The Black Keys – Brothers
I didn’t really start getting into the Black Keys until a few years ago. I had “The Big Come Up” but never really listened to it. It wasn’t till Alive re-issued it on pink vinyl that I started to pay attention to em. I had refused to listen to “Attack & Release” only because they had worked with Danger Mouse and the last time a favorite band of mine, The Mooney Suzuki, worked with a big producer they were never the same. Finally I gave it a chance and realized Danger Mouse didn’t try and change the bands sound and only added to the overall feel of the record. They the guys came back with Blakroc, where it’s the Keys playing the music with hip hop artists doing rapping over it, and of course wasn’t sure how that would work as well. It did, and I think it was one of the best records of 2009 and if you haven’t listened to it, you need to. Then comes the surprise performance from them at the work convention earlier this year in Birmingham. They are a great band not only on record but live as well. I was really looking forward to this album coming out and they didn’t let me down. A super solid album all the way through. If you’ve put off listening to the Black Keys, you need to not put it off any longer.

Black Prairie – Feast Of The Hunters’ Moon
First heard about this band when meeting with the folks at Welk Music Group. They played us a few songs from some releases they had coming out soon and this stuck out for everyone in the room. They played us the track “Red Rocking Chair” and everyone was amazed by the sounds coming from the recording. Smooth smokey vocals over violin, bowed stand up bass and acoustic guitar. Then they tell us is a few of the guys from the Decemberists new band. Wow, such a good record. Dark and moody folk music that sounds like it’s from the back woods of the south at the turn of the century. A few of the sounds would make great background music in a film.

Chango Rey & His Broken Heart Beat – S/T
Not 100% sure if this came out in 2010 or not, but I’m putting it in my list cause it’s my list and I can do shit like that. Anyway, Lo-Fi rock n roll at it’s best and to top it all off, Chango Rey is a one man band. Recording quality is questionable, but that’s part of it’s beauty. Simple rock n roll played a little bit sloppy and distorted all to hell is exactly what I like. There’s a wee bit of rockabilly and surf thrown in for good measure as well. I’m lucky enough that I get to see Chango play live quite often and the shows are amazing. Everyone shakin their ass with a beer or cocktail in had while Chango sits behind his kick drum and snare placed on the ground and rocking the fuck out on guitar. It’s a beautiful site.

Dan Sartain – Lives
From one Lo-Fi artist to another. Dan Sartain’s story is pretty awesome. At least the ones I’ve heard. He’s from Birmingham, AL and a HUGE RFTC fan. Guess he used to show up super early to the shows and would help the band load in their gear and stick around for sound check. He and John got talking about music and Dan gave em some of his music which ended up getting him a few albums released on Swami. Simple rock n roll and a little bit of rockabilly and garage is what Dan plays and he does it extremely well. First song I heard of the album was “Atheist Funeral” which was also released on Jack White’s Third Man Records with a different version of “Bohemian Grove.” You pretty much can’t go wrong with anything Dan has released so go get a record or two.

Electric Wizard – Black Masses
Ohhh man, have waited for the new Electric Wizard album for a while. The wait was well worth it. Electric Wizard is one of the best stoner/doom bands out there and I don’t think anything they’ve released is bad. This album doesn’t have the “beef” production wise as their other releases and by that I mean there’s a little less low end than they normally have. Not to say it’s not there, it’s just less booming as the other stuff. Also, this doesn’t mean the album isn’t super heavy cause believe me, it is. The intro track “Black Mass” is the perfect intro track and sets the tone for the entire record. So damn good. Now if they would just come to the states to tour for the album I’d be happy.

High On Fire – Snakes Of The Divine
When I got the promo of the record about a month before the release date I was like a little kid walking through the gates of Disneyland. I was so amped to throw it on and listen. From the start of the opening track, “Snakes Of The Divine,” you’re punched in the face with the brutalness of this record and it continues right into the first single “Frost Hammer.” The album pretty much doesn’t let up the entire time with the exception of “Bastard Samurai” and “How Dark We Pray” but both songs are still pretty brutal. Kind of like with the Electric Wizard album there’s less of a low end rumble production wise but everything is much tighter and in your face.

