Tuddd's Muddd

The 50 Best Songs of 2011

[^Liquor Store, breakin' shit.]

    I was pretty sure that I was just going to not post on this blog anymore, but face it, I'm a sucker for a good list.

    I'll try to have my "Best Albums of 2011" list up sometime next week. 

    Enjoy.

    [Note / EDIT: a few careless omissions have this up to 52 songs and growing.  And even though I really like the new Metallica EP, none of those songs are on here because I need to listen to it a few more times to sort all of the riffs out.  Don't worry, I doubt Lars is losing any sleep due to being left off this list.]

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1.) Liquor Store - "Proud to Be an American Man"

Liquor Store, a/k/a "the only NYC-area band that actually matters now that Parts and Labor are done," have been using this song as the raucous closer to their gloriously slovenly live sets for literally years now.  And although Liquor Store's debut album, Yeah Buddy, ranks high on my year-end best-of album list (should have that up sometime this week), the album version of "...American Man" is kinda flat, not gonna lie.  So instead, here's the best version that I could find, from their July 31, 2011 show at Shea Stadium in Brooklyn.  Enjoy.  [Listen closely for some mangled Stevie Wonder.] 

[Also, you can listen to the entire set from which this song was drawn in Shea Stadium's live recordings archive, here.]

Proud to Be an American Man by Tuddd

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2.) Parts and Labor - "Hurricane"

Parts and Labor - "Hurricane" by Tuddd

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3.) BOAT - "Bite My Lips"

BOAT - "Bite My Lips" by Tuddd

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4.) Dum Dum Girls - "Bedroom Eyes"

 

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5.) Cheeseburger - "Roll Like That"

Cheeseburger - "Roll Like That" by Tuddd

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6.) The Raveonettes - "Apparitions"

 

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7.) Cheeseburger - "Winner"

 

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8.) The Raveonettes - "Recharge and Revolt"

 

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9.) Boston Spaceships - "No Steamboats"

 

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10.) Radiohead - "Codex"

 

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11.) Liquor Store - "Banned from the Block"

 

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12.) Parts and Labor - "Skin and Bones"

Parts and Labor - "Skin And Bones" by Tuddd

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13.) Russian Circles - "Mladek"

 

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14.) Mogwai - "Hound of Winter"

 

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15.) Cheeseburger - "Jelly Bean"

[Again, I'm sort of cheating here... this version of Jelly Bean is from an EP they recorded to accompany a Vice-sponsored tour a couple years ago.]

Cheeseburger - "Jelly Bean" by Tuddd

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16.) Parts and Labor - "A Thousand Roads"

 

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17.) The Raveonettes - "Oh Stranger"

 

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18.) Mogwai - "Death Rays"

 

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19.) BOAT - "Forever in Armitron"

BOAT - "Forever in Armitron" by Tuddd

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20.) Kurt Vile - "Baby's Arms"

 

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21.) White Denim - "At the Farm"

 

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22.) Danava - "The Last Goodbye"

Danava - "The Last Goodbye" by Tuddd  

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23.) Tapes 'N Tapes - "Badaboom"

 

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24.) Liturgy - "Generation"

 

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25.) The People's Temple - "Sons of Stone

 

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26.) Gang Gang Dance - "Mindkilla"

27.) Battles - "Ice Cream"

28.) Liquor Store - "Commando"

29.) Big Business - "Always Never Know When to Quit"

30.) Surfer Blood - "Voyager Reprise"

31.) The Raveonettes - "Evil Seeds"

32.) Gang Gang Dance - "Through and Through"

33.) The Raveonettes - "War in Heaven"

34.) John Maus - "Believer"

35.) White Denim - "Street Joy"

36.) Tapes N' Tapes - "The People You Know"

37.) Washed Out - "Amor Fati"

38.) Colin Stetson - "Red Horse (Judges II)"

39.) The Raveonettes - "Evil Seeds"

40.) Tapes N' Tapes - "Freak Out"

41.) Gang Gang Dance - "Glass Jar"

42.) Radiohead - "Supercollider"

43.) The Raveonettes - "Summer Moon"

44.) Liquor Store - "Showdown at Wookie Lake"

45.) Surfer Blood - Miranda

46.) Radiohead - "Lotus Flower"

47.) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Even in Dreams"

48.) Kurt Vile - "The Runner Ups"

49.) Parts and Labor - "Fake Names"

50.) Mogwai - "Drunk and Crazy"

51.) Mark Sultan - "Keep 'em Satisfied pt. 2"

52.) Beastie Boys - "Say It"

The 25 Best Songs of 2010

WHEEEEEE!!!!

It's year-end list time! 

You know what that means!

It means I try to do one of these year-end lists in one sitting, and wind up getting so bitter about shit that by the end of it I'm ready to gouge my eyes out with a brick of sharp cheddar!

Like I said, WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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1.)Fang Island - Patterns On The Wall (feat. Andrew W.K.)

I can say without hyperbole that the last 90 seconds of this song is probably the greatest thing in the history of the human world.  <Cue Pavlovian response on the ol' tearducts.>  That is all.   

Video: no video of this song available, so click above and you can listen to the actual song just like they used to do in the days before "Tee Vee."  You're welcome, dick!

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2.) Surfer Blood - Swim

I've said it before, but I'll say it again- this song sounds like Blue Album-era Weezer covering Asia's "Heat of the Moment" while secretly enjoying itself by sitting too hard on one of these.  Not too shabby!  Moreover, here's hoping their major label debut is more "Swim" and less "Slow Jabroni!" 

Video: Studio version.  Watched a few concert clips and these guys really didn't seem to be that great of a live band.  Thoughts?

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3.) Gorillaz - Superfast Jellyfish [feat. De La Soul and Gruff Rhys]

The best rap song I've listened to since NWA's Efil4zaggin.  Wait, did I say "best?"  Because I meant to say "first!" 

Video: "Official Visual Video."  Whatever the fuck that means. 

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4.) Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

<3 U, Regine.

Video: Arcade Fire's most recent SNL performance.  Can Regine pull it off?  You decide!

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5.) Arcade Fire - Half Light II

Yup, "Half Light II" has all the grandiosity/massiveness/arena-ready bombast of a U2 song without, you know, being unbearably awful like a U2 song.  Shouldn't this song be the soundtrack to a misleadingly optimistic Archer Daniels Midland commercial or something, with bucketloads of smiling multicultural faces, "arty" animations and aerial video of amber waves of grain from sea to shining sea as captured by a helicopter cam?  Who's with me on this one?

Video: Studio version.  Why wasn't this released as a single?!

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6.) Sleigh Bells - Crown on the Ground

Whatever you do, Alexis, please don't lose that ass. 

Video: live, filmed in NYC at (le) poisson rouge last December.  Hot fucking damn. 

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7.) Fang Island - Life Coach

Since every single goshdarn motherhumpin' stinkin' godforsaken friggin' blessed bleedin' cotton pickin' fershluginer article written about Fang Island (including ones on this site!  Seriously, check for yourself!) is legally mandated to mention the "everyone high-fiving everyone" self-description of what Fang Island's music sounds like, allow me to fulfill said obligation now: this is the high-fiviest song from the high-fiviest album of the year. 

Video: Official music video for the song, which is pretty piss poor with the exception of them awesomely recreating the castle guy from the cover of the album.   

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8.) Gorillaz (feat. Mark E. Smith) - Glitter Freeze

Yup, more Gorillaz wackiness, this time featuring awesomely chilly 80s synth lines, Mark E. Smith's unmistakable, inscrutable blacked out rambling, and an updated version of the beat from Rock and Roll part 2.  Fuck yeah.

Video: Official music video, starring a ship.

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9.) Crocodiles - Mirrors

Very much in the vein of last year's second-best song, the freaking awesome "I Wanna Kill."  In fact, yes, one could note that this one is in the vein of a lot of Crocodiles stuff.  I dig this shit.

Video: live in-studio version recorded by Insound.  As I've stated before (in various states of inebriation), these guys put on a nice live show, especially since adding the full band.

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10.) Beach House - 10 Mile Stereo

The best song on an album full of stunners. 

Video: live version at Webster Hall from earlier this year.  I shoulda fuckin' been there, goddamn it. Notice Victoria kinda eats shit at about 3:50, heheh.

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11.) Melvins - Pig House

A quintessential riff-packed multi-part Melvins hyper-jam.

Video: Live in Seattle.  Video starts about a minute or so into the song [bummer].  Towards the end, however, shit hits the fan when Jared puts down his bass, jumps offstage and personally bum rushes some unlucky bastard the fuck out of the building.  From the comments: "It helps that Jared's dressed like a space barbarian."  Feel free to read all about the incident here!  Or not. 

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12.) Kylesa - Dust

This is both the prettiest AND the most psychedelic song Kylesa has ever put out.

Video: [edit] hmmmm, looks like they removed the video from YouTube overnight on a copyright restriction.  Yer on yer own on this one, kiddos!

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13.) Marnie Stern - Cinco De Mayo

Important to include a pic of the finger-tapping technique for this song.  Widdlywiddlywiddlywiddly...

Video: studio version/fucking fantastic.

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14.) LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change

How fun would it be to perform this song at karaoke?!  And I *HATE* karaoke!  

Video: from Jules Holland 5/14/10.

