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just some songs. great ones to be more precise.
__

Afterlives - Ever the Optimist
from A Ticking Clock I Couldn’t Stop
Have A Nice Life related so you know

Japandroids - Wet Hair
from Post-Nothing
could have picked 3 or 4 other songs from this record yeah it's that good

Cave In - Retina Sees Rewind
from Planets of Old
EP is full of awesome shit but this song got the grooves

Castevet - beating high schoolers at arcade games
from Summer Fences
like American Football, but more ballsy

Therapy? - Exiles
from Crooked Timber
some of the best Therapy? material in years

Rome - A Legacy of Unrest
from Flowers From Exile
never thought I'd like something thats called apocalyptic martial folk that much

Metric - Gimme Sympathy
from Fantasies
song is bomb, the album - not so much

Kreng - Kolossus
from L'Autopsie Phe´nome´nale De Dieu
record should be listened as a whole, creepy as hell

Iron & Wine - The Trapeze Swinger
from Around the Well
best Iron & Wine song for me

All the Empires of the World - Ghosts of Sargasso/Of The Father
from Blessings
picked the song pretty randomly because all of the stuff this band put out this year is fantastic

Kidcrash - Sleeper Wave
from snacks
quality song from a worthy follow-up to the incredible Jokes

A City Safe From Sea - Well Dressed at the Hospital
from Throw Me Through Walls
song is ridiculously catchy post-hardcore from an album full of ridiculously catchy post-hardcore

Bats - Andrew Wiles
from Red In Tooth & Claw
tied with Gamma Ray Burst: Second Date and Credulous! Credulous! in terms of sheer awesomeness

Do Make Say Think - do
from The Other Truths
years best post rock song (fuck you Mono)

Mono - Everlasting Light
from Hymn To The Immortal Wind
just kidding, Mono is awesome, as is this song.

Daïtro - Part II
from Y
evolves from catchy to epic, what more could you possibly ask for?

The Ascent of Everest - The Journey Forever Long
from The Ascent Of Everest/We All Inherit The Moon Split
super-solid post rock band delivers

Coalesce - Wild OX Moan
from OX
crazy awesome intro, that's for sure.

Cursive - What Have I Done?
from Mama, I'm Swollen
epic closer is epic

Brainworms - Jay's big date
from II - Swear to me
you know Bear vs. Shark? that's cool. this is cool, too

Converge - Dark Horse
from Axe To Fall
god this main riff is so tight

BlakFish - Ringo Starr - 2nd Best Drummer In The Beatles
from Champions
I DON'T LIKE DANCE MUSIC AND I DON'T THINK I EVER WILL!

The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
from Hazards Of Love
so good that there's a reprise later on that album

Animal Collective - My Girls
from Merriweather Post Pavilion
no, I'm not an indie hipster faggot

Dear Landlord - Rosa
from Dream Homes
some catchy punk rawwwwwk right here

Bat for Lashes - Pearl's Dream
from Two Suns
dude this girl can SING

Closure In Moscow - Vanguard
from First Temple
good 'scene music' how about that? and the singer sounds like that dude from MARS THE F***ING VOLTA

HORSE the band - Science Police
from Desperate Living
sick song. best HORSE album.

The Antlers - Atrophy
from Hospice
so haunting I constantly lose my breath while listening

Elder - Remember These Days
from Reflect
blending post rock and screamo is usually a good idea.

Antony and the Johnsons - Epilepsy Is Dancing
from The Crying Light
this voice is beyond awesome

Gaza - Canine Disposal Unit + The Anthropologist
from He Is Never Coming Back
listen to both songs consecutively and you think you can die already


The Lawrence Arms - The Slowest Drink At The Saddest Bar On The Snowiest Day In The Greatest City
from Buttsweat and Tears
song is pure torture - can't wait for the new full lenght now

The Loved Ones - Distracted
from Distractions
band continues to put out awesome music, song is almost better than the Build & Burn material

Have a Nice Life - Trespassers W
from Voids
best b-side I've heard in a while

Archives - Including the Mezzanine
from Decline
see Elder - Remember These Days

Manchester Orchestra - I Can Feel a Hot One
from Mean Everything To Nothing
incredible sad song with lyrics that are incredible sad

Mariachi El Bronx - Silver Or Lead
from El Bronx
who would have thought that The Bronx come up with music your mother could dance to in the kitchen?

