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.

Parkway Drive- Club 334, Santiago de Chile

I have seen a fair few videos on Youtube of the Parkway Drive show a couple of nights ago- I think it is imperative to see them in another country- particularly one that doesn't speak English to see just how big they have become.

It's all well and good to play the big festivals, but a real test is to play in a country that speaks a different language, for the first time, and from what I could see, not a lot of advertising. Dad said he saw some advertising for their show in Argentina, but I definitely did not see any at all for the show here. It was similar when we saw Machine Head and Sepultura, I only saw any advertisements about one block away from the venue.

Funnily enough, the two different venues were only a couple of blocks away, on the same street. I guess that is a bit of poor form, we've been here for a month and only seen two shows, both of "big" bands. What was really weird though, at both shows is that there were no supports- I made a comment to someone that Parkway Drive would never had got anywhere if it weren't for some generous bands giving them a hand over the years- particularly with support slots. For me it has been a bit of a weird feeling- I'm getting old enough where I really don't care about the other bands and just want to get straight to the point, however I've just arrived in a foreign land, I want to check out some new bands, and international supports are often a great way to find out about a new band- as they are usually somewhere around the cream of the crop.

The video above (I didn't film it), it may make you feel a bit dizzy, but I think it shows exactly what the show was all about- apart from the inflatable beach balls, boats, crocodiles, but in general- flips off the speakers, everybody knowing all the worlds, and kids generally going crazy.

I do say kids, because most of the crowd seemed fairly young. It must be a weird feeling for Parkway Drive to turn up each night in somewhere far away from home, Serbia, China, tonight they play in Ecuador, and have the whole crowd screaming back at them- amazing to think about really, how a gang of surfer bums from Byron Bay could come so far, playing this aggressive style of music.

I had a lot of fun at the show, and I really hope they tour in South America again while we are still here- maybe they could bring some mates like Break Even and/or I Exist, now that would be a very fun show.

ooooooohhhh Young Cardinals

Triple J are currently playing a recording of Alexisonfire's set from the Sydney soundwave festival.

I saw them at this show and also at their sideshow alongside Comeback Kid and Anti Flag. According to my last.fm profile, they are my most played band. Apart the two times this year, I saw them one other time, in Brisbane in 2006 with Parkway Drive and The Amity Affliction. Funnily enough, they were not particularly massive. Parkway had started getting quite a strong following, while Amity had a pretty strong following in Brisbane, but not much outside of that.

Each band has released new albums in the last couple of weeks. Amity was first up, debuting at #6 in the ARIA Charts. That terrible band Thirsty Merc released a new album the same week, on a major label. It came in at #14. This time around it was Parkway Drive's turn, straight in at #2. Only Eminem's new record stood in their way.

Anyhow, this post was originally about Alexisonfire and how great they are. I'm quite excited to see them again in October.