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15.) Fang Island - Careful Crossers

Widdlywiddlywiddlywiddly (sorry, getting tired/unmotivated up in here.)

Video: official music video.  Equal parts "awesome" and "seizure inducing," much like [deleted]'s cocaine intake!

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16.) Marnie Stern - Her Confidence

A ballsy, riffy rocker, not unlike '08's "The Crippled Jazzer."  Of course, Zach Hill kills it on this song.    

Video: only a partial performance, but still worth watching.

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17.) Perfume Genius - Learning

I can think of at least two people who will make fun of me for enjoying this song.  [NOTE: those two people comprise approximately 100% of regular Muddd readership.]

Video: ummmmmm

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18.) Zola Jesus - Sea Talk

Uhhhh... yeah... see the comment on #17... [hides behind couch}....

Video: official music video.

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19.) Prince Rama - Lightening Fossil

Yup, this is some real hippie bullshit right here.  In other words, "I'll have a little more of what the comments for #s 17 and 18 are having, thankyouverymuch."

Video: studio version. 

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20.) Fang Island - Davey Crockett

"Hi, we're Fang Island.  This is our one-two-three-fourth time so far on this list, and Tuddd still can't seem to think of anything interesting to say about us that doesn't involve the term 'widdly widdly.'  Fuck you, Tuddd, you unoriginal, ambitionless bastard."

Video: live in studio at KEXP.

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21.) Marnie Stern - For Ash

You

Out

Shine

Them

All.

Video: live.  Another show that I shoulda been at.  Fuk.

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22.) The Magnetic Fields - You Must Be Out of Your Mind

Since by this point I've apparently resorted to just quoting lyrics instead of coming up with original content;

"You can't just go 'round sayin' stuff

Because it's pretty

And I no longer drink enough

To think you're witty."

HA!!

Video: studio version.

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23.) Beach House - Zebra

Um, <3 U, Victoria?  Fuck, I got nothing.  NOTHING!!!!

Video: probably a nice live or studio verison from somewhere or nowhere.  Check for yerself.  I'm getting kinda ornery up in here.

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24.) Boston Spaceships - Come On Baby Grace

OK.  One of the reasons that this year's GbV reunion was so great is because it hearkened back to the time when Uncle Bob was actually capable of writing more than one or two decent songs in a whole fucking year.  This is oh-ten's good Bob song.  Skip ALL the others.  I am serious.

Video: crapola, I can't find anything.  Instead, watch this video of an even better Boston Spaceships song.

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25.) Mark Sultan - Ten of Hearts

God I love this one.  I wish there was a video of it somewhere online so that, on the off chance YOU haven't heard it yourself, I could share this song's awesomeness with you.  But, alas, there isn't, so I can't.  So watch this instead because it's hilarious and because I feel like throwing in the towel.  Tuddd out.

The Best Albums of 2009 - #11 to #30 (sort of) [part 2]

OK kiddos, it's already the end of February, 2010, so you know what that means: the second part of my Best Albums of 2009 list.  You can find the first part here and you can find my Best Songs of '09 list here. 

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11.) BOAT - Setting the Paces -- Scrappler.  Scrap'ums.  Scrap-a-rino.  Scrappity Scrap Scrap.  SCRAPPO!!!  OK, so here's the deal with this band.  I've enjoyed the music of BOAT since hearing their p4k-approved Come On Let's Drag Our Feet album a couple years ago (#35 on 2007's Best Albums list).  Liked their follow-up EP, Topps, as well (again #35 on 2008's list), but seriously this newest BOAT album is so much better than those, you don't even KNOW!  See, they turned the amps up and decided to ROCK THE FUCK OUT while sacrificing none of the trademark BOAT <wait for it> scrappiness.  Anthemic and self-deprecating at the same time.  Kinda like me!

    [Time for the year's first mea culpa (of many, in all likelihood).  I should have ranked this album much higher.  If I had to do it over again, It's Blitz would still be #1, but the new #2 would be the Nirvana live album, which I totally excluded from the list (um, second mea culpa, thanks), and this BOAT album would come in at a nifty #3.]

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12.) A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head -- Local boys done good... but is it any better than the debut (23rd best album of '07)?   I'm not entirely sure that the clearer production always benefits the songs- which themselves are probably more accessible than those on the first album.  It's no coincidence that the best songs on Exploding Head have treated/distorted/fucked up vocals, and they really should keep it that way... it's just that I'm not exactly the biggest fan of the songs displaying a slightly "lighter side" to this band-- they're best when following their JaMC/MBV/Joy Division/Ministry/etc. template very, very closely.

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13.) The Crocodiles - Summer of Hate -- What with all the lo-fi/electronic genre mish-mashing these days, it can be easy to overlook a band like the Crocodiles just because you're worried they might sound like Ear Pwr or whatever.  This album's high ranking (by me and me alone, apparently) is on the merit of three great songs: "I Wanna Kill," "Sleeping With the Lord," and the title track... the rest of the album I could kinda take or leave, to be truthful. 

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14.) Boston Spaceships - Zero to 99 - Robert Pollard's best new album since 2006's massive/sprawling From a Compound Eye (#9 on '06's Best Albums list) sees him dipping back into the famed suitcase (literally, there are several re-recorded versions of songs from the first Suitcase box set) and fleshing out some gems.  Pretty sure that standout "How Wrong You Are" is not among the older tracks, but rather a new one entirely...? (Seriously, I'm not sure here.  Help me out, someone.)  GbV freakz will love that on at least a couple of the songs they somehow they manage to churn out a ramshackle rhythm guitar style reminiscent of the Tobin Sprout/Mitch Mitchell salad days.  [Note: if planning your next record store purchase on the recommendation of this album review, do yourself a favor and don't confuse this album with the year's *other* Boston Spaceships album, The Planets Are Blasted, which is horrible.] 

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15.) White Denim - Fits -- This album sounds like good drugs.  Partially because the songs on this jittery genre-hopper are patterned after some of the best music of the psychedelic '60s, encompassing garage, soul, frat rock, Nuggetsy psych, and good ol' fashioned arena rock.  No, there probably aren't any single tracks on this one as strong as "Transparency" (from 2008's Exposion, #23 on '08's Best Albums list) but these guys seem to know how to make really fun, listenable rock albums.  Oh, and Steve Terebecki is indie rock's version of Chris Squire.

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16.) Fever Ray - Fever Ray -- The first several times I listened to this album I thought it was either 1.) "absolutely brilliant" or 2.) "lightweight fruity garbage."  Couldn't put my finger on why, and then EUREKA! I figured that shit out (or, rather, "I figured the fuck out of it").  Listening to this album at night reveals the creepiness, the elegantly minimal production, and an understated, subtle melodic awesomeness.  But just try listening to it when the sun's bright n' shining: you'll feel like a shallow shiny shirt-wearing Eurotrash faggot shitbag. 

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17.) Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights -- Fuck it, you know what you're getting into with Lightning Bolt.  These guys' psychotic, migraine-inducing blustery hoopla never fails to entertain. Barely-controlled chaos at its finest.

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18.) Heartless Bastards - The Mountain -- Normally when a band either 1.) goes higher-fi or 2.) starts flaunting more country-ish tendencies it's time to cut bait.  However, Les Bastardes Sans Coeurs manage to make both numbers 1 and 2 work for 'em on this album.  Rockin' and soulful at times, although your mileage may vary on the wimpier folky songs. 

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19.) Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans -- Saw this album described somewhere as a "steaming plate of hostility".  In fact, I'll second that.  [Side note: one of my favorite concert moments of the year occurred when I saw these guys at the WFMU-fest at Music Hall of Williamsburg.  Towards the end of the set just moments after Pissed Jeans had finished playing a song, the drummer stood up and triumphantly puked all over his drum kit.  Amazing.]

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20.) Russian Circles - Geneva -- Three albums in, you have to admit that Russian Circles are kind of a one-trick pony.  But if you like hyper-melodic post-metal with a decided tension/release slant, then, like me, you love this band.  There are some strikingly beautiful moments on this record. 

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21.) Liturgy - Renihilation -- This is truly Hell's muzak.  (That is, if hell's awesome.)

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22.) Converge - Axe to Fall -- The best thing to come out of Boston -- musically or otherwise -- since Sib Hashian's 'fro.  If there's a better heavy song from 2009 than "Worms Will Feed" that's not by Pissed Jeans or Baroness, I've yet to hear it. [Yes, this is said as I realize that I somehow managed to accidentally leave all Converge songs off of my Year's Best Songs list.  Fuck me.]

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23.) Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg -- Simply put, Wolfmother are good at what they do. If you don't care for great cock rock, you're obviously not going to care for this, but c'mon.  Live a little!  Pull your Poison Flesh and Blood black sleeveless out of mothballs and crush some brewdogs to Cosmic Egg while doing reverse gravity bong hits and, uh, competing in freestyle Motorcross events. 

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24.) Dinosaur Jr - Farm -- Solid album, but almost boringly so.  After comeback album Beyond's eye-popping awesomeness, Farm's songwriting is so standardly above-average that at times the album seems to be in danger of flatlining.  But I definitely prefer the fuzzy, You're Living All Over Me-style production on this one to Beyond's weird emphasis on J's vocals, that's for damn sure. 

