After talking about wrongfully ignoring Frankie Goes to Hollywood, a bungled Black Flag reunion and auctioning records pre-eBay, Scott Colburn unleashes a ridiculous nonsequitur: “That’s how reggae music started,” he says, and then unpacks the genre’s history, nonchalantly tying together years of seemingly disconnected histories. Colburn, who calls himself an “audio wizard,” is a Grammy-winning, Seattle-based record producer with voluminous musical knowledge that he sees as one big spider web, making illusionary connections freely and enthusiastically. That willingness to accept abstract ideas as linear is what has made him such a sought -out producer, working across genre with groups like Arcade Fire, Sun City Girls and Mudhoney. He splits his time between recording film and television scores and sees them as essentially comparable. “It’s the same in that you’re just creating a sound that supports the image,” Colburn says, and even when there is no tangible image, he seeks one out. “I did this French pop record where the band came together and was making this great record, but this one song wasn’t really happening. They played it a couple of times and I just got the image in my head,” says Colburn. “I went out and described this scene of a guy and a girl in a convertible going through the desert from Las Vegas down to Los Angeles and they’re really excited about each other and they’re going to have sex at the other end, and that’s the movie. The next take we did was the perfect take.” His approach from group to group, he says, is similar, always recording live to evoke how the band feels they naturally sound. “I usually get a vision-not vision like an image, but a vision of sound,” he says, then pauses to make sure he doesn’t slip too deep into the ether. “Of what that band sounds like and what that recording is going to sound like. It’s not evil voodoo magic.”

Staxx Brothers album makes it onto Jambase Top 25 albums of the year and Flowmotion is listed as the number 1 band to watch in 2010!!

Cook’s Corner: 2009 Year In Review

By Team JamBase Jan 1, 2010 • 10:09 pm PST

By: Dennis Cook

I listened to a lot of music this year, approximately two new albums per day, give or take. Some might call this ‘heroic,’ others ‘ludicrous,’ and others still ‘grotesque.’ But, all this listening isn’t some sort of record geek machismo; it’s an honest-to-god drive to find the best, coolest, most enriching music that can be found… and then share what truffles I’ve sniffed out with y’all. Of the 120 full album reviews I penned this year for JamBase, only a tiny few were negative and that’s not because I’m easy. Instead, my primary goal is to sing enthusiastically about the great things I come across, and in many respects, this is the site’s overarching editorial philosophy in a nutshell. We choose not to swing at everything, often passing on much that the mainstream and dominant indie rock outlets cover in favor of artists we think rate just as highly (or higher) than many bands getting oodles of press.

There are some notable absences from my 2009 picks, releases that have been popping up on almost every year-end-roundup – the latest from The Avett Brothers, Wilco, Animal Collective, The Low Anthem, Monsters of Folk. This is not because I did not hear these albums – I worked hard to “get” each but found them all wanting in some crucial way. I feel the albums highlighted here excel beyond these widely celebrated releases in some way, be it artistically, technically, just plain entertainment value or for other less easily phrased reasons. One unifying factor in all the Cook’s Corner choices is how each release succeeds as an album, not just a conglomeration of random tracks. As music continues to shatter into easily digestible bits that we carry around in our pocket, I think there’s real value in celebrating thoughtfully composed song cycles whose constituent parts add up to works with real power to inform and elevate our lives. Music can be a skeleton key for unlocking the universe, starting with our own lil’ cosmos. Here then is a big, jangling ring of possible tumbler turners for your consideration.

Cook’s Corner Top 25 Albums of 2009

Akron/Family: Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free
A clarion call for truth, beauty and an expanded sense of the universe. This is music that touches earth and sky, interior and exterior worlds, and does so with an exuberance and musical fortitude that’s simply breathtaking. Akron/Family truly believes in music’s power to shape a better, more engaged world, and Set ‘Em Wild… finds them channeling ancestors as diverse as Woody Guthrie and Jerry Garcia, all of whom they do proud. (album review)

The Black Crowes: Before The Frost…Until The Freeze
The long-lived rockers’ first double album – captured live in front of hardcore fans at Levon Helm’s Barn in Woodstock – found them more creatively switched-on and varied than anything previous in their catalogue. This is the full plumage of one of the great bands of our time on proud display. (album review)

Neal Casal: Roots And Wings
A sterling addition to the California rock canon that can proudly take its place next to Jackson Browne’s Late For The Sky and Gene Clark’s No Other. As lead guitarist and harmony foil in Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Casal is fantastic; on his own, in service to his own tender, painfully honest muse he is simply stunning. Put directly, Neal Casal is one of the finest singer-songwriters to emerge in the past 20 years or more. Sleep on his work to your own detriment. (album review)

Clutch: Strange Cousins From The West
Tough, uncompromising hard rock with a fathoms deep connection to real blues. Clutch has steadily refined their mayhem and grind into a diamond-tipped drill into the meat of things, snarling with righteous conviction and smiling, fists clenched and a wicked glint in their eye, ready for all comers. (album review)

Mike Dillon’s Go-Go Jungle: Rock Star Bench Press
Possibly THE sleeper of ’09. Mike D, Go-Go Ray and JJ Jungle redeem the lazy shorthand “punk-jazz” by channeling the best parts of both genres and then refashioning them into ontological handgrenades that splinter preconceptions and social malaise. Bonus props for covering Jane’s Addiction and The Minutemen. (album review)

