Several years ago, as part of an absolute delusional refusal to accept the musical atrophy that comes with middle-aged dadness, Beeso and I started doing a new music podcast, obliging ourselves to listen to a couple of new albums a week and talk about them on the internet. Every year since 2015, we've winnowed our hundred-or-so new album reviews down to our respective top five albums of the year. It is an absolute joy, both in the discovery of new stuff and in the opportunity to just talk shit about fun shit, and I think we would do it even without any sort of audience. Just to see how our sound (and our choices in sound) evolved over the years, I've bundled all our AOTY eps together in one spot.
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
Pre-Omny, blog-boy era, back where it all began: on Beeso's deck, very hungover.
On NYE I meant to do a post of 2022 bangers from albums we discovered on our 'new music' pod tripping balls but in a very 2022 development I completely failed to get my shit together to post it until New Year's Day. In the spirit of 'New Year, 2015 Me' I've decided to convert it from a birdsite thread to a... blog post?? In 2023? On Al Gore's internet? It'll never catch on.
To the bangers!
"Baby do you want to come home with me, I've got Buffalo '66 on DVD" seems like a shit opener, but what do I know, I've been off the market 20+ years. Here's Wet Leg. #herewegoherewegoherewegoooo
This is THE BOBBY LEES (all caps for a reason) from Woodstock, NY. They like noise and general thrashing about. They do not like Greta van Fleet. In their defence, who the fuck does.
Best track off the Little Simz album which dropped last month, still has *some* of the arrogance and swagger that lit up GREY AREA and made it must-listen
"...the Boss Metal Zone pedal being presented as “proof” that the Covid-19 vaccine had an electronic component to communicate with 5G networks" is a hell of a premise for a Clutch face-melter overladen with Phillip K. Dick references (and enormous riffs)
The CZARFACE/MF Doom collab SUPER WHAT was my album of the year for 2021, in a sentence that would make fuck all sense to 2011 Doc. Doom died last year and he's missed from their sound imo. This is the best of CZARFACE's 2022 efforts.
Our 2021 AOTY ep, in which at about 46:30 you can clearly hear Beeso's head explode when he realises my ancient riff-demented arse is picking a superhero-themed hiphop album as my AOTY
MOAR RIFFS? Sure. This is the wonderfully named two-piece doom metallurgy enterprise TELEKINETIC YETI. Because fuck you, that's why.
Badly wanted this album to be better than it was, because I dig that Veruca Salt/Breeders/S-K grrl-with-many-R's shit as much as Momma clearly do. Still, this track absolutely nails the brief.
The Black Keys made an album. It was decent by Black Keys standards. This track is not from that album. Dan Auerbach was also on the tools for Marcus King's album, which was a better Black Keys album than the Black Keys made. This track is from that album.
Inexplicable Legacy Act Side Projects Dept: I give you 3rd Secret, who took the promise of combining Seattle-area identities Krist Novoselic, Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron, and returned much-delayed with a limp Led Zeppelin III reboot. Still, there was this.
What we've found from seven years of new album reviews is that so many late-career legacy acts roll with either tired recycling of plans A through A1, or too-big-to-let-anyone-tell-us-shit self-indulgence (hi Muse). Here's one who did neither: having barely been heard from in 20 yrs, Reef popped back up and busted out an album which just rocked? A lot?? Weird.
This Bob Vylan joint is probably the most important album we listened to this year. Bars that stick with you like Zack de la Rocha lines from 1992.
The Black Angels are still making tunes to set surf movies to, bless 'em.
Contractually obligated Beths track, otherwise they'll run me out of the country. It was this or a fucking Wellington trumpet band.
The Black Seeds. Sorry, I lied about the fucking Wellington trumpet band.
To be fair, not all bands from Wellington are FWTBs. Some, like End Boss, wake up and choose violence.
Everything is dangerous but nothing's surprising. Body Type kind of are though.
Melbourne's Rot TV are largely my kind of rot: Chuck Berry riffs played with fuck-off obnoxiousness.
Last one, because if you are offered the opportunity to finish on a suddenly active garage-psych side project of a legendary-but-dormant Japanese doom metal band, you take that opportunity, if it's offered. Sonic Flower: riffs that could scare Godzilla under a bridge.
Those and other favourite tracks from albums we listened to this year are on our tripping balls mixtape for 2022, which is on Spotify - along with the archive of all the albums we listened to this year, including classic albums and 'joker' picks.
Our 2022 AOTY ep drops the second week of January. Which means I need to get back to doing research. Yes, research can involve just sitting around drinking beer and watching NFL. New year, same me.
