For once, I am glad that I don't have to write about music in order to feed myself. This being December, the obligatory year end list would have been a hurdle between me and a sandwich that I don't think I would have been able to clear this year.
I did not keep track of what records came out this year for a multitude of reasons. That's not to say that I didn't buy a metric ton of records and Bandcamp downloads over the past twelve months but I didn't keep my usual studious notes on what went through the speakers.
Having been given a brain injury's worth of trauma before the plague and civil unrest of this year, time has been playing weird tricks on me while I've been locked in my house. This year seemed to fly by at breakneck speed while simultaneously dragging on endlessly. Flipping through the stacks of records that I've been neglecting to file away on the shelves, I found myself thinking “Wow, that record came out this year? I thought that was last year.” or thinking something came out a few weeks ago when it was months ago.
Given the awfulness that this year has been, I was in serious need of comfort food records and didn't spend much time with anything new. The Stooges, The Clash, Black Sabbath, Dinosaur Jr., Bad Religion, Buzzcocks and Motorhead were in heavy rotation. Luckily for me, Funhouse, Paranoid, and Ace Of Spades received the anniversary box set treatment so I was able to take deep dives into those.
Listening to David Bowie was a struggle that I had to give up on. There was too much loss and his voice was like lemon juice in the wound. Blackstar breaks me every damn time. I haven't been able to even look at my Beatles' records, let alone take them off the shelf to listen to them. They were one of Mom's favorites and I'm not ready for that yet.
Quicksand, Helmet, Unsane, Jesus Lizard and Snapcase came in handy this year when I needed to fill the house with enough noise to prevent anything else from entering my brain. I was reminded that Slip, Meantime and Progression Through Unlearning could be true friends in dark times.
I was only able to walk through the doors of a record store about three times this year. I made it to the second of the three Record Store Day “drops.” I skipped the first one due to weather and there was too much COVID in the air for the third “drop” and the Black Friday releases. The other two times were for supply runs for protective sleeves and the like.
Since merely thinking about Spotify gets my blood pressure up, and I don't have their bullshit application on any of my devices, I don't have one of those spiffy year end lists that everyone was posting at the beginning of December.
I'm sure there will be some glaring omissions but here are some records of note that came out over the past twelve months:
This Land Is Your Landfill—The Homeless Gospel Choir
What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?—Public Enemy
Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple was a damn near perfect piece of art. That record still gets my nomination for Punk record of the year. All the white boys can scream and yell all they want but they won't come close to Fetch The Bolt Cutters. Fiona Apple's words cut like knives and they go deep.
NO from Boris was the one record that I kept going back to over and over again. I don't even know how to describe it but I have spent hours on end with that record. It started as a Bandcamp only download but has since been pressed to vinyl. It's distributed as an import from Japan so don't look at the price tag unless you want a nosebleed. It hurt the wallet but is worth every penny.
The wonders of NO also pointed me in the direction of the band Gudon. Gudon was a Japanese hardcore band from the mid to late '80s. Boris covered their song “Fundamental Error” on NO so my curiosity was piqued. If my bare minimum of internet research is correct, a former member of Gudon runs the label Bloodsucker Records who had a hand in the vinyl release of NO. He saw fit to run off a batch of Gudon CDs in case there are weirdos like me that might want to pay the import price and exorbitant shipping cost to get the music from Japan to my CD player.
Boris also had reissues of Absolutego and Amplifier Worship on Third Man Records along with another collaboration with Merzbow. And they put some of their harder to find music up on Bandcamp so there's no need to break the bank on the limited physical releases if they ever turn up on Discogs or eBay.
I do have an immense amount of sympathy for any band or artist that had a record come out in January or February or had one in the pipeline just as the shelter in place orders were going into effect. All of that preparation and planning, from doing press to hitting the road to share the songs. All of that work was flushed down the toilet and replaced with playing acoustic live streams on Instagram. And that didn't even last very long because suddenly Zuckerberg got very shy about potential copyright infringement if someone played a cover song so that was shut down too.
If a band or a small label put out a record this year, after knowing full well that the year was lost, I would almost consider that an act of bravery from a creative standpoint. Since the only way to recoup the expense of making a record these days is through touring, it almost seems like a losing proposition for all parties involved. If there were multiple vinyl colors available, I made sure to pick up one of each through mail order.
Due to the botched response of our government and fellow citizens, there is no end in sight to this shut down and getting bands back on the road. And that's if there's anywhere left to play when it's safe to have a room full of people again.
Even if that spending bill that includes funding relief for venues ever gets through Congress, after looking at the other bullshit that's in the bill, I'm sure it will be nothing but a giant novelty check made out directly to Ticketmaster/Live Nation/Clear Channel. Or at the very least, venues would need a team of lawyers and accountants to fill out all of the paperwork involved to apply for the funds.
I don't see things getting back anywhere close to the way they were prior to COVID. I've heard talk of Ticketmaster wanting to see some sort proof of vaccination before allowing people to enter venues. I can only imagine how poorly the meathead security at places like Stage AE will handle that.
There is way too much “wait and see” involved in this for my tastes. If this year has taught me anything, it's to expect the worst from the majority of people and see way too few people rise to the occasion.
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