going into the year, it wasn't set up to be the power-house of releases that '09 was, but it turned out to be pretty good. i did a lot of back-tracking with music, and didn't listen to as many of oh'10's offerings as i would have liked to, but i definitely got in to some of the stuff i heard. there's a lot of shows i wish i had made it to, but some of the ones i did hit were the times of my life. next week's weather put out a new demo set () and oh'10 was a musical success.
Shows
-big d and the kids table -- suny fredonia
-manchester orchestra -- kool haus
-big d and the kids table -- kool haus
-brand new -- suny fredonia
-warped tour -- awk, alk3, bouncing souls, every time i die, the casualties, sum 41, reel big fish (kinda), motion city soundtrack
-brad paisley, justin moore, darius rucker -- darien lake
-weezer -- CMAC
-green day -- darien lake
-the river city rebels -- club diablo
Shows I Regret Missing
-alkaline trio -- toronto
-against me! -- town ballroom
-brad paisley -- rochester - h20 iced over tour
-weezer -- memories tour
-all of reel big fish's warped set
Albums
-alkaline trio -- this addiction
-against me! -- white crosses
-bad books -- bad books
-big d and the kids table -- 2 songs/1 download digital ep
-bouncing souls -- ghosts on the boardwalk
-brad paisley -- hits alive
-darius rucker -- charleston, sc, 1966
-eminem -- recovery
-kevin devine -- she stayed as steam ep
-mad caddies -- consensual selections
-matt skiba -- demos
-manchester orchestra/kevin devine -- i could be the only one
-motion city soundtrack -- my dinosaur life
-mumford and sons -- sigh no more
-nofx -- the longest ep
-superchunk -- majesty shredding
-weezer -- hurley
-weezer -- death to false metal
-weezer -- pinkerton (deluxe edition)
A "Top 10" of the Year
10. eminem -- recovery
9. mumford & sons -- sigh no more
8. darius rucker -- charleston, sc, 1966
7. superchunk -- majesty shredding
6. brad paisley -- hits alive
5. bad books -- bad books
4. alkaline trio -- this addiction
3. weezer -- hurley
2. against me! -- white crosses
1. weezer -- pinkerton (deluxe edition)*
1. motion city soundtrack -- my dinosaur life
* it's hard to include this in a list of top 10's seeing as it is a reissue, but it's one of the best albums of all time, so it deserves an asterisk
10. eminem -- recovery
i've always had a soft spot for eminem. maybe it's because he's white. or maybe the real reason is because he's had a history of singing about real issues, not just the typical rap about partying and drugs and girls. so it's no surprise i stopped listening to him when that's what his music deteriorated into and it's no surprise i decided to check out his "return to form" record. it's pretty good. the singles are good and some of the other tracks are excellent. i love the intro to this album. however, some of the songs and some of the rhymes are corny as hell. he occasionally ends up trying too hard and i really cringe at how goofy some of it ends up.
9. mumford & sons -- sigh no more
came out in the uk in '09, but didn't arrive in the states until early oh'10. this album is a very fun listen. a lot of highs and lows, some good emotion and some solid depth. i've heard them compared to noah and the whale, and that comparison is downright wrong, they're too different. but seeing "little lion man" live on letterman was solid. that song itself is so powerful, easily one of my favorites of the year.
8. darius rucker -- charleston, sc, 1966
i hadn't heard much of darius rucker's solo stuff besides the big singles before i saw him on the H2O tour with brad, and even then i enjoyed him but didn't look into him. it took "come back song" to really take him serious. this is a good record. unfortunately, there are a few sleeper songs in the middle, but it starts off great and ends decently. "southern state of mind" is a great highlight, as is "i don't care" featuring brad. a song with paisley is so easily distinguishable right from the get-go. he has such a strong style to his guitar playing and he's so good at it.
7. superchunk -- majesty shredding
it took me a while to get into this record. i actually had to force myself to sit down and listen to it with headphones to finally get into it. but when i did, boy did i. this album rocks. it really does. the opening track is one of my favorite songs in their discovery. great, great album.
6. brad paisley -- hits alive
so much more than a greatest hits album. i was wrong last year when i said american saturday night was a let-down album. it really grew on me. and seeing him live really made me fall even harder for his music. and that's what makes hits alive so good, it's also a live album. brad himself is a terrific guitarist, and the rest of the "drama kings" can all play their asses off as well. incredibly talented, easily my favorite country artist/band out there right now.
