THE SKYLINE 50: OUR FAVORITE SONGS OF THE YEAR, PART ONE

OH SNAP! This has been such a whips year for local releases. The beautiful people that we all rub elbows with on a daily basis have put out a slew of aces recordings, both those barely registering on the local radar and ones getting good reviews in publications across our mighty and rarely making erroneous foreign-policy decisionsish nation. Therefore, in the week leading up to the announcement of our first ever SAMMIES AWARDS (you’ve voted, right?), we are pleased to unleash upon you our fifty favorite tracks 0f 2007. To qualify, the songs need only have been released on some media or another (LP, CD, CDR, tape – whatever) and be really really party call me.

So, without further ado, we present the 2007 Houston 50, in totally non-biast alphabetical order:

Alien Abduction – Linus Pauling Quartet
All Things are Light
What better way to start our countdown than with a nearly nine minute album-opening opus by one of the 713’s has-been-around-but-definitely-not-has-been stardog champions. Combining the big fuzz that got you listening to Soundgarden in the first place with enough of a groove to tempt Herbie Hancock, Abduction rides out her parts to the last exit for Roswell and then loops back around to enjoy the drive a little longer.


Ankstiyeti – Cop Warmth
Centaur Cop Top
We remember in High School there was this total dish of a photographer who wrote angry editorials in the school paper and once took this picture of a rack of girl’s clothes, all identical and neatly placed next to each other, under a sign that said “Be an Individual.” We freely admit that we were not yet sophisticated enough to immediately understand a pictorial representation of the irony of wanting to be different just like everyone else. In a sense, Anksiyeti is similarly satiric of that part of life, with its demand that no on/every stop looking. It baffles us to no end how a song so chaotic can be so catchy at the same time.


Art of Malnutrition – Bring Back the Guns
Dry Futures
A friend of The Skyline (and BBTG) asked the question, can a song that’s been played live for so long really be considered one of 2007’s best? Yes. Absolutely. Even if it had taken another five years for this record to finally come out, this song would have been one of 2012’s best. A band notorious for not riding out any of the gunch-busting riffs that pack their songs like a wet burrito, Malnutrition is one of those rare exceptions where an almost, dare we say it, conventional approach to rocking out pays off like Casa Ole green dip. Pass the salt.


Ashes – Balaclavas
Inferno
When we first heard this ep, we immediately got in touch with Chris Ryan over at Dead City Sound to ask how he recorded the bass on it. While we won’t reveal his secret, we will say that in terms of the tone it’s a complete departure and total breakthrough for the band. It slinks around heavily and without hard edges, like a gigantic scorpion’s tail stabbing about with unknown intentions in the dark. On Inferno especially, it adds a new form of pleasurable disquiet to what was already one of the most unique sounding acts in town. It gives us the creeps and we love it.


At a Second Glance – Balaclavas
Balaclavas
Sometimes, you’re supposed to avert your eyes and not look directly at something, even when it might be polite to look just as though there were nothing shameful, awful or disturbing about what you’re seeing -because you know that, if you look away, every muscle in your neck and ocular sockets will try instinctively to go back for that second, perversely satisfying glance. For us, this song isn’t about that second look – it’s the struggle not to, and the bit of self loathing when you do.


Beatle Battle – Golden Axe
Kill Them Allah
If Golden Axe had put out a 50 song release, they would be the only band in the top 50 this year. Fortunately for everyone else who poured blood, sweat and tears into their Tele’s f-holes during 2007, Golden Axe did just a Grey Ghost single this, which means that there isn’t an overwhelming amount of material evidence that your band is not as good as Golden Axe and that you really should stop practicing right now and start spending more time planning for what the world will be like when it is ruled by James and Warren’s benevolent co-dictatorship.


