The Preamble: Today is my birthday; who cares. I have written for this website/magazine/book-maker pretty consistently and for several years now but as George Harrison once said, “Why do I get all the third-rung pussy?” Wait, wrong quote. I was thinking of the “All things must pass” one, whoops. But I feel the time is right to be on my way. I do hope that I won’t be placed in the “many that have come and gone” category that was once proffered to me. When writing for Chunklet the goal was to not use the pronoun “I” too often or at all if possible. Seriously, who cares about me? I tried to write about things that got you, the reader, involved in the fun. I mean I got some guy in Ireland his own damn Anal Cunt song for crying out loud! Ranting, bitching, praising, exploring, that was my bag. But as my likely last hurrah I thought it only right to make this one all about me, all about “I”. So here is a list of 101 totally random, off-the-cuff, things about yours truly. You may take them, read them, and forget them instantly. You may ask questions, (I’ll pop in and answer the best I can, really) bust my balls, take real ugly personal shots, relate a comparable thing in your life, offer words of wisdom, tell where I went wrong, tell me where I went right, or make a completely non sequitur type comment if you wish. If you take the time to do anything, funny is always best. I always liked the funny; wrapped in sycophantic lavish praise it’s really the best! To ALL the great regulars…and you know who you are, you’re aces. I’ve even managed to make a few semi-friends here. Thanks Chunklet, you were a gentle & tender lover. (even tho it seems somebody out there has the key to your spam locker, had no choice but to delete entire post after 100 hits? Sorry gang!)

1. I have been 5′ 11” and 165lbs. since 1987
2. I was expelled from High School
3. I graduated Summa Cum Laude w/ honors from college with a degree in Anthropology
4. I have broken my left arm, my left ring finger, and my nose, twice.
5. I have been in jail on a few occasions
6. I have not had any drugs in 20 years
7. I have not had any booze in 10 years
8. I will never get married (what is this, the 1700s?)
9. I will never have any kids
10. I don’t do Facebook
11. I don’t do Twitter
12. I don’t do FriendFeed
13. I don’t do Flickr
14. I don’t do LinkedIn
15. I don’t do Last.fm
16. I don’t do Digg
17. I don’t do MySpace
18. I don’t do Delicious
19. I don’t do BlogSpot
20. I don’t do Orkut (hey, it was in the top 10 thingees?)
21. I don’t have a YouTube account
22. I am a Liberal
23. I am a huge Liberal
24. I use that term with pride
25. I read over a dozens news columnist a week
26. I once had a cop knock me over with his car as I was running from him
27. I hate bullies more than anything in the world
28. I like my food spicier than many humans can consume
29. I will not eat cheap ice cream (if/when I eat ice cream)
30. I lost both parents before 30
31. I have had 2 jobs in the last 20+ years, one lasted 10 months.
32. I am mildly to moderately dyslexic
33. I write voraciously
34. I have never been to church a day in my life
35. I have been some places, done some things and known some people
36. I own a nice home, live pretty well and never made over 30K in a year
37. I have never owed an iPod
38. I have an awesomely great credit score
39. I had a father who retired at 50 to be a full time sports gambler
40. I firmly believe in the golden rule
41. I do not play video games
42. I was kicked out of a poker tourney for mentioning that 9/11 was actually successful
43. I have never to this point let money be my motivation for anything I’ve done
44. I will often wear the same pair of pants for a week straight
45. I do not drink sugar (sans 100% fruit juice)
46. I love it when the bull kills the bullfighter
47. I have seen the movie “Jaws” beginning to end nearly 100 times
48. I thrive on confrontation
49. I absolutely cannot stand having food on my hands
50. I have not slept for more than 5 hours straight in a decade
51. I am very clean but a total slob
52. I will not eat frozen pizza
53. I have never, ever, seen a single episode of “Law and Order”
54. I have always lived in the same state
55. I think winter is fucking awesome
56. I have kept an MDC pin on the visor of every car I have ever owned
57. I was shot in the eye with a BB at age 14 & it is still lodged in my sinus base
58. I have never been to a strip club
59. I have a friend Steve who showed me the awesome of “zapping the pram”
60. I can’t stand cigarette smoke
61. I refuse to attend any type of “music festival” – 4 band limit for me
62. I would smash one of those Westboro fucks right in the face & gladly do the time
63. I fully delight in massive over-tipping in restaurants
64. I think all types of narcotics should be in vending machines
65. I fully and totally 100% believe that love trumps blood by a mile
66. I think “Richard Pryor: Live In Concert” (1979) is the greatest performance on film
67. I drink coffee, black, and always have
68. I know that all I ever wanted to be was Lowell Bergman
69. I once blew a .36 during a breathalyzer, yes a .36
70. I average about 2.5 haircuts a year since I quit caring
71. I think the Pope should be in fucking prison
72. I always leave my car running when filling the gas tank
73. I refuse to go to the movies because people can’t shut the hell up
74. I completely support assisted suicide
75. I own a riding mower but pay the neighbor kids do it because they’re good kids
76. I grew up in Cincinnati during the 1970s, hence sports-wise I love baseball ONLY
77. I don’t mind puking at all, in fact I somewhat enjoy it
78. I have been to Nuevo Laredo, per capita one the most dangerous cities in the world
79. I don’t use coupons, I even once paid the discrepancy on a lady’s to move her ass along
80. I always try to get the emergency exit seat on the airplane
81. I once sold my socks to an anonymous guy who used to call a place I worked ($20)
82. I never got a big kick out of fireworks displays, still don’t
83. I sometimes have a full-on raging beard (pre-beardo trend) sometimes I don’t
84. I have no tatts, but ironically are friends with some of the best artist out there
85. I was suspended from High School for a day due to wearing a Circle Jerks T-shirt
86. I still have my tonsils and my appendix
87. I have never owned a gun of any type
88. I absolutely insist a good water pressure and will take measures to assure it
89. I can play the guitar but have no ability to play the drums whatsoever
90. I once banged this broad right on the ground in a parking lot between cars
91. I have voted in every major election since I turned 18
92. I have one friend who is a great mechanic & one a great plumber=GOLD.
93. I have never, ever, made, attempted to make, or needed a resume
94. I can’t draw worth a shit, never could
95. I have never been to Europe…yet
96. I am not a morning person
97. I give to charity on a fairly regular basis
98. I am awesome at parallel parking; could put a RV in a soup can
99. I have never purchased a lottery ticket in my life
100. I know that sooner or later it’s everybody to his or her own life
101. I love Rock & Roll

Happy holidays and happy new year. Now leave us alone.
Love, The Chunklet Staff

Henry H. Owings
Shipping News-One Less Heart To Fear (Karate Body)
Grinderman-2 (Anti-)
Slices-Cruising (Iron Lung)
Twin Stumps-Seedbed (Fan Death)
Endless Boogie-Full House Head (No Quarter)
Disappears-LUX (Kranky)
Nails-Unsilent Death (Southern Lord)
Woven Bones-In And Out And Back Again (Hozac)
Drunk Driver-Self Titled (self released)
White Shit-Sculpted Beef (PPM)

Honorable Mentions:
Black Helicopter-Don’t Fuck With The Apocalypse (Ecstatic Peace!/Limited Appeal)
Ocean-Pantheon of the Lesser (Important)
The Limiñanas-self titled (Trouble In Mind)
Dum Dum Girls-I Will Be (Sub Pop)
Swans-My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky (Young God)
Grids-White Walls (Ink Blot) & Kansas (Made In Kansas)
Major Stars-Return to Form (Drag City)
Black Bug-self titled (FDH)
Tre Orsi-Devices and Emblems (Works Progress)
The Young-Voyagers of Legend (Mexican Summer)
Hank IV-III (Siltbreeze)
Double Negative-Daydreamnation (Sorry State)
The Intelligence-Males (In The Red)
Tyvek-Nothing Fits (In The Red)
Bardo Pond – s/t (Fire UK)
Purling Hiss – Hissteria (Richie)

