SLEATER-KINNEY, THE WOODS

sleater-kinney’s letterman performance earlier this year was, at best, shaky, each component slightly out of time with each other; you could see the slightly terrified look in their eyes as they attempted to get their shit together and fly right in front of a live national audience. while this would qualify as an utterly craptacular and embarrasing show of talent for any band, it might be the first time ive witnessed the group in such a vulnerable state. you know, im still not even sure if i actually like this record, but i think they’ve giving us something different this time around, which at the very least, is commendable.

HAIL SOCIAL, SELF-TITLED

for me, when it comes to music words are often like the wah-wah-wah of adults in charlie brown cartoons, but in 2005 i finally could understand what they were saying. after the cotton had been pulled from my ears, i struggled with lots of records, especially this one. just as sleater-kinney grabbed my attention for their vulnerability, hail social earned my respect by refusing to give easy answers this early in the game.

FIERY FURNACES, REHEARSING MY CHOIR

i really should have HATED this record. narrative/poetry set to music? grandmothers? christ, kill me now. but this record is exactly what i want out of music — it makes me rethink and rethink and rethink what my criteria for music, both good and bad, compelling and repulsive, should be.

[id like to add that i bear no ill will towards the grandmothers of the world. my own passed away in october of 2004 and there's not a day that goes by where i miss her dearly.]

THE TEETH, CARRY THE WOOD

anyone who’s a longtime follower of plain parade already knows about our dirty, not-so-secret love affair with the teeth, so dont act all surprised when they wind up on my list. i mean, how could they not? i nearly forgot about this record’s official release this year, mainly because they play so many shows in town, thus making these songs part of philly’s indie subconscious, especially with all the twentysomething drama that goes on. you see that figure on the left, clasping hands over its heart? how much more do i need to explain to you?

KINSKI, ALPINE STATIC

the moment i turned on alpine static, i metamorphed into some kind of monster. my hair was straggly and long, my jeans were ripped — in fact, this record brings me closer to the teenage version of myself, closer than i’ve felt in years. the only downside to this record is its lopsided nature. but that’s kind of what being a teen is like — half-noise, half-quiet.

GOLDEN BALL, THE LUXURY OF PAUSE

word assoociation time! this band makes me think of the shiny ball inside a pinball game, what with all their whirring around. on the pp compilation, they managed to convert one of espers dirgey-slow songs into a hyperballad worthy of placement alongside the add-riffic inspired material of fiery furnaces. the same approach can be found in spades on this record. with all their energy, im sure the band finds their downtime, if any, luxurious.

inspired by j. edward keyes, i am going to begin a countdown of my favorite music from 2005, day by day on this here blog. i promise you i wont crap out midway — we all know what happens when i get a crazy idea.

i’ve been wrangling with how i’d present these picks to you for a while. should i separate them? should they be combined into one master list? after much consideration, i decided it was best to keep the lists separate yet posted concurrently. id like to think this is how i listened to music in the past year — one ear on the local, one ear on the rest of the world. there is no larger comment, no ulterior motive — im not trying to ghettoize anyone here. 2005 offered up some incredible music and any reader of this blog can certainly attest to how psyched i was to hear what was happening in my own backyard. these albums are worthy of standing tall, side by side.

10. JENNIFER GENTLE, VALENDE

valende feels like a first visit from a long-lost overseas cousin to the more continental olivia tremor control. despite a shared DNA of homerecorded goodness, sci-fi weirdness, forays into film scoring and pink floyd, its obvious jennifer gentle are from elsewhere — watch how they chew their bubblegum.

10. AUDIBLE, SKY SIGNAL

mike kennedy — one of the busiest men in philly music or covert ADD sufferer? i ask this because the dude has, like, eight billion bands. OK, thats not true. of course there’s audible, the recently-revived lefty’s deceiver [now with 100% more ed hogarty!], fleetwood mike [guess what they do] and the pavement-meets-the-kinks-in-a-non-alcoholic-bar future tips. despite the busy nature of audible’s brainchild, their debut release for polyvinyl records displays the sharpest, most surgical focus, even when jumping in between shoegaze, synth-pop and other influences, creating seamlessly pretty indiepop.

OK, this is listmaking I actually give a shit about. Shows. You know I go to a lot of them. I almost never buy records [if i do, its probably on my 20$ spending limit at the princeton record exchange. and they're all old.] but I certainly do see bands. I’d be willing to wager that the number of shows I have seen adds up to much much more than the amount of records in my personal collection.

I did this one in chronological order, mainly because I had to jog my own memory for some of these. Plus, I wanted to see if I saw approximately one awesome show a month. Almost.

