1. Fred Armisen is Not In Our Band ft. Corin Tucker
2. (Interlude)
3. Misandry Chic ft. Shaq
4. Outback Steak House Giftcard
5. (Interlude)
6. Powells God ft. Phil Elverum, A$AP Illz and Nia Peeples
7. Gaslight U Back ft. Beth Ditto, Mia X, Tink, Pharmakon, Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson, Dej Loaf, Meredith Graves, Alexis Brown, Alice Bag, Antony Hegarty, Lydia Lunch, Debbi and Vicki Peterson, Da Brat, the extant members of Emily's Sassy Lime and Judy Chicago
8. Spoonman Redux ft. Marshawn Lynch
9. Woolen Bully
10. Did it for the Vine ft.  Wale, Boosie & Meek Mill
11. Flying J (skit)
12. Rip City Queens
13. Keep U Motivated & Monetized
14. Gum and a Sweatshirt
15. Title Track
16. All Hands on The Bad One [DJ Snake remix] ft. Panda Bear, Mac DeMarco, Eddie Vedder & Dice Raw
17. Flying J (outro) ft. Joey Bada$$

You can pre-order Rip City Queens here.

Last week, people around the world took the streets in order to protest a Ferguson, MO grand jury's decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson on criminal charges in relation to the shooting of Mike Brown. You know all about this, unless you've been living under a rock—or only paying attention to music sites. They’ve all but ignored the events, opting instead for releasing a steady stream of "content" masquerading as news, such as "Wiz Khalifa Gobbles Up W/ Reality TV Star, Not Amber Rose, For Thanksgiving." If you went solely by what entertainment sites—particularly the hip-hop sites—posted, you may not have even known that varied parts of the country and world were on foot and afire in solidarity with a town almost no one had heard of before August 9th of this year.

This is not to say that hip-hop websites have an obligation to cover what should be considered news proper. Nor is it an argument for rappers to rise to leadership roles within the black community at times of crises. These sites have no duty to cover anything outside of their beat; rappers owe us nothing but music. That's the agreement—except it's not. Because, when things that are at best tangentially related to hip-hop happen—say an NBA Final win, an ice bucket challenge—blogs are only too quick to compile the Vine, Instagram and Twitter posts that these rappers are only too happy to provide. It's all presented as necessary information with a gravitas that begs to say it's bigger than hip-hop.

But, last week, what we saw was largely the same pre-approved promotional/publicity drivel that makes the music 'net go 'round—album streams, album cover artwork, album track listings, disposable mixtapes, grainy and shaky cell phone footage of an artist being joined on stage by another artist, songs by someone you've never heard of featuring someone whose name you sort of know. And it's not exclusively the relatively smaller blogs; one prominent hip-hop site posted more items about the Kardashians last week than anything to do with the Mike Brown verdict, at a rate of 8 to 5. If the argument is that what's happening with regards to Ferguson, to America, isn't a hip-hop matter, then whomever members of the Kardashian Jenner clan are letting into their bedrooms certainly isn't. It's perverse to think that a random week of keeping up with the offscreen happenings of a reality TV family is on par with a worldwide justice movement.

This function of the Media Distraction Complex is aided with great verve by the rappers themselves—mainly because the overwhelming majority of rappers are presenting themselves as self-focused, apolitical capitalists who are unwilling to say things about the real world. Back in August—as the first rounds of civic unrest took place in Ferguson— J. Cole, Talib Kweli, and Jeezy were just about the only ones to step into the arena with their art, bodies and/or music. It took two weeks for the Game to assemble a DJ Khaled-like motley crew of figures (which, ironically, included DJ Khaled) for a perfunctory song in which Diddy plugged Ciroc and Rick Ross made a "boss" reference. The proceeds from the effort were to go to Mike Brown's family, but the song itself was barely promoted.

If you juxtapose that with 362 days prior, when Kendrick released his verse on Big Sean's "Control", you can see hip-hop's priorities. Within 24 hours of "Control", there was a slew of responses—and no one felt the need to go 1/12th on a rebuttal. Heck, if Drake releases a song today, there'd be more "remixes" of it in two weeks than there have been total Mike Brown tribute songs to date. You can count on one finger the Ferguson song to come out in the week since the verdict, and it's courtesy of Tink, who's still barely a bloghold name.

Outside of music, there's been more of a presence— Killer Mike's impassioned speech in St. Louis the night of the verdict; Q-Tip and Macklemore taking to the streets; Jeezy's statement; Solange postsponing the release of her Puma collaboration. It's much more a response than what we saw three and a half months ago but when the Brits are shutting down Piccadilly Circus, we're going to need more tweets, more changed avatars, more symbolic gestures that prove that there isn't such a gaping disconnect between the music we're listening to and what's going on in the world. While Rick Ross talked that good hood talk on TMZ, his latest album Hood Billionaire is more rooted in aspirational one-percenter wet dreams than anything else. It doesn't have to be What's Going On?, but so little of the contemporary music being made reflects the times—which, if nothing else, lessens its potency as an escapist release. The right drugs are needed for right pains but denial of pain is extremely unhealthy and ultimately self-defeating.

Still, there's some good reasons for rapper so stay silent, as some of the more prominent persons who have been speaking out against the verdict are being made targets of the State in no small fashion. Mike Brown's stepdad is reportedly being investigated for inciting to riot due to his cries to "burn this bitch down" immediately after the verdict; the St. Louis Rams have been targeted by the multiple St. Louis police associations for five players who came onto the field with the "hands up, don't shoot" gesture for this past Sunday's game. The conflict between the police supporters and the football team have dissolved into a social media embarrassment, but you can be sure that those five guys aren't going to be let off with a warning for any moving violations any time soon. In some cases, we are seeing that keeping quiet may be in your best interest.

It's tempting to look at these issues based upon race, but the travesties of justice in Ferguson (and beyond) need to mean something to everyone who is interested in fairness. This should be important to all of us. If there's to be a call to hold rappers and hip-hop blogs accountable, that same call has to extend to Pitchfork and sites like it, as well. The world around us is not disconnected from the art the we make and ingest and entities that pretend otherwise don't deserve your time—whether that entity is your favorite rapper, the website that serves as your homepage or the site that you're reading right now.

A$AP Ferg has a song called "Dope Walk" that makes reference to Cara Delevingne, and thus, the two went straight for the Walk-Off earlier today. It's gripping stuff. A quick recap of what's gone down thus far:

Here's Cara's entry, which came about after Cara threw down the gauntlet:

@Caradelevingne let's Walk it out!!!

— FERG (@ASAPferg) December 4, 2014

Here's her entry, which to be quite honest, is thrilling, mostly because I have no idea where it is taking place:

IT'S A WALK OFF @asapferg AND I WON! #DONEANDDUSTED

A video posted by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) onDec 12, 2014 at 8:47am PST

Alas, Ferg has responded.

just KiLLED YOU @caradelevingne #DOPEWALK

A video posted by asapferg (@asapferg) onDec 12, 2014 at 9:44am PST

Ferg's Twitter suggests that other lower tier A$AP affiliates like Marty Baller might be dope-walking as well, which I will not update—gonna keep this channel clear until more is known from the primaries.

For now:

My most recent album, The Future’s Void, deals with topics such as corporate data mining and surveillance, feeling vulnerable and estranged by my feminized online self, and an examination of post-Soviet geo-political fallout. In interviews journalists often used the word "paranoid" and asked me about dystopian visions of the future. Some reviewers were uncomfortable with my casual use of common internet language as lyrical content.

From the time that the record was finished in late 2013, to now, one year later, the world has changed into a very different place.

Constant surveillance is no longer dismissed as "paranoid", it is regarded as fact. #Gamergate rawly exposes that yes, being a woman online is a different experience. And the tremors of Cold War fault lines are reverberating as Russia re-annexes parts of the Ukraine.

I take it back, the future is not void. The future is now, our distance from it is the only thing that is no longer valid.

When I started to make art about my relationship to pervasive technology I felt very alone and very uncool. The language that later made journalists nervous made me nervous too. But my thoughts and feelings were overwhelming and real. Despite initially feeling isolated in exploring the dark depths of online life, it turns out I was far from alone. Multiple films and music came out this year filled with critiques of our present and not-so-distant future. Perhaps 2014 was the year cyberpunk broke.

For the uninitiated, cyberpunk started 30 years ago as a literary movement rooted in sci-fi, tech and hard drugs. The tone was typically dystopian and critical about the consequences of a marriage of technology and corporate power. In the cyberpunk future, shadowy multi-national corporations trafficked in big data, humans often augmented themselves with wearable tech and there was a massive wealth gap between the rich and the poor. Sound familiar?

Cyberpunk took its name and ethos from the punk movement, which sprung up among disenfranchised working class youths with little economic prospect. Young punks felt like the previous generation had failed them and grown bloated with excess. Punk’s genesis was, in part, about calling out an older Bay Area-based counter-culture that rose to dominance while preaching free-love and disruption of old systems in the name of making the world a better place. Now that sounds very familiar…

Today’s Silicon Valley sits a few miles away from the original Haight Ashbury/People’s Park, but still spouts an ethos of "making the world a better place" through a "sharing economy". It’s a utopian dream that may have started with the aim of revolution but we have since become well aware of its ugly side. And like the original punks, we are beginning to call bullshit.

In 2012 a Vice Magazine article interviewed original cyberpunk authors about its legacy. Most distanced themselves from it, declared it dead or reduced it to a fashion statement. The major players seemed disengaged and embarrassed by it. They shouldn’t be. We need their skepticism now, perhaps more than ever.

Erika M. Anderson records under the name EMA. Her latest album The Future's Void was released earlier this year.

January 1st descends on us like the Ghost of Media Future. Let a new media savvy dude like myself do the heavy new media lifting so you don’t new media have to. Like pup-pup used to say, "Make click while the sun shines." Feel free to use any of these. Pay me in exposure.

1. In Like a Taylor Swift Out Like a Sun Kil Moon: 2014 in Review
2. It’s The End Of Year and I Feel Fine: 2014 Music Writing by People over the Age of 35 in Review
3. Death in January, Death in February, Death in March, Death in April, Death in May, Death in June, Death in July, Death in August, Death in September, Death in October, Death in November, Death in December: The Year in (a)Politics
4. Ten Hip-Hop Albums We Listened To More Than Once (If You Count Run The Jewels Ten Times) In 2014
5. Some of Our Best Friends Are Idiots: The Year In Selective Outrage
6. What Have You Done For Me Lately: 100 Worst Albums By Bands We Loved in 2011
7. World Cup Smurld Cup: The Year In Myopically Assuming Everyone is Lying About Liking Something That You Don’t Yourself Enjoy
8. MLK Says Relax: The Best Out of Context Martin Luther King Jr./Audre Lorde Quotes on Twitter
9. The Best Things That Happened in 2014, From The Don Giovanni Records/Screeching Weasel Facebook Thread To Whatever Else Happened
10. Beyoncé Said Something Bad About Billy Corgan Therefore Hitler: The Year in Reaching Clickbait Headlines
11. New York City Did Not Exist Until I Moved Here: A Personal Reflection on 2014 and DIY
12. Isn’t Criticizing Sweatshops the REAL Exploitation?: The Year In Sponsored Content (sponsored content) 
13. Then There Were None: The Ten People Left Who Are Not The Singer of Black Flag
14. The 365 Chvrches covers of 2014
15. Oh Jesus Christ He’s Standing Right Behind You: The Year In Dave Grohl
16. Something About Millennials: Fuck, Man, I Don’t Know…They Suck? Or They’re Great? Anyway, Big Year For Them. BIG Year.

Rappers continue to put out mixtapes in 2014, but the stuffed to the gills CDs and DJ (Drama) shouting over every single track variety appears to be increasingly fading away. Artist co-signs, Drake most notably, can essentially create an overnight star and a six-second loop of a song can fanute one into a major label contract as it did with young Bobby. Chief Keef, who still puts out bloated tapes, casts off so much music through Youtube and Instagram that waiting for proper tapes seems moot.

Rappers are clearly conscious of all these factors and aren’t interested in trying listeners’ patience with 70-minute long releases—they know our attention spans are finite and fickle. DJ Mustard’s debut album, 10 Summers, kept matters short with only 12 tracks including two skits; despite the fact that rap radio cannot stop playing his music, he didn’t overstuff the project. iLoveMakonnen, Father, Vince Staples and 2 Chainz have all issued shorter, compact projects that displayed their personalities and spoke their piece all within 30 minutes.

Where the digital nature of mixtape post-CD resulted in projects that still acted within the assumption of needing to be a full CD-R of music, the move now is more toward brevity, knowing nobody is buying a double disc of music, nor does anyone have much of an interest in downloading that much either. Migos, Rich Gang or YG, who put out strong, but lengthy full lengths in 2014 didn’t commit a sin against the rap lords by sticking to rap’s usual maxim of more means more. The flexibility offered in the transition from the physical to the digital realm of music is still being felt out and it’s good to see rappers push forward by holding back.

This week, the oracle of hip-hop, Divine Styler, issues Def Mask, his first album in fourteen years. After a such a long and lamented absence from hip-hop, one that inspired conspiracy theories and rumors of his death (as well as the crucial In Search of... Divine Styler fanzine), his return is important and begs the question: What Does the Return of Divine Styler Mean?

1. We can go back measuring the passing of time by "years since Ronald Reagan's death."
2. He's probably finished working on Pac's record in Cuba.
3. We will have to find someone else to be Editor-In-Chief of Pitchfork dot com.
4. We finally have something to talk about with our older friends who haven't listened to new hip-hop since 1999.
5. We have an hour and eighteen minutes of fresh joy in this shithole of a world.
6. Going by the Divine Styler/Sleater-Kinney "hiatus-math" calculator, we are probably about eleven months out from a full-fledged Fugazi reunion.

In 2014, we should consider it a minor miracle when a grindcore or death/black metal band can manage to strike us as provocative; it's all too rare. Cretin manages just that on their new sophomore album Stranger. On songs such as "Ghost of Teeth and Hair", bassist and principal lyricist Matthew Widener (County Medical Examiners, Liberteer, Citizen, Exhumed) elevates metal's prurient fixations with body horror to unprecedented heights of genuine tragedy.

"Teeth and Hair", a story about a childlike, developmentally arrested character born with remnants of a chimera in its brain, might be the first heartbreaking grindcore song. Goaded by the presence of this lost twin, the song's protagonist (whose gender Widener intentionally doesn't specify) resolves to return the twin's remains to their rightful "home": back inside the skull from which they were once surgically removed. The climax involves a kitchen knife, glue, and blood. It doesn't end well, but Widener illustrates the scene with a poignant touch that renders the song gruesome, horrifying, and strangely beautiful.

Following along on first listen, the song can actually induce a feeling of lightheadedness to match the main character's descent from consciousness described in its final verse, as frontwoman Marissa Martinez-Hoadley howls the lines "Now we sleep... whole again... now we... sleep... now... we...", suggesting a resolution in death. Widener, an anarchist and former Marine, holds an MFA in creative writing and studied under Booker Prize-winning author James Kelman. Widener structured most of the album's prosaic lyrics as "flash fiction" with the intention that they be read from the CD booklet like a book.

On Stranger's predecessor, the band's unrelentingly hideous 2006 full-length debut Freakery, Widener and Martinez-Hoadley left nothing to the imagination. To say that Freakery delves into rape and sexual assault would be like saying that the movie Deliverance is about cultural differences between rural and urban populations in the American South. Freakery revels in highly fetishized depictions of incest, child abuse, abduction, sexual assault, coprophilia, extreme bondage, and even eroticized amputation.

Some context helps: By the time Cretin formed in Santa Cruz in 1992—on the day that Martinez-Hoadley and Widener started their sophomore year of high school, to be exact—heavy metal's arms race to be the most shocking, brootal band on the planet was already well under way. In fact, you could argue that the race was effectively over. On that final night of their summer vacation, the two lifelong best friends road-tripped through the Santa Cruz mountains to attend their first death metal concert: Obituary, Agnostic Front, Cannibal Corpse, and Malevolent Creation at the One Step Beyond in Santa Clara, four blocks from where Widener lives now.

We can argue over whether Cannibal Corpse's "Entrails Ripped from a Virgin's Cunt" was more disgusting than Mayhem's Euronymous using pictures of bandmate Dead's self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head for an album cover, but really that's just splitting hairs. From thence forth, metalheads have had little recourse but to shrug in desensitized boredom as band after band tries in vain to push the envelope, each one more desperate for attention than the last. When Freakery came along sounding like it had been recorded from inside a garbage can about twenty feet away from the band (that's a compliment), it was obvious that Martinez-Hoadley, Widener, and drummer Col Jones (Exhumed, Repulsion) were aiming for death/grind classics like Repulsion's Horrified and Carcass's Symphonies of Sickness. Here were three adults recapturing youth by following a well-established tradition of getting their kicks using the female body as a canvas for demented projections and violent fantasy. In metal, 'just trying to be offensive' has often been shorthanded with 'your body is my province to defile,' which, in turn, often gets dismissed as harmless, sophomoric goofing.

Except that there was more going on in Cretin's case. Freakery is loaded with clever limerick verses that pick up from where Carcass's sense of humor left off. Next, the rape victims aren't exclusively female. And finally, there was the fact that Martinez-Hoadley's long-simmering gender dysphoria permeated songs like "Daddy's Little Girl", "Object of Utility" and "Uni-Tit", all of which, she freely admits now, gave voice to fantasies she'd harbored before her transition. Thus, in retrospect, Freakery serves as a pivotal moment in the heavy metal timeline where the rampant violence of its male gaze turned inward as one of its proponents turned out to identify as the female in the crosshairs of that gaze.

Widener, who penned all the lyrics this time, never explicitly references his bandmate's transition on the new album, but it doesn't take long to spot parallels in Stranger's recurring manifestations of "other" figures that grow out of the self. He also shies away from the sexual assault scenarios that would justifiably call for trigger warnings had Freakery been released today. (Where so many metal acts typically get coy, defensive, and huffy when discussing the subject matter they've put so much effort into trolling us with, Widener and Martinez-Hoadley don't evade tough questions and flat-out admit that even they feel offended by some of their old lyrics.) Still, coprophilia, sexual compulsion, and horror are quite well represented on this new crop of songs. Which is part of what makes Cretin so tantalizing—even necessary—as we come to terms with new definitions of gender: As poster-children for paving a path for trans and gender non-conforming participation in metal, Martinez-Hoadley and Widener have doggedly managed to preserve the ugliness of their art.

Perhaps that's as it should be: While Cretin and peers like Pig Destroyer, Fuck the Facts, Antigama, and Pyrrhon breathe new life into metal's aesthetic potential, real life is still messy; gender and misogyny intersect with the music that Martinez-Hoadley and Widener still love. To their credit, they haven't necessarily made this conversation easier with Stranger so much as they've made it impossible to ignore. Do women even belong in extreme metal? It's an absurd question—but one that Martinez-Hoadley felt compelled to ask herself at the start of her journey into transition. If anything, its unflinching look into a wide spectrum of sexual pathology and gender confusion leaves us with clues that only lead to more clues rather than answers.

