Even if death were good

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If you have all of the information..
And you can’t make a decision in 60 seconds….
Then perhaps you do not deserve to reap the benefits that such a decision might bring.

Call it self-help gobbledygook, or more Robbins-style success training… But this advice has been around for almost a century. Andrew Carnegie once said “those who are slow to make up their minds are also slow in carrying out their decisions.”

Well if you can’t decide
Your move you either weep or moan
You waste a year to mull this through

[Ra Ra Riot – Ghost Under Rocks]

Meet Ra Ra Riot. Did you hear the cello? The violin? How is it that I can be a sucker for both the double bass pedal and the stringed instruments? I’m a sucker for ska, too, so what does that tell you. (Absolutely nothing.) As I mentioned in my last post, I am reading Chuck Klosterman’s Killing Yourself To Live in which the author visits the places and ponders the legacy of the deaths of well-known, and some not-so-well-known rock artists. So I found it odd to discover that in the short couple of years that the sextet Ra Ra Riot has been together, they’ve already lost their original drummer to an accidental drowning after playing a show and then attending a house party in Providence, RI last summer. Prior to that show, they wrapped up a 6-week tour with inALLcaps faves The Little Ones. And in December of 2008, they toured the east coast with So Many Dynamos. That would have been a nice show to see.

Listening to Ra Ra Riot is really soothing to me. It sometimes takes me back to The Smiths, and by the end of the album The Rhumb Line I could swear they are as upbeat as Motion City Soundtrack. Like Morrissey they do often mumble their lyrics, so nailing down what it is they’re saying is tough – and as more and more 12-year-olds access the internet, the lyrics websites are plummeting in credibility by the hour. Unlike Morrissey, these guys are American as Apple Pie and don’t sound like they hail from Syracuse, New York. But what they’ve got going on ranges from deep to flighty and it makes me very happy. Soothed. I love it. Try another sample.

[Ra Ra Riot – Dying Is Fine]

In stark contrast to The All American Rejects, I am glad the youth of today has a band like Ra Ra Riot. You have to get this album.

I get nervous every time you speak.

Armand Van Helden-mania! – Part 2

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So last week, I started you all off with a few old school Armand Van Helden tracks and remixes. It got a pretty good response, actually. Well, except from the Strictly Rhythm folks, and we can understand why, so we took down the mp3 of “Break Night”. Hopefully if you guys trust my opinion, you’ll buy the track, anyhow!

So this week, we’re bouncing ahead a little further. After his seminal album 2 Future 4 U, he has just sort of gone downhill, unfortunately. The edge isn’t there, any more. That’s a real shame, because for a good half-dozen years, this guy made nothing but quality. Here I’m sharing a few more of his tracks.

To start off with, we’re going to bring up Daft Punk yet again. Daft Punk was part of a crew that called themselves “Da Mongoloids”. Well, according to discogs, it was just Bangalter of Daft Punk that took part in the crew. The crew would extend out to guys like Junior Sanchez, Basement Jaxx, and DJ Sneak, amongst others. Well, Armand made a remix of “Da Funk” that really is just a nutso take on the original, and here it is.

[Download Daft Punk – Da Funk (AVH mix)]

Next up is possibly his best known remix, and the one that got him the assloads of work he got after this one. He remixed Tori Amos’ “Professional Widow” and then, just about every DJ worldwide seemed to be playing it. It was one of the anthems in dance music in 1996, and for good reason.

[Download Tori Amos – Professional Widow (AVH mix)]

The next three I have listed here are much lesser known remixes by Van Helden. He went on a remix tear for a few years, and was remixing just about anything thrown his way. Hell, I even found a copy of the 12″ for Rednex “Cotton Eye Joe” with three remixes he did. And yes, it’s godawful. I won’t even force you all to listen to that one. Well, here I have listed his remixes of Apollo Four Forty’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Dub”, Skunk Anansie’s “Secretly”, and The Trancesetters’ “The Search”. The last one, I’ve seen iTunes list an Armand remix that, unless he made a 2nd version? That isn’t it. So don’t waste the time on it.

