3 1/2 years ago I was sitting in a lonely hotel room in Biloxi, Mississippi that served as my home for 6 weeks during the hot summer of 2011. I had just finished releasing my first book/music compilation project, Children of Mercy: Tales and Teachings From the World of Independent Music. In a interview for College Magazine about the project, I was asked the stock question: “So what is next?”. It was then that I really had no damn clue what was next. I had written my first album review just over 3 years prior to this time, and had hundreds more to my credit since then, so I thought I might just stay on that road. But, then I realized that I might like to step out a bit. Actually, I might have liked to stay on the same track, yet slightly askew. And somewhere between a sea of cheap Kentucky bred vodka, the mourning of a dear friend who had passed, far too much Taco Bell for one person to digest in a single day, and a cheesy SyFy movie about a genetically mutated alligator starring 80’s pop stars….. I decided it was time to branch out on my own and take the obvious step forward. So, I began Trainwreck’d Society.
Now here we are all these years later. I’ve been around the globe since those tyrannical 6 weeks in that legendary Biloxi hotel room. And Trainwreck’d has followed me every step of the way. From Spokane, Washington to South Korea and eventually to my current location in the souther region of Spain. And that’s not even mentioning writings and configuring that took place in Seattle, San Francisco, Sausalito, Redding, St. Louis, Omaha, Moses Lake, Lisbon, Tokyo, Longview, Kelso, etc. Yes, this site has been as much a part of me as the air and pollution that I breathe. I have loved and hated this site with passions that are hard to convey. But, as we approach the end of an era, I can proudly say that I wouldn’t change a God damned thing about this site and all of the wonderful things we have done.
And this post right here is one of the reasons I have continued this labor of love and loathing for so long. It’s always been about the people surrounding the site. It is the friends of Trainwreck’d that truly make it what it is. I am not naive enough to think that we have had any sort of success (as mild as it may be) without the help from the beautiful people we have showcased over the last few years. They make this shit happen, and I will be forever grateful.
So, with that sob story thrown out there and out of the way, please enjoy the final installment of our “With Friends Like These -or- Our Favorite Albums of 201X”. There are some new faces in the crowd this year, and we are so happy to have some new friends on board. And as per usual, there are some veterans of the site on board as well. This is without a doubt the year with the most active participants we have ever had for this annual post. I think it is a brilliant way to go out; surrounded by those we love. So please ENJOY!
If you haven’t figured it out, we are making plans to close up shop. The final Trainwreck’d Society post will happen on July 4th 2015, our 4 year anniversary. Sort of like a presidential term, right? Our reign must eventually come to a close. It has truly been a joy to serve you fine reader(s). Thank you all, from the bottom of my wine soaked heart. – Ron Trembath
Matt Beat (musician, Electric Needle Room)
Pixies – Indie Cindy
Ingrid Michaelson – Lights Out
Foster the People – Supermodel
Tycho – Awake
Beck – Morning Phase
Johnny Beauford (musician, The Jack Kerowax)
Ex Hex – Rips
Ty Segall – Manipulator
St. Vincent – St. Vincent
Centromatic – Take Pride In Your Long Odds
Oil Boom – Red Metal
Bill Benson (publicist, boss man at Team Clermont)
Wye Oak – Shriek
Sylvan Esso – Sylvan Esso
Augie March – Haven’s Dumb
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Give The People What They Want
Courtney Barnett – The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas
Luc Bernier (actor, Contagio)
Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence
Anne Bisson – Tales from the Treetops
Hozier – Hozier
The Black Keys – Turn Blue
Pink Floyd – The Endless River
Tracey Birdsall (actress, Dawn of the Crescent Moon)
Prince – Art Official Age
Taylor Swift – 1989
U2 – Songs of Innocence
Sia – 1000 Forms of Fear
Royal Blood – Royal Blood
Andrew Bower (musician, The Valery Trails)
New Pornographers – Brill Bruisers
Black Cab – Games of the XXI Olympiad
Bob Mould – Beauty and Ruin
Sounds Like Sunset – We Could Leave Tonight
Spoon – They Want My Soul
Jared Brannan (musician, Dedere)
Violent Psalms-Slow to Speak
The Domestics-Self Titled
Nature Thief- Moon
Hart & Hare-And Action
Sleep School-White Girl Wasted
Budo (musician)
Rodrigo Amarante – Cavalo
James Vincent McMorrow- Post Tropical
The Acid – Liminal
Dawn Golden – Still Life
D’angelo- Black Messiah
John Bukowski (musician)
Pink Floyd – The Endless River
Nothing – Guilty of Everything
Whirr – Sway
Braid – No Coast
Winterfylleth – The Divination of Antiquity
Heather Burns (actress, HBO’s Bored To Death)
Museum of Love – Museum of Love
FKA Twigs – LP1
Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 2
Caribou – Our Love
Mary J Blige – The London Sessions
Catherine Capozzi (musician, Axemunkee)
Fergessen – Far Est
Jaggery – For the Record
Rodrigo y Gabriela – 9 Dead Alive
PowerSlut – With Great Power Comes Great Slut
Mission Creep – On the Sea of Suns
Johnno Casson (musician, Snippet)
Gruff Rhys – American Interior
mylittlebrother – If We Never Came Down
Alex Highton – Nobody Knows Anything
Hollie Cook – Twice
Colorama-Dere Mewn!
