Tuddd's Muddd

The Best Albums of 2010

"Another year has come and passed.

Quick, you poo stabber!  Bring on '11 fast!" [shakes fist at God]

--Maya Angelou

    So, another shitty year!  Here's a list of crappy shit that happened to me this year. much of which I've already bitched about on this blog:

--Big, scary fire at my mom's house, during which mom awoke on top of a BURNING MATTRESS and was lucky to escape unharmed.  Alas, the business that I run out of mom's house wasn't so fortunate. 

--My car was broken into twice.

--A third time that my car was broken into, it was stolen by some punk-ass neighborhood kids who tried to extort $$$ out of me before giving the car back.  Eventually I wound up stealing the car back from these brainless pieces of shit before the cops informed me that since they were too fucking stupid to figure out how to register the car as "unstolen," it was probable that I would be arrested at gunpoint for DRIVING MY OWN CAR. 

--Apartment was robbed; they grabbed my poor roommate's computer, a pile of unused MetroCards which I had accumulated while volunteering last year, and, um, some of my "saucies" in addition to grabbing my car keys, thus leading to the above automobile thievery.  Motherfuckers. 

--Was informed that if I want to cure my extremely severe case of sleep apnea, I would likely need to undergo a surgical procedure wherein the doctor would basically rip the lower part of my face off, break my jaw, and insert an extension and screws into said jaw before a 7 month healing period characterized by "at times excruciating pain" and "inability to chew [my] own food."  Where do I sign up?!

--Got mugged. 

--Cliff Lee chose the City of Brotherly Love/inhumanly awful, despicably heartless, projectile vomiting white trash over the Big Apple.  God fucking dammit!

--Had over a grand swiped out of my checking account when someone stole my ATM card at my birthday party. 

--Perhaps worst of all, no Cheeseburger album this year, despite the fact that they supposedly have one all recorded and ready to go.  Seriously, have you heard any of the garbage that kids are listening to these days?  Rock and Roll ain't gonna save itself.  GET ON THAT SHIT DUDES!

--Friends came, friends went, and still yet another friend set out on an absurdly improbable (yet also absurdly awesome) journey of self-discovery.  To those that stuck around, I love you all.  To the lousy chickenshit assholes who didn't, please feel free to sit on one of these and rotate. 

    Well now!  List time.  Here's the rules and assorted deets.

• This is not an "all the albums I heard in '10 ordered from best to worst" list.  No way Jose.  These are the cream of the crop from the 90+ new albums I heard this year.
• This list only includes albums and EPs from the calendar year 2010.  I can't stress that enough, people.  Thus, reissues, singles, and compilations of previously-released/widely available stuff are disqualified.
• No, I didn't accidentally leave the Deerhunter album off the list.  The Deerhunter album is, in fact, horrible.
• Oh Don Piano.

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1.) Fang Island - Fang Island -- Ladies and gentlemen, set your serotonin glands to "monsoon!"  For those of us jaded bastards unaccustomed to the unconditional, massive outpouring of joy that's found on Fang Island, it may seem at first like there just has to be a catch somewhere.  The pixie dust has to wear off at some point, no?  I mean, did they spring fully-formed from Rick Nielsen's 5-neck?  Did they collectively make a deal with some sort of bizarro demon that allows them only to create perfect, fizzy, euphoric poppy prog-metal?  Or, alternately, are they *gasp* a Christian rock band? 

Fortunately not.  They are, however, a synthesis of some blue-chip musical acts: the fist-pumpin', arena-ready melodicism of Cheap Trick; the AOR prog arrangements (and sometimes-goofy synths) of Rush; the sheer joy of a Phish "Harry Hood" jam.  Moreover, they're able to transcend the seemingly obligatory navel gazing of most indie acts by unabashedly going for the home run ball where most indie "rockers" are okay with a sac bunt.  As such, if these guys don't have a major label deal by the next few months I will be very, very surprised.     

In closing, if you dislike this Fang Island album, you dislike joy.  That is all.

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2.) Beach House - Teen Dream -- Although I've liked much of Beach House's previous material, this album is the great leap forward that establishes Beach House as one of the world's finest bands.  Seriously.  Admittedly, there's a limited sonic palette that a band can traverse when their instrumentation consists simply of voice, guitar and piano, but there's more at play here thematically and texturally than one might originally notice at first listen.  [And more importantly, what a voice it is.] 

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3.) Gorillaz - Plastic Beach -- As someone with very little interest in/knowledge of all things hip hop, I would imagine that this album has pretty much all the hallmarks of a successful hip hop mixtape.  You have humor ("Superfast Jellyfish" is flat-out hilarious); guest spots both arresting (Bobby Womack on "Stylo") and super cool (Lou Reed's 'luded out turn on "Some Kind of Nature"); and flawless production (everywhere, but probably most notably the synths on "Glitter Freeze" and "Empire Ants").   

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4.) Marnie Stern - Marnie Stern -- On her third full-length, the femme fatale of fingertapping takes such a huge step forward that she nearly renders her previous output totally obsolete.  [Not really, but check it --  this is a really good album.]  The real improvements come not only in the songwriting, but also in the dynamics: would either of her previous albums have ventured into the self-assured stomp of "Her Confidence" or the rich emotional territory of the album-closing "The Things You Notice"?  Prob'ly not.  Of course, this is not to say that this an album of slow jams - in fact far from it - songs like "Cinco de Mayo" and "Gimme" still have the over-caffeinated freaky prog Stern's best known for. 

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5.) Mogwai - Special Moves (bonus edition) -- Yes, I know that I tend to like live albums more than most folks do, but if the idea of what basically amounts to a "best-of live" outing doesn't appeal to you, then it's doubtful you're a fan of the band in question.  Of course, I could have lived with a couple more tracks from '06's ridiculously underrated Mr. Beast, but then again that's my solution to everything.  Bonus points because I was actually at one of the three shows (at Music Hall of Williamsburg in April '09) that supplied the material for this release. 

