The Year in Muszak

          It was a very good year to me musically. Definitely one of the most fun concert wise for me. Over fifteen concerts I saw a diverse lineup of acts both new and old. Most importantly I had fun doing it most of the time save for Fiona Apple, and Jay-Z (The former because of the crowd and the act itself, and the later due to the people who I went with that is not the Chef herself). Having said that except for the possibility of
the Chef and I forking over a kidney to go see Coldplay, and Jay-Z  New Year’s Day the year in music for me is effectively over. So this little entry here are my musical ramblings that encompass the year of 2012. I’m just going to jump around to my random thoughts about all things music. Where warranted below everything is put in order from 1 to 3. The reason I stop at three is just because. I could keep writing forever so three seemed like a nice number. Besides I didn’t want to do a top 25 or even a top 10.  

Favorite Concerts of the Year: Linkin Park August 15^th Jones Beach, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals November 16^th Beacon Theater, New Order October 19^th Roseland Ballroom – Linkin Park was the concert I most looked forward to all year. The fact that everyone knows virtually every single word of every single LP song led me to believe this would be one of those everyone singing Muse “Starlight” at the Garden moments. And it was exactly that except the entire set was one long sing-a-long. I get goose bumps just thinking about it. It was just an awesome, high energy show and LP brought it but more so the crowd brought as much energy and made it one of those special concerts I’ll always remember. Grace Potter snuck in as the last show of the year so it is very fresh in my mind, and with good reason. She was the most amazing lead singer I saw this year in person. Better then Thom Yorke. Better then Tom Chaplin. Better then  Morrissey. She came across like a woman who genuinely was loving every minute she was onstage and she eventually captured this crowd which began the she sitting on its hands. She got all of them up with her infectious energy and non-stop motion. And the most impressive thing to me was she did all this in six inch heels. New Order was my 80’s concert of the year and it was like going back in time to teenage me. While everyone else listened to grunge I listened to electronic music like Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, and New Order. When they busted out the first few bass notes, and began playing the legendary video on the screen, the crowd and myself went insane and it was one of my favorite concert moments of the year. It was just pure 80’s synth pop at its finest. “I feel so extrodinary…”

Greatest legs I have ever seen. Please don't tell my girlfriend. Oh sh%t she reads this blog!

Favorite Albums of the Year: K’naan –Country, God or the Girl, Swedish House Mafia – Until Now, Bob Dylan – Tempest – K’naan has rapidly become one of my favorite artists and the reason are his intricate wordplay which gives his stories simple yet complex messages at the same time. Songs about his childhood in Somalia and choices people like his mother had to make in choosing in either taking his brother or himself, but she could not afford to take both really hits you in the gut. But he wraps it in fabulous beats and makes it sound so good you cannot helped but get hooked by him. Swedish House Mafia to me put out the best EDM album of the year. Many EDM albums tend to drag but this album is the fastest 70 minutes you will listen to. It’s so good you will not notice how long the album is. Tracks like “Save The World” leaves me sad knowing that these guys are going to break up after their tour next year. But that is understandable seeing as how all three guys can make more money separately now. Cannot wait to see them live and get my rave on with them next year at the Barclays Center. Me I have always been a Dylan hater. I cannot stand how when I read my Rolling Stone magazine everyone talks like this guy is the greatest of all-time and then I listen to his albums and I hear nothing special. But I heard great things about Tempest and gave it a shot and I am so glad I did. It was one of the truly great albums I have heard. Its magnum opus is the title track which is a 14 minute song about the sinking of the Titanic. Never has something so tragic sounded so good. Also take a listen to “Roll on John” which is his song to his friend John Lennon. At least for one album I hear what everyone was talking about.

Favorite Concert I Did Not Get To Go To: K’naan at the Highline Ballroom – Probably the cruelest thing Hurricane Sandy did (beyond the loss of life and billions in damage) was force the postponement of this concert. It wound up being rescheduled the same night as Grace Potter which led to me missing this show. I also was down the $100 in tickets because I wound up giving them away just so someone would go. But everyone who did go say it was an amazing show and even though I have seen him twice before it made me very sad to have missed him.

Favorite Gangnam Style Video That PSY Did Not Appear In: The one with the mom and her son – You’ve probably seen this video of the mom and her son dancing to this little known Korean pop song. Last I heard its only gotten 800 million hits on Youtube. I only contributed 10 views at most. But this homage was the video that introduced me to Gangnam Style even before watching the actual video. What I loved was this mom who seems to me like she should win the coolest mom award. She breaks it down in this video. And my favorite was that little hand finger thingy she does at the end. I find her mesmerizing.

