2012: Albums of the year - Honourable Mentions

The 20 albums listed below just came up short when narrowing it down to my annual top 30. Certain albums were extremely difficult to include in this list and not the "big one", as some of my favourite songs this year can be heard on the selected long players below. Raise an eyebrow, squeal in ecstasy, or do whatever it is you do when confronted with a list of albums.

Title: Class Clown Spots A UFO
Artist: Guided By Voices
Label: Fire Records
Favourite Tracks: Keep it in Motion, All of This Will Go

Title: Coexist
Artist: The XX
Label: Young Turks
Favourite Tracks: Angels, Reunion

Title: Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II
Artist: Earth
Label: Southern Lord
Favourite Tracks: A Multiplicity of Doors, The Corascene Dog

Title: Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Artist: Spiritualized
Label: Fat Possum
Favourite Tracks: So Long, You Pretty Thing

Title: Runner
Artist: The Sea And Cake
Label: Thrill Jockey
Favourite Tracks: Harps, New Patterns

Title: Harmonicraft
Artist: Torche
Label: Volcom
Favourite Tracks: Kicking, Roaming

Title: Hallelujah, Don't Bend! Descend!
Artist: Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Label: Constellation
Favourite Tracks: Mladic, We Drift Like Worried Fire

Title: The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do.
Artist: Fiona Apple
Label: Epic
Favourite Tracks: Left Alone, Regret, Periphery

Title: Luxury Problems
Artist: Andy Stott
Label: Modern Love
Favourite Tracks: Numb, Luxury Problems

Title: Life Is People
Artist: Bill Fay
Label: Dead Oceans
Favourite Tracks: The Healing Day, Thank You Lord

Title: Observator
Artist: The Raveonettes
Label: Vice Records
Favourite Tracks: Observator, Sinking with the Sun

Title: Redemption City
Artist: Joseph Arthur
Label: Self-Released
Favourite Tracks: I Miss the Zoo, Barriers

Title: Ghostory
Artist: School Of Seven Bells
Label: Vagrant
Favourite Tracks: Lafaye, Show Me Love

Title: The Something Rain
Artist: Tindersticks
Label: Constellation
Favourite Tracks: Chocolate, Come Inside, Goodbye Joe

Title: Mankind The Crafty Ape
Artist: Crippled Black Phoenix
Label: Mascot Records
Favourite Tracks: Laying Traps, Operation Mincemeat

Title: The Odds
Artist: The Evens
Label: Dischord Records
Favourite Tracks: Wanted Criminal, Wonder Why

Title: Songs Of The Third and Fifth
Artist: The Mark Of Cain
Label: Feel Presents
Favourite Tracks: Milosevic, Grey 11, The Argument

Title: Fear Fun
Artist: Father John Misty
Label: Sub Pop
Favourite Tracks: Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings, O I Long to Feel Your Arms Around Me

Title: No
Artist: Old Man Gloom
Label: Hydra Head Records
Favourite Tracks: Regain/Rejoin, The Forking Pain

Title: Sun
Artist: Cat Power
Label: Matador Records
Favourite Tracks: 3,6,9, Real Life, Nothin's But Time










By Simon K.

2012 - Top 15 Live Shows

15. Shellac @ The Zoo, Brisbane

14. Mudhoney @ Splendour In The Grass, Bryon Bay
13. Heirs @ The Zoo, Brisbane
12. Boris @ The Hi Fi Bar, Brisbane
11. Russian Circles @ The Zoo, Brisbane
10. Spiritualized @ The Hi Fi Bar, Brisbane
9. Lee Ranaldo @ The Zoo, Brisbane
8. Dirty Three @ The Tivoli, Brisbane
7. A.A. Bondy @ The Powerhouse, Brisbane
6. The Horrors @ Laneway Festival, Brisbane
5. Refused @ Eaton Hills Hotel, Brisbane
4. Primal Scream @ The Tivoli, Brisbane
3. The Brian Jonestown Massacre @ The Hi Fi Bar, Brisbane
2. Afghan Whigs @ Splendour In The Grass, Bryon Bay
1. Radiohead @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane

Congratulations to Radiohead. Their wow factor never seizes to amaze. My partner and I just about had the worst possible seats and still they failed to hinder our experience that Thomas, Edward, Colin, Jonathon, and Philip presented to us and around 12,000 others. Simply stunning, as they say.

By Simon K.