Tim Chaplin (musician, The Factory Kids)
The Rag Dolls – Such A Crime
Sharon Van Etten – Are We There
Pink Mountaintops – Get Back
Gazelle Twin – Unflesh
Pharmakon – Bestial Burden
Dave Chisholm (musician, Talking Under Water)
Hozier – Hozier
Conor Oberst – Upside Down Mountain
Ambrose Akinmusire – The Imagined Savior is Far Easier To Paint
Beck – Morning Phase
Alt J – This Is All Yours
Mira & Chuck Costa (musicians, The Sea The Sea)
Sean Rowe – Madman
Sylvan Esso – Sylvan Esso
Bahamas – Bahamas is Alfie
First Aid Kit – Stay Gold
Hozier – Hozier
Sam Cregger (musician)
Sturgill Simpson – Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars
Israel Nash – Rain Plains
Lucinda Williams – Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone
Ryan Adams – Ryan Adams
Robert Deeble (musician)
Shenandoah Davis – The Company We Keep
Cat Stevens – Tea for the Tillerman
Cold Play – A Head Full of Dreams
Ghosts Ive Met – From A Spark
Mahler Symphony No.2 in C Minor – Klaus Tennstedt, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Alexia Dox (actress, Hulu’s Quick Draw)
Hozier- Hozier
Lindsey Sterling – Shatter Me
Black Keys – Turn Blue
Lana Del Ray – Ultraviolence
Beyonce – Beyonce
Joel Edinberg (musician, Somerville Symphany Orkestar)
D’angelo – Black Messiah
Tune Yards – Nikki Nack
Adrian Raso and Fanfare Ciocarlia – Devils Tale
Mad Satta – Comfort
Rebirth Brass Band – Move Your Body
Michael J. Epstein (musician/filmmaker, Magnetic)
Drab – Unicorn EP
Owl Eyes – Nightswim EP
Endation – Liars, Thieves and Dead Leaves
Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence
Timecop1983 – Waves EP
Elsa Faith (musician, Madame Torment)
Sia – 1000 Forms of Fear
The Black Keys – Turn Blue
Tove Lo – Queen of the Clouds
Madame Torment – Wicked Bitch of the West
Banks – Goddess
Rachel Faulkner (model/actress, Ride Along 2)
Beyonce – Beyonce
Coldplay – Ghost Stories
Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron
Taylor Swift – 1989
FKA Twigs – LP1
Ryan Feigh (journalist, The Portland Mercury)
Naturally Grown Misfists – The Art of Ignorance
Samarei – Best In Class
Jellyfish Brigade – Diving Lessons
Elton Cray – Craliens: Life of Mine Volume 1 mix tape
Milc & Slick Devious – Lightly Salted
Heather Fink (filmmaker, Inside You)
Philip Selway – Weatherhouse
Ryan Adams – Ryan Adams
Mac DeMarco – Salad Days
Beyonce – Beyonce
Interpol – Elpintor
Kristen Ford (musician)
Phil Selway – Weather House
Audrey Ryan- Let’s go to the vamp
Cold Chocolate- Cold Chocolate
England in 1819- Summer Lightning EP
Augustus Creighton- Au Gratin
Diane Franklin (actress, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure)
U2 -Songs of Innocence
Prince -Art Official Age
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers- Hypnotic Eye
Ozzie Osbourne -Memoirs of a Madman
Pixies – Indie Cindy
Robert Gomez (musician, Ormonde)
Damien Jurado – Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun
John Chin – Undercover
John Grant- John Grant and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: Live in Concert
Moonbather – Out of the Start EP
Sarah Jaffe – Don’t Disconnect
Christian Grillo (filmmaker, Apocalypse Kiss)
Body Count – Manslaughter
Lady Gaga – Artpop
Sick Of It All – Last Act of Defiance
Obituary – Inked In Blood
Slipknot – The Gray Chapter
Alexander Hallet (hip hop artist/photographer/philanthropist, Bodi)
Beck – Morning Phase
J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Phantogram – Voices
Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence
Pharoahe Monch – PTSD
Jon Hardy (musician, The Pristines)
Pete Fij & Terry Bickers – Broken Heart Surgery
Gallon Drunk – The Soul Of The Hour
These New Puritans – Field Of Reeds
Stump – Does The Fish Have Chips?
