We Don't Walk Slow

Most Spotify Followers 2015

This is the 3rd year running I’ll be updating which artist / band has the most Spotify followers. The cool part about this is seeing who makes the biggest leaps upwards from past years. This essentially shows if the artist’s career is trending up or down. Spotify being the biggest streaming music provider with nearly 80 million listeners is perfect for data dissection. Onward to the list. 2013 and 2014.

2015 Most Spotify Followers

20. Flo Rida – 3,721,124 followers

Your hair is cut too crisp to be taken seriously.

What the fuck. How do I start out with Flo Rida? I looked hard for someone to steal this #20 spot but couldn’t find anyone. Kanye. Imagine Dragons. I’d even take Vance Joy. Flo Rida, the king of the hook will not go away. It should be noted that he did go from #5 last year to #20 this year so this is most likely the last time we see him. Thank heaven. I’m listening to him right now to get the feel and his words are inaudible and then the hook comes. Dance music at its finest. Talent is not found here as he only added 300k followers which is negligible in comparison to the rest of the list.

19. Beyonce – 3,727,496 followers

Beyonce and Blue Ivy

Beyonce sort of makes me sad because she isn’t even trying anymore. She really doesn’t have to. She’s a mother to Blue Ivy and her past success will keep her near the top off of reputation alone. It doesn’t hurt that she’s married to Jay-Z. An ultimate power couple, unlike Kanye and Kim, who do it the right way with talent. The song 7/11 has 147 million listens and I remember hearing that being played this year which isn’t so shabby.

18. Nicki Minaj – 3,729,423 followers

Nicki failed to change her logo which we know is a no-no. Having a fake body has given Nicki more than her rat-tat-tat rap. I’ve read a few interviews about her in Rolling Stone and she seems like a no-nonsense, workaholic business woman. I respect her game, not her music.

17. Lana Del Ray – 3,824,581 followers

Um, nice hat.

I have virtually nothing to write about Lana Del Ray. Her album Honeymoon came out in September of this year and she mystifies me that she has this many fans. There must be a following in some country where all they do is listen to Lana Del Ray to pump up her numbers. She was 10th last year so she’s going the wrong way.

16. Adele – 3,849,997 followers

HALLLLO!

Adele released Hello on Spotify and is currently the 3rd most listened to monthly artist. Let’s face it, she’s huge. She not only has a booming singing voice, but she is working with Max Martin who is the king of producing pop. She is a bit overweight, recently a mother, and identifies with hundreds of million of females everywhere. Her album isn’t even released on Spotify and Hello already has 293 million listens. It’s historic. She added 1.5 million Spotify followers this year alone. More tracks to be pulled off of 25, I’m sure.

15. Skrillex – 3,913,451 followers

#9 on the list last year and only added 900,000 followers. The only news I’m aware of is that Jack Ü is a duo made up of Skrillex and Diplo which is new. He’s part of the Justin Bieber Remix as well. I was going to write about Skrillex and Ellie Goulding but it looks like they broke up in 2012 which just means I shouldn’t write any more about Skrillex.

14. Taylor Swift – 3,947,286 followers

Admit it, you got a boob job.

Not allowing her music on Spotify is such a power move that it’s sickening. It actually makes me dislike T Swift. Her hashtag is #justsayyes. How about doing that to Spotify music? Your songs are played all over radio so what’s the big deal? You’re just pissed because you’re only going to make $100 million this year instead of $110. Blank Space, Bad Blood, and Style were here huge smashes this year even though the album 1989 came out in 2014.

13. Bruno Mars – 4,000,306

How did Bruno Mars add 1.4 million Spotify followers to move from 14 to 13 on this chart? The answer is one song, Uptown Funk with Mark Ronson.

