Monday, December 23, 2013

The Airing of Grievances 2013

Yes friends it is that time of year once again, my one real moment of care about the Holiday season here in my slice of the Earth. A single exercise as taken from a television comedy over a decade ago that has almost etched itself into the cultural canon alongside the Christmas Tree, the Hanukkah menorah, and Sandra Lee's Kwanzaa Cake. The Airing of Grievances.

But I'm in a mood this year - a mysterious mood I can't quite label. And the result is thus: this year's airing of grievances is less about you and all your many faults but more of my own and the faults of existence in general. But I'm sure I'll find a way to fit you in. You make it so easy.

-I've never knowingly heard Death Grips and I don't care to. I have no interest in Lorde, of whom I've never heard until last week. 5 thousand times this year I heard folks on shows like Soundcheck and All Songs Considered say "this song is just everywhere" and I've never heard the song before. I was going to write a whole new essay about my lack of hipness in the wake of a couple crackin' years last decade but then I just re-read this and nothing's changed so take that link and eat it. It ain't just my problem. Everyone played a part.

-To that end, you know things have really changed when you know more about the managerial problems of Tottenham Hotspur than about the new Vampire Weekend record. And by you I mean me.

-Speaking of sports, how is it an old man who expected me to explain to him why the Buffalo Sabres rehired their old coach and expects me to know the drafted rookies in the minors for the New York Islanders can then turn around and imply I'm the one who is a sports nut when I expressed interest in watching some of the free limited time hockey package on cable?

-Speaking of Tottenham Hotspur, the ladies in the house are real sad now that the handsome face of Andres Villas-Boas will no longer grace the weekend morning TV screen.

-New Year's Resolution: get a degree in Astro-Physics then do nothing with it.

-I read Infinite Jest and only understood a sporadic few pages of it. I blame you.

-I GOT SCREWED OF OUT OF TICKETS FOR THE HOLD STEADY'S 10TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW BECAUSE THEY'RE POPULAR AND ALSO TICKETMASTER IS A NIGHTMARE AND IT REQUIRES ALL CAPS AND ANGER.

-36% of all movies I see in theatres star Steve Coogan.

-Meme.

-You know what? Homeland is not a good TV show.

-Why doesn't St. Patrick's Day get the same scorn as Santa Con? All these years later and we're still walking on egg shells with the Irish.

-I listened to every Ramones record in chronological order earlier this year and the bad stuff wasn't that bad. Well it wasn't as bad as that time you tried to get me to like X Factor.

-I'd give Taoism a try if no one was looking.

- You thought it would be funny when it got real cold last week to say to me "Well..Better Call Sol." How stupid. Shut up.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

The Sonic Parthenon Show – Episode 104: “The Top 25 (or so) Countdown of 2013”



The Sonic Parthenon Show – Episode 104: “The Top 25 (or so) Countdown of 2013”



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Intro
25 – “Shine” by Wild Belle
25 – “Let Love Stand a Chance” by Charles Bradley

Set 1
24 – “What’s Life without Losers” by Mikhael Paskalev
23 – “Kisser” by Step Rockets
22 – “The Sunset” by the Thermals
21 – “Beta Love” by Ra Ra Riot

Set 2
20 – “Through the Deep Dark Wood” by the Veils
19 – “Star Dream Girl” by David Lynch
18 – “Monday Morning” by James Younger
17 – “Half Angel Half Light” by the Men
16 – “Demons” by the National

Set 3
15 – “Bagboy” by Pixies
14 – “Au Revoir” by the Front Bottoms
13 – “Weird Shapes” by Surfer Blood
12 – “Lady, You Shot Me” by Har Mar Superstar
11 – “FOH” by Superchunk

Set 4 (from the Top Albums of 2013 otherwise not on the countdown)
“Oh Come On” by the Julie Ruin from Run Fast
“High School Lover” by Cayucos from Big Foot
“Crazy for You” by the Dirtbombs from Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey
“Love is the Drug” by the Bryan Ferry Orchestra from the Jazz Age

Set 5
10 – “Counting on You” by Kylie Auldist
9 – “I Come from the Mountain” by Thee Oh Sees
8 – “The Next Day” by David Bowie
7 – “Waiting by the Telephone” by Bleached
6 – “Family” by Hanni El Khatib

Set 6
5 – “Run for Cover” by the Oblivians
4 – “Sex” by the 1975
3 – “Chicken Switch” by the James Hunter Six
2 – “Mid Century Modern Nightmare” by Neon Neon

Outro
1 – “(Some of us Have) Adrenalized Hearts” by Livids
1 – “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)” by the Vaccines

