My 2009 Top 5 Albums

I am pretty passionate about music, so is my husband for that matter.  We met at a club in 1996 dancing during Goth/Industrial night.  It has always been something we bond over. 

When I decided to create a blog with a purpose I knew music had to be one of the major subjects I covered along with my other major passions. 

So ending 2009 I want to leave you with my top 5 favorite albums.  3 out of the 5 I have already covered.  The other 2 albums were released earlier in the year before I started my blog and although the albums were on heavy rotation on my ipod, it just didn’t occur to me to go backwards and review albums that had been out for so long. 

1. Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor

My review is here.  I can’t believe it took me so long to realise his genius.  Oh boy, but when I did….I now own every piece of music he has ever put out.  I am over the top in love with his sound.  I cannot wait until the new album comes out slated for early 2010 – The Conqueror

2. Florence and the Machine – Lungs

What can I say about Florence that wasn’t already said here.  She is soulful and dark and I listen to her album nonstop. Really between her and Patrick Wolf they are always getting played on repeat.  I drive my husband crazy with them.  I am excited to learn from Wikipedia that she is heading to the studio in January to create album #2…get to it Woman! Hopefully a new album by late 2010 that is as brilliant as Lungs.

3. Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer

I didn’t really give an outright review of this super band.  I just gave a brief little shout out and told you to give it a listen.  I hope you did.  They are fun, their songs tell stories in an experimental way that makes me want to move in my chair when listening at work.  My husband is especially over the moon about them.  I think he made the music grow on me because of his constant playing of the album.  I think it was bound to happen anyway but T forced it faster.

4. Passion Pit – Manners

This album came out in May of 2009 and I consider it to be my happy music.  In a bad mood, in a down mood, put on some Passion Pit and it’s hard to not smile.  This is Indie Pop or Electropop at it’s very best.  You should at least know the song “Sleepyhead” if nothing else, it’s been featured in the Palm Pixi commercial on TV and was features as an iTunes discovery download back in February and I think that might even be the song that prompted me to download the album.  I challenge you to listen to this album and NOT be in a good mood!

5. Fever Ray – Fever Ray

I am not sure where to start with Karin Dreijer Andersson.  She is listed as Electronica, I don’t know that it is a correct explaination.  I would say Theatrical, Experimental, Alternative….hrm.  I love The Knife the band she is in with her brother and I flew to this album happy to hear a lot of the same sounds.  Distorted voice and strange noises with her accent make this such a different sound.  I love her uniqueness and have to say to give her a listen if you haven’t heard her before, she is hard to descibe. 

Holiday Mention:

Also I have to say Tori Amos had the most unique Holiday album this year.  I thank her for putting herself to the challenge and coming out with such a beautiful album.  Midwinter Graces was reviewed by me here and I will surely listen to it for years to come.  I expect it will be my holiday go to!

Ah, Welcome to part two of Modern Mystery’s Holiday Party! Today we have some very special guests, including an indie up and comer, and a music journalist that inspired me to write. Yes, I’m excited about this! Prepare yourself for the sequel, and there is more on the way tomorrow. Enjoy!

James Wells- The Gay Blades

Top 10 Albums of the Year

Nothing really moved me this year, so there’s some singles in there…

- Kevin Devine “Brother’s Blood” – Still the best lyricist around, if a bit wordy.
- Jay Z “The Blueprint III” – Party jams for days.
- Metric “Fantasies” – BREAKTHROUGH ALBUM.
- Why? “Eskimo Snow” – only because Why? is so fucking awesome.
- Electric Six “Kill” – Great tour mates!
- Friendly Fires “Kiss Of Life” (Single) – Its that good….
- Portugal The Man “Satanic Satanist”
- Millions of Brazilians “MoBz EP”

Craziest Thing that Happened to You This Year?:

Finding out my estranged little brother overdosed on Heroine and died.

What do you love the most about the Holidays?

Setting up my xmas tree. Seeing other xmas trees set up. I understand that means that all those folks without xmas trees don’t provide me with what I love most, but its kind of like, how I prefer brunettes over blondes. Ya know?

Jason Nesmith-Casper the Cookies

Top things I liked this year

1. Faust at the 40 Watt / Faust workshop
It was as if Heather MacIntosh brought Athens an enormous present. It gave people that enormous-ribbon-sporting-brand-new-car-in-the-driveway feeling.

2. Os Mutantes live
I didn’t know what to expect, but it was certainly not to be blown away by an unashamed display of guitar pyrotechnics that would make Santana weep. Sometimes kids need to be reminded that knowing how to play really, really well doesn’t preclude them from making strikingly original music.

3. Beatles mono remasters
This is how remasters should be done. Except less expensive. If as a child I’d been deaf to their siren call to a life in music I would’ve learned a more lucrative trade and been able to buy both box sets and the Rock Band. Psych on me.

4. Pylon Chomp More reissue
It’s so nice to hear this record restored to its full, glorious potential.

5. Aquaserge- unreleased third album
The best new music I heard all year hasn’t even been released yet. This band will renew your faith in progressive music.

6. Playing a show with Karl Blau and Lake

7. St. Vincent / Pattern Is Movement concert

8. Yo La Tengo- Popular Songs

9. Venice Is Sinkning- Azar

10. Big Fresh- BFF

Craziest Thing that Happened to You This Year?:

A few crazy things happened. I watched the public’s value of music sink to an all-time-low. Musicians that were able to break even through touring and record sales in 2008 are now unable to do so. Maybe someday soon we’ll all be singing songs around the campfire again.

In New Orleans, Jandek came to our show. Jandek. Came. To. Our. Show.

But the weirdest thing that 2009 brought was far more serious than any of that. Athens lost many great musicians in sudden and unexpected circumstances. After two years of knowing Randy Bewley, I felt like I’d only just gotten to befriend him when he was suddenly taken from us. The day after his memorial service Athens had about 7 inches of snow dumped on it. We can’t wait to get rid of this year.

What do you love the most about the Holidays?

During the holidays even the crustiest old people allow themselves to be child-like. If it weren’t for Christmas lights I would be far more depressed in December, as I am in January and February.

Rob Sheffield-Legendary Music Writersongs:
Adam Lambert, “Mad World”
Beyonce, “Halo”
Das Racist, “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Zero”
The XX, “Crystalised”
Jarvis Cocker, “I Never Said I Was Deep”
The Horrors, “Sea Within A Sea”
LaRoux, “Bulletproof”
Lady Gaga, “Lovegame”
Mogwai, “Scotland’s Shame”

albums:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz
Franz Ferdinand, Tonight
The XX, The XX
A Place To Bury Strangers, Exploding Head
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Japandroids, Post-Nothing
The Dream, Love vs. Money
The Horrors, Primary Colours
Black Dice, Repo
Sunset Rubdown, Dragonslayer

If there was a theme to the year in music in 2009, it was “pop sensibility”. Artists like Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Wilco and Grizzly Bear, all of whom were known for anything but appealing to the masses, released albums which showcased their pop songwriting ability without compromising their sounds. This fact has, of course, led to major breakthroughs for all these bands (with the exception of Wilco, who made their splash with the best album of the decade, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot).

The critical and commercial love for (most) of this music was completely justified. The albums released by Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, and Sunset Rubdown (among others) were not only their most accessible; they were also their best.

