1. Class Actress – Rapprocher
2. Phantogram – Nightlife – EP
3. The Duke Spirit – Bruiser
4. Voxhaul Broadcast – Timing Is Everything
5. Pete & The Pirates – One Thousand Pictures
6. Little Dragon – Ritual Union
7. Washed Out – Within And Without
8. Cut Copy – Zonoscope
9. Viva Voce – The Future Will Destroy You
10. Cults – Cults

Follow Ginger on Twitter: @hnychild

But before we turn the page to 2012, we thought we’d get our Top 10 season underway…

We have our annual lists of Top 10 albums from all of our staff, as well as some of the bands on the Chop Shop Record label in the coming days/weeks, but first we thought we’d kick it off with an old Chop Shop Blog favorite: Who We Are!

If you are familiar with this Blog, you know that every so often everyone on staff at Chop Shop compiles a small list of things they are digging on at the moment in our Who We Are section. This is essentially your chance to stalk us. Plus, it’s a perfect way for our friends and family members (& Santa if you are reading this) to know what to get us for Christmas!

Enjoy!

>>> CHECK OUT WHO WE ARE HERE <<<

But we don’t just listen to music…we are much deeper than that. Well, maybe that’s a little bit of a stretch, but just go with it. Every so often we like to let you all know what stuff we are into at the moment, and now is one of those times.

In honor of us passing the 7,000 follower mark on Twitter, we thought we’d give you a fresh Top 10 of things we like from each person on our Chop Shop staff.

Intrigued? I thought so.

Check it out HERE!

Enjoy and thanks for hanging around with us!

Maximum Balloon – “Young Love” ft. Katrina Ford

This song feels sooo Siouxsie and The Banshees!

Maximum Balloon – “Young Love” Feat. Katrina Ford by Some Kind of Awesome

It is that time again…NEW TOP 10′S! Once again, all of us here at Chop Shop have put together our own lists of stuff we are into at the moment. As a special little bonus, we went ahead and posted a photo of us during our younger years too. How cute were we??

Check it out in the Who We Are section!

We want to hear from you too…

What would make your Top 10?

Who was the cutest kid?

Post in the comments section below!

Just in case you missed it…the staff here at Chop Shop has updated all of our favorite things in the Who We Are section of this BLOG. If for some reason you actually care about what we care about, then check it out. If not, well then don’t…I guess. You don’t have to be so mean!

CLICK HERE FOR THE GOODS!!

The basic criteria for our selections are simple…it’s the stuff, places, music, people, experiences that we love. Would love to know what makes your Top 10 favorite things of the moment. Feel free to post yours in the comments section below…

1. Marina + The Diamonds – Family Jewels
2. The Black Keys – Brothers
3. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
4. Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
5. Mumford & Sons – Sign No More
6. Local Natives – Gorilla Minor
7. Broken Bells – Broken Bells
8. Kings Of Leon – Come Around Sundown
9. Mackintosh Braun – Where We Are
10.  Danger Mouse and Sparkle Horse – Dark Night Of The Soul

KASEY

There is a song called “Don’t Go to Klaksvik” by Leif Vollebekk.  I heard the song and immediately fell in love with it. At first, I thought Klaksvik was a euphemism for “crazy” or something.  Then I googled it and found a photo (above).

I have been in awe ever since. I must go there.  Klaksvik is a town on the island Borooy, which is part of the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands are halfway between Great Britain and Iceland.

I don’t do well in cold weather, but I still must go to Klaksvik.

I don’t care what the song says.

JOHN

I am pretty obsessed with Vans.  Not the kind that Cheech & Chong rode around in, but the good ol’ Skate & Surf company from Southern California.  I distinctly remember back to Los Angeles in 1975 when I got my first pair of red and blue lace-ups.  The only other widely available color at the time was yellow and blue.  Soon after there was dark blue and light blue.  From then on, the options just kept growing.  Sure, they stopped making them in USA a while ago, but they at least held on longer than most.  These days, you can get seemingly infinite styles and designs plus limited edition signature pairs ranging from Tony Alva to Slayer to The Simpsons.  Mark Jacobs even had an amazing run of several designs a couple years back.  My current favorite is the Chukka Low.  It’s old school; pretty straightforward (though certainly nuanced in its design); and super comfortable, durable and multi-functional.  My favorite model is the Chima Ferguson in Navy/Red with a super cool red pinstripe around the white base of the shoe.  As the guy at Val Surf said, “dude, that’s such a sick colorway.”  I also recommend the black/gum,white/white (with the black pinstripe) and the sliver Alex Olson’s.  In addition, their current Core Basic Zip Hoodie is top notch.  At $39, their spin on collegiate couture brigs quality, affordability and style.  The Gray Heather is simply classic.  James Perse should take note (and not break my bank).

