TOP TEN MOVIES SCREENED IN BALTIMORE CITY IN 2012 by the Charm City Cineaste
USER’S GUIDE: Films were cut from the list that did not play Baltimore, even if they were worth noting. Revivals were excluded. The (recently re-located) Charm City Cineaste is a blog where I keep track of all the movies I see and briefly comment on them. Quotes are from said blog.
1. Holy Motors “Holy Motors is why I go to the movies, to see and experience something new. A man goes about his job in Paris, enacting roles and scenes in an odd tribute to the particular artificial magic of film. No plot to clearly follow (a group walked out of my screening at The Charles), but plenty to puzzle over and take in. Leos Carax does not make movies often, but when he does, run, don’t walk to your local arthouse.”- Films Viewed, December 2012
2. The Turin Horse “In The Turin Horse, a man and his daughter endure against nature. They begin to lose the fight, as we all do. A wonderful introduction to the films of Bela Tarr via his final opus. Long takes, nothing happens, hypnotically paced… why aren’t these ‘viewing preferences’ on Netflix?” – Films Viewed, May 2012
3. The Master “Ah yes. The Master has arrived. A gang was gotten up to go see it in 70mm in Silver Spring. Mesmerizing, tantalizing… vital cinema. Id meets Ego in the form of the two main characters. I enjoyed it. The best release this month? One of the best this year? In a wan early fall season, I feel this is so, but I have been severely limited in my movie-going as of late, and there are the usual heavy hitters coming out in the next few months.” – Films Viewed, September 2012
4. God Bless America “God Bless America is a dark ride, and I enjoy a dark ride. A man diagnosed with terminal cancer decides to eliminate all the people in America who annoy him, especially those on reality television. Sharp satire, probably the most enjoyable dark comedy since Idiocracy. Makes me want to be better about seeing the films of noted auteur Bobcat Goldthwait.” – Films Viewed, August 2012
5. We Need to Talk about Kevin “We Need to Talk about Kevin was an exploration of the terror of the late 1990s, the realization that the success America had achieved was soon to fade and that the kids weren’t all right. A mother lives in the aftermath of a senseless slaughter perpetuated by her psychopathic son. Could have been the worst sort of melodrama, instead came alive coldly and precisely under the direction of Lynne Ramsay.”- Films Viewed, April 2012
6. Wanderlust “Wanderlust had me in hysterics in the (otherwise empty) Landmark Harbor East theater in which I viewed it. Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston’s characters stumble into a commune after their Manhattan life crumbles in the new economy. David Wain directs a stellar supporting cast. Perhaps made more resonant to me by how often I have rubbed elbows with the ‘other’ American music and arts underground (the one with the jam bands and the drum circles).” – Films Viewed, March 2012
“I meant to just take in a bit of Wanderlust when it was on in the apartment, but got sucked in and had a very good time watching it again. A bit miffed that the Bluray rental copy did not have the extra features, especially the ‘bizarro version’ of the film that I would very much like to see.”- Films Viewed, August 2012
7. Pina “Pina 3D is a tribute to an artist taken suddenly and too soon. Wim Wenders coordinates a tribute to her brand of groundbreaking and transgressive dance and artistry with the help of her surviving troupe. A tribute to the power of collective artistic action and a guided tour of the work of an underappreciated artist.” – Films Viewed, February 2012
8. Django Unchained “Sure, it’s too long. And sure, it’s indulgent. But Quentin Tarantino continues to make films that get you thinking, my friends and I engaging in vigorous analysis and debate as we left a sold-out screening of Django Unchained on Christmas day. A slave is freed and is given the ability to kill white people by a kindly bounty hunter. Jamie Foxx’s Django serves as the blunt dialogue counterpoint to Christoph Waltz’ ever-so-wordy Dr. King Shultz as they go on various adventures, the last and longest being a quest to free Django’s wife from slavery in the deep South.” – Films Viewed, December 2012
9. Cloud Atlas “You have to admire the ambition of the creators of Cloud Atlas, taking a sprawling complex novel some have called ‘unfilmable’ and turning it into a sprawling yet cogent film. So many excellent thought-waves and sequences to get lost inside for a while. Preposterous things happen and I just went with it. Sometimes I cannot do that. This time, I could.” – Films Viewed, November 2012
10. 21 Jump Street “My students recommended 21 Jump Street by constantly acting out scenes from it in class. Two cops go undercover at a high school and find out much has changed since 2005 (2005? 2005 was seven years ago!). I enjoyed the film’s lucid profanity and as a continuation of the work of Jonah Hill and company. Channing Tatum nails the dumb jock like no other. The film was punching above its weight and surprised me more than once.”- Films Viewed, October 2012
This year I made more of an effort to get out to the theaters to see movies, but I'm not sure why at this point. It surely ain't for the "experience" of going ot the theater. Largely, I think, maybe it's to try share in the cultural currency that seeing movies provides (ever-diminishing though it may be).
