Dromedary Records Al Crisafulli Shares His Thoughts and Favorites from the Year 2013

That's Al with the Merge shirt and cup of mirth.

I'm Al Crisafulli.  For the past 20 years, much of my free time has been devoted to running Dromedary Records, a tiny micro-indie label that's been fortunate enough to release a bunch of fantastic literate, guitar-based pop records by a lot of like-minded DIY enthusiasts.  In the process, we've all been able to forge some spectacular friendships, help some needy people in New Jersey, and put on some fucking unreal shows.

Aside from getting married and having kids, curating this great music has been the highlight of my life, and being asked to compile year-end lists like this, in addition to being incredibly flattering, is a great opportunity for me to point at some fantastic records that people need to hear.

2013 was an incredible year for independent music.  The top of my "favorite records" list is, in my opinion, beyond doubt, but the next five or six are relatively interchangeable.  And I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize the fantastic local music produced this year by the likes of Wax Darts, The Everymen, Speed the Plough, Wreaths, and the Karyn Kuhl Band.  Despite the closing of the state's greatest music venue, there's lots to be optimistic about when it comes to New Jersey indie rock.

Tan Vampires - Ephemera (self-released): Home-spun, rhythmic, folksy indie rock from
New Hampshire, beautiful and captivating.

 Iceage - You’re Nothing (Matador): Equal parts noisy and melodic; this is on one hand a crushing punk record, and on the other a harmonic masterpiece.

Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana (Carpark): Give me dissonant, riff-laden math rock, and I’ll love it every time.

Deafheaven - Sunbather (Deathwish Inc): Ever wonder what it would sound like to mix brutal speed metal with mellow post-rock?  It sounds like this, and it’s awesome.

d.smithsucks - The End Of Everything (self-released): Anthemic, Mould-esque guitar rock with an obvious Lemonheads influence from a guy who dislikes the Lemonheads.

Earthless - From the Ages (Tee Pee): Massive guitar solos, ten minutes long, like they’re supposed to be.

Jimi Hendrix - People, Hell & Angels (Legacy Recordings): unreleased studio recordings initially intended to be the followup to Electric Ladyland. A fresh batch of Hendrix just reminds me of how important his contributions were.

Widowspeak - Almanac (Captured Tracks): Mellow.

Jesu: Every Day I Get Closer to the Light from Which I Came (Avalanche Recordings) -
Not enough songs.  Not loud enough. Still brilliant.

Cheetahs - Extended Plays (Wichita Recordings Ltd.): Washes of distortion, powerful
pop hooks, like a 90s indie rock revival. I’m an old man, I love this shit.

Polvo - Siberia (Merge): If I didn’t love their last one so much, I’d say this one might be their best work.

Yo La Tengo - Fade (Matador): Just a brilliant record, from a band that makes very few missteps.  Musically, there’s very little I will miss more than YLT’s Hanukkah shows at Maxwell’s.  Hopefully, anyone who got to see one understands just what a special thing those shows were.

Bailter Space - Trinine (Fire): Bailter Space is one of the greatest (and loudest) bands ever; their new record does not disappoint.

The Night Marchers - Allez Allez (Swami): Loud, sweaty bar rock with enormous hooks and catchy choruses.  What’s not to love?

Kvelertak - Meir (Roadrunner): Norwegian metal.  I can’t understand a fucking word they’re saying, and the cookie monster vocals fly in the face of everything else I listen to, but this is an absolutely amazing record, a collection of monstrous riffs and enormously melodic guitar work, and I’m fairly certain that if Kvelertak had existed when I was in high school,
I would have run away to Scandinavia.

There Will Be Fireworks - The Dark, Dark Bright (self-released): A powerful, dramatic piece of art, more mature than their debut but equally expressive.

Kurt Vile - Wakin On A Pretty Daze (Matador): When it came to Kurt Vile, I was not an early adopter, but now I’m working hard to catch up.  I love the laid back quality of his vocals, the reverb on the instruments, and the way his songs have a tendency to break somewhere in the middle before meandering off in a different direction, like a stoner with ADHD.

Bardo Pond - Peace On Venus (Fire): I’ve been fascinated with Bardo Pond’s melodic jams for 20 years.  Waves of massive distortion with beautiful, melodic flute passages over endlessly repetitive riffs create a complex brand of psychedelia that the term “stoner rock” simply doesn’t do justice.  When their music gets more accessible, as it does on this record, the result is always brilliant.

