Fresno Famous

These end-of-year posts are a bit of a pain. To be really thorough, to completely digest and synthesize what happened during a year, that takes time. You really need to dig through the archives, balance out the importance of this-versus-that.

I did not do that here. 

The top-five list below is mostly top-of-mind stuff. There are probably many omissions. With apologies, The Top Five Things That Made Fresno a Little Better for Me This Year (in no order): 

• Mane Horse. By this I mean local music in general, though Mane Horse is a shining example. The band does emotive hardcore, a terms that makes me hate myself for liking them. What they really do is reved up quirky guitar songs with searing, screaming vocals. Other locals bands worth knowing: General Populus, Sparklejet, Sunburns, Werebear, Blake Jones and The Trike Shop, any of the Friendcore bands, Goreshack, Sea of Sound and more and more and more. 
• Carthop. Knowing that I can get a ridiculously wonderful lunch-time meal at least once a week is a blessing. Tako BBQ, in particular, is a joyous thing. The spicy spam tacos are tiny pieces of sodium-rich heaven.  
• The radio. There has been some serious mix ups happening all over the dial. While I miss Bill McEwen, I embrace the addition of the new KYNO (AM 1430), which is essentialy what 92.9 did when I was growing up. The nostaligia is strong. New Rock 104 should also be recognized for taking a chance with Ozmosis. It's not often you get unqiue radio from the major players. Also, someone let me have a show.
• Outernational. By this I mean local shows in general, though Outernational, who played Fulton 55 in August, was a shinning example. Other great shows that came through town: Greg Ginn, Firehose, Sad Horse, Fools Gold, this thing on the Fulton Mall and more and more. There was a whole slew of stuff I missed too.

• Dumb Drum swedes. In terms of newsy-ness, this is the big one, because the Dumb Drum guys got some real recognition this year. They went viral. Several times over. There was even a spot about Swede Fest on NPR's Morning Edition, with a quote from director Michel Gondry (OK, that one was from last year, but whatever).