Undulating Uuvulas

XMAS PRESENTS:

I was going to review the albums I received for Christmas before I realized that if I said something disparaging about any of them it would be rude and inconsiderate towards those who bought them, some of whom read this. Since no one gave me Faith Evans' Greatest Hits or anything of the ilk, there wasn't too much to complain about anyway.

MY PRESENTS TO MYSELF (fair game):

Main Offender - Keith Richards

It's Deerhoof's fault that I bought this album (based on a recommendation list penned by drummer Greg Saunier). And the Amazements, they're always in awe of Keith. When I told Liam I was really enjoying this he said I was the only person under 40 besides him that expressed a liking for it. Ho hum!

Freed from the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards makes music that unsurprisingly sounds like the Stones with a lot less singing on it. He actually has a much better, tar and whiskey-ravaged voice circa 1991 than he did on his debut singing lead on 1966's "Something Happened to Me Yesterday" (and that song sucked anyway). But he uses it to color and comment upon, rather than dominate, any given song - unlike a certain someone (whose solo records aren't as good as this).

Strong tracks include single "Wicked as it Seems" (the requisite "It's over, fuck you" song) which has one of those great male rock-survivor backup singer refrains typical for the early 90s (for more examples of this, check out the sole Little Village album, starring John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner). Then my personal favorite, "Eileen," which approaches (Exile on Main Street track) "Happy"-type territory with drummer Steve Jordan doing a spot-on Charlie Watts impression at the kit. "Hate it When You Leave" is a rather obvious Motown tribute - check out the horn refrains and fake flute sounds - but charming rather than contempt-provoking. And shit, even the extended island exploration "Words of Wonder" (par for the course on Rolling Stones albums starting around the mid-70s) is pretty fucking good too, although I'm still scratching my head over how Keith fashions himself to be a reggae artist one song per album. Switching out bourbon for "herb" for a day?

Black and Blue - The Rolling Stones

This took a while to grow on me. Part of this can be attributed to the fact that I left the actual disc in the store's CD player in which I was testing it out. And didn't come back to get it for three weeks, increasingly afraid it wouldn't be there as time bore on.

Much has been said about Black and Blue being lackluster, half-assed, "the first meaningless Stones album" (Bangs) but over thirty years later, when the Stones are as cartoonish as they come with their increasingly melted-looking visages and incessant selling-out, the blow has been softened to the point of irrelevance. Besides, who in their right mind could consider Goat's Head Soup or It's Only Rock and Roll deep artistic statements?

Sonically, this is one of the absolute best-sounding Stones albums there is. Chronologically, it's right on the border between the Stones' obsession with capturing a great live sound and then sacrificing their music to whatever production trend is hip at the time (see Dirty Work, the Dust Brothers-produced Bridges to Babylon or the simply miserable-sounding A Bigger Bang). Which enables vacous songs like disco-chant opener "Hot Stuff" ("Can't get enough") and rawkin' stompin' chantin' closer "Crazy Mama" ("You're crazy, mama") to still be engaging and enjoyable free of illicited disgust from the listener.

The ballads come embued with a certain creepiness this time. At over 7 minutes, "Memory Motel" is a bit hard to digest - don't mistake its length for ambition - and its tale of empty on-the-road romance may offend at first before the overall statement of alienation and melancholy (reflected in much of the album in the first place) rings true, becoming a strength rather than a cheap ploy. "Hand of Fate" is one of the best most known-unknown Stones tracks there is, and pretty much the only time they offer up a fantastic rock song free of pretense on the album. Then, "Melody" finds the band apparently in smoky jazz-club mode, brushed snares, soulful harmonies and Billy Preson (who probably wrote the song, in all honesty) trading lines with Mick putting on most overdone impression of someone-or-other. Completely ridiculous. Check out his own Jamaica Man stylings on mandatory island exploration (cover) "Cherry Oh Baby" (one of the best tracks on the album to boot, with Keith yelling "IRIE!" about halfway through).

Look, the album's a fucking joke now, but an enjoyable and really good-sounding joke. It's a good album, one that reinforces the cliche the Stones have become to most people with style - well, many different styles, anyway.

