163
11 Kelis 163
13 Garth Brooks 162
14 Vince Gill 159
15 Garbage 158
16 Trisha Yearwood 147
17 Alanis Morissette 144
18 Sugababes 133
19 Kylie Minogue 130
20 Elvis Presley 129
21 Destiny's Child 128
22 Rihanna 117
23 Girls Aloud 115
23 Gwen Stefani 115
25 George Strait 114
26 Jennifer Lopez 112
27 Alan Jackson 110
27 Buddy Holly 110
29 Lyle Lovett 108
30 Dixie Chicks 105
30 Dean Martin 105
32 Beyoncé 103
32 Natasha Bedingfield 103
34 Lee Ann Womack 102
35 Raul Malo 101
36 The Corrs 100
36 Billy Joel 100
38 Christina Aguilera 99
…

Thought I'd post this chart with some added commentary from me to make it a little bit more interesting than the usual long laundry list that usually gets posted on these journals from time to time.

Kind of interesting to note that there are a number of artists in my top 25 list, that aren't featured here at all, those being Johnny Cash; Beyoncé; Girls Aloud; Alan Jackson; Dixie Chicks (those actually being in my top ten overall); Mariah Carey; Kylie Minogue; Rihanna; Vince Gill; Clint Black; Gwen Stefani; Christina Aguilera; Destiny's Child; and Avril Lavigne.

(14 in all, or over half of my top 25 not represented in my top 35 albums)

I also guess some of the Greatest Hits albums may have skewed the results as well. Still, here is the list:

david5970's top albums (overall)
1. Garth Brooks - The Hits (28) For all the essential Garth Brooks songs2. Dusty Springfield - Classics & Collectibles (1) (24) http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3309/4593847. …

Well, it’s ten days late, but finally, here are my Top 25 albums of the year. If you aren’t interested in my blathering, then feel free to skip ahead and see what my favourites were! Comments welcome.

25. Anna Maria Jopek – Id

This is a lovely little album from one of Poland’s best. It’s ethereal and mysterious, and very relaxing. I do wish I could understand Polish, since I cannot understand any of the songs, and I think it would enhance my listening if I could. Furthermore, it doesn’t let me choose a favourite easily. Anyhow, the Polish language sounds beautiful on this music, as does Jopek’s voice. I prefer her last album, a more jazzy work, with interesting arrangements of well-known songs, but this CD is great to relax with.

24. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand

This album’s sold very well, and has had a lot of critical acclaim. I’m not so sure. I do like it when it’s on, but I find it pretty underwhelming, and not particularly memorable. …