Orbs - A Man Of Science
from Asleep Next to Science
someone intelligent told me this song is soooooo two years ago but I like it.

Poison the Well - Pamplemousse
from The Tropic Rot
never thought I'd like a song that's named Pamplemousse, really

The xx - Heart Skipped a Beat
from xx
lots of good songs on that record, but this is my current fave

Weezer - (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
from Raditude
you can't deny this song is catchy as hell, can you?

Propagandhi - Potemkin City Limits
from Supporting Caste
saw them live this year, totally ruled

Brother/Ghost - Touch Something and Say Dead
from Black Ice
albums centerpiece but the album as a whole is where its at

Heather Woods Broderick - Wounded Bird
from From The Ground
stuff is almost as good as her brothers.

Pulling Teeth - Bloodwolves
from Paranoid Delusions/Paradise Illusions
just listen to that solo. just ... just listen.

Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch
from Swoon
was my song of the year for a long time and maybe is still.

Owen - heads will ache
from The Seaside EP
quality Kinsella song that's everything Owen is about

Paramore - Ignorance
from brand new eyes
most infectious verse ever

So Many Dynamos - Artifacts of Sound
from The Loud Wars
frantic, fuzzy, clashing, danceable = awesome

maudlin of the Well - Rose Quartz Turning to Glass
from Part the Second
love ya Mia

Panopticon - The Death Of Baldr And The Coming War
from Collapse
when you get used to the drumming this is some of the most ballin' black metal shit you'll ever hear

Mount Eerie - Stone's Ode
from Wind's Poem
one of those songs the winter was made for

Red City Radio - If all else fails play dead
from To The Sons & Daughters Of Woody Guthrie EP
favourite punk song of the year

Wilco - You And I
from Wilco (The Album)
Wilco + Feist + acoustic guit..omg I just came

Title Fight - Anaconda Sniper
from The Last Thing You Forget
song is like the charming smile from the cute chucks girl next door

Yo La Tengo - More Stars Than There Are in Heaven
from Popular Songs
if the following two epics were just as epic as this epic song the whole album would be beyond epic

Matthew Good - Empty's Theme Park
from VANCOUVER
Matthew Good + strings + 9 minute closer = as good as you would imagine

Sholi - Contortionist
from Sholi
you like Minus The Bear and Karate and maybe Cursive so you'll love this I'm sure

Built to Spill - Things Fall Apart
from There Is No Enemy
had a feeling this record would rule and this song is the proof

The Red Chord - Hour of Rats
from Fed Through The Teeth Machine
won't compare this to the new BTBAM because it's better

Banner Pilot - Farewell to Iron Bastards
from Collapser
song is one awesome hook as is the whole album

Towers - Hope
from Full Circle
awesome ending of one hell of an album

The Thermals - Now We Can See
from Now We Can See
fun song is fun

P.O.S. - Purexed
from Never Better
song is driving as hell, pure energy

Nothing More - The Few Not Fleeting
from The Few Not Fleeting
sounds like Aussie rock but isn't, really awesome

Regina Spektor - Human of the Year
from Far
when the horns come in it's like the best thing ever

Phoenix - Lisztomania
from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
no I'm not an indie hipster faggot [2]

mewithoutYou - The Fox, The Crow And The Cookie
from It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright
ya I know this stuff is different but it isn't only alright, it's all CRAZY!

The American Dollar - Where We Are
from From The Inland Sea
brilliant teaser for the (hopefully great) new album

Brand New - Sink
from Daisy
the song out of the three best on the album without this lame intro/outro

A Place to Bury Strangers - I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart
from Exploding Head
incredible thick bass and chugging and wall of sound and awesomeness

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster - Listen Close
from III
my personal song of the summer

Sole and the Skyrider Band - Black
from Plastique
song is as bleak as you can expect from a song titled 'Black'

Trophy Scars - Bad Dreams
from Bad Luck
so happy that this record is nothing like I expected

Andrew Bird - Oh No
from Noble Beast
oh **** yeah

Strike Anywhere - Invisible Colony
from Iron Front
the perfect opener for a surprisingly awesome album

Shpongle - Nothing Is Something Worth Doing
from Ineffable Mysteries From Shpongleland
totally agree with that song title