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6.) Melvins - The Bride Screamed Murder -- Although the first two Melvins albums with Big Business' Jared and Coady were lean, mean riffin' machines, some longtime fans didn't really care for the perceived streamlining of the Melvins sound, presumably preferring some more typical Melvins "weirdness" weaved in n' out of the non-stop riffage.  I am not necessarily one of those people.  Personally, I thought (A) Senile Animal and Nude With Boots were the best things they'd done in the new millennium, but what do I know.  Anyway, The Bride Screamed Murder has plenty to satisfy both camps.  If you like experimental stuff, you've got Marine Corps-style marching chants, an impossibly sludgy cover of the Who's "My Generation," weird l'il interludes, and a lengthy sound collage at the end of the album.  And if you just like it when the Melvins rock the fuck out, songs like "Electric Flower" and especially the colossal "Pig House" will peel the paint off your house.

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7.) Liquor Store - Suckin on Mommy's Dick -- No, this album does not exist, since all Liquor Store has to their name release-wise is a 7" of "Trash Sandwich" b/w "Free Pizza."  But if it did exist, it would have likely beaten the everloving fuck out of most of the other namby pamby bullshit that came out this year. 

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8.) Holy Fuck - Latin -- Although this album has nothing as immediately great as LP's "Lovely Allen" or "Royal Gregory" (although "Silva and Grimes" and "Stay Lit" come close), Latin's seamless flow between tracks leads the listener through an intensely hypnotic soundscape.  [A plug for their live show: Holy Fuck are incredible live so get off yer ass and see them live when they come to your neck of the woods.]

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9.) The Austerity Program - Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn EP -- It's pretty rare that a band's live intensity is matched EXACTLY by its recorded output, but these guys' brutal arrangements and Albini-like recording techniques result in an album that practially reeks of blood, sweat and tears.  [No, not the band.]

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10.) Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky -- Embarrassingly, this is my first real exposure to Swans, other than a handful of tracks heard here and there.  Which is inexcusable, because this album to me sounds like a cross between Glenn Branca, Can's weightier stuff, Leonard Cohen and Harvey Milk, with some Tom Waits thrown in.  Terrifying and creepy and cacophonous and very unpleasant.   

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11.) Sleigh Bells - Treats -- You know what?  I like eMusic's review of this album so much that I'm just going to steal it. "The hip-hop beats sputter like someone dropped a boombox in a swimming pool. The gloriously cheeseball riffage could've been dubbed off an old Van Halen cassette. It's cheerleader music for punks. It's punk music for cheerleaders."  Right on. 

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12.) Metallica - Live at Grimey's -- The night before showing up at Bonnaroo, Metallica recorded this l'il tidbit in the basement of a Nashville record store, with the brief setlist comprising mostly songs from Metallica's "Before We Sucked" golden period.  Of course, I love a good live album as much as anyone, and I appreciate that Metallica made this available for purchase only at indie record stores, and all that happy horseshit.  What I think is self-parodyingly retarded was the grassroots campaign by internet Metallifans rabidly imploring people to "support Metallica by buying this limited release!!!11!1"  Yeah, you know what?  It really is about time that a little underdog indie act like Metallica got some support after years of toiling in obscurity.  Jackasses. 

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13.) Torche - Songs for Singles EP -- Superlative Sun State sludge supastahz pick up where '08's ridiculously good Meanderthal left off on this EP that somehow manages to leave a smile on yer fat face at the same time that it's bludgeoning you over the head with super duper riffs galore.  Now, if you're not used to sludgy music that has a sense of humor, fear not: watch the hilariously adorable official video for the song UFO for a quick primer on what makes Torche so great.

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14.) Kylesa - Spiral Shadow -- For all the brainless "hipster metal" crowing that this band endures, you'd think that they'd co-written these songs with Devendra and paid Sufjan to contribute melodica arrangements.  Well, they didn't, and there are moments on this album that straight fucking crush, as well as some much more textural stuff, supposedly influenced by the band's newfound love of Built to Spill.

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15.) Melvins - Melvins EP -- Gotta love the "quality material-to-crap" ratio on this one.  Includes three tracks.  The first: 8+ minute of the Wipers "Youth of America"/AWESOME.  The second: extended version of the ubercreepy "Dies Iraea" (a/k/a cover of the theme from The Shining) from Nude With Boots/AWESOME.  And the third: remix of "It Tastes Better Than the Truth" from the same album/MEH.  Well, you know what The Single Greatest Musical Artist In the History of Recorded Music has to say about that: .66666666666 repeating is none too shabby.

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16.) Bad Religion - 30 Years Live -- There are a few old chestnuts (think pre-All Ages) on this one, but I for one am impressed that the inventors of "melodic hardcore" managed to cobble together a decent live set like this one that so heavily features a lot of newer stuff.  If you're one of those people that thinks Bad Religion has been just releasing the same album for the last 16 years, it's doubtful this will do much to sway your opinion, but if you're not an asshole you should enjoy this. 

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17.) Harvey Milk - A Small Turn of Human Kindness -- For a band that's so distinctly steeped in creating artfully disturbing sludge, this album can be considered a bit of a career highlight (or lowlight).  Yes, here we have huge, steaming pile of unpleasantness, completely inappropriate for anyone who spends less than half their day plotting the deaths of themselves/others. 

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18.) Jonsi - Go --  If you favored the fruity felicity of the last Sigur Ros album, feel free to felch yourself with this frilly, fanciful, frolicy fudge-factory. 

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19.) The Thermals - Personal Life -- The most humorless and blatantly emo album that the Thermals have ever put out is also *SURPRISE* the worst album the Thermals have ever put out.  But it's still decent.  It's really to the band's credit that they're able to take a group of songs which aren't among their best, which are essentially about loathing/distrusting your significant other, and make it at least somewhat listenable. 

