BEST OF 2010

apparently i can't post mixtape links on my blog anymore :(

TOP 10 ALBUMS



THE HOLD STEADY heaven is whenever
THE NATIONAL high violet
MIDLAKE the courage of others
CRIME IN STEREO i was trying to describe you to someone
COMEBACK KID symptoms & cures
THE BESNARD LAKES are the roaring night
BEST COAST crazy for you
DELTA SPIRIT history from bellow
THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH the wild hunt
FOUR YEAR STRONG enemy of the world

TOP 5 EP's / 7"s



BALANCE & COMPOSURE - split w/ tigersjaw
TOUCHE AMORE - make do & mend / la dispute split 7"s
OWEN - abandoned bridges 7"
HOT WATER MUSIC - live in chicago 7"s
ARMS - s/t ep


HONOURABLE MENTIONS

FORGETTERS - s/t 7" (blake from jawbreaker/jets to brazil's new band. i got this last week otherwise i would have included it in my list & mix)
JIM BRYSON & THE WEAKERTHANS: the falcon lake incident.
BEACH HOUSE: teen dream.
DAN MANGAN: nice, nice, very nice.
SURFER BLOOD: astrocoast.
CIRCA SURVIVE: blue sky noise.


MIXTAPE



listen close at 45rpm

OWEN: abandoned bridges.
DAN MANGAN: road regrets.
THE HOLD STEADY: hurricane j.
BEST COAST: crazy for you.
SURFER BLOOD: twin peaks.
TOUCHE AMORE: hideaways.
BALANCE & COMPOSURE: rope.
COMEBACK KID: g.m. vincent & i.
FOUR YEAR STRONG: on a saturday.
NONE MORE BLACK: cupcake wednesday.
ARMS: heat & hot water.
THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH: troubles will be gone.
BEACH HOUSE: better times.
THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM: bring it on.
THE BESNARD LAKES: albatross.
CIRCA SURVIVE: dyed in the wool.
SHE & HIM: if you can't sleep.
MIDLAKE: the courage of others.
DELTA SPIRIT: scarecrow.
JIM BRYSON & THE WEAKERTHANS: anything & all.
THE NATIONAL: england.
CRIME IN STEREO: i cannot answer you tonight.

shout out to nada for turning me onto some of these bands (arms, delta spirit, best coast, surfer blood, dan mangan, beach house, she & him) via our neverending mixtape trades. also kudos to bobby for throwing an awesome best of 2010 mixtape swap party which led to me making physical copies of this mix with photocopied cut and paste covers inside a ziplock sandwich bag. (i still have a few of these covers if anyone wants one).

NEW MIX

It's November & I'm going on tour soon & I plan to be forgotten when I'm gone...
These are the thoughts I've been thinking & songs I've been spinning most lately.

"See You All This Coming Fall"

ATTACK IN BLACK: constellations.
THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH: the wild hunt.
THE NATIONAL: lemonworld.
THE PIXIES: here comes your man.
THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS: no tears.
THE HOLD STEADY: the weekenders.
BEACH HOUSE: zebra.
MOUNT EERIE: where?
JOHN K SAMSON: petition.
JOY DIVISION: love will tear us apart.
THE CURE: catch.
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: pale blue eyes.
THE CRYSTALS: then he kissed me.
THE REPLACEMENTS: left of the dial.
CAMERA OBSCURA: swans.
MARIACHI EL BRONX: slave labor.
BELLE & SEBASTIAN: piazza, new york catcher.
HARRY MCCLINTOCK: big rock candy mountain.
ATTACK IN BLACK: cave in.
CONSTANTINES: lizavetta.
BLACKLISTED: our apartment is always empty.
TOUCHE AMORE: and now it's happening in mine.
BALANCE & COMPOSURE: twenty four.
THE PROMISE RING: all of my everything's.

grab it here >> www.sendspace.com/file/d9uiom

for a personalized, handwritten lyric sheet, please send $1 & a S.A.S.E. to brand new (ha)

BEST OF 2009 MIXTAPE!

I'm sure some of you read that last post and said "wow, i wish i could listen to this album right now"!
now before you go rushing to myspace, check out this mixtape i made, featuring songs from my favourite albums of 2009!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MIX

tracklisting:

CAMERA OBSCURA: french navy.
POLAR BEAR CLUB: see the wind.
PAINT IT BLACK: salem.
MEW: introducing palace players.
SIGHTS & SOUNDS: shudder, st. kilda.
STRIKE ANYWHERE: failed state.
PROPAGANDHI: night letters.
CURSIVE: from the hips.
DAVID BAZAN: bless this mess.
ATTACK IN BLACK: i'm a rock.
FRANK TURNER: the road.
WILCO: one wing.
SILVERSUN PICKUPS: substitution.
THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART: stay alive.
WEATHERBOX: they're ready for us to come home.
NORTHCOTE: i'm on your side.
BON IVER: beach baby.
THE WOODEN SKY: something hiding for us in the night.
OWEN: brown hair in a bird's nest.
PHOENIX: countdown (sick for the big sun).
CAMERA OBSCURA: other towns and cities.
DEFEATER: a wound and scar.
LUCERO: mom.

total fucking bummer

right now i'm in winsloe, prince edward island, or some shit. this town basically makes charlottetown look like manhattan.

