I've been doing this for a few years now, listing my favorite albums from each year, as well as five albums i was disappointed by. This year I've also decided to include a few other categories, such as EPs, splits, reissues and albums from 2007 that I didn't listen to until this year.
I'd also like to point out that this isn't a list of facts, but of opinion. While that should be obvious, I've gotten comments before in the past about how I was wrong.
10. Rise Against – Appeal to Reason
This may not be another Revolutions Per Minute or Siren Song, but I personally believe that this album is step up from The Sufferer and the Witness. I don’t know what it is, the album, if anything, is even more poppy than the last and Tim’s scream is notably absent. I think it is because I was so let down by The Sufferer and the Witness that I was willing to take anything. Or maybe it’s the insanely catchy choruses. Yeah, that’s it.
Favorite tracks: Long Forgotten Sons, The Dirt Whispered, Savior
09. O’Death – Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin
This was only recently added to my collection, but holy shit is it amazing. I discovered it at the radio station one day. Me and Nikki were both feeling kind of down, and the album art is just very dark and depressing, so we decided not to play it right away and saved it for later. Then we played it, and instead of the slow, depressing folk songs we expected, we were treated to Legs to Sin, a frantic rush of folk, bluegrass, punk and swing. I think that’s an accurate way to describe them. Either way, we ended up playing more of their songs and it just got better and better each time. Then I looked them up and found out they aren’t from the Midwest, but from New York. They’re kind of like Old Crow Medicine Show, but faster.
Favorite tracks: Fire On Peshtigo, Legs to Sin, Lean-To
08. Lemuria – Get Better
I admit: even though Lemuria has played at SUNY New Paltz a number of times in the past few years, I never gave them a listen. Then Get Better was released and we got a copy of it at the radio station. At first, Pants was the only song I’d really listen to, but then one day I had my library on shuffle and Buzz came on, and I really liked it. Full of infectious pop tunes, sweet vocals (Sheena anyhow, Alex sounds bored sometimes) and fun lyrics, Get Better is a pretty good debut (could stand to have maybe one more song though). I hope they aren’t too big to come back to New Paltz soon.
Favorite tracks: Pants, Buzz, Dog, Dogs
07. Ben Folds – Way to Normal/Fake
I got into the Ben Folds thing pretty late. I always just assumed that Ben Folds Five was your typical college radio rock this side of Radiohead and not worth my time. Then I spent a lot of time on Skachilles and hear people rave about his solo work and can’t wait for his new album. Then I heard it leaked, but I still didn’t check it because the leak wasn’t real. Then the album was put into rotation and I finally listened to it. I’m stupid for not listening to it sooner. Also, I decided to download the fake leak just to see how the songs compared. Cool stuff, catchy poppy stuff (what the hell happened to me? What’s with all this pop music?).
Favorite tracks: Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head), Bitch Went Nuts, Brainwascht, Effington, Brainwashed, Way to Normal, Bitch Went Nutz
06. Less Than Jake – GNV FLA
I don’t think I need to say too much about this one. It’s no secret that In With the Out Crowd was Less Than Jake’s worst album (I still enjoyed some songs from it, but it can’t really be argued that it was their weakest album). I don’t think I can say much about it that hasn’t already been said. It was the perfect way to follow up to In With the Out Crowd in every way possible.
Favorite tracks: Does The Lion City Still Roar?, Summon Monsters, Golden Age of My Negative Ways, The Space They Can’t Touch, Devil in My DNA
05. Dillinger Four – C I V I L W A R
This was the first Dillinger Four album I enjoyed all the way through. I know I’ve been into punk rock for years now, and that I’ve had more than enough time to fall in love with Midwestern Songs of the Americas, but the fact is that never happened. When my computer crashed before coming to college, most of the stuff I didn’t have on CD was never reacquired and that includes Dillinger Four. So when there was all that controversy surrounding the leaked C I V I L W A R, I had to check it out. Some songs are a bit on the mellower side, but that doesn’t stop them from being awesome (or maybe it’s my age and I just enjoy old fart music now).
Favorite tracks: Parishiltonisametaphor, Gainesville, This Classical Arrangement, The Art of Whore, Clown Cars on Cinder Blocks
04. Matt Pryor – Confidence Man
This one surprised me. A lot. I’m not even sure what inspired me to check this one out: I’m only a casual Get Up Kids fan (Something to Write Home About is the only GUK album I would consistently listen to), and I had never listened to any of the side projects formed by the band’s members (New Amsterdams, Blackpool Lights, Etc) (Okay, so I lied. I did listen to Reggie and the Full Effect). But I read about Matt Pryor’s first solo outing and decided I needed to hear it. I’m glad I did. It’s definitely more in line with the mellow stuff that I’ve been listened to lately (what the fuck is up with me?), and really relaxing to put on. Supposedly it was recorded because Mr. Pryor wanted to release a solo disc before hitting 30. Good for him. I’m actually glad he did that, because I really do enjoy this album (A little side note: 2008 has been good for Matt Pryor fans. A solo album, a new Terrible Twos album, the Get Up Kids fucking reunited. Awesome).
Favorite tracks: A Totally New Year, Still There’s a Light, Confidence Man, I Wouldn’t Change a Thing, Dear Lover
03. The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
My favorite thing about this album? No Pretty Fly or Original Prankster on it. No seriously, I was getting sick of every time the Offspring released a new album, the first single was always some Latin-tinged or Synth-driven song. Granted, when I first heard Hammerhead, I thought it wasn’t very good; but the more I listen to it, the more I realize how much I like it. The delivery of the final verse gives me chills when I listen to it.
My only real gripe about this album is the way that half the songs sound like songs by other bands. I know that technically you could say the same about any album of theirs (or in the genre at all), but this one pushes it. Nothingtown sounds like it could have been a Green Day song, while the semi-title track, Rise and Fall, sounds a lot like American Idiot (as well as Doublewhiskeycorenoice). Worst of all, the verse to Trust in You sounds just like Smash, the titular track from The Offspring’s own 1994 album. You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid sounds kind of like Fall Out Boy, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it was done on purpose.
Favorite tracks: You’re Gonna Go Far Kid, Hammerhead, Takes Me Nowhere, Stuff Is Messed Up, Let’s Hear It For Rock Bottom
02. Weezer – Weezer (Red)
My transformation into a complete wuss when it comes to music wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention this album. There are two types of major Weezer fans: those who think anything past Pinkerton is crap, and those who have come to accept the fact that Weezer will no longer be able to release another Blue or Pinkerton, but will enjoy the new music anyway. Then there’s the third group who doesn’t take the band too seriously and just likes Weezer songs. I fall into that third group. Also, this album was the soundtrack to my summer, so I have a lot of attachment to it.
Favorite tracks: The Greatest Man That Ever Lives (Variations on a Shaker Hymn), Pork and Beans, Everybody Get Dangerous, Thought I Knew, Cold Dark World, Automatic, Pig
01. The Gaslight Anthem – The ‘59 Sound
If you either share a room with me or look at my last.fm profile, this shouldn’t surprise you. Or if you know anything about Gaslight Anthem fans, then this shouldn’t surprise you either. Yeah, yeah, the Gaslight Anthem has had their asses kissed by almost everyone in the past two years, and as a part of the punk community, I should hate them because everyone else likes them. I guess I’m not part of the punk community, because I do like them.
