hey guys. i obviously like music. shocker. everyone seems to like to make lists at the end of the year, and i’m no exception. here goes:

top 10 records of 2009:
paper route - absence (my favorite of ‘09, hands down.)
manchester orchestra - mean everything to nothing (amazing band, amazing record.)
wilco - wilco (the album)
jay-z - the blueprint 3 (i don’t care if you think this is the ironic white guy hiphop pick, but this album rules.)
david bazan - curse your branches (he can do no wrong.)
monsters of folk - s/t (i was skeptical at first, but this record is great.)
phoenix - wolfgang amadeus phoenix (can’t not like these guys.)
a camp - colonia (nina from the cardigans’ side project. picks up where the last 2 cardigans records left off.)
joy williams - songs from this/songs from that (’speaking a dead language’ is my favorite song of 2009.)
taylor swift - fearless (don’t hate. it’s good stuff. and i guess i mean the reissue, since it came out in 09.)

special mention:
switchfoot - hello hurricane (i’m really biased, but it is really great.)

top 10 shows i went to in 2009:
u2 - rose bowl (epic. i love that they play ‘ultraviolet’ on this tour.)
jimmy eat world - nokia la live (clarity tour. probably my favorite record ever.)
sunny day real estate - hob anaheim (i lost my voice at this show. sunny day rules so hard.)
wilco - wiltern (blows me away every time.)
no doubt/paramore - verizon irvine (i love no doubt, and they were super fun live.)
monsters of folk - the greek (’smokin from shootin’ live with conor and m ward doing other verses killed me.)
phoenix - wiltern (hearing ‘funky squaredance’ live gets me every time.)
switchfoot - roxy (this show was especially fun for me. not sure why.)
coachella (i saw paul mccartney, morrissey, and leonard cohen. awesome.)
paramore/paper route - fox theater (funny, sounds like last year.)

so yup. there’s my musical year in list form. it was a great year. one where i got to see some of my favorite bands and even work with them. i also checked off a few things from my list this year. conan held up an album i designed on the tonight show, i had a photo on the cover of a big magazine (relevant), and i even had photos published in rolling stone not once, but twice! here’s the second one. it features some werewolf guy on the cover.

speaking of bands i work with, in an upcoming blog post i am going to go more in depth with the album artwork i did for ‘hello hurricane’ by switchfoot, mainly the big collector’s book. people keep asking me about it, so i think i might devote a post to it. also, thanks for all the great feedback i have getting about it and just the whole packaging in general. you guys are kind. until then, cheers.