Fucked Up - Do They Know It's Christmas?

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Reflecting on My 2009 Purchases

Well, here it is: my 2009 best of list - in two lists. I've only included tangible music that I've purchased. I'm not counting internet radio or digital downloads, so that means I can't gain extra hipster cred by mentioning Hospice or Them Crooked Vultures in my lists. Though I did enjoy listening to both on last.fm this year, I didn't wind up purchasing either, so without further delay, here's my quite-biased hierarchy containing all of my purchases.

Best CDs
10. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
9. The Fall of Troy - In The Unlikely Event...
8. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
7. Rx Bandits - Mandala
6. The Dead Weather - Horehound
5. DAMN! The Mixtape: Volume 1 - Andrew W.K. and B-Roc
4. Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us
3. The Flaming Lips - Embroyinc
2. Gundam Rock - Andrew W.K.
1. Baroness - The Blue Record

Yes, I know Baroness and The Lips will be releasing vinyl. It just made my list-making easier to split it up into two lists. I really didn't want to get into comparing Baroness and Mastodon, even though it is in vogue to do so. Maybe I'll consider integrating The Blue Record into my vinyl list when it ships in January. And now, my 2009 records...

Best Records
14. Blind Lemon Jefferson - I Want To Be Like Jesus In My Heart
13. Radiohead - Radiohead Rocks Germany 2001
12. What's Up - Content Imagination
11. Kylesa - Static Tensions
10. Goblin Cock - Come With Me If You Want To Live!
9. Obits - I Blame You
8. Crystal Antlers - Tentacles
7. Sleepy Sun - Embrace
6. Vee Dee - Public Mental Health System
5. Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist
4. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
3. Aleister X - Bangers & Beans
2. Andrew W.K. - 55 Cadillac
1. Mastodon - Crack The Skye

Aleister X - Bangers & Beans

Who is Aleister X?
And perhaps more importantly, who is Mario Dane?

Back in June, Playmaker published an with Aleister X, but I didn't get around to reading it until I had already ordered Bangers & Beans from Cargo Records UK. I'd heard Aleister X on DAMN! The Mixtape: Volume 1 and was impressed enough to be excited for his first release on Skyscraper Music Maker. Had I known that it would only be the first of three 12" EPs that would precede his upcoming album (containing all three EPs and then some), I probably would have waited to start listening to Aleister X. Thankfully, this is not the case. Bangers & Beans, at just over twelve minutes, is one of my favorite records of 2009. I've even had to purchase the digital versions of the songs for when I can't be near my table.

The title track, "Banger & Beans," clocks in at 2:22. The music actually starts a few seconds in, and grows in deep layers very quickly. Starting with a sour vocal and pissed-off simple guitar riff, the song explodes into head-nodding dance beats, synths, and all sorts of layered vocals in different octaves. A break in the middle provides an extremely heavy dance party to conclude the song.

"Tom Tit" appeared previously on DAMN!, but remixed by Andrew W.K. This version is darker, but still features the falsetto middle section followed by a building beat and refrain. The lack of Andrew W.K.'s hysterical party motivation does not make the track suffer, but rather helps maintain the darkness of Aleister X. After "Tom Tit," Side A is over -- and in just over 5 minutes.

Side 1 (not side B) has "Your Darkside," which encourages you to be one with the night. The raging electric guitar solos certainly help, as does the piano break followed by chimes and an incredibly booming beat. The last track, "On Your Todd," is over five minutes. Starting out with "rooty-too-tooty," Aleister digs deep into second-person consciousness to relieve some negative frustrations, such as "You want to text a lover, but you haven't had one since 1994." Is he speaking to himself or to his equally pissed-off, todd-sitting audience? A spoken breakdown exposes Aleister personally, who says "I had nothing to do and I was sitting all around me flat... looking after me disco ball, spinning round - top of the floor down the hall - and it's a hall that goes on about fifteen thousand feet, or fifteen weeks, or fifteen days, it's all the same... full on rage go go go."

As the producer, Andrew W.K. left one of his own stamp of signature weirdness. On Close Calls With Brick Walls, Andrew labelled the records Side, Side B, Side Three, and Last Side. Here, the sides are labelled as Side A and Side 1. Andrew W.K.'s music is often accompanied by the presence of Steev Mike, whose name does not appear on this release by Aleister X. However, the insert does suspiciously segregate "Project manager: Mario Dane for The D. MARIO Company." Where has Mario Dane previously appeared? On Andrew W.K.'s I Get Wet, 55 Cadillac, and Gundam Rock, Mario Dane is listed as a producer, as is Andrew W.K. However, on Close Calls With Brick Walls (another Andrew W.K. release), Steev Mike is listed as the producer and Mario Dane is credited with "Music Direction."

Is Aleister X connected to the Steev Mike conspiracy? Or is the Mario Dane Dilemma a bigger problem? Is Mario Dane the real identity of Steev Mike? Or is Mario Dane another shard of Andrew W.K.? What deeper connections exist between Andrew W.K. and Aleister X? It doesn't matter, at least not yet. What matters is that you look past the absurd, get off your todd and go listen to the bizarre genius that is Aleister X. Head over to Playmaker's interview to get some free downloads, or do yourself one better and buy the EP. You won't regret it. It's a banger.