Bird – Jana Hunter
There’s No Home
We iTuned this album, as it came out on the net a few weeks before the actual release, and we needed something that reminded us of home to listen to while we walked aimlessly around the akward Stevedore paradise of Long Beach, California. As such, we’ve never (to this day) seen the credits for this song and who all it is that’s singing and strumming along with our city's favorite daughter-in-exile. Even if there isn’t one, this track always sounds like home to us, and every few months we’re both surprised and not to learn of someone else we know who was sitting around the campfire when the gentle romp got put to tape. Come home soon.


Bruise the Paper – The Western Civilization
Letters of Resignation
Aside from platinum selling and prematurely deceasing rappers, Houston is generally know for bands that ride in a very different bumper car from bands like The Western Civilization. Bruise the Paper, in spite of lyrics that might get a troubadour down, is pure pop bliss. But this syrup is anything but factory processed maple that’s never seen the inside of a tree – so far from it. This taste of Karo doesn’t have a lot of local contemporaries, but they’ve sure got the pancakes to put them on.


Cuttin’ a Rug – Arthur Yoria
Handshake Smiles
We’ve heard the studio chatter lead-in to this song, “I do need a click for this one,” so many times this past year that we’re more than a little astonished it hasn’t become a catch-phrase around the newsroom along the lines of the now ubiquitous “oh word?” Frankly, we wonder why Arthur Yoria isn’t more ubiquitous either. It doesn’t speak very highly of the music industry that Cuttin’ a Rug hasn’t cut its way up the charts of some sort. Maybe it’s for the best, as it means we get to keep our local treasure around just a little longer. Party call me.


Drugs and Drawing – Wicked Poseur
Wicked Poseur 7”
Arthur Bates is a weird weird weird dude. We’re not really convinced that this song is about drugs or art. Seems too obvious and, well, not weird enough. That’s pretty subversive, to write a song about the role of chemical substances in artistic expression and spell it out plainly but still have people wondering "yeah, but what is he really talking about here.” Weird.

ATTN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY: ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING?

Usually, this sort of thing only happens around SXSW or Austin City Limits. But for whatever reason Houston, your stars are lining up for the next few nights and it’s going to freak you out to have to choose between all these shows. Of course, you already knew everything that was about to happen, due to your dutiful incorporation of our own GCal show-list into your own, but just for the sake of FREAKING OUT, here’s whats going on tonight.

GIRL TALK
ok, so REAL TALK: Night Ripper has been ruling our dancing shoes, cook-outs and victory-commutes home for the past year or so - but the magic is totally undiminished. Returning for the first time since last year’s Proletariat anniversary party, probably our number one favorite thing coming out of Pittsburgh that isn’t a girl named Erin. Whatevez. If DANCE DANCE FREAK OUT I KNOW THAT SAMPLE, MAHN is your thing tonight, this is where you should be. With Busdriver and Daedelus @ The Engine Room.

SPOON AND THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
Yeah. Spoon and Girl Talk are the same night. Who are the ad wizards that came up with that one? GaGaGaGaGa is one of our favorite releases this year, and we think Spoon’s best since Girls Can Tell. Though talented, catchy, and frequently starring on many a house-party playlist, we can’t quite get over how big a crybaby the she-vocalist in the New Pornographers was that time they played Mary Janes a few years back. Seriously. You are on tour with Spoon. Time to start acting a bit more rock and roll. Still, you cannot detract from the main event.

PARTY GARBAGE AND COP WARMTH
Atleast you won’t have to miss this one, and if you’ve ever not been a fan, today is the day to become one. As is the way of too many local candles that burn too bright and out too fast, this is rumored to be Cop Warmth’s last show in quite a while. Dammit. Austin punks Party Garbage headline this happy hour show with Das Kapital and The Takes at The Proletariat.

So yeah. Get Brit on it. We'll scoop on Friday tomorrow.

TONIGHT: BE SURE SOMEONE IS THERE TO HOLD YOUR HAIR

You know the Interpol song "Length of Love" how right from the beginning the guitars are doing that little two-string pluck riff? Man, that always makes our stomach a little sick. It’s not like a brown note experience or anything bowel rumbling. And nay, the feeling one has drank too much. It just gives us somewhat of a discomforted stomach – a tummy ache, if you will, in the classical childhood sense. We’ve never really shared that before. We tell because we love. Because there is trust between us – and because you are beautiful and we cannot resist beauty.


