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Top 10 of 2010
Can someone stop the xmas music before I take a bat to the radio?
Here’s some things that tickled me fancy in the last year!
UNIVOX – UNIVOX (ROIR)
Why is this band not huge yet? Catchy songs that are both deep and driving, I listened the hell out of their first self titled release.. it’s become a staple of my collection, like T-Rex ‘s “The Slider”.
Bad Cop – Harvest The Beast (ROIR)
This band has been through epic trials and tribulations this year. Through it all, Bad Cop has never lost focus of the most important thing in this fucked up industry: playing your heart out. In a sea full of shit-slingers who think it’s cool to play half assed blues riffs and call it garage punk, Bad Cop are juggernauts of the scene. People continue to flip out over their debut on ROIR “Harvest The Beast”, as well they should. It’s a pure slab of brilliant pysch garage that will echo for generations.
What Cheer? Brigade – We Blow, You Suck (Anchor Brain)
An album that’s been getting a lot of play in my little Echo is the amazing What Cheer? Brigade from Providence, RI. Fusing Bahian-style samba, Balkan/Klez melodies, Bollywood, NOLA second-line brass AND some metal jams in a joyously epic brassgasm.. a WC?B show is almost religious. You haven’t lived till you’ve been surrounded by an 18 piece brass band who can rock Slayer ‘s “Raining Blood”. Though if you can’t catch them live, their new release on Anchor Brain will still make you feel like jumping around and screaming like a fool!
Awesome Tapes From Africa
I just can’t get enough of these incredible tapes.. lovingly ripped and scanned and posted on this very thorough blog. Just go, download! It’s a veritable treasure chest of awesome.
http://awesometapesfromafrica.blogspot.com/
Silence
After a misguided move (we lasted a week) thinking we’d found a place where we could jam, we were forced out by the crack-y “cafe-lounge” downstairs that seemingly loves blasting cheesy 90’s techno alternating with 80’s hair metal (“Sheee’s myy Cherry Pie!”). Not even my speakers-down 500w DRI/sepultura counterattack could stem the dishrattling racket. So? We moved to a “normal” apartment and put our gear in storage and are enjoying the relative quiet…
…and one day I hope to achieve the zen attitude of my personal idol John Cage . But I wonder, did he ever live on top of a sleazy bar that blasted Warrant till 4am?
Pierced Arrows – Paranoia
I just chose this song because there’s a rad video for it.. but really the whole of Fred & Toody’s output here as The Rats , Dead Moon, Pierced Arrows and all their other projects are a very personal inspiration to me as one half of a rock n’ roll DIY husband and wife team who couldn’t give a toss about trends and “buzz” and all that other crud. Here’s to all the rocker couples out there!
Adriano Celentano – Prisencolinensinainciusol
Quite by accident, we stumbled across this incredible song by Italy’s Adriano Celentano . Apparently the words are improvised gibberish, but the tune, beat, melody and horn blasts are KILLER. Such an addictive tune, this has been one of our theme songs of 2010.
Demon’s Claws – The Defrosting of Walt Disney (In The Red)
Montreal at times seems choked by skill-less fashion punks and sulky garage nerds who try to out-obscure each other while resolutely freezing their sacs off in skinny jeans and leather jackets in -30c weather. Every now and then, a band escapes our confines that entirely deserves the accolades. Brushing aside all the weenie indie rock, you may find the incredible Demon’s Claws at play in the dark forests of deviant imagination. Skilled and unique, this band writes compelling tunes that slides the interstices of spooky country and Seeds era psych-garage. The Defrosting of… was played on repeat till the CD player in my car broke. Check out this horrifying video for “Fed From Her Hand”:
DOOMSTAR!
I’ve extolled the virtues of this exciting Cambridge, Mass. band before and I’m inluding them on my top 2010 list because quite simply they are an endless font of sublime riffcandy. I’m excited to hear the forthcoming release on Grandpa & Grandma records. Till I do, I’ll enjoy with y’all this video from the new release for “The End of the World”.
Treme – Original HBO Series
From the dudes who created The Wire, Treme is a dramatic series on HBO that revolves around the name-sake neighborhood in New Orleans, set a few months after hurricane Katrina. I don’t like a lot of the slop on TV, but it’s been totally refreshing this year to have a well written and beautifully filmed show wherein the protagonists are mostly musicians, dealing with the destruction of their city but also dealing with the day-to-day schlep of trying to make a buck playing your heart out. On this level and a few others I’ve really connected to this show… with one small quibble. Watch the intro and try not to hear the theme from Northern Exposure. Careful, once you’ve heard it you’ll never un-hear it!