5. bad books -- bad books
not exactly what i expected from kevin devine and manchester orchestra, but not a disappointment. at first i didn't like the single (you wouldn't have to ask), but like the rest of the album, it really grew on me. a lot of great tracks, but a few sleepers. "holding down the laughter" is such a fucking song.
4. alkaline trio -- this addiction
every alkaline trio has the potential that this album has. unfortunately for the past few albums, it doesn't quiet live up to that potential. yeah, this album has just as much filler as the last few, but the difference is the filler is much more memorable. i've always loved the trio but this is the first album of theirs i can listen to all the way through without getting bored of in a while. only downside, not enough dan. but "fine" is one of the best tracks he's ever penned.
3. weezer -- hurley
with a little more time spent on this album, i think it could have cracked the top 3 weezer albums of all time. unfortunately, it fades in and out and cuts abruptly in some weird ways. but, all the songs are excellent. i'm one of the few who has never hated a weezer release, i like them all, and hurley is no exception. the problem though, like with most weezer albums (but this more than others) is that it's too much of a collection of songs and not so much an album. the bridge of "where's my sex?" is one of the coolest weezer moments in a long time.
2. against me! -- white crosses
i need to apologize. i gave this album an AWFUL review when it came out and i thought it was complete trash. but i had the wrong opinion going into it. i was hoping for a thrash punk/folk punk record to blow my ears out. instead i got a much poppier sound than i was expecting and it really made me cringe at first. after lightening up and realizing how much i can appreciate a good pop rock song later in the year, i realized this album does a lot of great things. the bad songs are still bad, but the good and okay songs on it are actually really great. "because of the shame" and "bamboo bones" are excellent tracks, and the b-side "lehigh acres" is awesome. with them finally leaving sire, i still have a lot of hope for this band and can't wait to see them in february with dropkick
1. motion city soundtrack -- my dinosaur life
i liked these guys when they first came out. i was in my pop-punk stage and i thought "the future freaks me out" was a blast. so i sat in for their set at warped tour this year and i really enjoyed it. even the songs i didn't know, i could get in to. so i come home and i download my dinosaur life. and i'm blown away. this album is fucking phenomenal. from the uplifting "worker bee" to the darker "the weakends," this album is great all the way through. it carries so many great emotions and ideas. "pulp fiction" and "@!#?@!" are perfect geek-rock numbers and "stand too close" is the story of my relationship life, every girl i've ever been involved with can attest to that if they hear the song. justin pierre's vocals are awesome. really, i could talk about how much i love every track on this album for different reasons but i'll spare everyone the time. the only song i don't absolutely love is "history lesson," but hey, not many albums are perfect.
*pinkerton.
i can talk about this album for days and how much it means to me. it's perfect. everything about it. matt sharp is the man, rivers cuomo was out of his mind, pat wilson is from buffalo, there isn't a bad thing i can say about those 4 guys circa 1996 except maybe rivers being a control freak, but even so, without that, this masterpiece wouldn't have come to be. this album is so important, i'm willing to say there never would have even been a "my dinosaur life." matt sharp is the reason for motion city soundtrack, in my opinion (take pinkerton, the blue album, and return of the rentals, mix them together and through them into the 2000's and you have motion city soundtrack). the acoustic tracks are such a bonus, and the b-sides that were originally songs from the black hole tracks are awesome. "long time sunshine" is a masterpiece and how it took 14 years for this song to get an official weezer release is mind-boggling.
Let Down of the Year
-big d and the kids table -- 2 songs/1 download
coming off such a promising and creative album like fluent in stroll, these 2 songs are let downs. the first, "lash out" doesn't have enough low end, and no horns. it's a bummer. not our fault is pretty decent though. the problem i have is that i think this band is sacrificing creativity to please their fans. now, you want to please your fans, but at what expense? you shouldn't hamper yourself by it. but we'll see how the new album turns out. i love these guys too much to criticize too much.
-weezer -- death to false metal
very "eh." it's nothing special really, there's a few good tracks but most of it is so forgettable. rivers cuomo has such a back-catalog of songs, i figured this would be a lot better than it turned out to be. nice to see "turning up the radio" getting to see the light of day though, such a novel idea.
Thoughts on the Rest
-bouncing souls -- ghosts on the boardwalk
i purchased all the 7"s back in '09, so the music wasn't new to me. decent group of tracks but nowhere near the souls at their finest.
