Top albums of 2011

Looks like I've kind of neglected this blog... whoops. Let's get back into it. A whole year has passed since I last posted, so to follow up my top albums of 2010, here's my top albums of 2011! With links included so you can check them out. Not in any order this year, just things that I loved and listened to over and over! Also I should say top releases, 'cause not all of them are albums:

Circle Takes the Square - Decompositions Vol. 1, Chapter 1: Rites of Initiation.
(only an ep/the first part of their upcoming album. But probably my favourite thing of the whole year.)

Bomb the Music Industry! - Vacation!

Adalita - Adalita

Fuck The Facts - Die Miserable

Thursday - No Devolucion

Glassjaw - Our Colour Green / Colouring Book (2 EPs count as one album, right?)

Harmony - Harmony

WILD FLAG - Wild Flag

Battles - Gloss Drop

Russian Circles - Empros

Saul Williams - Volcanic Sunlight

Raein - Sulla linea dell'orizzonte fra questa mia vita e quella di tutti gli altri

Ouch My Face - Build a House / Eyeball to Eyeball (Only a single, but what a single!)
 
and Death by Death Ray - Here is the Revolution! (only a single again, and a bit of shameless self-promotion, but it's the best recording I've ever done, so gotta plug it somehow!)

2010 in Review

(I know this is a bit later than everyone else's, but I think it's weird doing a year end piece before the year is over. Anyway, here's my opinion on the best albums and gigs of 2010)

Top Ten Albums of 2010.


1. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
Album of the year for sure! Working with new drummer Billy Rymer while composing these songs brought out the best in Ben Weinman (instead of the programmed drums used to write Ire Works). This album saw Dillinger get better at everything they do, and add a whole bunch of new sounds. Amazing.

2. Murder By Death - Good Morning Magpie
A collection of songs written in a mountain cabin. Whiskey, broken dreams, living like a dog, carrying the weight of life, death and love, shaving with a knife and the wrath of forgotten gods.

3. Tim Kasher - The Game of Monogamy
Tim Kasher (of Cursive and The Good Life) delivers his first solo album. The Game of Monogamy plays like the score of a musical as Kasher grapples with the idea of settling down to married life. A perfect accompaniment to Cursive’s Mama, I’m Swollen album in which Kasher grappled with growing up (and which was my favourite album of 2009).

4. Julie Christmas - The Bad Wife
Another solo album from one of my favourite singers. This Time from Julie Christmas of Made Out of Babies, Battle of Mice and Spylacopa. Written mostly with John LaMacchia from Spylacopa (and also Candiria), or members of MOOB, it’s fair to say the sound will be familiar to fans of Christmas’s work. But what we have here are a bunch of songs which would not quite fit any of those acts, allowing everyone involved to stretch themselves in new areas. The cover of Jacques Brel’s If You Go Away (or ‘Ne Me Quitte Pas’) is the most beautiful piece of music mentioned on this list.

5. Jaguar Love - Hologram Jams
A huge change from anything Jaguar Love (or their previous band Blood Brothers) have ever done before, I remember thinking when it came out that this album was full of summertime dance jams. I managed to forget about it in the months since until compiling this list, but now that I’ve come across it again tracks like Everything is Awesome and Polaroids & Red Wine will feature heavily in what’s left of my summer.

6. Xiu Xiu - Dear God I Hate Myself
A typically upbeat effort from Jamie Stewart. Just kidding! We love you Jamie, even if you can’t seem to love yourself. What is different about this album is that it’s full of a lot more electro beats than previous Xiu Xiu work. Other than that it’s got all the beautiful soundscapes you’d expect and lyrics so bleak you feel they may collapse at any moment and take you with them.

7. Daughters – Daughters
Just Wow! The changes between Daughters’ debut Hell Songs and its follow up Canada Songs was incredibly dramatic, but made sense at the same time. On their third album they finished that journey. Unfortunately it’s also their last album as the band broke up shortly before it was released due to creative differences. That tension is what makes this album so good though. Not that you have to be strained to make good art, but members pulling in different directions makes for a very interesting combination of elements.

