MY OFFICIAL TOP RECORDS OF 2009!

I know everybody has compiled and posted their 'Best of 2009' lists already (most of them even before '09 was over!) But I like to give myself a little bit of time, after the change of the new year, to sit down with every record I've come to love over the past 365 days of my musical life, and really take them in. Review them in my heart and mind and earholes, and start compiling the long ass list of titles that really hit me hard over the past year (which before i narrowed it down, was at 128 records!!) This is not necessarily the 'BEST' records of the year, just the records that, I personally, took the most enjoyment out of listening to. The ones that I could not stop listening to for days and days straight after I got them. My favorites of my favorites.

I was going to write a little something about each one, but after the craziness I put myself through just trying to narrow it down to a nicely trimmed list of 20, I decided it shall remain just that; a list.

So without further ado, I now present...

Mykee's Top 20 Records of 2009!

  1. R. Kelly - 'Untitled'

  2. Mariachi El Bronx - 'Mariachi El Bronx'

  3. Propagandhi - 'Supporting Caste'

  4. Revocation - 'Existence is Futile'

  5. Big Business - 'Mind the Drift' 

  6. The Protomen - 'Act II - The Father of Death'

  7. Baroness - 'Blue Record'

  8. Metric - 'Fantasies'

  9. Mastodon - 'Crack the Skye'

10. Cursive - 'Mama, I'm Swollen'

11. Steel Panther - 'Feel the Steel'

12. Biffy Clyro - 'Only Revolutions' 

13. The Dear Hunter - 'Act III - Life and Death'

14. Goatwhore - 'Carving Out the Eyes of God'

15. Antony & the Johnsons - 'The Crying Light' 

16. Dream Theater - 'Black Clouds & Silver Linings'

17. Dave Matthews Band - 'Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King'

18. Hello Nurse - 'Whambulance'

19. Camera Obscura - 'My Maudlin Career'

20. Devin Townsend Project - 'Ki'

Now, that was just the absolute bee's knees, cream of the crop, most favorite favorite tops of the year for me. #1-20. In order. I had to narrow that down from a muuuuuch larger list of favorites... SO, the next list (just in alphabetical order) is some other records from 2009 that were also very much a big part of my musical year, and really got me real good in that nice musical part of the soul. 

We can consider each and every one of these albums #21.

• Anaal Nathrakh - 'In The Constellation of the Black Widow'
• As Tall As Lions - 'You Can't Take it With You'
• Behemoth - 'Evangelion'
• Ben Folds - 'Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!'
• Between The Buried And Me - 'The Great Misdirect'
• BLK JKS - 'After Robots'
• Brand New - 'Daisy'
• Brandi Carlile - 'Give up the Ghost'
• Brendan Benson - 'My Old, Familiar Friend'
• Built To Spill - 'There Is No Enemy'
• Celeste - 'Misanthrope(s)'
• Charles Spearin - 'The Happiness Project'
• Coalesce - 'OX'
• Cobalt - 'Gin'
• Coconut Records - 'Davy'
• Company of Thieves - 'Ordinary Riches' 
• Converge - 'Ax to Fall'
• Crystal Antlers - 'Tentacles'
• The Decemberists - 'The Hazards of Love'
• Dethklok - 'Dethalbum II'
• Devin Townsend Project - 'Addicted'
• Doomriders - 'Darkness Come Alive'
• Easy Star All*Stars - 'Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band
• Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - ST
• Eluveitie - 'Evocation I: The Arcance Dominion'
• Fact - 'Fact'
• Few And Far Between - 'We're All Safe'
• Goblin Cock - 'Come With Me if You Want to Live'
• GWAR - 'Lust in Space'
• Green Day - '21st Century Breakdown'
• Jay Z - 'The Blueprint 3'
• Immortal - 'All Shall Fall'
• ISIS - 'Wavering Radiant' 
• Islands - 'Vapours'
• Jeremy Enigk - 'OK Bear'
• Julian Casablancas - 'Phrazes for the Young'
• Lucero - '1372 Overton Park'
• The Mars Volta - 'Ochtahedron'
• Megadeth - 'Endgame'
• Mew - 'No More Stories are Told Today, I'm Sorry, They Washed Away'
• Morrissey - 'Years of Refusal'
• Muse - 'The Resistance' 
• Neko Case - 'Middle Cyclone' 
• NOFX - 'Coaster'
• Paramore - 'Brand New Eyes'
• Peculiar Gentlemen - 'The Difference'
• Phoenix - 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'
• Rancid - 'Let the Dominoes Fall'
• RX Bandits - 'Mandala'
• Scale The Summit - 'Carving Desert Canyons'
• Silversun Pickups - 'Swoon'
• Tegan & Sara - 'Sainthood'
• Týr - 'By The Light of the Northern Star'
• Weezer - 'Raditude'
• 3 - 'Revisions'  

