Top 10 Albums of 2000 - 2009

As this decade draws to a close I thought I'd put together a list of my top 10 albums between the years 2000-2009. I've been thinking long and hard and have come up with my short list. It was fun to think back on what I listened to years ago in my last year of high school, my first year of college and just after my mission. Music has always been an incredibly important part of my life and anybody who knows me well would agree I'm obsessed.

So my short list began with about 20 albums but I painfully managed to reduce it to 10ish. It was especially difficult to leave off some albums that I recently discovered but were not released during this decade.

#10

The Sound of White by Missy Higgins
(2004)

This album surprised me I was actually given a copy of this album in 2005 by a friend of mine while living in Provo during my first year of college. I actually didn't play it through until about the summer of 2007. I couldn't believe how great it was. I fully expected it to be a some crappy pop singer but I was pleasantly surprised by the singer-songwriter acoustic style with a little aussie accent. Great album when in the mood for something mellow.

Listen to Unbroken by Missy Higgins

#9

Rodrigo y Gabriela (2006) / Uninvisible by Medeski Martin & Wood (2002)

So I sorta broke the rules. 10 albums only turned into 11. I just couldn't resist. These 2 albums share the #9 slot because they are both instrumental albums. Medeski Martin & Wood proved to me on this album that jazz can be very cool and that not every band has to have a standard line-up of guitar, bass, drums. This trio delves into the world of progressive jazz using only bass, keyboards, and drums. Rodrigo y Gabriela on the other hand taught me two things. That not every band that comes out of Mexico has to be mariachi, and how a duo on acoustic guitars can sound like an entire band. They play together seamlessly and create a truly unique sound with elements of spanish guitar, rock and metal.

Listen to Tamacun by Rodrigo y Gabriela
Listen to Uninvisible by Medeski Martin & Wood

#8

Sha Sha by Ben Kweller

(2002)

An incredible album. This has spent a good 4 years in my regular music rotation. Brings back memories of saying up late in my final years in college. This was also a staple for excellent ski days and all those chair lift rides at Snowbird. Did you know "butterflies are passive-aggressive and keep their problems on the shelf"?

Listen to In Other Words by Ben Kweller

#7

De-Loused in the Comatorium by The Mars Volta

(2003)

This album opened a whole new genre for me. The Mars Volta is very progressive. I honestly don't know how to explain this album. It was written about the crazy dreams they believe their friend had while in a coma. Got me through the long commute from Provo to Sandy as an intern many times.

Listen to Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of) by The Mars Volta

#6

Live At Java Joe's by Jason Mraz

(2001)

So I wasn't sure if live albums count but I got this back before Jason made it big and had released any studio albums. This is back when he was just an acoustic trio. I had this in my cd player for months back in 2003. Brings back good memories of driving after class to go fishing out on the Snake River southeast of Rexburg on those warm fall days.

Listen to 1000 Things by Jason Mraz

#5

Busted Stuff by Dave Matthews Band

(2002)

If you had asked me back in high school if I'd ever be a fan of Dave Matthews I'd have answered with a big, not only no, but "hell no". That was the time when I started to get extremely disenchanted with the radio playing the same songs over and over, hour after hour, day after day. Unfortunately, at the time the radio got Satellite and What Would You Say in a chokehold and it killed Dave Matthews for me. Till I had a roommate in Rexburg who was obsessed and showed me the magic of Dave's live shows. The band is chock full of talented musicians and not just strong songwriting. Their live stuff is best but if I had to pick an album Busted Stuff is it. Big Eyed Fish is my favorite on this album.

Listen to Big Eyed Fish by Dave Matthews Band

#4

Hittin' The Note by The Allman Brothers Band

(2003)

You can teach an old dog new tricks. Commonly the classic rock bands of the 60's, 70's, and 80's seem to be stuck a rut, unable to reach the creativity of their youth and instead of writing new music they tour the country playing hits from yesteryear at state fairs and car shows. The Allmans break that stigma and it is their best album since the early 70's Eat A Peach record. Gregg Allman's southern blues rock voice has only ripened with age and the music just keeps getting better. This album lured me into their whole 4 decade long catalog as well as their 40th anniversary concert at the the Beacon Theater in New York City earlier this year.

Listen to Desdemona by The Allman Brothers Band

#3

Outside Inside by The String Cheese Incident

(2001)

This album reminds me of rock climbing in western Colorado and countless Red Rocks and Telluride concert road trips. I think I've seen them more than any other band. Some 15 or 16 times. I love how they choose not to conform to any genre label. Although they are considered a jamband due to their improvisational form on stage, their albums are more structured but span Jazz, Rock, Calypso, Bluegrass, and Latin. The songs Joyful Sound, Rollover and Up The Canyon are sure to put me in a good mood whatever the circumstances.