Offend Maggie - Deerhoof

On first pass, I hate every new Deerhoof album. Well, so far. When "+81" came out as a sneak peek for Friend Opportunity I thought it was childish and stupid and vowed not to buy the album, which I ended up buying the day it came out. (I still consider it to be my favorite Deerhoof album so far.) Flash forward to a couple months later when I sat in my friend's car stoned on hash, silently attributing all these deep, morbid meanings behind the single's extremely minimal lyrics, even trying to connect it to Egyptian mythology, which I know next to nothing about.

So it should have been no surprise that I absoutely loathed "Tears and Music of Love" and "Fresh Born" upon hearing both of them. (They just seemed too cutesy.) But instead I was sent into an existential funk. Did Deerhoof go from amazing to suck in one year? Or was it me? I didn't buy the album the day it came out. I didn't even think about seeing them at the Avalon in October, assuming I wouldn't be into it.

And then, of course, I broke down and bought the fucker at Amoeba used a couple months later, days before my brother could manage to give it to me for Christmas.

Offend Maggie is a return to the "band" record-sound the band put forth on The Runners Four, as opposed to the more ambitious productions found on Friend or Milk Man - and with all the recording knocked out in three days, one would expect so. Sure, weird sounds creep out on "This is God Speaking" and maybe a blast of noise here and there - but essentially this album finds the Hoof getting back to four-piece rawking, now that they have guitarist Ed Rodriguez in the band.

"Tears and Music of Love" won me over upon second listening, what with its endearing ripoff of Free's "All Right Now" in its first 30 seconds, before being followed up by the almost Rundgren-esque "Chandalier Searchlight," one of Deerhoof's all-time best songs; sounds like they know it, too. Other highlights include the title track, featuring John Deiterich's ornate acoustic fingerpicking and irresistible harmonies between lead singer Satomi Matsuzaki and drummer/husband Greg Saunier; and the absolutely gorgeous and stately "My Purple Past."

More than anything, this album reinforces the fact that Deerhoof gets away with a lot of shit that other bands wouldn't. Some of this can be attributed to Satomi's voice, a love it or hate it naive soprano which transforms material from pretentious or archetypically indie into a new breed of weirdness, almost like deranged Children's TV themes. Or Greg Saunier's spastic drumming, inserting extra beats and weird time signatures into four-on-the-floor rock beats. Or the guitarists' weave through songs in and out of dissonance to assonance within measures. The songs are fantastic but it is the performances that make them so with Deerhoof - every time. Don't try singing this shit at your next campfire, it won't come off. Stick to Sublime.

Bottom line - can't wait to hate, and then ultimately love, the next Deerhoof album....

Climate of Hunter - Scott Walker

That Scott Walker is one gloomy fella. He does these outerwordly harmonies with his low-singin' self. On this album, 80s reverb abounds but doesn't destroy his impressionistic and almost unclassifiable songs. At the end he covers a song by Tennessee Williams...

But that's about all I can say about it right now. I think it sounds good. I'm not sure why. When I find out, I'll let you know.

Some songs for yu:

"The Losing End (When You're On)" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
"St. Elmo's Fire" - Brian Eno
"No Sex" - Alex Chilton
"'Til The End of the Day," "She's A Mover" - Big Star
"Je Suis Un Rock Star" - Bill Wyman
"Sunny Side of the Street" - The Pogues
"Late Night" - Syd Barrett

awesome

OMG ARE THEY SAYING JACK BLACK'S GONNA DIE OF AN OD JUST LIKE JOHN BELUSHI LMFAO

Can't wait to read about this one in Chronicles Volume 69

Not very new music at the Fuhrerbunker

NOTE: These reviews got started almost two months ago. I need to get them out so I can review other things I've bought since then.

Brand New by Tomorrow - Money Mark

I think Money Mark is very responsive to whichever musical environment he happens to be in at the time. Example: in the mid-90s, he's hanging out with the Beastie Boys every day, shooting hoops and helping them make some of the best music they ever released. At night, he goes home to make Mark's Keyboard Repair, which, next to Bee Thousand, is the best "lo-fi" home-recorded album of that decade - funky, playful, funny, and fun; it still sounds just as fresh and exciting today as the day I bought it.

