Ah yes! My favorite part of the year.
In this thirteenth installment of Trevor's Poor-Ass Christmas, you'll find a lot of old stuff. I did experience new music this year, but i've really spent a lot of time digging through my existing collection, making new playlists, pulling out physical discs and putting them in the car for extended periods of time, that sort of thing.
The most notable of my new playlists is called Feminachos. That's a reference to a song that my current band, Cats On Leashes, wrote over a year ago and has been fine-tuning ever since. We've only done it live once. So, as the name implies, the playlist is full of ass-kicking female-fronted rock music. I'll hashtag everything below that's a part of that playlist, because since i built it, it's almost exclusively what i've listened to, and that's definitely impacted the comp.
Also Biffy Clyro and PJ Harvey both released new albums this year that i totally forgot to buy.
It's also worth noting that, since i'm planning on not having my birthday party this year, i'm not entirely sure how i'm going to distribute this one. So if you want a copy, you know, ask, or something.
1. Huan-Hua Chye - It's Probably Fine
facebook.com/GentleBrontosaurus
This was the second consecutive year that Dan Phillips and i produced our own entry for the 48 Hour Film Project. We drew Science Fiction and Fish Out of Water for our genres, and ended up spinning a yarn about a time traveler who accidentally goes too far back in time and destroys her time machine and communicator, thus getting stuck there. My friend Huan-Hua, of the band Gentle Brontosaurus, acted in the film, playing the required character Olivia Castleton. After filming wrapped, Huan-Hua headed home and composed a song about it, recorded it, and sent it over to us while we were doing the post-production. We were blown away, and used it for the end credits. "It's Probably Fine" was the working title for the film, which we changed to The Time Chair, but the phrase pops up four times in the script (only one actually made it to the screen, but modified versions are dropped in here and there). It's also kind of my catch phrase. I never set out intentionally to do that but i say this ALL THE GOD DAMNED TIME. Anyway, enjoy the film.
#Feminachos
2. Damsel Trash - Booze Up and Riot
damseltrash.com
Ah, the fruits of another Local Love Fest compilation. Damsel Trash is a two-woman punk band that i count as one of my very favorite local artists; they're a little more difficult to follow around since half of them moved to New York recently, but they're still active enough around here. Caustic is a Madison-based jizzcore musician who is well-known on a national level, because he works hard and never stops. Ever. Like at all. The Man Who Couldn't Stop, they call him. So this is Damsel Trash covering Caustic, because, if you haven't read up from previous years, Local Love Fest is an event where Madison bands cover other Madison bands. It's fantastic. I love everything about this.
#Feminachos
3. Sleigh Bells - A/B Machines
facebook.com/sleighbells
I believe THIS should answer any questions you might have:
So, got my A machines on the table, got my B machines in the drawer, i guess.
#Feminachos
4. Savages - This Is What You Get
savagesband.com
When Savages came through Madison earlier this year, i had no idea who they were. Mike, a coworker who's shaped more of the PAC over the last ten years than you'd believe, asked me a few times in the months and weeks ahead of the show if i was going. He thought they'd be up my alley. Robert may have mentioned them as well. I kept saying i'd check them out, and then forgetting. And since the tickets were in the $20 range and i'm poorer-ass than usual this year, i just figured i wouldn't worry about it. Then, Jeri, of The Type and Cats On Leashes fame, who works for a local newspaper, texted me the day before that she had an extra ticket, since her +1 had canceled last minute on her. I swooped in on that hard. Then, suddenly, the night of the show, Jeri canceled on me, and let me take both tickets. So, i got Mike in for free. So now that the boring part of the story is out of the way, the show: HOLY GODDAMN SHIT. That was some magic that i just witnessed. The music, the presentation, the stage presence. So awesome. Lead singer Jehnny Beth leapt into the audience at one point (the High Noon was entirely packed, you could not move toward the stage without a fight), basically walking across the hands of the masses, and eventually coming to a stop right in the middle, where i helped hold her up, taking left shin duties. So i bought both of their albums, and here we are. In some ways, i regret not putting the song Fuckers on instead, that was definitely my favorite, but (a) it's 10 minutes long, (2) there is not currently a studio version available, and (D) the live version is only available on an expensive import single. So, This Is What You Get.
