The Best Albums of 2009: Criterion Edition

Well, gang, the end of the year is officially within sight. You know what that means - it's time for my Best Albums of 2009 list. In case you need a refresher, here's my Best of 2008 list.
Anyways, as usual, there are a few things I need to disclose before I get into it. First off, I can't limit myself to just a top ten because I acquire far too many records over the course of the year. In fact, this year I probably obtained 2-3 times the number of albums I obtained in 2008. Also, I have a really tough time giving my favorite albums a specific ranking. With the exception of the 3 or 4 records that easily sit atop my list, everything will be listed in alphabetical order. And finally, all of the records you'll see on my list are readily available to download illegally if you're even the slightest bit internet savvy. But for the most part, the bands you'll see here could use your money, so I urge you to actually go out to an INDEPENDENT record store and purchase these. If that's a foreign concept to you, I'm positive all of these are available to download via iTunes or Amazon.

So, without further ado, here are White Goodman's Top Albums of 2009...

1. Drummer - Feel Good Together (Audio Eagle Records)
Five drummers from numerous different bands join forces to record the most exciting (and most unnoticed) guitar driven, indie-pop record of 2009.

2. The Horrors - Primary Colors (Beggars UK)
Formerly Jon Spencer disciples, these Brits apparently discovered Can and Joy Division before recording their stellar sophomore album, Primary Colors, with Portishead's Geoff Barrow. This is a good thing.

3. The Twilight Sad - Forget the Night Ahead (Fat Cat Records)
This Scottish quartet take shoegaze to a dark new level. And the result is fascinating. And emotionally overwhelming.

4. Built to Spill - There is No Enemy (Reprise Records)
Doug Martsch is one of my top 3 favorite songwriters of all time. There is No Enemy finds his current band, Built to Spill, back at the top of the indie-game after the disappointing Ancient Melodies of the Future and the over-jammy You in Reverse. Infinite bonus points for bringing Treepeople guitarist Scott Schmaljohn back on board for "Pat" - a touchingly rocking tribute to late Treepeople bassist Pat Brown.

The Rest of the Best:
Averkiou - Throwing Sparks (Clairecords)
Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons of Bad Luck (Invada Records)
Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen (Saddle Creek)
Dinosaur Jr. - Farm (JagJaguar)
Drag the River - Bad at Breaking Up (Suburban Home)
The Dukes of Hillsborough - Generation Tinnitus (A.D.D. Records)
Future of the Left - Travels with Myself and Another (4AD)
Heat-Ray - Loveallover (Pop-Echo)
Japandroids - Post Nothing (Polyvinyl)
Julian Plenti - ...As Skyscraper (Merge)
Mew - No More Stories Are Told Today... (Columbia)
Bob Mould - Life and Times (Anti)
P.O.S. - Never Better (Rhymesayers)
Polvo - In Prism (Merge)
Silversun Pickups - Swoon (Dangerbird Records)
The Sleepover Disaster - Hover (Devil in the Woods)
Starflyer 59 - Ghosts of the Past (Tooth and Nail)
Systems Officer - Underslept (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
Sweet Cobra - Bottom Feeder EP (Seventh Rule)
Tegan and Sara - Sainthood (Vapor/Sire Records)
The Tim Version - Prohibition Starts Tomorrow (A.D.D. Records)

Honorable Mention:
These records weren't released in 2009, but they're incredible. And I'll be damned if any of you have them already (click the links to download).
Fast Gato - Feral
This gem, which features Greg Ginn of Black Flag and Scott Reynolds of ALL/Goodbye Harry/Pavers was supposed to be released on SST records at some point. We're still waiting. Luckily, someone somewhere got a copy, and I finally tracked it down.
The Town Managers - Grade His Tits
One of Joe Jack Talcum's many post-Dead Milkmen ventures, this record contains all of the band's 7"s and sampler tracks. This is the first time that their entire catalog of music has been compiled in one place.

Best Concerts of 2009 (in no particular order):
ALL (featuring Scott Reynolds) with Big Drill Car and My Name - July 14 at House of Blues
Future of the Left, Japandroids, and Dead Ponies - July 31 at Spaceland
The Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks - September 20 at Knitting Factory
Mew - December 14 at The Music Box at Henry Fonda

So, there you have it. The best of the best of 2009. I may have missed a record or two, but that was inevitable. If you're one of the Rolling Stone dipshits that thinks U2 and Lady Gaga had the best records of the year, you can fuck off because you're a complete and total retard. You have no business listening to music in the first place.

Happy holidays. Here's to more amazing music in 2010.

