I Dare You To Care About This Entry
Hey, fellow SadlyNauts!
I’m going back to my beloved Chicago for the weekend, so I will have nothing to say until Monday. (But oh, Monday! What an exciting special secret announcement I will have for you all then! Hint: it involves me trying to think of things that will make Michelle Malkin go all cross-eyed with rage.) However, I feel I should leave you with something utterly inconsequential so that while I’m gone, you will remember me, and think “Oh, right, that’s the guy who I don’t like very much.”
As some of you may know, in my other life, the one where I don’t spend most of my time laughing at James Lileks’ bald spot, I am a professional freelance writer, specializing in film and music criticism. And because I know that you, the loyal S,N! readers, will care about this so goddamn much, I am presenting you with a sneak preview of my picks for the top ten albums of 2007, which will be appearing later this year in expanded form in a number of magazines you won’t read.
1. Earthless, Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky
The best metal album of the year? The best rock music of the year. A criminally underheard San Diego doom outfit delivers three songs of absolutely stunning raw rock ‘n’ roll power and never lets up.
2. UGK, UGK (Underground Kingz)
Proving conventional wisdom wrong, the Texas-based duo makes a barn-burner of a comeback with a rap double album that doesn’t fall apart. Sadly, with Pimp C’s death, probably the last UGK record.
3. M.I.A., Kala
With the Hater Brigade salivating to see her fall, M.I.A. bucks the sophomore slump with a whirling postmodern blend of sounds, styles and beats, bringing fun back to pop music along with smarts.
4. The Wu-Tang Clan, 8 Diagrams
Years in the making, almost impossible to complete, and probably the final effort from them as a group, 8 Diagrams is a woozy, zooted triumph with fierce rhymes and insane production.
5. The Dillinger Escape Plan, Ire Works
A doomstruck outfit with a hardcore D.I.Y. approach, the Dillinger Escape Plan are close to being the Minutemen of metal, and the spastic, complex, dense Ire Works is their masterpiece.
6. Battles, Mirrored
In a year of ridiculously overhyped bands (Justice, anyone?), Battles are one of the few that really come through, with a terrifically unique amalgam of prog and electronica that constantly surprises.
7. Radiohead, In Rainbows
Nearly lost in all the talk of how Radiohead released and distributed this without the aid of a label is the fact that it’s a remarkably strong album, their best in years, with road-polished material.
8. Antibalas, Security
It took just the right producer to transform the multicultural NYC outfit from a chop-heavy but sometimes excessive world-party jam band into a finely honed, deadly squad of Afro-funk killers.
9. Kanye West, Graduation
Kanye practically begs people to hate him, and he needs to get back to producing other peoples’ records, but this is a swell conclusion to the prep school trilogy and features the year’s best single.
10. Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha
Almost unnoticed in the hinterlands of Illinois, Andrew Bird continues to put out great records, re-inventing himself yet again with a smooth, smart record of perfectly crafted songs.
What about you, fellow babies? What New England Patriots games YouTube videos of Polish synth-pop bands records floated your collective boats this year?
I’m a sign of virility, OK?
“Minutemen of metal” — that sounds worth a listen.
Rap? Rap is pining for the fjords. Bring on the next thing, and let it die a much deserved death. Let’s have something that involves musicians again this time, not weaksauce sampling of other artists riffs.
I really liked the Jens Lenkman album “Night Falls Over Kortedala” and Of Montreal’s “Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?”
Sigh.
Yeah, the new Of Montreal hit my top 20. I’ve heard good things about Jens Lenkman, but haven’t had a chance to listen yet.
it involves me trying to think of things that will make Michelle Malkin go all cross-eyed with rage
Yeah, well, don’t sprain anything. ‘Cause that’ll be really hard to do.
Let’s have something that involves musicians again this time, not weaksauce sampling of other artists riffs.
is this a joke?
I don’t listen to much new stuff anymore. Aside from In Rainbows, my album of the year was probably Live Evil by Miles Davis, which obviously didn’t come out this year.
I like battles, too, tho they basically are Massacre or Last Exit for hipsters.
What about you, fellow babies? What
New England Patriots games YouTube videos of Polish synth-pop bandsrecords floated your collective boats this year?Mayra Andrade, Navega (2006, but released in the U.S. in 2007)
Calle 13, Residente or Visitante
Lura, M’bem de fora
Damn, I like Earthless so much it may take a while to get farther down the list.