The theaters in the suburbs are a drag in that they're filled with the sorts of people who live in the suburbs. What I mean by that is the moviegoing experience there is akin to to sitting in the theater equivalent of a Wal-Mart/McDonalds while surrounded by the sort of entitled centers of their own universes type of theater goers that the combination of chatter and texting usually makes me feel as though my time could have been better spent not at the movies.
My go-to theaters don't feel as "go-to" anymore, as well.
The Sentor Theater is currentnly no longer a theater - and who knows if/when that will ever come back online.
The Landmark is simply a drag to get to. Aside from the annoyance to get there, there is also the added expense/hassle of paying for parking. Never underestimate the psychological block a parking garge can take (look at Towson Commons).
Increasingly, the Charles Theater just feels, at best, cold, hollow, and indifferent.
I've taken to seeing movies at the Rotunda. On Tuesdays they're cheap. The parking is easy and free. And while the seating, screens and sound aren't the best, they're at least on par with the Charles. There is also the added bonus that the theaters are hardly ever close to being crowded. The only drawback to the Rotunda is simply having to walk through the bleak, dying mall. It's been scheduled for renovations (as it has been for about 10 years now), so if/when that happens, it may change the appeal of the Rotunda.
But going there has made me realize the moviegoing experience in Baltimore, for me, currently has nothing to do with the movie theater - as most are lacking. It has to do with sitting in a big, empty, dark room and watching a movie with other people while the sound is louder than you can play it in your rowhome and bigger than you can show in your living room.
My point here is that with a minimum amount of effort, someone could create a fun atmosphere to go see a movie in. But what do I know? Maybe it's not necessary for business and that's why no one seems to give a shit.
There were a number of movies I missed, for whatever reason, that I feel would likely have ended up on my list if I'd seen them - so these are, clearly, "the best" of what I've seen this year.
There are a handful of films I'm including that are technically listed as being released in 2011 but didn't get distribution or I didn't have access to until 2012, so I'm counting them as a 2012 release since I didn't get to Cannes or the Tornoto Film Festivals in 2011.
And finally, in terms of American cinema, this was a great year for movies. Any year that sees releases by Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater, and David O. Russell is a great year for American movies - and that year was 2012. If only the Coens and Robert Rodriguez had released a films too... but they are scheduled to have movies come out in 2013, so this year also looks promising.
Please note - you are reading a discussion of films. As such, spoilers may follow. That's the nature of talking about/sharing experiences. So if you are a Spoiler Hysteric, you may want to retreat to your deprivation chamber. It isn't all about you and what you haven't seen, ya know?