Which is why we’re completely ace in the hole to share with you something else of the pepto-requiring variety. Tonight at The White Swan – it’s Sickish Fest. Armed with little more of an explanation than “Get Sick”, a full evening of entertainment has been culled from the best of last weekend’s live options (Friday’s set by Cop Warmth and Indian Jewelry; Saturday’s matinee by The Wiggins and Hearts of Animals – though tonight you’ll substitute one of Mlee Marie’s other bands, Vaarg, for the HOA). Rounding out the bill in the fabled Eastside mecca of smoke machines and American Flags are A Pink Cloud, Balaclavas and Satannabis, who we were disappointed to learn has absolutely nothing to do with Santana.

But in spite not knowing exactly what is so Sick about this whole thing (beyond a SoCal surfer slang reference to the lineup), we’re pretty sure it marks the start of the Halloween party season, which continues on into the weekend and climaxes with you having to choose between two other damn sick shows (if we may say so) on Wednesday. Get your costumes ready people – you’ve got Pepto to drink.

REVIEW: COP WARMTH - CENTAUR COP TOP EP

Cop Warmth is one of those bands that has a distinct live and on-record experience. Their live shows are ridiculously sloppy affairs, where descriptions that would encompass ‘masterful and crystal clear live sound’ would occur just as infrequently as ‘wore matching uniforms’ or ‘kept pants on for entirety of performance.’ So fuzzingly energetic are their shows, however, that it's hard not to get carried away in their cranky and catchy tide of hidden-in-the-backpack Natural Light fueled hardcore. But it’s totally doublemint if one actually knows the songs, which is why we’re so chelada on both their first CDr giveaway, and the new Centaur Cop Top ep.

Picking the nose of the same pleasure synapse as the early recordings of another whips set of local prunks from beyond the beltway, these John Sears-produced tracks tap into the final stiffie and oxy shared life experience that we all pretty much have in our list of mental scars – high school. That the (typically) bonks and dumbs lyrics of opener 'Ankstiyeti' (Angsty Yeti?) are as appealing to those way past the 10 year reunion as they are to kids still needing to remember to turn to the left, past zero, to the second number says something about those of us who might not have picked a duet by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes as their senior class song. Observe:

I HATE KIDS! DON’T STOP PLEASE STOP DON’T STOP LOOKING AT ME! HIGH SCHOOL HALLS! YOU’RE TOO PACKED! HIGH SCHOOL HALLS! FILLED WITH RATS!

Remember that? Or how about the lyrical entirety of 'Dancing is My Bad,' which we are going to assume is a succinct and brilliant incitement of the Coke-n Apparel explosion that’s taken the city by hold as of late:

DANCE CRAZE(?)! NEW WAVE! GOLD CHAINS! HEADACHES!

You see, without Centaur Cop Top, you wouldn’t get this. It would just be slamming around to whatever the hell they were singing and wondering if that was actually how things were supposed to sound. Think of it as a tourist brochure to the real experience – a narration to the rawness of the live experience, and a reminder that the primacy and takes-you-back of the experience is multifaceted. Though the recent departure of original bassist Nate (FTDHD) might change lord knows what about them, we remain pretty assured with this recording that Cop Warmth isn’t just a cute band that people like cause they are so young. If they stick it out, and we hope they do, we’re pretty stoked about the one-minute acts of vinegar snakes pissing pepper sauce that they come up with next. Recommended.

(Note that the Centaur Cop Top EP was a Grey Ghost release, and therefore may only be available in very limited numbers directly from the band itself).

Stream: Cop Warmth – Various Tracks

THE TRUE HISTORY OF GREY GHOST – PART TWO: THANK YOU PAIN TEENS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU DID FOR US ALL.