Other odds and ends (12" EPs and 7"s):
Dead Meat-Early Recordings (Flingco)
Neon Blud-B Girls (Drugged Conscience)
Black Congress-Davidians (label unknown)
all the 7"s on Trouble In Mind, Captured Tracks and HoZac (which never disappoint)

Box set/reissues:
Floor-Below And Beyond (Robotic Empire)
Jon Wayne-Texas Funeral (Third Man)
Syl Johnson-discography (Numero Group)
A Frames-3 (SS)

Top Ten Live Performances:
The Stooges, Toronto, NXNE
Liturgy, Atlanta, EARL
Dead C, Bardo Pond, The Ex & Flowers/Corsano Duo, Minehead, UK
The Jesus Lizard, Chicago, Metro
Disappears, Atlanta, EARL
Unrest (3 different sets), WDC, Black Cat
Twin Stumps/Kim Phuc/Bukkake Boys, Atlanta, Club 529
Floor (all 3 line ups), Atlanta, EARL
Urinals (and most of the rest of the Mess-Around weekend), Atlanta, Club 529/EARL
Neon Blud, Atlanta, Drunken Unicorn

Billy
The Weakerthans – "Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre+DVD" (Anti)
**DVD is 109 minutes & for 109 minutes in 2010 I knew great joy.**
Tite Crown – "Lines On Both Sides" 7" (Clear Metal)
The Station Pills – "Trunk’d" 7" (Strict)
OFF! – "First Four EPs" (Vice)
Freeman Glory – "Viperventilated" 7" (Torrence High)
String, Strang, Strung – "Diane Keaton" 7" (Cured Phobia)
Privy Council – "Set Standard" 7" (Sheet Back)
Gil Scott-Heron – "I’m Here Now" (XL)
Reverse Maverick – "Just Me & My View" 7" (Your Trophy)
Bald Grip – "Buckled Beams" 7" (Oscar Wilde Never Did This)

Ben Johnson
Rock Albums
Heavy Times – "Dead" (Rotted Tooth Recordings)
Personal & the Pizzas – Raw Pie (1-2-3-4 Go! Records)
Ty Segall – Melted (Goner Records)
Idle Times – s/t (HoZac Records)
Scorpion Violente – Uberschleiss (Avant! Records)
Bare Wires – Seeking Love (Castleface)
Moonhearts – s/t (Tic Tac Totally)
Puffy Areolas – In The Army 1981 (Siltbreeze)
Tyvek – Nothing Fits (In The Red)
Purling Hiss – Hissteria (Richie Records)

Obligatorily Included Music by Black People That I’m Including To Prove I’m Not Racist Even Though I Really Thought It Was Very Much Not A Great Year For Hip Hop or R&B:
1. That Whole Medicine Show Thing With The 12 Albums – Madlib (Probably Stone’s Throw, Full Disclosure: I Haven’t Listened To All Of Them But He Gets A Genius Pass)
2. Ghostface Killah – Apollo Kids (Not Even Out Yet, Haven’t Even Heard It, Will Definitely Like It Way More Than The Rest Of This List)
3. Big Boi – The Something Something Story of Luscious Jackson (MGM?)
4. Curren$y – Pilot Talk (Or Maybe It’s Pilot Talk – Curren$y, I Don’t Know)
5. Janelle Montae – That One Where She Looks Like Metropolis (Warner Brothers)
6. J.C. Brooks – I Have Met Ben Johnson A Couple of Times (He’s Not Quite A Friend)
7. Kanye West – I Am Into Brian Eno Now (Warner Brothers)
8. Wale – More Nothing (Self-Released?)
9. Tyvek – Nothing Fits (In The Red)
10. Various Artists – Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal (Numero Group)

Singles, EP’s, reissues, things I will include in order to make you think I’m awesome:
1. Rayon Beach – Memory Teeth (HoZac)
2. Stephan Eicher – Spielt Noise Boys (Born Bad Records)
3. Nerve City – Sleepwalker EP (Sacred Bones)
4. Moon Duo – Catch As Catch Can b/w Set It On Fire 7" (Agitated Records)
5. Radar Eyes – Shakes b/w Not You Again 7" (HoZac Records)
6. Liquid Liquid – Anthology (Mo Wax Again)
7. Kitchens Floor – Loneliness Is A Dirty Mattress (R.I.P. Society)
8. Eno – Finally Some Reissues (With The Japanese Obi Strips)
9. Motherfucking Roku Box – Everything On It (To Watch)
10. Permanent Records – The Fucking Amazing Collection They Bought And Put In The Used Records Section All Year Long (70% Of My Income Was Still Not Enough)
11. Acid Archives – 2nd Edition Book

Biggest Disappointments/Rip-Offs:
1. Record Store Day – "Limited" Anything
2. Joy Division – $200 Box Set for the Most Reissued Band of All Time That Somehow Manages Not To Include "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Technically A Part Of Record Store Day But Such A Rip-Off It Deserves Its Own Entry)
3. Thee Oh Sees – A-Side Time Waste Portion of "Warm Slime" (Somebody Had To Say It)
4. Moon Duo Live – Not Loud Enough To Destroy Me Like I’d Hoped (And Rambly Enough For My Mind To Wander About Things Like "Does Anybody Else Think He’s Going To Shave His Beard And Turn Out To Be Ian Williams?")
5. HoZac Hookup Klub – Charging $70 Per Subscription Then Issuing a Cheap Comp LP (See Also: Most Hilarious)
6. Wave of Acid Archives Cash-In 180 Gram Reissues – $26 (Those Things Are All On Blogs For Free, Which I Realize Sounds Like A Lazy Asshole Who Hates Vinyl, But For These Things The 180 Gram Vinyl Reissue Sound Quality Is Not Always That Much Better Than Those Vinyl-Rip MP3’s, And Anyway, Most Of These Albums Kind of Suck)
7. 2009-2010 Numero Group Vinyl Subscription – Because $100 for 5 Double LPs Including Some Thrown Together Folk Thing But Not The Pisces LP Is Somehow A Good Deal (Should Have Been Called "Numero Group Catalog Dumping Ground For Suckers")
8. Chicago Sales Tax
9. Mad Men Season 4
10. Once Again, Being A Regular Person Consumer – Not Some Kind of Insider Who Gets Free Copies of Everything (It Sucks, You Guys)

Gordon Lamb
Walter Gibbons-Jungle Music (Strut Records)
Tunabunny-S/T (HHBTM)
V/A-Lagos Disco Inferno (Academy LPs)
Burzum-Belus (Byelobog Productions)
Chew Lips -Unicorn (Indie Europe/Zoom)
Brian Eno-Small Craft on a Milk Sea (Warp Records)
The Gary-Logan (Cedar Fever Records)
Kevin Dunn-No Great Lost: Songs 1979-1985 (Casa Nueva Records)
The Dream Scene-Christmas (Party Party Partners) (Technically came out December 2009)

Aaron Turney
Ty Segall – Melted (Goner)
No Age – Everything in Between (Sub Pop)
Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest (4AD)
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today (4AD)
Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon II: Legend of Mr. Rager (GOOD/Universal Motown)
Grinderman – Grinderman 2 (ANTI-)
Les Savy Fav – Root For Ruin (Frenchkiss)
Black Keys – Brothers (Nonesuch)
Aloe Blacc – Good Things (Stones Throw)
Black Angels – Phosphene Dream (Blue Horizon Ventures)

And I’ll be damned if I couldn’t get these two outta my head:
Hollows – Hollows (Addenda)
Real Estate – 7" Out of Tune b/w Reservoir (True Panther Sounds)

