[TROUT MASK REPLICANTS] Sacramento trio Afternoon Brother plays scratchy, sketchy art rock of a Beefheartian bent. Much of it comes out as if disparate parts of other songs were spliced together into a weird, herky-jerky, Frankenstein’s-monster composition. But when the group locks together on a single rhythm or is working toward a specific musical goal, it wails like the pure power trio it could easily morph into. Me, I prefer the cut-and-paste version of Afternoon Brother, and hope it is full-flower when it visits our fair city. ROBERT HAM. 9 pm. 714 SW 20th Place., 241-8696. $5. 21+.

[FUZZY SEXY PSYCH] One of Portland’s best-kept secrets is the blues-powered psych-rock outfit Holy Children. Part of me wants to change that by shouting the band’s name through the blogosphere in hopes that its raw, sexy, fuzzed-out rumble will be blasting through the speakers of muscle cars, pot dens and strip clubs the world over. The rest of me wants to keep it quiet, to ensure that when I want to feel the full blast of the band’s power, it will be in a nice, tiny club. Is it bad to want to wish a band none of the success in the world? ROBERT HAM. 9 pm. 315 SE 3rd Ave., 234-5683. $5. 21+.

I went through quite an extensive process with the other writers and editors of this publication to knock this list into shape. As I’m sure you will, I don’t agree with this list in toto. My nominees list (which was influenced by some recommendations I got from readers of this blog–for that I thank you) looked like this:

David Bazan – Curse Your Branches (Barsuk)
David Crowder Band – Church Music (Sixstepsrecords)
Laura Gibson – Beasts Of Seasons (Hush)
Jade Harrell – Class Reject (Revolution Art)
Eric Kilgore – In Plenty And In Want (self-released)
Leonard Mynx – Vesper (Leonard Mynx)
mewithoutYou! – It’s All Crazy! etc. (Tooth & Nail)
The Mountain Goats – The Life Of The World To Come (4AD)
Ortolan – Ortolan EP (Sounds Familyre)
Prefab Sprout – Let’s Change The World With Music (Kitchenware U.K.)
Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens – What Have You Done, My Brother? (Daptone)
Sojourn – Over The Grave (Bonded)
Aaron Strumpel – Elephants (Thirsty Dirt)
Superdrag – Industry Giants (Thirsty Tigers)
Surrogate – Popular Mechanics (Tooth & Nail)
Various Artists – Fire In My Bones: Raw, Rare & Otherworldly African-American Gospel, 1944-2007 (Tompkins Square).
Various Artists – Come O Spirit! Anthology of Hymns, and Spiritual Songs Volume 1 (Great Comfort)
M. Ward – Hold Time (Merge)
Derek Webb – Stockholm Syndrome (Sony)
Phil Wickham – Heaven & Earth (INO)

A handful of those didn’t make it past the nomination process; others were eliminated during the voting rounds. It wasn’t a scientific process but I think it helped us fairly represented the listening tastes of the majority of the writers for the site/magazine.

I suppose I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was, but the response to this list by readers has been eye-opening. It can be summed up by this commenter:

Wow, David Bazan who has denounced his Christiantiy [sic] and an atheist make the list. Why not just throw in Adam Lambert for good measure. [sic]

I think the comments to this list are the best representation of what I was talking about earlier on this site.

[Speaking of Bazan, it fell to me to sum up his first solo record for the list:

With this solo effort, the grizzly singer/songwriter manages to make his boldest and bravest work. Over a bed of sparse acoustic-based pop, Bazan lays bare his struggles with alcohol, adult responsibility, and, most of all, his faith in God. With straightforward and sometimes brash language, Bazan gives voice to the intimate issues that all Christians wrestle with, but few are afraid to own up to.—Robert Ham]

It’s been an interesting time writing for this site simply because this is one of the few places that has provided such passionate and sometimes virulent comments to my writing. It doesn’t influence my writing at all – I promise that I’m not interested in writing the reviews that I do simply for provocation’s sake – but it is great feedback to get nonetheless. Can’t wait to see what 2010 brings.

Reptet, Andrew Oliver
[JAZZ SCHMAZZ] If there were ever a genre that needed a little bit of goofiness introduced into the mix (you know, just to keep it honest), it would be jazz. This self-serious style of music is taken down a few pegs by the Seattle group known as Reptet, with its penchant for wacky costumes and goofball tunes like “Chicken or Beef?” The band is capable of reining in the piss-taking, though, as proven by its latest 7-inch, Agendacide, which features two sharp tracks of cool Sun Ra-style post-bop. ROBERT HAM. 9 pm. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. $8. 21+.

