Best Albums of 2010

When I'm not working on my own music, I like to take as much time as I can to discover and enjoy other new music. 2010 was a very good year for doing just that. Here is a list of the top ten albums that meant something to me this year for various reasons.

So let's get to it. Here are my top ten favorite albums of 2010.

10. I Heart California by Admiral Radley

Members of Grandaddy (a favorite band of mine) and Earlimart (who I know by name only) combine forces on this album with wildly mixed results. Not many albums can mix together so many songs that I love with a few that I really don’t care for at all. Despite this inconsistency, the best of these really are great songs. This is certainly not an album I can listen to in it’s entirety but half of it is very, very good.

Standout Tracks:
#2 - "Ghosts of Syllables"
#4 - "Lonesome Co."

#5 - "The Thread

#9 - "GNDN"
#11 - "I Left U Cuz I Luft U"

9. Transference by Spoon

A below standard album from an above standard band. Still, there are enough highlights here to give this one a mention.

Standout Tracks:
#3 - "The Mystery Zone"
#5 - "Written in Reverse"
#8 - "Goodnight Laura"

#10 - "Got Nuffin"

8. Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter

Not as consistent as 2008’s Microcastle, but where this album is good, it is REALLY good. More poppy and accessible than they’ve been in the past. Easily the worst album cover of the year though.

Standout Tracks:

#3 - "Revival"
#5 - "Memory Boy"
#6 - "Desire Lines"

#8 - "Helicopter"

7. Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens

Wow. What can you even say about this album? It is hard to even form words to describe this. It is something that needs to be experienced. With this album Sufjan is more a composer than a songwriter. There is so much going on at any given moment in these songs. So complex and busy and yet incredibly infectious and often quite moving. If there is any flaw to be found it is that this exercise in overload sometimes can almost be a bit too much. All in all an amazing listening experience from an obvious genius.

Standout Tracks:

#1 - "Futile Devices"
#4 - "I Walked"
#5 - "Now That I’m Older"
#8 - "Vesuvius"

6. The Devil to Pay by Brett Shady

The debut album from Brett Shady may not break any new sonic ground, but it doesn’t have to nor was it meant to. Half of it’s charm is the feeling that you’ve heard these songs before somehow...perhaps as a child on the radio during a late night road trip...perhaps in a distant dream of some alternate version of the 1950’s...who knows exactly, but you know you’ve heard them before. The rest of this albums charms can be found in equal parts of simple yet smart and affecting ‘everyman’ lyrics, beautiful sparse country-tinged arrangements, and incredible sing-along pop moments. Not a poor track to be found here, but there are certainly highlights that hopefully are a sign of things to come.

Standout Tracks:
#1 - "Somebody Else"
#2 - "Jerome, AZ"
#6 - "Red House Plea"
#10 - "Angels, Ghosts And Demons"

5. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire

I’ll say this right off the bat...The Suburbs is the weakest album Arcade Fire has released to date. With that said, that still leaves plenty of room for this to be an excellent album, which it is. Of course it’s still early to really be able to say...ask me again in 10 years for a more definitive answer. To be fair, this has only grown on me since I first heard it and I imagine it will continue to do so in years to come. The Suburbs definitely has its highlights and moments of brilliance and yet sometimes it seems like it just barely misses the target or plods along in a boisterous yet unaffecting way. At 16 tracks, it feels at least 2 tracks too long. Don’t get me wrong, this is excellent music...they just set the bar so high with previous releases that it’s hard to see things for what they are until the dust has more time to settle.

