Least Worst of 2011

2011 was a tough year for good music. It was out there and there were some gems, but overall, not a golden year. However, I found some keepers and a few future-classics.

Cave In returned. Destroyed. Mastodon became ZZ Top on speed. Approved. Will Haven also returned. Decimated. Matt Good found a piano and went to town. Exciting, right?

It was the year of stellar EP's. Crosses (Chino Moreno & Shaun Lopez get sexy, Glassjaw drops two slabs of awesome, while Coliseum unleases a min-album that destroys literally everything. The special little guy here is a dude that goes by jakeL. Check out his Bandcamp page, yo. Also shocked by how good Childish Gambino's debut is. Donald Glover might just be the best thing about the whole damn year. Save Community!!!

Here's the list. Go forth and get learned.

TOP 25:
1. Cave In- White Silence (Hydra Head)
2. Mastodon- The Hunter (Warner Bros)
3. Will Haven- Voir Dire (Bieler Bros)
4. Times of Grace- The Hymn of a Broken Man (Roadrunner)
5. Matthew Good- Lights of Endangered Species (UMusic)
6. Blindside- With Shivering Hearts We Wait (INO)
7. Dub Trio- IV (ROIR)
8. Junius- Reports From The Threshold of Death (Prosthetic)
9. Foo Fighters- Wasting Light (RCA)
10. Childish Gambino- Camp (Glassnote)
11. Trivium- In Waves (Roadrunner)
12. Rob Crow- He Thinks He's People (Temporary Residence)
13. Rival Schools- Pedals (Photo Finish)
14. Fences- Fences (Onto)
15. Trap Them- Darker Handcraft (Prosthetic)
16. Santah- White Noise Bed (No Sleep)
17. 40 Watt Sun- The Inside Room (Metal Blade)
18. Earth Crisis- Neutralize The Threat (Century Media)
19. Ghost Brigade- Until Fear No Longer Definies Us (Seasons of Mist)
20. dredg- Chuckes & Mr. Squeezy (Superball)
21. City of Ships- Minor World (Translation Loss)
22. Long Distance Calling- Long Distance Calling (Superball)
23. Chimaira- The Age of Hell (E1)
24. Machine Heads- Unto The Locust (Roadrunner)
25. Russian Circles- Empros (Sargent House)

...and the rest:
My Morning Jacket- Circuital (ATO)
Ryan Adams- Ashes & Fire (Pax-Am)
The Dears- Degeneration Street (Dangerbird)
Most Precious Blood- Do Not Resuscitate (Bullet Tooth)
Thomas Giles- Pulse (Metal Blade)
Devildriver- Beast (Roadrunner)
Rotten Sound- Cursed (Relapse)
Cavalera Conspiracy- Blunt Force Trauma (Roadrunner)
Amon Amarth- Surtur Rising (Metal Blade)
Thursday- No Devolucion (Epitaph)
Jesu- Ascencion (Caldo Verde)
In Flames- Sounds of a Playground Fading (Century Media)
Unearth- Darkness In Light (Metal Blade)
Sepultura- Kairos (Nuclear Blast)
Thrice- Major/Minor (Vagrant)
The Fling- When The Madhouses Appear (Dangerbird)
Karma To Burn- V (Napalm)
MonstrO- MonstrO (Vagrant)
Primus- Green Naughyde (Prawn Song)
Dream Theater- A Dramatic Turn of Events (Roadrunner)
East of the Wall- The Apologist (Temporary Residence)
Animals As Leaders- Weightless (Prosthetic)
Young Legionnaire- Crisis Works (Wichita)

EP's:
1. jakeL- Shelter EP (self-released)
2. Coliseum- Parasites (Temporary Residence)
Clouds- B Chuggas Are Logging (Hydra Head)
Glassjaw- Our Colour Green (self-released)
Glassjaw- Coloring Book EP (self-released)
Crosses- Crosses (self-released)


...and seeing Soundgarden absolutely demolish the Forum was a night I'll never forget.

2012, don't front. Bring it.

Gambino. Freaks and Geeks. Dope.