#Feminachos
5. Melomaniac - The Devil of Bedford Street
facebook.com/melomaniacchicago
A horror punk band from Chicago that Cats On Leashes played with earlier this year. I thought they were fantastic. I gave them all the money i had in my wallet ($16 or $18?) for a shirt, CD, button, and some stickers, and was pretty happy about it. I was talking to them afterward and telling them there was one song that really stuck out for me, and since i had taken their set list, i tried to point out approximately where it was on the setlist, but picked a Ramones cover by accident. I had been drinking. Anyway. I listened to their CD, and then found they had more tracks up for download from their Bandcamp page, including this one, The Devil of Bedford Street. Turns out this was, without a doubt, the song i was trying to say was my favorite. It wasn't on the setlist, but i'm pretty convinced they played it. Or i was further intoxicated than i thought. Anyway.
#Feminachos
6. Juliana Hatfield - So Alone
julianahatfield.com
Here's the first direct result of the Feminachos playlist. I mean i've been into Juliana Hatfield forever but her music has rarely made the cut (twice: 2008 and 2009). Also for some inexplicable reason i haven't purchased any of her albums since around then (How to Walk Away is the most recent one i have). But anyway. With that playlist on a nigh-constant loop when i'm at home, her songs have come up a lot, which has reignited my preference for hearing them over not hearing them. This song in particular became a standout, probably as a result of all the weird shit i've been feeling the last couple years. I like it.
#Feminachos
7. Placebo - One of a Kind
placeboworld.co.uk
Here's a 20-year-old alternative rock band that i just discovered this year. Pretty sure i'd heard of them before, but never listened to their music. Well, before i completely stopped giving a fuck and just started watching Netflix all day at work, i was starting to use Pandora pretty heavily again. Pandora, if you're unfamiliar or if you've forgotten (since it's been half a decade since Pandora was a big thing), is a web site where you build a "station" by feeding it the names of a few bands you're in the mood for, and then it plays a mix of those bands and other bands that it thinks are similar, using the Music Genome Project. Placebo began to pop up on several of my stations, always tracks from the album Meds (Special Edition) and often this one. By sheer chance, within a few weeks of noticing this pattern, i found a copy of the Special Edition of Meds in the bargain bin at Half-Price Books. It was even unopened. Good work, me.
It's noteworthy that this was going to be the first song on this year's disc until Huan-Hua wrote It's Probably Fine.
8. Komputer - Looking Down on London
komputer.org.uk
So here's a weird one. Komputer, or I Start Counting (as they were known from 1982-90), or Fortran 5 (as they were known from 1990-1998), was (is?) an electronic music duo that claims inspiration and samples from Russian cosmonaut radio chatter, trash compactors, and cell phone ringtones, according to their Wikipedia page. I don't really have any recollection of how or why i came into possession of their 1998 album The World of Tomorrow, or, really, how or when i started listening to it. But i put this song, Looking Down on London, on my playlist for the potential soundtrack to that Eurotrip movie that i've been (sort of, a little bit) working on for the last three years. So i've been listening to this song a lot, due to that, and eventually it started to pop up in my dreams. It helps that i've got some pretty spectacular visuals that i associate with this song. Someday, i'll finish the movie, and you'll see what i mean.
9. bis - Eurodisco
bisnation.com
I'm fairly certain that this band was recommended to me by Robert, the Boblin King. He's always trying to make me listen to weird music, and then gets upset when i don't include any of it on the PAC. Well, Ron, here you go.
This song has actually been included on the playlists for a couple of PACs, most recently 2014, and it keeps getting cut late in the process. This year, i felt strongly that it not get lost. I feel that it flows well with the rest of the disc, and frankly i just really enjoy it. This song, this band, is filling a particular need for me and i can't suppress that anymore.
10. Macadam Dive - Can You Make It
macadamdive.ch
I have a story about this band. Perhaps you've read it. The short version is, on the aforementioned Eurotrip, Amanda + i were in Athens during a citywide music festival, completely by chance. If i'd known, maybe we would have planned things differently. So, after getting lost and taking a few wrong turns, we found ourselves at this outdoor stage with a modest crowd gathered as a band was setting up. I thought i'd just film a song or two for posterity, and ended up enjoying them so much that i shot their entire set. That band was, of course, Macadam Dive, from Switzerland. I talked with them a little after the set, and bought a shirt. Unfortunately their album was not to be released until that November, but i had every intention of grabbing it when i could. Well, due to various complications with the very prospect of overseas shipping, i was never able to get ahold of a copy. However, for Christmas last year, they went ahead and put it and its companion remix EP up for free download from their web site. So while i still haven't come up with a physical disc, at least i can listen to their music.