Sigh & Explode - This... Is the Breathing Caricature
from These Seem Like Tarantulas
pretty tight screamo/hardcore hybrid worth your interest

Strung Out - Vanity
from Agents Of The Underground
band can do no wrong

Mew - Beach
from No More Stories Are Told Today, I'm Sorry, They Washed Away
I think Sometimes Life Isn't Easy is the overall best song on that album but whatever, this one is pure sunshine

Say Anything - Eloise
from Say Anything
Max Bemis is the man, there's no other way to describe it

A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Close chorus
from Ashes Grammar
fantastic dream pop folk-gaze

Paint It Black - Sacred
from Surrender EP
I'm such a sucker for clean melodic choruses in otherwise ass-kicking hardocre songs

Thrice - The Weight
from Beggars
Thrice doing post hardcore again *expression of joy*

The Swell Season - The Verb
from Strict Joy
could have picked nearly every other track from that album, these duo knows what I like

This Is a Standoff - Everything We Take
from Be Disappointed
streamlined version of AWS with incredible catchy outbursts

Eleventh He Reaches London - For The Commonwealth And The Queen
from Hollow Be My Name
if you want to get into this album just listen to this song.

Loma Prieta - Ghost Shadow
from Dark Mountain
yeah I know, another screamo song. so what?

The Swellers - Dirt
from Ups and Downsizing
albeit the song is not as good as the best stuff from My Everest, I can't help myself but love it. it's The Swellers you know ...

The Mars Volta - Teflon
from Octahedron
[insert stupid TMV comment here]

Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - an idea is a greater monument than a cathedral
from What It Takes To Move Forward
won't namedrop Sunny Day Real Estate or Mineral or Braid because it would be too obvious

Tim Hecker - Where Shadows Make Shadows
from An Imaginary Country
brilliant ambient/drone mixture

John Frusciante - Central
from The Empyrean
song is really long but also really great

Florence + The Machine - Drumming
from Lungs
almost forgot about that, awesome song

Manic Street Preachers - She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach
from Journal For Plague Lovers
EMPTY ARMS AND ACHING HEART. god this chorus rules

Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck - Hollow Graves
from Goodbye Debris
almost forgot about that, awesome song [2]

1. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

Released 18/3/2008


2. Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life

Released 7/10/2008


3. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound

Released 19/8/2008


4. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

Released 14/4/2008


5. Cancer Bats - Hail Destroyer

Released 21/4/2008


6. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

Released 2/7/2008


7. Woven Hand - Ten Stones

Released 9/9/2008


8. God Is an Astronaut - God Is An Astronaut

Released 17/11/2008


9. Tom Gabel - Heart Burns

Released 31/10/2008


10. Genghis Tron - Board Up The House

Released 19/2/2008


11. The Loved Ones - Build & Burn

Released 5/2/2008


12. Frank Turner - Love Ire & Song

Released 30/3/2008


13. Have Heart - Songs to Scream at the Sun

Released 8/7/2008


14. Polar Bear Club - Sometimes Things Just Disappear

Released 11/3/2008


15. Maybeshewill - Not For Want Of Trying

Released 12/5/2008


16. Blacklisted - Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God

Released 1/1/2008
-- Your text goes here! --

17. Paint It Black - New Lexicon

Released 19/2/2008
-- Your text goes here! --

18. Architects - Ruin

Released 2/6/2008

19. The Haunted - Versus

Released 17/9/2008


20. Against Me! - New Wave B-Sides

Released 29/7/2008

Title is pretty self explanatory, no? Definitely some discrepancies with my year end lists but hey, we all evolve (or devolve). As usual it's my favorite albums, not what I think are the BEST albums. The list is a little weird, I was 12 when the decade started, I started to buy CDs regularly around the age of 8. Probably the only list with Wilco and The Unseen. Also it made me realize all the jazz I listen to is pre-1977 (except John Zorn, natch).


