Mood:
accident prone1-Bottomless Pit - Hammer of the Gods (Self-released/Comedy Minu One)
Beautiful release, buy this on vinyl ! Bottomless Pit is the new band by Tim & Andy of Silkworm, Chris from Seam and Brian of .22. For fans of Silkworm, pavement, seam, neil young.
2-J Church - The Horror of Life (No Idea)
Lance left us this year, but not before leaving "The Horror of Life". This is one of the most agressive J Church albums to date; filled with all right amounts of Pop Punk, hardcore, political banter, and heartfelt snippets of Lance's life. Awesome.
3-Haram - Drescher (Lovitt)
A slight change from the previous release. They've added another guitarist and expanded the songwriting & vocals quite a bit. Much more ground stylistically is covered on this release. It's not just another post hardcore album from ex-hardcore guys, there's a lot of good stuff here!! This would fit in quite well with the best of th '90's dischord bands.
4-Dinosaur Jr - Beyond (Fat Possum)
Maybe their best full album yet?
5-Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Living with the Living (Touch & Go)
Ted Leo always puts out great music. Solid release, maybe a tad long, but aren't most of his albums, and I shouldn't complain, more Ted Leo is a good thing.
6-Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy (Ecstatic Peace)
It's seriously "sonic youth-light", so good !
7-Neurosis - Given to the Rising (Neurot)
Heavy, brooding, moody, dark. This is their heaviest album in a while. You can see how they created a genre, and continue to be the best. Metal/Sludge/Doom or whatever you call it, this is good stuff!
8-The Unlovables - Heartsickle (Crafty)
Pop punk love songs ! So catchy, I really love this stuff !!
9-Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound (Touch & Go)
You either like them or you don't, I just happen to like them ! Great Album !
10-The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour (Epitaph)
I don't like this album quite as much as their previous releases, but it's slowly growing on me. Good Solid melodic/indie/Alt-country/rock with great lyrics.
11-Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch)
It's hard to beat listening to this album driving from Sedona to Phoenix! Not as noisy as the last couple albums, but another great batch of songs!
12-Machine Go Boom - Music for Parents (Collectible Escalators)
Cleveland band who continue to amaze. So many great tunes. Go see them live!
13-Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic)
It's good! I like Modest Mouse.
14-American Steel - Destroy Their Future (Fat Wreck)
Good rock/punk release. So glad they've returned !!
15-Against Me! - New Wave (Sire)
Nothing remarkabley new here if you are already familiar with them, but a good solid album.
16-Robert Pollard - Coast to Coast Carpet of Love (Merge)
Great album, better of the two released on the same day.
17-Mary Timony Band - The Shapes We Make (Kill Rock Stars)
I have a feeling that Mary Timony may be about to release the best album ever in the near future, this is so good! It's much like her Helium days, actually probably better, I just got this a few weeks ago, so we'll see how it holds up.
18-Radiohead - In Rainbows (Self-released)
Best release by Radiohead since OK Computer.
19-The X Bolex - This Time Next Year You will be Oxidizing Stone (Tower Control)
Great Cleveland Act. Wonderful but short release. Good mellow jazzy indie rock, with a few surprises thrown in here and there.
20-Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice (Suicide Squeeze)
Such a fun band to listen to, these guys have some amazing talent and create some fascinating soundscapes.
Honorable mentions for some other releases I spent time listening to:
Bad Religion, Bad Brains, The Six Parts Seven, Pelican, Sundowner, Incommunicado, Giants, Explosions in the Sky, the Sea and Cake, Tegan & Sara, Liono, Ben Weasel
I spent a lot of time this year rediscovering and enjoying a ton of '90's & older bands that I hadn't listened to much lately; especially the back catalog of Silkworm (awesome); plus I just started the quest of listening to the entire discography of Neil Young - 3 albums at a time (woo!)
The band I'm in (SeaTac 67) has been continuing on, it's been a rough year with tough work schedules and mike f leaving the band, but we found Ryan to play drums, and we managed to write a few new songs, met some new friends, and played some fun shows. I think we're slowly getting better as musicians, songwriters and as a band and I hope next year turns out great !!
Things to look foward to next year: a new Dillinger 4 album, HWM reunion show, Lemuria's new album, new Pilot to Gunner, new North Lincoln, Antilles, anything my friends put out, a new SeaTac 67 album (?), and whatever life throws my way !
jim
