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Thurston Moore’s Favorites From 2014 Plus Ex Hex’s List

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This comes from Matador’s blog:

Thurston Moore

1. Chloé Griffin – EDGEWISE : A Picture Of COOKIE MUELLER (b_books)

This book is an astounding labor of love. The author, fascinated by who Cookie Mueller may have been after witnessing her in all the weirdo John Waters films, including Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble, decided to travel the USA interviewing anyone still left alive who spent time with this person. All the insane characters of early 70s Baltimore, P-Town and NYC raise their sloshing glasses to this incredible lightning girl Cookie and all their stories are told in a way which creates a historical travelogue of counter culture avant insanity which is responsible for helping to light the fuse that becomes punk rock and beyond.

2. John Lydon at Rough Trade East 17th October 2014

The Rotten one was bopping around the UK promoting his new book Anger Is An Energy (Simon & Schuster) and we caught his last stop at RT and it was as good as any Sex Pistols or PiL show. He came out with his manager / right hand man and Arsenal accomplice Rambo and a shopping basket full of lager and proceeded to have a high energy back and forth with the audience. His mates from nearby Finsbury Park were there shouting back and forth and Lydon actually did a weird physical transformation into Tony Blair (he hates ‘im). Savage, infuriating – everything his book is – but with a kindness that is always burbling through. I got to meet him fleetingly, the one person I wanted to meet most in this nutso rock n roll world, and he was nice enuff (“Sonic Youth, what are you bloody doing here?”) – but I think he more interested in drowning beers with his pals, which is what he should be doing but damn I think making a record with him in trio with Irmin Schmidt with Can is what Matador should be investing in big time for 2015.

Here’s a list from Ex Hex via Punk News:

In no particular order

* Pentagram show in Minneapolis at Mill City Nights
* King Tuff Black Moon Spell LP
* The Clean Anthology LP Reissue/ Merge
* Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds show in Cincinnati at Mid Point Music Fest

Here’s Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds on KXEP:

* Brooks Headley’s veggie burgers
* Slant 6 Soda Pop Rip off LP reissue/ Dischord
* Ed Schraders Music Beat Party Jail LP
* Man Made LP reissue Teenage Fan club/ Merge
* Black Bananas Electric Brick Wall LP
* Hammered Satin/The Tip/Dirt City show at Smash in DC

And lots more best-of lists over at Brooklyn Vegan.

—

[This year I published my rock ‘n’ roll novel, True Love Scars.” Rolling Stone has a great review of my book in a recent issue. Read it here. There’s info about True Love Scars here.]

Best of 2013 Dept.: New York Times’ Critics Pick Their Fave Books

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Today the New York Times‘ book critics each listed the books they most enjoyed during 2013. Below are the lists. But to read what they like about each book, head to the New York Times.

In the intro to the lists Janet Maslin writes:

“Let us be the first to tell you: These are quirky lists. They’re supposed to be. These are our favorite books of the year, so please don’t confuse them with 10 Bests, because we can’t make lists like those. For one thing, all of us — Michiko Kakutani, Dwight Garner and I — read so many books on assignment that we don’t have the leeway to be comprehensive. For another, we’ve listed books that we liked as much as we admired. That’s where the quirks come in.

“Each of us has chosen only from among the books personally reviewed during the calendar year. That alone creates big omissions. We cannot review books by reporters for, or writers associated with, The New York Times. That means that at least two widely praised works of nonfiction — Peter Baker’s “Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House” and Sheri Fink’s “Five Days at Memorial” (part of which originally appeared in The Times Magazine) — weren’t covered by us. The same goes for books by friends. And, yes, there are books we didn’t cover and regret having missed.”

