Reviler Mid Year Best Of: Random Lists

It is the 4th of July and it is crazy hot outside.  Today isn’t a day for best albums or best songs or best anything…so we cut the formulas and let writers choose any thing they wanted to make into a top five list. See where the crazy minds that bring you Reviler came up with below.  Come back tomorrow for our favorite albums of the year.

Five Things I’ve Been Doing Instead of Paying Attention to New Music/the Blogosphere or Writing for/Editing Reviler

Some people call me a contributor to Reviler. I allegedly write blog posts about mostly weird music and edit the vitriol out of Jon, Josh, and Adam’s rants. Balderdash. Even if my name’s on the masthead, I’ve kept myself too busy during the past three months to hang out in this seedy back alley of the internet. Here’s a rundown of what I’ve been up to instead of giving a shit about “bands” and mp3 leaks.

1. Reading. A lot. – I’m a book nerd first, music nerd second. So when I scored a job at a local book publisher in March, I could see my immediate future literally in black and white. I’ve been averaging about 10 books a month; literature in translation, accessible poetry, Midwestern fiction, nonfiction about digital culture, and face-punching memoir have all been on the bookshelf of late. A couple of highly recommended books: The War Between the Tates by Alison Lurie, Windeye by Brian Evenson, and Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith.

2. Running My Ass Off – After three years of summer running, I’m up to eleven miles at a stretch. Shooting for a half-marathon by summer’s end.  Although I’ve always been a scrawny dude, I literally have no ass left. Long gone.

3. Geeking Out on Albums I Really Liked from 4-6 Months Ago – Notably The Something Rain by Tindersticks, La Bala by Ana Tijoux, and The Dreamer/The Believer by Common. You wouldn’t believe how nice it is to listen to the same album twice in a day, six times in a week, all month long. Since going off the music-fan deep end, the loss of sustained listening has troubled me, but I couldn’t ever reconcile it. The solution: Turn off the faucet.

4. A General, Slow-Motion Existential Crisis – That probably sounds more histrionic that it really is. Perhaps without the headphones constantly on, I’ve got more time to contemplate (read: worry about) my relationship to art, friends, success, contentment. What it means functionally is that I’m prone to mumbling fits and long walks around South East Minneapolis. Healthy? Eh?

5. Planning My Triumphant Return to Music Blogging Fame and Riches – Seriously, though, I miss you folks. I miss leveling the harpoon-gun of criticism at a trio of overeager chillwave wannabes; pulling the trigger, a wicked gleam in my eye; missing; and, instead, skewering a prepubescent house DJ. I also miss those crazy, champagne-soaked nights, when the four Reviler Boys would walk into the Mainroom to be greeted with complimentary VIP passes, burlesque dancer escorts, and gunny sacks full of 8-balls. BLOG 4 LYFE. Only chase money.

—Will Wlizlo (@willwlizlo)

Most overrated

1.Carly Rae Jepson – “Call Me Maybe”

Oh how I hate this inescapable song

2. Beach House – Bloom

Probably grounds for crucifixion but as a longtime Beach House fan, I feel like for some reason the sound (which has largely remained unchanged) has run its course.

3. The Men – Open Up Your Heart

I was a big fan of the Men. Basically until this album came out which lacks everything about the band that I used to find exhilarating

4. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light

A good but not great album, at least in my perception

5. Chromatics – Kill For Love

A nice enough sounding album but lacking in anything interesting enough to warrant all the hype

      -Jon (Reviler)