i loved this year in music. i really, really did. i think i listened to a more diverse style of music than i've ever listened to at any point in my life. the late winter/early spring found me getting heavily into garage rock and surf music, which transitioned into a heavy summer of beach boys music, and a re-discovering of pretty much every musical point in my life; whether that be country, pop rock, punk, indie, the whole 9. it was pretty cool. all the while, i was LOVING the stuff that was coming out.
i was shocked when i sat down to compile a list of the albums i had frequented this year. i thought it was going to be near impossible to come up with a "top 10" list because i thought i had been listening to so many albums. i really hadn't. i think i listened to more stuff last year than this year, and the immediate explanation i came up with is that last year i was searching for something to blow me away, while this year, so many records i listened to blew me away.
an incomplete list of the shows i was in attendance for this year:
-alkaline trio -water street, rochester
-big d and the kids table - water street, rochester (the last time i saw steve foote with the band...)
-brad paisley - darien lake
-rancid/transplants - toronto @ echo beach
-kenny chesney - CMAC
-dropkick murphys - town ballroom
-christopher titus - helium club
-brand new - town ballroom (deja entendu anniversary show)
-big d and the kids table - waiting room
the first big d show was great, i wish i had known it would be my last time seeing steve with the band. i had a long talk with him after and he even let me listen to a song off of "stroll" before it even came out. the second show, later in the year, just wasn't the same. i have such passion for that band and what they do, and every time they lose a long time member, i get seriously bummed. but the new guitar player, alex, is solid as ever. he's like a sean p rogan reincarnate.
brad paisley, well....the show was great, and i'll talk about how great he is later. kenny was a great experience. his music has had a huge impact on my life lately. i just wish i had gotten my hands on kacey musgraves' stuff before the show, as she opened, and looking back on it now, i would love to see her play....plus she's a babe.
the alkaline trio show was absolutely amazing, as was the dropkick show. and it was cool to see brand new play a show nearly identical to the first time i ever saw them in the same venue. the rancid/transplants lineup is sooooooo solid. and i included titus on this list because that guy has his head on right and i wish more people would listen to what he has to say.
albums:
bubblegum - kevin devine
bulldozer - kevin devine
stomp - big d and the kids table
stroll - big d and the kids table
life on a rock - kenny chesney
wheelhouse - brad paisley
devour - dave hause
we are tonight - billy currington
stoke extinguisher - nofx
blame it all on my routes - garth brooks
my shame is true- alkaline trio
signed and seeled in blood - dropkick murphys
no country for old musicians - reggie and the full effect
in a warzone - transplants
same trailer differnet park - kasey musgraves
heart of nowhere - noah and the whale
true trans ep - against me!
broken wing ep - alkaline trio
disappointments:
"heart of nowhere" - noah and the whale. i don't know what has happened to this band, but i miss the folk rock and thick guitar of the first two records. this whole "classic rock throwback" stuff is awful.
"bulldozer" - kevin devine. this album is not bad at all. i consider it a disappointment just because i looked at it as being something totally different. bubblegum was marked as a rock record, and this as just a "kevin" record, which i took to mean it was going to sound more like his older records. no dice. still solid, just not what i expected.
some of the rest:
"true trans ep" - against me! solid enough, can't wait for this record. i hate that andrew left the band, but i really hope this record rocks as hard as the songs sound live....
"we are tonight" - billy currington. i like a lot of billy's old stuff. i HATED the opening single "hey girl" off of this record, and it almost made me forget about the record. i really don't like that he didn't write anything on this record and i don't think it's as solid as "enjoy yourself" but it's plenty fun.
"in a warzone" - transplants. this record barely missed my top 10, and the reason is probably more to do to the fact that for the majority of the year i only had it on vinly and didn't have it in my car or on my computer so it didn't get a ton of listens. but it's a great record.
a "top 10" of sorts.