Imperial State Electric – S/T
Imperial State Electric is the new band fronted by former Hellacopters singer/guitarist Nicke Andersson. As a big Hellacopters fan I was super stoked to find out about this release. I had no idea it was coming then all of a sudden it showed up. It’s very much a rock n roll record as with all of the Hellacopters stuff. It originally started off as a solo album but morphed into a full fledged band and includes a huge cast of players such as Boba Fett (Hellacopters), Dregen (Backyard Babies), Robert Pehrsson (Death Breath/Thunder Express) and more. My favorite tracks on the album are “A Holiday From My Vacation,” “Deja Vu,” “Resign,” and “Diseased Pieces Of My Heart.” I recommend this album to all Hellacopters fans as well as anyone who’s into 70′s rock n roll.

Alain Johannes – Spark
Alain Johannes has been around for a while, but this is his first solo record. He was a founding member of the band Eleven, produced/wrote/performed on the first Chris Cornell solo album, produced and performed on numerous Queens Of The Stone Age albums and was a touring member of the band for a while and is currently the second guitarist in Them Crooked Vultures. He plays pretty much any instrument you can think of it seems like. This album is written and dedicated to his late wife Natasha Shneider who passed away in 2008. “Spark” is quite an amazing album with great guitar work and a very folk feel to it. He uses a mandolin and cigar box guitar as main instruments on this album and they work perfectly with his voice to make everything seem warm and comfortable.

Melvins – The Bride Screamed Murder
First track kind of throws you for a loop. Starts out like it’s going to be a killer song then it trails off into a sort of call and response almost something you’d here from a high school marching band at a football game or a chain gang. This would be weird from any other band, but this is the Melvins we’re talking about. “Electric Flower” is a stand out track but I’m not sure if I think that only cause they made a video for it or not, but it’s still a killer song. Not really a big fan of the “My Generation” cover, not because it’s such a different version but cause I think the song has been way overused in general. But that’s just me. Ohh, and this was their first album to make it into the Billboard Top 200 at number 200.

Mike Patton – Mondo Cane
Just when you think Mike Patton has covered almost every genre of music possible he presents the world with “Mondo Cane” which is him accompanied by a full orchestra doing covers of Italian pop songs. Yes he sings in Italian and yes they are pretty accurate versions of the songs. There are some videos of the performance online that you can check out and I really wish he would tour to support this album, but I don’t think it’s really cost effective to bring and entire orchestra on tour with you.

OFF! – First Four EPs
OFF! is a super group featuring Keith Morris (Circle Jerks/Black Flag) also features Burning Brides guitarist Dimitri Coats on guitar, Redd Kross bassist Steven Shane Mcdonald and Hot Snakes/Earthless/Rocket From The Crypt drummer Mario Rubalcaba. They released four different EPs as 7″ records and then they put em all together in one box which comes out December 14th, was originally supposed to be November 23rd, and you get seventeen minutes of non stop rock. I’d have to say this is at the top of my favorite releases for the year.

Squarepusher – Presents Shobaleader One: d’Demonstrator
Squarepusher is now in a band? Yep. Took a while for that to settle in with me but once I got past the vocoders I quite enjoyed this record. Not sure if it’s really a full band playing this stuff or if it’s another one of Tom Jenkinson’s gags that he and most of his buddies like to pull on the masses. Either way it’s a super solid record. Lots of normal Squarepusher tones throughout the album and of course the bass playing is over the top and it distinguishes Squarepusher from all the other electronic artists out there.

The Sword – Warp Riders
The Sword give their best effort at a concept album. Warp Riders tells the tale of Ereth, an archer banished from his tribe on the planet Acheron. A hardscrabble planet that has undergone a tidal lock, which has caused one side to be scorched by three suns, and the other enshrouded in perpetual darkness, it is the background for a tale of strife and fantasy, the battle between pure good and pure evil. How it’s told – through the dueling lead guitars of J.D. Cronise and Kyle Shutt, and the concussive rhythm section of bassist Bryan Ritchie and drummer Trivett Wingo – underscores the narrative with molten steel and unreal precision. Yyyyeeeeaaahhhh. Forgetting the story side of the record, the music is top notch. It’s less stoner/doom than “Age Of Winters” and less metal than “Gods of The Earth” and a little more 70′s rock. They still have elements of their previous works in this album so it’s not a total departure for em.