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25.) Smith Westerns - Smith Westerns - People seem to do a lot of kvetching about these guys being super young, which honestly I had no fucking clue about until all the year-end lists started coming out.  But fuck tha haterz.  When The Airing of Grievances came out, the collective age of all the members of Titus Andronicus was less than that of my left asshole and that didn't stop 'em from making some rootin' tootin' great music.  In the tradition of countless good-to-great garage bands from the early-to-mid '60s, Smith Westerns have found that touring the country and rockin' out are funner things to do with your summer than (say) working at McDonalds, lifeguarding, hanging out in the parking lot of a 7-11 or [whatever it is that the kidz do these days]. 

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26.) Goes Cube - Another Day Has Passed -- Quality riffs, great drumming, and plenty of throat shredding from this post-hardcore powerhouse.  Top-notch re-recordings of a trio of classic Cube jams push this one over the top safely into Best Albumville. 

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27.) Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade -- How can something so brutal be so relaxing?  Does this mean I've got a serious fucking screw loose?!  (Don't answer that.) 

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28.) Dead Weather - Horehound -- This one kinda dropped like a stone in the rankings, no?  Yes, there's still a few good mixtapeable songs on here, although beyond the best four-or-so songs, shit gets pretty bare.  But seriously, why wouldn't you just listen to the Kills?

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29.) Red Fang - Red Fang -- This actually includes their great Tour EP released a couple of years ago (ranked #30 on '07's Best Albums list) and expands upon that with another handful of sludgy goodness. 

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30.) Dan Deacon - Bromst -- To me, nearly every friggin' song on this album sounds like something you'd hear as the background music on a really smug iPhone commercial.  Which still makes this album way, way better than most of the other crap that came out this year. 

The 99 Best Songs of 2009

Okay.  So, late last year, I spent all day putting together a list of my 75 favorite songs of 2008, complete with mp3s of *rare live versions* of many of the songs and links to videos on YouTube of the songs being played live.  And again, it's not like I really care about how many page views this blog gets, but it's a bit of a sobering deal when a list you've slaved over gets fewer hits than a picture of Grimace saying "Fuck Tim".  I mean c'mon now, people.

So, needless to say, this list took less work than that.  How much less, you ask?  Enough that I'm not even going to finish this intr

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1.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Zero" -- Yup, it's clicheed.  In fact, one could question the point of maintaining still yet another crappy blog tagging It's Blitz as Album of the Year and "Zero" as the year's finest song.  While we're on the subject, one could probably also question the utility of playing Baseball Stars for like 17 straight hours. But then again one should probably just get off my case. 

2.) The Crocodiles - "I Wanna Kill" -- Posing + Preening + Hilariously bad lyrics + THE GREATEST CHORUS IN THE HISTORY OF MUSIC EVER.

3.) Boston Spaceships - "How Wrong You Are" - This is the best *new* song Robert Pollard has written since "The Best of Jill Hives" in 2003.  Yes, there have been some good-to-great songs since then, but many of them ("Go For the Exit," "Be It Not for the Serpentine Rain Dodger," "Accidental Texas Who," etc.) are gussied-up versions of stuff he came up with forever ago.  Not so this one.  As if you care.

4.) Pissed Jeans - "False Jesii pt. 2" -- If I were to begin regularly dancing in a manner befitting this song, the world would have many, many more falling chandeliers.

5.) Jay Reatard - "There Is No Sun" -- Mr. Reatard slows it down, throws on some strings, and winds up with what sounds like "Don't Stop Now"'s misanthropic cousin. 

6.) Smith Westerns - "My Heart" -- These lo-fi kiddies' finest song.  Awesome guitar lick at the end kills me every time. 

7.) The Thermals - "Bottom of the Sea" -- This song has a simplicity to awesomeness ratio of 1.

8.) A Place to Bury Strangers - "Ego Death" -- If you've seen APTBS at any point over the last two years you've probably seen them open their set with this (I always thought it was called "Gimme Acid").  Oliver Ackerman sounds like Peter Murphy on this one. 

9.) Baroness - "The Gnashing" -- Sounds a lot like Torche's "Across the Shields," a/k/a '08's second best song.

10.) Wolfmother - "Far Away" -- Let me see your cigarette lighters!  

11.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Skeletons"

12.) The Raveonettes - "Bang"

13.) Kylesa - "Unknown Awareness"

14.) Big Business - "The Drift"

15.) Crippled Black Phoenix - "200 Tons of Bad Luck"

16.) Kylesa - "To Walk Alone"

17.) Fuck Buttons - "Olympians"

18.) Crippled Black Phoenix - "Rise Up and Fight"

19.) The Thermals - "How We Fade"

20.) Pelican - "What We All Come to Need"

21.) Heartless Bastards - "The Mountain"

22.) The Antlers - "Two"

23.) The Thermals - "When I Died"

24.) Death - "Politicians In My Eyes"

25.) Fever Ray - "Triangle Walks"

26.) A Place to Bury Strangers - "In Your Heart" (Cereal Spiller remix)

27.) Atlas Sound (ft. Laetitia Sader) - "Quick Canal"

28.) Built to Spill - "Oh Yeah"

29.) BOAT - "Interstate 5"

30.) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "The Tenure Itch"

31.) The Crocodiles - "Sleeping With the Lord"

32.) Built to Spill - "Things Fall Apart"

33.) Crippled Black Phoenix - "444"

34.) The Raveonettes - "Wine"

35.) King Khan & BBQ Show - "Anala"

36.) Baroness - "Swollen and Halo"

37.) Dan Deacon - "Red F"

38.) The Raveonettes - "Break Up Girls!"

39.) A Place to Bury Strangers - "Keep Slipping Away"

40.) Russian Circles - "Malko"

41.) Kylesa - "Scapegoat"

42.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Runaway"

43.) Built to Spill - "Done"

44.) Crippled Black Phoenix - "A Hymn for a Lost Soul"

45.) Oxford Collapse - "Search Party"

46.) Goes Cube - "I Hold Grudges"

47.) King Khan & BBQ - "I'll Be Loving You"

48.) Julian Plenti - "Only If You Run"

49.) The Thermals - "I Let it Go"

50.) The Crocodiles - "Summer of Hate"

51.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Little Shadow"

52.) Smith Westerns - "Tonight"

53.) Red Fang - "Whales and Leeches"

54.) The Raveonettes - "Suicide"

55.) A Place to Bury Strangers - "Dead Beat"

56.) Julian Plenti - "Games for Days"

57.) The Thermals - "You Dissolve"

58.) Heartless Bastards - "Witchy Poo"

59.) Goes Cube - "Saab Sonnet"

60.) Cheeseburger - "Commin' Home"

61.) Fuck Buttons - "The Lisbon Maru"

62.) Your Nature - "Sands"

63.) Pissed Jeans - "Half Idiot"

64.) Dead Mellotron - "I Hate the Way Things Are"

65.) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Young Adult Friction"

66.) Sian Alice Group - "Close to the Ground"

67.) White Denim - "All Consolation"

68.) Them Crooked Vultures - "Elephants"

69.) Maximo Park - "The Kids Are Sick Again"

70.) Fever Ray - "If I Had a Heart"

71.) Wolfmother - "Caroline"

72.) Melvins (remixed by John Duncan) - "AAHHH"

73.) Pissed Jeans - "Dream Smotherer"

74.) Seventh Void - "Heaven is Gone"

75.) Fuck Buttons - "Surf Solar"

76.) Alice in Chains - "A Looking in View"

77.) Goes Cube - "Bluest Sky"

78.) Times New Viking - "Those Days"

79.) White Denim - "Sex Prayer"

80.) Dex Romweber Duo - "Picture"

81.) Wolfmother - "Back Round"

82.) Boston Spaceships - "A Good Circuitry Soldier"

83.) Portishead - "Chase the Tear"

84.) Dinosaur Jr. - "Oceans in the Way"

85.) LiveFastDie - "Amputated"

86.) A Place to Bury Strangers - "I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart"

87.) Wolfmother - "California Queen"

88.) Franz Ferdinand - "Ulysses"

89.) The Dead Weather - "I Cut Like a Buffalo"

90.) Heartless Bastards - "Sway"

91.) Crippled Black Phoenix - "Burnt Reynolds"

92.) Baroness - "A Horse Called Golgotha"

93.) O'Death - "Mongoloid"

94.) LiveFastDie - "Camero Shit the Bed"

95.) Goes Cube - "The Only Daughter"

96.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Hysteric"

97.) Dead Mellotron - "I Woke Up"

98.) The Dead Weather - "60 Feet Tall"

99.) Jay Reatard - "It Ain't Gonna Save Me"

The Best (and worst) Albums of 2009 (so far)

    Let's not gild the lily-- if these reviews seem bitchier than usual, it's for the simple reason that this has been an historically atrocious year for new music.  Here's hoping the next few months improve matters since there's all kinds of potentially great shit poised to drop before the year's up.  Fortunately I have a pretty significant backlog of albums I've hoarded over the last several years, and this year's shortage of good new shit has just meant I've been able to delve into the collected works of bands that y'all probably already know and love. 