Gov’t Mule: By A Thread
Very quietly, as far as the mainstream is concerned, Gov’t Mule has evolved into a devastating rock ‘n’ roll juggernaut, and this is their finest studio hour yet. Powered by the tightest, most interesting songs Warren Haynes has ever penned, this melds the original spirit of the Mule with the expansive surge of recent years into an addictively listenable whole. (feature article)

Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest
Likely 2009’s most misspelled word, Veckatimest defies simple explication. Though surely rock, there’s something celestial and cavernously vast about this set. Where so much today is easily parsed, Grizzly Bear has crafted music that retains its mystery no matter how many times one plumbs its depths. (album review)

Lucero: 1372 Overton Park
A long promising band has made their first masterpiece, an album worthy of all the Springsteen and Replacements comparisons they’ve accrued in the past 11 years. Ben Nichols has fully grown into his cheese-gratered, tough guy voice, and his tales have the sort of flesh and reality one associates with the Drive-By Truckers or even Steely Dan in Lucero’s love of n’er-do-wells wracked by longing and the weight of misdeeds. This is a cold shower and cup of hot, mean coffee for blue collar souls, and lord knows we could use it right about now in America.

Manchester Orchestra: Mean Everything To Nothing
Manchester Orchestra’s mixture of hooky chops and angried-up bite stirs memories of Nirvana, though there’s a swoon to this that soothes the belly wound bleeding. Strident enough in places to appeal to the emo kids, this has enough classic rock heft to lure in old long hairs like me. It takes a few spins to really feel the full measure of this one but when it finally hits you it’s a Mike Tyson style haymaker. (show review)

The Mars Volta: Octahedron
After multiple releases where blinding speed and obfuscated lyrical outpour dominated, The Mars Volta showed that they’re equally brilliant when they slow down. Taken together with El Grupo Nuevo De Omar Rodriguez Lopez and Xeonphanes and 2009 has blown the doors out for what’s possible from the dizzyingly creative Mr. Lopez. Octahedron is oceanic, vast, dark waters that never reveal all that’s lurking below the surface, yet one feels compelled to keep diving in again and again anyway.

Mastodon: Crack The Skye
The finest hard rock concept album in the past five, possibly ten years, a work that begs comparisons to Metallica or even Pink Floyd’s best efforts. The level of catharsis contained in these tracks is gigantic, pushed along by the finest harmonies in metal today and real finesse with shifting moods and tempos. Mastodon comes at you with an intensity and seriousness that’s compelling rather than off-putting, and thus is able to reach listeners outside metal’s inner sphere. Anyone who has lost someone they love dearly will find terrific emotional resonance with Crack The Skye, and perhaps, like the band – who spent the better part of 2009 playing the album in its entirety live – one may find their scars have healed a bit after spending time with this one.

Ian McLagan & The Bump Band: Never Say Never
With the heartbreaking inspiration of his wife’s passing, the Small Faces/Faces keyboardist has made the solo album of his career. Grief and loss are dealt with honestly but not super-seriously, and the light bounce to some tunes seems hard won and all the more satisfying because of it. Ghosts linger close here, but it’s the sort of haunting that raises the goose bumps of first kisses and long, happy nights nestled against the one we love. (album review)

Megafaun: Gather, Form & Fly
A warm sigh that exhales particulate beauty. Megafaun produces a wild array of sounds for a trio, yet each is anchored to a deep curiosity about what makes people and music tick. Quality black cloud pop, acoustic exploration and full-on experimental clatter mingle in this release and none seems a strange bedfellow with Megafaun doing the matchmaking. (album review), (show review)

The Mother Hips: Pacific Dust
I’ll just come right out and say it: The Mother Hips are the perfect classic rock band. Two amazing songwriters and four top-flight musicians, and everything just sounds fuckin’ great on this latest salvo. If one loves The Beatles and anything else of that well-crafted, crazy talented ilk then you really should nestle between these Hips, especially today when the quartet has every last element dialed in. (feature article)

The Mumlers: Don’t Throw Me Away
Only two albums in and San Jose, CA’s The Mumlers are well on their way to being a Great American Music band, where multiple strains in the U.S.’s vast sonic tapestry get woven into terribly winning, smartly etched tunes. Will Sprott writes and sings ’em with the sharp eye and prematurely weathered pipes of vintage Tom Waits and Randy Newman, though he seems decidedly less premeditatedly cool than either. The kid is just a natural and he’s got boffo collaborators that make the whole shebang swing. Don’t blink and miss this band, please. (album review)

Porcupine Tree: The Incident
With each release in recent years Porcupine Tree has grown into the rare modern equivalent to the great U.K. rock boom of the late ’60s through the mid ’70s, where Deep Purple, Yes, Pink Floyd and other much-emulated Brits experienced their heyday. The Incident continues the Tree’s evolution, melding the melodic grace and widescreen vision of their forebears with contemporary metal’s density and electronica’s penchant for subtle shading and fragmented congruencies. When combined with the band’s beautifully constructed, sensory pricking live show, this song cycle shines even brighter, a testament to the material and the gifted craftsmen behind it. (feature article)

Richmond Fontaine: We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River
With zero fanfare, Richmond Fontaine may have produced the most fully realized album of their lengthy, woefully under-appreciated career. Combining the heaviness and crunch of their early work with the bruised hope of Post To Wire, their latest is further proof that this Portland, Oregon group is one of the finest American rock units of the past two decades, every bit the equal of The Hold Steady, Wilco and other more press-pimped bands. Bandleader Willy Vlautin breathes life into characters with dirt under their nails and skeletons in their closets. They drink and worry too much and quietly long for some long shot that’s gonna pull them out of the muck. And held up in the right light, they look a lot like you and me. The portraits drawn on We Used To Think The Freeway… are like glorious black & white films subtitled with the pithy insight of a great short story writer, and the whole band plays with an eloquence and confidence that only comes from years & years of carving out one’s own identity with steadfast conviction. This is armor and solace for the hard times ahead of most of us, and a poignant reminder that tough going can sometimes produce work of resonant truth and compassionate humanity.

