XHUXK'S TOP 100+ ALBUMS OF 2010!

2012:

1. Dev – The Night The Sun Came Up (Universal Republic)
2. Taylor Swift – Red (Big Machine)
3. Fraktus – Millenium Edition (Staatsakt)
4. Elfin Saddle – Devastates (Constellation)
5. Treponem Pal – Survival Sounds (Juste Une Trace)
6. Thunderkraft – Totentanz (Svarga)
7. Grand Magus – The Hunt (Nuclear Blast)
8. Jerrod Niemann – Free The Music (Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville)
9. Mekong Delta – Intersections (Steamhammer)
10. Bushman’s Revenge – A Little Bit Of Big Bonanza (Rune Grammofon)

11. Spiders – Flash Point (Crusher)
12. Angel Witch – As Above, So Below (Rise Above)
13. Tim Berne – Snakeoil (ECM)
14. Blackberry Smoke – The Whippoorwill (Southern Ground)
15. El Doom & The Born Electric – El Doom & The Born Electric (Rune Grammofon)
16. 45 Grave – Pick Your Poison (Frontier)
17. Venomous Maximus – Beg Upon The Light (Occulture)
18. Bible Of The Devil – For The Love Of Thugs & Fools (Cruz Del Sur)
19. The Shrine - Primitive Blast (Tee Pee)
20. Mark Stewart – The Politics Of Envy (Future Noise Music Inc.)

21. Bhi Bhiman – Bhiman (Boocoo Music)
22. 3 Inches Of Blood – Long Live Heavy Metal (Century Media)
23. (Various) – Blues Mix 6: Super Southern Soul (Ecko)
24. Amy Gore & Her Valentines – In Love (Space Lion)
25. Lord Fowl – Moon Queen (Small Stone)
26. Gideon Smith & The Dixie Damned – 30 Weight (Small Stone ‘11)
27. Christian Mistress – Possession (Relapse)
28. Van Der Graaf Generator – A Grounding In Numbers (Esoteric ‘11)
29. Them Bird Things – Pachyderm Nightmares (Playground)
30. Thomas Rhett – Thomas Rhett EP (The Valory Music Co. EP)

31. Kid Rock – Rebel Soul (Top Dog/Atlantic)
32. (Various) – Blues Mix 8: Juke Joint Soul (Ecko)
33. Timmy’s Organism – Raw Sewage ROQ (In The Red)
34. Jah Wobble & Keith Levene – Yin & Yang (Cherry Red)
35. Bridgit Mendler – Hello My Name Is… (Hollywood)
36. Pharaoh – Bury The Light (Cruz Del Sur)
37. Èva Polgár and Sádor Vály – Mondrian Variations: Piano And Samplerworks (Ektro)
38. Freedom Hawk – Holding On (Small Stone ‘11)
39. Goat – World Music (Rocket)
40. E.via – E.viagradation Part 1: Black and Red (Dline Art Media EP)

41. Abrahma – Through The Dusty Paths Of Our Lives (Small Stone)
42. Black Music Disaster – Black Music Disaster (Thirsty Ear)
43. Darrell Scott – Long Way Home (Thirty Tigers/Full Light)
44. King Mob – Force 9 (King Mob)
45. Kenny Garrett – Seeds From The Underground (Mack Avenue)
46. Kip Moore – Up All Night (MCA Nashville)
47. (Various) – Blues Mix 9: Southern Soul Blues (Ecko)
48. Larman Clamor – Frogs (Small Stone)
49. Saint Vitus – Lillie: F-65 (Season Of Mist)
50. Royal Thunder – CVI (Relapse)

51. Rick Springfield – Songs For The End Of The World (UMe)
52. The Sword – Apocryphon (Razor & Tie)
53. Altar Of Oblivion – Grand Gesture Of Defiance (Shadow Kingdom)
54. Amadou & Mariam -- Folila (Nonesuch)
55. Hellwell – Beyond The Boundardies Of Sin (Shadow Kingdom)
56. Azaelia Banks – 1991 (Interscope EP)
57. Turnpike Troubadors – Goodbye Normal Street (Bossier City/Thirty Tigers)
58. Bison B.C. – Lovelessness (Metal Blade)
59. The Revelations Feat. Tre Williams – Concrete Blues (Decision ‘11)
60. Bullet – Full Pull (Nuclear Blast)

61. Tygers Of Pan Tang – Ambush (Rocksector)
62. Skånska Mord – Paths To Charon (Small Stone)
63. Kix Brooks – New To This Town (Arista Nashville)
64. Jovanotti – Italia 1988-2012 (ATO)
65. Laid Back – Cosyland (Terrorbird EP)
66. Anders Nilsson – Night Guitar (Sound At One)
67. Dr. John – Locked Down (Nonesuch)
68. Bryan Clark & The New Lyceum Players – Southern Intermission (Rainfeather)
69. Ryan Shaw – Real Love (Dynotone)
70. Metz – Metz (Sub Pop)

