Saturday, December 21, 2013

MY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2013



it’s the end of the year, so time for another round of useless Best Of lists. like every other asshole who thinks their taste is something that needs to be shared, i have compiled my personal favorite musical releases of 2013. most of these albums fall into the category of rock & roll in one of it’s various forms: noisey, shoegazey, garagey, psychedelicy, what-the-fuck-ever-y. all you need to know is that this was the shit i liked this year. hopefully a few of them are things you haven’t heard and you decide to check out. that’s really the only good purpose a list like this serves anyways.  
My Favorite Albums Of 2013 
from the moment i first heard this album i knew it was gonna top my favorites of 2013 list. Dead Ghosts are some Canadian garage rockers that sound like they were raised on Back From The Grave comps, The Byrds, The Seeds, Dead Moon, The Mummies, and Link Wray. their 2010 debut is one of my favorite records of the current new wave of garage/psych rock and their new album Can’t Get No is even fucking better. it’s an excellent mix of 60s psych rock, sloppy lofi country, and snotty garage punk that my ears ain’t never gonna get sick of listening to. this is the good shit, right here. sublime rock & roll.
My Bloody Valentine- mbv 
what the fuck am i going to say about this album other than MY FUCKING BLOODY FUCKING VALENTINE PUT OUT A NEW FUCKING RECORD THIS FUCKING YEAR?!?! maybe next time don’t make us wait 22 fucking years for a follow up.
IceageYou’re Nothing 
punk’s not dead, it’s just got a Danish accent. with a serious hard-on for Death In June and Joy Division (including the fascist fetishizing), Iceage followed up their promising debut with one of the more exciting hardcore records since Refused’s The Shape of Punk to Come.  
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds- Push The Sky Away 
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are back with their 15th! record, Push The Sky Away, another album about love and sex and death and religion and Hannah Montana…ya know, all that shit Nick Cave has been singing about his whole life. 
Ty SegallSleeper
Segall has always carried a love of Marc Bolan on his sleeve, and with Sleeper, Ty is full-on indulging in his T. Rex fetish. the fuzzed out garage rock he’s usually known for is replaced by spaced out acoustic psych-folk ballads. it’s pretty obvious that this is a record about the pain of loss which makes a lot of sense because it was apparently written after the death of his father. the good thing for us, is that pain makes for some damn good song writing, as these are some of the best of his career
The MenNew Moon 
every new record by The Men sounds like an entirely different kind of band. on New Moon we find them abandoning noise rock and shoegaze in favor of a sound closer to Uncle Tupelo and Neil Young. 
Pissed JeansHoneys
i’m gonna go ahead and say the new Pissed Jeans record is the best Pissed Jeans record even though it sounds exactly like all the other Pissed Jeans records. And all those Pissed Jeans records sounded like The Jesus Lizard covering Black Flag’s My War. noise rock, sludge, 80s hardcore homages, songs about being a failure as a human man, shit to smash your face against the wall to…that’s what Pissed Jeans do and on Honeys they still are doing it fucking well.
ObliviansDesperation 
90s legends returned from the grave with a record that’s still full of the same trashy garage punk soul as their beloved early shit. 
Destruction UnitDeep Trip
an excellent combination of noise, space, and krautrock into one beautiful record of rock n roll annihilation.
Atlanta garage rock boys showing off their love of Bruce Springsteen and The Replacements on 4 sweet slices of anthemic Southern Punk. this is party music of the rowdiest kind.
Ty Segall’s buddy and constant collaborator unleashes a perfect little record of catchy sunshiney 60’s inspired pop. 
Psychic IllsOne Track Mind
moody droned out Spacemen 3 & Velvet Underground inspired psych-rock.
DeafheavenSunbather
like if Converge and My Bloody Valentine had a black metal baby.
Purling HissWater On Mars 
crunching fuzzed out garage punk mixed with 70s hardrock that sounds like this is always going to be something i love. like mudhoney & dinosaur jr mixed with a little bit of blue cheer psych blues thrown in for good measure. this is the good shit. this is the rock n roll shit. this is the turn it the fuck up loud and blow your speakers out shit. get this shit. i recommend this shit.
a 30 minute brutal caterwaul of No Wave, Noise Rock, and Shoegaze influences that reminds me that it’s always better to just be fucking loud.
another offering from these out of time noise popsters who are still borrowing from the best (Velvet Underground, C86, The Clean, every single thing that has ever been cool and /or jangly). not to undersell Crystal Stilts as some copycats with good record collections, these guys know how to write a catchy fucking tune. 
Pop. 1280Imps of Perversion
it’s difficult to classify Pop. 1280 as these are modern times and they shove everything from No Wave, Noise Rock, Goth, Synth & Post-Punk into a meat grinder and come out with a sound that would be best described as: Fucking Dark. a little bit of Swans, a little bit of Killing Joke, a heavy dose of late 90s post-hardcore legends The VSS…this is music for black leather jackets and blood soaked floors. this is music that wants to pummel you with it’s fist. if they still have a music scene left in Escape From New York, this is probably the shit they were making. love songs for the post-apocalypse. 
other records i liked that i don’t really have much to say about were:
Primal ScreamMore Light
White FenceCyclops Reap
CrocodilesCrimes Of Passion
DeerhunterMonomania
No AgeAn Object
Kurt VileWalkin’ On A Pretty Day
Chelsea Light Movingself titled
Fuzz- self titled