This song is maybe not the best example of their work, but it's (somewhat paradoxically) my favorite song of theirs. The bulk of their album is trip-hop with some rapping, both of which are things that are in my wheelhouse. This is a pop song. But here we are.
11. The Ting Tings - We Walk
thetingtings.com
Speaking of pop songs.
The Ting Tings are yet another holdover from the New Zealand trip. Gosh, that was pretty much the linchpin of my life, right there. Anyway i discovered this band due to the NME Awards Compilation which was one of the few discs we had before the very end of the trip.
You might remember The Ting Tings from a runaway hit several years ago called That's Not My Name. Well, i came up with that album at some point in the last few years, and this year decided that it needed to stay in the car for several weeks. Amanda was less than impressed and kept taking it out, calling it "preppy girl music," which i can't really argue with; this year, i also finally watched and thoroughly enjoyed the movie Mean Girls.
Fuck off, i regret nothing.
12. Cold Black River - The Great Equalizer
coldblackriver.com
Here are some locals. To be honest this song should've made the cut last year, but i think i received the Hillbilly Zeus EP as i was finalizing that track list and didn't want to squeeze anything else in.
This song gets stuck in my head all the damn time. I'll find myself humming that guitar riff just constantly, or tapping out some inept approximation of the drum beat on a table or some body part.
Fun fact: two of these guys used to be in Helliphant.
13. Queen - We Will Rock You (BBC Radio Session)
queenonline.com
This was a last-minute addition. This link to a Some E-Cards article, of all things, popped up in my Facebook news feed on October 22, the day before i mastered all the tracks for this year's disc, and i was so taken by this version of the song that i knew i had to share. Queen's got a big ol' box set containing all of their BBC sessions coming out right around the same time as the PAC, and this promo video was released ahead of that. I am a little worried about the audio quality, as i did rip it from YouTube, but it's not completely horrible. I think i can live with it.
Strangely, it knocked a Beatles song off of the compilation. It's...been a weird year.
14. 7 Year Bitch - 24,900 Miles Per Hour
7yearbitchrocks.com
For fuck's sake, i didn't even know they were back together until this exact moment! That's probably going to impact how i write this. Damn.
This is another song that's been up for PAC inclusion a couple of times, but keeps getting cut at the last minute. When i realized that it's the only song on my iTunes Top 25 Most Played that hasn't been on a PAC and isn't on Metric's album Synthetica, i knew there was something wrong. It got on that first PAC playlist because it was something i'd unearthed that i remembered fondly from years ago, and it got cut because i decided that wasn't enough. But i keep coming back to 7 Year Bitch, particularly the Gato Negro album, and fuck it, this band is important to me. I know this is their most recognizable song slash biggest hit, i think, but there's a good reason for that. It's so good.
This is important to me.
Alright, i need to look up tour dates.
#Feminachos
15. The Avengers - We Are the One
penelope.net
There are two huge compilations that have consisted of a lot of my listening this year. One of them i mentioned last year: the four-disc classic punk boxed set No Thanks!: The 70s Punk Rebellion. The other one my friend Nate (of Sir!NoSir!) posted a download link to earlier this year: the behemoth, 12-disc A Reference of Female-Fronted Punk Rock 1977-89. This is a truly incredible offering, if the title catches your interest. A lot of it is lo-fi and/or foreign, so i would not recommend it for the casual listener. But if classic punk and feminism are things you're into, there's a lot to love here. I only wish i could get my hands on that package...
#Feminachos
16. Scarehead - Ha Ha
Those aren't the only two sources of classic punk i've been listening to, though. This one comes to us from the Broken Britain compilation, a single disc of British punk rock. This song kept getting stuck in my head, and i was positively convinced that it was L7, but i kept listening to all of my L7 albums and not hearing it. After a few months i put on Broken Britain again, and lo and behold.
I can't really find much in the way of information about this band, though, but here's this music video.
Also note: "classic" in this instance i guess means 90s. Yeah.
