Tuddd's Muddd

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 Best (non-arena) Concerts of 2009 [part 1]

 

  Yup, I go to see a lot of shows.  It's what I do in lieu of pursuing any type of normal social life/sex life/career.  In fact, I'm near 300 concerts attended over the last 3 years combined, which is probably A LOT more than you unless you're, like, a member of Metallica or something.  I live in Williamsburg not because of the vibrant art gallery scene, or because I have friends here (I definitely don't), or because I love looking out my window at all the funny people with their krazy-colored scarves, or because I like getting my shit ripped off, or because I'm a fan of crackheads breaking into my car.  Nope, I live here pretty much exclusively because there are so many music venues within walking distance of my front door.  That's it.

    As such, it's odd that ~200 posts into this that them thar blog(gy), this will be my first attempt at ranking the shows I've seen during a given year.  As my fictional abusive step-uncle always told me, "son, you're the type of sumbitch that ain't happy unless he's doin' shit bass-ackwards all the goddamn time.  Now either start suckin', or go cut me a switch! <fart noise>"

    So, here's the first part of the list, which (as you'll find) consists solely of ONE very, very long show review.  (More will follow later in the week.)  The only rules are that 1.) no arena shows are allowed on this list; 2.) no festival shows are allowed on this list either; 3.) each headlining band can only be mentioned once on the list; and 4.) you have AIDS.  If you are okay with each and every one of these four conditions, read on, Aidsy. 

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And now for the single best show (according to the above conditions) I saw in 2009:

Dan Deacon/Deerhunter/No Age round robin at Brooklyn Bowl, August 2nd, 2009 -- Man, I can't believe that I didn't actually post a write-up of this show when it actually happened, but I didn't.  What a fucking wild day.  My friend Electric Carmdawg was staying at my apartment for an extended disaster weekend, as was my brother (in town from Durham).  The previous day Carm and I created the fuck out of this badboy and brought it to the b'day/pool party of a friend (who we'll call "ManEater") in Greenpoint.  Before ManEater's unpredictably temperamental landlady put the premature kibosh on said cheery get-together, my brother met us there, at which point I was so hammered from tequila(s) both cheap and free that I declared if the evening was to continue, I was going to need some -- nay, a lot of -- blow.  So we took the "party" back to my apartment, where I made everybody listen to the Crocodiles album on repeat while sobering up.  Coke dealer took for-fucking-ever, to the point that my two companions had grown weary of my pathetic "ME LIKEY DRUGZ!!!!1111!!111!!eleven!!" act.  When he did finally show up, my brother discovered he didn't have his license, dictating that our bar-going options were nil. 

    Following day, and it's raining like a mofo.  This would not bode well for the status of the day's proposed JellyNYC Pool Party at the waterfront (featuring Dan Deacon, Deerhunter and No Age), which fucking SUCKS because, of course, this was supposed to be the weekend's centerpiece for me and my friends.  Unbowed, we decided to hop into the Tudddmobile and head out to Storm King, hoping to squeeze in some nature-tastic enjoyment before coming back for the afternoon's concert.  Of course, about 5 miles into the drive I realize that I'm going THE WRONG FUCKING WAY on the BQE, and finally we agree that the shitty weather would have made for a shitty Storm King experience.  Tails between legs, we headed over to PS1 instead.

    We took Kent Ave. on the way over to Long Island City to scope out the Pool Party scene, and the Parks Department Employees that were to be ostensibly staffing the concert are packing their shit up and heading the fuck home.  We're informed that the waterfront show's been canceled and moved to Brooklyn Bowl later in the day.  Following our PS1 visit, we purchase some cheap wine, cheese, a baguette and some hummus and nosh that shit back at my place before heading back out, picking up a friend (yup, ManEater) and getting in line on North 12th St.  Fortunately, by the late afternoon, the skies had cleared up and it's kinda sunny out.  Also, fortunately the Turkey's Nest is just a couple of blocks away, so many, many "large to go" margs are purchased and consumed.  Also fortunately, I remembered to bring one of these along, and it's jampacked with wacky goodness/pure evil.  Frickity Frack, y'allz!

    So we stand in line for a couple of hours, getting fucked up and having a good ol' time.  Some of ManEater's friends show up in turn, and before you know it we've got quite the crew rolllin' (if by "rollin'" you mean standing on a line that isn't moving at all and shows no sign that it ever will).  Eventually word filters back to us that due to popular demand, Dan Deacon/Deerhunter/No Age will now be performing *two* shows at Brooklyn Bowl, one at 6:30 and one at 9.  Deerhunter main man Bradford Cox comes outside to talk to the weary and faithful, and I squeeze a few beerpisses out into empty Gatorade bottles in my car parked across the street.  All is (sort of, tentatively) well.  