1. Zero Dark Thirty I didn't get the criticism from the left that Katherine Bigelow's film is an endorsement of torture. It's not. To argue that it is not only to misunderstand the movie - but to reveal oneself to be an inattentive movie viewer. I find it refreshingly remarkable that the two best war movies we have about our 2 modern wars are directed by a woman (the same woman) since war movies have typically been seen, demographically speaking, as the domain to the heavily testosteroned. There are three distinct segments to Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty - Segment 1 is like Saw/Hostel. Segment 2 is like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Segment 3 is Blackhawk Down. As a testament to Bigelow's filmmaker chops, even though I know how the raid in Pakistan turned out for bin Laden, I still found myself getting tense as it played out - as if bin Laden might get away or may not even be in the house. This movie should raise serious and complex questions as to what is being done in our name abroad, how guilty we all are for it, and could help Americans start to understand why not everyone in the world likes us as much as we think they should.
2. Dark Knight Rises Christopher Nolan brings to a close his epic Batman trilogy - proving to thousands of dismayed comics nerds everywhere that superhero films can be more than just simple, crap extensions of character franchises, but intelligent and provocative art films. In a Marvel/Disney franchise world, I'm not sure we'll ever see the likes of movies like this trilogy again.
3. Django Unchained I saw Django within a few days of watching Zero Dark Thirty - and I felt as though maybe I need to watch some things a little less torturey for a while. While this isn't one of Tarantino's greater films, it's certainly not one of his lesser: a wildly entertaining Western Slave-Revenge Fantasy. The characters are fun. The bloodshed is gloriously abundant. And I can see the real reason why Spike Lee got his panties in a bunch about it - it's a film Lee could have made if Lee was still edgy or even relevant.
4. Moonlight Kingdom Like Tarantino's Django, Wes Anderson's Moonlight Kindgom is not one of Anderson's greater films, but it also is not one of his lesser ones. At times, it may be a tad unbearably precious, but overall it's charming, sweet, quirky. I can't wait to revisit it, as I find Anderson's movies age remarkably well.
5. The Avengers Joss Whedon's pitch-perfect pop-confection is the standard by which all other superhero movies will be judged. Unlike Nolan's Batman franchise, Whedon's Avengers is not an art film. It is simply a quality superhero movie with marquee characters and marquee actors. I think it's also intersesting that it's a CGI Hulk that steals every scene he's in.
6. Prometheus I don't know what I enjoyed more, the opening minutes of Ridley Scott's Alien prequel, or the bellyachin' fanboys who felt somehow let down that this wasn't as "good" as Scott's Alien. Or even, some argued, James Cameron's Aliens. They felt Prometheus was too much of a big budget B-movie, to which I say, "Yeah, and? So are the Alien movies." Scott's Prometheus is pretty much him retelling Cameron's Aliens. Creepy, gorgeous, and fun. Oh yeah, and get used to it. There's a sequel already greenlighted.
7. Looper Rian Johnson's time travel crime flick was a hard sell for me. Bruce Willis is not a box office attraction, nor is Joseph Gordon-Levitt as far as I'm concerned. AND it's a time travel movie? Forget it! There's always a maddening discrepancy in time travel movies that ruin the whole thing. Well, that is until Johnson's Looper. I now know time travel stories can be done right.
8. John Carter I'm really not sure why this was such a bomb. Andrew Stanton's big, sci-fi extravaganza felt to me every bit as entertaining as the original Star Wars. Oh well. Still a lot of fun.
9. Jiro Dreams Of Sushi David Gelb's docutmentary about sushi master Jiro Ono is remarkable essay of how determination can lead to brilliance.
10. God Bless America Bobcat Goldthwait's black humor revenge fantasy is surely polarizing, if you're a dumbass. But to the rest of us, seeing a man with a gun lash out at the dumbassery that is driving America down was a helluva hayride. It's sort of like Idiocracy, but instead of a smug laugh at all the dummies who inherit humanity, Goldthwait's characters respond with a justified and righteous rage.
11. Bernie Richard Linklater's narrative/documentary hybrid tells the real story of a Texas undertaker who was so beloved by his small town, no one cared when he murdered a local widow. Or possibly it was just that the widow was so loathed that no one cared she got killed. And who knew that Jack Black was capable of understatement and restraint?
