Obligatory Top 10 List

I'm going to act like I have to make a Top 10 list at the end of the year because this is a music blog and that's what music blogs do. I'll say that I'm doing this begrudgingly only because people love to read lists and it'll get lots of hits. You see, I don't really have an option at this point. It's fucking mandatory. But in reality, I love making lists and telling people what my favorite things are. So here they are. My top picks from 2008. (Disclaimer: Marijn came out in '07 but I bought it in '08 so screw you.)



10. Usputuspud - Disco (original review)
Usputuspud - Cherished Wig

A wonderfully dancey droney tape, easily the best tape in my collection.




9. Parts & Labor - Receivers (original review)
Parts & Labor - Wedding In A Wasteland

When one of my favoritest bands comes out with a new album, you can bet your ass it'll be on my Top 10 list.



8. The Mausoleums - Blackened Fawns Cleanse The Earth With Fire (original review)
The Mausoleums - The One Who Sees

Super blown out pop metal makes me weak in the knees.



7. Torche - Meanderthal (never reviewed it for some reason, but I did talk about their live show)
Torche - Grenades

I was a little late to the Torche parade. I didn't like 'em the first few times I heard them. I don't know what happened but something clicked and I fell in love with Meanderthal.



6. Prurient - And Still, Wanting (original review)
Prurient - Memory Repeating

At the moment, this is hands down my favorite noise/power electronics record. It's so fucking intense I can barely stand it.



5. Fricara Pacchu - Midnight Pyre (original review)
Fricara Pacchu - Possessed By Possibilities

Easily the weirdest record on this list and possibly the weirdest thing I've heard all year. Those crazy Finlanders sure know how to make good music.



4. Belong - Same Places (Slow Version) (original review)
Belong - Same Places (Slow Version)

Seriously, whenever Belong puts a record out, I will be right at the front of the line worshiping it.



3. Machinefabriek - Marijn (original review)
Machinefabriek - Somerset

This is the first record I've heard from the uber-prolific Machinefabriek and I have a hard time believing he'll ever put out anything better than this. It's a goddamn masterpiece.



2. A Faulty Chromosome - As An Ex-Anorexic's Six Sicks Exit,... (original review)
A Faulty Chromosome - Jackie O

This was sooooo close to being number one record of the year for me. It's one of the oldest records on the list and it still gets played more than any of the others. I am completely in love with A Faulty Chromosome.



1. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing (original review)
Fuck Buttons - Colours Move

I called it. All the way back in March I knew this would be my favorite record of 2008. I said "This is so so so easily the best record of the year. I can't imagine anything else coming out that can top this. And my imagination is pretty good." Surprisingly, I was right.

Close calls:
Yoshi Wada - Lament For The Rise And Fall Of The Elephantine Crocodile
Mates Of State - Re-Arrange Us (this, along with M83's Saturdays=Youth were my top 2 most played albums)
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Dan Friel - Ghost Town
Njiqahdda - Nji. Njiin. Njiiin.
Lawrence English - Kiri No Oto
Dev/Null - Necrobestial Sadobreaks

Now, just because you hate my list doesn't mean you should hate me too. Lets try not to start any fights just because there's no Animal Collective on here.

ATP Purchases

OK, this'll be the last post about ATP. Promise. I just wanted to share my sweet purchases with you.

The one thing I really wanted was the Mogwai / Fuck Buttons split tour EP but they didn't have any. Boooo. So I picked up Mogwai's Batcat EP and the Colours Move single from Fuck Buttons instead. Both are fantastic. Colours Move has an amazing remix of "Sweet Love For Planet Earth" by Andrew Weatherall and the Batcat EP has one of the best song titles ever: "Stupid Prick Gets Chased By The Police and Loses His Slut Girlfriend" Oh, Mogwai. How do you come up with such fantastic names?

Fuck Buttons - Sweet Love For Planet Earth (Andrew Weatherall Remix)


Mogwai - Stupid Prick Gets Chased By The Police and Loses His Slut Girlfriend


I also grabbed the only Spectrum CD available, Indian Giver which is labeled as Spectrum Meets Captain Memphis. It's pretty great but not quite as impressive as the live show.

And of course, I had to get one of the ATP hoodies. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite hoodies ever due to it's exceptional comfyness and supremely fun spin art style graphic. Just in time for winter!

