BRSKY is the Music.

Grimes and the Solipsism of Art

Part of a new monthly series from Brasky’s Senior Contributing Editor

“Music is everyone’s possession. It is only publishers who think that people own it.” – John Lennon

grimes-oblivion

Occasionally something amazing happens when people hear music. They actually listen to it. And on even rarer occasions, the music gets further inside of them, past all of the parts that listen and into the ones that think.

But before all that transcendence occurs, there’s a man or woman twisting knobs or stroking keys or stepping up to a muffled microphone in a fuzzy walled room. Before that, there’s a human being internalizing the world around them and, in a Rube-Goldberg machine of soft tissue and impulses, they’re reshaping that phenomena into experience all by their lonesome. The distillation of this broader symphony of being into encapsulated product is probably what people call art.

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Staff Picks: Record Store Day 2013

Record Store Day

Some of our staff, as well as our growing forum community (the “Brasky Society” over on Facebook), offer their top five picks for Record Store Day 2013.

Derek Clark’s Top 5

1 Brian Eno
Brian Eno x Nicolas Jaar x Grizzly Bear
2 Dan Deacon
Konono Ripoff No 1
3 MGMT
Alien Days
I like cassettes, lately.
4 Elliott Smith
Alternate Versions from Either/Or 7
5 Tame Impala
Tame Impala EP

christine browne

Christine Browne’s Top 5

1 Josephine Foster
Little Life

This album was actually intended as a children’s
album—it’s warm and dreamy and heavily influenced
by blues and English folk music. Some of it
reminds me of Joanna Newsom’s early work, but
Foster plays a twangy ukulele instead of the harp
and stacks tracks of her rich, warbling,
better-trained voice into pretty vocal harmonies.

2 Sigur Ros
Agaetis Byrjun

This is a album you’ve probably already downloaded
for free, but it’s also exactly the kind of album
that’s worth having on vinyl: beautiful,
beautiful, beautiful (truly struggling here to
avoid using embarrassing descriptors like
“transcendent” and “tapestry” and “shimmering”)
mood music.

3 Gza
Liquid Swords (Chess Box)

This is one of the BEST HIP-HOP ALBUMS EVER MADE,
and it comes in a CHESS BOX with a miniature chess
set. Even people who barely like hip-hop can agree
that the beats on this are sick. And use the
chessboard to roll blunts on!

4 Debashish Bhattacharya
Beyond the Ragasphere

This album is what it would feel like if you
stepped into an Indian hookah bar about an hour
after dropping several hits of acid: GLORIOUS.

5 Various Artists
The Newport Folk Festival #1965

Cuts from an iconic concert with a lot of raw,
dark, bluesy gems and soulful jams, including two
songs by Son House (Son’s Blues and Death Letter
Blues). If I went to a stranger’s party and they
were playing this in the background, I would
immediately like them.

Aaron Rogge’s Top 5

1 The Band
Last Waltz 12″ Vinyl

The ultimate concert and concert film. They essentially did
what LCD Soundsystem did, but in 1976. Had one
last huge concert, invited the biggest stars in
the universe to jam, and had Martin Scorsese
direct a documentary about it. This triple LP has
a ton of stuff not in the film.

2 At the Drive In
Relationship of Command
With two bonus tracks!
3 No Alternative!
20th Anniversary Editions

I remember buying this CD just to get the rare
Smashing Pumpkins song, and the other tracks were
all better.

4 Deep Purple/Type O Negative
Side by Side Highway Star

Even though Peter Steele is dead, I am
intrigued. Highway Star is that song they used as
opening music for Guitar Hero a few years back, if
you don’t know it.

5 MGMT
Alien Days

“Limited edition, collectible cassette single of the first music
from their upcoming album, comes with a digital download code.”
Right, they give you the code so you can actually hear the
song. My truck still has a cassette deck though.

Anna Serena

Anna Serena’s Top 5

1 At The Drive In
Relationship of Command
2 Atmosphere
Demosexual
3 Bombino
Azamane Tiliade
4 Deftones
Live
5 Rolling Stones
5 x 5


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4/20 + Record Store Day Weekend

Record Store Day Image Source: Daddy Kool Records

Events we recommend in Tampa Bay this weekend in celebration of local music.