12. The Cabin In The Woods This Joss Whedon co-scripted, Drew Goddard written/directed modern take on traditional horror trope is more fun than I had any right to expect. That part when all the cages are opened, man, I could watch that scene over and over again. And are Whedon/Goddard saying that Millennials are willing to sacrifice the world for their own petty needs? Bleak. And funny.
13. The Raid: Redemption Gareth Evans' Indonesian kung-fu, action, gangster/cop flick is the new standard that evey action movie will now be judged. It's a white knuckled badass thrill ride that has as many twists as the building we are watching characters fight their way through has floors.
14. We Need To Talk About Kevin Lynne Ramsay's adaptation of Lionel Shriver's crushing, unrelenting novel is equally crushing. Kevin is far scarier than Damien from The Omen. Horrible people, making more horrible people, and we all have to suffer from them and yet, we can sympathize. Should we? Are we inhuman if we don't? What are we responsible for? Why do we yearn to achieve cultural goalposts? Who sets the goalposts? And what's the wost that could happen when we simply go through the motions? Is is ridiculous to think such things because of a simple brain abnormality that 1 in 100 suffer that results in pyschopathy?
***WORST OF 2012***
1. Rock of Ages I'm not sure if this is a fitting defilement hair metal - or the final nail in the coffin of rock and roll - but this musical is a loathesome, painful mess that even Alec Baldwin couldn't save. Enough with the musicals already.
2. Dark Horse I love Todd Solondz's movies. Even his lesser ones. But not only does this feel like he's going through the motions, but it feels like he's not even intersted in his own ideas.
3. Cloud Atlas This Wachowski Siblings/Tom Twyker joint adaptation of David Mitchell's fantastic novel is such a loaded mess of a movie - it's one of those terrible movies that's worth watching. Offensive racial makeup, a stupidly simplistic reduction of a misunderstanding of the theme of the source material, odd casting as a result of a narrative gimmick - but there are moments that are quiet good (largely the ones Twyker was responsible for). Somehow, people keep allowing the Wachowski's to keep making movies, and while it's unlikely to ever be an unconditional good thing, it can be a rather interestingly bad thing.
overheard by Benn Ray and drawn by Sam Spina (click on strip to see larger version) Look for a new Said What? comic in Wednesday's B: The Paper. Available free around town. You can also follow this strip and others at MutantFunnies.com. ---------------------------------------------------- Overhear
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8PM. The Windup Space. "Station North." Baltimore. 12 W. North Ave.
The world has ended. Sarah Conner and Bill & Ted failed! Now what? Ask our experts! Plus stick around for live music by three of them after!
Benn Ray, from Atomic Books, will be one of this month's Experts of Nothing.
Expert Of Nothing Baltimore's live game show! Expert of Nothing is not terribly concerned with "facts" and "information" like most other game shows or resources. They believe than in the age of pop journalism and Wikipedia it is more important to be convincing than to be correct.
Contestants challenge their knowledge (or lack thereof) in a battle
of wits to be Baltimore's top know-it-all, where it's not what you know
but how you flow on topics ranging from Astronomy to Zooey Deschanel. And this month, the topic is The Apocalypse.
The game is a battle royale elimination tournament where the best
BS artist(s) advance, but the eliminated can come back to haunt you.
Players are whittled down until only one will emerge as "THE EXPERT OF
NOTHING."
I won't pretend to have my finger on the greater scene pulse here in Baltimore. Most of the time, my finger is firmly up my nose, listening to something that will not hit a publicist's radar, much less make a Best Of for most people.
But every once in a while, I'm privy to what I think is some fine shit. And here are a bunch of bands that are going to do great things and play great shows in 2013. With a few exceptions, these bands will release their first recordings in 2013. See them early, see them often, wear your earplugs: you ain't getting any younger, punk!