Hank Williams III – Rebel Within
Hank III is back with what ends up being his last country album of his contract with Curb Records. I’m not 100% sure the entire contract is done as he might have a greatest hits he has to give them, but now he’s a free man. If you’re not sure why this is a big deal, he had battle with Curb cause what was supposed to be his second album was a metal album that Curb refused to release so there was a huge court battle and it ended up he ad to give them a certain number of Country records and they would put out at leas one metal record. You get your traditional sounding country songs as well as your hellbilly fill as you do on most Hank III albums. I think my favorite song on the album is “Tore Up & Loud” cause at the end of it he has a nice shout out to Curb Records that goes a little something like this, “FUCK! ALL! Y’ALL!” Point well taken. haha

Ok, That’s it for now. If I’ve forgotten any records I’ll add em below this little section of text.

*UPDATE*

Daft Punk – Tron: Legacy Soundtrack
Everyone has been waiting for this soundtrack to be released. So much hype around it it’s crazy. I wasn’t much of a Daft Punk fan till a couple of years back. Like I said in the Squarepusher review, I’m not a fan of vocoders and they use em more than anyone. What they had released from the soundtrack sounded bad ass and I looked forward to hearing more. After buying it today I have to admit I was a little bummed at first. It was less of the electro wanking they are known for and more of a “score” with lots of string arrangements and crazy dramatic dynamics. After a couple listens I have to add it to my list of top music. It’s a great soundtrack and I’m sure it fits the movie perfectly. Bring on the grid, I’m ready to play.

I first found out about LOS EXPLOSIVOS when their self titled album came into the digital site earlier this year. The cover has an image of the band looking like a mix between mods and rockers (mockers?) in their black and white stripped shirts and leather jackets. With a name like Los Explosivos they had a lot to live up to and they more than succeeded at that. Dirty distorted garage rock from Mexico City, so yes they sing in Spanish, that my ears just love so much. Each song is a tangled web of two guitars, one fuzzed out most of the time and the other with the perfect amount of distortion, walking bass lines and steady yet poppy drum beat all covered with a rock n roll grown reminiscent of Gerry Roslie’s famous scream. “Sonidos Rocanrol” follows the same lines as the self titled album, but this time they throw in some lyrics in English as well as some harmonica. The production is a little louder and better mixed. It has more of a punch and low end to it than the self titled album does. It kinda reminds me of the sound the D4 “6Twenty” album has if you’re familiar with that one. This is one band I’m sure is great live, but no one in the US has the balls to bring em up here.

Up until about five years ago all I really knew about Monster Magnet was the video for “Space Lord” from the late 90′s. I liked the song, but I wasn’t into with the shinny suits, dancers, fireworks, light bulb suits and all the excess. Now that I look back at it the video is pretty awesome since it’s a total hip hop video for a metal song, but at the time I just passed them off as a band trying to make it “big.” So when I started listening to Queens Of The Stone Age it opened up a whole new world of music I had been missing out on for a long time. Even though Monster Magnet isn’t from the “desert scene” of California i fell into this album because of guitarist John McBain. John also played in the bands Wellwater Conspiracy (along with Matt Cameron of Soundgarden/Pearl Jam) and Hater (with Cameron and Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden) as well as contributed to the first Desert Sessions with Josh of QOTSA. So there’s ties between MM and that whole scene.

“Spine Of God” is their first full length release and it’s been hailed by many as one of the best stoner rock albums. Originally release in 1992 on Caroline Records with nine tracks it was remastered and re-released in March 2006 with new artwork, new liner notes, and a demo version of “Ozium” as a bonus track. The version you can get from ThinkIndie is the remastered version and it sounds great. Lots of slow over driven guitars (has that super compressed “grunge” sound of the early 90′s) with lots of room to give it a little bit of a psychedelic feel to it. The track “Nod Scene” would be a great track to listen to while partaking in some of the devil’s lettuce. “Snake Dance” is a good rocking song with one of the best lines I’ve heard, “If Satan lived in Heaven he’d be me.” If you’re just getting into stoner rock or metal, this album needs to be one of the first you listen to. Trust me.