#Feminachos
17. The Gossip - Bones
bethditto.com
I came up with not one but two pre-fame Gossip CDs in the bargain bin this year, and i tell you what, they made me want to write music again. I'm not kidding; i've been in such a rut for songwriting for about three years now, and the early works of The Gossip just really kicked me in the face and said, "FORM A TWO PERSON BAND WITH DRUMS AND BASS AND WRITE SOME SOULFUL PUNK ROCK." Not that that's necessarily an apt description of The Gossip, but it's where they make me want to go.
I haven't done it yet, but i've given it considerable thought.
#Feminachos
18. He Shufeng - Dance of the Yi People (Sleeping Dogs remix)
I'm going to be honest. I really have no idea whether this song is credited properly. This is one of the main menu themes from the video game Sleeping Dogs, which i played obsessively for a few months early in the year. I managed to find a web site which offers downloads of video game soundtracks, and grabbed Sleeping Dogs. It's all credited to Jeff Tymoschuk, with this song being called "Sleeping Dogs Theme D," but his web site only shows his involvement in the gameplay tracks, not the title themes. I've found the song in multiple youtube videos credited as Dance of the Yi People by He Shufeng, but no one seems to know who did the remix. I want to assume it was Tymoschuk, but i can't verify that.
19. Metric - The Governess
ilovemetric.com
This one is tough for me. Metric's newest album, last year's Pagans in Vegas, didn't really do it for me on release. It's actually the first album i've preordered since i think Vapor Transmission by Orgy (figure that one out). As alluded to above, their previous effort, Synthetica, is, as a whole, the most listened-to album in my Digital Mobyfort. I was very disappointed with how poppy this album is. I mean, Metric's always been a pop band, sure, but Pagans in Vegas pushed it so far in that direction that i just couldn't get on the bandwagon. I left it in the car for a very long time, listening to it again and again on every single drive, just to be sure. Never really clicked.
I finally attended a Metric concert earlier this year. I say "concert" instead of "show" because i had an assigned seat, and i sat in it. I guess that's how i define words. I'm as surprised as you. Anyway. Seeing Metric live is practically a religious experience, and when they play Gold Guns Girls it's communion. I was so overwhelmed by being fully enveloped in their music that i just can't put it in better words. Hearing the new material live definitely made me look at it in a more favorable light, and i've gotten some enjoyment out of the album since. However, this is still one of the very few songs on the album i can truly say i like.
#Feminachos
20. Hired Rivals - Rabies Babies
facebook.com/hiredrivals
Going back to Melomaniac, way back on track 5, Hired Rivals were the third band on that bill, with Cats on Leashes. It was a good night. These dudes are Madison locals, so i'm looking forward to seeing them again whenever i want. At the time, i didn't have any money to buy their CD, on account of having given the touring band from Chicago all of my cash, but they handed me a copy anyway. Their guitarist said i'd earned it, what with all the pantsless stage-thrashing and all.
This band is fun, see them if you get a chance.
21. Oasis - My Big Mouth
oasisinet.com
Holy balls, Oasis's web site still opens up with a link to preorder Be Here Now. God damn, somebody fix that.
I have a problem. I can't stop listening to goddamn Oasis, particularly Be Here Now. This is probably diagnosable, there might even be a treatment. I should probably look into it.
22. David Bowie - I Can't Give Everything Away
davidbowie.com
Okay.
We can't get through this without at least a cursory mention of how much of a god damn dick 2016, as a year, has been. There was a prelude between Christmas and New Year's 2015 when Lemmy died. Then, just ten days in, we lost David Bowie. Alan Rickman less than a week later, Abe Vigoda less than a week after that. And the hits just kept coming. We lost, like, all of our favorite famous people this year. Prince, Harper Lee, Merle Haggard, Muhammad Ali, fucking Gene Wilder...
David Bowie was the hardest one for me. I don't think i should have to explain this. I grew up with his music. You grew up with his music. Labyrinth was a huge part of my childhood. David Bowie has basically had his hand on the steering wheel of pop culture for five decades, and now he's gone.
He did leave us a damn fine eulogy, though, in the form of Blackstar, his twenty-fifth and final studio album, released just two days before his death. There are a lot of indications on the album and in the music video for Lazarus that he knew it would be the end, and this was how he would leave us, and i think he gave us exactly what he wanted us to remember him by.
This is the closing track from Blackstar, the final song on the playlist that is Bowie's career, and the final song on this year's Poor-Ass Christmas.
