Happy 2012 – and my music top tens ;-)

Dear All,

thanks for all your feedbacks, for visiting our workshops, for working together with us on upgrades and migrations, in reference projects, in escalated situations, thanks for all your respect and your support. We had a wonderful 2011 together with you and we all wish you a very Happy New Year 2012!!!

Thanks a lot!!!
Roy and Mike

P.S. As I never leave the house without my iPod or my iPhone and a pair of headphones here is my personal list of Top Ten Songs from 2011 – not only according to my listening stats iTunes is displaying 😉

1. Steve Wilson – Deform to form a Star
   
   If you ever … ever … really ever in your life have the chance to watch Porcupine Tree (or Steve Wilson solo) live then grab this chance. I’ve seen so many concerts in the past but Porcupine Tree a while ago in Munich was one of the most impressive concerts I’ve ever been to. Their music is simply from somewhere outer space …
2. Anathema – Summernight Horizon
   
   Anathema got founded in 1990 in Liverpool as a Doom Metal band – but changed in the later 90s with their album Judgement to clear vocals and athmospheric sounds. I did listen to Judgement many many times (ask my good ol’ Oracle support buddies – they will tell you 😉 ) in the past. But this year at OOW in San Francisco I passed by Rasputin Music near the cable car stop in Powell St. – and apparently had two Anathema albums in my hands. Summernight Horizon is just an example of the excellent We’re Here Because We’re Here album – mixed by (guess?) Steve Wilson from Porcupine Tree 😉 And yes, the album got released in 2010 but I did listen to it since October almost every second day.
3. Bon Iver – Perth
   
   My album of 2011 – Bon Iver’s self titled second album. Bon Iver is mainly Justin Vernon, a hermit from Wisconsin – and this CD is something you’ll have to listen more than once. This music is full of open spaces – and I can’t decode the meaning of all lyrics. But this isn’t really important …
4. Bon Iver – Calgary
   — see above —
5. Sólstafir- Fjara
   
   

   This band with the strange name (Sólstafir means Crepuscular Rays) is from Iceland. That’s a really small island in the very very north-north-west of Europe with a small number of people, dramatic landscapes … hey, and volcanoes 😉 Thanks Iceland (by the way!!). Anyway, this band got formed in 1995 and I have never heard anything about them until I’ve read a recommendation at my favourite news page spiegel.de. They’ve played at Wacken Festival in 2010 – this is the largest Heavy Metal festival in the world in a small small town in northern Germany. And their 2011 album Svartir Sandar (meaning ‘black sands’) touched me from the first track to the end. Another great tune is Djákninn

    

6. Mogwai – Death Rays
   
   I know Mogwai from Glasgow, Scotland, quite a long time. And their 2011 album Hardcore will never die, but you will (great title!) is simply outstanding. I did listen it for instance when walking through Stockholm in the night before my 2011 workshop. It’s like a soundtrack for something which you see through your eyes with music tunes by Mogwai.
7. Fink – Berlin Sunrise
   

   It’s all amazon’s fault 😉 You know the recommendations “People who have bought this did buy as well …”. When I was listening to Bon Iver’s self titled CD on amazon.com their algorithms did recommend “Fink” to me. I’ve never heard of Fink before. And I simply did ignore it. But just a few days later a friend sent me an email asking ‘Do you know Fink?’ telling me about the great songs, lyrics and the wonderful voice of this guy. The same night I did order Sort of Revolution – and a few weeks later the 2011 album Perfect Darkness …

8. Girls – Vomit
   
   Sorry for this strange title (not my idea) but this is cool song, a cool video – and it was a recommendation of one of my favourite music pages in the web, They Shoot Music, Don’t They from Vienna, Austria 😉
9. Feist – Caught a long Wind
   
   From Feist’s 2011 album Metals recorded on a huge ranch at Big Sur in California. Great album, great song …
10. Coldplay – Paradise
    
    I own all Coldplay CDs. But their last one with the strange title Mylo Xyloto has been discussed very controversial in the web and the media. And I fully agree – it’s somewhat a mediocre Coldplay album. And I’ve sold my copy right before christmas on ebay – but kept a copy on my iPod. I like to listen to Paradise and Charlie Brown but I’ve deleted other tracks such as the duet with Rhianna. I’d bet Chris Martin and his colleagues sell again millions – but if you’d compare this album to Parachutes or Rush of Blood … ouch … ;-)Happy 2012!!!