BEST ALBUMS OF 2009: #7: SCANDAL “Best Scandal”
SCANDAL
Best Scandal
(Epic)
Available on CD, CD/DVD, and on iTunes Japan
The full-length album we’ve all been waiting for since their independently released Yah! Yah! Yah! Hello Scandal EP came out over a year ago. The title is and isn’t appropriate since this is supposed to be their first studio album and not a retrospective, but all of their singles, including the three first featured on the EP are present and accounted for. But there’s plenty of new material to dig into along with the hits and it was pretty much worth the wait. If you haven’t caught on to these spiritual heirs to the Whiteberry/Zone throne, this album will catch your ass up real quick.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Naoko Yamano of Shonen Knife!
Naoko turned 49 today, which no doubt makes her a MILF for both the punk and the J-pop set! She doesn’t look 49.
It sucks that I had to miss out on their recent US tour (behind their brilliant new album Super Group), but it’s cool to know that the band that straddled the line between punk rock and Japanese pop long before this blog came to be is still out there kicking some serious ass:
BEST ALBUMS OF 2009: #8 (tie): SLAYER “World Painted Blood” / SUNN O))) “Monoliths and Dimensions”
SLAYER
World Painted Blood
(American/Columbia)
Available on CD, 180-gram LP, iTunes and AmazonMP3
SUNN O)))
Monoliths and Dimensions
(Southern Lord)
Available on CD, 180-gram double LP, iTunes, AmazonMP3 and eMusic
First of all, the Slayer record is a Slayer record. You’re either going to buy it or you’re not. They’ve been the most consistent band in terms of personnel (only the drum chair has gone through turmoil a few times), and ever since founding member Dave Lombardo resumed his place behind the aforementioned instrument, fuggedaboutit. Nothing is ever going to out-heavy their classic Reign In Blood, but this came so close that it was breathing down that album’s neck.
If you want heavier than even that, here’s your new favorite band: Sunn O))). Live, they’re just two guys with robes, downtuned Les Pauls letting out droning riffs, and a shitload of vintage tube amps turned up to 20 (they’re probably the only band I know of that has their own branded earplugs!) and ready to reconfigure your DNA after the first two chords. While that’s a set up that some armchair amateur wannabe critics love to mock (do a search for the band on YouTube and you’ll see quite a few parody videos), it makes for some intense music. With this new release, the band adds to their studio sound with a female choir, horns (including Sun Ra Arkestra veteran Julian Priester), strings, and sometime Mayhem lead vocalist Attila Csihar. Best listened to in a dark room late at night – or when it’s morning and you don’t want it to be morning yet. And don’t be surprised if it puts a smile on your face. This was my first Sunn O))) album ever, and it won’t be my last. And if that’s not convincing enough of an endorsement of this album for you, let Anthony Fantano from the video blog The Needle Drop explain further:
