Tuesday, December 29, 2015

NFT's Favorite Songs of 2015


Music is dead. Smash all your Apple products and invest in a dope dirt bike or speed boat.

101. Beyond Alive - Death Grips
100. Debt - Night Life
99. Water - Yowler
98. Ritual in Light - Guerilla Toss
97. How's it feel? - Trash Compactor
96. The Sickest Fuck of Them All - The I.L.Y's
95. Handmade Flaws - Spylacopa
94. New Year's Eve - Jon, the Archivist
93. Cream On Chrome - Ratatat
92. Pitch Black ft. Rome Fortune - Toro y Moi
91. Ideal World - Girlpool
90. Powerful Man - Hop Along
89. Not Right - Big Neck Police
88. Wheel - Stolen Jars
87. Soft Focus - Doubting Thomas Cruise Control
86. .38 Airweight - Doomtree
85. Settler - Vattnet Viskar
84. Cardboard Armor - Bearded Youth Quest
83. Have Fun Tomorrow from Ozzy / Stella - Gnarwhal
82. Turned Into Data - Stone Tools
81. The Gift - Kowloon Walled City
80. Corrective Measure - Corrective Measure
79. Failure Breeds Failure - Foundation
78. I Remember - Bully
77. Through Our Hands - Line of Sight
76. Hamper - Mouth Washington
75. Roadside Cross - Loma Prieta
74. Walk, Cycle, or Take Transit Like Jehu - Needs
73. Confidante - Youth Funeral
72. Raising the Skate - Speedy Ortiz
71. Frozen Tundra - Bobby Raps & Corbin
70. Society's Rule - Stick Together
69. Municipal Geography - Pneu (bonus: Hinges)
68. Splende - O
67. Thanks For Nothing - Guppy
66. Devil - Blazing Eye
65. A Desert of Human - Toe
64. Via - KYOTY
63. Poser Disposer - Clay Davis
62. Alright - Kendrick Lamar
61. Dinner Alone - STATS
60. It G Ma (ft. A$AP FERG, Father, Dumbfoundead, Waka Flocka Flame) - Keith Ape
59. Boneyard - Gravel
58. Alchemy in the Subyear - Dragged Into Sunlight & Gnaw Their Tongues
57. 'Til Our Ears Bleed - The Saddest Landscape
56. L'Amour Au Temps De La Peste - Potence
55. Exchange - Dying
54. The Legend of Chavo Guerrero - The Mountain Goats
53. Processional - Weedeater (bonus: Bow Down)
52. Swallowing Light and Sweating Diamonds - Giraffes? Giraffes!
51. God's On Vacation - Black Tusk
50. Shake - Bellyache
49. Canal St. - A$AP Rocky ft. Bones
48. Outcast Stomp - G.L.O.S.S.
47. Drunk Tank - Drug Church
46. Tony West Pt. 2 - Duck. Little Brother, Duck!
45. Torturer - Krill
44. The Maw - Blank
43. Transgression - Axis
42. The Hills - The Weeknd
41. Sun Bleached - Dogs on Acid
40. Processed - Yautja
39. Descent - Funerary
38. Frances Quinlan Will Have Her Revenge On Philadelphia - The Superweaks
37. Oscillator - Leveret
36. Low Beams - Touche Amore & Self Defense Family
35. Why Does it Shake? - Protomartyr
34. When I Was Done Dying - Dan Deacon
33. Celebrity Reduction Prayer - Open Mike Eagle (bonus: Dark Comedy Late Show)
32. De Qualche Parte, Nel Momento - Øjne
31. The Metal East - Lightning Bolt  (bonus: Runaway Train)
30. Never Worth Your Name - The Body & Krieg
29. Your Life in France - Ceremony
28. A Good Life - Cult Leader
27. New Alhambra - Elvis Depressedly
26. Limousine - GDP
25. I've Been Bored - Superheaven
24. Wolfman - The Front Bottoms (bonus: West Virginia)
23. the outstanding debt - grafted, i am
22. Dead Actors - KEN Mode
21. Beyond the Realms of Dreams, That Fleeting Shade Under the Corpus of Vanity - Thou & The Body (bonus: The Devils of Trust Steal the Soul of the Free )
20. Dolor (Part 1) - Fórn
19. Mookie Island - Sea Monkey See
18. Washerwoman - Bosse-de-Nage
17. Perpetrator - Red Death
16. Much - Busdriver
15. Flirting With a Cop - So Stressed
14. Mr. Fish - Pile
13. Re: Animist - Milo
12. Slaves Beyond Death- Black Breath
11. Out of Rage - Turnstile
10. Satan - Brother/Ghost
9. Hypernight - Title Fight
8. Brainbuster - Soda Bomb
7. Doomsday (ft. Siren) - WebsterX
6. Your Sweetness - Adventures (bonus: Absolution, Warmth Requited)
5. Red Roulette - Dirty Dishes
4. Vernon (ft. Vernon) - Show Me The Body
3. Law of the Land - Harm's Way
2. Lavender Chunk (ft. Hemlock Ernst) - Scallops Hotel
1. Bench - Spraynard



Thursday, December 3, 2015

NFT's Got You Covered - Favorite Covers of 2015!