Todd Snider: The Excitement Plan
“I’m broke as the Ten Commandments, and sometimes I’m harder to follow.” If there’s a funnier, more insightful singer-songwriter than Todd Snider kicking around I’ve not encountered him or her. There’s an off-handed dexterity and never-see-it-coming emotional wallop to The Excitement Plan, which strips things down to the bright basics and lets Snider pick and croon with ol’ pros Greg Leisz, Don Was and Jim Keltner. Todd is right at home in their company, spinning tales of LSD fueled no-hitters and the pitfalls of psychotherapy. This was my comfort zone and never fail fallback album of ’09, waiting for me when the world started getting on my last nerve. It made me dance when I thought I was out of jigs, and it made me acutely aware of my own bullshit on more than a few occasions. Not many records make us better people but this one does. (album review)

The Staxx Brothers: We Are The Blaxstonz
All things can be funky when the strings are manipulated by master funkateers like The Staxx Brothers. The sophomore slab from these Seattle freakazoids is the perfect mixture of grime and polish, where they slap you high five while simultaneously exposing the seamy side of our collective underbelly. Street and book smart, this crew romps with purpose, creating impossible to get out of your head nuggets like “1992,” “Westsound Union” and “Game Recognize Game.” With wafts of country and hard rock, they groove gloriously on their path towards a fab new soul mythology. (show review)

Southeast Engine: From the Forest to the Sea
Spirituality and the discontent of modern man are tough nuts to crack, but Southeast Engine leaves both wonderfully shattered here. This is as urgent, heartfelt and musically electric as anything being dished up by My Morning Jacket and Grizzly Bear, and like those kindred spirits, Southeast Engine moves with sincerity and utter conviction. You can feel how much this music means to them and that translates into a great emotional journey for the listener. One feels their toes slowly sink into hallowed ground as they move through the scorched earth scattered throughout From the Forest to the Sea – truly a work inspired by and perfect for the times we live in. (album review)

Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vultures
This pummels you like a sparking furnace, flames licking at your skin, perspiration running over your lips, the beast in your gut awakened and anxious to eat, rut and otherwise live. Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) didn’t have to try this hard. They could have farted out a party record or done variations on blues scales and it would have likely met with moist praise. However, they’ve fashioned a rugged, hard to penetrate, decidedly heavy rock album that finds them at the top of their respective games. For all the “New Zeppelin” buzz flying around them, this is really its own thing, largely defined by Homme’s razor sharp, unpredictable lyrics (mayhap the best in the mainstream since Beck’s Midnite Vultures) and lascivious, unpredictable guitar and vocals. Jones is a total monster super-player here, too, and Grohl surprises with the range of his stick work and ability to keep up with the Zep vet’s free-ranging, worldly chops. Every time I put this on I feel like pounding mescal and getting into trouble somewhere off the grid.

Themselves: Crownsdown
I want to rub this in the noses of every critic out there singing Kanye’s praises as a hip hop innovator. Jel and Doseone are so far beyond anything that loudmouth egotist is ever likely to produce, and the slamming, brain- bonking proof of that rests here. Adept at slogans that linger and impenetrable, rapid-fire word storms, Themselves offers hope that hip hop, as an art form, still has a future despite the bleak, money grubbing, socially bankrupt mainstream. (album review)

These United States: Everything Touches Everything
Simply put, These United States give me hope and make me caper like there’s a decent tomorrow around the corner. They’re like the roots rock cousin to Akron/Family’s genre-wilding, and the greater focus and leaner character of Everything Touches Everything only moves their many virtues to the fore. Instead of choosing to be distant and cool, they’ve chosen to enfold us in a bear hug and whisper small truths into our ear as we relax into the welcome heat of them. The last bit of the liner notes I penned for this album read: “We are no longer prisoners of the past, and the future is ours to make or break. Roll up your sleeves, grab a tambourine and a shovel and join the revival.” Genuinely inspirational stuff from a band that only seems to get better and better.

Tortoise: Beacons of Ancestorship
Many have tried but no one else really sounds like Tortoise, and they’ve put a few more miles between them and the competition with this imaginative release. These Chicago boys have done a lot for instrumental music, expanding the vocabulary for those who wish to tell stories with no words. Beacons confirms their leadership spot in this rarified field with reenergized flair. (album review)

U2: No Line On The Horizon
Easily the most cohesive, thoughtful album this seemingly-never-ending powerhouse has released since Achtung Baby (1991). Nothing like a couple of wars, worldwide environmental and hunger concerns, and a rapidly changing social milieu to fire up this bunch. Absolutely no one tackles stadium size ideas better than U2, and this is as fine a bunch of cross-cultural, people unifying songs as they’ve ever produced. They also sound like they’re having a bit of fun, and The Edge keeps coming up with sumptuous new guitar tones. No Line On The Horizon has a flow and feel right up there with U2’s mid-80s heyday, yet somehow manages to be resolutely modern. There’s a reason they’re the biggest band on the planet. (album review)

And The Rest…

Top 10 Debut Albums of 2009

To my ears, this is the graduating class for this past year – artists one would be wise to keep tabs on because they’re likely to be making amazing music in the years ahead based on the evidence of their respective opening salvos.