BRITTANY

Since my husband and I rescued our boxer Ruby in August, we have started hiking and exploring the outdoors pretty much every weekend.  The place that we end up most of the time is the Eaton Canyon Nature Center which is a great starting point to hike various trails.  There are many different hikes that people of all fitness levels can do, starting at anywhere from 1.5 miles to around 15 miles roundtrip.  Our favorite walk is up towards the Eaton Canyon Waterfall, which is around 4 miles from start to finish and fairly leisurely.  The great part about it is that there are so many different places for our dog to cool down in the water, as well as unbelievable scenery that most of the time leaves you forgetting that you are in LA.  The Henninger Flats hike is definitely a bit more strenuous, but it’s worth it.  It takes you uphill for quite a while and on a clear day has some of the best views the city has to offer.  I highly recommend checking it out, it’s such a beautiful place.

ALEX

Top 5 Things of the Moment:

Ray Pettibon
The Lazy Ox
The Barefoot Contessa
Lee Hazelwood + Nancy Sinatra
Missoni

JUSTIN

The Daft Punk Tron Legacy Soundtrack  This may be the last album I am truly excited for this year.  Our robot friends have taken this opportunity to experiment outside of the electronic box, and employed a 90 piece orchestra to complete their epic score.  It’s out in stores now, but if you still want to try before you buy, Myspace was kind enough to post this lengthy mix of some of the album’s highlights.  Daft Punk has created an electrifying blend of the analog and digital worlds that will surely enhance the dazzling effects on screen.  I don’t think they could have found anyone better fit for the subject matter.  Can’t wait to see this one in theaters.

MATT

My daily attire consists primarily of jeans, cons, a t-shirt, & a hoodie. So whenever I can find some quality items to enter into the rotation, it’s a good thing. Awhile back, my friend started designing shirts for his band This Providence and had a lot of fun with it, so he teamed up with a friend to create Make Believe Clothing Co. The winter 2010 line just came out and it is super rad. I can’t wait to get some of the new stuff…especially the hoodie!

GINGER

I recently went to an awesome spa at the Beverly Hilton Hotel called Aqua Star. I had a message and facial (called The Jetsetter)  which was phenomenal! What tops this spa on my list is their pool that sits next to the tikki restaurant and bar – Trader Vic’s. Trader Vic’s is known for inventing the original Mai Tai in 1944 and introducing it to the Hawaiian Islands in the 1950’s. The music playing by the pool was from the ‘50s era so it was  reminiscent of old Hollywood. I couldn’t have found a better spa anywhere!

All the ghouls, goblins, and ghosts are out for this one! It is none other than the Chop Shop Halloween Playlist! Besides Christmas, their aren’t too many holidays that can generate enough songs to warrant an entire playlist (unless you did some sappy valentine’s thing, but that’s no fun). Halloween is kind of the perfect fit, especially for the crazy bunch here at Chop Shop. Hope you enjoy it!

Also, we ran a little contest over on our Facebook page asking folks to submit their favorite Halloween songs and the winner would be included in the playlist! So congratulations to Damien Barriga for submitting the winning song, “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” by 30 Rock’s Tracy Jordan. I mean, c’mon…it doesn’t get much better than that. Right? So funny.

Here’s the breakdown of who picked what:

1. Halloweenhead – Matt
2. Armies Of Night – Brittany
3. Everyday Is Halloween – John
4. Monster Mash – Kasey
5. A Walk In The Dark – Ginger
6. Witch – Justin
7. Werewolf Bar Mitzvah – Damien Barriga
8. Bela Lugosi’s Dead – Alex

BARB – “Martin XII”

Enjoy!

05 – Martin XII by pandorasmusicbox