Thanx for the tipz.
There are three records that have not changed ‘constant rotation’ station within my personal radio-space.
1. Burial – ‘Untrue’
Lumped in with the ‘dubstep’ crowd, the reclusive Burial created this year’s spaced-out, ambient masterpiece. Clicks-n-pops litter these warbly soundscapes with vocals barely audible or discernible. Haunting, yet hopeful.
2. Junius – ‘Junius’
Technically a remastered repackage of their first two EPs, Junius meld melodic indie rock, shoegaze, and hard rock in punchy pop-songs.
3. The Twilight Sad – ‘Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters’
Scottish rock band plays with quiet-loud dynamics like Alan Ball plays with your emotions. One of the best roller-coasters you’ll ride all year.
Yeah, I thought Andrew Bird’s was fucking amazing. I really dug blonde redhead’s 23, it reminds me of MBV’s Loveless. And the National, sounds like a less-suicidal Tindersticks. As fer hip hop, Niggy Tardust was fucking amazing, and Trae’s life goes on. Burial’s new sparse psyco-dubstep thingy was amazing too. And hardcore? High on Fire.
dethklok – “dethalbum”
mew “and the glass handed kites”
yes, i know, i know…amy winehouse “back to black”
blonde redhead – “23”
the cliks – “snakehouse”
the other five i haven’t listened to yet.
1. The Ponys – Turn the Lights Out
2. LCD Soundsytem – Sound of Silver
3. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
4. BRMC – Baby 81
5. Imperial Teen – The Hair, the Baby, the TV, and the Band
I dig that Battles record too, but I haven’t heard all of it.
I haven’t listened to Andrew Bird since The Swimming Hour, which totally disappointed me. Oh! The Grandeur and Thrills still rank as two of my favorite albums of the past 10 years, though.
I never got around to listening to a lot of stuff this year, but I really liked that new LCD Soundsystem album. I haven’t personally related to a record like that since I was a lot younger. I also liked what I heard from Panda Bear and want to hear the new Wu-Tang and Ghostface, but I agree that Justice is overrated. Interesting sound, but the songs don’t actually go anywhere or do anything.
Otherwise, I’ve been listening to boatloads of Bob Dylan and Black Flag this year, but those obviously aren’t new.
I sort of spaced out on new music in 2007. I really don’t check out new stuff anymore unless I come across a band opening for a band I like (maybe I’m getting old.
That said, I saw The Inkwell Rhythm Makers at the Oregon Country Fair this past July, and have been listening to their record “Ollapodria” almost every day since.
I think the Minutemen of Metal would be…
Dragonforce!
That Panda Bear album is awfully nice.
Aesop Rock–None Shall Pass. (I’m pretty sure that was 2007, not 2006.) Hip-hop for teh disturbed.
I’ll second MIA–Kala. KALX in Berkeley has had it on heavy rotation, along with Black Lips–Good Bad Not Evil, which is also quite tasty.
Rodrigo y Gabriella?
That’s about it. Haven’t listened to a whole lot of new stuff this year.
Hint: it involves me trying to think of things that will make Michelle Malkin go all cross-eyed with rage.
Oh, that’s tough. Way to set the bar low, big guy.
Ah hell.
Usually, I can hang around here and feel like I belong.
This one here is gonna leave a mark.
The only bands I recognize from your 10, Mr. Pierce, are Radiohead (I clearly remember “Yellow” and I do keep “Karma Police” on my iPod) and Wu Tang Clan (honestly, I’ve never heard ANY of their music, but I was fascinated by the words and deeds of one ODB, may he find some peace. He was a fighter, and he didn’t back up, and he never quit. And goddam it, if you don’t quit you can’t lose.).
The rest? No idea. I may check out the earthless ’cause I do like me some metal, although to be honest more along the lines of Skid Row and Babylon AD.
The rest? Nah, probably won’t be bothered.
Kinda sad, really. There was a time (mid eighties) when I was ridin that edge, y’know? Now?
