Tuddd's Muddd

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. 

Russian Circles with Daughters and The Austerity Program at Music Hall of Williamsburg, June 29, 2008

    What a great fuckin' show, quite possibly only rivaled thus far in '08 amongst other metal concerts by the early May triple bill of Pelican/Priestbird/The Austerity Program.  You may notice that The Austerity Program performed at both of these great shows, and it's certainly no coincidence.

    I've been meaning to write something about The Austerity Program for nearly two full months, ever since the Pelican/Priestbird show.  It's pretty rare that a band I've never even heard of before (odd, considering that they're on Hydra Head) totally blows me away with their live show.  Honestly, I have to go back about a year ago to the first time I saw Hull where my "who?"s turned to "awesome"s so quickly.  These guys manage to mix Helmet's brutality with Wetton-era Crimson's devotion to precision, while giving off a sweaty, workmanlike Dischord-ish vibe.  And as a two-piece, accompanied by a drum machine programmed to near-Meshugga levels of insane complexity, the intensity really shines through.  Basically, if you've always liked Shellac but thought to yourself "hot damn, I wish these guys were way heavier," then these guys will be right up your alley.  I didn't hear their '07 release, Black Madonna, until recently so it didn't make my 2007 Best-of Albums List but if I were to rewrite that sumbitch today Black Madonna would be top 10 easily.

    But yeah, since the Pelican show I've gone out of my way to make sure to catch any and all live sets by these guys.  Saw 'em at the After the Jump festival a couple weekends ago, then at Union Pool a couple of days later, and then finally again at this show.  And after a fairly quick indoctrination into all things Austerity Program, I can wholeheartedly announce that along with Cheeseburger, Goes Cube, Hull, and a few others, The Austerity Program can definitely stake a serious claim to being the very best live band in New York. 

    On this night, when they took the stage there were less than 30 people in the room (not counting the drum machine), but gradually the room began to fill up, undoubtedly as those sitting in the basement bar were intrigued by the bludgeoning cacophony they were missing upstairs.  After blasting through a breaking-walnuts-with-yer-asscheeks-tight version of their "Song 20" (newly released on 7") and going into "Song 12," they blew a fuse and had to make up the time with amusing banter ("blame the drummer!" shouted one crowdmember) before shooting right back into the set.  If I remember correctly we also got "Song 18" and "Song 19" and "Song 17A".  The crowd definitely dug the set which was a nice contrast to the sparsely attended After the Jump set (which was in the same room).  Hopefully in the coming months these guys will be able to find time in spite of their day jobs to perform more local shows.  Uh, and work on their movie.

    I didn't know much about the following band, Daughters, and their set was nothing if not eye-opening.  Musically, they reminded me of stuff like An Albatross or Ex-Models, but their performance style was like a more demented Pissed Jeans, bordering on performance art.  Lots of spitting and drooling, with the vocalist eventually stripping down to his briefs and directing his drool/spit towards band members, oddly appreciative crowd members, and his own genitals.  And the singer took time to scold crowd members for doing the "twirling arms and legs menacingly" mosh pit dance.  (Remember "Kicky Guy?" Not bloody likely, but it was amusing to hear his ideological brethren called out for being a bunch of faggy douchefucks.)

    Up next was Russian Circles, a band whose praises have been sung 'round these parts for quite some time.  Their debut, Enter, made the top 5 of my Best Albums of '06 list and their set in February with Dalek at Mercury Lounge was part of one of the ten best shows I've seen thus far in '08.  Again, they did not disappoint, playing a similar set to that which I'd seen in February: a bunch of jams off their fine new one, Station, as well as "Carpe" and "Death Rides a Horse" from Enter.  As far as I'm concerned, as far as post-metal/post-rock hybrids, the only band that compares to Russian Circles is the mighty Pelican.  Sadly, the crowd was dotted with total dickheads, most notably the guy who eventually got thrown on his ass and presumably bootstomped by staff.  I've been critical of the overzealousness of MHOW's security in the past, but this guy deserved it, as evidenced by the ovation given by members of the crowd upon his (forced) exit. 