Friday, October 25, 2013

Halloween Playlist 2013


Rock N' Roll Halloween Massacre Part 2: The Revenge 
  1. The Mummies- The Fly
  2. The Meteors- Corpse Grinder
  3. The Cramps- What's Behind The Mask?
  4. The Scientists- There's A Monster In Me
  5. Dead Moon- Graveyard
  6. Rocket From The Crypt- I Drink Blood
  7. Party Fowl- We're Gonna Eat Your Brains
  8. The Black Lips- Buried Alive
  9. Wooden Shjips- Vampire Blues
  10. The Chesterfield Kings- Running Through My Nightmares
  11. The Gruesomes- The Witch
  12. Thee Gravemen- My Girlfriend Is A Werewolf
  13. Slaughter & The Dogs- Victims of the Vampire
  14. Erazerhead- Werewolf
  15. The Revillos- Jack The Ripper
  16. Lydia Lunch- Spooky
  17. Dave Edmunds- The Creature From The Black Lagoon
  18. X- Devil Doll
  19. Dead Boys- Son Of Sam
  20. The Fleshtones- Screaming Skull
  21. Radio Werewolf- 1960 Cadillac Hearse
  22. Lee Kristofferson- Night Of The Werewolf
  23. Destroy All Monsters- Vampire
  24. Redd Kross- Linda Blair
  25. 45 Grave- Fucked By The Devil
  26. Christian Death- Skeleton Kiss
  27. T.S.O.L.- Black Magic
  28. The Flesh Eaters- See You In The Boneyard
  29. Scratch Acid- Cannibal
  30. Sonic Youth- Halloween
  31. Alan Vega, Alex Chilton, & Ben Vaughn- The Werewolf
  32. Roky Erickson & The Aliens- Night Of The Vampire
  33. The Misfits- American Nightmare
a sequel to last year's Halloween playlist. get it here.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Baby, It's Just You (Love Songs For Fall 2013)



Baby, It’s Just You 
  1. West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band- I Won’t Hurt You
  2. David Bowie- Soul Love
  3. Nolan Strong & The Diablos- If I Oh I (Could Be With You)
  4. The King Khan & BBQ Show- I’ll Be Loving You
  5. Hasil Adkins- I Want Some Lovin’
  6. Dead Ghosts- I Want You To Know
  7. The Milkshakes- I Want You
  8. Holly Golightly- Your Love Is Mine
  9. The Rolling Stones- Mercy, Mercy
  10. The McCoys- Sorrow
  11. The Gun Club- I Hear Your Heart Singing
  12. The Growlers- Someday
  13. Billy Bragg- Love Gets Dangerous
  14. The Modern Lovers- Someone I Care About
  15. The Velvet Underground- Temptation Inside Your Heart
  16. Dead Moon- Can’t Help Falling In Love
  17. The Kinks- And I Will Love You
  18. The Cryin’ Shames- Please Stay (Don’t Go)
  19. The Brian Jonestown Massacre- If Love Is The Drug Then I Want To O.D.
  20. Ty Segall- Lovely One
  21. T. Rex- Precious Star
  22. The Beach Boys- All I Wanna Do
  23. Mazzy Star- She’s My Baby
  24. Crocodiles- She Splits Me Up
  25. Richard Hawley- Darlin’ Wait For Me
  26. Betty Hope- Just A Little Bit More
  27. Love- Always See Your Face
  28. Chris Bell- Speed of Sound
  29. The Walkmen- Save The Last Dance For Me
  30. Daniel Johnston- True Love Will Find You In The End

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Happy Anniversary, In Utero....My Favorite Album Of All Time.


the 20th anniversary edition of In Utero is out today. there are better albums that have been written, but there will never be another album by any band that will ever mean more to me than Nirvana's last studio effort. 

i was 13 years old in 8th grade listening to Guns N' Roses and Bell Biv Devoe when Nevermind came out and it may be cliched as fucking hell but it definitely changed everything after that. it's weird to actually notice a cultural shift but being from a boring nowhere place like Augusta, GA listening to Nirvana (and later Sonic Youth) was a FUCKING HUGE way to separate myself from most of the redneck, jock, asshole kids i went to school with. they weren't just a band. not to me. not to lots of kids like me. 

