The Hellfish Year End Lists 2011 Edition
Dwid Hellion of Integrity
BEST:
1. My wife, my family and my friends
2. ZOUO reissues (all)
3. Butcher Baker the righteous maker (thanks KVN sutekh)
4. Scion (Daniel, Adam, and Jeri)
5. Boyd Rice 'Twilight Man'
5A. Leffe blonde
5B. Southern Rock
5C. cigar box guitars
VVORST:
1. Lack of time in each day
2. Lack of time in each day
3. Lack of time in each day
4. Lack of time in each day
5. Lack of time in each day
Martin Stewart of Terror/Like It Or Not/Nasty Posse
BEST: All Los Angeles based black metal releases. WORSHIP BLACK TWILIGHT.
WORST: The new wave of "hardcore" bands who's merch all looks the same with "(insert city here) Hardcore" written on them even though they have NOTHING at all to do with supporting their local scene or hardcore in general.
Rob Moran of Unbroken/Some Girls/Narrows/Over My Dead Body
Top 5 Best
1. Suede at Coachella
2. Veggie Grill
3. Morrissey's encore at The Shrine in LA
4. the band HOAX from MA
5. Fun Fun Fun Fest
Top 5 Worst
1. My current job for the past 6 months
2. Not getting Stone Roses Tickets
3. Horrible bands that people like, but playing nice so I won't say anything
4. Anything Twilight related
5. Danzig at Fun Fun Fun....I can pretty much no longer listen to anything related to him after that fiasco
Matt Wilson of Set Your Goals/Ethos Clothing
Best: Pop Punk’s Not Dead Tour (New Found Glory/Set Your Goals/The Wonder Years/Man Overboard/This Time Next Year).
Worst: Soundwave Revolution being canceled.
Rich Hall of 1000 Knives Booking
1. Carrie Whitney
2. My dog, Indy
3. Seattle
4. Living a healthy and happy life
5. 4.9.2011: Unbroken/Indecision/Jesuit/Damnation A.D./Unrestrained/Psychic Limb in NYC
6. Art and the ability to create
7. Family
8. "The Muted Man" by Young Widows
9. Pizza
10. Knowing that I have great friends all over the world
Andy Gomez of Glory Kid Records
Here is the worst:
1. Having to move twice
2. Fully jumping on the Twilight bandwagon
3. Occupy camps
4. The Streaming/DVD Netflix separation
5. FUCKIN' HEAVY D
Here is the best:
1. Moving to Seattle
2. Honest Abe "Someone Punch Abel"
3. Hanna
4. GKL/HF merger
5. Aces Crew
Chris Hansen of No Sleep Records
Top 5
1. A great year at No Sleep
2. Moving out of the Office
3. Trips to Austin, Louisville and Chicago
4. Dennis announcing a book on Refused
5. You
Worst 5
1. December
2. Soda/Coffee Free Bets
3. You
4. Turning 27
5. LOST still being off the air
Dominic Romeo of A389 Recordings/Pulling Teeth
Top 5
1. Fatherhood and Husbandry
2. All Things A389
3. PENETRATION PANTHERS
4. Dave Bland
5. Amadeus
Bottom 5
1. Getting Older
2. Getting Fatter
3. Getting Balder
4. Getting Tired
5. ...
Andy O Connor, Editor of Crustcake (www.crustcake.com)
Best beer I've had this year: Jester King Black Metal Imperial Stout
Worst beer I've had this year: ...Some double dry hopped bullshit.
Fuck, I can't think of anything else.
Chris Brock of Early Graves/The Funeral Pyre
Most played records that came out this year: Best: Craft "Void", Today Is The Day "Pain Is A Warning", Crowbar "Sever The Wicked Hand".
Worst: it has to be Morbid Angel. My favorite band of all time just about and they continue to disappoint me with the last two releases they have put, but "Illud whatever whatever pretenious farty title" takes the cake as not only worst of the year, but maybe worst death metal album ever. (nu death excluded, that shit sucks the most).