Best thing I saw all year:
Watching Bob Pollard swig tequila at the Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky to the biggest group of die hard Guided By Voices fans I’ve ever seen.
Jens Lekman – Empty Bottle, Chicago
Woven Bones – Empty Bottle, Chicago
John Spencer Blues Explosion – Pitchfork Fest, Chicago
Conan O’Brien – Austin Music Hall
Louis CK – Bass Hall, Fort Worth
Avett Brothers – Ryman Auditorium, Nashville
Will Johnson/Anders Parker – House show, Chicago

Michael Faloon
Black Wine – Black Wine (Don Giovanni)
The Measure [SA] – Notes (No Idea)
Mind Spiders – Worlds Destroyed EP (Dirtnap)
Night Birds, Prognosis – Negative 7” (Grave Mistake)
Safes/Lexington Arrows – split 7” (Merrifield)
Shannon & the Clams, “Paddy’s Birthday” b/w “Diary, Jimmy” 7" (Southpaw)
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way (Daptone)
Skipper – In Italy 10" (Bachelor)
Splinters – “Blood On My Hands” b/w “Hot Hands” 7” (Southpaw)
Superchunk – Majesty Shredding (Merge)

Pete Wilkins
Mantles – Pink Information (Mexican Summer)
The Limiñanas – I’m Dead (HoZac)
Drunkdriver – Self Titled LP (self released)
Dolly Mixture – Demonstration Tapes (Germs of Youth)
Kommie Kilpatrick – Weird City
Sonskull – Birth Scene/Rewind EP (Perennial)
The Endtables – EP reissue (Drag City)
Double Negative – Daydreamnation (Sorry State)
Hygiene – Things That Dreams Are Made Of (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Gun Outfit – Possession Sound (PPM)

Patrick Gough
Aloha – Home Acres (Polyvinyl)
Medications – Completely Removed (Dischord)
Hume – Penumbra (Sockets)
Maps & Atlases – Perch Patchwork (Barsuk)
Tame Impala – Innerspeaker (Modular)
Maserati – Pyramid of the Sun (Temporary Residence)
Die Antwoord – $O$ (Interscope)
Foals – Total Life Forever (Sub Pop)
Abe Vigoda – Crush (Bella Union/Post Present Medium)
Factory Floor – Lying/Wooden Box EP (self-release)

Daniel Del Ben
Foetus-HIDE (Entopic Ents)
Kylesa-Spiral Shadow (Season of Mist)
(the) Melvins-The Bride Screamed Murder (Ipecac)
Mondo Cane (Ipecac)
Mugison-Ítrekun
MF Doom-MF Borat
High on Fire-Snakes For the Divine (E1)
Tom Jones-Praise and Blame (Sound Recorders)
VRSA-Old Man Gray (Last Bastion)
Brian Posehn-Fart & Wiener Jokes (Relapse)

Ross Morgan
Boston Spaceships – Our Cubehouse Still Rocks (Rockathon)
Walkmen – Lisbon (Fat Possum)
Robert Pollard – Moses on a Snail (Rockathon)
The Fall – Your Future, Our Clutter (Domino)
Ty Segall – Melted (In the Red)
Robert Pollard – We All Got Out of the Army (Rockathon)
Clinic – Bubblegum (Domino)
The Soft Moon – Breathe the Fire 7" (Captured Tracks)
So Cow – Meaningless Friendly (Tic Tac Totally)
Tobin Sprout – The Bluebirds of Happiness Tried to Land on My Shoulder (Moonflower Records)

Tim Hinely
The Radio Dept- Clinging to a Scheme (Labrador)
Magic Kids- Memphis (True Panther Sounds)
Justin Townes Earle- Harlem River Blues (Bloodshot)
The Fresh and Onlys- Play It Strange (In the Red)
Beach House- Teen Dream (Sub Pop)
Wavves- King of the Beach (Fat Possum)
Best Coast- Crazy For You (Mexican Summer)
Surf City- Kudos (Fire)
Phil Wilson- God Bless Jim Kennedy (Slumberland)
Titus Andronicus- The Monitor (xl)

Dan Norris
Deerhunter-Halcyon Digest (4AD)
Double Negative-Daydream Nation (Sorry State)
Superchunk-Majesty Shredding (Merge)
Neil Young-Le Noise (Reprise)
Kylesa-Spiral Shadows (Seasons of Mist)
forgetters-Too Small to Fail (Too Small to Fail)
Leatherface-The Stormy Petrel (Big Ugly Fish/No Idea)
Harvey Milk-A Small Turn of Human Kindness (Hydra Head)
Grinderman-2 (Anti)
Black Tusk-Taste the Sin (Relapse)

Adam Reach
Shipping News – One Less Heartless To Fear (Noise Pollution/Karate Body)
Puffy Areolas – In The Army 1981 (Siltbreeze)
OFF! – First Four EPs (Vice)
Harvey Milk – S/T (Hydra Head)
Melvins – The Bride Screamed Murder (Ipecac)
Bottomless Pit – Blood Under The Bridge (self released)
Three Mile Pilot – The Inevitable Past Is The Future Forgotten (Temporary Residence)
White Drugs – Gold Magic (Amphetamine Reptile)
Secret – Solve Et Coagula (Southern Lord)
Disappears – Lux (Kranky)

Aaron Draplin
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Wonder Show of the World (Drag City)
Greenhornes – **** (Third Man Records)
Kort – Invariable Heartache (City Slang)
Dungen – Skit I allt (Mexican Summer)
Baroness – Blue Record (Relapse)
The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever (Vagrant)
No Age – Everything In Between (Sub Pop)
Cheap Girls – My Roaring 20s (Paper+Plastik)
The Soft Pack – s/t (Kemado)
Polvo – In Prism (Merge)

Seb Roberts
Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope To the Sky (Young God)
Demdike Stare – Symbiosis (Modern Love)
Tyler, the Creator – Bastard (Self-released)
Barn Owl – Ancestral Star (Thrill Jockey)
Big Boi – Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty (Def Jam)
Gekitetsu – Gekitetsu 1 (Self-released)
Grinderman – Grinderman 2 (Mute/ANTI-)
The Fall – Your Future, Our Clutter (Domino)
Women – Public Strain (Jagjaguwar)
Lostage – Lostage (Avocado)

Dryw Keltz
Superchunk-Majesty Shredding
The Hold Steady-Heaven is Whenever
Spoon-Transference
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists-The Brutalist Bricks
Let’s Wrestle-In The Court
The Futureheads-The Chaos
Bottomless Pit-Blood Under The Bridge
The Soft Pack-s/t
Film School-Fission
Surfer Blood-Astro Coast

Christian Campagna
Torche – Songs for Singles (Hydrahead)
Harvey Milk – A Small Turn of Human Kindness (Hydrahead)
Agalloch – Marrow of the Spirit (Profound Lore)
Black Helicopter – Don’t Fuck With the Apocalypse (Ecstatic Peace)
Intronaut – Valley of Smoke (Century Media)
Artificial Peace – Complete Sesssion, Nov ’81 (Dischord)
Red Sparrowes – The Fear is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer (Sargent House)
Kylesa – Spiral Shadow (Season of Mist)
Fucked Up – Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009 (Matador)
High on Fire – Snakes for the Divine (E1 Music)

Jaron Loggins
Harvey Milk – Hydra Head
Melvins – Ipecac
BXI – Southern Lord
The Roots – Def Jam
Swans – Young God
Grinderman – Anti-
Jesu – Hydra Head
Massive Attack – EMI
Merzbow – Soleilmoon
Oval – Thrill Jockey

Benn Ray
Wavves – King Of The Beach (Fat Possum)
Best Coast – Crazy For You (Mexican Summer)
Masks EP – Double Dagger (Thrill Jockey)
Surfer Blood –  Astro Coast (Kanine Records)
Black Mountain – Wilderness Heart (Jagjaguwar)
Mi Ami – Steal Your Face (Thrill Jockey)
Thee Oh Sees – Warm Slime (In The Red Records)
Lower Dens – Twin-Hand Movement (Gnomonsong)
Ty Segall – Melted (Goner Records)
Liz King – All Songs Go To Heaven (Ehse Records)

