2008 YEAR IN REVIEW
In what should become an annual
thing, provided that I've got enough cash to renew my domain name when
next August comes around, I give to you my top 10 concerts, top 10
albums, and top 5 EPs from 2008, the first full year that THTGIR has
been in operation. To hear some tunes from my favourite records
this year, be sure to tune into Smokin' Green at midnite in the early
morning of Thursday, December 18th.
TOP 10 CONCERTS
10. Diablo Red, Blood Ceremony, Sun of Sabbath, The Harold Wartooth @ Silver Dollar Room, June 20th: Even though the year was half-over, this was Blood Ceremony’s first live performance of 2008, and they delivered the goods, preceded on the lineup by a solid set of Black Sabbath cult classics courtesy of Sun of Sabbath. The Harold Wartooth was a great last-minute addition as opening act, but it fucking sucked that nobody stuck around to see Diablo Red. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the last time they’d play last to an empty house.
9. TIED-Luz Atomica CD Release Party/Luz Atomica’s Last-Ever Show @ Cameron House: Although Luz Atomica had a solid two-year run, I hadn’t gotten on their bandwagon until their time was almost up. But I’ll definitely remember the energy and excitement of their CD release party in contrast to the feeling of emptiness hanging over their last-ever show, with both being at the Cameron House. For a band that was one-and-done, they sure put out on helluva record, but more on that later…
8. Rammer’s Last-Ever Show @ Siesta Nouveaux, March 15th: Speaking of grand finales, I don’t think any local band can ever top Rammer’s going-away party. In a packed sweatbox of a second floor rehearsal room, the Toronto thrashers played no less than a 90 minute set, breaking out every song they’d ever written in the process. The heat got so bad that I had to step outside, and I remember thinking they’d be almost done when I went back in, only to have them play on for another 45 minutes or so. What a way to go out!
7. Snake Mountain, Illusive Mind Gypsy Crew @ The Kathedral, August 23rd: By the time this list is published, I’ll be packing my bags for Calgary, home of Snake Mountain. But when these guys came to Toronto back in August, they blew my mind with their brand of heavy psychedelica. Winnipeg-based openers Illusive Mind Gypsy Crew were quite the headtrip as well, although I wasn’t digging the local metalcore bands that were added to the bill.
6. Brant Bjork and the Bros @ El Mocambo, June 13th: It seems that Brant always comes our way during NXNE, and this year was no exception. I’ve never seen the ElMo so packed as he treated the horde of gathered stoners to a selection of tracks from his latest album, Punk Rock Guilt. Both the atmosphere and the setlist were superior to last year’s visit, and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for ’09.
5. Boris with Orn @ Lee’s Palace, November 14th: Speaking of mindblowing headtrips, is there any other way to describe the experience of seeing Boris live? I missed ‘em in the summertime when they were touring with Torche and Nachtmystium, not by lack of effort, but because the show had sold out. That’s why I made sure to pick up a ticket plenty early for this one, and although local sludge/droners Orn were underwhelming, the main event was anything but!
4. TIED-The Electric Groundhog’s Day Ball/The Second Sunday Stoner Rock Spectacular: Sons of OTIS played four times in Toronto this year, and one other show in Hamilton. I missed the Hamilton date, but caught all four TO shows, and spent a Sunday afternoon chilling in their jam space to make up for the lone missed gig. Lemme tell ya, OTIS rocks heavy every time, but the two shows I remember most were two that I was involved with, and they happened to be their first and last shows of the year, if not forever. On February 1st, those who braved a rediculous snowstorm were blown away by the OTIS experience, with stage lites, massive amps and a fog machine. They went for a more stripped-down approach at the Smokin’ Green fundraiser in September, opting for a small vintage backline, but their performance was just as, if not even more memorable. The Toronto public might have seen the last of OTIS, but I know I’ll be bugging em for a private performance when their new CD comes out.
3. Iron Maiden @ Air Canada Centre, March 16th: Although they were the band that made me a metal head, I never got to see Iron Maiden live growing up in Calgary, where they hadn’t even performed since 1988. That changed in 2006, although their set at the time, consisting mainly of songs from their less-than-spectacular latest album, left me wanting more. Fortunately, Maiden realized their mistake, and busted out both the retro stage set as well as the classic setlist for their 2008 tour, not to mention the single most-badass concert T-Shirt I’ve ever seen. Eddie in full Team Canada hockey gear on a frozen pond with the CN Tower in the background, and on the back “I Was Somewhere Back in Time at the Air Canada Centre, Toronto, March 16, 2008.” Both the shirt and the concert will be cherished by me for a real long time.
2. The Sunday Stoner Rock Spectacular @ El Mocambo, April 20th: Any other year, and this would be number one, but I can tell you that even though I reused the name for my CKLN fundraiser, there will never be another SSRS like the one we had on 4/20. I don’t know what made us think we could book both floors of the El Mocambo with 10 local bands and not lose money, but while the show wasn’t profitable, it was a lotta fun, and pretty much everything ran smoothly. I don’t think, wait no, I’m pretty fucking sure that I’ll never get to see so many great Ontario bands in the same building on the same day ever again, and that’s what I’ll remember most about April 20, 2008.
1. AC/DC @ Rogers Centre, November 7th: While Iron Maiden made me a metal head, it was AC/DC who got me into hard rock back in the day. I can only remember them touring Calgary twice though, and in both cases they sold out the 18,000 seat hockey rink in less than an hour. Luckily for me, the Rogers Centre seats 50 thousand, cuz even though I logged on to Ticketbastard right when tix went on sale, I still ended up in Row 23. But seeing the band that made me a music fan was well worth it, even from that distance. They may be getting old, but AC/DC still knows how to put on a great concert.