Best Shows I Saw In 2004
Kinski / Constantines: SXSW, March 2004
Cardigans: Maxwells, May 2004
Patrick Wolf: Piano’s, May 2004
Mergefest / Superchunk: Cat’s Cradle, July 2004
Guided By Voices Karaoke: Tonic, August 2004
Electrelane: Transit, September 2004
Sonic Youth: Electric Factory, September 2004
The Futureheads: Transit, October 2004
Jah Division: Tonic, October 2004
Fiery Furnaces: Khyber, October 2004
Dead Milkmen: Trocadero, November 2004
Nancy Sinatra: World Cafe, November 2004
Travis Morrison: Khyber, November 2004

Best Shows I Booked In 2004
Dresden Dolls: Doc Watson’s, February 2004
Head of Femur: Doc Watson’s, February 2004
Sons & Daughters: Doc Watson’s, March 2004
Metal Urbain: Tritone, April 2004
Quails: Millcreek Tavern, May 2004
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone: Tritone, July 2004
This Radiant Boy: Tritone, July 2004
Gravy Train!!!: Silk City, July 2004
Jim Guthrie: Tritone, August 2004
Medium Medium: Tritone, October 2004
Ariel Pink: Tritone, October 2004
The Nein: Silk City, December 2004

Awesome Band Award of 2004
Dragon City, for being so gosh darn good!

Behold! An incomprehensive list of stuff i accquired this year! I know I left albums off here, and I’m sorry.

Oh, and I do enjoy talking to my records, thankyouverymuch. I give inanimate objects Christian names, too.

BTW, thanks for not showing up to my DJ night on Friday, even after the lovely article in PW. I played some hot stuff.

Records I Happened to Get in 2002, That I Liked

Consonant s/t (fenway) - if you were disappointed because this wasn�t Mission of Burma Part 2, that wasn�t the point, dumbass. But it is an lovely little bridge to the past without sounding like an overt nostalgia trip.

V/A, “Hustle!: Reggae Disco” (soul jazz) - Soul Jazz Records, I am your bitch on a golden chain. You could shit on a slab of wax, and I’d still buy it at full import price. Luckily for us, this record is really cool: reggae versions of disco hits AND the coolest cover of “rapper’s delight”. Yes, I liked your ESG record and A Certain Ratio reissues too.

V/A, “Verve: Unmixed” & “Verve: Remixed” (verve, duh) - hot remixed versions of jazz classics to shake your booty to, and the unmixed version of the record is a steal at 5$. Even if you don�t know crap about jazz, this is still a good purchase.

Sahara Hotnights “Jennie Bomb” (jetset) - I’ve actually found a band that can hold a flame to Girlschool. It’s a shame the boys are getting all the credit.

Res, “How I Do” (mca) - A R’n'B princess that actually gets rock music and like, doesn�t sing sucky songs about love or hawk her “poetry” books. Res gives the bling bling filled world of urban music a breath of fresh air.

Beck “Sea Change” (dgc) - I’m sad. You’re sad too. I’m sorry she doesn�t love you anymore.

Rye Coalition “On Top” (tigerstyle) - The biggest mistake you committed was releasing this so early in the year. I almost forgot how good you were.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs s/t (self-released) - Five songs that are on the tongue of every rockist alive, whether they want to admit it or not. Thank you for playing Sugar Town and letting us DJ your gig in Philly.

The Natural History s/t EP 1 & 2 (self-rel., star time intl) - Proof that NYC’s current crop of rock bands still have some steam left in them. 2 little EPs full of Elvis Costello-inspired rock, with a full length on its way.

Scout Niblett “Sweet Heart Fever” - She’s just as crazy as Cat Power, especially with that wig. But at least she doesn’t break down in the middle of her set in tears.

ABCs s/t - I don�t know why you thought an accordion & drums no-wave-ish group would be a good idea, but it is.

Sonic Youth “Murray Street” (dgc) - I’m sorry my friend said those things about you. And you are a wonderful record, a pleasant return to form after having gone awry. And I don�t care what they say, “Plastic Sun” is really great.

Enon “High Society” (t&g) - When Enon’s old label went belly up, I worried about the future of this group. I also know that when I worry about something, it winds up being better than I imagined. It’s about time this band released another record full of blips and riffs that never seem to get out of my head.

Spoon “Kill the Moonlight” & “A Series of Sneaks” (merge) - How do I discuss the record without talking about the man? Oh, I cant, and that�s what I like it/him so much. God Bless Merge for reissuing ASOS with the best bonus tracks ever.