flash forward 2 years and now i was a 15 year old zitfaced Nirvana worshipping 10th grader, just like the millions of other zitfaced Nirvana worshipping teenagers all over suburban America whose musical maturation was linked to a white trash kid from Aberdeen, Washington who knew how the fuck to combine punk rock noise with power pop hooks. gone were my Guns N' Roses and Motley Crue  tapes, having been replaced with The Melvins, Mudhoney, The Wipers, Black Flag, and Jesus Lizard. and all that 15 year old kid wanted to hear was the next Nirvana record.

it's very difficult all these many years later to explain how inspiring it was to to listen to In Utero those first few times when i brought the CD home from Sam Goody. here was the biggest fucking band in the world following up the most influential album of the decade with a fucking noisey punk record. it was both a fuck you album and an invitation. nothing would ever sound better to my ears. nothing would ever excite me as much musically. nothing ever got cranked louder in my bedroom. nothing could have better soundtracked my own cliched teenage alienation. 

as far as the 20th anniversary edition goes....well Teenage Angst really has paid off well, cuz here i am, a man in my 30s buying an album I ALREADY OWN out of some misplaced since of teenage nostalgia...but then again, i at least already know i like the damn thing. the remastered tracks and b-sides are great and all, but i will admit that the 2013 Steve Alibini remix is pretty fucking killer. he makes the record sound completely new again. everything is louder and noisier and more alive. 
20 years later and In Utero is still my favorite fucking album of all time and it fucking always will be. thanks, Kurt. you may have been a selfish dick, but you sure knew how the hell to write some killer music.

Monday, September 9, 2013

This Ain't No Disco


THIS AIN’T NO DISCO (post-punk & mutant disco dance party) 
  1. The Rapture- Out Of The Races and Onto The Tracks
  2. A Certain Ratio- Shack Up
  3. ESG- Dance
  4. Talking Heads- I’m Not In Love
  5. Gang Of Four- To Hell With Poverty!
  6. Delta 5- Mind Your Own Business
  7. Pylon- M Train
  8. Radio 4- Dance To The Underground
  9. Bush Tetras- Too Many Creeps
  10. James White & The Blacks- Contort Yourself (remix)
  11. Giorgio Moroder- From Here To Eternity
  12. Dominatrix- The City That Never Sleeps
  13. Laid Back- White Horse
  14. Sexual Harassment- I Need A Freak
  15. Liquid Liquid- Cavern
  16. !!!- Intensify
  17. Lizzy Mercier Descloux- Wawa
  18. Pigbag- Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag
  19. Yello- Bostich
  20. Romeo Void- Never Say Never
  21. Cabaret Voltaire- Nag Nag Nag
  22. Killing Joke- Eighties
  23. Public Image Ltd.- This Is Not A Love Song
  24. Section 25- Dirty Disco
  25. The Egyptian Lover- I Cry (Night After Night)
link should now be fixed, get it here


Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Post-Punk Propaganda



  1. The Fire Engines- Get Up and Use Me
  2. Josef K- Radio Drill Time
  3. Scars- All About Me
  4. Polyrock- Romantic Me
  5. The Au Pairs- Come Again
  6. Medium Medium- Hungry So Angry
  7. Gang Of Four- What We All Want
  8. Delta 5- Anticipation
  9. Glaxo Babies- This Is Your Life
  10. The Fall- Industrial Estate
  11. Devo- Penetration In the Centrefold
  12. Pere Ubu- The Modern Dance
  13. The Homosexuals- Soft South Africans
  14. Zounds- More Trouble Coming Every Day
  15. Wire- Champs
  16. Swell Maps- International Rescue
  17. Television Personalities- King and Country
  18. The Feelies- Loveless Love
  19. Pylon- Feast On My Heart
  20. James Chance & The Contortions- Contort Yourself
  21. The Pop Group- She Is Beyond Good & Evil
  22. The Birthday Party- Zoo Music Girl
  23. Primitive Calculators- Pumping Ugly Muscle
  24. Suicide- Radiation
  25. Throbbing Gristle- Hot On The Heels Of Love
  26. Public Image Ltd.- Annalisa
  27. Killing Joke- The Wait
  28. Joy Division- Isolation
  29. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark- Joan Of Arc
  30. A Certain Ratio- All Night Party
  31. The Wake- On Our Honeymoon
  32. The Lines- Nerve Pylon
  33. The Sound- Physical World
  34. Echo & The Bunnymen- Pictures On the Wall
  35. The Cure- Grinding Halt

