Tim Blood's Year In Reading

In 2007 I started keeping a list of every book I read. What follows is 2011's list.

A lot of re-reading this year. A lot more 'educational' and a lot less 'recreational' than years past, which makes it difficult to pick 'favorites'.
Though I'm satisfied and looking forward to 2012's reading lists. I'm shooting for 50 books. Ambitious.

2011:
“The Atom Station” – Halldor Laxness
“Pan” – Knut Hamsun
“Special Orders” – Edward Hirsch (twice)
“Hunger” – Knut Hamsun (twice)
“The Best American Short Stories 2009” – Edited by Alice Sebold
“The Writer’s Portable Mentor” – Priscilla Long
“The Shell Collector” – Anthony Doerr
“The Double Helix” – James Watson
“The Time Machine” – H.G. Wells
“Brave New World” – Aldous Huxley
“Freedom” – Jonathan Franzen
“Prelude to Revolution: France in May 1968” – Daniel Singer
“Plaza of Sacrifices: Gender, Power, and Terror in 1968 Mexico” – Elaine Carey
“A Tale of Two Utopias: The Political Journey of the Generation of 1968” – Paul Berman
“The Tiger’s Wife” – Tea Obreht
“Orientation and Other Stories” – Daniel Orozco
“The Mezzanine” – Nicholson Baker
“Out Stealing Horses” – Per Petterson
“A Journey into the Past” – Stefan Zweig
“Earthly Measures” – Edward Hirsch
“Everyman” – Philip Roth
“Mysteries” – Knut Hamsun
“Humboldt’s Gift” – Saul Bellow
“Fear and Trembling” – Soren Kierkegaard
“Invisible Cities” – Italo Calvino
“The Orange Eats Creeps” – Grace Krilanovich
“Victoria” – Knut Hamsun
“Blackbird and Wolf” – Henri Cole
“Of Human Bondage” – W. Somerset Maugham
“Against Interpretation and Other Essays” – Susan Sontag
“Selected Poems” – James Schuyler
“The Virgin Suicides” – Jeffrey Eugenides
“Tadao Ando: The Geometry of Human Space” – Masao Furuyama
“Absence of Mind: The Dispelling of Inwardness from the Modern Myth of the Self” – Marilynne Robinson

American: 21
Norwegian: 6
British: 4
Icelandic: 1
Italian: 1
Danish: 1
Swiss: 1
Japanese: 1

Fiction: 22 (Novels: 14, Novellas: 5, Short Story Collections: 3)
Poetry: 5
History: 3
Philosophy: 2
Literary Criticsim:1
Writing: 1
Memoir: 1
Architecture: 1

Total: 36

Favorites in no order at all:
Hunger, Mysteries, Pan by Knut Hamsun (I read Hunger for the first time in 2009, but it's still a favorite)
Special Orders by Edward Hirsch
The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr (I read it for the first time in 2008, but it's still a favorite)

Right now I'm reading "Sources of The Self: The Making of the Modern Identity" by Charles Taylor and "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides. Who knows will I'll finish those two mammoths.

Christwrong Reissue!

Christwrong 1 and 2 are on the internet again:

http://controlforce.bandcamp.com/album/christwrong-ep

http://controlforce.bandcamp.com/album/christwrong-2

christ mass ep lyrics

in case anyone was curious.

i like having you around:
its my first saturday nite you're still the only person that i know,
so i decide to go to a party with you on the other side of town,
but not before i eat some free pizza,
but not before we go to your place and move around your ugly bookcase.
noises made by birds does not equal strange or absurd.
your house is not haunted, so please just show the fuck up.

you don't have a lisp, but you do have a funny way of talking
and i'm charmed, so please don't tell me you might have a brain tumor

(guitar solo)

i would really like it if you stayed around
i would really like it if you were around
i would really like it if you stayed around
i really like having you around


like last year (this song references The Marked Men&Grey's Anatomy):
bread crumbs&black tea any food i can for free
snow covers the ground
when i walk around town with my hands in my pockets
i just about lost it
i need something to fix my brain; alleviate my disdain.

