Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Band of the Year and More Mix

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You have before you, the FINAL Ear to the Ground of 2013, so let's blow this thing out!

First order of business:  As promised, it is time to unveil our 2013 Band of the Year. As announced, for the first time in E2TG history, the Band of the Year will be selected by me, myself, and I.  Back in 2011, I came up with the idea of a Band of the Year, and frankly, I didn't want the pressure/guilt in picking one band over others. So, I created a Readers' Poll, and with a massive last minute push, UK band The Mobbs stormed to a narrow victory over underdogs Ubiquity Machine.

Following the success of that initial poll, I began running Band of the Month polls beginning with December 2011, although initially successful, the concept of pitting bands against each other began to stale.  We carried on, and at the end of last year, we had another successfully Band of the Year Readers' Poll wherein Skeletons in the Piano were selected by popular election.

Since that time, I decided to focus on featuring as much new music as I could, and I dropped the Band of the Month and related features. Although I briefly considered another year-end poll, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't willing to give that power away this time.... oh yeah, and the thing about bands working together for their common good....

So.... after all that background and unsolicited explanation, I am very excited to announce the 2013 Ear to the Ground Band of the Year.

The 2013 Band of the Year were selected for the following reasons:

1. They are among the coolest, most bad ass people I've had the good fortune to get to know as the result of writing this blog.

2. They are extremely generous and supportive of other bands and artists.

3. They released on of the best albums of 2013.

4. I got to meet them and see them blaze through an all too brief set back in early Spring.

5. They had a successful tour in the US and in Europe.

6. The followed up their amazing 2013 album with a brand new single which was accompanied by an incredible video that visually depicted their total bad-assery.

7.  Because I said so......

The 2013 E2TG Band of the Year is.....  THE END MEN from Brooklyn, New York!!!!!!

 



Congrats kids!  Here's to an even better 2014!


Okay, we have unfinished business as we continue to feature some of our favorite music of 2013... let's do it!

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - A Few of My Favorite Things 2013 Mix - Part Five

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Stupid winter bugs.... well, I was out sick Friday - so no shuffle.  But, today's shuffle includes music I would have featured on that day - plus a few more.   I'm actually going to be away for the rest of the week.  Ear to the Ground will return Monday December 30 to present the 3rd Annual Band of the Year award (for the first time not based upon a poll).

Let's get to the music...

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - A Few of My Favorite Things 2013 Mix Part Four

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And on we go... 

Just in case you  joined us late, we are looking back on some of our favorite music from 2013, and doing it as only Ear to the Ground would...  I created a Playlist with favorites released in 2013.  2013 was a great year for music.  Many of your favorite E2TG artists released new music this year, some new favorites were "discovered", and there was even some notable releases from artists you frequently read about on those "Brand X" music blogs.  All of those and maybe even more are included in the Playlist.  We've been shuffling through that playlist all week, and we will continue until the end of the year (and maybe a day or two more).

Let's get to it, and see what Mr. Shuffle has brought up today... shall we?

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - A Few of My Favorite Things 2013 Mix - Part Three

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We continue our 2013 Year in Review via shuffle with another great mix of music.  Today, I thought I would focus on the various ways that new music comes to my attention.  Why? Because inquiring minds want to know even if they do not know that they want to know.

Shuffle ho!

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - A Few of Favorite Things 2013 Mix - Part Two

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First of all... Tuesday? Really? Just Tuesday?

Second... how about a couple of my favorite Christmas songs...

 

 

 

Third... Rest in Peace to Mr. Ray Price. In seeing some of the news reports, I was most struck at how his voice held up into his late 70s/early 80s. So smooth...  Thanks for the music.

 

 

 

 

Now... to today's music...

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - A Few of My Favorite Things 2013 Mix - Pt. One

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It's here... time to begin our look back at the year which was 2013.  In true E2TG style, for the remainder of 2013 we will shuffling up a special playlist which includes some of our favorite songs from the past year.  I'll let the song speak for themselves, but we will be highlighting some of our favorite E2TG related albums of the year as we move along.

About Band of the Year.  After two successful Band of the Year polls (by page view numbers, Band of the Year and Band of the Month polls dominate our statistics page for most viewed), so it is only after careful consideration that I've decided to forgo the Band of the Year poll for 2013.  Basically, it comes down to the fact that I would rather see independent bands cooperating and collaborating than competing.  We had some memorably good fun with some of our polls - especially the first annual Band of the Year poll and the legendary February 2012 Band of the Month poll that came down to a dogfight between MAKAR and The End Men.  As time went by, and I began featuring more and more bands, the idea no longer seemed to be in the spirit of this site.  

I will be naming the third annual Band of the Year within the next couple of weeks.  Meanwhile, enjoy yourself as we relive this year that almost was.  If you feel so inclined, share some of these posts with your friends near and far.


Before we jump into the first of our Favorites' shuffles for 2013, I need to rectify something....


#E2TG Hall of Fame (Notable Omissions):

More names will be added to the Hall of Fame in early 2014 - and my progress on the completion of the Hall of Fame page has hit some unexpected delays, but I've became increasingly uncomfortable knowing that two of my favorite E2TG artists have not been added to the Hall as of yet. 