Shake Appeal is a column that highlights new garage and garage-adjacent releases. To celebrate the end of the year, Evan Minsker has once again asked some of his favorite artists to share their "Best of 2014" lists, including Nots, Meatbodies, Ausmuteants, Obnox, the Coathangers, Golden Pelicans, Useless Eaters, the Hussy, OBN IIIs, and so many more. Enjoy.

Photo by Geoffrey Brent Shrewsbury

Nots

* Seeing Kill The Hippies at Now That's Class in Cleveland, OH
* Breaking down on the Jersey Turnpike and then killing time in a mall in New Brunswick while our van gets fixed
* Playing New York for the first time at Death By Audio's second to last show ever. Arriving 15 minutes late for our set and walking onto the stage in front of a room full of people and having to play immediately.
* Clearing the room at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn DJing all of our punk 45s
* Seeing the band Solid Attitude in a basement in Minneapolis called Shit Biscuit
* Eating soups with Timmy Vulgar at Polish Village in Hamtramack
* Breaking down on the highway in Indiana and still getting breathalyzed (WTF)
* Listening to Can and driving through winter wonderland USA

Ausmuteants

Big Zit: 7”
The best hardcore I’ve seen live. The 7” is great. IT’S BIG ZIT PLAYA, BIG ZIIIT.

Unpeople: tape
A happy hardcore that I can get into.

Giorgio Murderer: Primitive World
Rob, Sarah, Pit Pat, Bean and Mitsy are a great family. Giorgio cooks a great Mac & Cheese. RECCOMMENDED.

Power: tape
Excellent drumming. Mean riffs. For fans of Coloured Balls and Motorhead.

Total Control: Typical System
The bass line in "The Ferrymen" is out of control.

Lumpy & The Dumpers: Collection
My favourite band with my favourite people. My buddy Dan Woodboot thought the lyrics to Future were DEMON SEMEN.

Cool Bands #2: cassette
I want this goddamn tape more than anything. I will happily pay $2000 out of my own pocket to press it on LP. It is the best collection of hardcore/punk/weird stuff I have heard.

Waterfall Person
Waterfall Person has three keyboards. Waterfall Person uses one keyboard at a time. Waterfall Person appreciates dogs. Waterfall Person has dance competitions. Waterfall Person wins dance competitions.

Botox: tape
Adelaide synth punk banger. These guys were great live too. I heard the synth player makes a living from Magic Cards. Not sure if my mate was taking the piss?

Orb: cassette
The finest Geeong has to offer. For fans of Pentegram / Sleep / Tempo changes / Astonishing Complex songs that manage to still sound semi-simple.

MUSK

Rob is the only one of us who really listens to a lot of new music. Except Life Stinks, whom we all love live and on record. 

Rob

Hank Wood & The Hammerheads (live): The most insane energy I've witnessed between a band and their crowd in ages. Imagine dirt-dwelling, sub-basement punks tackling Eric Burdon-era WAR or something. A nearly naked loon battering about a cocktail drum kit, armed with an overabundance of cowbells. Keyboards played by a long hair - draped in the oldest "living" Screamers shirt - throttling  like a bobble-head, not giving two fucks for his personal safety. Add to this the set-on-bludgeon perfection of the rhythm section playing opposite the cleanest cut guitarist of all of the NYC sewer rats, showing off his Ward Dotson hard-on. INTENSE.

Freak Vibe (live): No one on this coast impressed me more this year. Another set of basement punks branching out into uncharted territory. Hardcore kids getting itchy in their tight, torn denim and throwing up a Cramps/U-Men/Aussie thug hybrid. Fronted by the grossest weird-oh imaginable and a guitarist with only two modes; hunched, lumbering and tripping over his pedals or swinging the shit over his head like a toddler in a pudding tantrum. Again, the rhythm section tethers everything in place so the scree can set about, free range. The bass can be incredibly elaborate for what seems so neanderthal and the drummer is honestly trying to jackhammer his kit through a solid concrete floor. Worthy of all praise.

Chris

Carlos Guitarlos (live)
OBNOX (live)
Hornss: No Blood, No Sympathy

John

Freeman LP

Brendan

Civil Union (live/tape)
Flesh Eaters: A Minute to Pray a Second to Die reissue
Sleater-Kinney reissues

Photo by Josh Miller

Trampoline Team

Best Record: I GET MYNZE S/T 7". COLDER THAN A FREEZER, COOLER THAN A FAN. All the best stuff comes from Kalamazoo.

Best Track: A tie. Mac Blackout Band's "Black Knight", which was technically released in 2012 but is included on this year's self-titled full length. Ausmuteants' "Freedom of Information" off their new LP Order of Operation. Ausmuteants should also be mentioned in the Best New Australian Friends category.

Best Live Show: Dummy Dumpster. Anytime. Anywhere.

Best Invention: Quintron's Weather Warlock

Best Triple 6 Mafia Show: Mobile, AL with Gary Wrong Group for the 15 minutes before the cops shut it down.

Best Gonerfest Set: King Brothers

Best Print Zine: Rubberneck (RIP)

Best Live Cover: Die Rotzz (with guest vocalist Buck Biloxi) - "Bite It, You Scum"

Best Tshirt: Eat To Survive (Jeff Mahannah) 2 Live Crew Bootleg Bort Shirt

Best Dollar Bin Record Find of the Year: Teenage Rejects - Don't Care About Anything 7"

Photo by Denee Petracek

Meatbodies

So when you're on the road a lot with nothing to do but cascade through the caverns inside the vortex of your own brain, or otherwise known as being a big, hairy, dorky man. You'll try to fill up your cavernous hole with useless knowledge that only can be awkwardly talked about at some crazy rager when you've stopped thinking of witty things to say. Yeah, I like to read Wikipedias. A lot. Here's my favorite wikis I've read this year on the road.

5. FRED DURST
It was kind of a tie between mentioning the Fred Durst Wikipedia, or the Anthony Kiedis Wikipedia, but since Fred and his  gang of bizkits helped shape my individuality as a young boy.  I gotta give it up to my boy FRED. One of my favorite parts is where they talk about Fred getting caught posing as the bands manager, pre email days. Haha cool.

4. SHAGGY (MUSICIAN) 
Who is Shaggy? Where is Shaggy from? How much money did Shaggy make from his first album? How about 6x PLATINUM! So probably some, possibly a lot. Also, did you know, the shagmon was in the military? Probably not. Yeah, it's tight. Check it out, dogg.

3. THE OFFSPRING 
Remember when the Offspring ruled the world for a year? Or like was on KROQ a lot until 2005? Yeah, that was cool, but so is this epic tale on Wikipedia! 

2. BATMAN FOREVER
So, when your in a van and your whole band decides to take a bunch of edibles, you know everyday stuff, be sure to read--out loud--every entry about the Batman movie franchise. Especially the Batman Forever Wikipedia, it's great! Juicy stories of how Joel Schumacher had to pick up the pieces from the previous director (stink boy Tim Burton) and a young hunky Val Kilmer was cast after a viewing of Tombstone, but ultimately hated by the crew, or favorite part Michael Jackson "lobbying hard" for the role of the Riddler. And cherry on top: "Kiss From A Rose." SEAL, BRO!

1. KEANU REEVES 
AND MY ALL TIME FAVORITE WIKIPEDIA--OF THIS THIS YEAR--GOES TO BUFF MOVIE STAR GOD KEANU REEVES! His Wikipedia entry is great and also, just as a statement: Keanu, I think you're a rad guy you should come by Mt. Washington some time I got a cool house, pretty good view, let's hang. Consider this a formal offer. Why am I saying such strange things? Because Keanu rules, that's why! Go read his fantastic Wikipedia, and see for yourself. It's got ups and downs, family drama, Keanu's breakthrough, his alt grunge band Dogstar (if truly adventurous click the Dogstar link). The stone cold highlight is his refusal to participate in Speed 2, even though offered $11 million US dollars so he could star in an onstage performance of Hamlet and tour with his band. 

Morgan Delt

Some of my favorite shows I saw this year in alphabetical order:

The Abigails
Dagha Bloom
The Groms
Hott MT
Jeffertiti’s Nile
Joel Jerome
Meatbodies
Mr. Elevator & The Brain Hotel
Doug Tuttle
Vinyl Williams

Buck Biloxi/Giorgio Murderer

Here are ten of my favorite records of 2014 in no particular order except the best one is last.

Golden Pelicans LP
Solid band. Bass player kind of looks like John Cena. I would describe this record as good.

Achtungs – Full Of Hate 7”
Why is the titular song on the 7” but not on the LP that it also epononymously titillates Rules.

Coneheads – Total Conetrol Cassette
Just got turned on to this. Wow. If you played this in your car I bet you could run over several kids before you started to feel bad about it because it would just be such a rush.

Nots – Fix 7”
The last thing they released as a 3-piece I think. Recorded by the dude from the Sheiks that wears all the Hawaiian shirts. Sounds raw like a real human being recorded it, not some robot. I personally wish their upcoming LP had a rawer sound like this, but I’m afraid to get a professional haircut so what do I know.

The Man – Carousel of Sound 7”
I think these guys are Marxists who dress up in business suits sometimes and make some kind of critique about how work sucks. Good tone on this record.

Generacion Suicida – Todo Termina LP
Kind of sounds like Masshysteri. Somebody from Rayos X is in this band I think. This record seems generally faster than their previous stuff. Sounds like somebody got paid to record this. Still good anyway.

No Bails LP
Rules.

Ausmuteants – Split Personalities LP
Reissue of the 2012 cassette. Good record.

Mac Blackout Band LP
I was listening to this on a CDR a lot in 2013 and was glad that it was released on a record.

Giorgio Murderer – Primitive World 7”
Just try to make a better record than this one, I fucking dare you. 

The Hussy's Bobby Hussy

Damaged Bug: Hubba Bubba (Castle Face)
John Dwyer is at it again…and this time he’s morphed himself into an analog synth manipulating monster. Far out keyboard tones with John’s patented vocal delivery hooking you in after each listen. Highly recommended weirdness from the garage rock titan.

Nots: We Are Nots (Goner)
Nots are Memphis’ hottest band! I didn’t think this band could get better after the incredible “Dust Red” 7” but adding a synth player really filled out their sound. The LP is a dissonant reminder that synth punk is not dead. Live they’re a ball of hiss and noise with Natalie writhing around like the wild woman she is. Luckily, I’ve caught em live four times this year, and been able to share the stage with them three of those times.

The Clean: Anthology Box Set (Merge)
Probably the greatest indie band ever. No further description is needed.

Obnox: Louder Space (12XU)
Bim is on a roll! This is unique fuzzed-out hip hop influenced garage. As weird as that genre mix sounds on print it somehow works on record. Obnox is even more spectacular live where Bim is joined by The Hussy’s old friend, Roseanna Safos, who happens to be Cleveland’s best and hardest hitting drummer in my opinion. Live this band is absolutely my favorite two-piece in the world.

Trin Tran: Far Reaches EP (Castle Face)
Madison’s premier weirdo (and our best kept secret for a slew of years,) Steve Coombs is finally getting his due via John Dwyer’s Castle Face Records and Ty Segall’s God? Records. He started as one-man synth garage that semi-recently moved into full band sonic synth territory for half of the year (with Steve’s son joining him on guitar, Ricky Riemer who recorded the first Hussy 7” on drums, and Golden Donna’s Joel Shanahan on synth). Even more recently he’s shifted the band back into more minimal territory. Essential far out Midwest listening.

The Hussy's Heather Hussy:

Austmuteants: Order Of Operation (Goner/Aarght)
The Hussy had the chance to play Australia this last September, and Austmuteants were the #1 band I was most excited to play with. This is their newest full length, out now on Goner. This whole record kicks major ass. Favorite tracks for me are “Freedom of Information” and “Felix Tried To Kill Himself”. A+ record.

School Damage: “Break Up” 7” (Detonic)
Melbourne band with ties to Austmuteants. Great 7”, pounding drums and skuzzy guitars with synth. A-Side’s “Sick Of You” and “Butt Hurt” are my jams.

Pronto: “When You’re Gone” (Off The Hip) 
These guys and gal are fantastic! I love their music. TRotal energy. Buy this record. Loved the tracks “Kiss Riff” and “Call You Up”. CD and Cassette.

Wet Blankets: “Dieter Caught My Bus” 7” (Goodbye Boozy)
Zane Gardner is going to take over the world! Great 7”, really glad we got to play with them. Nothing but hits, from Geelong.

Black Planet: “Female Hysteria” (Let’s Pretend) 
This is the only US band entry to make my list. This cassette slays and I can’t wait to hear more. Features Jerri from Tweens. I wish I could write a song as good as “Creep”. Get this now, you will not regret it!

Sick Thoughts

10 Getting a new lineup for Sick Thoughts
The lineup was falling apart this summer of sick thoughts. I enlisted an entirely new band and we're playing the best we've ever. i also get to play with my best friends that are in the best baltimore bands

09 Gonerfest 11
Playing and attending gonerfest 11 was my highlight of playing shows. Got to play a set with two of my good friends from down south. Saw great bands play too, of course. Weather Warlock stole the show

8 NWI
Ooze, Glov, Hot Beef, The Coneheads, Big Zit, Public Assault, my order of favorites. such good records and bands. Tryin to get them to play in Baltimore!

7 St. Louis / Spotted Race
Black Panties, Cal and the calories, Lumpy And the Dumpers, Q all that shit. another group of people writing absolutely great music

6 Foster Care
best band in NYC hands down. didn't release a record in 2014 but their LP overshadows all of the stuff thats getting hyped now

5 Blazing Eye 7 inch
LA punk lives. the only west coast band that matters

4 Raspberry Bulbs Privacy
I appreciate Bone Awl and all the stuff in the 'blackened' punk style but it was just never interesting enough for me. this LP and last years are played almost everyday.

3 The Leatherlickers demo tape
the Best demo of 2014! please record a full length!!!!!

2 Gas Rag Beats Off
RIP GAS RAG. COME BACK

1 Inmates LP
Cleveland pumps out the best music and everyone knows it. THE best LP of 2014 said and done. 

Wand

1. Gag Live at Gag House  >
2. Thou-Heathen (See "VI")  ^
3. Annie Eversz 2014 +
4. Gold Lake - Psylocibin - Deschutes National Forest =
5. Hollow Sunshine - Cold Truth 7 Inch ^
6. Ty Segall Band Live across USA  = + >
7. Vexx Live @ La Cita >
8. Lobster @ Newport Seafood, San Gabriel, CA.  #
9. Burden of Dreams (See "k")  ~
10. Thing Music-Anthony Mccann *

a. Diamond Dogs-David Bowie ^
b. Moil Live @ Super Chief >
c. Shade-Pipedream ^
d. Live at Complex >
e. Aaron Dilloway @ Globos >
f. True Detective (see "v") !
g. Hair on a bike =
h. Fixer of all wires, lover of Jeopardy. +
i. Charles (see "vii") -
j. World Rage Center July 5th 2014 [w/ Wild Moth, Birthday Girl] (see "ix") //
k. Les Blank :( +

i. Spokenest 2014 //
ii. Gun Outfit - Hard Coming Down ^
iii. Timeghost - Cellular (see "d") ^
iv. Bob Marshall (see "h") +
v. Episode 4 !
vi. Live in a living room. >
vii. "Couch Eater" -
viii. Chris Woodhouse (see "g") + (or) -
ix. that was a fun show =
x. Dustin Wong & Takako Minekawa live @ Pehr Space. >

key:

* book
~ film
+ person
- dog
^ record
> Live Show
= Life event
# Food
! TV
// Band

Photo by Renate Winter

OBN IIIs

1. Opening for the Dictators at the Hozac Blackout in Chicago with A Giant Dog (and seeing them 'taters play twice)
2. The Empty Bottle
3. Burning one with Bim (Lamont Thomas) from OBNOX and Eric Big Arm on the stage behind the drummer while the Gizmos played at Goner Fest 11.... then when Bim played drums on a song with them, incredible!
4. Recording the Blaxxx LP (For No Apparent Reason) with Bim and Tom Triplett (lead guitar OBN III's) on the last night of SXSW in a total haze...
5. Recording Tom's band, Snooty Garbagemen, having not heard them at all beforehand, having no idea how it will sound except loud and being quite pleased with the results.
6. Golden Pelicans first album on Total Punk
7. Golden Pelicans performing all of AC/DC's Powerage album in Jacksonville
8. Bad Sports tour with Radioactivity in June/July
9. Getting my own place
10. Ex-Cult at Murphy's in Memphis

The Blind Shake

- Chris Woodhouse. He's an amazing engineer who has made most of our favorite records. This year alone he did Wand, Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall.
- Playing with Rocket from the Crypt at the sled island music festival in Calgary. They killed it at olympic plaza on no sleep at one of the best festivals in North America.
- Coachwhips. We never thought we would get to see one of our favorite bands live but it happened. Dwyer is an animal.
- Australian takeover. Seems like every time you turn around there is a new Australian band giving you the what for. These guys know how to turn an amp up to the ten.
- WFMU. They educate, inspire and promote all of the current d.i.y artists. Many of their on air recordings are the best way to discover your new favorite band.
- Gonerfest. Just go.

Cool Runnings

The Memories - Hot Afternoon. Solid gold hits from the best dudes in LA.
The Admiral. Tough as fuck two piece from Auckland, New Zealand.
Andy Stott - "Violence"
No Parents. Played with them at the Studio G grand opening. Favorite band right now.
KCB (Kerosene Comic Book). Thank you for the 420 mixtapes.
Scott and Charlene's Wedding and Ausmuteants at Gonerfest.
Brandon Westgate for SOTY.
R.I.P. Robin Williams. 

Warm Soda's Matthew Melton

Top five 45s of all time:

Captain Groovy and His Bubblegum Army: Self Titled (1969)
This band was a studio project constructed by bubblegum music kings Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz, who were also the masterminds behind the Ohio Express, the 1910 Fruitgum Company and the Music Explosion. They released one 45 (‘Captain Groovy And His Bubble Gum Army’ b/w ‘Dark Part Of My Mind, Part 1′) on the Super K label in 1969. Joey Levine, lead singer of the Ohio Express, provides vocals on the record, which was originally intended to be the soundtrack to a cartoon series titled ‘Captain Groovy And His Bubble Gum Army’, but it never got off the ground.

Boston Boppers: Did You Get (1974)
The only release (as far as I can tell) from UK Boson Boppers.  Kitchy and cool glam stomper gem essential for any rock n roll DJ.  The single pictures the band in fur coats and ski goggles.