Royal Blood – Royal Blood
Bryce Hutchinson (musician, Dedere)
Open Mike Eagle – Dark Comedy
Violent Psalms – Slow to Speak
Mastodon – Once More ‘Round the Sun
At the Gates – At War with Reality
Damien Rice – My Favourite Faded Fantasy
Rolfe Kanefsky (filmmaker/screenwriter, Doc Holliday’s Revenge)
Guardians of the Galaxy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Chef Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Muppets Most Wanted Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
The Lego Movie Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
John Morris – The In Laws Original Motion Picture Score
Sadie Katz (actress, Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort)
Taylor Swift – 1989
Lana Del Rey – Ultra Violence
Skrillex – Recess
Sia – 1000 Forms of Fear
Iggy Azalea – The New Classic
Vince Kramer (author, Death Machines of Death)
Sinister – The Post-Apocalyptic Servant
Alestorm – Sunset on the Golden Age
Cannibal Corpse – A Skeletal Domain
Scar Symmetry – The Singularity, Phase 1: Neohumanity
Obituary – Inked in Blood
Brandon Laws & Richard Laws (musicians, Hosannas)
Caribou – Our Love
Future Islands – Singles
Aphex Twin – Syro
Thom Yorke – Tomorrows Modern Boxes
FKA Twigs – LP1
Kerri Lynch (actress, TEN)
Lana del Rey – Ultraviolence
Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron
Phantogram – Voices
Calvin Harris – Motion
J Cole – Forest Hills Drive
Paul M. McAlarney (filmmaker, Honky Holocaust)
For The Worse – War On Everything EP
Who Killed Spikey Jacket – Beerstorm Trooper E.P.
The Combat Zone – The Combat Zone
Mooseknuckle – Knuckle Sandwich E.P.
Abstruktor – Judgement of Terror
Jared Mees w/ yours truly @ Baby Bar in Spokane, WA circa 2010. Sort of a dream come true for me.
Jared Mees (musician, Jared Mees & The Grown Children)
Spoon- they want my soul
Erland Oye- Legao
Tycho – Awake
Kishi basho – Lighght
The Fourth Wall – Lovely Violence
David Minne (musician/Trainwreck’d Society contributor)
St. Vincent – St. Vincent
War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream
Spoon – They Want My Soul
Jenny Lewis – The Voyager
Death From Above 1979 – The Physical World
Sanna Nordstrom (PhD, subculture researcher, magazine profiler)
Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds
The Haunted – Exit Wounds
At the gates – At War with Reality
Centinex – Redeeming the filth
Thundermother – Rock ‘n’ roll disaster
Bre Paletta (musician)
Tori Amos: Unrepentant Geraldines
Nickel Creek: A Dotted Line
Snarky Puppy: We Like It Here
The Pierces: Creation
SZA: Z
Mike Phillips (musician/PR Account Director, The Neo Com Group)
Thom Yorke – Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes
Ryan Adams – Ryan Adams
U2 – Songs of Innocence
Making Evening and Night – VAST
David Bazan + Passenger String Quartet
Nate Prudhon (DJ, KEXP in Seattle Washington)
Beck – Morning Phase
Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels 2
Helms Alee – Sleepwalking
Elbow – The Take Off and Landing of Everything
Swans – To Be Kind
Ira Rat (musician, Neon Lushell)
Thunder Bunny – Did You Mean To Look So Pretty?
Goldblums – Drug Window
Love L.U.V. – Come See Me
The Vahnevants – Bum Out
Brooks Strause – Acid Casual
Bob Rice (DJ, KYRS Thin Air Community Radio in Spokane, WA)
Rust On The Rails – November Sky
Gooding – We Are The Dark Stars
Leroy Miller – Temple
Peter Rivera – It Is What It Is
Will Phalen – The Dirt and Air and The Grass
Jeff Simmons (audio engineer, Portland Oregon)
Grouper – Ruins
Deerhoof – Paradise Girls
Sturgill Simpson – Metamodern Sounds
Shellac – Dude Incredible
Scott Walker & Sunn O))) – Soused
Devin Sinha (musician)
First Aid Kit – Stay Gold
Damien Jurado – Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun
Alt-J – This is All Yours
Trampled By Turtles – Wild Animals
The Riverside – Getting Lost
Sleep (hip hop artist)
J Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour
Caskey – Black Sheep
Joe Budden – Some Love Lost
Royce da 5’9 – DJ Premier PRHYME
Adam Smith (musician)
Ty Segall – Manipulator
Mac Demarco – Salad Days
Spoon – They Want My Soul
Beck – Morning Phase
Ex Hex – Rips
Sean Solimon (actor/filmmaker, Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage)
AC/DC – Rock or Bust
Ozzy Osbourne – Memoirs of a Madman
Andrea Bocelli – Opera: The Ultimate Collection
Young Gentleman’s Adventure Society – Adventure Party
Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour
Anna-Lynne Williams (musician, Ormonde)
Damien Jurado – Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun
Thom Yorke – Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes
David Bazan – Bazan Monthly Volume 1
Beck – Morning Phase
Eels – The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett
Filed under: Exclusive!