The Veins – Iron Tears on Angry Cheeks (2001)
Margaret Smoot – I Cane Your Hood (1976)
The American Horns – The Chrysler-Plymouth Jingle Sessions (1977)
The Kamchatka Octet – “Risk” Music (1976)
Don Brockett – Norway My Way (1969)
Doreen Dorado – Hey, Country Music (1978)
Various Artists – Earlobe Records Presents Misdirected Gems (1981)
Casper and the Ghostly Trio – Favorite Hymns (1955)
The Frosted Five – Hot Dog Friends (1963)
B. Serious – Grammy Jammyz (2002)
Diamanda Galas – Greetings from Branson Pavillion (1993)
The White Epoxy Mongrels – Austro-Turf (1982)
Oscar Brand – Ballads for Bawdy Balletomanes (1962)
Jay Em – The Sober Interloper (1999)
Lord Pecos Pete – Jew’s Harp Zodiac (1966)
The Lonesome Larynx Ramblers – Tossed in Austin (1975)
Alan Lomax – American Avon Lady Field Recordings (1952)
The Won’t Go Homers – Sonata for Your Merlin (1980)
The Martin Yard Ensemble – Red Licorice Eruption (1983)
Yma Sumac – Guide Me Savior (1968)
The New Sufi Choir – Presents “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” (1997)
Van Morrison – Kerrville Campfire Tapes (1990)
Dale and Grace – Tacos for We Two (And You Too!) (1959)
The Eddie Peabody Coalition – KJAK Presents “The Jeffersons” Suite (1987)
Original Broadway Cast – Miss Otis Sistrunk Regrets (1956)
Horst Grimstad Combo – Mambo Trombones (1951)
Imperial Toy Company – Bubbles: A Study in High Fidelity Sound (1972)
Various Artists – The Best of “Live at Carlsbad Caverns” (2006)
Mel Torme – Sings Letters to the Editor (1985)
Jufel Frit – Ejne vergona fajnem (1986)

Albums of the Year 2009

1 – The Wax Wesleys – I’m Aware, I Don’t Care. Highlight: “Punch Me, I Would Like That.”

2 – Cathy Sinus – Faux Furs Electric Don’t Touch Don’t Look Wait Do Look. Highlight: “Animal Weapon Underthing.”

3 – First Clouds/Then Karo – Vibrato Envy. Highlight: “Never Bending.”

4 – The 3:12’ers – Synthpad Scripture. Highlight: “P.M.S. (Post Metrosexual).”

5 – The Cast from “Where the Wild Things Are” – Chant Lullabys Inspired by the Soundtrack to “Where the Wild Things Are.” Highlight: “I Seethe.”

6 – Sergei and Sarah Gu – Hear Us Swallow. Highlight: “Under My Tongue.”

7 – The Killtwisters – Whiskey Wizard. Highlight: “You Put the Q in Quaver.”

8 – Agronomy – Growbot. Highlight: “Percolation Fortnight.”

9 – Traviz Milk-it featuring Malt-O-Meel – In Pieces, In Peace. Highlight: “My Components, Version 3 (KitchenAde Remix).”

10 – Affectation Station – Invocation to the Station. Highlight: “Affectation Station Celebration.”

11 – The Slumberites – The Dour Masochist’s Mystery. Highlight: “Elmer Fudd Reverie.”

12 – Elko – American Asphalt Mile By Mile. Highlight: “My Longest Hour (Acoustic Version).”

Note: OK, they’re all fake, so no need for researching. But haha! I tricked you. Just be glad I opted out on the fake blurbs.

posted by Kim Simpson

I made two contributions to Pop Matters’ “Slipped Disc” feature, which catalogs 60 albums certain contributors feel were foolishly left off of their “Best of the Year” list.

The Fleshtones – Take a Good Look: What a golden era for the Fleshtones faithful. First, a remarkably detailed biography pops up in late ‘07.  Then word of a documentary makes the rounds.  Then they demolish the gates of ‘08 with their finest album yet, Take a Good Look (and top the year off with a Christmas record, Stocking Stuffer). Produced by Ivan Julian, Take a Good Look is a ‘super rock’ wonder that clocks in at around 30 minutes, which is A-OK for something so well-suited for steady rotation. The thing to remember about the Fleshtones, you see, is that once they start making longish ‘album of the year’-type albums that give reviewers lumps in their throats and prompt them to use words like ‘nourishing’, they stop being Fleshtones. Take a Good Look, thankfully, showcases the fellas doing exactly what they do best and authoritatively justifies all of this brand new attention.

Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun: Brian Wilson’s follow up to the unfollowupable Smile is another classic, a grade-A California epic that merges all together in true concept album fashion, but breezes by like the bite-sized epics that made him famous. Written with Van Dyke Parks along with Scott Bennett (a key figure in the modern Brian Wilson renaissance), the playful lyrics jibe seamlessly with Wilson’s music and vocals, which are as natural and sincere as ever, all of which reach an emotional crescendo at the ‘Midnight’s Another Day’ finale stretch. Plenty of grumpy stuff still gets said about how today’s Wilson doesn’t quite sound like the Pet Sounds Wilson, but that’s no way to assess someone who’s 40 years older and all heart. That Lucky Old Sun does nothing less than capture Wilson stepping forward not only as the honorary curator of the California myth but also taking charge of the Brian Wilson one.

posted by Kim Simpson