The 2019 I Musical Genius Music Revue

Back again for another year folks. Here is all the stuff that I really enjoyed from this year in music. An insane amount of great stuff came out this year and I think that, more so than any other year in recent memory, it was tough to narrow down what would come on and what wouldn't. It may sound insulting to say that there was a big "middle class" in music this year, stuff that was very good, but not necessarily the best, but I think that speaks to an overall jump in quality across the board, which is a great thing.

As per the last couple of years, I haven't numbered anything. Maybe oso oso would take number 1. I don't know and care and I can't imagine you would.

oso oso - baking in the glow

This was absolutely my most anticipated release this year, as their last album the yunahon mixtape, quickly became one of my all-time favourites. The more tossed-off approach on this one put me off as first, as yunahon was fussed over, but I eventually came to appreciate that as a different side of the band. Some of their very best songs on this one.

field medic - fade into the dawn

Folk music doesn't normally do it for me, as I find it difficult to not read it as incredibly pretentious. field medic gets around that by having honest lyrics about substance abuse and relationships and putting some added production, like fake drums and lo-fi guitars and bass, in just enough places around the acoustic guitar. Though not included on the album, their 2019 single "I Want You So Bad It Hurts" is also one of the best songs of the year.

The Berries - Berryland

Punks all started listening to Neil Young this year and no band did a better job of bringing all the best parts of Crazy Horse into the present than The Berries. Huge vibe on this one. Guitars, guitars, guitars.

Chastity - Home Made Satan

Beautiful shoegaze about killing cops and klansmen? Yeah bro. Most importantly, the album's a tight 10 songs in 26 minutes, getting around the useless vamping that gaze bands sometimes lean on. Tons of hooks and vocals that aren't buried under production.

Skatune Network - Pick It the Fuck Up!

I think a lot about what the future of ska will be like, as a lot of the genre has been stagnating in the sound of the 90s for a long time. This album by Jeremy Hunter, which consists of ska covers of the emo bands on Counter Intuitive Records, is hopefully a sign of interesting and valuable things to come. More genuine earnest stuff like this, less jokey shit in the future. 

Sheer Mag - A Distant Call

On their second record, Sheer Mag tightened everything up and went a little heavier. Though less hyped then the debut, this one works better as a full album. The Mag have their sound completely figured out, so it will be interesting if they continue to put out punk/hardcore/arena rock every couple of years, or decide to make a big a change in how they approach their music.

Woolworm - Awe

Like shoegaze, I think that post-punk is getting to its saturation point and most of the new releases just don't have enough substance to keep me interesting beyond a couple of listens. Woolworm is the exception, as they perfectly balance the effected vocals, big guitars, and mountains of chorus and reverb pedals to produce something that nods to its influences without being a shitty imitation of them.

Wayfarer - Reckless Spring

When I heard Wayfarer play "Fifteen" last year, I knew that this album would be good. Kyle lowered himself to write a merely "normal" album instead a concept record and the results are amazing. Another amazing Wayfarer release from a band that will continue to be slept on because everyone is stupid.

Ancient Shapes - A Flower That Wouldn't Bloom

Re: the question I asked about Sheer Mag. Ancient Shapes bucked the trend of their earlier '77 style punk pastiches by leaning heavier into power pop and glam influences and the result was my favourite record by them. The songs are exactly what they need to be and there's no wasted space or effort. Romano's best work since Modern Pressure.

Blood Orange - Angel's Pulse

I admit that I was much later to the Blood Orange train than others, but this album won me over. Wonderful mix of poppy R&B with occasional forays into other genres. "Gold Teeth" was the song I listened to the most this summer. I'm sucker for Triple 6 features.

White Reaper - You Deserve Love

You Deserve Love doesn't have the same sort of ironic sense of humour that White Reaper's last album did, like piped-in crowd noise to start the album. Instead the album is a cross-section of early 80's rock radio and it works in the best ways. This band's amazing.

Young Thug - So Much Fun

So Much Fun came out while it was still summer in Montreal and it was everything I wanted from a rap record. Perfect to listen to while BBQing on my back deck with a joint.

Fury - Failed Entertainment

The thing that makes this record great is that it balances the newer influences working their way into most rock music (grunge and somehow nu metal) with the exact type of hardcore I love (Snapcase). Fury knows when to hold back with all of that to not make anything corny and then allows it to hit huge when it needs to.

