Merry Christmas

Nirvana sing we "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" for RuPaul.

Joe Strummer, 10 Years Gone Today

Joe Strummer, born John Graham Mellor. August 21, 1952-December 22, 2002 R.I.P.

The Ramones on the Tomorrow Show

The Clash Christmas Dinner Dance, 1979

Just Another Rock N' Roll Christmas Playlist

THIS IS A ROCK N ROLL CHRISTMAS  

1. Joey Ramone- Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
2. Slade- Merry XMas Everybody
3. The Kinks- Father Christmas
4. T. Rex- Christmast Bop
5. Yoko Ono- Listen, The Snow is Falling
6. Big Star- Jesus Christ
7. The Jacobites- Teenage Christmas
8. Daniel Johnston- Rock Around The Christmas Tree 
9. Shonen Knife- Space Christmas
10. Sonic Youth- Santa Doesn't Cop Out On Dope
11. Pixies- Winterlong
12. The Jesus and Mary Chain- Birthday
13. Crocodiles & Dum Dum Girls- Merry Christmas, Baby (Please Don't Die)
14. The Long Blondes- Christmas is Cancelled
15. The Celebate Rifles- Merry Xmas Blues
16. The Dickies- Silent Night
17. Pointed Sticks- Power Pop Santa
18. The Damned- There Ain't No Sanity Clause
19. Fear- Fuck Christmas
20. The Yobs- Run Rudolph Run
21. Reigning Sound- If Christmas Can't Bring You Home
22. Black Lips- Christmas In Baghdad
23. The Sonics- Don't Believe In Christmas
24. The Youngsters- Christmas In Jail
25. The Frogs- Here Comes Santa's Pussy
26. Yo La Tengo- It's Christmas Time
27. Dolly Mixture- Winter Seems Fine
28. Cocteau Twins- Winter Wonderland
29. Orange Juice- Holiday Hymn
30. Aztec Camera- Walk Out To Winter
31. The Walkmen- Christmas Party
32. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- All I Want For Christmas
33. Sparks- Thank God It's Not Christmas
34. Iggy Pop- White Christmas
35. Klaus Nomi- Silent Night

GET IT HERE

Happy 69th Birthday, Keith Richards

the man who should've probably died 40 years ago turned 69 today.

a collection of rare tracks from one of my favorite bands: The Warlocks

of the glut of psych-rock influenced bands from the last decade, The Warlocks are easily my favorite. the first time i ever saw them was at SXSW 2002 during a day party at Emo's. my band had just finished playing the outside stage and there was this caterwaul of noise coming from indoors. i walked in to see this band melting off the faces of the crowd with their 2 drummer, 4 guitar, feedback drenched rock n roll attack. sure they were just ripping off The Velvet Underground and Spacemen 3 by way of 90s British shoegaze bands....but that's like my favorite kind of thing to rip off.

i'm currently listening to this compilation of unreleased demos, covers, b sides, and stuff that never made it on their records called Enter At Your Own Skull. you can get it on their bandcamp. check it out.

MY FAVORITE RECORDS OF 2012 (that i've heard)

it's the end of the year...so that means time to make useless lists of your favorite crap from 2012 to share with the world so they can be torn apart and mocked.

I don't even pretend to follow new music anymore. It isn't because I don't think people aren't still making music worth paying attention to or I am stuck in my ways or any of that other shit....ok maybe it's some of that, but honestly it's just that i have become really fucking lazy in my old age. also trying to decipher what the average record review is actually saying about the record it is reviewing is like trying to explicate a poem and i just have no time for that....BUT through the power of osmosis and from the recommendations of trusted allies I occasionally stumble upon new music that i enjoy.

Here are MY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2012 in no particular order.

Every goddamned album Ty Segall put out this year. 

Ty Segall and White Fence- Hair

Ty Segall Band- Slaughterhouse

Ty Segall- Twins.

Ty Segall is one prolific motherfucker. Dude puts out a new album like every couple of months.  i am convinced that it is because he believes the world actually IS ending in 2012 and he wants to make sure every kickass song he ever wrote gets heard before an asteroid smashes into the planet and robs of the chance of hearing anymore quality jams from the bastard son of Nirvana's Bleach and Marc Bolan's psychedelic glam stomp. Ty Segall is running this psychedelic garage rock shit right now and i am good with that. if the world doesn't end i hope he's got another half dozen more records in 2013.