----------

    I'm going to try to squeeze in a couple more shows before heading to DC for the 4th... Death Vessel tomorrow night at Knitting Factory and Oxford Collapse at Southpaw on Wednesday.  If I had any balls I would have gotten off my fat ass and seen Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's set at Southpaw tonight, but alas that bird has flown.  Tuddd out. 

Dub Trio, Foreign Islands and Goes Cube, at Luna Lounge January 31st, 2008

   Yup, so there's been a definite lack of music-related posts 'round the Muddd thus far in '08, which I'm sure has actually disappointed no one.  I'd seen a few shows this year, all of them at least serviceable-to-decent category but nothing really all that inspiring (unless you count the Blonde Redhead set, which "inspired" me to walk the fuck out after about ten minutes).  Of course, the best way to get out of a mild-to-moderate show-going slump is to stick with what ya know and go with the tried and true favorites, AKA hitting up a Goes Cube show.

    If you're a regular reader of this blog (ha! Not bloody likely), it's possible that you're growing tired of me swinging from Goes Cube's nuts every other week or so.  After all, you may or may not be surprised to learn that a cursory scanning of this blog has revealed that occurrences of the term "Goes Cube" are outnumbered only by crude scatological references and the phrase "skullfuckingly awesome" (incidentally used in conjunction with describing Goes Cube's music).  Well, let me tell you something -- we have a saying around here: get used to it, Hitler.

    Got to Luna Lounge around 8 PM and wound up chatting a bit with Goes Cube guitarist/vocalist David for awhile, which was pretty fucking cool... I was utterly floored to learn that the band has read -- and even more shockingly, apparently enjoyed -- Tuddd's Muddd.  More specifically, the "skullfuckingly awesome" tag seems to have thankfully met with approval.  This being the first time that anyone besides a few close friends has so much as acknowledged the existence of this interweb shitbox, I was pretty stoked.  Spoke with the bassist, Matt for a bit and he mentioned that the dude from Jones St. Boys who spilled beer all over me at the Union Pool show in November is actually his roommate, hahaha, funny shit.

    So Goes Cube took the stage at 9 PM sharp, rumbling right out of the gate into a thunderous groove before segueing into personal fave "Goes Cube Song 30."  Early on in the set, the band announced that they'd be playing a bunch of new shit, which was just all right by me.  They're going to have a new EP available within the next few weeks so as to coincide with their March tour down to SXSW and back with the also awesome Hull.  If you're curious their next NYC-area gig will be at a BAM music festival dealie on February 22nd. 

    Although Goes Cube's sound is situated firmly within the realm of "heavy music," every time I see them live I notice new elements to their dynamic.  When I first saw them last June, I instantly thought of a more melodic, less aloof Helmet.  When I saw them in November, I was digging the Rage-esque manipulation of guitar feedback.  This time, I felt the newer material emphasized jagged Bleach-era riffing, while maintaining a glacial, Pelican-esque grandiosity.  At this rate (they're about 60 written songs into their career) I wouldn't be shocked if they wound up sounding more and more like Dinosaur Jr. as time goes on.  The crowd up front was really into the never-played-before new shit, which, I'm sure, is encouraging for band and fans alike. 

    Following Goes Cube were Foreign Islands, who I caught opening for Dead Meadow a couple of weeks ago at Bowery.  Their sound fits in pretty evenly with the less-melodic/more angular aspects of Gang of Four-worshipping British "art wave" bands (think Bloc Party, Futureheads, Maximo Park, etc.).  More than any other comparison though I thought they sounded a shitload like We Are Scientists -- fun danceable post-punk with an energetic stage show.  Unlike many pretenders, however, Foreign Islands brought the goods, but I guess you kind of have to if you're going to have a guy with a Russell Lissack hairdo.

     The evening's headliners were the Ipecac-signed Dub Trio, for whom this show served as a record release party.  The little I knew about these guys prior to the show whetted my appetite for abrupt shifts between style and plenty of genre hopping, which wound up being fairly accurate.  Their combination of grimy riffage, bassy oscillations, breakneck tempo shifts and dexterous drumming reminded me of a more garagey Praxis. 