Bottomless Pit - Shade Perennial (Comedy Minus One): One of the best bands in America.

Radioactivity - s/t (Dirtnap): Blindingly fast guitar pop with brilliant hooks, like late 60’s garage pop, late 70’s skinny tie new wave, and mid-80’s punk rolled into one fantastic band.

Joel R. L. Phelps & the Downer Trio - Gala (12xu): Out of nowhere comes a new
Joel R.L. Phelps record, and it’s the most brilliant thing I’ve heard in a while.  Not even a contest, easily the best record of the year.

Favorite Reissues:

Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (Zappa): Finally, all the Zappa titles are being released digitally.  Apostrophe is one of my favorites, if only because “Uncle Remus” is my favorite Zappa song and I’m finally able to own a clean digital copy of it AND properly compensate the estate.

Come - 11:11 (Matador): Fuzz-encrusted blues.  One of the most beautiful bands, probably their best record.

Speed the Plough - The Plough and The Stars (Bar/None): A lavishly-packaged collection of songs from their first four out-of-print albums, rare live recordings, and some new stuff as well, released by New Jersey’s greatest record label.

Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co (Secretly Canadian): Songwriting.

Lemonheads - Creator (Fire): One of the best records by a band that’s been a massive influence on me and my little record label, it’s so great to see these records back in print again (and to hear the Lemonheads with Evan Dando and Ben Deily together)

Favorite Live Performances:

The Feelies - Maxwell’s, July 3: Saying good bye to the world’s greatest venue, Brenda Sauter singing the Velvet Underground’s “After Hours” to close the set.  Not a dry eye in the house.

Yo La Tengo - Boulder Theater, May 21: Catching one of my favorite bands from back home while in the midst of a long, cross-country trip took away some of the homesickness.

Overlake - Asbury Lanes, September 19: Watching a great new band coming into their own is an exciting thing, and this performance was tremendous.

Stuyvesant - Maxwell’s, June 26: New Jersey’s best band play their final show at their home base.

Stuyvesant/The Brixton Riot/The Anderson Council - The Court Tavern, February 9:
Just a great bill.  Loads of power pop.

The Brixton Riot's Jerry Lardieri Shares his List of Favorites from the Year 2013

Jerry Lardieri - Guitarist / Singer The Brixton Riot
The Brixton Riot

My name is Jerry, and I play guitar in a band called 
The Brixton Riot.  We've been together for seven years, so we've lasted longer than a lot of marriages.  We're all pushing 40 and have full time jobs and families.  Our songs tend to be loud and uptempo, which finds us in the uncomfortable demographic of too loud for people our own age (they don't ever go out anyway) and too old and ugly for the young people who question why we're not at a Lowe's or watching UFC with the other dads.  We don't use copious amounts of reverb.  We don't sing falsetto.  We don't wear V neck t-shirts.  We don't have facial hair, at least not of pre-Civil War length.  We're about as uncool as you can get and we have a lot more fun then we probably should.  Our moms probably think we should have outgrown this phase.  Not happening anytime soon.

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the steady stream of best of lists by the music press.  They're always a good place to search for hidden gems that I missed over the last 12 months, or to be reminded of some of the earlier contenders that got lost somewhere between season changes.  But lately, there seems to be a lack of diversity in a lot of the more popular music blogs and websites, even the ones that claim to be "independent" (a term that has about as much meaning in 2013 as "alternative" did in 1995).  I knew when they were released that records by Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Daft Punk would be dotted across a lot of these lists.  And they were.  Of course they were. 

But not mine.  In fact, this isn't really a best of list at all.  It's a little silly ranking albums like basketball teams in a bracket.  Other than the actual notes and melodies, there's an emotional subtext that resonates with each individual listener, and trying to tell another person what they should feel is a fool's errand.  So this isn't a true "best of list" as much as it's a list of musical items that resonated with me in 2013.  I'm flattered that James asked me to write this, and since you made it this far, you might as well read the list now.

Favorite Album of 2013 
Superchunk's "I Hate Music"
Picking favorites may have been hard, but #1 was never in question. Superchunk's "Majesty Shredding" was my favorite record of 2010 and its follow-up tops my list this year.  Great songs, great production and great performances. Not a bad track on here.