Michiko Kakutani’s list

1 THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt
2 THE EXAMINED LIFE: HOW WE LOSE AND FIND OURSELVES by Stephen Grosz
3 THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE by David Finkel
4 CLAIRE OF THE SEA LIGHT by Edwidge Danticat
5 AFTER THE MUSIC STOPPED: THE FINANCIAL CRISIS, THE RESPONSE, AND THE WORK AHEAD by Alan S. Blinder
6 JOHNNY CASH: THE LIFE by Robert Hilburn
7 MY BELOVED WORLD by Sonia Sotomayor
8 BIG DATA: A REVOLUTION THAT WILL TRANSFORM HOW WE LIVE, WORK, AND THINK by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier
9 HOW TO GET FILTHY RICH IN RISING ASIA by Mohsin Hamid
10 TENTH OF DECEMBER: STORIES by George Saunders

Janet Maslin’s list:

1 LAWRENCE IN ARABIA: WAR, DECEIT, IMPERIAL FOLLY AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST by Scott Anderson
2 THE UNKNOWNS by Gabriel Roth
3 SOMEONE by Alice McDermott
4 THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS by Elizabeth Gilbert
5 MANSON: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CHARLES MANSON by Jeff Guinn
6 LIFE AFTER LIFE by Kate Atkinson
7 EMPTY MANSIONS: THE MYSTERIOUS LIFE OF HUGUETTE CLARK AND THE SPENDING OF A GREAT AMERICAN FORTUNE by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr.
8 JOHNNY CARSON by Henry Bushkin
9 N0S4A2 by Joe Hill
10 NEVER GO BACK by Lee Child

Dwight Garner’s list

1 THE FLAMETHROWERS by Rachel Kushner
2 THE UNWINDING: AN INNER HISTORY OF THE NEW AMERICA by George Packer
3 MEN WE REAPED: A MEMOIR by Jesmyn Ward
4 CRITICAL MASS: FOUR DECADES OF ESSAYS, REVIEWS, HAND GRENADES, AND HURRAHS by James Wolcott
5 COUNTRY GIRL: A MEMOIR by Edna O’Brien
6 MY PROMISED LAND: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF ISRAEL by Ari Shavit
7 MARGARET FULLER: A NEW AMERICAN LIFE by Megan Marshall
8 THE WET AND THE DRY: A DRINKER’S JOURNEY by Lawrence Osborne
9 THE SKIES BELONG TO US: LOVE AND TERROR IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF HIJACKING by Brendan I. Koerner
10 I WANT TO SHOW YOU MORE: STORIES by Jamie Quatro

-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-

Best of 2013 Dept.: New York Times Critics Pick Year’s Top Albums

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One of the year’s best comes from M.I.A.

In todays New York Times the papers music critics pick the year’s best albums.

Jon Pareles

1 Lorde “Pure Heroine”
2 Laura Marling “Once I Was an Eagle”

3 Vampire Weekend “Modern Vampires of the City”
4 Nine Inch Nails “Hesitation Marks”
5 M.I.A. “Matangi”
6 Janelle Monáe “The Electric Lady”
7 David Bowie “The Next Day”
8 Tal National “Kaani”
9 Laura Mvula “Sing to the Moon”
10 The Haxan Cloak “Excavation”

Ben Ratliff

1 Cécile McLorin Salvant “WomanChild”
2 Deafheaven “Sunbather”
3 Body/Head “Coming Apart”

4 ‘Mestres Navegantes: Edição Cariri’
5 Craig Taborn Trio “Chants”
6 Black Host “Life in the Sugar Candle Mines”
7 Marc Anthony “3.0”
8 Sky Ferreira “Night Time, My Time”
9 Tye Tribbett “Greater Than”
10 Rhye “Woman”

Jon Caramanica

1 Drake “Nothing Was the Same”
2 Kanye West “Yeezus”
3 Ashley Monroe “Like A Rose”
4 Jai Paul
5 Pusha T “My Name Is My Name”
6 Sky Ferreira “Night Time, My Time”

7 Migos “Y.R.N.”
8 Chance the Rapper “Acid Rap”
9 Haim “Days Are Gone”
10 Ty Dolla Sign “Beach House 2”

Nate Chinen

1 Craig Taborn Trio “Chants”
2 Wayne Shorter Quartet “Without a Net”
3 Bill Callahan “Dream River”

4 Andy Bey “The World According to Andy Bey”
5 Ashley Monroe “Like a Rose”
6 Dave Douglas Quintet “Time Travel”
7 Eric Revis, Kris Davis, Andrew Cyrille “City of Asylum”
8 Chris Potter “The Sirens”
9 Earl Sweatshirt “Doris”
10 Cécile McLorin Salvant “WomanChild”

For these critic’s favorite songs plus comments about each album, head to the New York Times.