i wish it was more like last year when i had my friends here
i wish it was more like last year when i had my friends here
i just wish something would make these holidays go away
i just wish something would make these holidays go away

whenever i get home i always think of dying alone
i wish my life weren't aimless; suicide is painless

i wish it was more like last year when i had my friends here
i wish it was more like last year when i had my friends here
i just wish something would make these holidays go away
i just wish something would make these holidays go away

what does winter have to offer:
what does winter have to give?
hot cocoa, snow shoes&marinated figs
what does winter have to offer?
no school, no teachers or exams to proctor

we just want to mess around
we just want to own this town
all i want for christmas is anarchy
all i want for christmas is some fucking black tea

what does winter have to offer?
runny noses, coughing&visits to the doctor
what does winter have to give?
sore throat, wet socks&no will to live

XHappyXMassX

To you:

http://controlforce.bandcamp.com/album/x-mass-ep


Just in time for the holiday season.

From: Tim Blood and his Gutpanthers. 3 new songs festive holiday songs.

(if you can guess what specifically the background of the picture is we'll give you a signed copy)

Top 10, Whatever

Like Keith I made a list for KUOI. Here I expanded it to 10 and annotated each album. It prolly isn't worth reading, but all of these albums are worth checking out.

10. North Sentinel Island, The Copyrights

The Copyrights are the most consistent band I know of, which is both good and bad. It's good because all of their albums/songs are really good. It's bad because if you are only casually interested in them you will prolly ignore most of their albums because they all sound more or less the same. I really, really like The Copyrights. I first got into them when Make Sound came out in 2007. It is a super hometown record and I'd just moved back to my hometown and was stoked. The album fit right. This new one is a total fuck you to your hometown, and I just moved away from my hometown, so again it fits right in. If someone held this album up right next to any of their past three full lengths it would prolly be the weakest, but that shouldn't take away from how fucking good it is. The songs are catchy, the lyrics are relatable, the album as a whole is consistent and follows a singular theme. I think it's interesting/weird that the drummer writes all the songs and lyrics, not the lead singer. This album is easy to overlook, but definitely worth your attention, definitely solid. As long as you are into pop/punk. If not, nevermind. Don't even read this list.

9. Close To The Bone, Army Girls

Army Girls is a two piece from Toronto. I think this might just be indie rock. I don't know. The girl sings well and her songs are catchy/heartfelt. I have listened to "The Power" over 100 times since July. The rest of the ep isn't as good as that song, but still. This ep rules.

8. Western Problems, Future Virgins

It is almost impossible to find any information online about Future Virgins. They are from Tennessee. This is their first full length. They have released three eps prior. They are powerpop/garage punk. This band is phenomenal/upbeat/fun/writes good lyrics that make you feel good/have fun. Another album I biked around to a lot this year.

7. Kill Shelter, Yes!, Ghost Knife

I saw this band open for The Hex Dispensers in Austin in September and they ruled. The band is comprised of J Church's rhthym section and the singer of The Riverboat Gamblers/High Tension Wires. This album sounds like a couple punks trying to make an indie rock album, but ostensibly making a really good pop/punk album. The lyrics are sassy/clever/about cats. Excerpt: "That is not something you want to say to someone you wanna fuck". The music is rocking/catchy, but not as fast/loose/out of control as The Riverboat Gamblers or High Tension Wires. Mark Ryan of The Marked Men/Mind Spiders/High Tension Wires produced the album and it sounds like he did, which is a good thing. I don't know. This sounds like an intelligent punk rock album, which is something a lot of people into punk rock don't appreciate that much, but I'm way into it.

6. Self-Titled, Mind Spiders

Every song on this album mentions spiders in one way or another. The album kind of goes all over the place, but it all sounds like it is coming from the same guy/band, which is good. Anything this guy (Mark Ryan of The Marked Men) does/touches is solid gold in my book. I read in an interview that he started recording these songs because The Marked Men was a serious band and he had some fun/goofy songs/The Marked Men are inactive. Ryan, wrote/recorded/played all the instruments on this album, and then put together a band to play a few shows in Texas, but now I think it is a permanent thing and they are already recording the follow up. It'll be relased in February and I'm stoked to hear. I imagine it will be more focused/less all over the place since it is more than just a guy recording whatever the fuck he wants in his bedroom. Whatever. Buy/download this album as well as the ep before it as well as every The Marked Men album.

5. I'm Not Alone, Flashlights

I don't know much about this band or this album. I think they are from Florida. This is poppy/garagy/punk rock music for the ages. In places very Weezerish. Songs about girls and friends. This is just a fun/relatable/rocking album that I listened to a lot while walking to this park new my house to toss around a bouncy ball. Here's an okay music video for one of the better songs on the album: http://vimeo.com/30380893. Check it out please.