2011, No Thank You

Is it just me, or are the vast majority of 2011 rock/metal releases lacking in the quality and "staying power" department? Sure, we have gems from Mastodon, Cave In, Trap Them, Blindside, City of Ships (to name a few), but I'm just not finding the passion I once had for a ton of other bands.

Am I getting older? Yep. Am I old? Nope. Do I give a shit that there's a new Megadeth record out soon? Not a chance.

I've always known it's quality over quantity, even though I had a CD collection into the thousands, but this year, it's become glaringly obvious that:

a) I don't care about CD's anymore, other than my very favorite bands
b) New bands, for the most part, are shit
c) Old bands, for the most part, are old shit

For example, I actually think the new Dream Theater is a great listen. Apparently, 35,000 other DT fans thought enough of them to check it out as well, as it clocked in at an impressive #8 on the Top 200 in its release week. I think it's better than their last two lackluster releases, but still, not one note on that record got me excited for repeat listens. Not a one. Same goes for the snoozefest that is the recent Explosions In The Sky and the new Unearth. All solid releases...all headed into the obscurity bin of my brain. Just notes, no memories.

...and some records are just bad. Steven Wilson, you're better than this, dude. Queensryche. So very, very, bad.

The releases that truly separated themselves (Mastodon, Cave In, Foo Fighters, to name a few) are something special. Fantastic albums that I will spin for years to come. I just wish there was more of that to go around.

Currently spinning:
Mastodon- The Hunter
Cave In- White Silence
Bayonet- s/t EP
Thrice- Major/Minor
Wilco- The Whole Love

Spinning about to get underway:
Ryan Adams- Ashes & Fire
Will Haven- Voir Dire
Dreamers of the Ghetto- Enemy/Lover
Junius- Reports From The Threshold of Death
Rob Crow- He Thinks He's People

I'll be posting WAY more often. Seems like the thing to do.

Buy more records.

In the mean time, jam on this...

Will Haven "Held To Answer":

Must Be Jelly...

Time for the underrated gem of the week. The Jelly Jam is about as awesome a side project as one can get. Ty Tabor, Rod Morgenstein and John Myung. That's King's X, The Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater. I mean, c'mon. Two records of superb quality and some incredible jams. Wally Farkas' (Galactic Cowboys) label Molken Music, will be reissuing both albums digitally in early 2011, as well as some unreleased bonus content. Oh, and a NEW record is also apparently in the can. Tis a good morning!

In the meantime, sample these tasty nuggets and support this band and incredible label HERE.

"Nature's Girl"



"Allison"

The Best Of 2010

No hype. No bullshit. Here's my 2010 Best Of list. You're welcome.

1. Fistful of Mercy- As I Call You Down (Hot/Vagrant)
2. Deftones- Diamond Eyes (Reprise)
3. 36 Crazyfists- Collisions & Castaways (Ferret)
4. The Abominable Iron Sloth- The ID Will Overcome (Black Market Activities)
5. Barren Earth- Curse of the Red River (Candlelight)
6. Anathema- We're Here Because We're Here (K Scope)
7. Oceansize- Self-Preserved While The Bodies Float Up (Superball)
8. Knut- Wonder (Hydra Head)
9. Pro-Pain- Absolute Power (Regain)
10. Intronaut- Valley of Smoke (Century Media)
11. Karnivool- Sound Awake (Sony)
12. East of the Wall- Ressentment (Translation Loss)
13. Coliseum- House With A Curse (Temporary Residence)
14. The Dillinger Escape Plan- Option Paralysis (Party Smasher, Inc)
15. The Ocean- Heliocentric/Anthropomorphic (Metal Blade)
16. Freya- All Hail The End (Victory)
17. Cloudkicker- Beacons (self-released)
18. Brad- Best Friends? (Monkeywrench)
19. Helmet- Seeing Eye Dog (Work Song)
20. Priestess- Prior To The Fire (Tee Pee)
21. Satchel- Heartache & Honey (self-released)
22. Ty Tabor- Something's Coming (Molken Music)
23. Midlake- The Courage of Others (Bella Union)
24. The Sword- Warp Riders (Kemado)
25. Black Mountain- Wildreness Heart (Jagjaguar)

