RADIO HANNIBAL

Another Look At Radio Hannibal's Top Albums And Singles Of 2011

Radio Hannibal Top 40 Singles Of 2011

1. Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks
2. Azealia Banks ft. Lazy Jay - 212
3. Lana Del Ray - Video Games
4. Ana Calvi - Desire
5. Kurt Vile - Jesus Fever
6. M83 - Midnight City
7. The Dodos ft. Neko Case - Don’t Try And Hide It
8. The Head And The Heart - Lost In My Mind
9. St. Vincent - Cruel
10. Neon Indian - Polish Girl
11. Lykke Li - Sadness Is A Blessing
12. Tom Waits - Bad As Me
13. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
14. Kate Bush - Wild Man
15. Washed Out - Amor Fati
16. The Black Keys - Lonely Boy
17. Nicki Minaj - Super Bass
18. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
19. The Horrors - I Can See Through You
20. Junior Boys - Banana Ripple
21. Eleanor Friedberger - My Mistakes
22. Cut Copy - Take Me Over
23. Girls - Honey Bunny
24. Yuck - Georgia
25. The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
26. Gruff Rhys- Sensations In The Dark
27. The Jayhawks - She Walks In So Many Ways
28. Fountains Of Wayne - Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart
29. Raphael Saadiq - Radio
30. Cornershop - United Provinces Of India
31. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Bubble
32. Adele - Rolling In The Deep
33. Metronomy - The Bay
34. Friendly Fires - Hawaiian Air
35. Florrie - I Took A Little Something
36. Herzog - Silence
37. Robyn - Call Your Girlfriend
38. Hayes Carll - Kmag Yoyo
39. Dave Alvin - Harlan County Line
40. Mayer Hawthorne - The Walk

Radio Hannibal Top 40 Singles of 2011 on Spotify

Radio Hannibal Top 50 Albums of 2011

1. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
2. Jonathan Wilson - Gentle Spirit
3. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
4. Tom Waits - Bad As Me
5. The Black Keys - El Camino
6. White Denim - D
7. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
8. Clive Tanaka Y Su Orquestra - Jet Set Siempre 1 Degree
9. Baxter Dury - Happy Soup
10. DRC Music - Kinshasa One Two
11. Washed Out - Within And Without
12. Neon Indian - Era Extrana
13. The Horrors - Skying
14. Wild Flag - Wild Flag
15. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
16. Amor De Dias - Street Of The Love Of Days
17. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
18. Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots
19. Wilco - The Whole Love
20. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin’
21. The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient
22. Pedro Soler, Gaspar Claus - Barlande
23. Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo
24. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
25. Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow
26. Fountains Of Wayne - Sky Full Of Holes
27. Tinariwen - Tassili
28. Panda Bear - Tomboy
29. Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit - Here We Rest
30. Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind Of Fix
31. Brent Kirby - Coming Back To Life
32. The Felice Brothers - Celebration, Florida
33. Cass McCombs - Wit’s End
34. Garland Jeffreys - Don’t Call Me Buckwheat
35. The Jayhawks - Mockingbird Time
36. Paul Simon - So Beautiful Or So What
37. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
38. Marissa Nadler - Marissa Nadler
39. Woods - Sun And Shade
40. Metronomy - The English Riviera
41. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
42. Hayes Karll - KMAG YOYO
43. Bright Eyes - The People’s Key
44. The Field - Looping State Of Mind
45. The Dodos - No Color
46. The Head And The Heart - The Head And The Heart
47. Atlas Sound - Parallax
48. Robag Wruhme - Thora Vukk
49. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
50. Josh T. Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen

Radio Hannibal Top 50 Albums of 2011 on Spotify

Happy New Year From Radio Hannibal

Here's a toast to the most important thing in life, family and friends.  May the new year bring health, happiness and prosperity to us all. 

Cool Photos Of The Day

Bobby Womack

George Harrison and Bob Marley

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Robert DeNiro and Joe Strummer

Townes Van Zandt

Spotify Mix - Radio Hannibal New Year's Eve Party

Here's a new year's eve party playlist geared toward the dancefloor.In order to make sure Guy Lombardo commences with "Auld Lang Syne" at midnight start it at 10:30pm exactly. 