Well, that wraps up another year of wonderful, life affirming, soul lifting, spirit soaring, gut wrenching, ass bleeding, mouth watering, heart beating, booty shaking, eye watering, ear loving, MUSIC!  I hope some of you can discover some great new records from this list I've worked retardedly hard on putting together. I really do put my heart into this sorta endeavor, I hope somebody will appreciate it, and take away as much as I would.

We're only 2 weeks into 2010 and there's already a handful of fantastic albums bombarding my ears with awesome sounds =) it never ends! and it never will! LONG LIVE MUSIC! 

ENJOY YOURSELF.

-MM

You Hear About the Andrew W.K. Conspiracy? (Another Random Ass Mykee Dream)

My pals over at METALSUCKS.net have been following a weird story about Andrew W.K. possibly being a couple different people! (Check out their latest post about it HERE!)

So, i guess it's been in my head a little bit, cuz last night it made its way into my dream..

I had just played at Madison Square Garden, i dont know what band i was in, and i dont even really remember playing the show.. i just know we had just finished our set.. and my friend Evan and I were jus sitting on stage in foldable beachchairs, jus talkin nonsense to the crowd.. he was acting like an old fisherman, telling old tales from the sea.. it was kinda awkward tho, cuz he wasnt really delivering any good material, and milking the opportunity a little too much.. cuz there was still a packed ass house! but then backstage, Andrew WK was talking to the record exec business people and they were saying he's getting too old, and they were bringing in a new AWK.. and it was this little tan indian kid (who couldntve been more than 12 years old) with a thick hitler mustache, kinda like that one dude from Sparks (because apparently in my world AWK rocks a hitler mustache, even tho the real AWK that they were firing didnt have one...... yeah...) and Andrew came to the door that opens onto the back of the stage and told us what was going on and that he was leaving the game now and he was pissed and sad..... and i wouldn't have it!! so, with fire in my eyes, i went after the lil indian kid and tried to beat his ass real bad, but i jus couldnt catch him! him and his lil white friend were running all around the stadium, totally mocking us and laughing the whole time! and i jus couldnt get him... but then finally i had him at the front of the stage on the floor.. i was sitting on the edge of the stage, and he was standing in front of it and i had him caught in my legs, but i just couldnt land a punch in his face.. then my friend Matt was next to me helping hold him down, and he clocked him one real solid good one right square in his face! he was all stunned like a Punch Out character, on the cusp of being knocked out.. that shut him up REAL quick! then i gave him a few solid jabs right to his face also, and we had him up on stage and really totally brutally pummeled him.. he was a bloody mess, with his clothes all torn up and shit... and he was laying there in his mess and i was sitting next to him tellin him how fucked up he looked, but that it still kinda looked pretty cool (i wasnt trying to make him feel better, i was totally being an asshole) .. then me and Matt went back to the dressing room to get our shit and leave, and they had stolen all our stuff!! our jackets and backpacks! and it was really cold out! There was this lady and man record exec talking on a couch and we tried to ask them what happened and they were seriously just blatantly ignoring us and kept on talking! we were right in their face like 'are you REALLY just completely ignoring me right now?!' and they jus kept goin on and on bout their business.. while i'm screaming 'No no no no no!' looking everywhere for my backpack and sweater and shit.. and we couldnt see the kids anywhere, or hear them, but for some reason we knew they were laughing at us, and it pissed me off even more! but then i just gave up and called my dad to come give me a ride home... and i woke up. Damn.

-MM