Favorite Musical Discovery That I Figured Out 20 Years To Late: Morrissey – I got into to him early in the year but came back to him at the end of the year when I heard he was playing a couple of concerts in the city. I began digging into both his stuff, and his work with the Smiths and beyond the crazy long titles (Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before, or Shoplifters Of The World Unite are a couple of examples) is just some amazing work. You can hear the influence over virtually everyone in music when you listen to his works. Then you see him live and I understood the magic. The man is just captivating onstage which is what I had heard he was.

Favorite Songs Of The Year: Suedehead by Morrissey, Nude by Radiohead, Follow Me by Muse – This doesn’t have to be a song that came out this year. It was just what I played the most. Nude was my favorite earlier in the year but Suedehead came out late in the year for me and just nudged it out of the top spot in my rotation. I just love the lines in this song that come off like a big apology letter. Lines like, “I’m so sorry, why do you come here when you know it makes things hard for me?” It also has an awesome beat in the background. “Follow Me” because its Muse and it combines them and EDM into a gooey musical amalgam of goodness.

Favorite Use Of Chef Style Swearing: Tyson Ritter of All-American Rejects – The man dropped so many mutherf*ckers at a concert I thought I accidently went to a DMX show instead of a teenage pop band. But no he went out of his way to go for the record of most mf’s dropped in a 90 minute set. It got to be quite annoying. Almost as much as the teeny boppers jumping around me at the concert I saw him at. I said almost.

This is the worst mutherfu*king caption ever

Favorite Band Going On Hiatus Moment: Foo Fighters at the Global Festival – When Dave Grohl said they were going to take a break after this show he said before they go they would leave it all on the stage. And they did just that. They blasted through every single hit song Foo ever cut and it makes you realize just how great a band Foo Fighters are.

So sad...

Favorite Band Who Opened For Counting Crows: We Are Augustines – This Brooklyn based band rocked the hell out in 100 degree heat and they were impressive as hell. At the time I was thinking this is what Bruce Springsteen would sound like if he didn’t suck. Cause the lead singer sounded a lot like the Boss but didn’t suck.

And now some worst of the year of 2012 moments.

Worst Concert That Did Not Involve The Fray: Tie between All-American Rejects, and Fiona Apple – AAR because I was so looking forward to seeing them and was completely turned off by the crappy teenager crowd and the constant swearing of the lead singer. Fiona because she didn’t seem to want to be there/did not know where she was. Either way it was bad. And then on top add the horrible crowd and it all lends itself to one forgettable night on the island.

Worst Album: Cruel Summer by G.O.O.D. Music – This was the musical equivalent of having a team like the Yankees but not making the playoffs. The talent was off the chain good. Kayne West, Common, Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz are some of the best in the game. And yet this album came off as a huge uninteresting mix of music. And I did not think that possible from Kanye West who produced one of my favorite albums in My Dark Twisted Fantasy. I guess the one thing I can say about it is that I deleted it off my iPod it must have been disappointing.

Worst Venue: That BS Venue In Williamsburg Brooklyn The Chef And I Saw Counting Crows At – As good as the venue in Brooklyn where we saw Keane in 2009 was with the view of the East River and the city in the background this was equally bad. First it had no view of the river which even Adam Duritz mentioned he was disappointed in saying it looked a lot different in photos. Second it was 100+ degrees that day which meant you sweat and your sweat sweat. It was really hard to jump when you felt like collapsing half the time. And that is what happened to my friend at the show before the show even started. Needless to say maybe even the Crows couldn’t even make this venue rock.

Personally, it's only November and I need at least another month to put together my bests and worsts. I mean, as filthy as my fucking mouth can get, I have to choose my words wisely when I discuss certain events to protect the rude, selfish, and clueless. And most of these posts have been about concerts, which is all well and good, but I read A LOT of books. I watch A LOT of movies. I do many things outside of the scope of concerts, but reading through a lot of these posts- it doesn't seem like I crawl out of my hermit hole unless a band comes into town. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

I'll be back before 2013 to put together a fancy-shmancy post like this with pictures and funny memes and what-have-you.

Just to add my 2 cents: AAR was mother fucking AWESOME. I don't know about J, but I had a great time in my SEAT away from all the teeny boppers and annoying fucktards in the make-believe mosh pit. What I've learned this year in my concert-going trecks; if the people on the line are already annoying the fuck out of you, trying to squeeze into a standing-room only mob with those same people will not make life any easier. 

Sometimes, you just gotta sit back and enjoy the music! ;-)