50. Andrew Wk - I Get Wet (2001)


49. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)


48. Radiohead - Kid A (2000)


47. The Velvet Underground – Bootleg Series, Vol. 1: The Quine Tapes (2001)


46. Aphex Twin – Drukqs (2001)


45. Alkaline Trio – From Here To Infirmary (2001)


44. Lemuria – Get Better (2008)


43. Be Your Own Pet – Be Your Own Pet (2006)


42. The Thermals – Now We Can See (2009)


41. The Hives – Tyrannosaurus Hives (2004)


40. Paint It Black – New Lexicon (2008)


39. Against Me! – As the Eternal Cowboy (2003)


38. The Thermals – Fuckin A (2004)


37. blink-182 – Take Off Your Pants And Jacket (2001)


36. Paul Baribeau – Grand Ledge (2007)


35. Cryptopsy – Once Was Not (2005)


34. The Gaslight Anthem – Sink or Swim (2007)


33. Danger Mouse – The Grey Album (2004)


32. Animal Collective – Feels (2005)


31. Mister Monster – Over Your Dead Body (2001)


30. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)


29. OutKast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2005)


28. Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out Of This Country (2006)


27. Lifetime – Lifetime (2007)


26. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (2008)


25. The Unseen – Explode (2003)


24. New Found Glory – New Found Glory (2000)


23. NOFX – Pump Up the Valuum (2000)


22. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)


21. Saves the Day – Stay What You Are (2001)


20. Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill (2004)


19. The Gaslight Anthem - The ’59 Sound (2008)


18. Leftover Crack – Mediocre Generica (2001)


17. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam (2007)


16. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (2005)


15. Rancid – Rancid (2000) (2000)


14. Ted Leo and The Pharmacists – The Tyranny of Distance (2001)


13. The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan (2005)


12. The Strokes – Room on Fire (2003)


11. Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine (2004)


10. Tom Waits – Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards (2006)


9. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)


8. Weezer – Weezer (The Green Album) (2001)


7. The Bouncing Souls – How I Spent My Summer Vacation (2001)


6. Green Day – Warning (2000)


5. The Bouncing Souls – The Gold Album (2006)


4. The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine (2006)


3. The Ergs! – Dorkrockcorkrod (2003)


2. Against Me! – Reinventing Axl Rose (2002)


1. The Strokes – Is This It (2001)



Year Count:
2000: 7
2001: 13
2002: 2
2003: 4
2004: 5
2005: 5
2006: 5
2007: 4
2008: 4
2009: 1



Almost Interesting Facts:
- Love at the time the record came out is factored in, for example I don’t listen to The Unseen’s Explode that much now but it was one of my favorite records for a while after it was released.

- The band with the most albums is The Thermals with three.

- There are 7 bands with multiple albums (The Strokes, The Thermals, Against Me!, Animal Collective, The White Stripes, The Gaslight Anthem, and The Bouncing Souls) representing 15 albums of the 50.

- Out of my four 2008 albums, only one made it on my Top 10 of 2008 post at the time (All 5 records from 2006 made my Top 10 at the time, 2 out of 4 from 2007 and the only album I have from 2009 was my #1 for that year)

- Unsurprisingly, it looks as if the longer an album stays with me it’s more likely it would wind up on the list as 44% of the albums are from the first 3 years of the decade alone. Also, no album in the Top 16 was released after 2006.

Top 10 Albums of the Year:

1) Screaming Females – Power Move
2) So Many Dynamos – The Loud Wars
3) The Besties – Home Free
4) Kissy Kamikaze – Knock Knock
5) Wisdom in Chains – Everything You Know
6) Trapped Under Ice – Secrets Of The World
7) BERNAYS PROPAGANDA – Happiness Machines
8) Touché Amoré – ... To The Beat of a Dead Horse
9) Meinhof – Under The Burning Sky Of Future Events
10) Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra – PARADISE BLUE

Top 2 EPs of the Year Except They Were Stretched to LPs:

1)Bomb the Music Industry! – Scrambles
2)Blacklisted – No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me (sic)

Top 5 Actual EPs of the Year:

1) Paint It Black – Amnesia
2) Death First – Demo
3) Bad Credit No Credit – Hey, Rube!
4) A Wilhelm Scream – A Wilhelm Scream
5) Casting Curses – Heartificial

Top 20 Songs of the Year:

1) The Besties – 79 lorimer
2) P.O.S. – Terrorish (featuring Jason Shevchuck)
3) Blacklisted – I Am Extraordinary
4) Bad Credit No Credit – Love Is Blonde
5) Pansy Division – That's So Gay
6) Paint It Black – Salem
7) Bomb the Music Industry! – (Shut) Up The Punx!!!
8) Bomb the Music Industry! – 25!
9) So Many Dynamos – The Novelty of Haunting
10) Flipper – Be Good, Child!
11) Reflections of internal rain – ROIR Barmy Army
12) Hub City Stompers – Ska Train To Dorkville
13) Death First - Tested
14) Yoni Gordon – Fairytale Of New York (Pogues cover, featuring Franz Nicolay and Emilyn Brodsky)
15) Dear Landlord – I Live in Hell
16) Raised Fist – Friends And Traitors
17) So Many Dynamos – New Bones
18) Matt & Kim – Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare
19) Partyline – Bad For The Baby
20) Living With Lions – She's A Hack

Top 5 Albums of the Decade:

1) Sleater Kinney – One Beat (2002)
2) Discount – Singles 2 (2002)
3) Bomb the Music Industry! - Album Minus Band (2005)
4) None More Black – File Under Black (2003)
5) The World/Inferno Friendship Society – Red-Eyed Soul (2006)

Did music close out the decade with bang? Not exactly, but some solid records were released. Want to know my 11 favorites? No? Well too bad.

My Top 11 Favorite Albums of 2009:

11. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Easily the most frenzied and chaotic live band I’ve seen this year.
Essential Tracks: French Navy, The Sweetest Thing


10. NOFX - Coaster
Wasn’t expecting much, but they did far better than their two main 1990's California punk contemporaries that released records this year (Green Day and Rancid). My Orphan Year is absolutely heartbreaking and will go down as one of the all time great NOFX songs (if it hasn’t already).
Essential Tracks: My Orphan Year, Eddie, Bruce, And Paul


9. Lucero – 1372 Overton Park
The horns are a bit jarring at first and there’s a few cringe-worthy good old boy hick couplets (“Drinking women/chasing whiskey”), but no one is better than Lucero at crafting a country record with punk flourishes.
Essential Tracks: Smoke, The Devil And Maggie Chascarillo


8. Mastodon - Crack The Skye
Haven’t paid attention to metal as much as I should have this year, but I got this when everyone’s collective mouth was slobbering over this album’s shaft. Very good record, I’d only give it a handjob though.
Essential Tracks: Oblivion, Divinations


7. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Better than Street Horrrsing, completely hypnotic and engaging.
Essential Tracks: Surf Solar, The Lisbon Maru


6. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
Containing the cohesiveness I thought was missing from Beyond, Dinosaur Jr. seem to be defying the general perception that post-reunion albums are uniformly embarrassing.
Essential Tracks: I Want You to Know, Over It


5. Teenage Bottlerocket - They Came From The Shadows
Crucial st00pid leather jacket pop punk. Bottlerocket!
Essential Tracks: Don't Want To Go, Tonguebiter


4. The Horrors - Primary Colours
Definitely the largest great band to lamest looking band ratio ever. Ditching the garage rock and going to a more The Cure-esque sound created some atmospheric dazzling songs.
Essential Tracks: Who Can Say, Primary Colours


3. Screaming Females - Power Move
Loud, brash, sloppy, awesome.
Essential Tracks: Bell, Skull


2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
The only album I listened to in January. Dance!
Essential Tracks: My Girls, Brothersport


1. The Thermals - Now We Can See
Their worst album (starting this commentary too negatively), still my favorite record of 2009. The motif of “songs when we felt alive” is brilliant. While there is still a lot of spacey/water imagery in the lyrics, many songs make me nostalgic about the past, specifically high school.
Essential Tracks: When We Were Alive, At the Bottom of the Sea


My Top 5 Favorite EPs/7”s of 2009:

5. Paint It Black - Amnesia
Dammit Dan I didn’t wish you put out your hand for me to shake right after I got out of bathroom and didn’t wash them last year.


4. Austin Lucas / Frank Turner - Under the Influence Vol. 8 7"
My favorite so far in the Under the Influence series, Frank Turner may be more of a name but Austin Lucas put up the better track, a touching cover of Dolly Parton’s To Daddy. And lol @ Mitch Clem for misspelling Lucas.


3. Lemuria – Ozzy 7”
Exactly what I would expect from a new Lemuria 7” and I mean that in the best way possible.


2. The Bouncing Souls – 20th Anniversary Series: Part Three
Best one of the pack in my humble opinion (Shamwow! Badass!), and a cover of Quick Chek Girl on a ukulele doesn’t hurt much either.