The Sonic Parthenon Year in Music 2013

The Playlists:
Early 2013

Spring 2013

Summer 2013

Autumn and the End of 2013

The Concerts:
The Hold Steady: Lucero @ Wellmont Theater

The Hives; Livids @ Irving Plaza

Livids @ Generation Records

Paul Collins Beat; Bambook Kids; Recordettes; MOTO @ Grand Victory

Mudhoney; Pissed Jeans @ MHOW

SOJA @ Webster Hall

Turbonegro @ Irving Plaza

The National @ Sycamore

The Dictators NYC; Deniz Tek; The Fleshtones; Livids @ Bowery Electric

The National @ Barclays Center

The Heavy @ Webster Hall

The Gories; Daddy Longlegs @ Brooklyn Bowl

Social Distortion @ Stone Pony Summer Stage

Stooges Brass Band @ Metrotech

4 Knots Festival @ South Street Seaport

BB King; James Hunter @ Brookfield Place

Motherfeather @ Brooklyn Bowl

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion @ MHOW

Shuggie Otis @ Metrotech

Amanda Palmer @ Lincoln Center

Cambodian Space Project; The Sights @ Rock Shop

Huey Lewis and the News @ Coney Island

The Dirtbombs @ Shinola Block Party

Elvis Costello and the Roots @ Brooklyn Bowl

Metallica @ Yankee Stadium

Superchunk @ Bowery Ballroom

Metric @ Bowery Ballroom

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Autumn and the End of 2013

Mikhael Paskalev - "What's Life without Losers?"
Black Joe Lewis - "Come to My Party"
Sonny Knight and the Lakers - "Hey Girl"
Pearl Jam - "Mind Your Manners"
Paul McCartney - "New"
Nine Inch Everything - "Everything"
Happy Hollows - "Endless"
J Roddy Walston and the Business - "Heavy Bells"
Dr. Dog - "The Truth"
Memoir - "Los Angeles"
Actual Wolf - "Victims and Things"
Jonathan Rice - "Nowhere at the Speed of Light"
Bret Dennen - "When We Were Young"
Basia Bulat - "Tall Tall Shadow"
Quasi - "You Can Stay But You Got To Go"
The Dismemberment Plan - "Daddy Was a Real Good Dancer"
Sebadoh - "I Will"
Crystal Antlers - "Licorice Pizza"
My Bubba - "Poem Found in the Pocket of an Amazon"
Pixies - "Indie Cindy" 
Los Campesinos! - "What Death Leaves Behind"
Noah and the Whale - "All Through the Night"
Haim - "The Wire"
Cate Le Bon - "Are You With Me Now?"
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - "Nightwater Girlfriend"
France Camp - "Ghost Town"
Au Revoir Simone - "Crazy"
Club Sport - "Paradise"
Best Coast - "This Lonely Morning"
Frankie Teardrop - "Chicago"
Holy Ghost - "OK!"
Happy Hollows - "Endless"
Tennis - "Cured of Youth"


Albums
Julie Ruin - Run Fast
Elvis Costello and the Roots - Wise Up Ghost
The 1975 - The 1975


Sunday, December 15, 2013

The Sonic Parthenon Show – Episode 103: “Another Jewish Christmas in Saudi Arabia (a Pennypacker Festivus thrice over)”



The Sonic Parthenon Show – Episode 103: “Another Jewish Christmas in Saudi Arabia (a Pennypacker Festivus thrice over)”



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Intro
“Fuck Christmas” by Fear
“Rock n Roll Christmas” by George Thorogood and the Destroyers

Set 1
“Christmas is Cancelled” by the Long Blondes
“Mistress for Christmas” by AC/DC
“Christmas Tree’s on Fire” by Holly Golightly
“Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” by the Ramones

Set 2
“The Christmas Song” by the Raveonettes
“Christmas All Over” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
“Twinkle (Little Christmas Lights)” by JD McPherson
“Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)” by the Darkness

Set 3
“Father Christmas” by the Kinks
“Santa’s on His Way” by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
“Must be Santa” by Bob Dylan
“Tell the Lord (What Santa’s Done)” by Goober and the Peas

Set 4
“Christmas at the Airport” by Nick Lowe
“The Blizzard” by Camera Obscura
“Tiny, King of the Jews” by Big Black
“Fruitcake” by the Superions
“Free Radicals (a Hallucination of the Christmas Skeleton Pleading with a Suicide Bomber)” by the Flaming Lips

Set 5
“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by New Bomb Turks
“Christmas in Hollis” by Run-DMC
“I Wish it Was Christmas Today” by Julian Casablancas
“My Last Christmas” by the Dirtbombs

Outro
“New Year’s Eve” by Tom Waits

(The program concluded with a reading of “The Policeman Taps Once” by Anthony Berkeley)