Cheers.

Radio Hannibal New Year's Eve Party 2011

NPR's Look At The Year In Music

National Public Radio (NPR) probably covers music better than anyone else on the internet.  It's better than Pitchfork because it doesn't where "indie" blinders.  The staff covers the gamut from rock and pop to jazz and classical. 

There's much to peruse here from staff best of year lists to listener poll results, The Year In Music: 2011. 

Merry Christmas From Radio Hannibal

My annual Radio Hannibal Best of 2011 CD

Some Classic Christmas Music Videos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's Your Least Favorite Christmas Song?

I love Christmas music.  You know that by now.  There's certainly some songs I could do without though.  There's plenty of cringe-worthy Christmas crap.

How about those dogs barking out "Jingle Bells" or "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer".  There's two that should be destroyed.  So what's your least favorite holiday song?

Mine isn't a particular version of a song.  It's the song itself.  I really can't stand "Little Drummer Boy".  I don't care who's singing it and many have.  That "pah rumpah pah pah" is like fingernails on a blackboard to me. 

Even Bing and Bowie's version, which happens to be my wife's favorite Christmas song isn't tolerated by me.  It's somewhat salvaged when Bowie starts singing another song.  Still, even Bing Crosby can't pull off that annoying drum thing. 

 

Loving Music Means Show Tunes As Well

I'm not very knowledgeable about Broadway music, better known as the show tunes genre.  It's a minefield of guilty pleasures.  I like what I like but often keep it to myself.  A guy who likes show tunes, well, for some reason his sexuality comes into play.  Come on, aren't we more mature than that?

I'll grant you it's a generalization that holds water.  I'm sure, if surveyed, gay men enjoy musicals more than straight men.  But I'm not ashamed to call The Wizard Of Oz one of my favorite movies of all time.  And it's the songs that place it there. 

Musicals were part of my childhood.  Before Disney got into Pixar their big moneymakers were animated musicals that remain classics.  And films like Mary Poppins and The Sound Of Music helped form my musical appreciation as much as anything else. 

But I kind of abandoned show tunes for rock and roll early on.  Still, there's songs from musical theater that can't be denied.  In the '80s I saw Mandy Patinkin sing "Over The Rainbow" on David Letterman.  I've been a fan of his ever since.  Here's an encore performance of it he did for Letterman in 1989.

I feel more comfortable with my professing a love of show tunes when someone like Hugh Jackman comes along.  Jackman is known by most for his macho movie roles but the Australian actor is a song and dance man, having won a Tony award.  He's on Broadway this holiday season doing a one man show.  It's the hottest ticket of the season and completely sold out. 

The New York Times did a great story on the two sides of Jackman, Hugh Jackman Keeps His Pants On. "For some women his double-jointedness makes him the perfect platonic lover: part leading-man seducer (who gives you the best sex you never had), part gay best friend (who picks up your spirits by singing show tunes with you)." 

In the show he sings the aforementioned "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and opens the performance with "Oh What A Beautiful Morning".

I doubt that a musical soundtrack will ever make my end of the year lists but there's no denying that I enjoy a good show tune now and then.

 

 

Not Feeling The Christmas Spirit? Give Until It Hurts And You Will

You hear it every year as Christmas approaches, "I'm just not feeling the Christmas spirit".  The quick answer to it is that it's on them.  No one else is going to give you that feeling except yourself.  And as much as I'm a fan of Christmas music and the power of music in general, listening to songs of the season will only lift those spirits so far.

There's a simple cure for it though.  It's called giving.  And I'm not talking about giving presents to family and friends.  I'm speaking of giving to those in need.  And there's plenty of people who could use your charitable donations right this very second. 

I don't need to give you a list of charities who are looking for your help.  They're plentiful and if one doesn't come to mind ask those around you to name one.  In fact, tout your own favorite local charity right here if you like.

Here's the trick though.  Use that saying "give 'til it hurts".  Make a donation that is above and beyond what you've ever considered in the past.  Make it hard to write that check or to cast that $100 into the Salvation Army kettle.  Then, my friend, a magical thing will happen.  You will be filled with the Christmas spirit.