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

Hello My Name Is Mix (Vol. 9)

 

I Didn't Take The Time To Listen To His Name

1. The F1eshtones Alex Trebek

2. Cocktai1s Bun E. Carlos

3. Michae1 Carpenter Chrissie Hynde

4. Bedr00m Eyes Paul Westerberg

5. The Snuts Juan Belmonte

6. Heaven1y Ben Sherman

7. The Handcuffs Peggy Moffitt

8. A1vvays Tom Verlaine

9. Spang Sisters Eddy Murphy

10. De1ta Spirit Jane Pauley

11. Mattie1 Jeff Goldblum

12. Ant0n Barbeau Julian Cope

13. Paranoid Sty1e Doug Yule

14. The Rave-Ups Brigitte Bardo

15. He1en Love Sandra Dee

16. The Ch0rds UK Veronica Jones

17. Surf Curse Randall Flagg

18. Neighborh00d Brats Lebron James

19. The Se1ecter James Bond

20. B1unt Bangs Tom Ford

21. The B1usterfie1ds January Jones

22. The Church Anna Miranda

23. C0wboy Junkies Ornette Coleman

24. The C0at Hangers Tonya Harding

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.

Summer 2022

This is pretty much a typical UHM summer mix in that the season itself isn't necessarily summoned in the lyrics as much as the overall sound. That sound can perhaps best be described as blissfully melancholic reflection, which doesn't always equate to mellow or introspective. As well, these mixes usually pull tunes from all over the last 50 years of music, searching to uncover those half-forgotten buried masterpieces of previous eras. Or, to put it simply, it's a mix to complement that icy cocktail in the sweltering heat.

Slipped The Last Of His Cash In The Music Machine

1. The Suburbs Summertime

2. C0rnershop Something Makes You Feel Like

3. VER0 Special

4. Nikky Egan Summer in the City

5. Sunset Va11ey Red Thai Sunday

6. Heatwaves Tell Me What You See

7. Young Guv Only Wanna See U Tonight

8. Ha1ey Mary A Boy Called Rock n' Roll

9. Diane C0ffee Sharks

10. Fantastic Negrit0 Nibbadip

11. The Dip Vacation

12. Bandit0s Here Tonight

13. Razor1ight Golden Touch

14. Boy Go1den KD and Lunch Meat

15. Pretenders The English Roses

16. Hurry Slogging Through Summer

17. Triptides So Many Days

18. Wi1d Feathers Another Sunny Day

19. Dr. B00gie Not So Far Away

20. Res Let Love

21. E1ise LeGrow Drinking in the Day

22. Busty & the Bass Summer

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

Orphans 2021

 

Well dern, that was a loooong search. It's a little frustrating too, because I know there's a ton of bands out there trying to get noticed and simply disappearing in the glut of overwhelming everything that is the internet. But what can ya do? That's not going to change - and we'd all probably complain loudly if it did.

So big thanks to all the bands out there still trying. You're appreciated. And while I'm handing out thank-yous, I should also tip my cap to those who've stuck around, especially those who have ever posted in the comment section. Some days that's all that keeps me going. Appreesh!

A Computer That's Been Programmed to Dream

1. Edis0n Lights Josephine (in Quarantine)

2. The Jr. League Library Bar

3. Hurry It's Dangerous

4. The Reyt0ns Kids Off the Estate

5. S1othrust Once More for the Ocean

6. S0uthern Avenue Fences

7. Dec1an We1sh & the Decadent West Talking to Myself

8. Sami Yaffa Down At St. Joe's

9. Lucer0 Back in Ohio

10. Need1es//Pins Winnipeg '03

11. The 0n and 0ns Vanishing Act

12. Sister Suzie  (Are You Gonna) Give Me a Kiss

13. The Linda Lindas Oh

14. Ind0nesian Junk Policeman

15. Ryan Hami1ton Do the Damage

16. S1ick Just Meat

17. Mad Ro11ers Black Days

18. The Ho1d Steady Riptown

19. Beatrice Deer Cannibal

20. P0inted Sticks Pessimist's Son

21. De1 Amitri Happiness Is it

22. The F0rty Nineteens The Worst Thing I Could Do

23. Spearmint Rock n' Roll Never Was

24. Cowbe11 Garage Flowers

25. Deaf Schoo1 Where Do We Go From Here?

Best of 2021

 

The Un-Herd Music Top 50 of 2021

1. Art Bergmann Late Stage Empire Dementia

He's been a hard luck legend of the Canadian underground for 40 years now, and while it's something of a surprise this album exists at all I can't say it's any surprise that it's so effin' excellent. 

 

 

 

2. The Courettes Back in Mono

The echoed drums, baritone sax deep in the mix & girl group melodies wed Spector's Wall of Sound with the raggedy looseness of 60s garage punk. A triumph all around.