Get of my fucking lawn…
mikey
Tool’s new album, while spotty (like all of their stuff) is super-brilliant in parts. “Vicarious” is my song of the year:
“Why don’t we just admit it: we like to watch things die, from a good safe distance”
that’s my yellow elephant wingnut lyric of the year, from the aforementioned tool.
Lots of good records this year…
The National – Boxer
Radiohead – In Rainbows
Wu-Tang Clan – 8 Diagrams
Bruce Springsteen – Magic
The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Ghostface Killah – The Big Doe Rehab
The Clientele – God Save The Clientele
Those are all pretty excellent records. I love the first two Kanye records, but “Graduation” left me kind of cold. I will definitely check out Earthless, thanks for the tip.
I love the Earthless, and MIA records too. And I like the LCD Soundsytem record but can the dude splurge for a singer? What a great song Someone Great would be if he borrowed Beth Orton from the Chemical Brothers. And Lawnguyland’s own Public Enemy put out their best record in a while.
I’ve never listened to UGK but I did notice that Debbie Schussell had a slightly different take on the death of Pimp C than you did, Mr. Pierce.
Word on the Bird. See him live if you get a chance. He’s a one-man band creating a wall of layered sound.
What would you expect from an islomafascist?
Hey, terror boy? Where do you think Rock and Roll came from? I mean its origin(slaves to spirituals to blues to R&R)?
West Africa
What region of the world has the griot, musical storytellers that are basically talking over heavy rhythms? AKA rapping?
West Africa.
Rap is music coming full circle. No amount of effect saturated intense noodling on a git-fiddle is going to change that fact.
Clipse put out a good record. Was that this year?
mikey – We wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’ve heard one song off that Battles CD and I’m tempted to pick it up everytime I’m at the Electric Fetus. I suppose that The New Pornographers is too mainstream for this crowd, but I like their new CD a lot. Redwall’s new CD is good and about as snotty as I get. I could put every one of Spoon’s CDs on there because I only just started paying attention to them this year. New Moon by Elliot Smith is my posthumous best of the year.
Hard to do a top ten list. I tend to think in terms of a daily top one, and that is rarely a recent release. Buffalo Springfield is #1 a lot around here. Plus Aretha, You Am I, Rodney Crowell and Robyn Hitchcock.
Mikey–
Trust me–your old vinyl is highly, highly sought after by the fashionables here in SF. If you were to go to some clubland scene and the DJ dropped Poison, the place would go simian feces.
You’d be at the bar, sipping Oban and spinning yarns quietly in the ear of some attentive and pneumatic dollybird with an asymmetric haircut, no doubt…
American Gangster is an unbelievable album. I’m surprised no one has mentioned that yet.
“Rap? Rap is pining for the fjords. Bring on the next thing, and let it die a much deserved death. Let’s have something that involves musicians again this time, not weaksauce sampling of other artists riffs.”
Were you wondering when that “rock craze” would die out back in the early 80’s? Rap has been around for roughly 30 years. It’s not going anywhere.
By the way, for the past couple of hours KALX 90.7 Berkeley (kalx.berkeley.edu) has bee playing a big UGK retrospective in honor of Pimp C.’s demise.
Back and front, side to side…
Dress for anthrax, Mr. Pierce.
Unskinny Bop!
Dammit, now that’s music!
mikey
Mikey-
Poison was the first concert I ever went to (’91, I think). Opened for by Trixter!
Can’t wait for Obermann to get to his “special comment” so I can dump the TV and get some rocknroll cranked!!
Trixter!
mikey
I’m gonna make a bigass pot of chili tonight.
I’ve got fresh hand made tortillas.
I’ve got a fire in the ‘place, a cocktail and the rain.
I’m groovin…
mikey
mikey, mikey, mikey.
yellow is by Coldplay.
Please don’t make that mistake again.
It’s like mistaking a Monkees song for the Beatles.
Really?
Shit.
I usually fact check my crap.
No wonder I couldn’t find it on my iPod.
Sorry. Carry on.
Um, on somebody else’s lawn, if you don’t mind….
mikey
1) Deerhoof- Friend Opportunity
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2 … n+1) Everything else
What is the url for the Sadly facebook page?
I care because I live in a huge city with a teeny tiny selection of radio stations. The only way I find out about new music is through whatever Pandora plays for me, random mentions by friends and posts like this. I’m going to plug some of the artistes in and give a listen.