[Download Apollo Four Forty – Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Dub (AVH mix)]

Skunk Anansie – Secretly (AVH mix)

Trancesetters – The Search (AVH mix)

Now, I have plenty more Armand cuts, and for now, I am going to leave those on the backburner. I think I’ll revisit this topic again in the next month or two, because I have a lot of good stuff to share that wasn’t made by Armand. Stay tuned if you’re a househead, because I have a few more gems to share with you all!

Now, go buy some of this! We do, and so should you!

SKELETONS come to LIFE in my closet!

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My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
‘Til then I walk alone

Green Day always makes me think of my friend Ade. She was totally a punk rock princess to me. Even before she was into Punk Rock. My memory, albeit addled with reckless drug abuse, is that I introduced her to Green Day. I set her life into motion in a way. She now had a purpose. It was not long after this introduction that I noticed the giant Green Day sticker on the back of her new car. She never gave a fuck about what you thought of her. I spent many hours with her on the power box outside my house. We talked about our parents, about school, the douche bags on the bus, and more importantly; we talked about music.

And on this night…I think of her fondly. I hope she is happy. I picture us both singing along. I salute you with my middle finger and a smile!

Can I get another Amen? AMEN!

Bullet in a Bible is a live show by Green Day which documents the two biggest shows that Green Day have ever headlined in their career. According to Rolling Stone, Bullet in a Bible was the seventh largest one-band concert in history, playing to over 130,000 people at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in the UK on 18 and 19 of June, 2005.

My first thought while watching this was:

Wow…I had forgotten how many bands have looked up to Green Day in their style and the sound. And the first one that comes to mind is…My Chemical Romance!

[My Chemical Romance – The Sharpest Lives]

There is some good commentary in between songs that make the DVD worth a purchase all on its own. There was a lot of crowd interaction in the show, and some pyrotechnics. I wonder if they just did that for this big show?

I sat down to watch in my living room while nursing a bottle of JD. Choice. It was great to sing along to Billy Joe and company with a nice buzz in my belly. How will you enjoy watching it? Let me know.

[Green Day – Android]

I still dream of runnin’ careless through the snow

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The band is Blitzen Trapper. They’ve been around for awhile, so it’s alright with me if you pretend you’ve known of them all along. Their fourth album is called Furr, and it was released this past September. Rolling Stone said it was one of the best albums of 2008.

SPIN described the band’s music as suitable for “cubicle-penned office drones in desperate need of a vacation.” I may not be cubicle-penned, but desperate doesn’t even begin to describe my need for a vacation. I digress. Speaking of SPIN, I’ve been reading Chuck Klosterman’s Killing Yourself To Live and as I finished chapter 6, something he said about the Allman Brothers gave me the resolution to write this blog. He’d been bashing them on nearly every page thus far, but he made the point that it’s difficult to carry on a conversation during “Ramblin’ Man.”
This is true, isn’t it! And what does that say about a piece of music? Perhaps it’s not a testimony to a work of genius, but if you’re forced to stop and sing along… Wait, what does that mean about the Britney Spears music that I hear at the mall? Do I have to digress again?I bet my boyfriend wishes I was unable to carry on a conversation during any song… I have been known to talk a lot.

I am not the only one making an Allman Brothers connection. Check out what their hometown paper, The Oregonian, had to say about the music:

…showcases an impressive array of alt-country and psych-rock songs that sound a little as though Wilco ate the mushrooms growing in the Allman Brothers cow pasture.

Look, it’s good stuff. It makes me feel like I’m finally old enough to really appreciate Bob Dylan or Tom Petty. In the form of Blitzen Trapper. And that’s cool with me. Check out the title track, Furr.

[Blitzen Trapper – Furr]

I’m shaky at the knees. Would you take me by the arm and settle down upon a farm?

Armand Van Helden-mania! – Part 1

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So this week, I’m going to give you guys mostly a bunch of old Armand Van Helden tunes. I shit you not, if it’s from the years 1994 to 1998? I most likely have it on wax. He used to reside here in Boston, and played at the locally legendary Loft. I missed out on the Loft back in ’96 by maybe a few months, and man, I am still upset I never got to experience it. Those were my formative days with house music, and I am sure that would’ve just sped up the process!