 

April

19

Friday

Join us for a Record Store Day pre-party performance from Tampa’s own Merchandise and Gun Outfit from Olympia, WA. 

Mojo Books & Music
2540 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, Florida 33612

April

20

Saturday

7:00 AM: Open

11:00 – 3:00 PM: Infinite Skillz & B.A.S.E. Inc DJ set

12:00 – 6:00 PM: The St. Pete Indie Market takes over The 600 Block

4:00 PM: The Sheds

5:30 PM: The Attack

With special appearances by Alexander Charros of Alexander & The Grapes, Mountain Holler, and Pet Pal Animal Shelter (they’re bringing puppies!).

SALES:
-10 % off new
-20% off used
and if you spend $100 you will receive a complimentary Daddy Kool Records shirt.

Tables will be set up outside the store with all sorts of goodies including DK’s version of a yard sale, cupcakes, and our resident MC Infinite Skillz with B.A.S.E. Inc on the ones and twos.

Daddy Kool Records
666 Central Avenue, Saint Petersburg, Florida

April

20

Saturday

THE VINYL:

As we have every year since the inception of Record Store Day, Mojo will offer a vast array of very special, limited edition, indie-store-only releases. We’ve ordered in everything, so when the doors open, it will be a mad, wondrous time. If you first came to us the last couple years, you know we do some intense RSD stocking. RSD goodie bags will be handed out while they last. And we’ll be having some special sales. Plus: there are unexpected perks to lining up early. Last year we did drawings for limited lithographs and former RSD releases, and we’re planning something similar this year.

The Record Store Day releases will be available when the doors open at 8am on Saturday, April 20th.

THE SHOWS:

We’ve had some great shows during Record Store Days of yore (were you at Surfer Blood’s first live performance?), and this year will be no exception. In fact, this year is inherently superior: it’s going to span two days! The details:

8:00 AM: Doors open, DJ Sam Esser will be spinning RSD releases

11:00 AM: Ophelia

11:45 AM: Kersey Williams

12:30 PM: Naturall Robots

1:30 PM: Laurel Canyon (Max Norton + Shawn Kyle of The Beauvilles)

2:30 PM: Just Satellites

3:30 PM: Hovering Humanoids

4:30 PM: The Veldt (NC dream-pop/soul/rock 90s legend is back!)

5:45 PM: Peanut Butter Wolf (nationally renowned DJ and founder of Stones Throw Records)

6:30 PM: Zulu Wave

7:30 PM: Empire Cinema

8:15 PM: Alien House

9:00 PM: Wolf Face

9:45 PM: Rescuer

10:20 PM: Nazi Dust (feat. members of Month Mind, Merchandise & Von Dagger)

11:10 PM: Church Whip (feat. members of Merchandise & Divisions)

12:00 AM: Tim?

There will be free PBR and a visit by the Red Bull wings team.

Florida Voices for Animals will be holding a vegan bakesale as usual with a variety of delicious goodies for a good cause.

Mojo Books & Music
2540 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, Florida 33612

April

20

Saturday

12:30 – 1:00 PM: Morgan (of the Mother Machine)

1:00 – 1:30 PM: Project Save C.A. Hircus

1:30 – 2:00 PM: The Sheds

2:30 – 3:00 PM: Red Rock/Its

3:00 – 3:30 PM: Sonic Graffiti

3:30 – 4:00 PM: Carbomb Dave

6:00 – 6:30 PM: The Real Clash

6:30 – 7:00 PM: Chase Christeson

7:00 – 7:30 PM: Death Starsky

7:30 – 8:00 PM: Hunter & Avery

8:00 – 8:30 PM: Zap Dragon & The Attack

9:00 – 9:30 PM: The Wooly Bushman

10:00 – 10:30 PM: Holy Ghost

11:00 – 11:30 PM: Jensen Serf Co.

12:00 – 3:00 AM: Subpirate & Traphouse Tracy

Fubar
658 Central Ave. Saint Petersburg, Florida 33701

April

20

Saturday

Special RSD releases, live music, beer and more!

Bands in the back room (starting around 1:00 PM) include:
Diealps!
Empire Cinema
Permanent Makeup
Morphic Lapse

THEN…..