1. Dan Auerbach: Keep It Hid (album review)

2. Dawes: North Hills (album review)

3. Fol Chen: Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made (album review)

4. Here We Go Magic: Here We Go Magic

5. Hiss Golden Messenger: Country Hai East Cotton (album review)

6. James Husband: A Parallax I

7. Lansdale Station: Lansdale Station (album review)

8. Lions In The Street: Lions In The Street (album review)

9. Rain Machine: Rain Machine

10. Elijah and Jo Wilkinson: On Sacred Ground (Mother and Son)

Best Mainstream Album of 2009

Lily Allen: It’s Not Me, It’s You
The same part of me that morbidly follows the Eurovision competition is inexorably drawn to Ms. Allen. Shaking my tush and singing along to the banjo dappled disco of “Not Fair” or belting out the black opening lines of “The Fear,” I find I couldn’t give a flying fuck if it’s cool to dig her. I just do, warts and all, and she’s made a hell of a populist gem. And she’s given us the fine flipping-the-bird farewell to George W. Bush and his ilk with “Fuck You,” so you should like her, too. (album review)

International Release of 2009
Tinariwen: Imidiwan: Companions (album review)

Best Tribute/Covers Albums of 2009
Phosphorescent: To Willie (album review)
Poor Man’s Whiskey: Dark Side of the Moonshine

Archival Releases of 2009
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds: Mute reissues (album review #1), (album review #2)
Death: …For The Whole World To See (album review)
Chris Darrow: Chris Darrow/Under My Own Disguise (album review)

Best “New” Classic Rock Albums of 2009 (or “The Zeppy Award”)
Leroy Justice: The Loho Sessions (album review)
Powder Mill: Do Not Go Gently (album review)

Concept Album of 2009
Mike Keneally: Scambot 1 (album review)

Soul Album of 2009
The Black Seeds: Solid Ground (album review)

Best Live Album of 2009
Thin Lizzy: Still Dangerous (album review)

Best Dance Album of 2009
Gossip: Music For Men (album review)

Best EPs of 2009
Hottub: On Blast! (EP review)
The New Up: Better Off

Best “Best Of” Anthologies of 2009
Blur: Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide To Blur
Nick Lowe: Quiet Please…The New Best of Nick Lowe

Surprising Return To Form of 2009
KISS: Sonic Boom

Best Bong Hit ‘n’ Headphones Album of 2009 (or What Several Species of Small Furry Animals Are Grooving To In A Cave These Days)
The Flaming Lips: Embryonic

25 Songs from 2009 That Will Greatly Enrich Your Life
1. “Gimakiny Akia” by Extra Golden
2. “One String Harp” by Bell X1
3. “Messing With My Head” by Tinted Windows
4. “The Fade” by Megafaun
5. “That Western Skyline” by Dawes
6. “Laughing With” by Regina Spektor
7. “16 & Valencia Roxy Music” by Devendra Banhart
8. “Blue Moon” by Drug Rug
9. “Cocaine & Ashes” by Son Volt
10. “Northern Lights” by Bowerbirds
11. “Calling All Crows” by State Radio
12. “Blanket of Weeds” by Meat Puppets
13. “Crying Lightning” by Arctic Monkeys
14. “‘Til My Voice Is Gone” by The Old Ceremony 15. “Goodbye” by The Maldives
16. “The Way You Can Get” by The Gourds
17. “So Slowly” by Early Day Miners
18. “East Jesus Nowhere” by Green Day
19. “Another World” by Antony and the Johnsons
20. “Needle Down” by Super 400
21. “Alice Mae” by Hill Country Revue
22. “Divide & Conquer” by Vandaveer
23. “Hurry For The Sky” by Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3
24. “Leave The Window Open” by Chuck Prophet
25. “Stillness Is The Move” by Dirty Projectors

A Look To The Future…

Covers There Should Be A Moratorium On In 2010
Okay, Michael Jackson is gone. Six months of “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” covers is enough. Really. And be honest, most of the attempts at Michael’s catalog were pretty limp by comparison to the Pop King’s studio grandeur. The Corner suggests that acts seeking to increase their soul quotient explore the rich catalogs of Donny Hathaway, Funkadelic, The Temptations and Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson for some primo, less-traveled fare.

5 Artists To Watch in 2010

There’s something special brewing in this shortlist of really, really talented folks. My gut instinct is these bands are on the verge of major musical breakthroughs, both in the studio and onstage.

1. Flowmotion

2. Everest

3. J. Tillman

4. Hot Buttered Rum

5. Backyard Tire Fire

JamBase | Headphones On
Go See Live Music!

I don’t want to limit my lists to just records that came out in 2009, but rather, records that I discovered (or rediscovered) in 2009. I COULD list all the records I produced this year as favorites, but that goes without saying.

Zola Jesus – The Spoils – Sacred Bones 2009 LP – It’s a toss up for me on which record is my FAVORITE of the year, but this is tied with the next two records for top of the list. I love the mood of this record. It’s dark and otherworldly. Reminds me of an electronic Velvet Underground in which Nico actually could sing. I also feel it’s current folk music. There is a story here and the music sets the mood.