Gimme Dat

Those of you that regularly read my blog have probably worked out by now that I'm not a big fan of hip-hop. I can't really argue that. But I will say this, the hip-hop that I do listen to, I'm very passionate about. Artists like P.O.S. (and the whole Doomtree crew), Atmosphere, Grand Buffet still get regular rotation 'round my home and car, while older guys like the Beasties and House of Pain (their second album only) are still fun to throw on from time to time. Probably my favorite hip-hop guy (I hate the word "rapper") is Sage Francis. He doesn't sing about gangs and bitches and bling and all that other retarded shit that most rappers are pre-occupied with. And he's always had this kinda punk rock attitude and approach to hip-hop, and to me, there's no one out there who does it better.

Sage, being the festive motherfucker that he is, has recorded a twisted little Christmas song called "Gimme Dat," and it's destined to go down as a Sage Francis classic. Not only is the Buck 65-produced track catchy as hell, the lyrics are a hilarious attack on the greedy nature of the holiday season. And, as an added bonus, the chorus of "Gimme Dat" is lifted straight outta "Everybody's Got Nice Stuff But Me" by the Dead Milkmen. Yes, you heard me right, Sage quotes THE DEAD MILKMEN - my favorite band in the world - in his new song. Looks like Christmas came early for this motherfucker right here.

Anyways, Sage has made "Gimme Dat" available as a free download. Click on this bitch to get it for yourself.

Merry fucking Christmas, from your good pal White Goodman.

The Duke Boys

One of my favorite bands of the past few years - The Dukes of Hillsborough - have released a new record. It's called "Generation Tinnitus" and it fucking rules. If you dig Leatherface or Hot Water Music or most No Idea Records bands, you'll dig this shit. Take a listen. And if you dig it, go over to A.D.D. Records and buy a copy. Only $8 for the CD or LP.

Taste

As shallow as it may seem, a girls' taste in music is important if I'm going to date her. Luckily I've never had this problem...

Click to enlarge and read. This is amazing. That's all I can say.

Stolen from http://www.burbia.com/in-relationships-honesty-is-best-policy-or-not

Whippersnappers

Stolen from http://rockmaniac.tumblr.com/

Best Albums of 2009?

So, being the gigantic music nerd that I am, I've already started compiling my top albums of 2009 list. As you probably know, I never limit my list to the top 10 or 20 or whatever because I acquire far too many albums each year to be able to narrow that shit down. At the risk of giving too much away, I figured I'd toss out some of the albums that are contenders for this year's list. I'd love to hear what other people are planning on including on their lists. Feel free to comment below. So, here's a smattering of the bands may or may not make my list (in alphabetical order, because I'm a fucking geek):

Averkiou, Lou Barlow, Built to Spill, Crippled Black Phoenix, Cursive, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, Dethklok, Dinosaur Jr., Doomriders, Drag the River, Drummer, Future of the Left, Heat-Ray, Heroes of Switzerland, The Horrors, Japandroids, Julian Plenti, Mew, Bob Mould, No Friends, P.O.S., Polvo, Silversun Pickups, Sleepover Disaster, Starflyer 59, Sweet Cobra, Systems Officer, Tegan & Sara, The Twilight Sad.

Have I forgotten anyone? Do you agree or disagree with the nominees so far? Thoughts?

In Praise of Sha Na Na

I'd like to apologize to anyone who clicked on this blog post hoping to read something about Sha Na Na.

Most everyone who knows me (and, likewise, most people who read this blog) know that The Dead Milkmen are my favorite band of all time. They have been since I first heard them back in 1988, at the ripe old age of 12. For the sake of keeping this post relatively short, I'll spare you the history of the band, but if you want to know more, just check out their incredibly thorough and detailed website. What you may not know is that the members of the Dead Milkmen are/were also in a plethora of other bands that existed before, during, and after the Milkmen broke up in 1995 - Touch Me Zoo and The Town Managers being my two favorites (and both featuring Joe Jack Talcum). Touch Me Zoo, a more folksy and psychedelic version of the Milkmen, recorded five albums that were only released on cassette in the late 90's. The Town Managers, who were more straightforward punk rock than the Milkmen were, only released a couple of 7"s during their brief existence. Anyways, most of this stuff is pretty hard to track down these days, but luckily Joe has made some of it available for free through his website. Sadly though, it all must be downloaded one mp3 at a time, which, as I can attest, is very time consuming. But fear not loyal reader, I'm here to help. Below you will find download links to Touch Me Zoo's epic 30-song album, Wonderwear Music, as well as The Town Managers' entire 12 song discography. Admittedly, Wonderwear Music isn't my favorite TMZ album, but it's the only one Joe has made available to download at this time. If I can get my hands on mp3s of Lawn King or Blow Up Your Stereo, I'll post those at a later date. This stuff is a must-have for any Dead Milkmen fan.