-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-

Best of 2013 Dept.: NPR Picks the Year’s Best Albums

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Probably the most eclectic best-of list of the year. NPR has picked 100 albums. Here are the top 25. Head to NPR to see the other 75, hear a sound sample for each album and read about them too.

The list:

1 BILL CALLAHAN, DREAM RIVER

“The Sing”:

2 BLOOD ORANGE, CUPID DELUXE
3 BOMBINO, NOMAD

“Amidine”:

4 BRANDY CLARK, 12 STORIES
5 BRYAN FERRY ORCHESTRA, THE JAZZ AGE
6 BUIKA, LA NOCHE MAS LARGA
7 CALEB BURHANS, EVENSONG
8 CHANCE THE RAPPER, ACID RAP
9 DANIEL AVERY, DRONE LOGIC
10 DARCY JAMES ARGUE’S SECRET SOCIETY, BROOKLYN BABYLON

“Grand Opening”:


11 BRYCE DESSNER, NICO MUHLY, OWEN PALLETT & SHARA WORDEN, DAVID LANG: DEATH SPEAKS
12 DAWN OF MIDI, DYSNOMIA
13 DAWN UPSHAW & MARIA SCHNEIDER, MARIA SCHNEIDER: WINTER MORNING WALKS
14 DEAFHEAVEN, SUNBATHER
15 DJ KOZE, AMYGDALA
16 THE FLAMING LIPS, THE TERROR
17 GREGORY PORTER, LIQUID SPIRIT
18 HAIM, DAYS ARE GONE
19 N SOLITUDE, SISTER
20 ISABELLE FAUST & SWEDISH RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA/DANIEL HARDING, CONDUCTOR, BARTOK: VIOLIN CONCERTOS NOS. 1 & 2
21 JAMES BLAKE, OVERGROWN
22 JASON ISBELL, SOUTHEASTERN
23 JOHN LEGEND, LOVE IN THE FUTURE
24 JOHN LUTHER ADAMS, INUKSUIT
25 JUANA MOLINA, WED 21

-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-

Best of 2013 Dept.: Flavorwire Picks Top Debut Novels

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As Flavorwire notes in its intro to “The 10 Best Debut Novels of 2013,” “In composing their first novel, writers must temper their excitement at being given the opportunity to present hundreds of pages to the public with the discipline to create a story memorable enough to bring readers back for their second attempt.”

Here’s what Flavorwire says about Jenni Fagan’s “The Panopticon”:

Told in the lively slang of Anais, an orphaned 15-year-old Scottish girl who’s being hauled off to an unusual home for juvenile offenders over a violent crime she can’t recall whether she committed, The Panopticon is a dreamy document of friendship among young people who society has not only failed but scapegoated. Yet Fagan — an author whose experience as a poet comes through in her evocative prose — doesn’t sugarcoat her story or turn it into a tale of a bad girl gone good. There are moments of triumph for Anais, but there’s no panacea for her lifetime of terrible luck and systemic oppression.

The list:

1 Necessary Errors, Caleb Crain
2 The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., Adelle Waldman
3 You Are One of Them, Elliott Holt
4 In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods, Matt Bell
5 The Facdes, Eric Lundgren
6 The Panopticon, Jenni Fagan
7 Tampa, Alissa Nutting
8 The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, Ayana Mathis
9 Mira Corpora, Jeff Jackson
10 Elect H. Mouse State Judge, Nelly Reifler

For comments about each novel, head to Flavorwire.

-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-

Best of 2013 Dept.: Triple J Picks the Year’s Top Electronic/Experimental Albums

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One of my favorite albums of 2013 is #2 on the Triple J list.

