2006 - Fun Times With The HOchies List

The trickery I do so love to lay down on you guys! This isn't exactly the Fun Times with the HOchies 2006 list. I already did a photo post of that to you guys. No, this is really the Or 2's Best of 2006 Music, Concert and Broadway List.

Joke's on me because some of you are going to skip over this, yeah? Asshats. That's right, HOchie 1! I called you an asshat!

Anyway, of the albums I got this year and mind you, some of them weren't released this year but they were new to me, here they are and the songs that were best from them:

Death Cab for Cutie

We Got the facts and We're Voting Yes - so far disappointing and I can't even pick a song from here yet but I will listen again in the near future

Something About Airplanes - "Bend to Squares" is a fantastic song. Other than that, this album is another I'll need to listen to because so far it's boring as heck. Sorry TD5.

Transatlanticism - "Tiny Vessels", "Title and Registration"

Audioslave

Revelations - "Shape of Things To Come", "Moth", Wide Awake

With no tour planned for the year after the album came out, I don't know what's going with Audioslave. They had one of the worst songs this year, "Original Fire". I cringe everytime I hear it. This album, other than those three songs, is mostly forgettable and that is painful for me to say. Sweet D., you can keep him even though I still love you, T.M.

The Streets

The Hardest Way to Make An Easy Living - "Can't Con an Honest John", "The Hardest Way To Make an Easy Living", "When You Wasn't Famous". This is another not-so-great album after the golden greatness of Mike Skinner's first two.

Tool

10,000 Days - "The Pot", "Vicarious". "The Pot" is one of the greatest songs this year but Tool, why are you making me add you to the list of not-so-great overall?! Maybe if you stopped your bullshit pretentiousness, then you'd make an album that wasn't one long boring song and an extension from your last! Geez.

OK Go

OK Go - "Get Over It" (Hilarious video and amazing song), "Hello My Treacherous Friends" (I like the bit about the spider children. I don't understand it but I like it as long as they're not Hobo Spiders, that is. Right X?), "1000 Miles Per Hour"

Oh No - "Oh Lately It's So Quiet", "It's a Disaster", "Maybe This Time". I took a chance on this band this year starting with this album and loved it so much that I forced them upon SF (but you know you should be thanking me, right, SF?), made enemies with Hinder and went out and bought OK Go's first. This is a really fun album and they seem to be a fun bunch of guys who are really about their fans and that's always a plus.

Thom Yorke

The Eraser - "Analyse" (One of the best songs this year!), "The Clock", "Harrowdown Hill". Thom Yorke, that loveable freak. I liked this album well enough. Oh and "The Drunk Machine" from the Harrowdown Hill EP is pretty good too.

Arctic Monkeys

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - "Dancing Shoes", "Perhaps Vampires is a Bit Strong But...", "Mardy Bum", "You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Staring Straight At Me".

Okay, so I stayed away from this band realizing how hyped up they were as soon as they came out until of course, a 7 hour flight to London and a broken pair of Ipod headphones forced me to make use of Virgin Atlantic's In-Flight Entertainment Service. So, I listened and actually liked it. It's not to be taken seriously, the whole thing's about how to hook up on the dancefloor (yeah, let's say the Arctic Monkeys can write only as well as, well, Arctic Monkeys. But ah, the lyrics and music are fun so whatever) and wow, do they like long titles.

Mindless Self Indulgence

Another Mindless Rip Off - (it truly is but at $8.99 and my undying love for this band, I had to get it. They know we're idiot fans who will buy anything but we know it too so it doesn't make it better but it makes it something) "Born to be Beheaded", "Frying Pan", "What Do They Know?" remix by MSI VS. Julien-K. & Chester Bennington

Shut Me Up: The Remixes + 3

This was truly disappointing! I mean, I rushed out to buy it for MSI's cover of "Big Poppa" because if you've heard their covers of "Tom Sawyer" and "Bring The Pain", you'll agree with me that MSI can cover a song like nobody's business but ugh, I was so sad and unimpressed by "Big Poppa". It wasn't horrible but it wasn't A+ material either. It was rather boring.

Despierto Los Ninos - "Alienating my Audience", "Joke", "Wack". And these songs are examples of why I love them because they're self-loathing, fan-hating, fun time bitches.

The Legend of Zelda

From The Oracle of Ages Sdtk - "Tower of Black", "Ralph's Theme" and no, Ralph is NOT my BFF!!!!!!!