1. Old Lines If you had told me in January of 2013 that by December the band I would have seen the most by year's end would be Mitch Roemer's new band, I would have told you to shit in your hat. Yet here we are, and I've fallen in love with Old Lines over the past twelve months. Their new 12" (self-released) is everything you want in a heavy band: loud, crushing, political, yet hooky. Matt Taylor's vocals are mind-blowing; the lyrics, expansive. I'd be shocked if they don't show up on a lot of folks' Best Of next year.
2. Charm Offensive There's a tendency in hardcore to glom on to a few templates built over the past 30 years: Black Flag, Minor Threat, Youth of Today, 7 Seconds. Charm Offensive throws that out the window, and draws inspiration from bands like Reagan Youth (an early cover subject) and the Faith. Blazing, smirking hardcore featuring horror maven Chris LaMartina on vocals.
3. The Pilgrim There's not a lot I can add about the Pilgrim that hasn't already been discussed during their excellent feature in the City Paper back in February. But I will note that these heavy rockers will finally release their long-awaited long player in January. And I'll be up front, jamming out hard to the Black Oak Arkansas-esque grooves filtered through
the sensibilities of life-long crust punks.
4. Night Moves I'm going to cheat here for a second, as Night Moves, as of this writing, has yet to play their first show. But I was a big fan of Doug and Myke's last band, the tragically-underappreciated Fires. And this is "Bands to Watch Out For" not "Bands That Have Already Done Shit." #RIPWARTEETH
5. Hive Bent Two pieces are either total shit or totally rad. Simon and Garfunkel are in the former category; Hive Bent is in the latter. Headbanging noise rock a la Vaz, 400 Blows or KARP. This is the soundtrack to bad decisions, to mystery pills found in shag carpet soaked with PCP. This makes me want to cut my forehead with a razor blade and wild out.
6. ADULTS You could easily reduce ADULTS to "Hey, it's all those guys I liked from my favorite
local bands from 10 years ago." You could do that, but that would make you a jerk. Instead, revel in an aggressive, muscular post-punk quartet that the rest of the world may never see live because everyone holds down a day job, so they probably will never tour outside of a 50 mile radius of Baltimore. Hey, it's the rest of the world's loss for not living here.
7. WarXGames The ongoing hiatus of Deep Sleep, one of my favorite Baltimore bands ever, is a sensitive matter for me. Yet each of the members continue to turn out great music
separately, whether it's Nick with Kent State and Suspect, or Mike and Darick with the Jons and Paper Dragons. My favorite of the post-DS bands is WarXgames, Tony's new project with Aaron (ex-Oak), Evan (Mindset) and Brian (ex-the Pist). It reminds me of a number of extreme '80s hardcore bands (GISM, Infest, Septic Death) and is equally at home in a youth crew lineup, a crust show or with a Youth Attack band. There are cassettes of their demo floating around town, and you can always stop by Celebrated Summer Records to beg Tony to make you a copy.
8. Let It Go Let It Go keep popping up on shows I work at Charm City Art Space, so I've had a number of opportunities to see this quartet really progress over the past year. I hear a lot of Strike Anywhere in their songs; driving songs and emotive vocals. Mark my words: L.I.G. will be the next local punk/hardcore band to make their name on the national scene, following in the luminous steps of Ruiner, Double Dagger, Pianos Become The Teeth and Pulling Teeth.
9. Crimson Wave I'm really jazzed on this four piece that have only played a handful of shows to date. They have a mellow, mid-tempo surf sound that carries a hint of menace underneath. Think Charlie Manson producing Vivian Girls. I'm hoping someone smart gets a record out by summer.
10. Widows Watch For those of you who have closely followed Baltimore punk over the years, you should have a decent idea where a band made up of ex-members of Greasegun and Chernobyl
Kids are coming from. There's a good early '90s UK pop punk influence here. Word on the street is that Westminster's Wallride Records will be putting out a 7" in 2013. Until then, slake your thirst with their top-notch demo, released at the end of 2011, mere weeks after their first show.