The music moves outside on Cappys Pizza’s newly-renovated patio w/ solo/acoustic sets by:
Alexander Charos (of The Grapes)
Rec Center
& TBA!

Beer courtesy of our friends at PBR (starts with live music).

Buddy Brew coffee will be here early in the AM for those needing a pick-me-up.

Microgroove
4906 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, Florida 33603

April

20

Saturday

It’s all about us! The official closing night party of the Creative Loafing Festival. Join us as we celebrate 25 years in Tampa Bay with live music from Juliet Simms (Automatic Loveletter, NBC’s The Voice Season 2), Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Win Win Winter (reunion), Sons of Hippies, Camille Dupree and Broken Fetters, Zulu Wave, Dynasty, The Gita (reunion) with Infinite Skillz, Jensen Serf Co., Types, Florida Night Heat, Jeremy Gloff, The Dead Popes, The Northwest, Death Starsky, Luxury Mane, DJs: The Soft Rock Renegades, Deacon, Casper and LeSage (Ol’ Dirty Sundays), Mr. Marley and MORE.

PLUS: fashions by La Violette and Spathose, curated by Vertical; a special CL edition performance by of Radio Theatre Project’s “Noel Berlin, Cabaret Detective” with Paul Wilborn; a visual history of CL from the past 25 years; a big ol’ birthday cake and more surprises!

General Admission Tickets: $10 in advance, $15 at the door
VIP Tickets: Includes exclusive DJ performances, complimentary beer and wine from 7 – 11 p.m., special product sampling from our sponsors, hors d’oeuvres, and balcony access; $50 in advance, $75 at the door

For a full schedule of the week’s events and to purchase tickets, visit www.cltampa.com/birthday.

4:45 – 5:15 PM: The Northwest

5:30 – 6:00 PM: Jensen Serf Company

6:15 – 6:45 PM: Florida Night Heat

7:00 – 7:30 PM: Luxury Mane

7:30 PM: Birthday Cake

7:45 – 8:30 PM: The Gita with Infinite Skillz

8:45 – 9:15 PM: Dynasty

9:15 PM: Vertical Fashion Presentation (featuring Spathose and La Violette)

9:30 – 10:00 PM: Zulu Wave

10:15 – 11:00 PM: Juliet Simms

11:15 – 12:30 AM: Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band

** FRONT ROOM **

4:15 – 4:45 PM: Camille Dupree and Broken Fetters

5:00 – 5:15 PM: Welcome: Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn

5:15 – 5:45 PM: Panel: The Party Gets Political
Three newshounds and a critic-turned-politician chat (and probably argue) about the last 25 years of Tampa Bay politics: “Political Whore” Wayne Garcia; former CL Senior Editor and general rabble-rouser John Sugg; News & Politics Editor Mitch Perry, aka “The Voice”; and Tampa City Councilwoman (and onetime CL art critic) Mary Mulhern. A high-octane conversation you won’t want to miss.

6:00 – 6:30 PM: Jeremy Gloff

6:45 – 7:30 PM: Panel: Changing Scenes: Arts Then & Now in Ybor and St. Pete
Four luminaries of the Tampa Bay arts & music scenes talk about the evolving cultural landscape: Theo Wujcik, master printer and painter; Scott Harrell, musician, critic and “Life As We Blow It” columnist; Paul Wilborn, Palladium Executive Director and cabaret performer; and Mindy Solomon, gallery owner and provocateur. Moderated by CL Editor David Warner.

7:45 – 8:15 PM: The Dead Popes

8:30 – 9:00 PM: Noel Berlin, Cabaret Detective: The Creative Loafing Murders
Paul Wilborn and the Radio Theatre Project adapt their popular live serial especially for CL’s anniversary. At least one editor will get his (or hers).

9:15 – 9:45 PM: Types

10:00 – 10:30 PM: Death Starsky

10:45 – 11:15 PM: Sons of Hippies

11:30 – 12:15 AM: Win Win Winter

** VIP **

2:00 – 4:00 PM (PRIVATE): Creative Loafing Family Reunion

4:00 – 5:30 PM: Deacon

5:30 – 7:00 PM: Mr. Marley

7:00 – 9:30 PM: DJs Casper & LeSage [Ol' Dirty Sundays]

9:30 PM – 11:30 PM: [the] Soft Rock Renegades

*artists and lineup subject to change without notice.