    But yeah, all in all a skullfuckingly awesome show.  I'll be back up in this piece sometime early next week or whenever I emerge from the carnage of Saturday night's Cheeseburger show.  Hoo boy, disaster onward.  Ever eagerly anticipated and dreaded something simultaneously?   

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

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

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

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

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

    So let's have at it, shall we?

2007: The Year in Albums

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NYC Show listings: Today's shows (December 1st)

    I'm still pissed at myself for misreading the start time for last night's Kinski show.  Fortunately, tonight's Baroness show at Bowery is going to rock my balls off.  Let's get this sumbitch started.

Saturday, December 1st

Show: Baroness opening for Witchcraft at Bowery.
Why I'm going: Simply put, Baroness fucking rule.  I saw them at Don Pedro's exactly two months ago with local faves Attake.  (During Attake's set I saw one of the most fucked up things I've ever seen at a show, but that's another story).  Red Album is one of the top heavy music albums of the year, right up there with Panthers' The Trick, Hull's Viking Funeral and the new Pelican record.  I watched the show from the back of the room at Don Pedro's; it'll be nice to actually see the band playing this time.  I'm psyched. 

Show: Times New Viking at Cake Shop
Why I'm not going: I've been meaning to check out these lo-fi denizens but alas this one is sold out.

Show: Japanther at Europa
Why you should go: I still feel like an asshole for missing out on the Dinosaur Death Dance thingy that these guys put on at PS 122 in November, and a very reliable source has informed me that these guys have one hell of a live show.  I'll check them out sooner or later.

Show: Gil Mantera's Party Dream at Knitting Factory
Why I'm not going: Well, there was this bitch last time I saw them.  But she shouldn't diminish how much fun a GMPD show can be-- first time I saw them was early '06 at Bowery opening up for Art Brut in what turned out to be #3 on my year-end best shows list.  (For the record I saw about 60 shows last year.)  Here's something I wrote shortly after seeing that show (please pardon the wonky formatting):

I’ve decided it’s totally impossible to describe this band – or, more aptly, the Gil Mantera’s Party Dream concert experience -- and do even the slightest bit of justice to ‘em. But honestly, I’ve never laughed so hard in my life for such a lengthy consecutive period of time, period. But how to pigeonhole these guys? Drunken hillbilly exhibitionists playing contemporary R+B, complete with cheesy covers? Gil is the more shapely, lithe blonde one who plays keyboard and flounces about with quasi-ballet dance moves.  Ultimate Donny, who plays guitar, has a bit of a pot belly, and a decent southern rock-style blues voice. I can’t imagine enjoying a live act more, although I don’t know what that says about me.

Show: Pissed Jeans opening up for Mudhoney at Yuppie Northsix
Why I'm not going: patience, gwasshopper, I'm seeing 'em tomorrow night at Bowery.

Show: Blues Control at Silent Barn
Why you should go: I'm running out of time here, but Blues Control put on a very, very fun set.  Let me just close by saying that if you like their self-titled debut, their live show is infinitely better.

OK, gotta go. 

Still yet more good shows, Oct 14-20

    Wow, a couple of much bigger blogsites linked the past days' show listings and obviously hits went through the roof (i.e. from none to a few), which is cool.  I saw a highly entertaining Bad Religion show last night and if I get time I'll post a review.  Here goes...

October 19th

Show: MSTRKRFT and Z-Trip at Studio B
Why I'm going: Well, all of my friends seem to enjoy this mashup bullshit.  I personally think it's kinda artless; I mean when Greg Gillis said that for him everything starts with figuring out the BPM of a bunch of songs and that that's largely the basis for his mashups.... just sounds kinda random and hack-y.  Plus I derive no pleasure from hearing some R+B chick croon over the "Sweet Child O'Mine" riff.  Why not just put on Appetite?  But whatever, I've bought 8 tickets for this show, all of which are accounted for, and friends are coming in from DC, Boston and New Haven to see it.  Hopefully we'll get some good drugs and I'll enjoy it.  But hot damn do I wish I were seeing Hull instead. 