Standout Tracks:

#1 - “The Suburbs”
#2 - “Ready To Start”
#9 - “Suburban War”
#15 - "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"

4. Mines by Menomena

I don’t hear this band talked about much and I haven’t seen them mentioned on many end of year lists. I can only scratch my head and wonder if I’m hearing something different than everyone else. To my ears this is one of the most refreshing and brilliant bands to come out in a long while. They are yet to put out a full masterpiece, but they are at the top of the list of bands that I expect great things from. Mines showcases Menomena with their most mature and solid set of songs to date. The songwriting here reaches emotional highs that they had yet to reach previously. They are not all perfect but there is so much here to love. Each track has so much going on while at the same time feeling sparse. The production is brilliant with the drums up front and the piano and sax not far behind and which both, along with jagged guitar stabs, weave in and out of the music in the most creative and often surprising ways. This band sounds like nothing I’ve heard before.

Standout Tracks:
#2 - “TAOS”
#3 - “Killemall”
#8 - “Oh Pretty Boy, You’re Such A Big Boy”
#9 - “Five Little Rooms”
#11 - “Intil”

3. Broken Bells by Broken Bells
Although this album is completely interesting and engaging throughout with not a weak track to be found, I can’t help but be slightly disappointed every time I listen to it. You see, half of this album is a complete masterpiece...the other half is merely great. When I listen I find myself wondering what could have been. Perhaps this super duo of Danger Mouse and James Mercer will eventually create this perfect gem of an album that is hinted at here. Until that time we must be content with mere greatness (with a heavy dose of brilliance).

Standout Tracks:
#1 - “The High Road”
#2 - “Vaporize”
#3 - “Your Head Is On Fire”
#4 - “The Ghost Inside”
#7 - “Citizen”

2. High Violet by The National

In 2007 The National released Boxer...a fine enough album with barely a weak song and several songs that I really enjoyed. And yet there was enough there that I wasn’t completely sold on that I have not returned to that album much over the past 3 years.

By comparison, High Violet never left any such doubts in my mind. From the first listen there was no question it was brilliant, it was just a matter of figuring out exactly HOW brilliant. Listening to this now at the end of the year I am realizing that it only keeps getting better the more time passes.

Standout Tracks:
#2 - “Sorrow”
#3 - “Anyone’s Ghost”
#5 - “Afraid of Everyone”
#10 - “England”

1. Teen Dream by Beach House
The title of this album gives it away, the key word being “dream”. “Teen” or otherwise, this album feels like a complete dream. There is not a single song that is not completely gorgeous...and yet if it has any fault, it’s that they are all so good that on initial listens, nothing really stands out. You keep waiting for it to falter and it never does. There are many songs that came out this year that I would consider better than anything on here, but there is no album that is as solid as this.

My first listen to Teen Dream was on a solitary road trip through the northwest corner of Nevada and into Oregon. It was a route I had never been on and it was amazingly desolate. At one point I think I drove over a hundred miles and only passed a handful of cars going the other direction. The cloud formations that day were otherworldly and that combined with the thrill that comes from seeing a new place for the first time provided the perfect atmosphere for this album. It truly felt like I had wandered into a dream. A Teen Dream apparently.

Standout Tracks:

#1 - “Zebra”
#4 - “Walk In the Park”
#5 - “Used to Be”
#7 - “Better Times”
#8 - “Ten Mile Stereo”

I'm Ready For What's Next

As I have been working on completing "Here Nor There" over the course of the last 5 years, I have also been writing many other new songs as well. I have many that I feel very good about. "Come And Gone" is one such song. It is nearly complete lyrically. I've had various verses and chorus' written for some time now. I've finally sat down and finalized the complete song structure and begun the recording process. Here is the very early results that give a glimpse of the vision I have for this song. The prominent guitar line that you hear has been in my head for over a year now. I'm pretty much obsessed with the way it floats over the top of the chord sequence. I'm hoping that I'm onto something great here.