Speaking of Dead Milkmen, the band is officially back together, and are currently writing new material. I'm pretty fucking stoked about this.

Some other Dead Milkmen related side projects are The Low Budgets, Butterfly Joe, Burn Witch Burn, Ornamental Wigwam, The Cheesies, and Big Mess Orchestra. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but whatever. You get the idea.

Anyways, here are your fucking downloads. Rock it.

Touch Me Zoo - Wonderwear Music

Town Managers - Grade His Tits

My Top Artists for the Week of 11/20/09 - Provided by Last.fm

1. 764-HERO
2. Joe Jack Talcum
3. Doomriders
4. The Jesus Lizard
5. Gil Mantera's Party Dream
6. NoFX
7. Sweet Cobra
8. Blacktusk
9. Julian Plenti
10. Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine

My Favorite Horror Movie Soundtracks

Partially inspired by the fact that today is Halloween, and partially inspired by my buddy Jewbles' recent blog post on his favorite horror movies, I've decided to post my list of my favorite horror soundtracks. There will be some obvious omissions - there's no denying that the music from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is terrifying - but I never listen to it, and this list is comprised of soundtracks that I actually listen to pretty regularly.

1. The Return of the Living Dead. (1985) Some might argue that this is an obvious (and biased) choice since The Return of the Living Dead is my favorite film of all time, but whatever. This soundtrack is the ultimate example of how music can perfectly complement a film. Not surprisingly, this film - an 80's zombie flick with a cast of punk rockers - has a soundtrack packed with 80's gothy punk - from The Cramps and The Damned to 45 Grave and Roky Erickson. This soundtrack was my first exposure to punk music, and was the main influence on the direction in which my then-still-developing musical tastes would take. Sadly, the legitimate verson of this soundtrack (which is still available on Restless Records) doesn't contain Frances Haines' creepy and familiar main theme music (commonly referred to as the Trioxin Theme). Luckily though, several bootleg deluxe editions of this soundtrack have popped up online which feature the Trioxin Theme (as well as film dialogue). Also, for total music nerds (like me), there are a couple different picture LPs of this soundtrack, one of which contains dialogue from the film. Personally, I have 9 versions of this soundtrack - 2 different deluxe/bootleg digital versions, 2 on CD (the legit verson and a third bootleg/deluxe edition), 1 on cassette (that I've had since the 80's), and 4 on vinyl (2 different picture discs, a UK import, and the regular LP release - which is personally autographed to me by Dinah Cancer of 45 Grave).

2. Hardware. (1990) I suppose this is technically a Sci-Fi soundtrack, but Hardware is one of the scariest sci-fi flicks ever, so I'll make an exception. This album is a perfect companion to Richard Stanley's brilliant (and rarely seen) gloomy post-apocalyptic nightmare. The soundtrack blends the 2 central songs used in the film (Public Image Ltd.'s haunting "The Order of Death" and Ministry's anthem, "Stigmata") with random bits of dialogue, and weaves it all together with a depressingly creepy score by Simon Boswell (who would later be responsible for stellar soundtracks for films like Lord of Illusions, Hackers, and Shallow Grave). Listen carefully to the uncomfortably funny snippets of dialogue from radio DJ Angry Bob (played to perfection by Iggy Pop) and the cab driver (Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmeister), as well as Boswell's fake radio spot for "Reno's Reindeer Steaks." Hardware was just recently released on DVD for the first time since it's theatrical release in 1990. I'd imagine the soundtrack might be tough to track down. If you're interested in it, let me know and I'll get you a copy.

3. Trick or Treat. (1986) Not to be confused with the recent horror film Trick 'r' Treat, Trick or Treat tells the fictional tale of metal rocker Sammi Curr who dies in a tragic hotel fire. His biggest fan is Eddie, a nerdy high schooler (played by Skippy from Family Ties) who begins to communicate with the deceased Curr and is manipulated into getting revenge on his tormentors. Curr eventually re-emerges as an evil spirit, and wreaks havoc on Eddie's small town. The movie is pure 80's cheese, but still so much fun. With appearances by Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons, it should come as no surprise that the soundtrack is all 80's hair metal. Luckily though, it's not an 80's greatest butt-rock hits package like a lot of 80's (and current) horror soundtracks are. All the music here is performed by little known 80's metal band, Fastway. And while it certainly doesn't hold up over time, the music is still fun and catchy, and I still know the words to every fucking song. As a kid, this was my favorite soundtrack for the longest time (yes, I even liked it more than The Return of the Living Dead soundtrack). This is a 100% guilty pleasure. Fun fact, Fastway lead singer Dave King is now frontman for Irish punkers Flogging Molly.

