Blame It on the Pop
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Indeed.
Ok, so I'm gonna list off the 20 albums I enjoyed from this year and then follow it up with a list of my top 25 tracks from 2009. Only 20 albums because, honestly, I find it frustrating to find five more that I can truly say that I enjoyed and can listen the whole way through. I will go ahead and use those five I didn't use and replace them with a list of 2009's worst. Now I'm not gonna lie, there are some definite similarities among Ryan's, Kyle's, and my lists but that's what happens sometimes when you've come from the same musical womb. I was just gonna go ahead and name my lists "The Situation" but unfortunately somebody already has that nickname. Lucky dude.
20 Albums - "The Issue"
20. Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
19. The xx - xx
18. Weird Tapes - Get Religion
17. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
16. The Mercury Program - Chez Viking
15. Washed Out - Life of Leisure
14. Delorean - Ayrton Senna
13. P.O.S. - Never Better
12. Flight of the Conchords - I Told You I Was Freaky
11. Discovery - LP
10. Royksopp - Junior
9. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
8. New Ruins - We Make Our Own Bad Luck
7. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing
6. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
5. The Most Serene Republic - ...And The Ever Expanding Universe
4. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. Passion Pit - Manners
1. Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care
25 Tracks - "The Dilemma"
25. Fever Ray - If I Had A Heart
24. The Big Pink - Velvet
23. White Belt, Yellow Tag - You're Not Invincible
22. P.O.S. - Never Better
21. Wild Beasts - All The Kings Men
20. Japandroids - Sovereignty
19. Delorean - Deli
18. Animal Collective - Brother Sport
17. Kid Cudi - Day 'N Nite (Crookers Remix)
16. Neon Indian - Deadbeat Summer
15. Junior Boys - Hazel
14. The Mercury Program - Chez Viking
13. Discovery - Swing Tree
12. Manchester Orchestra - I've Got Friends
11. Washed Out - Feel It All Around
10. Royksopp - Happy Up Here
9. The xx - Basic Space
8. Passion Pit - The Reeling
7. The Most Serene Republic - Heavens To Purgatory
6. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
5. Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is The Move
4. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
3. Phoenix - Lisztomania
2. Junior Boys - Parallel Lines
1. Animal Collective - My Girls
5 Worst Albums of 2009
5. Daughtry - Tougher Than You Want
4. Black Eyed Peas - Songs Made From Picking Samples From A Hat
3. Jonas Brothers - A Scarf And A Guitar
2. U2 - We're Even Sick Of Us
1. Green Day - We Had To Create Another Band Cause This One Has Turned Into Crud
Sorry, that wasn't funny, but Murry Krimus either way.
It's that time. And one of the best things about the Christmas Season is the music and the movies that go along with it. So enjoy, and check out my list of favorite Christmas songs and movies.
Musically, 2009 has been all over the place (in a good way). Lot's of really good acts, new & old, releasing records; lots of genre-less bands and (deserving) straight-up pop/rock bands breaking through at the same time. Bands giving away music and selling lots of records after doing so. Exciting stuff.
You can read Ed O'Brien's entire rant at Dead Air Space, but here's the important part:
Jónsi Birgisson, the lead singer of Sigur Ros (and Riceboy Sleeps), has a solo album coming out in March. Entitled Go, it evidently is going to be "very acoustic with numerous string arrangements" and sung completely in English. "Boy Lilikoi" is the first track that's been leaked, and it pretty much fits those criteria. It also kinda resembles Sigur Ros covering a Peter Gabriel song, which is, needless to say, totally awesome.
Well, it’s the end of the year and our best of ‘09 lists are coming soon, but there are always great things you find throughout the year that come from years past. It does tend to hinder the process of listening to the new things you should be listening to, but there’s really no getting around it. So this is my short “best of before” list of the year. Here are the top 6. Yep, we’re going with 6.
1. Roky Erickson – The Evil One
2. Alice In Chains - Dirt
3. Mission of Burma – Signals, Calls, & Marches
4. The Band – The Band
5. Harvey Milk – Life…the Best Game In Town
6. Chris Bell – I Am The Cosmos
Roky Erickson - I Think of Demons
Alice In Chains - Sickman
Mission of Burma - Academy Fight Song
The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Harvey Milk - Motown
Chris Bell - Better Save Yourself
And, on the same subject, here are two trailers for a couple music documentaries. The first one is about Roky Erickson and his life and the second is the story of Mission of Burma. They are both really great, interesting films that will give you a little history on these artists and will absolutely give you a greater appreciation and understanding of their work. Check it…
You’re Gonna Miss Me – Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVFLqzJB6qw
Not A Photograph – Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cE2Y8XJjq4
In what appears to be a pathetic, labored last gasp, Rolling Stone makes a (failed) attempt to establish some indie cred with it's list of 2009's (supposedly) best albums: Monsters of Folk, Grizzly Bear, Bat For Lashes, Girls, Animal Collective, The xx, Neko Case, Dirty Projectors, Franz Ferdinand, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sonic Youth, and Wilco all make appearances. But let's face it, RS is as out of touch as the Grammys and MTV, and no one needs to listen to the record they've anointed as the best of 2009...
Let the debate begin... I personally can't take issue with what's actually on the list (except the somewhat shocking absence of Volcano Choir's Unmap), but the rankings are a bit suspect - and that's putting it nicely. Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, The Very Best's Warm Heart of Africa, and Real Estate's self-titled album should have all probably been higher; Memory Tapes Seek Magic, Atlas Sound's Logos, and especially Passion Pit's Manners were far too low (#34?!?!). But how about Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest, which was ranked at #6? Only months ago, it was rated as the 42nd best album of the decade by Pitchfork, well ahead of some classics like The Rapture's Echoes (#57), Sufjan Steven's Michigan (#70), The Microphone's The Glow Pt. 2 (#73), The Wren's The Meadowlands (#88), Jay-Z's The Black Album, (#90), Spoon's Girls Can Tell (#92), The National's Boxer (#110), and The Notwist's Neon Golden (#131). It happens to be ranked ahead of the Dirty Projector's Bitte Orca (#56 on the decade list) as well, which is somehow ranked 4 spots ahead of it at #2 on the 2009 list. I know Pitchfork has some kind of complex voting system amongst its entire staff, and that probably accounts for anomalies like this from time to time, but that still just seems a bit ridiculous to me. Also, the top 5 contains 3 albums that are, in my opinion, probably the 3 most overhyped albums of the year: The Flaming Lips Embryonic (#4), the aforementioned Bitte Orca, and Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion (#1). I actually think Merriweather is a great record, and will be ranking it very highly myself, but I'm definitely not putting it on the same pedestal so many others have this year.
Pitchfork posted the full list of it's top 100 tracks of 2009 today; go check it out here. Can't argue with the top 3, but the list includes songs from Junior Boys, Passion Pit, and Discovery that weren't even the best tracks from the albums they were released on. Where are
"Sleepyhead" "Little Secrets", "Hazel", and "So Insane"?!?!?! Also missing: The Raveonettes' "Suicide", Royksopp's "Happy Up Here", and Neko Case's "People Got a Lotta Nerve".
Gotten away from the TV on here in recent months, but Dexter shouldn't be lumped in with anything else on the tube anyway. The season 4 finale, which aired last night, was one of the best episodes I've ever seen from any television show. Period. I'm not going to spoil anything for anybody, but it completely caught me off guard. And it wasn't just what happened; my own reaction to it was completely different than I would have expected. Absolutely awesome stuff. Some people are probably upset over it, and I don't know where they're gonna go from here, but with four seasons under their belt, the writers of this show are batting 1.000%. It also set a record: most watched episode of any show ever aired on Showtime. Say it with me: Best...Show...Ever...
SANDMAN: At Your Service (Featurette) from Gatling Pictures on Vimeo.
This is my first ever blog post. I don't really know how it works yet, so bear with me. Anyway, I've been really diggin' the instrumental stuff lately, especially after the new Billy Mahonie, Mercury Program, and Pelican this year. So, I've been on the search for more and I found it. The first is The Bronzed Chorus from Greensboro, NC. Their newest album is "I'm the Spring," pretty groovy stuff. The second is Antarctic from St. Augustine, FL. This album is fantastic! But it is self titled, and when your band is called Antarctic and your album is called the same thing, it becomes very hard to find information on the internet about your band. However, I found some really good information on polar ice caps and whatnot. Check 'em out. Eventually, I'll figure out how to post songs and things but for now...links! They're both on Hello Sir Records, so you can buy here...
http://www.hellosirrecords.com or check them out on Myspace...
http://www.myspace.com/thebronzedchorus
http://www.myspace.com/antarcticsounds
Lead singer Julian Casablancas is the last member of The Strokes to release a solo album/side project. Definitely worth the wait. Despite the fact that he's constantly flirting with absolute cheesiness (especially with the drum machines), the risks almost always pay off. Bottom line: all 8 tracks that collectively make up Phrazes for the Young have the potential to be stuck in your head when you wake up in the morning. "11th Dimension":
Deerhunter's Bradford Cox formed his solo project Atlas Sound so there would be an outlet for his ideas "that I can't make work with a five piece rock band." The result is something that at times sounds and feels a lot like Deerhunter, but with more pop-influenced hooks. Cox's second Sound album, "Logos," was released this week. On a sidenote, the gangly-looking figure on the cover is actually Cox himself. According to Wikipedia, he apparently suffers from Marfan's Syndrome. "Walkabout":
Well, it's not what everyone was hoping for, but it's something new from Radiohead, so it's hard to complain too much. "These Are My Twisted Words" might actually be the most abstract, out there song they've released since Amnesiac. The band is offering the track as a free download (don't believe there's even the option to pay this time), and as part of the zip file you get a ridiculous amount of artwork similar to what you see above, along with some cryptic info. No real word on whether or not this is part of something bigger, so for now you'll just have to be content with the fact that you've got some new Radiohead to listen to:
This track has been out there for a while, but See Mystery Lights was just released this past week. YACHT seem to have the whole internet/blog buzz thing going on for them, but if you've never heard them, here's what Allmusic.com has to say about main man Jona Bechtolt: " (Bechtolt is) a musician and multimedia artist who embraces an eclectic but playful blend of electronics, acoustic percussion, and noises of all sorts." In Pitchfork's glowing review, they mention the names LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture. I definitely agree with the latter. As for "Psychic City" in particular, I hear an iPod commercial waiting to happen:
As reported @ Pitchfork, Stereogum, etc., Radiohead have released a new track honoring Harry Patch, the last surviving British veteran of WWI who passed away a little over a week ago. Later in life, Patch became an adamant opposer of WWI and war in general. The song itself is a somber orchestral piece that is only recognizable as Radiohead because of Yorke's unmistakable vocals. You can get the track @ the band's website here, with all proceeds going to a British war veteran's legion. "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)":
Julian Plenti is actually Paul Banks, the lead singer from one of my favorite early '00s bands, Interpol. Definitely similar in a lot of ways to Banks' full-time band (i.e. the unique voice), but there are some obvious differences, too. Namely, Skyscraper is actually really catchy and poppy in some places. "Only If You Run":
"Suicide" is one of the more upbeat tracks I've heard from The Raveonettes, and it really suits them. From their 4th album, In and Out of Control, which is due out October 6:
Already posted one track from the Ayrton Senna ep last week. Thing is, pretty much all
four five tracks are equally great. Here's "Deli". Enjoy:
Straight off of Dodos upcoming second lp Time To Die, due out September 15. Pretty easy to identify some immediate differences from Visiter; namely a full band sound and the pumped up production levels of (The Shins/Fleet Foxes producer) Phil Ek. It's still obviously Dodos and every bit as enjoyable, though:
Another new track from the upcoming Blueprint 3, this one featuring Rihanna & Kanye. "Run This Town":
"Blood Oranges" is from Foreign Born's just-released (and favorably Pitchfork-reviewed) Person to Person. This track really sounds similar to Calla (one of my favorite bands from the early 2000s) but the rest of the album breaks from the "slow-core" trend:
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