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20.) Arcade Fire - The Suburbs -- So, let me get this straight: in order to show how dreary, dull, and stifled suburban life is, Arcade Fire actually managed to write an album that is, for the most part, dreary, dull and stifled-sounding?  Huh.  Although this is pretty damn far from being a great album (and not even in the same species as Funeral or Neon Bible), you still have two legitimately great songs ("Sprawl II" and "Half Light II"), a few damn good ones ("We Used to Wait," "Rococo" and "Suburban War") and some near misses.  While Arcade Fire's first two full-lengths used depressing topics as the springboard for some of the best music of the millennium, Win n' Regine may need to mix it up a little.  Y'know, maybe write happy songs about happier stuff.  Hey, I got it!  Maybe Arcade Fire's next release should be written about this year's Fang Island album!  Yeah!  [crickets]

Albums I've Heard So Far in 2010, From Best to Worst, With Exactly One Sentence Written About Each, Sorta [part 1]

    Bored; pissed off that I missed Crocodiles last night because I fucked my foot up by stepping on a bunch of pins and other sharp shit that had been left on the floor inexpicably (don't ask).  And there's little chance I'm going to brave the throngs of brainwashed AnCo worshippers at the Avey Tare-DJ'd Crocs show this Friday at Glasslands.  Frickity frack, y'all. 

    Anyhow, here's my favorite 20 albums I've heard so far this year, with a sentence written about each.  Keep in mind that there's all kinds of shit I haven't yet heard (just off the top of my head Zoroaster, Helmet, Swans, The Sword, Deerhunter, Grinderman, Kylesa, etc.), so expect this list to change size, shape and odor by the time I get around to pinching off my year-end lists.  We'll see how motivated I get to finish this off with another couple lists of ~20 albums in order of descending goodness, but for now sink your teef into this loaf. 

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1.) Fang Island - Fang Island -- How rare is it that the indie blogosphere actually embraces a band that goes "widdly widdly widdly" on lead guitar, and it's not this chick performing said widdly widdly?

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2.) Beach House - Teen Dream -- Stylistic limitations be damned, the melodies are just sooooooo damn sweet, delivered by means of the year's finest vocal performance.

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3.) Gorillaz - Plastic Beach -- Normally I hate anything even remotely hip-hop tinged, but this album has 4 important characteristics not present on many other hip hop recordings: 1.) humor; 2.) brains; 3.) guest appearances by legendary musicians; 4.) great, lush 80's-ish synth lines.

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4.) Mogwai - Special Moves -- Moggy live; I was at this show (as evidenced by the several times I'm visible in the accompanying "Burning" film); yippee!

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5.) The Austerity Program - Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn - Simply put, one of the most intense recordings you'll ever hear. 

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6.) Melvins - Melvins EP -- I talked some shit about this release earlier in the year, but two important facts need to be considered: 1.) "Dies Iraea" is fucking awesome, and 2.) since Electroretard is out of print, you need this for the fucking insane 8+ minute cover of The Wipers' Youth of America.

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7.) Melvins - The Bride Screamed Murder -- Not as lean and mean as the first two Big Business-augmented Melvins albums (for example, this album's final two tracks are beyond useless), but "Pig House" and "Electric Flower" fucking shred. 

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8.) Holy Fuck - Latin -- Not as melodically monolithic as their last one, although the unrelenting beats and flawless pacing make this the best workout album of the year (always a good idea to take your workout soundtrack advice from someone who's morbidly obese).

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9.) Arcade Fire - Suburbs -- Yes, there are several great songs on here, but plenty of skippable stuffs too. 

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10.) Sleigh Bells - Treats -- Yup, so I'm pretty much obsessed with Alexis Krauss and that's all there is to it.

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11.) The Thermals - Personal Life -- If you only like their faster stuff, you're going to want to skip this, but although the music is toned down, the caustic self-examination remains. 

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12.) Bad Religion - 30 Years Live -- Every live concert EVER BY ANYBODY should start with the song "Fuck Armageddon, This Is Hell."

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13.) Harvey Milk - Harvey Milk -- Don't worry, these guys hate themselves as much as you do.

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14.) Harvey Milk - A Small Turn of Human Kindness -- Bleak, bleak, bleak; like early-Swans bleak, man.

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15.) Surfer Blood - Astro Coast -- It's easy to dismiss this as just "Swim" plus a bunch of lesser crap, but this is a deceptively smart li'l record via "yay Beafi."

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16.) Lost in the Trees - All Alone in an Empty House -- Despite never having heard the Bon Iver album (and having no intention of ever doing so), I'm prepared to McConfirm that this album is way way better.

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17.) Torche - Songs for Singles EP -- Tasty stopgap tidbits (6 of the 8 songs are under 2:20) by the happiest, least straight sludge metal band that I know of.

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18.) Jonsi - Go -- If you liked the fruity optimism of the last Sigur Ros album, feel free to felch yourself with this frilly, fanciful, frolicy fudge-factory.

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19.) Crocodiles - Sleep Forever -- As spotty as it is bratty (like last year's Summer of Hate), but hot sandwich fuckin' damn is "Mirrors" incredible.

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[^in lieu of an actual album cover, which apparently doesn't exist on said intarwebz]

20.) The Netherlands - Fantasmatic -- Sick metal riffs, bull-in-a-china-shop rhythms, and plenty of goofiness.

The Best Albums of 2007 pt. 1 (list #11)

    Better late than never, eh?  Well, what say we get right into it.

    I'm reluctant to brand 2007 "the year of" anything in particular because I don't really see any recent trend as being definitive.  There were unlikely comebacks, stunning debuts, disappointing clunkers and puzzling choices.  Personally, 2007 was the year that I finally fell out of love with Robert Pollard's non-archival releases.  (*SOB* Parting is such sweet sorrow!)  My favorite record store closed down, my dad died, I quit my shitty job, and I started my own business.  But enough about me.

    Before we get started, first: the ground rules, which remain the same as last year : this only counts albums released in '07, and not reissues, so no Daydream Nation, Nico's The Frozen Borderline or ELO's Out of the Blue, or the Blossom Toes or 13th Floor Elevators reissues.  But pretty much everything else is fair game -- live albums, limited edition EPs, retrospectives compiling old tracks, whatever.  Also, this list only contains albums that I personally own -- none of that Limewire bullshit.  And, yes, I will eventually have mini-reviews posted for all 70+ albums I heard in '07.  This is just the first half.

    Oh, and winner of the yearly "Sufjan Stevens Illinoise Memorial Trophy" (given to the album responsible for so much spillage of music journalist ejaculate that my adding a review would surely result in nothing but redundancy) is Panda Bear's Person Pitch.

    So let's have at it, shall we?

