Proud to announce some things that I've got going on in my little world:

1. Starting next week, I will be teaching adjunct Script Analysis at KIngsborough Community College in Brooklyn! 

2. Coming up in March, if you happen to find yourself in Canberra Australia, you will be able to check out The YOUAREHERE Festival (Where I performed in 2011).  This year I contributed some audio pieces to MALL STORIES, which is a guided audio-tour of Canberra, which includes some quirky stories by me! And though I won't be physically present for the festival, Canberra residents who miss me will get to see me quite a bit during the festival (but I don't wanna ruin the surprise). 

3. I'm working on a Podcast with playwright/friend Ryan Dowler.  We're hoping to record the first episode fairly soon. We're really excited about it.

 

I'm very proud to announce that my play Israeli Palestinian Resolution: A Very Extremely Important Play...In Progress.. By Samuel Goldmeyer was just voted into the Top 10 Jewish Plays for 2013 by The Jewish Plays Project. 

You can read more about the Jewish Plays Project Here: http://www.jewishplaysproject.org/blog/

So, here we are folks. At the end of another year. Which means that it's time to uphold my (and every other music nerd/ pop culture rag/ blog/ print publication/ person with an internet connection and a vague interest in entertainment who maybe saw High Fidelity once's) annual tradition of ranking my favorite Records/ Eps/ Songs/ Movies/ Concerts etc of the year! 

I'll start off by saying: 2012 was a REALLY good year for music and movies. Like REALLY good. It totally blows last year away (which frankly wasn't so great a year popular culturally speaking, if memory serves. Don't get me wrong, 2011 had it's AMAZING moments (M83, Shabazz Palaces, Tree Of Life, The Dismemberment Plan Reunion). But compared to 2009, 2010, and now 2012, it is definitely the runt of the metaphorical litter). 

2012 was a year for really diverse sounds and rich textures. My favorite records run the sonic gamut from straightahead Punk and Hip-hop influenced songs, to sounds that are styalistically all over the map and far more difficult to categorize (how do you even BEGIN to compare/classify Swans or Julia Holter or Tame Impala, and come to an easy consensus about what "The 2012 Sound" is?).  

It was also a really great year for a trend in modern music that I'm broadly calling: "eccentric ladies with some sort of keyboard"- which accounts for a wopping 8 of my favorite 30 albums of the year (and yes both Fiona Apple and Grimes are among them). Furthermore, it was a STELLAR year for the EP (which for the uninitiated is what's known in the biz as a release that is not long enough to be considered an album, but too short to be a single). And despite the fact that I ranked Albums and EPs in separate lists, some 2012 EPs definitely rank as some of my absolute favorite music of the year.

I listed my picks in descending order of enjoyment (the things ranked at #1 are my favorites of the year, #10 my 10th favorite, You get it. You're smart). And every year I ask: How do you compare wildly different pieces of art to one another and qualitatively decide which is better? (ESPECIALLY for a year as sonically adventurous as 2012?). And the answer is: You can't. So I'm not saying that one thing is "Better" than another. I'm saying "These are the things that I enjoyed the most and/or touched me the most and/or I have strong memories attached to and/or I spent the most time with and/or demanded most of my attention/intrigue this year". And utlimately that comes down to personal taste. Which, let's all be honest, really means exceptionally little in the grand scheme of this crazy world in which we live. So here's one guy's opinion about the stuff he liked in 2012. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for indulging me.

Ira's Favorite 30 Albums of 2012 (I should note, I don't normally do lists this long, but 2012 felt like a year where there was a lot of good stuff, so I expanded to 30)

1. Japandroids- Celebration Rock (Do modern guitar records get more life-affirming than this one? I'm gonna posit: no). 

2. Bat For Lashes- The Haunted Man

3. Killer Mike- R.A.P. Music

4. Grimes- Visions

5.  Tame Impala- Lonerism

6. Frank Ocean- Chanel Orange

7. Julia Holter- Ekstasis

8. How To Dress Well- Total Loss

9. Swans- The Seer

10. Fiona Apple- The Idler Wheel...

11. Bill Fay- Life Is People

12. G.O.O.D. Music- Cruel Summer

13. Fun.- Some Nights (Note: I will give the haterz credit that this is not a particularly artistically accomplished record compared to all/most of the albums it outranks on this list (some of the lyrics are beyond clumsy). However in it's defense, it is compulsively listenable and these songs seem iconically 2012 to me (or my memory). Thus why it's as high as it is. Easily my guilty pleasure album of the year. Ya know, if Guilty pleasures still exist. Which is questionable.).