Flash forward to the mid-aughts, when he's hanging out with Jack Johnson, signed to his label...yeah, "Bubble Toes" or whatever it is...and then he goes home to demo (twice) Brand New by Tomorrow. Sadly, it sounds a bit like his current label boss' work.

I guess I shouldn't go too hard on Mssr. Johnson - he did co-write the album's strongest track, "Pick Up The Pieces." In fact, the biggest problem here is Mark's continued reliance on chutzpah and a general vibe to carry his music through. He's never been the most ingenious songwriter (in fact he's just kind of an endearing softee) or producer, even though he is a fantastic musician. Trouble is, on Brand New, the vibe just isn't there most of the time. True, his passion for music and old records is still evident with the occasional flash of an inspired sound, such as the sterling session work of legends Carol Kaye and Jim Keltner or the blast of one of Mark's famous McGyver-esque feedback loops. Less frequently, Mark can throw himself into the material to make it just charming enough to warrant another listen, like on opener "Color of Your Blues." But more often than not, he's just churning out pedestrian, same-y songwriting with one foot in the 70s and another one in drek; ironically, at its worst, Brand New comes off sounding like a bad demo. No instrumentals this time - he keeps that separate now (see 2001's so-so collection Change is Coming), so the album's that less diverse and engaging. Sad to see that someone who once opened the possibilities of what an "album" could be as late as the 90's has since opted to just make "pleasant" sounding music. (EDIT: Sold back to store w/o uploading songs)

Earthquake Glue - Guided by Voices

I'm thinking that one of these days, I need to put up a "GBV in review" post. Perhaps after I purchase Isolation Drills.

Yes folks, Earthquake Glue is the penultimate step to me owning every single fucking Guided by Voices album - shucks, I don't have Forever Since Breakfast, but it's an EP so I won't sweat it. Yet. How did it happen? Sometimes things just get away from you, I guess. Plus, I own the "Director's Cut" of Bee Thousand, which swallowed up the Grand Hour and I Am A Scientist EPs on disc 3 with even MORE bonus tracks. I rule.

The matter on hand. Earthquake Glue. That fucking Jim Greer wrote that goddamn fucking really good book Hunting Accidents on GBV that I've reread (pointlessly) about three times because I wish it was 1000 pages long. UGH! Anyway, somewhere near the book's end he declares the band's last three albums to be "quite possibly the best the band ever recorded." I believe that with Universal Cycles; that album is years and years ahead of its time. Half Smiles, though, for all its wonderful opening tracks, is pretty mediocre (I'll be willing to expand this review in my GBV survey, stay tuned). So Jimmy's 1 for 2.

It's too early for me to call Earthquake Glue. Strange? Nah, many of the best GBV albums take a lot of listens to make their intended impact, such as Propeller (especially side 2), Vampire on Titus, Under the Bushes and even Do the Collapse (don't let anyone tell you otherwise, there are some amazing tracks beneath that compressed murk Ric Ocasek buried the band under). More and more toward the end of GBV, Pollard's non-single writing got increasingly chunky, taking his version of the super-compressed pop song into new realms. In Bobworld, simple songs often seem more complex than they ever were and vice versa; he probably doesn't even know how he does it due to the breakneck speed with which he writes. One almost feels they have to pull the song apart to enjoy fully. But this is part of the beauty of Bob/GBV/whatever - it really is thinking people's music as much as it is drinking people's music - you can just as easily chug a beer to this stuff.

One thing I can say is that Earthquake Glue isn't short on standout tracks. Highlights include the see-saw melody of "Beat Your Wings," the jerky prog of "Dead Cloud" (most likely the album's best song) and cheeky rock album closer "Of Mites and Men" plus the album's two singles, "Best of Jill Hives" (which is orgasmically sublime) and "My Kind of Soldier," which you already knew were great if you bought greatest hits collection Human Amusement at Hourly Rates like I did in 2003.