Xasthur – All Reflections Drained – Hydrahead 2009 2xLP – I’ve been a long time fan of Xasthur but each progressive release gets better and better. What I like about his black metal is the mood it sets with its slow picked chords. And it’s the chords that don’t sound right. In fact, the album doesn’t sound right, and that’s what is great! It sets the tone for a full-on post-apocalyptic 2012 epic Hollywood feature – the movie that no one will see cos we’re all dead!

Mudboy – This is Folk Music – Last Visible Dog 2008 CD – Actually, I would put the entire Mudboy catalog on this list but that would take a really long time. He is a recent discovery of mine from the Sound Projector Radio Show (which you should subscribe to immediately). The Mudboy retrospective that Ed did was amazing and included a 17 minute improv piece by Mudboy, exclusively for the show. That did for me! I needed the whole catalog, and I got it! I chose this record because you have to start somewhere, and if you are ready to start… start here, do not pass go and do not collect $200. Mudboy’s drones are infinitely beautiful and spellbinding. Like all great art, it doesn’t indicate what you are supposed to see or feel, it allows your daily mood to shift the mood presented. In a way, it’s the ultimate soundtrack to your life. If you are happy, Mudboy is happy. If you are sad, Mudboy is sad. If you are a stupid fucking idiot, then you haven’t heard Mudboy. (Also recommended is Hungry Ghosts CD and Mudbeats Vol 1.)

Slicing Grandpa – Chaos Midnight – Strain Theory 2007 10″ – Do you miss Chrome? I miss Chrome.

Flaming Lips – Christmas on Mars Soundtrack – Warner Brothers 2008 LP – Not only is this a great movie, but the soundtrack is impeccable. It draws from 50’s Sci-Fi, maybe even 50’s Russian Sci-Fi. They did such a good job at recreating those sounds. It has all the huge, weird string sounds you would expect intertwined with the huge weird synth sounds. It made me feel really good about my purchase of the M-tron.

Deep Purple – Deep Purple – Harvest 1969 LP – Actually, I rediscovered Deep Purple as a band this year and it was hard to list only one album (ok, check out Shades of Deep Purple, The Book of Taliesyn and Burn too). I had no idea. Why did I skip this so long ago? This band was amazing. They rocked. No doubt about it. I now feel like I could approach Rick Rubin and discuss album production now that I’ve seen the light! The combination of excellent musicianship, the play between drums and keys, tasteful guitar licks and excellent, excellent vocals will make you want to repaint your room.

Darkspace – Vol 3 – Avant Garde 2008 CD – Like Xasthur in the mood department but really on the opposite side of the planet. This black metal band is really good at holding tension and releasing it at exactly the right moment. At the point where you think you may lose your mind, they turn the corner and show it to you (cos they plucked it right our of your bleeding skull).

Frank Zappa – Lumpy Money – Zappa 2008 3xCD – Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of these records, this set not only gives you the original mixes but build reels, edits, mono’s, etc. Truly a great collection and tribute to a classic Zappa mindfuck.

Grizzly Bear – Live on KCRW – Warp 2009 7″ – On Record Store Day, my faith in the buying public was restored while I spent 10 minutes picking up a few things and 30 minutes waiting in line to pay. Looking at the line, I was pleased to see NO ONE buying CD’s! Everyone had piles of vinyl. Some had turntables! I hesitate to list this album because their management is rude and incompetent, but I picked up this 7″ because someone told me that I would like them and was blown away by how great it is. It’s worlds better than any of their other records, and I think it’s because it represents the band well. It’s how I feel their records SHOULD sound.

Choice Cuts 2009 – Universal Music Group 2009 LP – Related to the Music Store day story above, I just have to point this record out. As a bonus of supporting Record Store Day, we got some freebies. This was one of the freebies. I suppose its purpose was to expose us to other artists that we might be interested in. I find it interesting that it’s a selection of Universal Music Group artists and labels, though, so in a way I view it as “this is the best we have for this year”. BOY what a complete load of shit on this comp. Over 20 years ago, I was on a comp that was reviewed simply as an epic waste of vinyl. NOW I turn that award over to Universal for signing and promoting the worst group of “talent” I’ve seen in a long time.

Well at least I made it on this list!