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings “Dap Dippin’ With…” (dap tone) - GET DOWN WITH YOUR BAD SELF. YEAAAAUH!

Dsico & McSleazy, everything they’ve released - glitchy, bastard pop goodness that finally makes me feel like there’s something musically unique to our generation, instead of that wussy emo crap.

The Roots “Phrenology” (okay player) - you had me the second the band started playing japanese thrash. I understand why you titled the album as such, its such a hip hop mind fuck.

Any Trouble anthology - yay yay yay yay. Reissues of Stiff artists are ALWAYS the best.

Metropolitan “Down For You Is Up” (crank automotive) - it’s like going from the Crickets to Yo La Tengo in five seconds flat.

Crass “Singles Collection” - I thought about buying the CD, and then I waited and lo and behold, I found you on LP for 5$. WORTH IT. I can chuck the cassette.

The Raincoats “Odyshape” (rough trade) - after wearing out my cassette of this, I finally purchased the LP and went broke in the process. Everyone knows about the all-important-to-own first LP, but this is so much better, especially for “Red Shoes”. And like, it was so worth not eating for a week.

Oh OK reissue - Michael Stipe’s little sister’s band finally gets their due. All I ever had was the 7″, so it was really nice to hear the rest of their material. Definitely worth purchasing. Live tracks a definite plus.

Pavement “Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe” (matador) - my favorite band in the universe since the age of 13 finally gets their due. Even though I owned most of these tracks, there’s a certain joy in beatmatching the end of “trigger cut” into the previously unreleased “nothing ever happens” and getting another piece of their cryptic puzzle.

Laura Nyro & Labelle “Gonna Take A Miracle” - not the greatest recordings, but somehow they manage to give me the chills in their primal beauty.

Jenny Toomey “Tempting” (misra) - I designed this record, and damnit, I don�t get involved with projects that I’ll hate down the road. Even the unmastered versions of these little gems are incredible.

Vertebrae “Pinafore” (collision collider) - if you enjoyed tortoise’s “millions living now will never die”, then this record is for you. Their live performance is really intriguing to watch.

The Walkie Talkies s/t (self-rel.) - If the Frogs fronted Beat Happening, this is what it would sound like. Oh my god, they’re so fucking funny. I swear. You can get a copy by emailing them: walkietalkies @ hotmail.com

Palomar “II” (self starter foundation) - philly ex-pats play upbeat rock like the feelies and are incredible live. Those harmonies make me shiver and cry. They’re playing Doc Watsons 1/23 with Raccoon & Dragon City. Please
come out to support!

The Constantines “Modern Sinner Nervous Man” EP (suicide squeeze) - it doesn�t sound like anyone could cross fugazi with bruce springsteen and make it sound incredible, but they do.

“i anticipate being in the depths of despair, because i know it will only get better from then on,” he said. so true, i thought as i sat in my room. i had been listening to him talk about the evening’s events, honored to be among one of the first he told.

these last few weeks, have been amongst the most productive i have experienced in a while. ive gotten a few responses to this site, along the lines of “why dont you take st. john’s wort?” and random hugs from classmates.

its really not that bad folks. but its nice to know you care.

sometimes, i wonder if its the holidays; other days i just think its my PMS that has been acting up horribly as late and then there’s other that i just think, “well, im just mentally fucked up.”

i just try my best to move along, and get on with life.

life, if you arent aware already, is doing some sort of artwork. i guess this website counts as art work, as its always being revisited, relooked and redesigned on a constant basis. ive been writing a lot, much more than i have ever. im working on some new photo projects; drafting a proposal to use an 11×14 view camera. its the school’s deardorff, and its been in the possession of the university of the arts ever since it was built, my guess is that its at least 100 years old. its on a geared tripod that its justas heavy as the camera itself. ive looked at it a thousand times when i sat in the shooting studio for classes; meditating on the thought of making conact prints larger that most images ive ever shot.

i envision myself as the intrepid photographer, climbing mountains with this monolith, just like hundreds of early photographers before me.

im also going to be taking this winter break to learn a new color printing process, dye transfer. my new boss has some old equipment and offered to give it to me. my teachers think im crazy because its outdated, i think im just trying to really understand all facets of my craft. and… purely archival color prints sound right up my alley.

top ten albums that were new this year, and which i found to be really good

the french kicks: young lawyer ep
eleventh dream day: stalled parade
lilys: selected ep
the letter e: number 5 long player
trans am: red line
shellac: at action park
enon: believo!
the caribbean: s/t ep
portastatic: de mel, de melao
the sea and cake: oui
cobolt: spirit on parole