Favorite tracks: The ’59 Sound, Old White Lincoln, High Lonesome, Miles Davis and the Cool, The Patient Ferris Wheel, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Here’s Looking at You Kid
Honorable Mentions
Alkaline Trio – Agony and Irony
I have trouble sitting through entire Alkaline Trio albums. I think that when they write a good song, it’s a damn good song. But not all of their songs are good songs and I find myself skipping around, only listening to no more than a third of the album. This one was no exception.
Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
I had this on my old laptop and never really listened to it. Then the laptop crashed and I never thought about getting back until yesterday. There’s definitely a lot of great stuff on here, but I couldn’t bring myself to put it in the top 10 just because I haven’t listened to it as much.
Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves – Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves
If only I had discovered this release sooner. It’s more in tune with Chuck Ragan’s solo work than it is with The Draft, but not quite as folky as Chuck Ragan.
De Novo Dahl – Move Every Muscle, Make Every Sound
Yet another unfortunate album that could have been in my top ten, but excluded because I lost it during the Great Crash of the Old Laptop.
The Copyrights – Learn the Hard Way
I love pop punk, and I love the Copyrights, but I could put their whole discography on shuffle and for the most part wouldn’t be able to distinguish their albums from one another.
Fucked Up – The Chemistry of Modern Life
Even Spin included this in their top 10. How fucked up (pun intended) is that?
Actually, it isn’t very. It shows that someone at Spin has good taste.
The Loved Ones – Build and Burn
When this was put into rotation I ripped it on to my computer and it just stayed there unlistened to. Then about a month ago I finally gave it a spin. Naturally, I compared it to Keep Your Heart and, more prominent in my mind, their self titled EP and didn’t find it as thrilling, but it has some really good songs on it.
Top 5 EPs
05. Against Me! – New Wave B-sides
It’s Against Me!. Come on, like I wasn’t going to enjoy this.
04. Fake Problems – Viking Wizard Eyes, Wizard Full of Lies
I’ll admit, when I first read about this I had never heard of Fake Problems and assumed that they were some band that sounded like All Time Low and did nothing but do terrible blink-182 covers on this release (for those of you not in the know, Viking Wizard Eyes, Wizard Full of Lies is hidden on the inside of the Enema of the State album, and the song titles on this EP are “Mutt” “Wendy Clear” and “Adam’s Song”). And for some reason, I still downloaded it. I was wrong, this was awesome and blink-182 covers they were not.
03. Andrew Jackson Jihad – Only God Can Judge Me
Top quality songs about favoring kittens to humans, the humanity of Jesus and the evils of human life but the good that is within.
02. The Ergs! – That’s It… Bye
It’s kind of unfair that within a year of discovering this band that they decide to break up, but at least they released one final (albeit short) collection of new songs before going out. I don’t think it would win over any new fans, but it’s pleasing to those who already love them.
01. The Gaslight Anthem – Señor and the Queen and Tom Gabel – Heart Burns
I couldn’t pick one over the other. Tom Gabel’s solo EP caught me off guard at first with the new wave (lol) sounds of the first two songs, but I’ve even come to sort of enjoy the looped drum samples. It’s the songs which involve just him and a barely distorted guitar that sold this EP for me. Cowards Sing at Night reminds me of RAR-ATEC era Against Me!, while Anna is a [Fucking] Stool Pigeon only suffers in the title, in that the word “Fucking” was removed (at least on the packaging). Harsh Realms is my favorite song Tom Gabel has written in a long time.
As for Señor and the Queen, I just think this collection of four songs is a really nice collection. It’s sing-able throughout its duration and doesn’t get dull to me. Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts has one of the best choruses I’ve ever heard, and even though I’m not that old yet, it makes me wish that once I am old enough to think back on the past I’ll think back on it like this song does on Brian Fallon’s past.
5 Disappointments
05. Hunchback – Pray for Scars
I first heard of Hunchback on the NY vs NJ Punk Rock Battle Royale compilation. They had this song on it called “Number 12 Looks Like You” and was a pop punk song with screeching vocals much like that of the band The Number 12 Looks Like You. And I thought it was really funny and good. What I failed to understand is that Hunchback is (er… was, I heard they broke up too) an artsy punk band and that their songs were all completely spastic and different. I’m sure if I were into that avant garde stuff, I would’ve liked it more. I did think their cover of Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful was fun.
04. The Matches – A Band in Hope
They need to stop with this ‘multiple producers’ gimmick. Some of their individual songs are great, but having different people produce every other song makes the transition all weird and makes me not want to listen to it. Same problem with their last album.
03. Nine Inch Nails – The Slip
Maybe I’m just growing out of my Nine Inch Nails phase, but I didn’t find myself listening to it as much as I thought I would after reading all the reviews for it. On the plus side, it was free. That was cool.
02. Chumbawamba – The Boy Bands Have Won
The songs I do like from this album are actually really good. The first single, Add Me, is hilarious and really catchy. But there’s just so much on this album that seems like filler. A lot of really short tracks that would’ve worked better as sound clips on the other songs.
01. Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I-IV
I feel like I’m just picking on NIN now, but this one did really disappoint me. It sounded so cool at first because I loved the instrumentals on The Fragile, but 36 instrumental tracks is just way too much for me.
5 Albums of 2007 I Didn’t Discover Until 2008
05. The Methadones – This Won’t Hurt…
I’ll admit, I first thought about checking this out after Mitch Clem put it in his Top 10 of 2007. I was only familiar with the name at the time, I didn’t realize Danny Vapid (of Screeching Weasel) was the frontman. That made this band all the more awesome to me and I needed to check it out.
04. The Ergs! – Upstairs/Downstairs
It’s a shame they broke up so soon after I discovered them. I think these guys were taking pop punk in the direction it desperately needs to be taken back into.
03. Flobots – Fight With Tools
I also admit that seeing the video Handlebars interested me in checking out this album. I discovered that there was more to them than just that song and I ended up listening to this album a lot more than I thought I would.
02. Paul Baribeau – Grand Ledge
Technically I did discover this in 2007, but I couldn’t ever listen to it until I finally decided to take it upon myself to convert the m4a files Monica sent me because a certain someone insisted that they couldn’t converts them into mp3s with iTunes (iTunes v.8 cannot convert to mp3, but I know for a fact that the older versions could).
01. The Gaslight Anthem – Sink or Swim
Yeah… totally my favorite band of 2008.
Compilations
The Ergs! – Hindsight is 20/20 My Friend
Even though the band is gone, the music lives on!
Social Distortion – Recordings Between Then and Now
An un-official compilation, it has a lot of acoustic versions of some of their songs and a few covers (Folsom Prison Blues, Death or Glory). It really made me appreciate Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell a lot more.
Favorite Split
The Methadones/The Copyrights Split
Not many splits that I heard this year really impressed me all that much. There’s the Under the Influence series, and even though Mustard Plug’s cover of Waiting Room is ace, Bomb the Music Industry!’s cover of Gold Soundz was… well, I didn’t like it (I don’t really like Pavement to begin with). I also wasn’t too fond of the Ergs!’s cover of Blockhead. It wasn’t terrible, I just didn’t like it that much.
The Methadones and the Copyrights though… I’m amazed they’re able to churn out as much as they do within such short periods of times. I know I mentioned how I think the Copyrights need to change up their style every so often if they’re going to release something new every 5 months, but it really works for them on here. And the Methadones continue with their brand of power-pop-punk, which doesn’t bother me at all.
Favorite Reissues
Riverdales – Phase Three (Reissue)
This was a lot better than most reissues of out-of-print albums. Rather than tacking all of the unreleased songs and demos at the end of the album, they’re just thrown everywhere, giving the album a whole new feel. Also, there’s a re-recorded version of Mental Retard, which I really enjoyed (new Riverdales in 2009!).