The Incredible Kidda Band: I Want You (1978)
The Incredible Kidda Band was an incredible band from the UK that had a unique sincerity to their songs.  "I Want You" has got to be one of the best heartfelt slow jams ever recorded.  Spin this record towards the end of the night and sparks will be flying. 

Iron Virgin: Rebels Rule (1974)
Iron Virgin was a Scottish glam rock band formed in 1972. Their early stage garb looking like A Clockwork Orange outfits and later their stage costumes looked like American football uniforms with added iron chastity belts. Their first single was "Jet", a Paul McCartney cover. Their second single was "Rebels Rule", from their 1974 album of the same name. The song has been described as "A brilliantly bombastic ode to teenage anarchy; the single's commercial failure is one of the great mysteries of its era".

Plod: Neo City (1975)
Plod were formed in May 1972 by Colchester Musician Steve Greenfield. There's no song quite like this one. It falls into the junk shop glam category but has almost a prog rock vibe to it or something. The single pictures the wind blown band standing victorious in the wake of their neo-utopian anthem.

Photo of Mickey, 11/22/2014 at Flowershop, Chicago by Kevin Elens

Mac Blackout

Nones: Midwestern Family Values (HoZac)
It took years for these guys to put out an LP... One of my favorite new records. A Chicago classic!

UFUX
Ilth from Daily Void put together this new band with members of Pelts, Red Denizen, and Hellkite. One of the best bands in Chicago. They have a record 7" coming out soon on Jeth-Row Records

MAMA
A true diamond from the Chicago streets! Heavy driving raw power pop with rippin' leads. The current soundtrack to every windy city rocker's wild night! Look for records soon. For now tapes from the band and online EPs.

Nots
Saw these Memphis girls for the first time at Goner Fest 2013 and was super impressed! They added synth this year which really set it off. Don't Sleep! Get the new LP—We Are Nots was just released on Goner.

Manateees
Another Memphis terror! One of my favorites! Great to play shows with them on this summer's MBB LP release tour. Check out their new LP Sit N Spin on Pelican Pow Wow Records

Mickey reunion
After three years Mickey is back! Chicago has changed a lot in 3 years, most of the kids in the scene hadn't even seen Mickey during the 2009-2011 reign of terror. Crazy but true...which makes it so much more of a blast to do it again. Be looking for five new songs in early 2015!

Pelican Pow Wow's Pow Wow
Thanks to Pelican Pow Wow and all the New Orleans bands for putting on a sick 4th of Julyfestival/MBB LP release. Pelican Pow Wow is truly putting out the best records and the best current bands. Our rock n roll family!

The Chicago scene
The scene in Chicago is strong and forever changing. 2014 was a blast! Killer DIY spots like Animal Kingdom (RIP), Wally World, Flower Shop, Bric A Brac Records. Tons of great bands! Negative Scanner, Coldies, Le Tour, Hollow Mountain, Flesh Panthers, and Sueves play killer shows regularly. With new bands like UFUX and MAMA in town 2015 is sure to rip!

Photo by Dillon Donovan

Useless Eaters

Komplikations: I played with these guys in Tournai, Belgium while on tour with POW!. One of the best bands I saw all year.
Nun - S/T
Ex-Cult: These are my boys! Chris and I got our start together scumming around Memphis.
Nots: More MEMPHIS PUNK!
VIAL: Best band in L.A.?
P.U.F.F.: Deutsh band from Berlin. 
Total Control - Typical System
Freddie Gibbs and Madlib - Piñata 
Wiley - Snakes and Ladders
Damaged Bug - Hubba Bubba

Heavy Lids

Die Rotzz: You're Black and Blue 
Best punk band in New Orleans that all the "punks" never go see.

Devo: Hardcore Volumes reissue
Never leaves my turntable.

Sluts: 12"s of Sluts 
A piece of New Orleans rock-n-roll history.

Mac Blackout Band's MBB 
Sounds like a post apocalyptic '80s movie soundtrack which was pretty much my childhood.

Quintron's Spellcaster 2: Death in Space 
Q rules for those who don't get it, you dumb.

Buck Biloxi and the Fucks: Culture Demanufacturer
Act like you know.

Golden Pelicans' Golden Pelicans 
Their show at Saturn Bar during Pelican Pow Wow Pow Wow Weekend blew me away.

Manatees' Sit-n-Spin 
Viking vomit from my favorite band in Memphis.

Gary Wrong Group - Floods of Fire 12" bootleg
Gary can do no wrong.

Nick Turner's Hawkwind live @ Siberia NOLA
Don't care what version of Hawkwind this was, great show.

Photo by Sarah Lim

Ghetto Ghouls

Baus - Idol Minds
We played with these guys & gal in Sacramento and I was instantly hooked.

Display - Display EP
Saw these guys in Seattle and was floored. Even though this EP came out in 2003, they just started playing again after 10+ years and started writing new stuff. Excited to see what their future holds.

The Rebel - K R O T
I'm a huge Country Teasers fan and when I heard we were going to be playing some shows with Ben's solo thing The Rebel I just about pissed myself. Our drum player, Ian, also recorded this one. It's definitely one of his more accessible things if you're into that.

Spray Paint - Clean Blood, Regular Acid
Another one Ian recorded. These guys are fucking great and if you don't think so then you're wrong.

Sex Jams @ some warehouse in Birmingham
REALLY strange show. SJ got there late because they went on a gator tour in New Orleans earlier that day, so they borrowed some gear from the first band. During their first song, someone's mom stopped the show and threatened to take her kids drums they were using unless they traded merch. After that, Sex Jams completely killed it. I guess Mom really wanted that t-shirt of the executioner getting a BJ from a decapitated head.

Burnt Skull @ Beerland.
Doesn't matter which time because they always blow the PA.

Xetas @ Beerland.
This was the one where Kana relearned her bass parts on synth because she nearly cut off her finger the week before.

The Gooch Palms' Leroy Macqueen

Straight Arrows - Rising
These guys are awesome and this record is really killer. And I'm not just saying that cause they're our good buddies! Best band in Australia!

Protomartyr - Under Color of Official Right
At my work I'm allowed to play what ever music I like and I realised this record was really good when I'd played it on repeat for 8 hours straight!!! Found out about these guys back when they had some releases out on Urinal Cake Records, who will be putting out our next 7".  Good label, good band!

Taco Cat - NVM
This was the soundtrack to our recent, cherry-popping US tour. The CD stayed in the CD player of the car for 6 weeks and got us through some good times, some hard times and long hours of driving. Such good songs and now I wish I could surf the crimson wave!

The Bugs - The Right Time
Love this record. It's simple and the lyrics are so good. Best porch drinken' beer record of the year!

Real Numbers - What Was & What Is
So catchy, so good, so cute, so badass. Love these guys. Wanna smoosh them up into a little ball and eat them! One of my fav bands of all time!!!

King Tuff - Black Moon Spell
This record reminds me of the happy days of my childhood spent standing in front of the mirror shredding on air guitar.

The Lemons and Teen Spirits Split EP
We got given this 7" from Chris from The Lemons in Chicago. I have one major problem with it, IT SHOULD GO FOREVER!!! I'll just have to deal with listening to it on repeat!

Meatbodies - Meatbodies
Just recently started listening to this one and I'm already hooked! Will most likely be the soundtrack to the summer!!! Oh, it's summer here in Australia suckers!!!

AJ Davila

1. Freddie Gibbs and Madlib ft. Danny Brown - "High"
2. SZA ft. Chance the Rapper - "Child´s Play"
3. Angel Olsen - "White Fire"
4. Scott Walker & Sunn O))) - "Bull"
5. Earth - "From The Zodiacal Light"
6. Las Robertas - "Seconds Away"
7. Together Pangea- "Badillac"
8. Mozes and The First Born - "I Got Skills"
9. T.I. ft. Young Thug- "About the Money"
10. Neneh Cherry - "Out of the Black"

Photo by Jeff Forney

The Coathangers

1. Our record came out in March! 
2. One of our favorite tours happened in April with the Black Lips. Best west coast tour!
3. Mastodon dressed as us in our video for "Follow Me," which still feels like a dream...
4. We also got to sing on "Aunt Lisa".
5. A few of our favorite albums of 2014 are:
Mastodon: Once More 'Round The Sun
The Black Lips: Underneath The Rainbow
The Growlers: Chinese Fountain 
6. Burger-a-go-go was one of our favorite shows we played this year!
7. We took a day off of tour in September to go to Disneyland with 2 of our best friends (Yasi and John) and it was magical!
8. Our favorite new band from Atlanta formed this year...Black Linen!
9. This year we had our first headlining European tour!
10. The best news of 2014: We are starting 2015 off with an Australian tour...we cannot wait!

Gino and the Goons

Gino 'The' Bambino:

AC/DC: Rock Or Bust
Coloured Balls: Ball Power
Gino and the Goons: Shake It!
Golden Pelicans: 12"
The Yolks: Kings Of Awesome!

Hugh T. Williams:

Beasts of Bourbon: 30 Years on Borrowed Time
James Williamson: Re-Licked
Golden Pelicans: 12 inch
Chris Barrows: Human Being
Los Diablos Blancos
And watching dvds of curb your enthusiam

Allen Mandlebass:

1. Dreams
2. Free e-cigarette coupons via mail.
3. Songs
4. Kozy Shack chocolate pudding
5. No sleep

Photo by Marty Perez

Apache Dropout

Roger Corman, Bloomington, Indiana, April 18th
Got blazed and went to see Wild Angels. If seeing this 35 mm on the big screen wasn't enough, the B-Movie king was in the audience! He even stuck around and told some hair-raising tales of dealing with the Hell's Angels in the sixties.

Thee Tsunamis on Chic A Go Go.  Chicago, IL May 24
Even though Thee Tsunamis had the guitars ripped off in the Windy City the night previous. Certainly one of the most Gonzo Sid & Marty Kroft inspired performances on tee-vee in years.

Gizmos (1976 line-up) Bloomington, Indiana, June 12
This was the band’s first reunion and the third show ever for these proto –punk pranksters. The energy in the air was insane. The room was loaded to the gills. A religious experience for the true believers of Bored Midwestern Scuzz Punk.

Danny & the Darleans, Bloomington, Indiana. August 7
After close to two years of pleading, Danny and the Darleans agreed to pile into the station wagon and play their second ever out of state show in Bloomington, Indiana. For one night we all felt like kids given the key to the candy store.

Super Monster Movie Fest, Skyline Drive-In, Shelbyville, IN August 22
Dared ourselves to spend the entire night at the drive-in watching monster movies. Can you believe we made it out alive? And we only spent $30 on candy from the snack bar.

Kid Congo Powers & the Pink Monkey Birds / Cheater Slicks, Indianapolis Sept 12
Learned a whole mess from these trash gurus of garage that night.  

Philadelphia, PA, Sept. 20 at Everybody Hits.  
The Night of the Shredders.  Philly is guitar town.  We jammed with Birds of Maya and Axis: Sova at a batting cage.  Got there in time to see the runts pop a few off before the freak scene took over and moved some serious air. Jaws dropped. Bonus: a serious weirdo record collector scene down the street, and hang time with Tracey Trance.

Louisville, KY Cropped Out, Sept. 27.  
The vibe was tangible - a real hillbilly scuzz rock riviera.  Ecstatic vibes and no hovering paranoia.   Finally experienced the magic that I've fantasized about over countless stoned viewings of Monterey Pop.  Counter Intuits, Obnox, Spray Paint, The Rebel, and Belgian Waffles were standouts from a stacked day.  Only bummer: we had to move on before Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra camp arrived.

Sir Deja Doog releasing his debut LP Love Coffin October 31
A bona fide artifact of the Indiana freak scene. Sonny Blood’s blood brother created an outrageous record in the style of Vincent Price / Bobby "Boris" Pickett / Screaming Lord Sutch. It’s got plenty of camp and is rocking enough to make for a pretty wild ride.  Aces wild.

The release of The Nevermores Lock Your Doors November 11
The Holy Grail of Indiana rock and roll finally made available to the world 23 years after it was recorded. The missing link between the Gizmos and Apache Dropout. This album was and continues to be a big influence on the Apache Dropout model of record making.

The Yolks

Juan Wauters @ SXSW - I caught his set on accident at SXSW and was blown away. Great songs, great album, great live show...my favorite dude right now.

Today's Hits - Sex Boys EP - Today's Hits is like a really clever boy's diary put to music. The songs are all simple, but smart. Can't wait to hear a full length in 2015.

Buck Biloxi and The Fucks - "I Ain't Going to Church" - Writing a punk song about not wanting to go to church is a good move and Buck Biloxi pulls it off nicely.

Parquet Courts - "Instant Disassembly" - This song is a one lick jam with off the cuff sounding lyrics and some sweet gang vocals. I put it on a mix and people ask me what it is every time it comes on. It's just one of those songs that works.

Pookie and the Poodlez @ The Brew House - Very tight. Amazing hair.

Thee Tsunamis 7" - Really dig Thee Tsunami's. They kinda remind me of The Husbands. I don't think they were trying to reinvent the wheel; they just all nailed their parts.

Negative Scanner 7" - Sort of edgier than Tyler Jon Tyler. The frantic, almost off rhythm, drumming works perfectly with Rebecca's guitar and vocals. Also, sweet bass lines.

Reigning Sound @ SXSW - They brought out a Hammond B3 and a Leslie and they blew my mind.  They are such a good band.

The Memories live and on record - The Memories have perfected the 1 minute pop song, and they continue to put out great records and tapes  and put on great shows.

Chicago - I'm not sure if many people outside of the city realize it, but we are really killing it in Chicago right now.  It seems like there's a good show every night, two on the weekends, great DIY spaces, and a ton of great bands and new labels that are putting them all out (notably Tall Pat Records and the rest of the Benevolent Order of Chicago Record Labels (BOCRL). 

Cellphone

1. Sleep: "The Clarity". Williams Street Records
I wasn't immediately sold on this track but after a couple listens the riff started to resonate as well as any classic Sleep song.

2. Bruce Haack: Electric Lucifer Book II. Telephone Explosion Records
I've been listening to Bruce Haack's troubled mind for years. Hearing it on vinyl really brought out a necessary level of sonic corruption. Telephone Explosion Records made a good move! 

3. S.H.I.T.: "Feeding Time". Static Shock Records
S.H.I.T. are a classically good smart hardcore band. No need for any explanation.

4. Soupcans: "Young and EZ". Bruised Tongue
This sludge metal jam provokes many ideas but I can't help but think about sitting on the bow of a small speeding motorboat while anxiously trying to sip a frosty Budweiser. Best sounding Soupcans recording to date.

5. Hag Face live in Toronto at the Smiling Buddha.
We played with this band at a small DIY venue a couple weeks prior and thought that they were great. Seeing them again on a stage with proper system really brought justice to their sound. One of Calgary's finest! 

6. High on Fire, free show in Toronto.
Watching a sober Matt Pike puff an E cig, drink bottled water, and stand comfortably in a fancy pair of cross trainers, really shed some light on the modern day mythology of the "Rock Star". One of the best Rock n’ Roll guts in the biz. The show was also really good! 

7. Black Sabbath live in Hamilton, Ontario.
Ozzy was wearing an incredible purple blouse and shouted the most positive stage banter of all time. These are not men, they are gods. You don't need to hear me say anything more about this, just see them if and whenever you can.

8. NXNE Summer Melt. Telephone Explosion/Pleasance Records Showcase.
This unofficial NXNE showcase went exceptionally well. Low pressure, good crowd, broken bones, every show should be like this one.

9. Death to T.O. Cellphone, Metallica Cover set.
Every Halloween Toronto has a massive cover show. We covered Metallica and the power kept cutting out but we still managed to play "Whiplash" twice!

10. Eating grilled cheese sandwiches and watching Altered States
I suggest this to anyone. Get up nice and early, grill up some cheese babies, and cue up that movie. You will be a better person afterwards! 

Zig Zags

1. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
We always listen to a lot of country music in the van but usually its old shit like Waylon or Billy Joe Shaver. Its always rad to hear good new stuff.

2. Long Knife - Meditations on Self Destruction
Sick as fuck.

3. Ukiah Drag - In the Reapers Quarters
Sick as Fuck in a different way.

4. Golden Pelicans - S/T
These dudes just play raw straight ahead punk. It's harder to pull off than it sounds

5.  Pampers, OBNIII's
Just played with both and both were rad.

6. Ex-Cult 
Great band and dudes and they put on a rad show every night

7. O'Death - Out of Hands We Go
Dark and Dirty Americana at its best. Like Waffle House.

8. Seeing Slayer three times
Was cool. The second time was on Halloween and after the show I went to another spot and Manatees were playing and I had no idea it was them and they were ruling.

9. Sleep at the Troubadour in LA.
Dane says "I found a hundred dollar bill on the ground and ate a weed goldfish and it was good, I don't know"

10. All the LA Bands and friends that put out rad shit or we played with.
Endless Bummer, Ty Segall, Shark Toys, The Shrine, Obliterations, The Oh Sees, Meatbodies. We're on tour watching "Cops" right now in Seattle so my fucking brain is fried, so I apologize if I can't think of any others.

Dasher (David Michaud and Robert Sarabia)

Best music '14:

Predator - "The Complete Earth" LP
Cottaging - "The Amyl Banshee" EP
Good Throb - "Fuck Off" LP
DIE - "Vexed" 7"
Lowlife - "Dogging" LP
Coneheads - "Out of Conetrol"  demo!!

'14 zines:

Droppings (Killer local zine by Scavenger of Death. Not strictly local, check it out!)

'14 shows:

House show in Atlanta with Hank Wood & the Hammerheads (ny), Crazy Spirit (ny), Manic (atl), Uniform (atl), Slugga (atl).

Blonde Redhead at Terminal West in West Atl. First time seeing them live. Pretty blown away by how loud and dynamic they were. Huge kick drum sound!!

Photo by Cáit Fahey

The #1s

Eddie:

Live set: S.H.I.T. at Static Shock Festival
One of the best live hardcore sets I've ever seen, got my head kicked in throughout, my friend Colin nearly had his ear torn off by a stagedivers boot, had to go to A&E and almost needed surgery. Most sets I saw that weekend were great, honorable mentions to Arms Race, Disguise, Good Throb and DiE.

Song: Primetime - "Tied Down"
Fairly obvious choice but it's a pisstake how catchy this song is. It buried itself into some corner of my brain the first time I heard it and I don't think I'll ever be rid of it, nor would I want to be. London's best drinkers.

Band: The Love Triangle
I can't remember if their LP is 2013 or 2014 but it's insane and they never disappoint live. Great people and possibly easily my favourite live band. We did some dates with them on our UK tour this Summer and they were amazing every night, I think they were halfway through their 6 month Euro tour at that point. I could watch Tim drum for hours on end, and maybe, some day, I will.