But GBV is a very serious addiction. Albums like Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes are just gateway drugs. You get the jones for more Bob, so you fill out the albums. Then you get the EPs. All of 'em. Then it's on to the solo albums and side projects. Don't forget Toby's stuff. Or Doug's. Once you've bought your first Acid Ranch record or something you know you've reached the point of no return. When Pollard dies, I fear that a couple thousand people around the world might pass away with him from withdrawal symptoms. (By the way, I'm thinking about buying that new Boston Spaceships album, like, every day. This is not good.) (EDIT: Purchased, see below)

Brown Submarine - Boston Spaceships

Forgive the perhaps over-excited nature with which I mentioned this album earlier.

Robert Pollard has been failing to deliver on promises he made before GBV officially split in 2004, which is, basically, to return to a more raw, ragged, fun way of making music. I was especially concerned for the future of his music when I read a recent Chickfactor article in which he seemed overwhelmingly complacent with his current method of making records, which is basically to send demos to others (80% of the time producer Todd Tobias), let them record all the music, come in and do vocals. Ironic, as right before the split, Pollard had lamented how he had become "too complacent" in the studio, needed to be more involved, perhaps play some more guitar.

No snippet of anything I'd heard since the breakup really measured up to what I know Pollard is capable of, and frankly, the man is often satisfied with very forced-sounding songwriting. I love GBV and defend quite a lot of his work, but I was willing to give following his career a rest around 2005 and find out if I was wrong later, even though I was sure he was still writing great songs and putting them...somewhere. In the infamous suitcase, maybe.

Consider Brown Submarine, then, to be a step in the right direction. The album's opening defies anybody who has written Pollard off with basically, three perfect songs. "Winston's Atomic Bird" reintroduces Bob's Who obsession with an epic that clocks, naturally, under 2 minutes. Stretching out genre-wise, the acoustic title track follows, which is about as beautiful and dark Pollard can get, with multi-instrumentalist (and former GBV bassist) Chris Slusarenko supplying plaintive strings in the song's last 10 seconds. Arguably one of his best ever, it's ironic the song's name is a dumb shit joke - which, by the way, plays no part in the song's actual content. Then there's "You Satisfy Me," where any GBV fan will officially stand up and cheer. Pollard pulls out all the stops and just lets the melodic hooks sink in. It still sounds like him, which means it sounds like GBV, but Submarine's opening suggest a more relaxed, perhaps even mature form of adolescent rocking. If such a thing is possible.

From there, it's hit or miss. Generally, Pollard sounds engaged and the backing is in fine form, enabling Bob's Beatle dreams with the occasional horn or string section. Not too much envelope-pushing comes into play, however, and either some of the later tracks are devoid of the melodic brilliance I'm listening for and expecting, or they require further examination.

EDIT: This is a frivolous record that uses its frivolity as a strength. Really, a good 75% of the material is very strong, but mostly slight. And I can't say I love Chris Slusarenko's clean channel power-chord-happy playing, but I can live with it.

Goodbye Silver Jews

David Berman narrowly missed my "People We Don't Have to Pay Attention to in 2009" list, despite the fact that Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea was not a patch on anything the man had released beforehand. Not even piss-take "Old New York." Or the adolescent cover of "Cocksucker Blues." Or what was previously considered the Jews' worst album, the drug-addled Bright Flight, which, in addition to being a great album anyway, is a classic compared to last year's efforts. Which to me, were insultingly bad.

Surprisingly, his sessions at Juan's Basement proved the album's songwriting, although somewhat lackluster, still had some redeeming qualities; thus leaving the age-old scapegoat of "the production" to receive the blame. Interviews also displayed Berman's wit to be in tact as ever, and although live shows were reportedly as disappointing as the album, I figured the band would soldier on, with Berman still high on the excitement of gigging out and promoting the Jews just like real bands do. And Judaism. Has anyone seen him breaking down in tears in front of the Western Wall? Undoubtably one of the most surreal things I've ever seen...

How shocking today, then, to find he has unexpectedly broken the band/himself up and revealed his right-wing "son of a bitch" (his words, not mine) father to be the primary cause for the breakup. Describing his life as "Ibsenian" (YIKES!), he seems to have lived his life pitted against his father's efforts to break unions, keep the minimum wage low, and spread lies about organizations for the lower classes.