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

IN UTERO: 20th Anniversary Tracklist


D 1 (Original album remastered plus all B-sides & bonus tracks recorded at Pachyderm):
1. "Serve The Servants" (Albini mix/original release) - 3:39
2. "Scentless Apprentice" (Albini mix/original release) - 3:47
3. "Heart-Shaped Box" (Litt mix/original release) - 4:41
4. "Rape Me" (Albini mix/original release) - 2:51
5. "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" (Albini mix/original release) - 4:09
6. "Dumb" (Albini mix/original release) - 2:32
7. "Very Ape" (Albini mix/original release) - 1:55
8. "Milk It" (Albini mix/original release) - 3:54
9. "Pennyroyal Tea" (Albini mix/original release) - 3:37
10. "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" (Albini mix/original release) - 4:51
11. "tourette's" (Albini mix/original release) - 1:35
12. "All Apologies" (Litt mix/original release) - 3:55
13. "Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip" (ex-U.S. bonus track) - 7:35
14. "Marigold" (B-side; "Heart Shaped Box) - 2:34
15. "Moist Vagina" (B-side; "All Apologies") - 3:33
16. "Sappy" - 3:28
17. "I Hate Myself And Want To Die" - 2:59
18. "Pennyroyal Tea" (Litt mix) - 3:36
19. "Heart-Shaped Box" (Albini mix/unreleased) - 4:42
20. "All Apologies" (Albini mix/unreleased) – 3:58
Disc 2 (2013 album mix plus pre-album demos)
1. "Serve The Servants" (2013 mix) - 3:36
2. "Scentless Apprentice" (2013 mix) - 3:49
3. "Heart-Shaped Box" (2013 mix) - 4:41
4. "Rape Me" (2013 mix) - 2:49
5. "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" (2013 mix) - 4:12
6. "Dumb" (2013 mix) - 2:32
7. "Very Ape" (2013 mix) - 1:57
8. "Milk It" (2013 mix) - 3:56
9. "Pennyroyal Tea" (2013 mix) - 3:32
10. "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" (2013 mix) - 4:51
11. "tourette's" (2013 mix) - 1:35
12. "All Apologies"(2013 mix) - 3:55
13. "Scentless Apprentice" (Rio demo) - 3:54
14. "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" (Laundry Room demo) - 4:33
15. "Dumb" (Word Of Mouth demo) - 2:39
16. "Very Ape" (Rio demo) - 2:21
17. "Pennyroyal Tea" (Word Of Mouth demo) - 3:31
18. "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" (Word Of Mouth demo) - 2:40
19. "tourette's" (Word Of Mouth demo) - 2:14
20. "Marigold" (Upland Studios demo) – 3:25
21. "All Apologies" (Music Source demo) - 4:25
22. "Forgotten Tune" (Rehearsal) - 2:04
23. "Jam" (Word Of Mouth demo) - 5:44
Disc 3 "Live & Loud"
1. "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter"
2. "Drain You"
3. "Breed"
4. "Serve The Servants"
5. "Rape Me"
6. "Sliver"
7. "Pennyroyal Tea"
8. "Scentless Apprentice"
9. "All Apologies"
10. "Heart-Shaped Box"
11. "Blew"
12. "The Man Who Sold The World"
13. "School"
14. "Come As You Are"
15. "Lithium"
16. "About a Girl"
17. "Endless, Nameless"
DVD
1. "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter"
2. "Drain You"
3. "Breed"
4. "Serve The Servants"
5. "Rape Me"
6. "Sliver"
7. "Pennyroyal Tea"
8. "Scentless Apprentice"
9. "All Apologies"
10. "Heart-Shaped Box"
11. "Blew"
12. "The Man Who Sold The World"
13. "School"
14. "Come As You Are"
15. "Lithium"
16. "About a Girl"
17. "Endless, Nameless"
EXTRAS:
18. "Very Ape" (Live & Loud Rehearsal)
19. "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" (Live & Loud Rehearsal)
20. "Rape Me" (Live & Loud Rehearsal)
21. "Pennyroyal Tea" (Live & Loud Rehearsal)
22. "Heart-Shaped Box" (Original Music Video + Director’s Cut)
23. "Rape Me" (Live on "Nulle Part Ailleurs" – Paris, France)
24. "Pennyroyal Tea" (Live on "Nulle Part Ailleurs" – Paris, France)
25. "Drain You" (Live on "Nulle Part Ailleurs" – Paris, France)
26. "Serve The Servants" (Live on “Tunnel” – Rome, Italy)
27. "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" (Live in Munich, Germany)
28. "My Best Friend's Girl" (Live in Munich, Germany)
29. "Drain You" (Live in Munich, Germany)