As such, 2009 was a pretty amazing year for music if you know where to look. Any year in which albums by Neko Case, The Thermals, (MF) DOOM, Wilco, Jay Z, the Decemberists, P.O.S.,  and one of the greatest indie compilations in recent memory, Dark Was The Night, are outside the top 10 is most likely an incredibly solid year. Since this is the case, I’m sure most of you will disagree with a lot of my picks. It’s only natural. I’m always open for discussion, so feel free to leave a comment.

(Quick note: a few of the albums listed have made waves on many other Top 10 lists. I’ve only included short entries for some of these albums, since most of what I’d say about these albums has been said already)

The Top 10:

1.

Sunset Rubdown, Dragonslayer

Unlike Spencer Krug’s other band, Wolf Parade, who sometimes seem to be living in the past (if living very well), Sunset Rubdown seems to embrace the past only as the memories behind their eyes, which remain fixed firmly on the horizon ahead of them. Influences can be heard, of course, but instead of imitation, they specialize in advancement.

Dragonslayer may be their biggest step yet. Each song is manic, jumping from the mellow to the insane, rarely with any build-up. For example, “Black Swan” starts off with lyrics over simple percussion, then launches quickly into a proggy chorus, backed by keyboard passages, then into experimental feedback solos. And that’s just the first 3 minutes.

2.

Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion

The words “pop sensibility” have seldom required such a wide definition as they do when applied to Merriweather Post Pavilion. The album isn’t exactly what the average listener would call “pop”. Animal Collective didn’t exactly start playing Taylor Swift songs here.

But I can’t help but think that if Brian Wilson made Pet Sounds today, it would sound more than a bit like this. The music is challenging and bizarre, yet wholly listenable. As with Pet Sounds, their most daring decisions seem to make the most sense.

3.

Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca

Bitte Orca is the sonic equivalent of the X-Men. The question is whether it’s the next step in the evolution of rock and roll, or a freak to be weeded out by natural selection. In my opinion, it’s the former.

4. Japandroids, Post-Nothing

Yes. The Japandroids debut is that good. 8 songs of insane rock fury in under 36 minutes, you just don’t see this kind of album anymore. Each song has a focus and an intensity which is rarely heard even from experienced bands. The simplicity of the songs is hidden by the sound of Brian King’s guitar, drowned in distortion over David Prowse’s precise, booming drums. And no, unfortunately, the drummer did not play Darth Vader.

5.

Brother Ali, Us

To make an original statement in a genre which may have peaked more than 15 years ago, Brother Ali takes hip hop back to wear it all started. “Brothers and Sisters” foreshadows what’s to come. Over the course of the next 15 tracks, starting with the ecstatic “The Preacher”, Brother Ali takes us on a tour of hip hop as soul. Hip hop fans looking for the next great MC would be wise to pay attention to Brother Ali, who is set to bring rap into its fourth decade.

6.

Dinosaur Jr, Farm

“Black Flag or a lot of the bands that were popular from that period had songs that you really loved, but they didn’t really touch you in a personal, emotional way the way that a lot of J’s early stuff did,” says Lee Ranaldo about Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis in Our Band Could Be Your Life. The question a statement like that brings up is: Will a band 10 years ahead of their time still sound fresh 25 years later? Can a band that stood out in the 80s still stand out in the post-Nirvana music scene, where even bands like Metallica, who once skewed emotion, have injected their songs with a dose of vulnerability?

Luckily, the reunion of J Mascis, Low Barlow and Murph timed their comeback at a time when indie rock could use a healthy jolt of power from one of its true pioneers. Dinosaur Jr avoids all the lazy puns that would have inevitably shown up in countless reviews had their newest album (following 2007’s very good Beyond) had they not made a step forward with their music and made one of the greatest guitar albums in years.

7.

Sonic Youth, The Eternal

After years of nixing their signature mix of distortion, noise and feedback for experiments in a cleaner, quiter sound on very good albums such as Murray Street, Rather Ripped and especially Sonic Nurse, Sonic Youth bring back the insanity with The Eternal. In the 14 years since 1995’s Washing Machine, their last truly great noisy album, they haven’t lost a step. Songs like “Sacred Trickster” and “Calming the Snake” would easily fit in on Sister or Goo, while the coda on the blistering, booming “Anti-Orgasm” (the best song here) shows they can emerge from the depths just as easily and fluidly as they plumbed them.

8.

Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

There were better albums than Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix this year, but I’d be hard-pressed to call any album this year more likable.

9.

Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Part 2

One need only hear “House of Flying Daggers” to know that Raekwon is not going to just make another Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Instead he enlists a slew of some of the greatest producers to provide textures over which Raekwon, Ghostface, and various other members of the Wu-Tang Clan flow. With the RZA and Dr. Dre laying down beats on some of the best tracks, one can’t help but lapse into nostalgia for the golden age of hip hop.

10.

The xx, xx

Another debut in a strong year for new bands that provide me with a lot of hope for the next ten years, xx is made up of deadpan pop songs. The album doesn’t really ever rock, instead every song is a different kind of mellow. Sometimes lightly danceable, other times creepily expansive, xx manages to sound cohesive without being stuck on a single note.

Honorable Mention:

I love all these albums, as well. If you ask me next week, some of these albums will probably be on my top 10 of 2009 list, but for tonight, they have to deal with honorable mention.

Neko Case, Middle Cyclone

The Antlers, Hospice

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

The Thermals, Now We Can See

Art Brut, Art Brut Vs. Satan

DOOM, Born Like This

White Rabbits, It’s Frightening

Various Artists, Dark Was The Night

P.O.S., Never Better

Jaydiohead, Jaydiohead

Girls, Album

Animal Collective, Fall Be Kind EP

Overrated:

Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest

Yes. This is a “Great” album. And a beautiful album. And it is a big step forward for Grizzly Bear. And it’s garnered heaps of critical attention. But the the fact of the matter is, it just sort of puts me to sleep. I loved it the first time I listened to it, but each subsequent listening has result in diminishing rewards. While albums like Merriweather Post Pavilion and Bitte Orca have gotten more and more interesting after repeated listens, Veckatimest has just gotten real old, real fast.

Underrated:

Rain Machine, Rain Machine

Wilco, Wilco (The Album)

The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love

Jay Z, The Blueprint 3

Mission of Burma, The Sound, the Speed, the Light

Rising Star:

Kid Sister

Who would think a song about nail salons could be so good? Kid Sister released Ultraviolet this year, and it’s one of the most diverse albums in mainsteam rap from the past year. And beyond that, it’s just plain fun.

I still don’t know what “A Coca-Cola shake with an onion in the back” means, though.

(Thanks to those commenters who pointed out that I’d listed Spencer Krug’s other band as Wolfmother when I first posted. Of course, Spencer Krug is not in Wolfmother. That would be weird.)

In a year full of “blah” when it comes to full length albums, there were several songs that stood out in a rather forgettable year.

1. Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
2. Phoenix – 1901
3. Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes
4. Sunset Rubdown – Apollo And The Buffalo And Anna Anna Anna Oh!
5. Camera Obscura – Honey In The Sun
6. Atlas Sound – Walkabout
7. Polvo – Lucia
8. Phoenix – Lisztomania
9. The National – So Far Around The Bend
10. Patrick Watson – Big Bird In A Small Cage
11. Neko Case – People Got A Lotta Nerve
12. The Dodos – Fables
13. Alec Ounsworth – This Is Not My Home (after Bruegel)
14. Animal Collective – What Would I Want? Sky
15. Ryan Bingham – The Weary Kind

An up and down year in music leads to mixed results.

