mtvU's Best College Radio Woodie Award

This past week KTSW 89.9 FM, the official radio station of Texas State University and San Marcos, Texas, was nominated for mtvU's Best College Radio Woodie Award. We were selected as one of the Top 50 college radio stations in the United States.

Today KTSW made it into the Top 25. Voting will continue for the next month until a winner is selected. The Top 10 will be announced Tuesday, Feb. 15.

You can vote as many times as you want, so please help us out. We want to win this!

The sixth annual mtvU Woodie Awards will air live for the first time on Wednesday, March 16, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU.

Top Albums of 2010

2010: The year we all caught a little Bieber Fever and Katy Perry took over the airwaves. We danced with "Fireflies" and wished on "Airplanes." We threw our hands up in the air to welcome Taio Cruz and raised our glasses to welcome back P!nk. We all experienced some "Bad Romance" and finally learned how to pronounce Ke$ha. It was the year of the comeback with artists like Usher, Nelly and Eminem climbing the charts every week.

It was a great year for pop music. Whether you loved it or hated it, you know you danced to it. Here are my favorite albums and artists of 2010.

Top Rock/Pop Albums
1. Sara Bareilles- Kaleidoscope Heart
2. Bruno Mars- Doo-Wops & Hooligans
3. Secondhand Serenade- Hear Me Now
4. Dave Barnes- What We Want, What We Get
5. Jason Castro- self-titled debut album

Top Country Albums
1. Lady Antebellum- Need You Now
2. Taylor Swift- Speak Now
3. Keith Urban- Get Closer
4. Danny Gokey- My Best Days
5. The Band Perry- self-titled debut album

Favorite New Artists
1. Wakey! Wakey!
2. Matt Hires
3. Brendan James
4. Ashlyne Huff
5. Joe Brooks

Top Guilty Pleasure Artists of 2010
1. Ke$ha
2. Justin Bieber
3. Katy Perry

Most Anticipated Albums of 2011
1. Parachute- The Way It Was (date TBA)
2. Jesse McCartney- Have it All (Jan. 2011)
3. The Script- Science and Faith (Jan. 18)
4. Yellowcard- When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes (March 22)

Paramore Split

I don't know how I missed this, but The Tennessean revealed this week that Zac Farro and Josh Farro, founding members of Franklin, Tenn. band Paramore, have officially split from frontwoman Hayley Williams and the two other band members.

Josh and Zac posted a statement on Josh's blog and they posted a video on YouTube, but it has since been taken down. Josh promises to repost it soon on his blog.


Hayley, Jeremy and Taylor will continue on as Paramore. They also released an announcement on their band blog.

There seems to be so much conflict and debate surrounding this split. The Farro brothers gave ample notice of their decision to leave the band, but apparently Hayley has called Josh's blog post a fake, saying that they would never release official information in a personal blog. However, Josh and Zac aren't in the band anymore, so all they have left is this personal blog. Josh's wife, Jenna, also posted on her blog regarding the split, verifying that Josh's blog is no fake.

I don't know what was in that video that is causing so much trouble, but I think it shows major class to be real and honest with their fans about everything that has happened.

This is such a sad day for me. Paramore has been one of my favorite bands for five or six years now. I've seen them in concert four times, and I'm so glad I saw them on this past tour. One last time. I will continue to support them all in their new ventures.

UPDATE: Josh reposted the video on his blog. It's simply him stating that he and Zac did write the previous blog.

Christmas Music Essentials

Happy December! It's time to bust out the Christmas music. Here are some of my favorite Christmas albums, new and old.

1. *NSYNC: Home for Christmas
2. Straight No Chaser: 
     Christmas Cheers
3. Straight No Chaser: 
     Holiday Spirits
4. Josh Groban: Noel
5. David Archuleta:
     Christmas from the Heart


I also really enjoy all of the "Now That's What I Call Christmas" collection. It blends classic artists and contemporary artists to make everyone in the family happy while you're decorating the tree and baking cookies.

I love buying at least one new Christmas album each year.
Here's my list for this year:
1. Lady Antebellum: A Merry Little Christmas
2. Dave Barnes: Very Merry Christmas
3. Glee: The Music - The Christmas Album

P!nk's "Greatest Hits...So Far!!!"

P!nk released her first greatest hits album yesterday. It is a two-disc CD/DVD compilation with 19 tracks and four music videos. I've always loved P!nk's singles, but I never bought any of her albums, so I jumped at the chance to buy this one. If you've ever read my blog, you know I love angsty female rockers just as much as a I love cute boys with guitars.

"Greatest Hits...So Far!!!" features three previously unreleased songs, including P!nk's newest single, "Raise Your Glass," in addition to the 16 hits from the past ten years.

