It’s over. The collective society has hurtled into the Holiday season. This is truly the season where one cannot escape this eerie, dystopian happy mask that businesses and individuals alike bestow. It is painting a dog turd to make it look like candy. In a very Orwellian sense, the media shoves happiness down every sovereign entity’s throat with the likes of Roy Orbison or another damn Christmas-themed track from the Killers instead of actual good content. It’s inescapable. Okay, I’m a bit of a Grinch. If holiday despair isn’t of taste, don’t worry. That’s totally normal (wake up, sheeple). If you are like me though, be aware that my only solution so far has been trapping myself in my parents’ house in sunny Tampa, FL and spinning Morrissey and Tindersticks all day long. Yikes.
On a more serious note, I would also like to take this time to appreciate the wonderful talent of Sharon Jones that passed away at the young age of 60 on Saturday. Check a sample of her outstanding work with the Dap-Kings here.
Buckle in, KJHK’s Charts & Adds are all that you need to escape family and holiday dread this next month or so.
TOP 3 ADDS
3. bAd bAd by bAd bAd
From KJHK Staffer Joe Underwood:
“bAd bAd delivers a fairly unique and polished psychedelic/punk/garage rock sound on their eponymous album. It grabs attention from the get-go, opening with guitars oscillating like alarm bells. It holds interest by moving cleverly between direct, driving rock and the kind of dissident, rhythmically off-putting sounds one might hear on an earlier Pink Floyd record. It even incudes some spooky repetitive voice sampling here and there. The album gets even more impressive when it slows itself down.”
2. Miseress by Mueran Humanos
Without a doubt, Miseress is one of the strongest foreign LPs that KJHK has recieved this year. This is a spooky, brooding electronic-rock album that fuels a large sound with dread. There is a large, buzzing hum cast as the backdrop to each song at their climax. What Mueran Humanos is, is one of the most obvious and quality Sisters of Mercy-esque goth-throwback bangers that have been released this decade. Mascara, cigarettes, and shuffle-dancing need not apply. All of this without having to understand a single drop of spanish.
1.If You See Me, Say Yes by Flock Of Dimes
Just like the artust title implies, Flock of Dimes is something refreshingly new wave. There are certainly high points and low points on this album, but the lows are substantially higher than many others. Though consistent, there is something much deeper in the synth-electronic sound that pulls past an artist gaining on new wave-nostalgia and into a truly quality LP.
TOP 3 CHARTS
3. Dialogues by Motorama
From a previous week…
“A personal favorite, this is one of the strongest post-punk albums released in years. From the cultural alternate reality that is Russia, Motorama has gone under the name ‘YTPO’ (pronounced ‘oo-troh,’ the english translation is ‘Morning’). Out of Rostov-on-Don, a smaller city near the Black Sea, Motorama has released two EPs and two other LPs that have solidified them as one of the strongest post-punk outfits on the market. Dialogues is something special. The instrumentation disassociates with a pumped surfy beat and joins an Ian Curtis-esque vocal. The lyrics pour over love and loss as one would expect and the production is cleaner than a politicians self-released tax records.”
2. Atrocity Exhibition by Danny Brown
From a previous week…
“Are you surprised? Zany and spooky – this album is something is well worth the hype. Danny Brown’s flow is on display here as he cycles from track to track. There is an abstract experimental side to this album that achieves its goals without falling to pretentiousness.”
1. We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
From last week…
“The album artwork is awful.This being said, the drop of this album at the end of this past week was monumental for so many Americans. It also contributed to one of the most solid Saturday Night Live episodes in recent memory. There is a level of maturity in this album that is hard to reach without digging deep into the best of a musician’s talent and experience. Considering the four musicians and star-studded features list, this album is nothing short of a sober look at a reality that few artists ever get a chance to convey before they begin to chase the authenticity that they once had. Again, there are some incredible features on this albums (e.g. Jack White), but the listener won’t notice them. Raw emotion outshines anything extra. Consider this a Blackstar tribute to the Five-foot Assassin himself, Phife Dog. R.I.P.”
TOP 200 ADDS
| Rank | Artist | Recording | Label | User Supplied Version |
| 1 | FLOCK OF DIMES | If You See Me, Say Yes | Partisan | |
| 2 | MUERAN HUMANOS | Miseress | ATP | |
| 3 | BAD BAD | Bad Bad | SS Records | |
| 4 | KUROMA | The Dark Horse Rides Again | Votiv | |
| 5 | THE SEXTET * | In A Natural State * | * | waiting for CMJ verification |
TOP 200 CHARTS
| Rank | Artist | Recording | Label | User Supplied Version |
| 1 | A TRIBE CALLED QUEST | We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service | Epic | |
| 2 | DANNY BROWN | Atrocity Exhibition | Warp | |
| 3 | MOTORAMA | Dialogues | Talitres | |
| 4 | PHANTOGRAM | Three | Republic | |
| 5 | BON IVER | 22, A Million | Jagjaguwar | |
| 6 | BRONZED CHORUS * | Summering * | * | waiting for CMJ verification |
| 7 | ITASCA | Open To Chance | Paradise of Bachelors | |
| 8 | GROWLERS | City Club | ||
| 9 | GTA | Good Times Ahead | Warner Bros. | |
| 10 | ABLEBODY | Adult Contemporaries | Lolipop | |
| 11 | VEILS | Total Depravity | Nettwerk | |
| 12 | DELERIUM | Mythologie | Metropolis | |
| 13 | HOW TO DRESS WELL | Care | Domino | |
| 14 | AMERICAN FOOTBALL | American Football [LP2] | Polyvinyl | |
| 15 | DEVIN FRANK | The Vanishing Blues | Cartouche | |
| 16 | STRFKR | Being No One, Going Nowhere | Polyvinyl | |
| 17 | KRIEF | Automanic | Culvert | |
| 18 | BANKS AND STEELZ | Anything But Words | Warner Bros. | |
| 19 | CHAIN WALLET | Chain Wallet | Jansen Plateproduksjon | |
| 20 | CHEAP TREASURE | Natural | Self-Released | |
| 21 | DEVENDRA BANHART | Ape In Pink Marble | Nonesuch | |
| 22 | BLIND SHAKE | Celebrate Your Worth | Goner | |
| 23 | TAY SEAN | Leavings | Homeskillet | |
| 24 | SU NA | Surface [EP] | Self-Released | |
| 25 | JAGAJA | Jagaja | ||
| 26 | SHURA | Nothing’s Real | Interscope | |
| 27 | RITUALS OF MINE | Devoted | Warner Bros. | |
| 28 | FLOCK OF DIMES | If You See Me, Say Yes | Partisan | |
| 29 | EMERSON STAR | Great Escaper [EP] | Self-Released | |
| 30 | DEAP VALLY | Femijism | Nevado |