Best of 2008

Best albums of 2008? Here's my no-nonsense list:



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Blank Drug Mixtape #1

I've successfully procrastinated so long on getting this mix together and available to you, my few and proud readers, that it is now a Christmas New Year's Inauguration Day Valentine's Day present. I realize this is not a real mixtape, but the word seems to have been co-opted so heavily and regularly as meaning any personally made collection of songs that maybe you should just chill the fuck out. You may also take issue with how I've mixed black music and white music, but this is a new dawn, High Fidelity readin racist. Obamania has swept aside the old rules. Alright, continue reading, 20 19 tracks of heavenly joy await you (with track-by-track me-writing-stuff!).

Download Blank Drug Mixtape #1

Upon review, I'm not as pleased with this thing as I was back in November when I assembled it, but there's always next time. The front of this thing is still solid gold, though.

1. Hear Ya Dance - Andre Williams and the New Orleans Hellhounds
I picked up this album mostly for the name of the band. I had no previous knowledge of Andre Williams, but it turns out he's a pretty prolific and rad guy that I really should've known about. Long story short, he's a dirty old man from Detroit who wrote with Stevie Wonder, Funkadelic, Ike Turner, et al. This is from his 2008 release, "Can You Deal With It?" which is chock full of jams that go great with a couple glasses of scotch. This song makes me happy from "Helloooo, baby" on through to the delirious outro, let it make you happy, too.

2. Showstopper - Iron Knowledge
This is off of a fine compilation of funk rock tunes called "Chains and Black Exhaust" and features the bass line from hell. I'm pretty sure it's a bass. Could be an octave pedaled guitarwhocares.

3. Baby Brother - White Stripes
I wish the White Stripes would pursue this sound. This is one of my favorite Stripes songs ever, and Jack White relegated it to a B-side. Replete with vintage crazy-ass Jack White vocals and country sci-fi lyrics, you won't even try to not be completely about it.

4. Jailhouse Rock - Aguaturbia
Continuing into weirdo rockabilly, this is the single best rendition of Jailhouse Rock. This is the way the song should sound. After listening, there's no going back to any other wack-ass arrangement of it. Aguaturbia is a Chilean rock band from the early 70's who've recently surfaced on some blogs trading in obscure psychedelic gems. The vocalist features none of the not-quite-on-pitchness that brings down so many Spanish-language psych bands, the guitarist is on point, and the drummer does not quit destroying. Also, how can you not be won over by the occasional and erratic substitution of "yale" (as in, I speak Spanish, j's are y's) for "jail"?

5. Precious and Grace - ZZ Top
ZZ Top is one of the greatest bands ever.

6. Killers - Shellac
This is from the fairly recently released "Extraneous Material" compilation of Shellac odds-and-ends and it rules.

7. Inquiry Perpitrated - Thee Oh Sees
Thee Oh Sees released my favorite album of the year ("The Master's Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In"), but I took this off of their recent split 12" with The Intelligence. Lo-fi magic, get into Thee Oh Sees.

8. Rock and Roll - Edan
Edan's last full-length, "Beauty and the Beat", was released in 2005 and remains one of the most interesting, creatively packed, entertaining albums I've ever heard. Endearing shit: sampling the Electric Prunes. Dip into the lo-fi/hi-fi dub fog of Edan, find the whole album.

9. Fa Sho ft. Odd Squad - Devin the Dude
Devin the Dude's 2002 release "Just Tryin to Live" is also one of my favorite albums. This is a choice jam of the many choice jams on that record. Meticulously produced and promptly overlooked by most outside of critical circles, the whole album is a must listen. Supremely enjoyable, highly recommended, etc.

10. Euroman - J.J. Burnell
This is the only French musical artist I've heard that uses his national aversion to catchy melody to such excellent effect. Off of a compilation of early French electronic music called "So Young But So Cold", J.J. Burnell's Jesus and Mary Chain-esque electro-rock beats everything else on there by a good margin. Endearing shit: slowly mutating French accent on the chorus.