Seán

Live set: Fat White Family at Baby's All Right
I enjoyed the record but live it all comes together and makes sense. I went along not knowing what to expect and was blown away. The bassist lost his guitar strap and plec within the first five minutes and so for the next thirty minutes waved the bass around occasionally strumming the strings with his festival pass without missing a note.

LP: Reigning Sound - Shattered
Another brilliant record from Greg Cartwright - great songs well recorded. This is the first LP with The Jay Vons as Greg's backing band and there's definitely shades of their Cryptovision 7" from a few years ago audible here.

Tapes: Sissy tape/Faux Kings tape
Amazing debut tapes from two of Dublin's best new bands. Other great new music from Dublin this year: Exploding Eyes, September Girls, GMG.

Angie

I like reading books more than listening to music, so here is a list of my favourite books I read this year. If I picked records it would be the four B.A.L.L. Albums, in chronological order. (Ball, Period, Trouble Doll & Hardball.)

Ralph Leighton: Tuva or Bust
This (true) story relates the nobel-prize winning physicist Richard Feynman and two best friends attempts to reach to Tuva, a Russian subject in the geographic centre of Asia. Tuva's capital is spelt K-y-z-y-l, which is the main reason these guys want to go there, as they first learned during childhood as avid stamp collectors. So many good one liners, including “If Kyzyl is the USSR's Los Alamos, then the KGB will never believe that Richard Feynman wants to visit the place because of how its spelt!”

Chris Mikul: The Eccentropedia
A list and description of famous and not-so famous eccentrics throughout time. Favourites include Liberace, Gregory Perelman (A mathematician who repeatedly turned down fame, appointments and offers of $1 million for solving mathematical problems, with such responses as 'I've gone mushroom picking'!) and Sydney locals such as Alan Philip ('The UFO Man') and Ernest Ridding ('The Fridge Man')! Mikul is the editor of Bizzarism, one of Australia's longest running zines and its always exciting to read a new issue, with articles on mysteries, famous dictators, eccentrics and strange oddities.

Scott Herring: The Hoarders
This book was great as I got to read about all kinds of junk including Andy Warhol's. His apartment after his death resembles something similar to a luxury bomb site, with Picasso drawings alongside everyday trash and millions of cookie jars filled with garish diamonds, actual cookies and other ephemera! Other highlights include Edith Beale, and the Collyer brothers who also went down in history as interesting and unusual hoarders.

Roslyn D. Hayes: Desert
I loved reading about female travellers in the Middle East including Freya Stark and Gertrude Bell who were fluent in Arabic, Turkish and Persian and travelled all throughout Iraq, Yemen, Turkey and Syria in the Early 20th Centuries, often exploring areas not known to any Westeners. Australia's massive feral Camel population also got a mention, all 300,000 of them!

G.M. Feltus: The Unknown Man – A Suspicious Death at Somerton Beach
I love the true crime genre, but its hardly written about well. But the Taman Shud mystery or the Somerton man is one of my favourites, as one of Australia's longest running unsolved mysteries. Its so fascinating as it involves an unknown corpse, manner of death, literary references, possible cold war links, code cracking and more. Almost too weird to be true, but somehow it is.

Andy Merrifield: Guy Debord
Inspiring reading about my favourite revolutionary / recluse. Best quote: “I have tasted pleasures little known to people who have obeyed the unfortunate laws of this era”!

Radioactivity's Jeff Burke

The Clean - Anthology vinyl reissue (Merge)
4-LP Boxset of pop magic

Ausmuteants - Split Personalities LP (Saturno)
Early recordings of the Australian synth-punk outfit

S. E. Rogie - The Sounds of S. E. Rogie Vol. 1 (Mississippi/Domino Sound)
Great collection of tunes by a Sierra Leonean guitar legend

Kollaa Kestää ‎- Jäähyväiset Aseille reissue (Svart)
One of the killer early punk reissues from Finland's Svart Records

Peter Gutteridge - Pure vinyl reissue (540)
Double LP collection of 4-track recordings from one of New Zealand's greats

The Achtungs' Joni Ekman

1. Jukka Nousiainen - Huonoa seuraa cass/LP:
This was so good that I got bit depressed when I first listened to it. Now I'm okay. Sounds like something I've already heard but I still can't tell what it is. Genius stuff all the way through.

2. Ty Segall - Manipulator 2LP
I was really looking forward to this record after the bit disappointing Sleeper and Fuzz LPs so I was happy to find out that this was actually a really good record. I'm not even bothered that it's a double LP.

3. Jukka & Jytämimmit - Jytäkesä 014 tape
Great lo-fi heavy rock. They played one of their first(??) gigs in this ice hockey bar in Tampere. Really horrible place for a guy like me to hang out. There was 4 people watching and it was an awesome gig. I'm gonna cherish the memory for a long time.

4. Atom Mouth Gimlies/Lörsson split 7"
Really diggin' the Atom Mouth Gimlies side of this. Best tunes and best sounds so far. New A.M.G. 7-inch is out but I haven't received it while writing this. Lörsson side was something else.

5. Sick Thoughts - "I Got Hands" (from the 7" single)
I talked to Drew Owen and said that "I Got Hands" would be a great title for a song. Then he made a great rock'n'roll song that was called "I Got Hands". I'm so proud.

6. King Tuff - Black Moon Spell LP (tracks 2 to 5)
All the best songs coming in a row!! Kinda inspiring stuff.

7. The Coneheads - Canadian Cone cassette
My friend DJ Pete TNT recommended this band to me so I listened to it. Great mongoloid punk!!

8. Räjäyttäjät - Rock'n'roll painajainen LP
Räjäyttäjät have made a few LP's and tapes but this new one is the best one. There's actually good songs here! Some heavy stuff too which is great. A true Rock'n'Roll Nightmare! Thanks guys for letting me play a guitar solo on the record.

9. LiveFastDie - Hit Stains LP
I collected all the LFD 7-inches but I never listened to them so it's nice that they are now on one LP. I prefer LP's over singles.

10.  Giorgio Murderer - Primitive World 7"
Pretty much like listening to Buck Biloxi with a crappy synth. I love it.

Photo by Jackie Roman

Cuntz

Top five Australian cheeses

FIVE - Holy Goat 'Pandora' - Those willing to eat cheese a little outside of their comfort zone will find this delectable farmhouse cheese to be as unique as it is rewarding. A yummy reward for the mavericks out there...

FOUR - Bruny Island 'One' - You have never tasted cheese quite like this. A triumph of artisanal cheesemaking. The raw milk foundation really sets this apart from the competition. A calcium hit you won't soon forget.

THREE - Red Hill 'Mountain Goat Blue' - Sure, the bold and confronting nature of blue cheese has earned itself as many haters as fans over the years, but Cuntz have always enjoyed cheese with a bit of grunt. The Mountain Goat Blue is a total slam dunk for anyone who isn't afraid of real (cheese) flavour.

TWO - Lion Dairy ' Mil Lel Superior Parmesan' - No top 5 cheese list would be complete without this alarmingly flavoursome parmesan. A working class hero that isn't afraid to stand up and deliver the goods. Heroic, inspirational, and above all completely delicious.

ONE - Tongola 'Billy' - Some people might be surprised to find goat's cheese at the top of this list, but Cuntz are a modern and progressive band with a modern and progressive approach to cheese eating. With it's trademark creaminess, and a rind formation to die for, this truly is the swinging dick of Australian cheese.

Cretin Stompers' Billy Hayes

By far the best thing that happened to me in 2014 was moving from Memphis, Tennessee to the middle of the desert in Landers, California with my wife Margaret. She and I have been together since I was 19. I'm 29 now, we got married a year ago and have dreamed the entire relationship of making it to California. We were living next door to a terrifying meth lab in Memphis when Cretin Stompers recorded Looking Forward To Being Attacked. We felt constantly threatened, every day and night by some absurd. long goatee'd, satanic tweaker gang. Extreme child and spousal abuse took place 24 hours a day at that house, which took a huge mental toll on us (boohoo, right?). The cops did nothing to stop any of it (as usual). The huge meth lab was busted eventually by a task force, then condemned, then rented out without ever having been properly cleaned up, to an insane middle aged, disgruntled cowboy freak and his grandmother, whom he publicly abused.  

A few months later, when we were moving out, we discovered a large pile of used condoms in our yard, and blood spattered all over our house. All of this amounts to making Landers and California in general seem like a paradise, right in the middle of the High Desert. We are surrounded by mountains, on acres of land with no neighbors, and it's still the cheapest place we've ever had. I can record music 24 hours a day with very little bald, goatee'd cowboy meth fuckhead  interference. Margaret and I were both at the end of our ropes and just thank God that we are so far away from those haunted properties. Will always love and miss Memphis. Alex, Big Muff and I hope to have a new Cretin Stompers album out ASAP and I'm releasing some solo stuff in 2015 as well. Here are some of the albums that I thought were the best of 2014!  

Melt Banana - Fetch
Sonny Sharrock and Peter Brotzmann - Whatthefuckdoyouwant
Kikagaku Moyo - Forest Of Lost Children
Amps For Christ - Canyons, Cars and Crows
Matt Shipp - I've Been To Many Places
Khun Narin - Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band
Flying Lotus - You're Dead!
Lorelle Meets The Obsolete - Chambers
King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard - I'm In Your Mind Fuzz
Fushitsusha and Peter Brotzmann - Nothing Changes No One Can Change Anything, I Am Ever-Changing  Only You Can Change Yourself
Charles Gayle - Unto I Am (I know this album didn't even come out in this decade, but I just got it it and found out about Gayle this summer, so I just wanted to spread the word about a true genius and underrated artist. He got a lifetime achievement award this year!)

Deaf Wish

1. Personal Computer - Doris Norton 
Philosophical microscopic nerve system. High alert. Space probe. The Orion has returned. Consider the airlock.

2. Specialize in Love - Sharon Brown
Soulcrush visions, a Caribbean twilight. Slow twist and no shout. Big round moon and a beach. A nurse on the radio: "Let me work on you". Plum cocktail x 2.

3. Corridor of Dreams - Cleaners from Venus
Lizardman wanders down from an SF hill party. The road is wet, the chase for freedom brings a whole new prison. Bore on, wild Jesus, bore on.

4. When the Going is Smooth & Good - William Onyeabor 
Who doth poo-poo thy wish? Live through the pain and emerge life victor. You don't need teeth when you drink from the cup. Sweeping the roadside, laughing.

5. Mari - Martin Rev
Angelic robot weaving signals from the future. New York City overpass. Flickering view, floating bridge.

6. Neon Lights - Kraftwerk 
'Tronic sincerity. Watch the roof lower on the convertible. Watch me drive and suck on a sausage like a cigar. Sweet success. 

7. Be Mine Tonight - Th' Dudes
It helps to forget we are here. Nudes and motor oil, a can full of accidents. Notebook sore- it can wait.

8. Problem Child - AC/DC
Re-boot on tequila. Open drag, lotus one. When Bon Scott died he took something with him. Confer with Richard Stanley. Nods in agreeance and silent prayer.

9. Sing a Song - Earth, Wind & Fire 
Lafayette hospitality. Cracking abandon. Tighten up. Dance on sewer cap. Electric breeze, tight black dejours. Polar sunset.

10. I Hate Hate - Razzy Bailey
All the heartache and all of the sacrifice. The pain drips away and the good times remain. To Harvest Moon, with meaning. Thank you and thank you.

Feral Jenny

1) Ty Segall – Manipulator (and live show)
Waited for this record to come out for what felt like years in Ty Segall time. Finally saw him with White Fence and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard at a bar where my parents met 25+ years ago!

2) Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No Witness
“Stars” summons the angst and then “Unfucktheworld” lets the bad out. How I get out of bed every day knowing I’ll never wake up with a voice like Angel’s is still a mystery to me.

3) Thee Oh Sees – Drop
“King’s Nose” is ridiculous! So good. But then again everything Dwyer touches turns to gold.

4) Mac Demarco – Salad Days
Somehow I had never listened to Mac Demarco before Salad Days. This record is smooooth as butter. The chorus on “Treat Her Better” is hypnotic.

5) Ought – More Than Any Other Day
It’s like my top ten favorite bands of all time came back from the dead and started a band called Ought.

6) Nancy – (Get The) REVVUP 7”
Extreme love for these goonies. Dual mayors of Rock ‘n Roll, USA. Their S/T record from last year still blows my socks off.

7) Radiator Hospital – Torch Song (and live show)
I got to see Sam Cook-Parrott play a solo set in a historic armory building and it was crazy!

8) Trace Mountains – Buttery Sprouts
Sad and cutesy tunes. Shout out to the Silver Jews shout out on “I am extra natural."

9) Parquet Courts – Sunbathing Animal
Simple and straightforward punk goodness. And that’s what it’s all about.

10) Karen O - Crush Songs
Third Person Dating Profile: “When Karen’s not busy writing songs for Target commercials, she can be found crying over old crushes while lightly strumming her guitar.” It's all kinds of sad. 

Photo by Josh Miller

Golden Pelicans

Top 10 shows of our year

1. Hi-Tone Memphis, Tn. September 25 Goner.
Passed out Japanese ukulele guys, old chums, and bouncing champagne bottles.

2. Hexagon Bar, Minneapolis April 7th 
Dhalsim is back but Ken won the day at Street Fighter Turbo Championship Edition.

3. WFMU Cherry Blossom Clinic, Jersey City April 12th 
Delicious rye bread, you can't get stuff like this in Orlando. Terre T is the best.

4. The Earl East Atlanta Ga. April 26th Mess Around. 
The bill was so stacked. Booger Sugar from Miami was stoner as all get out.

5. Saturn Bar New Orleans La. July 4 Pelican Pow Wow 
Coconut Buzz Balls taste like suntan lotion. Some where there is an old picture of John Goodman and Nicolas Cage having cocktails in the 80's.

6. Will's Pub March 8 Total Punk Total Fuck Off Weekend 
What better than having your home town over ran with Yanks? Beer bongs, bahn mi, and blue rubber gloves.

7. Meltasia LaFayette Ga. September 8th 
Slept in other people's urine for three days

8. The Cave Chapel Hill Nc. September 23 
Wild eyed Monty and the gang of pukes that frequent said bar are a great bunch. every band should go there

9. Shanghai Nobby's St.Augustine Fl. November 14th 
We learned that Bible handball will sometimes wake up the sleeping prostitutes in the hotel room next door

10. The Nelson Mandela Room Boston Ma. April 11 
Don't wear your Tampa Bay Rays shirts around xkimberlyx. 

No Bails' Useless Eater

Top 10 bands of 2014 in alphabetical order that I have seen:

Ausmuteants
Bloody Show
Buck Biloxi and the Fucks
Giorgio Murderer
I Get Mynze
Legendary Wings
Lumpy & the Dumpers
Manateees
Obnox
Skype Pussy

Photo by Marty O'Connor

Obnox

In no order:

Cuntz 12" - Chunklet Industries
Spray Paint - Live at Cropped Out Fest in Louisville
Counter Intuits - Live at Horrible Fest in Cleveland
X-X lp - Ekto Records
Lumpy and the Dumpers 7" - Total Punk
Nots - Live at Goner Fest in Memphis
Real Regular S/T 12" - Sauce Pan Records
Bad Noids "Ebola Now For The Future" E.P. - Sauce Pan Records 
All Blood "The Kids Have No Taste" cassette - Self Released 
The Wayout Label (Eccentric Soul) - Numero Group
Gizmos - Live at the WCSB Masquerade Ball in Cleveland (sat in with em on Pumping to Playboy)

Spray Paint

1. Ben Wallers at Beerland Austin March 12 
2. Toured with Protomartyr and got to ride their coattails for 10 days. April 8-18 
3. Golden Pelicans in Cambridge and New Orleans.  April 11, 21
4. Dreamsalon and So Pitted Seattle Aug 8
5. Recorded with Chris Woodhouse Sacramento Aug 11-14
6. Male Gaze and Life Stinks San Francisco Aug 15
7. Container Los Angeles August 16
8. TOURED WITH BEN FUCKING WALLERS Sept 19-28 (including shows with Ghetto Ghouls, Institute, Running, Obnox, Urinals, Cropped Out, and Gonerfest). Insane!
9. First European tour. 33 shows. 9000+ miles. Impossible to summarize. Oct 2-Nov 7
10. Marshstepper Lisbon Nov 14

2014 Totals = Live: 87 shows in 66 cities/12 different countries. 
Recorded: 2 LPs (Monofonus Press, one of which is unreleased), 7" (Upset The Rhythm).

The Paperhead

1. Favorite Rediscovered Singalong: "St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast" - Frank Zappa
We used to listen to this in Walker's basement when we were in middle school, and we discovered recently that we could all remember every word in Apostrophe. Inspired me to get pancakes every morning on tour.

2. Worst Instrument of 2014: Cajon
This is a dad-drum box that you sit on

3. Worst Regret of 2014: An Olive Garden trip that turned out very wrong...

4. Best Regret of 2014: Cook-out (the fast food chain) opened two locations in Nashville. It's actually not a regret at all, it's great.

5. Best Unreleased Album of 2014: Savoy Motel's Savoy Motel. Great new band that will come out soon.

6. Second Favorite Ken Price Painting:"Narrow Passage"
We found this amazing artist's work earlier this year and were immediately attracted to his style. This is the painting that originally drew us to him. We ended up graciously being allowed to use one for our album cover.

7. Best Museum Visit 2014: Mass MoCA - Sol LeWitt Exhibit. We had a full week retreat in Bennington, Vermont, with our friends D Watusi and stopped by this mind blowing setup in a nearby corner of Massachusetts.

8. Favorite Record of 2014: Total Control - Typical System.
Eddy Current Suppression Ring's album Primary Colors has been a big favorite of ours for a while, but we had never really checked out their more recent offshoot, Total Control, until this really cool album came out.

9. Favorite discovered movie: The Phantom of the Paradise
We had a slumber party for Walker's birthday, and our friend Jeffrey brought this movie. It's an awesome rock n roll parody of the opera, and Death Records, the big name elite record company in it, is one of the coolest things we've seen in a movie in a long time.

10. Favorite Recording Session Snacks: Popcorn/Meatball Subs
Though many snacks were had, this is a tie between a large movie popcorn with Reece's pieces dumped in, and some great meatball subs we had in Chicago.

So Cow

TEN GREAT SHOWS:

Dott (Nun's Island Arts Centre, Galway)
Oh Boland/Rural Savage (Roisin Dubh, Galway)
The Number Ones/Sissy (Bello Bar, Dublin)
Cian Nugent & The Cosmos (The Joinery, Dublin)
No Monster Club (The Bello Bar, Dublin)
The Chills (Button Factory, Dublin)
Shark? (Silk City, Philadelphia)
Les Bonhommes (Death By Audio, Brooklyn)
Chomp/The Young (Now That's Class, Cleveland)
and everything I saw at Gonerfest XI

FIVE GREAT ALBUMS:

Ginnels - A Country Life
Oh Boland/Me & My Dog - Delphi
Pigitbit5 - Mr.MUNBA
Radioactivity - S/T
Legendary Wings - Do You See?