Here's to a better 2017.
In this thirteenth installment of Trevor's Poor-Ass Christmas, you'll find a lot of old stuff. I did experience new music this year, but i've really spent a lot of time digging through my existing collection, making new playlists, pulling out physical discs and putting them in the car for extended periods of time, that sort of thing.
The most notable of my new playlists is called Feminachos. That's a reference to a song that my current band, Cats On Leashes, wrote over a year ago and has been fine-tuning ever since. We've only done it live once. So, as the name implies, the playlist is full of ass-kicking female-fronted rock music. I'll hashtag everything below that's a part of that playlist, because since i built it, it's almost exclusively what i've listened to, and that's definitely impacted the comp.
Also Biffy Clyro and PJ Harvey both released new albums this year that i totally forgot to buy.
It's also worth noting that, since i'm planning on not having my birthday party this year, i'm not entirely sure how i'm going to distribute this one. So if you want a copy, you know, ask, or something.
1. Huan-Hua Chye - It's Probably Fine
facebook.com/GentleBrontosaurus
This was the second consecutive year that Dan Phillips and i produced our own entry for the 48 Hour Film Project. We drew Science Fiction and Fish Out of Water for our genres, and ended up spinning a yarn about a time traveler who accidentally goes too far back in time and destroys her time machine and communicator, thus getting stuck there. My friend Huan-Hua, of the band Gentle Brontosaurus, acted in the film, playing the required character Olivia Castleton. After filming wrapped, Huan-Hua headed home and composed a song about it, recorded it, and sent it over to us while we were doing the post-production. We were blown away, and used it for the end credits. "It's Probably Fine" was the working title for the film, which we changed to The Time Chair, but the phrase pops up four times in the script (only one actually made it to the screen, but modified versions are dropped in here and there). It's also kind of my catch phrase. I never set out intentionally to do that but i say this ALL THE GOD DAMNED TIME. Anyway, enjoy the film.
#Feminachos
2. Damsel Trash - Booze Up and Riot
damseltrash.com
Ah, the fruits of another Local Love Fest compilation. Damsel Trash is a two-woman punk band that i count as one of my very favorite local artists; they're a little more difficult to follow around since half of them moved to New York recently, but they're still active enough around here. Caustic is a Madison-based jizzcore musician who is well-known on a national level, because he works hard and never stops. Ever. Like at all. The Man Who Couldn't Stop, they call him. So this is Damsel Trash covering Caustic, because, if you haven't read up from previous years, Local Love Fest is an event where Madison bands cover other Madison bands. It's fantastic. I love everything about this.
#Feminachos
3. Sleigh Bells - A/B Machines
facebook.com/sleighbells
I believe THIS should answer any questions you might have:
So, got my A machines on the table, got my B machines in the drawer, i guess.
#Feminachos
4. Savages - This Is What You Get
savagesband.com
When Savages came through Madison earlier this year, i had no idea who they were. Mike, a coworker who's shaped more of the PAC over the last ten years than you'd believe, asked me a few times in the months and weeks ahead of the show if i was going. He thought they'd be up my alley. Robert may have mentioned them as well. I kept saying i'd check them out, and then forgetting. And since the tickets were in the $20 range and i'm poorer-ass than usual this year, i just figured i wouldn't worry about it. Then, Jeri, of The Type and Cats On Leashes fame, who works for a local newspaper, texted me the day before that she had an extra ticket, since her +1 had canceled last minute on her. I swooped in on that hard. Then, suddenly, the night of the show, Jeri canceled on me, and let me take both tickets. So, i got Mike in for free. So now that the boring part of the story is out of the way, the show: HOLY GODDAMN SHIT. That was some magic that i just witnessed. The music, the presentation, the stage presence. So awesome. Lead singer Jehnny Beth leapt into the audience at one point (the High Noon was entirely packed, you could not move toward the stage without a fight), basically walking across the hands of the masses, and eventually coming to a stop right in the middle, where i helped hold her up, taking left shin duties. So i bought both of their albums, and here we are. In some ways, i regret not putting the song Fuckers on instead, that was definitely my favorite, but (a) it's 10 minutes long, (2) there is not currently a studio version available, and (D) the live version is only available on an expensive import single. So, This Is What You Get.