11. Us And Us Only If Let It Go could be the next Ruiner, then Us And Us Only could be the next Cross My Heart. The songs are sweeping and romantic and equal parts Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo and Murder By Death. I can easily see these guys releasing a record on
Count Your Lucky Stars and touring the U.S., with a million lovesick 22 year old poets falling in love with them.
12. Curse I remember Jane in Abiku scaring the ever-loving shit out of me onstage. Logan I met through the Pfisters. Together, they joined up late last year to create what they call "electro doom." A pretty apt name: their demo and live show are apocalyptic, intense,
LOUD! They toured for nearly three months straight in 2012, an aural bomb raid that stretched from coast to coast. It's bands like this that I want to see as much as possible. How long can they keep up the intensity? How many chances will I have left to walk away stunned?
13. Big Mouth Big Mouth is (to the best of my knowledge) the only cross-pollenated bands listed here, featuring members from both Baltimore and DC. DC plays a huge role in the influences of this band: I hear bands like Autoclave and Broken Siren in this quartet's post-hardcore songs, and Big Mouth recently recorded with esteemed engineer Don Zientara. They've been playing up and down the East Coast a lot over the past several months, so I wouldn't be surprised to see their star rise by leaps and bounds amongst the scenester cognoscenti in 2013.
14. Pure Junk On a rainy Saturday in September, a graphic designer, an illustrator, a filmmaker and a humorist debuted a twelve-minute set as Pure Junk. People packed a clothing store in the afternoon and a gallery in the evening to watch less than 10 songs rush by. They
were good as their name: trashy, joyous, youthful punk rock that would have fit in on the same bill with the Germs in 1979. For me, it's a perfect illustration of why I stay involved in what happens here musically. Pure Junk is total abandon, an opportunity to put aside every distraction for the length of two cigarettes and get right down to basics. (Pure Junk needs no website)
You can check out all these bands at the following all-ages spaces: Charm City Art Space, Nu Haus of Casanova, the 5th Dimension, Club K, the Holy Underground, Barclay House, and the Bell Foundry.
(Ed. Note: images were taken from respective band pages from Facebook and/or Bandcamp.)
(please note that none of these took place in Baltimore,time to up your game local promoters and venues)
1. Dirty Three @ Sixth and I Synagouge, Washington, D.C. There
was a time in the 1990's when Australia's Dirty Three were mainstays of
the American indie touring world. The oughts saw Dirty Threes's members
focusing on other projects including collaborations with Nick
Cave,Bonnie Prince Billy and Smog. I had started to accept the fact that
I would never see these legends on a U.S. stage. Then out of nowhere DT
drops a new album and announces a U.S. tour. I will say with no
exaggeration, it was worth the wait.Their show at the Sixth and I
Synagogue was equal parts noisy intensity and melancholic beauty. Also,
Warren Ellis is the world's top showman...hands down.
2. Kraftwerk @ MoMA NYC Only
about 1 in 15 Kraftwerk fans who attempted to purchase tickets for
their 8 night retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art were
successful. That fact in and of itself was big news in the blogosphere.
We were lucky enough to get 2 tickets for night 3 (TransEuropeExpress).
Despite the departure of Florian Schneider, the group made light work
out of material that was now by in large a 30+ year old catalog. The
setting which seemed oddly intimate considering the size coupled with
the 3D presentation of the group's videos made the show a total
experience.
3. Neil Young & Crazy Horse @ Patriot Center, Fairfax,VA The only surviving relic of the 1960s that still matters.
4. Sunn O))),Oren Ambarchi,Kevin Drumm @ Memorial Hall, Raleigh,NC Experimental
HEAVY HITTERS! You don't see a line up like this everyday, at least not
on this side of the Atlantic. The fact that the Hopscotch Music
Festival could make this happen in North Carolina is all the more
amazing. Take that NYC! 5. Demdike Stare @ Public Assembly, Brooklyn,NY I've
been interested in minimal and expiremental electronic music since I
first heard Aphex Twin and Autechre in 1994. I was in 11th grade. I've
sen a lot of trends come on go and as a fan of Mary Anne Hobbs BBC Radio
1 show I've watched the rise of all maner of English expiremental
techno and dark ambient and yes I was even interested in the early rise
of dubstep. I'm not always able to describe the intricacies of
electronic music but it will say that Demdike Stare's performance was a transcendental affair. Did I mention they opened for the super-hyped
Andy Stott? He could have stayed at home because Demdike Stare brought
down the house.