Yesterday we begged John Sears for a confectionery treat in the form of his telling of the origins of the Grey Ghost cassingle series. Today, we’re back with part two of the story, the lore and legend of how the we, now in the Cdrsingle era, came to be gifted one again with such a weekly bounty. The Tale unfoldeth:

About a month ago I was talking to Russell (of Domy) at the last Jana Hunter show and he asked me if I still did stuff. I said "Yeah". He said, "You should bring some up to Domy like you used to do at Sound Exchange". I said, "man, that was a lot of work".

Later on I started thinking about it and I said to myself, "john, remember how you got started? Remember the inspiration you got from buying your first Pain Teens cassette tape from Vinal Edge when you were 15? It blew your mind that local bands were writing and recording a putting out their own music. You liked it so much you sent the Pain Teens a fan letter asking them how they recorded. They responded by telling you they started off with a 4-track and then moved up to an 8-track by that time. So you went and bought a four track on your 17th birthday and you never looked back. You should put some recordings of local bands up at Russell's store for two dollars each and maybe some 15 or 16 year old kid in there will buy it and be totally inspired to start their own band. That would be awesome."

After this conversation with myself, I sent Russell an e-mail with my demands. 13 copies. different local bands. color laser copy covers (if the band wants color, punkin pie gave me black and white images). and most importantly, the releases are going to be two dollars each. oh yeah and i only sell them for a week each.

Russell agreed and so I started working. I'm lucky enough to know a lot of local bands, so I just asked them if they wanted to participate. Everybody's being really generous giving me their music and art knowing full well they aren't getting any money out of it. Some of the releases are going to cost more than two dollars a unit to make, but that's how it goes when you are punk.

Our hope is that at least one band will start as a result of this project. That is all. and yes, i picked the number 13 in honor of the garage band Poison 13.

Tremendous. Sears, though he will blush when we say it, is about as crucial a local cat as they come. The recording, the records, the bands he’s been involved with over the years are part of why we’re here in Houston still – it’s certainly part of why we care. And to think - it all came from the Pain Teens. For us, it was the deSchmog Fairy Tale tape – what was yours? While you sift through your memories (and old tapes) to try and pin down what got you locally stoked, we’re gonna drop some surprise on what’s in store for the rest of the current phase of the series, currently planned for another 13 week run of one band a week. We’re told that the next Cdrsingle will be none other than Pasadena WTFpunks Cop Warmth. Also in the pipeline are new releases from Blades, Hearts of Animals, Ben Murphy (Pop Deflation, Lucky Motors) and Dan Smith (Port Vale).

Not enough? Lance of Skyline Network favs Tambersauro just laid down a few tracks with a new band (so new they don’t even have a name yet) that will be coming your way in the s to the h to the o to the r to the t. Hell, there’s even talk that the elusive Black Congress might put something to tape to contribute. No member of this band could be reached at press time. Regardless, be sure your weekly vigil to the Westheimer/Dunlavy confluence includes a stop at Domy to pick up the latest Grey Ghost. Freak Out.

SHOW SELECTOR STEREOTYPE-O-GRAPHIC!

Yes, tonight is another one of those madcap H-town evenings where you, our loyal in spite of a lack of posting, readers have to make a decision from amongst a bevy of more than fairly whippin’ shows. HOW SHALL YOU CHOOSE? Here, you can use our handy STEREOTYPE-O-GRAPHIC. GIVE IT A WHIRL!

	MY GOD. IT ARE FULL OF STARS	.Adult, Parts and Labor, Dan Deacon @ The Mink
	Drink Vodka. It’s Chill.	Bill Callahan, Austronautulis @ The Orange Show
	YEAH YEAH! YEAH YEAH!	Lightning Bolt, Cop Warmth @ Notsuoh
	I DEMAND TO BE SHREDERTAINED!	Trigger Minor @ Rudyards
	You got no rank unless your name is Shabba.	Rebel Crew @ The Proletariat

Last Week in Other News

Repost of our "other news" links from the past week, archived for your eternal pleasure.