Look at number 75

1	Radiohead	Kid A	2000
2	Strokes	Is this it	2001
3	Wilco	Yankee hotel Foxtrot	2002
4	Jay-Z	The blueprint 2 : the gift & the curse	2002
5	White stripes	Elephant	2003
6	Arcade fire	Funeral	2004
7	Eminem	The Marshall Mathers lp	2000
8	Bob Dylan	Modern times	2006
9	M.I.A.	Kala	2007
10	Kanye West	The college dropout	2004
11	Bob Dylan	“Love and theft”	2001
12	LCD soundsystem	The sound of silver	2007
13	U2	All that you can’t leave behind	2000
14	Jay-Z	The black album	2003
15	Bruce Springsteen	The rising	2002
16	Outkast	Stankonia	2000
17	Beck	Sea change	2002
18	MGMT	Oracular spectacular	2008
19	Amy Winehouse	Back to black	2006
20	White stripes	White blood cells	2001
21	Coldplay	A rush of blood to the head	2002
22	Green day	American idiot	2004
23	D’Angelo	Voodoo	2000
24	Bruce Springsteen	Magic	2007
25	Radiohead	Amnesiac	2001
26	Cat power	The greatest	2005
27	Flaming lips	Yoshimi battles the pink robots	2002
28	Yeah Yeah Yeahs	Fever to tell	2003
29	Sigur Rós	Ágaetis byrjun	2000
30	Radiohead	In rainbows	2007
31	My morning jacket	Z	2005
32	Lil Wayne	Tha carter III	2008
33	Daft punk	Discovery	2001
34	Outkast	Speakerboxxx/the love below	2003
35	PJ Harvey	Stories from the city, stories from the sea	2000
36	U2	No line on the horizon	2009
37	50 Cent	Get rich or die tryin’	2003
38	Ryan Adams	Heartbreaker	2000
39	Kings of Leon	A-ha shake heartbreak	2004
40	Kanye West	Late registration	2005
41	Arctic monkeys	Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not	2006
42	Elliott Smith	Figure 8	2000
43	Killers	Hot fuss	2004
44	System of a Down	Toxicity	2001
45	Kanye West	Graduation	2007
46	Justin Timberlake	FutureSex/LoveSounds	2006
47	Fleet foxes	Fleet foxes	2008
48	TV on the radio	Dear science	2008
49	Fiona Apple	Extraordinary machine	2005
50	Bright eyes	I’m wide awake it’s morning	2005
51	Spoon	Kill the moonlight	2002
52	M.I.A.	Arular	2005
53	Kings of Leon	Only by the night	2008
54	Norah Jones	Come away with me	2002
55	Robert Plant & Alison Krauss	Raising sand	2007
56	Vampire weekend	Vampire weekend	2008
57	Death cab for Cutie	Transatlanticism	2003
58	Danger mouse	The grey album	2004
59	Interpol	Turn on the bright lights	2002
60	Phoenix	Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix	2009
61	Shins	Oh, inverted world	2001
62	Johnny Cash	American III : Solitary man	2000
63	Kanye West	808s and heartbreaks	2008
64	Gillian Welch	Time (the revelator)	2001
65	Manu Chao	Proxima estacion: esperanza	2001
66	Antony and the Johnsons	I am a bird now	2005
67	Björk	Vespertine	2001
68	U2	How to dismantle an atomic bomb	2004
69	Missy Elliott	Under construction	2002
70	Sleater-Kinney	The woods	2005
71	Bright eyes	Lifted of the story is in the soil keep your ear to ground	2002
72	Franz Ferdinand	Franz Ferdinand	2004
73	Coldplay	Parachutes	2000
74	Red hot chili peppers	Stadium arcadium	2006
75	Arcade fire	Neon bible	2007
76	Sigur Rós	()	2002
77	Yo la tengo	And then nothing turned itself inside-out	2000
78	Sufjan Stevens	Illinoise	2005
79	New pornographers	Electric version	2003
80	Kings of Leon	Youth & young manhood	2003
81	Ryan Adams	Gold	2001
82	Queens of the Stone age	Rated R	2000
83	Black keys	Attack & release	2008
84	Eminem	The Eminem show	2002
85	Coldplay	Viva la vida (or death and all his friends)	2008
86	Postal service	Give up	2003
87	Gnarls barkley	St Elsewhere	2006
88	Brian Wilson	Smile	2004
89	Radiohead	Hail to the thief	2003
90	Amadou et Mariam	Dimanche à Bamako	2004
91	Hives	Veni vidi vicious	2000
92	Bon Iver	For Emma, forever ago	2007
93	Johnny Cash	Unearthed	2003
94	Libertines	Up the bracket	2002
95	Alicia Keys	Songs in A minor	2001
96	Streets	Original pirate material	2002
97	Wilco	Sky blue sky	2007
98	TV on the radio	Return to Cookie mountain	2006
99	Hold steady	Almost killed me	2004
100	Leonard Cohen	Ten new songs	2001

read the article here

The Staxx Brothers | 11.19 | Santa Cruz

By Team JamBase Dec 2, 2009 • 5:00 pm PST

By: Dennis Cook

The Staxx Brothers :: 11.19.09 :: Moe’s Alley :: Santa Cruz, CA

In funk music we find a pronounced commingling of elements, where rock, jazz and R&B bump uglies, moistened with soulful lubrication and powered by a church-like need to get folks onto their feet and out of their constrictions. When done right, funk hits one like happy lightning with a bumptious thunderclap that shakes our preconceptions and lights a fire in the pit of us. Not many contemporary practitioners truly honor the spirit of funk’s founding fathers – Sly & The Family Stone, The Meters, Funkadelic – but one finds the same refined, lusty, socially conscious clamor ringing loudly in Seattle’s Staxx Brothers, who further distinguish themselves by carving out their own mythology rather than riding the coattails of their ancestors.

Before the show, bandleader/lighting rod DP Staxx (aka Davin Michael Stedman) tested the length of his microphone cable to make sure he could reach the already retreating weeknight crowd. Coming up to a total stranger, he quipped, “I’m Davin with The Staxx Brothers from Seattle, and we came to party. We’re gonna play our fuckin’ hearts out.” The look in his eye and casual, confident tone announced he meant business, and the great leaping “hoo-rah” of opener “Westsound Union,” a glorious West Coast celebrating funk grenade, delivered on his word immediately. And then they never let up, not for a second, and this in spite of one of the most honky ass, hang back audiences Moe’s Alley has ever witnessed. How one stands still with a bunch of thrusting, jiggling jumping beans like the Staxx kids capering onstage is simply beyond me, but if the general lethargy of the crowd bothered them it never showed, and DP brought the party right into folk’s faces, busting down the proverbial fourth wall to force choruses and giggles out of some genuinely startled peeps. As an enthusiastic recipient of their back alley gospel flecked salaciousness, I found myself happily singing “Crimson & Clover” and skipping with DP when he scooped me up. One picks up on the same audience-bridging gusto one finds in Akron/Family and Surprise Me Mr. Davis, except much earthier in tone and more anxious to tweak your bottom like the Marx Brothers riding a bad ass bass line.