Tracklisting:
1. Get the Party Started
2. There You Go
3. Don't Let Me Get Me
4. Just Like a Pill
5. Family Portrait
6. Trouble
7. Stupid Girls
8. Who Knew
9. U + Ur Hand
10. Dear Mr. President
11. So What
12. Sober
13. Please Don't Leave Me
14. Funhouse
15. I Don't Believe You
16. Glitter In the Air
17. Raise Your Glass
18. F**kin' Perfect
19. Heartbreak Down

It's been a crazy year for P!nk. She and her husband of four years reunited after nearly two years of separation back in February.

This summer she embarked on her Summer Funhouse Carnival Tour, where she fell during one of her aerial tricks.

Today P!nk appeared on Ellen to promote her greatest hits album, but she announced another surprise as well (with a little motivation from Ellen):
P!nk and husband, Carey Hart, are expecting their first child.

Parachute

Last week I saw Parachute at Stubb's in Austin. This was my third Parachute concert, but it was the first time I've seen them headline. (They opened for both Secondhand Serenade and Kelly Clarkson last year.)

Parachute played all of the fan favorites from their first album, "Losing Sleep", as well as some new songs from their upcoming album. The guys were in the studio all summer working on their second album. Now that the tour has wrapped up, they're putting the finishing touches on it and should announce a release date soon.

Until then, here are some new songs Parachute performed last week from the upcoming album.





Parchute was amazing. I would like to say this was my favorite show, but they have been fantastic every time I've seen them live. They never disappoint. It has been incredible to watch them grow in fame and talent over the past year. I was grinning ear to ear the whole show, but I must say my highlight of the evening was when frontman Will Anderson jumped off the stage and danced between my friend and me. Cue fan-girl freak-out.

Brendan James and Hot Chelle Rae opened the show. I was less than impressed by Hot Chelle Rae. They're pretty much just a typical pop-punk band with mediocre lyrics and annoying guitar riffs. Brendan James, however, is the new love of my life. He's charming, honest, and oh-so-talented. I bought his album after the show, so I'll be posting an album review soon!

For more Parachute videos from past shows, check out my Parachute page on my YouTube channel.

Taylor Swift: "Speak Now"

After much anticipation, Taylor Swift released her third studio album on October 25, 2010. The record, appropriately titled "Speak Now," has created quite a buzz. Swift is now being heard louder than ever.

"Speak Now" sold more than one million albums during its first week, accounting for 18% of all albums sold. That percentage share surpassed 'N Sync's "No Strings Attached" as the fastest selling album of all time. (Read the article here.)

Yesterday Swift snagged BMI's Songwriter of the Year, the youngest artist ever to do so.

Taylor Swift has taken her songwriting talent to another level with "Speak Now," proving that she is here to stay. Swift once wrote about characters like Drew and Abigail, but now that her subjects are a little more famous, a slew of theories about Swift's personal life have sparked since the release of "Speak Now."

"Back To December" is reportedly about Swift's relationship with her Valentine's Day co-star and Twilight heartthrob, Taylor Lautner. It is also the first song in which Swift seems to be on the dumper side full of remorse and apologies.

"Dear John" is rumored to be about John Mayer. Swift and Mayer collaborated on Mayer's newest album, "Battle Studies" back in 2009. This track is the most scandalous and revealing track on the album. There are many theories floating around, but one thing is certain: Swift felt used by "John." Listen to it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. ("The Story Of Us" is also assumed to be about Mayer.)

"Better Than Revenge" is supposedly written about Camilla Belle, the girl who came between Swift and ex-beau Joe Jonas. Swift holds nothing back in her strong, bold lyrics. (That's why we love her, right?)

On a happier note, Swift wrote "Long Live" as a tribute to her band and all that they've been through together during the past several years.

Tracklisting:
1. Mine
2. Sparks Fly
3. Back To December
4. Speak Now
5. Dear John
6. Mean
7. The Story Of Us
8. Never Grow Up
9. Enchanted
10. Better Than Revenge
11. Innocent
12. Haunted
13. Last Kiss
14. Long Live

The Target Deluxe Edition features a second disc with six bonus tracks:
1. Ours
2. If This Was A Movie
3. Superman
4. Back To December (Acoustic)
5. Haunted (Acoustic)
6. Mine (POP Mix)

I have not stopped listening to "Speak Now" since I bought it. I think I memorized every word in less than one week. My favorite tracks are "Mean" and "Better Than Revenge." (What can I say? I like the angsty ones.)

Taylor Swift may not be the best singer, but she is an incredible songwriter who isn't afraid to let us in on some secrets. She's bold, beautiful, and a wonderful role model for young girls today.

"Speak Now" is the must-have album of 2010.