i srsly cannot believe no one else has even mentioned m83
what is wrong with you people
Ehhhhh. Doesn't do it for me.
Okay, here goes:
Top five albums
1.
Dungen - 4It's grown on me SO much in the past few weeks that it's not even funny. I can't get "Det Tar Tid" out of my head, and I don't consider that a bad thing
2.
Jenny Lewis - Acid TongueFuck you guys, I liked it. I'm not even sure why I like it, but I do.
3.
Sigur Ros - that thing with the long nameIt seems so different from Takk... and everything before it, but it also comes off so right.
4.
Boris - Smile (both versions)It's Boris. Nuff said. I only wish they'd found a way to fit "Floor Shaker" in (it's on the new live album and the "Statement" single).
5.
Everybody Out! s/tEasily the best punk rock album in five years. Chris Sweeney from Dead Pets and Rick Barton, ex-Dropkick Murphys. It's fun, raucous, and old-school as fuck.
Honorable mention:
Hanggai - Introducing HanggaiDunno who put this in the mediaf!re thread, but THANK YOU. "Wuji" is another one of those songs that refuses to leave my head.
Top
fivesix shows
1. Everybody Out! (Newbury Comics, Braintree MA)
75 kids jammed into a record store, birthday cake and punk rock. Well worth the time spent on the Red Line and the taxi fares. Plus Newby's had 25% off all vinyl. I made out quite well that day. I think I actually got a MGMT single on white vinyl for free. Cool.
2. Fu Manchu/Burning Brides/Some band with a white dude with dreads (Middle East downstairs, Cambridge MA)
The most fun I've had at a show in a long time. The first band..I can't remember, but they weren't too good. Burning Brides ripped, and the Fu played their normal fuzzy-as-fuck rock until about 1:30.
3. Dropkick Murphys/Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (Tsongas Arena, Lowell MA, evening show)
The crowd wasn't into TL at all, but they played a fuck of a set, ending with a Stiff Little Fingers cover. Dropkick were Dropkick, and it was St. Paddy's week. Pretty awesome. Shame about the crowd, though.
4. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks/John Vanderslice (Mass MoCA, North Adams MA)
MoCA brings one good show to my town a year, and this was it. I love Vanderslice, and Malkmus absolutely tore the place apart with his set.. Plus, I finally got to see the drumming greatness of Janet Weiss live.
5. Dropkick Murphys/Everybody Out!/Big D & The Kids Table (Tsongas Arena, Lowell MA, afternoon show)
I think Dropkick played a better set this show than they did in the evening. The crowd was better, too. This was the first time I'd seen or heard Everybody Out!, and I pretty much fell in love after the first song. Big D were nigh horrid. I think the singer was stoned off his ass, or at least it seemed like it. This ranks lower than the evening show only because I like TL/Rx more than Everybody Out!.
6. Bill Chapman Trio (Cup and Saucer, North Adams, MA)
Live jazz with breakfast the first Sunday of every month. Can you complain about that? Nope.
Shane's "that guitar sounds awesome" bits of the year
1. Amon Amarth - "Varyags of Mikklagaard" (1:38-2:25)
The riff is awesome, then they get all harmonizing and shit, repeat the intro..mmm.
2. The Sword - "The Sundering" (0:31-0:39)
I like the run at the end, it almost sounds like the whole thing is just falling apart.
EPs/singles/whatnot of the year
1.
Sebastian Grainger & The Mountains - American Names2.
Boris - Statement 7"3.
Lagwagon - I Think My Older Brother Used To Listen To Lagwagon4.
Polymaths - So Long, Castle Road5. Jay Reatard/Deerhunter split
6.
Nadja - Long Dark Twenties
