2010 Sux (Amen): Year End Wrap-It-Up!

The highly anticipated year-end sell-out-a-bration from Sex Sux (Amen) is finally complete!  Time to hump the shark!

Share with your enemies, fiends, and any rapscallions that come across your computer monitor.  Feel free to leave a comment or email me any thoughts!

Table of Contents

1.  Year in Review: Likes and Dislikes

2.  The 44 Concerts I Attended (with photos!)

3.  Sex Sux (Amen) Awards

4.  Sex Sux (Amen)’s Favorite Artists Weigh In on 2010

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Year in Review

10 Favorite Records of 2010

Baths – Cerulean – Anticon

Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest - 4AD

Male Bonding – Nothing Hurts – Sub Pop

Nina Nastasia – Outlaster - FatCat

No Age -Everything in Between - Sub Pop

Spoon – Transference – Merge

Tobacco – Maniac Meat – Anticon

Tyvek – Nothing Fits – In the Red

Women – Public Strain – Jagjaguwar

Woven Bones – In and Out and Back Again – Hozac

Sex Sux (Amen) Approves

Big Troubles – Worry – Old English Spelling Bee

The Books – The Way Out – Temporary Residence

Caribou – Swim – Merge

Demon’s Claws - The Defrosting Of… - In the Red

Double Dagger – Masks EP – Thrill Jockey

Dum Dum Girls – I Will Be – Sub Pop

The Fresh and Onlys – Play it Strange – In the Red

Grinderman – Grinderman 2 – Anti-

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way – Daptone

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – The Brutalist Bricks – Matador

The Liminanas – S/T – Hozac

Mahjongg – The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger – K

The National – High Violet - 4AD

Nice Face – Immer Etwas - Sacred Bones

Screaming Females – Castle Talk – Don Giovanni

Marnie Stern – S/T – Kill Rock Stars

The Strange Boys – Be Brave – In the Red

Thee Oh Sees – Warm Slime – In the Red

Titus Andronicus – The Monitor - XL

Sex Sux (Amen) Disapproves

Vampire Weekend: One word: “horchata.”

The Roots – Any record with Joanna Newsom causes nauseating fits of rage.  Corny rhymes adds to the boredom.

Wolf Parade – Ahhhh I deleted it because it sucked probably.

Joanna Newsom – See: The Roots.  Oh, if I could do anything in the world, I would rip a fart right into Newsom’s mouth.

M. I. A. – Self-mockery, but by mistake.  Was always overrated, anyways.  What they didn’t publish: where Maya was putting the truffels she was ordering (her butt).

Arcade Fire – Ben Folds already went there.  He sucks, too.

Broken Social Scene – I fall asleep whenever I listen to these guys and I don’t wake up with morning wood.  That tells me everything I need to know.

Sufjan Stevens – It took him five years to figure out: Illinois + Glitch-hop + Feedback = New Record = Cash Money.

Suck it you skanky trendy piece of mopey bullshit.

Beach House – Really boring.  I don’t have anything else.

Best Coast – As far as I can tell, had some rather brilliant singles.  The new record lost the magic, turned out tragic, lack of ambition, loss of huge talent.  She says “I wish he was my boyfriend,” three thousand fucking times in two minutes on that damn dam song.  Fuck that.

Let’s ponder: Is Top 40 radio better than new Best Coast?  Yes.

Wavves – Seriously Pitchfork?  Tobacco isn’t better than Wavves?  The Fuck?  Fuck you for making this guy famous.  Fuck you for reporting his every movement.  Fuck that stupid video where he’s getting high with his bros.  Fuck you fuck you fuck you.

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Sex Sux (Amen) Attended The Following Shows in 2010

#1: White Mice @ 17 Mules

#2: Mission of Burma @ The Paradise

#3: John McCauley @ The 201

#4: Bellows @ Machines with Magnets

#5: She Rides @ 17 Mules

#6: Surfer Blood @ AS220

#7: Infernal Stronghold @ 17 Mules

#8: Black Pus @ Hilarious Attic

#9: Psychedelic Horseshit @ AS220

#10: Deer Tick, Those Darlins @ Firehouse 13

#11: Bellows, Holy Sheet @ AS220

#12: Many Mansions @ UMass-Amherst

#13: Heavy Trash @ Club Hell

#14: White Mice 4/20 Show @ 17 Mules

#15: Brandeis Spring Concert

#16: The Body @ Machines with Magnets

#17: Whitey @ Mars Gas

#18: 17 Mules

#19: The National @ The House of Blues

Part 1, Part 2

#20: Health @ Great Scott

#21: Devil Eyes, Univox @ Building 16

#22: Girlfriends @ Great Scott

#23: Liberty Fest in Providence

#24: The Flaming Lips @ Lupo’s

#25: Dios Mio, Lifers, Voetsek, Soul Control @ AS220

#26: Whartscape

Part 1, 2, and 3

#27: No Babies, Orange Coax, Nervous Systems, Bellows @ Building 16

#28: Newport Folk Fest

#29: Cacaw, Siouxcity Pete and the Beggars, Weeping Wounds, Cave Girls @ The 201

#30: Foo Fest @ AS220

#31: Purple Rhinestone Eagle @ AS220

#32-33: An AS220 Weekend

#34: Concert @ Machines with Magnets

#35: Thee Oh Sees @ Firehouse 13

#36: Pavement @ Central Park, NYC

#37: Malaikat Dan Singa @ Machines with Magnets

#38: Castlevania Returns!