Flobots – Fight With Tools
I didn’t realize this was re-issued this year, but I guess with the success of Handlebars it was. Either way, like I said before, I enjoyed it a lot.
The Replacements – Tim
The Replacements – Let It Be
The Replacements – Pleased to Meet Me
I certainly have some great timing. It was only a year ago when I decided to check out the Replacements, and a few months later almost all their albums are reissued. I don’t consider myself a “die hard” fan, but I like them well enough to enjoy the bonus tracks tacked on.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Eve. Finished wrapping gifts, now just killing time until tomorrow when I see the family and tell them what it's like to be an Anthropology major, how things with the band are, and quite possibly if I have a girlfriend or not (always a popular subject amongst family).
My brother got Twilight Princess. He's playing it right now. I'm jealous. I know the game has been out for a few years now, but I've never gotten around to it. I think I found a good way to kill some time for this winter break.
Speaking of ways to kill time for winter break, the show in Albany next week is no longer happening. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but from the story I was told, the show was never actually booked by the people who said they were going to book it. Very annoying stuff. But my brother is also getting Guitar Hero: World Tour, so in between that, Zelda and attempting to write more stuff on my acoustic, I should be pretty busy.
I was going through some of the songs I wrote over the summer/last winter break and a few of them have potential to continue to be played. One of them is about Lauren and I'm not sure how I feel about that one anymore. It's a pretty detailed account of my relationship with her, so it's not like I can just pretend it's about anyone. I thought about changing some of the more detailed lyrics into more general stuff, but I feel that would just kill the song. It's probably best I just leave it alone and only bring it out if necessary.
Other songs I've written though... some of them are pretty good. There's one that I'm temporarily calling dotorg, which is about a certain website that I sometimes browse through, only to notice that everyone who posts there is a douche bag. Flyswatter is about both a person who hurt a friend of mine and a fly that was pissing the hell out of me over the summer. EGAD is about scenesters and myspace whores, but I'm not sure if I enjoy that one much. There's my acoustic version of Consume with an extra verse I wrote to compliment James' lyrics, and then Just Like Them, another detailed personal song, but with a 'woah' sing along chorus. I like that one a lot.
I'm trying to do something with the discarded guitar part from the NO song Declined. It wasn't working out for us, but I still really like the part I had written, so I'm trying to write new lyrics to it and just make it my own song. I've got a verse down, but I'd like more.
Once I've finished writing these songs, I just need a drummer and bassist. Maybe a second guitar player too. There's no way I'll be sharing these songs with NO... it just doesn't fit the style. What I'd really like to do is start up a pop punk band and use these songs, but I guess I'll wait for an opportunity to come along (I'm still gonna stick with NO, but a side project would be nice).
enough of my ranting. here's a holiday gift for anyone who happens to read this:
http://www.mediafire.com/?fenynnzwin4
It's a collection of NO songs, decently recorded. It's called NO NOVEMBER because (surprise surprise) that's when we recorded it. I don't have the lyric sheets, so just use your imagination. What to expect inside:
01. Silly Billy
02. Kamikaze Vomit Comet
03. Hypocritical Hippies (formerly known as Environmental Song)
04. Leave Me Alone
05. Opposite of You
06. Torah Torah Torah (instrumental)
07. When I Dream
08. Learn to Share
09. Cut Off
10. No Hope in New Jersey
11. Consume
12. Intellectual Property is Theft
13. Diet Pills
14. Fucked Reality (Choking Victim cover)
15. Frat Party
16. Fix Me (Black Flag cover)
17. Opposite of You Too*
18. I'm a Telemarketer**
*a slightly slower version of Opposite of You, I added the "Too" on to the end of the hell of it (other potential names were Opposite of You 2 and Opposite of U2)
**Not actually recorded at the same time as these other songs, this one is fairly new.
My brother got Twilight Princess. He's playing it right now. I'm jealous. I know the game has been out for a few years now, but I've never gotten around to it. I think I found a good way to kill some time for this winter break.
Speaking of ways to kill time for winter break, the show in Albany next week is no longer happening. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but from the story I was told, the show was never actually booked by the people who said they were going to book it. Very annoying stuff. But my brother is also getting Guitar Hero: World Tour, so in between that, Zelda and attempting to write more stuff on my acoustic, I should be pretty busy.
I was going through some of the songs I wrote over the summer/last winter break and a few of them have potential to continue to be played. One of them is about Lauren and I'm not sure how I feel about that one anymore. It's a pretty detailed account of my relationship with her, so it's not like I can just pretend it's about anyone. I thought about changing some of the more detailed lyrics into more general stuff, but I feel that would just kill the song. It's probably best I just leave it alone and only bring it out if necessary.
Other songs I've written though... some of them are pretty good. There's one that I'm temporarily calling dotorg, which is about a certain website that I sometimes browse through, only to notice that everyone who posts there is a douche bag. Flyswatter is about both a person who hurt a friend of mine and a fly that was pissing the hell out of me over the summer. EGAD is about scenesters and myspace whores, but I'm not sure if I enjoy that one much. There's my acoustic version of Consume with an extra verse I wrote to compliment James' lyrics, and then Just Like Them, another detailed personal song, but with a 'woah' sing along chorus. I like that one a lot.
I'm trying to do something with the discarded guitar part from the NO song Declined. It wasn't working out for us, but I still really like the part I had written, so I'm trying to write new lyrics to it and just make it my own song. I've got a verse down, but I'd like more.
Once I've finished writing these songs, I just need a drummer and bassist. Maybe a second guitar player too. There's no way I'll be sharing these songs with NO... it just doesn't fit the style. What I'd really like to do is start up a pop punk band and use these songs, but I guess I'll wait for an opportunity to come along (I'm still gonna stick with NO, but a side project would be nice).
enough of my ranting. here's a holiday gift for anyone who happens to read this:
http://www.mediafire.com/?fenynnzwin4
It's a collection of NO songs, decently recorded. It's called NO NOVEMBER because (surprise surprise) that's when we recorded it. I don't have the lyric sheets, so just use your imagination. What to expect inside:
01. Silly Billy
02. Kamikaze Vomit Comet
03. Hypocritical Hippies (formerly known as Environmental Song)
04. Leave Me Alone
05. Opposite of You
06. Torah Torah Torah (instrumental)
07. When I Dream
08. Learn to Share
09. Cut Off
10. No Hope in New Jersey
11. Consume
12. Intellectual Property is Theft
13. Diet Pills
14. Fucked Reality (Choking Victim cover)
15. Frat Party
16. Fix Me (Black Flag cover)
17. Opposite of You Too*
18. I'm a Telemarketer**
*a slightly slower version of Opposite of You, I added the "Too" on to the end of the hell of it (other potential names were Opposite of You 2 and Opposite of U2)
**Not actually recorded at the same time as these other songs, this one is fairly new.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
an update?!?!
I knew I'd be awful at keeping a blog.
Today marks the beginning of winter break for me. I stayed at school for as long as possible and it paid off despite the fact that all my friends left before I did. According to my calendar, I have exactly 4 weeks before I return to New Paltz. I can deal.
