It's hard to say it wasn't all bad, but it wasn't. there was love. great love. written in history before man and god and those, adored meddling somewhere in between. there was hope painted on the lips of every young american as a revolutionary cry after a time of, perhaps, our darkest cultural relevance. there was still beauty in our auburn nights. there were kisses. there were kicks. there were drop dead dog fights for reason and being that made us richer for the stumbling nuances of victory.
But goddamn if there weren't some glorious defeats. some hearts spent reeling. wishes returned in tatters. goldberg disasters croaking 'if only' on the dusty shores of california.
Fuck.
But this is a new chance. a new role. a golden store for the bastard moments of yesterday.
And this just might be a soundtrack, if we're lucky. there's not much screaming. there's not much melee. there's just some songs, in loving order. for you. from me with every crack of my best intentions.
(megaupload link is below)
ENJOY!
Merry Motherfucker
1. Action Patrol - Tube...it's too early, today to smash the state and most of us are too long in the tooth but that doesn't mean there isn't some spite in us left to grab a brick from the cairn and start an earthquake.
2. Braid - Killing a Camera...westley was right. sometimes, i am every ounce my father's son.
3. Japandroids - Wet Hair...fucking high fives for everybody.
4. Abe Vigoda - House...this is the sound of kids trying to sound like the kids they weren't cool enough to smoke dope with.
5. Ida Maria - Oh my God...every good time needs a rasping pop sensation. sean taught me about this one. this song got me a hairy eyeball in vegas because it's better suited for a gym than any aged decadence. i fucking love it.
6. Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed...the last time i saw new york dance with dumb abandon. the last time i kissed frantically, sweaty, hopeful at a gig. the last time i couldn't fucking stop smiling for a fucking hour and a half was at the valentine's day los campesinos! gig. it took william t. vollman to teach me what their name means. i am a geek.
7. Oceans - Boy Detective...just believe me, starry eyes. the world is wide and beautiful. your chance is endless.
8. La Dispute - Only Everything Below...but sometimes it still comes crashing down. let it. let the fire sink his teeth into all the monuments you keep. you'll find grace in the phoenix, yet.
9. Future of the Left - Arming Eritrea...you'll find anger. you'll find rage. real and human as the day you tore free from the womb and roared with new purpose.
10. Castevet - Plays One on TV...perhaps my favorite song of last year. i still haven't figured out what the fuck the words are but that can't stop me from singing.
11. Pere Ubu - Non-Alignment Pact...does anyone who isn't a dj actually like this band? fuck dub housing. this song is a party for the last of those glory days you totally missed.
12. Obits - Fake Kinkade...rock and roll is forever bettered by the pinched nerve of rick froeberg.
13. Surfer Blood - Swim...stumbled on this the night before i turned 31. the next day was spent in cold sweats, vomit and wonder at what the fuck happened to my copy of 'here come the warm jets'.
14. Timber - Thorn City...this is a fuckin' UHN! song. not a forceful one. no gut punches. no falling down the stairs. just a whole lot of meaning it scratched into a seven inch once complete with a singalong about taking time off.
15. Mimas - Mac, Get Your Gear...music for adults with questionable english that transforms completely into a mile wide shout. smiles abound, man. horns. clean as a whistle and a thousand times resounding.
16. Locust Toybox - Public Enemy's Rebel w/o a Pause (remix)...someone should probably kick my ass for including this neutering of chuck d. but shit, it's pretty. kinda fun, even. sometimes, it's all right to nap in a hammock while the revolution is being televised.
17. The Mae Shi - The Melody...this song is a nerd alert if ever there was one. bleeps. tweedles. shrill and warbles. judeochristian references. it's what i would compose if my blood were made of red wires and guided by ms dos.
18. Lanterns - Midnight Psalms (Alright!)...if my life sounded like this, i could die just fine.
19. Cold Cave - Life Magazine...fuck the cold wave movement. ian curtis is dead and ferris bueller only listened to cabaret voltaire to impress cameron. this song was just in a radio shack commercial which is rad for a sullen band whose driving force only has one hand.
20. The Beatings - Youth Crimes...perhaps the best band you've never heard of and will probably give two shits about after this (ever the optimist, me) but the beatings are perhaps the last band to play the kind of music that had you glued to college radio when you were in high school.
21. Pissed Jeans - False Jesii Part 2...GodDAMN! do i miss amphetamine reptile records. it took too long for me to catch on but now that midwestern pigfucking dream speaks to me in ways of which i should probably be ashamed. these cats are on sub pop which means shannon selberg can shit their bravado in his sleep but this track is fucking amazing.
22. Danananakroyd - Black Wax...ending on the note that revived my faith this year. simple, young, fun. there's more to life than david lee roth's balloon show, i know but sometimes i just don't feel like thinking about that. i just want to be good and loud and free. i want to be epic. perfect in the light.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U6NOSEIP
XOXO
Rock it.