Aron Gagliardo
High on Fire-Snakes For The Devine (E1 Music)
Les Savy Fav-Root For Ruin (Frenchkiss Records)
Swans-my father will guide me up a rope to the sky (Young God Records)
Floor-Below & Beyond (Robotic Empire)
Janelle Monae-ArchAndroid (Bad Boy/Wondaland)
Goatsnake-1+Dog Days Reissue (Southern Lord)
Grinderman-2 (Anti/Epitaph)
Black Breath-Heavy Breathing (Southern Lord)
Liars-Sisterworld (Mute Records)
The Sword-Warp Riders (Kemado Records)

Shane Gillis
Triptykon – Eparistera Daimones (Century Media)
Opeth – In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall (Roadrunner)
Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier (EMI)
Accept – Blood of the Nations (Nuclear Blast)
Ihsahn – After (Candlelight)
Cloudkicker – Beacons (Cloudkicker)
No – self-titled (Subversive Workshop)
Dio – At Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987 (Niji)
Heaven and Hell – Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven and Hell – Live at Wacken (Eagle Records)
Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky (Young God)

Nick Flanagan
Earl – Sweatshirt (Independent)
Curren$y – Pilot Talk 2 (Bluroc/Def Jam)
Danny Brown – The Hybrid (Independant)
Big Boi – Sir Luscious Left Foot (Def Jam)
Tyler, The Creator – Bastard (Independent)
WTF With Marc Maron – Carlos Mencia 2 Part Interview (WTFpod.com)
No Age – Everything In Between (Sub Pop)
Devo – Something For Everybody( Warner Brothers)
Best Show On WFMU – Four Loko Holiday Party (WFMU.ORG)
Anagram – Majewski (Dead Astronaut)

Atom Goren
Kylesa-Spiral Shadow (Season of Mist)
Marnie Stern-Marnie Stern (K Records)
The Austerity Program-Backsliders and Apostates (Hydra Head)
Les Savy Fav-Root For Ruin (Frenchkiss)
Wolf Parade-Expo 86 (Sub Pop)
Titus Andronicus-The Monitor (XL)
Fang Island-Fang Island (Sargent House)
High on Fire-Snakes For The Divine (Koch)
Vampire Weekend-Contra (XL)
Arcade Fire-The Suburbs (Merge)

Patrick Reed
The Vaselines – Sex With An X (Sub Pop)
Sage Francis – Li(f)e  (Anti-)
Harvey Milk – A Small Turn Of Human Kindness (Hydra Head)
The Fall – Your Future, Our Clutter (Domino)
John Grant – Queen Of Denmark (Bella Union)
Neil Young – Le Noise   (Reprise)
Grinderman – Grinderman 2 (Mute)
Scout Niblett – The Calcination Of Scout Niblett (Drag City)
Faust – Faust Is Last   (Klangbad)
Timbre Timbre – Timbre Timbre (Full Time Hobby)

Derek Fricano
Torche – Songs For Singles (Hydra Head)
Superego – Podcast Season 2
Statues – Holiday Cops (p. trash)
Harvey Milk – A Small Turn Of Human Kindness (Hydra Head)
Kyle Kinane – Death Of The Party (A Special Thing)
Ted Leo / Pharmacists – The Brutalist Bricks (Matador)
Bottomless Pit – Blood Under The Bridge (Comedy Minus One)
Dum Dum Girls – I Will Be (Sub Pop)
Tricia Yates Fanclub – s/t (555 Recordings)
Superchunk – Majesty Shredding (Merge)

…and away we go.

Ryan Ridge
Dan Reeder – This New Century (Oh Boy Records)
The National – High Violet (4AD)
Eluvium – Similes (Temporary Residence)
Spoon – Transference (Merge)
Wavves – King of the Beach (Fat Possum)
Robert Pollard – We All Got Out of the Army (GBV Inc.)
Girl Talk – All Day (Illegal Art)
Joanna Newsome – Have One on Me (Drag City)
This is Deer Country – What Wandering Heart (Self-released)
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse – Dark Night of the Soul (EMI)

Jeremy deVine
Justin Bieber – U Smile 800% Slower (Soundcloud viral mystery)
Eluvium – Static Nocturne (Self-released)
Eminem – Recovery (Shady/Aftermath)
Roky Erickson With Okkervill River – True Love Casts Out All Evil (Anti-)
Four Tet – There Is Love In You (Domino)
Frightened Rabbit – The Winter Of Mixed Drinks (Fat Cat)
Peter Gordon – Love of Life Orchestra (DFA)
Grails – Black Tar Prophecies Vol. 4 (Important)
LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening (DFA/Virgin)
Shipping News – One Less Heartless To Fear (Noise Pollution/Karate Body)

Christopher R. Weingarten
Harvey Milk – A Small Turn Of Human Kindness (Hydra Head)
Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty (Def Jam)
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Def Jam)
Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns (Warner Bros.)
Yelawolf – Trunk Music: 0-60 (Interscope)
E-40 – Revenue Retrievin’: Day Shift (Jive)
Waka Flocka Flame – Flockaveli (Warner Bros.)
The Chemical Brothers – Further (Parlophone)
Sightings – City Of Straw (Brah)
Rick Ross – Teflon Don (Def Jam)

Mark Konwinski
Sweet Cobra – Mercy (Black Market Activities)
Hammerhead – Pasquale (Self)
Kongh – Shadows of the Shapeless (Seventh Rule Recordings)
Gods and Queens – Untitled 2 (Sons of Vesta)
Grinderman – Grinderman 2 (ANTI-)
Your Skull My Closet – Let’s Get Acquainted (Self)
High on Fire – Snakes for the Divine (E1)
Fight Amp/Ladder Devils/Kowloon Walled City – Lose Lose Lose (Brutal Panda Records)
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan – Hawk (V2)
The Fall – Your Future Our Clutter (Domino)

John Wenzel
Phantogram – Eyelid Movies (Barsuk)
Midlake – The Courage of Others (Bella Union)
Land of Talk – Cloak and Cipher (Saddle Creek)
The National – High Violet (4AD)
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (Merge)
Laura Veirs – July Flame (Raven Marching Band)
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Roc-A-Fella)
Girl Talk – All Day (Illegal Art)
Superchunk – Majesty Shredding (Merge)
Blonde Redhead – Penny Sparkle (4AD)

Maryann Bayer
Kvelertak – Kvelertak (Indie Recordings)
The Body – All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood (Aum War)
Darkthrone- Circle the Wagons (Peaceville)
Grinderman – Grinderman 2 (Mute)
BarnBurner – Bangers (Metal Blade)
Tinsel Teeth – Trash as the Treasure (Load)
Torche – Songs for Singles (Hydra Head)
Enslaved – Axioma Ethica Odini (Indie Recordings)
Christian Mistress – Agony and Opium (20 Buck Spin)
Jex Thoth – Witness (I Hate Records)

Kip Kelgard
Ty Segall- Melted (Goner)
Deerhunter- Halcyon Digest (4AD)
Weekend- Sport (Slumberland)
Belle And Sebastian- Write About Love -Matador)
Tyvek- Nothing Fits (In The Red)
Mantles- Pink Information (Mexican Summer)
John Wesley Coleman- Bad Lady Goes To Jail (Goner)
Superchunk- Majesty’s Shredding (Merge)
Perfume Genius- Learning (Matador)
Disappears- Lux (Kranky)