Have a listen

Come And Gone (Early Sample Clip - 01) by james Gillice

Cleaning Out the Closet

With my third-born album "Here Nor There" now grown up and moved out of the house, it's time to go through a few old things and put them in order. I have quite a few little bits and pieces of songs from past sessions that never found a home. Most of them are in this homeless state because they obviously didn't belong anywhere else. They were either unfinished, didn't fit in, or were just plain not that good. There is one song, however that I was always proud of called "A Lie". I've polished it up a bit, created some artwork, and added a couple more of the best/most interesting of these leftovers to create a mini EP called "A Lie". Remember, these songs are pretty old and somewhat second rate...enjoy them for what they are.

The track-listing is as follows:

1. A Lie
2. So Alone
3. The Descent

All of these songs come from the "Making It Right Again" recording sessions of 2003-2005. Go HERE to listen and download it for free.

'Here Nor There' Song Sampler

IMPORTANT MESSAGE - Please Read

Greetings friends, family, acquaintances and/or fans...

It’s James Gillice here. As you may or may not know, in my spare time I am an independent singer-songwriter. I completely write and produce all of my music by myself. You may even be aware of the fact that I’ve been working on completing my third album for quite a few years now. Well it’s finally done! It is called Here Nor There and it is available to download right now! As you might imagine, I am pretty excited about this. This represents countless hours of work over many years. And now that it’s finished I only want one thing...for as many people as possible to hear and own it.

But here’s the problem...it turns out that it is no easy trick in this day and age to get people to even listen to your music, let alone consider parting with their hard earned cash to purchase it. So here’s the deal...I want EVERYONE to own this album. EVERYONE! If you are reading this, I want this album sitting on YOUR CD shelf or taking up YOUR hard drive space, playing on YOUR iPod, being listened to BY YOU, in whatever way and at whatever time is most convenient to you. That is my greatest desire.

I understand that it ridiculous to expect people to pay “full price” for music that they may be only marginally interested in. I certainly don’t do that myself. No one in their right mind would. And so I don’t expect you to either. I know that If I tried to charge (any amount really) for my music, 95% of you will just not be interested, and the music will remain unheard and un-enjoyed. That is just the reality. That is absolutely NOT what I want. Remember, I want EVERYONE to hear and own this album!

Here’s where I need your help. As of today I’m making Here Nor There available as a “pay what you want” download. What I need from you is simply for you to GO AND DOWNLOAD IT! That’s it. That’s all I ask. You will be able to pay whatever amount you feel it is worth to you. For many of you that amount might be zero. That’s OK!!! It is completely legitimate and I have no problem with that. Remember, I WANT you to have this more than anything! I’d rather you have it for free than not have it at all.

But here’s the other part of it...IF this music IS worth something to you, and you have the financial means to do so, PLEASE pay whatever you feel is a fair amount. No amount is too small or too large. Think of it more as giving a tip than making a purchase.

Also, if it just so happens that you DO enjoy this music, there are many other ways you can “pay” for it that have nothing to do with money. Recommend it to a friend...post about it in your blog...post a link on Facebook or MySpace...write a review on iTunes or Amazon...leave a comment at any of those places...there are dozens of things you could do to help without ever paying a dime. The more people that hear about the music the better. But again, the only thing I am truly expecting and asking of you is to PLEASE at least download this album for yourself. That is the minimum “requirement”. Pay if you want, but PLEASE download either way. Please don’t let money be the reason that you don’t own this.

Thank you for your time. Happy listening.
James

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Album Release Information

Here it is folks. An official album release announcement!

Here Nor There, the third album by James Gillice, will be digitally released on Friday, November 26th. It will be available for download starting at midnight on Friday morning. This will be a "pay what you want" release. More details to follow.

Make the music of James Gillice a special part of your Holiday Season.

Go HERE to preview tracks now and to download on the 26th.

Something to Be Thankful For...

I worked on about 5 songs last night. I can tell I'm getting close to finishing because the work goes very quickly these days. It's only the smallest of tweaks and changes that need to be made now. It's very, very close...and just in time for the Holiday weekend!

Stay tuned for a big announcement!