10. reggie and the full effect - "no country for old musicians"
this puppy BARELY snuck in. but it's great. i was upset when reggie "called it quits" after the "last stop" record, so i was excited to hear this record was happening, and it's a true return to form record. it's goofy, it rocks, it's got joke tracks, it's got heavy tracks, it's got all of the old quality reggie stuff. i think "last stop" lacked a bit of this as it was a lot of james dewees working through personal problems...so this record had me stoked on first listen.
9. dropkick murphys - "signed and sealed in blood"
a lot of rocking songs, a couple sleepers. the sleepers keep it from being higher on this list. i really don't like the lead single "rose tattoo" at all, and i think "prisoner's song" is too much of a rehash of "shipping up to boston." but the christmas track is brilliant, as are a few others such as "the boys are back" and "out on the town."
8. dave hause - "devour"
i love dave's voice, and i think his stuff has so much feeling. he's a big inspiration to me. i really like this record a lot. i like how records like this can exist on two different plains, the full band version you hear on record, and the solo, often times acoustic, stuff you get live. i just wish you could get studio versions of the solo stuff as well!
7. big d and the kids table - "stomp"
the first of two big d records on this list. anyone who knows my feelings on big d know i love them with all my heart, especially their more experimental stuff. these two records sound AMAZING. the production is so thick and it sounds great. this record, the more "punk" of the two, basically makes "for the damned" look like it was a big joke record, or just a huge mistake. this album cripples that album. solid stuff all around. NO MOANING AT THE BAR!
6. kacey musgraves - "same trailer, different park"
again, if you really know my musical tastes, you know that if i'm listening to country music and a female singer comes on, i can't change the station quick enough. unless it's kacey musgraves. this album is PHENOMENAL. end of story.
5. kevin devine - "bubblegum"
i love kevin devine, especially when he's pissed off. and songs like "fiscal cliff".......he's pissed off. the title track is also amazing, and the closer is one of my favorite tracks in his discography. "i don't care about your band" just seems like such an anti-kevin statement from a guy who is so eager to talk to anybody at any show, but it's so solid. i love it.
4. alkaline trio - "my shame is true/broken wing"
i combined the two releases, as they were released on the same day, and i think the dan songs on "broken wing" are just flat out amazing. i have always been more of a dan fan than a matt fan, but this album, it was nice to see matt finally have some great songs again. it's too bad it took something like a bad break up to make it happen. this record, and the accompanying EP, got me threw some rough times and had me rocking out in the process.
3. kenny chesney - "life on a rock"
this may have been my most listened to record of the lot. the reason it isn't higher is because of a couple of VERY skipable songs. those are "spread the love" and "must be something i missed." the rest of the record though............talk about a beach record for a guy who loves the beach. i look at this record as a sequel of sorts to the "be as you are" record, and it's so great. songs like "that time of day" really hit home for me. great, great stuff. plus, it saw kenny go back to writing a lot of his own material.....aka....a huge plus for me.
2. big d and the kids table - "stroll"
steve told me he thought this record was better than "fluent in stroll" and i didn't think it was possible. it really might be. the 3rd song is a real bummer, but the rest of it is SO good. "knife" is an amazing opener, and the stuff that's heavy on the doped up dollies is great. the bonus track "better off insane" is amazing. man, this record....so many good things to say about it. it's phenomenal.
1. brad paisley - "wheelhouse"
how this record got snubbed at the cma's is a head-scratcher for me. i read someone's opinion somewhere saying they thought it was country music trying to get back at brad for "accidental racist." if there's one song that isn't a 10 on this record, it's that song, yes, but it has the most powerful moment of the entire album when it calls back the "oh dixie land" from the album's opener. oh that opener, "southern comfort zone," if you didn't know, is the best country song ever written. this album was recorded like a good indie rock record, over a period of time, with serious layering, thick guitars, and pure passion, and it sounds like it. this album to me, is near perfect. i even went to the cracker barrel to buy the deluxe edition for the bonus tracks (which are also better than 9/10's of the country on the radio). this album makes you think, makes you laugh, and makes you feel 'officially alive', and makes you wish you were as good as brad on guitar. bon voyage!
-jc.
