For year four, Aaron and Nathan reconvene for the immense, three hour fourth installment of the Rockcast.
Will your hosts agree about the merits of jazz odysseys? Can they simultaneously cast aspersion on and appreciate Skrillex's musical contributions? How inspired will they be by the story of Nile Rodgers?
All will be revealed! Listen immediately! You can stream above and download the podcast here.
And for good measure, here are Nathan and Aaron's lists:
Aaron's 2013 favorites
1. Deerhunter, Monomania
2. Janelle Monae, The Electric Lady
3. Kurt Vile, Wakin On A Pretty Daze
4. A$AP Rocky, Long. Live. A$AP.
5. Waxahatchee, Cerulean Salt
6. Chance The Rapper, Acid Rap
7. Danny Brown, Old
8. Grant Hart, The Argument
9. Run The Jewels, Run The Jewels
10. Marnie Stern, The Chronicles of Marnia
Nathan's 2013 favorites
1. A$AP Rocky, Long. Live. A$AP.
2. Janelle Monáe, The Electric Lady
3. Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
4. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Push the Sky Away
5. My Bloody Valentine, mbv
6. In Solitude, Sister
7. Marnie Stern, The Chronicles of Marnia
8. Richard Thompson, Electric
9. Thundercat, Apocalypse
10. Flatbush Zombies, Better Off Dead
Recalling vintage 1994-era Siskel & Ebert, your Rockaliser writers have independently cast the same vote for 2011's best album, and it's not what you think...unless you've browsed through this blog in the past week and read our lists in written form, here and here--then you know it's Destroyer's Kaputt.
As with last year, I invited my esteemed colleague onto my weekly radio show, which broadcasts Sunday nights live from the Radiohive studios in Manhattan, to talk about our favorite music of the year. Once again it was an excellent discussion, and apart from a momentary Internet shortage toward the end there were fewer technical errors this time around (errors of judgment, on the other hand, still number plenty). Feel free to stream our live "Rockcast" (as we have taken to calling it) below. It's an entertaining two-hour listen, with a murderer's row of high-quality music selections. How much of our discussion will be devoted to Bun B? Will your host be able to summon more precise language to convey music he likes than "hardcore rockin' beats"? Is the Spinal Tap reference at the beginning intentional? And how will either of us justify the lack of SuperHeavy commentary? None of these questions will be answered, befitting the uncertainty of today's troubled economic climate [\desperate end-of-year think piece].
An mp3 of the Rockcast is also available here. For convenience, our respective lists sans commentary:
Thanks to my colleague for an excellent conversation, and for introducing me to a few artists (Van Hunt, Shabazz Palaces) who would have otherwise slipped past my radar. Thus endeth the season of Rockaliser EOY festivities--time to get on to some real writing!
The Pazz & Jop poll came out a few days ago, but here's what you've really been waiting for: our first Rockaliser End-Of-Year Radio Rockcast (Feat. Polite Convo, Minor Disagreements & Technical Incompetence). Broadcast from the offices of alternative media collective Radiohive, Aaron Mendelson and I discuss our Top 10 lists, share the love for Grinderman and Big Boi, compare the relative merits of Trill OG vs. Bun B on other people's albums, laugh once more at the stupidity of Kanye's album titles, and throw in a few easy barbs at Eric Clapton for no discernible reason:
Thanks to Juell S. for sharing the Radiohive studio and my esteemed colleague for editing numerous cuing mistakes and long, uncomfortable silences. To our readers: would you like to see more of this in the future? Let us know--we do have the technology.
In case you're wondering, my voice does sound that distorted in real life.
As with