My Top 5 Albums of 2012

Everyone's got a year-end list of highlights and memories. I'm keeping it simple with naming my favourite albums of the year, with a couple of songs from each.

Check 'em out & let me know what you think.

(Email subscribers, click here to see the full post with videos)

1. Matt Mays, Coyote
I've been a Matt Mays fan for a while. I liked the self-titled Matt Mays + El Torpedo in '05. I liked Terminal Romance (2008) even more. Coyote beats them all, hands down.

2. Jack White, Blunderbuss

When I first heard this album, I thought it was going to be my album of the year. Though it's edged out by Matt Mays above, it is still a great album and a must-have.

3. Big Wreck, Albatross
Big Wreck's In Loving Memory Of... (1997) remains one of my favourite albums of all time, so this one might slide in here on sentimental value...or it may not: it's a great album, with or without sentimental reasons. I was one of many people  uber-excited to see Ian Thornley team up again with guitarist Brian Doherty for a reincarnated Big Wreck.

4. Japandroids, Celebration Rock
By far the most 'fun' album I added in 2012. Love it. It deserves to be played loud. One of my main memories of working in Niger in early December will be cranking this up on my headphones to drown out the call to prayer over the loudspeaker on several occasions.

5. Gary Clark Jr., Blak and Blu
Mad guitar skills, rocking blues. What more can you ask for? A great album, start to finish.

Honourable Mentions:

Ross Neilsen, The Shack Up Sessions
Any blues fan absolutely needs to have some of Ross Neilsen's albums in their collection. The Shack Up Sessions are an acoustic companion to some of Ross's hard-rawking blues albums.

To see the full performance of the show previewed below, click here.

Crooked Saws, Mo'Fi
Dirty. Whisky-chugging. Bar-brawling. Greasy. Blues.

'nuff said.

FFF - Federation of Fantastic Fridays

A distinct lack of interwebz in my new apartment has hindered any & all attempts at posting since last week's Friday Post of Randomness.

Add in moving, fishing, unpacking, etc., and all of a sudden, sitting down for an hour results more in symptoms of narcolepsy than words on paper...or screen.

So this routine should seem a little familiar: go grab a coffee, sit back and relax. It is Friday, after all; it's not like you're actually working.

FredRock 2012 Lineup

My good friends at BabZees Entertainment have announced the lineup for FredRock 2012, being held again in August at the Loyalist Rugby Club. I don't need to say how awesome it is that we're into year four of FredRock, with all but the first festival held at the rugby club.

The lineup for this year's show, being held over two nights, features a lot of talent, with a few of my favourites in there.

Matthew Good headlines Friday night, and Steve Earle...yes, that Steve Earle...headline Saturday night.

Supporting acts include frequent 411#3 embedded youtube talent Matt Mays & el Torpedo, as well as The Trews, AWOLnation, The Sheepdogs, Walk Off The Earth, Elliott Brood and Poor Young Things.

I think this is one helluva lineup for FredRock this year. Congrats to the guys at BabZees for pulling together such an event for the city of Fredericton (and at the Loyalist Rugby Club, too).

Musical Interlude

Here are a couple tunes from two of the acts on the FredRock 2012 lineup.

One of the Coolest Things Ever!

A few weeks ago I wrote about Robert Cunningham's book, Chasing Records; I had downloaded it to keep me warm & fishy while working in Nunavut.

A few days after I posted it, the man himself emailed me to thank me for reading and reviewing the book. Since I'm not bold enough to assume Mr. Cunningham is a regular reader, that's pretty cool in itself.

What's really cool is what showed up in my mailbox this week: a signed hardcopy of his book.

I appreciated just receiving an email from him. I really appreciated this.

Thank you, Mr. Cunningham.

(Note: I still remain envious of his boat & seaplane. I told him so in my email response. He still sent me the book. Honesty, people. Honesty. It pays off.)

The Birth of a Tournament Angler...

...takes place tomorrow morning. Though it almost wasn't going to happen; as I mentioned last week, my truck is awaiting new parts which prevents the towing of the Magnificent Basstard.

No worries, as my tournament partner Pat (he of the City Limits Muskie last year) also has a boat...which suffered from a broken trailer axle a few days ago. Fortunately he has it fixed up & running, so we should be good to go for tomorrow!

The rod quiver tomorrow includes:

• Cabela's CGR 7'6" 7/8wt, matched with Hardy Ultralite reel and Sage's Performance Bluegille Taper fly line;
• Redington's Predator 7'10" 6wt, matched with Redington's Rise reel & Rio's Smallmouth Taper fly line;
• Quantum's most inexpensive spinning rod & reel in existence, in case it gets dirty, stinking windy out.

The Long Stick Renegade, as Cameron over at The Fiberglass Manifesto tweeted to me a few days back. I like the sound of that. Stay tuned for a post-tournament report, and perhaps I will live-tweet the tournament action (@mattrevors).