2007: The Year in Albums

1.) Arcade Fire - Neon Bible -- All those of you that expected Arcade Fire to follow up the incredible Funeral with an equally worthy sophomore record, stand up.  The general consensus was that the rich emotional depths that were successfully mined to such stunning effect on Funeral would just be too much to be equaled a second time around.  Fortunately, as it turned out, the band members didn't need to suffer through further family tragedies -- as they famously did prior to Funeral's release -- to find the inspiration necessary to create another excellent album.

     Replacing the mournfulness of Funeral with righteous, bilious outrage at a world gone mad, Neon Bible isn't a protest record in the traditional sense in that its disillusioned fury is not focused on a sole target.  Instead, Win Butler's lyrics paint with a broad stroke, with the prevailing themes of perseverance (as in "Keep the Car Running") versus suffocating hopelessness ("Black Mirror," notably) and justified paranoia ("Windowsill") coloring much of the material.  In one of the most original first-person narratives since Steely Dan's "Don't Take Me Alive,"  "Antichrist Television Blues," (supposedly originally titled "Joe Simpson"), eviscerates the unconscionable greed and lecherous hypocrisy of "God-fearing" showbiz parents literally from the inside out.

    Not that it's perfect.  For one, they probably shouldn't have put the two "Don't wanna..." songs back to back (Antichrist Television Blues and Windowsill).  And "My Body Is a Cage" sounds like leftovers from  "Intervention" But these are relatively minor quibbles, and by never coming within shouting distance of the sophomore slump, Arcade Fire have established themselves as the best band in the world. 

2.) Radiohead - In Rainbows -- Consciously turning away from the compulsion to reinvent themselves yet again, what we have here is easily the most comfortable Radiohead's ever sounded.  Disclaimer: this is most assuredly not a RAWK album, nor is it given to overly ambitious flights of electronic fancy, and the ideological axe-grinding is kept to a minimum.  Wisely, this leaves plenty of room for what's always been the most striking instrument in their arsenal: Thom Yorke's voice.  As usual, Nigel Godrich's production is picture perfect, framing Yorke's gentle melodies with ebbs and swells that serve to augment instead of overpowering the material.  And with the focus firmly on the melodies, Yorke uncorks some real stunners.  Best song: The wordless coda of "Nude" is the most sublime musical moment of the year.

3.) Deerhunter - Cryptograms -- A complex, at times harrowing inward journey so instantly identifiable and evocative that you can practically hear the unwelcome clamminess of cold sweat percolating within your speakers.  Just as with their fantastic live show, Deerhunter manage to expose insecurities without wallowing in gratuitous unpleasantness -- although some severely macabre themes are visited throughout the album's course, the main impression Cryptograms leaves is the painstaking care that clearly went into its production, not to mention the obvious appreciation of Floyd-esque subtlety and dynamics.

4.) Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond -- The beast awakes!  Nearly twenty years after the dissolution of the "classic" Dino Jr. lineup, who'd'a thunk they'd drop a legitimate contender for album of the year right out of the gate?  And with Beyond being jam-packed with great song after great song, one comes away with the feeling that this reunion will not be of the simple one-and-done variety. (Well, that and the fact that they've been touring almost incessantly for the last two years.)  Within the Dino Jr. catalog, only You're Living All Over Me tops Beyond.  Yes, it's better than Bug.  Way, way, way better. Best song: the multipart "Pick Me Up" which traverses several distinct sections before locking into the year's best guitar solo.

5.) Robert Pollard - Crickets: The Best of the Fading Captain Series, 1999-2007 -- A two disc  retrospective highlighting the best and the brightest from Robert Pollard's now-retired Fading Captain Series label, encompassing forty+ solo albums, through-the mail collaborations, and other assorted idiosyncratically-named side projects.  Unfortunately since Pollard's first two proper solo records (Not in My Airforce and Waved Out) were released by Matador, there's nothing to be found on here from those undeniable classics but fear not, this sumbitch still has a ton of great tracks.  As a Fading Captain Cliffs Notes of sorts it holds up as well as can be expected (if not better), but in the name of all that's holy, where the fuck is Submarine Teams?  Includes 6 previously unreleased tracks for the diehards.  Best song: how about a top six?  1.) "Pop Zeus," arguably Pollard's finest composition ever, 2.) "Sensational Gravity Boy, 3.) "Stifled Man Casino," from the first Airport 5 collaboration (with former GbV member Tobin Sprout), 4.) the grungy-as-fuck "Time Machines" from Lexo and the Leapers, 5.) the semi-lecherous "Tight Globes," and 6.) the defiant chest-beater (and live favorite) "Alone, Stinking and Unafraid."

6.)  Cheeseburger - Cheeseburger -- Do you like to party?  Well, do ya?!!  Cheeseburger takes rock back to... well, I'm not sure when, (when was rock ever this fun?) but a time when in order to forget your troubles all you needed was a pocketful of quarters for the jukebox, a keg and a group of drunk-off-their-ass crazy friends.  Think all the fun, showmanship and off-color humor of a more-belligerent AC/DC, with the bombast crammed down from arena size just enough to fit in your corner bar.  Or, better yet, your basement. 

7.) Guided by Voices - Live From Austin -- Well, a mediocre-to-averageish GBV show was/is pretty much better than anything anyone else (Robert Pollard included) can put out there these days.  Also comes on DVD.  On this show, recorded for the Austin City Limits television program during a stop on the band's farewell "Electrifying Conclusion" tour in 2004, Uncle Bob reaches into his seemingly bottomless well of songs to rock out with just-added rarities ("Do the Earth," "Navigating Flood Regions"), "new" shit from their underrated Half Smiles of the Decomposed album ("Gonna Never Have to Die," "Girls of Wild Strawberries,") and all-time faves ("Echos Myron," "Tractor Rape Chain").  Highlights: rhythm guitarist/blacked-out superhero Nate Farley tumbling off the stage during "Fair Touching;" Bob accidentally introducing surprise guest Pete Yorn as "Tom Yorn," Bob totally muffing the lyrics during "Pendulum" only to be saved by right hand man/lead guitarist Doug Gillard, (who receives a "Thanks, Doug!" from an appreciative Bob) and the ensuing "you can suck and still rule" monologue.