14.  Dirty Projectors- Swing Lo Magellan

15. Jessie Ware- Devotion

16. Frankie Rose- Interstellar

17. Passion Pit- Gossamer

18. Chromatics- Kill For Love

19. GS!YBE- Allelujah, Don't Bend Ascend

20. Titus Andronicus- Local Business

21. Kishi Bashi- 151a

22. Dan Deacon- America

23. Beach House- Bloom

24. Sharon Van Etten- Tramp

25. Moonface- Heartbreaking Bravery

26. Animal Collective- Centipede HZ 

27. Kendrick Lamar- Good Kid M.A.A.D. city

28. Lower Dens- Nootropics

29. Jens Lekman- I Know What Love Isn't

30. Mountain Goats- Transcendental Youth

Honorable Mentions:

Death Grips- The Money Store

DIIV- OshinHospitality- S/T

El-P- Cancer For The Cure

Sun Kil Moon: Among The Leaves

Scott Walker- Bish Bosch

And I'm gonna say it: That Ben Folds Five reunion album was pretty alright.

Top 5 Most underrated albums of 2012:

1. Kishi Bashi-151a

2. Moonface- Heartbreaking Bravery

3. Sun Kil Moon; Among The Leaves

4. Julia Holter- Ekstatis

5. Hospitality- S/T

Honorable mentions:

Black Swans- Occasion for Song

Lower Dens- Nootropics

G.O.O.D. Music- Cruel Summer

Animal Collective- Centipede Hz

Ira's 5 Favorite EPS of 2012:

1. TNGHT- TNGHT Ep (Easily some of the simultaneously weirdest and poppiest music of the year)

2. Antlers- Undersea Ep (This EP is a masterpiece. I was pretty much lukewarm on this band until I heard it. Now I love em). 

3. Frightened Rabbit- State Hospital EP

4. JJ- High Summer

5. Kitty Pryde- Hahaha Jk 

Honorable mentions: 

Travis Morrison Hellfighters- Cruisn' (All Night Long) EP

Ira's Favorite Songs of 2012:

1. Japandroids- The House That Heaven Built

2. Japandroids- Continuous Thunder (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah I know it's lame to have 2 songs by the same artist/from the same album (in track order no less!) as both my 1 and 2 spots. But CAN you sincerely tell me 2 BETTER songs that came out this year? Allow me to answer my own TRICK question: NO YOU CAN'T BECAUSE THEY DON'T EXIST.)

3. Grimes- Oblivion

4. TNGHT- Gooooooo

5. Antlers- Drift Dive

6. Bat For Lashes- All your gold

7. JJ- High Summer

8. Julia Holter- In The Same Room (it was EXCEPTIONALLY CLOSE between this and Our Sorrows)

9. Swans- Mother Of The World

10. Bat For Lashes- The Haunted Man

11. Chairlift- I belong In Your Arms

12. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (fuck you. this song is great.).

13. How To Dress Well- Set It Right

14. Fiona Apple- Werewolf

15. Frankie Rose- Pair Of Wings

16. Action Bronson- Hookers At The Point

17. Chromatics- Kill For Love

18. Tame Impala- Be Above it

19. Kanye/Big Sean/Jay-Z- Clique

20. Los Campesinos!- Tiptoe Through The Truebits (this one is out of NOWHERE. I think this was just some free b-side or album outtake? I think it's pretty much one of the best songs they've ever written).