4. Tell Me, Jessica Lea Mayfield

I got into this album in June and have listened to it pretty regularly since then. It is easily the saddest album I've listened to this year. Her songs are catchy/really fucking depressing and I'm a total sucker for it. She seems pretty fucked up sad/heartbroken/lonely and I feel like I'm overhearing something I'm not supposed to hear. I don't know if she is like telling a story or if the songs are actually about her or what, but they are arresting/intriguing/haunting. Here more than any other album its the lyrics that keep me listening/won me over. Excerpts: "I can feel you watching me and I'd give most anything to know as you're sitting there with your legs crossed and no clothes on what you are thinking of. I'll do anything. I'm surprised that I'm not dead yet. Maybe I'm disappointed, but we won't get into that", "I'm almost too lonely to speak. My eyes dart around when you're talking to me. I can't seem to make myself not think about the past and how you are now. I think I've been alone long enough to do something insane. My friends, they worry I'm wasting away. I wish they'd say nothing at all. My mama said that no one can stop me. I won't let you stand in my way."

3. The Sun Is Down And The Night Is Riding In, Crusades

I listen to so much pop/punk you wouldn't believe. Most of it sounds alike, but that's cool with me because I like the way it sounds. This album totally surprised me, which doesn't happen too much, pop/punk being a pretty generic genre. These guys kind of mix black metal with pop/punk and totally kill it. Ryan says its like AFI. It reminds me of Chinese Telephones, but dark. Another album I have listened to while biking all over Portland.

2. Sulla Linea D'Orizzonte Tra Questa Mia Vita E Quella Di Tutti, Raein

Raein is easily one of my favorite bands. I was stoked when I saw that this was released and more stoked when I saw they put it for free on their website. One thing that catches me is how the vocals are screamed/aggressive, but the music is tame/very pretty. Also the vocals are not at the forefront of the mix, but textured in with the instruments. It all works really well. This album sounds like they put a lot of thought into every detail and the more you listen to it the better it gets/the more you get from it. I listened to it twice straight through last nite while walking home from work and again first thing this morning. Keith posted a link to download it. Do it.

1. Self-Titled, Joyce Manor

This album came out January 17th and since then, according to my ipod/itunes, I have listened to it 234 times. That is the full album. I've listened to the songs "Orange Julius", "Leather Jacket", and "Constant Headache" 321 times. If someone were to ask what Joyce Manor sounded like I would say something like Jawbreaker and Pinkterton era Weezer. The lyrics are smart/clever. The music is catchy. Easy to like/exactly what I like. 18 minutes long. Really, really good.

And the best album of 2011 I didn't listen to until yesterday: This Is Only A Test, The Smoking Popes.

Have fun. Happy Holidays

TOPTEN

I started writing this for a KUOI DJ list but got carried away so I put it here instead. Also, I found out after it was supposed to be a top five.

I barely listened to any new music this year. My most listened to top 10 would only have the first two. These are almost the only 10 albums from 2011 I listened to. I don't know if any toward the end of the list are essential. What is though? Nothing I guess.

I noticed while putting this together that half of these were posted online with the bands permission, weird. I've included download links when that's the case. I also put what country the artist was from to show how cultured I am. Sorry for getting so wordy.

1/2. Various - Luk Thung: Classic & Obscure 78s from the Thai Countryside AND Thai Dai: The Heavier Side of the Luk Thung Underground (Thailand)

These are two compilations of old Thai pop/folk music (from what I understand of what I've read) from the 60's and 70's that I got into from the KUOI library. I don't know, there's lot's of traditional instrumentation (I assume) mixed with goofy 60's and 70's western instrumentation but the best part is the vocals. Very interesting, catchy and beautiful but not in a fussed over way. I don't know how to talk about these other than that I enjoyed them so much. These were my go to albums when putting on something to listen to while doing stuff around the house. You should really check them out.

