when the punk was real

Operation Ivy - Bad Town
Operation Ivy - Sound System

Maybe it was seeing the rapture last night at the viper room that inspired me towards music with sax riffs, or maybe it's that O.I. are just fucking awesome and were more or less responsible for reviving what the clash first did to punk. in any case, here's a couple O.I. tracks to make sure you have a great weekend, stay punk, drink some beer and kick some ass.

see you losers monday. and remember: only posers die.

archers/bts

stop by popsheep.com to download the AWESOME track Archers Of Loaf - Lowest Part Is Free. they also have a track up from some band called ... built to spill - kicked it in the sun (live, acoustic). never heard of 'em.

actually, if you ever find yourself in idaho - boise to be exact - stop by the the neurolux on karaoke night (assuming they still do karaoke night), pick your song, rock it, then think about the fact that you just sang to the same house where doug martsch and bts have played countless shows early and often in their career.

the nice list update

...well, not really an update. more of a side note.

saidthegramophone.com is holding a haiku contest to win some prize or another. the prize is of little interest to me. however, as someone who once tried to complete the "Haiku Challenge" (write one haiku per day for a whole year), the contest itself is awesome.

pick your favorite album of 2005, submit a haiku via email, and wait for jesus to tell you your special.

i don't know if you're supposed to pick from HIS list of top 10 records, or if you can go off the menu.... i went with antony and the johnsons (which happened to be in his 'runner up' list so i don't know if i'm qualified or not)

antony and the johnsons - i am a bird now
as a man i made
haunting songs to wear like wings
i am a bird now

to "the", or not to "the"...

Murdocks - Saddest Star

other than not being able to decided if they have a "The" in their name, murdocks have written some of my favorite rock songs in ages. check em out on their myspace page or at the-murdocks.com - easter moon and death of a french whore are outstanding songs. this band reminds me of a slightlly more sensetive version of the capitol years - outstanding up tempo rock. the LP has been out since .. march i think, but if it's new to you give it a listen.

the band is from indie rock hotbet austin, tx (see: spoon, trail of the dead, et al...). as 'local scenes' go, austin has a pretty good batting average on bands - if you've actually heard of a band from austin, chances are they're pretty good.

the nice list

screw top 10's or top 5's ... these are just the best records i picked up or stole that were also released this year. i'm not gonna force myself to pick 10 or 25 or limit myself to just 5 ... i tend to buy records in bunches, so i'll miss months at a time of new releases. and a lot of times i'll only buy a few tracks from a record online instead of shelling out 12 to 15 for a whole record unless i know i want it. in short: there's a lot of awesome records i never bought, but of the ones i did, here are my favorites. there's plenty of excellent stuff that i didn't hear more than a couple tracks from that are probably better records than some of these (sam champion for example, maybe peter elkas) or that i never got into enough to warrant include (flotation toy warning, Levy)... now that i've thoroughly qualified my choices...

antony and the johnsons - i am a bird now
this is in all likelyhood the best album of the year - the most compelling, interesting album of all. it seemed to just drop out of the sky and sound totally different than what anyone else was doing.

sigur ros - takk
the record is just amazing. i've heard some people call it "boring" or "stoner music". i consider it "amazing" AND "stoner music". (note- i accidentally entered the wrong album title on this one. takk. not ageatis. that record came out in 99.)

wolf parade - apologies to the queen mary
ii have mixed feelings about this record - a lot of the material is previously released, and some of the new material doesn't hold up to the promise of the early stuff, however ... wolf parade has been my favorite band for a while now, and i can't get over how awesome songs like 'this hearts on fire' and 'shine a light' are. i even really dig what they do with 'fancy claps'... so yeah. nice to finally have an LP from wolf parade.

doves - some cities
this is one of those records where every month i had a different favorite cut off it. it's not the most unique sound, but few bands can deliver such consistently excellent guitar driven rock.

chad vangaalen - infiniheart
CVG is one of those guys who records every sound on the record. very impressive and haunting pop tunes. a lot of the material was recorded previous to release (as with wolf parade), but none of it, to me, ever hints at a drop in quality.

bloc party - silent alarm
how can you keep the strokes ... i mean, bloc pary - off this kind of list? oh yeah - be a hater. that's how. i can't be a hater on the strokes, and i can't be a hater on bloc party. they're just so damn good at what they do. and no matter how much you resent it, what they do sounds so damn good.

okkervil river - black sheep boy
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah wow.

portastatic - bright ideas
the album has track after track of well written and well performed alt-rock with perfect pop influences.

some honorable mentions:
rogue wave - descended like vultures
broken social scene - broken social scene
feist - let it die (see above)
the mountain goats - the sunset tree
black mountain - Black Mountain (because it's a way to give a nod to The Pink Mountaintops, Blood Meridian, and Jerk With A Bomb all at once)

stuff that made it on my radar, but should have been better
the shoud out louds - howl howl gaff gaff
rosebuds - birds make good neighbors
the oranges band - the world and everything in it
love as laughter - laughters 5th

continental drift

there are so many outstanding bands the arctic hooked me up with that it requires a seriously deep nod here and there and back again. one of the most awesome of which is the SF based coachwhips. they are so hardcore you almost have to say it with a french accent. zis eez tray 'ardcore, weh?

i mean, how can you not can't get with this:
Coachwhips - Dance Floor (from bangers vs fuckers)

DIY from Stockholm

Rough Bunnies and inside riot

so if you like Girls Guitar Club or Let's Go Sailing then this is a major SCORE for you: i seriously recommend you check out rough bunnies/inside riot. this is as DIY as you can get - stripped down girl folk rock to the fuckin hilt - straight outta stockholm.

i haven't totally figured out what's going on here - there's 9 tracks posted on the site, credited to 3 different bands names- i'm assuming it's slightly different line ups?

i would check out love & hate, dance with your shadow (both credited as rough bunnies tracks), and modern love, and world of love (credited to inside riot).

track two (love & hate) features these awesome lyrics made even awesomer by that sweet swede accent:

We eat potatoes and chicken thighs, drink the tears from my eyes
I am so young and you are so old, but you don't have a wife
Your empty eyes and my crocodile smile finally did turn to love
For the very first time in my very young life I'm going to be the winner
of love and hate... love and hate it's hard to take

guided by voices

Guided By Voices - Exit Flagger

guided by voices is pretty well travelled territory, so there's not much reason to say anything other than some discographical facts.

exit flagger first appeared on propeller in '92 (vinyl only, 500 copies. the whole propeller album was appended to vampire on titus the following year on CD). scat records would press propeller on CD in 96, then repressed again this year on CD and Vinyl. you can also find exit flagger on several of the post-gbv-apocalypse compilations and reissues including bee thousands: the directors cut (2004), hardcore UFOs box set (2003), and the best of guided by voices: human amusements at hourly rates (2003/4) and also the very interesting Box compilation (1995), which packages the first 6 GBV LPs. if you have the 6 LP box compilation i'd love to hear it. if you're willing to share, i'll bake you cookies and feed them to you with my bitchen robot arm.

I don’t know where I’ve coming from
Idon’t know where I’m off to
and I need to find a way out
and he’s here to help me find it

Exit Flagger x4
I'm not (going to race (raze?) you today

I need a life the same as(?)
and I don't believe in anything
I promise to leave you one of these days
I promise it'll be real soon.

Exit Flagger x4
I'm not (going to race (raze?) you today

Promise to leave you

my own personal disneyland: www.gbvdb.com