Show: Hull with a lot of other bands at Club Midway.
Why I'm not going: well, see directly above.  I've written about Hull a few times, with concert reviews here (towards the bottom) and here (fourth paragraph in) and suffice it to say I really dig these guys.  Clocking in at nearly 17 minutes, "Viking Funeral" is probably the best "song" (slash album side) of the year.  If you have even a passing interest in brutal, pummeling, meat-n-taters metal, checkemout. 

Show: Atlas Sound with Dragons of Zynth, Turbo Fruits and others
Why I'm not going: well, it's an early show, but apparently it's an "invite only" Fader party.  Atlas Sound is Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox's side project -- check out their MySpace page here.

Show: All day extravaganza at Galapagos, featuring (most notably) A Place to Bury Strangers and Jay Reatard, but tons of other bands.
Why I'm not going: hmmm, it's an all-day show, maybe I can still hit this up.  A Place to Bury Strangers are playing roughly 14,000 shows during CMJ, so sneak over to Galapagos.  And if you like your punk rock melodic, fast and furious, you'll dig Jay Reatard.

Show: O'Death at Union Pool
Why I'm not going: I really like O'Death , and I love how they're able to turn a roomful of hipsters into a moonshine-fueled hootenanny.  Alas, can't make this one-- I'll be at dinner with said visiting friends.

October 20th

Show: Goes Cube at Club Midway
Why I'm not going: Friends are in town, none of whom are interested in the "skullfuckingly awesome" crunch of Goes Cube.  Boo friends. 

Show: Jesu with Torche at Gramercy Theater
Why I'm not going: Well, if my friends can't handle Goes Cube, then there's no way they'll be able to deal with Torche or Jesu.  God fucking dammit I wish I were going to this one -- never seen Jesu live but I saw Torche opening up for Mogwai last year at Webster Hall and they were brilliant.

Show: A Place to Bury Strangers at The Delancey
Why I'm not going: Again, not going to be able to interest anyone in this, which is a shame.    

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.

Catchin' Up with the Blog

    WHEEEEEE!  So, again, it's been a couple'a weeks there since I wrote anything.  What's happened in the intervening fortnight?  Oh, not much, lesseee... oh, yeah, that's right... I went to DC for Labor Day weekend, hung out with friends, enjoyed a picture perfect lovely day walking around the city, spent some quality time with The World's Best Dog, ate and drank heavily... and yadda yadda yadda.  In other words, blacked out hardcore, passed out on a park bench in DC, got robbed, got shoved around by an overzealous cop, broke my ankle, got driven to the drunk tank (but, confusingly, not actually put in said drunk tank), unsuccessfully tried to befriend the guy who was tending the drunk tank, and finally made it back to my brother's vacant apartment by 8 AM or so.  Voila!

    Yes, that's right, I broke my ankle.  Boo fucking hoo.  Fortunately for me, I've broken my ankles so many times that it's pretty much as big of a hindrance for me as, say, a runny nose for most folks; sure, it's annoying, and sure, you wish it would go away, but count your blessings: things could be a shitload worse.

    After my previous entry (the Goes Cube show.  Look below, duh), I saw Beach House with Papercuts at Mercury Lounge.  Good show, and I had started a lengthy review of the show in question, with the eventual aim of the review being establishing that a good show can really make one feel better after a shitty, shitty day.  A lovely sentiment to be sure, but still a bit Hallmark-y for this stinky, gangrene-infested, shit-spattered blog.  Following that, I attended the World War IV metalfest at Europa the next night (I can pretty much safely guarantee that I was the only person who went to *both* Beach House and said mini metal-palooza), where I saw the ferocious Early Man perform for the first time in over a year, and got turned on to At War, a reunited classic metal band from the mid-80s.