Episodes From a Struggle Against Capitalism in 2018

One of my biggest vices is buying T-shirts. I can't get enough of them. Even though I have two deep drawers that are overflowing with them, I'm drawn to them like a moth to a bug zapper and just keep buying them anyways. It also doesn't help that most of my main interests have turned into glorified T-shirt factories. Punk bands set up a mini-mall in the venue and the Jays have a store the size of an Olympic swimming pool designed to sell things with their logo on it.

Beyond the utilitarian aspect of having a shirt to wear each day, I like T-shirts as a sort of artifact. I think it's cool that when I wear a band's shirt it's indicative of my enjoyment of them, but is also a physical manifestation of my memory of seeing that band on that night. I love my Lifetime shirt because it reminds me of the one time that I'll have gotten to see one of my favourite bands. More than that, it's also an artifact from that specific iteration of the band. I love my Sidekicks shirt because it was from their tour right after Awkward Breeds came out and is a nice reminder of when all of my friends and I were mesmerized by what the band was doing and excited to see them play the legion in Guelph.

This all being said, I am drowning in T-shirts and I am constantly trying to consume less in my life, so I made a pledge to myself in January 2018 that I would not buy any T-shirts (or clothes, really) for the whole year. I know that it's a silly project, but I also think that its non-essentialness and stupidity is part of what makes it fun.

Episodes From a Struggle Against Capitalism in 2018

1. The 2018 Toronto Blue Jays Season

The mighty king of the sports T-shirt world is undoubtedly the "shirsey", a T-shirt with a print of the front of a sports team's uniform on the front and a player's name and number on the back. Since I'm far too poor to chase my dream of a walk-in closet filled with different jerseys to wear each day, shirseys area fun and economical secondary option. Since they are so much cheaper than an actual jersey, you don't have to put as much thought into which player's shirt you purchase, as you won't be saddled with an expensive monstrosity you hate to wear if the guy's production falls off a cliff, or worse, right after you purchase it. As such, getting obscure or silly shirseys is a fun thing to do if you like sports.

As I've already covered on IMU, the 2018 Jays were fucking awful, so names that you would be proud to wear on your back were slim. But what the team lacked in star power, they made up for in spades with "that guy?" options. Curtis Granderson? Steve Pearce? Aledmys Diaz? These all would have been elite additions to my collection of heroes past, but thanks to my extreme will power and personal sacrifice, those shirts will go to someone more in need.

2. Power Trip, w/ Sheer Mag, Fury, and Red Death

Thanks to the rise of large-scale music festivals in North America, the days of elite package tours that travel all over Canada and the United States are a thing of the past. Mid-level bands still come through Toronto regularly, but I long for my youth when it seemed like a band at the height of their powers with several other signed acts were a regular occurrence. I am by no means hating on watching local bands, but it's just not the same as when you would go to a show and see four really good bands who were all extremely tight from playing each night on tour and were diverse musically.

That longing for package tours was a huge part of why I was so excited for Power Trip coming through Toronto in May with Sheer Mag and Fury. The show was rammed inside and each band had an elite merch set up that was as diverse as their sounds. Power Trip do great pastiches of 80's thrash shirts, whereas Sheer Mag's simple logo shirts seem like a classic design from when the "band shirt" was still in its infancy in the 70's. This show was my hardest test. Both bands' shirts would instantly enter into my primary rotation and get a lot of reps during the summer, but I persevered and out-lasted my desire to get one.

Also, at this show I saw a huge hesher metalhead in a battle vest puke on a couple while they were making out.

3. Joyce Manor, w/ Vundabar, and Big Eyes

Joyce Manor has been a favourite of mine for the better part of a decade now, ever since I heard their self-titled first record. Despite my long-standing love and appreciation of their music, I somehow only managed to see them for the first time this year, touring on Million Dollars to Kill Me.

Sidenote: This long streak of missing them included a 2011 show featuring their first trip to Canada, Lemuria touring Get Better. What a show.

I would love to have a Joyce Manor shirt and proudly display my appreciation for a band who's put out 5 good records in a row, but instead they had the misfortune of scheduling this show while I was on my T-shirt exodus. It seemed like there were many good options from afar, but I opted to not put myself through torture and didn't approach the table.

4. Algernon Cadwallader annouce a reissue of their discography

One of the saddest experiences you can have as a music fan is getting heavily into an artist shortly after they break up. Me checking out Television for the first time this week certainly has an air of "I can't believe they were this good the whole time!", but it's not nearly as bitter as realizing Algernon Cadwallader were emo gods only a year or two after they broke up. To make matters worse, there were times I could have seen them, but opted not to! What an idiot I was!

