morgan autumn levy

It is January 16, 2012, which seems like as good a time as any to post my 2011 playlist. I was able to get all but two songs on this Grooveshark playlist, so I think this is as good as it’s gonna get. 

By the numbers and the memories. 

Albums purchased: 51, not including singles, partial albums, EPs or freebies.
Top 10 favorites, maybe:

• Bon Iver’s “Bon Iver” 
• The Civil Wars’ “Barton Hollow” 
• Adele’s “21” 
• Florence + The Machine’s “Ceremonials” 
• Feist’s “Metals” 
• Ryan Adams’ “Ashes & Fire” 
• Radical Face’s “The Family Tree: The Roots” 
• Wilco’s “The Whole Love” 
• David Bazan’s “Strange Negotiations” 
• St. Vincent’s “Strange Mercy” 
• Bonus from late 2010, Robyn’s “Body Talk”

Shows attended: 18 that I kept the ticket stubs from, not including festivals or secret house shows or shows in bars or shows where I paid at the door or instores or…
Highlights include:

• Stumbling upon a secret Mumford & Sons house show attended by Jake Gyllenhaal
• Seeing many longtime favorites for the first time
• Tailgating for U2/Florence + The Machine
• Bon Iver at the Ryman (top show of the year, I think)
• Wilco at the Ryman
• Yann Tiersen at 3rd & Lindsley
• All of Next Big Nashville, er, Soundland
• Surprise Feist show at Third Man Records
• Road trip to Chattanooga on New Years Eve Eve to see the Avett Brothers
• The Civil Wars at the Belcourt before they exploded
• Memphis in May
• A hilarious evening sponsored by Groupon with Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj
• Seeing Sufjan Stevens play the soundtrack to “Beyond This Place” in Brooklyn

Highlights do not include:

• Adele at the Ryman because she canceled twice (still bitter, obviously)

Trips taken: 16
Airports: 13
Favorites include: All of them.

• Flying to San Antonio with David, just because we could
• Memphis in May with Christy and Ben, dressing Ben entirely in Blue and literally running away from a tornado, seeing Ludacris and Ke$ha and getting into a fight at the Mumford & Sons set
• Flying to St. Louis and back in 24 hours
• Bourbon trail, teepee motel and caving with Molly in Kentucky (first of many 2011 Molgantures)
• First-ever trip to California - LA to visit Marion
• A beautiful day in rural TN on the lake celebrating Ben’s birthday
• A week in Vermont in the summer, eating hand picked raspberries and straight from the garden asparagus with my grandpa and escaping to the coast of Maine for 24 hours
• Rock Island weekends
• Mule Day
• HOLIDAY WORLD!
• Bourbon Fest and the urban bourbon trail with Christy
• Two Chattanooga runs - the aforementioned New Years Eve Eve Avett Brothers show and a spontaneous trip with Alison earlier in the fall
• The most perfect extra-long weekend at the beach with Molly
• Three trips to NYC (two with friends, thus two with lots of fun, plus one with a creepy expensive hotel)
• A trip back to family in Virginia for Christmas

Instagram photos posted: 311

New (food/drink) places in Nashville visited: 26-ish, as remembered by Foursquare. T’was the year of the food truck.
Top 10 new favorites: Sloco, The Wild Hare, AM@FM, Bar 308, Riff’s Fine Street Food, Tavern, Shish Kabob, DegThai, Jeni’s, YaYo’s OMG

Books read: 33.5
Books I’m in the middle of right now, even though they are mostly overdue at the library: 9 
A handful of them I would recommend to anyone, even if you are a man and even if you don’t run: 

• Bossypants - Tina Fey
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) - Mindy Kaling
• Born To Run - Christopher McDougall
• Just Kids - Patti Smith
• The Gift of Asher Lev - Chaim Potok
• Double Dexter, Jeff Lindsay
• A Visit From The Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan

New favorite website: The Hairpin
Hairpin meetups attended: 1
Favorite thing I read on my new favorite website in 2011: This 

Memories made: Obviously I can’t number them, but…
…Here are 15 that will not be forgotten (and that were not included in travels/shows above):