Listen to Rollover by String Cheese Incident

#2

The Honest Hour by Assembly of Dust

(2004)

One of my favorite albums of this decade. It is solid from beginning to end. Good memories driving up to the mountains and road trips to Vegas. The keyboard work on Speculator is some of my favorite. Never fails to get me in the mood to see a live show.

Listen to Speculator by Assembly of Dust

#1

Brandi Carlile

(2005)

Probably my favorite singer-songwriter. This girl has an incredible voice. Her passion of music easily shines through her recordings and performances. I can't think of a single song that I would ever want to skip on any of her three albums. After 5 years, it is still in my regular rotation. I remember the first time I listened to it while working at the BYU paint shop during my first year there.

Listen to What Can I Say by Brandi Carlile

Decisions decisions...

So that magical time has arrived. Oh yes... the infamous engagement photos. Yesterday we had a girl take our pictures for free cause she is trying to build up her portfolio. Out of the few that she sent us so far these are the ones I like the best. So if anyone actually reads this blog, could you be so kind as to opine on which ones you like? As for me, I don't want to bias anyone but I like the 2nd and 4th ones. Let me know what you think cause you might be getting one in a mailbox near you.

We're Engaged!

Yep, it's true. Debi and I are getting hitched in the Salt Lake Temple on September 8th. I decided that since we both enjoy all these amazing outdoor adventures together, it would only be fitting to propose in a truly spectacular place. So once I had my plan I told Debi we'd be going on a hike. After she got home from work I took her up to Snowbird where we rode the tram to Hidden Peak. From there, we did the treacherous but fun, ridge scramble up to the top of the highest point in Salt Lake County.

I proposed to Debi at 11,489 feet on the summit of the west peak of the American Fork Twin Peaks. After she stopped screaming she said yes and we had a picnic at sunset complete with Sparkling Peach (In goblets of course), grapes, Brie, etc. All in all, I couldn't have imagined it going any smoother. It was a beautiful day, with a beautiful girl. I can't wait to share the rest of my life with her.

The Desert Rocks!

My birthday weekend in Moab on Memorial Day weekend was loaded with great music, mountain biking, hiking, delicious Italiano food, and oh yes... what weekend would be complete without Hippies!? Ah yes, our lovable dreadlocked friends. Sure they aren't fond of bathing regularly, but that doesn't mean their bad people. They have excellent taste in music and are always in for a spontaneous game of hackisack.

Stealing through the Robber's Roost.

Backpacking the South Fork of Robber's Roost Canyon near Hanksville, UT. What a great weekend! My first slot canyoneering trip with a 45 lbf backpack. Definitely a different twist. 25 miles, 5 fun rappels, 3 days, and a whole bunch of wedge slots, scrambling and wading through the dirty devil. An amazing place to say the least with sheer sandstone canyon walls 100's of feet tall. Utah is a beautiful and amazingly diverse place, geographically.

Dave Matthews + Vegas + Good Friends = Good Life

So the recent trip to Vegas was pretty sweet. Two consecutive nights of Dave Matthews Band & Jason Mraz. Incredible is the only word to describe it. They were just totally on. Its sort of a different band since the passing of long time saxophonist Leroi Moore but the addition of Tim Reynolds (Guitar) and Jeff Coffin (Saxo) was nice twist.

The rest of the weekend was littered with scrumptrulescent buffets, lounging by the pool, and watching Steve rake in money at the blackjack table. It was great to see some of my favorite peeps.

Snowmobiling! ... Or snow machining if you are from Idaho.

Last weekend, Lindsey (Debi's friend) invited us to go with them up to her boyfriend, Preston's cabin in the Uintas just north of Mirror Lake. He had one of the sweetest cabins I've seen. It was super legit and complete with a wood furnace, hot water and of course loads of dead animals on the walls. It was a really cool place. During the winter months, it is only accesible by snowmobile. Apparently Preston's family owns something like 7 snowmobiles so we scored the jackpot. We went up after work on Friday night and rode into the cabin and spent the evening warming ourselves by the stove and drinking hot chocolate and then watched "Nights in Rodanthe" which none of us made it through without falling asleep.

The next morning we lounged around and made eggo waffles and french toast sticks (Breakfast of Champions. Wheaties are so over-rated) and then finished the movie. Then the highlight of the trip began. We all got on our own snowmobiles and rode all over the place. We got out onto the highway where we could just fly down the roads. I think at one point we were going about 50-55 mph. It was so cool. I had never been snowmobiling before but it felt so natural. Although Debi was the real pro.