    As usual, the rules for this list remain the same: this is newly-released full-lengths only, so there are no singles, reissues, or greatest hits comps on here.  And these are all albums that I personally either bought myself or paid to download (except one which shall go nameless, and the Moby record which I streamed at NPR).  So it's not like I stole this shit just so I could write snarky reviews.  Enjoy! (or don't.)

--------------------------

1.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz -- I was absolutely in love with the noisy direction the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had taken on 2007's awesome Is Is EP, so naturally I cringed when I heard the new one would feature an entirely new stylistic twist n' turn into disco-ish territory.  To me, this foretold of a streamlining/mainstreaming of their sound, and I wasn't the hugest fan of their previous attempt at conventionality on Show Your Bones, because I kinda always felt the YYY's material is at its best with plenty of roughness around the edges.  But f all that; simply put, Blitz contains their strongest songwriting ever, framed by absolutely letter-perfect production.  From rave-ups to poppy shit to straight-up dance rock and even earnest ballads (?!) this album proves that the YYYs are good enough to be able to put gimmickry aside and churn out an album full of amazing songs.

2.) The Crocodiles - Summer of Hate -- I've had this on heavy rotation since I caught them at Union Pool last month.  The recipe is simple: snotty vocals, analog synth, blazing guitar tone, drum machine.  Imagine, say, a bratty Suicide mixed with J&MC's noisy melodicism.  No less than 3 positively stellar competitors for the title of best-song-of-the-year: the title track, "I Wanna Kill" (what a fucking triumphant chorus!!) and "Sleeping With the Lord."  [Interestingly, the singer is apparently a substitute teacher at a special ed school.  I had several similar jobs years ago so I think think is awesome.]

3.) Crippled Black Phoenix - The Resurrectionists/Night Raider -- Sprawling double-album companion piece to 2007's pretty good A Love of Shared Disasters, this surpasses Disasters in every way that matters.  Several distinct styles are explored, from galloping, Floydish numbers ("Rise Up and Fight") to more traditional post-rock ("Burnt Reynolds") to folk (um, lots of 'em), with cleverly varied instrumentation.  The real improvement is in the haunting melodies, which creep their way into your mind -- have fun trying to get the accordion riff from "200 Tons of Bad Luck" out of your head.  Is there a significant amount of filler?  Yes, and some of the songs seem to take forever to get where they're going (the payoff is worth it more often than not, however).  Although the pervasive mood can be characterized as "morose" or "downcast," there's more than enough light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel hopefulness to transcend mere mopiness.  Yes, this album is uplifting enough to beat the misery of an hour on the 4 train.  Several days a week. 

4.) The Dead Weather - Horehound -- Man, I hated the first single ("Hang You From the Heavens") when I first heard it, but consider me totally 180'd on that one... as it turns out it's actually one of the year's finest songs thus far.  In many ways, this album is the exact sum of it's parts: there's a definite old-school Kills sound on most of the songs, some bluesy crunch courtesy QOTSA, plenty of the White Stripes' minimalism and quiet/loud dynamic, as well as some vintage Raconteurs-style blandness.  Probably Alison Mosshart's most soulful vocals ever, too, which says quite a bit.

5.) Goes Cube - Another Day Has Passed -- I've liked every one of these guys' self-released EPs, but this one is the first that actually approaches the furious intensity of Goes Cube's thrash-tastic live show.  Highly fucking recommended. 

6.) The Thermals - Now We Can See -- No, this doesn't come anywhere close to matching '06's landmark The Body, The Blood, The Machine, but if you pick this one apart (say, like an orange) there's still several good songs for all your mix-tapin' needs.  The rave-ups and more solemn songs are fine, but at times the sappiest of this bunch manage to plumb the sickeningly sweet depths of '02's smarmy-as-all-get-out Hutch and Kathy project.  Just skip those ones, though.

7.) Children - Hard Times Hanging at the End of the World -- Rockin', technically precise thrash that's fun as hell.  The video for their lead single shows that these guys have a sense of humor to match their formidable chops.  Great, great listen.

8.) Kylesa - Static Tensions -- 3 bona fide sludge classics on here ("Scapegoat," "Unknown Awareness," "To Walk Alone") framed by some lesser-but-still-pretty-darn-good stoner jams. 

9.) Heartless Bastards - The Mountain -- The bluegrassy shit is terribly boring but the 3-chord grunge jams are emotive, soulful and rockin'.  Employ your skip button judiciously.

10.) Dead Mellotron - Ghost Light Constellation EP -- How rare is it that a random band you've never heard of friends you on MySpace and it turns out their music is actually really good?  Several lo-fi, hazy, shoegazy gems on this one, and you can download it for free here.

11.) Dan Deacon - Bromst -- Easily Dan Deacon's best songwriting ever, and the first thing I've heard by him that displays any real heart to speak of.  But fans of his spazzier stuff can rejoice: plenty of wackiness (notably the goofy sound effects and pitch-shifted vocals) remains.

12.) Hull - Sole Lord -- Let me start by saying that 2007's Viking Funeral is one of the most aggressive, arresting metal epics I've ever heard, and for anyone who's had the pleasure of seeing Hull perform it live, you have to think "man, they're going to have to tone down the next thing they do a coupl'a notches if they're going avoid burning themselves out."  That being said, I was a little disappointed with this album's subdued, at times even new-agey feel.  Don't get me wrong, there are still several great bonecrushing moments on this record, but nothing here matches Viking Funeral's singular awesomeness.

13.) Death - ...For the Whole World to See -- A few people have hailed this as an "unearthed classic" or whatever which isn't exactly the case -- the material's good overall, but not great.  Although there are only two truly great songs here ("Keep on Knocking," "Politicians in My Eyes,"), understanding the context in which it was written, recorded, and ultimately forgotten for a quarter century is pretty neat. 

14.) Big Business - Mind the Drift -- The bass should be louder, the vocals should be turned down, and the guitar parts should just be fucking erased.  Seriously, with Big Business, the sludgier the better, and here the head-scratchingly awful production choices almost -- almost, mind you -- ruin it.  "The Drift" is one of the year's best songs, though.

15.) These Arms Are Snakes - Tail Swallower and Dove -- Several killer, bone-crushing grooves on this one ("Ethric Double," for one, is undeniably great), although at times it degenerates into what comes across as mathed-up emo. 

(EDIT: it turns out this album actually came out in 2008, so don't be all "where'd the These Arms Are Snakes album go on your year end list?!")

16.) Black Math Horseman - Wylt -- Typically serviceable stoner metal.  Yes, it's plodding and monotonous, but either way, it's still better than that Black Mountain "light bright light bright light bright" horsecrap. 

17.) Dinosaur Jr. - Farm -- I had really high hopes for this one after the awesomeness of 2007's triumphant comeback Beyond, but the second half of this record really drags.  On the positive tip, they did drastically improve the mix in comparison to Beyond: rather than placing the vocals front and center, the grunginess and fuzz really suit these guys.  (Think You're Living All Over Me.)  Also, I should mention that Farm does not lack for stellar guitar solos, if you're into that sort of thing.

18.) Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown -- At nearly 70 minutes this bad boy is overstuffed to the point of being comically bloated.  Tough to get through in one sitting, although there are some decent tunes on here (I'm partial to the title track).

19.) LiveFastDie - Bandana Thrash Record -- Potty-mouthed gutterpunk by these drunken louts who (presumably) named their band after one of GG Allin's tats (peep his left tit).  Very fun at times, but sometimes too retarded for their own good.  Plus, "Fat Guy with an iPod" hits a bit too close to home *SNIFFLE*

20.) Dex Romweber Duo - Ruins of Berlin -- Somewhat of a disappointment after seeing their garage-filthy live show.  Some tepid guest spots (Cat Power, Neko Case) take the music in the wrong direction: in a sane world this would be presented as distorted, raucous fare, not mild-mannered imitation bar-band averageness.  Dex's amazing voice (part Roy Orbison, part Jerry Lee Lewis) saves this one.

21.) Stinking Lizaveta - Sacrifice and Bliss -- Dexterous, proggy licks crammed together, kind of in the vein of a more stoned Fucking Champs (if the Champs had an electric stand-up bassist). 

22.) Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP -- I'm used to Bradford Cox putting out tossed-off sounding stuff under the Atlas Sound moniker and saving the good shit for Deerhunter records, but this one pretty much splits the difference there. 

23.) Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind -- Not bad, but I can't understand why you'd bother with this when there's so much other great post-rockish stuff out there.  Yes, the instrumentation sounds painstakingly orchestrated, but the music just isn't great enough to warrant the feeling of timelessness that they're clearly shooting for.

24.) Franz Ferdinand - Tonight! Franz Ferdinand -- Pointless beyond the first single, "Ulysses," which was actually quite good.

25.) Los Straitjackets - The Further Adventures of Los Straitjackets -- Might as well have just named this one Etc. because while it's in the same vein of their previous output, it's nowhere near as good as much of it.  Remember - while these guys are probably best known for their "Wipe Out!" soundalikes and film/TV theme covers, it's on their more original-sounding compositions ("University Blvd.," "Pacifica," "Casbah," "State Fair," etc.) that they've really earned their mettle up till now.  Alas, this is record is mostly uninspired rehashes. 

26.) Moby - Wait for Me -- Good background music; nothing more, nothing less. 