Cal’s Top Albums Of The Year

As it turns out, in a year that I was highly anticipating the release of several albums (Polvo, Animal Collective, Marissa Nadler), there are only 5 albums that I feel are worthy of any sort of “best of” recognition.

1. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeaus Phoenix
2. Grizzly Bear – Veckatamist
3. Camera Obscura – My Maudin Career
4. Jim O’Rourke – The Visitor
5. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone

Good but not great list:

1. Mason Jennings – Blood of Man
2. Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer
3. Doom – Born Like This
4. Dodos – Time To Die
5. Alec Ounsworth – Mo Beauty
6. Polvo – In Prism
7. Doves – Kingdom of Rust

Koz’s Top Albums of the Year – For me there were only two albums that were worth a fuck this year.  I might as well have took the year off.  Maybe I’m just getting old, grumpy and impossible to please.  Those two worthwhile albums that came out were:

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amedeaus Phoenix

Grizzly Bear – Veckatamist

Albums not on Koz’s list:

Wilco – s/t

Anthony and the Johnson’s – The Crying Light

or:  …a year of Fridays and Falling in Love,
or:  Not another fucking ‘09 list?

I remember a time where I used to be ahead of the curve. Or at the very least, I felt like I was. It might have only been for a week some time around 1993 or 1994, but I was there. I know I was. I could feel it.

I should clarify at this point, that when I say “ahead of the curve” I’m referring to the knowledge of bands that weren’t quite famous yet. And when I say “curve”, you need to understand that, where I was from the curve wasn’t exactly what you’d call, “pronounced”. Or even a curve really. As discussed previously, living two hours drive south of the most isolated capital city in the world made keeping close to the cutting edge of anything pretty hard [1]. And I should state for the record that this isn’t about trying to stay cool or keep up with the kids. I like the music I like because of how it makes me feel, and I’ve never been one to blindly follow what everyone else is listening to for the sake of fitting in. Nor is it about dropping band names in an effort to make an impression on people. Once upon a time, maybe. In fact this used to sum me up pretty well:

But not now. Now, it’s more about finding the soundtrack for my ever-shifting mood. One of the things I find most frustrating in life is not being able to find the right song to listen to at any given time. I’ve wasted mornings sitting in front of iTunes, trying to find the perfect soundtrack to start my day. My Apple-branded phone is filled with as much music as it can handle, and if something isn’t on there, I carry my Apple-branded music device with me everywhere as a back-up. And if – for whatever reason – I don’t have that song I need ready when I really really need it, well it may as well be the end of the world as we know it. And I don’t feel fine.

At the start of 2009 I was feeling incredibly out of touch. I needed new music, and I didn’t know where to start. My tour of duty in Cape Town had separated me from reliable internet and up-to-date music stores, so I decided to take the OCD approach to getting caught up: I made an Excel spreadsheet of the top albums of the year as listed by a handful of blog sites I visited regularly, as well as a number of respected music magazines [2]. I then sorted the lists by artists to see who appeared most frequently, and how high they appeared on average. After determining the highest performers, I started the listening process – youtube, myspace, iTunes – pretty much anywhere that would stream me grabs of the top ranking albums. And after a good long while, I learned three things:

1. One of the albums ranked consistently in the top 5 – if not at number 1 – I already owned and loved – Dear Science, by TV on the Radio
2. One of the albums I’d consider my favourite from the year – Elephant Shell by Tokyo Police Club – wasn’t anywhere to be found, and,
3. I really didn’t understand the appeal of Fleet Foxes or Bon Iver.

And that was it. Both the Foals and No Age albums from 2008 eventually managed to find their way into my libary – Foals‘ Antidote being a highlight of my ‘09, albeit a year late. And after forgoing half of Elbow’s set at V to check out M83 based on their inclusion everywhere, I picked up Saturdays = Youth as soon as I was able, and was not disappointed.

This is all my very non-roundabout way of saying, as I feel I spent most of the year catching up on last year, I don’t really feel all that qualified to be commenting on what happened in music over 2009. Scanning through the already large pile of ‘Best of ‘09′ lists that are finding their way out to the blog-o-sphere, I get the impression that my list of bands or artists I didn’t listen to over the past 12 months would probably overshadow those I did – this is due in part to the three months of the year I lost listening to Handsome Furs on repeat.

So rather than rehashing everyone else’s lists  (Bat for Lashes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs both put out awesome albums this year, Grizzly Bear and Fever Ray fall into “I’m not sure yet”, and I’m filing Animal Collective under “I don’t get it” for now), I thought I’d write about a handful of albums that found their way into my space that aren’t getting much of a look in now the year is over.  In no particular order, here are some of my musical highlights from this year that you may or may not have read about elsewhere:

Soulsavers – Broken
The follow-up to It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s the Way You Land would have to have been my most anticipated album of this year, purely based on the promise of a Mark Lanegan/Mike Patton collaboration. And even though Snr. Patton’s performance was a blink-and-you’ll-miss it-affair, Broken follows on nicely from the tone set by …The Way you Land. Dark, moody and dripping with atmosphere.
Highlight: Unbalanced Pieces

My Jerusalem - Feathers EP
Singer/songwriter and part time Dulli collaborator Jeff Klein got together with Dave Rosser (The Twilight Singers), Ashley Dzerigian (Great Northern), Rick Nelson (Pollyphonic Spree) and Cully Symington (Bishop Allen) and put out an EP containing 5 finely crafted tracks that hint of great things to come. Which I don’t mind, as long as it doesn’t delay the new Twilight Singers [3] album at all.
Highlights: Sweet Chariot, Turtledove

Julian Plenti is Skyscraper
In lieu of a new Interpol record (word is we’ll get that next year), Paul Banks went out on his own and under the name Julian Plenti. And while it took me a while to shake the feeling I was listening to Interpol-lite, there are a handful of great tracks on this album that make me curious enough to here more of his solo effots.
Highlights: Games for Days, Only if you Run

Silversun Pickups – Swoon
While I don’t want to be yet another making unnecessary Smashing Pumpkins comparisons, I’ll just go on and say it – Silversun Pickups do Billy Corgan better than Billy Corgan. And I don’t even think they sound all that similar. Silversun Pickups capture the same feeling I used to get driving around our home town aimlessly, listening to Melon Collie and the Infinate Sadness and Siamese Dream on repeat. Unlike their first album Carnavas, Swoon took some time to sink in for me, but when it did, it hit pretty hard.
Highlights: Growning old is Getting Old and It’s Nice to Know you Work Alone.

Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer
Even though this album as a whole didn’t leave as strong an impression as I’d hoped, Idiot Heart comes pretty darn close to being my song of the year. And I can’t help but think the reason the rest of the album didn’t click for me was because I couldn’t get past this track.  Just over 6 minutes of perfection. Builds, hooks, pauses – all in the right places. If there had been some sort of guarantee that I’d hear this at least once on a Saturday night while out somewhere, I would’ve left the house far more than I did during 2009.
Highlights: Idiot Heart, Silver Moons

And in the interest of being a completest, the list of bands I’ve seen live in ‘09 looks something like this: Alice in Chains, Nine Inch Nails, Dillinger Escape Plan, Anberlin (twice), Alkaline Trio, The Killers, Human League (one song, but it was Electric Dreams, so I’m counting it), Kaiser Chiefs, Elbow, M83, Louis XIV, Madness, TV on the Radio, Fantomas, The Grates, Arctic Monkeys (yawn), Maximo Park, Handsome Furs, Tori Amos, and thanks to a wonderful birthday present from a lovely lady, I saw The Gutter Twins in Melbourne, and shook hands once again with Mr. Greg Dulli.