8.) Pelican - City of Echoes -- Sorry, but it has to be said: one's enjoyment of this album is directly related to how much the sloppy drumming annoys/distracts you.  But if you can learn to focus on the riff-savvy songwriting and fantastic guitar interplay instead, you're golden.  Best post-metal record since last year's stunning Enter by Russian Circles.

9.) Panthers - The Trick --  Brooklyn band's follow up to 2004's super-awesome Things Are Strange sets you up with a stunning array of heavy riffing, then knocks you out with clever, passionate lyrics.  These ten tracks are over quick, with most clocking in at under three-and-a-half minutes, and I salute the brevity, but I feel that the addition of a slow-burning, meandering track (like Things Are Strange's "We Are Louder" and "If You Were Young Once, Rage") or two would have varied the dynamics just enough to really knock this one outta the park.  One of the top "heavy music" records of the year.   

10.) Hull - Viking Funeral --  Hull manage to cram everything that's great about metal into one incredible 17 minute track: bone-crushing riffs, dextrous guitar work, psychotic growls, dramatic climaxes, and just enough bluesy noodling to occasionally drag the listener back to normalcy.  Having caught these guys live a couple of times and heard some of their other jams, you can bet I'll have my ear to the ground listening for info about a new release. 

11.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Is Is EP -- A collection of 5 songs written between Fever to Tell and Show Your Bones.  And that's important to state: this is a collection of songs which are actually able to stand on their own, away from the preconceptions/baggage of the vaunted YYY live show.  While I listened to Fever to Tell thinking "boy, these songs don't hold a candle to their in-concert counterparts," this record proves that they're capable of putting together an incredibly tight, cohesive EP of damn good music.

12.) Interpol - Our Love to Admire -- an uneven record, and the weakest of their three LPs, but still strong enough to yield several gems.  (First single "The Heinrich Maneuver" is not amongst said gems.  Spoiler alert!) And although Our Love doesn't reach the heights of their previous two full-lengths, at least they didn't try to shoehorn some radio-friendly crap on there somewhere, y'know, since they're on a major label now and all.  In fact, the closest anything comes to being "extravagant" or "bloated" on this record is the orchestra on "Pioneer to the Falls," which compliments the song *perfectly*.  Seriously, guys, thanks for not trying to sound like the Goo Goo Dolls or whatever.   

13.) Sigur Ros - Hvarf/Heim -- This consists of two distinctly separate EPs, the first of which (Hvarf) collects unreleased tracks and a couple of alternate takes, and the second of which (Heim) culls tracks from a mostly acoustic tour of the band's native Iceland.  While these guys have been accused (as has the entire post-rock genre) of relying too much upon simple quiet-loud dynamics to create their stunning crescendos, Heim shows that the band are not simply slaves to their wattage.

14.) Type O Negative - Dead Again -- Probably the band's most consistent release since their 1994 breakthrough Bloody Kisses.  Should you choose to listen, be ready for the following: gratuitous riffing spread across multi-part suites, Brooklyn accents, rolled "r"s, self-deprecating lyrics, incomprehensible soapbox harangues, and keyboard interludes so lame that Richard Marx hears 'em and says, "that's gay."  To have seen these guys live recently (their show at Irving Plaza in May was the single most disappointing show I caught all year ), one might have come to the conclusion that they were better off heading gracefully into retirement (or rehab/jail), that won't be necessary.  Well, at least for another few years or so.  Prepare to be thoroughly offended.

15.) Baroness - The Red Album -- The skullcrushing riffs!  The formidable chops!  The...  The... uninspired vocals!  Seriously, this is a top notch metal album sabotaged somewhat by some dreadfully monotonous and repetitive vocal melodies.  Fortunately, the emphasis here is placed heavily enough on lengthy instrumental passages that the singing isn't an automatic turnoff.  Best song: "Grad," which is -- you guessed it -- an instrumental.

16.) Pissed Jeans - Hope for Men -- Basing their fury upon boredom, self-doubt and loathing a loathsome society, Pissed Jeans use an impossibly sludgy presentation to hammer their point home.  Sludgecore to the max.  Basically, Hope for Men is the musical equivalent of shitting yourself at work -- on purpose.

17.) Os Mutantes - Live at the Barbican Theater -- A recording of the influential Brazilian group's first performance from their comeback tour in 2006.  I've had the pleasure of seeing Os Mutantes live twice, and I'm a bit puzzled why they would have chosen to release their first show back; many of these songs were further limned out and expanded as the band became more comfortable playing them.  In that way, this can be seen as a somewhat expanded, live version of their stupendous Anything Is Possible best-of release.  While many have been critical of the "Jesus Christ Superstar"-ish presentation of some of the songs (probably most flagrantly obvious on "Technicolor"), the full band and choir really comes through in the clutch, especially on the more complex vocal arrangements.  And while the prominent place in the band's sound assumed by Sergio Dias' surprisingly chops-y lead guitar playing has been criticized in print countless times, f that noise with a broomstick: Os Mutantes is a band for whom self-indulgence, bombast and absurdity are not dirty words.

18.) Panda Bear - Person Pitch -- [Yeah, I know I wasn't going to post a review for this bad boy, but I figured I'd share this.  While perusing the eMusic member reviews before I snagged this record, I came across a negative one which dismissed Person Pitch as little more than  "Beach-Boys-on-a-radio-in-another-room-in-a-church noise."  Wait, you're trying to tell me that that's a negative review?!]

19.) Boris with Merzbow - Rock Dream -- Limited edition release of a live collaboration between shapeshifting Japanese metal band Boris and acclaimed noise merchant Merzbow.  Recorded in Tokyo earlier this year, the track selection includes examples many of the more well-known phases of Boris' career: lengthy doom/noise suites ("Feedbacker" clocks in at nearly 40 minutes), straightforward raveups (Akuma No Uta's Ibitsu and Pink's "Pink" and "Woman on the Screen"), the title track from this year's uberchill collaboration with Michio Kurihara, Rainbow, and all kinds of fascinating shit from here and there.  To be sure, Boris are a formidable machine live (I seen 'em twice), although I'm not sure Merzbow's additions to this recording are all that significant -- the songs are great enough without smearing an Echoplex all over 'em.