You just can't make this stuff up! I can't even pass comment on this publicly....Suffice to say it only seems to be part of the melodrama of the Silver Jews that began in 2005, ironically around the time Berman sought public salvation following his equally bizarre suicide attempt! The band might have done better to remain completely enimgatic!

I suppose if you feel like eulogizing the band, put on American Water. Myself, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to listen to a song by David Berman the same way again. Bye!

RIP Ron Asheton of the Stooges

Last week I was naming off my favorite guitarists to a friend of mine: Pat Smear, Brendan Morrison, J Mascis, Syd Barrett. There was one really important one I forgot: Ron Asheton. He passed away suddenly a few days ago, only to be discovered yesterday at his home in Ann Arbor.

When you read anything about punk music, there's always one band everyone can agree on, whether in LA, New York, or the UK: The Stooges. And now the Stooges are over. Ron wrote the music to "1969," "1970," "No Fun," and "I Wanna Be Your Dog," among others, and without these tunes, The Stooges wouldn't have been the amazing iconoclastic band they were, and punk music basically never would have happened. Which means most of the other music we listen today would never have happened. The man was a musical giant, largely unrecognized throughout his lifetime but given the due he had deserved all along in his last years - which makes it all the more tragic that his time was cut short. I hope everyone will join me in listening to The Stooges and Fun House back-to-back this evening in salute to one of the few people who actually changed music.

Favorite Songs this Year!

My Favorite Songs this Year:

I genuinely love all of these songs, listened to them multiple times, and would recommend them to anyone. Order them into a playlist? Hey, be my guest.

"Bite the Bullet," "Albuquerque" - Neil Young (& Crazy Horse)
"Hey Ladies" - The Beastie Boys
"I'll Dream Alone," "Strange Powers," "Sad Little Moon," "Josephine," "100,000 Fireflies," "When You Were My Baby" - Magnetic Fields
"Let Me Have It All" - Sly & The Family Stone
"House of Cards" - Radiohead
"Gamma Ray" - Beck
"Mississippi" - Bob Dylan
"Winston's Atomic Bird," "Brown Submarine," "You Satisfy Me" - Boston Spaceships
"Toppin'" - Sex-S
"Portofino" - Teengirl Fantasy
"End of My Dream," "Thumbs Off," "Diamond Shine," "Big Cat," & c, &c - The Clean
"Splintered Bridges" - The Splinters
"Wolf Kidult Man," "Latch Key Kid" - The Fall
"Hey! Little Child" - Alex Chilton
"The Seus," "Garbage Heap," "Half Man," "When They Come to Murder Me" - Black Francis
"Way Out West," "Get What You Deserve," "Jesus Christ" - Big Star
"She's My Girl" - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffitti
"You & Me," "I Want You In My Life" - R. Stevie Moore
"This Whole World," "Slip On Through," "All I Want to Do," "Passing By" - Beach Boys
"Euphoria," "Bound to Lose" - The Holy Modal Rounders
"Blue Mountain," "Down at the Pool Hall Clickety Clack," "Tea Song," "No, I Won't Come (Go) Down No More" - Michael Hurley
"River Song" - Dennis Wilson
"Horus," "WULF" - Beef Donut
"Roof Rack," "Jullander Shere" - Cornershop
"Transparent Radiation," "Victory Garden," "When She Went Swimming" - The Red Krayola
"Magic Star," "Milking," "Our Angel's Ululu" - Deerhoof
"Palace of the Flames," "Quiver and Quake" - Elf Power
"Dear Doctor Doom," "Livin' On," "May the Circle Remain Unbroken," "Slide Machine" - 13th Floor Elevators
"Buffalo Ballet," "Barracuda" - John Cale
"Adventures Close To Home," "Black and White" - The Raincoats
"The Secret of Suicide" - Kramer
"American Gangster Time," "No Hiding Place" - Elvis Costello & the Impostors
"Baton Rouge," "Oh Jim," "Lady Day," "Paranoia Key of E," "Martial Law" - Lou Reed
"Beat Your Wings," "Dead Cloud" - Guided By Voices
"She's A Rainbow," "Citadel," "Rocks Off," "Happy," "Shattered," "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" - The Rolling Stones
"Brainstorm," "Time We Left This World Today" - Hawkwind
"Never Gonna Leave You Baby" - Retarded Muppit Farm
"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" - Black Sabbath
"Kingdom Come" - David Bowie
"Cold Son," "Walk Into A Mirror" - Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks (from the Cold Son EP that was far superior to the much more milquetoast Real Emotional Trash)
"I Love The Living You," "Think of As One," "Sputnik" - Roky Erickson
"This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both of Us," "Hasta Mañana, Monsieur," "Beat the Clock" - Sparks
"Looking For Love (in the Hall of Mirrors)," "Here in My Heart," "Heaven in a Black Leather Jacket," "Dream Hat" - the 6ths