1. Psyched to Die – Sterile Walls
Living life is just a waste of time, gotta find a fucking way out.


My 2009 Mixtape:

Instead of listing my top 10 favorite singles, I decided to make a mix tape representing some choice tracks I’ll look back on fondly. Of course, it follows the general mix tape guidelines - No repeating of artists, flow is important, four corners approach, etc.

Side A:
1. Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar
2. Animal Collective - My Girls
3. The Horrors – Who Can Say
4. Teenage Bottlerocket - Fatso Goes Nutzoid
5. Psyched to Die - Permanent Solution
6. Cobra Skulls - H.D.U.I. (Honorary Discharge Under The Influence)
7. Vampire Weekend – Cousins
8. Franz Nicolay - Jeff Penalty

Side B:
1. The Thermals - When We Were Alive
2. NOFX - My Orphan Year
3. Night Birds - Paranoid Times
4. Japandroids – Wet Hair
5. Nile - Permitting The Noble Dead To Descend To The Underworld
6. Rancid - Up To No Good
7. Camera Obscura - French Navy
8. Lily Allen - Chinese
9. The Bouncing Souls - Airport Security


Best LP of 2008 I Didn’t Hear Until 2009:

The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
Yeah I know it’s weird to sleep on big bands like this but I just never got the record until this year… whoopsies!

Best EP of 2008 I Didn’t Hear Until 2009:

The Measure [sa] - Songs About People... and Fruit n' Shit
I did include a track from this on my mixtape last year, but that was the only song I heard off it (pretty hard to find) until this year. It’s entirely fantastic, would have been my #1 EP of last year.


Top 5 Shows of the Year:
5. Darkness at the Edge of Your Town, 3/16/09, The Parlor, NJ
Paul Baribeau and Ginger Alford playing 10 Bruce Sprinsteen songs in a basement with Mike Erg singing harmony in my ear? Yes plz.

4. Street Dogs / Swingin’ Utters, 3/14/09, Asbury Lanes, NJ
Has anyone gone to a show with a better line up for their 21st birthday?

3. Black Wine / Night Birds / Drunken Boat / Back Pocket, 10/2/09, Meat Town USA, NJ
A New Brunswick slice of life, the best basement show I went to this year. Two ex-Ergs! bands, two 40s and some intense sing-alongs to Night Birds <3

2. The Bouncing Souls / Chuck Ragan / Screaming Females, 12/29/09, The Stone Pony, NJ
I must be biased; every year I go to The Bouncing Souls’ Home For The Holidays in Asbury one of the nights always make my year end list. The Bouncing Souls had a creative play-themed setlist, Chuck Ragan was utterly powerful, and the Screamales translated a lot better on a big stage than I thought they would.

1. The Mummies / The Back CC’s, 6/10/09, Southpaw, Brooklyn, NYC
Holy shit, The Mummies return! In Brooklyn! And I saw it! And it was the best show of the year!

That said, here's mine:


"But Ryan!" You may ask. "Why are you posting this at nearly a quarter to nine on January 31st?"

That's because I am a notorious procrastinator, and a bit of a ditherer.

"Also, isn't it considered bad form to post one of these long past the point where people might have cared, i.e. the beginning of the month?"

Well, yes.