-------------

NOTE-- albums below here are all interchangeably crappy, so I didn't bother numbering them.  Why bother writing reviews for them then, you may ask?  Three simple reasons: 1.) I don't have a real job; 2.) I'm bitter about having spent money on them; and perhaps most importantly, 3.) I'm fresh out of pork rinds so I'm going to need something to occupy my hands for the next hour or so.  Happy?

- Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion -- I doubt I'll ever "get" these guys mainly because I'm a fan of memorable melodies.  You will find none of those on this album.

- Art Brut - Art Brut vs. Satan -- Loved the first album just like everyone else, but it's time to send this one-trick pony to the glue factory already.  Not even production by Frank Black can save this one from being wholly inessential.

- Boston Spaceships - Planets are Blasted -- The "Pay Bob's Mortgage You Sucker" campaign fumbles onward with this, yet another horrible album.  And still, like a total fucking moron, I hold tight to the misguided notion that at some point Bob may rediscover the brilliance that made me such an eager devotee for several years.  Y'know what?  Fuck "brilliance."  At this point I'd settle for Fiction Man II or some such.  [Note: yes, I did preorder Bob's newest forthcoming solo record yesterday.  I hate myself.]

- Isis - Wavering Radiant -- Another band that I'm "supposed" to love because I like Tool and I enjoy all kinds of good post-metal-ish stuff, but frankly I just don't see it.  The riffs are poor-man's at best and what's worse, the sung vocals sound like Nick Hexum.  Shudder.

- Mastodon - Crack the Skye -- A major turn for the worse.  First off, if you're going to jack up your (crappy) vocals, you may want to think about writing a decent fucking melody first, no?  Second, for a band frequently cited these days as being among The Best Metal Bands in the World, whither all the great riffs?  I'll tell you exactly where: "The Czar" at about 4:00 and again in the same song at 7:40; the intro to the title track; and 8:25 or so into "The Last Baron."  Seriously, that's it.  Weak.

- Maximo Park - Quicken the Heart - Futureheads>Bloc Party>Young Knives>Arctic Monkeys>Maximo Park>Kaiser Chiefs.  Nuff said.

- NODZZZ - NODZZZ -- Useless.  For all the kids out there that think horrendous crap like Nodzzz or Wavves or Vivian Girls or The Beets perfected lo-fi, please spend some quality time with Alien Lanes and see how this shit's really supposed to be done.  Thanks!

- Pelican - Ephemeral EP -- First thing by these guys I've heard that I haven't absolutely adored.  These 3 songs suck ass.  (Full disclosure - I think City of Echoes is one of the two finest albums of the aughts.)  

- Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - I think this is trite, and the songwriting's poor-at-best.  Discuss!

- Praxis - Profanation: Preparation for a Coming Darkness -- Unfortunately, the emphasis here is not on the band (killer B's Bill Laswell, Buckethead, Bernie Worrell and Brain)'s formidable chops, but on shuffling a new, different guest vocalist in on each and every track.  Does not for good listening make.  

- Seventh Void - Heaven Is Gone -- Long-awaited side project from the guitarist and drummer of Type O Negative.  The title track is decent, but the rest is sub-generic stoner metal crap.

- The Soft Pack - The Muslims - The Meh-slims is more like it.  T'heh!

- Wavves - Wavvves -- Manages to be both overrated and underrated at the same time.  No, this guy isn't the Antichrist, and no, he's also not the "savior of lo-fi" or whatever.  He's just some spoiled SoCal kid with an incredible publicist and no perceptible talent. 

Catchin' Up With the Blog yet again

    Ah, the weather is getting nice again and I'm starting to remember why I love my neighborhood so much.  Schoolkids are running around in the streets loudly debating the pungency of one another's genitals; the Ice Cream Truck Jingle (which I'm actually a fan of) is already soldered into my skull where it shall remain for the next 4+ months; 60 year old dudes can be found stumbling around the block smoking blunts; drunk black dudes fly by on bicycles insulting random passersby; and perhaps most importantly, "special deliveries" are transacted courteously, comfortably and efficiently. 

    Again it's been awhile since I've updated said Muddd, but I ain't dead yet.  I've been taking it easy the last couple weeks after what has been an unusually toxic year up until this point.  Also, earlier in the month I traveled to Atlantic City (impossible to enjoy this place without drugs/fortunately I had some), Virginia (beautiful, especially the ships) and Durham (rainy) so it's nice to hunker down and get back to the essentials -- namely smoking weed and being antisocial. 

    Also, it's a good time for me to issue some, um, "updates" to last year's Best Of lists (albums and songs), so let's get these belated mea culpas out of the way first.  "But Tuddd," you plead, "yer livin' in the past!  We want to hear about new shit!"  Sadly, we're almost done with March and the New Yeah Yeah Yeahs is the first really, really good record I've heard all year.  Fear not, I thought '07 got off to a shitty start too and we still wound up with a ton of gooduns when all was said and done.  Anyway,  

• All thru '08, I avoided hearing the Titus Andronicus album mainly because of comparisons to Conor Oberst (of whom I'm not a fan) and various emo bands.  Well, it turns out I fucked up-- the Titus Andronicus album is probably the best album from '08.  Yeah, I'm'a need a mulligan on that one, thanks.
• Also, I totally whiffed in leaving Harvey Milk's Life... The Best Game in Town off of the aforementioned list.  In this case, I had actually heard the album during '08 proper (and several times at that) but I somehow retardedly managed to miss giving it a numerical ranking on the spreadsheet I was using to rank albums.  Let this be a warning to all fellow hack music bloggers: (underwhelming) music journalism and spreadsheets do not mix.  FWIW it's one of the 10 best albums from '08 I've heard.
• Missed the boat on Hercules and Love Affair, too.  Shee-it.
• In my (admittedly gay) quest to trendily update my library of garagey shit, I came across a fucking awesome compilation of female-fronted Dutch garage/psych bands, called From the Kitchen to the Garage and available from Distortions Records here (it's the third one down).  Normally I don't post links prompting people to buy shit, but 1.) it's awesome and 2.) it's only 7 friggin' dollars.  Definitely the first album I've heard from the Distortion imprint, but I doubt it will be the last.  I have no idea if this actually came out in '08, but if it did, it too would have been easily in the year's top 10. 
• I'm liking Microcastle better and better, but I still think Weird Era kind of blows.
• On the aforementioned Best Songs list, I totally left several great songs off that I didn't hear until after I wrote the list.  These include: a lot of the Titus Andronicus album, a few off Harvey Milk's record, the same two that everyone likes from Hercules and Love Affair, "Afgrunden" from Sune Rose Wagner (of the Raveonettes, of course)'s solo debut, Pyramids' "The Echo of Something Lovely," "That's Not My Name" by the Ting Tings, and, um, Usher's "Love in this Club." For some reason, this makes me want to cry with joy. 

----------

        Here's a brief rundown of the albums I've heard so far in '09.  Yes, I'm markedly behind last year's pace, but there's still a ton of good stuff I'm looking forward to.  I'll try to get a decent "Still To Come in '09" list posted before I go away for the weekend.

    1- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz -- I've only owned this album for 5 hours so this may be premature, but I think this is the best thing the YYY's have ever put out.  I thought their '07 EP, Is Is was their best effort to date (great songwriting and production) but this likely tops it.  Although a few of the songs are marred by repetitive phrasing, there's undoubtedly some really pretty songs on this. 

    2- Dan Deacon - Bromst -- lots more heart and depth than his Spiderman of the Rings breakthru. 

    3- Heartless Bastards - The Mountain -- Face it, it's tough for a white chick to sing soulfully without sounding cheesy, but the vocals (and primal guitar playing) of frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom make me long for a Black Keys/Heartless Bastards double bill.

    4- Death - ...For the Whole World to See -- A set of mostly unreleased protopunk songs by this trio of Detroit siblings, recorded in the mid '70s.  "Politicians in My Eyes" and "Keep on Knockin'" are the best two on here.  Read this New York Times article for the full story.

    5- Dead Mellotron - Ghost Light Constellation EP -- Pretty sure this Monroe, Louisiana band friended me on MySpace, where this album is available for free download, which is how I heard of 'em.  The best songs on here are done in kind of a fuzzy garage-ambient-trance-shoegaze style, which can lend itself to absolute awesomeness under the right circumstances.  Bonus points for choosing the right song to cover in Beach House's "Saltwater."

    6- Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion -- So far I'm only enjoying this as background music at a chatty party, for example.  Obviously warrants more listens.

    7- Boston Spaceships - The Planets Are Blasted -- Also needs many more listens, although this might be Uncle Bob's strongest (non-archival) effort since 2006's Normal Happiness. 

    8- These Arms Are Snakes - Tail Swallower and Dove -- Love the lead track "Woolen Heirs," and "Ethric Double" boasts the best heavy groove of the year.

    9- Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand -- The single's the only memorable song, IMHO.

    10- Wavves - Wavvves -- Whatever, I'm old.  I don't have to pretend to enjoy this crap.

    11- The Soft Pack -- The Muslims -- Sure, I'm spoiled when it comes to sloppy garage stuff, but this album is nothing special.

    12- Nodzzz -- Nodzzz -- If you're into bands like Vivian Girls, ca-USE! co-MOTION! and the Beets, you'll eat this up.  Otherwise, you'll find it pretty generic. 