Photo by Constance Mensh

Watery Love

Richie Charles

NYC Mayhem LP on Radio Raheem
Steve Gunn Way Out Weather
Heaven Hill Old Style Bourbon
Birds of Maya & Axis:Sova live at Everybody Hits Batting Cages
Al Pastor Tacos
Johnny Noise LP on Siltbreeze
Recent batch of Bill Orcutt singles
Ruined Fortune LP on Hozac
The Ted Williams bar, bench, & weights by the Sears Roebuck Co.
Tony Rettman's NYHC Book
Kenzinger Beer
The TRBO MUFF distortion pedal
Mary Lattimore & Bill Nace live at Static Age Records

Max Milgram

This was a year of constant disgust and I didn't consume as much music as I usually do.  Nevertheless, these made the cut (as did some other ones that received plenty of well-deserved accolades elsewhere like Chris Forsyth and Steve Gunn, for two). Not in any order, although I can say if the Birds of Maya record came out that would have been number one.

Sadahiro Yamada "Ok to Exist Doing Nothing" (Selection)
Recorded in 2004, released in 2014.  Very likeable PSF-esque scorch.  More rockist Overhang Party than blackhole Denudes. Available at a refreshing non-collector scum price too.

Johnny Noise "The Day is Coming" (Siltbreeze)
The heir to the unclaimed throne vacated by The Fuckin' Flyin' A-heads.

Joshua Burkett "Life Less Lost" (Golden Lab)
I don't even own a copy myself yet (there's allegedly one saved for me but we'll see) but I've heard enough on the original CD format to have an unreservedly high opinion.  Cream of the crop "folk" "music" that gets me right "there".

D Charles Speer and the Helix "Doubled Exposure" (Thrill Jockey)
The long jammer that closes out the A side features interplay so stunning it may as well be on "Beware the Shadow".

Endless Boogie "Long Island" (No Quarter) 
Yeah, it came out in 2013 but I haven't heard enough people talk about it. It's their best one since the black album! Saw them a bunch as usual and they were always good- no surprise- but I particularly liked the song Jesper sang in Swedish when we played with them and Mordecai in New York.  Speaking of which, I would have put Mordecai's "Neil's Generator" on this list if I was a little more impartial. [Ed. note: Milgram is the warehouse manager of Richie/TestosterTunes, which released Mordecai's great new album.]

Heron Oblivion
They didn't record anything yet (as far as I know) but I heard some live stuff.  Probably too biased to comment on this one too, but I thought it sounded like Celia Humphris from Trees singing for the more folky end of the Xpressway catalog but with plenty of swagger and guitar solos.

Photo by Rob Karlic

Negative Scanner

1. Total Control, Typical System. 
2. Mystic Inane. Played with them twice on tour. This video, tho. Weird guitar parts, awesome bass line, tight drumming, gross vocals that look/sound like an evil adult tantrum. Matt got head butted in the chest and thrown on the floor at Now That's Class in Cleveland.
3. Our NYC shows. We played Cakeshop, Rough Trade, and also a Halloween costume party. That was fun.
4. Soupcans and Hag Face show in a basement. These Canadian bands are 100%.
5. Klaus Johann Grobe, Im Sinne der Zeit. 
6. Rat Columns, Leaf and Lace Curtain, The 3rd EP. We played with Rat Columns, it was sweet. David West and the rest are excellent.
7. Television at Bottom Lounge. Matt got in for free.
8. Spaghetti. Tall Pat Records' Dana challenged us to a spaghetti sauce cook-off.
9. Clean socks. 
10. Flesh Lights show at Wally World. We played a DIY show with this awesome Austin, TX band and it was rowdy. 

The People's Temple

1. Miami, FL // Churchill's Pub 
Last Wild ass show at Churchill's in Miami with none other than the Jacuzzi Boys. I stayed pretty sober but the guys (William lol) managed to climb a 30 or 40ft sign, scare all sorts of chicks away and getting completely shit faced.

2. Athens, GA // Georgia Theatre
The last show of our support tour with UK punk rockers Loop! There was about 4 people watching us because they made us play at like 8pm so we proceeded to get pretty tanked. It all went bad when I decided to hop of stage and then realized that I wasn't gonna be able to jump back on stage and then William decides to follow me down and jumps off stage too lol. So I toss my guitar back on stage and pull myself up we finish our last song and by the way Loop's set was amazing.

3. Chicago // Bottom Lounge
Another show with Loop and it was prolly the best show we've ever played in Chicago, besides the first show we played in Chicago where someone in the band pee peed on stage and got in a fight with some hometown hero after the show lol.

4. Chicago // Subterranean
The second show of our support tour with Bass Drum of Death. We killed it for all the underages and proceeded to chill in the green room above the stage with Bo Hansen from Heavy Times. It was all going good until I reached for another beer out of the standing cooler and knocked it over water and all. Well we dipped out and as we make our way DOWNSTAIRS I see all this water dripping all over bass drum of death and by the end of their set the drummer was completely soaked. Man I felt like a idiot.

5. Lansing, MI // MidTown Brewing Company 
So we are playing  with Heavy Times and we killed it! smashed maracas, drank cheap beer and partied till the sun came up. Also heavy times killed it! 

Photo by Tsouni Moss

Ultimate Painting

Jack:

The Blue Note 75th Anniversary reissues
Really beautiful reissue series that coincided with me getting heavily into jazz and also having limited cash. Particularly obsessed with Grant Green and then Art Blakey's Free For All.

The Grateful Dead - Hampton Coliseum1979 LP 
Possibly past their best live but a really great recording and worth it for a version of "Eyes Of The World". Not a great starting place. I'm no apologist, but this is the sort of record that non-Dead Heads assume they sound like.

Sonic Highways - TV
Walks the tightrope between being sort of fascinating and then Spinal Tap-esque awkwardness. My favourite moment was Taylor Hawkins hyperventilating whilst Joe Walsh recorded a totally terrible guitar solo.

Total Control - Typical System LP
I'm surprised at how few of these 'best of' things the Total Control LP has showed up in. Far and away my favourite record this year and I think a true classic. I'm constantly amazed at the great music that satellites around Mikey Young.

Garth Brooks' "I've Joined Facebook" Video
What the hell's going on here? I've watched it about 30 times. I'm interested to know whether Garth is wearing any pants when he made this clip and also how long it'll be before he accidentally posts something he shouldn't on his new Facebook.

Greg Ashley - Another Generation Of Slaves LP
I've ducked in and out of Greg Ashley's music since the Gris Gris...I think he releases a lot of things without much fanfare, but this one on Trouble  In Mind really blew me away. It's a tough listen lyrically and generally pretty heavy, but if you're so inclined, it's like a warm blanket.

Shows
Too many great shows to mention but I'll try... Parquet Courts, Parkay Quartz and PCPC... The best White Fence lineup so far... great new London bands Primitive Parts, Grimm Grimm and Royal Limp. Royal Limp really blew me away recently. Give them a shot.

Lonelady - "Groove It Out" single
Oh man this is so good. Currently resisting the urge to download and play the hell out of it, as it's so cool to hear it on the radio.

James:

White Fence - For the Recently Found Innocent (LP)
great songs/great production. i haven't enjoyed the sound of a new record as much as this one for awhile. recorded by Ty Segall and Eric Bauer who evidently did a very good job.

Grimm Grimm - "Hazy Eyes Maybe" (7")
Koichi Yamanoha's new project. a beautiful mix of baroque pop/folk/psych. expect to hear more from him in the future. one of the best new acts in the UK.

Lower Plenty - "Life/thrills" (song) 
Melbourne based Lower plenty's title track off their latest LP. it sounds like they could have smoked a lot of pot before recording this. super relaxed, intimate and effortless.

Twerps - Back to you (7")
Latest single from the Twerps. these guys make cool music.

Yo La Tengo - Painful (Album reissue Deluxe edition) 
One of the best YLT albums reissued with demos, live studio outtakes etc. warm/atmospheric/comforting. it set the standard and sound for the band. a modern classic 

The Ar-Kaics

Back From The Grave compilations always get a lot of action on drives. The Shirelles, "Please Go Away", little known and one of Kev's recent favorites. Eddie Evans & the Kingsmen on Intern, Warden & the Fugitives on Bing, and Jackie Owens on Groovy were some of Kev's other top picks of 2014. Johnny likes on the Lupine/Relic label, the Soul of the Falcons comp, found it at an antique Mall in Rhode Island last Spring. Altamont: Black Stringband Music from the Library of Congress is another comp Johnny enjoyed. Willie Maybon "Got to Let You Go" is one of Johnny's 2014 faves, though it was released in 1956, approximately.  It's a B-side, too.  Also "Big" Al Downing, "Georgia Slop." We all liked the book Do Not Sell At Any Price by Amanda Petrusich about 78 collecting, and Johnny especially got turned on by Geeshie Wiley.  Patty got a good deal on Shep & the Downbeats "You're Never There" on Satin, which is so goddamn sad!  Yvonne Carroll's "Mr. Loveman" on Challenge, and almost everything by Little Ann, who Kev turned her onto this year. And she also bought a copy of the Young Men "Young Man's Problem," a nice Vietnam war protest number from '65, cuz she's political, and it was sold to her for a fair price. Patty also liked the new Ausmuteants record on Goner. We all were pretty obsessed with the Arabians "My Heart Beats Over and Over Again" for awhile, basically a perfect doo wop tune. Chap's Pit Beef on route 40 in Baltimore is worth a mention. Word to the wise: great place to stop and eat off 95 if you're traveling from New York to DC.  They've got sandwiches there that'll stop your heart. In a good way. Up to four meats on one sandwich. Maybe more, we didn't dare. Okay, back to music: Timmy has enjoyed South Philadelphia's The Tough Shits solo endeavors he's calling Nick Shit and Mark "Banf" Shit, respectively. Portland's The Rat (not to be confused with Fred and Toody Cole's classic Rats band in the plural) a cassette he's been waiting to hear all year...he's still waiting.  

Die Rötzz

Secret prostitutes LP, 7", and live performance at Creepy Fest
Midnight No Mercy for Mayhem LP
Sacraficio MLP
Abysmal Lord Storms of Unholy Black Mass mlp
Sabbat Sabbatical Earlyslaught 1984-1990 diehard boxset
Buck Biloxi and the Fucks LP
All Pelican Pow Wow Records of 2014
Medically Separated LP
Predator Complete Earth LP
Eyehategod LP
Fabio Frizzio City of the Living Dead Soundtrack
Gorgio Murderer Primitve World EP
Hawkwind live at Siberia
Revenge live at Walters in Houston
Morbosidad live at Siberia
Timmy Vulgar's Organism live at Siberia
Gizmos live at Gonerfest 11
Gonerfest 11
Sadistic Intent live at Siberia
Deathammer live at Siberia
Dream Death at Skullfest
Forward live at Siberia
Long Knife live at Siberia
Offenders live at Siberia
MAMA live at Saturn Bar
Manateees live at the Buccaneer and Siberia
Slaughter and the Dogs live at Siberia

Acid Baby Jesus

Noda's 5 Greek Releases for 2014:

Anastenaria - Music Of The Firewalkers 
Jar Moff - Financial Glam
George Theodorakis - The Rules Of The Game
Dead Gum - Gainer
Iannis Xenakis - GRM Works 1957-1962

Marko's Best Things for 2014:

Book: Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
I'd heard about this book for a while but didn't have the patience to read it. Amazing story of a disfunctional family. It's a long book with a big cast but really worth it... Dostoyevsky's insight on the human psyche is unsurpassed.

Track: Halim El-Dabh – "Wire Recorder Piece"
Been listening to this all year round. Amazing concrete manipulation of a recording of street musicians in Egypt, makes your hair stand up. Even more incredible that this was done in the '40s.

Album: Sun Ra – Atlantis
One of my favorite of his. Listen to the percussion!

Tape: Multitrack cassette recordings - Christos Chondropoulos
Multitrack percussion recordings from our buddy/collaborator Christos. They sound ancient and strangely contemporary at the same time. It's not out yet but I hope it will be soon.

Personal belonging: Synth with an onboard sequencer
I like to record a random sequence on the Microbrute and leave it running while I do stuff in the house. Instant meditation.

Event: Acid Baby Jesus 2014 fall tour
Nothing beats playing live music to people that have the patience to listen to it.

Animal: Cats
They're grumpy and they stink the whole house up when they poop but they're irreplaceable.

Teenanger

New Fries: Fresh Face Forward
Great new band that has been getting crowds in Toronto fired up at every show. Bringing angular skronk back into the zeitgeist.

Lee Paradise: Walter Palace Kingdom
An offshoot of the also-impressive Hooded Fang, this is hypnotic, minimalist, tuneful and awesome.  

Night Musik: Self Titled
Shub from Dirty Beaches' solo project. Dark, moody, atmospheric EBM. 

Moss Lime: July First
A new band from Montreal that has been on constant repeat. ESG's groove with some Serge Gainsbourg thrown in for class.

Dog Day: Fade Out
Technically, this came out at the tail end of 2013, but it needs to be on the list. Underrated band, and one of Canada's best. This is them at their peak.

Slim Twig: A Hound at the Helm
Once again, this record was originally released pre-2014, but DFA dug it up this year and gave it the treatment it deserves. A great Toronto album featuring an assortment of A-list musicians.

Richard R Kirk: "Never Loose Your Shadow"
A friend played this song last year and we recently found out that Minimal Wave put it out on 12." It's pretty much the song of the year, even though it was recorded sometime in the late-1980's. 

Ty Segall: "The Connection Man"
Out of all the tracks on Manipulator, this is the one that really hit home for us. 

Nancy at Cake Shop, NYC, October 17
Nancy have quickly become one of our favourite live bands. The positive energy they produce is something special. 

S.H.I.T live at Double Double Land, Toronto, November 27
The best new punk band, period. 

Wet Blankets

HIEROPHANTS - PARALLAX ERROR: Hierophants are my favourite band in the world and their new album is the best prog-wave ever. [Leland]

MINNEAPOLIS URANIUM CLUB BAND - S/T TAPE: Billy showed me this when he came back from America and it made me feel like a sad shark. [Leland]

BIG ZIT 7": This 7" is so sick. It reminds me of a more hardcore bad brains. Seein em live was definitely somethin i wont forgot anytime soon. [Billy]

UV RACE - GREATEST HITS VOL. 1 & 2: Singles cassette by a euro label i think. Too good to be only on cassette. Someone release the LP! [Billy]

FROWNING CLOUDS- LEGALIZE EVERYTHING: Frowning clouds never cease to amaze me with their catchy riffs and smooth vocals. Their third album Legalize everything' has just came out and it's hit after hit. [Mitch]

STRAIGHT ARROWS - RISING: Straight arrows finally did their second album and it made me cream everywhere. [Mitch]

WOODBOOT- KRANG GANG WOODBOOT: rule. what else can i say, new albums probably going to rule even harder. [Zane]

LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS - COLLECTION: All the 7s on one LP, what more could you ask for? [Zane]

NUN- NUN: i never thought they'd be able to top that 7 back in 2012. i was wrong. [Zane]

TOTAL CONTROL - TYPICAL SYSTEM: Theirs no way you could do an end-year list without have total control in it. New albums amazing. [Zane]

John Wesley Coleman

1. Frozen Letter by the Spider Bags on Merge Records. Dan McGee penned the perfect rock anthem of the century in my opinion with his tune on the LP titled "Summer Of 79". Cant believe his hooky little claws digging deep in his jean pockets. Forget about it.

2. James Arthur's Manhunt reunion show at the Mohawk with ST37 & Deaf Wish "Sub Pop". Holy Bananas! boingggg

3. ST37 new album I'm Not Good on Cleopatra Records. They got a million dollars to produce that masterpiece mind trip. I love that band!

4. BURGER RECORDS. Everything is super rad. I've been very lucky to meet such nice charming gentlemen. Dig that Curtis Harding soul LP.

5. TIMMY'S ORGANISM Singles Collection & Unreleased Tracks on HOZAC. My brother from another planet strikes again. Rad boner! Shout out to Jimbo & Eric Love ..

6. JAILL's new unreleased record recorded here in Austin last year by Louie Lino. Ive heard the tracks. It's gonna be killer!

7. Greg Ashley's Another Generation Of Slaves on Trouble In Mind. Super bad ass writing an deploying from the Oakland crew. A must own.

8. The Klitz - Sounds Of Memphis 7" on SPACE CASE RECORDS . CEO couple billionaires flying over the radar kill it again. Rumor has it ...there is a David Geffen connection in the company. Old Memphis girl punk rock trashathon! rad!!

9. Goner Records - everything. I love these guys so much. NOTS, SO COW, AUSMUTEANTS, BLIND SHAKE, LIMES, NOBUNNY, HARLAN T BOBO, beer.

10. SOUTH PARK - All episodes on loop playing from my HULU. Still holds up. Making my stomach jiggle up an down..up and down. Sideways. 

MAMA

Top 5 Mamas

Dylan: Carol Brady
"She's the coolest mama cos she let her son Greg turn their cool attic room into the ultimate hippie pad. "

Chris: Peg Bundy
"She was a crazy horn dog of a mama and I love when she talks about how they have nothing to eat and fight over food. "

Ross: Florida Evans
"She kept the family's head above water while having major Good Times and kept everyone in line. A real Chicago mama."

Paul: Sarah Palmer
"She's like really scary and she knew what was going on. Psychic capabilities are good for being a mama. "

And the ultimate mama is: Wilma Flintstone 
"She put up with Fred's bullshit and she really knew how to make the Bedrock!"

Photo by Jesse Thompson

Power

Dribble "Lovers" 7". For dead shit romantics. [Isaac]

Orion demo tape. NSFW (New South fuckin Wales). [Isaac]

Velvet Whip Bronze Medallion cs. Wake up paper head. [Isaac]

Havittijat 7" - This bad boy came out in February but easy picking. Best oz punk record in yonks. It's so good I stopped calling them havinabat and practiced pronouncing their name every day in front of the mirror. [Penke]

Miss Destiny 7" - Waited for this record for ages, knew every song by the time i got it. well sorta, I like to sing t-rex and the sweet lyrics along to it. Reckon I see em more than any other band and that's fine by me. [Penke]

Soma Coma - "Dust": Is it important that I'm talking about a song and not a release? Nah 'cause I think it's funny to go on about a song I like rather than the countless albums, EPs and demos from this year that have had hours of time, effort and money poured into 'em. The Soma rhythm section are uncompromising. Guitar is degenerate, catchy psychic abuse that makes me anxious and the vocalist sounds like he's ritualised smoking bumpers and drinking gut rot wine so he can sound like a wildcat dying of throat cancer. [Nathan]

And for the faithful, Outcast and Zodiac released stellar demos of heavy metal this year. Leather Lickers demo, decent. Might put on that Total Control lp after a drink and do the robot. Snake tape is a lil journey. R.I.P. Fucker tapes cool. Miss Destiny EP is looking like a million. Orion's demo I'll put on to feign intimacy. Ah, Kromosom's trax from the Nomad split are savage. [Nathan]

All that fanfare, and Taylor Swift is still No. 1?!