#39: The Vaselines @ The Paradise

#40: King Khan and the Shrines @ The Met

#41: Halloween Show @ Castlevania, October 30: Upsidedown Cross, Hulked Out, Antietam, It’s Alive

#42: Deer Tick November 5 @ AS220, Providence

#43: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists @ The Met, Pawtucket

#44: The Wu-Tang Clan @ Lupo’s, Providence

Sex Sux (Amen) 1st Anal Awards

Imaginary Venue of the Year
17 Mules (RIP)

Imaginary Band of the Year
Holy Sheet

Shitty Break-Up of the Year

Women

Most Torturous Form of Music Journalism

Pitchfork

Genre of Music Most Ignored By Sex Sux (Amen)
Hip Hop

Genre of Music Ignored on Purpose

Chill-Wave

Most Hilarious, On-Point Music Journalism/Comedy

Chunklet

Runner-Up

Buddyhead

Best Television Show

Breaking Bad

Best Movie

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Word of the Year
Dengis

Best Live Performance

Double Dagger @ Whartscape

Best Providence Area Performance

Malakait dan Singa @ Machines with Magnets

Band I Hate the Most

Wavves

Best Holiday Show (Tie)

4/20 White Mice @ 17 Mules

July 4 Liberty Fest: Viennagram

Halloween Show @ Castlevania

The Worst Show of the Year Award

Surfer Blood @ AS220

Best Place to Find Good Music Online

Aquarium Drunkard

Record Label of the Year

In the Red

Runner-Up:
Hozac

The Best TV Comedy of 2010
Check it Out! With Dr. Steve Brule

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The Lost Groveling Obeisance Interview: Mike Pace, Oxford Collapse

1.  Why do you make music?

I make music because it’s the most immediate form of artistic gratification for me.  If I get an idea I can pick up the guitar or sit at the piano and try to figure it out.  I can do it with or without collaborators, and I really enjoy the process of trying to approximate what I hear in my head, regardless of whether or not the results turn out the way I want them to.

2.  What records, off the top of your head, greatly changed the way you thought about music?

Every time I hear a song or record I’m into I get inspired, and I like to think about what was going on in that person’s head that caused them to create that particular arrangement or chord progression or vocal line, and then I usually wish that I had written it.  In terms of big records in my life, Rocket from the Crypt’s “Circa: Now!,” Primal Scream’s “Screamadelica,” Ice Cube’s “Death Certificate,” Randy Newman’s “Good Old Boys,” and Peter Gabriel’s “So” are some albums that have been in my life for years that never get tired of listening to and where I can still hear new things.

3.  Where is your favorite place to play?

Oxford Collapse always preferred to play in alternative spaces as opposed to clubs.  We had some of our best shows in houses, basements, garages, rec rooms, bowling alleys, parks, Japanese restaurants, parking lots, and barns.

4.  Would you rather have the ability to jump pretty high or run realllly fast?

Might as well jump!

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Musicians Weigh In On WHY 2010 SUCKED

Mike Pace, Oxford Collapse

1.     What sucked the most about 2010?

2010, the year we make contact, was a time of transition for me.  I moved back to New York after spending a couple years in Texas, and I spent the bulk of this year looking for consistent employment rather than reveling in the footloose and fancy-freelance lifestyle I had grown accustomed to.  Not having that “anchor” definitely sucks, although not as much as the death of Father Dowling himself, Tom Bosley, at the age of 83.  I also got married this year, but that rules.

2.     What band/record/song sucked the most in 2010?

I was not a huge fan of “Fuck You/Forget You/_______ You” by Cee-Lo, even though it’s the type of novelty song that I could see my 13 year old self dancing around my bedroom too.  The fact that it captured the mainstream’s attention they way only a non-threatening pseudo semi-rapper could made me loose a little more faith in humanity.  Plus – and I hate to be this killjoy  – Harry Nilsson already sang this song better in 1972.

3.   What do you expect to suck in 2011?

The fact that someone will eventually get around to making the second disc of this.

Colleen Green

Hey dude(s)!

Thanks for the email. I realize it is spam-ish, but you said you thought my music was amazing and robot or no I must thank you and let you know I appreciate it immensely!!!!!!

I’m not gonna do the survey, I am really sick right now, and I don’t think that much sucked in 2010.

Hopefully 2011 doesnt suck!

Here are answers from Girlfriends:

1.  2010 has been one of the best years of my life. no joke.  We wanted to get to SXSW 2010, but the application deadline was 2 months after we had formed as a band.

2. I don’t listen to sucky bands/records/songs.  We try to keep a tight ship around here, we’ve got work to do, you know?

3. Lollipops, no more cigarettes (new year’s resolution), freezepops, tic tacs, probably no dicks, but I’m open to new experiences (new year’s resolution).

Thanks!

Josh, Univox

As a rule, we try to complain as little as possible, however justified it might be, in a public way.  But, since you’re asking us to and you have a cool blog, here it goes:

1.     What sucked the most about 2010?

I spent 3 months between touring and working full-time to make a video for Conan.  All said, I probably spent more than 100 hours editing, not to mention the time I spent writing the treatment, keeping the cost under $20, getting people to show up and be in it for no money, getting cameras, shooting it, and then promoting it.  And somehow, I still can’t get people to give a shit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8mbJyMOYqE

2.     What band/record/song sucked the most in 2010?

Our record sucked, obviously.  Otherwise everybody would buy it, right?

3.   What do you expect to suck in 2011?

Somebody’s gonna find out my horrible secret.  I know it.  Also, the casino recently erected in our city is going to stop letting people win and start ripping lives apart.  Now that’s progress.

Thanks for asking!