Best tour: the only tour I did this year with was with The Funeral Pyre and we toured with The Secret, who are some of the nicest little meatballs ever! It was awesome/Bittersweet getting to play with Early Graves again too at Power of the Riff and the other random shows with did this year. RIP Makh. Thank you Greg Anderson and Sam James Velde.
Jihad Rabah of 12 Gauge Records/Family Drugs Records
Best
1. Family Drugs
2. Paul Simon performing The Sound of Silence @ The Greek Theatre in Berkeley
3. Beirut, Lebanon
4. Rainfest & the beautiful Pacific Northwest
5. Drive
6/ The Arab Spring
Worst
1. Pulling Teeth breaks up
2. Entourage
3. Demagnetizing all credit/debit cards in India before a 4 holiday weekend
4. I gave up two worsts for an extra best ;)
Michael Hellfish, The Tony Montana of Hellfish
Best:
1. Stage diving off a stripper stage
2. Surfing more
3. Mrs. Hellfish's cooking
4. All things Hellfish
5. Winning in Las Vegas
Worst:
1. Not enough time in the day
2. The vegan food at Wynn hotel
3. Being too cheap to buy new shoes
4. Hidden dog vomit in my bed
5. Getting my car towed down the street from Chain Reaction
Erick Pressman, Hellfish Content Editor/Crustcake Writer/Leader of Scummy Dudes Everywhere
Best:
1. The Crustcake Fun Fun Fun Fest takeover
2. Big Ghostfase
3. Anne “Dream Punx”
4. Trapped Under Ice “Big Kiss Goodnight”
5. Stoner Metal. Getting stoned. Metal. AKA Partying.
6. Moving to Austin, TX
7. Joining Watching The Moon
8. Secret Sleep show at Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland, CA.
9. Mayhem Fest with Unearth, Red Fang, Chris Brock, Doug Weber, and about 100 beers.
10. Bryan Xibalba’s R+B/Hip Hop video reviews on Freelance Fiend
Worst:
1. The band I had to watch last night while working the door at Hotel Vegas
2. Not seeing Lifetime/no new Lifetime material
3. Spilling a gallon sized urine sample all over the inside of my messenger bag when I was dealing with my brain tumor
4. Foster The People
5. Drunk people trying to convince me that shitty songs are good when I’m DJing
Scott Arnold, Hellfish Web Dude
Best:
1. Frederic Chopin
2. Zoe (Dog)
3. Backbone.js
4. Amazon Prime
5. Los Angeles
Worst:
1. My dog Lucas dying :-(
2. 405 Freeway
3. People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive (Gosling got screwed)
4. Rdio not having EVERY release
5. Michael Martin
Justin, Hellfish Webstore Order Packer
Top 5
1. Working with Albort
2. Lunches with Albort
3. Albort getting me a job
4. Talking on the phone with Albort after work
5. Perfecting my mosh
Worst 5
1. Pit injuries
2. Rolling my ankle two stepping
3. Not enough tattoos
4. Non-hardcore in non-hardcore places
5. Not enough hours with Albort
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Mikey, Hellfish Sticker Printer
Top 5
1. Pablo getting a blumpkin
2. Juicy J
3. Weed
4. Shrooms in the Redwoods
5. Deathspell Omega “Paracletus”
Worst
1. Pablo's Game
2. Heroin
3. Fat Girls
4. Bands borrowing and destroying other bands equipment
5. The Death of Randy Savage
Pablo, Hellfish Warehouse Manager
Top
1. Mexico City/Oaxaca
2. Shooter's
3. Discovering Adobada
4. Blue Dream
5. Booty Smell Good Doe
Worst
1. Oversized prints on shirts
2. Shooter's
3. David Stern
4. Ricky's lack of humor
5. Dr. Shopper making a facebook page
Ricky E, Hellfish Printer
Best
1. AJ moving to NC
2. Puss In Boots, the movie
3. Harvey Milk live
4. Floor live twice
5. Booty Smell Good Doe
Worst
1. AJ returning from NC
2. Getting a DUI
3. Pablo’s ass
4. Pablo’s jokes
5. Pablo
Albort, Hellfish Webstore Bro
Top five:
1. Trap Them-Darker Handcraft
2. Cold Cave- Cherish the light years
3. Lunch dates with Justin
4. Monsters
5. Sober Living
Worst five:
1. Living in the same neighborhood as Ricky
2. Driving Ricky to work
3. Smelling Ricky in my car
4. Using the same bathroom as Ricky
5. Using the same bathroom as Pablo
Happy Holidays from all of us at Hellfish. See you in 2012.
