Coetime at the Apollo Best Albums of 2010

Wow. This year was not good for Coetime at the Apollo was it? 2 posts? One entirely devoted to the Gin Blossom's? Sorry everyone, guess it's just been a busy year.
But what better way to end this year of Coetime at the Apollo than the ever famous "Best of" list?
Last year I went on and on about how nothing good came out in 2009 and how I was a huge Buckcherry fan. Well, this year I'm still a Buckcherry fan but I felt a lot of good music came out this year. Sadly I'm not sure what it is because I didn't listen to it. This is no fault of the music industry or the music thats out there. It's because I'm lazy and my internet connection prevented me from illegally downloading music. Plain and simple.
My plan for this year is to start buying vinyl (records...not pants). I think that will somehow make me start paying attention to new music. Or maybe it will just help me bond with people in skinny jeans.
Anyway lets wrap up 2010 with the Best Albums of 2010 according to yours truly.

Drum roll please...

1.) The National High Violet-While I like their previous two albums more than this one it's still my favorite of the year and spent the most time in my head. Side note: Blood Buzz Ohio was my anthem for the summer and might be one the best song titles ever
2.) Justin Townes Earle Harlem River Blues-I discovered Justin Townes Earle at the start of the year and got to see him a couple times in concert. He might very well be my favorite songwriter currently. On this album he leans more toward Springsteen meets Buddy Holly than Hank Williams like his previous albums. Check out the track "Rogers Park"
3.) Surfer Blood Astro Coast-Basically the new Weezer and awesome as hell. Saw them at Pitchfork and felt old as hell. Love the last track Catholic Pagans.
4.) Alkaline Trio This Addiction- I didn't even know this album was out until a month after it's release. I'm also surprised that the title track has not been used in a commercial for Celebrity Rehab. Usually when a band says their album is a return to their original sound I roll my eyes but the trio actually comes pretty close on this album. Basically this should have been the album they put out after From Here to Infirmary.
5.) Band of Horses Infinite Arms-I think this album got bad reviews but I like it. What do I know though...
6.) Titus Andronicus The Monitor-Any time a band puts out a concept album about the Civil War I'll support it. Had never heard any of their stuff before this one.
7.) Arcade Fire The Suburbs-Was I the only one that thought this album was really long? I like it though.
8.) Girl Talk All Day-Another album where me and thousands of teenagers agree. This guy is like Rainman with music. I don't know how he puts all of this stuff together. Gotta check out the part where he has ODB rhyming over Radiohead.
9.) Drive by Truckers The Big To Do- This album seemed to lack something but I still enjoyed it. If you like Drive by Truckers you'll like it.
10.) Vince Neil Tattoos and Tequila- Vince Neil doing a bunch of covers and a few originals (that were written by someone else). 12 year old me would have put this album at number 1. 32 year old me puts it at number 10 and is tempted to place it at number 7...


So thats it everyone. It wasn't pretty but that was the year in music for C.O.E.

I think I've made this promise before but there will be more written for Coetime at the Apollo. So keep checking back because even if there isn't anything new this shit is hilarious and worth rereading.

Talkin' 'Bout My Gin-eration

Back by popular demand folks!

Sorry for the hiatus but I just wanted to make sure you were all paying attention.
So on to more important things …lets discuss the Gin Blossoms.

Just hear me out here.

The Gin Blossoms came out at a great time in music history, and that’s because at that time , people still listened to the radio for music and Best Buy just started selling CD’s for like, 8 bucks cheaper than Sam Goody.

Now I’m not going to kid myself or anybody else out there and claim that the early 90’s were the golden age of radio. Fuck, that’s the farthest thing from the truth. At that time the station that was playing the Gin Blossoms was going to follow it up with 1 of the following songs: Creep by Radiohead, Loser by Beck, That Crash Test Dummies song that was sometimes called the Campbell Soup Song, or Mr. Jones by the Counting Crows.

Now I’m not saying that is wasn’t a great age because of the quality of the music but because those 5 songs were the only fucking songs they played! And since CD’s were so much cheaper at Best Buy we took a gamble on blowing the only money we had on an entire album from which we had only heard one song.

Lets loop back to the Gin Blossoms shall we?

Why am I devoting my comeback blog entry to the Gin Blossoms? I’ll tell you why:

1.)Because one of my favorite stories to tell is how the Gin Blossoms played a sports bar in my hometown like 10 years ago and skipped out on their tab at the Outback Steakhouse before their gig (my friend’s sister was their server, so it’s true.) and

2.) because Hey Jealousy is one of the best songs of all time.

