#9
2009 - The Killer and The Star - Living With Musicians
Album: The Killer and The Star
In between Cold's second breakup and their most recent album, singer Scooter Ward decided to do his own solo project - a keyboard and drum driven outfit that, after 2 name changes, eventually became The Killer and The Star. It's a great record and like Cold's most recent disc was worth the delays. When the initial demos dropped, almost every fan was transfixed by two songs; "Symphony for a Mad World" and "My Heart", the latter of which eventually became "Living With Musicians". When you pop the disc in and Scooter starts singing, you know you're in for something special. I'm almost certain the project was a one-off, which in hindsight makes the disc even more special. I got to see TKATS perform with Cold on their reunion tour and it was really something cool to behold with Rocky Gray playing drums.
2010 - Dan Black - Symphonies
Album: ((UN))
The curious case of Dan Black. "Symphonies" was such a wonderful breath of fresh air with its splashy cymbal and snare combination, Black's wailing voice and the violins playing throughout in the background. Great song, catchy lyrics, loads of potential. Since then he's mostly laid low until finally releasing a new record last year. The other singles off of ((UN)) were fun and snappy and exciting, despite their lack of airplay, and I thought for sure there would be a lot more of Black in the world. The most intriguing part is that there isn't much record of what he was doing on that long hiatus, and his newer material really hasn't caught on anywhere else either. A curious case indeed.
2011 - The Limousines - Internet Killed the Video Star
Album: Get Sharp
The other day my wife was asking me "What's the most embarrassing song you have on your countdowns?" The answer to that is quite easy. There are other songs that are bad and there are other songs that are just forgettable outside of the year they were released. And then there's The Limousines. The thing is, I cannot hiccup this song away as a simple mistake - it's #9. That's serious territory. It was apparently a better and more important song than Power Quest or The Knux this year. I remember singing along and dancing a little to this one, but then I listened to the record. It's atrocious. Arguably the world actual album to feature a song on the countdown. You can feel the pretense in every single song... if you can get through each of them. It's such a badly put together record that I'm not even sure who greenlighted it to be released.
The most interesting part of this band is that they came to Columbus while touring for this record, and a friend of my sister tweeted that they were unaware the band was in town. The band replied with a snarky comment and went on the offensive toward her friend, much to the bewilderment of he and my sister. She showed me the back-and-forth and I was blown away that a small band trying to sell tickets in an unfamiliar area would go out of their way to alienate themselves with their fans. Well, the band has fallen flat since then, and if I'm being honest, it really couldn't happen to a better group of guys. Unfortunately, 2011 got stuck with a couple of doozies but it's all hammers from 8 to 1.
2012 - Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks
Album: My Head Is An Animal
This is one of those curious occasions where I actually enjoyed the demo version of the song better than the final product on the record. I can feel the extra polish and it doesn't detract from all of its goodness, but there was something special to hearing the first version in its folksy glory that really sold the band to me. And it wasn't just me - like Mumford and Sons a few years before, OMAM blew up on a massive level once people started hearing their hits. "Mountain Sound", "Dirty Paws", and "King and Lionheart" were everywhere for a year and a half, with "Little Talks" leading the charge. We actually got to see the band perform before the record dropped and they were quite quirky, but you could tell they had captured something fantastic for this record. I wasn't as sold on their next offering but I'm excited to see what new stuff they have in their back pockets.
2013 - Deadlock - The Arsonist
Album: The Arsonist
Album: The Arsonist
Talk about a comeback - Deadlock parted ways with their first writer/vocalist and came back with The Arsonist, a humongous and heavy disc packed with crushing tracks. Sabine Scherer was still on-board with her clean vocals but something in the songwriting really elevated this record above their previous two records. Deadlock always know how to rock it hard and I'm kind of sad that Scherer left the band after this record, although I can't blame her for wanting to spend more time with her newborn child. The band's most recent record was pretty good but did not spawn any songs on the 2016 Countdown.
2014 - Aurelio Voltaire - Captains All
Album: Raised by Bats
When all is said and done, I think I will be able to look back on my life and say that Aurelio Voltaire was truly one of the most special musical parts. I met my wife at one of his shows, and we've seen him almost every year since then. He tends to tour on an annual basis and has come to Columbus every year but twice since we've known each other. Despite being one of my favorite human beings and one of the best live performers I've ever seen, he's released 4 albums since the inception of J1 and this is the only time he's graced the countdown. I actually got giddy when I realized this song would make it aboard. He played this song live around the release of the record and it was stuck in my head for days. Raised by Bats ended up being a wonderful addition to his catalogue, with songs like "Oh My Goth", "Raised by Bats" and "The Devil and Mr Jones" being standouts for me. His most recent record was released late last year and you might just see it pop up on the 2018 edition... Stay tuned!
2015 - TV on the Radio - Careful You
Album: Seeds
Here's another case of a band I didn't like releasing some music that I really enjoyed. The first single off of Seeds was titled "Happy Idiot", and the usual alternative crowd was going gaga for it. I enjoy Tunde Adebimpe's voice but their music just kind of turned my head. I was driving in 2015 when the buzzy opening of this song played and I was immediately hooked. I knew who I was listening to and I was shocked at how much I loved this song. I immediately went out and got the record, and my wife and I listened to it while we were driving to Michigan that summer. It's really, really good and deals a lot with death, loss, and recovering. This is one where you can just absolutely feel what the band was trying to lay onto you. It's got me thirsting for more of the band and wishing I had really listened to them earlier, even though I'm still not entirely sold on their early material. Music is curious like that.
2016 - Bleached - Wednesday Night Melody
Album: Welcome the Worms
The sing-a-long chorus. The "ba ba ba ba, ba ba" opening. The unmistakable opening riff. "Wednesday Night Melody" was everywhere from the first time I heard it until the end of the year. I remember hearing it on my way to work in the morning one day and then finding that it was playing again on my drive home. I guess if you really need to find a song, that's a good way to do it. It's almost the world's way of saying that you've arrived. It's such a simple 3 chord progression that I'm surprised no one else had really captured it like that before. So good. More music, ladies!
2017 - Bebe Rexha - The Way I Are (Dance With Somebody)
Album: The Way I Are Single
And... we're here again. Bebe Rexha is a dumb name for a musician. Bebe Rexha has an annoying voice. "let's let our hearts bleed til they turn to rost"... something about that accent really scrapes the inside of my ear. Bebe Rexha is also one of those wannabe Kardashian girls trying to leech off of the baffling popularity of America's #1 family. And for goodness sake - ripping Whitney Houston? Musicians are killing me.
But, I really enjoyed dancing to this song, which apparently goes to show how easy I am to win over. The real downside is that Spotify really thinks I want to listen to her many awful remixes now that I played the hell out of one of her songs. The version without the awful Lil Wayne verse. Yeah. The end. Don't make me say more.
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