Javier Vanhuss, The Mistake, Hair God
Best
1. having two awesome kids
2. watching Rorschach play after waiting 18 years
3. spotify
4. having a job that i love
5. the speed with which we receive information
Worst
1. losing my retainer
2. hardcore kids still wearing oversized tank tops, snapbacks hanging off the backs of their heads, and moustaches
3. venues that dont have a bar
4. car troubles/ traffic
5. the speed with which we receive information
Patrick Kindlon, Self Defense Family
Top 5:
1. All Else Failed playing shows/releasing music. Others have tried, but no one makes me freak out and act like a cave person like these dudes.
2. Young Widows embracing the fact that an album is just about a period of time. They were going through some shit so they delivered a great going through some shit record.
3. Skull Defekts. What a fucking good idea.
4. Southern California. Spent the better half of the year in LA this year and fell in love. I’ll take barista actresses and 9/10 people being cosmetology students over the frigid weather and sour disposition of the Northeast. I’m hispanic under this wack white skin.
5. Old dudes releasing albums. It’s not just for NYHC veterans anymore. A lot of bands got the memo that you don’t have to be young to enjoy music. No stellar releases from the old dudes this year, but great efforts that didn’t soil any legacies.
Worst 5:
1. Darkwave.
2. Dubstep.
3. Chillwave.
4. “You know, it’s sort of My Bloody Valentine worship. Really shoegazy. Our first show is on Wednesday. You’re gonna come, right?”
5. “You know, it’s sort of side B of My War worship. Really jammy but super heavy. Our first show is on Wednesday. You’re gonna come, right?”
Pat, Agitator
top 5
-take offense "tables will turn"
-mother of mercy "symptoms of existence"
-camron/vado: boss of all bosses 2.8: the road to 3.0
-rotten sound "cursed"
-title fight "shed"
worst 5
-band money being stolen/canceling europe
-ashton kutcher on two and a half men
-verse getting back together
-star wars the old republic not having a mac client
-marty
Jay - Reign Supreme
Top 5:
1) Mastodon - The Hunter: One of my favorite things about Mastodon is that they're one of the few bands (ala Deftones, Neurosis, Converge) who manage to EVOLVE with each release into something new and exciting, without completely losing the zeitgeist that made them special and significant in the first place. "The Hunter" is an absolutely crushing record, heavily informed by 70's metal riffing, and presumably hard narcotics. Definitely my most played record to come out this year, and I'm looking forward to seeing them in 2012.
2) Converge - Live at Broad St Ministry w/ Dropdead, Burning Love, Masakari, etc. Converge has been one of my favorite hardcore bands for years, excepting a brief period of the early 2000's where I denied all love for anything Boston (as an immature response to the unadulterated dickeating I saw for great bands like AN, Hope Conspiracy, and their ilk), in favor of listening to garbage like Inside Out NY and Gut Instinct. Glad that I grew the fuck out of that. Converge is everything a hardcore band should be, despite what their music actually sounds like: passionate, intense, loud, angry, and 100% on every single time they get up there. My dream is to be in a band that puts out a fraction of the brilliance that they have over the course of their career. Oh, and they played "The High Cost of Playing God" at this show. It was fucking awesome.