(There were no videos made for this album, but this is the audio of one of my favourite tracks off it)

8. Liars – Sisterworld
Liars started out as a Brooklyn dance punk band. Then they went all ambient and spacey with tribal rhythms. And now they’re doing something that has elements of both those things, but isn’t really either. Whatever, they’ve always sounded awesome.

9. Deftones - Diamond Eyes
This is Deftones' best album since White Pony. On it’s own that doesn’t say much since their last few albums weren’t all that memorable. But this is the first time they’ve gotten close to this level since White Pony. And it’s good to hear them do it again.

10. Deaf Wish - Mercy

2010 wasn’t a great year for Australian albums. A lot of great bands, and some really cool EP’s too. But not a lot of great albums. Then I heard this. I’ve never heard Deaf Wish’s previous recorded output, only seen them live. And I’ve never seen the band with their original guitarist Sarah Hardiman, who returns on this album either. So I had no idea what this would sound like, and was very pleasantly surprised. The rawness and chaos of their live shows is lurking underneath the whole thing, but there’s a lot of well crafted songs and some restrained sounds too. Taking their passion from the stage and turning it into a record with a purpose which you can listen to over and over again.

(No videos made for this album either, but here's some footage of the other version of Deaf Wish live at The Tote)

Honourable Mentions:

Rolo Tomassi – Cosmology
This album is good, but this band needs to be seen live for any of this to make sense. Such a brilliant show. Go see them!

The Melvins - The Bride Screamed Murder
Melvins being Melvins. In every way. Whereas some Melvins albums rock hard and some are full of experiemental weirdness, this one has a lot of weirdness but it’s always underpinned with awesome riffs.

65daysofstatic - We Were Exploding Anyway
65 rely more on their electronic side here than on previous releases, but it works. This sound was always in their style in some form or another, so it’s cool to see them explore it a bit more.

Shining – Blackjazz
Listening to this album you’d never realise that these guys started out as an acoustic jazz band. Jazz musicians who came to heavy music instead of the other way around. Interesting.

My Chemical Romance - Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
How to follow up a ridiculous caberet emo concept album? With an even more ridiculous retro-sci-fi rock concept album! Good job!

Cancer Bats - Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones
Contains my favourite hardcore-love-song line of the year!

“Some people call me a Nihilist / Say I don’t believe in a thing! / I know that can’t be true! / ‘Cause baby I believe in you!”

From a song called Black Metal Bicycle no less! I can’t decide if I think that’s cheesy or awesome, so it’s a good thing the riff (and ALL the riffs on this album) is so damn good!

The Toot Toot Toots – Curse The Crow
Like I said earlier, a whole bunch of awesome EPs released by local bands this year. I think this one was my favourite. Sounds even better when you turn it up loud.

Sleigh Bells – Treats
I listened to this album for the first time yesterday. And I’m sure I will be listening to it a lot more over the next few weeks.



Best gigs of 2010

Every Time I Die @ The Hi-Fi
Kicking off 2010 with a bang!

The Tote Farewell Show @ The Tote
A night that was equal parts awesome and devastating. Featuring Kamikaze Trio, Dave Graney, The Nation Blue, The Onyas, Dan Kelly, Beaches, Spencer P. Jones, The Stabs, Kim Salmon, The Meanies, Spiderbait, The Drones and many other Melbourne greats.

Amanda Palmer @ The Butterfly Club
Seeing one of my musical heroes in a room that fits only 50 people, in an old house converted into a bar, playing on a real piano and just singing over the top of it (no microphone needed) was just amazing.

Faith No More @ Festival Hall & Soundwave
It’s FAITH NO MORE!!!!! A band I never thought I’d get to see, and I got to see them TWICE!

Glassjaw @ Soundwave
I couldn’t go to their sideshow ‘cause it was the same night as FNM, but seeing them play at Soundwave was still a dream come true.

Alexisonfire @ Billboards, Soundwave & The Palace
I think I saw Alexisonfire 3 times this year. And each show was great, though their Soundwave sideshow at Billboards was probably the best.

Golden Plains @ Meredith Supernatural Amphitheater
Pavement AND DINOSAUR JR! J. Mascis’s amp set up alone was mind blowing!