20.) Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell -- There are two possible schools of thought on this record: 1.) "wow, they pinched out another?  Aren't these guys like two decades past their prime?"  or 2.) "fuck tha haters, their recent records have been good."  If you're in camp #1 you're probably not going to be convinced to check this one out either way.  For those in camp #2, this is a solid record, not as good as Empire or Process but better than No Substance and New America.  

21 and 22.) Two Gallants - The Scenery of Farewell (EP) and 2GS (album) -- I'm reviewing these together because to my ears they could have conceivably originated from the same sessions; the material sounds that much alike.  Or they could be leftovers from last year's #13 What the Toll Tells.  Anyway, these guys do a gritty and proficient amalgam of folk and punk -- it's amazing Adam Stephens can pull off "grizzled" when he looks like Neil Patrick Harris with stubble.  Although I don't like any of these tracks quite as much as "Prodigal Son," "Steady Rollin'," "Waves of Grain," or "Long Summer Day," but as that album aged particularly well, so should these two.

23.) A Place to Bury Strangers - A Place to Bury Strangers -- Make no mistake, these guys are probably my favorite "new" NYC-area band (hey, that's some great Kool-Aid! Top me off, wouldja?), but that's largely based on their seizure-inducing live show (c'mon, they even use a strobe light for Kirk's sake!).  This album is somewhat of a mixed bag, recorded lo-fi on the cheap, drenched in feedback and swathed in the effects produced by frontman Oliver Ackerman's homemade guitar pedals.  While I usually commend a band for such a blatantly DIY presentation, a little more polish would have really helped to translate their sophisticated layered/swirling live sound onto record.  Not to be overly critical, but would Loveless (one of this album's obvious musical touchstones) have been as awesome without Kevin Shields' maniacal Svengali-esque overproduction?  I think not.  Musically, you're getting a julienned amalgam of My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ministry, and the like.  If you're going to wear your influences on your sleeve, you might as well be influenced by the best.

24.) Interpol - Live EP -- This tasty little number is available only at select indie stores -- a nice tip of the cap to a community that embraced Interpol's dark aesthetic from the beginning now that the band is on a major.  The six songs represented here, recorded in London, are all good choices.  My only complaint is that Carlos D's bass is not as prevalent in the mix as it should be, robbing the band's tight-as-hell rhythm section of its meloidic element.  But still easily worth the purchase.

25.) Praxis - Tennessee 2004 -- In the year's second most aggressive display of chops (to the Fucking Champs, listed below), we have virtuoso Buckethead dropping surgically precise, flashfingered guitar bombs over the equally impressive drumming of ex-Primus drummer Brain, rooted down by the thick-as-molasses, confident dubbiness of Bill Laswell.  The many solo sections prove that this band might just have too much talent for their own good, so it's no shock that they sound their best paying tribute to Hendrix on the Band of Gypsies classic "Machine Gun."

26.) Crippled Black Phoenix - A Love of Shared Disasters -- Mournful, dreary, doleful album which at times exhibits similarities to the bodies of work of Mogwai and Portishead (members of which are in CBP), with several gothy ballads mixed in here and there.  In most places the album works quite well (the proper songs, notably) but the unnecessary repetition of interludes "The Whistler" and "Long Cold Summer" and the clunky inclusion of a Tennyson poem set to music bloat it a bit. 

27.) Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone -- Overwrought?  Yes.  Gratuitous?  Hell yeah.  Maudlin?  Check.  Emo?  Um, sure, that too.  But make no mistake, this is a fine album, and it works a lot better than plenty of recent records by more highly respected denizens of the post-rock genre.  The music on this record mines its raw material from many heavy emotional sources; "It's Natural to Be Afraid" constructs an intricate latticework of impending dread, practically dissolving into abject darkness before giving way to delicate passages of hope and strident beauty.  "The Catastrophe and the Cure" emphasizes patience in times of trouble, with a (melo)dramatic, sublimely gentle climax seeing the listener through.  Unfortunately, the album ends with a whimper, as the new age tinkling of "So Long, Lonesome" sounds a bit too Weather Channel-y for these ears. 

28.) Los Straitjackets with Big Sandy - Rock En Espanol vol. 1 -- "America's instrumentalists" and surf rock torch-bearers Los Straitjackets have tried to find a way around the fact that the larger mass of the record buying public often has trouble digesting sizable swaths of vocal-less music: by hiring Tijuana crooner Big Sandy to sing Spanglish semi-translations of '50s/'60s rock classics, they've created a record with several curiously mixtape-worthy offerings.  Best song: the cover of the Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night," recast here as "El Dia de Noche."

29.) LCD Soundsystem - The Sound of Silver -- Hmmm.  Beyond "All My Friends" and "North American Scum" (both of which are great), I'm not the biggest fan.  But those tracks alone are good enough to secure a decent ranking, though.

30.) Red Fang - Tour EP II -- loved these guys' live set opening up for the Fucking Champs   -- what you get here is some good ol' fashioned meat n' taters stoner metal.  Nuthin' fancy, just some mighty fine listening.  Not to mention the year's best bass solo in the middle of "Suicide." 

31.) Times New Viking - Paisley Reich -- Noisy, raw, kinda awesome punk shit with extremely lo-fi production values.  Seriously, this makes Bee Thousand-era Guided by Voices sound like it was produced by Rick Rubin in a 48 track digital studio.  The drums sound like garbage cans, the keyboards sound like guitars, the guitars sound like a circular saw vs. copper pipe in a steel cage death match, and the vocals sound just flat out fugly.  Enjoy!

32.) Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Jukebox Explosion --  A collection of random tracks culled from 7"s, compilations, and other out-of-print sources.  You know what yer gettin' here: grungy, sloppy riffs; delirious, crackhead-in-a-dumpster sound effects/assorted percussion; and Spencer's hellish, HomelessCrazyElvis vocals.  If I were into self-mutilation, I'm assuming this is the type of shit I'd like to listen to while pulling my own toenails out.

