Capital Eyes- 2011 Mixtape

Rather than doing a top 10 this year (mainly because I haven't been paying that much attention to what's been going on), I have made a "mixtape" - actually just a playlist, but it's getting there...

It basically reflects what I've been listening to and the bands I've gone to see. I am planning next year to make a mix each month.

You can download the file here.

Here is the tracklisting. You probably wouldn't call this groundbreaking, or featuring "rare tracks", but a lot of it I haven't listened to regularly this year.

Hoodlum Shouts- Guns Germs Steel

My friend Luke plays in this band, they are really good- definitely one of the best Australian rock bands to come out in quite some time. This will be on their full length album which comes out next year. When he first told me he'd joined a band that sounded "kinda like Midnight Oil" I was definitely interested. Their sound can definitely be described as "Australian".

Miles Away- Anywhere

I went and saw Miles Away this year, it was the first time I had seen them in a fair while, the first since they released Endless Roads, a good album to listen to when travelling a long way from home.

Fires of Waco- Change With The Tide

I got to see Fires of Waco twice this year. Once at the same show with Miles Away, and then I saw them on their home turf, at Fat Louie's in Brisbane in a free show. Their album, Old Ghosts Never Sleep is brilliant.

The Gaslight Anthem- Even Cowgirls Get The Blues

I had a ticket to go and see The Gaslight Anthem but I couldn't make it. This is probably the first time that this has happened to me, and aside from regretting the waste of money, I also regret not seeing them even more now, as I have listened to them a whole lot this year.

Grinderman- Bellringer Blues

It sounds like Grinderman may have bitten the dust this year, so that's a band I will never get to see. I love the story in this song.

The National- England

Our friend Sofia reckons that I look a lot like the singer from The National. I'm not so sure on that, but I like this song.

I Exist- Black Unicorn

It is really amazing to see how far these guys have come in just a couple of years. Relentless touring and releasing plenty of music will always help out. I also did an interview in BMA with them.

Kvelertak- Blodtørst

This is a band that got talked up a lot last year. I didn't really get interested in them until it got announced they were going to play the Soundwave Revolution- which didn't quite make it anyway. I like their sound, it's fun.

Break Even- Hells Gates

So far from home- that's where I've spent a lot of this year. Break Even played in Canberra just a couple of days after they put this song out, and almost the whole crowd knew the words. That was pretty impressive.

A Death In The Family- This Letters Proof

From the album Small Town Stories, I started listening to that album a lot more this year, particularly when visiting small towns.

Ringworm- Leviathon

From the split with Mindsnare. Long talked about, but I guess a lot of people didn't believe it would ever come out.

Frenzal Rhomb- Knuckleheads

Frenzal Rhomb, that staple of Australian punk, they've been around for nearly 20 years now. While it's not quite up there with their earlier works, it's a fun listen.

Parkway Drive- Carrion

It's hard to comprehend the popularity of Parkway Drive overseas, without seeing it first hand. Hearing a room full of people chant for CARRION- CARRION was impressive to see. I hope to see them in South America again next year.

Propagandhi- Dear Coach's Corner

I saw Propagandhi in Hobart and Canberra this year. They were both pretty cool shows.

Audrey Hepburn- Moon River

This one is a bit of a change of pace. This was the entrance song for Francisca at both of our wedding ceremonies.

Machine Head- Who We Are

I was a bit underwhelmed with Machine Head's latest effort. It was great to see them within the first few days of arriving in Santiago (with Sepultura). How about the encore of Davidian into Halo. Pretty good.

Where will we be in 10 (or 15) years...

So I was reading an article on Pitchfork magazine, not something that I usually do and a lot of this people I was reading about I either don't know or don't like, however, this article was a bit interesting just in the idea of it.

Most of them chose an album to represent 1996/2001/2006/2011

1996- Silverchair- Freak Show

Well, after a google search, turns out this came out in 1997, but this was my real introduction into the world of rock music, moreso of my choosing to immerse myself in rock music. It was particularly the film clip for Freak, I used to watch Rage every weekend and I had head Frogstomp already which I kind of liked, but this had me. I didn't actually own the album proper for ages, but I had a tape of the album being played on community radio (same station that I mentioned about my mum a couple of posts ago), on the weekly album show.

I was listening to that tape not long ago. The announcer says midway through, alrighty time to rattle a few more brain cells...Silverchair were really the band that got me into rock music, that's for sure.

2001- Superheist- The Prize Recruit

Now, I know it's not very cool or whatever to admit to liking nu-metal these days, but those who are about my age were right in the thick of it. Some people were a bit older and so they preferred Pantera etc but people now who are about 25-28, it was only really a few years, they were there for the rise.

Anyway, on to Superheist. I really loved this album, and the EP before that. Actually I managed to get the Chrome Matrix EP (Sanity Merimbula of all places) and I liked that a lot too. Superheist actually played in Bega as well. I remember being totally stoked about that, as they were my favourite band at the time. I only saw them with Joey Biro though, never with Berger.

My friends had this cover band in high school and one time their singer was away, so I got up and sang a cover of Bullet with them. I got stage fright in front of the few people that were there, and didn't know where to come in and forgot the words etc. A similar performance would be repeated about 5 years down the track with Templestowe, singing Slaughter of the Soul.

I saw Superheist a few times once I finished high school as well. I saw them at Homebake, but they were clashing with The Butterfly Effect, that was a weird lineup, because all the clashes were bands that were very similar in style....Another time I saw them was at the Granville Youth Centre, in an all ages show. I guess I had been living in Sydney for a couple of months, and I'm sure glad that show was in the day because I was a bit concerned for my safety heading out that way.

I did an interview with Fetah who played keyboards, about his new band Jerrico. I had been asking away some questions and then I said before we finish, I have one last question...will Superheist ever reform?

He said no.

2006- 4 Dead- Blood and Piss

I guess at this stage I'm going to have more of a variety to choose from, a stronger memory of what I was listening to, etc. This, the most recent offering from the Canberra stalwarts...that's 5 years now. The band has been going for a long long time now, and we haven't got too much to see for that.

Anyhow, this tries to put the intensity of a 4 Dead show on to your musical device of choice and it doesn't get close. However, it has its own form of intensity in itself. 4 Dead are now one of the bands I have been going to watch over a consistent period, they must be the longest (first viewing would be approx Oct 2004, most recent July 2011). This album, and its reflections on being a man in the world, in punk, in Canberra etc, I have listened to it so many times, seen the songs live so many times, and I can't really say that I'm sick of it.

2011- Miles Away- Endless Roads

I didn't mean for this list to be an all-aussie lineup, but that's the way it's panned out. I've always been a big fan of Australian bands, which is not to say they are better or worse than other bands, but moreso these particular years brought out some Australian bands in the memories.

And I mentioned the consistency of going to see 4 Dead, even though some years they'd only play a couple of shows in the year. I actually first saw Miles Away before I had seen 4 Dead. I was, to use that horrible term "a nu-jack", as they say. I went to Hardcore 04, and you know Miles Away were first up, followed by a newish band with a promising EP called Parkway Drive.

Anyway, each year I have probably gone to see Miles Away a couple of times, but you know I have never followed them too much. This album though has had a different feel, just for me personally. Yesterday when I fell down the stairs, I came back to the room with some ice and a fair bit of pain. I decided I wanted to listen to some music and I listened to Anywhere.

So there we have just 4 albums which can sum up my musical experiences. It's only a little bit to go on but it does tell a fair amount of the story. Maybe at a future date I will fill in the gaps for each year.