The Ritz Ybor
1503 E 7th Ave, Tampa, Florida 33605

April

20

Saturday

SweetWater Brewing Company, a craft brewery hailing from Atlanta, GA, is best known for their hoppy, unpasteurized ales as well as their commitment to living a positive and sustainable green life. In celebration of St. Petersburg’s spirit and burgeoning local scene, SweetWater is proud to be the sponsor of The 600 Block 420 on 4/20. The block festival will embrace local food, live music and earth-friendly vendors up and down the beloved block.

Festivalgoers can either purchase a wristband on the day of the show at The State Theatre for $4.20 or purchase advance tickets at Daddy Kool Records. Advance ticket holders will need to bring their ticket to The State Theatre day of show to receive a wristband. One wristband will give patrons admission to all four venues to watch 20+ bands. Venues include The State Theatre, The Local 662, Octave and Fubar.

Event Details
4 Venues | 20 Bands | $4.20 | 6pm | 21+

The State Theatre

8:00 – 9:00 PM: TBA

9:00 – 9:40 PM: Tim Barry

10:00 – 11:00 PM: Tampa Collective

11:15 – 12:15 AM: New Orleans Suspects

The Local 662

Burning Tree
Ajeva
Roots for Change
Naked Jane

Octave

6:00 – 6:20 PM: mountain holler

6:30 – 7:00 PM: lonely monster

7:15 – 7:45 PM: Archaic Interest

8:00 – 8:30 PM: The Wilt Chamberlain

9:00 – 9:30 PM: hovering humanoids

10:00 – 10:30 PM: Dysmorpha

10:45 – 11:15 PM: (Secret Set)

11:30 – 12:30 AM: Zoroaster

Fubar

6:00 – 6:30 PM: The Real Clash

6:45 – 7:15 PM: Chase Christeson

7:15 – 7:45 PM: Death Starsky

8:00 – 8:30 PM: Hunter & Avery

8:45 – 9:15 PM: Zap Dragon

9:30 – 10:00 PM: Wooly Bushman

10:30 – 11:30 PM: The Holy ghost

11:45 – 12:15 AM: Jensen Serf Co.

All tickets available at: Daddy Kool Records, and online at http://Daddykooltickets.com/

Make sure to stop by the Suncoast Surfrider table and sign the petition to save the historic Bro Bowl skatepark in Tampa.

The 600 Block of St. Petersburg
600 Block of Central Avenue, Saint Petersburg

April

21

Saturday

Celebrate Earth Day with live local music.

2:30 PM: Lauren Schuckel and Josh Paul

4:00 PM: Adam Randall

Tampa Heights Community Garden
605 E. Frances Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33602


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Brand New Colonies: Indie Rock’s Second Act

This spring, The Postal Service is setting out on a world tour to celebrate the release of their landmark debut album, Give Up. Jeff Mangum is out of hiding and playing Neutral Milk Hotel tunes again. Chris Carrabba is back to fronting Further Seems Forever. Conor Oberst is touring with Desaparecidos. All of these developments are thrilling for a fan of moderately underground emo/indie music, but a quick look at the concert dates yields a surprise: It’s not 2003 at all.

Ten years after the perceived heyday of the “Nothing Feels Good” crowd, there is a much-heralded wave of comeback singles and “X artist playing Y album” shows that seek to reunite woebegone groups with an audience that hopefully still exists. Any speculation on the motivation for these new tours is dicey, but it may have to do with the fact that their brand is simply more profitable this decade than last, thanks to Web 2.0’s redemption of the DIY culture and the burgeoning wallet-space of their aging fan base. It was difficult to connect with audiences ten years ago, due to a nascent internet and lack of record label funding for extensive tours or radio play. It’s hard to say that any of these groups were “ahead of their time”, because as time has worn on it has become obvious that quite a few groups mimicked Pavement, Black Flag, Morrissey, My Bloody Valentine, or all of the above. Yet in the current state of mash-ups and remixes these sins aren’t even sins anymore, and whether or not any indie bands of the era were truly groundbreaking is a subjective argument at best. But at the time they exuded an
“almost there” sensation in all phases of the game, and for teenage me, that was precisely what I liked.

