top albums 09 so far (part 2)

here is my rolling best of list for 2009.  i plan on having a top 50 for the year.  so here's the first quarter results......the fab top 17.......

1  obits- i blame you

2  black lips- 200 million thousand

3  wavves- wavvves

4  mi ami- watersports

5  handsome furs- face control

6  condo fucks- fuckbook

7  crocodiles- aummer of hate

8  pink mountaintops- outside love

9  pre- epic fits

10 blank dogs- under and under

11 animal collective- merriweather post pavilion 

12 double dagger- more

13 pains of being pure of heart- s/t

14 mstrkrft- fist of god

15 japandroids- post nothing

16 kurt vile- god is saying this to you

17 crystal antlers- tentacles

end of the month wrap up.

here is what i'm listening to......

WOODS- songs of shame....not half bad.  not all the hype was building it up to.  sort of a grower.  neil young meets belle & sebastian.......

BLANK DOGS- under and under.... menacing garage punk fed through dark new wave filters.  joy division and the oblivians writing synth songs.... one of my new favs.

PETE DOHERTY- grace/wasteland... still not the libertines, and not even as good as babyshambles.  but if you want some mopey reflective rock from a british indie rockstar i guess this is yr thing, but not mine.

PRE-  epic fits....god i love noise rock.  thank you pre.  i needed something loud and distorted to listen to (and thank you aaron for sharing)....this is in heavy rotation.....

JAPANDROIDS- post nothing.....everyone's new favorite band, mine included.  they earn a place up with the no-fi darlings no age and wavves for sure.  a bit like those kids but with a good bit of 90s grunge flavor as its base instead of wavves' pop punk and no age's post punk sonic youth infatuation....... will listen to all summer.......

DOUBLE DAGGER- more......please buy this.  baltimore is not just about pretentious indie rock.  post hardcore with heavy art and synth leanings......catchy and dark and unexpected, even better than their last two lps.....and though i'm biased cause i know the kids, i also know plenty of musicians i would not recommend.  new fav for sure.........

BLACK DICE- repo.... treading the same water as before, but its a comfortable place to be so why change.......glitchy downtempo noise that i could listen to incessantly.  but the only problem is that i forget its a new black dice album.  just sort seems like i owned it all along......but burn it from a friend.......it won't disappoint.......

another zine going online only

i guess i'd rather have one of my favorite magazines transition to the web than outright die.   but it's still a sad day when you can no longer grab that zine and stuff it in yr shoulder bag to read where ever.

according to tiny mix tapes, skyscraper is doing just that.  the spring 2009 installment on the shelves on yr local bookstore/record shop will be the last.  skyscrapermagazine.com will get an overhaul and be the new home for one of the best sources for indie rock interviews and reviews.  damn i always loved the day when the new issue came in the revolver order.  i guess i'll just have to bookmark them with the rest of the music sites.

the lesson here is that you have to continue to support yr favorite magazine, otherwise they will keep dying.  it just doesn't have to be this way...........

(postscript, arthur magazine already went online only awhile back, rolling stone shrunk its format, and punk planet died,  who's next?)

rashaan roland kirk

roland kirk is my hero.  i've been listening to him almost constantly as i've been holed up in the apartment sick the last couple of days.  a bit free jazz, a bit soul, very complicated yet melodic jazz, very much like mingus, though that might be an oversimplification.

if you're looking for some new jazz LPs, and want to stray from the davis/coltrane canon, pick up either blacknuss, voluntary slavery or inflated tear.  kirk seemlessly picks apart jazz and creates something new, quite unlike anything else.  his cover of "ain't no sunshine" may be one of my fav jazz songs of all time.....

and yeah did i mention, he was blind, often played more than one saxophone at once, and had stage antics to rival any rock n roller....?   yep, i love this guy.......

record store day recap.

my kind of holiday.  five record stores in one day.  some live noise rock, free seven inches and stickers.  all the indie kids hanging out at the stores showing their support, and for once acknowledging the supremacy of record stores over blogs as the cultural heart of the scene......

yes it was fun.  i scored the obits and the jay reatard/sonic youth limited seven inches.  also finally picked up the mi ami LP (which is awesome) and a used copy of the one black lips LP i didnt have.  and oh yeah some cool rare used jazz LPs, a bit scratched but cheap, otherwise they would've been in the forty dollar price range...........

i wish every day was record store day........

matador reissues in the near future.

just in case you need to fill out yr vinyl collection, matador records will be reissuing these canonical indie titles in the near future.  mostly i'm excited about alien lanes by gbv, one of my fav albums of all time.......