—–

Looking back, I’m almost positive I’m forgetting something. If I had to be pushed to name my favourite album of 2009, it’s probably going to be The Twilight Sad’s Forget the Night Ahead, which I’ve already rambled about previously, hence it not featuring here. Having said that, if you ask me again tomorrow I might just change my mind. 2010 is already looking to be a big year in music for me. March in particular will be an amazing 90-a-pallooza-like timewarp – seeing Faith No More and Jane’s Addiction at Soundwave, followed by Dinosaur Jnr, Pavement and The Pixies, all in the space of a month. And then there are new releases – albums from Interpol, LCD Soundsystem, and (maybe) Arcade Fire and Band of Horses, and of course The Twilight Singers.

And with that, if you feel I’ve missed anything or anyone, or have any suggestions for my catching up list in 2010, please feel free to comment below. Thanks for stopping by, Internet.

—–
[1] At this stage you’re probably thinking, “That’s great Mark, but are you ever going to write about anything that isn’t about you in high school?” To be honest, I’m not sure. I still feel like I’ve got a few stories to tell, and while people are still interested, I’ll probably keep telling them. Whenever this stops getting interesting, please do let me know.

[2] Which, now that it’s written down looks like an oxymoron.

[3] My anticipation for which is reaching rather uncomfortable proportions.

So, here ’tis! My best-of-2009 mix!

In other words, this is a tracklist of my highest played that just squeaks in under 80 mins. Keep in mind these are my fave tracks of the year. For fave albums, see below High Rotation under “Top 10 Albums of 2009.”

High Rotation 2009 – By Lena

Click here to listen to my entire playlist. (Still figuring out how to embed this stuff. SUPER frustrating!)

And here’s what I have to deal with when I’m listening to/writing/reading/watching stuff online:

Cat steals chair!

Huff…

Anyway, Top Ten Albums of 2009 – According to me:

(And yes, they are in a specific order)

1.) Fever Ray - Fever Ray

In a word: Magic

Perfect for: Creating art/self expression. This album is a glimpse into the mind of a true artist. I always put together a great outfit if Fever Ray is playing while I’m choosing clothes. Karin Dreijer Andersson, you make me amazing!

2.) Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

In a word: Brilliant

Perfect for: Listening/writing. The organic, enveloping nature of this album makes it a completely faultless listening experience. Gets the creative juices flowing.

3.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz! (Deluxe Edition)

In a word: Emotional

Perfect for: Experiencing all the highs and lows of love. I laughed, I cried, I hurled.

4.) Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue

In a word: Optimistic

Perfect for: Thinking/nodding head. The mixture of folk and electronic is stimulating to the mind. I’m excited about the future of music based on this album.

5.) Memory Tapes - Seek Magic

In a word: Kinetic

Perfect for: Transportation, either forward or backward. Drive, bike, bus, walk, think with this on. Mentally transport yourself back to times you were happiest/saddest and live there for a bit.

6.) Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer

In a word: Warm

Perfect for: Analog time. Sitting in a sunbeam wrapped up in a blanket; toasting in front of a fire with good book/magazine; generally feeling fuzzy towards oneself.

7.) Junior Boys – Begone Dull Care

In a word: Playful

Perfect for: Getting ready to go out! Or, simply staying in and singing and dancing in front of the mirror (if you’re into that). Have fun with it.

8.) The xx – xx

In a word: Sexual

Perfect for: Sexy times/daydreaming on bus about sexy times. Not that I’ve done this, ever.

9.) Atlas Sound – Logos

In a word: Shy

Perfect for: Walking around all dreamy and introspective-like; being watched from afar.

10.) Major Lazer - Guns Don’t Kill People … Lazers Do

In a word: Manic

Perfect for: Twisting and jerking yourself awake on dark, freezing winter mornings – oh, and shakin’ what yer mamma gave ya on the dance floor, too. Commagain!

In four words: GO BUY THESE PLEEZ!

All photos by me.

Sorry for the day off yesterday folks…I know you shiver with antici…pation….  The rain was not to blame however, I was doing my last Open Mic poetry gig of the year…and boy did I bomb!!!  Lets get to it then…

40.  Those Dancing Days – Those Dancing Days – I know I’m going to get some eyebrows raised on this one, but have I mentioned how much I like girlie pop?  This song is like the Go Gos meets Pizzicato Five meets Frankie and Annette. Dance Break!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXiW-Lg1wrM

39.  Fiona Apple – Not About Love – the piano in this song just drives you, and next to Fast As You Can is my favorite Fiona song.  ‘…it doesn’t seem right / to take information / given at close range / for the gag / and the bind / and the ammunition round’ – The tempo change near the end is a stunning climax to any song not about love as there has ever been.  And yeah, bonus points for Zach in the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u09s0uz0tEU

38.  Lily Allen – Smile – I mean really, any song with the couplet ‘…but you were fucking that girl next door / what’d you do that for?’ – has to get you to pay attention to it…right?  A song of revenge, bittersweet for sure, this one should be on any mixtape for any girl that gets her heart ruined by a douche.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZyTOROlo9E

37.  Kanye West – Paranoid – ‘…you worry ’bout the wrong things / the wrong things’ – I’m not the biggest Kanye fan by any means, but this song has little lines in it like the one quoted that connect with me.  How often do you get into little disagreements in a relationship because someone sweats the small stuff…that is what this song speaks to me on.  People should chill and stop being paranoid.  I like how Kanye is also singing how no one knows her like he knows her…so again, just chill.  Flashing Lights was my alternate Kanye song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irBP5FnksKc

36.  Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire – overplayed, sure.  An instant classic, most definitely.  ‘…if it’s not forever / if it’s just tonight / oh it’s still the greatest’ – yeah, I want to experience that! wow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF0HhrwIwp0

35.  Aventura ft Don Omar – Ella y Yo – this song barely beats out Obsesion for me…and I mean just barely.  I think what gives this song the edge is that it tells a whole story.  Great song of deceit, and where one draws the line at in regards to forgiveness.  Great back and forth on this one…but yeah, also check out Obsesion by the same group, Aventura are truly the kings of Bachata.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLq6ZnDDQ3g&feature=PlayList&p=771873A073101D9F&index=15

34.  New Young Pony Club – Ice Cream – because I just love my songs from commercials!!  ‘I can give you what you want!’ she sings, and she sounds like she means it! ‘…drink me like a liquor / if you want to dip your dipper / show me what you’re here for guy’ – can you imagine a cute counter girl singing this to you at a gellato stand…or Braum’s for that matter?  Maybe it’s just me.  Also, wouldn’t you just love for Sarah McLachlin to cover this one?  Or is that just me as well, hah.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yYAOUc7YBE

33.  Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Y Control – ‘I wish I could buy back / the woman you stole’ – opening guitar riff on this one is almost like a warning that you about to get your face melted off.  Not fond of the creepy video so instead here is some drunken Karen O singing my favorite Yeah Yeah Yeahs song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yL3rze8ixo&feature=related

32.  Sunset Rubdown - Silver Moons – wasn’t sure what I was in for when a friend loaned me this album, and I could not stop listening to this song over and over for at least two weeks.  ‘…gone are the days bonfires make me think of you’ – is by far and away my favorite song lyric of this year.  ‘I believe in growing old with grace…I believe I acted like a child…maybe these days are over over now’ – just absolutely beautiful.  This song is an instant addition to the songs I want played at my funeral to bring the house to tears list.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0pOK6j3Q2E

31.  Lady GaGa – Poker Face – 1) everyone now wants to hold them like they do in Texas plays – 2) if anyone doubts the talent of GaGa, you should dig up the acousticish version of this song.  As it is, here is the dance version, an instant club hit – and yes, you’ll dance to anything.  Love Game and Paparazzi are just as good of songs…GaGa is here to stay, I’m already betting that she’ll make my list next decade as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai11lauu61U

I love lists. I’ve been ordering and re-ordering this one for a while. So, in keeping with the past few years, these are my picks for the best albums of 2009.

1. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
2. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
3. Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer
4. Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon: The End of Days
5. St. Vincent – Actor
6. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
7. Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue
8. The XX – XX
9. Swan Lake – Enemy Mine
10. Future of the Left – Travels With Myself and Another
11. Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Elvis Perkins in Dearland
12. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
13. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
14. Dan Deacon – Bromst
15. A.A. Bondy – When the Devil’s Loose
16. Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
17. The Antlers – Hospice
18. Passion Pit – Manners
19. Sufjan Stevens – The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
20. Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
21. The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come
22. HEALTH – GET COLOR
23. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms
24. Bear in Heaven – Beast Rest Forth Mouth
25. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

After 6 months, I still listen to Veckatimest in awe. Embryonic was the biggest surprise of the year for me, and Sunset Rubdown maintained their consistency in putting out wonderful music that no one seems to like.

I don’t know why, but I got so sick of that Animal Collective album really quickly, and I still don’t understand the love for Brothersport.

I still need to get around to the new Yo La Tengo and Memory Tapes. I’ve got a month with no school to catch up: what else did I miss?

Four score and seven years ago, it was 1922. And while the Roaring ’20s were the first great height of leisure time in the US, it was hard to discover music independently without going to ballroom dances every night.

Some flappers dancing to the new Al Jolson hit, "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' Bye!)"

Fast forward from the Jazz Age to the Digital Age, and it seems as if everyone is a producer. Indeed, the cast of NPR’s All Songs Considered podcast have declared the 2000s the best decade for music ever, in part because of the sheer amount of music being released each year. Not only that, more and more people can consume as much as possible thanks to the growing availability of legal music online.

Yes, we’re living in a new golden age for rock music. The “Roaring Zeros,” if you will. As tk and I launch our top ten lists this week, we acknowledge that it’s not going to be possible for us to write about every album we listened to. We each listened to a whole heck of a lot of music this year. As much as we’d like to, covering all of it is simply not a possibility.

That being said, we wanted to give you more than just our top ten. In the past, I’ve listed honorable mentions and other categories along with my top ten list, and that tradition is about to continue. Here, you’ll see the good, the bad, and the ugly of the albums that didn’t make my top ten list. tk will have a new post with his notable omissions later this week. Have opinions about any of these albums? Let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear your angle on these things. So, without further ado, here are the categories we’ll be discussing today:

HONORABLE MENTION: Number 11 through 15 on my top ten list, in alphabetical order. These albums are given the same full review as the top ten.
WORTH NOTICING: A list of albums worth checking out, reviewed in tweets (those of you following me on Twitter got to see these in advance!).
ALBUMS THAT MADE ME SAY, “WAIT, WHAT?”: Sometimes, an album doesn’t quite fit into categories like “the good,” “the bad,” or “the ugly.” I was confused by these albums for one reason or another this year.
DISAPPOINTMENTS: There was a lot of great music this year. There was also a lot that should have been greater.
THE JURY IS STILL OUT: For whatever reason, I didn’t listen to these albums enough to rate them. I think they’re probably worth listening to, but I’m not sure how they’d it into the rest of my list.

HONORABLE MENTION
Adam Lambert – For Your Entertainment: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s an American Idol album. But so what? I like American Idol. I get sucked into reality shows. And Adam Lambert is the first American Idol winner to come out of the competition with rock star swagger, an ear for good songs, and a polished debut album. He’s the best Idol since (and maybe including) Kelly Clarkson. With songs written by Pink, Rivers Cuomo, and Justin Hawkins (formerly of The Darkness), it’s a record that leaves all the blood, sweat, and tears in the studio. The only minor quibble I have is the sequencing. An album should flow logically instead of sounding like a greatest hits album. These are some great hits, though. Lambert has a great future ahead of him in the industry. (Wait, what? Kris Allen won? What? Way to go, America.)
MUST HEAR: “Music Again,” “Whataya Want From Me,” “For Your Entertainment“
Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light: After a very strong 2008, Antony Hegarty steers his ghost ship of misfit toys through their third full-length album. The songs on The Crying Light are very fragile. They sound like they were carried into the studio on a morose breeze instead of in Hegarty’s lungs. This isn’t the sound of a heart setting itself on fire and tumbling down the stairs; this is the sound of something slowly dying in a beautiful, almost poetic way. Each track is absolutely gorgeous.
MUST HEAR: “Epilepsy is Dancing,” “Another World“
Beck – The Velvet Underground and Nico: When Beck launched his Record Club project in June, it sounded odd. And yet, there was some promise in the premise. According to the official Record Club website, “Record Club is an informal meeting of various musicians to record an album in a day. The album chosen to be reinterpreted is used as a framework. Nothing is rehearsed or arranged ahead of time… The songs are rough renditions, often first takes that document what happened over the course of a day as opposed to a polished rendering.” While Beck and his collective may not have been trying to “recreate the power of the original recording,” they have brought a surprising new vision to this great old recording. The fragility and power of the album are brought back to life, with some songs driving on strong while others sound like they’re threatening to fall apart.
MUST HEAR: “Sunday Morning,” “Run Run Run“
Tegan & Sara – Sainthood: The twins are back in town, kicking tail, taking names, and writing songs with unexpected vocal harmonies. Nobody is going to accuse Tegan and/or Sara of having the best voices in the business, but somehow, the abrasiveness of their vocal connection fits the (mostly) high-energy approach to pop-rock. We’ve almost figured out what to expect from Tegan and Sara. Almost. This time, they’ve come up with their best album yet, driven by those voices that sound like honey to some and nails on the chalkboard to others.
MUST HEAR: “Hell,” “On Directing“
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz: Anchored by the most remixable song of the year (“Zero“), It’s Blitz is eminently listenable. I know that doesn’t sound like much of a compliment, but there’s something to be said for an album that you can just turn on and zone out to. And get up and dance to once in a while. The songs blend together, for the most part, which makes this one of the best background albums of the year.
MUST HEAR: “Zero,” “Heads Will Roll“

WORTH NOTICING
AFI – Crash Love: A solid straight rock album from Hot Topic’s favorite band.
Beirut – March of the Zapotec/Realpeople Holland: Two semi-concept EPs that whet the appetite for another Beirut full-length.
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast: I don’t know if he’s necessarily improving, but he’s still writing great, great songs.
The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love: This hyper-literate indie prog group gets bigger and more epic than The Crane Wife – which turns out to be a mistake.
Discovery – LP: Bouncy electronic side project of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot puts out a fun debut.
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest: A solid effort anchored by a few great singles, including the phenomenal “Two Weeks”.
Metric – Fantasies: Rollicking electronic rock album driven by Emily Haines of Broken Social Scene gets your blood a-pumpin’.
Mew – No More Stories Are Told Today I’m Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories The World Is Grey I’m Tired Let’s Wash Away: Untweetfriendly
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: Shoegazing fuzz from an exciting new place.
Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor: Weird? Yes. Full of good songs? Sure. A worthy follow-up to The Magic Position? Not quite.
Sufjan Stevens – The BQE: Sufjan takes his expanding vision to a logical conclusion- a classical suite about the Brooklyn/Queens Expressway.

