Hey! I did it! 365 songs for 365 days, babies! Each one lovingly plucked from the Interwebs for you to enjoy. What you don’t hear is all of the songs I listened to and did NOT post! You see, that’s the time consuming part, and why I am a filter, a subjective valuer of content, a deejay, call it what you will, I am SuperFan, hear me roar. I love music so much, and the mainstream music biz is still in the toilet, reduced to karaoke talent shows. So my little contribution this year was to feature the best undiscovered or under-discovered tracks I could find, from rock to hip-hop and anything else I fancied. There’s even a classic from Chuck Berry in the mix.

And ya know what? It’s been so much fun, I’ve decided l do it again in 2010.

Closing 2009 with a ferocious track with a worthy message from España’s hardcore worshipers of rock, Tokyo Sex Destruction. Happy new year, music lovers!

Tokyo Sex Destruction
“Power to the People” (mp3)
from “The Big Red Box For the Syndicate of Emotions”
(BCore Disc)

Need more!

The Marvelous Darlings‘ single “I Dont Wanna Go To The Party” rocks for two minutes and thirty seconds in a rush of pure and I mean PURE punk pop abandon. Very favorable comparison to Ramones, Clash, Cheap Trick and The Knack. Full on power pop angst-bliss! I love it I love it.

The Marvelous Darlings
“I dont wanna go to the party” (mp3)
from “I Don’t Wanna Go To The Party”
(Deranged Records)

Need more!

Ah, sweet power pop. Here we have some well crafted guitar chord bashing and vocal hooks that owe as much to Nirvana as to Cheap Trick. Ultimate Fakebook made a lot of noise for a three piece band from Manhattan, Kansas operating during the darkest days of the music industry. Here’s another neglected gem. In 2009 I have found and posted a bunch of ‘em here. Have a surf around, it beats the heck outta the your local corporate poo radio station, I guarantee you that much. But wait, Dorothy, there’s a Manhattan in Kansas? Now we know.

Ultimate Fakebook
“Wrestling Leap Year” (mp3)
from “Open Up and Say Awesome”
(Initial Records)

Need more!

Utterly bratty kick-butt garage punk from Be My Doppleganger, outta Evansville, Indiana – a gritty, rockin’ four piece pop punk outfit with an affinity for Cheap Trick and The Descendents. “I Need a Ride” is an outburst of guitars, hormone fueled teen angst, and self deprecating humor. Gr8 fun!

Be My Doppelganger
“I Need a Ride” (mp3)
from “Protect 2: A Benefit for the National Association to Protect Children”
(Geykido Comet Records)

Need more!

Excellent, trashy indie rock with a waltz beat from North Carolina’s own Spider Bags. This recording sounds as unpretentious and natural as a few guys bursting into song at a bar, but it’s also meticulously arranged and well performed. I love the talky-singy approach here, and the lyrics are superb. It’s a perfect marriage of professionalism and reckless abandon. And the chorus is glorious.

Spider Bags
“Que viva el rocanroll” (mp3)
from “Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World”
(Birdman Records)

Need more!

You can tell a lot from a title. Mindless Self Indulgence is a promising artist name, as is “Never Wanted To Dance” an intriguing song title. But it’s not quite what you’d expect, and definitely NotSafeForWork, my dears. Think Nine Inch Nails goes berserk at Tears For Fears’ house. Hyper-lustful decadent aggro alterna-porn. Good fun.

Mindless Self Indulgence
“Never Wanted to Dance” (mp3)
from “If”
(The End Records)

Need more!

A punk rock song about a kitteh? A cool dark feline, creepin’ thru the night? A sleek slinky tom on the scene? Well, yeah. Kid Chaos is all about fun, and they don’t like preaching with their punk rock – all of which you can gather from this ridiculous and entertaining tale of adventure and mayhem. Essence o’ 3rd wave “ska” horns, growling guitars and a breakneck Rancid-esque tempo, provide the purrfect romping ground for our rogue hero, “Lee Vee The Cat.” Superfan is all smitten like a kitten.

Kid Chaos
“Lee Vee The Cat” (mp3)
from “Love In The Time Of Scurvy”
(Beatville Records)

Need more!

The Mountain Movers hail from New Haven, Connecticut, which is under mountains of snow right now, so I guess they have their work cut out for them. A friend recently described their record “Let’s Open Up the Chest” to me as “hipster church music,” which sounded promising but I wasn’t sure exactly how. Pleasantly surprised I am – what we have here is big, wide open country rock, with shades of Camper Van Beethoven / Cracker as well as a bit of Cake and Mother Hips. Going back further, this actually sounds a lot like The Band.  On the single “When I Die,” a massive Hammond organ grows tornadoes around a miles-deep-in-the-pocket bass and drum groove, with rootsy guitar and piano accompanying sublime, chill vocals like a sunset over calm seas. Quite lovely.

The Mountain Movers
“When I Die” (mp3)
from “Let’s Open Up the Chest”
(Safety Meeting Records)

Need more!

One of the gr8est and longest running live reggae acts, Steel Pulse has a sound to match their name. This very unexpected treat comes from “Dub Like An Antelope – Legends of Reggae Celebrate Phish,” and yes, you read that correctly. Toots and the Maytals, Yellowman and other reggae superstars lend their talents to this collection of covers – of songs originally performed by that most revered of jam bands. Huh? No, really Dorothy, and what’s more, it’s good. Pay a visit to the Phish “Farmhouse” with Handsworth’s finest.

Steel Pulse
“Farmhouse” (mp3)
from “Dub Like An Antelope – Legends of Reggae Celebrate Phish”
(Red Hillz Music)

Need more!

On the subject of “Fools Want Noise” by Oh My God, I have to start by simply saying, they’re right. These lyrics are brilliant – kind of a “Satisfaction” updated for the Idiocracy. Celebrate the downward spiral into high decibel mindlessness? Or rage against it? Can we do both? This song is loud, fast and brash, but unlike the cultural Twinkie-filler it confronts in horror, this is actually very smart. And it rocks, too. Damn fine work.

Oh My God
“Fools Want Noise” (mp3)
from “Fools Want Noise”
(Split Red)

Need more!