She showed me how it was done. We rode all the way out to Whitney reservoir which was about 20 miles one-way. It was really cool to play in the powder at top speeds. I want one! I must have one! Hah maybe someday when I'm loaded and everyone pays me royalties for a patent.


Well, at the end of the day and after tackling Debi in the snow we drove back to the cabin and I collapsed. I was so tired after having to dig a few of the snowmobiles out of some sticky situations. It was a lot of work but well worth it. I'd love to rent some sometime.

Sweetest boots this side of the Alps

Jason and I decided to sluff work last Monday to take advantage of the 16" of freshies that had fallen overnight. The snow was incredible. Our day started with a run down the Cirque where I heard Jason giggling like a like schoolboy. I've never heard the kid so happy. The way the snow collects there is just prime and results in greater overall accumulations. I'd say it was somewhere in the ballpark of 2' deep. The whole day was amazing. We were all over the entire mountain. We hit first tracks down Mineral Basin, followed by a short hike up High Baldy and then on to Road to Provo and Little Cloud bowl. Everywhere was so great.

Jason was also super excited to showcase his sweet rear-entry ski boots circa 1968. Notice the vintage sunbleached casing detailed with light pink and baby blue racing stripes. Garaunteed to encite envy in the hearts of onlookers and snowbunnies alike.

You know you're living the high life when...

So this past weekend I finally moved into my new place. Saturday morning after taking Debi to the airport I sat down to eat a delicious bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares. I soon discovered there were no bowls to be had in the entire house. But, since the house had recently been rented out as a ski condo, we had no shortage of goblets. So yes, I improvised. While eating I had an uncontrollable urge to stick my pinky out and ask somebody for some Grey Poupon.

Up the canyon... Bear Grylls style... Sort of

So last weekend my friend Debbie and I got invited to snowshoe up Mill Creek canyon to the yurt the US Forest Service maintains for backcountry hikers in the winter. I thought it would be a blast since the only other time I went winter camping was in at Boy Scout Klondike where I almost froze to death (Apparently my open air snow pit doesn't stay as warm as a snow cave. Who would of thought?). This time it was sure to be a bit better. I figured it would be cold still but at least there wouldn't be any wind or weather involved. Also, since growing up, I've also invested in some higher quality gear. I even brought extra clothes just in case.

Well we got on the trail at about 8pm. It was a beautiful night and because of the glow of the SLC lights on the clouds to the west, we were able to use our night vision the whole way. Due to the recent warm spell it had been raining in the canyon earlier and all the snow was packed down so we didn't even need our snowshoes. But we did bring them just in case so we could go hiking in the morning off trail. It was a beautiful hike and we had just enough light to see the trees, stars and canyon walls. Not to mention I had some excellent company which made it even better.
4.5 miles up from the parking lot we arrived at the yurt. Half of the people were asleep by 9:45pm when we arrived but the few who were still awake played some games with us till about midnight. I was shocked at the accomodations. This place was stocked with propane tanks for lanterns and cooking, as well as a wood burning stove the kept the place plenty warm through the night. For half the night I just slept on top of my sleeping bag with just a light fleece blanket on top of me. There were 6 wide bunks in there and so Debbie and her friend Lindsey double up on one and I took a place on the floor. It was a pretty awesome little setup. If I'd of known about yurts before, I'd have been doing a lot more winter backpacking trips.The next morning, everybody woke up at like 7:30am and was gone by 8:15am. Debbie and I just layed in our sleeping bags till like 9:00 just relaxing and talking. Since we arrived at the yurt so late the night before, we were in no hurry to get out of there. I always thought that was bizarre about Colorado Father's and Sons outings, gone before the sun even comes up.

Eventually I rolled out of bed and got the fire going again so I could start making breakfast. We were set to have one of the best camping breakfasts ever. We had whole wheat pancakes with apple sauce acting as syrup (since we forgot actual syrup), scrambled eggs, bacon, and french vanilla hot chocolate. It was awesome. So while I was on cooking detail, Debbie spearheaded wood chopping (Which I honestly felt a little bad about, where's my chivalry gone?).

Most of the morning it had still been raining, even at the higher elevation. Pretty bizarre for a January day. We decided it probably wouldn't be too great snowshoeing around in the rain. So we just decided we'd head down the canyon after we finished cleaning the place for the next campers.Luckily by the time we got out of there the rain had turned to snow. But not for long. As we descended to the car, the snow turned into sleet, to freezing rain, and eventually rain. We were a bit wet but nothing that a Korean BBQ and a hot tub couldn't fix. It was a great time and luckily there was only one casualty, Debbie's cell phone. It was in the top of her backpack in the rain.