    (No, I haven't heard the new Mastodon yet... I'm waiting to blast it in my car on the way down to Pennsylvania for a wedding this weekend.)

---------------

    Finally, yes, I know I've been slacking on seeing shows this year; I'm only up to 17 so far, which is pretty piss poor.  That being said, barring random testicular electrocution (always a possibility) I plan on attending tomorrow (4/1)'s whiplash-inducing show at Europa, starring the mighty Young Widows (seen 'em several times, they're great), Tournament (saw 'em a couple years ago with Baroness and Atakke at Don Pedros/they shred) and Austerity Program (one of my faves).  Good times. 

    All right, gotta go.  Muddd outward and such.

The 75 Best Songs of 2008

   

    Yes, this is just like thousands of other crappy blog lists that you'll come across, with one wrinkle: in honor of the spirit of giving/sharing that accompanies the holiday season (and because sharing is caring, duh) I figured I'd give a little something back to those of you who happen to traipse through this here Muddd, in the form of primo tunage.  However, since I'm not too keen on giving away copyrighted stuff, I've tried to include kickass high quality *live* bootlegged versions of as many songs on the below list as I could find.  I say "tried" because a few of these are pretty poor quality-wise, and because (obviously) I wasn't able to track down live versions of anywhere near every song.  (Anyone have any Cheap Time bootlegs?  How about Cheeseburger?  Blood on the Wall?  Didn't think so.)

    That being said, the way in which this list was executed was pretty fucking retarded, since I'm just now realizing shit like I forgot to put any King Khan on here, among other notable omissions.  The only real rule is that I'm not including tracks from live albums which already have been put out on albums, otherwise this list would be full of Thermals and Los Straitjackets songs.  Again, since I'm already noticing my own errors on the list ("Go for the Exit" should be way higher, for one), I'll probably use the comments section to amend errors.  Actually, after having spent damn near a full day on this, it's more likely that I'll never actually look at this list again. 

    Nonetheless, blah blah blah, on with the list.  To avoid confusion, the arrow thingies ------> signify a downloadable mp3, and pretty much any other link goes to somewhere on YouTube.  Don't say I never did nuthin' for ya.

------------

1.) "Nothing Ever Happened" by Deerhunter    ------>Download 06 Nothing Ever Happened

Notes: I'm looking to poach as little as possible here... NYC taper has a couple good recordings from Deerhunter shows this year here and here, both of which I attended.  The best live version of this song I've ever seen/heard is on Youtube here, from Baeble music's capture of the song of August's McCarren Park show (with soundboard audio!) which I also went to. 

2.) "Evident Utensil" by Chairlift                     ------>Download Chairlift 2008-11-19 

Notes: This download is actually a 12-minute long mp2 of Chairlift's November BBC session, and as such it's comprised of the following tracks: 1- introduction/interview 2- Bruises 3- interview 4- Evident Utensil 5- closing comments.  Also, here's a live video from the After the Jump Festival, which I actually attended, skipping Chairlift's set because I had no idea who they were at the time.  Boooo me. 

3.) "Across the Shields" by Torche                   ------>Download 07 Across the Shields 

Notes: I'm aware that this MP3 doesn't sound that great, but high quality Torche boots are apparently tough to come by; I have a couple other live versions of this song with this one being the least awful.  Watch this for the best Youtube has to offer for this song.

4.) "Dead Sound" by The Raveonettes            ------>Download 02 Dead Sound 

Notes: This is the best of the six live versions that are currently littering Tuddd Archives... a fantastic recording right here.  Here's the music video (prob'ly the best music video I've seen all year), and here's video of a sweet-ass acoustic version.

5.) "Heart of Chambers" by Beach House

Notes: Yeah, no luck on finding live audio versions of this anywhere, but here's the music video.

6.) "California Girls" by The Magnetic Fields    ----->Download 1-02 California Girls

Notes: Drastically different arrangement than the feedback-swathed album version.  More of a chamber pop thing going on here, which is nice, and here's a video version of the same performance the download is from.

7.) "The Day That Never Comes" by Metallica    ------> yeah, not gonna happen.

I actually have an excellent live version of this song but I'm not about to unleash Metallica's phalanx of lawyers upon myself.  Here's an oddly truncated live version from Jools Holland and here's the actual music video.

8.) "Twilight at Carbon Lake" by Deerhunter     ------>Download 12 Twilight at Carbon Lake

Notes:This version is okay, but (again) head here for a superior version captured by NYC taper.  Live video: check.

9.) "Verses" by Russian Circles

Notes: I got nuthin' mp3-wise.  Here's a good version from Youtube though.

10.) "Walking Backwards" by The Futureheads

Notes: Again, a big fat fucking donut.  Here's the puppet-infested music video, although I'll warn you that it's a music video which is presented in the style of "the making of the music video," which is annoying and gay. 

11.) "For Malena" by Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog

Notes: Yeah, nada.  Who knows if this song has ever even been performed live.

12.) "The Nun's Litany" by The Magnetic Fields        ------>Download 2-08 The Nun's Litany

Notes: Just as "California Girls" above, this "Disortion" nugget gets the chamber-pop treatment.  Shirley Simms handles vocals on the album version, but live Stephin Merritt takes the reins.  Here's an interview/solo performance (with bouzouki!) starring Merritt.

13.) "Hallucinations" by The Raveonettes        ------>Download 01 intro _ Hallucinations 

Notes: Has a brief KCRW tag at the beginning, but fuck yeah it's a great version.  This is an awesome pro-shot live video of the song.

14.) "That Was Just Your Life" by Metallica   

Notes: See #7 above.  Same story here.  This is an excellent live version, complete with creepy/lame staged "backstage all access" retardedness.  To avoid the poopy parts, skip to about 3 minutes in.

15.) "Aly Walk With Me" by The Raveonettes    ------>Download 06 Aly, Walk With Me 

Notes: Man, KCRW sure knows how to mix the Raveonettes, which is more than I can say for some music venue soundguys.  (Terminal 5, I'm looking at you.) Live/acoustic version here, and Sune n' Sharin discuss the song (rather inanely) here.

16.) "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today" by David Byrne and Brian Eno ------>Download 02 Everything That Happens Will Happ

Notes: Anyone know why he didn't do a show in NYC on the last tour?  Anybody?!

17.) "Drive On Driver" by The Magnetic Fields     ------>Download 2-07 Drive On, Driver

Notes: Third of four songs on this list from Distortion.  Here's a live video from Oslo.

18.) "The Rip" by Portishead                            ------>Download 02

Notes: Great song.  Radiohead digs it, too. 

19.) "Sick and Tyred" by Times New Viking       

Notes: Nothing to offer, although this implies that there's a forthcoming music video.  Huzzah.

20.) "Highly Suspicious" by My Morning Jacket    ------>Download 2-10 Highly Suspicious

Notes: I was tempted to use the version from their June show at Radio City (which I attended), or the one from their legendary Bonnaroo set (which I didn't), but this version just sounds better.  This is the video of the performance from Bonnaroo.

21.) "Hook and Line" by The Kills                     ----->Download 03 Hook and Line

Notes: Rare acoustic version.  I think I remembered reading somewhere that this was the first time they had performed this song ever, which explains the brief confusion at the beginning.  Here's a live video from Glasgow, missing the first few seconds of the song, but shot in black and white from pretty much underneath VV. 

22.) "Goes Cube Song 54" > "Goes Cube Song 50" by (you guessed it) Goes Cube

Notes: Can't find anything relevant videowise.

23.) "Junkee.... Julieeee" by Blood on the Wall

Notes: Watch this.

24.) "Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur" by Sigur Ros        ------>Download 06 Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur

Notes: Flat-out frickin' adorable.  Here's the "official video" and here's a live video of the song from LA.

25.) "The Crippled Jazzer" by Marnie Stern

Notes: Oddly enough, I couldn't find anything for this song, but check below for the "Transformer" video.

26.) "Never Stops" by Deerhunter                    ------>Download 02 Never Stops

Notes: Once again, allow me to direct you towards the NYCTaper website for a superior version.  Live video: I was at this show.

27.) "Time of Songs" by Tapes 'n Tapes

Notes: I couldn't find anything, although I'm starting to wonder why I didn't put "Headshock" on this list somewhere.

28.) "Ain't Got Nothin' (To Go Wrong)" by Dead Meadow    ------>Download 02 Ain't Got Nothing (To Go Wrong)

Notes: Live video here.

29.) "Coming Down the Stairs" by Endless Boogie

Notes: I got nothin'.

30.) "Half Asleep" by School of Seven Bells                ------>Download 06 Half Asleep

Notes: Best I could find on the video front was this partial. 

31.) "Goes Cube Song 57" by Goes Cube                        ------>Download Goes Cube - Song 57

Notes: Here's a version of this song from a show I was actually at.  Warning: volume is super low on this one.

32.) "Chemtrails" by Beck                                           

Notes: This guy has a live mp3 available, and here's a live video.

33.) "Jellybean" by Cheeseburger                                ------>Download Cheeseburger - Jellybean 

Notes: That's from the a sampler which was put out to promote Cheeseburger's Vice/Colt 45 tour.  Videos from that tour's stop at Glasslands are available here; look closely enough and you'll notice me drunkenly grabbing for the mic throughout the set.  Cringe.

