A Site Update and New Music from Swan Lake

Over the past two and half years I have been using the screen name Evil Speakers for all of the posts and content that appeared on this blog. At first I thought it would be a good way to hide while I became comfortable with the idea of putting my two cents out there. I enjoy writing, although I don't claim to be any good at it. I hope you the reader has found something worth while from time to time on this page. I've dropped the name but my URL will not change, so Evil Speakers will go on.

In other AGP news I have plans to bring more reviews and audio content to this page, so stay tuned for that and as always thanks for reading.



In music related news and an excuse to share some new music this Friday, I'm eagerly awaiting the release of Swan Lake's Enemy Mine on March 24th. The new album was recorded in Victoria, British Columbia and once again features Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown), Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes), and Dan Bejar (Destroyer/New Pornographers). Enemy Mine is the bands second release and is said to be a more collaborative affair this time around.

The bands label Jagjaguwar are offering three tracks for free download, while you're there you might as well check out the pre-order information as well.

Swan Lake- A Hand at Dusk from Enemy Mine.

Show Alert:
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart



This Sunday night Brooklyn's The Pains of Being Pure at Heart bring there noise pop goodness to The Middle East upstairs. The band is touring in support of there self titled debut full length out now on Slumberland Records. I've been trying not to let the newness of this album get the better of me, but after a month of steady listening The Pains debut just keeps getting better and better with each subsequent listen. It's been a while since I've heard an album this good all the way through. Not just that, every song is a sure fire hit, in a different time of course.

Doors are at 8:00 with support from Pants Yell!, Shrinking Islands, and fellow New Yorkers Depreciation Guild.

Another Year End List For The Fire

Punctuality has never been my strong suit, just ask anyone who knows me and they're bound to tell you I'm always a few minutes late for everything. So the fact that I'm just getting around to posting this list should come as no surprise.

In 2008 the small staff at The Ash Gray Proclamation had a few eureka moments thanks to some great releases from Deerhunter, Times New Viking, TV on The Radio, and the pop rock gold found on the debut from Boston Spaceships.

As far as the list goes, these are merely our favorite records of 2008. I've assigned numbers to give this list some kind of order. I started with a simple criteria for witch an album must qualify for this list.

1. The album was released and purchased in 2008
2. No re-issues
3. No greatest hits
4. Spins- how often an album was played

Although I've been doing these lists for a number of years in some form or another, this is only the second year that the list has been made available on this blog. This year I've added some audio links, most of those are single track streams, in some cases full album previews are available. I also added links for purchasing all of these fine releases that saw the light of day in 2008.

Honorable Mention:
Some albums worth mentioning but were not included on this years list.
Elbow-The Seldom Seen Kid
Fucked Up- The Chemistry of Modern Life
Circus Devils- Ataxia
The Mountain Goats- Heretic Pride
The Magnetic Fields- Distortion.


The AGP Top 20

20. Sloan- Parallel Play (Yep Roc)

Listen: Parallel Play full album stream
Buy it at the Yep Roc Store.

19. Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night (Slumberland Records)

Listen: Crystal Stilts- Shattered Shine
Buy it from Slumberland

18. Spiritualized- Songs In A & E (Fontana/Spaceman)

Listen: Spiritualized- You Lie You Cheat
Buy It at Newbury Comics.

17. Times New Viking - Rip it Off(Matador)

Listen: Times New Viking- (My Head)/R.I.P. Allegory
Buy It from the Matador store.

16. Nada Surf- Lucky (Barsuk)

Listen: Nada Surf- See These Bones
Buy It from the Barsuk shop.

15. Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed(Arts & Crafts)

Listen: Los Campesinos!- We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
Buy It from Arts & Crafts.

14. Silver Jews- Lookout Mountain Lookout Sea (Drag City)

Listen: Silver Jews- Strange Victory, Strange Defeat
Buy It from Drag City.

13. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins (Jagjaguwar)

Listen: Okkervil River- Lost Coastlines
Buy It from the Jagjaguwar store.

12. Super Fury Animals- Hey Venus (Rough Trade)

Listen: Super Fury Animals- Run Away
Buy It from the Beggars Group.

11. Portisehead- Third


Listen: Portishead- Machine Gun
Buy It from the Island store.

10. Robert Pollard- is Off To Business (Guided By Voices, Inc)

Listen: Robert Pollard- Gratification to Concrete
Buy It from Rockathon.

09. Wolf Parade- At Mount Zoomer (Sub-Pop)

Listen: Wolf Parade- Language City
Buy It from the Sub-Pop store.

08. No Age - Nouns (Sub-Pop)

Listen: No Age- Teen Creeps
Buy It from the Sub-Pop store.

07. Deerhunter - Microcastle/Weird Era Continues (Kranky)

Listen: Deerhunter- Nothing Ever Happens
Buy It from Kranky.

06. Los Campesinos!- Hold on Now, Youngster
(Arts & Crafts)

Listen: Los Campesinos!-Death To Los Campesinos!
Buy It from Arts & Crafts.

05. TV On The Radio- Dear Science (DGC/Interscope)

Listen: Dear Science Full Album Stream
Buy It from Cinder Block.

04. Sigur Ros- Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (EMI/XL)

Listen: Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust Full Album Stream
Buy It from Sigur Ros shop.

03. Boston Spaceships- Brown Submarine (Guided By Voices, Inc.)

Listen: Boston Spaceships- Go For The Exit
Buy It from Rockathon.

02. Frightened Rabbit- The Midnight Organ Fight (Fat Cat)

Listen: Frightened Rabbit- The Modern Leper
Buy It from Fat Cat Records.

01. The Walkmen - You & Me (Record Collection)

Listen: You & Me Full Album Stream
Buy It from Merch Lackey.