NO business...
in early November we recorded another practice, but this time we experimented and put the recording mic right in between all of us and set the sensitivity to 0.0
It worked wonderfully. We finally had recordings with a bass drum. James sent me the recording session and I turned it into a collection of songs for people to listen to. I'd share it right now, but I'm too lazy to find it, so maybe tomorrow.
we also recorded a legit demo. it's still live like the last one, only the vocals are mixed in equally with the rest of the stuff. some songs are still unbalanced, but what can ya do? we've written a number of new songs. I think we have about 17 originals now. we could totally pull off an LP if we tried.
we have patches that we hope to sell, and shirts in the making. It's awesome.
we have a show at some skatepark in Albany on December 30th. I looked it up and found the name of the place, but I forgot it already. It's on our myspace:
www.myspace.com/nonewpaltz
we also have a show on January 31st at the Midway Cafe in MA. I'm looking forward to that.
and there's supposedly some talk about shows in the UMass region.
I'm going through all the albums that came out this year for my annual Top 10 list. I'm probably going to play my favorite songs from them on the radio show next semester.
I suck at blogging.
Today marks the beginning of winter break for me. I stayed at school for as long as possible and it paid off despite the fact that all my friends left before I did. According to my calendar, I have exactly 4 weeks before I return to New Paltz. I can deal.
NO business...
in early November we recorded another practice, but this time we experimented and put the recording mic right in between all of us and set the sensitivity to 0.0
It worked wonderfully. We finally had recordings with a bass drum. James sent me the recording session and I turned it into a collection of songs for people to listen to. I'd share it right now, but I'm too lazy to find it, so maybe tomorrow.
we also recorded a legit demo. it's still live like the last one, only the vocals are mixed in equally with the rest of the stuff. some songs are still unbalanced, but what can ya do? we've written a number of new songs. I think we have about 17 originals now. we could totally pull off an LP if we tried.
we have patches that we hope to sell, and shirts in the making. It's awesome.
we have a show at some skatepark in Albany on December 30th. I looked it up and found the name of the place, but I forgot it already. It's on our myspace:
www.myspace.com/nonewpaltz
we also have a show on January 31st at the Midway Cafe in MA. I'm looking forward to that.
and there's supposedly some talk about shows in the UMass region.
I'm going through all the albums that came out this year for my annual Top 10 list. I'm probably going to play my favorite songs from them on the radio show next semester.
I suck at blogging.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Bad Scene and a Basement Show
I didn't think I could ever relate Less Than Jake to my band, but lo and behold, I just did.
We played NYPIRG's Rock the Vote on Saturday and it went terribly. Low audience attendance (that might have partially because of it being 11AM on a Saturday, but also because it was parents weekend and those who were awake were with their families), awful mixing (the guitar was really the only audible thing) (I shouldn't be angry about that) and James wasn't too happy about all of that, so his performance was subpar.
That explains the Bad Scene segment.
Later that night, we played a basement show in James' (gasp!) basement! His housemates were out for the night, so we realized we could get away with it so long as we were responsible. Naturally, because we're a reckless punk band, they didn't think we would be responsible and called us once they found out about it (my fault really). Regardless of their worries, we went ahead with it anyway. I understand that they're the leaseholders and all, but it's pretty insulting to think that we're irresponsible enough to let people do damage to the house when there is a door that leads straight into the basement where the show was held.
Continuing our responsible streak, it was decided the show would have to be over by 10, as to not piss off the neighbors. Noah called up his bandmates in Robocock (from Albany) and we asked Mike Carr if he wanted to get his band (Lonesome Dave) to play. Robocock (and their alter ego band, Witness the Shizzle) came down while Lonesome Dave performed an acoustic set. And of course NO was on the bill too. Pretty awesome stuff.
A sizable crowd showed up that night. At first no one was showing up except people we knew, which I was expecting. But then people began to show up during Witness the Shizzle's five/six song set. There was a group of three drunk townies... all of whom kind of worried me because of how drunk two of them were, but they ended up behaving pretty well. One of them even free-styled while Lonesome Dave was setting up (or rather, while they waited).
This basement show was probably the best NO performance yet. I think a large part of it had to do with the fact that the people there were there because they actually wanted to see us. It got the energy really high and we played loud and fast like we should. It was amazing, I can't even describe it any other way.
Robocock was not at all what I was expecting. Considering that Noah is the quietest member of NO, I wasn't expecting him to handle all the screaming vocals, but I was wrong. He has a much better Stza impression than I do too... I've learned this.
This entry is pretty half-assed, but I'm about to get off work right now so I don't really care all too much. I just wanted to write about said show before it became too late to write about it.
We played NYPIRG's Rock the Vote on Saturday and it went terribly. Low audience attendance (that might have partially because of it being 11AM on a Saturday, but also because it was parents weekend and those who were awake were with their families), awful mixing (the guitar was really the only audible thing) (I shouldn't be angry about that) and James wasn't too happy about all of that, so his performance was subpar.
That explains the Bad Scene segment.
Later that night, we played a basement show in James' (gasp!) basement! His housemates were out for the night, so we realized we could get away with it so long as we were responsible. Naturally, because we're a reckless punk band, they didn't think we would be responsible and called us once they found out about it (my fault really). Regardless of their worries, we went ahead with it anyway. I understand that they're the leaseholders and all, but it's pretty insulting to think that we're irresponsible enough to let people do damage to the house when there is a door that leads straight into the basement where the show was held.
Continuing our responsible streak, it was decided the show would have to be over by 10, as to not piss off the neighbors. Noah called up his bandmates in Robocock (from Albany) and we asked Mike Carr if he wanted to get his band (Lonesome Dave) to play. Robocock (and their alter ego band, Witness the Shizzle) came down while Lonesome Dave performed an acoustic set. And of course NO was on the bill too. Pretty awesome stuff.
A sizable crowd showed up that night. At first no one was showing up except people we knew, which I was expecting. But then people began to show up during Witness the Shizzle's five/six song set. There was a group of three drunk townies... all of whom kind of worried me because of how drunk two of them were, but they ended up behaving pretty well. One of them even free-styled while Lonesome Dave was setting up (or rather, while they waited).
This basement show was probably the best NO performance yet. I think a large part of it had to do with the fact that the people there were there because they actually wanted to see us. It got the energy really high and we played loud and fast like we should. It was amazing, I can't even describe it any other way.
Robocock was not at all what I was expecting. Considering that Noah is the quietest member of NO, I wasn't expecting him to handle all the screaming vocals, but I was wrong. He has a much better Stza impression than I do too... I've learned this.
This entry is pretty half-assed, but I'm about to get off work right now so I don't really care all too much. I just wanted to write about said show before it became too late to write about it.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
I am so awful at keeping blogs.
Sometimes I find myself not knowing why I even bother attempting to do it, although I know deep down inside it's because I'm way too lazy to keep a physical journal of sorts, so a blog is the perfect thing for me.
in other news:
NO has some new recordings. Three rough-sounding practices. Kind of like a live demo.
Actually, that's exactly what they are.
I'll upload those at some point. They all feature the exact same songs, but we'd switch them up sometimes. Specifically, there are the short and extended versions of Learn to Share and Environmental Song, while most others are pretty much the same.
The second and third ones feature (I use that word loosely, because they're mixed so poorly) our new guitarist. We call her Chelsea Smiles on our myspace page.
Saturday is NYPIRG's Rock the Vote. NO is playing at said Rock the Vote. It begins at 11 AM. NO is playing at 11 AM. Jimmy and I are convinced that NYPIRG hates NO.
I "started" a side-project with my friend Pete. We haven't actually gotten together and shared songs with each other, but we've decided that when we can, we'd get our acoustics out and jam or something. This might be the best chance I get to use the songs I wrote over the summer (especially 'Flyswatter' and 'dotorg'... I really like those two).
I hear Tom Gabel has a solo EP coming out later this month. The title? Heart Burns. Fuck. Guess I have to rename those homemade Against Me! rarity collections.