I have multiple friends that agree with me on this (well maybe I’m the only one that puts it above anything Mozart ever did but they agree it’s good) While it’s no Love Song (see my previous post on Tesla’s masterpiece), it’s pretty fucking good. And it’s not good because of its artistic merit. And it’s not good because it’s a technical piece of music or because it broke down barriers. It’s not even that it’s good in its simplicity.It’s a good song today for the same reason it was a good song then.

Any one of us could have written that fucking song.

Seriously, if I was able to actually write music, the first thing I’d write would probably sound something like that song! Hey Jealousy is a song we can all relate to! I mean seriously, that whole song plays out like a conversation I had every weekend of my teens (and maybe into my 20th year before I could get into bars.)

One of my friends: What are we going to do tonight?
Me: We could drive around this town. Let the cops chase us around.

Okay, so the conversation wasn’t exactly like that but it wasn’t too fucking far from it.

And the line “If you don’t expect too much from me you might not be let down”? Jesus Christ! That’s like the slacker mantra! Which is what we all were!

I hate to break it to you folks but if you graduated from high school between 1993 and 1998, this is the anthem of our generation. We’d probably all like to think it was something cooler like a Pavement song, or hell, we’d probably even settle for Beck. But no, it was the Gin Blossoms Hey Jealousy.

Think I’m wrong? Listen to it again. Think about riding around with your friends or by yourself right before summer break, smoking cigs, listening to the radio, and trying to figure out what to do that night.

It’s okay; at least it wasn’t that song “Detachable Penis”

2009: The Year in Music (a.k.a. I'm not mad at you, I'm just disappointed.)

2009 has come to an end and leaves in its wake a year of shitty music. Sorry, but someone had to say it. Inevitably people will disagree and talk about all the great music that came out this year - but this is my blog, and in my world, it sucked.
I usually have a top 10 list of favorite albums and songs by year’s end, but I’m struggling this time around. Based on my itunes and last fm page the only thing in my top 10 that was new this year is Cymbals Eat Guitars album Why there are Mountains which is what I would put down as my favorite album of the year.
I think after that would be the Avett Brothers album I and Love and You which I got into late this year but have been playing the hell out of for the last month or so.
Third is going to the Julian Casablancas solo album (see a few posts back. You’ll like it)
Fourth is going to the Japandroids album Post-Nothing. I saw a little of this band for the first time this summer at the Pitchfork Festival and liked the little that I caught. Sadly, I left after one song because of the hipster/hippie right in front of me that kept waving a sunflower the size of Gandalf’s walking stick in the air and in my face (I swear and hope to God that’s the last Lord of the Rings reference I ever make. I kind of feel like I should kick my own ass on principle).
The number five spot is going to a band I discovered this year called Dusty Rhodes and the River Band. First, because any band named after a professional wrestler is pretty fuckin’ cool in my book. Second, this band is badass live. I caught them opening for Art Brut and although I have an opening band curse where every one I see tends to suck, these guys were great. Fun as hell. Their album Palace and Stage is number five of 2009.
Now here’s something frightening. Apparently, the 4th new band I’ve listened to this year was fucking Buckcherry. Now, I know Buckcherry has been around for like 10 years or more - and yes, I was aware of their existence, but I only realized how awesome they were this year (Go ahead and judge me prick. You and I both know Buckcherry is awesome. I’m just brave enough to admit it). And while I will openly admit that they rule, I am shocked and somewhat appalled at how much I’ve listened to them this year.
So I guess that’s it for 2009 for me. Five albums worth mentioning. I guess I liked the Real Estate and Girls albums. And I did eventually warm up to the new Arctic Monkeys album Humbug so I guess those 3 tie for the number 6 spot. Oh yeah, the new Wilco was good too. Put that at six and then a 3 way tie for 7.
So it looks something like this:
1.) Cymbals Eat Guitars Why There Are Mountains
2.) Avett Brothers I and Love and You
3.) Julian Casablancas Phrazes for the Young
4.) Japandroids Post-Nothing
5.) Dusty Rhodes and the River Band Palace and Stage
6.) Wilco Wilco the Album
7.) Tie: Real Estate Real Estate, Girls Album, and Arctic Monkeys Humbug
8.) The entire Buckcherry catalog.
I’m hopeful that 2010 will be better. I’m already looking forward to the new Vampire Weekend in January and the new Midlake in February so that’s a good start. Maybe Noel Gallagher will put out his solo album this year.
I would also like to take the time to say this. Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear are good, but way overrated. You and I both know this. Accept it; you’ll feel better.
Thanks for reading Coetime at the Apollo and Happy New Year.