Upcoming Stuff

• The cool folks over at Redington have sent me a pair of their Sonic-Pro Wading Pants to use & abuse. I had them on yesterday for the first time, and will be taking them to Alaska to test out.
• I'm heading to Alaska! For three weeks! But it's for work, and it's on this coming Tuesday, which is way to soon, considering I only got back from the Arctic last Tuesday.
• Word on the street is I'll have some grayling and possibly pike & salmon available in Alaska. I'm still in the decision stage of what gear to bring, but it looks like it's been narrowed down to my 5wt, 7wt and possibly my 10wt.
• The cool folks over at Rio have sent me one of their specialty pike taper fly lines for the 10wt rod to  demo (hopefully) on our local muskie population. Seeing that there are pike in Alaska, and I do have a score to settle (and asterisk to remove) with pike, I'm leaning towards the 10wt setup coming on the trip....just in case...
• Fly tying has taken a backseat due to the move & such, but I'm hoping to get back on my tarpon, smallie & muskie tying kick real soon.
• I'm currently reading Captain John Kumiski's Redfish on the Fly: A Comprehensive Guide. Read into that statement as much as you like, knowing what you know about my impulsive travel habits. And expect a book review at some point.

More Music...

...from FredRock 2012 performer Matt Mays & el Torpedo.

That's all for now

Have a great weekend, everyone; may all your fish be epic in fun...not size.

The Aluminum Bastard

"Boats are holes in the water, into which one pours money." - Anon.

The Magnificent Basstard

Within a few days, I'll be moving into the space where boat ownership is actually fun.

The day I decided to buy it was pretty fun. And the day I brought it home to reside in the driveway was fun, too. Even the 2 hours I took it out for a spin with my buddy Andrew (the previous owner) on a cold-as-f**k day in November was alright as well.

For the most part, it's been an expensive pain in my asshole.

Boat covers, miscellaneous safety accessories, online boater safety courses, tools, registration transfers, trailer tires, towing packages & trailer hitches & wiring, spring tune-ups, so on & so forth.

And then there's bailing gallons of rainwater off the damn cover that I'm too lazy to tie down properly.

What started as a simple text message conversation back in early October has turned into a seventeen-foot, money-sucking aluminum bastard in my yard.

And I love it!

I want to get it into the water. I want to catch fish with it. I want it to stop sucking money from my pockets every time I look at it.

Two outta three ain't bad...

Spring Break!! (all-Canadian music edition)

I'm a bit behind in my writing...and that will remain for a few more days, at least.

The last few days has involved an inordinate amount of time on the interwebz, a lot of it spent getting the new 2012 product up on the fly shop's website. 

Lots of other random (& exciting) things are happening, too; unfortunately it means writing has taken a back seat for the time being. This will change hopefully soon!

(note: that hyperlink is a hint of exciting things to come)

Enjoy some tunes!

FOA Post: Upcoming Events

Time/Date: 1100, 09-Apr-11
Location: F'ton

I have a few little side-projects on the go over the past 10 days or so, which has unfortunately limited my ability to get posts out as often as I would like to.

BUT...I haven't forgotten about you (or, as our wonderful & humble Prime Minister calls us, 'you people').

If you're in New Brunswick (or Maine, PEI, Nova Scotia or Quebec), click on over to the FOA News/Blog to see a list of upcoming events. A lot of dinners & fundraising auctions coming up.

Loosen your wading belt & get off your wallet.

For all you non-Maritimers (the unchosen ones..?), here is some music. Really good music.

BTW, Matt Mays is also from the Maritime Provinces. Just throwing that out there.

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Fish porn & ezines: Catch, Bloodknot & SID5

Time/Date: 2030, 4-Jan-10
Location: F'ton

I've become a slacker with regards to getting posts up over the holidays; for that, I apologize. I know there might be one lonely weirdo living in his parents basement that is overly concerned about the lack of posts, and the majority could give a rat's ass. I'm not delusional. But hey, the holidays are friggin' busy.

Preparations are ramping up for my departure to Senegal next week, so I have been focusing on tying things up at home & making sure my life is in order for a month-long trip in a warmer climate.

On the fly fishing front, Catch Magazine, Bloodknot & Sleeping in the Dirt have all published new issues online. They're all worth a look, though it looks like I'll have to wait for next year's version of Bloodknot's blogger issue for my feature (I kid, I kid).

Aaron at Sleeping in the Dirt dedicated SID 5 to his friend & fellow photographer, Rich Schaaf. Rich shot the image below, which I 'stole' from the inside cover of the current issue. Definitely check out the rest of the issue, as well as more of Rich's work. That guy had epic skill with a camera, and it's sad he was taken from the fly fishing world far too soon.

From Catch, check out the trailer for Tapam. That shit is awesome. Another version of their trailer is below.

Musically, I've been on a pretty big Matt Mays kick lately. Volume up & press play, friends.

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