#Feminachos
5. Melomaniac - The Devil of Bedford Street
facebook.com/melomaniacchicago
A horror punk band from Chicago that Cats On Leashes played with earlier this year. I thought they were fantastic. I gave them all the money i had in my wallet ($16 or $18?) for a shirt, CD, button, and some stickers, and was pretty happy about it. I was talking to them afterward and telling them there was one song that really stuck out for me, and since i had taken their set list, i tried to point out approximately where it was on the setlist, but picked a Ramones cover by accident. I had been drinking. Anyway. I listened to their CD, and then found they had more tracks up for download from their Bandcamp page, including this one, The Devil of Bedford Street. Turns out this was, without a doubt, the song i was trying to say was my favorite. It wasn't on the setlist, but i'm pretty convinced they played it. Or i was further intoxicated than i thought. Anyway.
#Feminachos
6. Juliana Hatfield - So Alone
julianahatfield.com
Here's the first direct result of the Feminachos playlist. I mean i've been into Juliana Hatfield forever but her music has rarely made the cut (twice: 2008 and 2009). Also for some inexplicable reason i haven't purchased any of her albums since around then (How to Walk Away is the most recent one i have). But anyway. With that playlist on a nigh-constant loop when i'm at home, her songs have come up a lot, which has reignited my preference for hearing them over not hearing them. This song in particular became a standout, probably as a result of all the weird shit i've been feeling the last couple years. I like it.
#Feminachos
7. Placebo - One of a Kind
placeboworld.co.uk
Here's a 20-year-old alternative rock band that i just discovered this year. Pretty sure i'd heard of them before, but never listened to their music. Well, before i completely stopped giving a fuck and just started watching Netflix all day at work, i was starting to use Pandora pretty heavily again. Pandora, if you're unfamiliar or if you've forgotten (since it's been half a decade since Pandora was a big thing), is a web site where you build a "station" by feeding it the names of a few bands you're in the mood for, and then it plays a mix of those bands and other bands that it thinks are similar, using the Music Genome Project. Placebo began to pop up on several of my stations, always tracks from the album Meds (Special Edition) and often this one. By sheer chance, within a few weeks of noticing this pattern, i found a copy of the Special Edition of Meds in the bargain bin at Half-Price Books. It was even unopened. Good work, me.
It's noteworthy that this was going to be the first song on this year's disc until Huan-Hua wrote It's Probably Fine.
8. Komputer - Looking Down on London
komputer.org.uk
So here's a weird one. Komputer, or I Start Counting (as they were known from 1982-90), or Fortran 5 (as they were known from 1990-1998), was (is?) an electronic music duo that claims inspiration and samples from Russian cosmonaut radio chatter, trash compactors, and cell phone ringtones, according to their Wikipedia page. I don't really have any recollection of how or why i came into possession of their 1998 album The World of Tomorrow, or, really, how or when i started listening to it. But i put this song, Looking Down on London, on my playlist for the potential soundtrack to that Eurotrip movie that i've been (sort of, a little bit) working on for the last three years. So i've been listening to this song a lot, due to that, and eventually it started to pop up in my dreams. It helps that i've got some pretty spectacular visuals that i associate with this song. Someday, i'll finish the movie, and you'll see what i mean.
9. bis - Eurodisco
bisnation.com
I'm fairly certain that this band was recommended to me by Robert, the Boblin King. He's always trying to make me listen to weird music, and then gets upset when i don't include any of it on the PAC. Well, Ron, here you go.
This song has actually been included on the playlists for a couple of PACs, most recently 2014, and it keeps getting cut late in the process. This year, i felt strongly that it not get lost. I feel that it flows well with the rest of the disc, and frankly i just really enjoy it. This song, this band, is filling a particular need for me and i can't suppress that anymore.
10. Macadam Dive - Can You Make It
macadamdive.ch
I have a story about this band. Perhaps you've read it. The short version is, on the aforementioned Eurotrip, Amanda + i were in Athens during a citywide music festival, completely by chance. If i'd known, maybe we would have planned things differently. So, after getting lost and taking a few wrong turns, we found ourselves at this outdoor stage with a modest crowd gathered as a band was setting up. I thought i'd just film a song or two for posterity, and ended up enjoying them so much that i shot their entire set. That band was, of course, Macadam Dive, from Switzerland. I talked with them a little after the set, and bought a shirt. Unfortunately their album was not to be released until that November, but i had every intention of grabbing it when i could. Well, due to various complications with the very prospect of overseas shipping, i was never able to get ahold of a copy. However, for Christmas last year, they went ahead and put it and its companion remix EP up for free download from their web site. So while i still haven't come up with a physical disc, at least i can listen to their music.