71. Honky – 421 (MVDaudio)
72. Witchcraft – Legend (Nuclear Blast)
73. Drew Nelson -- Tilt A Whirl (Red House)
74. 3:33 – In The Middle Of Infinity (Parallel Thought)
75. Ke$ha – Warrior (Deluxe Version) (RCA)
76. Elephant9 With Reine Fiske – Atlantis (Rune Grammofon)
77. Donnie Ray – I’m Goin’ Back (Ecko)
78. Lionel Richie – Tuskegee (Universal)
79. Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – Between The Ditches (SideOneDummy)
80. Huinca – Sic Semper Tyrannis (Digmetalworld)

81. Dwight Yoakam – 3 Pears (Warner Bros./Via)
82. T-Ara – Funky Town (Core Contents Media EP)
83. Kadavar - Kadavar (Tee Pee)
84. Accept – Stalingrad (Nuclear Blast)
85. Ulver – Childhood’s End (Kscope)
86. Little Big Town – Tornado (Capitol)
87. ZZ Top – La Futura (Republic)
88. Witch Mountain – Cauldron Of The Wild (Profound Lore)
89. After School – Playgirlz (Avex)
90. Wounded Lion – IVXLCDM (In The Red ‘11)

91. Crazy Lixx – Riot Avenue (Frontiers)
92. The Devil’s Blood – The Thousandfold Epicentre (Metal Blade)
93. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires – There Is A Bomb In Gilead (Alive)
94. Baroness – Yellow & Green (Relapse)
95. Sigh – In Somniphobia (Candlelight)
96. Van Halen – A Different Kind Of Truth (Interscope)
97. O.B. Buchana – Let Me Knock the Dust Off (Ecko)
98. Fernanda Ulibarri - Át☼ma (Cosmica)
99. Sun Gods In Exile – Thanks For The Silver (Small Stone)
100. Busy Signal – Reggae Music Again (VP)

5. Treponem Pal – Survival Sounds (Juste Une Trace)

12. Angel Witch – As Above, So Below (Rise Above)
28. Van Der Graaf Generator – A Grounding In Numbers (Esoteric ‘11)
49. Saint Vitus – Lillie: F-65 (Season Of Mist)

96. Van Halen – A Different Kind Of Truth (Interscope)

i wonder if xhuxk and i will be the only Dev votes in Pazz & Jop (although i guess i dunno if he voted)

i do love this list. just when i thought i's never want to see another list as long as i live too. chuck is special in the head though. its just fun to read even if you don't listen to any of them.

worth it just to know that Crazy Lixx exists.

"Used to love their Voivod-gone-insustrial vibe. Didn't know they were still around..."

the band didn't even know they were still around.

Another year, another xhuxk list of a hundred album from a year in which I listened to about that many myself, but none of which appear here!

That said, I do keep meaning to check out Metz.

my brother is playing some of chuxx pixx on his radio show. sounds good. good way to hear stuff too. till midnight anyway.

http://www.wgxc.org/

Ha, right Scott -- Me being "special in the head" is a nice diplomatic way to put it.

Anyway. 2012 albums by Angel Witch and Saint Vitus come surprisingly close to living up to their past work, I'd say. Van Der Graaf come less close (no sax player anymore, for one thing -- double-CD Present from 2005, when David Jackson was still with them, was probably better), but they were the more interesting band in the first place, which kind of evens things out. I actually think that Treponem Pal album is the best I've ever heard by them, even if (like Angel Witch, and Tygers Of Pan Tang for that matter) they have only one original member left. (And I had no idea they were still around, either). Van Halen's album is probably (give or take Diver Down at least) their most marginal ever with Roth singing on it. But it's still better than the ones he doesn't sing on, and some people like it a lot more than I do.

I did vote in P&J, after agonizing over it. (Was eventually convinced by a few people that the aggregate ballots are what matters these days, and it would've been depressing to be left out of that after 30 years. Plus it's not like the poll died when I got got fired, so why should I care so much about killing it off now?) Not sure if somedude and I will be the only Dev voters, but if the Voicers tabulate ballots correctly (which I'm not at all counting on) at least one or two 2011 votes for last year's (actually superior) import version ought to be carried over.

Metz is as indie-rock as I got this year, I guess. I know a couple people who really hate that record, but I think it's kind of fun.