ALBUMS:
01. Future of the Left - Travels With Myself And Another [4AD]
-Loud, diamond hard, with melodies that cut like razor wire.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCvCBkx50mI
02. Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights [Load]
-What happened to Lightning Bolt? They're writing HOOKS now? And CHORUSES, even?? What do they think they are, songwriters or something??*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvu3UhXeLg8
03. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone [ANTI-]
-It's a testament to Neko Case's astounding voice and songwriting skill that she can make lyrics about a killer whale killing and partially consuming its trainer sound hauntingly beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXl870NoF4E
04. Japandroids - Post-Nothing [Unfamiliar / Polyvinyl]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOoHAbnhxNI
05. Mos Def - The Ecstatic [Downtown]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT-hYXqTN38
06. Sonic Youth - The Eternal [Matador]
-2009 was kind of a banner year for old bands putting out awesome new shit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKlbBgQHPqo
07. Mission of Burma - The Sound The Speed The Light [Matador]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04tY9owV0wk
08. Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall [Matador]
-Call Jay Reatard what you will: asshole, petulant child--and by most accounts, it's probably true. But the dude writes catchy music, and he probably doesn't give a shit what we think about him, anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG65eqfg6bc
09. The Mountain Goats - the Life of the World to Come [4AD]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xY2TpuwHJ4
10. Dinosaur Jr - Farm [Jagjaguwar]
-Yep, they still sound like Dinosaur Jr. God love 'em.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgTJtdn6VjM
11. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic [Warner Bros.]
-This album is a big leap back to the Lips's psychedelic, noisy roots, and it kills. Although it's not entirely perfect ("I Can Be a Frog" is nearly unlistenable, and incontrovertible proof that Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is a RACIST), it's good to have a new Flaming Lips album that can be described with the words "shit kickin'".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVrVNZfGibU
12. Lucero - 1372 Overton Park [Universal Republic]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TALGmlQnDM
13. Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle [Drag City]
-Just wanna say that the song I linked for this album is like a Talking Heads song dosed on horse tranquilizers and box wine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ghP3DD2t6s
14. Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy [Warner Bros.]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQiR-rn5WEE
15. Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid [Nonesuch]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc5rxu9zCKY
16. Doom - Born Like This [Lex]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8HcVzZm1E0
17. dälek - Gutter Tactics [Ipecac]
-Militant hip hop with beats that sound like My Bloody Valentine in a noise-off with industrial machinery and jet engines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go_GDg7pW0Q
18. Obits - I Blame You [Sub Pop]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnq2Dm-BBW4
19. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! [Lost Highway]
-Gritty roadhouse soul is due for a comeback, I think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ-M_8pY6TI (If you have to sit through a fucking commercial to watch this, I apologize)
20. Mariachi El Bronx - Mariachi El Bronx [Swami / Wichita]
-This could have been really gimmicky, but the songs are actually really well-written.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1uihI8UOM4

EPs:
01. No Age - Losing Feeling [Sub Pop]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx_Cfo9nT34
02. Fucked Up - Year Of The Rat [What's Your Rupture?]
-Because I didn't make a 2008 list: Fucked Up's The Chemistry of Common Life was the best album of '08.
03. Paint It Black - Amnesia / Surrender [Bridge Nine / Fat Wreck]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMDBrHCDKnQ
04. Superchunk - Leaves In The Gutter [MERGE]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrt0O4tBVX8
05. Sleigh Bells - Demo [self-released]
-Scott Davis at UCB hooked me up with this one. Great guy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z8ppcFGPlY

COMEDY ALBUMS!!:
01. Paul F. Tompkins - Freak Wharf [A Special Thing]
-This is funnier than his first album, and his first album is hilarious. The title comes from the last track, an awesome bit about Go Ask Alice.
02. Maria Bamford - Unwanted Thoughts Syndrome [Comedy Central]

POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST LIST (Cool shit by people I know, or sort of know)
- Anamanaguchi - Dawn Metropolis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmECponMyPs
- Asia Whiteacre - The Something Silly EP
- Alex Benson - Dead Bones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9jaO5ClvBc

And too many honorable mentions to mention. Happy New Year, errebody! Special thanks goes to the wonderful people at Youtube. This next decade is yours, guys!


*seriously though, this shit still pummels

The new Isis is pretty fantastic. Saw that one coming. Sounds great on vinyl.

White Tomb is pretty great. I like that band.

Can't Maintain might be my favorite album of the year. Goddamn that was so good.

Blue Record is awesome. I don't fucking care what anyone says, that band has consistently put out great pieces of work. Saying they sound like radio rock is like saying Fugazi sounds like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. A bootleg of Baroness' performance at Roadburn from this year is floating around on the interwebs if you're interested. It's pretty great up until they start playingCoeur but then just suddenly kick into the end of "Rise" and finish. If they did that and I was seeing them live I would just flip.


Between the Buried and Me put out another record which I forgot to listen to. I bet it's good.

*EDIT* --Oh dang, this album came out in 2008. I got it this past year and I was going by the year it had been tagged with in my library. Yeah, whoops. Still recommended.
Unblessing The Purity by Bloodbath is fucking great. It's only an EP, unfortunately. I just love Bloodbath. They're one of a select group of modern Death Metal bands that actually really excites me. That shit just kills.

Swallow Your Teeth is another winner. The new songs were really killer live, too.

