Orphans 2022

 

Some time next year I'll no doubt discover an absolute gem that I frustratingly managed to never hear (suggestions always welcome, btw), but for now 2022 is pretty much wrapped with this mix. Over all, a good year - although I'm definitely seeing hints that the rock era could be drawing to a close. That might be complete hogwash of course; after all, some pinched-faced conservative moralists claimed rock was dead back in 1958 - and I don't want to align myself with any of those sorts of knobs. Maybe I'll just shut up, clutch on to the words of Oscar Wilde ("reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"), and continue onward as if change and entropy aren't a feature of this life. Seems as good a plan as any.

Walking Forward, Looking Back

1. T. Rexic0 Oh Yeah

2. Jay A11en & the Arch Criminals Be Mine Tonight

3. R0mero Crossing Lines

4. The Che1sea Curve Jamie C'mon

5. Karma Gambit Cable Knit Sweater

6. Maura & the Bright Lights Perfect Girl

7. The De1ta Riggs The Real Electric

8. JD McPhers0n Just Around the Corner

9. Kevin Stevens0n Brand New Day

10. Titus Andr0nicus Give Me Grief

11. P0inted Sticks Anywhere

12. Emper0r Penguin A Gun and a Badge

13. The Pinx Dust to Diamonds

14. Dr0pper Waste of Time

15. Stars Like 0urs Radio

16. Spark1ehorse It Will Never Stop

17. B1usterfields Too Obvious

18. T00 Much Joy What Pricks We Were

19. The Hooten Ho11ers Back in Business Again

20. Butch Wa1ker Tell Me I'm Pretty (Methamphetamine Pt. 2)

21. Big J0anie In My Arms

22. Jeremy & the Har1equins One Shot (of Rock & Roll)

 

Faves of 2022 Vol. 3

In the words of the late poet Christopher Farley, Holy Shnikes I'm running behind with the mixes. Hoping I can get back on track for 2023, but there's been some real world shee to contend with and some of that is unfortunately due for a carry-over into next year(s). I'll attempt the traditional Xmas mix later this month - but, honestly, I haven't found much that's worth preserving so far. That might change, of course. Sometimes it's just a matter of hooking into the right stream. In the meantime, there's this final Faves mix of the year, featuring a fair amount of artists that'll surely be on the Best of 2022 next month.

We'll Have A Groove And A Vegan Casserole

1. The Handcuffs Love Me While You Can 

2. No. 2 Get In Line

3. Tuk Smith Girls on the East Side of Town

4. S1oan Dream It All Over Again

5. Jessie Bay1in That's The Way

6. Martha Baby, Does Your Heart Sink?

7. Surf Curse Strange

8. Starcraw1er She Said

9. M0re Kicks Color Me Stupefied

10. Uni B0ys I Wanna Rock You

11. Meisha & the Spanks Can't Wait

12. Justine & the Unc1ean Vengeance

13. Ke11ey Ryan Church of the Laundry

14. The Sin0 Hearts Falling Out of Love

15. D0t Dash Airwaves

16. 2nd Grade Hands Down

17. The H0use of Love Hey Babe

18. G1adie Hit the Ground Running

19. Wi11 Stewart Let's Go

20. Dazy Ladder

21. Dangereens Nomadic Step

22. The G0dfathers Bring On the Sunshine

23. Emper0r Penguin Love is the Worst

24. R0byn Hitchc0ck The Sir Tommy Shovel

25. Tony Mo1ina Last Time

Faves of 2022 Vol. 2

Right off the bat I'll cop to cheating a little on this mix. There's two songs from 2021 that I neglected to find last year (I know, right? How can such a thing happen?) and I'm including them here for no other reason than they're all kindsa awesome.

 

Of course, "all kindsa awesome" describes the other 22 songs as well. Seems that as soon as I start to despair that my antiquated rockist preferences are outmoded, old fashioned, and/or laughably out of date, a new batch of young bands shows up to casually storm the Bastille. So as much as rock n' roll may already be a desiccated corpse lying in an open coffin, it turns out all you gotta do is shoot some electricity through it to keep that carcass moving.

 Do You Think It's Better Not Feeling Any Of This At All?

 

1. C0urettes Talkin' About My Baby

2. Beach Day Saturday Night

3. R00ni Indigo

4. Peter D0novan This Better Be Good 

5. The Spark1ers Late Great Saturday Night

6. Dr. B00gie You're Not The Only One

7. Bandit0s Time Wasted

8. The Sweet Things Ride It Home

9. Gyasi Black Strap

10. Spira1 Stairs Pressure Drop (End of the Hurricane)

11. R0wan Nothing's Gonna Change

12. Dirty F1ix I Agree

13. Michae1 Monroe Can't Stop Falling Apart

14. The G00n Sax In The Stone

15. Pkew Pkew Pkew Mom's Dime 

16. Extra Arms Big Dogs

17. Dirty Bynum I Don't Wanna Be Alone

18. Sunf1ower Bean Baby Don't Cry

19. Go1d Star Cherry Red

20. Shanda & the How1ers Whatcha Gonna Do Now?

21. The Interrupters My Heart

22. Supercrush Perfect Smile

23. Bishop's Daredevi1 Stunt C1ub Hold You Up

24. The Lings Neverending Lonely Rush M.A.

Faves of 2022 (vol. 1)

When it comes to losing one's idols, this has been a rough first quarter to the year. Bad enough that Pat Fish (aka the Jazz Butcher) shuffled off his mortal coil far too soon, but the recent death of Chris Bailey on top of that was a total gut punch. I fell in love with that first Saints album on its initial release. The combination of Ed Kuepper's assaultive guitar and Bailey's charismatic rasp (which was somehow both flat AND tuneful) hit me right between the eyes. I remember sneaking side one on at a house party in small town British Columbia in 1977 and even though my fellow revelers were a million times more into Steve Miller and Fleetwood Mac that didn't stop the entire party from literally pounding the walls for all five minutes of "Messin' With The Kid." Definitely one of those moments that rivals anything referenced in Roy Batty's dramatic "tears in the rain" speech at the climax of Blade Runner. 

RIP Chris Bailey, Pat Fish, Mark Lanegan, Ronnie Spector, King Louie Bankston (Exploding Hearts), Rachel Nagy (Detroit Cobras), Betty Davis

 

Don't Need No Weatherman To Know Who Doesn't Give A Damn

 

1. Simon L0ve You and Me

2. Mattie1 Subterranean Shut-In Blues

3. Wet Leg Wet Dream

4. Swami J0hn Reis I Ain't Your Pawn

5. H00doo Gurus Carry On

6. Sp00n The Hardest Cut

7. Pink M0untaintops Nervous Breakdown

8. D0pe Lemon Rose Pink Cadillac

9. King Hanna All Being Fine

10. Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard Break Right In

11. Y0ung Guv Lo Lo Lonely

12. He11acopters Tin Foil Soldier
13. Faz Wa1tz Shame On You

14. Diam0nd Dogs Alright Brutus, I'm On

15. Urge 0verki11 Freedom!

16. Cheap Star Holding On

17. F0xy Shazam Love Rush Ecstacy

18. Beechw00d Front Page News

19. The Linda Lindas Growing Up

20. J0n Spencer & the HITmakers My Hit Parade

21. The Dip Paddle to the Stars

22. Beachheads Break Right In

23. Ex-V0id (Angry At You) Baby

24. Gaso1ine Who's Gonna Stop Me?

25. Ceramic Anima1s Tangled

26. The Jazz Butcher Goodnight Sweetheart