    Naturally, when the line starts moving, all our little eyes (well, most of us) are bulging out of our heads due to 1.) ANTICIPATION!!! and 2.) COCAINE INTOXICATION!!!.  And naturally, they cut off attendance for the first show like ten people in front of us.  FUUUUUCK.  So we head to Wild Ginger for a lovely meal.  What's that, you say?  "Cocaine is supposed to inhibit the appetite?"  Not so, friend... you have so much to learn!  Chuckle, chuckle.  For anyone who did blow in Brooklyn during 2009, this was truly "the summer of the cocaine that makes you hungry."  Yeah, odd.  But, again, a lovely meal nonetheless.

    Post-meal, we head back to the line for the second show, but not before snagging more to go margs.  We hear thru the grapevine that the second show has been pushed back to 10 PM.  Fine, who cares, just throw another hour on there and see if we wilt.  I fuckin' DARE ya.  By now we're rockin' the line, 2 Legit 2 Quit.  Sun goes down, but we're still in beverage town.  <Flips down shades>  Eventually it becomes crystal clear to anyone with a time-discerning-apparatus that there's no way in hell that we're all going to be inside by 10 PM.  Whatevs, strong like bull.

    Finally.  Slowly, the line starts moving.  Slowly... slowly... until finally we're off the street... past the front gate... heading towards the building's actual entrance... FUCKIN' FUCK YEAH, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!  Oddly, this area is filled with too-cool-for-school jackasses smoking butts... you would have thought there would have been ample time to take care of that, oh, I don't know, DURING THE PREVIOUS FIVE-PLUS HOURS THAT WE HAD SPENT IN LINE.  Of course, being the highly suggestible type, I burn one just for the hell of it.  Sue me.  

    By 11 PM we're inside, buyin' beers, grinning fiendishly, and suffering through two unspeakably horrendous opening acts before the actual headlining trifecta takes the stage.  [Of course, in all my comic book store guy uber-nerd glory, I've already seen these three bands play on the same stage (albeit not at the same time) during this show.  If I haven't made a dick of myself by bragging about that in person, consider this bracketed interlude my way of making up for lost time.] 

    Of course, at the time of this writing, five months (and several thousand bowls) later, I'm at a bit of a loss when it comes to actual musical details of the show.  You know what that means.  Yup, bullet points.

• Dan Deacon was amazing.  I totally missed out by not seeing the shows he played with his full ensemble.  I would still be kicking myself for that but after literally kicking myself for nearly four straight months, my right leg (aka my "kickin' leg") fell off, and since I already have a kicking machine attached to my groin 24/7 as penance for a totally unrelated offense, I felt attaching a second kicking machine somewhere else on my body would be excessive. 
• Deerhunter: ahh, what is there to say.  This was at least the tenth time I've seen the band live, and to me (as I've written before) it's totally fucking rad that they've made the full transformation from blog-hyped curiosities that could barely play their own instruments/instead relied on cheesy (yet effective) stage antics to official LIVE POWERHOUSE.  Here's a previous review of a show of theirs I attended in late '08.  Love love love this fucking band.
• Normally I care not for No Age's mediocre, mealy-mouthed tunelessness, but on this night their brand of youthful exuberance and enthusiasm fit right the fuck in. 
• And about that exuberance and enthusiasm.  It's pretty rare that there's ANYBODY showing any emotion at a show in Williamsburg, but on this night the hipsters put away their skinny jeans and put on their dancin' shoes.  (See what I did there?  Neat, huh?)  People were fucking STOKED to be at this show.  
• Dan Deacon's portions of the set were filled with all sorts of awesomely goofy crowd participation.  Kind of a had-to-be-there type deal, but if you've never run full speed, hand-in-hand with a stranger, through a fifty-person-long one of these, then you should get on that.
• We wound up not getting home until after 2 AM, tired, dehydrated and sweaty, at which point, thankfully, nobody had even the least bit of interest in doing any more blow.  Naptimez. 

    Well, that was fun, wasn't it?  All it needs is some pictures.  Go here for that, while I go to bed. 

   

   

   

   

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.)

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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. 

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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.

CMJ Wednesday, October 17th at Bowery Ballroom: Deerhunter with Dan Deacon and No Age (with pictures! Yippee!)

    If, by some cruel twist of fate, Arcade Fire had somehow never managed to form, 2007 would definitely have to be considered the year of Deerhunter.  Their Cryptograms album ranks second on my best-of albums list so far this year, and their show at Mercury Lounge in April is topped only by the Arcade Fire-curated Randalls Island mini-indiepalooza and Radio City night two in May, featuring -- you guessed it -- Arcade Fire. 