Some amazing things that I saw this year:
Pissed Jeans-Satyricon(RIP)
Guided By Voices-Crystal Ballroom(Fucking AMAZING!!!)
Thee Oh Sees-Doug Fir
Painf Of Being Pure At Heart-Holocene
Mayyors-SMMR BMMR
Melvins-Roseland
Ponys/Disappears-Doug Fir
Soft Pack-Doug Fir
Wavves-Berbati’s
Fucked Up-Hawthorne Theater
Red Fang-4th of July at the East End

But the best thing I witnessed in 2010 was the first thing I witnessed, The Jesus Lizard’s final (?) show at Metro, Chicago

Graham Smith
Rustie – Sunburst EP (Warp)
Copywrite – The Life and Times of Peter Nelson (ODOT)
Freeway/Jake One – The Stimulus Package (Rhymesayers)
Guido – Anidea (Punch Drunk)
Ikonika – Contact, Love, Want, Have (Planet Mu)
Tunng – …And Then We Saw Land (Full Time Hobby)
Maps & Atlases – Perch Patchwork (Barsuk)
Venetian Snares – My So-Called Life (Timesig)
Hot Club de Paris – The Rise and Inevitable Fall of the High School Suicide Cluster Band EP (Moshi Moshi)
Yeasayer – Odd Blood (We Are Free)

Ian Fitzpatrick
Owen Pallett – Heartland (Domino)
Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea (Capitol)
Matthew Dear – Black City (Ghostly International)
Aloe Blacc – Good Things (Stones Throw)
Megafaun – Heretofore (Hometapes)
Das Racist – Sit Down, Man (self-released)
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (Merge)
Jamie Lidell – Compass (Warp)
Seabear – We Built a Fire (Morr)
Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid (Bad Boy)

Michael T. Fournier
Coastwest Unrest – Old Weird America (Reclaim)
Ketman – Ketman A-Go-Go (Lifted and Gifted)
Liars – Sisterworld (Mute)
Medications – Completely Removed (Dischord)
Shipping News – One Less Heartless To Fear (Noise Pollution)
Soccer Mom – s/t (s/r)
Superchunk – Majesty Shredding (Merge)
Touch And Go: The Complete Hardcore Fanzine 79-83 (Bazillion Points)
Mike Watt – hyphenated-man (Parbolica)
Women – Public Strain (Jagjaguar)

Antonio Dipietro
1.  Ariel Pink – Before Today (4AD)
2.  Big Boi – Sir Luscious Left Foot (Def Jam)
3.    
4.   
5.   
6.   
7.   
8.   
9.   
10.

It looks like I only bought 2 records this year, but these are awesome!

Chris Pacifico
Coliseum – House With A Curse (Temporary Residence)
Clipd Beaks – To Realize (Lovepump)
Bison – Dark Ages (Metal Blade)
Black Mountain – Wilderness Heart (Jagjaguar)
Yakuza – Of Seismic Consequence (Seasons Of Mist)
Maserati – Pyramid Of The Sun (Temporary Residence)
Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky (Young God)
Kylesa – Spiral Shadow (Seasons Of Mist)
The Black Angels – Phosphene Dream (Blue Horizon)
Grinderman – Grinderman 2 (Anti)

Don Malkemes
Leather – Anchorite 7" (Caesar Cuts)
Drunkdriver – s/t (WTD)
Rob Duncan – Terriers Theme Song – (FX)

Jonathan Williams
Bardo Pond – Bardo Pond (Fire Records UK)
Circulasione Totale Orchestra – Bandwidth (Rune Grammofon)
Rempis/Rosaly – Cyrillic (482 Music)
Scorch Trio – Melaza (Rune Grammofon)
Mi Ami – Steal Your Face (Thrill Jockey Records)
Bob Dylan – Witmark Demos (Columbia Records)
Kriegshog – War for Peace? (La Vida Es Un Mus/H:G Fact)
Nails – Unsilent Death (Six Feet Under Records)
Harvey Milk – A Small Turn of Human Kindness (Hydra Head Records)
Tyvek – Nothing Fits (In the Red Records)

Chad LeBlanc
Zach Hill – Face Tat (Sargent House)
Tera Melos – Patagonian Rats (Sargent House)
Marnie Stern – s/t (Kill Rock Stars)
Bygones – Spiritual Bankruptcy (Sargent House)
Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quartet – Sepulcros de Miel (Rodriguez Lopez Productions)
The Sunglasses – Bad Happy (vinyl – TransRuin Records)
Dungen – Skit i allt (US – Kemado Records)
Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group – ???????? (Rodriguez Lopez Productions)
Thank God – Ice/Age (Exotic Fever Records)

Ethan Stanislawski
Grinderman – Grinderman 2 (Mute)
Sleigh Bells – Treats (Mom+Pop)
Wavves – King of The Beach (Fat Possum)
Vampire Weekend – Contra (XL)
Galactic – Ya-Ka-May (Suicide Squeeze)
Titus Andronicus – The Monitor (XL)
Red Pens – Reasons (Grain Belt)
LCD Soundsystem – Greenberg Soundtrack (DFA)
Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM (Elecktra)
Gogol Bordello – Trans-Continental Hustle (Columbia)

Vincent Chung
Red Dons – Fake Meets Failure (Deranged)
The National – High Violet (4AD)
Masshysteri – Masshysteri (NY Vag)
Beach House – Teen Dream (Sub Pop)
Double Negative – Daydream Nation (Sorry State)
The Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky (Young God)
Bastard Noise – A Culture of Monsters (Deep Six)
CoCoComa – Spectrum of Sounds (Red Lounge)
Superchunk – Majesty Shredding (Merge)
Firestarter – Saturday Night (is the End of the World) ep (Shit Sandwich)

Andrew Earles first book, Hüsker Dü: The Story of the Noise Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock, is available now.

I noticed an occasional dip into a joke (for levity) here and there, but did you ever have to consciously divest your comedy alter-ego while writing or interviewing people for the book? Were any interview subjects aware of exactly who you were as a writer and comedian?

My comedy alter-ego? At first, I was a little put off at the suggestion that I have a “comedy alter-ego” – like my girlfriend is constantly forcing me to leave the portable P.A. system at home because of a personal tendency to do stand-up in the middle of a restaurant, or as if I carry a rubber chicken around in my back pocket. But then I realized that I did treat my work in the comedy field as a secret life whenever I did work on the book. My comedy album and what I’m known for relative to the comedy genre…none of it had any place in my work on the Hüsker book, and I consciously tried to separate the two. I had two sources mention it during phone interviews, and I was mortified when they did. I tried to promptly change the subject. Those two worlds felt like different planets, and the Just Farr A Laugh 2CD set was released by Matador when I was five months into working on the book! The color probably drained from my face when Lori Barbero answered the phone one morning with, “I know about yoooooooouuu…..” I mean, the year before I got the book deal, you and I were on the “Comedy and Indie Rock” panel at SXSW! Most of my book work was done in a mindset that had no room for humor, for both obvious and not-so-obvious reasons, and I felt like it attached an unprofessional feel to my demeanor if my sources knew that one of the largest and most successful labels around had released a double CD and massive booklet based around prank phone calls I’d done with a friend (Jeffrey Jensen). When the phone call 2CD set was released in May of 2008, the whole world seemed to act like it was covered in feces and live ants, and it went on to be the worst-selling release on Matador in the past ten years, I think. If not the worst, then close to it.  I guess it speaks to my supreme failure in the comedy genre that I was able to keep these two worlds separated….for the most part. So the really short answer to your question is….no, it was not hard to turn off that part of my life when I was doing book work.

To address the question as to whether or not it was a challenge to silence my usually uncontrollable irreverence, or whatever, while writing the book, I will admit to having a small handful of barbed sentiments were poo-poo’d by my editor, but they were directed at entities removed from my subject. More genres and demographics than specific bands or artists, really.

Is there anything you want HD fans to take away from this book that they wouldn’t get from anywhere else?