This song is maybe not the best example of their work, but it's (somewhat paradoxically) my favorite song of theirs. The bulk of their album is trip-hop with some rapping, both of which are things that are in my wheelhouse. This is a pop song. But here we are.
11. The Ting Tings - We Walk
thetingtings.com
Speaking of pop songs.
The Ting Tings are yet another holdover from the New Zealand trip. Gosh, that was pretty much the linchpin of my life, right there. Anyway i discovered this band due to the NME Awards Compilation which was one of the few discs we had before the very end of the trip.
You might remember The Ting Tings from a runaway hit several years ago called That's Not My Name. Well, i came up with that album at some point in the last few years, and this year decided that it needed to stay in the car for several weeks. Amanda was less than impressed and kept taking it out, calling it "preppy girl music," which i can't really argue with; this year, i also finally watched and thoroughly enjoyed the movie Mean Girls.
Fuck off, i regret nothing.
12. Cold Black River - The Great Equalizer
coldblackriver.com
Here are some locals. To be honest this song should've made the cut last year, but i think i received the Hillbilly Zeus EP as i was finalizing that track list and didn't want to squeeze anything else in.
This song gets stuck in my head all the damn time. I'll find myself humming that guitar riff just constantly, or tapping out some inept approximation of the drum beat on a table or some body part.
Fun fact: two of these guys used to be in Helliphant.
13. Queen - We Will Rock You (BBC Radio Session)
queenonline.com
This was a last-minute addition. This link to a Some E-Cards article, of all things, popped up in my Facebook news feed on October 22, the day before i mastered all the tracks for this year's disc, and i was so taken by this version of the song that i knew i had to share. Queen's got a big ol' box set containing all of their BBC sessions coming out right around the same time as the PAC, and this promo video was released ahead of that. I am a little worried about the audio quality, as i did rip it from YouTube, but it's not completely horrible. I think i can live with it.
Strangely, it knocked a Beatles song off of the compilation. It's...been a weird year.
14. 7 Year Bitch - 24,900 Miles Per Hour
7yearbitchrocks.com
For fuck's sake, i didn't even know they were back together until this exact moment! That's probably going to impact how i write this. Damn.
This is another song that's been up for PAC inclusion a couple of times, but keeps getting cut at the last minute. When i realized that it's the only song on my iTunes Top 25 Most Played that hasn't been on a PAC and isn't on Metric's album Synthetica, i knew there was something wrong. It got on that first PAC playlist because it was something i'd unearthed that i remembered fondly from years ago, and it got cut because i decided that wasn't enough. But i keep coming back to 7 Year Bitch, particularly the Gato Negro album, and fuck it, this band is important to me. I know this is their most recognizable song slash biggest hit, i think, but there's a good reason for that. It's so good.
This is important to me.
Alright, i need to look up tour dates.
#Feminachos
15. The Avengers - We Are the One
penelope.net
There are two huge compilations that have consisted of a lot of my listening this year. One of them i mentioned last year: the four-disc classic punk boxed set No Thanks!: The 70s Punk Rebellion. The other one my friend Nate (of Sir!NoSir!) posted a download link to earlier this year: the behemoth, 12-disc A Reference of Female-Fronted Punk Rock 1977-89. This is a truly incredible offering, if the title catches your interest. A lot of it is lo-fi and/or foreign, so i would not recommend it for the casual listener. But if classic punk and feminism are things you're into, there's a lot to love here. I only wish i could get my hands on that package...
#Feminachos
16. Scarehead - Ha Ha
Those aren't the only two sources of classic punk i've been listening to, though. This one comes to us from the Broken Britain compilation, a single disc of British punk rock. This song kept getting stuck in my head, and i was positively convinced that it was L7, but i kept listening to all of my L7 albums and not hearing it. After a few months i put on Broken Britain again, and lo and behold.
I can't really find much in the way of information about this band, though, but here's this music video.
Also note: "classic" in this instance i guess means 90s. Yeah.