That’s an understandable reaction to the new Billboard 200 album chart, the first under the new Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan rules that now count streaming and digital tracks alongside traditional album sales. When Billboardannounced the changes a couple of weeks ago, the magazine billed them as the flagship album chart’s "biggest upgrade in more than 23 years, transforming from a pure sales-based ranking to one measuring multi-metric consumption."

In particular, the chart’s new streaming rule is mostly driven by Spotify—a service that Swift is quite famously boycotting. And yet, ironically, her 1989 album spends its fourth week atop the chart. So much for the overhaul, right? Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?

Not really—it’s best to judge chart changes like this by what’s below the No. 1 spot. After all, 23 years ago, when the album chart underwent its biggest change ever as Billboard incorporated SoundScan data for the first time, the new No. 1 album that week was by…um, Michael Bolton. That didn’t feel much like a revolution, either.

Any change this significant is going to produce winners and losers. When the SoundScan Era began in 1991, famously, country music and hip-hop were given a huge boost. The very first week the chart was transformed in May ’91, the New Jack City soundtrack reached a new No. 2 peak, and current albums by Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton leapt a dozen or more spots. Before the year was out, N.W.A and Brooks both scored their first No. 1 albums (in Garth’s case, the first of many).

What’s less talked about now are the album-chart losers from 1991, acts that were shoved out of the way on the new, more data-accurate chart. Stalwart rockers fared particularly badly that week in May ’91: Sting’s The Soul Cages, hanging around the Top 30 since its winter ’91 release, tumbled out of the Top 50 and never came back. So did the Rolling Stones’ then-current live album Flashback. Newer hard-rock acts didn’t do much better: Great White’s Hooked fell out of the Top 40 (and this was a half-year before Nevermind harpooned hair-metal). Even current rock that sounded old took it on the chin: Lenny Kravitz’s Mama Said plummeted 43 spots to No. 90. Basically, any album likely to have been given an artificial boost by store-manager dudes who looked like these guys took a hit.

Nearly a quarter-century later, we have a new album chart formula and a corresponding set of new winners and losers—although the effects are subtler this time. When I spoke to Billboard and Nielsen in late November, they told me the new changes would be less dramatic than in 1991. That’s basically because the chart isn’t switching methodologies entirely, as it did back then (from a manual system of polling retailers by phone, to a computerized system based on scanned barcodes).

By contrast, this week’s changes feel more like new ingredients mixed into Classic Coke. In sum, the chart is adding streamed tracks from on-demand services like Spotify and Beats (1,500 streams equals one album sale), and purchased tracks from services like iTunes (10 track purchases equals a sale). But these metrics are being added to a Billboard 200 formula that’s still fundamentally weighted toward traditional album sales, which explains why tonnage-shifter Taylor is still tops.

Actually, the similarities go beyond Swift. If you compare the new Billboard 200 with the old pure-sales methodology, which Billboard has helpfully kept intact and renamed Top Album Sales, you see very little change at the top; the top six spots of both lists are the same. Here’s what the Top 10 of each chart looks like this week—the new formula on the left, and the old pure-sales formula on the right: 

However, look more closely at a couple of those top-ranked albums—streaming and tracks really provide a wallop. No. 5–ranked Sam Smith leaps from 97,000 pure sales to 123,000 in sales-plus-equivalents, a 27% boost. Smith is currently riding a couple of big radio hits, his current smash "I’m Not the Only One" and last summer’s still-lingering "Stay with Me". Those two hits, plus his smaller album cuts, generated more than 10 million streams and nearly 200,000 tracks sales for the week; divide the former number by 1,500 and the latter by 10, and that’s 26,000 units added to Smith’s total. Another act getting a huge percentage boost is boy band One Direction, whose No. 4–ranked album jumps 20,000 units when streams and tracks are factored in, a 19% boost; they, too, are riding multiplehits. Even Taylor, whose 281,000 in pure sales is more than enough to make her tops for the week, gets a 21% boost from the new formula. Since she’s off Spotify, the overwhelming bulk of that boost comes from track sales of her hits, including the current No. 1 song in America. For comparison, I’ve provided each album’s total sales. Actually, "sales" is a misnomer for the chart on the left: The new Billboard 200 now measures something called "album-equivalent units," adding up pure sales with streams and downloads as described above—the former divided by 1,500, the latter by 10. As you see, from Rick Ross at No. 6 to Taylor Swift at No. 1, streams and tracks add anywhere from 5,000 to 58,000 "units" to these albums’ totals, but their rankings stay the same.

And these are the albums whose positions aren’t changed by the new Billboard formula. Right below them are two albums, by Ariana Grande and Beyoncé, that wouldn’t be in the Top 10 right now if not for the new math. Streams and tracks boost Grande’s album by a big 55% and put her back in the Top 10 (at No. 7) for the first time in three months; under the old formula, she ranks 16th. As for Queen Bey, her new More Only EP (part of the special "Platinum Edition" rerelease of her blockbuster Beyoncé album) ranks 17th under the old formula, but streaming and tracks provide a huge 65% boost and push her into the Top 10, right behind Grande.

You can find even more remarkable new-formula winners if you venture below the Top 40. Unsurprisingly, electronic artists, whose streaming and download numbers are perennially stronger than their album sales, show major improvements. If you’ve been wondering when EDM was going to make a serious commercial impact as an album medium, the turnaround may be at hand—even if it’s a mirage, as the acts are getting artificial boosts from their single hits.

For instance, Calvin Harris—the Scottish producer’s album Motion debuted in the Top Five a month ago from traditional album sales, but then he plummeted as low as No. 108. He’s now back up to No. 79, but with his anemic album sales of under 4,000, under the old formula he’d have fallen off the Billboard 200 entirely this week. What keeps Harris afloat is his more than 5 million streams; combine that with track downloads of 55,000 (mostly his current, John Newman–fronted radio hit "Blame"), and the album equivalents give him a nearly 9,000-unit boost, more than double his old-school album total. At least Harris has some album sales—consider Robin Schulz, the German deejay/producer behind the smash remix of Mr. Probz’s song "Waves". Schulz’s album Prayer debuts on the Billboard 200 at No. 74, but again, he wouldn’t be on the chart at all without streaming and tracks; Prayer sold less than 1,000 copies as an album. Throw in some 3.9 million streams, however, and nearly 100,000 track downloads, and Schulz’s disc gets a 12,000 unit boost—a 1-to-12 ratio of album sales to digital tracks.

So who loses under this new methodology? Unlike the 1991 formula, which seemed to torpedo rock acts like a guitar-seeking missile, no particular genre takes an outsize hit. The effect of the new formula is pretty much a wash for rock acts, who generate solid streaming traffic and decent, if unspectacular, track downloads. For example, Arctic Monkeys’ year-old album AM ranks at No. 75 on the new Billboard 200, and it would have ranked at No. 76 under the old formula. Foo Fighters’ latest, Sonic Highways, winds up at No. 16 on the big chart, No. 15 on the old-school. No news is good news for rock combos this time.

Rather, the new formula is kind of ageist—as predicted, older artists, who are unlikely to generate Spotify or iTunes traffic, see the biggest negative impact. That includes the country superstar who got the biggest boost from SoundScan in 1991, Garth Brooks, who refuses to play ball with either streaming or download services (that he can’t control). Hence his current album Man Against Machine is evicted from the Top 10 by the new math—it’s No. 11 on the official Billboard 200 but would have ranked No. 9 under the old formula (a small difference in chart position but a big difference in status). It’s a similar situation for Barbra Streisand, whose Partners falls out of the Top 20 (new formula No. 25, old formula No. 19); it’s been a strong seller since its September release and is available on digital services, but it’s generating little activity there. As you get further down the chart, the differences between old-formula and new-formula ranks get more stark: Neil Diamond’s Melody Road lands at No. 87 on the official Billboard 200 but ranks No. 66 under the old formula. According to SoundScan, Neil’s total this week includes streaming- and track-equivalent-albums totaling 31 units—that’s 31, not 31,000, and not a typo. Older artists with a good hustle will likely still have big opening weeks—they just won’t linger on the Billboard 200’s upper reaches very long.

So what are we to make of all this mathematical manipulation? The new album chart is designed to make the music industry happy, by reflecting where their revenue’s coming from. But with its multiplication of single tracks—as if 10 downloads or 1,500 streams of "Waves" equals a Robin Schulz album—does it muddy the status of what a "hit album" means?

The short answer is yeah, sure—but album sales have been driven by hit singles and bonus tracks for years. For some time now, albums have been less like indivisible works and more like projects—the hip-hop album that spawns a year’s worth of extra tracks, the electronic album that’s remixed. Artists themselves started pulling albums apart some time ago.

Besides, if we’re talking scale, other album-sales factors have arguably gotten more hype than they deserved. Like vinyl: For years now, much has been made about the comeback of vinyl as an X-factor helping to boost album sales and keep the music business afloat. But look at the numbers—to date, in the SoundScan era, no vinyl album has sold more copies in a week than Jack White’s latest, Lazaretto—six months ago it made headlines by setting a record for most vinyl copies sold in a week, shifting 40,000 copies on wax in its debut. (Most weeks, the top-selling LP might sell one-fifth or even one-tenth that number; so White’s vinyl total was massive.) Hungrily snapped up by thousands of rock fans enticed by the disc’s clever gimmicks like a playable label and a backward groove, Jack’s platter wound up doing 29% of the album’s 138,000 first-week sales. Vinyl was a sizable X-factor boosting White’s numbers.

But you want to talk X-factors? Using Billboard’s new math, in its fifth chart week, Taylor Swift’s 1989 sold 58,000 album-equivalents (and that was without Spotify). Her X-factor dwarfed Jack’s X-factor—and Swift’s album wasn’t even released on vinyl until this week. Another 17 albums on this week’s chart got a five-figure boost from digital album-equivalents—in the ballpark of Jack’s gimmicky LP.

So go ahead and look askance at Ariana Grande’s Top 10 placement this week with My Everything. That chart rank indeed reflects a whole lot of Everything: 47,000 people who bought the album, 194,000 who bought songs from it and 9.2 million people who streamed parts of it (total "album-equivalent units": 72,000). That might not be a hit album the way we once knew it. But it represents engagement with the totality of the My Everything project, no less than the 40,000 last June who wanted to own—and the smaller number of people who actually played—Jack White’s runout groove.

Minnesota Nice is well established, but 2014 was the year for Minnesota Weird in the Minneapolis-St. Paul hip-hop scene. Maybe you only got the merest glimpse via Lizzo’s incandescent "Letterman" spot, doubletiming about rapping in a skirt, while rapping in a skirt (meta!). Scratch the surface and you’ll find the Cities are roiling with talent and inspired gas-face-inducing new directions.

The best Minneapolis rap album this year is not from Minneapolis and is not a rap album at all. Instead, four kids left St. Paul with Macbooks and traveled back in time to make a late-'90s R&B record, or at least an icy, brittle approximation. The Stand4rd—comprising Allan Kingdom, Bobby Raps, budding superproducer Psymun, and SEO heavy lifter Spooky Black—enlisted Doc McKinney (The Weeknd, Drake, Maroon 5) to craft their self-titled debut. The cover looks vaguely like a ghost made of skull and spine eating a heart, which, albeit direct, makes sense for them. The Stand4rd is as infectious as it is lonely, as fly as it is dejected.

While the quartet made waves (and the paper of record) with a slate of sold-out dates, its individual members had stellar years of their own—most notably Allan Kingdom, the twenty-year-old from St. Paul whose Future Memoirs is brooding and bright-eyed in roughly equal parts. 

It was Chantz Erolin—Bobby Raps’ old Audio Perm compatriot—who gave Kingdom his stiffest competition on the thoughtful turn-up tip. Chantz’s BREAK SHIT AND DIE EP is 15 breathless minutes, highlighted by the skull-rattling “Dark Horse" (not quite a Katy Perry cover) and the soulful "Curtains & Checkpoints". That seeming discord is the Cities’ great conundrum: can you wear your Jansport into a snowed-in house party? Also essential: The Psymun-produced "Every Cop Is a Bad Person", which is capped by a verse from Tony the Scribe, the rapping half of KILLSTREAK. His partner, Icetep, is fast emerging as one of the Cities’ best beatsmiths, lacing Doomtree workman Sims’ Field Notes EP.

Doomtree, long a part of the Minneapolis hip-hop establisment, had a breakout with Mike Mictlan’s remarkable HELLA FRRREAL, which proved that beyond being funny, the LA transplant can be serious and on point. Similarly, Dem Atlas’ DWNR, his grunge-influenced Rhymesayers debut, is deeply melancholy, and splits the difference on "depressed" and "party mode."

The year’s best out-and-out rapping came courtesy of Muja Messiah, whose God Kissed It, the Devil Missed It is a master class in making indignation sound cool. Produced by Mike the Martyr, God Kissed It posits evil politicians (that covers most of them) and the occult as foreground props but at its core, it’s just about trying to cover rent. (On "Fire Mountain", Muja brags about stunting outside of courthouses, but admits "I ain’t afraid to die/ I just don’t wanna die broke.") God Kissed It also sports a guest verse from Muja’s son, Nazeem, a teenager with an anachronistic third eye.

There were a host of other other notable singles: Greg Grease’s sweaty "Really Tho"; Manny Phesto’s reverent "Cedar Ave"; Mike the Martyr’s charisma clinic "Lyor"; Tall Paul’s bizarre yet beautiful "The Show (Act 1 & 2)", wherein he recounts his Dave Chappelle shout-out; Z’s Dadaist "I Am Sensei"; and Atmosphere’s Eyedea tribute "Flicker", complete with Slug’s fourth-wall-shattering "But I’m certain if you were here right now, you’d ridicule these lyrics/ You’d hate this chorus/ And probably tell me that the concept was too straightforward."

Still, there’s no more Kevin Love. Most of the Randy Moss-Kevin Garnett promo posters are curling up at the corners. But having shed some of the staid conservatism, the Minneapolis-St. Paul rap scene has become one of the weirdest, most experimental in the country, fact. And Prince came back. It was a good year.

We talk about the labor practices and economics behind making music every day, but we don’t often recognize it as such. The Pomplamoose-inspired Big Tour Debate and the conversation around recent articles on streaming are, at their core, about labor practices. We are well familiar with the hard questions raised: How do we compensate musicians for their work in this society? Is that fair? What is fair? Can someone survive playing music in this economy? Should they be able to? All of these get at the same consideration: how do we value music, as a culture, a society, a community?

Most musicians in the U.S. are are experiencing a dismal state of affairs in terms of how creative work is honored and paid for. My experience as a musician is a far cry from that of, say, Pomplamoose, which is a matter of choice as well as circumstance. I am a regular working-class person; I have a day job outside of making music, and so does everyone else in my band. We do everything 100% DIY, because that is what we know and where we are comfortable. I’ve always sunk my own money into tours and never expected to get it back; breaking even is a boon.

While this is not how every band or musician operates, what we all share is the right to be fairly compensated for our work; make no mistake, writing, touring and playing music is work. I am not arguing here that we live in some sort of fantasy world in which everyone has the innate right (or ability) to pursue the dream of doing Something That Makes Us Happy for a living. What I am arguing is that musicianship is work for which a few of us are paid a bunch and most of us are paid very little for, and that, just like any other job, it deserves fair remuneration.

What is "fair," of course, is debatable and changes based on the number of people involved in the production of the music as well as the scale of the production. I agree with Steve Albini’s assertion that compensation for music should go primarily to the musicians. So, what is a living wage for a DIY musician? How do we need to adjust door prices to adjust for inflation and economic changes, like the price of gas? In the world of DIY, show prices remain resolutely stuck below $8 most of the time, $5-6 on average, a price point from the 1980s. Many musicians work one or more low-wage service industry jobs, as that's the bulk of the jobs available these days, and those door prices are affordable to us. However, those door prices can’t sustain even bare-bones pay for a touring band—the price of a day’s van rental and the gas to get to the next city—even if the local bands forego their share and the promoter doesn’t take a cut.

In order for any size music scene to survive, fans (many of whom are musicians) need to be able to afford to go to shows and have the leisure time to do so. Showgoing, admittedly, is a luxury when you barely make enough for rent and food, a position many fans and musicians are in. The societal benefits of music and music-making can be hard to quantify, as they are often immaterial, and like the song says—it’s a material world. You can no longer demonstrate in record or ticket sales sales why music is vital, but we still need to pay for our practice spaces, buy instruments, rent our tour vans, fill them with gas—at the very least.

It’s obvious to me that musicians’ labor struggles are part of the same larger fight for economic justice taking place these days, with organizing efforts like Fight for 15 and activists putting pressure on state legislatures to adopt a higher minimum wage, mandatory sick days and other beneficial labor standards. Not only do we owe it to our larger communities to get involved, we owe it to ourselves—how many of us are making living wages? We are also in need of industry-specific solutions, like standardized wage minimums for a night’s performance and a way to certify venues that pay fairly. That’s just one idea—we’re creative people, let’s put our heads together and get creative about working solutions.

These days, it’s much easier to point out what isn’t fair rather than identifying examples of fair ways and means of surviving. There are ways that feel like they are working, places that mind the interests of musicians. There is Bandcamp, for album streaming and distribution, which takes a relatively small percentage of revenue from music purchases relative to other services. You can experiment with direct distribution through websites (one of the services offered by CASH Music, a nonprofit organization that seeks to use new and developing open-source technologies to help musicians [full disclosure: I spoke with The Pitch’s editor Jessica Hopper at a CASH Music summit last year, for which I received no compensation; the summit's aim is to bring musicians and music industry types together to think on solutions]. The Future of Music Coalition and W.A.G.E. (Working Artists for a Greater Economy) also seek to build and push legislative and commercial change to pay artists fairly.

While we need these organizations to help us figure out solutions and advocate for larger systemic changes, we need to keep the conversation going among ourselves about how we will sustain our musical communities. We’re long overdue for an honest conversation about how to best support the music that means so much to us, to have real discussions about how to sustain our local and national music communities. We need to be explicit about fairness and ask ourselves the hardest question: What are we willing to do to keep something that we can’t live without?

1. 

In 1987, in a small Southwestern Pennsylvania steel town, I was the only black kid I knew.

I was also the only kid with a copy of Run-D.M.C.’s Raising Hell. At the time those two facts seemed to be very much connected.

For those who haven’t had the pleasure, being the only black kid in middle school is a little like having a disease that you don’t want to talk about and don’t want anyone else to talk about either. You feel ashamed. You feel guilty. When you get to the three or four paragraphs in your social studies book about slavery, you try to look so deeply engrossed in taking notes that you don’t even notice how many kids are stealing glances at you. And you don’t even take notes.

You feel like black is hateful. You feel like black makes people uncomfortable and unhappy. You feel like black is your fault. Because you are a kid.

So this weird thing happened with the Run-D.M.C. tape. Whenever I made copies of it for white kids whose parents wouldn’t let them have it, I always left off this one song.

It was called "Proud to Be Black":

"I’m proud to be black, y’all/ And that’s a fact, y’all/ And if you try to take what’s mine, I’ll take it back, y’all/ It’s like that."

That song bothered the ever loving shit out of me. The thought of the white kids that I went to school with listening to it made me cringe. Why did I have to have a song that made it ok to be who I was? Why did I have to be so lame, and so ridiculous, that Run-D.M.C. needed to devote the weakest, corniest track on an album full of bangers just to making me feel special? The problem wasn’t that I was black. The problem was that black was something so terrible that it needed a hip-hop PSA just to be alright. That was some embarrassing shit for an 11-year-old.

None of the white kids I knew needed that.

I didn’t want to need that.

So I just ignored the song entirely.

In a seemingly unrelated story, there was this one kid named Jason who liked to call me a nigger. A lot. Nigger this. Nigger that. How many niggers does it take. Did you hear about the nigger who. Hey nigger. Shut up nigger.

I wasn’t much of a fighter. I was more of a book reader and clarinet practicer. But Jason made me angry. More than angry. He made me seethe. That’s the word you use when you hate something so very deeply, but you feel that forces bigger than you are preventing you from doing anything about it.

Seethe.

One day, this other kid who I wasn’t even really friends with took pity on me and offered the following advice:

"You oughta just fuckin’ punch him in the face."

"Really?"

"Just…fuckin’…sucker punch him, dude."

"You think so?"

"Fuck yeah, dude. I wouldn’t let him talk to me like that if I was you. "

I guess that was all I needed to hear because twenty minutes later, when Jason walked past me, I hit him directly in the mouth as hard as I could. I wanted to draw blood. I wanted to knock him unconscious. I wanted to kill him. I wanted him to never be able to say the word "nigger" again.

But all that happened was I got his spit on my knuckles, which were now sore. It was intense and kind of gross.

He looked at me with something I can only describe as bewilderment.

"What the hell was that for?"

I shrugged.

"You know what it was for."

He never bothered me again.

Even still. I fast forwarded past that stupid Run-D.M.C. song every fucking time it came on.

2.

Four years later, I bought my first Parliament record at a store on the corner of Hollywood and Highland. I had since left Small Town America and moved to L.A. to live with my mother. It was, you could say, a jarring transition. Hollywood was a was a different kind of place then. It was seedy and uncomfortable, piss-smelling and prostitute-y. Grimey. The intersection of Hollywood and Highland in the '90s had a deep sense of failure.

It was on this corner that I listened to The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein for the first time. I don’t know why I chose that one; it was completely random. I was afraid to ask for help. I had been told Parliament was good. I grabbed the first one in the section, paid for it, walked out, put it in my walkman and hit play.

What I heard next literally made no sense. Weird, sped up voices. Galactic Pyramids. Gross sexual metaphors. Nonsensical lyrics. Unnecessary use of multisyllabic words. It was uncomfortably sick. Ludicrous and nonsensical lyrically, but surgically, almost magically proficient musically. The combination was downright creepy.

Standing there listening to it was kind of nice. I didn’t feel like getting back on the bus to Van Nuys. I didn’t feel like going anywhere at all. So, I stayed. I didn’t move from that corner until both sides had played. I bummed a cigarette. I watched cops arrest a dude who was yelling. I saw about four near auto accidents. I smelled weed. I peed in an alley between two buildings.

I had just turned 15-years-old.

Something else happened that day. I realized that I really liked being an anonymous kid on a street corner in L.A. I realized that I really liked not giving a solitary fuck about what anyone was doing, not even myself. I realized that in some way it was my natural state.

Two days later, I started dressing differently.

I cut my own hair into a weird nappy mushroom top. I took this goofy trench coat I had and sliced it at the waist with a pair of scissors. On the chest I sewed the patch that I earned in a middle school spelling bee. I wrote graffiti on the sleeve in Sharpie. I took to wearing pajama bottoms and black chucks.

In short, the combination of Parliament and Hollywood had instantly funked me out.

And it worked, because the first time I left the house in this new uniform, I experienced something that I never had before. You might call it freedom. Abandon. Cultural immunity. I had a self. It was adolescent and awkward and trying too hard. But it was my very own self. It was a me that was all mine. It didn’t matter what anyone thought about it. For a brief moment in time, I simply didn’t give a fuck.

And that’s an important thing. When you have come to regard your very skin color as an insufferable disease, when you have to punch other people in the mouth just so you can be ok with who you are, not giving a fuck is the single most divine experience you can ever have.

3.

On that very same corner twenty years later, the LAPD killed a man who was wielding a Swiss Army knife.

He was a street performer. His schtick was dressing up as the Scream dude and freaking out tourists before posing with them for photos. Police were responding to a report of a stabbing. They arrived, saw the man, and he apparently approached them. In 2014, we learned that this could mean anything. Did he turn toward them when they called out? Did he start toward them to explain that he was a performer? Did he turn into a superhuman and run through fire and bullets while tearing his shirt off? We don’t know. All we know is that he had a Swiss Army knife, and a group of trained officers felt that their lives were in danger. So, as an LAPD spokeswoman put it in the noncommittal cop speak to which we’ve all become woefully accustomed, "an officer-involved shooting occurred."

That word. Occurred. Like rain occurs. Or wind. An officer-involved shooting is an act of nature that happens of its own volition.

The stab victim was never located.

It’s been a really shitty year for stuff like this.

Mike Brown’s shooting occurred, Tamir Rice’s shooting occurred , Eric Garner’s death by asphyxiation occurred. Jordan Crawford’s shooting in a Wal-Mart occurred. A whole lot of death at the hands of police has occurred.

Black folks have realized, en masse, that we have to start fighting all over again. For the umpteenth fucking time. We had hoped we were done. Or at least done enough to have a life that doesn’t involve taking to the streets in order to be considered human. Apparently we were wrong. Even white people have started to wonder if maybe the racist system is unfair in a way that should actually matter to them.

People have gathered in protest. Thought pieces have been fired off. Tweets have scored in the 10k’s on favorites. Comedians have been serious. Riot gear has been donned. Windows broken. Fires set.

The victims are all still dead. The killers are still free.

So what now.

As a general rule, no one really wants a revolution. They are a lot of work and are tremendously inconvenient. Especially in this country. We have a lot to relax over. I’m writing this on a comfortable chair in a decent home. You are very likely reading this on a device the market worth of which could feed a family of four for a month in some parts of the world. We have "The Voice" and 3D-printers, and websites that pick out outfits for us and mail them to our front doors. Nobody wants to fight right now.

Fighting is for people who don’t give a fuck.

But each time an innocent person dies at the hands of police under questionable circumstances, that equals one less fuck to give.

In middle school, I lost a few fucks because I was alone and seething. And someone told me that I don’t have to sit and take it.

On the corner of Hollywood and Highland, I lost a few fucks because it was ugly and dirty and I was alone, and the music was so disturbing, so well-executed, and so incredibly and viscerally powerful, that it made me into someone I didn’t want to be, but truly was.

Since then, they’ve cleaned that corner up real nice. Put in a Metro Station, got rid of the hookers and the pimps, and opened up some national chains. That corner almost got its fucks back.

But then like an act of nature, like the rain that suddenly sprang up these past few weeks to end the California drought, an "officer involved shooting occurred."

And another one occurred.
And another one occurred.
And another one occurred.

And with each one, we lose a fuck.

With each one, we turn into who we are even if we don’t want to be it. And we become ready to punch directly in the mouth whoever or whatever is making us seethe.

In 1987 "Walk This Way" was the breakout single from Raising Hell. But it’s a lyric from a relatively unknown track that seems most prescient nearly 30 years later.

"If you try to take what’s mine, I’ll take it back y’all.
It’s like that."

No wonder I hid that one from the white kids.

The day-to-day music news cycle can be a bit of a slog. Artist announces album, artist premieres track, artist premieres video, artist announces tour, artist streams album, blah blah blah, over and over again. But every once in awhile, something wonderfully bizarre happens. Somebody carves a giant wooden penis, or live-Tweets "The Little Mermaid", or performs an eight-hour synth jam. Something happens that is so out of the ordinary, we all sit up and go, "WTF". 

Here, then, is a rundown of the best of those moments from 2014.

Drake Caught Lint Rolling His Pants at Raptors/Nets Playoff Game

Related: Toronto Raptors Hand Out Drake-Branded Lint Rollers

Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste and Baths Live-Tweet The Little Mermaid

Laurie Anderson Trapped Inside Hyperbaric Chamber

Damon Albarn Says New Blur Record "May Never Come Out," Band Didn't Finish Because It Was "Too Hot" Outside

Morrissey Cancels Remainder of U.S. Tour Due to Cold, Blames It on Opening Act Kristeen Young

Related: Morrissey's Guitarist Slams Opening Act Kristeen Young, Producer Tony Visconti Over Tour Cancellation, Morrissey's Longtime Collaborator Boz Boorer Defends Moz Against Tour Cancellation "Slander"

Kate Bush's House in Danger of Falling Into the Sea

Mark Kozelek vs. the War on Drugs

Related: Mark Kozelek Tells "Fucking Hillbilly" Audience to "Shut the Fuck Up", the War on Drugs Responds to "Douche" Mark Kozelek: "I Don't Have Time for Idiots", Mark Kozelek Responds to the War on Drugs with "Adam Granofsky Blues"

Four Tet and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Collaborate on... Selfies

Mac DeMarco Flashes His Testicles in TOPS' "Way to Be Loved" Video

Related: Mac DeMarco Teases New Album With Video Featuring Naked Guy, Song About Pussy; There's a Mac DeMarco Video Game Called Squish 'Em; Mac DeMarco Gets Naked, Kills People in Grotesque "Passing Out Pieces" Video; Mac DeMarco and Tyler, the Creator Perform Raunchy, Uncomfortable Song About Seducing a Grandmother; Mac DeMarco Plays Man Named Dave Fuck Whose Life's Work Is Helping Back Up Cars in Parking Lots; Mac DeMarco gets attacked and tortured on "The Eric Andre Show"

Photo by Paul Elledge

Billy Corgan Performs Eight-Hour Ambient Jam Inspired by Herman Hesse's Siddhartha

Related: Oneohtrix Point Never Live-Tweets Billy Corgan's Eight-Hour Ambient Jam Inspired by Siddhartha

Lollapalooza photo by David Sampson

Man Arrested for Biting Attack During Arctic Monkeys Set at Lollapalooza 

Related: Man's Fingertip Bitten Off at Beyoncé and Jay Z Concert

Mastodon's Brent Hinds Carves Wooden Penis 

Erykah Badu Crashes Live TV News Broadcast, Tries to Kiss Anchor

Related: Erykah Badu Anonymously Busks for Money in Times Square

Death Cab Bassist Nick Harmer Made a Giant Marshawn Lynch Portrait with Skittles

Perfect Pussy Release Vinyl LPs Containing Singer Meredith Graves' Blood

Interpol, Hundred Waters Stuck in Snowstorm for Almost Two Days Straight, Tweet Through It

Solange photo by Chris Tuite

Solange Physically Attacks Jay Z in Elevator

Photo by Chris Tuite

Meteor Appears in the Sky While Modest Mouse Perform at Fun Fun Fun Fest

Smashing Pumpkins Sell "Fuck You Anderson Cooper" T-Shirts Featuring Cats in Bowties

Related: Billy Corgan Poses with His Cats on Magazine Cover, Anderson Cooper Mocks Billy Corgan on TV for Posing with Cats

At 4 o’clock on a gloomy November afternoon in Cambridge, a small group stood in a gallery of the newly renovated Harvard Art Museum, waiting for the lights to be turned off. An official appeared with a remote control, pointed at an overhead projector, and clicked. "Oooh!" gasped the crowd.

The paintings of Mark Rothko can be breathtaking, but they don’t usually elicit audible gasps. This group had just watched a set of Rothko paintings suddenly drain of their colors, going from deep plum to ashy gray. It was akin to a musical moment—the change of a chord from major to minor.

The light that made a painting behave like a guitar was digital projection controlled pixel by pixel, which is not unrelated to the lighting array at a contemporary rock show. Harvard is employing this unusual technique for an art museum in order to "restore" a series of Rothko canvasses without touching them. Commissioned in the early 1960s for a dining room on the top floor of a university administrative building, Harvard’s Rothko murals were removed from view in the 1970s because they had so rapidly faded in the sun. Unwilling to use traditional restoration techniques of inpainting on Rothko’s fragile, unvarnished surfaces, Harvard hid these works away rather than display them in their "damaged" state. "The murals will probably not be shown again in our lifetimes," declared the chief conservator at Harvard in 1988.

Last month, the Harvard Art Museum unveiled the fruits of a technological collaboration with MIT’s Media Lab—a software-driven, pixel-by-pixel projection of compensatory color that makes the Rothko canvasses appear as they did in 1962, when they were first unrolled in Cambridge. Gasping along with the others at this digital projection, I was struck by another similarity to musical experience.

The first time I heard a CD was just about the same time Harvard’s chief conservator predicted the Rothko murals would never be displayed again. In the late '80s, CDs arrived, and like so many "hi-fi" marketing schemes it was freighted with promises of better sound, greater durability—all at a correspondingly deluxe price. It sounded like a pitch designed to part bored businessmen from their money. On the underground rock scene, rumors and conspiracy theories abounded. "There’s no physical way to permanently bind metal to plastic," a science-major friend told me, authoritatively. "You know they only cost pennies to make," said a record store clerk we considered a paranoid hippie, because he was a bit older than we were. "And if you look at the laser that plays them, you’ll go blind."

Those who had actually heard a CD—which wasn’t many in our circles, due to the high bar of buying both a new machine and the expensive individual discs—knowingly said they sounded "cold." Stereo salesmen eagerly explained that the dynamic range available to CDs was greater than our cheap set-ups could accommodate—you really had to hear them on an entirely upgraded system to appreciate the difference.

So when my then-bandmate announced that he had bought a CD player in order to hear one of our favorite albums—the Feelies’ Crazy Rhythms—without the scratch, I received the news with more than a bit of disdain. How bourgeois, I thought snootily. And then I eagerly asked to hear it, too.

It was true. There were no scratches.

The sensation of first listening to a CD for a record I had memorized—together with the surface noises on my copy, and in this case also the (different) surface noises on my bandmate’s copy—was something like driving a late-model car designed for a smooth ride home to the suburbs, in place of my rusty Fiat 128 that didn’t always manage to get us back from gigs. Just as in a big luxury car, I could no longer feel the surface.

Which is precisely what seemed most absurd at first about CDs—that nothing need touch them as they play. "Digital" was Orwellian in its misdirection: these were objects nobody handled. By contrast, we put our fingers all over LPs—a record dealer friend claims some collectors even lick them.

The digital projection on the Rothko canvas is much like a CD, in its disembodied approach to restoration. With the projector on, the murals are deeply colored, glowing images that bear no marks of use or age—"without the scratch." Shut the projector off, and the canvas is as black and scarred as an old LP. Every moment these Rothko paintings are seen in natural light, they decay a bit more; just as every time we listen to an LP, the needle digs a little deeper, pushing the sound further from its original state.

Seeing the Rothko murals as if they were new again, via digital projection, feels like the breaking of a bond between the viewer and the object—the bond of time that ages us together. This was, I think, the same shock of digital sound when I first heard it. It doesn't change along with us.

I am almost precisely the same age as those Rothko murals, as it happens; my LP collection, among other more corporal markers, proves it. But there's no disembodied return to the original state for me, I'm analog through and through. Perhaps that's why I never did buy that Feelies album on CD for myself—the noise it accumulates is a noise I know, inside and out.

This essay originally appeared in issue #3 of The Pitchfork Review, the 180-page, full color quarterly magazine of music journalism that is published by Pitchfork. A gift pack of the magazine's first year is available here, hand-wrapped and ready for the holidays (until 12/17); subscriptions are available here.

It holds true that the more irresistible a narrative is, the greater the odds it veers closer to apocrypha than fact. The unraveling of D’Angelo, and the artistic drought that came in its wake is one such story. The story may not be objectively true, but it’s much like D’Angelo himself in the music video often cited for cracking his mirror and derailing his auspicious career. The story of D’Angelo’s decline is seductive, unusual, and instructive in any conversation about how black men express themselves physically through music.

The conventional wisdom on why D’Angelo hasn’t released a new studio recording in 14 years has its roots in a SPINfeature from August 2008. Stark and unflattering, its title—"D’Angelo: What The Hell Happened?"—seemed the only suitable header. At that time, the public’s image of D’Angelo wasn’t his star-making turn in the video for "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", in which he appeared nude, forged from chocolate diamonds, and displayed as if on a rotating cake stand. As indelible as that image was, it couldn’t compare with his then-recent mug shot, in which he appeared 40 pounds heavier without a cell of muscle, and with his face trapped in the 1,000-yard stare typical of men arrested for soliciting a prostitute. The SPIN piece drew a straight, bright line between the former D’Angelo and the latter. The theory was simple: turning into an overnight sex symbol shattered D’Angelo’s psyche and made him feel insecure about his music. He withered away under the heat of the lecherous gaze.

It’s a story about a man getting a ground-level view of the objectification generally used to oppress women. It’s almost poetic. But the question underlying the story is why the "Untitled" video got such a frenzied response in the first place, and that’s because it featured a rare sight: a black man dancing sexually. Contemporary black pop is perhaps more graphically sexual than ever before, but yet there remains a woeful lack of room for black men to express themselves sexually through movement.

The D’Angelo video seems like an odd place to begin a discussion of sexual dance, considering how relatively still D’Angelo’s performance is, but it’s actually a perfect example of sexual dance.

Broadly, sexual dance is the body moving to music in a way that is designed to titillate, especially by focusing on specific areas of the male or female anatomy. Movements are austere and usually rhythmic. Sexual dance is done in immodest clothing. Sexual dance emphasizes rapture over technique and form over function and is inherently submissive—designed to invite the lecherous gaze. The dancer tacitly forfeits the right to be viewed as more than a collection of jiggling flesh. Not all male movement associated with sexuality qualifies as sexual dance. For example, the pelvic thrust set to music is not sexual dance. The austerity of movement is there, as is the focus on a specific part of the anatomy, but the submissive quality is lacking. Pelvic thrusting says, "Look what I can do," whereas sexual dance says, "Imagine what you could do with this."