From "The Oracle of Seasons" Sdtk - "Castle of Despair"

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

"Battle in the Forgotten City", "Beyond the Wasteland", "Sairin: Kata Tsubata No Tenshi". Yes, "One-Winged Angel" remains bad-assed even after given a rock on opera makeover.

And now for the two greatest albums all year...

Keane

Under the Iron Sea - "Nothing in My Way", "Leaving So Soon?", "A Bad Dream". Thanks to some drugs, Keane released a stellar album this year. The entire thing is amazing save maybe one song I refuse to listen to. They would have made number one on my list and heck knows they're really close to being at that spot but of course...

MUSE

Black Holes & Revelations - "Map of the Problematique", "Hoodoo", "Take A Bow". I'd be a traitor if I didn't have them as the most revered. But in all honesty, had they not made an incredible album, Keane would have taken this one. Every track is great except for that damned "Knights of Cydonia" that I hate but absolutely love in concert. And "Invincible" which grew on me because it's also great in concert.

[Personal Message: Matt, I love you. Please send me tickets and VIP passes to your show at Wembley Stadium on June 16th of next year. No one got tickets for me even though I pleaded that that was the only present I wanted for Christmas. Bitches.]

But talk about another hideous album cover...

For those of you who missed receiving a copy of this c.d. from me or TD5 this year, no worries...as soon as their concert dvd comes out, you're all getting one.

Now for my list of the shows (concerts & broadway) I saw this year starting with the best and ending with the worst:

1. MUSE at Wembley Arena. "Assassin (Grand Omega Bosses Mix)" is the most bad-assed performance in concert I've ever seen and/or heard.

2. Mindless Self Indulgence (tied with below) - oh how I love Jimmy. Within two years, baby, I'll have Urine tattoed to my foot. This was my first real pit. I'm alive. Barely. If not for Beetchie and Jess, I wouldn't be posting right now.

2. Evil Dead The Musical (tied with above) - great because X got roughed up.

4. Spamalot - I like Lancelot; he likes to dancealot. And he was pretty hot.

5. MUSE @ The Hammerstein Ballroom - small venue greatness because I was close to my man and fun because now SF is hooked.

6. Franz Ferdinand @ The Hammerstein Ballroom - as my Budgie would say, "if it's free, it's for me" and then there was the Alex moment.

7. Wicked - There's nothing like a gOOd-lOOkin' flying monkey. Yes, it is possible.

8. Les Miserables - the slo'mo' death scene was hilarious even though I don't think they meant it to be. The flush was just damned lame.

9. (and now for the worst show, please view two blogs before this one) Matisyahu. That's right, MC. Matisdamnedyahu.

And this next bit is for my own purposes -

My Top 25 Most Played Ipod Playlist

At the end of 2006, here's what it looks like:

1. What Do They Know? @ 314 times played
2. Stupid MF
3. Microphone Commander
4. Map of the Problematique
5. Time is Running Out
6. Eternally Missed
7. Hysteria
8. Shut Me Up
9. Tom Sawyer
10. New Born
11. You'll Rebel To Anything (As Long As It's Not Challenging)
12. Talk To Me, Dance With Me
13. Bomb This Track
14. The Small Print
15. Thank God
16. Revenge
17. The Groove
18. 1989
19. Last Gay Song
20. Rip Off
21. Muscle Museum
22. Apocalypse Please
23. Supermassive Black Hole
24. Micro Cuts
25. Sunburn @150 times played

All MSI & MUSE except for the one Hot Hot Heat song in there. Sad. Let's see what the playlist will look like at the end of 2007.

Another Rant From a "Music Elitist" & A Message To Sid The Voodoo Doll

When I first heard Hinder's song "Lips of an Angel" or whatever the fudge it's called, I thought to myself, 'oh wonderful, another song that Nickelback has put out that sounds exactly like all their other songs.' I found out soon after that it was indeed a 'different' band.

That was complaint number 1 and strike 1 against Hinder.

Then I saw their video on VH1. "Oh, it's those people who sound like Nickelback and oh my word, what is that...flail of the hand the lead singer is doing? Listen dude, there's only one person who can pull that move and it's Mick Jagger. Mick Jagger you are not. Put that hand down!" Here's an example of the hand (it's the ass in front but really, you people don't need me to point him out):



That was complaint number 2 and strike 2 against Hinder.