2012: Top 15 Books Read

 

 

15.
Title: Coud Atlas
Author: David Mitchell
Publisher: Sceptre  
Year of Release: 2004 

14.
Title: The Right Stuff
Author: Tom Wolfe
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Year of Release: 1979

13.
Title: The Water-Method Man
Author: John Irvine
Publisher: Random House
Year of Release: 1972

12.
Title: Solar
Author: Ian McEwan
Publisher: Random House
Year of Release: 2010

11.
Title: Bandits
Author: Elmore Leonard
Publisher: William Morrow & Co
Year of Release: 1987

10.
Title: Bone Machine
Author: Martyn Waites
Publisher: Pocket Books
Year of Release: 2007

9.
Title: End Zone
Author: Don DeLillo
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Year of Release: 1972

8.
Title: Young Stalin
Author: Simon Sebag Montefiore
Publisher: Vintage
Year of Release: 2008

7.
Title: In The Pond
Author: Ha Jin
Publisher: Zoland Books
Year of Release: 1998

6.
Title: Lucky Jim
Author: Kinglsey Amis
Publisher: Victor Gollancz
Year of Release: 1954

5.
Title: Skag Boys
Author: Irvine Welsh
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Year of Release: 2012

4.
Title: 1Q84
Author: Haruki Murakami
Publisher: Vintage Books
Year of Release: 2011

3.
Title: Blood Meridian
Author: Cormac McCarthy
Publisher: Random House
Year of Release: 1985

2.
Title: Slaughterhouse Five
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Publisher: Delacorte
Year of Release: 1969

1.
Title: Red Harvest
Author: Dashiell Hammett
Publisher: Knopf
Year of Release: 1929








Is there any other crime novel quite like Red Harvest? If there is, then I'm yet to read it. Hammett jam packed so many plots and characters into 215 pages that you literally come out the other end of crusade with your head spinning. Every sentence is like a rabbit punch. The language gives these rabbit punches the extra salsa just to mess your head up that little bit more. Dashiell Hammett urbanised literature like no other and Red Harvest was the start of it.

Update: Liberation Frequency

Evening, people. Long time no speak. I just thought I'd just touch base with those who actually swing by once in a blues moon.

Yes, the lack of updates have been prevalent over the last six weeks, I know. There's been plenty going on in the way of work, life, live shows, etc. A quick run down of the important stuff:

The Good: Radiohead, Refused, Thurston Moore, Shellac, Lee Ranaldo. Do I need to elaborate on any of these? Radiohead was, predictably, like a religious experience, while Refused was more in the realm of an aural bludgeoning. Shellac lay somewhere in the middle (probably not, actually; Albini, Weston, and Trainer are sitting on the same side of the fence as Dennis Lyxzén and Co.). Ranaldo backed up his fantastic solo album with a stellar live performance and Thurston Moore was pretty much Thurston Moore; awesome.

The Bad: Although this blog wasn't designed to pan, Chelsea Wolfe's live show didn't fill me with any feeling of the warm and fuzzy variety. Her voice is beautiful and reminiscent of PJ Harvey, however I just feel the dark industrial undertones her band portrays overshadows her true beauty. I guess that's why I love her new acoustic album. Anyway, local act, Heirs, stole the show with a pulverising set that sounded like Mogwai battering Godflesh while Michael Gira sat at the end of the bar drinking some Kentucky whiskey.

The Ugly: The one band I'd been looking forward to see for months was none other than Portland collective, Grails. Without going into it for the hundredth time, it's a crying shame I got my nights mixed up. Thanks to the door girl at the Zoo. I could tell she almost saw the tears fill my eyes, as I attempted to decipher the information she'd presented. "Sorry, mate, it was last night," she said. One of my biggest regrets in life. Seriously.

Stay tuned, guys. My end of year lists will feature throughout December. Can't wait.

By Simon.

Fanboy Rant: British Sea Power

British Sea Power has always stood out from their early ‘00s British contemporaries. For a start they probably don’t like football and instead of finding them in the corner of a pub, you’re more than likely prone to find them milling around a library. In fact, their vibe isn’t too dissimilar to the Manic Street Preachers in comparison with say, Oasis and Blur back in the ‘90s. It's no coincidince that BSP and the Manics have toured together in the past.

After The Beta Band called it day, it was worrying as to who would carry the “modern day British guitar band” torch. BSP has always been one step ahead of your NME rock type bands (need I mention names?). They are hardly sole bearers, though. In a similar realm it would be disingenuous to leave Clinic out of the fold. They, too, have consistently rendered modest left of centre indie rock (in its truest sense) with aplomb. More on Clinic another time (sidenote, however: their new album drops in October).

BSP’s latest little “project” exemplifies the fact that – quite frankly – they’re awesome. It could even be regarded a neo-In The Fish Tank, of sorts. I’m talking about the six EPs they’ve produced in as many months at the front end of 2012. Each month, a new BSP EP. Simple, yeah? Coinciding with BSP’s you beaut idea was a six month residency at a club in Brighton, which they dubbed “Krankenhaus”; a night where the band knocked out the sets of the respective EPs. Work ethic personified, I say.

 As for the six EPs; sure, there’s some filler throughout. But on the flip side there’s also material that easily stacks up to their best work; you know, the subtle chord progressions that make your heart skip a beat; or the blissful octave changes that do their best to ruin you? (Yan and Hamilton have always oozed that particular quality). The BSP faithful will know what I’m talking about here. The band has always possessed an ability to produce these moments; that’s what makes them so great.

Standouts? BSP come into their own during the back end of the series, in my opinion. EPs Four and Five are probably my favourites, while Six may be a grower. ‘Facts Not Right’ and ‘Fingertips’ – both off tehe fourth – could easily have been standout tracks on ‘Valhalla Dancehall’. That’s not to say the latter was a write off; anything but. ‘Wishful Thinking’ – off the fifth – is the catchiest of all the songs BSP has delivered over this series of releases. ‘’Thinking’ is definite single material, should any of these songs appear on later releases (which I hope is not the case). This is only the tip of the iceberg as far as standouts go. Grab the six releases and make your own judgement.

In summary; it feels as if BSP continue to grow as a collective. This alone is a fascinating conclusion, considering the length of time they’ve been together, not to mention the declining status of most of their contemporaries.

In a climate where file sharing outweighs all, artists are continually forced to look outside the box in an effort to present their art. British Sea Power has succeeded this time around. In doing so, they’ve given us a nice little reminder; they’ve got plenty left in the creative tank. That in itself is welcoming news.

To check out this series visit British Sea Power's website here.

 By Simon K.

R.I.P.: Hydra Head Records

Aaron Turner, owner of the revered Hydra Head Records Label (and also a member of the once venerable Isis, along with current projects, Old Man Gloom, Jodis, Grey Machine, and Mamiffer et al) announced earlier this week that the label will be closing its doors before the year's out.

Hydra Head has been the home of progressive metal and hardcore for close to 20 years. A stable presenting artists such as Pelican, Jesu, Harvey Milk and Cave In just to name a few, it can't be denied that it's been the bastion as far a progressive music is concerned.

For a full statement regarding Turner's decision, visit Hydra Head's blog here.

There's a slew of great music on offer at the label's website. Vinyl, CDs, t-shirts, accessories, etc. To help the label pay of its debts, please visit their Webstore and get yourself a fist full of greatness (I've already maxed the credit card out!).  Every bit will help, so spend what you can!

By Simon K.

Recommendation - Eleventh Dream Day

 

The one thing I wanted to do with this blog is tip the proverbial hat to artists who fail(ed) – with no fault of their own – to gain the recognition they deserve(d). In the previous months I’ve touched on artists such as Seelfeel, Bethany Curve, and more recently, the mighty Rodan.

Being a nice spring Sunday, I thought I’d check out what was cracking over at Drowned in Sound where the Community section located on the homepage struck a chord with me, or more precisely, the contents of it. “Eleventh Dream Day – Any Fans?” Without revealing too much of an Australian idiom, fuckin’ oath I am!

Needless to say, Eleventh Dream Day was also on this long list of bands I wanted to pay homage to. However it appears I’ve had my thunder stolen on this occasion. Truth be told, I never had the thunder to begin with. We move on...

Back to DiS...I click and enter into this thread and there’s six posts from as many users, all of which are waxing religious fervour about Chicago’s most underrated rock ‘n’ roll collective. I’m so glad my friend, Andriejus (who in turn introduced me to the ‘Dream Day several moons ago), and I are not the only ones who adore this band.

Anyway, cutting a long story short, I wanted to write a bit of a spiel as to why these guys shred like lords in every way, shape, and form. Someone’s beaten me to the punch; so much so that I couldn’t really put it better myself. Check out Adequacy for a guide to the discography of Eleventh Dream Day, as well as insight from bands members, Rick Rizzo and Douglas McCombs (also of Tortoise fame).

Given its time of publication (2003) there’s a few EDD releases missing, post article, of course (my recommendation would last year’s sensational Riot Now! after you’re done with this bunch). Still, there’s more than enough to sink your fangs into. What are you waiting for? Skip along and don't cruel yourself a second longer. Thank me later.

Adequacy article courtesy of Adrian P a.k.a. "doauk" of the DiS Community.

By Simon K.