In Australia, Triple J is the hip radio network. Here they pick an interesting mix of electronic and experimental albums released in 2013.

1) Jon Hopkins – Immunity

2) Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest
3) Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven

4) Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus
5) Holden – The Inheritors
6) Autechre – Exai

7) Moderat – II
8) Machinedrum – Vapour City

9) The Knife – Shaking the Habitual
10) Bonobo – The North Borders

For more music and the rationale for picking these albums, head to Triple J.

-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-

Best Of 2013 Dept.: NME Picks Year’s Best Albums

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Here’s NME’s Top 26 albums of 2013. For the rest, head to NME.

1. Arctic Monkeys – ‘AM’
2. Kanye West – ‘Yeezus’
3. Queens of the Stone Age – ‘…Like Clockwork’
4. Foals – ‘Holy Fire’
5. Savages – ‘Silence Yourself’
6. Daft Punk – ‘Random Access Memories’
7. Arcade Fire – ‘Reflektor’
8. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – ‘Push The Sky Away’
9. Laura Marling – ‘Once I Was An Eagle’
10. David Bowie – ‘The Next Day’
11. Jon Hopkins – ‘Immunity’
12. MIA – ‘Matangi’
13. Drenge – ‘Drenge’
14. Vampire Weekend – ‘Modern Vampires Of The City’
15. Peace – ‘In Love’
16. Jagwar Ma – ‘Howlin’’
17. Waxahatchee – ‘Cerulean Salt’
18. Hookworms – ‘Pearl Mystic’
19. Disclosure – ‘Settle’
20. The National – ‘Trouble Will Find Me’
21. Iceage – ‘You’re Nothing’
22. Deerhunter – ‘Monomania’
23. Chvrches – ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’
24. Parquet Courts – ‘Light Up Gold’
25. Haim – ‘Days Are Gone’
26. Factory Floor – ‘Factory Floor’

— A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post —

Best of 2013 Dept.: Gorilla Vs. Bear Pick Year’s Best Albums

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What I like about this list is it’s not filled with the usual suspects.

Album of the year.

Here’s the top 15 albums on their list.

01 AUTRE NE VEUT | Anxiety
02 DANNY BROWN | Old
03 JULIANNA BARWICK | Nepenthe
04 BURIAL | Truant / Rough Sleeper (2012)
05 ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER | R Plus Seven
06 EJECTA | Dominae
07 BLUE HAWAII | Untogether
08 DIANA | Perpetual Surrender
09 JAI PAUL | leaked demos
10 FKA TWIGS | EP2
11 GROUPER | The Man Who Died In His Boat
12 PURE BATHING CULTURE | Moon Tides
13 ARCA | &&&&&
14 WHITE DENIM | Corsicana Lemonade
15 VARIOUS | After Dark 2

For the rest of the list plus sound samples, go here.

— A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post —

Best of 2013 Dept.: Stereogum Picks the Year’s 50 Best Albums

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Stereogum has announced it’s 50 best albums of 2013.

Check out the list below, starting at the bottom and then rising album by album to #1.

