skumbucket

i absolutely and all-ecompassingly hate the auto-tune, but there are a handful of songs on here that are good enough that i can get past it. i'd like it a lot more as a whole if there was no auto-tune. just take some singling lessons, you lazy shit. or even if he got someone or some people who actually can sing to do them i'd love it.

now, proving i do not at all know better, are mine: Austin Lucas – Go West // I’m beginning to think it’s no coincidence that there are only a few letters different between “Austin” and “astounding.” Every time this guy puts out a record there are at least a few songs that completely leave me aghast (in a good way). The twang in his voice might be off-putting to some, but the sheer amazement of what this guy can do in a single take with just a guitar and his vocal chords leaves me breathless. Basia Bulat – I Was A Daughter // A severely underrated Canadian singer/songwriter who had to find a European label to sign her. This one is good for the handclaps alone, not to mention the incredible rush that comes after the bridge. Final Fantasy – the Butcher // I wish both of the EP’s Owen Pallett put out this year were as good as this song is. More instruments, his best vocals to date, and probably his best melody make for the most gripping song he’s ever constructed. I’m hoping for more like this on his up-coming full-length. Fucked Up – Son The Father // Before embarking on a musical journey for the ages, they open their latest greatest album with its most blistering song. Setting the lyrical agenda for an album that raises more questions about the origins of human existence than i've ever thought of, it also establishes the musical game plan for the record by opening with a flute and featuring thrilling guest vocals. The Gaslight Anthem – Great Expectations // Sure they have a total Springsteen boner, but their new songs are mature pop rock soaked in a broth of Drugstore Cowboy attitude, vocal reverb, Marlboros, and regret. As much as I like this song, I also like what it represents: the beginning of the other 11. LaGrecia – According To My Notes // There’s at least five songs on the LaGrecia album that could qualify for this list, but this is the one I decided to go with. It’s more in line with Shevchuk’s other works, all speedy guitars and gruff vocals. But it also adds a daunting amount of melody and the best singing of his entire career. The Lucksmiths – California In Popular Song // I love it when a song turns your expectations on their head. When not writing songs about lost mittens or getting drunk, the Lucksmiths are constructing one of the most musically bright but lyrically depressing songs I’ve heard in years. In a nutshell: everything sucks and pop songs won’t make it better. The Measure [sA] – Drunk By Noon // A band that showed an awful lot of promise at the beginning of their career has tightened up their playing and the hooks are coming effortlessly. Besides, everybody likes songs about getting drunk, right? The Mountain Goats – Marduk T-Shirt Men’s Room Incident // While I absolutely adore the fantastic metaphor of Heretic Pride’s “Autoclave,” this is the most triumphant. The guitar, recorded so sparsely its barely there, conveys the emptiness of the act and emotions of the song’s characters O Pioneers!!! – Summers In Necro Norway With Spider Ryan // Our board's house band? Maybe. When Eric shouts, “Don’t be afraid to say this is who I’m gonna be,” over some of the biggest, gnarliest-sounding guitar I’ve ever heard I get chills down my spine. I seriously love this band. Papermoons – Follow The Sun // One of my favourite discoveries of the last two years (thanks Aaron)! So beautiful and delicate it’s almost hard to comprehendm, and it also kicks off one of the most rewarding listens of the year. Why? – These Few Presidents + the Hollows // Pitchfork may have wet themselves over “Fatalist Palmistry,” but these two tracks make up one of the best three song-suites this year. One reflects the intensely dark moments Yoni Wolf occasionally falls into while the other provides a moment of ambiguity. It’s open to interpretation whether the beautiful, lilting keys that back the track and the line, “Yours is a funeral I’d fly to from anywhere,” are a touching tribute to a friend or lover or whether they’re a mean-spirited dig at someone Wolf just doesn’t like that much. Either way, this is one of the greatest twisted-pop records in years. This is the short list -- my full 57 favourite songs are listed on www.soundsalvationarmy.com.

wow, and you complain about music getting too pretentious and indie? jarvis puts the 'cock' in cocker, morrissey is pretention personified, and franz ferdinand are plenty indie.

virgil does have a discography page, but i think people forget about it a lot because he doesn't really put it out there.

i quite like the lagrecia lyrics for the most part, although it's kind of funny/sad how there's at least the one song that explicitly talks about how he just wants to do something new and he hopes everyone is cool with it and he's 'never going back'...and then he breaks up the new band to reform the old one. irony is awesome.

i got a terabyte external hard drive, now partitioned and serving as both my time machine back-up and my video and music back-up/ipod refill device. also, an extra guitar for rock band, a space-age weather device, some lemonheads (candy), and the dark knight (complete with souvenier two-face coin thingy).

why is he sending it out if it's not finished? isn't that usually a band's biggest complaint when demos or albums leak?

congrats ben! he'll make a great husband someday...

we'll be nice. i promise.

i'd play in this band in a heartbeat if canada were anywhere near texas.

i was referring to steve e nix and the cute lepers, specifically...

underwhelming or no...i'm still psyched to get my hands on that steinways single.

swear words are so controversial.

now featuring a board member's label's band! http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/2008_the_year_in_band_names/3

This is what i'm missing -- SOMEONE HELP A BROTHER OUT. Measure (SA), The Historical Fiction 12” Measure (SA), The Means To An End 7” Measure (SA), The Union Pool 7” Measure (SA), The/ Modern Machines Split 7”

thirded.

grey

not stoked. his expressions in the trailer combined with the way it was cut makes it look like they're trying to do some kind of inspirational/suspense/thriller thing.

"ace enders"? that's a dude's name? the name of the dude in a band called "i can make a mess like nobody's business"? yikes. high fives for being completely retarded. i don't know if i can bring myself to listen to them.

is that seriously the name of a band? for real? that band can't be good.

i'm the morning reporter for a provincial news/talk radio station.

i had a couple of good experiences with him and one really weird one where i didn't end up giving him money and he ended up telling me the record we were negotiating for was actually his brothers and he didn't want to sell me it after all because it was kind of scratched or something. i thought he was mostly good, aside from the extremes of the co-op disaster.

anyone putting an order in MUST get the latest Measure [sA] 12" as well. that band just gets better and better.

yeah, it especially sucks ass because i was doing my dream shit during the summer when we were really short-staffed; working 10-6. that allowed me to get up at 7:oo, go to the gym and get a full work out before i went in. it's so much easier to work out before the actual work day than after it. also, i'm by nature a night owl so it just felt right staying up a little later. i have to fight myself every night to get to bed early enough to get more than four hours of sleep.

holy shit that's a great deal on the wire.... which incidentally is the show everyone should be watching.