TOP 10 ALBUMS
10. Hypnopilot – Evergreen (indie): The second album from Calgary’s lone stoner rock band is less fuzzed-out than their self-titled debut, but still has some killer riffs and a few great songs. The tune From Hydrus to Phoenix has a catchy, simple chorus that’s perma-engraved itself into my brain…
9. The Psycs – Psycho City (Get Bent): This has gotta be my came-outta-nowhere release of 2008. The Psycs are from Peterborough, mind you, and Psycho City is out on Get Bent Records, a cool little label in the Oshawa area, but I hadn’t heard anything about these guys until I got the CD in the mail. Psycho City is an impressive effort in capturing the vintage tone and garage-band feel of psych rock bands from the era in which that term was coined. Things don’t really pick up until the second half of the album, though, so I’d be inclined to skip right to the B Side if this were available on vinyl.
8. Jucifer – L’Autrichienne (Relapse): One of the loudest live bands I’ve ever seen, Jucifer’s latest is a 21-song, 75-minute epic. A concept album about Marie Antoinette, it goes from soft and sweet melodies to heavy, heavy doom.
7. Boris – Smile (Southern Lord): Perhaps not as good as Pink, Boris’ latest still contains plenty of fuzz-laden guitar, along with some chilled out atmospheric numbers. Plus, they played Toronto twice in support of it, which is never a bad thing.
6. Mononc’ Serge et Anonymus – Musique Barbare (DEP): While not nearly as good as the fun-filled francophone platter that was L’Academie du Massacre, this second collaborative effort between controversial federalist Mononc’ Serge and legendary (only in Quebec) thrashers Anonymus has been in constant rotation in my CD player since it came out in November. There are some catchy songs here, and plenty of rudeness, but I’d be surprised if this ensemble spawned a third album unless sales of Musique Barbare are through the roof. After all, L'Academie was the highest-selling record for both artists, which is what led to this follow-up in the first place.
5. Anal Pudding – A Nice Poop (indie): This is the only album on the list that actually came out in 2007, but it didn’t make its way into Canada until these guys sent me a box of em back in February. I gotta say that A Nice Poop is the most fun I’ve had with a CD since I first discovered Pork Soda. Not that Anal Pudding comes anywhere close to the musical proficiency of Les Claypool and company, but their zany, perverse lyrics would make Frank Zappa blush, at first, before he’d start to sing along with the rest of us.
4. Luz Atomica – self titled (indie): So many bands have released great self-titled debut albums without being able to recapture the magic on subsequent releases. In Luz Atomica’s case, there won’t be any follow ups to this record, but at least they left us with a solid platter of heavy psych rock tunes before calling it a day.
3. Downriver – Seethin’ Heathen (indie): I’m not quite sure how they got in touch with me, but when I got an email from Australian band Downriver asking me if I could review their album Seethin’ Heathen, I checked out a few songs on their Myspace page, and was all too happy to oblige. The first few songs I heard sound like they coulda been written by Diablo Red, but Seethin’ Heathen is so much more, combining elements of Electric Frankenstein, Clutch, Sleep and many other great bands to make one helluva record!
2. Georgian Skull – Mother Armageddon, Healing Apocalypse (Scarlet): This was not only my most anticipated release of 2008, but had my site been around for more than the last couple months of ’07, it would have been my most anticipated release of last year, too. After more than two years in the making, Mother Armageddon, Healing Apocalypse finally saw the light of day in October, via Scarlet Records. It’s a slickly-polished release, with lotsa killer tunes, and only a couple forgettable moments. But as much as I love the Skull, I just couldn’t give it my number one spot.
1. Blood Ceremony – self titled (Rise Above): The first time I saw Blood Ceremony was entirely by accident. It was August 20, 2006 when I walked into the Silver Dollar Room, expecting to see The Atomic Bitchwax, who didn’t make it across the border. But I was spellbound by the Toronto quartet, with their female vocalist/flautist, and I had been keeping tabs on them until this album finally saw the light of day in September. I won’t address the year-old label controversy here, as that has no bearing on this collection of retro doomy tunes. And what a collection it is! Return to Forever has one of the more memorable riffs I’ve heard in a while, and while it was a tough decision, Blood Ceremony’s self-titled debut has stuck in my mind as the number one album of 2008.
TOP 5 EPS
5. Reverse Mount Rushmore – A/B (indie): Cool five-track recording featuring two members of The Harold Wartooth with a guest appearance by Max Radings of Brant Bjork and the Bros. Stoner rock meets retro psych to form a winning pair.
4. Keef – Demo 2008 (indie): Another record that mixes retro doom with 70’s rock and plenty of Electric Magma fuzz. Now that they’ve got a stable lineup together, I hope to hear more from Keef in ’09.
3. The Womb – self titled (indie): This EP was released early in the year, but it’s held up as one of my favourites from ‘08. Look for The Womb’s first full-length to be released in the next couple months. Now that they’ve developed their own signature sound, it seems these guys can’t be stopped!
2. AF Analog – Audio Frequency Analog (indie): To my knowledge, AF Analog is the only sludge metal band in the GTA, which would make them an ideal opening act should the likes of Eyehategod or Crowbar ever get their asses up here. There’s plenty of Crowbar worship on this record, but when was that ever a bad thing?
1. Black Pyramid – Visions of Gehenna (Electric Earth): Another EP that came out early, and held up over several months. The A Side and title track is one of the strongest slices of stoner doom I’ve heard this year, and the B Side ain’t bad, either. Would love to see these guys up in Canada some time.