Stereogum’s Top 50 for 2013

50. Phosphorescent – Muchacho (Dead Oceans)
49. Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience Pt. 1 (RCA)
48. Carcass – Surgical Steel (Nuclear Blast)
47. A$AP Rocky – Long.Live.A$AP (ASAP Worldwide/Polo Grounds/RCA)
46. Yo La Tengo – Fade (Matador)
45. Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse (Fat Possum)
44. A$AP Ferg – Trap Lord (ASAP Worldwide/Polo Grounds/RCA)
43. Cassie – RockaByeBaby (Bad Boy)
42. Autre Ne Veut – Anxiety (Mexican Summer)
41. Janelle Monáe – The Electric Lady (Wondaland/Bad Boy)
40. Pharmakon – Abandon (Sacred Bones)
39. Pure Bathing Culture – Moon Tides (Memphis/Partisan)
38. The Knife – Shaking The Habitual (Rabid)
37. Forest Swords – Engravings (Tri Angle)
36. Julia Holter – Loud City Song (Domino)
35. Gorguts – Colored Sands (Season of Mist)
34. Yuck – Glow & Behold (Fat Possum)
33. The Field – Cupid’s Head (Kompakt)
32. Iceage – You’re Nothing (Matador)
31. Speedy Ortiz – Major Arcana (Carpark)
30. Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus 7 (Warp)
29. Phoenix – Bankrupt! (Glassnote/Atlantic)
28. Drake – Nothing Was The Same (Cash Money)
27. The National – Trouble Will Find Me (4AD)
26. Migos – YRN (Self-released)
25. Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks (Polydor)
24. Bill Callahan – Dream River (Drag City)
23. Deerhunter – Monomania (4AD)
22. Superchunk – I Hate Music (Merge)
21. Chvrches – The Bones Of What You Believe (Virgin/Goodbye)
20. Blood Orange – Cupid Deluxe (Domino)
19. Tegan And Sara – Heartthrob (Warner Bros.)
18. Chance The Rapper – Acid Rap (Self-released)
17. Windhand – Soma (Relapse)
16. Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt (Don Giovanni)
15. Kvelertak – Meir (Sony Music Scandinavia/Roadrunner)
14. Savages – Silence Yourself (Matador/Pop Noire)
13. Kurt Vile – Wakin On A Pretty Daze (Matador)
12. Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels (Fool’s Gold)
11. Volcano Choir – Repave (Jagjaguwar)
10. Arcade Fire – Reflektor (Merge)
09. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (Columbia)
08. HAIM – Days Are Gone (Polydor)
07. Danny Brown – Old (Fool’s Gold)
06. Sky Ferreira – Night Time, My Time (Capitol)
05. My Bloody Valentine – m b v (Self-released)
04. Disclosure – Settle (Cherrytree)
03. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City (XL)
02. Deafheaven – Sunbather (Deathwish)
01. Kanye West – Yeezus (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)

To see all the covers plus notes about each album and a link to hear the music at Spotify, head to Stereogum.

— A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post —

Best of 2013 Dept.: Paste Magazine Picks Year’s Best Albums

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Paste Magazine’s album of the year.

Paste Magazine’s Top 50 Albums of 2013

1. Phosphorescent – Muchacho
2. Mikal Cronin – MCII
3. Foxygen – We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
4. Janelle Monae – The Electric Lady
5. Deerhunter – Monomania
6. Kurt Vile – Wakin on a Pretty Daze
7. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City
8. CHVRCHES – The Bones of What You Believe
9. El-P and Killer Mike – Run the Jewels
10. Haim – Days Are Gone
11. Jason Isbell – Southeastern
12. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
13. Lucius – Wildewoman
14. Savages – Silence Yourself
15. Daft Punk – Random Acces Memories
16. Kanye West – Yeezus
17. Volcano Choir – Repave
18. Arcade Fire – Reflektor
19. Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt
20. Kacey Musgraves – Same Trailer Different Park
21. The Knife – Shaking the Habitual
22. Okkervil River – The Silver Gymnasium
23. Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold
24. M.I.A. – Matangi
25. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II
26. My Bloody Valentine – m b v
27. Bill Callahan – Dream River
28. Neko Case – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
29. Queens of the Stone Age – …Like Clockwork
30. Local Natives – Hummingbird
31. King Khan & the Shrines – Idle No More
32. Rhye – Woman
33. Autre Ne Veut – Anxiety
34. Pusha T – My Name Is My Name
35. Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse
36. Lorde – Pure Heroine
37. Typhoon – White Lighter
38. Danny Brown – Old
39. of Montreal – lousy with sylvianbriar
40. The Haxan Cloak – Excavation
41. Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse
42. Cass McCombs – Big Wheel & Others
43. Earl Sweatshirt – Doris
44. Charles Bradley – Victim of Love
45. Cayucas – Big Foot
46. Eleanor Friedberger – Personal Record
47. The Lone Bellow – The Lone Bellow
48. Frank Turner – Tape Deck Heart
49. Speedy Ortiz – Major Arca
50. Dr. Dog – B-Room

— A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post —