2008: Always look on the bright side

Albums I got this year that I liked the best:
{Those that have already been covered will receive shorter blurbs to avoid repetition.}

Doremi Fasol Latido - Hawkwind
Fuck. I either bought this at the end of last year or the very beginning of this one. Whatever - it took me until July to give this one a proper spin. It's an overgrown masterpiece that lives somewhere in between psychedelia, prog, and early punk with some fucking amazing songs with silly lyrics: "Brainstorm," "Space is Deep" and "Time We Left This World Today." Blast off with Hawkwind.

Distortion - The Magnetic Fields*
Stephin Merritt pissed off a lot of people by making an extremely monochromatic album after the "variety-show" style 69 Love Songs and i, an album people only started liking two years after its release. Those who recognize the songcraft beneath the impressive wall of noise he built around himself are vindicated once again - this is yet another amazing collection of songs about despair, drinking, murder and occasionally, love. You know, pop music.

Collection - The Clean
This year was my initiation into Kiwi-pop. I'm not saving up for my ticket down under yet, but in the meantime I can bliss out to the 40 or so songs on The Clean's fairly comprehensive career retrospective, which contains their first EPs with outtakes that you pretty much can't find anywhere else - thus making this essential for anyone even remotely interested. You can hear them transition to an experimental pastoral band in disc 2 or just keep jamming to the instant classics from the band's early days. Either way, this is amazing stuff.

Wasps' Nests - The 6ths
The Mag. Flds. played a couple very good songs off this record when I saw them play a paradoxically acoustic set at the so-called "Noise Pop" festival this year, so I shelled out 7 bucks to get this one used. After several listens, it clearly stands out as one of Merritt's lesser known masterpieces. Featuring half independent music greats (Lou Barlow, Mac McCaughan, Dean Wareham, Georgia Hubley, Chris Knox, Robert Scott) and half people that promptly fell off the radar (almost everyone else), Merritt's occasionally bleak, occasionally ecstatic gems are fleshed out into universality in true cabaret style. Highly recommended.

SVN FNGRS - Black Francis*
He's back. Begun as a session for a single B-side, CT/FB/BF couldn't help himself and jizzed out seven great new songs with punk furor and abandon. The best follow-up we could have hoped for to last year's brilliant Bluefinger (which I have come to realize does not contain one bum song on it), this EP or mini-album or whatever it is only reinforces Mr. Thompson's renewed songwriting vitality. Hope that "Golem" sountrack is just as delicious.

Mountain Battles - The Breeders*
Listen to this one back to back with SVNFINGRS and you can trick yourself into thinking you're hearing the new Pixies album. Sorta. The Breeders took almost as long to make this as they did for the so-so Title TK but this time, actually WORKED on an album for most of that waiting period. Pay off: their best album to date, which encompasses folk, Mexican crooning, Microphones-esque musings and oh yeah, indie-rock - but still sounds incredibly cohesive, with a dark enigmatic cloak over the proceedings. Are the Breeders grappling with mortality? Best to check this one out and decide for yourself.

Imperial Wax Solvent - The Fall*
Mark E. Smith continues to be my personal hero by living against all odds. Luckily, he also makes great records that aren't just testaments to his longevity or increasingly cliched attitude. One of his best albums this decade (chuckle), he's exploring new textures in the Fall, having learned a few tricks from his time in Mouse On Mars collab. Von Sudenfed. The band is now just one big rhythm machine to be cut up with Smith raving in sliced digital audio. Throw on a terrible Groundhogs cover ("Strange Town") and MES has done well for himself again in 2008.