4. The Crow. (1994) Everyone loved The Crow when it came out, and everyone owned the soundtrack. With songs from The Cure, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Helmet, and Rollins Band, it's not hard to see why this was the biggest selling soundtrack of 1994. Most all of these songs still hold up fifteen long years later. If you don't have this soundtrack there is something wrong with you.

5. Halloween (1985) and Friday the 13th (1980). Two films that would forever change horror, and two of the most iconic horror themes in all of movie history. 'Nuff said.
I don't know whether to deduct cool points or add them for the absurd disco themed version of Harry Manfredini's F13 score which was created for Friday the 13th part 3 (which is awesomely titled "Hot Ice").

Seriously People

Hi, I'm a fucking idiot.

I've said it before and I'll, say it again. Lady Gaga is fucking terrible. Just awful. If you like Lady Gaga why don't you go ahead and punch yourself in the throat because you're a fucking retard.

I wear these stupid fucking outfits to cover up the fact that I have no talent.

I Hate All your Favorite Movies

This is the first film Jewbles and I collaborated on. It's awesome.

My good buddy Jewbles just started a new blog called I Hate All your Favorite Movies. It's kinda like this blog except that he talks (and talks shit) about movies instead of music. Duh. Anyways, you should check it out. His first post will be online this evening. Click the link below.

And since we're on the subject of movies here, let me just tell you that Paranormal Activity sucked. I'm really bummed about that.

We're not talkin' Jaws here Spielberg.

3Ugh!3

Dear 3Oh!3,

White frat boys from Denver have no business "rapping." For that matter, hipster dickholes have no business whatsoever making "music." You and LMFAO are not funny. You're not talented. You're not at all amusing. GO AWAY NOW.

Thanks,

White

My Top Artists for the Week of 10/9/09 - Provided by Last.fm

1. Built to Spill
2. Treepeople
3. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead
4. Polvo
5. 764-HERO
6. Gunmoll
7. Fuel
8. Drummer
9. Converge
10. Unwound

I'd like to point out that the band Fuel listed at number 7 is NOT the shitty alt-rock band from a few years back.

No Mouth Pipetting

Update: 11/25/09 - Download link has been reupped.

Holy fucking shit. I'm just finding out today that one of my all time favorite bands - Treepeople - have an early cassette only album that I've NEVER FUCKING HEARD OF. How did this get by me? I consider myself to be pretty knowledgable about all things Doug Martsch, but somehow I missed out on this. So, here's the deal. This release is called "No Mouth Pipetting" and was supposedly released as a demo cassette back in 1988. Listening to it though, it sounds nothing like what you'd expect a demo to sound like. The recordings are great, and the transfer is so crisp. Blah, Blah, Blah. Anyways, here's the tracklisting. As you'll notice, a few of these songs were later rerecorded for future Treepeople releases.

Treepeople

No Mouth Pipetting
Demo Casette 1988

1. Pack of Lies
2. Prostitute
3. Thought About Tryin'
4. Size of a Quarter
5. Bus 8
6. Bed 'o Nails
7. Lovely and Electric
8. Fish Basket
9. Smokin' and Drinkin'
10. Cat Scratch Stevens
11. All Used Up
12. PP&TC
13. Passwords Fail
14. Treepeople

I suggest all Treepeople/Built to Spill fans download this record and check it out. It really is awesome. Click the link below and it's all yours, pal...

Treepeople - No Mouth Pipetting

If You Don't Got Mojo Nixon Then Your Store Could Use Some Fixin'

Starting today (October 7, 2009) and running for about 3 weeks, rockabilly cult icon, Mojo Nixon will be giving away his entire digital music catalog for free. Did you hear me correctly, HIS ENTIRE CATALOG FOR FREE!!!! That's roughly 13 albums and close to 150 songs. Fucking insane. Now, regardless of what you think of Mojo's music (I'm more of a casual fan, myself), this is a pretty ballsy move. But cool as fuck. Click the link below and go on a free download spree.

Elvis is Everywhere.