Since I’ve found so many tunes that Armand’s done that I want to share, I will keep this in two parts. A couple of local Boston guys have done the Armand theme in the past, and it’s really not easy picking what tunes to represent what Armand did! The Soul Clap guys have been in Boston for a long ass time, also, and know their shit. Here’s a link to their blog postings on Armand.

So let’s get this shit started! If I find the response to these little retrospectives to be very positive – meaning you should leave comments or e-mail me at waltzink@gmail.com – then I may do a second batch of his old school shizzy!

First off, I remember talking to a guy about five years ago that knew Armand back in the Loft days, and he actually told me I reminded him of Armand from the attitude standpoint. Basically, fuck trends….fuck “top ten” lists….do what you like and take some chances. It was probably the most humbling thing I’d heard in…well…ever. He told me that when Armand first moved down to NYC, he was actually essentially homeless for the first three weeks there! A lot can change in just two or three years, huh? Whether or not that’s true is up for debate, and Armand, I hear, hates interviews. And I know some kids who hang with him and they’ve said even with their help, it wouldn’t be likely.

Armand’s early stuff actually bounces around a lot. Here, you’ll see what I mean. I have given you guys what is probably my favorite Armand cut – The Mole People’s “Break Night”. It’s a 13 minute long track! It’s deep, tribal, and hypnotizing. Released on Strictly Rhythm back in 1995, it was just one of many Armand tunes that would help establish him as a future force in dance music. Of course, I could’ve just given you all Armand’s “Witch Doktor” as the tune that embodies his old stuff, but everyone does that.

Editors Note: Strictly Rhythm has asked us to no longer offer the track from Mole People from our site.  Like a responsible music blog, we complied.

So the next two are from the same album. He was also on another classic label – Henry Street. These two are lesser known tracks from his Old School Junkies persona. “Brooklyn Beats” has a sort of twisted story, however. It’s on Armand’s Old School Junkies – The Album (parts 1 and 2) but when I first heard this? I was under the impression it was another artist by the name of Scotti Deep. Well, I can’t see anywhere where the track actually was produced by Armand. In fact, this particular mix was done by Pulse 2 Rhythm. So who knows who actually gets credit for this one. For now? I will put it here as Armand’s “version” I guess. If anyone can clear this up, feel free!

[Download Old School Junkies – Brooklyn Beats]

The next is is a very underrated track of his. “Play The World” is very deep and funky. It’s actually a few years ahead of its time, in my opinion. While some artists may have done deep tracks like this, none were getting released in such a manner that reached a pretty large – for electronic music – audience.

[Download Old School Junkies – Play The World]

The last one is a remix Armand did about the same time he produced all of the above tracks. Sagat is known for one track. The song “Fuk Dat” got wide play, and was remixed by the likes of Josh Wink and Armand. Here, Armand has it in a very stripped down format, and has a killer acid loop (albeit not in the classic Chicago acid house sense) backing it. There’s another mix he did with the full vocals, but this one takes the cake.

[Download Sagat – Fuk Dat (Armand mix)]

In fact, he even made a video for this cut! Of course, he had to tone it down a bit, and it was re-titled “Funk Dat”, but you get the point!

Oh yeah! Go buy this stuff! Or else someone named Vinny is coming to your house. My guess is it won’t be for dinner, either.

I watched in terror, the lake opened wide

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For Xmas I got three classes to a cooking school. I was shocked at first. Why would someone think to get me this? I guess I forgot about all the times I had daydreamed aloud about owning my own hippie pizza kitchen. But somehow the idea of classes threw me off guard.

I’ll tell it like it happened, it was Darius and Nolan and me
Just a few po’ boys trying to get up outta Missouri
Took 55 to Louisiana, stopped by the highway to eat
They both had crawfish, strictly chicken for me
Back out under thunderheads, the radio was Southern soul
They interrupted Clarence Carter with a strange-ass local show,
They were sayin’,

After further thought, I realized it was quite a thoughtful gift. I love watching Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen and other foodie shows, and while watching them I get pretty into it. I often wish I had better knife skills, and I would love to try my hand at using some of these fancy ingredients like truffles or selecting the freshest ingredients to throw in my dishes.