11. Poverty - Barkmarket
"Poverty" is a fantastic jam from Barkmarket that I've been trying to find a place for on some sort of mix, so I've thrown it in here. Feel it.

12. Oh Mary - Ty Segall
Ty Segall released his full length debut this year, and it's a nice fuzzy blast of California by-way-of Detroit rock. Might sound too similar to White Stripes tropes, but who cares when it's so nice? "Oh Mary" pulls off a nice trick by leaning into the laid-back rock implied by the guitar rhythm and exhilirating at the same time.

14. Kiss - Captain Beefheart
This is taken from a studio outtakes record called "The Brown Star Sessions" and it's a nice little ditty. More straight forward than most of the Captain's stuff, the lo-fi quality enhances its charms. This is Captain Beefheart as you want to hear him.

15. Kindliness - Carsick Cars
Japanese indie that sounds almost American-made but takes more interesting turns.

16. Cheap Thrills - Eagles of Death Metal
My favorite jam off of the jam laden new record from The Eagles of Death Metal, "Heart On."

17. Ain't Got Nothin - Oasis
This one tops "Lord Don't Slow Me Down" as best thing Oasis has done recently.

18. I Wanna Be Free - Joe Tex
I'm smitten with the almost falling apart drumming that happens late in this song. Dude keeps it together and cranks up the tension, so thumbs up. Joe Tex is awesome, I wish gritty/showy 60's soul were being done in any kind of non-lame fashion today. There just doesn't seem to be a place for it, so enjoy the antique.

19. Bad Worker (Solo Home Demo) - The Replacements
Continuing with work songs, this one's off of Rhino's "Hootenanny" re-release. The whole series of those re-releases has been completely awesome, pick up whatever you can find. I always like when the Replacements lean into their folk/blues influences, and this is full on.

20. Time Can't Wait - Public Nuisance
This is a song from the Jack White-birthed compilation of 60's should've beens Public Nuisance. Apparently, their album wasn't released because the Manson Murders sent the record's producer into hiding. Whether or not that's what went down, the 2-disc "Gotta Survive" compilation released in 2002 contains some sure-fire hits. This one isn't even the best. That, hands down, goes to the T. Rex-y "Daddy's Comin Home." "Time Can't Wait" rules, too, though, and I haven't listened to it as many times, so it sounds fresher, feel me?

Alright! There it is! Happy V-day everybody. Feedback on the mix appreciated, should the next one be shorter? I think maybe yes.
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Sex...With Mom and Dad

There's a show on MTV called "Sex...with Mom and Dad", which is unfortunately not a heavily stylized, jump-cut-filled incest porn. Rather, it is a show about opening up the lines of communication between parents and their children about sex. This is very important to the show's host and therapist Dr. Drew. You may know Dr. Drew from the intermittently awesome "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" on VH1. This season features Gary Busey who is apparently just there to hang out and drop science. Important note: Gary Busey is not a scientist.

"Sex...with Mom and Dad with Dr. Drew" cements Dr. Drew's position as the liberal Dr. Phil. Where Dr. Phil wears suits and talks condescendingly, Dr. Drew doesn't wear a coat and raps with the people. I half-expect him to turn his chair around and straddle it when he has these convos. In a head-to-head matchup, Dr. Drew is much more likeable and more legitamate therapist-like than Dr. Phil, but I'd still rather see a doctor who uses his last name. Maybe Phil and Drew's last names are something like Hitlerfucker. Or maybe they're trying to create a heavily contrived sense of personality.

There's little reason to watch "Sex...with Mom and Dad with Dr. Drew" except if you tune in around 5 minutes before the end of each episode. If you're lucky, you'll get to see Dr. Drew's dramatic end-of-session "I'm so proud of you" face. It's awesome and he does it every time, each time slightly different. Like a skilled composer's variations on a theme, Dr. Drew's proud-face deepens its impact each time you see it.