(ps this is from a bulletin board at matador's site)...

Here's what's in the pipeline, allegedly (keep in mind that some of these have been in the pipeline for over a year now):

Soon:

Pavement - Crooked Rain
Pavement - Wowee Zowee
Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap
Belle and Sebastian - Tigermilk
Belle and Sebastian - Fold Your Hands Child
Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
Interpol - Antics
Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You

Next:

Guided By Voices - Alien Lanes
Yo La Tengo - Electr-o-pura
Guided By Voices - UTBUTS
Cat Power - What Would The Community Think
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart
Cat Power - The Covers Record
The New Pornographers - Electric Version

After that:

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

Problematic (but we're working on it):

Yo La Tengo - Painful
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Mogwai - Happy Songs for Happy People

record store day....

Record Store Day in Chicago was awesome.  More on it later, but I'm listening to my new vinyl and am very happy........

garage punk classics - GORIES

possibly my favorite album of all time, if you don't know the garage/punk/blues of the GORIES........grab this lp now.......


nobody's done lo-fi garage rock quite like this before or since......

click here for OUTTA HERE.....

free music archive

free music is always a good thing, especially if it's good music (ie not katie perry) and legal to download (boo RIAA).

so some kids at WFMU and KEXP have our back.  they started a site called the free music archive.

the site has tracks from bands such as mi ami and the vivian girls that are legal to download, and not just sample.  some are teaser tracks from their LPs and others are live in studio versions, but regardless its a nice way to collect some new jams.  

click on the link above, and enjoy............

cheap trick.

occasionally i revisit bands that i forget how much i love.  cheap trick is one of them.  

amanda and i picked up a clean copy of heaven tonight recently and that kicked started the classic rock party at our apartment this week.  everyone ought to at least pick up at budokon, their live album from 1979. 

like most bands they strayed during the 80s, so if you happen by their s/t, in colour, heaven tonight, at budokon, or dream police, pick them up.  otherwise just leave the LPs in the used bin at your local record store.  

but i would insist that everyone has one cheap trick LP in their collection.  this is power pop at its best.  arena rock done right, not your bloated journey or rush jams, more mc5 than boston.  these guys for the most part are just remembered for the song i want you to want me, but cheap trick really is hours and hours of bouncy rock fun...

...and if you need any cheap trick in your iTunes, click here for a torrent of their first three albums.

wavvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvesss seven inch

 

click here for a download of the wavves "california goths" seven inch.  its fun times.

crocodiles

the new buzz band of the month is the crocodiles.  the most popular way to describe them is a cross between velvet underground and jesus and mary chain, and though all hip indie rock bands might use those two as a reference points, these guys actually try to cop some of that vibe for real.  lo-fi, two piece with synth, guitar and drum machine, reverbed vocals, and catchy melodies over the feedback........but so great despite all the poor ways you could try to explain them......  they have an album summer of hate coming out on fat possum in may.  (they're labelmates with the wavves).....until then click on the link to go to stereogum and download three tracks off the forthcoming LP......ok? 

thermals

i love these kids.  i promoted a show for the thermals a while back and they play such an infectious brand of pop punk that makes everyone bounce around. 

you ought to own their previous three albums, but as a starting point you can click here to get a torrent for their new LP, now you can see.   

please just download the new album, you won't be disappointed.  i promise.....

cheap beer and good music.

i get to see wavves tonight at the empty bottle with vampire hands.   so fucking excited.  

anyway click on either band names to sample some of their jams.  (wink wink: both links will give you free music, yeah).....

jay reatarded

so jay reatard continues to be my musical hero, which is no surprise to anyone who know me.  but the exciting news of the day is that he is resurrecting his label, shattered.  

his first order of business is releasing a best of from all his pre-"solo" era bands.  he's reissuing out of print 7 inches and commencing an exclusive new singles club, featuring friends in cheap time and nobunny.  you can join the shattered records club by going to his website (listed in the sidebar) and coughing $75, which is a fair price for all the goodies you get.

anyway, this is where my spare cash is going to end up, if i don't drink it all away at the wavves show tomorrow night.