Mogwai / Fuck Buttons Split EP

Fuck Buttons - Colours Move (Mogwai Remix)


Mogwai - Mogwai Fear Satan (Fuck Buttons Remix)


Not only are two of the coolest bands around touring together right now, they also recorded a split EP that they're selling only on tour and in limited quantities. Luckily for you, some dude (ie not me) put it up online for all of the free-seeking internet music nerds to download. Or maybe he just did it for those who won't be able to make it to any of the shows and just absolutely need this record. Fair enough, right?

So from what I gathered, there's no album art or anything, the CD just comes in a hand numbered sleeve. Hooray for minimalism. The EP consists of two tracks, one by each band remixing one of the other band's songs. Wait, what? Mogwai remixing Fuck Buttons and Fuck Buttons remixing Mogwai? Holy shit. Can this get any better? Yes. Yes it can. If (and only if) Fuck Buttons just happened to remix "Mogwai Fear Satan" then...well, then I would just might cream myself.

Obviously, this amazingly fantastic short but sweet EP is the crème de la crème. I can't get enough of it. My only complaint (and it is a major one) is that it's so god damn short. Come on guys. I sincerely hope this begets future collaborations cause HOT DAMN that would be the shit.

Btw, I found this via nialler9. Thanks!

Fuck Buttons and Caribou at The Paradise

Fuck Buttons



Caribou

I know I just posted a review about Fuck Buttons' Street Horrrsing less than 24 hours ago but that's the only reason I found out about this show. By searching the web for an image of their album cover, I discovered they were about to go on stage in Boston in 2 or 3 hours. So I obviously needed to rush down there as soon as possible and secure a ticket and a spot right up front. It was so coincidental the way it happened and I'm really happy it turned out the way it did. Otherwise, if I had known about this show weeks in advance, I wouldn't have gotten any sleep due to my sheer excitement.

I would think that Caribou fans would really enjoy Fuck Buttons. They both are melody driven with occasional bouts of fierce drumming. But apparently that's not the case. I guess Fuck Buttons is just too harsh for the delicate ears of Caribou fans because as far as I could tell, nobody was pleased with what they were hearing. Clearly, these people don't know good music when they hear it. One kid who was standing next to me was explaining to his friend who arrived after Fuck Buttons finished playing that "they didn't even have any real instruments. It was just electronic button mashing noise." Evidently, drums, keyboards, and microphones aren't "real instruments." I assure you, live Fuck Buttons is just as good, if not better than studio recorded Fuck Buttons. It does not sound like "electronic button mashing noise." It sounds (to steal a quote from Pitchfork) "like the sun rising over the ocean... then going supernova." It's having your ear drums explode from beautiful noise.

I need to admit something. I only found out within the past few months that Caribou is actually the new name of the guy previously known as Manitoba. I had been digging Manitoba's Up In Flames forever, not paying any attention to whether or not any of his new material was coming out. Then by some strange accident, I found out that Manitoba changed his name to Caribou. Now it all makes sense! Although, it didn't really change anything because I still haven't heard anything from Caribou proper. That is, until last night. Caribou was pleasant and wonderful, everything I expected them to be. They haven't changed too much of their sound since Up In Flames came out, which I was thankful for. I wasn't expecting was two drum kits, however. That made for some fierce drum-duels. I also didn't expected to hear much from Up In Flames, seeing that it's been out for 4 years, but I was surprised to hear quite a few tracks form that album. Also, they had a projection that was timed perfectly in sync with their music. I'm still not quite how they did it. I think the drummer had an earpiece so he was able to time everything correctly from the start of each song. It made for a great audio-visual experience. Now I think I'll need to go hunt down some real Caribou.

Fuck Buttons and Caribou are still touring so you have a chance to catch them when they come around.

Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing

Oooooooh wow. This one...this one is special. I still haven't finished listening to the whole thing but...damn. This is everything I want in a band. Buzzing synths, tribal beats, beautiful drone, in-the-red vocals, and loud as fuck. A lot of people have been saying that this record and that record are already contending for their year end Top 10 lists. That usually makes me mad this early in the year. Maybe people still have their Top 10 lists from last year still on their mind, so they're trying to stay focused and remember these early releases when December comes. But you know what? It doesn't matter. I don't even make lists, and this is still at the top of it. Yes, I'm placing Street Horrrsing at the top of my non-existent list. It's that good. I can't say anything else about this record. Except I think Fuck Buttons is a dumb name. That's the least of my worries, though. They could be called Bunny Killers and I wouldn't care (as long as it wasn't true). This is so so so easily the best record of the year. I can't imagine anything else coming out that can top this. And my imagination is pretty good.

Update: I just found out they're playing tonight at The Paradise with Caribou. I'll be leaving shortly to go see them and I shall return with what I'm sure will be an amazing review.