“HE IS THE BEST SINGER I’VE EVER HEARD IN FRONT OF MY FACE. I’VE NEVER BEEN PUSHED THAT HARD VOCALLY. – Adele

12. Calvin Harris – 4,165,949 followers

Dating Taylor Swift you SOB. Talk about a career move. How Deep is Your Love with Disciples (I could have swore it was Ellie) didn’t hurt his already strong reputation either. Calvin moved from #17 last year to #12, so I’d call that a solid year. He has also been the highest paid DJ the last 3 years. Plus you got Taylor Swift. What a life for a guy named after a comic book.

11. Katy Perry – 4,175,063 followers

You’ve got to change your Spotify logo, Katy. Who are you paying to do this because they are dropping the ball? Katy knows that touring is the way to make the big bucks and that’s what she is doing. No new music for most of the year but Katy stays in the spotlight by doing the Superbowl last January. No big deal. When Katy roars, people listen.

10. Justin Bieber – 4,291,818 followers

#prayforselena

Even with the bad boy image, and the hog that dropped, Biebs keeps producing hit jams. He is currently the most listened to artist with regards to monthly listens. This is because What Do You Mean and Sorry are blowing up the charts. His album Purpose was even met with positive reviews. Even if you hate Justin Bieber there is one certainty about him, he produces pop that gets played in clubs everywhere in the world and the ladies love him.

9. One Direction – 4,529,257 followers

Talk about tacking on followers. Adding on a cool 1 million 2 years ago and 2 million this past year, this called doing work. I’m not a teen girl so my information about Harry Styles and whoever the rest are is going to be weak. It appears that an album called Made in the AM achieved pretty good results based off of the amount of listens it received. Wasn’t their rumors of Harry quitting? Upon further research, it was Zeyn who quit. Who knew?

8. Drake – 4,630,880 followers

Drake and Kendall

Adding about 2 million followers and moving from #11 to #8 is a strong year from Drake. Buoyed by the success of Hotline Bling and the album called What a Time to Be Alive, Drake is earning checks and snapping necks. I read some reports he is seeing Kendall Jenner which is a scary thought. Rappers and Kardashian’s go together like white on rice. Didn’t change his logo though which is pretty weak.

7. Avicii – 4,559,028

Fire logo. Last year I wrote about health rumors about Avicii and I have no clue if that is still the case. I’m sure it’s easy to get caught up in drugs living the DJ life. I’d say this was a pretty successful year for Avicii considering it would have been impossible to top last year with Wake Me Up and Hey Brother. His 2015 hits Waiting for Love and The Nights were still decent. I haven’t listened to all of Stories but I bet I’d enjoy it.

6. Coldplay – 4,758,615

A Head Full of Dreams is a very good album. Adventure of a Lifetime and Hymn for the Weekend are already making waves and I predict Fun and Amazing Day will also produce singles. This band is the definition of adapting. I’ve learned to respect their early through today’s music and am not ashamed to say I enjoy Coldplay’s music even if Paul Rudd says they are gay. Let’s not forget they are performing the 2016 Superbowl which is pretty much the biggest gig on the planet.

5. Eminem – 4,806,521 followers

Eminem’s daughter Hailie

Still gathering crowds, Eminem is ageless. He’s actually 43. His song King’s Never Die was a colloraborative effort with Gwen Stefani done this year. He also produced the soundtrack for Southpaw. I like Eminem because his lyrics are well thought out and he spits rhymes in a manner that is unique to himself. Even though i’m not into his music like I was when I was in high school over a decade ago, I will always give his creative energy the benefit of the doubt.

4. Ed Sheeran – 5,333,595 followers

The #1 biggest mover on this list. He went from the #12 spot this year to #4 and added 2.6 million followers in one year. How does this red haired, pudge ball do this? He released an album called X. He makes the panties of every girl in the world drop. Have you heard Photograph? Thinking Out Loud? I See Fire? Christ, the album was 24 songs of heartache. At 24 years old, this Brit dominated 2015 unlike any other.