I can't believe it's the last day of September. Where the fuck does the time go?
Sometimes I find myself not knowing why I even bother attempting to do it, although I know deep down inside it's because I'm way too lazy to keep a physical journal of sorts, so a blog is the perfect thing for me.
in other news:
NO has some new recordings. Three rough-sounding practices. Kind of like a live demo.
Actually, that's exactly what they are.
I'll upload those at some point. They all feature the exact same songs, but we'd switch them up sometimes. Specifically, there are the short and extended versions of Learn to Share and Environmental Song, while most others are pretty much the same.
The second and third ones feature (I use that word loosely, because they're mixed so poorly) our new guitarist. We call her Chelsea Smiles on our myspace page.
Saturday is NYPIRG's Rock the Vote. NO is playing at said Rock the Vote. It begins at 11 AM. NO is playing at 11 AM. Jimmy and I are convinced that NYPIRG hates NO.
I "started" a side-project with my friend Pete. We haven't actually gotten together and shared songs with each other, but we've decided that when we can, we'd get our acoustics out and jam or something. This might be the best chance I get to use the songs I wrote over the summer (especially 'Flyswatter' and 'dotorg'... I really like those two).
I hear Tom Gabel has a solo EP coming out later this month. The title? Heart Burns. Fuck. Guess I have to rename those homemade Against Me! rarity collections.
I can't believe it's the last day of September. Where the fuck does the time go?
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Where oh where oh where oh where oh where oh where oh where did you get that stupid shit eating grin that you wear?
There was a battle of the bands on the SUNY New Paltz campus today.
and by 'battle of the bands' I mean a pre-determined line up including bands not from the area and bands who were best friends of the promoter. It was more like a concert, as there was never any sort of sign-up for local bands, just a small sentence on a Facebook group saying you should contact the promoter if you wanted to play. Which is what Jimmy, my drummer did, and we still got rejected because the line up was already too full.
whatever the fuck that means. you'd think bands full of students who attend the school would have priority, but whatever.
the good news is that NO! (formerly known as The Mania) will be playing a show in the same spot anyway. For a better cause too. It'll be for the [first] [annual?] Rock the Vote show on October 4th. If you're in the area (New Paltz), fucking check us out!
also, I guess I'm changing up the format to this blog. No more music only stuff. Though next time NO! records something, I'll probably put it up here.
and by 'battle of the bands' I mean a pre-determined line up including bands not from the area and bands who were best friends of the promoter. It was more like a concert, as there was never any sort of sign-up for local bands, just a small sentence on a Facebook group saying you should contact the promoter if you wanted to play. Which is what Jimmy, my drummer did, and we still got rejected because the line up was already too full.
whatever the fuck that means. you'd think bands full of students who attend the school would have priority, but whatever.
the good news is that NO! (formerly known as The Mania) will be playing a show in the same spot anyway. For a better cause too. It'll be for the [first] [annual?] Rock the Vote show on October 4th. If you're in the area (New Paltz), fucking check us out!
also, I guess I'm changing up the format to this blog. No more music only stuff. Though next time NO! records something, I'll probably put it up here.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Against Me! B-sides!
Against Me! is quite possibly my favorite band. I have a tendency to name other bands first when asked who some of my top favorites are... Screeching Weasel, Streetlight Manifesto, Minor Threat and so on, but when I take a look at which band I listen to the most via last.fm, Against Me! is always at the top.
Against Me! has, and always will have, a special place in my heart. I was introduced to them during the summer of 2003 by my friend Sabina. She was playing a song called "Baby, I'm an Anarchist" on her guitar, and I loved it. The music was simple, the lyrics were great and the chorus could be sung-along to (actually, that entire song is pretty sing-songy).
Eventually I ended getting all their commercially available albums (at that time, two LPs, 3 EPs), loving each one. There's been a lot of controversy surrounding their more recent albums in the punk community, either because it's singles were getting airplay on Fuse (Don't Lose Touch and From Her Lips to God's Ears from Searching for a Former Clarity) or because they were not only getting airplay, but also released on a major label (anything from New Wave) and being praised by a number of publications (New Wave was named by Spin as the best album of 2007).
I'm not going to spent much time arguing why I think Against Me! is still great. I will say that I think it's stupid that people still care so much about them "selling out" because of two reasons:
1. people have been making that claim since 2001, when Tom enlisted a full band and they got a full electric line up
2. the sound on New Wave is really just an expansion on the sound they started experimenting with on Searching and, to a lesser extent, As the Eternal Cowboy.
in short... Against Me! haters: bite me. if you don't like it, don't listen. If you think they peaked with the Acoustic EP, then don't bother with anything else (that said, the Acoustic EP is still my favorite release by them)
NOW on to the B-sides......
there are two collections here. The first one is mostly stuff that appeared on singles, such as the Sink Florida Sink 7" or Tribute albums. None of it dates prior to 2003, and a majority of the songs are either from As the Eternal Cowboy-era or New Wave-era (though the two SFAFC singles are there). There's no definitive tracklist, but here's a list of songs in the download:
Cavalier Eternal (Alternate)
You Look Like I Need a Drink (Acoustic)
Don't Lose Touch (Mouse On Mars Remix)
Don't Lose Touch (Live)
Don't Lose Touch (Acoustic)
From Her Lips to God's Ears (Energize-O-Tron Remix by Adrock)
Wagon Wheel (Old Crow Medicine Show cover)
Sink Florida Sink (Electric)
Unsubstantiated Rumors Are Good Enough for Me (to Base My Life Upon) (Electric)
Gypsy Panther*
You Must Be Willing*
Bastards of Young (Replacements cover)
White People for Peace (Butch Vig Remix)
Full Sesh*
*I hear these are on the French version of New Wave.
Against Me! B-sides 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?yzlmnwhmlmw
The second collection is a bit different. This one sports songs way back from when Against Me! was just Tom Gabel and his acoustic guitar, to alternate versions of New Wave songs. This one is more varied, although the sound quality in the first three or four songs is glaringly different than the rest of the songs. Actually, when I think about it, pretty much all these songs from pre-Reinventing Axl Rose or New Wave, so there's a huge difference here. One of the tracks is the "Untitled" taken directly from the legendary (amongst AM! fans anyhow) "Live at C.O.R.E." performance and given the new name "This Song Never Had a Name." Another "Untitled" song, the one that appears on the French version of New Wave, is also here with a new name, "Rock and Rollers," while it's acoustic version has a different title completely. I don't know why, but that's how it goes.
When I first got one of these songs, the album is came from was called "Heart Burns." Now, I don't know if that's a side project or anything, but there is no Against Me! album titled that, and I decided to put this grouping of songs into a rarities collection aptly titled "Heart Burns: Rare and Unreleased" even though these songs are obviously available or else I wouldn't have been able to get them.
EDIT: Heart Burns is Tom's solo EP title. Oops.
tracklist:
01. One Pound of Flesh
02. Untitled at Emo's
03. This Song Never Had a Name (aka "Untitled 2" from Live at C.O.R.E.)
04. Harsh Realm
05. Nuclear Cowboys in an Age of Drift
06. Amputations
07. So Much More*
08. Rock and Rollers* (aka Untitled)
09. Graceful Concessions
10. Miami (Acoustic)
11. Up the Cuts (Acoustic)
12. New Wave (Acoustic)
13. Animal (demo)
*these also appear on the French version of New Wave
B-sides Collection 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?gzecmqjxzpo
Against Me! has, and always will have, a special place in my heart. I was introduced to them during the summer of 2003 by my friend Sabina. She was playing a song called "Baby, I'm an Anarchist" on her guitar, and I loved it. The music was simple, the lyrics were great and the chorus could be sung-along to (actually, that entire song is pretty sing-songy).