    Of course, back in April I had no idea what Deerhunter's stage show would be like, and the blank slate approach was the best way to be introduced to them (as it usually is for anybody).  On the way out of Mercury Lounge that night, it was impossible not to notice that virtually everyone had been deeply moved by their intensity and shocked by their raw presentation.  Since then, they've decided to abandon some of the more gimmicky stuff (no more sundresses or paint pellets and decidedly much less of frontman Bradford Cox physically abusing his bandmates).  Which makes sense-- they're still a visually striking band without driving the ol' tricks into the ground ad nauseum. 

    We arrived at Bowery fairly early (considering Deerhunter weren't slated to go on until midnight), but the first band we actually paid attention to were No Age, an energetically garagey guitar/drums duo.  Think a more lo-fi Death From Above 1979, if that helps.  The crowd seemed to dig their righteous instrument-pummeling, as did I, and at the end of their set they pulled some kids onstage to thrash along with them even handing the guitar over to one of said crowdmembers for the majority of the final song.  We were about halfway back in the crowd and my attempts at snapping a few shots of No Age came out pretty fuzzy, thanks in part to my crappy camera.  But since I'm in a good mood, I'm going to go with "wow, fuckballs, these pics really captured the band's infectious effervescence."  Or something else equally atarded.

                                     

    Up next was Baltimore's weirdo-electronica maven, Dan Deacon.  I snuck up front with the intention of snapping some primo pictures but realized shortly that he was setting up at the front of the crowd, and not onstage.  Before he began the set he wisely announced that those with cameras could get up onstage so that he could be surrounded by folks who wanted to dance their tits off and I dutifully belly-flopped my way up onto Bowery's stage.

    I totally dug his frenetic style and the homemade aspect of his entire setup, as well as his creative methods of crowd control-- starting with Diplo (who was in attendance) he sent crowd members on a relay race of sorts through the center of the floor, up and around the Bowery balcony, ending up down on the floor.  Tag, you're it!  At the end of the set he handed out lyric sheets to the song "Wham City," an ode to the artist's collective where he lives in Baltimore (last picture, bottom right).  Awesome sweaty  fun set.

 

    Deerhunter took the stage at about half past midnight.  Frontman Bradford Cox mentioned that he had asked to play *before* Dan Deacon because attempting to follow his manic set is a formidable task.  They started with a new song, "Cavalry" something or other (very pretty; is this an Atlas Sound track?) before going into "Intro"/"Cryptogram."  It was fascinating to hear that many of the songs have undergone dramatic rearrangements, which only makes sense because the band has been touring behind the same group of songs pretty much all year.  Most notably, drummer Moses Archuleta's playing has really improved, as especially evident on the now breakneck-paced "Wash Off."  Also, Dr. Glass is now pretty much a bass-led funk song, and "Octet" is now less Floyd-y and more ferocious than the album version.

    On their second swing through New York in July, at Bowery an elegantly wasted Cox ended their set by coming onstage alone and rambling semi-coherently about topics ranging from his childhood, family, sexuality, and bloggers.  Then shit got really weird when he invited a friend onstage to hop around and sing a Germs song.  The rest of the band did not reappear save the drummer's futile attempts at getting Cox the fuck off the stage.  This bizarre-yet-oddly-hilarious incident was humorously alluded to several times by the band cutting him off whenever he'd breach a new tangent. 

    They finished the final song of their encore ("Fluorescent Gray") at about 1:30 and the exhausted crowd stumbled out onto Delancey.  I had thrown my back out something fierce, my voice was hoarse, and my legs were fucking killing me.  CMJ rules.

More good shows, Oct 14-21

    If yer lookin' for my listings for Oct 14-16, go here.  Below are shows for the 17th and 18th -- I'll finish the weekly roundup when I get a chance tomorrow.  Goddamn it I'm starting to wish my friends had chosen a different weekend to come up because there's no way I'm going to drag them to all the CMJ shit I want to see.  Boo fucking hoo. 

October 17th

Show: Deerhunter with Dan Deacon at Bowery Ballroom
Why I'm going: Deerhunter's live show is fantastic-- to date their show at Mercury Lounge in April rates as the third best concert I've seen this year (out of 60+).  Of course, a few bizarre non-music-related incidents at that show really makes it stick out in my memory: 1.) Karen O spitting beer all over me from behind (I was standing against the stage at the very front row).  Eventually she elbowed her way in front of me and briefly guest-sang on a song or two.  My halfhearted attempts at grinding with her were nonchalantly rebuffed.  2.) Deerhunter's bass player reached down and gently removed my glasses from my face, donning them for awhile during the set.  Eventually he returned them saying that "they're too big for me, I don't want to break them" which of course is an extremely polite way of saying "dude, your head is fucking huge."  3.) Shook hands with David Cross after the show.  He was visibly blown away by the powerful performance we'd both just beheld.  Or maybe he was on drugs.  Yeah, that's it, on drugs!  (Come to Tuddd's Muddd for all your marginal celebrity dish!) Saw them in July at Bowery, too, and even though it wasn't as absurdly transcendent as the first time, it was easily worth the price of admission.  Believe the hype; Cryptograms is one of the year's top three albums. 