ALBUMS THAT MADE ME SAY, “WAIT, WHAT?”
Bob Dylan – Christmas in the Heart
Dark Was The Night
The Dead Weather – Horehound
The Lonely Island – Incredibad
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson – Breakup

DISAPPOINTMENTS
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – Outer South
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse – Dark Night of the Soul
Fever Ray – Fever Ray
The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young
Julian Plenti – Julian Plenty Is… Skyscraper
Mika – The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk
Taking Back Sunday – New Again
Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa
The xx – xx

THE JURY IS STILL OUT
Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
Dan Deacon – Bromst
Islands – Vapours
Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3
KiD CuDi – Man On The Moon: The End of Day
Kings of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence
Lady Sovereign – Jigsaw
Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You
The Mars Volta – Octahedron
Modest Mouse – No One’s First, and You’re Next
Muse – The Resistance
Pictureplane – Dark Rift
Relient K – Forget and Not Slow Down
Riceboy Sleeps – Riceboy Sleeps
Say Anything – Say Anything
Silversun Pickups – Swoon
St. Vincent – Actor
Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer
Switchfoot – Hello Hurricane
Wilco – Wilco (The Album)

Yep – it’s that time of year. The release calendar is a wasteland through the holidays, there are at least 3 albums I’m really looking forward to in January, but in the meantime, we’ve got a month or so to decide on the best records of the year. So for the last few weeks, I’ve been listening and relistening to the year’s crop, jockeying position, and here’s the deal.

The Top Ten:

1) Japandroids: Post-Nothing

This has been sitting at #1 since I first heard it late in 2008 on imeem (and trust me – no one gives less of a crap about imeem than me – that’s how much I wanted to hear it). Then they got picked up by a label, released it, I bought it the day it came out on iTunes, they got picked up by another label and it was rereleased, and then they went on tour and came nowhere near here. Oh well. The album – it’s a blast of guitars and noise and lyrics written as if nothing mattered by girls. It makes me feel like it’s 1995 and I’m much younger than I am. It has the line “we run the gauntlet / must get to France / so we can french kiss some French girls,” which is ridiculous. But then that same song has the lyrics “she had wet hair / say what you will / I don’t care, I couldn’t resist it,” which makes total sense to me.

2) Telekinesis: Telekinesis!

This one came out of nowhere, but if you can’t trust Merge with power-pop, than what can you trust them with? So it’s a total summer record – big hooks, catchy choruses, ba ba bas and la la las, and though it does make me want a new Beulah record pretty badly (or at least for Miles Kurowsky to finish his solo album), it also pretty much rules all by itself.

3) Sunset Rubdown: Dragonslayer

The title is untouchable, the album art is hideously awesome, and it’s totally the catchiest thing Spencer Krug has ever done outside of Wolf Parade. I’ve enjoyed all his records, but this one is by far the easiest to love, with the most memorable songs, not the least of which is the 10+ minute suite that closes the record and manages to one-up the also pretty awesome “Kissing the Beehive” at the end of the last Wolf Parade album.

4) Handsome Furs: Face Control

The other guy from Wolf Parade (Dan Boeckner), with the second best Wolf Parade side-project of the year. But it’s close – this easily outstrips his first record as Handsome Furs, with songs that aren’t as claustrophobic or mannered. And the promo shots he and his wife took for promotion of the record are hotttt.

5) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: s/t

Three new bands in my top 5, which bodes well for the future. This one is a total throwback – this record could have been released at any point in the early 90s and I wouldn’t have batted an eye. It’s also incredibly catchy and fun and addicting – AND they released three singles with b-sides AND an EP this year. An embarrassment of riches.

6 ) The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come

It’s not Tallahassee, or Get Lonely, or Heretic Pride, but it’s a new Mountain Goats record, and so far, that gets it into my top ten by default.

7) Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs

There really aren’t any tricks left up Yo La Tengo’s sleeves at this point in their career, but their ability to spit out late-period gems that don’t sound warmed over or derivitave is positively shocking at this point. This record should have been their Steel Wheels or All That You Can’t Leave Behind or something, but it’s at least as good as any of the past 5 records, all of which are pretty damn good.

8 Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Honestly this record doesn’t belong as high as it is on its collective merits (most notably because of its atrocious sequencing) – there are at least 5 songs that I could take or leave. But the other 5 are so good that they make you forget the weak spots, with the record’s true triumph being “Lisztomania” – easily the best song of the year.

9) Say Hi: Oohs and Aahs

I went back and looked; if I had heard of Say Hi in 2006, Impeccable Blahs would have been my #2 of the year (albeit a distant second to Boys and Girls in America). As it is, I had fun discovering them this year, and this record is pretty good too.

10) The Antlers: Hospice

This was my sleeper – I heard it pretty early in the year and didn’t care much for it, but by the end of the year it was the record that I put on every time I wanted to hear something new but didn’t have anything specific in mind.

The rest:

11) The Thermals: Now We Can See

After The Body, The Blood, The Machine, I was really hoping this record would be better.

12) Casiotone for the Painfully Alone: Vs. Children

13) The Dodos: Time to Die

Not nearly as good as the last record, but “Fables” comes a pretty close second to “Lisztomania” as song of the year.

14) David Bazan: Curse Your Branches

For the faint of faith.

15) Dead Man’s Bones: s/t

Ryan Gosling follows in the footsteps of Zooey Deschanel (or Don Johnson, if you will), and makes a surprisingly good album. Really.

16) Bishop Allen: Grrr…

17) Built to Spill: There is No Enemy

18) Cymbals Eat Guitars: Why There Are Mountains

19) The Veils: Sun Gangs

20) The Drums: Summertime!

21) White Rabbits: It’s Frightening

22) The Decemberists: Hazards of Love

23) An Horse: Rearrange Beds

24) The xx: s/t

25) Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It’s Blitz!

To recap:  As for My Favorite 50 Songs of 2009, I made a few rules for myself.  First, a band can only appear once.  Also, this is purely about singles I enjoy.  For instance, I would never put Harlem Shakes’ Technicolor Health on my favorite albums list, but “Sunlight” made it pretty high on this list because it’s a great pop song.  I like a lot of Grooms’ songs and think they’re probably better than many of these, for instance, but none of them made it onto this list because they work much better as a group of experimental songs on an album.  This gave me a chance to give recognition to many bands from this year I would otherwise have left out.  And, for the record, I think this list of songs is less important but more fun than my forthcoming list of best albums of 2009.  You can download all of the songs by clicking on the words in bold.

So here it is, the third installment of My Favorite 50 Songs of 2009.

30) “Idiot Heart” – Sunset Rubdown I thought Dragonslayer was pretty good, but it didn’t capture me the way Sunset Rubdown’s previous works have.  I think that’s mostly because Spencer crafted it more for a live setting.  And this song ROCKED in live settings this year.  It gets off to a slow, interesting start.  But the end is stunning with the repeated line, “I hope that you die in a decent pair of shoes/We’ve got a lot a lot of walking to do.”  A cinematic, narrative song with the edge of lyrical nonsense that Kurg always brings to Sunset Rubdown songs.  Even though the album wasn’t a classic, this song is.