I scoured the internet to see if any record labels or online stores still had stock of Algernon merch, but the band's staunch DIY stance, a huge part of why I love them so much, meant their post-career online presence was next to nothing. I was haunted my image of a t-shirt, long since sold out, in online stores that no longer shipped.

Then, in the fall of 2018, the band announced that they would be reissuing all of their music through Asian Man Records. Cool! On top of that, the band would be reprinting their first t-shirt design and selling that as well. WHAT. ON TOP OF THAT, they would also be printing that design on my other apparel weakness, a black pullover hoodie. It was like Algernon had reached into my mind and plucked out what I wanted most.

But this wasn't about what I wanted. It was about what I had promised myself. And that was to buy no T-shirts during the 2018 calendar year. Mody Dick ate my harpoon and swam away. The marlin decomposed while tied to the side of my boat. I lay on my couch thinking of an alternate world where I would have an Algernon Cadwallader T-shirt.

5. The Sidekicks, w/Gladie, Found Objects, and Wayfarer

Like all good dramas, my quest to buy no new T-shirts was expertly paced. After the climax of the T-shirt I had dreamed of slipping away, the plot resolved with a lesser event. Like how the big death always happens in the second last episode of a season in The Wire. I saw one of my favourite Ontario bands, Wayfarer, play with one of my favourite active bands, the Sidekicks. The Sidekicks came on strong with a white long-sleeve that said "America's Greatest Living Rock 'n Roll Band" on the front and "POWER POP" down the sleeves, but I had already won my war. No shirts would enter my closet this year.

The 2017 I, Musical Genius Music Revue Show

The yearly tradition continues. The order is un-numbered and doesn't really matter except for my #1 spot, which is obvious. Let's go:

Oso Oso - The Yunahon Mixtape

A no-doubt slam dunk #1 album of the year. I eagerly waited for Oso Oso's follow-up to Real Stories of True People Who Kind of Looked Like Monsters and they rewarded me with something that was unexpected in the best way possible. I've been planning a separate post that mentions everything I love about this record because putting everything here would be too much, so I'll write that next week sometime. Not only is this my favourite thing that came out this year by a wide margin, but it's up there as one of my favouirte albums I've ever heard.

Power Trip - Nightmare Logic

When your approach to music is making an even mix of Exodus and the Cro-Mags, you make it really easy for me to like your band. Their best stuff for sure.

Daniel Romano - Modern Pressure

As with last year's Mosey, I figured that Daniel Romano had already produced his best solo effort. Yet again I was floored by a distinctive, intelligent, and fully-realized exercise in making a "genre" album. A master-stroke in 60's pop. This was an early favourite this year and I can't wait for his next one.

Pet Symmetry - Vision

A common trend this year was albums surpassing my humble expectations. I deeply loved Pet Hounds, so I tried to be measured in my first listens of this one, but found it to be fresh and different from their first album, but still with plenty of hooks and riffs. Great bass playing on this one too!

Incendiary - Thousand Mile Stare

I would love it if more bands would combine beatdown NYHC riffs with socially conscious lyrics. IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PRODUCT IS, THE PRODUCT IS YOU.

White Reaper - Greatest American Band

Between Sheer Mag's effort this year, Crying's album last year, and this album, I am more than here for the growing influence of arena rock in punk. Great riffs and great vocal melodies on this one.

Sheer Mag - Need to Feel Your Love

If you don't think a lo-fi punk band playing poppy Thin Lizzy songs is right up my alley, then you don't really know me at all.

Alvvays - Antisocialites

A fantastic follow-up to their celebrated self-titled debut. They try out some new styles on this one and I love it. Put out catchy, dreamy pop forever, please.

Vince Staples- Big Fish Theory

TELL THE GOVERNMENT TO SUCK A DICK BECAUSE WE ON NOW.

OTHER THINGS:

Some movies I enjoyed: The Big Sick, The Disaster Artist, The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), Get Out, Personal Shopper, The Fate of the Furious, Landline, and Ingrid Goes West.

Some TV I really enjoyed this year: Master of None, Fargo, Twin Peaks, Nirvanna the Band the Show, Love, Easy, Bojack Horseman, Vice Principals, Crashing, Rick and Morty, and Epicly Later'd.

See you soon folks.