Sure, I could do a top 10 list of new records that came out this year. Nothing wrong with that. But doing what's expected isn't quite my regular sort of thing. So here's my list of things that convinced me rock and roll is still kicking the proverbial shit out of life, young in's be damned!

1) The Hallway Of Shatterproof Glass: Guided By Voices "Classic Line Up" Reunion Tour: Picture if you will, a bunch of 50 year old men, whom haven't played together since 1996, getting up on stage, and showing more youthful energy and showmanship than any band you can throw a bottle at during the Warped Tour. With an impeccable set list that proved that lo-fi doesn't mean disposable crap, but in reality can create timeless songs that over a decade on can resonate with audiences and electrify converts and the uninitiated alike (just ask my girlfriend), this tour was triumph in every sense of the word.

2) Parting Gifts "Strychnine Dandelion": Garage Rock lynchpin Greg Cartwright has secretly been America's best songwriter since he first started plying his trade with The Compulsive Gamblers, and through The Oblivians and Reigning Sound (his main project), as well as backing Shangri-La Mary Weiss, to this, Parting Gifts "Strychnine Dandelion". If you ever need a showcase of great songs played with passion and ease, look no further. This man can do no wrong. Last year's "Love And Curses" by Reigning Sound was untouchable, and this new record continues Greg's reign as America's undisputed songwriting heavyweight champ.

3) Guitar Wolf Live In NYC: Guitar Wolf are not for everyone. I'll admit that. Their albums are ear-splitting garage rock nuclear blasts, that reach out of the speakers and tear your face off. Sung in broken English and their native tongue of Japanese, they are always in the red, and always turned up to 11. Seeing them live at Santos Party House in NYC was positively mind blowing. When you think live rock and roll has become boring, passive, and unimportant, Guitar Wolf managed to slay anyone within earshot, mangling guitars, mars-twisting souls, and breaking the sound barrier with their brand of Jett rock and roll that left lower Manhattan a crater their wake. I can count on my fingers how many life-changing live shows I've seen, and this was one of them. Forever re-forged my view of what live rock and roll should be. Again proving that young kids/bands have nothing, and I do mean NOTHING on Guitar Wolf.

4) Sam Moore with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at Madison Square Garden, NYC: Take one Soul Man, add one Future Of Rock And Roll, mix it up with the most famous venue in the world, and you create instant magic. The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame concerts, held over two nights at the Garden, had as many highlights as it did low points (high: Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder doing "Tracks Of My Tears", low being the appearance of Sting, and a painful set by CSN), but nothing came close to touching the sheer musical might of Sam Moore (Of Stax's Sam & Dave fame) and The Boss trading vocals on "Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Soul Man". Seriously, if and when you enter the pearly gates, it's not harps and flutes and shit you'll be hearing, it'll be the wall of sound that was created by this elder gentleman, being backed by the one of the best bands on the planet (something Sam knows about, already being supported by THE BEST BACKING BAND TO EVER GRACE THIS GREEN EARTH Booker T. & The MGs). When I say it was like hearing the word of God, Odin, The Devil, and your momma all wrapped up into one musical package, I'm not exaggerating. I danced like a fool while singing along with them, and it's again, one of those moments I'll never forget.

5) Superchunk "Majesty Shredding": Mac and the gang's last record was out 9 years ago. Sure, they've been busy running a rather successful indie label, and what have you, but when it came time to get the band back together, they came out of the corner swinging, Like a boxer that has lost none of his step, they jabbed, connected, and took us down for the count. I have no problem waiting another 9 years for a record by them if the quality of it is this good. Another reminder to the kids of how a great band can show you all how it's done, even after being on the shelf for nigh a decade.

6) Roger Waters restaging and updating of The Wall, at The Wachovia Center, Philly PA: I'm not one for overt politics. Sing about it, don't sermonize it is how I've always felt is the most palatable way of getting a message across to those that may or may not share your view. it's why I like Bad Religion, and don't care too much for Anti-Flag. Here, Roger Waters took his tale of personal grief due to the loss of his father in the WWII, and the alienation caused by the bubble of rock and roll stardom, and turned it into a powerful statement on the world, and the wars it's raging today. Never once did I feel like Roger was pointing an angry finger at me, but more like I was let into the empathy he shares with families on both sides of the war that have lost their sons, daughters, parents, homes, and faith due to what seems like a never ending conflict. The stage production itself was legendary in it's scope and size. The way the production interwove and enhanced the material was so far beyond any other production I've witnessed before, that I gotta hand it to Roger. The utter care and respect he has for this piece practically bled from it's pores. Yes, the Spitfire bursting into flames was still there, but it was the images projected on the wall itself that made it a moving experience. Flashing photographs of the fallen during the intermission, as well as of Rogers own father himself, made this a harrowing, yet ultimately redemptive experience. Sure the music was amazing, but the real message was received. Bring the boys back home, indeed.