Additional Boss Releases:
Living Sacrifice- The Infinite Order (Solid State)
Barn Burner- Bangers (Metal Blade)
Stephen Brodsky- Here's To The Future (Hydra Head)
Six Gallery- Breakthroughs In Mordern Art (Superball)
Brant Bjork- Gods and Goddesses (Low Desert Punk)
Red Sparowes- The Fear is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer (Sargent House)
Sevendust- Cold Day Memory (7Bros. Records)
Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders- Red Light Fever (RCA)
Mike Patton- Mondo Cane (Ipecac)
Nonpoint- Miracle (954 Records)
At The Soundawn- Shifting (Lifeforce)
As I Lay Dying- The Powerless Rise (Metal Blade)
Howl- Full of Hell (Relapse)
Souvenir’s Young America- The Name of the Snake (Init)
The Unwinding Hours- The Unwinding Hours (Chemikal Underground)
Karma To Burn- Appalachian Incantation: Ltd 2CD (Napalm)
God Is An Astronaut- Age of the Fifth Sun (Revive)
Soulfly- Omen (Roadrunner)
Far- At Night We Live (Vagrant)
Rosetta- A Determinism of Morality (Translation Loss)
Kingdom of Sorrow- Behind The Blackest Tears (Relapse)
Proghama-C- Bar-Do Travel (Armoury)
Norma Jean- Meridional (Razor & Tie)
James LaBrie- Static Impulse (Inside Out)
Gristle- Cold Blue Sky (Metal Blade)
Dax Riggs- Say Goodnight To The World (Fat Possum)
Tangents- One Little Light Year (Angel Side)
Meligrove Band- Shimmering Lights (Last Gang)
Crippled Black Phoenix- I, Vigilante (Invada)
Constants- If Tomorrow The War (Science vs. Silence)
Year of No Light- Ausserwelt (Conspiracy)
envy- recitation (Temporary Residence LTD)
Isolbel Campbell & Mark Lanegan- Hawk (Vanguard)
Black Country Communion- Black Country Communion (J&R Adventures)
Jimmy Eat World- Invented (IGA)
Bison BC- Dark Ages (Metal Blade)
The Casting Out- The Casting Out (Eyeball)
Brent A. Petrie- Vary Us, Artist (self-released)

Best EP's:
Three Way Split w/Rosetta, East of the Wall & Year of No Light (Translation Loss)
Katatonia- The Longest Year (Peaceville)
Trap Them- Filth Rations (Southern Lord)
Mouth of the Architect- The Violence Beneath (Translation Loss)
Brain Banger- Munsoned (Hawthorne Street)
Cloudkicker- ]]]]][[[[[ (self-released)

Record I'm Not Supposed To Like But I Do Award:
Sean Hayes- Run Wolves Run (self-released)

Label of the Year: Metal Blade

Song of the Year (tie):
Fistful of Mercy- Things Go 'Round
Deftones- Diamond Eyes

Best Shows (in order):
Faith No More @ Williamsburg Waterfront (Night 2)
Faith No More @ Williamsburg Waterfront (Night 1)
Fistful of Mercy @ Easy Street, West Seattle
Soundgarden @ Showbox at the Market
Alice In Chains @ The Paramount Theater
Matthew Good & His Band @ The Triple Door (both nights)
Biffy Clyro @ Showbox at The Market
Fistful of Mercy @ Showbox at the Market
ISIS/Tombs/Jakob @ Neumos
Sean Hayes @ Tractor Tavern
Katatonia/Swallow The Sun/Book of Black Earth @ El Corazon
Helmet/Bison BC @ Showbox at the Market
36 Crazyfists @ El Corazon
Swallow The Sun @ El Corazon
Satchel @ The Crocodile Café
Totimoshi/Melvins @ The Crocodile Café
Brad/Satchel/Pigeonhed/Malfunkshun/Mother Love Bone/Hank Choir @ Showbox at the Market
Dredg/codeseven/Animals as Leaders @ El Corazon

There you have it.

Bring it, 2011.

25 Bucks and a Bottle of Wine...

Contents Under Pressure. The third Pro-Pain album kicks off right where the previous slab of awesome, The Truth Hurts, ended. According to my friend Bob, I'm the only human being left in the United States that listens to/buys Pro-Pain records, but I digress. I also disagree, but we are a rare breed for sure.

