This year’s list has been expanded to 30 entries and does away with numerical rankings. I hope everyone will survive without knowing how much more I liked BALANCE AND COMPOSURE’s Separation over SKELETONWITCH’s Forever Abomination. This year’s list is heavy on metal and pop-punk and a bit light on hardcore. There’s only one entry for [...]

After Jon and I finished this interview, he said “good luck making sense of that.” I thought about it for a long time and realized that maybe it doesn’t need to make sense. Some things don’t. Not everything can be put into a chronological order, stacked in a pile and spit shined. The story of Jon Loudon, Jena Berlin and Restorations is one of those; a great story with no real beginning or end. A whole lot of middle, if you will. Try to get confused.

Jon Loudon was the singer of Philadelphia’s Jena Berlin for many years before transitioning to his “easy, laid-back old dude band,” Restorations alongside other members of Jena Berlin and other Philly area bands. He grew up in Pennsylvania and now makes his home in Center City, Philadelphia, a place where he is deeply involved in the music community. A graduate of Tyler School of Art at Temple University, he is a designer, fine artist and musician making a living doing pretty much that. He also has four walls, a bed and an apartment with working heat, a major leap in quality of life compred to the Jon Loudon five years ago who was living on the floor in a back room in a warehouse owned by Jumpstart Records or the Jon Loudon two years ago who shoved towels under his front door in the winter to keep the cold air out. All in the name of art!

More after the jump…

James submitted this one a little while ago and it sat unloved in my inbox. I am an awful Editor – Jordan.

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It’s been a long time since I’ve been terrified at a concert.

The first time I felt scared was one of my first punk shows, around 2003 (???) when I heard the massive crowd response to ANTI-FLAG without knowing who they were. (This was when they were opening for the much cuddlier BOUNCING SOULS). Other times I’ve been scared, but it’s mostly been because I was around the wrong part of the mosh pit and usually, moving away has solved the problem.

But during CONVERGE/TRAP THEM/BURNING LOVE (May 30th @ Reggie’s Rock Club, Chicago), it returned, but this time, I knew more and I knew why I should be scared.

First, BURNING LOVE! I’ve never seen MATURE SITUATIONS or CURSED live, but the uniformity of critical praise for Chris Colohan projects gave me high hopes, which were surpassed by the man himself, who in one moment could be jovial and the minute the song kicked in, he’d leap over the barrier, off the stage, and walk around inside the crowd. BURNING LOVE never quite worked for me, which is surprising, considering HOT SNAKES by way of CURSED should an instant seller, but live, I don’t need to make such judgments. Band was energized, their new “fresh out of art school” bassist looked stoked and everyone onstage knew: This was the moment and played with aplomb and speed to spare.

[More after the jump...]

Each one of us is a portion of a whole; a fraction of an ongoing story and a conjunction to the various chapters which make up our lives. The way we live, the choices we make and the way we inspire ourselves and other people are what defines which part of the puzzle we will be. This column is about sharing stories and having conversations about music, life and the occasional nerd-out. No math skills required.

Beau Kuther watches “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, wears a lot of hats and works at a Portland Brewery. Like most people from Oregon, he’s got it bad for Mother Nature. Beau is also a drummer. For ten years, Beau has played music with his brother and closest friends in a band born as KADDISFLY (Hopeless Records) which has since matured into WATER AND BODIES. He has been flat broke, broken down, robbed blind and sent home with little more than dirty laundry and a broken padlock. He has teetered on the edge of fame before having his heart crushed in an instant decision. He has been shattered, frustrated and angry. But Beau has also been inspired. He has seen the world from the window of a van and shared countless stages with his brother and his best friends. He has not given up. He will not give up; this is the fight of his life. This is his portion of a whole.

More after the jump…

Arizona’s RUN WITH THE HUNTED set to blaze a tremendous full-length in late 2010 on Panic Records. The self-titled album features 11 songs of dramatic hardcore with screamy, contagious vocals at the helm. Kindred spirits include bands like MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, (early) SNAPCASE and THE HOPE CONSPIRACY. The band will on tour for four weeks [...]

James sent this to me for some editing back in early February. Unfortunately for James, the editing machine was out of service for a couple of months. Fortunately I was able to patchwork together a fix, which was a good idea since James actually still goes to shows and makes keen observations about bands, crowds, venues, and the various nuances that create memories out of what is essentially routine behavior for anyone who has been around punk and hardcore for a lengthy period of time. - Jordan

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I say pretty often elsewhere that Chicago gets short shaft on tours, on account of it being in the Midwest and not on the NYC to San Francisco by way of Texas circuit and… well, here’s three shows (in two weeks, in the cruel month of January!) to make me eat my words, with the first on being the almighty BANE in Rome. [Much, much more after the jump...]

Pittsburgh’s WHITE WIVES might have the least helpful “members list” I can think of when it comes to musical influence (ANTI-FLAG and THE CODE, among others). ANTI-FLAG gone emo isn’t particularly encouraging, but the tag’s a quick one and points in the right direction. WHITE WIVES’ Situationist EP revolves around travel, loss and missing lovers, [...]

James Hepplewhite, Longtime Occasional Staff Writer A couple things out of the way: 1) As usual, these are my favorite records from this year. I’m certain I’ve missed a couple. Like the 2009, list, it’s in no order and unlike the 2009 list, there’s no single record above the rest. Find songs and play them [...]