"so many people have said that the essence of rock and roll is danger. danger is rock and roll and vice versa. if that is the case, then where is the rock in roll in 2011? i don't think i am the only one who doesn't believe the big, focal indie bands nowadays pose any real threat to anyone. sure, they put out some good music, but so does Nickleback, if you're a Nickleback fan.
even though Austin is hopelessly insane, with all the music in that town, it still functions. it is a town built around weirdness and individuality and with all the chaos and originality there, the town stands. kids flock to Austin these days for different reasons than they flocked to Austin ten years ago. Austin has become an industry, a cool one, but today rebellion in Austin is expected, it's almost passé.
I used the example of Austin only to point out one aspect of the big picture, one that perhaps carries the most clout lately. the pendulum swings back and forth, and all people and tastes are different, and what may be cutting edge for one town’s scene may be embarrassingly outdated to another. i don't think the urge in a listener's head to be fucked with or taken for a ride is forever going to be satisfied with heavy metal music or skulls tattoos. i think what is scary and dangerous is what you aren't expecting, or what you never saw coming. not the brute force bear that you run into head on and have to fight, but the schizo vulture that lands on your head and tries to peck your fucking eyes out. you're never safe from that fucker even with an elephant gun. but whatever.
since i don't listen to too much new music these days, this is just representative of what i've delved into over the past year and took to. I’m just looking for things that strike me as beautiful and also hopefully surprise me or creep me out.
the only rule in this list is that i am not considering Oklahoma bands. I don’t want to dishonor their great releases by trying to pretend I am objective about their place in the grand scheme. I am not a therapist, I’ve got enough biases to discredit my input, and I wholeheartedly support DEERPEOPLE, Lizard Police, Guardant, The Boom Bang, and BRONCHO. All of them released fantastic, game-changing shit this year, and I am very proud and excited to be a part of this latest growing surge of music. So here’s to OK.this is what i like from the rest of the picture. this is what is good in my opinion. this is what i'd put my money on. i’m not going to defend myself or my choices, I’m just defending the records, because all of these records totally kicked ass and I’m looking forward to growing old with every one of them.
1- Tyler, The Creator - "Goblin" - Mr. Creator is an old soul that sticks everything on the line. DGAF self-destruction to the extreme. A concept album that involves a 19 year old skater psycho-analyzing himself over the entire course of two LPs, with all the elements of great literature: setups, foreshadowing, punchlines, climaxes, character development, paradoxes, irony, drama. In a world where emcees beat their chests to prove they’re the toughest, Tyler’s attack is to puff up his chest and lay out every single demon and insecurity in his soul to the point that anyone who wanted to could rip him apart. but no one is going to, he has too much talent and conviction, and he has much more welling up inside of him. he shares his self-doubts with a confidence that makes you realize he has already come to terms with every inch of his young adult soul, and he’s now turned his brutally analytical eye on the world at large, looking for blood. lyrics so goddamn biting they shouldn’t be coming out of a kid.
2- Screeching Weasel - "First World Manifesto" - Ben Weasel is the face of what I believe to be punk rock in 2011. he is a conservative and unapologetically Catholic, and he is a bigger asshole than ever. he talks shit on everyone, and he punched a girl. his bandmates couldn't handle the fire and Ben has since gone on without them. he has even had to say "farewell and fuck you" to bandmate and old buddy Danny Vapid. seems like everyone has turned their back on Ben, and fuck them. Ben is the same as he's been since he was writing for Maximumrocknroll and playing basements. he never tolerated "punks" who got their cages rattled easy, and he hasn't quit being the voice of reason in a world full of self-righteous hippies and pompous lily-white critics. his lyrics are more urgent than ever, he is seriously pissed and concerned about what is going on, in a world where the only way to truly offend the jaded little shits of the world is by playing traditional pop-punk and going to Bible study, and saying things because you really mean it. you may not feel the way i do but i think Ben punching that chick is not that big a fucking deal, considering what punk used to be, or what we have been told it once was. luckily, the songs are great. they make you think, and not in a way that crust punks on dope make you think about anarchy and freeganism. if you listen to his lyrics you're going to see the real counterpoint, the 2011 counterpoint. it's time to put down our tired, sacred cow causes and ask ourselves what the fuck do we care about if we can't even forgive a punk rocker for hauling off on a mouthy cunt. Ben Weasel has been one of the most well-spoken figures in music since he began, and if you can't step to his extreme rhetoric, you're just fuel for the fire that isn't about to die out. *not endorsed by Mr. Weasel
3- Skull Defekts w/ Daniel Higgs - "Peer Amid" - Confrontational, effortless hypnotic ragas with punchy late 80s Sonic Youth timbres and way, way harsh lyrics. good for newbies to the Occult and angry weirdos in general. a well-orchestrated and deliberate album start to finish, it shows true appreciation for complexity rather than a perverse adoration of it. the Defekts and Higgs assume authority with their art, they are focused and motivated, there is real conviction in this record that rises above the bullshit “hipster” gimmicks that are so prevalent nowadays. The Skull Defekts are showing promise and potential, they could be one of the leaves of the next big thing, whateverthefuck that's supposed to mean. in short, it's evil, scary, well-put together noise rock. Charlie Manson would dig it.
4- Starfucker - "Reptilians" - synth-pop that warms the soul and stirs the mind. one of the few albums this year that i've played over and over on repeat and not gotten enough of yet. lush beauty, effortlessly listenable.
5- Zomes - "Earth Grid" - if a space alien came down and asked me what's going on right now in the world of consciousness i'd play him Zomes and tell him it's the same thing that's been going since the 60s, but lonelier and exponentially more confusing. poignant loops of hundred dollar sound colors and breathtaking swaths of lush oscillations that serves no purpose whatsoever. a work of true beauty.
6- The New Blockaders - "Antinomia II" (7" EP) - maybe this is a pretentious inclusion on the list, seeing how it's a super scarce 7" that you have to have ordered from Europe via the label. who cares. The New Blockaders were the original gangstas of noise music back in the early 80s and they are still the Picassos. always fascinating to listen to, never smacks of the gory postmodern motifs of new wave of tape-culture noise, yet manages to hit harder and scarier. the Blockaders are the Shakespeare of noise, everyone else is just jockeying for the top slot in the maddening crowd outside the palace walls.
7- Horse Meat Disco - "Horse Meat Disco III" - a fantastic mixtape of disco tracks that seamlessly spans two full cds without a single gap. authentic club disco in all its glory, produced with respect for the drama and flamboyance and style of the history of the genre. a great reinterpretation of the deep cuts and fleeting hits of the 70s and early 80s, with a more than few surprises too from the modern era. groovy and uplifting, a fantastic trip though an old-school mindset. deserves a listen. hella fun.
8- Bryan Black Presents Black Asteroid - "The Engine EP" (EP) - Bryan Black is the resurrection of everything I miss about techno. eccentric without spraying his guts everywhere. he has a classy sense of restraint, and a spot-on aesthetic. like everything about him, it's just a millimeter away from generic, but it's a tightly controlled millimeter. whether you see it or you don't see it, it's hiding right under your nose."
For more of this crazy s.o.b.s written work, go to these:
http://wtflygas.blogspot.com/
http://heyhomieyourdicksonfire.blogspot.com/
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