3) Getting full neck and hand tattoos. It's easy to talk about how you love hardcore, metal, skateboarding, or whatever. It's totally another thing to permanently mark yourself so that no matter where you go, everyone knows that you live your life by a different code. It's a bummer that there are 18 year old kids all over the midwest with straight edge face tattoos who really haven't earned them, but I'm proud as fuck to tell the whole world that I reject their stupid values, I live my life by my own fucking rules, and I will never, ever, ever be another wage slave zombie.
4) Blacklisted - Live at This is Hardcore. I don't have too much to say about this, but it was really, really gratifying to be able to play songs I wrote over a decade ago to a room full of kids who those songs still mean something too.
5) The Carrier - Blind to What Is Right. One of my favorite bands of the last few years, and probably the most under-rated band of this era. Great record, really dynamic musically, and I really love the artwork, not that I actually get what's going on. I was lucky enough to get to tour the US with these guys twice, and they were amazing live. Sucks they don't really get to play anymore, but sometimes the world gets in the way.
Bottom 5:
1) Advent - Last show in North Carolina. Advent was without a doubt, my favorite band of the last few years. I loved seeing them live, and both of their records were not only brilliant, but totally different from everything else going on in underground music today. True innovators, talented musicians, and some of the most genuine, sincere people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. It was a highlight of my musical career playing their last show, playing every show with them I got to, every tour, every floor, every Waffle House late night bro-down, every time I punched my steering wheel when "One Crushing Blow" or "Revival" came on....I will miss them like no other.
2) The B9 board. Well, it goes without saying that they hate me and my band up there. So without being too dramatic, let me just say that 99% of the kids who talk shit on me on there have never: A) contributed anything memorable musically, B) spent a quarter of the time on the road that I have, or C) been around a quarter of the time that I have. "You're a disease....and we're the cure" in the words of a band I'm sure only a few of them have ever bothered to check out.
3) New Found Glory - Radiosurgery. I love NFG, and after "Not Without a Fight", I was really excited for another record. "Radiosurgery" is probably the weakest NFG record, except for the covers, but I don't even know that I've ever listened to those. I'm sure they'll get it together for the next one.
4) The "Cool Pose". Cool Pose is a term used by sociologists to describe deviant behavior by African American males as a way of expressing disinterest in American mainstream values and acceptance, and helping them to establish an internal sense of strength, sovereignty, and importance. I see something like this at shows on a constant basis; kids pretending that they're too cool for school, or acting like they're too busy to say hi to you, or whatever. It fucking pisses me off. You're nobody in the grand scheme of things, you're just another speck of sand on an infinite beach of assholes wearing vans, flannel, some kind of dumbass dogtags (BTW, I was in the Marine Corps, real recognize real), etc. Stop pretending that image counts for anything, and start getting to know the person next to you. In life, relationships and love are everything. Your legacy will matter to nobody but you.
5) US politics. I'd like every politician in our once proud country to be lined up, and systematically skinned by that guy from Silent Hill with the big ass triangle head. I'm not bringing anything new to the table here, but I just want to express my dissidence. It is a fucking crime that same-sex couples cannot marry. It is terrifying that the middle class in America will one day be completely eroded. It is horrifying that that day may be today. I hope that this generation of youth has the balls to stand against the oppression of the upper class, and to reject their values and morality. We are losing ground every day. Do something about it.
Sean - F Yeah Fest
Best (no order)
- No Flag in MacArthur Park.
- Losing my mind with 40,000+ people at Primavera Sound in Barcelona during Pulps reunion set.
- LCD Soundsystem's last show at MSG in New York. I only remember the first two hrs.
- Ryan Adams solo show at Largo
- Rapture at Corona Capital in Mexico City. Beautiful.
- my dog beyonce
Worst (no order)
- traffic
- distractions
- twitter / instagram / facebook. I don't care what you are doing, where you are or who you are with. Get off the internet.
- waiting in line at the airport only to miss my flight. Too often.
- the constant struggle to get out of bed and stay inspired. I guess coffee and my dog having to go bathroom are the only things that get me out of bed.
