best of 2013 by ben trogdon

Man, I can’t remember what happened last year! But here are some of my fave things that I’m pretty sure came about in 2013:

BLACK BOOT demo – nasty metal with awesome mid-tempo parts

DRAPETOMANIA live – RIP my favorite band

GLUE live on Xmas – best way to celebrate is with live raw underground punk

WASTE MANGAMENT live – I’m a nerd and 2013 was the first time I got to see this band play live. I’ve seen them play 3 times since then. I love it!

La Misma – I think their song “Waterfalls” was written in 2013. It’s not out yet but that’s my favorite song written in 2013.

PROXY Police Car 7” – My favorite 7” of 2013 for sure! Rockin’ punk metal.

MURDURER / BLACK BOOT / DEFORMITY live at Stolen Sleeves – I drank in the hallway

MILK MUSIC “No Nothing My Shelter” Song / video – Dylan Sharp directed starring Alex Coxen and CarrieKeith. Desert mime dancin’

BLAZING EYE demo – Sounds evil. I love the drumming and vocals.

CONTINGENT demo – Boston melodic real deal new Oi! I love this demo.

NOMAD 12” – So groovy and fun. I listened to this non-stop all year. My fave 12” of 2013.

Best of 2011 by Ben Trogdon

I’m not so good at keeping up with current bands’ recordings, so this
is a list of some of my favorite performances of 2011.

Nicki Minaj
Oracle Arena - Oakland, CA
Rick Ross and Lil Wayne played too, but I’m a huge Nicki fan and she
totally killed it! Special thanks to my buddy Jaime who won the
tickets on the radio and invited me to come along.

Crazy Spirit
Holy Mountain - Seattle
I was so excited to see this band I stage dove off the PA speaker, hit
my face on the floor and got a fat lip.

Russian Tsarlag / SHV
Stud Mansion - Olympia
Dang, maybe I was stoned but this night was hypnotic. Intense. I was
under the spell.

Ratas Del Vaticano
Monterrey, MX
The show was in a shell of a building in downtown Monterrey. It had no
roof and inside was a half pipe and a bar. Ratas were sick! It was so
cool to see them in their hometown. Afterwards they took us to a house
party where everyone sung along to Eskorbuto until 4 AM. I was so
tired from the long drive and everything, I fell asleep in the middle
of it all.

The Creamers
Club 1808 - Austin
This band is so cool. When they played that night they owned that room
and that city.

Transfix / Forced Laugh / Living Eyes
Quince and State St. House - Olympia
Transfix is my new favorite Olympia band. Their demo tape and Living
Eyes’ new 7” were two of my fave recordings of 2011.

Brilliant Colors
Grandma’s House - Olympia
It was like seeing The Beatles!

Vile Gash
Old School Pizzeria - Olympia
Violent feeling, totally awesome. Gotta even out that karma.

HPP
Le Voyeur - Olympia
Even though this was HPP’s last show it was super fun. Everyone was in
a great mood. RIP HPP

White Wards / Hysterics / Christian Mistress
I saw these bands many times in 2011. They are continually inspiring
as people, friends, and bands.