• 14K to Perform at Rockbox on Thursday
• Something Fierce Demo Tracks now Available for Download
• Houstonian Robyn Troup Helps Push the Grammys Even Further from Relevancy
• Stereogum's Live Blog of the Grammies
• Jana Hunter Signs with Gnomonsong Records
• Pitchfork Disses on Paul Wall
• Mutant Hardcore setlist- 2/8
• Olivia Flores Alvarez Dumbs it Up at a DJ Sun Gig
• Monocles/Sporatics/Cop Warmth Feb 21st @ The Mink
• Anna Nicole Smith Dies!
• R. Kelly has emergency appendectomy!
• MV & EE, Jana Hunter, Graustark @ Rudz this Saturday
• SXSW Band List FINALLY Up
• The Juan Mclean DJ set at next MFAH Mixed Media Event
• Austin's Sound Team Playing the Proletariat Saturday
• Chron.com Hometown Showdown Announced
• Flowers to Hide Post New Recordings
• SXSW Confirmed List Swells to Over 500

Cop Warmth says Be Mine

We have recieved the following message from the kids in Cop Warmth, and feel no amount of journalistic rephrasement will ever do it justice:

WE HAVE CDRs FOR FREEE!!(THANKS TO JOHN SEARS!! WE LOVE YOU!) JUST LET US KNOW IF YOU WANT ONE. TAKE ONE...TAKE TWO. FOURTY. FOR YOUR FRIENDS. YOUR ABUELITA. YOUR SANCHA. WHO EVER YOU WANNA GIVE THEM TO. CONSIDER THIS OUR VALENTINES PRESENT FOR YOUR SISTER. SO JUST LET US KNOW IF YOU WANT ONE AND WE WILL EITHER GIVE IT TO YOU PERSONALLY (with a little hallmark song) or we will give you the files through aim or msn. or if you want we can mail it to you. doesnt matter how JUST HAVE OUR SONGS SO THIS VALENTINES...

The message subsequently goes on into some rather specific details as to how it might be helpful to have a copy of their John Sears-recorded album this Valentine's Day (which we shall not print here just in case our parents read this). The kids that care have a few upcoming shows, including the 21st with The Sporatics and an appearance at Noise and Smoke March 9th.

Everyone you Know to play Noise and Smoke Fest

The weekend before you and your mates will be trying to figure out how to foist one another over the wall at Stubbs, Emos and other SXSW venues for which you will not have the proper credentials, the two day Noise and Smoke festival will be underway here in Houston. For an insultingly low $8/day, you’ll spend Friday (at Notsuoh) and Saturday (at Walter’s The Axiom) seeing just about every act in Houston not signed to French Kiss records. From the cryptically entertaining Cop Warmth to the Pitchfork Mix-tape appearing Indian Jewelry to an apparently drummer-only incarnation of God’s Temple of Family Deliverance, the weekend promises to be an all out race to the finish for livers and eardrums alike. Lineup time:

Friday, March 9th – Notsuoh
Ume, The Ka-Nives, Satin Hooks, Bring Back the Guns, Finally Punk, Jana Hunter, Eat Grapes and Cop Warmth

Saturday, March 10th – Walter’s on Washington The Axiom
Indian Jewelry, Something Fierce, Skullening, God’s Temple of Family Deliverance, The Wiggins, Blades and The Dimes The Sporatics.

Update: word now coming from festival co-organizer and recent brain-drain encourager Joey Promahoney that Noise and Smoke will not only be an annual event, larger in size and scope, but that they anticipate it will include other, smaller, events during the year as well.

CTRL+C; CTRL+V: "Future festivals will more likely not be in a bar setting. ex. Outdoors, a larger hall, or possibly in the middle of nowhere. In addition to the festival, Noise and Smoke will be hosting smaller events, for example, we will be announcing a show seperate from the festival very soon"


More Info: Noise and Smoke Festival