Come down to Lake Pontchartrain
Rest your soul and feed your brain
That’s where you will get to see
Everything the water can be.

Food is a powerful thing. Eating a great risotto is something that can change your life. You never forget when you taste your first amuse-bouche. Even horrible meals are memorable. I can’t think about LSD without remembering the grilled cheese sandwich I ate while frying my balls off.

The rain was comin’ down, the wind was howlin’ outside of Slidell
It was the kinda night that makes you think the whole world’s goin’ to hell.
We got off on an exit ’cause we couldn’t read the map so great
Near the Choctaw Motel, we parked to deliberate
When out of the bayou came a man like the lake had a tongue
He was right up on the glass, all yellow-eyed, black teeth, bangin’ on the
windshield
screamin’ like a demon at the top of his lungs,

Come down to Lake Pontchartrain
Rest your soul and feed your brain
Free for you and all your friends
Crawfish ’til the bitter end.
Come down to Lake Pontchartrain
Wade to where the shallows break
That’s where you will get to see
Everything the water can be.

[Download Ludo – Lake Ponchartrain]

The song we are highlighting today, is about food, in a way. It’s the story of three boys, on a road trip. A quick bite on the side of the highway has horrific repercussions.

I was driving out of there as fast as a Camry could
But the interstate was flooded and I had to take the road through the woods
Bad move in retrospect, the road disappeared in the rain
And I stood on the brakes when I saw the sign: “Lake Pontchartrain”
Darius was yelling that he saw somebody out in the swells
He jumped out runnin’ and Nolan was goin’ as well
“Come back!” Why the hell would they leave the car?
And that’s when I heard it, make no mistake
the voices were calling them from under the lake.

Come down to Lake Pontchartrain…
Come down to Lake Pontchartrain…
Come down to Lake Pontchartrain…
Come down to Lake Pontchartrain…

I first heard the song while driving to Arizona. My brother threw on his iPod while we were on a road trip of our own. When this song came on, I was stunned.

“Who is this?!” I shouted over the blaring music.

“Ludo,” he replied.

Shit. I have this album. How could I have missed it? Well, I had to ensure that you, our faithful readers, don’t also miss out.

The crawfish were screaming, the waves danced in time
My friends went in deeper, the water, it climbed
I watched in terror, the lake opened wide
And horribly roaring, it pulled them inside.
That’s how it happened, why would I lie?
There were no bodies, I’ve got none to hide
I’m just a boy, lost his friends in the rain,
Any more questions, just go and ask Lake Pontchartrain

Quickly purchase You’re Awful, I Love You and enjoy the whole album!


Submissions Part 2

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Yes, I get the weird duty of doing the posts on both X-mas eve and New Year’s Eve. Right now it’s fucking snowing up here in Boston. We had two storms a couple weeks back that dumped 20 inches on us. Then it melted. I was like, “Yay! I can park my car without having to destroy my back by shoveling now!” And now more snow. Some New Year, eh?

Anyways, I have to say I hope yours is good. And to bring in the New Year? Here are some more submissions I have gotten over the last few months. A sort of “Look Out For These Guys in ’09” sort of post.

First up is a dude by the name of Dave Wrangler. Here’s his MySpace page. He’s from Houston, and the South does do things dirty! He’s sent me a couple of tracks, and I wanted to share these with you guys, also. He does remixes of hip-hop cuts as well as mash-ups. They’re pretty straight-forward club cuts, and if you’re into dudes like Jokers Of The Scene, you’ll dig this guy’s stuff.

Download Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Baby I Got Your Money (Dave Wrangler remix)

[Download Detroit Grand Pubahs – Sandwiches (Dave Wrangler remix)]

[Download Dave Wrangler – Stay Fly VS. Womanizer (Three 6 Mafia VS Britney Spears)]

Next up is the post-punk group the Homosexuals. Myspace page is here. Now, I got this e-mail December 5th, touting their first US tour ever. Only problem? All the shows had already passed! And one was near Boston! Fuckin’ hell. I would’ve gone to see these guys, too. They’re definitely known to folks who dig the old school punk. And they released their first music in about 25 years. Here’s one of their new cuts, “Slow Guns”. Good shit!

