A decade has passed!

Better late than never, here are some trivia about the last decade.

Best album of 2009:
Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs


I can't even begin to explain the awesomeness of the post black-metal post-whatever genre release. I'm usually not really into French stuff. Heck, I didn't even know they could produce decent metal of any kind. Yet, this release has blown me of my socks straight into music heaven. They make black metal fun again, especially more so because this isn't even a black metal release strictly seen. Tr00 black metal fans won't agree with me AT ALL here, but this is how that sort of music should be. It's all about the atmosphere, weaving all different kinds of genres into one sonic experience. That is what this is, and in French too!

By all means, check this out!!

My favorite album of the decade:
Agalloch - The Mantle


This is not a surprise for the people who know me, I've been an Agalloch fan ever since my now ex-boyfriend introduced me to them. The first song I heard was In 'The Shadow of Our Pale Companion' and I fell in love with the music instantly. All their albums are awesome, but my personal favorite remains The Mantle. The album is an organic whole, combining instrumental songs with epics such as the song I named before. Again, it's about the atmosphere on this one. There are times I cannot listen to this album, because it makes me feel too melancholic. That doesn't diminish the awesomenessfactor of it though ;)

Favorite classical music of the decade:
Arvo Pärt - Fratres


The Cantus In Memoriam of Benjamin Britten on the album Fratres is probably still the most intense piece of music I ever heard. I barely listen to it, because every time I do so it totally…..I don't even know how to describe what happens. Goosebumps, tears, shivers across my body, it's insane! It's the saddest music I've ever heard, and so intense it's almost unhealthy! I really hope to see this one live, although I'm quite scared what will happen to me then.

The rest of this album is full of personal meaning to me, as I explored this album with (again) a now ex-boyfriend. Call me a fool, but music retains a lot of meaning to me if it is explored with people I care about. It gives more meaning to it, even if it is years ago.

Best metal concert of the decade:
The Agalloch concert of 2009 was great! It ended with a long meditation like noise-moment, with me and Nick holding hands with John, the singer of the band. Cool experience, that I will never forget!
Other candidates were: Wolves In The Throne room concert earlier 2009. It was so fucking loud and it was the first and only time that black metal moved me to tears. It took possession of my whole body, that was awesome!
I was very much moved to tears during the performance of Brahms' Pianoconcert in the Concertgebouw. It was the first time I saw them, and at the first stroke from the violins tears streamed down my cheeks. The best moment was the first chord of the piano. This remains one of my favorite Brahms' compositions!

Craziest thing I did during the decade:
Going to Canada on my own when I was 19. I've done more things, foolish or not, but this was without a doubt the most exciting experience! I fell in love with the country and certainly want to go back one day and see more of the nature there.

Other good things about the last decade:
Technological development. I remember that a friend of mine was the first in my direct environment with a mobile phone. Omgosh, what an excitement. We spent hours trying all the sounds on the thing, and NOT calling with it, because it was expensive as hell. I still have my first mobile phone, an azure blue Sony Ericson. It was a good machine, it got soaked in rain once and it still worked after laying on my radiator for two days.
I also remember that we got internet at home, a whopping 5 kb a second! Secretly, I downloaded classical music when my parents weren't home. I was already a pirate back then! Then we got adsl, and it didn't matter anymore how long you were online.
The internet has opened up a whole world, I met people from all over the country because of forums. I went to Canada to meet someone, and someone from the US came to NL to meet me. Amazing stuff! The last few years it has gone even further. I bought an iPhone and now I'm always able to go online. Twitter, Facebook, my friends are always with me. It's a fun thing, but it also has downsides. I sometimes feel the 'urge' to check Facebook, Twitter and that impulse is quite annoying. When I go away for a vacation I am without a computer and phone and I feel fine, sometimes a little relieved to be away from it all! I always try to keep that up at home, but it fails. The computer is always at our hands and these days you are expected to be reachable day and night. I don't really have a solution yet on how to handle this.

Resolutions for the new year:
Resolution should be fun, or else you are never going to live up to them. I have made a fun one and it is to immerse myself in more culture. I'm quite at home in music, but what about art? I recently started experimenting with photography, but I'm still a novice. I'm going to buy a Museum Yearcard. For 35 euro's, I can go into most Dutch museums for free for the next year. I still have my free Public Transit card for the next 6 months, so I should utilize that to the fullest.

Happy new year all, and make the best of it!