...OK...Maybe Not

So in my last post I said there was only one song left that needed work. Upon further review it turns out that many songs needed a little help. I was able to help 3 of them last night, and there are probably at least 3 more that need a bit more work. I would say 2 of those 3 need major work.

Still making progress, just not as much as I'd hoped. I'm not a perfectionist really...I just know I will have to live with these recordings forever so they need to at least sound good.

One Left

I've spent the weekend mastering tracks. All are essentially finished except for the last track "Comfort Me" which still needs some re-mixing and mastering. I've been reluctant to start that process because it is going to be some work. But I did get so a lot done with the rest of the songs. I've even gone back to songs that I thought were "finished" and have found ways to make them sound even better. One of the problems is that I'm still learning to use Logic Express, picking up new tricks along the way. Each time I figure something new out, I have to go back and apply it to every song. So that's basically what I did all weekend.

So now it's on to the final task at hand. I've never been happy with the way "Comfort Me" has sounded, but it was such a pain to mix it to the point it is at now. I'm hoping the time I have spent away from it (mixing it at least) will make it easier to come back to with fresh ears. I've had plenty of time to listen to it and I have a pretty good idea of the major changes it needs. I hope I can easily bring it up to the level it needs to be at. So that's my goal for this week. I'm not sure how much time I'll get this week because Desta has a project that she needs to finish on the computer. We really need a second iMac.

More of the Same

I'm afraid these posts are getting boring (if they weren't already). I really have been working a lot lately, but it's just the same things over and over as covered in my last few posts. More mixing and re-mixing. I will say that it IS going well. A couple of songs are sounding better than they ever have.

I can't wait to finish this process. I'm very close. I can't wait to spend more time playing guitar and writing new songs.

Subtle Changes in the Night

If any of you have been listening to the new songs on my bandcamp site, you may or may not have noticed that there are subtle changes in the mixes and a song might sound slightly different from one day to another. You see, what you are hearing is not actually the finished product just yet. Those are the "good enough to be heard by others" mixes. Not the"good enough to be on the final album" mixes. So most night I spend listening and tweaking and listening and tweaking again. At the end of the night I post the latest version to bandcamp. This is why I have not enabled downloading from that site yet. I don't want anyone to go and download an incomplete version.

Songs that have been getting this re-mix treatment lately are "Take Our Chances", "The Enemy Is Me", and "Drifting Away". The changes would be most noticeable in those songs. The other songs that I still find myself wanting to mess with are "Comfort Me" and "Castles In the Sand". Once everything is "good enough" it will be time to burn the final disc and get this baby into production.

I've also been working on finalizing the design and artwork. This is one of my favorite parts of the process. I recently added all of the lyrics to the fold out booklet. I'm now in the process of writing the album credits and thank you's and such. There is not a single photograph of myself and I think I will keep it that way. I'm quite sure I used too many on the last album so maybe I'm making up for that.

"Wherever You Go"...Finished!

So I did end up adding a few backing vocal tracks as well as doubling the lead vocals. It is now a finished song which can be listened to by anyone...even YOU!

Listen on the player embedded on the right side of this page ----->

or

Go to the song page and read the lyrics if you're into that kind of thing. Don't forget to "Like" it.

Anyway, thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy it. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Vocals Recorded

"Wherever You Go" has vocals! This was the last major missing piece of the Here Nor There puzzle. I recorded and mixed over the weekend but didn't have time to really listen for problems until the bus ride this morning. As is not usually the case after a first mix, it sounded really good with fresh ears this morning. I still may want to go back and do some vocal doubling or create some new harmonies, but it could actually be complete at this point. Like I said, this was the last major task left. From here it's just listening and making minor adjustments until it's as perfect as I am capable of or patient enough to make it.

Once I am fairly certain that I've got an acceptable mix, I'll get this song up on the webs so people can hear it.