For just a few folks, they made a hellacious amount of sound. With just three instrumentalists – Chris O’Connor (guitar), Denali Williams (drums), and Shane Smith (bass) – the focus often rested on the four-strong vocal frontline of DP Staxx (MC, lead vocals, awesome, shameless clownin’), explosive, direct and darkly adventurous rapper DC Staxx (aka Amin Tony Hester), and The Staquelettes (comprised of Angela Rickard and Michelle O’Connor). However, the richness of their sound is a smartly designed, cleverly interwoven relationship between all elements, where tight, satisfying solos and perfect, humorous refrains arrive right on time, every time, and the whole thing rides like a cherry Caddy with top line hydraulics. Even the best of their funk contemporaries usually relies heavily on showy musicianship or obvious cover tunes to woo audiences, but Staxx has it all over most of them compositionally, vocally, and intellectually, and their showmanship puts them in the stratosphere of vintage P-Funk (on a no-frills budget – one dizzies to think what they might do if they had ‘flying saucer’ production money). Decked out in a Run-DMC tee, DP was balanced out by the curvaceous Staquelettes in “RIP JMJ” shirts, and it’s sly little touches like coordinated fashions and a growing stock of stage props, costumes, etc. that make time with the Staxx crew so hugely entertaining. Good music is wonderful but if one can have good music and a good time, isn’t that better still?

It would be enough that they’re so bloody fun and engaging live but there’s a deep bottom depth to their music. While not initially clear in the heat of a concert, Staxx’s studio work – 2008’s keenly shaped, Parliament-esque 12th Street Blues and 2009’s heady snapshot of the band in fiery action We Are The Blaxstonz (produced by Scott Colburn, who’s worked with Arcade Fire, Mudhoney and Animal Collective) – reveals slave narratives, close encounters with death, country and hard rock leanings, and way more as one commits to sussing out the nitty and the gritty in their grooves. And like Funkadelic’s ’70s recorded output, just as one finds they’re shimmying they often also discover that some succinct yet important socially or culturally aware nugget has suddenly lodged itself in their dome. Frequently while singing along, perhaps unconsciously, as happened to me a few times at Moe’s, one stumbles across a quality laugh AND something that gives one pause.

And this creative arc looks to be on a continuing upward spiral based on the new numbers they rolled out at this set from their forthcoming third album, Jungle Cats, which showed the band delving into even more diverse musical terrain but keeping things sticky sweet and dance floor ready.

“Jungle Cats is our own mythology that we aren’t actually black, white, Puerto Rican/Creole, or even gypsy, but rather the last of the North American jungle cats, thought to be extinct, no longer running for cover – out of the shadows (of Bigfoot) and kicking ass,” says DP Staxx. “Plus we have crazy cool medallions, sweet ass capes, and a fur coat made of actual possum.”

Their lustiness, hell, their PLAIN OLD DIRTINESS is essential to their appeal. As the world grows increasingly more desiccated, ball-less, insular and individually focused, it’s heartening to find a band that openly and anxiously proclaims their love of pussy, nasty pounding, and other carnal delights that create connection, union, and vibrant, immediate sensation. Staxx is a post hip hop unit, and the street vibe is strong in this bunch. That often means they cut to the chase where others tiptoe, and more power to them on this front. It does not hurt that they have The Staquelettes, who undulate oh-so-winningly, moving hypnotically like some lost Motown sisters that might just give it up if you played your cards right. When I told the girls after their set that despite being a happily married man I had it bad for them both, they smiled and said, “Well good, that’s our job!”

From an absolutely blazing, tough as nails cover of “Red Hot Mamma” to irresistible new compositions like “Bad Neighborhood” and “Sugarwalls,” The Staxx Brothers reaffirmed funk’s relevance and potency in Santa Cruz. Going straight for that g-spot and doing The Running Man with zero irony, they poured out all they had in them, truly playing their “fuckin’ hearts out,” just as promised. Their apostolic character inspires healthy fanaticism for their cause. Their general delightful demeanor and blooming mythology, full of multiple nicknames and a strange, expanding geography, provide multiple points of entry, and wherever you come in the music is on point and rewarding. Theirs is a sound and mood that might stir you to dry hump the nearest GILF, toilet paper Timothy Geithner’s house, or some other form of beautiful mayhem. The Staxx Brothers are reaching out, anxious to take your hand and get into it, and they’re game for anything.

The Staxx Brothers :: 11.19.09 :: Moe’s Alley :: Santa Cruz, CA
Westsound Union, G Spot, Game Recognize Game, Red Hot Mamma, Roll Wit’ Me, Sugarwalls, Money, Bad Neighborhood, Back Home, On Ice, 1992, Name Dropper, Keep The Motor Runnin’, Jesus In Adidas, Detroit

We’ve started our fires in the forest and soon we will bring them to the cities with our second full-length album titled, Brand New Blood, to be released on Sarathan Records. Your first chance to buy the album will be when we release it for digital release on Tuesday, December 8th, and then you can go out and buy it in stores on Tuesday, January 19th…..