29) “Hey Boy” – The Magic Kids Is this song utterly derivative?  Yes, sure.  It is the catchiest, most adorable song to come out this year with an amazing 50s rock vibe mixed with a Beach Boys Je ne sais quoi?  Yes, definitely.  If this song doesn’t make you smile, I’m worried for your poor, broken heart.

28) “Beach Comber” – Real Estate I think Real Estate is my favorite band from this year.  I love everything about this song.  From the opening lines, “What you want is just outside your reach/Keep on searching,” to the easy, flowing guitar riff at the end.  This song is what I want life to be like.  Somehow the tone of the song is hopeful, without being overly sentimental.  It’s all deceptively simple.  Real Estate is one of those bands that come together in just the right way.  Musical magic.

27) “Rain On” – Woods I used to think that Woods sounded like some sort of mystical, forgotten late 60s band.  As the year has progressed, I’ve realized that they sound like 2009.  In fact, I think when we look back on this time in a few years, Woods and Real Estate will have the sound that will ultimately come to define this era.  I like “Rain On” so much that I’m not really sure what to say about it.  Listening to it is like reading a really good book.  It completely transports you into a place other than your own and you want to stay there.  It’s always a little jarring when you finish the book and realize that it’s not a place you can permanently inhabit.

26) “The Other Side” – Paul and the Patients This song consists entirely of awesome guitar build and fun, catchy chorus.  It seems somehow appropriate for this very dude-centric band to have a song entirely about build-up and release.  I admire its pleasant simplicity (much more so than their other single, “Blogspot”) and I wish this band had gotten more buzz this year.

25) “Bone Jam” – JEFF The Brotherhood JEFF The Brotherhood had one of the most exciting live shows I saw this year.  With just drums and guitar, they create really hard songs that are still catchy as hell.  There were a lot of two-man “garage” bands in 2009 (JTB does NOT want to be called a garage band), and these guys were far and away the best.  This is an amazing song, which helps, but they too have that inexplicable mix of charisma and talent.

24) “Bell” – Screaming Females I heard about Screaming Females before I listened to them.  My only thought was what a terrible band name Screaming Females was, especially for a female-fronted band.  Visions of bad Sleater-Kinney impersonations ran through my head.  Then I pressed play on “Bell,” and realized that Marissa Paternoster is one of the most kick-ass guitarists and rockers on the indie scene right now.  Man, woman, or child- she can shred.  Screaming Females melted my face at Market Hotel earlier this year, and I’ve been listening to this song on repeat ever since.

23) “The Red Bow” – That Ghost I’m glad That Ghost came out with an EP this year.  Their latest album, Young Fridays, came out in 2008, so I can’t include it on any of these lists.  ”The Red Bow,” is excellent, though, and is definitely an evolution from That Ghost’s output last year.  It’s still got that amazing nineteen-year-old-phenom-in-their-bedroom feel, but is a little angrier, edgier, and slightly less Bright Eyes-y than his previous songs.  Plus, some of these lyrics are just amazing.  ”I’d much rather just cut my legs off/So you can carry me home on your own.”

22) “Lust For Life” – Girls This song is so good (and so popular) because everyone can relate to it.  ”I wish I had a suntan/I wish I had a pizza and a bottle of wine.”  Who doesn’t?  The gender confusion, the honesty of admitting to being “fucked in the head,” the adolescent hopefulness; this song has it all.  It’s by far one of the least inventive and challenging songs on Girls’ excellent album, but it’s the most fun.  And at the end of the day, how can you not love a song who’s music video includes penis microphones?  I mean, really.

21) “Talking Hotel Arbat Blues” – Handsome Furs Absolutely one of the most underrated albums all year.  This is my favorite song off of Face Control.  Maybe I’m a shameless Wolf Parade fan, but seriously, but could one band have more top-notch side projects?  Dan Boeckner’s grungy guitar mixed in with his girlfriend’s energetic synth playing creates an entirely new sound for us to enjoy.  I really, really want to use this song in a WWII movie montage.  Fighting, sprawling, and passionate.

Yep, it’s a day late. Probably two if you live in a different time zone. It’s part three of my top 40 albums of 2009. If we look back at the month of May, it seems like the majority of my favourites were released all at the same time, including albums from the Manics, IAMX, Morton Valence, Jarvis Cocker, Archivist, and The Rest. We also had new records that have already graced this list, including The Horrors’ Primary Colours and Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The month was rounded out with albums by Maximo Park, Peaches, Esser, Midnight Juggernauts, Au Revoir Simone, Sweet Billy Pilgrim, Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band, Jeremy Enigk, Grizzly Bear, St. Vincent, White Rabbits, Passion Pit, Kronos Quartet, and DJ Hell. And Green Day figured their clichéd “political” lark should be used once more in the yawn-inducing 21st Century Breakdown.

June ushered in albums from Eels, Little Boots, Sunset Rubdown, Wilco, The Low Anthem, Moby, Regina Spektor, The Gossip, Elvis Costello, Tiga, Sonic Youth, VNV Nation, and Dirty Projectors. There was more Oasis-replacement fodder from Kasabian, Paolo Nutini released more music that sounded like a senile, toothless Jamaican man, and Placebo battled for the Sun. Several of the albums that have already appeared on this countdown were also released, including ones by Future of the Left, Simian Mobile Disco, and Twiggy Frostbite, along with honourable mentions, Diving With Andy and God Help the Girl.

On to the list…

24. Bitte Orca – Dirty Projectors
I only became aware of Dirty Projectors slightly prior to seeing them live as openers for TV on the Radio. Admittedly, I wasn’t all that convinced seeing them live, but I had a feeling that I would better appreciate their experimentalism through headphones. And when I finally actually sat down to listen to their latest record, I discovered that my assumptions were correct – they are unlike most things I’ve ever heard, including sound other than music. Coming out of the currently hip Brooklyn scene, Dirty Projectors stitch together disjointed pieces of vocals, rhythm and guitar melody to fashion a rather astounding curtain of sliding groove, angelic soulfulness, and epileptic vocal delivery. Like organized chaos, the seemingly conflicting sounds and elements come together like an audio Magic Eye puzzle. Sometimes spare and frenetic, sometimes electronic and playful, always a bit beautifully bewildering.