34.) "My Neighbor Satan" by Boris                            ------>Download 1-07 My Neighbor Satan pt. 1

Notes: This one was split into 2 halves, so the second half is here: ------>Download 1-08 My Neighbor Satan pt. 2 _ intro

35.) "Batcat" by Mogwai                                               ------>Download Mogwai2008-09-13t14_vbr

Notes: Head over to Archive.org for way too much live Mogwai.  Live footage here; music video here.

36.) "Turn Tail" by Young Knives                                ------>Download Young Knives 2008-08-26

Notes: Just like the entry for Chairlift above, this one is an mp2 from a BBC session.  This one's a little longer, lasting about 17 minutes.  The tracklisting: 1- intro/interview 2- Dyed in the Wool 3- interview 4- Turn Tail 5- closing comments.  High quality/pro-shot live footage here.  Official video here.

37.) "Sorry Sorry Sarah" by Blood on the Wall

Notes: Indeed, the cupboard is bare on this one, so y'know what?  Here's a video of another awesome song of theirs with a chick's name in the title.

38.) "World Long Gone" by Scars on Broadway

Notes: Haven't seen any live audio circulating from Daron Malakian's post-SOAD band, but here's a live video and here's the actual (censored) big-budget music video for the song.

39.) "Teen Drama" by Times New Viking                    ------>Download 05 Track 05

Notes: For your viewing pleasure, live video.

40.) "The Dirty Dirty" by Tapes 'n Tapes

Notes: I've seen these guys twice and both times there's been an absolutely awful sound mix, which fortunately isn't the case here.

41.) "Too Late" by Cheap Time

Notes: "Too Late" is the first song on this video.

42.) "I Hate Nobody" by Oxford Collapse

Notes: Zero-zip-zilch-no-nada-none-nothing.

43.) "Young and Beautiful" by The Raveonettes

Notes: I don't think they've played this song live yet, so I think I'll go against the constraining motif of this list and cheat a little. 

44.) "Block My Eye" by Death Vessel

Notes: The well appears to be dry.

45.) "I Got Mine" by The Black Keys                        ------>Download 03

Notes: Live on Letterman!

46.) "They Say" by Scars on Broadway

Notes: Sweet live version or official music video version.

47.) "Le Ruse" by Tapes 'n Tapes

Notes: Couldn't find anything, not that I looked all that hard.

48.) "The Emerald Snow of Sleep" by Danava

Notes: I have a few boots from their '08 tour, but they didn't play this song on any of 'em.  Maybe it's tough to reproduce the synth loops live?  Who the fuck knows.

49.) "Lost Coastlines" by Okkervil River                ------>Download 10 Lost Coastlines

Notes: Video of the first time they ever played this live.  Also, the music video.  YAY!!!

50.) "Pinkies" by The Big Sleep

Notes: Here's a cool unplugged version of the song.

51.) "Lower Allston" by Thalia Zedek Band

Notes: Never seen Thalia Zedek/Come boots anywhere. 

52.) "Billy Fish" by The Melvins                        ------>Download 04 Billy Fish [9_14_08 Netherlands]

Notes: Live video.

53.) "Shiller" by Ratatat

Notes: Live video right here.

54.) "Face to Face on High Places" by School of Seven Bells

Notes: Live video.  Probly their most MBV-influenced song.

55.) "One Fine Day" by David Byrne and Brian Eno        ------>Download 01 One Fine Day [11_8_08 Upper Darby

Notes: Here's a video of the Young at Heart chorus backing up DB.  Friggin' beautiful.

56.) "Sinking the Blade" by Early Man

Notes: I was totally expecting not to be able to post anthing for this song, so I was pleased to find this.

57.) "Silence" by Portishead

Notes: I have a live version of this badboy but it's ruined by static.  This isn't a bad consolation prize, though.

58.) "Another Person" by Jay Reatard

Notes: I just looked at the clock, and apparently I've been working on this useless list for 7 straight hours, stopping only to make a sandwich.  Starting to hate myself. 

59.) "I'll Dream Alone" by The Magnetic Fields

Notes: Yeah, I got nothing.

60.) "Transparency" by White Denim

Notes: Welcome to donut city, population Tuddd.

61.) "Bruises" by Chairlift

Notes: See above (#2 on the list specifically) for a download that includes this song.

62.) "Spider Hole" aka "Vacant Moan" by O'Death        ------>Download 03 Spider Home

Notes: The song comes named two different ways: "Spider Hole" on the single, and "Vacant Moan" on the record.  Of the two I prefer the rougher single version.

63.) "Buriedfed" by Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson

Notes: Music video here.  Live footage here.  My life in here.

64.) "Bruno's Torso" by Death Vessel

Notes: jklfasdjklsdfjakljasdlksdjaklajfklsdjfklajsdklafjsdklafjsdklajfsdklajflas.

65.) "Transformer" by Marnie Stern

Notes: Music video here.

66.) "Without a Sound" by Torche

Notes: See #64.

67.) "Crooked Head" by Fucked Up

Notes: Daytrotter has a great live version of this song, along with others, here.  And here's live footage of this song from their marathon 12 hour show in NYC.

68.) "Sweet Love for Planet Earth" by Fuck Buttons    ------>Download 05 Sweet Love for Planet Earth [2_12

Notes: Live video.

69.) "We're Gonna Rise" by The Breeders                    ------>Download 10 We're Gonna Rise

Notes: Yes! We have no videos.  We have no videos today!

70.) "Shempi" by Ratatat

Notes: Live video here.

71.) "Shea Stadium" by Marnie Stern

Notes: Yeah, right.

72.) "Four Beds for Boat" by BOAT

Notes: Scrappy, scrappy, scrappy!

73.) "Eye" by Witch

Notes: I found nothing, but face it, "Witch Eye" is pretty much search engine-proof.

74.) "Go for the Exit" by Boston Spaceships                ------>Download 2-09 Go for the Exit

Notes: Couldn't find anything video-wise.

75.) "American Names" by Sebastien Grainger

Notes: Take it.  Just take it already!

Robert Pollard's Boston Spaceships, Highline Ballroom, October 1, 2008

   

    I'm going to try to keep this one reasonably short, because usually when I begin talking about Robert Pollard things tend to get a bit long winded.  The Cliff's Notes version: Guided by Voices was my favorite band for several years there, and although my appreciation of Uncle Bob's post GbV output has declined, I'm not sure if that's Bob's fault (worse songs, boring production) or mine (unwillingness to spend enough time with the new shit for me to truly "get" it).  Regardless, for me, Bob coming to town to perform live is an event no matter what. 

    Okay, I can't resist: a bit of backstory: I really began going to GbV shows in earnest around the time that they announced their retirement, seeing at least 7 shows in '04 (including all three nights of their legendary Irving Plaza run in early December) and, yes, I flew out to Chicago for the last 2 GbV shows ever New Year's '04-'05.  Saw Bob's solo band four times in '06, with the last time I saw a Robert Pollard-fronted band live being November 13th, 2006 at Bowery Ballroom, the night before a mysterious onstage meltdown in Philadelphia which forewarned the cancellation of the remainder of that tour.  That was a great show although the final song was marred by Stagerushing Superfan Douchefuck (#3).  Suffice it to say that I was overjoyed when the Boston Spaceships tour was announced. 

    On this night, I got to Highline Ballroom by 8:30, right around the time the openers were scheduled to take the stage.  Never having been here before, I was impressed with the place: kind of upscale for a rock club, not unlike Studio B or (le) poisson rouge, and security was lax.  And it's a quick walk from the 8th Avenue L so that's a huge plus for me.  Much to my delight they were serving Sam Adams bottles for $5, and I partook liberally. 

    Detroit's The High Strung took the stage shortly and delivered their brand of tuneful power pop with plenty of enthusiasm.  Kind of standard/good opening band fare here, and given Bob's fetish for bands with a similar sound, it wasn't tough to understand why they were on the bill.

    Boston Spaceships took the stage a little after 9:30-ish, and as usual I found myself front and center amongst the true drunken diehards.  A couple of blacked out 40-something dudes who were about my size (read: fucking enormous) were thrashing about up front and basically crushing people, with a couple of tiny females in particular being pinballed back and forth between those dudes and my backside.  I only wound up lasting 10 songs or so up front as a result of my tiny bladder, but it was good to get a feel for the true Pollard fanatics in the room.  My unfamiliarity with Bob's last five or so albums really proved an impediment to truly enjoying what was going on musicwise; the majority of the 35-song proper set was taken from the Boston Spaceships Brown Submarine album and the Robert Pollard Is Off to Business solo joint from earlier '08, with a few scattered jams thrown in for good measure from the Takeovers and Psycho and the Birds, GbV's Suitcase compilations, as well as a few unreleased tracks from upcoming projects. 

    For me, the real fun began during the first encore, which included "Crutch Came Slinking" from King Shit and the Golden Boys and "Sensational Gravity Boy," both great songs that I would never have expected to hear live in this lifetime.  Encore one closed with a ripping version of "Game of Pricks" before the soundman turned on the houselights and music... obviously he wasn't expecting a 2+ hour set complete with _two_ encores.  Encore #2 followed with several great GbV chestnuts, among them "Motor Away," "A Salty Salute," "Tractor Rape Chain," "Cut-Out Witch" and probably others I'm forgetting (I was pretty trashed by this point).  I slid over into the pit for some old school pogoing and all was well.