The Joy of Just Playing

Hello Friends,

Things are very close to being finished. I'm a mere few hours away from getting the final vocal tracks recorded for the last remaining song. When I will actually get to start those hours is another question. After recording is finished, it will just be a matter if going back and making any last minute adjustments to any of the songs that need it.

For several years now, as I've been working on this project, I find that when I have the time I feel guilty if I'm not hard at work with recording and mixing these songs that are all 4 or 5 years old at this point. The production aspect has taken a front seat to actually playing music, which I really have done very little of in recent years. So much in fact that I've at times found that picking up the guitar and attempting to play is not as effortless as it once was. In short, I've gotten a bit rusty and it is frustrating. My fingers will hurt sooner than they should because they are not as tough as they once were. It often takes a concerted effort that once wasn't necessary and I feel the quality of my performance has suffered out of sheer neglect.

But last night I decided to forgo work on the album and just pick up the guitar and play. It was the most rewarding musical experience I've had in a while. It felt great. My fingers are back to their old strength, the music came forth with ease, and most importantly, my heart was in it. It was nice to feel that again.

I can't wait to get this album completely finished so I can get back to the less technical part of creating music...writing the actual songs. And I just think I should mention, I've got quite a few good ones coming through these days. I can't wait to flesh them out and see what kind of life they take on in the recording process. One song particularly has me excited, "Come and Gone" has the potential to be the most beautiful thing I've ever written. I love it. Hopefully you will too.

Stay tuned. Much more to come in the weeks ahead concerning album completion and release.

Much Love,

James

Mixing...

...lots and lots of mixing. Changing, tweaking, adjusting...all in the name of improvement. Is it worth hours and hours of time for improvements that most people will not even notice? Well yes, actually it is.

To The Last

"Wherever You Go" is the last song awaiting completion. Last night I went over the lyrics that I'd written a very long time ago and took stock of what was there. It turns out there are more lyrics than I can fit into the song, so it's a matter of figuring out what to cut, what to keep, what changes to make, and what order to put it all in. I'm excited to hear how this one turns out. It's kind of an odd song in a way that I can't explain. It has an unusual melody and rhythm in the verse that is carried along by semi-syncopated guitar riff and a echoing electronic beep of sorts. The strings and backing vocals are laden with reverb to give it an ambient feel that I am really enjoying. The chorus is my favorite part. It's quite catchy and keeps the song from being only a sonic experiment.

This is one of those where I'm not sure where it came from or what it is exactly. All I know is, there it is...and I like it.

It's hard to say what other people might think of it. Maybe they'll love it. Maybe they won't. I'm curious to find out.

Progress

I've been working my way down the list, trying to get everything that needs to be done...done. "Take Our Chances" is officially finished. "Castles In the Sand" is officially finished. "Drifting Away" is the next major mixing project on my list. And when that's done I just need to finish recording vocals for "Wherever You Go" and then complete a final mix of it.

It really is getting close now.

All That's Left to Do

Here is my short "to do" list of items remaining to be finished.

• Take Our Chances - Worked on it a bit more last night. It's in a good place right now. This mix might even be finished. Need to listen to it a bit more.
• Castles In the Sand - The mix needs major work. This could take a while or could happen very quickly...you never know with these things.
• Drifting Away - Mix needs work. Again, this could be very difficult or very easy and quick.
• Wherever You Go - Instruments are all mixed and sounding great. Lyrics need to be finalized and vocals recorded.
• Comfort Me - I'm not sure what needs to be done here. Maybe nothing. Maybe something.

And once all of that is done...

• Mastering of all tracks - I need to adjust volume and levels and determine track beginnings and endings and any overlaps of the two and basically lay out the structure of the album before burning a master copy.

And finally...

• Artwork - The artwork is mostly finished. The CD booklet will include all lyrics this time around. I haven't been able to finish laying this out yet since I haven't finalized the lyrics for "Wherever You Go". I also would like to get a recent photo of myself to include somewhere in the packaging. As of now there are no photos of myself, which may be a good thing. I may have Desta take some photos and see what we come up with.