1.  Ubiquity Machine/Howard Rabach  - In using the tagging feature to determine our Hall of Fame, one thing I failed to take into account were the many fine bands/artists you came to prominence in the months when E2TG was still housed on the now defunct Posterous site.  Howard Rabach was one of the first readers of the blog to step out of the shadows.  His band, Ubiquity Machine, was one of our early Bands of the Week. The band finished second in our first annual Band of the Year poll, and he has remained a good friend of Ear to the Ground ever since.  UM has been kind of dormant of late, as Howard has been doing some freelance stuff.  Check out his Facebook page here. So it is with great pleasure, that I usher in UM/HR to a spot of honor in our Hall of Fame.



2. The Grimm Generation - Another thing I failed to take into account in my tagging system of Hall of Fame eligibility is the variant tagging which sometimes occurs. Blogger places a 200 character limit on tagging so sometimes I have to shorten band names - like leaving the "The" off.  That is the only explanation I have for The Grimm Generation not being in our top 20 tagged artists. Still this unique and frankly awesome collective from Connecticut (headed up by the amazing Jason Krug and Carmen Champagne), are well deserving of a prime spot in our Hall of Fame.  Hell their latest album, The Big Fame even has "fame" in the title. They have consistently made music which I love and which seems timeless in its wonderfulness.



Now... let the 2013 Shuffles begin

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Ex-Eye-Aye-I Mix

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Happy Friday the 13th to all you triskaidekaphiles out there.

Monday starts our march to 2014 by highlighting some of our favorite music of 2013. Culminating in the Third Annual Band of the Year unveiling ceremony blog post.  Who will join The Mobbs and Skeletons in the Piano in this super exclusive category?  You better tune in to find out.  It's all soooo exciting!

Anyway to close out a great year of Shuffles, we have another shuffle with some songs and stuff...

#E2TGWorthy... it started as a simple blog post, but everything got turned upside down. What happened next will change the way you look at simple blog posts for at least a couple of minutes...

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Freaks Mix

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Busy, busy... A few things before we jump into the shuffle...

First, a reminder that next week we begin our very #E2TG approach to The Best of 2013.  Stay tuned for that.

A couple of live videos hit our inbox this week and wanted to share...  The Mad Doctors are from Brooklyn and they kick some major butt.  Check out this performance from 11/30/2013.

 

This next video is from our Nashville friends Year of October.  We are looking forward to a new album (fingers crossed) for 2014.  Meanwhile, this past weekend, they did a mini-tour which included a stop in Louisville which is where this next video was filmed.  Check it out!

 





On to today's mixture of mixed musical melodies....

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - A Mix Among Mixes Mix

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It's mid-week.  Nashville is still digging out from our massive 1/2 snowfall yesterday morning (which by the way was mostly melted by noon yesterday)  (note for non-Nashville readers: Nashville really freaks out over winter weather).  Anyway, it was a frosty morning, and we have a great mix of songs to warm your hearts and minds and... I don't really know what I'm saying at this point, but I'm trying to use words that sound like they belong in the introduction to a blog post. Whew!

It's that time of year... everyone is releasing they best of 2013 lists.  Here at #E2TG, we will kick off our Best of 2013 posts Monday morning.  Of course, we will be doing it in a manner befitting Ear to the Ground... stay tuned.   By the way, for the first time since this blog began, we will not be having a Band of the Year Readers Poll.  More on the reasoning behind this later.  However, we will be unveiling our 3rd Annual Band of the Year in a special post later this month.  Tune in!

To today's music...

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - My Body is a Dumb Question Mix

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A whopping 25 songs to get to, and not much time...  Jump to it

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Waiting For My Man Mix

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Time, Time, Time, see what's become of me...

Last week, I managed to move the overall current stuff playlist to down below 400. I'm planning to add more tunes tonight, so let's make another dent today.

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Hurrah Mix

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A cool selection of songs and not much time... let's go...

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Maybe Partying Will Help Mix

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Cold wet weather has descended on Nashville (after a near record high yesterday).  A good day to stay inside and listen to a long set of music.

Jump to it....

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Chim Chim Mix

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Have to make it quick today.  Nineteen songs in the Mix.  12 in the Bonus Mix and 7 in the daily shuffle.

First,  Nashville band Humming House, who are featured twice in the Bonus Mix today, have just released a video for the first single from their forthcoming album. "Fly On (Forever is Better With You)" is a great song, and the video features the parent's of the band's newest member - Leslie Rodriquez. By the way, her parents happen to be a couple of the coolest people I know. Watch the video, and I think you'll get a glimpse of why I say that.




Now to today's songs

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Keep on Wailin' Mix

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Here we go... it seems like I've been adding more songs every week then I have time to feature. So to help clear the backlog and to feature more songs - I'm going to add a Bonus Mix feature.  And, just like it's better to eat dessert first, so it is better to present the Bonus Mix first...

It all gets going after the leap (jump):......

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Pop Musik Mix

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Back to it...  After a long, restful weekend, I managed to haul myself out of bed and into the week.  Let's see how far a little momentum and a whole bunch of caffeine can propel me...

Have to keep it short today, we have one our wide-ranging shuffles....