(Unnamed Collection) - Moondog
This stuff will be on the classical stations in 100 years. Until then, you can look really cool by getting into one of the most important composers of the 20th century before everyone else.

Bull of the Woods - 13th Floor Elevators
Coulda been their best album - if only, if only. Instead, we'll just settle for this being a great album.

Third/Sister Lovers, Live - Big Star
Live is raw pop beauty, Third is pop gone shut-in. Big Star is pop that never popped but lives on in the hearts & minds of those that know better.

The Climaxxx - Sex-S*
Recorded in glorious laptop jizzery, Sex-S' debut album is inconsistent, adolescent and also fucking hilarious with surprisingly great beats. New anthems like "Toppin'," "Demons," and "Luxury" have catchy enough choruses to stick in your craw forever but Sex-S' scatological sensibility and bizarre free-association provoke return listens time and again. Also, it's free (if you missed the limited-edition CD-R only available at Pehrspace). 

Like Flies on Sherbert - Alex Chilton

Punky southern critically acclaimed drunk makes messy album and it still sounds great thirty years later after the idiots that derided it said their peace. Let "My Rival" continue to lead us into a better musical future.

Daddy's Highway - The Bats

The Bats have a great thing, so it's good that they do it over and over, because it never gets old to me. Boy-girl harmonies, gorgeous-sounding rhythm guitars, a REALLY FUCKING good bassist whose tone recalls a distorted, plucked piano and endless plaintive hooks. Those that don't feel the same are those that call this album too long or repetitious. Daddy's Highway is a binge fix of pop lovin' that lasts an hour but pulls at my heart strings hard enough to stay with me long afterward.

Introduction - The Red Krayola
Art-rockers! Don't live fast, die young: 50-somethings can still rock and be weird AND make listenable, catchy tracks so let's celebrate Red Krayola's best (in my estimation) album in their autumn.

Corky's Debt to His Father - Mayo Thompson
Some things are classics waiting for you to discover them, and aren't on every fucking "Top Albums of All Time" list. This is one of them.

California Gold - Retarded Muppit Farm*
Are RMF maturing? Even when they pretend to be child molesters ("Where Have All The Children Gone?") it's done in measured, well-developed verses that build the tension to a masterful climax. Sonically, it's their best yet, with the Casio and Yamaha backing tracks bathing in digital reverb and increased guitar shading. And the best songs are nothing short of monster hits, particularly "Never Gonna Leave You Baby" and "Love Will Take a Back Seat." Call it their "safe for work album" (almost) and one of the year's most rewarding ones.

Bound to Lose (DVD) - Holy Modal Rounders
As good as a new Holy Modal Rounders album, we get glimpses into the strange journey that has been the lives of Stampfel & Weber. Cross your fingers for yet another reunion.

Kimono My House, No. 1 In Heaven - Sparks

Sparks Sparks Sparks. What can one say about Sparks that can't be said better by their music? I often say "Like Queen but far meaner and wittier," but that still feels like selling them short. Kimono My House is glam but not, completely Wagnerian in scope, as if it were trying to outdo Phil Spector with a five-piece band. No. 1 in Heaven, with its aerosol-can production, is much more danceable and coked-up, a style that fits the Mael brothers perfectly. Just go listen to these already - trying to describe a band this great makes me feel stupid.

The Splinters - The Splinters*

I wrote a very long entry below on this six-song EP, which should say it all. Best new band this year.

Woman's Gotta Have It - Cornershop

Took me a while to pick this one up (it was released in '95 and I've been listening to this band since '00), but it still sounds pretty fresh, considering how tired the genre-world-music blend cliche has become. Cornershop might be the most naive-sounding band of all time, and their music is frequently stripped naked, but these qualities might be why their records survive (to me at least, people seem to laugh when I tell them I like this band). Barely any bass on this extremely fun and low-key record, but plenty of half VU, half Pussy Galore, half something else (150%) gems on here - plus some Punjabi thrown in for good measure. You can get this one for $5 like I did and see for yourself, but Cornershop always win me over.

* = released this year.

Next up: fave. songs, best shows, etc.