As a youngster growing up in the ex-ex-urbs of an already gamma-class American city, exposure to these groups was mostly through the recommendations of a couple of casual friends who always wore Hot Topic shirts and recommended downloading albums of bands with obscure names from KaZaA or god forbid, LimeWire. One could only hope to get a few tracks a night, as downloads averaged 4 kb/s if Al Gore was feeling charitable. And this is if you could even find Texas is the Reason tracks among the ten different versions of Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious” and Eastern European porn clips. If you grew up near a legitimate record store, consider yourself fortunate. Years later I still sometimes find out that I had been listening to demo versions of my favorite songs all along.

At first I was quick to label these comebacks as our generations’ version of the yearly grab bag tour of whatever combination of Foreigner/Styx/Foghat/Blue Oyster Cult/Night Ranger, and although that’s a valid approximation, it wasn’t rock radio perpetuity that indoctrinated this generation of listeners. What makes the indie groups of the early 00s unique is that not only did these bands feel like “our bands”, encountering them was a different kind of mythical experience than seeing Whitesnake or the Grateful Dead. No one says “Man, I followed Jets to Brazil around for most of 2001. Greatest summer of my life.” The experience of much of this era of music was done exclusively in private. These bands existed more or less in your personal space. Unless you lived in or near a major city, you likely never got to see many of your favorite groups play at all. Everyone does have their go-to legendary story of seeing Alkaline Trio play in a Jaycee’s Hall or how you didn’t even realize at the time how tremendous that Brand New/Hot Rod Circuit/Eisley lineup was, and it’s no different than your dad’s story about how he drank beers with Ric Ocasek backstage at the ’81 Ohio state fair. In his case, we are talking about a time when the radio routinely played Barry Manilow and Captain and Tenille, so listening to Molly Hatchet was pretty damned cool, so give him a break and let him flirt with disaster while he works on the hot water heater. You’re gonna have to do it someday.

Identifying with an outsider music culture has always included some degree of collecting reputable experiences. At times it becomes an exercise in expression through conglomeration, and there was always the central matter of how amazing and perfect those lyrics were about your exact life situation. When iPods showed up they became the de facto indie-cred litmus test. If you’re gonna let someone else have a look through your library, you’d better have Pinback on there, because people will judge you if you don’t (PS: It’s not too late: they’re currently on tour supporting a great new album).

It’s hard to predict whether these resurrections will be successful or not. Recently I attended Jeff Mangum’s show at the Beacham in Orlando and found it to be just as powerful as it could have been in its original state. Perhaps ten years has been the proper amount of time for Ben, Jimmy and Jenny to make sure that “Nothing Better” will live up to its name. The Postal Service’s tour stands to be the latest battle in the timeless struggle of “Better Late than Never” versus “Is it better to Burn Out, or Fade Away?”, playing out on mid-size stages across the country. Or is it just the live demo version of the battle?


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Staff Picks: Best Albums of 2012

Our staff, as well as our growing forum community (the “Brasky Society” over on Facebook), have been committed to following music this past year. Inevitably this means having to endure countless tracks that land well outside our preferred genres, but it’s a necessary toll before you can make sweeping assertions about what music is the “best”.

Note: Genre tags taken from wikipedia and last.fm.

Top Albums of 2012

Derek Clark’s Top 10

1 Grimes
Visions
indietronica, experimental, dream pop, dark wave, synthpop
Listen on Spotify
2 DIIV
Oshin
indie rock, dream pop, shoegaze
Listen on Spotify
3 Purity Ring
Shrines
synthpop, dream pop, witch house, indietronica, futurepop
Listen on Spotify
4 Cosmic Sound
VHS Vision
indietronica, experimental, circuit bending, chillwave
Listen on Spotify
5 Selva Oscura
Refractides
chillwave, glo-fi, house, ambient
Listen on Bandcamp 
6 Darius
Velour
electronic, psychedelic, french house
Listen on Spotify 
7 Passion Pit
Gossamer
indie rock, synthpop, indie pop, alternative dance, indietronica
Listen on Spotify
8 TNGHT
TNGHT
trap, wonky, hip hop
Listen on Spotify 
9 XXYYXX
Mystify
electronic, experimental, glo-fi, chillwave
Listen on Bandcamp 
10 Tours
Stay
electronic, chillwave, glo-fi
Listen on Bandcamp 