3. Заводь (Zavod) - Ритуал (Ritual) (Ukraine)

This is a band I was super into at the beginning of the year but kind of forgot about later on. From the videos I've seen online it looks like they're pretty young. The songs are like really driving, punk-ish black metal with an occasional, to my ear, European screamo melody. Pretty catchy actually. The sounds is kind of overwhelming. Probably the most pleasant surprise of 2011 which is why it's so high on the list. http://r-a-b-m.blogspot.com/2011/01/ritual-2011.html

4. Looking For An Answer - Eterno Treblinka (Spain)

This is just a really solid and easy to listen to album all around. Really bad band name but whatever. This is a well done modern "throwback" grindcore album with lots of chugging parts and catchy death metal riffs. There's something to be said for doing something very well.

5. Raein - Sulla Linea D'Orizzonte Tra Questa Mia Vita E Quella Di Tutti (Italy)

I didn't listen to this a whole lot, which is weird cause they're one of my favorite bands and this is a really beautiful album. It probably would have been higher on the list otherwise. I think I felt like I didn't want to put the time into totally appreciating it. I don't quite know how to describe it. I always like their vocals which are somewhat aggressive though mixed in very well with the instruments. It's the guitar that is the best thing about this though. I guess it's fairly post punk-y but mostly very pretty. This album breathes more than anything else by them. I hate when people just compare a release to another release by the same band cause that doesn't do most people any good but it's hard for me not to think about this album any other way cause I'm such a fan. Just download it. http://www.raein.eu/

6. Mindspiders - Mindspiders LP (USA)

I just listened to this for a couple months in the summer and then forgot about it. When I was into it I was listening to it everyday. I guess you could call it garage-y or something. In some ways the album feels, to me, like it's moving around a lot but it's all simple rocking pop songs so that keeps it together. Or something.

7. Robocop - Robocop II (USA)

This is another one that was an early fav. Really headbanging slow doomy parts and then really fast power violence-y parts where you can still pick out the riffs. Also the way the riffs are put together is kind of atypical in a really good way. The recording is great; really thick guitar. Towards the end there's a lot of alternating cut up noise tracks with the faster tracks but they work well with the whole flow of the album. http://www.grindcorekaraoke.com/album/robocop-ii

8. Wormrot - Dirge (Singapore)

Kind of spazzy and unpredictable grindcore. I don't think this will get stuck in your head but it's really listenable, fun and intense. It's almost like lots of really good transition parts. This band has had lots of internet hype which is cool for them.http://www.earache.com/misc/downloads/wormrot/

9. Chulo/Tumor Ganas - Third World Nightmare (Columbia/Indonesia)

This is a fun split. Chulo is like super scummy "noisegrind" I guess. I don't know how to explain the appeal is to this stuff but I think it can be fun in the right context. The recording is totally blown out in a hard to understand way. Everything but the drums and vocals gets lost when the songs get fast. I love when the vocalist yells "CHULOOOOO!" (I think it means pimp?) at the start of the first song. Tumor Ganas is a really punk-ish grindcore band with really funny quotes. My favorite is the one from Constantine on "Victims of Conspiracy". This is far from essential, I've just been listening to it a lot the last couple of weeks. http://www.grindcorekaraoke.com/album/third-world-nightmare

10. Unholy Grave - Blast Mayhem (Japan)

This band has had like 10 releases a year since the early 90's and they're one of my favorites. They haven't really changed much since they began. It's still just fast, super simple catchy grindcore recorded really raw. This release is actually a bunch of practice demos ranging from 1994 to 2011. The only real difference is some of the recordings are not as blown out as their normal releases. I only listened to this once but I listened to this band a lot and couldn't think of anything else for number 10. If your not a fan and want to get into them I suggest "Terroraging Crisis", "Against Terrorism" or "Grind Victim".

Others:

Pig Noose - Ctrl Force Sessions 7-22-11 (USA)

This is kind of self serving cause I recorded it and they're my friends so it's not in the regular top ten. These songs have however been stuck in my head for months. This is like hardcore punk. Good simple riffs. Really good vocals. "Tough" feel. http://controlforce.bandcamp.com/album/ctrlforce-sessions-7-22-11

Art Fad - Vatos (USA)

Also friends. They played in Moscow at the last Tim Blood show. Drowned out poppy rock. Every song sounds the same in a good way. Total summertime album. http://soundcloud.com/artfad/sets/vatos

Stuff I should have listened to more:

Gridlink, I listened to and really enjoyed Orphan but not more than a couple times.

Every band Tim B. tells me I should check out.

Rotten Sound's new album.

Pop music.

All the links are free totally legal downloads!!!!