Eventually I ended getting all their commercially available albums (at that time, two LPs, 3 EPs), loving each one. There's been a lot of controversy surrounding their more recent albums in the punk community, either because it's singles were getting airplay on Fuse (Don't Lose Touch and From Her Lips to God's Ears from Searching for a Former Clarity) or because they were not only getting airplay, but also released on a major label (anything from New Wave) and being praised by a number of publications (New Wave was named by Spin as the best album of 2007).
I'm not going to spent much time arguing why I think Against Me! is still great. I will say that I think it's stupid that people still care so much about them "selling out" because of two reasons:
1. people have been making that claim since 2001, when Tom enlisted a full band and they got a full electric line up
2. the sound on New Wave is really just an expansion on the sound they started experimenting with on Searching and, to a lesser extent, As the Eternal Cowboy.
in short... Against Me! haters: bite me. if you don't like it, don't listen. If you think they peaked with the Acoustic EP, then don't bother with anything else (that said, the Acoustic EP is still my favorite release by them)
NOW on to the B-sides......
there are two collections here. The first one is mostly stuff that appeared on singles, such as the Sink Florida Sink 7" or Tribute albums. None of it dates prior to 2003, and a majority of the songs are either from As the Eternal Cowboy-era or New Wave-era (though the two SFAFC singles are there). There's no definitive tracklist, but here's a list of songs in the download:
Cavalier Eternal (Alternate)
You Look Like I Need a Drink (Acoustic)
Don't Lose Touch (Mouse On Mars Remix)
Don't Lose Touch (Live)
Don't Lose Touch (Acoustic)
From Her Lips to God's Ears (Energize-O-Tron Remix by Adrock)
Wagon Wheel (Old Crow Medicine Show cover)
Sink Florida Sink (Electric)
Unsubstantiated Rumors Are Good Enough for Me (to Base My Life Upon) (Electric)
Gypsy Panther*
You Must Be Willing*
Bastards of Young (Replacements cover)
White People for Peace (Butch Vig Remix)
Full Sesh*
*I hear these are on the French version of New Wave.
Against Me! B-sides 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?yzlmnwhmlmw
The second collection is a bit different. This one sports songs way back from when Against Me! was just Tom Gabel and his acoustic guitar, to alternate versions of New Wave songs. This one is more varied, although the sound quality in the first three or four songs is glaringly different than the rest of the songs. Actually, when I think about it, pretty much all these songs from pre-Reinventing Axl Rose or New Wave, so there's a huge difference here. One of the tracks is the "Untitled" taken directly from the legendary (amongst AM! fans anyhow) "Live at C.O.R.E." performance and given the new name "This Song Never Had a Name." Another "Untitled" song, the one that appears on the French version of New Wave, is also here with a new name, "Rock and Rollers," while it's acoustic version has a different title completely. I don't know why, but that's how it goes.
When I first got one of these songs, the album is came from was called "Heart Burns." Now, I don't know if that's a side project or anything, but there is no Against Me! album titled that, and I decided to put this grouping of songs into a rarities collection aptly titled "Heart Burns: Rare and Unreleased" even though these songs are obviously available or else I wouldn't have been able to get them.
EDIT: Heart Burns is Tom's solo EP title. Oops.
tracklist:
01. One Pound of Flesh
02. Untitled at Emo's
03. This Song Never Had a Name (aka "Untitled 2" from Live at C.O.R.E.)
04. Harsh Realm
05. Nuclear Cowboys in an Age of Drift
06. Amputations
07. So Much More*
08. Rock and Rollers* (aka Untitled)
09. Graceful Concessions
10. Miami (Acoustic)
11. Up the Cuts (Acoustic)
12. New Wave (Acoustic)
13. Animal (demo)
*these also appear on the French version of New Wave
B-sides Collection 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?gzecmqjxzpo
Friday, July 11, 2008
blink-182 - Buddha (Casette version + Promo tracks)
blink-182 gets a lot of hate. they get a lot of love too, but in the punk community they are generally despised. And rightfully so, as a lot of things they did were everything punk's hated. Bubble gum pop songs played on MTV with a teeny-bopper fanbase. Not to mention a lot of their lyrics were childish and about girls and masturbating, but I won't stress that a lot, because there are a lot of punk bands who are respected who wrote about the same things (The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" and Buzzcocks' "Orgasm Addict" come to mind). Of course, I don't consider blink-182 to be a punk band. Calling them a pop punk band is pushing it. To say they were influenced by such bands, definitely, but it's a stretch calling them otherwise. I didn't really pick up on it until recently (as in the past year or so) but a lot of Tom's guitar work has a pretty heavy Screeching Weasel/Jughead influence in it.
That said, I still enjoy listening to blink-182. They were one of the first bands I really got into that I can still listen to today (Green Day not so much), though I admit that their two most commercially popular albums (1999's Enema of the State and 2001's Take Off Your Pants and Jacket) are probably my least favorite. I've discovered that some people are still surprised to this day that the band has releases dating back to 1992, when Tom's voice was even worse than when they could afford a nice studio producer (Mark's is roughly the same, pretty clean), the sound quality was pretty lo-fi, the band didn't rely on novelty songs like "Happy Holidays, You Bastard" or "The Party Song" and the pop trio still got along (actually, when Mark and Tom got along, these recordings I'm referring to are from before Travis' time)
What I have here today is their Buddha demo, back from when they were known simply as blink. Not the CD version that was re-released by Kung-Fu Records in 1998 after they began to hit it big with Dude Ranch, but the tracks that were found on the original cassette (what are those? amirite?) demo plus the songs that were only released on the promo cassette they made in honor of said demo. There are a lot of songs here for a band that hadn't yet recorded anything else (23 songs total) and quite a few of them were re-recorded for Cheshire Cat, while about two or three were re-recorded for Dude Ranch. I actually prefer some of these versions to their studio counterparts (TV sounds a lot better with the channel surfing clip in the intro and I think Wasting Time works better without that "driving naked" line). There are the songs where the studio version is the greater one (Degenerate, Princess Leia), and then there are the songs that I just love regardless of which version it is (Fentoozler, Point of View, and the ever-great Carousel). I guess you could just form your own opinion though by checking it out.
01. Carousel
02. TV
03. Strings
04. Fentoozler
05. Time
06. Rebecca and Romeo
07. 21 Days
08. Sometimes
09. Degenerate
10. Point of View
11. My Pet Sally
12. Reebok Commercial
13. Toast and Bananas
14. The Family Next Door
15. Transvestite
16. Princess Leia (later titled "A New Hope")
17. The Girl Next Door (Screeching Weasel cover)
18. Strung Out (later titled "Enthused")
19. Ben Wah Balls
20. Does My Breath Smell?
21. Voyeur (not the same song titled "Voyeur" on Dude Ranch)
22. Wasting Time
23. Don't
Tracks 1-15 original Buddha Cassette tracks
Tracks 16-23 Buddha Promo tracks
http://www.mediafire.com/?dmwdayvnwrt
That said, I still enjoy listening to blink-182. They were one of the first bands I really got into that I can still listen to today (Green Day not so much), though I admit that their two most commercially popular albums (1999's Enema of the State and 2001's Take Off Your Pants and Jacket) are probably my least favorite. I've discovered that some people are still surprised to this day that the band has releases dating back to 1992, when Tom's voice was even worse than when they could afford a nice studio producer (Mark's is roughly the same, pretty clean), the sound quality was pretty lo-fi, the band didn't rely on novelty songs like "Happy Holidays, You Bastard" or "The Party Song" and the pop trio still got along (actually, when Mark and Tom got along, these recordings I'm referring to are from before Travis' time)
What I have here today is their Buddha demo, back from when they were known simply as blink. Not the CD version that was re-released by Kung-Fu Records in 1998 after they began to hit it big with Dude Ranch, but the tracks that were found on the original cassette (what are those? amirite?) demo plus the songs that were only released on the promo cassette they made in honor of said demo. There are a lot of songs here for a band that hadn't yet recorded anything else (23 songs total) and quite a few of them were re-recorded for Cheshire Cat, while about two or three were re-recorded for Dude Ranch. I actually prefer some of these versions to their studio counterparts (TV sounds a lot better with the channel surfing clip in the intro and I think Wasting Time works better without that "driving naked" line). There are the songs where the studio version is the greater one (Degenerate, Princess Leia), and then there are the songs that I just love regardless of which version it is (Fentoozler, Point of View, and the ever-great Carousel). I guess you could just form your own opinion though by checking it out.