My list this year is again primarily metal (stylistically, most of it is influenced heavily by black metal). But, that isn’t to say it’s all that way. The Secret’s and Black Breath’s latest are hardcore that’s been heavily influenced by metal. And, as always, Converge is Converge. I will definitely say that two of the best live shows I saw in 2012 were Black Breath and Converge (separate bills). I saw Black Breath in a tiny DIY underground club. I finally got to see Converge as the headliner in a more "intimate" place than the larger venues I’d previously seen them in when they played in support of other artists.
Away from metal, Big K.R.I.T.’s “Live From the Underground” was definitely one of my favorite new hip-hop releases this year. Close behind it are Killer Mike’s “R.A.P. Music” and El-P’s “Cancer 4 Cure”. The Evian Christ release is UK bass music but when I listen to it, I hear a lot of chopped and screwed dirty south rap as an influence.
Other releases that I enjoyed this year: Converge “All We Love We Leave Behind” Dethklok “Dethalbum III” Everything But The Girl “Idlewild” (Reissue)/”Eden” (Reissue) Killer Mike “R.A.P. Music” Nachtmystium “Silencing Machine” Nihill “Verdonkermaan” Frank Ocean "channel Orange" Purity Ring “Shrines”
THE CHAMBERMAIDS - Whirlpool Kinda like a shoegaze Calla. Lush & catchy.
WILLIAM BASINSKI - The Disintegration Loops Box Some of my favorite decaying sadness from the last decade, now in one hugely-expensive vinyl LP set.
1,2,3 - Wave Pool From late 2011, but no one paid attention. Goddamn genius, with strings and '60s snot on it.
BARE WIRES - Wanna Fight This came out on a flexi-disc. '70s-sounding power pop.
THE FRESH & ONLYS - Yes Or No When we lived in the water, you said you wanted fire. And so I gave you fire. You kicked it in the water.
LINDEN - Brown Bird Singing Pure pop i.e. Superstar, Teenage Fanclub, BMX Bandits.
TASHAKI MIYAKI - Get It Right Reverb-soaked, heartbreaking, distorted & dreamy.
PUSSY RIOT - Putin Lights Up The Fires This actually impressed me as legitimate punkrock.
TRILLIONS - Ctrl-X Ctrl-V Great melodic intelligent indie pop band from Richmond VA.
IMPO & THE TENTS - Nothing To Say Glorious Dickies-esque punk.
BAD SPORTS - Can't Just Be Friends In the netherworld betwixt Undertones, Ramones & Jam.
REDD KROSS - Stay Away From Downtown Power pop gods don't let us down with new LP
LOTUS PLAZA - White Galactic One Deerhunter member makes MBV/Swirlies/Fudge goodness.
LA SERA - I Can't Keep You In My Mind Katy from Vivian Girls sounding like 1st LP BLONDIE. Super-hooky.
The dB's - Falling Off The Sky More gods who didn't let us down w/ their reunion.
HONEYCHURCH - Miko II If this one doesn't make your eyes watery, you're a robot.
BEHOLD! THE MONOLITH - Halv King Punched-in-the-throat Lemmy fronting Mastodon.
MONSTER MUSEUM - EP I
get a buzz from this like I got from early Pavement, but they don't
sound like Pavement. Easily one of my favorite things this year
TWO WOUNDED BIRDS - Together Forever Like a mixture of New Zealand pop and the 60s