Meaning, the stuff they can’t get from the other books written exclusively about Hüsker Dü? I’m not sure I understand this question. At least 80% of the text between the two covers comes to mind…excluding some of the info at the end of the book, which is available in another form and presented in a totally different fashion on Paul Hilcoff’s Hüsker Dü Database.

HD backstage at The Channel, Boston, 1984. c Patrick Smith

Other than Bob Mould and Greg Ginn, are there any other principal interview subjects you wish you could’ve reached?
 
Reached? Oh, I reached a lot of people, including those two, I think; it’s just that they decided not to participate. Jello Biafra would have been a nice interview, and he was one of the few that actually reached out to me before I had attempted to reach him. Problem was, he only wanted to do it if all three members were involved, and I can respect that decision. I had a rather awkward experience with Henry Rollins. I found his manager, and sent her my request for his participation…..via e-mail. She called me up. Let’s just say that very few personalities have actually made me feel like the naive bumpkin stereotype that shrewd movers-and-shakers from the West Coast and NYC might associate with this part of the country. This was like trying to talk to a character from a Neal LaBute movie about entertainment managers, if such a movie were to exist in real life. It was clear that she didn’t read or didn’t consider anything I’d written in my e-mail, or her brutally-toned questions would have been rendered unnecessary. And the incredulous undertone, like I was some unpublished dipshit writing about Hüsker Dü in a spiral notebook. Also, all of the "What exactly do you want to ask my client?" and "Why do you want to interview my client?" -style questions imply that she knew nothing about her client. She would ask me to explain the connection between Henry and Hüsker Dü, then cut me off after I got four words out of my mouth….with another question that was either obvious, or covered in my e-mail. After we got off the phone, I got an e-mail within five minutes. "Henry won’t be participating in your book." So here’s the funny part: Two days later, my editor at the Memphis Flyer assigns me a preview of the Henry Rollins spoken-word performance that’s coming up in town, so I had to get back in touch with this woman and ask for a totally unrelated interview. I went ahead and preemptively stated that I wasn’t going to disrespect the decision to remain uninvolved with my book while I was conducting an interview for my Alt-Weekly about a completely different and removed subject; something I felt stupid clarifying, as I was basically saying "Oh, and by the way, I’m not an integrity-challenged weasel." When it comes to ease of acquiring sources, my book had two major attributes going against it: It was about Hüsker Dü, a band comprised of three people who are more-or-less unfriendly or uncommunicative with one another, so you automatically have three camps of sources who could conceivably have a problem with discussing the subject matter. And it should be clarified that Greg and Grant are not unfriendly with one another, though they only speak over the phone about Hüsker business. The other red flag for potential interviewees was, of course, not having Bob on board. I made sure to tell all of my prospective sources about this on the front end, within the invitation. In hindsight, there’s no telling exactly how many potential interviewees this cost me, because there were a lot of people who simply didn’t bother to respond to my request. That was a little irritating, but hey, these folks don’t owe me anything. Lastly, I must issue a terse comment about the people who agreed to participate, seemed fine with the dynamics of my book, and received a list of questions only to give me the silent treatment when I attempted follow-ups. I was not using a stock set of questions, and put a lot of time and thought into each individual interview. To not have the grapes to say, "You know, I’ve decided I’m not comfortable with this" or to just blow me off due to laziness or apathy? You shouldn’t do people like that. Is it not somewhat flattering that a writer deems you worthy of quoted commentary in a published biography or historical text? Oh, there was a third factor going against this book: Previously-published books or other examples of music press that I had nothing to do with. I had one very, very important source turn me down based on a bad experience with previously-published book that will always be associated with my book. I shouldn’t elaborate on this one, but it wasn’t the only book that indirectly costs me a source or two. One book guaranteed that an entire band wasn’t going to speak with me, and it would have been nice to get at least one of these guys on the horn. Lastly, I’d like to drive something home: If an excluded source pops out of my book and bothers you, dear readers, please understand that there is a really, really good chance that I contacted this person and their absence is based upon a personal choice. Sadly, a reader’s, or a critic’s, first impression tends to be that I didn’t even know to get in touch with certain sources or that I did know but made no effort. ?

Were there any people you interviewed for the book who despite giving plenty of good information were just not able to be used?

No, I used at least one or two quotes from everyone I interviewed, unless I’m forgetting someone. It is entirely possible that I’m forgetting someone. Now, there are hours of unused interview content when it comes to the frequently-used sources, like Mike Watt and Grant, and I wish I could have used more of Ray Farrell’s excellent interview.

(Another) recent photo of the author

In retrospect, looking back at your time on this, your first book, what would you have done differently? What could you have done better?
 
Ask me this in nine months. This isn’t where my head needs to be at the moment, though I will say that I will make more of an effort to guarantee that my personal life isn’t in a tumultuous state. Pretty tall order, considering the unpredictable nature of several key factors. I know that I will be more financially secure when I’m writing my next book. Terrified and broke is not a condition that I find conducive to creativity/productivity. I had a large percentage of my side work disappear due to the economic downturn in the fall/winter of ’08 and into the first half of ’09.

And about nine months into the book-work, I suffered an acute case of appendicitis that was the single most traumatic situation I’ve ever experienced. The offending organ actually ruptured a few minutes prior to surgery, which occurred a short 12 hours after the first pangs of pain became noticeable. I was told that I would have been dead within two or three hours had the surgery not happened when it did, and I was in the hospital for almost five days of post-op recovery. Prior to any notable medical attention, I was kept in a room for several hours, delusional from the worst pain I’ve ever known. It was during this time that I became convinced I was going to die. There were other complications, too, but this isn’t what anyone wants to read about. Nor do they want to read about my mom falling ill, which also happened while I was writing this book…

Do you have any future writing plans you can discuss? Are you anxious to start working on another book or did this one cure you for a while?
 
I am very anxious to start work on another book, or two books at once, depending on what type of book we’re discussing here. I am tightening up the proposal and putting feelers out for a book that I’m afraid to explain. I really don’t want someone to steal the idea. Elsewhere, I’m carefully deciding whether or not it’s a wise idea to start proposing a biography of an particular artist who is no longer with us, I’d love to write an encyclopedia or history of the independent label that began a quarter-century ago and went up to present day, then there’s a book about how eBay has altered if not become the gold standard by which vinyl worth is now determined (or basically a history of the vinyl record’s relationship with eBay), and I’m trying to settle on an angle re: a book about deregulated "extreme"/underground metal. Oh, since other factions of 90’s hardcore have gotten book or large-scale bio treatment, what about the crust or metallic side of things that had nothing to do with NYHC meatheads or sports jerseys…the early part of the d-beat revival, huge riffs courtesy of Neurosis, His Hero is Gone, etc, power-violence, you know what I mean. No one’s done that book, yet. One idea I’m pretty excited about is a book telling the recent history of the budget-level guitar and how many such brands/models now feature a quality-level that rivals guitars costing much, much more, starting in the early-90’s with the Yamaha Pacifica and moving forward to present day. This book would also serve as an expose of some expensive brands that are now coasting on the power of their name yet building decisively shoddy products, not to mention the powerful strain of now-unjustified snobbery shown by guitarists and magazines that snub brands like Squier and Epiphone and invest so much importance in the name on a headstock, thus promoting some dubious rip-off schemes on the part of mid-to-high end manufacturers. I’m also starting to compile either one or two volumes of my own writing as it was done in a certain tone and published for several years as a column and in an entry-based section of well-known alt-weekly, and this is to be combined, somehow, with the content created by Dave Dunlap and myself for our late-90’s zine (1996 – 2000), The Cimarron Weekend. Finally, I still believe that my life’s work will be an epic-length biographical treatment of the man who is perhaps my biggest hero, if not the strongest interest I have in a single personality, the untouchable Bill Drummond.
 