3. Rihanna – 6,003,159 followers

When you are Rihanna you don’t have to do much. She is working on a new album called Anti which has the songs FourFiveSeconds with Kanye and Paul McCartney and Bitch, Better Have My Money. She really is the queen and will excel at whatever she puts out because she sings like a cross between Fergie and Jesus. It should also be noted that she is into ODB and he doesn’t feel the same way. Her life is waking up in Barbados, getting high, singing some songs, getting drunk, doing whatever the fuck she wants. Not bad.

2. Maroon 5 – 6,313,086 followers

Adam Levine on the Voice

Overtaking Rihanna for the #2 spot is Maroon 5. This happens when you release an album like V which has smashes like Maps, Animals, and Sugar. Plus Adam Levine is on the Voice which has to soar his popularity as well as the band’s. It doesn’t hurt that every girl wants his nuts. I’ve heard him on Howard Stern and he actually seems like a nice guy. This band is not going anywhere so get used to them by the top.

1. David Guetta – 7,355,889 followers

The DJ who no one knows anything about. He’s French. He’s 48. I have to imagine his age and worldly appeal have a lot to do with his popularity. He also works with the most famous, talented artists such as Sia, John Legend, Ryan Tedder, and Sam Martin to name a few. I personally don’t know much about David Guetta. Apparently 7.3 million people do.

Biggest Climbers

Beatles – 1,433,045 followers

Being out for 1 week, hmmmm, we may see them top the list next year.

The Weeknd – 2,527,137 followers

Monster hit with Can’t Feel My Face and the album Beauty Behind the Madness is still popping hits with In the Night and Losers.

Hozier – 977,173 followers

A highly anticipated 2nd album can only bring Hozier more to the front. The self-titled album Hozier has wowed the music seen with thoughtful lyrics and songs you want to sing. I hope he keeps firing on all cylinders and doesn’t fall off like many other artists have when making their 2nd album.

Imagine Dragons – 2,894,258 followers

The 2nd album Smoke and Mirrors was a disappointment only because Night Visions was so good. I have a feeling Imagine Dragons will fight back with a fire breathing vengeance.

By Tom Stortz|2015-12-29T17:15:37-05:00December 29th, 2015|Music|0 Comments

Beatles Get Added To Streaming Services

As of 12:00am Thursday, the Beatles can be streamed. They have been added to Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, Google Play,and Amazon Prime. What impact does this have?

Stream Your Music!

Your fans are happy as well.

I’m deleting every MP3 from my hard drive. I can’t think of reasons to have them except when I’m low on data which is rare. I use Sirius when I’m in my car so I understand that traveling could be an argument to why you shouldn’t delete them. I look at MP3’s as hoarding. You don’t want to get rid of them because you think at some point in time you’ll need them. You won’t.

With the Beatles finally making the move, there just aren’t a lot of songs that you don’t have available to stream. You pay $15 dollars a month, you can stream music from your phone to your wireless speaker, and you are a database of music that has never been felt before. You have access to new songs on the day of their release. There is no waiting to get the new CD. You have music at your fingertips.

So lame.

Of course you have cunt-inued artists like Adele and Taylor Swift who don’t want to play the game but they are the rare case. Streaming music is the only growing source of music. The music industry works like this. You become popular by streaming, make a little money as people play your songs, then make bigger money performing live. Eliminate the idea that album sales are going to be your main source of revenue. Fuck paying .99 per download. Here’s the financial breakdown of industry revenue:

Physical – In 2004 revenue was $12 billion from CD sales. It has since declined to $2.3 billion in 2015. Who still buys CD’s?
Streaming – Streaming has grown to $1.9 billion in 2015 and continues to grow.
Digital Downloads – Have averaged around $2 billion for the past 7 years but will decline rapidly once people realize they are retarded for paying for songs and albums.

Streaming is the only source that is growing. Did you know Spotify paid Led Zeppelin millions for the exclusive rights? Why do you think they are doing this? Duh. Recurring revenue is the best way to build a business and you need the most popular artists to bring in new subscribers. Spotify is up to 20 million paying subscribers and 80 million free users. That’s 80 million people who are listening to ads which is by far the dumbest waste of time when you consider it is $15 dollars a month. GET WITH THE PROGRAM.