Bob Dylan and Black Flag?
sounds like a Hella show.
I’ve really liked Cloud Cult’s “Meaning of 8”
and Mountain Goats’ “Get Lonely”
Those might be 2006 though….
God, that brings me so much joy that I cannot speak. Hee hee. Heeeee. Owned, even if by mistake.
I’ve only listened to one album released this year, Jihad Jerry and the Evildoers’ Mine Is Not A Holy War, so I’m obligated to declare it number 1. Shellac’s Excellent Italian Greyhound gets honorary #2, even though I haven’t heard it, because they’re the only other band I like that released an album this year.
Also: oy, the Dillinger Escape Plan are the Minutemen of metal?
arky, public radio in MN has a pretty cool music station that plays a lot of new music. Their range is a lot more adventurous than my favorites list above, but I get a lot of my new faves from that station. They stream live and keep a playlist of everything they’ve aired. The DJs actually get to choose the music they play, so the feel of the station changes when shifts change. The afternoon DJ is Paul Westerberg’s sister.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/the_current/
t 4 General Sense of Well Being: Try this.
Trust me–your old vinyl is highly, highly sought after by the fashionables here in SF. If you were to go to some clubland scene and the DJ dropped Poison, the place would go simian feces.
Are you serious?
mikey, mikey, mikey.
yellow is by Coldplay.
Ok, I’m trying to catch up here.
Which one is “Blur”?
mikey
Street’s like a jungle
So call the police
Following the herd
Down to Greece
On holiday
Love in the 90’s
Is paranoid
On sunny beaches
Take your chances looking for
Girls who are boys
Who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they’re girls
Who do girls like they’re boys
Always should be someone you really love.
____
That one.
Mikey–
Dude, I hear ya. I’m happy if I know that somebody on Radiohead is Gwyneth’s husband.
Meanwhile, I’m way into Brazilian MPB, bossa, samba, and jazz. Much as I admire Mr. Leonard Pierce, I’ll take a pass on this post and see y’all on the other side.
Oh, and XTC.
But that’s it. Over and out.
Public Service Announcement:
There’s an online radio station out of Cincinnati called “WOXY.” Google it and tune in. You’ll find the best mix of modern rock and the good old classics alllllll day long. It’s literally 4 guys and about 20,000 records with zero commercials. Everything that has been mentioned in this thread is played regularly. Enjoy.
Although, Arky–
There are men who like women who like men.
There are women who like women every now and then.
There are men who like men
‘Cause they just can’t pretend
They are men who like women who like men.
–Steve Goodman
I took a special liking to Great Northern‘s album Trading Twilight For Daylight. Amazing stuff.
@ povertyrich
OMG!!! The Inkwell Rhythm Makers are one of my favorite bands ever and have made me regret leaving Eugene for the last seven months, seeing as how I can never stumble upon them busking a street corner or farmer’s market in DC. Word to the wise for S,N! readers – check out IRM’s MySpace page and pick up their self-released albums NOW while you still can! They’re a bunch of punk kids who’ve picked up on the 1920s-30s ragtime jug band tradition, and they do it up right! Most recommended!
And as a side note, am I the only one who references “smells like fish, but tastes like chicken” in a whole new way when we see the adjective Cthulhusexual?
I sure am fond of Passover by the Black Angels. It was released in 2006, but that’s about as current as I get. They’re out of Austin, Texas, heavily inspired by the Velvet Underground, Doors, etc. I can’t stop listening to ‘Sniper at the Gates of Dawn.’
http://happyvalleynews.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/happy-hoedown-with-the-black-angels/
http://songza.com/
good for checking out the tracks listed here, enjoy!
Sonny Probe rocks on “I Was A Gay Stock Car Driver.”
ive seen dillinger escape play a dozen+ times cause theyve been around for years and always seemed to be playing some show of a band i was there to see. i always thought they could play but they couldnt write a damn song, just parts that they mash together without rhyme or reason.
anyway, the only album i thought was worth my money this year was “given to the rising” by neurosis and that was only slightly above average.
but im old. i dont like anything anymore.
Wow. This is the state of popular music in the new millennium? This is the first time in quite a while that I feel glad to be old. Now I can go dig up my old Iron Maiden cds and listen without embarrassment or shame.