Terrordactyl (Last Show) / The Committal (EP Launch) @ Cherry Bar
Yeah I know this is my band, but it was still one of my favourite gigs of the year. After 4 months being out with a broken shoulder I finally got to get back on stage and launch an EP with my new band to a packed out Cherry Bar! And Terrordactyl put on a great show for their final gig too. And openers Johnny Uppercut were also pretty great.

The Dillinger Escape Plan @ Billboards
Probably the best show of the year too. I can’t think of another band who puts this much energy into what they do, while playing such technical and well written songs, and makes it look so effortless.

Xiu Xiu / High Places / Kyu @ The East Brunswick Club
Three great experimental bands in one night. But mainly Xiu Xiu. Jamie Stewart’s mix of fragile pop and noise is beautiful, and live it takes on a special intensity and desperation.

Rolo Tomassi @ Billboards
Like I said, you HAVE to see these guys live. Some bands spend ages cultivating their stage presence. These guys just put everything into their playing and the presence comes from that. Front-woman Eva Spence is the best dancer in all of hardcore, for sure! I had to pay for a ticket to see Architects, Comeback Kid and This is Hell (boring, boring and boring-er) so I could go to this show, but it was so worth it!

Meredith Music Festival
Always one of the best weekends of the year. This year was no exception. Custard, CLipse, Neil Finn, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Those Darlins, Broadcast, Reverend Horton Heat, Rat Vs. Possum, Kyu and, of course The Dirty Three!

And for the future?

So what about 2011? Only six days in and already there’s been some great news and some terrible news. Circle Takes The Square have posted on their blog that they entered the studio on January 1 to begin recording Decompositions. Given their last album As The Roots Undo is still the best hardcore album I’ve ever heard (the only hardcore album I would say that is truly a musical work of art and poetry) I have big expectations. And given it’s been SEVEN YEARS since that album was released, my excitement is palpable. I’m calling this one for album of the year already. On a much sadder note, a few days later they also posted a tribute to former guitarist Bobby Scandiffio, who has unfortunately passed away. R.I.P. Bobby.

Memories from The Tote

This weekend we had to say goodbye to an old friend. Like most of Melbourne I was shocked on Thursday to read that The Tote hotel would be closing its doors for the last time. Publican Bruce Milne put out a press release stating he could no longer afford to operate under the new liquor licensing requirements, nor could he afford the legal costs to contest these conditions. The Tote has been classified as a 'high risk' venue along with busy city nightclubs. Which is complete crap, because no one ever went to The Tote for any purpose other than to see some bands, hang out with like-minded people and soak up the atmosphere. There's a very comprehensive interview with Bruce on Mess+Noise in which he articulately lays out all the problems faced by The Tote, so I won't cover that here again. Instead I want to tell you some of my memories of The Tote.

I began learning guitar when I was 16 at Rock 'n' Roll High School on Easey St. in Collingwood. Only a couple of blocks away, The Tote was like home ground for us, hosting any number of RnRHS nights, giving many of us our first chance to play at a real venue. I first played there in 1999 with my first band Altered. Sure I was underage at the time, but my parents came along, so it was all cool. We were supporting our friends Matramuta for a gig celebrating their drummer Bridget's birthday. They were the coolest people I knew, and The Tote was the coolest place I'd ever been. We even got reviewed in Beat!

16 year old me.

Altered on stage at The Tote.

Matramuta.

Matramuta on stage at The Tote.

Rock n Roll High closed down a year or two after that, but The Tote remained our spiritual home ground. Almost every time I've been there I've run into members of Matramuta, Tuff Muff, Hecate/Litany, Tirany, Aspasia, Resistica and more. Even the odd member of Altered on some nights.

Throughout the years The Tote remained the coolest place I've ever been to. I've seen so many of my favourite bands there including True Radical Miracle, Mach Pelican, Baseball, The Assassination Collective, Bird Blobs, theredsunband, Jihad Against America, Crayon Fields, The Mad Feeling, The Toot Toot Toots, Ouch My Face, Grey Daturas and so many more that I've forgotten due to the mists of time and/or drinking too much. I've seen and done all sorts of crazy things in the front bar from building pyramids out of the glasses of stockpiled drinks bought in the last minutes of 'crusty hour', to people dancing on the pool table, to dogs hiding under it on quiet afternoons, to Tim Rogers face-planting off the couch while too drunk to stand, to always having an unexpected friend to run into.