• Getting initiated into the iPhone club
• Becoming a NWS certified Storm Spotter and taking a self-defense class
• Running my first 5 miles on Thanksgiving morning
• Breaking my foot (twice)
• Skating a lot (no relation to above item, believe it or not)
• Santa rampaging
• Picking Marion & Kevin up at BNA for a quick pitcher at Wilhagens on their layover
• Watching fireworks in the Antioch Waffle House parking lot with a carload of awesome friends who were passing through town on the 4th of July
• Front porch parties at the new, non-roachy deuxplex
• Judging the Nashville Lifestyles Bartender’s Bash
• Dragon Boat racing
• Midnight swinging and sippy cup wine at the park down the street with Christy
• Getting my first tattoo
• Bonding with new (and old) friends after an evening in the ER with a broken leg (not mine!)
• Bottomless mimosa brunches in Brooklyn with Christy, Molly, Lauren and The Australians

My 2010 playlist, which I sort of gave up on ordering halfway through. My sincerest apologies to anyone who is startled out of their Jónsi listening trance by Katy Perry:

And a shoutout to one Mr. Justin Vernon, who despite not releasing any new music of his own this year appears no less than three times on my 2010 mix. 

My top twenty albums of 2010:

1. The Age of Adz, Sufjan Stevens
2. Sigh No More, Mumford & Sons
3. Go, Jónsi
4. High Violet, The National
5. The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
6. Broken Bells, Broken Bells
7. B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray, B.o.B
8. Infinite Arms, Band of Horses
9. Big Echo, The Morning Benders
10. Take a Bow, Greg Laswell
11. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West
12. Write About Love, Belle & Sebastian
13. Teen Dream, Beach House
14. Bad Books, Bad Books
15. The Courage of Others, Midlake
16. Mines, Menomena
17. God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise, Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs
18. Hunting My Dress, Jesca Hoop
19. Catching A Tiger, Lissie
20. Downtown Church, Patty Griffin

[edit to say that somehow I forgot to work Janelle Monae’s The ArchAndroid into my list and it needs to be there, so I’ll insert it at 9 1/2.]

I also went to more concerts than I ever have before (and I’ve always gone to a lot of concerts). Here’s (what I think is) a complete list:

1/16/10 - The Grand Ole Opry with Dierks Bentley and Vince Gill, The Ryman, Nashville, TN
01/24/10 - The Civil Wars, 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN
03/07/10 - They Might Be Giants, Exit/In, Nashville, TN
03/17/10 - David Bazan, Exit/In, Nashville, TN
03/23/10 - Hockey, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
03/31/10 - Tegan & Sara, The Ryman, Nashville, TN
04/01/10 - Midlake, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
04/05/10 - Copeland, Rocketown, Nashville, TN
04/16/10 - Peter Frampton (rehearsal, but it was still badass), Nashville, TN
04/28/10 - Beach House, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
05/06/10 - Dierks Bentley, Highline Ballroom, New York, NY
05/18/10 - The Swell Season, The Ryman, Nashville, TN
05/22/10 - David Bazan, house show, Nashville, TN
05/22/10 - Dierks Bentley, The Ryman, Nashville, TN
06/05/10 - Imogen Heap, The Ryman, Nashville, TN
06/11/10 - Kings of Leon, The Flaming Lips, B.o.B, Bonnaroo, Manchester, TN
06/15/10 - Patty Griffin, The Ryman, Nashville, TN
06/16/10 - Ke$ha, Limelight, Nashville, TN
06/24/10 - Lovedrug & Brian McSweeney, Exit/In, Nashville, TN
06/27/10 - Eisley, 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN
07/25/10 - Greg Laswell & Cary Brothers, 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN
08/17/10 - AA Bondy, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
09/29/10 - Next Big Nashville
09/30/10 - Next Big Nashville
09/30/10 - Jars of Clay & Sixpence None The Richer, Live on the Green, Nashville, TN
10/01/10 - Next Big Nashville (The Features)
10/02/10 - Next Big Nashville
10/07/10 - Band of Horses, Live on the Green, Nashville, TN
10/11/10 - Margot & The Nuclear So & So’s, Exit/In, Nashville, TN
10/29/10 - The Avett Brothers, The Ryman, Nashville, TN
10/31/10 - Jónsi, The Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
11/01/10 - Mumford & Sons, War Memorial Auditorium, Nashville, TN
11/05/10 - Sufjan Stevens, Bijou Theater, Knoxville, TN
12/03/10 - Relient K, Rocketown, Nashville, TN

I wish I hadn’t skipped out on Josh Ritter, The National and MGMT shows. But 2011 is promising to be another great live music year - Jimmy Eat World, David Bazan, The Civil Wars, U2 and Florence & The Machine. Bring it on.