By these standards, most of the dancing seen in black music is not sexual dance. When Chris Brown dances, or Usher or Ne-Yo, there can be a sexual tone, but the dance is too technical, too clean, and too choreographed to be considered sexual dance. It’s an expression of showmanship and virtuosity, not sexuality, and it’s only sexual in how it evokes the broader idea of black physicality and athleticism. It’s a type of movement required of any aspirant to the Michael Jackson template of black pop stardom, and as much spectacular movement as Michael did, very little of it evoked sex.

A prominent, pre-D’Angelo example of hostility toward black male sexual dance is Hammer’s infamous 1994 video "Pumps and a Bump", often credited as revitalizing Hammer’s career as much as it is destroying it. The video is set in the pool area of Hammer’s 40,000-square-foot mansion, which later became a symbol of excess. But the symbol of excess most people were focused on in the "Pumps and a Bump" video was Hammer’s package, which bounces around as he gyrates in an indiscreet zebra-print Speedo.

The video was deemed too graphic, amid accusations that Hammer’s full erection was on display, and an alternate video was shot with a fully clothed Hammer. The issue came up when he appeared on Arsenio Hall’s talk show. Bashful and chastened, Hammer clammed up when Hall asked him to settle the Speedo debate. I interviewed Hammer in 2009, and when I asked about the video, his response was noticeably defensive. He told me men who were uncomfortable with and insecure about seeing him in that swimsuit created the backlash. "The problem was that men weren’t interested, but their wives and girlfriends were a little too interested," he said.

A more recent example came this spring, when openly gay rapper Fly Young Red released a video for his single "Throw That Boy Pussy", which quickly went viral. The video is straightforward in its novelty, musically and visually akin to a Soulja Boy video, except that Fly Young Red is gay, hence the big-bootied bodies on display belong to men. The male dancers, clad in tied-off tees and booty shorts, gyrate and twerk while Fly Young Red talks gender-flipped shit over the beat: "Clap that ass in a split/ Lemme see you clap that ass like a bitch/ Yeah I’m trying to get you back home/ So I can see you clap that ass on this dick."

The online comment threads on the Fly Young Red video reflect a wide spectrum of reactions. There’s outrage, amusement, support, and some genuine confusion—not to mention a good bit of internal dissent, with gay men debating the video’s appropriateness, and expressing a certain level of shame that outsiders were judging their cultural nuances. And of course, there’s plenty of religious shame. Perhaps the best comment of the bunch reads, "I just want to let everyone know that if you didn’t immediately repent after watching this, it’s still not too late to do it now."

There’s a narrower range of responses to another video featuring black men dancing sexually, Sissy Nobby’s "Beat It Out the Frame". In one portion of the video, Nobby, who ranks high among the boss bitches of N’awlins sissy bounce, exhorts his male fans to "pop dat dyck up," and they comply, whipping their packages around in silhouetting mesh shorts.

The relatively muted response to that video has two explanations. First, New Orleans bounce is a music scene with a good amount of sexual fluidity. Second, the aforementioned portion is a small part of the video, which except for that snippet, features twerking black women. So while Sissy Nobby is gay, the "Beat It Out the Frame" video isn’t necessarily gay. It’s inclusively sexual. If your thing is watching people sling their mounds to and fro’, "Beat It Out the Frame" has something for you. Still, it’s worth noting that in the online discussion of the video, that small section elicits the most conversation. It’s no easy feat to steer a conversation away from a black woman’s ass, but the men in Sissy Nobby’s video manage to steal the show.

Black men have little room for error when it comes to dancing sexually because that type of movement is not compatible with the way people process black male sexuality. Black men’s bodies are commodified to the same extent that black women’s bodies are, but in different ways. Black women are sexually objectified, while black men are sexually weaponized. Black men’s sexuality is expected to have physicality, a domination and a brutality that isn’t present when a man is dancing sexually by himself. There’s room for that when a man and a woman dance together, as it gives the man the opportunity to pulverize his partner with pelvic thrusts in a manner that, while inspired by sex, doesn’t resemble actual sex. But for a man, without a partner, to put his body on display through dance requires a level of submission that is as undesirable to black men as it is to their audiences.

There is a reasonable cultural and historical basis for black men resisting this type of dance. There’s a deep, painful historical context around black men’s bodies being put on display, robbed of their agency, and evaluated exclusively in terms of their function. His strength and his potency can make it difficult for a black man to willingly give in to the urge to shake his ass, which is an acknowledgment of complete submission. To do it with an audience watching is a feat, especially when that audience is expecting something different.

Black men are often complicit in their sexual weaponization. "Beat It Out the Frame" is a perfect example of this, with a sexual overture expressed using violent language and a premium placed on a black man’s physicality, stamina, and potency. "Throw That Boy Pussy" is exhilarating and transgressive, but when Fly Young Red specifies that he wants to see you "clap that ass like a bitch," it’s clear the video has its foundation in the very same rigid, binary ideas of sexuality and gender expression it means to rebel against.

To the extent black male sexual dance exists, it’s often done as mockery of or in tribute to black women’s sexual dance, and YouTube is teeming with examples. By couching the dance in irony, black men create a space to enjoy it by distancing themselves from what that type of performance signifies. The ironic stripper performance has become such a common framework through which black men approach sexual dance. That’s why so many people had no other way to process the Fly Young Red video other than to assume it was meant to create an absurdly comic effect.

While the American culture grows incrementally more accepting of subversions and reinterpretations of sexuality, relationships, and gender identity, attitudes about the sexuality of black bodies seem to have been frozen since 1965. You can fault Miley Cyrus for choosing to surround herself with jiggling black dancers in her recent live shows, but you can’t call her inefficient. Cyrus needed to shatter America’s wholesome image of her, so she used one of the most incendiary symbols known to man.

That said, black women, just by virtue of existing in a heteronormative culture, have tools of sexual expression in their arsenal that black men don’t have. Given the general hostility to black men dancing sexually, it’s a dynamic that is unlikely to change soon. That’s a shame, given what a potent tool the body can be to undergird the tone or message of a song.

It certainly doesn’t help that D’Angelo became a cautionary tale about the dangers of vulnerable, sexual body movement. His story is a fascinating slice of pop psychology, but one that comes with unfortunate subtext. To be black, and to be a man, and to be naked, and to be sexual, and to be submissive, and to be given to rapture, is to know you possess a weapon so powerful, you may never be able to wield it safely.

Social media has been a godsend for amateur musicians. Vine, the app where users can share six-second clips, has been a tremendous aid for acts who used the platform to achieve mainstream success. The obvious example would be Sen. Robert "Bobby" Shmurda (D-NY) who used a viral Vine clip to go from sweatpants-clad Shmoney Dancer to major label recording artist in little-to-no time. Tunes like O.T. Genasis's "CoCo" and RiFF RAFF's "TiP TOE WiNG iN MY JAWWDiNZ" get so much exposure on the site because A: they're catchy songs and B: most of the other music on Vine is mediocre. Like mostly every other site that relies on user-generated content, you'll have to wade through the unfunny (and downright racist and misogynistic at times) crap to find the gems. Rather than waste countless hours watching variations of That One Guy You Went To College With playing a stirring cover of the latest Ed Sheeran tune on his acoustic guitar, I've compiled some of the best songs that originated on Vine in 2014.

Nikeboi: "shake that ass in the living room"

You're probably asking: why would anyone want to shake that ass in the living room? My rebuttal: Why would you want to shake it anywhere else? We should all take the initiative to shake that ass in non-traditional places! Besides, the living room could use some positive PR. It's usually a cold and neglected place with plastic on the furniture and photos that conjure long-suppressed memories of that one family reunion where Uncle Leon got drunk and kept singing "Backstabbers" all offbeat...uh, sorry. I got off track. Basically, it's a tie between this and "We Dem Boyz" for "Song I listened to most this year".

Dominique Davis: "Can you dance for me or nah?"

Completely disregarding the diabetic coma this adorable little girl sends me into every time I watch this clip, we should really be giving her more credit for coming up with such a fire hook off the top of her head. (Your move, Tinashe.)

Landon Moss: "She just favorited my tweet"

You haven't done this dance before when that special someone liked a status or favorited a tweet of yours? Stop lying.

Travis Porter: "Andalay"

A bit of a technicality here: This one wasn't exclusively released on Vine, but it counts because for the life of me, I hadn't see a single sentence or review about the London on tha Track-produced (he did T.I.'s "About the Money") "Andalay" (or hell, ANYTHING about the Atlanta group's Music, Money, Magnums 2 mixtape, which came out this summer) until I frantically Googled what song was bringing this little boy so much happiness. Just saying, you haven't seen a video of any little kids looking this excited about the War on Drugs album, have you?

The Real Hartaway: "She's a Thot"

An informative tune spotting the tendencies of the North American Thot via smooth R&B delivery. Actually, "Don't trust anyone who wears Timbs when it's hot out" is good advice for anyone.

There’s a scene in the premiere episode of the third season of "Scandal" that I often replay in my head: cruel, maniacal Rowan Pope (Joe Morton) towers over his daughter Olivia (Kerry Washington) in an airport hangar. Olivia, the series’ star, whose primary quality is perfection to the point of imperfection, is rarely caught without her armor of power suit and steely determination. In this particular scene, though, she looks small and weak in an athletic-looking zip-up, almost a child again. "Do you have to be so mediocre?" Rowan mocks, after having reminded her of the imperative of being twice as good to get half as much as what "they" have. His invective is a familiar one, a commonly repeated sentiment drilled into the minds of young people of color to prepare us for the harsh world outside our homes.

I often imagine Matthew Knowles towering over his daughter in a similar way, prodding a young Beyoncé until she formed the protective second skin that has often described as robot-like. She tends to credit her now-estranged father and erstwhile manager for her work ethic; it’s a double-edged testament to their relationship, both an expression of gratitude and a softly lobbed accusation. After all, she built her empire by being twice as good, working twice as hard, being perfect to the point of imperfection. Beyoncé is not mediocre.

Last week, she released Yours and Mine, an 11-minute short film described as a celebration of the one-year anniversary of the paradigm-shifting album Beyoncé. But more than a literal reflection on the record, the film celebrates the freedom the album signified for her by underlining its themes: freedom from the constraints of fame, from oppressive gender roles, from respectability politics, from the fear of love and motherhood and sexuality, all intertwined. The film plays like an update to 2013’s Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream, the HBO documentary that served as a coming out party for her post-motherhood self-discovery.

As black-and-white footage from the album’s accompanying music videos is artfully spliced together, Beyoncé meditates on privacy, feminism, love, and motherhood. There are a lot of clichés delivered as revelation, but Yours and Mine is typical Beyoncé: grandiosity and self-indulgence performed so earnestly that it takes an extreme case of cynicism not to, at the very least, be happy for her.

Despite having been a successful working artist since teenagehood, Beyoncé is a late bloomer. She only dissociated from her public image and career long enough to begin knowing herself and her identity and her politics over the past couple of years. The fundamental self-truths that most of us learn about ourselves in our adolescence, Beyoncé is grasping, very publicly, in her 30s. "You can’t put your finger on who I am. I can’t put my finger on who I am. I am complicated," she says, sounding like she’s talking to herself more than to her audience.

"I was brought up seeing my mother try to please...and I always felt like it was my job to fix the problem," she says, echoing Olivia Pope almost literally. Unlike Olivia, though, Beyoncé is self-actualizing; she’s finally standing on the sun.

Each December, every place imaginable seems to scream with Christmas music. And every time, Jews are left in the dust when it comes to music that celebrates their dueling December holiday: Hanukkah. Sure, you could spin some Matisyahu or that one G-d awful Adam Sandler song, but the landscape of Hanukkah music is as dry as the Judaean desert. Luckily, 2014 hath bringeth a wealth of contemporary albums for this holiday from some of coolest names in music today.

How Bout Hanukkah by Drake

Eight nights of Hanukkah equals eight nights of heartbreak on How Bout Hanukkah, the highly anticipated holiday album from our favorite Bar Mitzvah’d rapper. Throughout the album, Drake recounts a litany of his most profound Hanukkah regrets, as well as some of his fondest memories ("Remember one night I went to Erykah Badu’s house/ She made tea for me/ She did a Hanukkah reenactment/ Dressed up like a Maccabee for me"). Of course, "Hold On, We’re Going to Shul" is the feel-good sing-along highlight. If last year’s Nothing Was the Same was the album in which Drake suggested that his last name is Mordecai, then this is the album where he truly owns it. It might not be Rosh Hashanah yet, but Drake still makes this holiday feel more than high.

A Happy Hanukkah with Ezra Koenig by Ezra Koenig

With songs like "I Think Ur A Goy", "One (Bubbe’s Got a New Face)", and "The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance (at Dreidel)", Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Keonig gives Hanukkah tradition a colorful calypso update . Throughout the record, Koenig riffs on the stiff rituals of the holiday and Jewish family life in this collection of his breezy Hanukkah anthems. "A man of faith said hidden eyes could see what I was thinking," he sings on the track "Hanukkah Hunt", "I just smiled and told him, grandpa, I’ll tweet that." The standout gem here might be a somber reworking of VW’s "Cousins", on which Koenig just aggressively wails “me and my cousins, you and your cousins” over a steel-drum beat until he begs his relatives to leave the house after the candle lighting. The cover features Koenig modeling his sweater collection.

Hanukkah in the Heart by Bob Dylan

Four years after releasing his Christmas album, Bob Dylan digs back into the holiday songbook for Hanukkah in the Heart. Perhaps inspired by the intensive archival pursuits of his recent Basement Tapes box set, on Hanukkah in the Heart, Dylan gathers together a whopping eight discs, mixing Hanukkah classics as well as some originals, penned specifically for this collection. Check out "The Hanukkah Prayer (Take 3, from Night 3)" to hear a giggling Dylan attempt to sing the beloved holiday blessing to the tune of "Margaritaville". And then there’s "The Temple", the album’s 14-minute centerpiece, in which Dylan weaves together the story of the Hanukkah with a stone-faced retelling of the plot of 8 Crazy Nights. Not a lot here for casual Hanukkah-music listeners, but for Dylan completists, it’s a veritable gelt-mine.

Forever Hanukkah by Haim

If you’ve adopted the completely invented tradition of gift-giving on Hanukkah, then Forever Hanukkah by Haim will bring an Este "bass face"-worthy expression to those who are gifted this record. These three wise Cali Jewesses have assembled an infectious record of tightly composed R&B-tinged holiday rock that will get even the most aggressively reformed back into the Hanukkah spirit. On "Doughnuts Are Gone" the trio laments the fact that they’ve seemingly eaten all of the jelly-food treats their mom has made. "When I lost control over them all," Danielle Haim sings, "'Cause I want them all, I want them all." Haven’t we all been there? And on "Go Slow, Judah" the girls pen an ode to the Maccabees and the flickering lights of the miracle menorah. The deluxe edition of Forever Hanukkah also comes with a step-by-step guide for a choreographed Bat Mitzvah-routine worthy dance to their track, "If I Could Make You Believe (In Miracles)", a bag of gelt embossed with the Haim sisters’ faces on it, and black leather yarmulke.

Ariel Pink's Hanukkah Graffiti by Ariel Pink

Recorded during breaks between PR mishaps, Ariel Pink’s Hanukkah Graffiti was, according to the press release, supposed to be the album to shift Pink’s objective “from starting beefs to sharing latkes”. Despite featuring several Judaically themed song titles including "Put Your Candle in My Menorah", "Kugel Boogie", and "Menopause Mensch", the majority of the set offers no holiday spirit. Instead, the songs are cluttered with dog sounds, lo-fi noodling, and good old-fashioned kvetching about life in LA. Most baffling is "Hanukkah Medley", which is less a Hanukkah Medley and more a diss track targeting the Salvation Army and expressing "spiritual allegiance" to Ayn Rand. Maybe next Hanukkah, Pink should spend less time on Twitter and more in the siddur.

Even though the traditional television establishment becomes less and less powerful with each passing year, it's easier than ever for a great TV performance to grab the attention of a sizable audience. Thanks to the magical power of the interwebs, more than three million people have watched the frontman of a tiny DIY band from Baltimore shake his butt on "Letterman". More than 80,000 have watched an anthem of queer liberation delivered by a guy in lipstick and heels, also on "Letterman". We've also witnessed one of the biggest rappers in the world proving himself to be a top-shelf comedian, legends showing that they've still got it, and new stars confusing the hell out of people. Not to mention some powerful political statements against police brutality.

So here they are, the year's best music moments on TV:

Future Islands Perform "Seasons (Waiting on You)" on "Late Show with David Letterman"

Related: David Letterman Trying to Turn Future Islands Dance Moves Into Meme

Perfume Genius Performs "Queen" on "Late Show with David Letterman"

Daft Punk Perform "Get Lucky" at the Grammys

FKA twigs Performs "Two Weeks" on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon"

Drake Hosts ESPN's ESPY Awards, Is Amazingly Hilarious

Drake Dons Fake Beard, Interviews Pedestrians About Drake on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Kanye West Chats, Performs Career-Spanning Medley on "Late Night With Seth Meyers"

Pussy Riot Interviewed on "The Colbert Report"

St. Vincent Performs on "Saturday Night Live"

Lookalikes Will Ferrell and Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith Engage in Drum-Off on "Fallon"

Killer Mike Discusses Police Militarization, Ferguson on CNN

Related: Killer Mike on CNN again

Fiona Apple Plays German Eco-Terrorist "Biofrau" on French Superhero TV Show "H-Man"

Wilco's Jeff Tweedy Reunites His (Fictional) Band on "Parks and Recreation"

Related: Jeff Tweedy, the Decemberists, Yo La Tengo, Ginuwine appear on "Parks and Recreation" season finale

The Replacements Perform "Alex Chilton" on "Fallon" (Nearly 30 Years After Getting Banned From "Saturday Night Live") 

Wu-Tang Clan Chat with Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show"

Prince Performs Classics, Chats About His Hair, Breakfast, More on "The Arsenio Hall Show"

Related: Prince and 3rdEyeGirl perform eight-minute jam on "Saturday Night Live"

Kendrick Lamar Performs "i" and "Pay For It" with Jay Rock on "Saturday Night Live"

Run the Jewels and BOOTS Perform "Early" on "Letterman"

Beyoncé Performs Medley at MTV's Video Music Awards

Blood Orange and Samantha Urbani Perform "It Is What It Is" on "Kimmel"

The Lonely Island: "WHEN WILL THE BASS DROP" [ft. Lil Jon]

Common, Vince Staples, Jay Electronica Pay Tribute to Mike Brown at the BET Hip Hop Awards

Bobby Shmurda Does "Hot Nigga" on the BET Hip-Hop Awards (with special guest TerRio)