Finally, here are my 20 Favorite 2012 Reissues:

1. (Various) – Tension: Spanish Experimental Underground 1980-1985 (Munster)
2. Feedtime – The Aberrant Years (Sub Pop)
3. (Various) – Giant Single: Profile Records Rap Anthology (Profile/Legacy)
4. Coven – Worship New Gods (Shadow Kingdom)
5. Pagan Altar – The Time Lord (Shadow Kingdom)
6. (Various) – Country Funk 1969-1975 (Light In The Attic)
7. Rat At Rat R – Ameri$ide: Rock & Roll Is Dead Long Live Rat At Rat R (Ektro)
8. Mission For Christ – The Complete Sessions (Ektro)
9. Manilla Road – Invasion (Shadow Kingdom)
10. Thin Lizzy – Thin Lizzy (Light In the Attic)
11. (Various) – Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974-1984 (Chocolate Industries)
12. (Various) – Listen, Whitey!: The Sounds Of Black Power 1967-1974 (Light In the Attic)
13. (Various) – Strange Passion: Explorations In Irish Post-Punk, DIY And Electronic Music 1980-83 (Finders Keepers)
14. (Various) – Fac.Dance O2: Factory Records 12” Mixes & Rarities 1980-1987 (Strut)
15. Alfonso Lovo – La Ginatona (Numero Group)
16. Fela Kuti – Live In Detroit 1986 (Knitting Factory)
17. Laibach – An Introduction To…Laibach (Mute)
18. Bleeding Hearts – What Happened? (Aztec Music)
19. Crime and the City Solution – A History Of Crime: Berlin 1987-1991 (Mute)
20. (Various) – Eccentric Soul: A Red Black Green Production (Numero Group)

I'm still tabulating. It'll be done right.

Also, I never warmed to Dev, but since Red was my #2, too, you could check out my #1, which was Emma Hewitt's Burn the Sky Down. If the pattern holds, you won't warm to that either.

From lists I've seen, Red is a lot people's #2 -- people whose tastes have almost nothing else in common. It's really weird.

And it slipped my mind that you're doing the math, Glenn: I'm totally out of the loop on the new regime. Good news, actually.

there's probably not a lot inherently in common with any group of critics who vote for a multi-platinum blockbuster

True. Just seems funny that on so many lists including mine, Red is the runner-up -- Not first, not third, always second. But maybe I'm just imagining things.

that Niemann album sure holds up.

Yeah -- When I just think about that record, it seems like corniness should do it in. But every time I put it on to doublecheck, I'm surprised how much I still like it.

That Bleeding Hearts album is $45+ on Amazon, sheesh! What can you tell us about them besides the fact they're from Australia circa '78? Mission for Christ?

Bleeding Hearts discussed by me herein (along with Feedtime, actually):

http://www.spin.com/articles/aussie-effect-8-essentials-oz-rock

Mission For Christ: No Trend-associated D.C. hardcorers getting funky/dubby in the mid '80s. Which is an improvement.

Okay, found this on Ektro site:

In the pantheon of obscure U.S. punk, Mission for Christ has remained an intriguing mystery. Aside from stray blogs hyping the group's infamously scarce 7-inch, "Pennies from Hell," plus a cursory reference in Steve Blush's book American Hardcore, precious few online or printed recollections of the band have surfaced. Until now, all anyone knew was that the shadowy participants hailed from Washington, DC, and that they were close associates of the city's most antagonistic musical export, the notorious No Trend.

For summer 2012, Ektro Records is shedding some much-needed light on the subject. Commissioned by the label with curatorial assistance from yours truly, The Complete Sessions reprises MFC's nine-song 1983 demo cassette (which spawned the aforementioned single) and adds six previously unheard compositions dating from the following year. Extensive audio restoration vivifies the unruly material, while detailed liner notes place the names behind the noise in a helpful historical context.

Centered around bassist John Gibson (aka JC Agnatha), MFC featured a rotating cast that was equally well-versed in full-throttle punk, go-go funk, and art-damaged junk. Active when DC was too often portrayed as an urban wasteland split by racial and geographical divides, this loose-knit project flaunted an absurd, topical, and gleefully bizarre mesh of styles that recklessly disregarded subcultures, colors, and easy definitions. Its personnel casually bridged the disparate scenes that boiled over in their backyards, using dissonance, dub, and Dadaist nonsense to aesthetically fit in with the varied likes of Bad Brains, Scream, Void, 9353, Half Japanese, Outrage, the Psychotics, Trouble Funk, Rare Essence, and anonymous street-corner percussion ensembles.

Alas, nobody could locate tapes of MFC’s final incarnation from 1985, after No Trend mastermind and guitarist Frank Price had come aboard. Still, we're damn lucky to have rescued the 15 fantastic tracks comprising this CD (produced by Government Issue's Tom Lyle), and we're eternally grateful to Gibson for being gracious enough to share them with us.

Praise the lord, man; Christ is risen!

Wow and Jeezuz H. Christ on the Oz rock piece, I only have Feedtime and need to hear the rest!

Okay, so how do you get those Aztec releases? I've looked everywhere, and Bleeding Hearts is not in stock anywhere (for under $45). Can't order from their site, and they seem to be on some sort of 12 week vacation. Freakin' Aussies. ImportCDs says they can ship eventually but lately what happens is they take my money and give me nothing for months on end.

Lots of interesting things on this list, but it was especially nice to have a reminder that I needed to check out the Christian Mistress album.