Not long ago, a group of genuinely backwoods dudes from the country moved to Seattle and began playing shows that burned with primal intensity and soared with pop sensibility. They called themselves Feral Children-a wholly appropriate name for a bunch of wild boys from rural Maple Valley, WA-and were ready to stake their claim in Seattle’s celebrated music scene. And when they arrived, they adamantly let it be known they would not be playing any of the following: “fucking California pop”; “classic rock covers”; or “shitty indie pop.”

Instead, Feral Children would be making their music-music from the Pacific Northwest. When they released their 2007 debut LP, Second to the Last Frontier, bassist Jim Cotton proudly stated: “It actually sounds like the first Northwest record that I’ve heard in 10 years.”

And it didn’t take long for them to catch the ear of KEXP FM and the local press, who jumped all over this debut with rare and unanimous praise: “will undoubtedly be heralded as one of 2007’s best” (The Stranger), “the future is now for the Feral Children” (John Richards, KEXP), and even “Perfect, absolutely perfect” (Seattle Sound Magazine).

In a city known for “hey-no-worries” politeness, there are countless interviews in which local indie rockers come off like glad-handing chimps toward their peers, often hiding their real opinions under a veil of niceness. The boys in Feral Children, however, have been ready to separate themselves from the pack and to claw their way to the top if need be, and they don’t seem to care who gets scarred along the way; “Yeah, we live in Seattle, but only because we have to.” In fact, they would prefer the soggier and stranger outskirts of town.

Luckily, they haven’t had to claw too hard to get attention; they’ve perked the ears of many on the strength of their music and the visceral ferocity of their live shows. And if Brand New Blood is any inkling, they’re set to garner even more acclaim, well beyond the hemline of the Cascade Mountain range they call home.

Like their last album, Brand New Blood contains music that evokes Feral Children’s home territory-sprawling, chilly, vast, strange, and, at times, violently stormy.

Comparisons have been made to another great Northwest concern, Modest Mouse, and that comparison is not without merit. But after listening to Brand New Blood, it’s obvious Feral Children share more in common with Modest Mouse philosophically than musically. The fact that they are from Maple Valley, WA, and not the big shitty of Seattle, has cemented their outsider status and shapes every lick of music they play. They also share that band’s mournfulness for nature-as natives of the Washington hills, these Feral Kiddies have watched Mother Earth raped time and again by greedy developers. They don’t approve of excessive wealth and would likely have no idea what to do with the wads of cash this album stands to earn them. To some, their perspective may be askew-but they are proud of it and don’t feel like conforming to anyone’s standards. Why should they? They’re from the real Washington State, so fuck you.

Take a listen to the album’s centerpiece, the colossal “Conveyer”, in which the band’s wonderfully wonky perspective of society is on full display. “This world is like a video game controlled by lonely boys with attention deficit disorder,” sings Jeff Keenan in a huffy manner that suggests total exasperation with everyday life. The song eventually erupts into full-throttle Arcade Fire-like pounding with Keenan frothing and barking the lyrics: “The milk calls the coffee black/ and Mother Nature’s getting so fat!”

Scott Colburn produced this album, and his ability to push a band into the stratosphere is all over Brand New Blood. This sucker is all about atmosphere; specifically, the Pacific Northwest woods featured in Twin Peaks or Twilight. In fact, the band doesn’t sound like they are playing in a studio at all. The cold blankets of synthesizer (“Kid Origami”), the tooth-clattering percussion that sounds like the breaking of bones (“Castrato”), the volatile guitars (“Enchanted Parkway”)-this album feels as if it were recorded along the banks of the Green River Gorge at 3 a.m. in the middle of January.

The legion of hyphen-wielding indie rock critics will likely be compelled to draw parallels between Brand New Blood to Lonesome Crowded West. But that would be a lazy comparison based on little more than geography. A deeper listen will reveal that while there are philosophical similarities, Feral Children are on to a whole other trip musically, one that feeds off of isolation and loneliness, the ghosts of their working-class pasts and the awkwardness of trying to fit in to Seattle’s hyper self-aware music scene. Desolate as it may sound, though, it’s obvious they are happy to have each other for company. Fucked up individuals they may be, but they seem to understand each other and speak fluently through their music. Feral Children are proud to stand together as a pack: defiant, dysfunctional, and outsiders to the core

Decoder Ring’s “They Blind The Stars, And The Wild Team” has been nominated for “Record of the Year” at the 2009 FBi and Time Out Sydney Music, Arts & Culture Awards. If you love the record, VOTE NOW!!!

smacawards.com

Also, This record was at #4 on Itunes Alternative Album Charts recently

Jaye and I were at this show

I’m still trying to figure out what “Noncommercial Records Recording Studio” means. Does it mean I record non-commercial records? that ain’t true. Do I work for Noncommecial Records? I’ve never heard of them and why haven’t I received a paycheck?

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Scott Colburn Receives 2009 Seattle Award

U.S. Commerce Association’s Award Plaque Honors the Achievement

WASHINGTON D.C., June 8, 2009 — Scott Colburn has been selected for the 2009 Seattle Award in the Noncommercial Records Recording Studio category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA).

The USCA “Best of Local Business” Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USCA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2009 USCA Award Program focused on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USCA and data provided by third parties.

About U.S. Commerce Association (USCA)

U.S. Commerce Association (USCA) is a Washington D.C. based organization funded by local businesses operating in towns, large and small, across America. The purpose of USCA is to promote local business through public relations, marketing and advertising.

The USCA was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, chambers of commerce and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to be an advocate for small and medium size businesses and business entrepreneurs across America.

SOURCE: U.S. Commerce Association