7) Bandcamp: The idea is simple. Create a web site for downloading music, that any artist, big or small, can put up their material, and let the fans name their price. No out of pocket cost for starving artists to get their stuff up (like most digital aggregators), and it allows the musician to foster a greater bond between themselves and their audience. Case in point: Amanda Palmer is not afraid of asking for support from her fans for her art. I do not disagree with this stance. if you really appreciate and like an artist, I think you should throw some of your hard earned cash at them. Even in these difficult times, with the economy running at an all time low, Ms. (now Mrs.) Palmer was able to put up a new release, and ask her fans to give what they could, or wished to, on a sliding scale, if they wanted to support her art. Her fans came out strong, and in the first few hours, she made something like $15,000. I may not have the time frame or the exact amount right, but you get the drift. No labels taking 85% of it, only the nominal fee of bandcamp (I think it doesn't even break 10%, less than itunes), almost all the profits went to the artist themselves, and it gave the fans the chance to name their price and show their appreciation in the manner that they can afford. Sure, people could've pirated the stuff, but the for the people that care about those that create the music we love, it's great that we aren't beholden to some imposed price, and that the artist can trust us to support them. Kudos to Amanda Palmer for raising the awareness of bandcamp to those musicians that might not have heard of it otherwise.

8) Union County Music and Arts Festival: When what essentially amounts to a county fair has bands such as Soul Asylum, Jesse Malin & The Saint Marks Social, Mike Peters (with Slim Jim Phantom, A Mescalero, Generation X-er, and more), OK GO, and Willie Nile, you elevate yourselves up above the pack as a leader in the field of local, homespun entertainment. How can you not have pride in your county when they put together a stellar show like this? I attended this gig, and along with the big names, they had a lot of local talent, great local vendors, artists, and causes their as well. The fact that even the attendees did not litter showed that yes, people still care about their surroundings, and that this county is cooler than yours.

9)Alex Chilton R.I.P.: Sure we lose musicians all the time. Some hurt more than others. This one was like the fabric that makes up music was torn and frayed in a way that overtime, will make it all unravel into a mess of fibers. Alex was a mercurial talent, who left many guessing as to his motives and muses, and went from a being a billboard hit maker (with The Box Tops), to an insanely under appreciated master of his craft (with Big Star), to his self-imposed exile with a few musical sightings and releases along the way, such as "Like Flies On Sherbet"), this man was an enigma, and the kind of soul that modern music will only come to realize down the road how much his talent will be missed. Sure, "#1 Record" and "Radio City" are power pop masterworks, but the soul searching and ramshackle "Third/Sister Lovers" by Big Star is one of the most personal statements released to the general music-consuming public ever. Take a ride through this, and it's like reading the diary of a dear departed friend that was more troubled than you knew, but ultimately more in touch with himself than you ever thought. Over an above that, can you think of a more perfect song than "September Gurls"? I can't...

10) Local benefits such as The Christmas Dogs of War, Cancer Sucks, and Blowupradio's Spondylitis radio-a-thon: It's great to see that not everyone are as self-centered as reality TV would lead us to believe. From The Christmas Dogs Of War at Buddies Tavern raising money to give DIRECTLY to a local family dealing with cancer (Buddies was packed to the point of non-movement. It nearly brought a tear to my eye), to the sold out Ergs/Hunchback reunions shows at Asbury Lanes (in order to raise money for the mother of J Nixon, who is fighting cancer herself), to Lazlo of Blowupradio getting artists from throughout the past 10 years of his Internet radio station's existence to come together in hopes of raising money for a cause, are all great reminders that inherently we are all human, and that we all still actively care about one another.

All in all it was a good year to be alive, people. Stay that way. Have a safe, happy, and healthy New Year.
- Jay Mazeffect 12/27/10

*”Kids Don’t Know Shit” is a lyric from a Greg Cartwright tune. I figured it was appropriate since most of my rock and roll moments involved the older generation…