Complaint Number 3 went something like this: "Ugh, what's this shit? Hinder on Z100? Oh god, it's all over." Let me explain something about Z100, but first, let me say in my defense that my ears only happened upon Z100 because I was in the car with Papa HOchie who does not have Sirius and listens to the Morning Zoo on his commute.
Anyway, my point about Z100 is that once a 'rock band' has made it to Z100's daily regular rotation of music, I no longer consider the band 'rock' or a 'band' for that matter. As far as I'm concerned, once a song hits Z100, it becomes pop even if the band didn't intend it to be that way. While it may be economically sound for a band to reach that status (because it's the equivalent to being 'big' since teenie boppers and the like will probably go out and spend money on whatever album the track originated), credibility as 'rock' music becomes an issue. Z100 caters to an audience that is generally not rock based. And while it's rare that the occasional U2 is tossed on there, the disclaimer for them is that as the biggest rock band in the world, they're on all stations, even dance onces that mask their songs in a club remix.

Yes yes, today, again I was designated a "music elitist" by my friends. The amount of time I spent writing this makes me so, and an annoying one at that but anyway, Hinder got Strike 3.

From a Rolling Stone magazine interview with the band Hinder:

You seem to really have your biggest following in the middle of the country. Is that something you'd agree with?
Austin Winkler: I would definitely agree as far as NY and LA with some of that artsy bullshit like OK GO, bands like that. I think they're a bunch of fairies. I mean, they got on MTV , the VMA awards and they got on there and danced like a broadway show. That's not fucking rock 'n roll, that's not rock 'n roll at all.

We get what you mean about OK Go and some of the bands that really are popular on the coasts, but what do you think it is about you guys that appeals to people?
AW: We have good songs, I would say. Their songs suck, I mean what the fuck? They sold 4,000 albums a week and then that treadmill fairy shit comes on the fucking TV and they only sold 4,000 more records a week because the song sucks.

Do you guys know them? You seem to have a real specific fixation with them, have you met them or anything?
Cody Hanson: No, it's just seeing their fucking stupid-ass faces on the T.V. all the time, it pisses me the fuck off.

But I paid no mind until I discovered the above article and the fact that this crap 'band' had beef with OK Go.

Let's talk about OK Go:



Many will say that their video for "Here It Goes Again" makes them a novelty act and a gimmick. Well, I'll be damned but their gimmick worked because after their MTV Video Music Awards performance this year, I actually went out and did a little research on them. I listened to enough tracks to decide "hell, I'm going to take a chance on these guys and buy their album." I did, and much to my pleasure, I really loved it. They're fun and their music is representative of that as well. The VMA performance...I believe that's called "marketing".

The way I see it, the video is just that. A video. They've been accused of having a dance video. And yes, I saw that too. "A Million Ways" is a dance video and hilarious at that but that's what they do. They make hilarious videos. A video can make or break you in my eyes. They're creative in their own right.
How different are they from say, Tool, who uses animation (and brilliant animation at that) in their videos? That's what Tool does but no one questions their credibility as a rock band and no one goes to their concerts expecting an entire sequence made out of claymation.
And Radiohead's got some of the most bizarre videos out there but they're known for that and their stellar performances in concert that don't involve anything more than a great band performing music (not that I would know because frickin' Radiohead sells out in seconds before I ever get a chance to buy tickets but mark my words, the HOchies WILL be at one of their concerts in the future).

Record sales not that great? Hey, sometimes internet success doesn't cross over well. It happens. And maybe millions think the song sucks but whatever, my entire point is actually to say, any band that sounds so much like another (and not one that's truly great in my opinion) really isn't justified to talk shit about anyone else.

(A side note on Hinder - I checked out their website and they keep a blog. It's the most incoherent garbage I've read in a while, other than my last 3 paragraphs, but all it involved was how many shots some guy did. THAT is rock n' roll. Yep. Drugs and alcohol. But for crap sake, if you're going to do drugs and heavy drinking, do it right! At least make good music. Yeesh.)

I could be wrong though...I mean, thousands of people made Paris Hilton's album debut at number 2 or was it 1? I don't recall but I mean, it must make Paris Hilton a really talented musician. Millions of people can't be wrong, right?

But then again, millions thought the earth was flat too.

Please Sid, continue doing your job...:



Currently listening to: "Oh Lately It's So Quiet" by OK Go.

Zarnyx

Inked and WACOM-ed with:




Currently listening to: "It's a Disaster" by Ok Go. I'm so in love with this band right now. They're very 80's sounding at times and I can probably tell you what songs some of theirs sound like that have been done before. For the example, "A Million Ways" sounds a bit "I Can Never Be Your Woman" by White Town. However, their seemingly great personalities and hilarious videos are making me forgive them. They're just fun.