I've spoken about my unapologetic love for Pro-Pain at length over the years on this blog (at least I think I have) and I will continue to do so. Everyone needs a band that delivers exactly what you expect every single time out. Some have Motorhead. Some have Slayer. Others have Hatebreed. I have Pro-Pain. This isn't a knock at them in any way. There is definite variance from record to record. Some (Round 6) are pure punk/hardcore adrenaline, while others are more epic Euro-metal (Age of Tyranny). The common ground is always the tight riffage/songwriting and harsh vocals of Gary Meskill. Dude is slightly irritated.

I arrived a bit late to the Pro-Pain party (probably around 1997 or so), but quickly caught up and have supported them with every single release since, which has been quite a lot. They average a record about once every 14-18 months, which absolutely rules.

Their newest album, Absolute Power, is honestly one of their best. At the very least, it's their best since 2004's Fistful of Hate. Sonically, it's some of the best shit they've ever done. Aggressive as fuck, driving, rhythmic, groove-laden (something they seemed to have perfected immediately, thanks to their love and obvious influence of East Coast rap) and most of all, smart. A Pro-Pain song never overstays its welcome. Their album Act of God, only gave us two riffs per song (three on the title track, I believe), yet unless you sat there and analyzed each song (as I have dorkishly done), you'd never know. It's the old Ramones trick, perfected.

They almost never tour the states, even though they're from New York and live in Florida. Their bread is buttered in Europe. I'm hoping for a return to our shores in 2011, as I've never seen them live...One of the last remaining bands I absolutely love that I've yet to see (looking at you, Tom "$150 tickets" Petty).

Pick up the new Pro-Pain and support my Motorhead. Hey, at the very least, they probably have way less VD than Lemmy...and that's something to be proud of!

"Unrestrained" (new jam, live 2010)


"In For The Kill" (video, from the "Act of God" LP)

If I Was...

...making a living as a touring and recording musician and I happened to stumble upon Animals As Leaders, I would quit. End game. Sell my equipment to a pawn shop. Become a banker.

I got their self-titled debut (which made my 2009 Best Of list, by the by) when it came out and have been jamming on it ever since. However, it was seeing them live last night (with the always awesome and criminally underrated Dredg and the 10-year sleeping pill in the making, codeseven) that turned my appreciation for a Meshuggah-esque worshipping instrumental record, into worship.

If you're even remotely keeping up on the metal scene today, you know that Tosin Abasi is THE MAN right now. He makes Joe Satriani look like he plays with the proficiency and talent of CC Deville. It's sickening to watch him play, eyes closed and off in some other world...Only long enough to fit right back in the pocket of a poly-rhythmic bridge or segue into another mindfuck of a riff. And his band (who fill out this POWER trio) is perfect. No mistakes, no wrong notes, no nothing. Pure talent. In fact, I'm fairly certain the drummer is a legitimate machine.

It's not often an opening band can win over a crowd, let alone a 17-year old girl/effeminate boy crowd, but they certainly did, be it by scaring them shitless or blowing their fucking minds...Who's to say? Who cares.

Prepare thyself:

"Cafo"

What A (Satur)Day

I woke up this morning with Faith No More's 1995 gem, "What A Day" playing on repeat in my head. King For A Day is truly the fans' album from FNM. Every song is a unique genre and story unto itself. You want insanity? Check. Balladry? Check. Songs about hating your record label? Damn straight.

KFAD also has one of the strongest closes to a record, with each song getting better and better towards the finale, ending in the higlight of "Just A Man".

This clip below is from a 1995 MTV performance...You know, when they actually welcomed bands and dare I say, good bands, to come perform. Furthermore, they performed an album cut, not any of the records' singles. Gotta love that.

My favorite thing about this clip is that Dean is wearing a DUH t-shirt (the band FNM plucked him from) and Roddy is wearing a Cement t-shirt (the band previous singer Chuck Mosely went on to form). Oh right, and the fact that the band sounds fucking incredible.

Enjoy!

"What A Day" (live, MTV studios 1995):