01. Carousel
02. TV
03. Strings
04. Fentoozler
05. Time
06. Rebecca and Romeo
07. 21 Days
08. Sometimes
09. Degenerate
10. Point of View
11. My Pet Sally
12. Reebok Commercial
13. Toast and Bananas
14. The Family Next Door
15. Transvestite
16. Princess Leia (later titled "A New Hope")
17. The Girl Next Door (Screeching Weasel cover)
18. Strung Out (later titled "Enthused")
19. Ben Wah Balls
20. Does My Breath Smell?
21. Voyeur (not the same song titled "Voyeur" on Dude Ranch)
22. Wasting Time
23. Don't
Tracks 1-15 original Buddha Cassette tracks
Tracks 16-23 Buddha Promo tracks
http://www.mediafire.com/?dmwdayvnwrt
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The Beastie Boys - Some Old Bullshit
I don't know what's harder to believe: that the Beastie Boys started off as a hardcore punk band from NYC, or that people still don't know that the Beastie Boys started off as a hardcore punk band from NYC.
I'm gonna go with the latter. Seriously, how do people not know this by now? Every time some ignorant white kid tells another white kid they don't like the Beastie Boys because "they're rap," they're schooled on their BB history. When it was announced that Sabotage was going to be in Guitar Hero III, all the same type of ignorant white boys cried "but they're a rap group! you can't play guitar to that!"
...I just wanted to grab them by the throat much like Homer grabs Bart while asking them if they've even heard the song before.
enough bitching about that though. The fact remains, whether white kids want to realize it or not, the Beastie Boys started their career off as a snotty young punk band from New York City playing with the likes of Reagan Youth and Bad Brains (the inspiration for a band name with the initials BB). Later they were discovered by Rick Rubin and recorded the "frat rap" Licensed to Ill (which, when you think about it, has a lot of guitar parts in it). They've gotten a lot better since then (though I still think The New Style, She's Crafty and Rhymin' and Stealin' are all great), but in the mid-90's, they released a compilation of some of their early tracks. And by early tracks, I mean their pre-hip hop career songs. You know, back when they were a hardcore punk band from NYC. What? You didn't know that? Shut up.
This album is by no means perfect. In fact, I think it gets kind of annoying at times, but when I'm looking for a hardcore fix, it gets the job done. Although in terms of perfection when it comes to the Beastie Boys, pretty much anything they've released since Paul's Boutique is gold (my personal favorites are Check Your Head and To the 5 Boroughs, but they all have their moments) (I can't actually speak for 2007's The Mix Up. I'm just not much of a guy for all instrumental albums).
so here ya go, Some Old Bullshit by the Beastie Boys
01. Egg Raid on Mojo
02. Beastie Boys
03. Transit Cop
04. Jimi
05. Holy Snappers
06. Riot Fight
07. Ode To...
08. Michelle's Farm
09. Egg Raid on Mojo
10. Transit Cop
11. Cookie Puss
12. Bonus Batter
13. Beastie Revolution
14. Cookie Puss (Censored)
http://www.mediafire.com/?jewpuxrbh2o
I'm gonna go with the latter. Seriously, how do people not know this by now? Every time some ignorant white kid tells another white kid they don't like the Beastie Boys because "they're rap," they're schooled on their BB history. When it was announced that Sabotage was going to be in Guitar Hero III, all the same type of ignorant white boys cried "but they're a rap group! you can't play guitar to that!"
...I just wanted to grab them by the throat much like Homer grabs Bart while asking them if they've even heard the song before.
enough bitching about that though. The fact remains, whether white kids want to realize it or not, the Beastie Boys started their career off as a snotty young punk band from New York City playing with the likes of Reagan Youth and Bad Brains (the inspiration for a band name with the initials BB). Later they were discovered by Rick Rubin and recorded the "frat rap" Licensed to Ill (which, when you think about it, has a lot of guitar parts in it). They've gotten a lot better since then (though I still think The New Style, She's Crafty and Rhymin' and Stealin' are all great), but in the mid-90's, they released a compilation of some of their early tracks. And by early tracks, I mean their pre-hip hop career songs. You know, back when they were a hardcore punk band from NYC. What? You didn't know that? Shut up.
This album is by no means perfect. In fact, I think it gets kind of annoying at times, but when I'm looking for a hardcore fix, it gets the job done. Although in terms of perfection when it comes to the Beastie Boys, pretty much anything they've released since Paul's Boutique is gold (my personal favorites are Check Your Head and To the 5 Boroughs, but they all have their moments) (I can't actually speak for 2007's The Mix Up. I'm just not much of a guy for all instrumental albums).
so here ya go, Some Old Bullshit by the Beastie Boys
01. Egg Raid on Mojo
02. Beastie Boys
03. Transit Cop
04. Jimi
05. Holy Snappers
06. Riot Fight
07. Ode To...
08. Michelle's Farm
09. Egg Raid on Mojo
10. Transit Cop
11. Cookie Puss
12. Bonus Batter
13. Beastie Revolution
14. Cookie Puss (Censored)
http://www.mediafire.com/?jewpuxrbh2o
Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Gaslight Anthem - Sink or Swim
The Gaslight Anthem are (depending on who you ask) either the best thing to come out of New Jersey since Springsteen (or the Misfits), or the most overrated thing to come out of New Jersey since Springsteen (or the Misfits). I fall into the former category, although I think most of the hate just comes from the fact that they get a lot of hype. At least that's what I gather from punknews.org, where there's a lot of hate to be spread. Or so I gather when I do check that site.
Moving on, The Gaslight Anthem, to me, are an amazing band who have yet to release a bad song. There's a chance I only think of them that way because they only have two releases; a 12 track full length and a four song EP. Either way, these guys know how to craft a good song. They aren't the most original sounding band ever (I think most refer to them as a "punk rock Bruce Springsteen"), but these guys acknowledge this by referencing their influences throughout their songs. The single I'da Called You Woody, Joe is chock full of references to the late Joe Strummer. Not to mention (and I know this is often mentioned in any review of their 2007 debut) the "woah-oh-oh's" in the first track Boomboxes and Dictionaries sound like they were directly lifted from Against Me!'s Sink, Florida, Sink.
without further ado, here it is:
01. Boomboxes and Dictionaries
02. I Coulda Been a Contender
03. Wooderson
04. We Came to Dance
05. 1930
06. The Navesink Banks
07. Red in the Morning
08. I'da Called You Woody, Joe
09. Angry Johnny and the Radio
10. Drive
11. We're Getting a Divorce, You Keep the Diner
12. Red at Night
the link is dead, but you should probably buy this one anyway.
