maybe i'm biased but if my brother's band Turf War were from Athens they'd be the best band in town. the most fun i've had at a local show in a long long time. that kid might just make it after all. good times.
had a great x-mas vacation. that's the best time i've had in Augusta since i was 17.
besides M83, the band most likely to end up with a song being used in the next Sofia Copalla movie is the Shocking Pinks. they combine every cool sub-genre of the 80s indie scene into one perfect shoegaze/post-punk/kiwi pop/sad bastard explosion. last year the DFA collected all of their singles and eps as well as some album tracks from older releases and put out a self titled compilation for American release. each track on the comp reminds me of some long lost lo-fi gem that could have existed on college rock radio circa 1991 and fit perfectly inbetween sebadoh and pavement. if you are a fan of isn't anything era my bloody valentine, early lilys, psychocandy era jesus and mary chain, the clean, the verlaines, & a certain ratio then do yourself a favor and check them out.
here's a video for my favorite track, "the end of the world"
so according to my Last.fm profile these are my personal top 10's for 2008.
top 10 most listened to songs in 2008 1. vampire weekend- campus 2. vampire weekend- walcott 3. vampire weekend- oxford comma 4. the radio dept.- where damage isn't already done 5. the shocking pinks- end of the world 6. white lies- death 7. the apartments- help 8. devendra banhart– lover 9. the faintest ideas- you're beautiful 10. the virgins- rich girls
top 10 listened to artists in 2008 1. elliott smith 2. spiritualized 3. no age 4. vampire weekend 5. the misfits 6. the jesus and mary chain 7. joy division 8. jay reatard 9. the shocking pinks 10. my bloody valentine
1. Vampire Weekend- vampire weekend when it came out, i wanted to hate them...every time something new came out i wanted that record to take it's place...much like the Strokes before them, it's hard to deny Vampire Weekend and their self titled debut album. if there was a more enjoyable pop record in the year 2008 (hell the last 3 years) then i don't know what it was. surrender to the afrobeat/indiepop/masterpiece and just move on. the video for "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
2. No Age- nouns No Age lands my second spot for putting out an album that reminded me of why i loved Sebadoh and Husker Du so damn much, this band really should have been around in the early 90s (too bad noone in Athens seems to give a shit about them). this is music for music nerds.
3. M83- saturdays=youth like if My Bloody Valentine had been a synth-pop band from the 80s. M83 were the perfect soundtrack to my fall pity party. lush and dreamy, it reminded me why i love shoegazer bands so damn much. you can pretty much bet the house that the next Sofia Coppola movie will have a couple of tracks from this album on it's soundtrack. plus is there anyone out there with better videos? Kim & Jessie have an answer for you...
4. Deerhunter- microcastle i've definently accused this Atlanta band of being overrated/pretentious/bullshit after seeing them live a couple of times, but then they dropped Microcastle on my ass which is a surprisingly catchy indiepop record with just the right amount of weirdness to remind me of mid-90s Sonic Youth.
5. Jay Reatard- matador singles 08 my favorite pop punk songwriter discoverd his inner indie popster and put out an assortment of Clean/Tall Dwarfs inspired gems and Matador collected them all for us to enjoy without hunting down all those damn singles.
6. MGMT- oracular spectacular the perfect weirdo pop combination of the Flaming Lips and the Unicorns...but with a huge Prince influence (or maybe that's just what i hear in them). MGMT released 3 of the best singles of the whole year (Kids, Time To Pretend, Electric Feel) and the rest of the record is pretty solid too.
7. Spiritualized- songs in a&e after several so/so records, J.Spaceman finally put out an album that is the equal of Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating Through Space. it only took him a decade.
8. The Kills- midnight boom the Kills finally put out an album that's as cool and sexy as their image. all the reference points are still the same (suicide, jesus & mary chain, pj harvey, etc...) but finally they learned how to take those influences an write some songs to go with the sound.
9. Fucked Up- the chemistry of common life i may be 30 years old, but i still love a good fucking heavy rock record as much now as i did when i was 17. Fucked Up delivered the best hardcore/post-hardcore/whatever the hell you wanna call it...album in a good long time. the spirit of Black Flag lives on...and it's Canadian....who knew?
10. The Walkmen- you & me more of the same from one of my favorite bands of the decade. lots of songs about heart break and regret...which is always good for me cuz i got both of those in spades. not nearly as classic as Bows & Arrows or their debut, but a solid album none the less. here's the video for my favorite track, "in the new year"
11. TV On the Radio- dear science maybe i'm just starting to get bored with TV On The Radio, but this is by far my least favorite release they've put out yet...still it's better than 90% of what other people are putting out, and the song The Golden Age was one of the best singles/videos of the year.
12. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds- dig!!! lazarus dig!!! so it's pretty obvious that last year's Grinderman project infused a desire to rock and roll in Alternative's elder statesmen. Lazarus is a sex,drugs/rock n roll boogie fest from a band that's been pretty somber this past decade or so. i'm digging it. Nick Cave still has it. here's a video of the song "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!"
13. Albert Hammond jr- como te lama? not nearly as good as his first solo record, but still better than that 3rd Strokes album. a good indie pop record.
top 20 depressing albums to curl up in your bed and wish you were dead
1. joy division- closer 2. nirvana- mtv unplugged in new york 3. leonard cohen- songs from a room 4. radiohead- the bends 5. nick drake- pink moon 6. elliott smith- either/or 7. nirvana- in utero 8. the cure- faith 9. the smiths- hatful of hollow 10. bob dylan- blood on the tracks 11. husker du- candy apple grey 12. bonnie prince billy- i see a darkness 13. john lennon- plastic ono band 14. cowboy junkies- the trinity sessions 15. godspeed you black emperor- f#a#infinity 16. red house painters- red house painters 17. lour reed- berlin 18. the cure- pornography 19. big star- third/sister lovers 20. bruce springsteen- nebraska
today i discovered a new blog...or i should say my co-worker told me about a new blog that is truly going to become an obsession. awesome tapes from africa has both an awesome name and awesome music. the guy who runs it was in the redcross in africa and started buying weird tapes he'd find while he was there and then he started this blog where he posts music and album artwork. you can listen to free mp3s and enjoy bizarre world music that doesn't fucking suck.
actually this isn't really a band i was that into, i mean i owned exactly one album and that album had exactly 3 songs on it that ever made it onto any mix cds... but i did love this song back in 1999 or 2000 or whenever the fuck it came out.
i'm still in a sea of misery over the Iron Bowl, but at least the sadness has finally come to an end. the year end top 10 lists are on the horizon and my x-mas list is coming up...and no i don't want any of your cocaine.
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