21. Titus Andronicus- In A Big City

22. Divine Fits- Shivers

23. Dirty Projectors- Impregnable Question

24. Killer Mike- Reagan

25. Fank Ocean- Lost

26. Passion Pit- I'll Be Alright

27. Death Grips- I've Seen Footage

28. Lower Dens- Brains

29. Purity Ring- Fireshrine

30. Moonface- Quickfire, I tried

Honorable Mentions-

Julia Holter- Our Sorrows

Tame Impala- Feels Like We Only Go Backwards

How To Dress Well- & It Was U

Killer Mike- Big Beast

Animal Collective- Monkey Riches

Kitty Pryde- Ok Cupid

Sexiest Song Of 2012:

Bat For Lashes- Oh Yeah

Honoerable Mentions: 

Frank Ocean- Pilot Jones

Jessi Ware Running

Most Disappointing Album Of 2012:

Magnetic Fields- Love At The Bottom Of The Sea (Writing 69 Love Songs gets Stephin Merrit a lifetime pass in my book, but seriously this album is so halfassed it's embarassing and has merely ONE good song on it. All structure. No heart.Stephin Merritt better not go all Simpsons post season 8 on us and start sucking longer than he was genius, cuz at present that seems to be the path he's on).

Weirdest Album of 2012:

Scott Walker- Bish Bosch (Lyrics about Severed Gonads, Haunted Jacuzzis, and Greeks who Fuck Bears (As well as exceptionally odd 'Yo Mamma So Fat' jokes), a couple 21-minute songs that include multiple full-10 second pauses, dissonant noise that would make Michael Gira Jealous, and fart noises set to music. In case you needed further audio proof that Scott Walker thoroughly out of his fucking mind, this should about cover it.)

Critically Acclaimed Albums of 2012 that Ira REALLY wanted to "GET" and/or spend more time with, but didn't:

1. Flying Lotus- Until The Quiet Comes (I still haven't fully wrapped my brain around his first album. And I think this one is definitely more accessible, and I can totally appreciate that this guy sounds like absolutely no one else and is a gifted as hell producer, I honestly just haven't found my way into this record yet. I'm gonna keep tryin' though). All that said, that Captain Murphy mixtape is pretty dope.

2. Metz- Metz (I honestly just haven't put the time in with this record long enough to absorb it)

3. Kendrick Lamar- Good Kid M.A.A.D. City (This album is actually on my list. And I dig it a whole lot. But in certain circles people are like "ALBUM OF THE FUCKING YEAR" or "THIS IS THE HIPHOP ALBUM WE'VE BEEN WAITING PRACTICALLY A DECADE FOR" and I just don't entirely understand. I mean, I know/love my share about hip-hop, but I feel like I'm missing out on the thing that makes this album so amazing. But I'll definitely say, dude is a helluva storyteller).

4. Grizzly Bear- Shields (I keep WANTING to like Grizzly Bear. EVERYONE ELSE does. And while I can objectively admit that Shields is definitely one of their better albums and has some great songs on it, I still honestly don't entirely "get" Grizzly Bear.)

5. The 8 Kajillion Albums released in 2012 between Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees (Who has time to listen to that much garage rock?)

Top 3 2012 Albums That Ira Completely Forgot About To The Point that he thought they actually came out in 2011:

1. Shins- Port Of Morrow (This just completely got swallowed up by the onslaught of other amazing albums this year didn't it? Shins seem borderline irrelevant to me at this juncture. I'm sure this album is fine, but who even cares.)

2. Cloud Nothings- Attack On The Memory (A damn enjoyable record, but didn't it come out in 2011? I coulda sworn...)

3. Perfume Genius- Put Yr Back N 2 it. (Had it's enjoyable moments, but yeah another early year record that can't even begin to compare to the onslaught of great albums that came out from springtime onward)

Ira's Favorite Lyric of 2012:

"What if I had all of the answers  

and you had the body you wanted?