33.) Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow -- second solid offering this year by these guys, and with another collaborator.  As Boris is seemingly devoted to exploring each n' every corner of LOUD music possible, it's important to note that Rainbow takes a step back from the doom/punk/thrash hybrid of Pink, with the band and guest guitarist Michio Kurihara visiting more subdued, subtle territory.  Personally, I never wanted to put the word "subdued" (or any like synonym) into a Boris review, and too many of the tracks wind up sounding new-agey and weak.  While it's impossible to tell what influence Kurihara had over these sessions, it's pretty safe to say that Boris without Kurihara is better than Boris with.  But fear not; in all likelihood this album doesn't signify any long-term deviation from great records like Akuma No Uta and Pink; knowing these guys, if you look hard enough you'll probably find that they've put out another ten or so import-only slabs of awesome within the last few weeks that you'll never get to hear.

34.) Deerhunter - Fluorescent Gray EP -- companion piece of leftover tracks from Cryptograms, this EP consists of one standout track, the noisy and cathartic "Wash Off" (arguably the band's best overall song) and a few tracks which, truth be told, are waaaay better live than on these studio versions.  Here "Dr. Glass" is wispy and weak; live it's a bass-heavy and groovy number, arguably the creepiest funk song I've ever heard.  The title track also benefits greatly from the live treatment.  Best song: Guess.

35.) BOAT - Let's Drag Our Feet -- What we have here is lo-fi indie pop largely bereft of guitar, with vocals by a guy (or guys) singing in a wobbly, bashful upper register typical of said indiepop genre.  Take it or leave it, but what saves BOAT from the dustbin of genericness is the nifty songwriting on this album, accompanied by clever, endearing lyrics ranging from bashful self-deprecation to humorous boasting to lovelorn sincerity to flat out goofiness.  Nice little record.  Best songs: 1.) "Make Way for the Genius to Appear," 2.) "Come with Me We'll Win," 3.) "I'm a Donkey for Your Love."

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EDIT: the second half of this list can be found here.   Merry Christmas to you all, and to all a good night.  Or should I say, "Feliz Navituddd!"

Bad Religion with Gallows at Nokia Theater, October 15th 2007

    Bad Religion has been one of my favorite bands since I first heard All Ages early in college and basically kept it on repeat for the next several years.  This being said, I've only seen them live four (I think) times, which seems way too low until I remembered that if you wanted to catch them live most summers you'd have to hit up the Warped Tour and sit through a bunch of Dashboard Confessional clones, all for a 45 minute (tops) set of Bad Religion, or maybe if you're lucky NOFX is playing too or something. 

    I like their new record New Maps of Hell okay, but it's nowhere near as good as The Empire Strikes First, which was a very, very good record.  Most people seem to be of the school of thought that "oh, wow, Bad Religion's shat out another one *yawn*" but f that.  Since founding member (and Epitaph label head) Mr. Brett returned to the fold in '01 (in a songwriting capacity), Bad Religion has enjoyed somewhat of a late career renaissance with The Process of Belief, ...Empire... and New Maps... all being fine albums in their own right.

    Got on the LIRR at 7:10 and drank a six-pack on the way in, and sucked down a pair of hot dogs pretty much as soon as I got to Penn.  Nokia Theatre is less than 15 blocks away, so a brisk walk over to the venue sobered me up a small tad.  Missed the first band entirely, but I'd heard good things about the second band, Gallows.  I usually have a tough time telling whether or not a hardcore band is any good live because the sound is usually pretty muddy and this show was (unfortunately) par for the course in that respect.  I admired the vocalist's sense of humor and showmanship; he spent the majority of his set singing from the 'pit and cracking self-deprecating jokes about his diminutive stature ("hey, I appreciate that you've got a lot of energy, but I'm about five foot fookin' seven and these guns [points at puny biceps] aren't hurtin' no one.")  When he made it back onstage for the second half of the set, his stage antics consisted of repeatedly tackling one of the guitarists and generally acting like a soccer 'ooligan on the warpath.  Pretty amusing.

    At the end of the set, the band threw picks and drumsticks into the crowd, and I grabbed one of the latter out of the air at the same time as some teenager; I yanked it in my direction and the kid crumpled to the ground, which was kind of cool.  I kind of felt like a dick because I had no intention of actually keeping the stick, knowing full well that it would probably wind up "up in me" if I took it into the pit during Bad Religion.

    Between sets I met up with a couple of friends-of-a-friend who I got fucked up with before/during/after the semi-tragic yet awesome Bouncing Souls show last December at Webster Hall.  (I say semi-tragic because a friend of mine almost got divorced after not getting home until 7 AM -- on a work night no less -- after this show.)  We went outside to smoke butts and after asking 20 plus people if they wanted to take the drumstick off my hands, some guy took it.  He announced himself as [something garbled] from Finland, and said that he collects drumsticks.  I told him that I collect menthol cigarettes, so he gave me a couple.  We went back inside and I bought another couple rounds of beers.

    The show itself was populated by pretty equal measures of old chestnuts/classics ("21st Century Digital Boy," "I Want to Conquer the World," "Anesthesia," "Generator," "We're Only Gonna Die," "Fuck Armageddon (This Is Hell)," "No Control," etc.) along with several from New Maps and throughout their entire catalog (I also remember "Sorrow," "New Dark Ages," "Supersonic," "Recipe for Hate," "52  Seconds>Heroes and Martyrs," "American Jesus" and the super-rare "Skyscraper").  A pretty fair balance between new shit and old, which in all likelihood was partly due to the band allowing fans to vote for the songs they wanted to hear online (a cool touch).   

 

    Bad Religion crowds are amongst my favorite.  You have the late 20s/early 30s old folk who dug BR in high school and college, tons of punk kids and others, but these are not ignorant abusive assholes we're talking about; someone falls down in the 'pit, they're going to be helped back up.  I also love that BR shows are always just a great big sing-along -- no shame in belting out the chorus to "I Want to Conquer the World" even if you're way off key. 