This is what I do, and I’m not doing any other type of work at this moment. I have to keep an eye on my mom, whose health is worsening, and up until recently, was splitting my physical work areas between the makeshift office I made in my mom’s guestroom and my office at home, in the house I share with my girlfriend. Trying to do writing work in two physical places is a fucking nightmare, and it automatically creates this default third workplace known as "the automobile". Point is, I wasn’t sending out pitches at the rate I once was (or should be now), and I have less work in the pipeline than I’ve had in years. That doesn’t dance with having a recently-published book, especially one that’s getting some attention, and the irony is painful rather than funny.

What about Earles and Jensen? Are you two still recording phone calls?
 
On Christmas Eve of last year, Jeffrey sent me an e-mail encouraging me to take a look at the Matador home page, where ‘Earles and Jensen’ had been removed from the "Current Roster" drop-down menu and placed in the "Alumni" drop-down menu. As a result, our 4LP/Book/DVD conceptual set entitled "The Blues 2" has no home. Jeffrey aligned with American Apparel to create an album of prank phone calls to AA locations, which he did with the help of East Village Radio (each call was done on the air). To explain it further would only serve to confuse readers, but the calls are brilliant and can be found online by searching the archives for the "Gay Beach" program, I believe. He invited me to contribute, but I could only manage some creative consulting long-distance, as book-work didn’t allow anything more involved at that particular time…I was trying to remedy a content dry-spell and get up to Minneapolis for some face-time with people. Someone should release those AA calls, though. Solid stuff. ?

Care to elaborate on anything?
 
You sure you want me to do that?

It’s been a hectic month so far, and I’m only now getting around to offering this.

Artwork by Lauren Gregg!

Any domestic orders include free shipping for the next month. Overseas orders can have discounted shipping if we arrange it through Paypal, but it’s just too tricky to deal with on the Chunklet store.

This here is a tape that never even came across my radar until over twenty years after its release and well, it’s my job to pass it along to you! I mean, innit?

Well, boy howdy, this is the When The Bow Breaks tape compilation released by the legendary live archivist Greg Webb back when he lived out on the eastern side of Virginia. To those who haven’t been next to Greg at the countless gigs he’s documented in the South over the past twenty five years, I feel it necessary to tell you that his video footage makes up the great majority of footage on the Harvey Milk "Anthem" 2xDVD.

Apart from the glimmer of future Athens legends (Porn Orchard and Mercyland), there’s killer live audio of Corrosion of Conformity, but the real gems lie in all the live recordings of the DC bands that’d duck down to Virginia Beach and play. Sure, we’ve got yer Fugazi and Soulside on here, but really, those are almost garden variety compared to the other gems that Greg has on here.

First off is the ridiculously underrated Three which I never even knew performed live outside of the immediate DC area. Also, for your listening pleasure Kingface, One Last Wish and Scream make appearances.

I certainly hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed listening to it for the first time. One of these days, when Greg makes his way back to Georgia (he now lives in SoCal) I’ll bug him about raiding this collection. However, in the meantime, crank this.

Much thanks to Arthur Johnson for allowing me to borrow his copy of this.

POST SCRIPT: I got an email from "thee" Greg Webb (check out his You Tube channel). Instead of rewriting what he said, I’ll just post it as is.

"Hey, just happened to notice the cassette tracks posted on Chunklet. Please put in text that I put on the shows and taped the shows I put on. That’s how DC bands made it to Virginia Beach, because I called them. Also note that the cover art was done for free by the late, great Ted Hafer. Also, I still owe four people, who sent me $5 from the MRR review, copies of the tape, in the slim chance that arises. Thanks, Greg"

Porn Orchard-Live ’87

Three-Live ’87

Soulside-Live ’88

Scream-Live ’88

One Last Wish-Live ’86

Mercyland-Live ’87

Kingface-Live ’87

Fugazi-Live ’88

Corrosion of Conformity-Live ’86

So the Final Outlet movie is something that I don’t know if anybody outside of Athens or the stars’s circle of friends will either ‘get’ or ‘enjoy’ but whatever, it doesn’t hurt to change things up a bit. Shot throughout the mid-’90s, Fatal Outlet is in dire need of an edit job. However, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have its moments. Ted Hafer was the gent behind this and he personally gave me the copy you are going to watch and even he thought it needed to be redone.

Regardless, the list of Athens ‘celebrities’ starts to get dizzying after the first few scenes. However, I just always thought highly of most of these folks when I first moved to Georgia so maybe that has something to do with it. Paul and Creston from Harvey Milk, Amber from Jucifer and Ballard from Roosevelt/Hayride/ElfPower/Vic Chesnutt’s band appear along with probably the entire working staff of The Grit from ’93-’97 and every regular at the Manhattan from the same time period.

I know, I know, this will probably fly over the head of most, but I thought it best to throw it up here before YouTube wises up and takes it down due to some seedy language.

One aside, this movie rests in its entirety on YouTube and can be watched in 10-15 minute segments at my ‘channel’. I just can’t figure out how to make one vid flow into the next. So deal with it.

Ted Hafer RIP.

What was initially going to be a brief interview has blossomed into a 6,000 word behemoth which I didn’t dare edit by even one word. Andy is just always such a treat to read. So here, dear reader, is part two (read part one over yonder).

Andy Earles’ book, Hüsker Dü: The Story of the Noise-Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock, is now for sale.

You delve into correcting several books about hardcore (generally) and HD (specifically).  Most importantly, you heavily criticize "American Hardcore". Was it merely your opinion that Blush’s book was off base or was this an overall sentiment that was shared by folks you interviewed?
 
I wouldn’t say “opinion” had much to do with it, nor did anyone else’s commentary about Blush’s book because I rarely brought it up to my sources, if at all. Sadly, the second edition of American Hardcore hit shelves between the time that I made the last changes to my book and its publication, which makes me look like an asshole because I don’t specify that I’m referring to the first edition of his book because a second one didn’t exist when I was writing that. Blush added almost 90 pages of content to the second edition, and removed several passages that I would hope any reasonable person would take issue with. To avoid this answer growing to novella-length, I will point out three examples which will more than sufficiently prove my point. And let it be known that I extended an invitation to Blush – to have himself heard in defense several passages I’d be taking to task in the Hüsker book – and never heard back.

The ‘IQ 32 (MIDWEST FUCK YOU)’ chapter itself is seven pages longer in the second edition than it is in the first. About halfway through the Hüsker Dü section, there appears this sentence at the beginning of a paragraph:

“The trio were all gay men hung out with outcast teenage boys.”

Aside from the fact that Greg Norton is not a homosexual and the third grade-level grammatical error (the exclusion of ‘who’ between ‘men’ and ‘hung’), I don’t think I need to elaborate on what is fundamentally wrong with this sentence.

The sentence was entirely removed from the 2nd edition, but the rest of the paragraph remained largely unchanged and reads as follows:

“All who knew the Dü say their gay predations with all these alienated young boys were discreet – and they basically were. But a creepy memory persists of a barefoot, drugged-out Grant Hart, on the prowl for young meat after a show.”

Really? Did Grant say, “Now let me state the age requirements for tonight’s drugged-out trolling session…” So, he’s a gay man looking for some company after a show. This is probably what Blush witnessed, if he witnessed anything at all. What’s that got to do with hardcore’s important stamp on culture? Why am I pointing out what’s wrong with this passage? It’s obvious. Other hardcore homosexuals like Gary Floyd, the late Biscuit Turner, and MDC’s Dave Dictor are not shown such disrespect.

The book is full of loaded speculation, like stating that Gibby Haynes became such a notorious crack smoker in the late-80’s and early-90’s that Mexican drug dealers called their extra large baggies of crack “gibbies.” And the definitive nature of so many claims; it seems like he credits each hardcore scene as rising in opposition to one regional entity, such as Austin hardcore happened in opposition to the cosmic cowboy, Jerry Jeff Walker hangover suffered by the town. No, Austin hardcore happened because hardcore was HAPPENING EVERYWHERE.