Gin is a really peculiar but impressive USBM album that deserves the hype it has been getting. That's another album on Profound Lore, which is currently putting out by far the best extreme metal albums lately.

Axe To Fall is just as intense, incomprehensible, and jaw dropping as one would expect a Converge album to be. I love how I can always count on the "what the fuck? that's just crazy" sensation to hit me when I come across new Converge material without fail.

He Is Never Coming Back came to me late in the year, finals to be precise, and preceded to knock me on my ass. Just the perfect mix of dissonant, abrasive, mathy Coalesce shit and savage grind with an incredible low end. That band is great. The production on this album reminds me so much of the open, huge sound of Interviews With David Frost.

Deconstruct is another incredible album. The female vocals add a lot, it's incredible fast and incredibly heavy. Words don't do it justice, truly. Check it out if you have not.

Buttsweat and Tears is another damn good release by one of my favorite damn bands, the Lawrence Arms. I should give that thing a few hundred more spins.

Black Eye Blues is a really captivating, dark album that came at me by surprise. I liked Lewd Acts okay when I saw them like a year ago but they didn't make an incredibly strong impression outside of how drunk the lead singer was and the bassist making sure that everyone at the show was respectful towards the women at the show that evening, which I appreciated. The album though, has such a manic desperation to it. It hits really deep, sort of similar to bands like Another Breath and Modern Life Is War. It sounds a little bit like Born Against, too, which is a plus.

MAGRUDERGRIND is just an incredible album. It could very possibly be my favorite grind album of all time. The new production has added so much body to the songs in a way that would have been impossible on the older shit, first of all. Secondly the new songs are just so much heavier. Bridge Burner, for example, is like being smashed vertically by a truck. Damn that album rules. I've had trouble revisiting the older Magrudergrind albums as a result of this one.

Paint It Black put out two 7"s this year. I loved "Amnesia". I never bothered to listen to "Surrender". That band never gets enough credit. That's all I'm going to say.

Collapse by my favorite USBM act, Panopticon, is stunning, expansive, mournful, beautiful, and crushing, typically all during the course of one song. That dude has been keeping pretty busy and evidently there are some splits cooked up for this coming calendar year. I await them.

Aw shit. Propagandhi put out a new album this year and I've hardly listened to it. Dumb.

Punch by Punch fucking rules and that band also rules. Enough said.

Shrinebuilder is as great as one would expect a Neurosis-Melvins-Sleep super group album to be.

Breathing The Fire is another album that deserves more attention from me. It's great, really.

Suffocation put out a new album this year and as the originators of that hyper-brutal/technical shit, it's only appropriate how massive the new album is. Maybe I'll see that band live some day, barring I don't get karate chopped in half by some nut ninja pitting or something.

Black Cascade may be the contender for my favorite record of the year after the new Jihad album. Not that I'm going on a qualitative scale or anything. I'm falling asleep as I speak. I could drift off into sleep listening to that album, which I have before many times. Yeah, that's a good measure of quality. Dreamability.



I'm sure I forgot some things. I still primarily listen to shit that sounds kind of similar fundamentally. I need to work on that. Next year.

Top 20 Albums:
1. Strike Anywhere - Iron Front
2. Polar Bear Club - Chasing Hamburg
3. Gifts From Enola - from fathoms
4. The Swellers - Ups and Downsizing
5. Caspian - Tertia
6. Strung Out - Agents Of The Underground
7. Converge - Axe To Fall
8. Isis - Wavering Radiant
9. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse
10. Pelican - What We All Come To Need
11. Do Make Say Think - Other Truths
12. Coalesce - OX
13. Russian Circles - Geneva
14. Asobi Seksu - Hush
15. Baroness -- Blue Record
16. Mono -- Hymn To The Immortal Wind
18. Sunn O))) - Monoliths and dimensions
19. Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
20. Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect

Top 10 EPs, Splits, and 7"s:
1. Cave In - Planets of Old
2. Paint It Black - Amnesia
3. Paint It Black - Surrender
4. Lipona - Pigeonholed
5. Envy/Jesu - Split EP
6. A Wilhelm Scream - A Wilhelm Scream
7. The Lawrence Arms - Buttsweat and Tears
8. Capital - Blind Faith
9. Pelican - Ephemeral
10. Pyramids with Nadja - S/T