My Ridiculously Belated Top Ten of 2009…with an excuse for being late

Hey all, ace cub reporter of RPM, Ben Foxx here…for those that care, I am amending/changing my Top 10 of 2009 due to a disease which I’ve developed which made the first list come out wrong…ya’ see, last year brought endless waves of Taylor Swift and Jonas Brothers into my life and the results were quite devastating. Every time I heard these cutie-pie, tweenatic, marketing ploy, “Pop Artists” I felt the need to shelter myself from any new incoming music.

By the way, Taylor Swift, I’m onto you…Singing a duet at the Grammys with one of the greatest Female Vocalists in Rock history, Stevie Nicks? – it was embarrasing, quite frankly. Never heard so many flat notes from an “Album of The Year” winner in all my years!
Sorry you had to go through that Stevie!

Getting back to the task at hand…My disease, Swiftian Jonasplexia, made me slack on really listening to all the albums my Ipod  had been feasting on last year (shameless plug for Apple…wanna throw some Ipads our way?)

Anyway, My original Top 10 was (No Order)

Gallows- Grey Britain, Avett brothers-I and Love and You, The Mountain Goats- The Life of the World to Come, Pearl Jam- Backspacer, Mastodon- Crack the Skye, Other Lives-Self Titled, AC Newman- Get Guilty, Slayer-World Painted Blood, Muse-The Resistance, The Veils- Sun Gangs
Late 2008 entry…Fucked Up- The Chemistry of Modern Life

After some serious listening,  I’m sorry  AC Newman, Mastodon, and Pearl Jam
(Pearl Jam, thanks for pulling your embed codes, may have sealed the deal)…you have all been dropped down to Honorable Mention. Your albums are all amazing but I neglected some other albums, who after great moral reflection I needed to add.

Oh and also I gained the balls to put them in order…

here they are:

1. Wild Beasts-Two Dancers

RPM’s intrepid founder, Bob Berman, got this one right.

Melancholy, beautiful, mysterious, complex, challenging….shit my Thesaurus just broke!
Wild Beasts, welcome to an official RPM blog video repeat!!!

2. Gallows- Grey Britain
absolutely ridiculous punk band from England…safe to say their pissed…

3. The Mountain Goats- The Life of the World to Come
Here’s a really interesting video of lead singer & master storyteller John Darnielle:

4. Other Lives- Self Titled
Most underated album of the year…acoustic version of the opener

5. Royksopp- Junior
Get out your bowling shoes and put your pleasure suit on!

6. Jay Reatard- Watch Me Fall
Yes, I forgot to put him on my original list…yes, I feel terrible about it.
It was the disease, I swear!
Great talent lost…R.I.P. Jay Reatard

7. The Veils- Sun Gangs
Brilliant Songwriting…the most important part of it all…and drums…and a bass rig and a van…

8. The Avett Brothers- I and Love and You
Yeah, I didn’t get it either…I and Love and…oh just watch the vid!

9. Muse- The Resistance
OK, I know they are beyond huge at this point but this new album has full-on symphonies (no for real…in 3 parts!)

10. Slayer- World Painted Black
Really don’t want lead singer, Tom Araya kickin my ass…
He just cancelled the tour for back surgery and I’m pretty sure there’s no vid for the album, so he doesn’t need a pissant like me leaving Slayer off the list.
RethinkPopMusic wishes Tom a speedy recovery…hope his Surgeon has horns and a tail!

OK, so as a reward for taking in my late in the game choice of preferences, I give you another belated video tribute…my Late 2008 entry:
Fucked Up- The Chemistry of Modern Life:
To be that fat and hairy and still take your shirt off at every show you have to be great!
Oh and Moby’s a fan…

Tags: Fucked Up, Gallows, grammys, jay reatard, John Darnielle, Jonas Brothers, Moby, Muse, Other Lives, Royksopp, Slayer, Stevie Nicks, Taylor Swift, The Avett Brothers, The Mountain Goats, The Veils, Top 10, top 10 of 2009, wild beasts

Murder Rebel Radio 27: Angel Dust, T.J.s and Randy’s

We finally figured out why there is no longer a big market for bare knuckle brawling and demolition derbies. We found a nervous cop, and a down ass bitch who smokes weed for her back pain. So listen to the new show.

You can also listen live at around 8:00 on Wednesdays, and around 8:30 or 9 on Fridays at www.murderrebelradio.com/live. Get us on iTunes and vote for us on podcast alley. There is also content on www.murderrebelradio.com

Tags: Angel Dust, BAre Knuckle Boxing, Charlie Sheen, grammys, MTV

Grammys: That’s Not MY Music Industry

I have been following the writer of this article, Jason – http://www.jasonparkermusic.com/, on twitter ( @1WorkinMusician) for a few months.  You should check out his site here: http://oneworkingmusician.com/. Couldn’t agree more with this article, seems like there are two separate music industries; 1. run by suits who want to throw celebrity infused blah down the throats of tweens and make big bucks 2. independent musicians like Jason and probably everyone reading this post.
Originally posted at: http://oneworkingmusician.com/grammys-thats-not-my-music-industry

Watching the Grammy Awards tonight I was struck with one thought:they might call that the Music Industry, but that has nothing to do with what I do as a working musician. I have been a professional musician for 15 years, and it’s been my sole job for 9 of those years. But whatever that was on the TV tonight, that’s not even close to my world.

And you know what? Rather than that thought being depressing it is actually quite liberating. Just when I started to get upset about the things I was seeing I realized that the only reason for it to upset me is if it effects me, which it doesn’t. All that pomp and circumstance, all the tuxes and evening gowns, all the money that went into the production, all the out-of-tune and/or lip-synched performances, all the celebrity presenters – that’s a reflection of a completely different world than the one in which I live and work. Once I realized that I actually found myself happy for Taylor Swift when she won Record of the Year. She was the one winner tonight that seemed genuinely surprised and pleased to win. You go girl!

Like most musicians I know, I did at one time have fantasies of someday winning a Grammy. I will admit that when I was a kid I would practice my acceptance speech in front of the mirror in my bedroom, thanking my family and my as-yet-unknown record label. But I long ago gave up those fantasies, and I can honestly say that I wouldn’t change much about my music industry.

Sure, it’d be cool to have my music heard and appreciated by a larger audience. And to make a little more money than I do now. I’d love to have a savings account and a health-care plan that’s not the least expensive one I could find. I hope to one day buy a house.

But what’s great about my music industry at this moment in time is that all of those things are up to me 100%. No longer do I have to hope for a manager to take notice of me and a PR firm to help spread the word so that a major record label would take a gamble on me and loan me a ridiculous sum of money that I’ll never be able to pay back so that I can make an album that will hopefully get noticed by Rolling Stone and played on the radio and then sell millions of copies just so I can eat for a few years until the next guy like me comes along and takes my place.

Those days are over. Now, I can make the music I want to make, find people all over the world who appreciate it and are willing to support me, and live a comfortable and…wait for it…sustainable life as a musician.

That’s my music industry. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Tags: grammys, jason parker music, music industry, one working musician