-Ian
P.S. Well ok, maybe a little shame
So in response to this, I went and looked at my PC music library, whic is pretty much my main source for music these days, and it turns out I only own* three albums released in 2007: In Rainbows, Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible, and Arctic Monkeys’ There’s Almost No Way You Can Admit to Liking This Album Without Feeling Like a Complete Frontrunner.
* Borrow?
Ian,
Have you listened to all ten of those albums and developed your negative opinion thusly?
Everything I’ve liked has turned out to be old, as always. There’s just so much out there….
Radiohead, that at least I knew was new.
OK, best on CD in the last year (OK, I’m biased, I love them, they’re friends too), but Roman Numerals/Roman Numerals. Started out as a Joy Division Tribute band and morphed into their own thing. Listen on their MySpace/RomanNumerals, iTunes, http://www.theromannumerals.com, lots of places. Can We Trust Your Architect on YouTube, great fucking song, kick ass video Seriously, check out that song and tell me they don’t fucking rock! And “Rule of V” is on there too I think.
Morbid Angel has a new album coming out…..HEEHEEHEEHEE!!
1. That UGK album is very enjoyable (I particularly liked the pseudo-remake of “The Symphony, Part II”–G Rap fucking killed it!), but like every other hip-hop double album ever made, it really didn’t need to be a double album.
2. I know she’s a critical darling, but MIA sucks. I’m sorry, that’s just how it is.
3. I’m still a vinyl fiend, mikey! Hell, I’m in Toronto right now to DJ tomorrow night, and I’m excited not just about the gig, but about the chance to buy records in a different city–hell, a different country. Fuck an iPod.
blur were/are a fun band that got overhyped as the antidote to oasis’s preening. They technically are still together but the lead guitar left and the lead singer is busy with side projects, most notably gorillaz.
It’s the damn dude from coldplay married to Gwyneth, n hating on RH because coldplay sounds like a watered down version of them is kinda petty n silly.
Dudez, I thought it was that guy from Bush who was married to Gwyneth.
Hmmm. All my “new” stuff seems to be produced by 50 year olds…
Grinderman, New Mekons, Glenn Mercer (feelies), Dirty Three..
Kids today, no respect for lawns..
In no particular order, the very best songs of the year (I pronounce the album dead.):
The Meat Beetles (click & listen)
“Clams Are Groovy” – Beachcomber Bob
“Love Me, Love My Enema Bag” – English Frank (R. I. P.)
“What’s Your Fucking Problem, Asshole?” – D. Donny Douchebag
“You Suck, I Hate You, Please Die” – Apartment House & The Salesmen
“Showbiz Lice” – Nation Of Sheep
“Two Timin’ Thelma” — T. Tex Tabletop (Moby re-mix)
“Beans and Rice Again” — Ludwig von Spongebob
“Lists Are For Losers” — Spuzette Junior Seven
“Behind The Bleachers” — Norman Mailer’s Feet
“Untitled (C Minor)” — Skillet & LeRoy
“(You’re Causing Me) Existential Agony” — Bent Armadillo Hotplate
“Street Rolex” — Raffi
“Just Once” — Chartreuse Loafer Set
“Heart Attack (In Your Ass)” — Mayflower Tea Club
“Muskrat Vivisection” — Grotesque Trolls of Orkney
“Say What?” — Manny, Moe & Melvin
“Black Plague” — Pontius Pilate & the Nail-Pounding Four
“Let the Eagle Soar” — Ashcroft & Simpson
“No Talent Sluts From Hell” — Pussycat Dulls
“Never Again” — DJ Dickwad
“Been There, Done That” — Teen-Age Jesus & Ed
“Pull the Plug” — Nation of Sheep
“Crab Lice Boogie” — The Dreadful Grate
“You Belong to Me” — L. Ron Hitler
“Voices in My Head” — DSM IV
“Download Mama (How Come You So Fine?)” — Dick C. & Karen
“Where Were We When?” — Pajama Party
“Certifiable” — Polka Fred
“Hey! I Was Watching That” — Terrible Hater
“Evil Sister” — Misbegotten Jackals
“Retard Rumble” — Spuzette Jr. 7
“Atomic Dog” — Ron Mexico
“Tears Began to Fall” — Junior Mintz
“Litter Box Blues” — Fluffy & Midnight
“Two Story House” — Too Many Typos
“I Hope That’s Blood” — The Winos
“You Suck, I Hate You, Please Die” — Tout le Monde
“Fry Me a Liver” — Bartles & Jaymes
“No Pants Romance” — Bad Poets