Looking at all of those items it is becoming apparent that I won't be able to get that all done in the 6 days I have left until my self-imposed deadline of September 28th. Even still, I am pleased with the progress in the past few days and feel good about getting everything completed at some point. I really just want to finish this and get it out of the way so I can move on to better things. This has been a 5 year project and much of this album does not represent where I am at now as a songwriter. I can't wait to move on to the next stage of my work. If you're reading this, thanks for sticking around. I have great hope for the future...stay tuned.

James

We've Made a Breakthough...

...and I suppose by "we" I mean "I".

For many years now I've been trying to figure out how to get "Take Our Chances" to sound like anything but a complete mess. I've fiddled and tweaked and hoped and prayed that it could be anything other than an atrocity. You see, it had so much potential, but the recordings were just bad. I've known that I just needed to cut a few parts out, re-record some others...but I just couldn't get the nerve to do it.

Well as of last night I've made major changes that bring this little piece of music into the realm "album worthy" material. It had better be since it is slated as the opening track of the album. It's not exactly where it needs to be just yet, but it is now to a point where I know that it's possible. And really that is one of the major things that has been holding me back for a while.

Title Track

I've had a piece of music that's been sitting around for a few years now. It's really just a echo laden guitar only piece that repeats itself a few times. There's not really anything too amazing about it but it captures a certain mood that I like toward the end of the album. It now has a name and a place on the album as the penultimate track. This move also keeps consistent with my tradition of always using a short instrumental song in this spot. For Let Me In it was "Sleep Well", on Making It Right Again it was "Days End", and now on Here Nor There it is "Here Nor There".

You can listen to it here...

Title Track - "Here Nor There"

Release Date, Cover Art, Final Track Listing...

Here Nor There, the new album by James Gillice.

Tentative release date: September 28th, 2010

Final tracklist:

1. Take Our Chances
2. This Moment
3. By And By
4. Castles In the Sand
5. Drifting Away
6. The Enemy Is Me
7. Wherever You Go
8. Dear Friend
9. Take Our Chances (Again)
10. Here Nor There
11. Comfort Me

Check out the newly created Here Nor There album page. Also listen to the new track, Take Our Chances (Again).

Artwork, Songs, Layout...All New, All Coming Soon...

Greetings fine people of the internet.

Where in the heck have I been with this blog lately? Good question. I suppose I've been letting the updates to my facebook and bandcamp pages suffice for a while. But as easy as that is to do, I really do miss the more in depth distribution of information that the blog allows for.

You may have seen the new artwork on the bandcamp page. This is in line with the look and feel of the artwork for the upcoming Here Nor There album cover which will be finalized shortly and posted here. To keep things consistent, this blog page will be getting a visual overhaul as well in the very near future.

As for the music itself, it's getting ever closer to completion. All but 2 songs are completely finished now. It's been such a long time coming, I'm almost more excited for the NEXT album, for which I already have many songs written. I PROMISE that one will not take 5 years to finish.

The Logical Choice

It's a new year...has been for a while now. There have been some big changes around here. After 7 years of using the same computer for recording all of my music, it was well beyond time for an upgrade. I was hoping to finish the new album before this upgrade was to take place, but it is just taking too long and couldn't be put off any more.

So I've made the long awaited switch to an iMac. And with the introduction of the new 27" model, it seemed like the perfect time. So of course with a new Apple computer, it was necessary to upgrade my recording software. I am now using Logic Express for all of my recording and mixing. This really opens up quite a few new possibilities for my music and I have spent the last few weeks learning this new software and getting my music files transfered over.

It has been a set back of sorts, but it should mean that I will be able to get a lot more done in a lot less time, and it will all sound a lot better. I've been working on a new mix of "Take Our Chances" and I am finally getting somewhere with it. I am hoping to have a mix worthy of posting to Bandcamp very soon. Stay tuned.