The Homosexuals – Slow Guns

And lastly is a band that you guys probably know already. Devotchka. Myspace page is here. Well, for the XBox 360 game Gears of War 2, the fun folks at Microsoft chose to use a song of theirs that many people reading this already probably know – “How It Ends”. If you don’t recognize it by name? It was used in Little Miss Sunshine, and brilliantly, at that. So below, I give you their hit “How It Ends”, and have posted the commercial used to promote Gears of War 2.

[Download Devotchka – How It Ends]

And now? My “This shit has been on my iPod all goddamned year!” list. Yes. I swear. a lot. It’s beautiful. So here’s my list. You’ll notice I left off MGMT, as well as a few other indie-hipster-bandwagon groups. Well, it’s not bad stuff. It’s just that I got sick of them after about three weeks. These guys? I obviously didn’t get sick of! So here you go!

1 – Mogwai – The Sun Smells Too Loud
2 – The Dirtbombs – La Fin Du Monde
3 – Radiohead – House of Cards
4 – Fuck Buttons – Sweet Love For Planet Earth
5 – Hercules and Love Affair – Blind
6 – Bon Iver – Skinny Love
7 – Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor
8 – Thieves Like Us – Drugs In My Body
9 – The Verbs – I’m Your Chocolate
10 – The Ting Tings – Great DJ

As usual, buy this shit! Do it! For the children! Or just imagine children are somehow involved.

I broke free on a Saturday morning…

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I put the pedal to the floor…

At the moment, I am sitting on a king size bed at Quality Inn of beautiful Glendale, AZ. I am here with my brother to watch the Cardinals play NFL regular season tomorrow. I just got back from an Irish pub named Tim Finnegans. I got a nice buzz, got beat 2 to 3 in a game of cricket, but I feel ok about it since I kept it very competitive.

I have been thinking about writing this post for weeks, but as of a few minutes ago, I had not written a word.

I wanted to talk about the end of the year. It’s nearly time for us to change our calendars. There is a song that I always consider an anthem of mine as we get close to NYE. It’s the song This Year by the indie band The Mountain Goats. Well, the song’s title might give it away a little bit, but the song is about getting through the year.

Even if it kills you.

Well, the meaning of the song is probably a tad deeper than that. I mean, Scotch on your tongue or not, seventeen is a long year if you are desperate to legally get the fuck out of the house of an abusive parent. The scene ends badly as you might imagine…

It’s a great song to scream/sing in your car as you are thinking of just how shitty the economy is and how your house has lost tens of thousands of dollars in just a few months.

I’m just saying.

[Download The Mountain Goats – This Year (Live)]

I also wanted to tell you a story about my blue Gap shirt with the yellow stripe, that I always wear on the holidays. It’s beat up and well worn, but it fits so well! The best part might be that every year, in every photo, I am in that shirt! Makes me giggle everytime I see myself in those pictures. The only way you might know which year that xmas picture was taken, is by the configuration of my facial hair in the photo.

But you don’t care about that do you? You would rather hear more about The Mountain Goats. Maybe I could tell you about how John Darnielle, the lead singer and songwriter, just wrote a book called Black Sabbath: Master of Reality for the 33⅓ book series. I could even tell you about the 33⅓ series and why you should really check it out.

I’m not going to, though. I am tired. It’s late. I need my beauty sleep for the big tailgate party tomorrow before the game!

From all of us at inALLcaps.com, we wish you a Happy New Year!

Hail Satan!

[Download The Mountain Goats – The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton (Live)]
or
[Download The Mountain Goats – The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton]
and
[Download The Mountain Goats – This Year]

But be sure to eventually buy these:

PSST…

Andy Hull covered a John Darnielle song…guess which one?

LOL

[Download Andy Hull – The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton (Cover)]

Youth of America, WE implore you to demand better

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It’s their third full-length album. They’ve toured with Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, Motion City Soundtrack, Hawthorne Heights, and The Format. Out of this, a handful of chart-topping singles have been spawned.