“I Think I’ll Have a Drink” — The Really Bad Poets
“Make That A Double” — The Really, Really Bad Poets
“Please Don’t” — Waitstaff
“Swiffer Theme” — Blondie
“Something Died in the Wall” — The Flu-Tones
“Wedding Bells Will Ring” — Jenna & The Intern
“I’m Chief Kamanawanaleia” — The Royal Macadamia Nuts
“When the Shit Hits the Fan” — Expired Ramen Trio
“I’m Bored” — George Sanders
“War in ah Babylon” — The Shitshovelers
“Sub-Prime Blues” — The Wall Streeters
“Blow Me, Blow My Goat” — Bottlecaps & Bongos
“Étude for Uke & Banjo” — Skillet & LeRoy
“Get Offa My Couch” — Leonard Maltin
“Mr. Roboto” — Styx (Tagg Romney remix, f/ Donny & Marie)
“Born To Be Wild” — Mike & The Hucktones
“There’s No A/C in Hell, Sinners!” — Bible Thumpin’ Bob
And anything by the luverly Amy Winehouse. Lily Allen is good too.
Hey, did my long stupid post get caught in the sink trap or did I just eff it up & not post it?
In no particular order:
Jesu- Conqueror
Saul Williams- The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
Githead- Art Pop
Radiohead- In Rainbows
Pelican- City of Echoes
Dälek- Abandoned Language
And some other stuff I’ve forgotten about, I’m certain.
Honorable mention (you only get one entry in the main list):
Dälek- Deadverse Massive Vol.1
Jesu- Pale Sketches
Jesu- Lifeline
Oh wait, here’s a really great one I forgot:
Einstürzende Neubauten- Alles Wieder Offen
And a pretty good one that probably just makes the top ten for this year:
Wire- Read & Burn 3
Expect more “oh yeah, this too” comments later.
Holy crap, how did I forget:
A Place to Bury Strangers- A Place to Bury Strangers
Also:
Caribou- Andorra
OK, not counting my honorable mention entries, that makes ten — I’ll stop now.
Fuck it, I’m turning my list up to 11:
El-P- I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
So, commenting on things other people have mentioned… I’ve been meaning to check out Burial for months. Battles sounds great on paper, but the actual music annoys me. I haven’t heard of Earthless before, but you have my attention.
Re: Skid Row
I used to work at a record store with a bunch of nerds who’d never stopped liking hair metal, and one of the guys was always pestering road managers and getting his favorite artists to swing through town. Most of the bands got to know him, since he looked alarmingly like Patton Oswalt and went to every show, and he invited Sebastian Bach to do an in-store appearance at our shop.
About 200 people showed up, which surprised me, and about 50 percent of them were women who’d been his biggest fans as teenagers and had not aged so well in the intervening 15 years. A lot of them brought their bored teenage daughters. And I’ll tell you what, that dude was an absolute gentleman to every one of those women, who were realizing their nearly forgotten dream of meeting him. He hugged each one, kissed them on the cheek and acted genuinely interested in which shows of his they’d seen.
I was never a big fan of metal or Sebastian Bach, but that really impressed me. However, once the fans left, he and his band totally abused the spirit in which the shop owner offered free merch. They cleaned shit out.
Dream Theater – Systematic Chaos
Progressive rock’s most talented musicians.
The song Constant Motion got them nominated for Act of the Year at the 2007 Boston Music Awards.
Well, since funluvn opened the progrock box, let me add Porcupine Tree–Fear of a Blank Planet:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sUnAxegUJu0
Saw them in concert too, they were great! Made me feel like I was in my thirties again!
I am so old, older than mikey I think. I don’t even have a lawn but y’all better stay the hell off it anyway.
Sometimes when I don’t understand what I’m reading on the intertubes, I take a sample and run it through Google’s translatin’ tool. I put it from English to Italian to French and then back to English. Often things make more sense to me that way. I am not picking on you, a different brad, but here is your 9:47 comment (a perfectly nice comment) stepped on thusly.
