Happy New Year all! We are working on out Police inspired songs to kick off 2010 in style. We’ll start posting our efforts soon. To pass the time, I made a top 10 albums of 2009 list. If you don’t own these albums, they come on high recommendation:

10. Wheat: White Ink, Black Ink. Infectious pop music that is more freely constructed than the preceding album Everyday I Say a Prayer…This is a reminder of why I love Wheat so much.

9. Various Artists: Dark Was the Night. A great double disc compilation of indie superstars and surprise duos. Spoon, Dirty Projectors, Ben Gibbard, Fiest, Grizzly Bear, Arcade Fire and the freakiest Sufjan Stevens effort yet. The Bon Iver offering is worth the price of admission

8. Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca. Truly the most unique instrumentation I know of. Coupled with unforgettable melodies and quirky lyrics, Bitte Orca was a perfect commentary on the close of a decade.

7. Volcano Choir: Unmap. Bon Iver side project does electronically to illustrate the Northwoods Wisconsin desolation what Bon Iver does acoustically. Endlessly haunting. I dare you to listen to this album and not become twice as productive or twice as tired. Maybe both.

6. The Swell Season: Strict Joy. Frames headman Glen Hansard teams up with Once co-star Marketa Irglova to create an equally beautiful full length effort that becomes a soundtrack in it’s own right, just without a specific subject.

5. Loney, Dear: Dear John. My brother calls him the Swedish Sufjan. I just think it’s thoughtful pop music that makes me feel really good. What more could you want?

4. Mason Jennings: Blood of Man. Mason finally decided to go raw – both musically and lyrically. His most self effacing effort yet is a masterpiece, just don’t put it on the victrolla during the Easter family gathering.

3. MuteMath: Armistice. An excellent sophomore effort from the mainstream Christian rockers. I doesn’t rock as hard as their self-titled debut, but is masterfully produced and stick with you after just one listen.

2. Passion Pit: Manners. Quirky electronica that stratles the line between ironic and iconic.

1. Halloween, Alaska: Champagne Downtown. This was my favorite album of year before I even listen to it, that’s the kind of equity that HA has built up. They have ditched much of the processed synths for guitar licks and thicker percussion. Add to this album the recently released Daytrotter session and Remix album, and HA had quite a year.

What am I missing here?

 

1. The Wooden Birds-Magnolia
From the ashes of the classic indie band, American Analog Set, rose a new project from former frontman, Andrew “AK” Kenny, called The Wooden Birds. Shifting completely everything he’s done musicially, AK has come out with one of the most surprising releases of the year. Creating a record that is more folk than rock, no songs on the album contain any drums what-so-ever. The bass and vocals really take off and captivate you, the listener. The live sets of the song also include Matt Pond on guitar along with songstress Leslie Sisson. I’m not sure I’ve heard such a heart felt and warm record in the past 10 years.

2. Julian Casablancas- Phrazes for the Young
It’s been a long time since we heard from The Strokes as a unified band. A lot of fans were hesitant on the thought of a solo album by the charasmatic leader, Julian Casablancas, putting out music that doesn’t resemble his band at all. What a surprise it was when we found he took his love for a bit of 1980’s dance and incoporated it with his unforgettable voice and lyrics. The end result? One of the coolest records of the year. We’d expect no less from him.

3. James Husband- Parallax 1
It took 10 years for multi-instrumentalist and drummer from Of Montreal, James Husband, to create his solo album masterpiece. Husband is in the spotlight for the first time in his career and wow, is he certainly taking advantage of it. Providing one of the best indie pop records of the past year, he lets out a 60’s retro sound that no one can mess with. The end result is something as charming as it seems. Raw, catchy, and glorious.

4. Alvin Band-Mantis Preying
Rick  Schaier is not only an amazing drummer and artist, but he is also an extremely talented singer and songwriter. Schaier who spends most of  his time playing drums in The Miniature Tigers has begun a new chapter in his book in the form of ‘Alvin Band,’ this year and completely blew our minds. Blending a retro sound with updated electronics, this is one album you should pick up if you haven’t yet. The catchy hooks and vocals will only leave you wanting more. That my friends, is a good thing!

5. Bishop Allen- Grrr
It’s been a long night since Bishop Allen gained attention by two teenagers named Nick and Norah, and fans were at the edge of their seat wondering what the Brookyln line up would come up with next. Taking a further step into their brilliant indie pop sound, the band did not disappoint at all with Grrr. See it as the next chapter in the Bishop Allen movie, one that is bound to have many sequels in store.

6. Grizzly Bear-Veckatimest
Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you may have heard of a little band called Grizzly Bear. Somehow exploding this year, it was certainly one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2009. Every song is flawless. Catchy yet moody. Beautiful in every way. This album describes itself better than anyone ever could.

7. Bat for Lashes- Two Suns
Completely out of left field, the lovely miss Natasha from Bat for Lashes surprised us all this year with making a stunning, charming, and beautiful record. The combination of her voice and the spacey background music is enough to send chills down your spine. And it does just that. The haunting track “Daniel” captivated the attention of many, and the rest of the album is able to keep you around.

8. Flight of the Conchords-I Told You I Was Freaky
Yes, they are known for writing ‘funny’ songs, but on this record, FOTC became even witty and even more advanced it seems in their writing. Their songs, even though the lyrics are mostly ’silly’, are composed perfectly from start to end. Jermaine and Bret are really on top of their game with this record. We can’t wait to hear more!

9. Phoenix-Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
This band always makes a great record, and their 2009 hit was no different. Everyone wanted a piece of Phoenix and boy, did they get them. This classic indie dance pop record was a must have for everyone who ‘knew what’s cool.’ Apparently, this was the world.

10. Girls-Girls
An unlikely hit, this retro indie duo shocked us all with such a raw and appealing debut album. This lo-fi record filled with melodies, doesn’t need any frills or thrills to make it great. It hold’s its own firmly which is a hard thing to mess with.

11. Cass McCombs-Catacombs
12. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Its Blitz
13. Pains of Being Pure at Heart-Pains of Being Pure at Heart
14. Casper and the Cookies-Modern Silence
15. Headlights-Wildlife
16. Japandroids- Post Nothing
17. Cymbals Eat Guitars-Why There are Mountains
18. Kevin Devine- Brother’s Blood
19. Joan of Arc- Flowers
20. Passion Pit-Manners
21. The Antlers- Hospice
22. Loney Dear-Dear John
23. Neko Case-Middle Cyclone
24. The Mountain Goats- The Life of the World to Come
25. Dirty Projectors-Bitte Orca

Great post, and great point about year-end “bottom ten” lists, from our favorite battery type (that’s AA, you fiends; get your minds out of the gutter):

Come on, if a movie was that bad, any lay person would have avoided it. It’s nothing we’re longing to erase from our memories. We figured out not to go — because you, the movie reviewer, took the hit. That’s your problem.

So I don’t need a decade-end list of the very worst crap that you saw and I didn’t see. I’d rather make a list of the worst movies that you, the movie reviewer, gulled me into seeing. What did you say was good that I wasted my time and money on?

Strangely enough I disagree with all but one of the films on her short list, and some of the wingnuts in her comments gallery will only take it downhill from there. But it begs a new discussion for music reviews: which LPs (or MP3s, or concert tickets) did over-zealous journalists sucker you into buying? You already know my list, I’ve been waving that banner all year long. Let’s hear yours.

PS: I’m right there with her, film score notwithstanding, on Little Miss Sunshine. Ack!

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas… Wait, holy #$@%, it’s no dream, it’s really snowing out there!!! Yes, it’s a white Christmas here in Korea, and I’ve gotta say, it is very nice indeed. I want to wish all of you a very merry Christmas, and as my present, here’s a Zip file of my Top 32 favorite songs of the year.

No, Rick Astley did not make the list, but these great tracks did. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did this year.

Adam Lambert – “If I Can’t Have You”
Alessi’s Ark – “The Horse”
Ciara & Justin Timberlake – “Love Sex & Magic”
Das Racist – “Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell (Remix)”
David Choi – “Won’t Even Start”
Drake – “The Best I Ever Had”
Eminem – “The Warning”
Girls – “Lust For Life”
Girls’ Generation – “Gee”
Glee Cast – “Endless Love”
Kelly Clarkson – “My Life Would Suck Without You”
Kris Allen – “Heartless (Live Version)”
Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance”
Lily Allen – “Fuck You”
Loney Dear – “Airport Surroundings”
Madonna & Lil Wayne – “Revolver”
Mando Diao – “Dance With Somebody”
Mariah Carey – “Betcha Gon Know (The Prologue)”
Nirvana – “Sliver (Live From Reading Version)”
Our Lady Peace – “All You Did Was Save My Life”
Pet Shop Boys – “The Way It Used To Be”
Project Jenny Project Jan & Fujiya & Miyagi – “Pins And Needles”
Rihanna – “Te Amo”
Sade – “Soldier Of Love”
Sarah Blasko – “All I Want”
Simian Mobile Disco – “Audacity Of Huge”
Super Junior – “Sorry Sorry”
T.I. & Justin Timberlake – “Dead And Gone”
Taylor Swift – “You Belong With Me”
Tori Amos – “Flavor”
Whitney Houston – “Million Dollar Bill”
William Fitzsimmons – “Heartless”

Top 32 Songs Of 2009 (Be patient, it’s a big file, but I assure you, it’s worth the wait!)

10. Loney Dear – Dear John

Dear John was the first album I heard this year that made it onto this potential list. It also opened a great year for Sweden and all the amazing acts that are calling it home. Emil Svanangen turns a bit more to his darker and depressed side on this album in comparison to 2007’s Loney Noir with lines like “all the times I make it worse with all the devils in my head” and “Tell me I’m good enough, that I could change”. Even with these lyrics the album is welcoming with it’s atmospheric textures.

09. The Mars Volta – Octahedron

When Octahedron was released I sat at my desk and stared at Rhapsody for about twenty minutes before I pushed play. There was potential for this album to go either way. After hearing the first single I must say that I was a bit frightened but in the end Octahedron turned into one of my favorite Mars Volta albums just due to the fact they pulled in the reigns a little bit. There is still the psychedelic instrumentation but at the same time everything sounds well thought out and not completely chaotic as they have been known to do in the past.

08. A.C. Newman – Get Guilty

Taking a break from his primary group, The New Pornographers, Carl Newman found in him the ability to separate himself and write songs that are distinctly all his . Neko Case definitely gets more of the public eye as a side project from the band but in a more fair world Newman would have found himself on far more top ten lists this year.

07. Other Lives – S/T

This goes down as one of the most beautiful and well written albums I’ve heard all year. The tone never really rises above a whisper but the layering of instruments is orchestrated perfectly to comprise an album that from beginning to end won’t let you down. Occasionally it can fall into the background and be forgotten but it also reels you back in to demand your full attention.

06. Beirut – March of The Zapotec & Realpeople Holland

Technically this is a maxi EP but since all the songs are written by Condon I consider it to be a Beirut album just with a side A and a side B. Side A features a mixture of many different countries from Mexican funeral processions, Eastern European/Balkan influences to early 20’s jazz. While side B dabbles in the electronic arrangements a la Postal Service. Between The Flying Cup Club and this years release Zach Condon will have to go down as one of the most under appreciated and brilliant artist that we have today.

05. Mastodon – Crack The Skye

Every top ten list needs a surprise entrant and this year it’s Mastodon. I haven’t enjoyed a metal album in a very long time but one thing that I can’t deny is that I love a talented band with great harmonizing. Stepping aside from the scream riddled songs of Blood Mountain we learn in Crack The Skye that each has a great ability to sing and harmonize with one another

04. BLK JKS – After Robots

I kept hearing about BLK JKS over and over again but for some reason I continually blew them off without even the slightest listen. I’m glad that I finally came to my sense and gave the album a spin and then another spin. The album is rich with culture and the group let’s their South African roots show through. It’s nice to hear a true afro-pop group that doesn’t wear Polo’s.

03. Fanfarlo – Reservoir

I initially picked up this album for $1 when they put it on sale around the fourth of July and since then it has been a staple of mine from day to day. The privilege to see them live last month also helped catapult Reservoir to the #3 slot. The multiple layers that each song is built on only prove the true talent of this bands multi-instrumental skills.

02. Brendan Benson – My Old Familiar Friend

It’s a shame that it took the success of the Racontuers to give Brendan Benson the boost that he needed into a spotlight that is well deserved. Benson is an extremely talented musician with the ability to write and perform songs from all different genres without making it seem awkward or forced.

01. Silversun Pickups – Swoon

An album hasn’t transfixed me the way that Swoon has in a long time. I nearly wore out my copy keeping it on constant replay. Each song comes in around five minutes and not a single minute is one that I would want to omit. The gruff and often strained voice of Brian Aubert is a welcome relief from all the pitch perfect singers that we are told is the way singing should be.

I may as well post this today since it is done. I’ve officially relistened to everything I got this year and ranked it. I’m going to do two new things this year. First off, I need to explain a little about how my taste in music (and art in general) has changed drastically. I’ll start with a quote from Franz Kafka

I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. We need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe to the frozen sea inside us.

I’ve sort of lost interest in things that don’t really affect me. I still get and listen to lots of technically amazing musicians who are doing great original things. If this were last year Andrew Bird would probably be in the top 5 because there is no denying that he wrote some of the most complicated and original music this year. He is a phenomenal violin player and shows this off as well. But his songs sort of lack any real meaning.

Let’s face it. I’m a very moody person. I like to have music that hits a huge range of emotions, so that I can find something to sympathize with me no matter my mood.

So without furthur ado, the top 10:

1. The Antlers – Hospice
2. Imogen Heap – Ellipse
3. Land of Talk – Fun and Laughter
4. Loney, Dear – Dear John
5. Doves – Kingdom of Rust
6. The Swell Season – Strict Joy
7. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
8. Regina Spektor – Far
9. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
10. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love

The honorable mentions:
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orcha
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
M. Ward – Hold Time
Sunn O))) – Monoliths & Dimensions

Now the ordering here was made with some consideration, but it shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Everything above I thought was all around great. Essentially no bad songs. All original creative things. All technically great things with a good deal of emotional content.

The middle ground stuff:
Andrew Bird, Neko Case, Dan Deacon, Tortoise, Dodos, Animal Collective, F**k Buttons, Duncan Sheik, Other Lives

These had really good aspects and had some aspects I didn’t really like. All worth getting in my opinion, but not as well rounded as the top list. For instance, I think the songs on Neko Case or Animal Collective are the best of those groups when they are good. But when they are bad, they are some of the worst either have put out. This dichotomy could not be overlooked. Actually having to skip songs on an album is a major turn-off for me.

The subpar group is as follows:
Bon Iver, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Field, Mount Eerie

These were not worth getting in my opinion, but not totally completely horrible. I enjoy some songs and aspects, but not enough to make the “middle ground” list.

The bottom three I’ll go back to ranking:
Bad: Volcano Choir – Unmap
Worse: Holopaw – Oh Glory, Oh Wilderness
Worst: Heartless Bastards – The Mountain

Other than The Antlers, everything on the top 10 I expected to be there. They’ve all impressed me in the past. So mostly my surprises are in the realm of disappointments. I’ve already said this, but for the most part I was severely disappointed this year. The other surprise was sort of Loney, Dear. I only got this because he was touring with Andrew Bird. After a few listens I thought I had gotten everything to get to it. To my surprise 8 months later, I was still not bored of it.

My biggest disappointment has to be Bon Iver. He was number 1 last year and was very close to bottom three this year. Another big disappointment was Holopaw. This was bottom three. The first time I heard this group was at a party, and it was on in the background. Music people and non-music people alike were so drawn to its greatness that there were constant comments and asking who it was. I’ve never seen anything like that occur since.

I’ll leave this post here. I didn’t rank a top 10 list for individual songs, but I probably should have. If anyone would like me to elaborate more on specific placements, just comment, I’d be happy to. Also, if there are things you thought were great but I missed, I’d love to hear about it.

You can finally exhale: here are my top 20 albums of 2009. Apart from the two top spots, the order is rather random. Ask me in ten minutes’ time, and Grizzly Bear or M. Ward might sit at number 3 and 4. I’ve put sample tracks of each album on a mix; the song titles appear at the end each abstract.

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1. Richard Hawley – Truelove’s Gutter
I didn’t expect Hawley to top his majestic 2005 album Coles Corner. A profoundly soulful pop symphony with accomplished and unusual instrumentation, Truelove’s Gutter may very well be the best album of the decade.
(Open Up Your Door) Homepage

2. Ben Kweller – Changing Horses
Kweller at last finds his sound (changing horses?) with an outstanding country album that provides an antidote to the corporate side of the genre. An absolute joy.
(Gypsy Rose) Homepage

3. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
Wilco are incapable of releasing a bad album. The eponymous album will probably not go down in the band’s history as a classic, but it’s solid quality.
(You And I) Homepage

4. Brandi Carlile – Give Up The Ghost
It took me a few listens to realise just how good an album this Rick Rubin-produced effort is. Stay-At-Home Indie Pop put it better than I could: “Anthemic, brash, cool… the abc of Brandi, and I could go on to devilish, euphoric, fresh but fragile, and beyond (to gargantuan, hoarse-heavenly, incandescent), but all I want to really do is pathetically declare my love.” But will you still do so when Brandi gets that first clutch of Grammys, Indie-Pop? See if you can guess, without googling, with whom Carlile duets on Caroline.
(Caroline) Homepage

5. Farryl Purkiss – Fruitbats & Crows
The South African singer-songwriter dude returns three years after his excellent full debut with rockier effort. Purkiss draws his influences widely but manages to create his own coherent, late night sound.
(Seraphine) Homepage

6. Elvis Perkins – Elvis Perkins In Dearland
Here’s what I wrote earlier this year: Imagine Dylan as an indie artist, but with an appealing voice. There is a bit of an experimental edge to it, which in the wrong mood can be annoying, but exhilarating in the right mood.
(Doomsday) MySpace

7. Prefab Sprout – Let’s Change The World With Music
Released 17 years after it was actually recorded, this is supposed to be Paddy McAloon’s lost masterpiece. It’s not a masterpiece, but a damn good, and very accessible album, on which McAloon is on a bit of a God trip.
(Last Of The Great Romantics) MySpace

8. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
Pitchfork calls the New Pornographer “a force of nature”. Hackneyed turns of phrases, even when they intend to pun on an album title, sometimes are just the most appropriate. Case is so much a force of nature that listening to the album can leave the listener exhausted.
(People Got A Lotta Nerve) Homepage

9. Monsters of Folk – Homework
I should love this. Two Bright Eyes guys, M. Ward and the singer of My Morning Jacket, and a batch of very good songs. It’s a fine album, and yet it fills me with a sense of unease, the same vibe I got from the Travelin’ Wilburys (and one song here sounds like a Wilburys track!). And yet, I keep returning to Homework…
(Man Named Truth) Homepage

10. Peasant – On The Ground
This deserved more of a buzz. Nicely crafted guy-with-guitar stuff that recalls Joshua Radin and, yeah, Elliot Smith, with a bit of Simon & Garfunkel. A lovely cool-down album.
(Fine Is Fine) MySpace

11. Eels – Hombre Lobo
E offers nothing much new here, but, hey, it’s an Eels album, and does everything you want an Eels album to do. That’s enough for me.
(That Look You Give That Guy) Homepage

12. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Beguiling and frequently surprising. It’s an aural extravaganza. Now, which Ben Folds does Two Weeks borrow its riff from?
(Two Weeks) MySpace

13. Mindy Smith – Stupid Love
Indie-Pop may be in love with Brandi Carlile; I declare my (admittedly promiscuous) love for the likewise deceptively named Mindy Smith. Stupid Love, it must be said, is not as breathtaking an album as Mindy’s debut, One Moment More, but it has Mindy’s beautiful voice and pleasant enough songs.
(What Went Wrong) Homepage

14. Bob Evans – Goodnight Bull Creek
I’m a great fan of Evans’ 2006 sophomore album, Suburban Songs. Like that set, Goodnight Bull Creek was recorded in Nashville. Creek lacks the immediately catchy songs of the previous album, but has a much richer, textured production.
(Brother, O Brother) Homepage

15. Jason Paul Johnston – Willows Motel
Solid country, recalling Prine rather than Twitty. And just when I think Johnstone has settled into predictable country mode, he pulls something that makes me think, “What the fuck was that?”
(She’s A Friend) MySpace

16. Marissa Nadler – Little Hells
Again, to quote myself: I am not acquainted with Nadler’s previous effort; apparently it is gloomier than Little Hells. Well, this one isn’t a courtjesters’ convention of heedless madcappery either. It is, however, a beautiful, hypnotic album which draws much of its inspiration from medieval, cloistered sounds.
(Rosary) Homepage.

17. M. Ward – Hold Time
Here Ward draws from the heritage of country and soul, from the Beach Boys and from Spector — the choice of two covers affirm the retro vibe: an excellent cover of Buddy Holly’s Rave On, a less than brilliant rendition of Hank Williams’ Oh Lonesome Me (featuring Hank Sr’s namesake Lucinda). The production is polished, the sound a lot more mainstream than previous albums
(Rave On) Homepage

18. Loney, Dear – Dear John
Our Swedish homestudio-bound genius returns with another magical multi-layered chamber-pop epic which is at once orchestral and, largely thanks to the man’s voice, intimate.
(Airport Surroundings) Homepage

19. Micah P Hinson – All Dressed Up And Smelling Of Strangers
I am not a big fan over covers albums. Usually they are self-conscious about doing something “different” with a song, or issue redundant carbon copies. Cover albums work when the performer is idiosyncratic, so unique that he or she need not try to make a song sound differently. Johnny Cash pulled it off; and for the most part Hinson does so here, where he takes on the likes of Sinatra (My Way, the ambitious fucker!), Leadbelly, Holly, Dylan, Beatles and John Denver, armed mostly only with his trusty guitar and croaking voice.
(This Old Guitar) Homepage

20. Laura Gibson – Beasts of Seasons
Pitchfork nailed it when their reviewer called the singer-songwriter Gibson’s music as “far better suited to a fireplace and a cup of warm apple cider than to your local Starbucks”. Beasts of Seasons is bleak and beautiful.
(Funeral Song) MySpace

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More Albums of the Year

Alas, after a whole lot of this and a little bit of that, my 2009 list is ready to go.

I’ll start by saying, yes, I do feel bad for the poor artists who are releasing albums this Tuesday, the 29th of December. But no, I don’t feel quite bad enough to wait until January when no one will give a flying frick about a list for 2009. By then, people will already be narrowing down their 2010 lists.

Speaking of flying fricks, I must say that my #1 and #2 artists this year entered into an epic battle with as many lead changes as the Civil War game in Oregon. Who came out on top? Well, this is a music blog, not sports, so is that really an appropriate question to ask right now? Check ESPN if you’re really that curious.

As I emitted before, I did have mixed feelings about the music of 2009. This may have been partly because I’ve always had a thing against the number 9 (especially when preceded by two zeroes or when it’s the title of a movie that probably shouldn’t have been made). But, perhaps a bigger reason, was the fact that much of the releases in the indie scene left me cold. This includes the hot-shit, heavily-hyped acts such as Girls, The xx, and Dirty Projectors, as well as the not-so-hyped-but-still-embraced-by-many mainstays like M. Ward, The Decemberists, Camera Obscura, and Antony & the Johnsons. Still, I must say that I have developed a strong attachment to these 10 albums that survived my vicious pruning practices.

Girls, the San Francisco band, not to be confused with Girls, the gender or sex description.

You may notice that more mainstream releases landed on my list this year than in the past. In fact, four of these albums were able to penetrate the Billboard 200, despite being released by independent record labels (one of them even reached number 7!) This is reflective, I believe, of a current trend towards decentralization within the music industry. Mostly due to the internet, the big artists on the big labels have become less important than ever before. Also, while the individual song may matter more than ever (thanks to the iPod and iTunes shuffle), the radio single does not have the same power that it once had. Out of the rubble from these destructive changes within the industry have emerged the viral, word-of-mouth successes of Merriweather Post Pavilion, Veckatimest, and Swoon. All of this transformation makes me optimistic about the future of music. More access to more artists and word-of-mouth (or perhaps the typing fingers) fueling success or failure.

Here ’tis. My Top 10 of 2009.

10. Metric – Fantasies: Emily Haines, formerly of Broken Social Scene, composed these songs while living in Argentina and the result is a brilliant, high-energy rock album with tragedy, romance, and singable chorus lines.

9. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: It’s tempting to call Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix overrated, with it’s poppy-as-hell presentation and car-commercial-ready content. But, when given a fair chance, the music will surely force you to think twice before employing the ‘o’ word.  This is a slick pop-rock production from one of France’s finest that deserves every ounce of its glowing attention.

8. Loney Dear – Dear John: These days, Stockholm may be giving birth to more talented artists than New York City itself (well, at least more than Jacksonville, Florida). Though he is not quite there yet, on Dear John, Emil Svanängen takes one step closer to releasing his magnum opus. Heartfelt, gorgeous indie pop that, in a just world, would launch him into stardom.

7. The Felice Brothers – Yonder is the Clock: The album that Bob Dylan should be making right about now (but isn’t). While it is nearly impossible to overlook the Dylan-esque touches on Yonder, that doesn’t take away from the undeniable quality of the music. A scrappy, richly-layered folk-rock effort that has left me curious about the direction of the new folk movement.

6. Japandroids – Post Nothing: Does Post Nothing really belong in the 1990s? Who cares! As far as I’m concerned, it belongs wherever and whenever it’s being played. The Japandroids are a noise-pop / garage/ punk duo from Vancouver, BC and an answer to the question: How good would No Age be if Dean Allen Spunt could carry a tune? An album that gives voice to all the frustrated longings of a 20-something bachelor that, in the end, resemble all the frustrated longings of a pubescent teenage boy.

This would be a good time to take a bathroom break before jumping into the Top 5.

5. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion: Everything that could be written about Merriweather Post Pavilion already has been in the online world, so I’ll spare you a long-winded exposition. This career-defining release from one of the decade’s most creative and, arguably, influential bands is psychodelic, tribal, confusing, and addictive.

4. Silversun Pickups – Swoon: On their second album, Swoon, the self-assured Silverlake rock and roll outfit know what sound they want and almost flawlessly achieve it. Features my aforementioned Song of the Year alongside a handful of driving, sometimes aggressive, tracks with crunchy guitars and androgynous vocals.

3. The Antlers – Hospice: Partly due to the (somewhat inaccurate) mythology of Peter Silberman writing these songs while locked away in complete isolation, there is a lot of intrigue surrounding Hospice. It is a deeply personal musical voyage that includes the full spectrum of raw human emotion–from the icy, lethargic lows captured in “Prologue” to the towering, doughty heights of “Sylvia” and “Two.” Despite my newfound appreciation for The Antlers,  a part of me hopes that this is their last album because Silberman says and does everything that he needs to here.

2. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport: Not for everyone! On Tarot Sport, this British duo combines the audacity and repetitious ambiance of house music with the dramatic, sometimes triumphant climaxes of post-rock (it makes sense that they are friends with Mogwai). The result is a 7-song noisy experiment that works.

1. Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle: I hate using the word perfect. It’s too easy. You can just whip it out like it’s nothing to in order to quickly and painlessly convince your friends that you really like something. So I guess I’ll edit myself. From the opening, bittersweet guitar line coupled with a p-%f-#tly framed lyric: “I started out in search of ordinary things. How much of a tree bends in the wind” all the way to the string-filled “I put God away” refrain at the album’s end, Callahan demonstrates his penchant for profound simplicity. This former Smog frontman has approached p-%f-#tion on this 9-track, no-lull album that makes me wonder if breakup albums are wasted on the young. In the end, it is the words (and the spaces between the words) that make Eagle such a breathtaking piece of art: “I used to be sorta blind but now I can sorta see.”

Tell me what you think! Go ahead and drop your own Top 10 in the Comments Section. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the year in music.

Meanwhile, look for Caleb’s post before Christmas.

This is the final part of the series of my favourite top ten albums of every year through the ’00s. And to celebrate it, I accidentally wrote 11 reviews. So these are a top 11 then. There is still a link up to my top 20 albums of 2008, which covers that year, and I’ll post a similar mix of my top 20 for 2009 once I have decided which they are. As before, I’m sad to leave out some fine albums from ’07, including efforts by Josh Ritter, Kate Walsh, Laura Gibson, Rilo Kiley, Jens Lekman, Maria Taylor, Rickie Lee Jones, Feist, Billie the Vision & the Dancers, A Fine Frenzy, The National, Brooke Fraser, Foo Fighters, Over The Rhine, Andrew Bird, Josh Rouse, Iron & Wine, Miranda Lambert, Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles, Common, Tim McGraw, The Shins, Abra Moore…

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Wilco – Sky Blue Sky

The Wilco cognoscenti are rather too ready to dismiss the unpretentious Sky Blue Sky, measuring it against the experimentations of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born. This is an uncomplicated album, and does what its creators set out to do admirably. Here, Jeff Tweedy and chums eschew cacophonic innovations for a straight-forward, mellow rock album that channels the ’60s (Dylan, Grateful Dead, Abbey Road-era Beatles) and ’70s (Van Morrison, Pink Floyd, the Eagles, Thin Lizzy) without losing its identity as a Wilco album. Sky Blue Sky is immediate and intimate. Nels Cline’s guitar work is an utter joy. The highlight here is Impossible Germany, with Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline duelling on a magnificent guitar solo, an integral part of the song’s lyrics, that borrows from Gary Moore (check out Thin Lizzy’s Sarah) and Carlos Santana.
Wilco – Either Way.mp3
Wilco – Impossible Germany.mp3

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Brandi Carlile – The Story

The name Brandi Carlile suggests a fake-breasted airhead straight outta the Playboy Mansion. As the reader may have guessed by dint of her inclusion on this list, that notion is way of the mark. Carlile is a hugely talented writer and singer of solid rock and country-rock songs. I liked her eponymous 2005 debut, which was rather more rootsy than this set. Here Carlile straddles genres, veering from rock (My Song) to folk-pop (Turpentine) to country (“Have You Ever”). Her distinctive voice can whisper softly and soar ferociously (hear the climactic Joplinesque roar on the title track). The lyrics booklet reveals that Carlile wrote some of the songs as a teenager in 2000 or earlier, hinting at a precocious talent.
Brandi Carlile – The Story.mp3

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Loney, Dear – Loney Noir

The bizzarely named Loney, Dear (real name Emil Svanängen) is something of a genius working in his Stockholm bedroom studio, in which he conducts an orchestra consisting of himself. Operating mostly under the cover of earphones so as not to wake the rest of the household, his songs tend to start softly before building up to a multi-layered, orgasmic crescendo. The melodies are pretty — even twee, in the way Belle & Sebastian are twee — and Svanängen’s high and slight voice is appealing enough, within the context of his music. But I have no idea whether the lyrics are any good; I’ve never really listened to them; I rather have the bedroom symphonies wash over me.
Loney, Dear – Saturday Waits.mp3
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Nicole Atkins – Neptune City

Neptune City came out at a time when Amy Winehouse, another artists borrowing from pop’s rich legacy, was absolutely everywhere. I prefer Atkins’ eclectic references over Winehouse’s mannered soul pastiche. Neptune City is, in places, like Petula Clark covering Blondie through an ABBA filter — glorious pop. On other tracks, Atkins does torchsong soul (“The Way It Is”), or goes into ’80s throwback mode, sounding like the B-52s as sung by Sandie Shaw on Broadway (“Love Surreal” or the rousing “Brooklyn On Fire”, which featured here). Elsewhere there are hints of Phil Spector’s production and Edith Piaf and Joni Mitchell. It should be a total retro mess, but it isn’t. It sounds entirely modern. Neptune City may not be an entirely cohesive album, but it is rather fabulous.
Nicole Atkins – Love Surreal.mp3

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Holmes Brothers – State Of Grace

Some time ago I posted the Holmes’ Brothers gospel-blues style cover of Cheap Trick’s I Want You To Want Me (HERE) from this album. That track was my introduction to the Holmes Brothers, who had released nine albums before this one, starting in 1991 — more than three decades after the two Holmes brothers, Sherman and Wendell, started in the music business. The third member, drummer Popsy Dixon, hooked up with them in the mid-’60s. But they did not become the Holmes Brothers until 1979, having spent the interim as a covers bar-band. Covering blues, soul, gospel, country and even a spot of bluegrass, State Of Grace is warm and often surprising, especially in the Virginian group’s interpretation of other people’s songs, which include tracks by Lyle Lovett (twice), Credence Clearwater Revival, Nick Lowe, Hank Williams Sr and Johnny Mathis. Guesting here with the three brothers are Joan Osborne (who championed the Holmes Brothers in the 1990s), The Band’s Levon Helms and Rosanne Cash. Featured here is the Hank Williams song, featuring Cash.
The Holmes Brothers (with Rosanne Cash) – I Can’t Help It If I’m Still In Love With You.mp3

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Panda Bear – Person Pitch

I can’t claim to be much of an Animal Collective fan. I’m sure I would be if I had the patience to get into them. I was not going to have patience either with this solo album by Collective’s drummer Noah Lennox. But I was attracted to it by the cover art and a glowing Pitchfork review. For some reason I ended up playing Person Pitch on loop, and was entranced by it. The critics in their reviews invariably referenced Brian Wilson, and coming a couple of years after SmiLE (another album I got into by playing it on loop) was released, that is neither surprising nor inaccurate. Person Pitch is a glorious psychedelic trip, especially the epic Bros, that owes a tip of the hat also to the Beatles.
Panda Bar – Bros.mp3

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Richard Hawley – Lady’s Bridge

It is this album’s misfortune to be chronologically sandwiched between Hawley’s two masterpieces, 2005’s Coles Corner and this year’s Truelove’s Gutter, two of the decades finest albums. Lady’s Bridge may not quite reach the heights of those masterpieces, but it gets damn close. It is a very, very good album, with no weak point. It is mostly a sad collection. The gorgeous opener, Valentine, will move the vulnerable listener to tears, or close to it, especially when the strings swell and the drums emphasise the anguish. A couple of rockabilly songs and the upbeat Tonight The Streets Are Ours lighten the mood before suitably gloomy (and very lovely) songs called Our Darkness and The Sun Refused To Shine close the set.
Richard Hawley – Tonight The Streets Are Ours.mp3

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Missy Higgins – On A Clear Night

Where Missy Higgins full debut album The Sound Of White (with its astonishing title track) was mostly plaintive in sound; On A Clear Night is more accessible and upbeat. Higgins invests her intelligent lyrics with evocative vocals. The Sound Of White dealt much with trauma and depression; On A Clear Night is frequently life affirming, talking of escape, healing and self-assertion. Thankfully Higgins’ toned down her distinctive Australian accent which previously came perilously close to making her sound like an Aussie wicketkeeper. This is the kind of album that may at first seem slight, but its depth reveals itself after repeated listens. Crowded House’s Neil Finn makes an appearance on the album, contributing guitar to Peachy and backing vocals to the lovely Going North. That’s what it says on the booklet; I can barely hear the guy.
Missy Higgins – Going North.mp3

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Bright Eyes – Cassadaga

In 2005, Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning was by far my album of the year. It was an immediately accessible album in ways its predecessors were not. Cassadaga is not as easy to fall in love with as I’m Wide Awake. It is a grower which requires a few spins before its full beauty reveals itself. Songs that at first do not seem much creep into the ear slowly, and then take root. It is a richly textured, and cohesive album. Connor Oberst’s poetic lyrics are delivered here with greater self-assurance and less of a quiver than on preceding albums. At times, the album overreaches in its ambitions, and another spoken intro on the first track is simply pretentious. For this album Oberst roped in guests such as the marvellous Maria Taylor, Gillian Welch and Rilo Kiley’s Jason Boesel (whose backing vocals on the excellent “If The Brakeman Turns My Way” provide an album highlight).
Bright Eyes – If The Brakeman Turns My Way.mp3

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Rosie Thomas – These Friends Of Mine

Rosie Thomas’ fourth album is her most consistent. It’s for albums like these that the hackneyed phrase “achingly beautiful” was invented for. On These Friends Of Mine, she is supported by her friends Damien Jurado, Denison Witmer and Sufjan Stevens. The lyrical thread running through the album is love and New York, sometimes both together. Recorded as live, the album is engagingly intimate. The sparse, moving “Why Waste More Time?” is preceded by an appealingly giggly count-in. The cover version of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love”, nice though it is, seems redundant, but Tomas’ interpretation of Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” captures the intense delicacy of the original. The highlight, however, is “Much Farther To Go”, a love song in which the arrangement, harmonies and lyrics coalesce to create an evocative hymn to deep yearning (like Nicole Atkins’ Brooklyn’s On Fire, it featured here).
Rosie Thomas – If This City Never Sleeps.mp3

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Colbie Caillat – Coco

Like Lily Allen and Kate Nash before her, Colbie Caillat launched herself into the pop charts on the strength of Internet buzz. Releasing her music first on MySpace, she was soon picked up by the music blog community. Her debut album, titled rather cornily after her childhood nickname, is breezy folk-pop of the sort usually associated, by way of deceptive shorthand, with the rather more boring Jack Johnson. In sound Caillat is much closer to Tristan Prettyman, her fellow Californian who burst on to the scene equally unexpectedly in 2005. This is summer music, agreeably laid-back yet effervescent, and, crucially, not banal.
Colbie Caillat – Battle.mp3

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My top 10 albums for 2008 (not a vintage year) were:
Jay Brannan – Goddamned
Ron Sexsmith – Exit Strategy Of The Soul
Tift Merritt – Another Country
The Weepies – Hideaway
Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue
Kathleen Edwards – Asking For Flowers
Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
Ben Folds – Way To Normal
Hello Saferide – More Modern Short Stories…
Neil Diamond – Home Before Dark

Full post here

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More Albums of the Year

Live concert photos of Loney dear from Korjaamo, Helsinki 22.5.2009:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chelsea_6791/sets/72157622906865460/

In last month’s Q magazine, I read with some surprise and not a little disappointment, their (rather early) list of the top 50 albums of 2009. Although these lists are by their very nature incredibly subjective, I found myself taking issue with the vast majority of their choices. Lily Allen at number 7? Kasabian at number 1? The Decemberists skulking around just outside the 50? All quite laughable.

But at least it prompted me to start thinking about my own choices, and encouraged me to compile my list. At the outset, I will explain that it contains several albums that were not released this year – in fact, in at least one case, not even this century. However, they are all albums that are new to me this year, that I had not previously heard until 2009. In the interests of fairness I did try to keep the older ones out of the top 20, and in fact only one managed to sneak in.

I will present the list in full, without comment, and maybe revisit that decision and add a brief note to each one when I have more time.

I’d be more than happy to receive your thoughts on my choices, and your suggestions of glaring omissions.

In the interests of suspense, I will present them in ascending order of merit, from 50 to 1.

50)  Staff Benda Bililli – Tres, Tres Fort

A group of paraplegic street musicians who live in the grounds of Kinshasa Zoo in Kenya, including a 17 year-old performing incredible guitar-like solos on a one-string electric lute he designed and built himself out of a tin can. What’s not to love?

49)  Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

My introduction to the wonders of Wilco – the American Radiohead, according to some.

48)  Vetiver – Tight Knit

One of many new bands I discovered this year, and a pleasant record, but probably not their best. Enjoyed their set in the Big Top at the End of The Road Festival in September.

47)  The Low Anthem – Oh My God Charlie Darwin

If more of the songs were as good as the title track, this could have been a top 20 contender. An odd mix of lo-fi nu-folk (a la Fleet Foxes) and growly mad stomping blues (like Tom Waits let loose in a potting shed).

46)  The Broken Family Band – Welcome Home, Loser

One of three of theirs in the 50, and full of very fine songs with the trademark BFB witty lyrics and a fab cover photo and title to boot.

45)  Florence and The Machine – Lungs

I resisted this until late November, as all the hype surrounding Florence, La Roux, Little Boots et al and their electro-pop revolution had made we want to give them all a wide berth. However, Florence doesn’t really fit that mould, is clearly the pick of the bunch and this is quite a fabulous album. Great pair of lungs too.

44)  Taylor Swift – Fearless

Stands out from the rest in this list as rather poppy and young, but Ms Swift does write a fine tune and lyric. Although this was purchased for Mrs Cook’s birthday the sheer catchy-ness of these songs has infected me too.

43)  Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass

Undoubtedly the best album title in the list, and packed with some fantastic songs. As ever with Yo La Tengo, they manage to sound like at least five different bands over the course of the same record. Never a dull moment.

42)  Cat Power – The Greatest

Spurred on by her great version of ‘Amazing Grace’ on the ‘Dark Was The Night’ compilation, I got this for a half price itunes bargain and was not in the least disappointed. Great voice, great piano, and a number of fine songs.

41)  Great Lake Swimmers – Great Lake Swimmers

Haven’t had time to listen to this one as much as the other two in the list by this fine Canadian band, but their debut showed signs of the huge promise that has been fulfilled on the subsequent records. Folky acoustic songs of the highest order.

40)  Great Lake Swimmers – Ongiara

This one had me from the opening seconds of the opening song ‘Your Rocky Spine’, discovered on Spotify on my birthday using my new laptop speakers. Was enthralled by this album for most of that afternoon. Sounded even better with the backdrop of the Canadian Rockies that inspired it on our trip in June.

39)  Woodpigeon – Songbook

Another Canadian band, and one of my first Spotify discoveries. ‘Death by Ninja (a Love Story)’, ‘A Sad Country Ballad For A Tired Superhero’ and ‘A Hymn For 2 Walks In Different Cities’ are all quite brilliant songs, in very different ways. Fast becoming a favourite band of mine.

38)  The Broken Family Band – Please And Thank You

Their most recent, and sadly their last album as they split up in October. The usual reliably great tunes, combined with the occasional barbed lyric, this would have been higher but for the fact I haven’t listened to it as much as my favourite of theirs, ‘Balls’, that appears further up the list.

37)  Band Of Horses – Cease To Begin

So much fuss is made of the Fleet Foxes, but I actually much prefer their Sub Pop label-mates BOH: there is more to the music, the instrumentation is better and the songs are a bit more interesting than the Foxes pastoral by numbers. For me, not as immediately satisfying as their debut, which appears higher up, but definitely worth a listen or several.

36)  John Martyn – Solid Air (Remastered)

Sadly I’d never heard any of John Martyn’s music until after he died earlier this year – this remastered version of one of his most popular records was a great starting point. ‘May You Never’, ‘Over The Hill’ and ‘I’d Rather Be The Devil’ are all stand-out tracks and I love his distinctive guitar playing style.

35)  The Acorn – Glory Hope Mountain

Checked this out after a very good set they played at the End Of The Road Festival: intriguing acoustic rock – a bit of a grower.

34)  Cage The Elephant – Cage The Elephant

Brash, noisy, full of energy and highly enjoyable.

33)  Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

Love the cover, love the title, love his voice, adore ‘Rococo Zephyr’ and this would have been higher except one or two tracks are a bit too weird for my taste.

32)  Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

Think I need to give this more time, especially as many people have raved about it, but it is a step up from her debut and contains some great moments.

31)  She Keeps Bees – Nests

Another itunes bargain following a sterling closing set at the EOTR Festival, this is well worth checking out. A band to watch out for.

30)  The Decemberists – The Crane Wife

My ultimate discovery of the past year, as regular readers will know, Portland, Oregon’s finest are very much my favourite band these days. This was the first album of theirs I heard and there are a number of outstanding tracks here, such as ‘Crane Wife 3′, ‘The Shankhill Butchers’, ‘O Valencia’ and ‘Yankee Bayonet’. A good starting point for new listeners, but not my favourite, as will become apparent.

29)  The Duke & The King – Nothing Gold Can Stay

Would have been much further up the top 30 if every track had been as good as ‘If You Ever Get Famous’, one of my favourite songs of the year. Sadly, only one or two other tracks come close to matching it, although I suspect this record’s a grower and I need to give it more time. They were fantastic live at the End Of The Road Festival in September when they added a lot more punch and panache to these stripped-down songs.

28)  Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band – Outer South

Any record featuring Conor Oberst’s distinctive vocals and trademark lyrical dexterity is always going to get in my top 30. This year he manages it twice with two different, new bands. Haven’t given this one as much of a listen as The Monsters Of Folk, but a good set of songs as ever.

27)  Regina Spektor – Far

As with so many of the albums in this list, this one started as a speculative Spotify selection, and over the course of several listens to this captivating set of songs and Spektor’s quirkily endearing vocals, I grew too fond of it to only have access to it via my computer. Well worth a listen if you’ve never heard of her before, and not only for her dolphin impression on ‘Folding Chair’ and beat box ending on ‘Eet’.

26)  The Broken family Band – Balls

I discovered this album in the middle of the Summer and just couldn’t stop listening to it. Some of the most acerbic and barbed but hilarious lyrics I’ve ever heard are matched to some of the most beautiful, perky and downright hummable tunes. ‘It’s All Over’ and ‘Alone in the Make-Out Room’ are absolute solid-gold standouts but there really isn’t a bad track here. If you’ve never heard this record, Spotify it immediately!

25)  First Aid Kit – Drunken Trees

OK, so strictly speaking this is an EP, but with 8 tracks and 3 bonus videos on the download version, I think it merits inclusion. One of the acts I’m sad to have missed at The End Of The Road Festival, these Swedish sisters have a great way with harmony, are talented instrumentalists and write their own interesting songs. Having said that, the best track here is their stunning cover of Fleet Foxes’ ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’.

24)  Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

Many high profile musicians claim Grizzly Bear as their favourite band, which always makes me a bit skeptical. Having tried and failed to get my ears around their previous album ‘Yellow House’ on Spotify I held out for a while on this, their latest, despite reading many rave reviews. When my resistance was eventually worn down by a very good track included on one of the free CDs from ‘The Word’ magazine and a Spotify test drive I started to see what the fuss was all about. A bit like ‘Bitte Orca’ by Dirty Projectors higher up this list, this is a record that challenges the listener and broadens your musical perspective as a reward.

23)  Band Of Horses – Everything All The Time

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m indebted to one of my brother’s friends for recommending Band Of Horses, and they turned out to be one of my favourite discoveries of the year. This is their first album, and my favourite of the two so far. Lots of great songs to choose from here, but the guitar riffs in ‘Weed Party’ are sufficient on their own to make me want to learn how to play that elusive instrument despite my complete lack of musical skill.

22)  The Decemberists – Picaresque

Of all the albums in this list you’re unlikely to find one with a better or more flamboyant opening track than Picaresque’s ‘The Infanta’. From the initial rumbling jungle sounds, to the tenor warbling at the grand finale this song is a master-class in showing-off.

21)  The Airborne Toxic Event – The Airborne Toxic Event

20)  Joyce, Nana Vasoncelos & Mauricio Maestro – Visions Of Dawn

19)  Monsters Of Folk – Monsters Of Folk

18)  Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew

17)  Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels

16)  Woodpigeon – Treasury Library Canada

15)  Muse – The Resistance

14)  Slow Club – Yeah So

13)  Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs

12)  Wilco – Wilco The Album

11)  The Leisure Society – Sleeper

10)  Emmy The Great – First Love

9)  Joe Gideon & The Shark – Harum Scarum

8)  Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

7)  Loney Dear – Dear John

6)  Various Artists – Dark Was The Night

5)  Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!

4)  The Cave Singers – Welcome Joy

3)  Loney Dear – Loney, Noir

2)  Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More

1)  The Decemberists – The Hazards Of Love

SIGHT
These United States – Everything Touches Everything (scarecrow rock)
Loney Dear – I Was Only Going Out (mirrors the sweetness of the song)
Grand Archives – Oslo Novelist (construction paper odyssey)
Fruit Bats – The Ruminant Band (a raucous eulogy)
Lissy Trullie – Ready for the Floor (meant to post this ages ago)
Dead Man’s Bones – Dead Hearts (wishbone legs and falling stars)

SOUND
Midnight Masses – Walk on Water (dreamy, sparse, members of TVotR)
Princeton – Sadie and Andy (doomed duet)
Nirvana – Scoff (a punky peek from a 1990 show in Portland)
Real Estate – Beach Comber (lives up to the title)
Seven Saturdays – A Beautiful Day (a slightly happier M83/Mogwai)
Lymbyc Systym – Ghost Clock (instrumental escape)
Lou Barlow – Gravitate (sideshow folk)

Loney Dear – “I was only going out”

http://www.loneydear.com/

http://www.myspace.com/nilsemil

Seeing as currently Loney Dear’s Dear John is on my top ten list for the year I feel that it’s my duty to post the new video for the track “I Was Only Going Out”. The video is definitely a little more, I don’t know, experimental? confusing? than Emil’s previous videos. It depicts a women walking around in a dress wrapped in a bed sheet with what appears to be a light bright under her dress.

Music @ Gigs

A couple of support bands to mention in dispatches:

R.S.A.G. – I have not been able to avail of several recent opportunities to see Jeremy Hickey – the man behind the “Rarely Seen Above Ground” moniker – play. Therefore, there was a certain quirk of fate so in how he ended up being drafted in as last minute support for Pixies’ Thursday night show, following complaints the night before about the lack of an opening band. The wait was worth it, as this man & his one-man silhouette band put down an intense rhythmic set.

Specifically, a multi-instrumentalist in the recording studio à la Graham Van Pelt of Miracle Fortress, Hickey goes one further live, by only doing the vocals and percussion live and then projecting multiple shadowy images of himself playing the other parts onto a backing screen. For this novelty alone, he is worth checking out. However, he equally has some cracking tunes in his arsenal.

On the night, the set builds up momentum the further it goes along, with the likes of Counting Down and Stick to Your Line, and Good Times (Don’t Be a Fake) all excellent. Longer-term, there may be a need to offer a more diversified sound live if he is to keep on pulling in the punters. For a thirty-minute set, though, it was class!

Wintersleep – Like so many other Canadian bands, Wintersleep have been on my radar for a few years now without a chance to go see them play (yep, I know that they visited the Academy back in May, I just wasn’t free to go). While their current direction, as best represented by 2007 album Welcome to the Night Sky, might be a little too sugary and instantly accessible for my tastes, there is still a lot to recommend in their two earlier albums and this third one is well worth a listen too.

Last night they were in Dublin to support Editors. While they showed that trademark pleasant politeness of most visiting Canadian musicians, I was somewhat surprised by just how loudly they did rock, especially with a lengthy instrumental section on a brand new song that I did not catch the name of. At the same time, I still found myself preferring the more alt-folk feel that there was to Weighty Ghost, which featured earlier in the set. That said, their louder music was pretty enthusiastically received on the whole by an above-average early attendance. So, it looks like I was in a small minority on that score. Hey-ho!

Music @ Videos

And, as always, here is your weekly avalanche of videos as we head into the weekend! Let it be a good one, amgios!

The Raveonettes – Last Dance

oooOOOooo

Deerhoof – Don’t Get Born

oooOOOooo

Digging Roots – Spring To Come

oooOOOooo

Mission of Burma – 1, 2, 3, Partyy

oooOOOooo

Joan of Arc – Flowers

oooOOOooo

Loney Dear – I Was Only Going Out

oooOOOooo

Regina Spektor – Man of a Thousand Faces

oooOOOooo

The Flaming Lips – I Can Be A Frog

Still mining my k of shots from The End of the Road Festival but I have no idea whose these belong to. Could it be Loney Dear? Motel Motel? Vetiver? I really need to go back and work out the sequence of shot to place it.

This falls under my funny little fetish for shooting the ‘ephemera’ of stage performance, especially all the detritus that litters the floor around a performer – water bottles, can of Red Stripe, wires, guitar pedals, setlists. In Josh Weller’s case, I seem to recall taking photographs of assorted fruit.

I love how an isolated body shot can show a whole new aspect of performance; reveal an element of performer identity.

I guess I’m also remembering that as I grew up, I became acutely aware of how shoes really do maketh the man. Watching kids older than me, learning the music they were into and noting the careful attention to footwear: Adam Cocoran, the Morrissey fan in the year above at college who wore a beautiful pair of leather winkle pickers; the guy who worked in the second hand vinyl place at the top of the hight street with his dirty converse sneakers peeking out from under stonewashed denim jeans. Footwear always at two extremes – the most simple, cheapest, shittiest low grade trainers or hand crafted, leather-soled and buffed up to a shine.

That’s why shoes are so important. They make a statement that says, “I am too cool to give a shit” or “I am so cool and I give a shit”. The space between is what disappoints: where there has been a half-hearted effort and the result is some shiny Nikes or something. That why I don’t take pictures of the feet of rappers. I like the dirt.

Loney Dear is the a project led and run by Emil Svanängen of Sweden.

He started the project several years ago and in 2006 caught the attention of Sub Pop Records where he released his first official album, Loney, Noir, in 2007.

Now, his second full-length was released early this year throughPolyvinyl Records. I’m talking really early. January-type of early.


Anyway, the album is called Dear John and is a great collection of varying pop songs.

Loney Dear is currently on tour throughout the United States with Asobi Seksu. The tour ends on October 17th.

Loney Dear – Airport Surroundings

Website
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The Leisure Society on The Garden Stage

Well, it has been over a week since I got back from the End of The Road Festival, and the delay in writing is down to a busy schedule and wondering how on earth I could do justice to such an amazing weekend in a blog post (or few). I had such an incredible time I could probably waffle on for weeks, but instead I’ll try and capture my thoughts as efficiently as possible.

In a sentence:
“Had an amazing time at the End of The Road: 3 days, 24 bands, gorgeous setting, fab weather, great food, lots of laughs and very good company. I’ve found my festival!” [as I posted to Facebook immediately on my return]

In a paragraph:

A really welcoming, well organised festival that is clearly run and staffed by people who love music, and very good music at that.  The setting is unique and wonderful and the line-up was really excellent – that 24 band tally could have easily been 30 if it weren’t for scheduling clashes and not being able to be in two places at once. Got to see some bands I love play live for the first time, and discovered many more great bands and artists. Great weather helped, but the atmosphere was lovely and friendly, all facilities and refreshments were far better than expected and it all added up to a wonderful experience I’ll never forget. A cracking choice for my festival debut!

The top ten

So, who were the best? In order to build suspense slightly, I’ll cover my top ten favourites from the weekend in reverse order:

10.  Fleet Foxes (Garden Stage, Saturday 9.30-11.00pm)

They were good, but not as good as expected. Headlining on Saturday night was always going to be difficult for a band with only one album’s worth of material. Long gaps between songs, constant needless retuning of guitars and one awful cover version (‘Go your own way’ by Fleetwood Mac? Why cover a band/song that’s far worse than your own material?) used up the time, but detracted from the spectacle. As did the moronic wailing of a drunken idiot in our vicinity trying to ’sing’ along. Why would someone do that when listening to a band famed for their wonderful harmonising? Because he was an absolute ………  However, it’s hard to think of a better band to listen to in this setting – surrounded by a forest under a clear star-filled sky. Best songs: Tiger Mountain Peasant Song, White Winter Hymnal.

9. Neko Case (Garden Stage, Sunday 7.45 -8.45pm)

One of many very nice surprises over the weekend, Miss Case and her band delivered a very lively, varied set with great energy and enthusiasm. Good songs, great co-singer and amusing banter made for a very pleasant warm-up for The Hold Steady immediately afterwards. Best songs: Some People Gotta Lot of Nerve, Middle Cyclone, Don’t Forget Me.

The Acorn: two drummers, fine tunes

8. The Acorn (Garden Stage, Saturday 4.45 -5.45pm)

Another pleasant surprise. We’d decided to stay in the Garden Stage area after The Broken Family Band because it was such a gorgeous sunny afternoon. Had never heard of The Acorn before, but the programme write-up sounded promising, and so it proved. Folk rock with a world music tinge, two drummers and a very smiley and amiable lead singer combined with some chilled out, dreamy songs matched the weather and the mid-afternoon mood perfectly. Best songs: Crooked Legs, Hold Your Breath.

7.  Darren Hayman (Garden Stage, Saturday 1.00 – 1.45pm)

Biggest and best surprise of the weekend. Neither I nor my mate Jon had heard of Darren Hayman, but we were in such a great mood after the wonderful opening set from the Leisure Society that we stayed put on our comfortable chairs and gave him a chance. Very glad we did. Turns out he used to be the singer in Hefner, a semi-popular indie band of the mid to late 90’s and he is still in possession of an ear for a good tune and some of the funniest lyrics I’ve ever heard. He clearly loves this festival, and his enthusiasm, great humour and sunny disposition create a really convivial atmosphere in marked contrast to his arch songs of suburban tedium. Best songs: Pram Town, Rachel and Amy.

6.  Dirty Projectors (Garden Stage, Friday 7.45 – 8.45pm)

Immediately preceded by a great Festival moment – sitting down to give our legs a much needed rest, a couple of parrots flew just over our heads as the sun started setting. That moment of tranquility was soon shattered by the experiments in noise being conducted by Dirty Projectors. Three girls, three guys, some occasional screeching vocals, and frenetic guitar sequences produced a barrage of sound that was sometimes challenging but also very fresh and interesting. Their boundless energy and contagious enthusiasm combined with some impressive songs to create a very memorable set which would have been worthy of the headline slot they just missed out on. Best songs: No Intention, Two Doves, Stillness Is The Move, Remade Horizon, Knotty Pine.

The Broken Family Band: It's All Over - literally

5.  The Broken Family Band (Garden Stage, Saturday 3.30 -4.15pm)

In the three months between seeing the ads for the festival line-up and actually attending, I’d discovered the many delights of The Broken Family Band’s back catalogue and was greatly looking forward to seeing them. Even more so as they’d announced a couple of weeks before the End of The Road that they are splitting up in October, so this would possibly be my first and last chance to see them. They didn’t disappoint exactly, and produced a very enjoyable set, but because they didn’t include many of my favourite songs I was left a little underwhelmed, probably hampered by sky-high expectations. There were still some great moments, including great versions of ‘It’s All Over’ and ‘John Belushi’, but the understated set was perhaps  best summed up by the singer’s intro to their last song: “It’s not one of our best songs, but it’s in A”.

4.  The Leisure Society (Garden Stage, Saturday 12.00 – 12.30pm)

I knew very little indeed about this Brighton-based band before they opened Saturday on the Garden Stage, but they provided probably the nicest surprise of the weekend. They were only on stage for half an hour but made a very big impression, their intelligent, beautifully played indie-pop songs providing the perfect backdrop to a sunny Saturday lunchtime. In particular their female flute player and the two guys on violin and cello who’d travelled overnight from France to get here really shone. Another highlight was the very witty banter from the singer/keyboardist, which greatly amused us but seemed to pass over the heads of most of the assembled throng. The songs were more than enough on their own though, and ensured that I downloaded their debut album ‘The Sleeper’ on my return home. It’s since become a firm favourite and I’d love to see them play live again soon now I’m familiar with the songs. Best songs: Matter of Time, A Fighting Chance, The Last of The Melting Snow, Save It For Someone Who Cares.

3.  The Duke & The King (Big Top, Friday 6.00 – 6.45pm)

Friday’s highlight was a fantastic performance from The Duke & The King which really lifted the festival to another level. I’d been enjoying their first album recently and was looking forward to seeing them here, but wasn’t prepared for how good they’d be live.  Simon Felice (from the band the Felice Brothers) made an early bid for front man of the festival with a mesmirising display – shy he ain’t! In fact all four band members gave energetic performances full of soul that transformed many of their songs into really moving, uplifting experiences. They all enjoyed their moment in the limelight too: the female violinist and the bassist taking centre stage for a fantastic rendition of ‘Suzanne’, and the drummer pretty much stealing the show with his spine-tingling vocal contributions. Best songs: If You Ever Get Famous, Suzanne, Union Street.

2.  The Hold Steady (Garden Stage, Sunday 9.30 – 11.00pm)

They’ve been one of my favourite bands for a couple of years now, and this was the first time I was going to see them live. Given the fact that they were virtually closing the festival, in Sunday’s headline slot, I was a bit worried that my expectations would be too great and I’d be disappointed. Not so.

By the time they came on stage I was very excited, and it was just great to be able to hear so many songs I like given a new lease of life by a band on the top of their form. Well, eventually. It took a little while for them to get into their stride and the sound engineers took about 5 songs to get Craig Finn’s microphone right, which is a bit of a disadvantage when you miss all the lyrical nuances because the singer’s not properly in the mix.  They got better and better as the set went on, the whole band growing in confidence and enthusiasm. Franz Nicolay on keyboard was coolness personified – playing incredibly whilst appearing to be making no effort whatsoever, and as Craig Finn careered round the stage, yelling and jumping up and down he carried off a perfect impression of a man who loves his job. A great end to a fantastic weekend.  Best songs: Stuck Between Stations, Chips Ahoy!, Massive Nights, Your Little Hoodrat Friend.

1.  Joe Gideon & The Shark (Big Top, Sunday 3.00 – 3.45pm)

And the best performance of the weekend? An absolute belter, quite out of the blue, from this London-based brother and sister duo who have more than a whiff of The White Stripes about them. Except they have better songs. I’d checked them out on Spotify a week before the festival and was impressed enough to suggest to Jon that we should make sure we saw them. So glad I did! After a slightly unsure start, playing two of their weakest songs, Jon showed signs of wanting to do a runner, as we had on a couple of occasions already on Sunday. Thankfully we stayed put and were rewarded as from somewhere, something quite magical started to happen.  The Shark, on drums and sampler keyboards, started playing out of her skin and was mesmirising to watch. Her confidence seemed to rub off on her sibling, who discovered an unforeseen swagger and started wielding his guitar like a weapon.

A four song sequence at the end of the set was worth the admission price for the weekend alone: After the amusing and raucous ‘Hide And Seek’, came the wonderful ‘Kathy Ray’ gently unfolding the tale of a backing singer reliving past glories. By this stage there was a real emotional bond between band and audience and the next song took everything to another level. ‘Anything You Love That Much … You Will See Again’ is a really beautiful, moving yet uplifting song that just came to life in the Big Top here in a way you couldn’t replicate on record. Hit by wave after wave of raw emotion, I suddenly understood why bands play live. It was a spine-tingling, jaw-dropping moment, and the best song of the festival for me. I couldn’t believe they didn’t finish there, with the entire tent in their palms. As it was, the bold move of playing ‘Civilisation’ as their closing song paid off and left me buzzing and breathless. What a show!

Best of the rest

Suspense is not as important with these, so I’ll keep to numerical order:

11.  She Keeps Bees (The Local, Sunday)

An American boy/girl duo sounding a bit like Mazzy Star and The White Stripes – deserved a better stage and time slot than very last band on in the claustrophobic Local marquee.

12. Explosions in the Sky (Garden Stage, Friday)

Huge sweeping instrumental tracks with orchestral scope produced by three guitarists and a drummer. Headlined on Friday and were best enjoyed with your eyes closed so you couldn’t see their onstage gurning and hystrionics.

13.  Vetiver (Big Top, Friday)

Would have been great on the Garden Stage on Saturday instead of Alela Diane, but performed well enough in the Big Top without wowing anyone. Felt they were playing within themselves and could have been even better if they’d been a bit less laid back. One or two really good songs though. The only set I actually had a lie down for … it seemed oddly appropriate.

14.  Stars of Sunday League (Tipi Tent, Sunday)

Missed the start of this short but sweet set, and caught most of it from the back of the tiny Tipi Tent, but was worth the squeeze. Well written,  beautifully sung indie folk songs from a young bearded gentleman with a lovely Dundee accent and a young lady on a violin. One to watch out for.

15.  Bob Log III (Garden Stage, Sunday)

A man alone on the centre of the huge Garden Stage, dressed in a tight-fitting gold lame suit with flared trousers, and a motorcycle helmet with a microphone inside it, shrieking along to his incredibly fast slide guitar antics. Produced the best ending to any set, walking down into the audience playing guitar and then walking back up, across the stage and off, still playing with his back to the audience. In his own little world, and maybe it’s for the best.

16.  Alela Diane (Garden Stage, Saturday)

The ‘future star of Americana’ according to critics. ‘Sweet but dull’ according to me. Maybe it was because I was flagging after so many hours standing up and feeling hungry, but this set of pleasant-ish folk songs kind of floated over me without leaving any real impression. I can’t remember how any of them went, but I do recall with fondness the over-enthusiastic bassist called on for one or two songs towards the end and behaving like a hyper-active bearded toddler.

17.  Loney, Dear (Garden Stage, Friday)

First act we saw: Swedish bloke, bit mad, gibbering on with frankly baffling banter in between a couple of rather good electronic pop songs. Not very polished, but reasonably pleasant.

18.  Charlie Parr (Big Top, Friday)

Kind of a cross between Badly Drawn Boy and Giant Haystacks, he played the blues a lot, lot better than he looked. Came alive whilst playing his guitar, but lacking in stage presence. Bumped into him a couple of times that evening and he seemed quite a surly fellow with little patience for fellow artists. Looked a bit too much like an axe murderer to discuss those foibles with him though.

19.  Beth Jeans Houghton (The Local, Friday)

Could have, and should have been really rather brilliant. She’s quirky with a cute Northern accent and a set of self-written whimsical songs but her late night set in the Local was a right shambles. She took ages setting up and the sound engineers let her down badly: a catalogue of technical errors undermining a collection of interesting and sometimes beautiful songs. That, and the fact she was wearing a peacock on her head atop a huge blonde frizzy wig that kept getting in her way. When we saw her briefly again on Saturday in the Big Top she’d ditched the peacock but was wearing hotpants and looking frankly ridiculous. She doesn’t need such gimicks, the songs are enough. If she ditches the fancy dress, she might be huge one day.

20.  Herman Dune (Big Top, Friday)

Quite confused to discover later that these guys were French – seemed like a straightforward American alt-country band to me, even down to the accents. Fairly impressive, especially the drummer, though we didn’t stay too long so we could catch the above-mentioned Miss Beth Jeans Peacock. Stayed longer than Charlie Parr though, who stood in front of me for one song, grunted, and walked straight out.

The dregs

21.  The Low Anthem  (Garden Stage, Saturday)

A huge disappointment. Thought they’d be great having heard their latest album but it was a case of wrong band, wrong stage, wrong songs. Started off with three really quiet ones that bored us into submission and sent us in the direction of lunch.

T-Model Ford: What song is this again?

22.  T-Model Ford  (Big Top, Sunday)

Lovely old poppet, 80 plus years old. He can’t remember how old he is. Or the lyrics to any of his songs apparently. Helped onstage by his drummer/roadie/nurse, he looked at home playing his blues guitar, grinned happily throughout, but seemed to be playing exactly the same song eight times over. We left out of a mixture of boredom and embarrassment.

23.  Treecreeper  (Tipi Tent, Sunday)

Only decided to watch this lot because we had found a space in the Tipi Tent and didn’t feel like moving. That soon changed when this very poor pub band started playing. Worthy, hard-working but very dull. I lasted a song and a half.

24.  Brakes  (Big Top, Sunday)

But compared with this bunch of reprobates, Treecreeper were U2 or Coldplay (worthy, hard-working, very dull..!). Brakes were highly praised in the programme and had appeared here every year so we were quite expectant. Oh dear. Obnoxious bald singer suffering from short man syndrome did a couple of similarly short, shouty horrible songs, and we were almost running out of the Big Top to escape. Absolute rubbish and the only totally unlistenable band of the weekend.

The ones that got away

These are the ones that I wanted to see but missed, either due to scheduling clashes, or other unforeseen circumstances:

Mumford & Sons (Garden Stage, Friday)

We arrived too late to see them kick off the festival, which was a shame.

Shearwater (Garden Stage, Friday)

We had to miss them in order to get some food – having since checked out their most recent album on Spotify, I regret that decision.

First Aid Kit (Tipi Tent, Saturday)

We tried and failed to get to in the Tipi Tent to see these Swedish sibling songstresses which was a disappointment at the time, but even more so having checked out their most recent album and their fantastic version of Tiger Mountain Peasant Song by the Fleet Foxes. Should have barged our way in!

Efterklang (Big Top, Saturday)

Clashed with the Fleet Foxes. Jury’s out on whether we made the right decision, pending a Spotify investigation.

Blitzen Trapper (Tipi Tent, Saturday)

Clashed with tea time on Saturday – very good write up in the programme but will have to investigate further.

Now in its fourth year The End of the Road Festival – which began life as a Green Man-inspired experiment in putting on a truly organic musical experience – has established itself as a unique event of character, authenticity and, above all, good music.

The Tipi Tent at The End of the Road Festival 2009

For the punter it’s a rare and refreshing experience to set foot on a festival site free from advertising, overpriced/stodgy food and the kind of atmosphere that has made Glastobury so unattractive in the last decade.

The whole shebang is a credit to organisers Sofia and Simon. Beginning with an ethos about music and festivals (indeed, about life itself), they have distilled that ethos into three days of the glorious Larmer Tree Gardens – an idyll no more than a short drive from Salisbury and just down the road from Stonehenge.

T Model Ford at The End of the Road Festival 2009

And in the spirit of “if you book them, they will come,” both the audience and the bands arrive with empathy for the ethos and a proactive, participatory spirit that endures through the weekend. There are few boundaries here: musicians mingle with the hoi poloi and impromptu musicalities are an almost hourly occurrence. On Saturday night, I lounge in the forest at midnight with The Low Anthem who play ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ on an out-of-tune piano. A day later I stumble upon 89-year old T Model Ford who plays to around fifty white faces (regaling in detail, his story of killing a man and spending time on a chain gang) while the rest of the festival watch Steve Earle’s tender tribute to Townes Van Zandt on the main stage.

The festival’s inaugural performance this year is by brave Canadians Ohbijou - epochal indie rock fronted by the Sundays-esque vocal of Casey Mecija perhaps the tiniest member of any band playing this weekend. They draw a relatively huge crowd considering that very few people have actually arrived yet and put up their tents. Later in the day, Felice brother Simone’s new project The Duke and The King graces the same stage, providing one of the first surprises of the weekend – think The E Street Band fronted by Cat Stevens with the showmanship of Jagger and you’re half-way there.

Simone Felice from The Duke and the King at The End of the Road Festival 2009

Elsewhere on site, peacocks wander freely (as does Jarvis Cocker) around the place while the legendary Charlie Parr - almost a fixture here, along with The Brakes and Darren Hayman who have played every year – grizzles his way from beer tent to stage.

Scandinavia is well represented as usual – Loney Dear put in a sweaty show (noisier and more energetic than I’ve ever seen them) and over in the Big Top tent, Wildbirds and Peacedrums prove why they are one of the best live bands around and why they simply can’t do themselves justice on record because of this.

Ultimately, this is a festival grounded in Americana and indie – and the crossover point between those generes. So it’s Fleet Foxes who are the highlight for many. They manage an extended set that sags a little in the middle but fails to disappoint. They even have time for a Fleetwood Mac cover – reclaiming it firmly from The Corrs.

David Longstreth from The Dirty Projectors at The End of the Road Festival 2009

It’s David Longstreth’s Dirty Projectors – perhaps the biggest zeitgiest coup of the weekend – who are my personal highlight and play the most impressive, technically outstanding set of the festival, converting many who didn’t really ‘get’ them on record. Beth Jeans Houghton, youngster of the burgeoning indie-folk scene – also represented this weekend by Mumford and Sons – gets some new fans too by saving the day when a much anticipated set (by me, at least) from The Horrors is cancelled due to ‘illness’.

Sunday sees Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley – who played a baffling DJ set the night before – taking on guitar duties for lost sixties legend Bob Lind (he of ‘Elusive Butterfly’ fame). Lind’s a real surprise, charming those who have skipped the intensely sober guitar and gurning visage of The Tallest Man on Earth (also brilliant). Over in The Local Tent, Laura Gibson plays a truly lovely set to a packed crowd – a lovely brand of Americana with a rootsy twist goes down like warm honey.

Neko Case at The End of the Road Festival 2009

Sunday evening’s penultimate main stager is Neko Case, who tosses off a high quality set, marred only by her pre-exit cry of ‘Thank you Salisbury Festival’ earning her a few eye-rolls and a place in the book of Spinal Tapesque vocal slips.

Craig Finn from The Hold Steady at The End of the Road Festival 2009

Her mistake is soon forgotten when The Hold Steady appear – at which point, the entire throng of fortysomething men down at the front begin singing in unison and punching the air. Everyone is smiling like there’s no tomorrow while Craig Finn – looking like an IT Manager on ketamine – gives the most energetic performance of the weekend. Never standing still for one moment, Finn makes the entire crowd believe this is the greatest gig The Hold Steady have ever played. He could be right.

Jessica Larribee from She Keeps Bees at The End of the Road Festival 2009

The honour of being the last “official” performance of the weekend go to Brooklyn duo She Keeps Bees, who mesh their PJ Harvey/Howlin Wolf hybrid brilliantly to the expecting mood of the crowd, who pack The Local Tent to the brim. It’s damn hot in here and singer/guitarist Jessica Larribee is visibly buoyed by the applause and gratitude in the room. Songs from mini-album ‘Nests’ – well worth getting hold of – are mined for the guts of their set and there’s even an encore of sorts before everyone files out to see yet more ’secret’ performances from Hold Steady keyboard player Franz Nicolay and The Brakes in the tent next door.

It’s a joyful weekend for yours truly, topped off by a chance encounter with members of Richmond Fontaine at Stonehenge on Monday morning. Later in the week, I also catch a post-gig Simone Felice in Highbury, who mutters to me that this was the ‘greatest festival we every played’ before complimenting my jacket. Damn right on both counts! Roll on September 2010!

• Taken from Whisperin and Hollerin

..a summary of 3 days haldern pop 2009 broadcasted on german television (wdr rockpalast)

bands/artists shown: fettes brot, tsool, patrick watson, anna ternheim, noah and the whale, port o’brien, asaf avidan & the mojos, athlete, loney dear, the thermals, bon iver, grizzly bear

mirror: rapidshare. com (2,4 gb ) /hint -> http://jdownloader.org/

link: http://linkcrypt.ws/dir/f63cs4146hl5y77

i would describe the quality as medium/good. a high qualtiy upload will follow in a week or two.

Two weeks today, two weeks away:

WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS + THE WHISPERTOWN 2000 + LONEY, DEAR

Live at Union Chapel.

That’s four reasons to go, right there. I love Loney, Dear and Wildbirds and Whispertown are both two of my favourite bands ever. My Heart is probably my favourite live song, and when I saw Whispertown earlier this year they got everyone (well, Bobbles, Lulu & the Lampshades, my friend Alicia and I) to come up on stage and sing along on From The Start/Jamboree and it was brilliant, one of my most favourite gig moments of the year. Loney, Dear will be perfectly suited to the chapel and the sing along parts on Meter Marks OK will give you chills. Whether you like it or not. The show is put on by the supremely brilliant Platforms:Live. Get your tickets!

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