    Of course, it wouldn't be a Bad Religion show without dorky stage banter courtesy vocalist Greg Graffin, who baited the Giants fans in the crowd and joked about this show being just a "warm-up" for the upcoming evening's show in Boston, which was "the important show."  This of course brought derision and catcalls from the crowd, all in good fun.  At one point, the band eased into a seemingly impromptu version of "On Broadway," featuring some particularly sour backing vocals and a brief soft-shoe routine.  I half expected a juggling act or a trapeze or something by that point -- who knew Bad Religion were such well-rounded entertainers?

    Fun show, even if my neck is fucked up from jackhammering all night and if I was so hung over I didn't roll out of bed until 1:30 PM.  Can't wait until the next time these guys come around.   Cheeseburger tonight.  Back at ya tomorrow. 

   

Still Yet More Best Albums of 2007, third edition (list #9)

    Holy fucking sheet, mang, this has been a hectic month.  I just got back from The Worst City I've Ever Traveled To, Atlantic City, where I was attending a buddy's bachelor party.  Said get-together managed to be fun in spite of (in no specific order) my personal distaste for gambling and/or hookers, me totally botching my accommodation plans, assloads of traffic, and (most importantly) in spite of my purposely limiting the quantities of narcotics entering my nostrils.  (Again, I've never been much for strip clubs, or the logic behind choosing a career at such an establishment, but let me just ask this one question: how the fuck do you make a living being naked onstage when you have A-cup flapjacks?  I was really dumbfounded.) 

    Okay.  So the following list is my third of 2007 so far, and it ranks the albums (issued in '07 of course) which I've heard recently.  It's important to note that this list does not have any overlap at all with the albums mentioned on this year's previous two lists; I'll eventually collate and compile all of these into my final year-end list which will rank all of the year's album worst to best.  And "must buy" albums are listed in the king's bold type.  Till then.....

    (For the sake of comparison to the other lists, this really is a solid batch of records.  Oh, yeah, and to continue with an earlier theme, EVERY album listed below is better than the new White Stripes record, although that doesn't say much.)

Still Yet More Best Albums of 2007, third edition (list #9)

12.) The Nightwatchman - One Man Revolution -- It's not so much that this is an awful album, it's just that it has absolutely no reason to exist.  Really, was the world eagerly awaiting an album of 'spare, stripped down' protest songs played and sung by Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello?  Of course, it's produced by Brendan O'Brien, who probably spent untold dumpsters full of cash trying to make it sound like it was recorded on a boombox, instead of, you know, just recording it on a boombox. 

11.) Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb -- I have to listen to this bad boy a few more times.  I actually really dig this one but... most of these are pretty good. 

10.) Grinderman - Grinderman -- Again, I like this, but the Pissed Jeans record does the whole loud/unpleasant/miserable/self-loathing thing way better.  "No Pussy Blues" is undoubtedly one of the best songs of the year, though.

9.) Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell -- A lot has been said about this sounding a lot like The Empire Strikes First and The Process of Belief, which is a crock of shit: both of those were way, way better than this.  I'm having trouble finding any standout tracks on this one, truth be told.

8.) BOAT - Let's Drag Our Feet -- Quirky, poppy, and charmingly lo-fi.  Not a big guitar record in the least (as had been hinted at incorrectly by the Pitchfork review); quite the contrary it's very understated.  For example, a xylophone totally drowns out the guitar of "Make Way for the Genius to Appear."  Plus, you have to love the lyric "And when I hear the ice cream truck constantly/My pockets empty out almost instantly."

7.) Maserati - New Inventions for the Season -- reminds me a lot of Turing Machine's Zwei, which makes sense because Gerald Fuchs is apparently manning the kit for Maserati these days as well.  If you like your post-rock to be on the more controlled/less raucous side, snag this one.

6.) Los Straitjackets (with Big Sandy) - Rock En Espanol -- "America's Instrumentalists" Los Straitjackets manage to find a way around releasing a straight-up instrumental record by employing Tijuana-born showman Big Sandy on this collection of mostly '60s era rock covers.  The wrinkle: the songs are sung mostly in Spanglish, which gives 'em ("All Day and All of the Night," "Hang on Sloopy," "Wild Thing," among others) a strangely mix-tapable quality. Fun shit.

5.) Red Fang - Tour EP II -- These guys rock live (see my review of the standout Red Fang/Birds of Avalon/Fucking Champs show I saw a couple months ago), and although this is pretty much a self-released CDR it's still available by mailorder according to their MySpace page.  Meat-N-Taters stoner rock complete with some wicked fuzz bass.

4.) Hull - Viking Funeral EP -- Relatively new Brooklyn metal outfit just absolutely kills a collection of hard rock and thrash riffs, along with just enough blues and Cookie Monster to keep them out of post-metal territory, but not enough of either to be annoying.  Not sure how available this one is in CD format, since their merch page is fucking impossible to navigate (I got mine at their Knitting Factory show), but consider this one of the best bargains in the history of eMusic: the whole 17 minute opus counts only as one download. 

3.) Pissed Jeans - Hope for Men -- Had a shitty day?  So have Pissed Jeans.  Muddy, lumpy, sloppy hardcore: gloriously hideous, smells like feet, and about as fun as heat rash.  Honestly, this album is the sonic equvalent of accidentally shitting your pants at work. 

2.) Guided by Voices - Live from Austin -- This one really barely qualifies as a "must buy," which I guess stems from my frustration that Robert Pollard has never released a "definitive" live collection.  Live at the Wheelchair Races (from the Hardcore UFOs box set) comes close, and last year's Moon was good.  This one is an average-at-best performance from the Austin City Limits program, recorded 2004 during GbV's final tour.  Which still makes this a very, very good album but... it's just that by comparison any GbV fanatic like myself who has tons and tons of GbV/Bob live shit could whip out a fantastic compilation that would make any of these previous efforts look like a new 311 joint.  Also, this one suffers from the usual song selection "shoulda" caveats that perennially dog any artist who has like 10 million great songs. 

1.) Interpol - Our Love to Admire -- fuck the haters, this is a fine record.  The Boys in Black do little to fuck with their sound, for which I'm grateful.  Seriously, would anything be as shark-jumpin' tastic as these guys accompanying their major label debut with an invariably ill-fated attempt at writing an actual single?  In a nutshell, we've got Antics II here, which is top-10 worthy in any year.  Huzzah.