 

 

 

3. Hayley Mary The Drip  

There's a layer of melancholy lying just underneath the driving guitar buzz that lends these highly melodic tunes an impressive staying power. Technically only an EP, but match it with the previous year's "The Piss, The Perfume" and you've got an album for the ages.

 

 

4. Steve Conte Bronx Cheer

An album that not only screams New York, but also offers - in its barrage of hard rock hooks - testament to the reasons why Conte was first choice as Johnny Thunders' fill-in in the reformed New York Dolls.
 

 

 

5. Jelani Aryeh I've Got Some Living To Do

Precociously talented at such a young age, Jelani Aryeh grabs pieces from pop, soul, R&B, and indie and puts them together in refreshingly original ways.

 

 

 

6. We Are The Union Ordinary Life

There are layers of social, political, and lyrical reasons to appreciate this album, but none of that would matter much if the music (a quantum leap forward for both ska-punk and pop-punk) didn't pack such a punch. 

   

 

7. Amyl and the Sniffers Comfort To Me

While Amy Taylor still doesn't exactly sing, she chants and rants with a charisma that sits perfectly amid the band's ACDC-meets-Radio Birdman attack. And while it's understandable she gets tagged as a female Iggy Pop, it's also evident that she's powered by a more righteous anger than any male counterpart might muster.

 

 

8. Made Violent Wannabe

Every now and then I'll find a small miracle - in this case, garage punk with an infectious 50s sock hop sensibility in its melodic construction - that forces me to champion the band as an underdog. Will we ever hear from them again? Who knows. In the meantime, we've got "Wannabe."

 

 

9. Sam Coffey & the Iron Lungs Real One

A declarative reminder this kind of music is far too scarce. Not metal, not punk, not indie or alternative - no need for a hyphenate at all - just melodic, aggressive, proudly electric rock that refuses to leave my player. 

 

 

 

10. Reigning Sound A Little More Time With Reigning Sound

Reaches back to their first 2 albums (the pedal steel of "Break Up Break Down" and the garage punk R&B of "Time Bomb High School") and creates what might be their crowning achievement. 

 

 

 

11. L.A. Exes Get Some

12. Pat Todd & the Rankoutsiders There's Pretty Things in Palookaville

13. Ike Reilly Because the Angels

14. The Blips The Blips

15. EUT Party Time

16. Brothers Steve Dose

17. Peppermint Kicks Peppermint Kicks

18. Daniel Romano Cobra Poems

19. Ryan Hamilton 1221

20. You Am I The Lives of Others 

 

21. Sour Ops X

22. Shannon & the Clams Year of the Spider

23. Mad Rollers Get Mad

24. Ryan Allen What a Rip

25. Real Sickies Love is for Lovers

26. Tommy Womack I Thought I Was Fine

27. The Wildhearts 21st Century Love Songs

28. Kiss the Tiger Vicious Kid

29. Aimee Mann Queens of the Summer Hotel

30. Curtis Harding If Words Were Flowers

 

31. Radio Days Rave On

32. Split Squad Another Cinderella

33. Blunt Bangs Proper Smoker

34. Geoff Palmer Charts and Graphs

35. Too Much Joy Mistakes Were Made

36. Hurry Fake Ideas

37. Cocktail Slippers Shout It Out Loud

38. Ellen Foley Fighting Words

39. The Forty Nineteens The New Roaring Twenties

40. Suzi Quatro The Devil in Me 

 

41. Boy Golden Church of Better Daze

42. Watts Shady Rock 'n' Rollers

43. Needles//Pins Needles//Pins

44. Yola Stand For Myself

45. The Fleshtones Face of the Screaming Werewolf

46. Beatrice Deer Shifting

47. Emperor Penguin Corporation Pop!

48. Parquet Courts Sympathy For Life

49. Elise LeGrow Grateful

50. Nick Waterhouse Promenade Blue 

 

Will You Let Me In Your Hard Heart?

 

1. Art Bergmann Entropy

2. C0urettes Misfits and Freaks 

3. Steve Conte Recovery Doll

4. Hay1ey Mary Would You Throw a Diamond?

5. Rea1 Sickies Give and Take

6. LA Exes Temporary Goodbye

7. Je1ani Aryeh Stella Brown

8. Y0u Am I The Waterboy

9. Sour 0ps Inside the Mind

10. Radi0 Days When I'm With You

11. We R The Union Broken Brain

12. Sam C0ffey & the Iron Lungs Lately

13. Amy1 & the Sniffers Security

14. Sp1it Squad Hey DJ

15. EUT Party Time

16. Peppermint Kicks Hey Fanzine!

17. Geoff Pa1mer This Monkey

18. Pat T0dd Cheap Nostalgia

19. Made Vio1ent You Had It Easy

20. Reigning S0und Oh Christine

21. Bros Steve Next Aquarius

22. Shannon & the C1ams Year of the Spider

23. The B1ips Wild Thing II

24. Danie1 Romano Nocturne Child