Nikki Elizabeth’s Top 10

1 Lana Del Rey
Born to Die – The Paradise Edition
indie pop, chamber pop, sadcore
2 Scott Walker
Bish Bosch
experimental, country, art rock, baroque pop
3 Swans
The Seer
post punk, experimental rock, no wave
4 Death Grips
The Money Store
experimental hip hop, industrial hip hop, noise
5 XXYYXX
XXYYXX
electronic, experimental, lo-fi, chillwave
6 Grimes
Visions
indietronica, dream pop, dark wave, synthpop
7 Frank Ocean
Channel Orange
8 Meshuggah
Koloss
extreme metal, experimental metal, progressive metal
9 Shigeto
Lineage
idm, glitch hop
10 Wretched
Son of Perdition
technical death metal, death metal, melodic death metal

Aaron Rogge’s Top 10

1 Hacienda
Shakedown
lounge, acid jazz, chillout
2 Japandroids
Celebration Rock
indie rock, punk rock, garage rock, noise rock, noise pop
Listen on Spotify
3 Lord Huron
Lonesome Dreams
folk, psychedelic, indie pop
Listen on Spotify
4 Tame Impala
Lonerism
psychedelic rock, neo-psychedelia, dream pop, space rock
5 Jeff the Brotherhood
Hypnotic Nights
indie rock
Listen on Spotify
 
6 Joywave
koda vista
chillwave, shoegaze
Listen on Spotify
7 Poolside
pacific standard time
electronic, indie pop
Listen on Spotify
8 First Aid Kit
Lion’s Roar
folk, indie folk, indie pop, psychedelic pop
Listen on Spotify
 
9 Alabama Shakes
Boys and Girls
southern rock, soul, americana, rockability
Listen on Spotify
10 Beach House
Bloom
indie rock, indie pop, dream pop
Listen on Spotify

Emanuel Moshouris’ Top 10

1 Simian Mobile Disco
Unpatterns
electronic, house, tech house, electro house, nu disco
Listen on Spotify
2 Artist of The Year
Up Yours
electro glitch, funk
Listen on Spotify
3 Hot Chip
In Our Heads
synthpop, dance punk, indietronica
Listen on Spotify
4 Darius
Velour
electronic, psychedelic
Listen on Spotify
5 Totally Extinct Enormous Dinosaurs
Trouble
electronic dance, house
Listen on Spotify
6 Lemâitre
Relativity 1
electronic, glitch
Listen on Spotify
7 Lemâitre
Relativity 2
electronic, glitch
Listen on Spotify
8 Kitsuné Maison 14
The Tenth Anniversary Issue
electro, dance
Listen on Spotify
9 Black Moth Super Rainbow
Cobra Juicy
experimental, psychedelic pop, electronica, synthpop, folktronica
Listen on Spotify
10 Clark
Iradelphic
idm, electronic, experimental
Listen on Spotify

Jared

Jared Fager’s Top 10

1 Mac DeMarco
Rock and Roll Night Club
rock
2 Mac DeMarco
2
rock
3 Black Moth Super Rainbow
Cobra Juicy
experimental, psychedelic pop, electronica, synthpop, folktronica
4 Allah-Las
Allah-Las
garage rock, surf, pyschedelic
5 Hundred Waters
Hundred Waters
indie rock, electronic, art rock, folk
6 Slow Magic
chillwave, glo fi, electronic, downtempo
7 Memory Tapes
Grace/Confusion
chillwave, dream pop, indietronica
8 Seafoam
Seafoam
house, electronic, shoegaze
9 Chromatics
Kill for Love
synthpop, post-punk revival, Italo disco
10 Brothertiger
Golden Years
chillwave, electronic, lo fi, glo fi

 
Check out our year-end picks from previous years:

Best Albums of 2011

Brasky’s Top 10 Albums of 2010

100 Notable Songs from 2010 (curated by Derek)

Brasky’s Top 10 Albums of 2009

Notable Songs from 2009 (curated by Derek and Nikki – didn’t really finish this one…)


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