Yet it’s not enough to reflect in their music. They refuse to evolve with the rest of the sounds available in art today. Oh dear reader, if you are going to set any sort of resolution for the new year, please resolve to DEMAND better music from teenage punk pop. It exists. Reach deeper. Haunt the record stores more. Accept add request from little indie bands on MySpace. Stay diligent on the music blogs. Bands like The All-American Rejects need to step up if they want your concert cash.

This album, When The World Comes Down, opens with a horribly weak track called “I Wanna”. What’s sad about this track is that they obviously throw their energy into it, and listeners who haven’t been able to experience truly good music will treat this like an anthem. Stop there. It’s not. Nevermind the fact that there are more eloquent ways of expressing the lustful desires of our young bodies. These guys are in their mid-20’s. They can figure this one out.

Moving along through the album, we have an unlikely duet between Catherine Pierce and lead singer Tyson Ritter on “Another Heart Calls.” Pierce has such a gorgeous voice but the pairing is awful. And several of the songs are so frustrating because it’s difficult to tell what the story is… And not in a good way. It’s one thing to have a dichotomy being expressed in any piece of art because of the confused position of the artist… But this is just not done in an artful way. It’s done in the manner of an eight-year old aspiring songwriter, no offense intended to eight year olds. I want to say that “Back To Me” is a halfway decent track, but the lyrics thwart and disappoint me. I’ll share it anyway, mostly because this is an mp3 blog but also because it is a decent piece of music that utilizes different instruments harmoniously.

Now I am getting off my soapbox. See you next year!

[All-American Rejects: Back To Me]

Submissions Part 1

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Happy Jebus Birthday, folks! Better yet? Happy “So, we really don’t know that dude’s birthday, and we finally got rid of those blasted pagans, so why not steal their holy days and festivals, also?” Day. Sorry. I couldn’t resist it. Actually, right now? I’m high-fiving Emperor Aurelian. He’s a pretty fun dude.

And yes, nitpick away at the above. I know all the arguments about it. I’ll just be over there, sleeping and otherwise doling out my contribution to society.

Anyhow, enough of my contempt for…well…a lot. This post is to give you a few contributions I received in my e-mail these past few months. Now, I’m pretty honest, so I will simply give my opinions, and it’s then your job to go do a little research on these bands! If you like them? Hooray!

So after all these bands I list, I gave you a link to their myspace page. I’m pretty awesome like that.

First up? Ikoma. Click here for a link. Okay, sound-wise? Not bad. However, I get this nagging feeling I have heard some other bands that have this sound. It fits with the “pop-guy looking to show some indie cred” label. One thing, though, that bothers me. The statement that the band “represents the new rock regime.” Well, that’s for time to decide, really. Not a bad band, but needs to be a bit more unique. The one band that sticks out as a comparison is The Walkmen. That should give you guys a bit of a start!

Next up? The Volunteers. Linky-link be right here. I dig these guys. The music’s solid, and they sound like a more mature version of Ween (and checking the e-mail sent, yep! That’s one band they’re compared to!). And any band that makes a video for a song called “FckMyGhst” gets a thumbs up. Shit, why don’t I just post that video for you guys now? They have a new album called Spectrophilia out now, and I would personally suggest this one. Top notch submission!

And one last one for this week is Peasant. Yep, this is the trend – the link is after the performer name again! This dude’s pretty good. The voice takes a little getting used to, as it’s pretty high pitched. Listening to some of the Daytrotter Sessions, the first thing I thought of was either the recent Bon Iver album, or even a little Chad VanGaalen. I’m actually a bit bummed that I couldn’t at least catch his Boston area show. Nonetheless, to download this guy’s Daytrotter tracks, click here.

Next week, I’ll pass along a few more contributions, as well as post my favorite music from this year. Notice I didn’t say “Best of”. Know why? “Best of” is a load of crap statement that purports importance. And I and my opinions don’t really mean squat. So it’s a “Hey, this shit’s been on my iPod all year!” list. It’s a fucking awesome list. The other four voices in my head think so, so it has to be true!

And yes, buy this stuff! Especially these guys! They would love you long time if you give them your business!