Slug Guts- Playin' In Time With The Deadbeat 

Slug Guts are an Australian band carrying on the proud traditions of their grandfathers The Birthday Party and Pussy Galore with an unholy amount of post-punk noise and deathrock rattle. i always just assume the Mad Max movies are documentaries of everyday Australian life…it’s the only way to explain why they do fucked up rock n roll better than everyone else.

The Walkmen- Heaven

my relationship with the Walkmen is turning into a sort of old married couple. the passion of the Bows & Arrow days might be gone and we don't fight and cry much anymore...but i know i can still count on them in the end. they are dependable as fuck. no bullshit. just great songs that you can lay around in bed and listen to. they put out an album, i buy it, i enjoy it, they put out another one and so on and so forth until the end of time.

Vincas- Blood Bleeds 

Athens, GA's best band put out probably my most listened to album of year. a gumbo mix of The Scientists' swamp rock boogie, Suicide's drone, and Scratch Acid's weirdness. rock music the way it should be. Dirty, Sleazy, and Noisy as fuck.

The Men- Open Your Heart 

the most straight up ROCK record of 2012 is all fucking balls and no fucking bullshit.

Maserati- VII

the post-rock scene doesn't have to be all emotional Explosions In the Sky Friday Night Ligths episodes... it can also be a dance-y instrumental space rock party that doubles as a soundtrack for Blade Runner 2: Blade Runnerest.

Crocodiles- Endless Flowers

Crocodiles are still pretty much a Jesus and Mary Chain cover band...but it's not like i am complaining. originality is fucking overrated. i love this glossy overblown shoegazey noise pop shit. this was my Summer soundtrack.

Wild Nothing- Nocturne

DIIV- Oshin 

my need for 4AD-ish shoegazey dreampop was fulfilled in 2012.

State Champion- Deep Shit 

this album actually came out at the end of 2011...but fuck it! i didn't hear it until 2012 and so i am gonna put it my list anyways. This is pure hillbilly garage rock n roll that's drunk as hell and has a lot of shit it wants to get off it's chest. these are some Kentucky boys that just wanna play you some sad ole' country songs but they can't help it if their amps are stuck on Dinosaur Jr. it reminds me of a time when Americana didn't automatically equal boring as fuck indie rock with some slide guitar added in for effect. if you are a fan of Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown, Steve Earle, The Replacements, and good honest American Rock n Roll then this is a record for you.

Sic Alps- Sic Alps 

White Fence- Family Perfume vol 1&2

the best psychedelic garage rock records that Ty Segall didn't make. good job dudes, i love Syd Barrett and the Olivia Tremor Control too.

Pop. 1280- The Horror

goth, No Wave, noise rock, 3 guys 1 hammer, film noir, PiL records, and songs about dogs.

Moon Duo- Circles

droney psych and krautrock influenced shit that sounds like Spacemen 3 covering a Silver Apples record.

Spiritualized- Sweet Heart Sweet Light

i like Spiritualized, so as long as J. Spaceman can not die of cancer or drug addiction he is always gonna get a spot on a year end list.

Terry Malts Killing Time

kick ass catchy ass fuck power pop with the fuzz pedal cranked in the red. 

Ex-Cult- Ex-Cult

Psychedelic garage rock with a healthy mix of Wire's Pink Flag

Cold Showers Love and Regret
a gloomy post punk record that sounds like it was made by  kids who are just now discovering music by The Sound & The Chameleons or who think it's been enough years since Interpol was relevant that now was as good a time as any to steal their schtick. but as i say around here all the time, originality is overrated....which is good cuz ain't nothing original about this album. that's just fine with me, Cold Showers understand how to write a catchy gothy little pop song. check it out if you are into that sorta thing.

Sex Church Somnambulist 7 inch
another band mining the 80s post-punk era for inspiration. droney/noisey garage rock trying it's hardest to sound like Swell Maps and The Wipers. killer. one of my favorite discoveries of the year.

TEEN In Limbo
produced by former Spacemen 3 member Sonic Boom (aka Peter Kember), which makes a lot of sense because this sounds like a Spectrum album with a member of the Shangri-La's singing over it. In Limbo is an interesting combination of new wave keyboards, atmospheric dreampop, and the 60s girl group sound. it's just a wonderful mix of styles and influences i can get behind. other than having a band and record name combo that would probably get you some sketchy ass google search results, this is an excellent album.

overall 2012 was a pretty good year for new shit, beat the hell out of 2011.