    Well, so much for keeping this one nice and short.  I feel that I should mention that post show I groundscored a Boston Spaceships shirt which had been abandoned/trampled in the pit.  Not too shab, and it made me feel better about having paid for so many beers.  (Yes, I'm still hung over at the time of this writing). 

     A couple final notes:

• Bob drank more than his fair share by his own hand (Miller Lite and Cuervo) and at the hands of the crowd (many, many shots).  Bob quote (after doing a shot): "whoa, that's the good stuff.  Thank you, but I prefer the bad stuff."
• Tommy Keene is playing the part of Doug Gillard (who was in attendance, with his wife) this time around in that he's really the musical glue of the live Boston Spaceships lineup.  Nailed his solos and generally kept shit together.  That being said Chris Slusarenko (bassist during GbV's final days) definitely held his own as a rhythm guitarist.
• Also in the house: GbV drummer Kevin March, Bob's wife. 
• If you're interested in the setlist I'm pretty sure it was identical to this except for the addition of the super-awesome all-GbV 2nd encore.
• It wasn't only the soundman that was faked out by the second encore: over half the crowd had already left by the beginning of said second encore.
• Bob still knows how to rock.  Lots of high kicks and assorted prancing and hilarious banter.  He brought up the incident from December '04 at Irving Plaza when he went into a drunken tirade that basically culminated in him saying "Bright Eyes sucks" and it turning out that Conor Oberst was actually in the audience that night. 

-------

    So, as far as tonight... I'm leaving for the weekend Friday morning to attend a buddy's bachelor party in DC, and I really want to watch tonight's Veep debate, so I might just stay in.  Should I feel particularly frisky I may make it out to Sam Champion at Mercury Lounge, although that seems like a longshot at this hour.  Not sure about next week; only show I have on my "must" list is Hull at Europa on Thursday.  See ya then.

------

NOW LISTENING: Krallice - Krallice

Man, this record fucking rips.  Hardcore thrashing and grinding punctuated with some legitimately fantastic melodic segments.  Seen these guys twice this year so far and I'm going to try to get out to their October 8th show at Knitting Factory.  Legit, this one would be top 15 if I rewrote my Best Albums of 2008 so far list again today.

Still to Come: The Best Albums of 2008 That Haven't Been Released Yet

    Well, for some unknown reason Mogwai's new The Hawk Is Howling album isn't available on eMusic yet, which is odd when y'realize that new Matador releases are usually available on eMusic on the street release date.  For example, the new Brightblack Morning Light album was available on the 23rd, the same day Mogwai was supposed to come out.  Huh.

    This got me to thinking: there's still a few albums that will be released before the year's up, which is nice considering that, let's face it, 2008's output has been kind of underwhelming thus far.  As you can tell from my most recent Best Albums of 2008 list, there have been a lot of decent albums so far this year, but few that have truly knocked me on my (admittedly fat) ass.  (Full disclosure: since I compiled that last list, I've been blindsided by how awesome the new Metallica album is.  Man, it's weird to be thinking of Metallica again as one-of-the-best-if-not-the-best bands in the world instead of an embarassing shell of their former selves.  Kudos to you, you Pro Tools-worshipping, Armani-wearing bastards!)

    So enjoy this delightfully incomplete list for what it is.  And yes, I hate the term "the skinny" as much as you do, if not more.  Shudder.

The Best Albums Still to Come in 2008

Jay Reatard - Matador Singles Compilation (10/7)
The skinny: the esteemed Mister Reatard has drawn raves with his recent series of Matador singles, which have sent collectors a'scramblin' to secure each successive one (there's a gradually smaller amount available for each 7").  For those of us who can't fit a record player in their apartment, Matador will be kindly collecting each of these sides on CD.  Blood Visions was good, as was the recent In the Red compilation, but this is supposedly the best of the lot.  Fuck yeah!

The Clash - Live at Shea Stadium (10/7)
Recorded while the band was opening for the Who in 1982, buying this one will allow me to remunerate ever so slightly for all the Clash bootlegs I've downloaded over the years.  Although this documents the band after their prime, it should be at least decent, no?

AC/DC - Black Ice (10/10)
It's too easy to simply dismiss this offhand as terrible, since Ballbreaker and Stiff Upper Lip were fucking dreary affairs.  Does Metallica's comeback make this one more or less likely to suck, or is there no effect?  Discuss. 

Times New Viking - Stay Awake EP (10/21)
The skinny: Rip It Off fucking smokes (#8 so far this year), and since I've enjoyed pretty much everything these guys have put out up until this point, I'd have to wager that this one will be a worthwhile purchase. 

Deerhunter - Microcastle (10/28)
The skinny: I love these guys so I'm biased.  Cryptograms was one of '07's finest albums (third best, according to me).  Seen 'em live three times so far in '08 (including this show in early September), and the new material has blown me away each time; much more of a straighforward rock thing going on rather than the dense sound experiments of Cryptograms, although, fortunately, some of the trademark weirdness remains.  Call me a cheeseball, but the finger-tapping coda on "It Never Happened" is pretty much the greatest thing ever. 

Eagles of Death Metal - Heart On (10/28)
The skinny: Peace Love Death Metal rocked, while Death By Sexy was too heavy on obviously copped Stones licks to be any good.  Seriously, every other song sounded like "Brown Sugar" or "Gimme Shelter" or whatever.  I doubt this one will be worth it, but let's face it, I'll eventually hear this one.  I'm a bored, bored man.

The Who - Live at Kilburn 1977 (11/28)
The skinny: hmm, I probably shouldn't be including this because apparently it's a DVD.  Probably not that essential either way given the vast amount of extremely high quality Who bootlegs that are readily available.  A quick scan through Tuddd archives reveals a definite lack of Who boots from 1977.  But no matter, The true gem on this set is the "bonus" material which comprises a complete run-thru of Tommy from the band's live peak, in 1969.  Who the fuck am I kidding, I'm definitely buying this, although I'll probably wait to get it used on eBay. 

Raveonettes - various EPs (I'm lazy and stoned)
The skinny: they've already put out two of these bad boys over the last couple of weeks, one of which (this one) I haven't heard yet, and the other of which is kinda boring, although said second one does find Sune n' Sharin setting out on a direction (electronic) different than anything they've focused on up 'till this point.  They're putting out two more EPs over the coming months, including one Christmas-themed deal. 

Shawen Acres - The Precious Blood Festival (who knows)
Former Guided by Voices rhythm guitarist/blacked out superstar Nate Farley has apparently cobbled together a-long-in-the-making first album, although I have no idea how to get my hands on it.  Under the Shawen Acres name, there have been songs kicking around -- some of 'em pretty damn good -- for some time now... seriously Nate, get your shit together, man!  In the meantime, check out some mp3s here and here. 

Chris Cornell - Turdburglar Deluxe (who cares)
I was listening to Badmotorfinger (still awesome incidentally) the other day when it dawned on me that Mr. Cornell's newest solo album was produced by Timbaland.  Somewhere, Cinnabon daytime supervisor Kim Thayil is fucking pissed.

------

While Googling excessively for this entry, I came across a few albums that originally were rumored to be out in '08 but won't be out now until '09.  Here's a few of the more interesting ones:

Franz Ferdinand -- liked the first album okay, thought the second was a pile of arrogant crap.  Meh, I'll probably buy this one.

Science Faxtion - Living on Another Frequency -- starring Bootsy Collins, Buckethead and Brain, this promises to rival Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains for awesomeness, although this collab replaces said Claypool with Bootsy (good) but loses Bernie Worrell (not good).  I predict equal parts weirdness and chops, which can be fun in the right hands.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- these guys always seem to have a lot on their plates with side projects.  If they can put out an album-length Is Is, this will be one of '09's best.

----------

Okay, I was going to make this longer but I'll try to start another one reasonably soon going into more depth about albums that are out already that I haven't yet heard.  Should be a real humdinger!

----------

 

NOW LISTENING:

Bobby Bare Jr. playlist

Now there are some notable omissions, but so far here's what's on there.  If you've ever seen the man live (as I did very recently), you'll notice it resembles an average (read: awesome) Bobby Bare Jr. set although it's notably light on the slower songs ("Demon Valley," "Mayonnaise Brain," "Borrow Your Girlfriend" and others will eventually make it on here in some capacity). 

1.) I'll Be Around - from OK I'm Sorry EP

2.) Flat Chested Girl From Maynardville - from OK I'm Sorry EP

3.) Uh Wuh Oh - from The Longest Meow

4.) Valentine - from OK I'm Sorry EP

(segues into)

5.) Mother Ucker - from OK I'm Sorry EP

6.) Let's Rock and Roll - from Nick Nacks and Paddy Whacks

7.) Dig Down - from Nick Nacks and Paddy Whacks

8.) Terrible Sunrise - from Nick Nacks and Paddy Whacks

9.) Borrow Your Cape - from The Longest Meow

10.) Stop Cryin' - from The Longest Meow

------

Holy shit, I just realized I'm seeing Robert Pollard's Boston Spaceships tomorrow night.  This is huge.  See you there/Tuddd out.