Here’s a couple of previews I wrote for this week’s edition of Willamette Week.

The Hive Dwellers, Golden Ghost, Repetitions, Wishyunu
[HONEY-SWEET POP] It’s long been my opinion that when Calvin Johnson hits the stage or studio, we should pay close attention. Just look at his track record: Beat Happening, the Halo Benders, Dub Narcotic Sound System. No one group sounds like the other, but all have Johnson’s looming baritone vocals and fascinating lyrical visions at their core. His new outfit, the Hive Dwellers, is a stripped-down pop act, inspired by the radio-friendly hits of the ’60s. It’s a charming and brilliant move for Johnson, proving he doesn’t have to give up his love of youth culture—even if he’s pushing 50. ROBERT HAM. 7:30 pm. 4315 SE Division St., 803-5942. $6. All ages.

Gulls, Hexlove, Sustentacula
[ALL BY THEMSELVES] Playing solo is nothing new; it’s how people are doing it that is a constant source of surprise. Take the two one-man acts that top the bill this evening. Hexlove puts the drums on display, letting Zac Nelson rumble and shiver and slam along with his self-composed electronic compositions. It’s arresting stuff that skirts the edge of being danceable, never really giving you a firm groove to lock on to. On the other hand, Gulls—the project of Jesse Munro Johnson—is all about the beat, linking up with the high-kicking sound of dubstep and low, shimmying groove of downtempo. ROBERT HAM. 9 pm. 232 SW Ankeny St., 248-1600. Free. 21+.

Here is yet another playlist for you from my weekly radio show. The podcast has been uploaded and should be available for downloading soon. Questions, comments, requests – leave a comment here or send them to miller.ham at gmail.com.

Title – Artist (Album)

Craig Torso – The Bonzo Dog Band (BBC Sessions)
The Kwella Stroll – Lou Berrington & The Africa K (The Complete Curt Boettcher Singles)
Sophisticated Boom Boom – The Goodies (One Kiss Can Lead To Another)
Dia 36 – Os Mutantes (Mutantes)
Pop Orbite – Chico Magnetic Band (Chico Magnetic Band)
Flat Tires (DJ Spooky Mix) – Medeski Martin & Wood (Remixolarians)
Backwell – Beak> (Beak>)
Arc Of A Journey – Broadcast (Tender Buttons)
Oregon – Voice Farm (Super Nova Experts)
Simm – Autechre (Quaristice)
Latte & Macaron (Funkstorung Remix) – Towa Tei (Appendix)
Polychords – Matmos (Supreme Balloon)
Morale/You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling – The Human League (Reproduction)
House of Glances – Hans-Joachim Roedelius/Tim Story (Inlandish)
Cross My Heart – Everything But The Girl (Baby, The Stars Shine Bright)
Dishes – Pulp (This Is Hardcore)
Challengers – The New Pornographers (Challengers)
Chocolates – The Aluminum Group (Introducing…)
A Lady Of A Certain Age – The Divine Comedy (Victory For The Comic Muse)
Brief Candles – Zombies (Odessey & Oracle)
Kate – Sambassadeur (Labrador 100)
Temptation – New Order (Temptation 12″)
I Don’t Like Your Band – Annie (Don’t Stop)
I Love To Move In Here – Moby (Last Night)
Pull Up To The Bumper – Grace Jones (Nightclubbing)
Bob’s Yer Uncle – Happy Mondays (Pills ‘N’ Thrills & Bellyaches)

I haven’t been asked by too many folks to contribute my picks for the best of this past year, which is just as well. A good chunk of my choices are likely to be unpopular to those same folks who will spend the better part of a week re-fawning over Merriweather Post Pavilion and the like.

I’m also uninterested in ranking these albums in any manner. They were simply all the ones that caught my attention and kept my interest throughout 2009. So here they are in alphabetical order. Take from it what you will, feel free to ask me questions about them, and argue away in the comments.