Favorite Album That Avoided The Sophmore Slump
Veronica Falls' -  "Waiting For Something"
Loaded with jangling, chimey guitars and beautiful vocals, Veronica Falls' recalls some of the 90's New Zealand/Flying Nun sound perfected by bands like The Bats and The Chills.
Waiting For Something

Favorite Album By A Band From Brooklyn - "New Moon" by The Men
For the second straight year, The Men have produced an outstanding, completely unpretentious guitar rock record.  And coming from Brooklyn, that's quite an accomplishment.
New Moon

Favorite Live Album/Reunion of Sorts - The Chills' "Somewhere Beautiful"/"Molten Gold" single
"Somewhere Beautiful" serves two purposes - it's an excellent retrospective of The Chills' best songs in one package and it's also a "victory lap" of sorts for Martin Phillips'.  Not content to simply revisit the past, their new single "Molten Gold" was my favorite single this year.
Somewhere Beautiful

HONORABLE MENTION:
 Swervedriver - "Deep Wound" Deep Wound

Favorite Not-Quite-A-Reissue-But-Not-Quite-A-New-Album 
Eleventh Dream Day's "New Moodio"
This is the bizzaro world version of Eleventh Dream Day's classic "El Moodio", recorded and financed by the band back in 1991 and finally available to all thanks to NJ based Comedy Minus One.
New Moodio

Favorite Actual Reissue:
The Verlaines' "Juvenelia"
Having been very late to the party, I only discovered Juvenelia a few years ago, but it's become one of my favorite records.  Looking forward to getting an "honest" copy.
Juvenelia

Favorite Album That Made Me Want A Baritone Guitar:
Bottomless Pit's - "Shade Perennial"
Despite being a Bottomless Pit fan since "Hammer Of The Gods", this was the year I first listened to Silkworm, the previous outfit of BP's Andy Cohen and Tim Midyett.  And I listened to them A LOT. If the rules allowed me to pick albums from previous years, 50% of them would likely be Silkworm records.  I've loved everything Bottomless Pit has put out to date and this is no exception.
Shade Perennial

Favorite Album From A New Jersey Institution:
Yo La Tengo's "Fade"
It's definitely on the quieter side of their catalog, but I really enjoyed the sound of this one.
Fade

Favorite Album Discovered Too Late For Summer:
Upset's  -  "She's Gone"
This reminds me a lot of some of my favorite female fronted 90's bands - specifically Velocity Girl and Sleepyhead.  And that's definitely a good thing.
She's Gone

Favorite Live Show:
Screaming Females at Maxwell's
Nobody really wanted to say goodbye, but I'm glad my final memory of Maxwell's will be watching this New Brunswick trio blow the roof off the joint - and watching my wife get completely blown away by her first Screaming Females show.

From '93 to Infinity - A Dromedary Records Compilation

Local micro indie label Dromedary Records celebrate their twentieth anniversary with the release of
'From '93 to Infinity'. A clever and overall stellar collection featuring current and past Dromedary friends and family, putting the cover treatment on songs released in 1993.
The year Al Crisafulli followed his heart of hearts by starting his own independent record label.

'From '93 'til Infinity' features a hefty sixteen tracks delivered with quality and care. It's very rare when a compilation or tribute album resonates with the listener the way this does. Somewhat surprising, given the history of cover and tribute albums. Visit your local record store's dollar bin or Good Will store and you'll get a good idea. '93 'til Infinity' on the other hand, doesn't feature a wasted moment.

Picking the standouts from this album was like trying to decide what corner deli I want to pick up my winning Powerball ticket from. The quality and variety presented is astounding. Brixton Riot covering The Archers of Loaf's 'Might', Cinema Cinema's cover of PJ Harvey's '50 Ft. Queenie', Varsity Drag's take on Versus' 'Let's Electrify', Overlake's cover of
Yo La Tengo's 'From a Hotel 6' and D. Smith Sucks 'Fuck and Run' each shake the foundations. I'm also hearing a number of acts here for the very first time.
Riel, Dots Will Echo, Flash Flood, Picnic all deliver stellar covers. Other notable contributions come from the 65's, Stuyvesant, The Anderson Council,
Jean Homme & The Broken Telomeres, Guy Capacelatro and Tiger Saw. Add to that they eye popping cover illustration of Lauren Kelly and a few of my own photos thrown in for good measure and you've got a can't miss production that commemorates and celebrates the spirit and inspiration that was and is indie. James Damion

Dromedary Records  Get it Here