Show: Thurston Moore at Apple Store SoHo (free!)
Why I'm not going: Hate to admit it, but I'm really not too interested in hearing Thurston Moore's acoustic jams.  Plus I've always told myself that I'd avoid going to a "show" at an Apple store, so I'm'a keep that going. 

Show: A Place to Bury Strangers at Death By Audio
Why I'm not going: ARRRGH!  The one shitty thing about living in New York is that because shows sell out so quickly I always wind up buying tickets way in advance, for example today's Deerhunter show.  Who knew that Deerhunter would be playing a ton of other shows in NYC in the coming weeks?!  ARRRRGH!  (Note: A Place to Bury Strangers is also playing a show at Yuppie Northsix later in the day so check that shit out.)

Show: Mannequin Men at Don Pedro's
Why I'm not going: again, Deerhunter same day.  I've heard good things about Mannequin Men but I'm really anxious to get back to Don Pedro's -- great tiny, grungy non-venue.  Saw Baroness there a couple of weeks ago and it was great, yada yada.

Show: Holy Fuck with many others (including Turbo Fruits) at Galapagos
Why I'm not going: too many great shows today.  Don't know much about Holy Fuck other than that they toured with Pissed Jeans (who are fookin' awesome) and that the singer sometimes shoves a drumstick up his own ass onstage.  Neat-o!  Turbo Fruits are cool, too.  Garagey teenagers.

Show: Hull with Goes Cube at Matchless
Why I'm not going: DOUBLE ARRRRRGH!!! Love love love Deerhunter, but had I known this show was going down I would have planned differently.  Hull are either the best or second-best NYC metal band (possibly behind Early Man).  Seen 'em twice, and I've been spinning (and recommending) their debut CD, entitled Viking Funeral constantly.  And Goes Cube are phenomenal as well.  Loud and crunchy and groove-tastic.  Go over to their myspace page here and listen to "Goes Cube song 46."  If you don't absolutely love this song you can go fuck yourself. 

Show: Serj Tankian and Tom Morello at Irving Plaza.
Why I'm not going: forgot to get tickets.  I've heard parts of the single from Serj's new joint and it sounds pretty much exactly how you'd expect, which is fine.  Tom Morello will be performing in his "The Nightwatchman" persona, playing gritty, nondescript acoustic protest songs while a bunch of overprivileged, drunk white kids shout Rage Against the Machine requests at him.  "C'mon!  Play the 'fuck you I won't do what you tell me' one!  COME ONNNNN!"

October 18

Show: Holy Fuck at Glasslands
Why I'm not going: friend coming in from DC.  But, unlike the dude in Holy Fuck, I seriously doubt my friend will stick a drumstick up her own ass.  Hmmm.  Suddenly, I feel cheated.

Show: And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead and a ton of other bands at Highline Ballroom. 
Why I'm not going: aforementioned friend.  But everyone seems to hate these guys and I'd like to check 'em out sometime. 

Show: A Place to Bury Strangers at Loisada (?)
Why I'm not going: goddamn it, I wish I was going, and I'd love to catch them in a presumably tiny place I've never heard of (like Loisada).  Fuck.  I realize that I've recommended these guys several times on the site without giving any real idea of what they sound like, but I plan on doing a relatively lengthy entry on APtBS sometime soon.

Show: Jay Reatard and Turbo Fruits at Mercury Lounge
Why I'm not going: FUCKSHITGODDAMNIT!  It's shows like this one that are supposed to make CMJ so fun... I saw Jay Reatard opening up for The Ponys at Bowery a few months ago, and these guys busted out fifteen lean, mean, tight-as-a-drum punk songs in 18 minutes.  I seriously thought I'd given myself whiplash trying to keep up with them by the end of the set.  Truth be told I was a bit underwhelmed by Blood Visions but these are songs that are meant to be seen in the live setting.  GO IF YOU CAN.   (And be sure to rub it in how awesome they were and what a dickhole I am for missing it.) 

Show: The Big Sleep at Pianos
Why I'm not going: I'm a pussy.  But supposedly, these guys are great.  I was psyched to see them at the closing of the real Northsix back in January but Con Ed managed to fuck that one up. 

Show: Deerhunter at Rebel
Why I'm not going: seeing them on the 17th.  But if you have a CMJ pass and you haven't yet seen Deerhunter live, you should make sure you do so at least once before the weekend's up.