A few years and a few bands later I played my first ever headline show at The Tote. I was in a band called Sinatra's Eyes and it was the biggest gig we'd done to date. Friday night headline at The Tote. Awesome. It was the first time we were ever called back for an encore too. Having played all our polished songs in the main set we came back on with a new song that none of us knew very well yet. Needless to say it was a glorious mess, but no-one cared. Much like The Tote itself.

The last time I played The Tote is still one of my favourite gigs ever. It was with Sinatra's Eyes again, in what turned out to be one of our final gigs (we didn't know that at the time, but we broke up a few gigs later). It was Australia Day eve, we'd recently released an EP and just got back from our first trip interstate, there was a party mood throughout the venue and we were supporting The Five Venoms, who were always a shitload of fun. It was the first time I ever fell off a stage while playing, but it's also the most fun I've ever had.

On the speaker stack, right before I jumped.

Landed on my ass, but at least I finished the song.

I went down to The Tote on Friday hoping to see the last ever Grey Daturas gig. But word had gotten around about the impending closure and by the time I arrived the gig had sold out. So instead I joined the hundreds of people in the front bar and squashed in for a beer with friends (fittingly this included members of Matramuta, Resistica and The Mad Feeling).

On Sunday I went down hoping to get in but there were even more people, so instead I joined the street party/liquor license protest out in the street. I took a few photos while I was there:

The line at 5pm

Bruce Speaks.

Monday night was last drinks at The Tote. I was lucky enough to get a ticket and headed down in the early afternoon to say goodbye to my favourite pub. An amazing lineup of bands representing The Tote's history was put together at the last minute by band booker Amanda Palmer and the night was equal parts awesome and terrible. So many great performances to celebrate The Tote and remind us why it was amazing, and so hard to believe it's gone. I only have one good arm at the moment (I fractured my shoulder on Christmas day), and I was drinking, and I only had a phone camera to take pictures with, so excuse the poor quality of some of these shots, but I was determined to capture and share as much of The Tote's final hours as I could.

Bathroom wall graffiti.

Kamikaze Trio. (Well, part of.)

Lineup. (Amended at the last minute due to an injury in The Cosmic Psychos. Spiderbait stepped in).

Bombshells.

Rain in the beer garden.

Dave Graney & The Lurid Yellow Mist.

The Nation Blue.

Dan Kelly's Dream Band.

Note on the window.

Onyas. (Now that's a man gut!)

Crowd photo 1.

Legends of Motorsport.

Beaches have a lovely collection of guitars...

and pedals.

Lance from Gembrook tells us some stories of his days working at The Tote, including the 'Taste of Lance'.

Digger & The Pussycats are two funny guys.

Spencer P. Jones joins Digger & The Pussycats for the chorus of 'You Drive Like a Cunt".

Bruce.

Bruce & Amanda.

The Stabs.

Stabs guitar in the roof of the Cobra Bar.

Down the stairs.

Precious Jules (aka Kim Salmon).

Punters in the front bar. The carpet has always been sticky, but by this stage it was hard to pull your feet up off it.

The famous jukebox.

Tote sling.

The Meanies.

Spiderbait (2/3rds of anyway.)

Crowd photo 2 + Can Bar.

The Drones.

The Drones are joined by Joel Silbersher (GOD, Hoss) for a rendition of "My Pal", the final song ever played at The Tote.

Crowd Shot 3.

An empty stage.

Meanwhile in the front bar someone programed in an hour of Slayer.

The bar.

Bar Staff say goodbye.

The history.

Final drink at The Tote.

Goodbye my friend.

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Postscript: the combined RRR/3CR/PBS broadcast of The Tote's final hours can be found in the 3RRR archives. A video and fantastic article about the significance of My Pal as the last song can be found here. And as if things weren't bad enough, The Arthouse (the first pub I ever played a gig at, a month or two before I played The Tote) has now announced that it will close it's doors next year for much the same reasons. Head on over to Tonedeaf and sign the petition on behalf of Fair Go 4 Live Music so we can stop this before it gets any worse!