As a Beatles fan, I’m happy that they have opened up their catalog. They are one of the world’s greatest bands and now I can listen to songs I never knew existed without spending hundreds of dollars on CD’s. Merry Christmas from The Beatles.

By Tom Stortz|2015-12-24T13:00:31-05:00December 24th, 2015|Music|1 Comment

A Space Oddity

I’ve had 2 Spotify coincidences that are unbelievable. I couldn’t make this stuff up. Evan sends Jeff and I an email titled, “This is Major Wevs to Stortz Control”. This is the body.

“Pretty cool vid – last day available. Apparently Bowie to Bowie only gave him rights for 1 year or something like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo”

The Oddity

So I click on the link in the email and start watching a video by Chris Hadfield singing Space Oddity. He’s an actual astronaut who went to space. All is normal until I hear a repeat of Space Oddity playing through my speakers. What the fuck is that repeat? I thought Jeff must have clicked on Evan’s link and I was hearing an echo but I verified that the sound was coming through my speaker. Much to my amazement, my The Best Of Pink Floyd: A Fool in the Door radio station (best station I’ve ever had on Spotify by the way) started playing Space Oddity. What. The. Fuck. You are telling me that Spotify started playing the same exact song that I was listening to through a randomly timed link sent by my friend. The odds to this are astronomical.

The 2nd occurrence came when I heard the song Stolen Dance by Milky Chance on AltNation. It wasn’t available on Spotify at the time so I listened to the song on YouTube for a while. The song had 30million views and had been out for over a year. Well what do you think happened? Spotify added Stolen Dance to its database. This is incredible that after a year of not adding the song, they add it 2 days after I notice it isn’t on there. I should also add that Milky Chance is quite a duo from Germany and worth listening to all of the 4 songs on Spotify. For the lazy and those who don’t have Spotify. Absolutely worth a listen.

By Tom Stortz|2014-05-13T12:24:10-04:00May 13th, 2014|Music|0 Comments

A New Way of Music Success

Who can forget getting to the end of a download and having it stall.

2014 – Burying the CD

My music knowledge is above average. I know a little about a lot and have a decent finger on the pulse of today’s music. I’m by no means an expert but I do know that the internet has changed the way music is delivered to the public’s ear. Applications and software like Spotify, Pandora, Youtube, and Itunes have decimated album sales and a new way of identifying popularity should be put in place. Views and listens should dominate instead of album sales.

A declining trend

The top selling album in 2013 was Justin Timberlakes “20/20 Experience” which sold 2.43 million copies. This was the lowest total in the 22 years since Soundscan has been tracking sales. When I first read this number I wondered what was the breakdown of what is considered an album sale. The answer is that vinyl is 2% of album sales in the U.S; digital albums comprise 40.6% and the CD is 57.2%. Digital sales dropped for the first time EVER in 2013. More info on the music industry of 2013 can be found in this Billboard year end review. This isn’t surprising considering the aforementioned apps are delivering music on a subscription basis and eliminating album sales. Why would you buy an album for 10 dollars when you can get a month of Spotify and listen to a million times more music for a month?

Just Got Paid

Let’s time travel back to the year 2000. Can you guess the #1 selling album and how many units it sold? N’ Sync was the hottest boy band and said Bye Bye Bye to the 9 million CD’s sold mark. This was the tip of the iceberg when it came to CD sales for a single year. The best selling album of all-time is Michael Jackson’s Thriller and it has moved 51-65 million copies. These numbers are staggering when compared to the pathetic 2.4 million copies the best selling album of 2013 sold. With these current numbers being so out of touch with reality, the system must be changed to downloads and listens.

2014 – All Hail Spotify and Youtube

Spotify and YouTube are the best ways to listen to music currently. Spotify’s catalog is insanely big and they have new music updated quicker then you can run to the store and get it. YouTube is still the premier place to display new music in video format. Everything else should be considered secondary. I’ll add a quick footnote that ITunes tracks downloads and I assume this is an OK measure but it isn’t free so why you’d pay for a single or album download, I have no idea. The smartest music listeners pay a monthly subscription to Spotify to listen to their music. You can listen to any song, any time, any device.

Cd’s are going the way of listeners like this.

Therefore, Spotify listens and Youtube views should be a new music standard. The songs should have a cumulative number and that should be the new ranking. Fuck album sales. No one gives a shit that the Frozen Soundtrack has moved 2.3 million units when compared to the astronomical number of listens and views. What is far more interesting is that Katy Perry’s Dark Horse has 270 million YouTube views and 113 million Spotify listens. The problem is that I can’t find who is tracking this information on a week by week basis. I can see total views, but let’s get a count of this on a week by week to really understand what music is being listened to. Someone needs to do this! Rolling Stone, read this post and start finding a way to track these two networks and publish this info. Far and away better than album sales.

You may also have interest in this article I wrote last year about the most popular artists at the end of 2013.

By Tom Stortz|2014-04-29T20:20:24-04:00April 28th, 2014|Music|0 Comments

Must Have Tech of 2014

Some people try to keep up with technology and others purposely fall behind. They think it’s an inconvenience. I’ve never understood resisting tech because what gains in popularity has some function that makes life easier. There is nothing more important in life than time and items that make processes simpler should be used. New things scare stupid people. I’ve compiled a list of a few must have of 2014. Sadly some of these have been around for years but I guarantee everyone who reads this doesn’t have them.

Paypal Account

Paypal has been operating for 16 years and the company who owns it, Ebay, is worth 5.6 billion. Not having a Paypal account is essentially saying that you have no interest making any financial transactions over the internet. It’s resisting the combination of two of the most important concepts in life, money and the internet. Paypal let’s you pay other people for debts, contests, and other expenses by transferring through accounts. Many companies accept Paypal during the checkout process which makes your transaction more secure. I recently made a donation to Wikipedia using Paypal and the money is deducted straight from my bank account. It took under 1 minute. If you have never opened a Paypal account, I’d guess you were a coal miner or on a fishing boat.

EZ Pass

This picture says it all. “If you guys don’t have EZ Pass, just ring your call button and Tommy will come back there and hit you on the head with a tack hammer because you’re a retard.” There is not one single reason you can give not to have EZ Pass. It costs nothing and you don’t have to wait in lines on the turnpike. If you still get a ticket, you might have a mental issue that you should get checked out. Ck4 used to say, “I don’t take the turnpike.” Guess what, you should still have it just in case.

DVR-Box

If you watch television, especially sports, you need a DVR box. The ability to stop and start live TV makes the experience that much more enjoyable. Sometimes action will happen in sports and you’ll have your head turned and miss the climax. Being able to rewind makes sure you don’t miss a thing. The disappointment you feel when a friend does not having a DVR box when something happens and you can’t go back is worth the 10 dollars a month. Off topic, I just cancelled my sports package which during football season is unbelievably worth the 9 dollars for Red Zone.

Twitter, Netflix, and Spotify Account

Twitter, Netflix, and Spotify are all minor investments and are well worth the cost. Facebook is lame and people should turn to Twitter because the content is more concise and relevant. Plus it costs nothing. Someone texted me today saying that they thought my tweets weren’t bad and I told them to follow me and I’ll follow them. They said they didn’t have an account. Well fucking open one! It costs nothing. Netflix is a minor investment but the beauty is that multiple people can all share an account. I haven’t been using it as frequently as of late but for shows like Orange is the New Black, Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and others, I got my money worth. I won’t harp on Spotify much because people are honestly too stupid to understand how much better of a listening experience it is. The social aspect of playlists is so money that people can’t comprehend it. Itunes and Pandora are sad compared to it.

Amazon Credit Card

I’m not a sold on this one as the other ones but if you use Amazon, everything is one click during checkout. I assume it may be the same with every other credit card but I wouldn’t know because I only use my Amazon card when I shop on Amazon. Can anyone chime in with what happens with a regular card?

By Tom Stortz|2014-01-09T19:06:29-05:00January 9th, 2014|My Brain|1 Comment

Led Zeppelin on Spotify!!!!!!!!!

Led Zeppelin finally hits Spotify!

I couldn’t use enough exclamation points in this title to express how excited this makes me. Having the Led Zeppelin library at my fingertips is feeling like a lightning bolt just touched the tip of my penis. Rolling Stone broke the story to me through email but it looks as if they were aware at 11am today. 28,000 followers already, I expect this number to grow past 200,000 in the first month.

The rollout starts today and will continue through December 15th, starting with Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin II. Tomorrow, Led Zeppelin III and Untitled fourth album arrive. Friday brings Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffiti and Saturday will feature Presence and In Through the Out Door. Sunday, December 15th will be devoted to six albums: The Song Remains the Same, Coda, BBC Sessions, How the West Was Won, Mothership and Celebration Day.

I will be getting the lead out nonstop once everything is out and creating my own personal Led playlist. I’m excited for tomorrow because III and IV were my favorites. Their final 5 albums never wowed me as much but there are still great tracks on Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffiti. Music just got better.

The Beatles, AC/DC, Tool, Garth Brooks, Bob Seger and a handful of others remain unavailable on Spotify. When the Beatles are released on Spotify, all hell will break loose. I can’t tell if Spotify is good or bad for the bands but I can’t imagine more people being able to listen to your music as a completely bad thing. I can see how established bands who already have a fan base don’t want users listening to their music for free because these are their core buyers. For up and comers and legends, what’s the problem? Up and comers need people to listen to them and legends usually are not at their peak any more. Artists need to learn to adapt and Spotify is the wave of the music future.

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-11T16:24:33-05:00December 11th, 2013|Music|1 Comment

Let’s Get Excited

It’s hard to get me very emotional but that doesn’t mean that there are not things that I don’t like. They just happen to be very specific, hard to guess, simplistic points of life. This blog tends to spill the guts on mostly everything I do and think, so I’ll clue you in to my inner workings.

Long Drives By Myself

A few months ago one of my buddies was getting married in Pittsburgh and I attended the wedding. Pittsburgh is about 5 hours from Philadelphia and I awoke at 5:30 am to make it there early because I was only going to be there for 2 days. The sun was starting to rise and the turnpike was completely open. I cruised at 90 miles per hour and listened to my Led Zeppelin greatest hits and couldn’t have been happier. I probably had 20 oz cup of Wawa coffee and a breakfast sandwich along the way.

After Gym Showers

After working out, I’m usually at the peak of my enjoyment level. I may be completely spent, but there is an obvious high after completing a work out at max effort. I’m a major sweater (I like to think because I work out as hard as I can) and that generally leaves me a dripping mess after finishing. Removing my soaked clothes and stepping into a steaming shower is a wonderful feeling. I should note that I never shower at the gym because I find that incredibly creepy. I’d actually put getting my body into better shape as the #1 reason I work out but a hot shower to clean away all toxins that your body releases from working out is great as well.

Spotify

Click on the image for full interface.

Anytime I tell people about Spotify and they don’t use it, I know that they aren’t in tune with how to listen to music. The Spotify software actually makes me excited because they are constantly updating their music library, it’s easy to use, and it works. If a new album comes out, they have it on Spotify the same day. This means that I’m constantly up to date on all new music as well as old music that falls through the cracks. There are still no Beatles or Led Zeppelin but that day will come. The customizable playlists is not a revolutionary idea but the simplicity of sharing the playlists makes listening to music fun with other people. It not only brings better music to your desktop AND mobile, but it gives you a better social aspect than everything else. I’ve found friends who I would never talk to in real life and follow their music and may even enjoy their musical tastes. I suggest paying the 5 dollars a month for no commercials on the radio.

HBO, AMC, and Showtime Series

At brunch, Bill asked me why I get HBO and Showtime and to me it’s a no-brainer. There are many people who don’t get the premium networks and it’s obviously because they don’t want to pay extra for something they feel they won’t watch. What they don’t know is that the content is the best produced television available. You don’t get the premiums for the movies which are really just an added bonus in my mind. You pay for the series which are about 10x better than network TV. GoT, Homeland, Boardwalk Empire are rocked hard in 2013 and you can even watch the past fantastic series on HBOGo (the Wire, Sopranos, Early Dexter). AMC struck gold with Breaking Bad and I’ve been following Walking Dead even if it is falling off. Not too sure on Mad Men but I wasn’t hooked after one episode. These networks are “where it’s at”, says Beck.

New Emails

Click to see my spam.

I have two email addresses. The first is what I use for my generic mail and whenever I sign up for something. I’ll sign up for anything with the bad email address because I’m happy to receive any type of spam people want to send me. My other email address is what I’d call my work/important email address. If I give you that address, it means I want what you are sending. So whenever I receive something to that address, I want it. These new emails get me more excited than text messages because they have the potential of being a new store order. New store orders are wonderful because it means that the company is making money and whatever we are doing is being done right. This makes me happy because it shows the fruits of labor. I could probably sum up this post by saying that the things that make me the most excited are the end results of my work.

By Tom Stortz|2013-12-03T08:10:29-05:00December 2nd, 2013|My Brain|0 Comments

Vampire Weekend and The National Hit Spotify

I’ve been checking in with Spotify every couple of days and this is the first time I noticed these two CD’s are now listenable. If you don’t have Spotify, get a clue. Reviews to follow or I may just update the post.

The National – Trouble Will Find Me

Trouble Will Find Me

I obviously haven’t listened to the entire CD yet but Don’t Swallow the Cap was a great first single. This CD was released on May 17th.

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

Modern Vampires of the City

I thought Diane Young was a bit poppy for my tastes but the Rolling Stone RARELY gives out 5 star reviews so I’m pretty pumped to listen all the way through. This CD was released May 14th.

By Tom Stortz|2013-05-30T13:35:15-04:00May 30th, 2013|Music|0 Comments

5 Best Product Investments

Kindle Fire

I bought the Kindle Fire for $199 about 6 months ago. At first I was apprehensive about switching from a paperback book to a digital way of reading. How would I feel without turning physical pages that I’ve grown so accustomed to? As it turns out, it didn’t matter at all and the switch was seamless. I also signed up for an Amazon credit card that syncs directly into the Fire so I purchase books with one click without leaving my seat. Most of the time the Fire price is cheaper than the bookstore price so not only am I saving money but I’m never leaving the comfort of my house. It doesn’t have 3 or 4G which I would say is the only downside but it connects to any Wi-Fi so it really doesn’t come into play much for me. Plus you can watch redtube videos that come in decently but there is still some buffering which can get annoying. I see the price is down to $159 and I would recommend this particular device at that price level. I don’t watch anything movie or TV wise on it so I can’t comment but I don’t think it would be my preferred method. Very good for nighttime reading as no light is required.

Jos. A Bank Jacket

This isn’t the exact jacket I bought but very similar. Mine is 65% wool, 35% rayon and is a pretty good winter jacket. I wouldn’t wear it in the most frigid of conditions but in terms of an acceptable jacket to wear to bars and such, it works fantastic. I can even wear a collared polo t-shirt out and just wear the jacket as an exterior. It essentially eliminates the need for any type of sweatshirt unless I want to wear it. Best part is, it cost under a hundred bucks. I can honestly wear it every day and no one would say I’m over-wearing it because it’s so common place of an article of clothing. Without a doubt this was my #1 best investment of the year. I don’t need variety in winter month outerwear, this is it! Plus it doesn’t get dirty.

Taylor Burner Plus Irons &
Ping Stand Bag

I know there aren’t a ton of golf nuts out there but these two items were my best purchases of last year golf wise. I think I spent $400+ on the iron set I bought (I’m not sure this picture is the exact set I have) and they are a significant upgrade from the Tommy Armour 845 I had for 10+ years. My distance is 200+ with a 5 iron which basically can allow me to drive using an iron on most holes. Hitting the sweet spot leads to nice distance and I’ve been playing a nice draw as well. Forgiveness is noticeable. The bag is awesome as well. We’ll give Bill Schmidt credit for the recommendation as he said “the only bags worth buying are Titleist and Ping.” It has an abundance of pockets, a Gatorade holder, a nice stand, a handle to move the bag without holding the strap, and is lightweight to make a fantastically designed bag. I left out my Cleveland sand wedge but I’ll save that for another entry. A huge key to golf is having the right equipment.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

This is a book I read about a year ago that has so many good tools that I probably don’t use most of them. It goes into prioritizing life, listening, speaking, empathizing, decision making and all the other good things that you usually don’t think about on your day to day. This book makes you think about them and I remember after finishing the book having a positive outlook on life. As months pass and you forget what you read, you will revert back to the real you but it’s still effective to have these principals instilled from time to time. Here was an interesting post I wrote back in the day after reading the book. Reading this book once a year would be an exercise that no price could be put on it.

Spotify & Sirius Radio

Although it seems pretty insane, I pay 200+ dollars a year for Sirius and 5 bucks a month for Spotify. This equates to a roughly 300 dollar budget a year for music which is less than a dollar a day. For me this is completely worth it. I listen to music everyday of my life. As I’m sitting here right now I’m listening to OMD, If You Leave on Sirius First Wave. Listening to music makes me happy. If I have to choose between not listening or listening, I’d practically never choose not listening. Sirius in the car, Spotify at home. I like the randomness of Sirius and my ability to hear songs I never would hear and the variety of their stations. I like how I can customize playlists with Spotify and share music with friends. Both of these services hold high value in my mind. AM/FM what?!

By Tom Stortz|2013-03-15T03:01:14-04:00January 21st, 2013|My Brain, Sports|1 Comment

Ahead of the Music Curve

So you can see my tweet in the upper right which is the basis of this post. Here’s the validation of my opinion on the band A Silent Film. I’m saying that I have impeccable taste in music and deserve the credit for pointing out good songs before they become mainstream. Now this is a skill that virtually everyone thinks they have but mostly don’t. By the time the song hits the radio it is already mainstream. To really prove this skill you have to buy the CD (or spotify) the first day it comes out, listen to it all the way through, and then give an opinion of songs on the album. For this particular example, I technically said every song on the album was great which is cheating a bit but I’m still counting it. I’ve also listened to the Killers album, Battleborn, about 7 times or so and think that more than half the songs have potential of hitting the airwaves. Once again not saying much by pointing good songs out. To actually prove this talent, you should download spotify and follow my list “alt nation” to hear my recommended songs. If you aren’t using spotify to listen to music you are so far behind the curve that you don’t deserve to know my music. Use this post as your starting point. Find me, follow my music, and then share your taste in music with me. It can be a game. I can jam your playlist while Jeff and I play ping pong and you can jam mine while you are doing whatever it is you do.

I wrote a post about being the first of your friends to hear a song and then declaring this “your song” and anyone else who knows about it after you is listening to old music. After thinking about this I’ve taken the stance that you actually want everyone to hear your song. It’s better when top notch material is heard by everyone. You should feel happy when other people discover songs that you knew were worth listening to. Sharing is caring.

I’m going to make one last plea for you to listen to spotify which absolutely blows away Pandora. It has newer music and you can choose your music and share your music. This is a similar backing I’ve done with Sirius for all these years and can’t understand how so many people still put up with AM/FM. It can’t seriously be about monthly fee? You spend your life in your car listening to commercials. WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!!!! I can’t comment on their rap or Country stations but I know their rock music is far superior than any Philly bs you are listening to. Never listen to a commercial again. Download Spotify immediately and share your music with me. I’ll be sure to mention great new songs by great new people who share.

By Tom Stortz|2012-09-27T22:24:20-04:00September 27th, 2012|Music|0 Comments