    Not much going on after I got back from D.C., mostly self-loathing and beating off.  Only show I went to last week was the release party for the Guilt by Association compilation album, which basically is a collection of "guilty pleasure" cover songs performed by indie artists.  The track which interests me is Petra Haden's a capella version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing."  Petra's entirely a capella cover of The Who Sell Out was far and away my favorite record of '05, and I saw her (accompanied by the Sell-Outs, her all-female backing choir) last year at Tonic, where they performed side one of said record as well as a bunch of other cool shit -- looking back at my list, that was one of the 20 best shows I saw last year (of about 60 or so).  Anyway, after two irritating sensitive-guy acoustic openers, Petra Haden took the stage with her backing choir, but, unbeknownst to me, this was not to be a full set show like I had seen last year -- this time they did about a half hour.  The material consisted of the first few songs from The Who Sell Out, a song from Ms. Haden's other solo record Imaginaryland which was apparently about getting hit by a car (?!), a Bach piece, "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys, and, finally, "Don't Stop Believing," which brought the house down.  Nice show, but I drove all the way in during rush hour for what amounted to a half hour of music.  Humph. 

    So far this week, on the 12th I went to see Hull (who I'd previously caught opening up for Big Business and Panthers at Knitting Factory a couple of months ago) at Ace of Clubs, a venue I'd never been to.  Hull's Viking Funeral EP is an absolute must-listen, veering from thrash to Sabbath to post-rock, with some really great bluesy soloing thrown in.  First band, 12 Bars, was decent, and (after experiencing some equipment problems) Hull's set was fantastic.   As I remarked in my previous review of these guys, it's always great when they announce "okay, this is our last song," and 15 minutes later they're still playing.  These guys are all about the mighty metal riff and sewing a bunch of 'em together with all kinds of wacky time signature changes and some brutal pummeling.  I left after their set because the ankle was giving me trouble and there didn't seem to be anywhere to sit.  (I realize this is not a very "metal" excuse.)

    Tonight I have Interpol at MSG, along with some serious drinking with my buddy James.  With any luck, I'll break my other ankle.  RAWK!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Big Business/Panthers/Hull at Knitting Factory, June 20th, 2007

    Yes, I'm aware that Big Business was headlining this show, but due to a few lame excuses (including a wardrobe malfunction) I decided not to stick around for much of their set.  Aforementioned lame excuses aside, by the time I chose to take off, Panthers and Hull had provided more than enough metal meat-n-taters for these ears (Yes, that's probably a mixed metaphor.  Cut me some slack.).

    To the none or so of you that regularly read this blog, you should know by now that I totally dig Panthers.  My first time seeing them was at Club Europa in Greenpoint, with their set sandwiched between openers Titan and headliners Witch on a stellar top-to-bottom stoner rock triple bill, back about 14 months ago.  Witch are fantastic, but between Panthers righteous riffs and explosive energy, they totally stole the show, sending me scurrying home post-show towards eMusic where I found Things Are Strange, a dense, thunderous slab of metal awesomeness, complete with just enough punk to keep shit lively.  Since then I've tried to catch them at every available opportunity (I think it's five total times I've seen them now -- Europa, Sin-e, Northsix, and again at Europa for their recent album release shindig), and they've never come close to disappointing.  In fact, the only time I haven't left a Panthers show totally sat-si-fied was at last year's Vice/CMJ showcase, when I had to miss out on getting totally shitfaced on free Sparks (!?!) so I could get up early for my pointless, excruciating job the next morning.  Thus, my lack of sat-si-faction was not the fault of the band, but instead due to my insatiable appetite for Sparks.  Anyway, long story short, Panthers rule.

    My hopes ran high for this show; what's more, I've had good luck in the past with loud shows at Knitting Factory.  Comets on Fire/Woods/Blues Control was flat out the best show I saw during 2006 (of sixty total shows or so).  Not to mention the 3 Inches of Blood/Early Man/Bad Wizard triple bill which unexpectedly rose from the depths of awesome and pretty much singlehandedly restored my faith in seeing metal shows.  So, yeah, I had reason to believe that saucy times awaited.