Radiohead Rocks Germany 2001

This year introduced me to my new favorite holiday: Independent Record Store Day. Started in 2008, Record Store Day is a day where antisocial vinyl fetishists are forced crawl out from their depressed solitude and make a visit to their favorite participating independent store. I visited Iowa City's Record Collector, which was busier than I'd ever seen it. The store had been completely restocked and there were lots of Record Store Day exclusives, including Inch, a collection of reissued Jesus Lizard 7's. With a horde of strangers peering over the stacks, I nervously carried around my must-haves in fear that someone else would snatch them up. One of those was this Radiohead live set on two LPs.

Like many other Radiohead fans, I am often plagued with the desire to hear more Radiohead music. With their departure from mainstream labels and entry into the DIY world of distribution, my interest had only grown. What would happen after In Rainbows? Apparently, this.

Marked as import, it caught my eye mainly because I'd never seen it before, but also because it was a 12" Thom Yorke head (which has become one of my favorite LPs for dress-up). I was initially suspicious because the cover seems almost too cheesy: RADIOHEAD consuming 12" horizontally above a crooning Thom and ROCKS in huge letters at the bottom. Thinking it was just a bootleg, I examined the dates on the back to find it was issued in 2009, which was great news at the time. Unlike Capitol's The Best of Radiohead, this release was surely authorized by the band themselves. So instead of looking at a hokey import bootleg of unknown quality, I actually looking at the band's most recent release (after In Rainbows). Knowing that it came from the band, I bought it without hesitation and was definitely rewarded.

The inside of the gatefold features a small bio from William Hogeland that provides context for the live performance. I won't get into the history of Radiohead here, but the concert takes place after the release of Amnesiac and before Hail to the Thief. While some may be disappointed by the lack of HTTF material (and altogether lack of new material), this double LP is meant to document the band at a pivotal time in their career. Nine of the nineteen songs come from Kid A and Amnesiac; the other ten are pulled from The Bends and OK Computer. As could be expected from Radiohead, material from their first full-length, Pablo Honey, is not present.

The records themselves are very nice -- thick, heavy, smooth, and flat, with lots of black. The stickers are black with white text. The all-black record sleeves are also very nice, containing a protective inner lining. The sleeves are much more premium-feeling then plain white paper ones and have proven to be durable enough to keep this vinyl contained and clean. The gatefold is roomy, easily allowing the sleeves the perfect amount of space. The spine also contains a bit of extra cardboard reinforcement in matching thickness. This is really nice to see on a heavy set such as this because it ensures the gatefold won't get twisted and mangled. As far as packaging goes, Radiohead delivered everything in its right place.

The live set starts with "The National Anthem," from Kid A. The bass tone is a bit more rough than the album version, perhaps containing a slight fuzz. The ethereal guitar-whooshing from God-know-what pedals is present as would be expected... for a while. After the all the parts have come in, Thom starts making some rhythmic vocal noises (cha-ha-ah-eh-ah-ah-ahh) which really add to the overall groove of the song. As the verse begins, the guitar sounds become more pronounced and seem more intimately controlled. The rest of the songs in the live set follow this model, allowing the band to add their sonic mastery where they feel appropriate, while staying very close to the written structure of songs as heard on their studio recordings.

Jumping to side three, we hear our first deviations from this model in the now-classic track "Paranoid Android" and in the following track, "Everything In Its Right Place." Initially, "Paranoid Android" provides a great mix of acoustic guitar and drums, but the soundboard mix fails to deliver on the heavily-distorted guitar part. Compared to the studio recording, it sounds too far back in the mix. The tremolo guitar that follows is also too quiet. But this doesn't prevent the band from being intricate; we still get to hear Radiohead effectively playing a complex composition full of swirling moods and changes in intensity. While the performance of "Paranoid Android" seems the weakest of the songs on the album, its loud and distinct ending perfectly introduces the quiet of "Everything In Its Right Place." This track is another deviation from the model of expanded sonic lushness -- instead of the 4:11 Kid A version, listeners are treated to an extended 7:44 version of the song. Filled with vocal effects and live sampling, it sounds as if Thom Yorke has gotten stuck in a washing machine. But being Thom Yorke, he's obviously got it figured out, so the backwards and forwards warping of "There are two-two-col-colors-in-in-innnn-my-head" is done with great control and provides an for an incredible listening experience that captures the sonic escapism of Kid A.

Radiohead brings out the big guns on side four, which contains "Idioteque," "Airbag," "Just," "The Bends," and ends with "How To Disappear Completely." Each of these songs sound terrific here and will definitely delight fans of the band. That being said, this does seem like a package for fans only. While it does provide material from four albums, casual listeners will probably be more appreciative of the studio records that the tunes are drawn from. But is Radiohead Rocks worth your time? Most definitely -- hearing the band actually performing their tunes in a live context is captivating. While nowhere near the "required listening" level of Kid A, Radiohead Rocks will be pleasurable for people who like to hear talented musicians performing together in a live context, and even more pleasurable for Radiohead's legion of fans that squirm in delight of a 12" Thom Yorke head.