My Top Artists for the Week of 9/18/09 - Provided by Last.fm

1. Lou Barlow
2. The Twilight Sad
3. Duncan Redmonds
4. Starflyer 59
5. Frank Turner
6. Cut City
7. Dethklok
8. Maserati
9. Do Make Say Think
10. Mission of Burma

Live At The Starlight

"Live at the Starlight" is a fantastic live album by Colorado's premiere alt-country supergroup, Drag the River. I'll spare you the details about Drag because, quite frankly, if you read this blog, you probably already know all about them. Anyways, this album has been technically out of print for a while now (though used copies probably aren't that tough to track down if you search hard enough). That being said, DTR frontman Jon Snodgrass was shocked to see a used "Live at the Starlight" CD going for upwards of $80 on eBay. In response to this, he asked Suburban Home Records to just give the record away to those folks who want it. And they did just that. Hit up this link to download the entire album (or just individual tracks, if you'd prefer): http://www.suburbanhomerecords.com/starlight/

I Want A (free) Suburban Home (album download)

My buddy Virgil Dickerson has been running Suburban Home Records for 14 years now. In my opinion, they're one of the best indie labels out there. They consistently release albums from good bands, they've never pandered to the latest bullshit musical trends, and Virgil has never pretended to be anything other than what he really is - a true music fan. I've been fortunate enough to work with Virgil and a ton of his bands over the years, both when booking in Las Vegas and when booking in Colorado. Everyone says that the music biz is dying, and I'm inclined to agree. But seeing Virgil and Suburban Home as they prepare to celebrate their 14th anniversary gives me a little bit of hope.
To celebrate their 14 years, the fine folks at Suburban Home are giving away 1 free album download to anyone and everyone who wants one. Read on to get the details (*I HIGHLY recommend the Drag the River albums, the Love Me Destroyer albums, or the Scott Reynolds & the Steaming Beast record):

SUBURBAN HOME TURNS 14…WANTS TO GIVE IT TO YOU

And by “IT”, we mean a FREE ALBUM. With Suburban Home’s 14th Anniversary, we have made the decision that we would like to give everyone in the world one free album. We are a bit biased, but we think that Suburban Home is one of greatest record labels in the world while also being one of the smallest, least known record labels around. We hope that our offer to give you a free album will entice you to pick a release from one of our artists and hope that it will encourage you to tell others to grab an album, too. Take advantage of this offer to listen to just how amazing the Austin Lucas album is, to fill in a gap in your Drag the River or Tim Barry collections, to pick up Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground’s self-titled album, to dig deeper into our back-catalog, or pick an album you have only heard about.
There are just a few, easy steps:
Visit this url: http://www.suburbanhomerecords.com/freealbum/Fill in your email address (the download code will be emailed to your email so make sure it is valid)Answer if you would like to join our email list and then select the album you want us to send to you.We know that if you really wanted to, you could do this more than once, but we please ask that you only pick one album for Free Download.That is all you have to do. We will email codes every day that you can reimburse for one, free album download (of 320 Kbps mp3s). This isn’t automated so know that it might be as long as a day before you get your free download. And know that this offer expires when September is over.
I know that there are a lot of great labels and way too many amazing releases to keep up with. We hope that this offer gets you to listen to a release that you might otherwise never listen to. Please tell your friends about this, post it on your Facebook, Retweet the post, post it on your blog, and/or do something absolutely unthinkable and tell a friend over the phone or in person. 14 years is a very long time (at least to me) to still exist in this crazy industry. If you have ever purchased one of our releases, saw one of our bands on tour, and/or told someone to check out what we do, THANK YOU! And if this FREE ALBUM helps you to discover what we are about, WELCOME!

New Flier, Same Douchebaggery

Every Monday night at Beauty Bar in Hollywood.

Well, 4 months later and we're still going strong (or limping along, depending on how you look at it). Anywho, every Monday night, Scott, Dre, and I spin all your favorite indie, post-punk, and rock and roll that you can drink or dance to. There's no cover, and drinks are actually pretty cheap. And the bartenders are AWESOME. Some come join us on Monday. Any Monday. You'll be glad you did.

There Is No Enemy

So, Built to Spill have recently released info for their upcoming album, There Is No Enemy. Just the fact that there will be a new BTS album is cool enough, but the following tidbit from stereogum.com makes it that much more exciting:

As far as those other players go, in addition to Martsch & his usual Co., There Is No Enemy includes guest spots from Sam Coomes, ex-Treepeople co-guitarist/vocalist Scott Schmaljohn, Butthole Surfer Paul Leary, Roger Manning, etc.

Holy hell. Someone needs to leak this album pronto. Relax, I'll buy it when it comes out too, I just don't think I can wait until October 6th to hear this. They played one new song last night at Sunset Junction, and not surprisingly, it ruled.