Would we love with the legendary fire?"- Japandroids Continuous Thunder

Honorable mention: The entirety of Werewolf by Fiona Apple

Ira's 5 Favorite Conerts of 2012 (to be fair, these were about the only 5 that I saw... and shoutouts to Sonja Bozic for being with me for 3 out 5 shows. She wins concert buddy of the year award):

1. M83/ Sun Airway (I'm gonna say it again 40 FEET OF FUCKING LAZERS)

2. Debo Band

3. Japandroids/Diiv

4. Gogol Bordello/ Primus

5. Woods/ Widowspeak

Movies: Here are all the movies I saw this year.  All of them are surprisingly worthwhile/worth mentioning in some capacity. How many years can you say that? (#10-12 are in a category I'd like to call "interesting failures" as each of those 3 films are IMMENSELY flawed and not necessarily great, but despite their flaws I found things that were immensely worthwhile and interesting about each of them to the point that I couldn't just write them off... which again, I'd prefer a film that takes an artistic risk and doesn't quite get there over some formulaic hackneyed bullshit any day of the week. So credit where credit is due).  Again, much like with music, it was a strong and diverse year for movies (Again: compare Cabin In The Woods to Holy Motors to The Master and tell me what the hell the "2012 Style" is). There's a lot that I still haven't had the opportunity to see,  (Lincoln, Anna Karenina, etc) but of what I did see, this the order in which I liked 'em.

The 12 Movies Ira Saw in 2012, ranked in order of enjoyment.

1. Cabin In the Woods

2. Moonrise Kingdom

3. The Master

4. Holy Motors

5. Looper

6. The House I Live In

7. The Dark Knight Rises

8. Argo

9. Madagascar 3 

10. 7 Psychopaths

11. Cloud Atlas

12. The Comedy

Ira's favorite 2012 TV Shows:

The only current shows that I watch are Breaking Bad and  Girls and I don't need to watch others to know that they're the best.

Hey guys! Here's what's up in the whacky world of Ira Gamerman these days:

1. I live in New York City now!

2. I'm assisting the amazing Kara Lee Corthron with her killer new play (er... happening?) ALICEGRACEANON at New Georges. Tickets here: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/916799

3. On Sunday October 21st and Monday October 22nd, i will be performing a new 10-minute monologue called LUCK OF THE IRA at Tongue In Cheek Theater's Plus 1 Solo Show festival. Tickets here: http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=OCT4

4. I'm working on some new plays n' stuff. They're all in pretty early stages at the moment, so I'll keep ya updated once there's stuff to update you on. They're pretty exciting projects (But I've probably already said too much)

Hope you're well!

Hey blog! it's been a while since I've updated you on my goings-on.  That's because I've been pretty busy! So, what's been up in the life of Ira Gamerman since last we spoke? WELL:

1. I completed my MFA In playwriting from Ohio University!   I wrote: 6 full-length plays, 1 Feature screenplay, 2 One-Act plays, 14 10-minute plays (potentially more, but I forget), 67 Madnesses , 5 short film scripts , 1 tv spec, (and I'm not even counting in-class writing exercises of which there have been many...not to mention occasional acting gigs)- ALL on top of teaching 5 classes, coordinating a playwrights festival or 2, interning/teaching at some cool nationally-known theaters, reading a bunch of plays, writing a bunch of academic papers, self-recording an EP, improvising countless songs, making an avalanche of new friends, inventing a mix party, winning some awards, visiting 5 foreign countries, missing an obscene amount of sleep, and probably losing my mind on at least a regular monthly basis. It was sincerely the best 3 years of my life thus far. I'm gonna miss the hell out of Athens, Ohio! Thanks for everything. Which leads me to...

2. I'm moving to New York City! Yup. Takin' the plunge. It's exciting/scary.  Should be situated there in the next few weeks. And speaking of New York City:

3. I'm proud to announce that I was a Finalist for Mabou Mines' 2012/2013 Artist Residency. It was a real honor to be considered. I'm super thankful.

4. I was interviewed a whole bunch!

A. Here's an interview as a part of 31 Plays 31 Days: 
http://31plays31days.com/blog/2012/08/16/31-plus-interviews-%7C-ira-gamerman/

B. I got interviewed for A FULL HOUR on the first episode of The Flaming Liberal Podcast (available on Itunes): 
http://flamingliberalpodcast.com/