-kevin devine -- she stayes as steam ep
there isn't much kevin devine has done that i don't like (besides smoking cigs), and this ep is no exception. both tracks are excellent, and the two live tracks are excellent. ballgame was always one of his bests, no matter if it is "that song" in his discography, and "chelsea hotel no. 2" is a great track and he does it justice just fine.
-mad caddies -- consensual selections
i love the mad caddies. i can't deny it. such a unique take on ska, and man can their horns play. this is a good collection for sure, a lot of great tracks. love their more jazzy menacing side and there's a lot of it here. but some of their best punk tracks are missing for sure....ahem...macho nachos?!
-matt skiba -- demos
pretty much exactly what i expected. very low-fi, occasional sleeper songs (like a lot of alkaline trio recently) and some spectacular tracks. didn't wow me, but didn't disappoint me either.
-manchester orchestra/kevin devine -- i could be the only one ep
both songs were great on their respective albums, and both bands do the songs justice covering them. i've heard some negative reviews, but i definitely enjoy both the original and cover versions of each song.
-nofx -- the longest ep
great collection. their discography is so massive at this point, it's tough to get ahold of everything, and this ep has some great stuff on it for sure. nofx has been pretty consistant over the years, and this ep is a perfect example. the highs are never out of this world, and the lows are never so low you want to tune them out. they're always at a good level of consistency.
Best of Shows
i didn't go to anywhere near as many shows as i did last year. kind of a bummer. the ones i missed, i reallllly wanted to go, but scheduling problems and lack of money caused me to miss some. but some of the ones i went to were all time.
big d opened the year with one of the most fun shows i had ever been a part of at fredonia. the show was an embarrassment to the SUNY fredonia campus. they couldn't handle it. the audio guys were awful, the local bands who opened were jokes, and the school was not ready for the atmosphere that comes with big d. they tried to shut the show down and big d wouldn't have it. they played till the school cut the power. it was just a big fucking party and it was a testament to everything that is big d and the kids table. it was a free show, it was the band being close to the fans, and it was the band not letting anybody in the room down.
my second time seeing manchester orchestra at the kool haus was just as good, maybe better than the first. hearing colly strings live was a really touching musical moment for me as that song means so much to me. second time they played the venue, and the second time andy played "holland 1945" there. i don't know if it's tradition to them, but to me it is. every time they've played western new york, that song has been played.
i headed back to the kool haus a few weeks later for the best show of my life with big d. i wrote a big bit about it chronicling how awesome it was to hang out with the band after, and it really was just a friggin spectacular night. one i won't forget any time soon.
heading back to fredonia, not happy with how they handled the last show or how the ticket distribution was for this show either. brand new let down. i'm sorry, they did. they've been one of my favorite bands for years, but they played the shortest set i've ever seen and it was very medio-core. 15 songs in just over an hour, when they had over 2 and a half available hours (according to the schedule) and they used to easily fill 2 hours. left me wanting more.
warped tour was great. finally seeing alkaline trio was awesome. i dressed up as andrew wk and partied hard, motion city was solid, and it was the best time i had seen the bouncing souls by far. sum 41 are washed up. they were a joke. sorry if you think otherwise. unfortunately, i missed almost all of reel big fish's set, but i heard them from the parking lot and caught the last song (of course, "take on me")
brad paisley was excellent. unfortunately i drank way too much at this show, so some of the details are clouded, but boy can he play, and he played long. great songs, great show. "alcohol" became the theme of the summer of oh'10.
weezer don't disappoint live. seeing "el scorcho" live was a dream come true of sorts. they were great. they really were. never enough pinkerton, obviously, but still great.
i won the tickets to the green day show from 103.3: the edge. i was on the fence about going because of financial reasons, so getting front row pit tix for free was awesome. green day are the e street band of this generation. they played a marathon set and it was sonically perfect. they can play their balls off live and the show was great.
and last but not least, river city rebels rock.
Looking Ahead
a lot of good stuff coming up. the new noah and the whale track "wild thing" is very interesting and a huge departure for them. their new album is my most anticipated by a mile as their first two are easily two of the best things i've ever heard. new big d will be equally interesting to hear. also, new blink, foo, akron/family, manchester orchestra, and possibly brand new leave a lot to look forward to. i can't wait. it's been a good year, a good new beginning.
thanks
jc.