H?D? live in ’81 – Photo by Greg Helgeson

In the 2001 introduction, Blush claims that during the five years that went into “writing” American Hardcore, he has had to…..

“…distinguish fact from opinion, forcing myself to rethink preconceptions. I’ve tried to purge myself of all of the punditry, stereotyping, sloganeering, gut feelings, and knee-jerk reaction developed over the years, and I’ve quit trying to defend my personal tastes. Plenty of petty attitude persists among Hardcore participants to this day, but I strived to avoid adopting the bad vibe.”

Really? Because I know of no officially-published (not iPublishing) book so saturated with everything listed above.

In the 2010 introduction, Blush wastes no words before diving headfirst into the nonsense. This is the first sentence:

“Here’s the Second Edition of American Hardcore, the book that set the record straight on American Hardcore Punk music.”

Did the record need to be “set straight” or did the scene simply need to be documented? He goes on to describe the “five-year pre-internet research” he conducted for the original book, a book that was published in 2001. Did he finish his research in 1997, do something else for four years, then say, “oh shit, I’ve got this book I need to try and get published….” No, because in the intro to the American Hardcore discography section, he states that…

“Every piece of information I’ve seen posted on the Internet regarding American Hardcore is wrong, so I’ve chosen to totally ignore it.”

That statement was written in 2001. And if it wasn’t ridiculous enough, check out this follow-up in the same section of the 2010 edition:

“In the first edition I wrote… ‘most piece of information I’ve seen posted on the Internet regarding American Hardcore is wrong, so I’ve chosen to ignore it’ A decade later – due to this book’s influence – the Hardcore info posted online is far more complete.”

Wow.  Hopefully readers noticed that Blush changed “Every” to “most” and removed the “totally” in the process of QUOTING HIMSELF, if they were not blinded by the absurdity of this claim. 

I do regret that I allowed myself to come across as a hothead gunning for Our Band Could Be Your Life and tried to dial down some of the more ham-fisted quips in my final edit, but I had a short amount of time to comb through the entire draft. Along with Paul Hilcoff’s exhaustive Hüsker Dü database, the band’s chapter in Our Band… was an obvious cross-referencing point for chronological conundrums, of which there seemed to be an unending barrage. When I pointed out discrepancies or claims that differed from what my sources were telling me, I wasn’t in the mindset I’m in presently. Now I have a book out, and my book contains some honest mistakes. Look, Our Band… was the first time most of that subject matter had been discussed in such an official and widely-read forum, not to mention the fact that the book was the seed that grew into the one and only true miracle within the history of seminal band reformation: Mission of Burma.

Bob Mould will undoubtedly read your book. In a perfect world, what would you like to happen?
 
Why does it have to be a perfect world? That suggest that he will automatically hate my book if we’re speaking in terms of the world we’re living in. I wanted Bob to be a part of this book. Bad. I took the proper channels and invited him, and he respectfully declined. The book didn’t magically transform into an anti-Bob venture at that point, which really seems to blow some minds. There was a lead review of my book in the Star Tribune, and the writer got in touch with Bob and interviewed him about my book. I don’t want to assume anything about this writer’s motives, but this move suggests that I purposely excluded Bob, like this writer purposely excluded me from an interview about my book. Or perhaps it’s saying, “Look how easy it is to get an interview with Bob” ….for a book review. I think that people are assuming I didn’t even ask Bob to participate. Our culture is so irreparably fucked in that it’s geared towards the negative these days, but that’s a can of worms for another time. My editor put this gem in my head: “On the internet, it’s either shit or sunshine.” I couldn’t agree more, but I’d expand that sentiment to include every other format. I feel like people think the moment after I got the news of Bob declining, I exclaimed, "Who the fuck does he think he is?!? I’m gonna lay waste to his entire career!!! [Sound of me dialing phone] Grant? Commence with Operation Bury Bob!" I was attempting to be facetious just now, in case some dipshit takes that seriously. I was writing a biography about a band that practically built my record collection, indirectly, so to speak. 

A recent photo of the author

You’re very cautious in that you refrain from talking about business dealings between HD and SST in the book. You talked to Joe Carducci (long time SST employee) at length, but couldn’t get Greg Ginn on the horn (not a surprise). If you could look into a crystal ball, what do you envision will happen to the SST-era HD recordings?

Exactly what should happen to them, it’s just going to be a bumpier road than, say, what it took to rope in the Sonic Youth albums on SST. One thing complicating matters, besides inter-band relations/communication, is that the SST albums, barring some represses on colored vinyl that appeared in the late-80’s and early-90’s, have remained in print on vinyl and CD, just like the Black Flag and Minutemen titles have remained in print, more or less. Now, a warning to any individual record buyers that take this as an invitation to personally order from the SST superstore, the second edition of my book will probably be published before you receive your order in the mail. But any store or distro that orders weight will get their factory-sealed copies of Zen Arcade or Flip Your Wig the next week. Go any deeper than this, and it gets confusing. How does one explain the sudden appearance of long out-of-print Saint Vitus LP’s earlier this year? I bought a couple, then did some research on eBay as to what differentiated my factory-sealed copies from original presses, and found that it had to do with the inserts found inside. I opened both of my records and it turned out that I had one original press and one “repress”. I’d always wanted these records, but they were fetching serious coin online. But on the subject at hand…I will say that talks are currently happening for the best of this cause, and a label is involved in these talks. Terry Katzman has been working on some archival releases for several years, too, for he has a great deal of the live recordings and demo recordings. He was the band’s real-time archivist, and a better, more stand-up guy doesn’t exist. I feel like I owe Terry Katzman my firstborn, and probably do.

You know that Warner’s did a toe-dip into reissuing Hüsker product at the beginning of 2009, when all of the sudden Candy Apple Grey appeared as a 180-gram Rhino reissue (vinyl only). Now, that’s a record that did go out of print on vinyl, technically, though it was never hard to find or expensive. This reissue hit stores in March of 2009. There was no fanfare, no announcements, nothing in the way of promotion. It was just in the bins one day. Now, the Warner’s royalty situations are supposedly on the up-and-up, and I heard nothing to speak to the contrary. But something did happen, or didn’t happen, relating to this reissue that I found immensely depressing. Six months after its release date, in August of 2009, I was on the phone with Grant, and this is when I was trying to sort out the Hüsker + major label situation and present it in a readable manner. This was the hardest part of the book to write, by the way, but that’s for another time. Anyway, I casually mentioned the Rhino reissue for whatever reason, and Grant had no idea what I was talking about. I mentioned it with the impression that he knew about it and had copies, mainly because I had left him a phone message back in March when I saw the thing in the bins. He doesn’t check his phone messages. “What reissue?” I explained what I was referring to, my voice losing more and more life as my short description of the reissue reached silence. He responded, “Let me call you back in ten minutes.” This was the one time in which I got a little critical over Grant’s insistence on living a computer-free life, which he was doing until very recently. Grant was never preachy or critical of my use of a computer, so why should I weigh in on his abstinence from it? Because it was costing him money and it was costing him show patrons when he started touring his most recent record.

(End of part 2. Part 3 discusses Andy’s comedy pursuits, even more about SST and Bob Mould and how Earles & Jensen are now Matador Records "alumni".)

A couple weeks ago Mike Treff from Soundscreen Design came down to Georgia and we assembled 300 Man…or Astro-Man? 7"s  (current eBay bidding is up to $280!) and spoke at Criminal Records about their new book that I wrote for. Yes, a dangling participle, but what do you expect on Black Friday?

Here’s parts two and three for those that are interested. And yeah, I recommend getting the book "Touchable Sound" for that special loved one. Enjoy.