Moving on, The Gaslight Anthem, to me, are an amazing band who have yet to release a bad song. There's a chance I only think of them that way because they only have two releases; a 12 track full length and a four song EP. Either way, these guys know how to craft a good song. They aren't the most original sounding band ever (I think most refer to them as a "punk rock Bruce Springsteen"), but these guys acknowledge this by referencing their influences throughout their songs. The single I'da Called You Woody, Joe is chock full of references to the late Joe Strummer. Not to mention (and I know this is often mentioned in any review of their 2007 debut) the "woah-oh-oh's" in the first track Boomboxes and Dictionaries sound like they were directly lifted from Against Me!'s Sink, Florida, Sink.
without further ado, here it is:
01. Boomboxes and Dictionaries
02. I Coulda Been a Contender
03. Wooderson
04. We Came to Dance
05. 1930
06. The Navesink Banks
07. Red in the Morning
08. I'da Called You Woody, Joe
09. Angry Johnny and the Radio
10. Drive
11. We're Getting a Divorce, You Keep the Diner
12. Red at Night
the link is dead, but you should probably buy this one anyway.
Friday, July 4, 2008
The Mania - Four Song Demo
The Mania are a punk band hailing from New Paltz, NY. It's kind of funny, because none of the members are actually from New Paltz. That aside, the music is alright. This specific recording is kind of sloppy and the levels aren't balanced and all that jazz.
This is more shameless self promotion than anything. I'm in the band, so the more I spew, the more obvious it becomes.
oh, and we're planning on changing our name. We just don't know when we will. Or what to change it to.
01. Frat Party
02. Kamikaze Vomit Comet
03. Diet Pills
04. When I Dream (Take 1)
05. When I Dream (Take 2)
http://www.mediafire.com/?9dzyvx02ek0
This is more shameless self promotion than anything. I'm in the band, so the more I spew, the more obvious it becomes.
oh, and we're planning on changing our name. We just don't know when we will. Or what to change it to.
01. Frat Party
02. Kamikaze Vomit Comet
03. Diet Pills
04. When I Dream (Take 1)
05. When I Dream (Take 2)
http://www.mediafire.com/?9dzyvx02ek0
Black Flag - Last Show with Dez Cadena
if you're even remotely into hardcore, you should know who Black Flag is. Damaged is one of the essential hardcore albums that every punk owns (be it a physical or electronic medium).
but before Henry Rollins was handling bike shorts duty, there was a man known as Dez Cadena handling the mic. After his vocal days with the band were done, he moved on to rhythm guitar for a short time (apparently two guitars didn't fly well with band leader Greg Ginn). He played with a few other bands after that (most notably Red Kross) and is currently a member of the Misfits. But that's now, let's go back to then:
pre-Rollins Black Flag had trouble keeping a vocalist. Dez was no exception. Although he wasn't their strongest vocalist, he was able to hold his own and bring his own presence to the stage. Today I present to you a recording of his final show as vocalist for Black Flag, recorded (if you can believe it) 27 years ago on this date (July 4th! Happy Birthday America!). I was told this is a soundboard recording, but I don't know how reliable my sources are. Enjoy it anyway.
(not actual album art)
Tracklist:
01. Damaged II
02. American Waste
03. Clocked In
04. Room 13
05. Rise Above
06. Spray Paint
07. Damaged I
08. Six Pack
09. Jealous Again
10. Police Story
11. No More
12. You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You!
13. I've Heard it Before
14. Depression
15. Machine
16. I've Had It
17. Nervous Breakdown
18. No Values
http://www.mediafire.com/?njek0nn1i5n
but before Henry Rollins was handling bike shorts duty, there was a man known as Dez Cadena handling the mic. After his vocal days with the band were done, he moved on to rhythm guitar for a short time (apparently two guitars didn't fly well with band leader Greg Ginn). He played with a few other bands after that (most notably Red Kross) and is currently a member of the Misfits. But that's now, let's go back to then:
pre-Rollins Black Flag had trouble keeping a vocalist. Dez was no exception. Although he wasn't their strongest vocalist, he was able to hold his own and bring his own presence to the stage. Today I present to you a recording of his final show as vocalist for Black Flag, recorded (if you can believe it) 27 years ago on this date (July 4th! Happy Birthday America!). I was told this is a soundboard recording, but I don't know how reliable my sources are. Enjoy it anyway.
(not actual album art)
Tracklist:
01. Damaged II
02. American Waste
03. Clocked In
04. Room 13
05. Rise Above
06. Spray Paint
07. Damaged I
08. Six Pack
09. Jealous Again
10. Police Story
11. No More
12. You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You!
13. I've Heard it Before
14. Depression
15. Machine
16. I've Had It
17. Nervous Breakdown
18. No Values
http://www.mediafire.com/?njek0nn1i5n
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Chumbawamba - Jesus H. Christ.
I decided that because music blogs aren't exactly 100% legal, my first post would be dedicated to an album that was never commercially released because it wasn't 100% legal in itself.
Chumbawamba's Jesus H. Christ was meant to be released in the early 1990's (possibly 1991?) as their follow up to 1990's Slap!. However, due to the number of uncleared samples that the album contained, there was no way to have it released the way it was, and the band was forced to re-work the entire album. It was eventually released in 1992 as Shhh, with all the samples removed, and the accompanying artwork contained images of the rejection letters the band recieved for their requests to sample other artists' music.
however, thanks to Peer-2-Peer networking, as well as people like me, it can be shared amongst fans to be heard it it's original glory. That's not to say that Shhh is a bad album, but hearing it int it's raw form is a very rewarding experience in itself. So without further ado, here it is, the unreleased Jesus H. Christ.
01. Alright Now
02. Don't Fence Me In
03. Money Money Money
04. Solid Gold Easy Action
05. Silly Love Songs
06. Get Off
07. Stairway to Heaven
08. Big Mouth Strikes Again
09. Street Sounds
10. Should Be So Lucky
11. Stitch That
it should be noted that there is an "Intro" track which sampled the intro to Sgt. Pepper's on some versions, giving the album 12 tracks.
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ytjgv4hnag3
and yes, this is the same band who wrote and performed Tubthumping back in 1997. Let's move on now.
Chumbawamba's Jesus H. Christ was meant to be released in the early 1990's (possibly 1991?) as their follow up to 1990's Slap!. However, due to the number of uncleared samples that the album contained, there was no way to have it released the way it was, and the band was forced to re-work the entire album. It was eventually released in 1992 as Shhh, with all the samples removed, and the accompanying artwork contained images of the rejection letters the band recieved for their requests to sample other artists' music.
however, thanks to Peer-2-Peer networking, as well as people like me, it can be shared amongst fans to be heard it it's original glory. That's not to say that Shhh is a bad album, but hearing it int it's raw form is a very rewarding experience in itself. So without further ado, here it is, the unreleased Jesus H. Christ.
01. Alright Now
02. Don't Fence Me In
03. Money Money Money
04. Solid Gold Easy Action
05. Silly Love Songs
06. Get Off
07. Stairway to Heaven
08. Big Mouth Strikes Again
09. Street Sounds
10. Should Be So Lucky
11. Stitch That
it should be noted that there is an "Intro" track which sampled the intro to Sgt. Pepper's on some versions, giving the album 12 tracks.
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ytjgv4hnag3
and yes, this is the same band who wrote and performed Tubthumping back in 1997. Let's move on now.
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