    Opening tonight's show was Brooklyn's Hull, about whom I knew nothing other than that the sole Hull track available on eMusic is like 17 minutes long, which obviously had me hoping for lengthy, multi-part thrash/doom/stoner fare with a bunch of wacky time signatures.  Well, good news, that's pretty much exactly what these guys are.  Yippee!  Seriously, they played for about 40 minutes, and their set comprised a grand total of THREE songs.  How great is it when the band announces "okay, we've got one more song left in the set..." and the smoke doesn't clear for another 20 minutes?  Fuck yeah!  Sound-wise, let me just say that this is what I had hoped the new Pelican record would sound like, but make no mistake that this is some way, way more forceful, brutal, and even virtuosic stuff.  No joke, some bad-ass blues chops that come out of nowhere.  Vocals largely inaudible, but really who the fuck cares, as long as you've got just enough Cookie Monster peering up above the brutal riffage.  And with three guitarists and a bassist onstage, their huge sound more than made up for the drummer's iffy chops.  (Hey, there's a good Pelican comparison!)

    After their set, they mentioned that they had some merch for sale "way in the back," i.e. not on the usual merch table in the same room as the stage, where the Big Business/Panthers swag sat, but in the corner of the bar room farthest from the stage.  Made my way there as quickly as I could, but nobody from the band showed up, leaving a wasted little guy who identified himself as the brother of a band member to feverishly paw through the boxes of shit and try to make heads or tails of what people wanted.  Unfortuntately, between me and him, neither of us could locate any "fat guy" tees, so I walked away with a CD ($5!).

    Made my way back towards the front of the stage, waiting for Panthers to set up their shit.  I've had their new record, The Trick, on pretty heavy rotation since it came out a couple of months ago.  The band seems to like it well enough, too, since I haven't heard them perform anything from any of their other albums since that first time I caught them at Europa.  Minor quibble, but hot damn I'd love to hear "We Are Louder" or "Legally Tender" or something (anything!) else from Things Are Strange next time I see them which looks like it will be at Webster Hall opening up for High on Fire some time this fall.

    I had received a MySpace bulletin announcing that drummer Jeff Salane's wife had recently given birth, so it came as little surprise that tonight he wouldn't be playing with the band.  (He was standing to my left, watching the show from the crowd at the edge of the stage, however.)  Shame, because he's a great, hard hitting-yet-nimble drummer, and author of perhaps the loudest cymbal crashes I've ever heard. 

    As the band shot into "Listen to Me," the best song off The Trick, I was pleased that they had switched up their setlist a bit -- no more Goblin City opener.  It became pretty obvious that the new drummer wasn't as enthusiastic or hard-hitting as the music demanded.  Fuck.  I'm sure new babies are great and all, y'know, a little bundle of fucking joy or whatever, but here's hoping Panthers have their drummer back before too long.  Also, singer Jayson Green appeared to be suffering from some sort of throat malady, as evidenced by the bottle of Chloraseptic he consulted a few times during the set. 

    This was probably the shortest set I've seen Panthers play, coming in at just seven songs and under 30 minutes, maybe because of Green's sickness.  Either way, whatever the affliction, it didn't negatively affect his intensity as he stomped and sweated his way through the set before hopping in the crowd to thrash along to the instrumental coda to the set-closing "The Impeccableness"  Fun, fun shit. 

    So why did I leave during Big Business' set?  Well, first off, I had forgotten to wear a belt, which meant my jeans kept falling off.  Second, I had my *new* iPod with me and I didn't want to get it smashed.  And this was not the type of show I wanted to be watching from the back.  Third, the first two songs seemed really effects-heavy and kinda boringly tuneless.  Fourth, I had to go pick up blow for a friend downtown, which I'd always rather take care of sooner than later.  And fifth, and perhaps most importantly, a slamdancing wifebeater-wearing bald dude had accidentally (I think) punched me really hard during Hull's set, and my back was killing me.  So, yeah, I peaced out and went on my way. 

    No worries, though, as there are no less than a ton more shows in the pipeline: Oxford Collapse with Cheeseburger (!!!) tomorrow night, Bobby Bare Jr. Thursday, and Bouncing Souls Saturday.  I'm'a try to write something about each, not to mention my disappointment with the new Art Brut record.