Back from hiatus because I love lists and I can't resist talking about my favorite things of the year. So, to get the boulder that is list season rolling, here are some of my favorite cover songs of 2015!

Hot Chip - Dancing in the Dark from Dancing in the Dark EP



If you are like me, then you probably only know Hot Chip from the wacky music video for their 2010 single, "I Feel Better". Well, now I also know that they also do a pretty nerdy synthed-up version of "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen. This cover of one of my favorite Boss jams includes an Everything is Terrible-esque music video and a sprinkling of LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends" towards the end. A lot of this cover plus the music video seems overplayed at times but I still enjoy it for what it is; tacky.

Tigers Jaw - In Between Days/Kevin Devine - Lovesong from Devinyl Splits No. 3


Two sincere Cure covers.

Girlpool - Cut Your Bangs from Chinatown


This cover of Radiator Hospital's "Cut Your Bangs" from last year frequently came on while I rode to work on my new bike this summer. Every time I was completely floored by how genuine it was. I personally like both tracks equally but I can't help but think that this version here is a bit more accessible to folks who can't stomach Radiator Hospital's unique vocals. Hell, I'm already seeing videos of people covering this version titled "Me covering Girpool's cover of Radiator Hospital". 

Somebody Kill Me Please - LVL UP from Faux Real II



Faux Real is a compilation of cover songs curated by Father/Daughter Records. The covers are that of fictional bands and singers from TV/films such as The Rutles, Sadgasm from the Simpsons, and The Blowholes from The Adventures of Pete and Pete. My favorite one of the batch this year comes from LVL UP and their rendition of "Somebody Kill Me" via the Wedding Singer. The original sung by Adam Sandler's character had been listening to a lot of The Cure at the time.

Tiny Rick (Let Me Out) - Sorority Noise from Tiny Rick (Rick and Morty Cover)



Another cover from pop culture. Didn't listen to a lot of Sorority Noise this year and I wished I watched more Rick and Morty. Smash this link to listen to the original.

Thou - Even in His Youth from Whatever Nevermind



Another year, another Nirvana tribute album. Out of this year's covers of Nevermind curated by Robotic Empire, I had to narrow it down to the bonus tracks by Thou, especially "Even in His Youth", as my favorites of the pack.

Went with because even with Thou's own signature mutilation, there is still some poppiness that bleeds out from time to time. Well, maybe not "pop" per se, but it does have a little groove to it for a Thou track.

Spazzin' to the Oldies - A Tribute to Spazz 



Probably my favorite tribute album this year, Spazzin' to the Oldies is a 26 song nail gun full of grindcore nails to the face. This is a tribute album for the one and only Spazz. Spazzin' to the Oldies features some damn good grindcore/powerviolence/spastic metal acts from today such as Purge, Godhole, God's America, Brainshit, Chinsniffer and OSK (to name a few that I recognize). If I had to pick a favorite here, I would have to go with OSK's cover of "Spazz vs. Mother Nature" because it includes the banjo outre (no mouth harp, though, but I'll still give credit where it's due).

Old Witch - Gallows from Keeper Split



Old Witch's interpretation of CocoRosie's macabre tale, "Gallows" is definitely my favorite kind of cover song. While there were plenty of true-to-the-original covers I heard this year on and off the internet, I always love a good rework of a song from a different genre or a song given new life. Isn't the whole point of a cover putting your own spin on someone else's work? Isn't playing a song exactly the way it was intended Karaoke?

I'm starting to digress here for a sec but I honestly wish I could list Weekend Nacho's cover of "Tired of Sex" by Weezer. Yes, Weekend Nachos covered Weezer this year. No, it was not the most violent retelling of Pinkerton's #1 hit known to mankind. Instead it was strictly "Tired of Sex" performed as Weekend Nachos playing Weezer. Well hey, there's also "In the Garage", maybe they were just joking around and this is the Weekend Nachos cover I was expecting. Nope. Whistling and all, it's a great cover, but it's no Weekend Nachos cover. Then again, maybe my opinion will change once I get a grip. Maybe I'm just mad they didn't cover "El Scorcho".

Honorary Mentions:

Screaming Females covering T. Swift's "Shake it Off" for the AV Club
Ironlung with Wizard of Ozz covering B. Sabbath's "Electric Funeral"
Leftover Crack covering B. Raum's "Left Legs"
Corrective Measure covering A. Front's "Discriminate Me" (gotta rep Maine Hardcore)
Holy Filth covering M. Otorhead's "Iron Fist" (gotta rep Maine Metal)
And a thanks to any bands that I saw this year cover stuff... a heard a lot of it and it was pretty good most of the time.


Also, I'm sure I missed something very dope.