Maybe I'll talk about music sometime soon.
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Politics

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Family Circus is Blowing My Mind

Saturday's Family Circus left my mind more blown out than prom hair. SENIOR prom hair. Yeah, a perfect punchline, I know. Actually, before I get the heart of this blog post, let's talk a little about prom hair. Personally, I prefer untampered hair on ladies, or lightly tampered. This business of rollers and hairspray and architecture always comes off looking weird at best and costumey at most. There's so much support structure going on, I expect those hairdos to have little pamphlets with facts like, "Susie's hair has enough metal clips in it, that if you melted them down and then remolded them into a new, massive clip, it would clip the world right in two. Scientists have concluded that this would cause Earth to lose its center of gravity and spin towards the sun, narrowly missing it for 23 passes, edging nearer and nearer over 18 years. A rogue group of scientists contests these claims, saying that the giant hair clip would, when applied to the Earth using, presumably, SkyLab, send one half of the world into the sun, and the other on a trajectory course with fame and fortune."

That's what that hair is like, to me.

I guess the response is that it's for the ladies themselves, to make them feel special and like princesses. I would suggest that you find a way to spend $200 on your hair and make it look like a thing that should be done in current society.

Take THAT, senior prom goers.

Of course, bashing high school chicks for no good reason like I'm some kind art history professor isn't why I'm writing a post today. No, my main topic, now strengthened by the previous four paragraphs, is this absurd Family Circus comic. It is so unusual, I felt compelled to share it.

Heavy shit to drop on me on Saturday morning, Dolly. What the fuck is your scene, lady? (Click here to continue reading...)

Look Around You - Module 6 - Music

I've been alternately busy and lazy lately, so I've been slacking on updates. I'm going to try and do two posts this month, but even if I don't, this should more than suffice. I invite you to check out all of the Look Around You series, it's some seriously genius stuff. Everything about it is spot on and awesome, but the writing is insanely good.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Grozart. (Click here to continue reading...)

Gene Vincent - The Lost Dallas Sessions 1957-1958

Rockabilly is decidedly out of vogue currently, so now is a good time to get hip to it. Actually, since the 50's, rockabilly has never really been cool. Revivalists the Flat Duo Jets (who rule) have recently gotten some coverage due to Jack White's recommendation, but they haven't been a band for a decade. When the most visible band in a genre is a retro group that's already broken up, you're looking at a pretty dead scene. Psychobilly occasionally almost achieves more mainstream success, but psychobilly is pretty fucking lame. It plays up the more cartoonish aspects of rockabilly and generally misses what makes the genre so great. OG Gene Vincent hits all the marks, and The Lost Dallas Sessions features some lo-fi and live recordings that do a good job of conveying the genuine badassery of Gene's brand of rockabilly.

Gene Vincent is the sort of artist who sounds like he has to channel himself through his genre, whereas the jackasses who make psychobilly put on rockabilly like it's a costume. Psychobilly kids are from your high school drama department. Did you think your high school drama department had any concept of "cool?" "Avenue Q is totally edgy! I listen to 80's pop, isn't that unique and fun?"

Not. a. fan.

Meanwhile, Gene Vincent is able to reach a level of artistic accomplishment through this particular style that hints at multiple layers of influence and expression. You can hear all the way back to gospel, and you can hear all the way into the Velvet Underground. Dude transcends, and his complete immersion in the music he's playing destroys any kind of resistance you might have going into this whole "I think I'll check out rockabilly" thing. He always strikes the right balance of having a sense of humor, but playing it straight enough to sell it and bring out the darker, more ominous qualities of the music. The best example of this is "Cat Man" which is on a sweeeet rockabilly box set called "Rockin Bones."

Cat Man

That one tune completely decimates about 99% of rock songs. The fact that is was recorded in the mid-50's makes it an even stronger contender for most rockin' song ever committed to wax. Here're some choice tracks off of The Lost Dallas Sessions (Buy it) to give you an appetite for the destruction Gene Vincent brings. These are studio outtakes, live recordings, and home demos from 1957 and '58.

Blue Jean Bop (Live)
My Love (In Love Again)
Lotta Lovin
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