we've been in eastern canada for almost a week now, and it seems like it's been raining since we left montreal. the shows have been really fun and small and mostly on the floor, but the weather and miserable vibes of these small towns have definitely been bumming everyones scene. we were in moncton the other day, and it was so apparent while it was pouring rain and a few of us stumbled into this little ghost town of a mall that showcased not much more than the bay, tim hortons, and lisa's home cooking. anyways, at some point between rounds of nudie "photo hunt" at the bar with some of the fellas, i recalled a conversation i had with brooks about some of the saddest songs we know and love. i then recalled the wonderful mix that i downloaded from colohan's blog showcasing his morose favourites, and knew what i had to do.

i decided to make a mixtape of some of my all time favourite, really really sad songs. it's just under 80 minutes long, so if you want to burn it to a cd, you're welcome to. i promise i will follow this up with a pick-me-up of sorts when adam finishes the mix for our upcoming pop-punk dj night Nothing Feels Good.

but with no further adieu, i present to you: 'Moncton New Brunswick and the Infinite Sadness'

SMASHING PUMPKINS: mellon collie and the infinite sadness.
OWEN: top shelf.
ATTACK IN BLACK: now that i'm dying.
NADA SURF: blizzard of '77.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL: the summer ends.
THE GOOD LIFE: two years this month.
CHAMBERLAIN: racing cincinnati.
CAT POWER: in this hole.
BRAND NEW: you won't know.
MINERAL: love-letter typewriter.
PARK: conversations with emily.
THE PROMISE RING: letter to the far reaches.
WILCO: radio cure.
PEDRO THE LION: the poison.
FRANK TURNER: jet lag.
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE: brothers on a hotel bed.
KNAPSACK: cold enough to break.
CAMERA OBSCURA: forest and sands.
MEW: comforting sounds.
JETS TO BRAZIL: sea anemone.
AGAINST ME!: searching for a former clarity.

DOWNLOAD THE SONGS HERE
READ THE LYRICS HERE

hide the knives.

pretty good year

sorry for the lack of updates lately, i plan on making a comeback with a bunch of posts and photos this week.

something that i had been meaning to do to support my top albums of 2008 post was make a mixtape featuring some of my favourite songs of those records. it seemed like the last mixtape i posted was well received by many of you, so i figured this probably wouldn't be such a bad idea.

yesterday i through together this track, and call it "pretty good year".

THE LOVED ONES: pretty good year.
ALKALINE TRIO: calling all skeletons.
CANCER BATS: harem of scorpions.
CHRIS WOLLARD: no exception.
THE HOLD STEADY: stay positive.
LADYHAWK: s.t.h.d.
CONSTANTINES: i will not sing a hateful song.
PAINT IT BLACK: we will not.
CURSED: friends in the music business.
FUCKED UP: black albino bones.
SET YOUR GOALS: the fallen.
DILLINGER FOUR: gainesville.
VERSE: old guards, new methods.
ABLE BAKER FOX: stuttering.
NEW FOUND GLROY: cut the tension.
BAYSIDE: boy.
THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM: great expectations.
KANYE WEST: streetlights.
RYAN ADAMS & THE CARDINALS: crossed out name.
BON IVER: blindsided.
THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM: blue jeans & white t-shirts.
THE HOLD STEADY: slapped actress.
CHRIS WOLLARD: hey bea.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT BY CLICKING HERE

enjoy!

bad scene, everyones fault

so this past weekend we took part in the annual S.C.E.N.E. music festival in st. catherines. this was our second time on the bill, as we got added last minute like 3 or 4 summers ago. SCENE is set up much like the austin texas south by southwest dealy, and focuses on local bands from southern ontario. something like 200 bands played at like 10-12 different stages and venues over the course of one day in a couple small blocks of downtown st. kitts.

something that i remembered taking part in the last time we played was the mixtape exchange that takes place each year, run by the niagara mixtape union. now, as some of you may or may not know, i love the art of the mixtape, and have been known to whip up quite the mix when my stomach starts to hurt a little bit after meeting a cute girl, on a special holiday/birthday/occasion, when a friend needs a pick me up, or just for the heck of it. i got real stoked to participate this year, and even made a point to get a head start and put a ton of time into my entry. unfortunately, as time ran out, and the weekend got closer, and more so after i forgot to save the cover i made, i didn't end up finishing in time to bring a physical copy to the festival to participate with, but i figured, "why should i waste a great mix?", and decided i should post it here.

my intentions with making this mix was deliberate in speaking to the unknown listener. i wanted to make a tape that would reach the ears of some person i have never met before, particularly someone who knows nothing about me, and perhaps even someone who knows nothing about the scene, culture and music that has shaped my life for what seems to be the majority of my existence. with that, i picked a bunch of songs that speak to me about my life, as well as the ideas, attitude, feelings, ethics and relationships that this movement that i call "punk" are built upon, and have been scratched so deeply into my soul.

what i ended up with was this:
BAD SCENE, EVERYONES FAULT.

clicking that link above will take you to a website where you can download a .zip file. when the file downloads, it should extract itself into a folder that contains 2 mp3 files and a txt file. each mp3 is an entire 45 minute side of a cassette, and the txt file is the track listing and lyrics. (if you get an error that it has been downloaded too many times, then please leave a comment and i will reupload it, but not before being surprised that enough people are actually reading this and would want to take a listen)

listen, read along, repeat, live it.