Blur were / are a Banda pleasure that overhyped as the antidote to the oasis of smoothing. They are technically still together, but left the guitar and the singer is busy side projects, in particular gorillaz.
This is the shit of coldplay guy married to Gwyneth, No HR Coldplay on hate, because it sounds like a watered-down version of them is small enough n Silly.
See what I mean? And the Oasis of Smoothing…sounds so nice. And Travis G. – interesting story. Too bad about the crass ending. I don’t take my middle-aged ass, toned and sleek as it may be, to such events, mostly because I don’t like to hear (afterwards) about the apparent inherent pathos of me and my ilk simply showing up. You know, in public. While middle-aged. But I like to hear about my ilk being treated with respect, because last time I checked, my dollars contain as much dollartude as anyone else’s.
studio, yearbook 1. best album of 07.
RIY: can/junior boys/getting stoned and dancing
the rest of my 2k7 top 10:
2) jens lekman, night falls over kortedala
3) bill callahan, woke on a whaleheart
4) no age, weirdo rippers
5) liars, liars
6) andrew bird, armchair apocrypha
7) panda bear, person pitch
8) pantha du prince, this bliss
9) iron & wine, the shepherd’s dog
10) sharon jones & the dap-kings, 100 days, 100 nights
honorable mentions:
red krayola with art & language, sighs trapped by liars
spoon, ga ga ga ga ga
dungen, tio bitar
i slept on the hip-hop this year, unfortunately.
I have something nice to add about Sebastian Bach. About 1992, I was at our local comic/game store in Springfield, MO (the late Comic Page) upstairs being a nerd. Skid Row was playing at this place they used to have in Branson, MO (i shit you not) that had low-level acts, mostly hair metal bands whose ability to earn was destroyed by Curt Cobain. I think Skid Row was scheduled to play along with Slaughter and maybe Dokken (oy vey).
Mr. Back came in with some kind of minder, and bought about 900 in comics, some old Spider-Man the owner had there. Then he came upstairs and got some beer out of the fridge up there that the owner threw in the deal. He asked me and my friends about our games, and seemed like a pretty nice, friendly guy.
Oh well, that was my weak brush with faded greatness, but I did love the bit he did on Gilmore Girls a few years ago, pretty much playing himself.
BTW, best album of the year, The Shins, Wincing the Night Away.
Best of ’07:
Voxtrot – Voxtrot: Not as good as their EPs (and what is, really?) but still a solid album
Twilight Sad – Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters: Glorious Scottish shoegaze.
Blonde Redhead – 23: Kid A meets Vespertine, maybe?
David Vandervelde – The Moonstation House Band: Good, simple, rock.
Bloc Party – Weekend in the City: Weeeeeeeeeeee
Honorable mention: Beirut – Flying Club Cup: Better than Gulag Orkester, but starting to sound same-y.
been listening mainly to psychedelic trance this year. these are not all from 2007.
Infected Mushroom: [everything]
Nystagmus: Immaculate Perception
Younger Brother: A Flock of Bleeps
Cujorius One: The Art of Mindfucking
Hallucinogen: The Lone Deranger
Without having heard Earthless, I can’t imagine that the world really needed another Sabbath-worship band. I’m pretty sure the best metal album of the year is either Ziltoid the Omniscient by Devin Townsend or Tervaskanto by Korpiklaani.
Ian,
Have you listened to all ten of those albums and developed your negative opinion thusly?
Thusly? Perhaps not “thusly”, but yes I actually did listen to about as much as I could tolerate prior to rendering judgement – oh, and please note the whole bit about Iron Maiden and shame: humor, self deprecating doncha know .
Earthless is the kind of self-indulgent rubbish I would have loved when I was 15. UGK- Gangsta rap. Ugh. M.I.A. has a couple of good tracks. The bright spot in the list. Battles and Andrew Bird were dull, each in their own way. I stopped at Radiohead. Aside from “Karma Police”, their appeal utterly eludes me, and “In Rainbows” does nothing to change that.
# 1 Goggly Googol?
# 2 Johnny Zhivago?
#3 The Heaven17?
That is terrorist!I would have loved when I was 15. UGK- Gangsta rap. Ugh. M.I.A. has a couple of good tracks.???
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The bright spot