Annie – Don’t Stop (Smalltown Supersound)
Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue (Warp)
Blackout Beach – Skin Of Evil (Soft Abuse)
The Clientele – Bonfires On The Heath (Merge)
Freddie Gibbs – midwestgangstaboxcadillacframemusik (mp3 mixtape)
jj – No 2 (Sincerely Yours)
Junk Culture – West Coast (Illegal Art)
Koushik – Beep Tape (Stones Throw)
Micachu & The Shapes – Jewellery (Rough Trade)
Mountains – Choral (Thrill Jockey)
Mt. Eerie – Wind’s Poem (P.W. Elverum & Co.)
Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms (Lefse)
The Othertet (Engine Studios)
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (Slumberland)
Pens – Hey Friend! What You Doing? (De Stijl)
Pet Shop Boys – Yes (Astralwerks)
Prefab Sprout – Let’s Change The World With Music (Kitchenware U.K.)
Princeton – Cocoon Of Love (Kanine)
Radian – Chimeric (Thrill Jockey)
Ethan Rose – Oaks (Holocene)
The Slew – 100% (Ninja Tune)
Sonic Youth – The Eternal (Matador)
Sunn 0))) – Monoliths & Dimensions (Southern Lord)
Al B. Sure! – Honey, I’m Home (Hidden Beach)
Thee American Revolution – Buddha Electrostorm (Garden Gate/Elephant 6)
The Very Best – Warm Heart Of Africa (Green Owl)

The first entry in Playing With Fire – my troll through the worst reviewed albums according to Metacritic – was posted mere moments ago. I hope you like it.

Spurred on by my beloved older brother (who requested the opening and closing tracks for tonight’s show), I put together a themed show for the holiday. It’s a little silly but was a whole lot of fun to put together and program just so. There was one glaring mistake thanks to a mislabeled Johnny Cash track in my iTunes library, but otherwise, it went off virtually hitch-less.

If you download the podcast of this fine show in iTunes and then open up the info, you’ll find the playlist for it under the Lyrics section. Otherwise, read on for all the tunes played on this week’s edition.

Song Title – Artist (Album)

A Thanksgiving Prayer – William S. Burroughs (Dead City Radio)
Thank God It’s Not Christmas – Sparks (Kimono My House)
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again) – Magazine (The Correct Use Of Soap)
Thank You World – World Party (Goodbye Jumbo)
Thank You Friends – Big Star (Third/Sister Lovers)
New Puritan (Home Demo) – The Fall (The Fall Boxset 1976 – 2007)
Thanks – The Caretaker (Selected Memories From The Haunted Ballroom
Thankyou Branch – The Books (Thought For Food)
Thank You For Being Me – Brother JT3 (Jelly Roll Gospel)
Mashed Potatoes – The Adventurers (Stomp! Northwest Killers 1960 – 64)
Thank You Girl – The Beatles (Past Masters)
Vegetables – Beach Boys (Smiley Smile)
Thanksgiving Day – Ray Davies (Thanksgiving Day EP)
Blueberry Pies – Prefab Sprout (Steve McQueen)
Yam, The King Of Crops – The Mountain Goats (Protein Source of the Future…Now!)
Fools Hall Of Fame – Johnny Cash (The Man In Black)
Turkey In The Straw – Fiddlin’ Doc Roberts (Volume 3: 1930 – 1934)
Indian War Whoop – Hoyt Ming And His Pep Steppers (Anthology Of American Folk Music)
Indian Scout – The Farr Brothers (South In My Soul)
Beans And Cornbread – Louis Jordan and his Timpani Five (1946 – 1947)
The Injuns – Donald Byrd (Byrd In Hand)
Gratitude (Live In Budokan) – Beastie Boys (Check Your Head)
That’s How Grateful We Are – Chumbawamba (Slap!)
Thank Me With Your Hands (MSTRKRFT Remix) – The Panthers (Remixes)
I’m An Indian Too (12″ Version) – Don Armando’s Second Avenue Rhumba Band (Going Places – The August Darnell Story)
Thank You Very Quickly – Extra Golden (Thank You Very Quickly)
Blessings Of Love – Alton Ellis (Be True To Yourself)
Give Praises – Big Youth (Natty Universal Dread)
Blessings – Father Pat Berkery (Prayers For A Noonday Church)
Thank You For Talkin’ to Me Africa – Sly & The Family Stone (There’s A Riot Goin’ On)

Is there any greater example of a complete abyss between the work a musician does in his everyday band versus the work they do outside of it than with Flea? He touts his love of artists like Captain Beefheart, Miles Davis and Joy Division, and lately he’s been working with people like Patti Smith, Thom Yorke and Bryan Ferry. But he continues on as a member of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Something in the water does not compute.