#Feminachos
17. The Gossip - Bones
bethditto.com
I came up with not one but two pre-fame Gossip CDs in the bargain bin this year, and i tell you what, they made me want to write music again. I'm not kidding; i've been in such a rut for songwriting for about three years now, and the early works of The Gossip just really kicked me in the face and said, "FORM A TWO PERSON BAND WITH DRUMS AND BASS AND WRITE SOME SOULFUL PUNK ROCK." Not that that's necessarily an apt description of The Gossip, but it's where they make me want to go.
I haven't done it yet, but i've given it considerable thought.
#Feminachos
18. He Shufeng - Dance of the Yi People (Sleeping Dogs remix)
I'm going to be honest. I really have no idea whether this song is credited properly. This is one of the main menu themes from the video game Sleeping Dogs, which i played obsessively for a few months early in the year. I managed to find a web site which offers downloads of video game soundtracks, and grabbed Sleeping Dogs. It's all credited to Jeff Tymoschuk, with this song being called "Sleeping Dogs Theme D," but his web site only shows his involvement in the gameplay tracks, not the title themes. I've found the song in multiple youtube videos credited as Dance of the Yi People by He Shufeng, but no one seems to know who did the remix. I want to assume it was Tymoschuk, but i can't verify that.
19. Metric - The Governess
ilovemetric.com
This one is tough for me. Metric's newest album, last year's Pagans in Vegas, didn't really do it for me on release. It's actually the first album i've preordered since i think Vapor Transmission by Orgy (figure that one out). As alluded to above, their previous effort, Synthetica, is, as a whole, the most listened-to album in my Digital Mobyfort. I was very disappointed with how poppy this album is. I mean, Metric's always been a pop band, sure, but Pagans in Vegas pushed it so far in that direction that i just couldn't get on the bandwagon. I left it in the car for a very long time, listening to it again and again on every single drive, just to be sure. Never really clicked.
I finally attended a Metric concert earlier this year. I say "concert" instead of "show" because i had an assigned seat, and i sat in it. I guess that's how i define words. I'm as surprised as you. Anyway. Seeing Metric live is practically a religious experience, and when they play Gold Guns Girls it's communion. I was so overwhelmed by being fully enveloped in their music that i just can't put it in better words. Hearing the new material live definitely made me look at it in a more favorable light, and i've gotten some enjoyment out of the album since. However, this is still one of the very few songs on the album i can truly say i like.
#Feminachos
20. Hired Rivals - Rabies Babies
facebook.com/hiredrivals
Going back to Melomaniac, way back on track 5, Hired Rivals were the third band on that bill, with Cats on Leashes. It was a good night. These dudes are Madison locals, so i'm looking forward to seeing them again whenever i want. At the time, i didn't have any money to buy their CD, on account of having given the touring band from Chicago all of my cash, but they handed me a copy anyway. Their guitarist said i'd earned it, what with all the pantsless stage-thrashing and all.
This band is fun, see them if you get a chance.
21. Oasis - My Big Mouth
oasisinet.com
Holy balls, Oasis's web site still opens up with a link to preorder Be Here Now. God damn, somebody fix that.
I have a problem. I can't stop listening to goddamn Oasis, particularly Be Here Now. This is probably diagnosable, there might even be a treatment. I should probably look into it.
22. David Bowie - I Can't Give Everything Away
davidbowie.com
Okay.
We can't get through this without at least a cursory mention of how much of a god damn dick 2016, as a year, has been. There was a prelude between Christmas and New Year's 2015 when Lemmy died. Then, just ten days in, we lost David Bowie. Alan Rickman less than a week later, Abe Vigoda less than a week after that. And the hits just kept coming. We lost, like, all of our favorite famous people this year. Prince, Harper Lee, Merle Haggard, Muhammad Ali, fucking Gene Wilder...
David Bowie was the hardest one for me. I don't think i should have to explain this. I grew up with his music. You grew up with his music. Labyrinth was a huge part of my childhood. David Bowie has basically had his hand on the steering wheel of pop culture for five decades, and now he's gone.
He did leave us a damn fine eulogy, though, in the form of Blackstar, his twenty-fifth and final studio album, released just two days before his death. There are a lot of indications on the album and in the music video for Lazarus that he knew it would be the end, and this was how he would leave us, and i think he gave us exactly what he wanted us to remember him by.
This is the closing track from Blackstar, the final song on the playlist that is Bowie's career, and the final song on this year's Poor-Ass Christmas.
Here's to a better 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment