Over the past year or so I’ve tried a lot of different coffees. At the request of a colleague here is my ranking of said coffees.

  1. Heart Roaster
  2. Sight Glass
  3. Four Barrell
  4. OQ Coffee
  5. Ritual
  6. Blue Bottle
  7. Tonx
  8. Intelligentsia
  9. Stumptown
  10. MadCap
  11. BowTruss
  12. La Colombe
  13. Counter Culture
  14. 49th Parallel*

* Regarding 49th Parallel being so low, it’s not because they were exceptionally bad it’s just that due to customs it’s hard to get their coffee in a timely manner. If I order from them again I may do so in a way that I can plan it for proper delivery.

I’d also like to point out that for the most part these are extremely close in grouping so one isn’t necessarily leaps and bounds above the other. Some may just be a matter of decent taste but me not liking the region.

Silent Majority

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Probably in my top 10 albums of all time, Life of a Spectator is such a good showing of the late 90s LI hardcore scene and just how you could produce a good album without spouting hate or looking to have people hurt. The title of the album alone is something that just sits home so much. I’ve always found myself to be someone who sits back, watches and observes. Perfect fitting to such a great album.


Exploring the album more there are a solid mix of songs that just always resonated so strongly with me. While I may not be able to fully identify with the lyrics entirely they always just felt so comforting to listen to. From “No I’m Not” to “Polar Bear Club” to the perfect closing for an album like this, “Cross Crowded Room”. I may not be able to say I experienced this band when they were together but I’m happy to say this album did pull me through some rougher moments for me.

I still kick myself for not seeing them for their reunion show.

Top albums for 2012

I’ve finally sttled on my top albums of 2012. While a lot of these are pretty standard for most lists the ordering may not be what you would expect. Mostly the way I tried to look at this list was albums that really impressed me in one way or another. I provided rdio and spotify links where applicable.

1. Japandroids - Celebration Rock

rdio
spotify

2. Tame Impala - Lonerism

rdio
spotify

3. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!

rdio
spotify

4. Bob Mould - Silver Age

rdio
spotify

5. Beach House - Bloom

rdio
spotify

6. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city

rdio
spotify

7. Torche - Harmonicraft

rdio
spotify

8. Grimes - Visions

rdio
spotify

9. Death Grips - The Money Store

rdio
spotify

10. Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet on Sky

rdio
spotify

Honorable Mention:

High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis

spotify

Jessie Ware - Devotion


Metz - Metz

rdio
spotify