Ah... the mountains

So since I work in the underground laboratory, I rarely surface to see the sun. To tell the truth it burns my eyes at this point. Since we've passed the Winter Solstice the days are getting longer and I catch a glimpse of daylight at the end of my shift. I thought this was too awesome to pass up taking a picture of. Unfortunately I had to make do with my phone's camera since my real camera kicked the proverbial bucket.

Wow, my first ever blog entry. I decided this would be more for me than anyone else. I thought I'd use it as sort of a journal-ish type of thing. So here goes.

Christmas was kindof a drag cause my parents ended up getting sick and were unable to drive to Utah on Christmas day. I did get to talk to them for about an hour and a half but that just didn't cut it. However, my brother was in town so I was invited to spend Christmas eve with Bryce, Sara, Adeline and Blake at my sister-in-law's parents' house. So I did have some fun. Also we took my niece up to Alta for ski free after three. She did awesome despite it being a really cold and snowy day. Bryce borrowed a some wedgie clips and some reindeer reigns to keep her under control and I was maning the camera. She was so cute. She looked like Ralphie all bundled up and couldn't quite put her arms down.
After Christmas I drove to Colorado to have my real Christmas. It was fun to be home since I hadn't been there in over a year. We opened each others presents and had fun talking. Then on Monday I met Adam Hall in Morrison and we drove up to Arapahoe Basin and although it wasn't a powder day by any means, the snow was still decent and we even got threatened by ski patrol for going out of bounds. Unfortunately, we caught word that the back bowls were set to open for the season the following day. We were pissed cause the snow back there would've been awesome. You win some you lose some. We are just too spoiled having season passes at the Bird.


The the next two days were sort of the real reason I went to Colorado at all. The Widespread Panic new year's eve run at the Pepsi Center. Two nights of face-melting rock and roll and a tich of Psychadelic Bluegrass (Yonder Mountain was the opener). My friend Michelle was nice enough to sell me her floor ticket since she had a connection and was able to score a VIP club booth. I tried to peddle my tickets away in the parking lot but unfortunately the supply was greater than the demand so I lost a little money on them just so I could get into the show and enjoy the music. It was good but I think was a little too close to the stage. The sound was a little to loud so the lyrics were kinda hard to hear clearly. But it was still fun to be down in front of center stage with all the other Spreadheads. The energy was super fun.


The second night was much better and my friend was able to get me into the VIP booth as well. It was so awesome. The sound was perfect and you could see everything. We danced from 8:30 till 2:15am. And I wasn't even that tired.

After the concerts were over I drove up to Vail to get a few hours of sleep before meeting Adam's family at Copper Mountain. I didn't get to Vail till 6am cause I was so exhausted. I had to pull over and sleep for an hour in Officer's Gulch before making it to the Vail house. When we woke up my mom was still feeling a bit under the weather so we decided not to go skiing with Adam's family and we just went out to lunch at Fiesta Jalisco in Avon instead. Then I headed back to Utah, expecting to work on Friday.

This was not the case. I showed up at work and the parking lot was a ghost town. So turned right around and went home and slept for another three hours. When I woke up I saw Taylor and Cami were playing their new PS3 so I played LittleBigPlanet with them online for a little bit and then met up with Alison to go do a little night boarding at Brighton. It was puking so hard that they closed the canyon. It was a little sketchy getting down and we barely got out in time. We met Steve at Red Robin for dinner and watched the end of the Utah Alabama game. Then Adam came and spent the night at my house so we could get up early and try and catch the first tram in the morning.

We didn't get up to the Bird quite in time so we only made it on the third tram. It was inspiring. The morning sun was just cresting Mt Baldy, casting an orange glow on the freshly fallen snow. Adam dropped in first, I second. The plumes of fluff sent up after every turn sent us into the white room, which was actually orange from the early sun. Line after line we found powder. The mountain was ravaged pretty quickly due to the perfect skier storm (bluebird + powder + Saturday + Christmas vacation = hoards of people). Since we are seasoned veterans of Snowbird we know where the goods are and she was more than willing to accomodate.

Later that night I invited a bunch of people over to help me devour my free Christmas ham from BD. Johnny (my roommate) made home-made mac & cheese and potatoes and I made the ham and brownies. It turned out awesome I thought. We played the Great Dalmuti, a little guitar, and Guitar Hero till about 1:30 am. So all in all it was a pretty good way to finish out the vacation.