Cannibal Resource – Dirty Projectors

Stillness is the Move – Dirty Projectors

23. Dragonslayer - Sunset Rubdown
This sophomore release from Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug’s side project has captured my imagination much more than any of Wolf Parade’s work (I don’t hate Wolf Parade, but I just never really got into them either, despite seeing them open for The Arcade Fire a few years back). Careening between a fantastical, epic spaciness and a pretty pastoral dance with some Talking Heads thrown in, the music rolls in and through me like breeze caught in wind chimes, whilst Krug’s voice pitches between an overwrought glamour, a commanding wisdom, and a choked-up sentimentality. The lyrics are esoterically brilliant, giving you the impression that Krug is a lover of language and narrative above all. And when they’re sung by Krug, you feel like you’re hearing a truly exotic piece of literature that has slipped through from a slightly different world. I’ll leave you with a sample of the wonderfully arcane lines from the opening song, Silver Moons, which later dovetails nicely with the closing track, Dragon’s Lair:

Confetti floats away like dead leaves in the wagon’s wake. There were parties here in my honor until you sent me away. Now silver moons belong to you. Passing the baton from the old mare to the fawn – it was out of line but it was fun – and didn’t you love the part right before the dawn? But now silver moons belong to you. I’m off to the ballet, and to practice all these ancient ways. Tell the new kids where I hid the wine, tell their fathers that I’m on my way, and say “Hey, maybe these days are over now…”

Under all the folds of the dresses that you wear there’s an ocean and a tide and a riot in the square. Over are the days that the congas made your hair sway around to the cadence of your ‘hey-oh-hey-oh’ cheer

Silver Moons – Sunset Rubdown

Black Swan – Sunset Rubdown

22. Islands – The Mary Onettes
This is only the second album from the Swedish band (I suppose I didn’t realize it because of the three EPs they’ve also released), but it is a stunning blend of several of my favourite genres, including dreampop, synthpop, post-punk and that achingly beautiful pop that Swedish bands tend to make best. The slightly gloomy, but heavenly album cover gives you an inkling of what the music sounds like; the fragile, soaring synths, jangly guitars, clean, euphoric drums, and vocalist Philip Ekström’s New Wave vowels, wash over you like a torrent of your best memories. Songs like Puzzles and God Knows I Had Plans are perfect salvation for those moods of melancholy self-doubt and loneliness. There’s nostalgia, regret, insecurity, and romanticism bursting from every Roman candle in the dove-coloured sky of The Mary Onettes’ soundscape.

Puzzles – The Mary Onettes

Once I Was Pretty – The Mary Onettes

21. he closed his eyes so he could dance with you – vitaminsforyou
vitaminsforyou (AKA former Winnipegger, Bryce Kushnier) has created a gorgeously understated third album of quietly pumping electro, clinical drum machines and hushed vocals, which knocks about like a nightclub android with ice in its veins. Often dubbed a lo-fi bedroom artist, or a laptop whiz, vitaminsforyou is a one-man-show of a lighter brand of electro as opposed to some of the harsher, dirtier beats being made by outfits like Justice, MSTRKRFT, and Digitalism. With songs like the title track and refrains like, “Lying under covers, doesn’t make us lovers,” from the song, One Nite Stand, this album feels deliciously cynical and slightly sinister, all the while being absolutely ideal to dance to. There’s even some satirical nostalgia on the curmudgeonly track B4U. While there have been comparisons to Junior Boys and Hot Chip, vitaminsforyou and this record are so much more interesting and memorable for me.

Flesh Python – vitaminsforyou

He Closed His Eyes So He Could Dance With You – vitaminsforyou

20. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
This American band has been impressing most indie music fans this year with their re-working of C86-throwback sounds. Their sense of effervescent melody and slightly fuzzy jangle pop, along with all the rushing bittersweetness and hyperbole of youth, makes for the musical equivalent of lemonade and jumping off the playground swings. There’s even a bit of punky energy on songs like Come Saturday, A Teenager in Love, and Everything With You (A Teenager in Love borrows quite interestingly from David Bowie’s Modern Love – come on, you hear it, don’t you?). They are the bright, shiny successors of the NME C86 tape and Sarah Records, wearing their puppyish hearts proudly on their record sleeves. Some of the sweetest pop to emerge in the past few years.

Contender – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

This Love is Fucking Right – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

19. The Big Machine – Emilie Simon
A lot of female singer/songwriters, especially the quirkier ones, get painted with the Kate Bush brush, but I can’t say I’ve ever completely believed the comparison for French songstress, Emilie Simon. Until now. This is Simon’s third studio album, and it melds danceable electronic beats and circus-like melodies with the wild keening of her vocals, sometimes coy, sometimes operatic. There’s a playful whimsy and theatrical bent to her music in general, which has hit its peak with this latest record, and I think it’s that kind of element that makes her more easily comparable to Ms Bush than perhaps someone like the oft-Kate-Bush-compared, heavily lauded Florence and the Machine. Maturing from a Polly Scattergood-like style into this bolshier, full-on aural assault, Emilie Simon has stepped up her game with a delightful confidence. Like a steam-powered toy shop at the end of the world, spouting smokes in a multitude of hues, this record is reminiscent of the past, but also contains some industrial magic.

Rainbow – Emilie Simon

Ballad of the Big Machine – Emilie Simon

18. Malcolm Ross and the Low Miffs – The Low Miffs and Malcolm Ross
I owe JC from The Vinyl Villain for this one. Talk about pleasurable throwbacks, this brilliant pairing of Malcolm Ross (Josef K, Orange Juice, Aztec Camera) and Glaswegian indie band The Low Miffs is like a Postcard revival in all its unabashed glory. These songs are sometimes languidly drawling lounge music that you could imagine backing a black-and-white film in an exotic locale (The Back of Midnight, Scarface, As Good As It Gets) and sometimes twinkling, off-the-wall pop (Cressida, The Man Who Took On Love [and Won], Dear Josephine), and the lyrics are all full of the type of unironic, enchanting playfulness and witty wordplay that bands like Orange Juice were known for. See The Man Who Took On Love (and Won): “Brevity, you’re telling me that I lack brevity, I think it’s something…you lack” and “This is no soliloquy, this is a plea for love’s last reserves, are more than I deserve, but they’re what I need.” Vocalist, Leo Condie, performs a pleasant sort of caterwauling that really appeals to me in a bizarre way (not dissimilar from how I feel about Edwyn Collins’ idiosyncratic vibrato). Like a blazer with elbow patches, this album is unabashedly retro, fun, and a little tweedy around the lyrics.

Cressida – The Low Miffs and Malcolm Ross

The Back of Midnight – The Low Miffs and Malcolm Ross

17. 21st Century Man/Achtung Mutha – Luke Haines
I’ve been eagerly awaiting new material from the jet black, uncompromising wit of fabulously eccentric Mr. Haines. And this double album of sorts is exactly what I needed. The first half, 21st Century Man, is pretty standard Luke Haines fare with intelligent, biting commentary and varying melodies, while the second part, Achtung Mutha, is primarily a more experimental spoken narrative complemented with music. The first disc dives in with the track, Suburban Mourning, which itself begins with “It’s the same old story we’ve all heard before, about the Satanists who moved next door/They met their match, they didn’t stay for more/Now it’s pure suburban mourning.” Simultaneously criticizing suburban living and obstinately refusing to leave it behind, Haines epitomizes inscrutable, always refusing to be pinned down. Of course he also opts to pick brilliantly strange, but apt, choices for celebrity odes, including Klaus Kinski and Van der Graaf Generator’s Peter Hammill (the former track expresses some great acidic sentiments that I fully agree with, and oddly reminds me of Adam Sandler’s melody for Grow Old With You). His musical style also blazes through a Wigwam Bam-like glam stomp on Peter Hammill, Waterloo Sunset parody on Love Letter to London, and austere electronic music with Russian Futurists Black Out the Sun. The second disc reminds me of Bowie’s Outside album in its interjecting tracks of spoken word against low, shady buzzing, but instead of using futuristic fictional characters, Haines embodies the first-person point of view of American artist, Richard Pettibone, who is known for his miniature replicas of modernist art. It’s like being told a highly unconventional, but mesmerizing bedtime story interspersed with lullaby-like musical interludes. Much of it is a genius rant against contemporary art. I was intending to do a full review of this double album a few weeks ago, but still haven’t gotten round to it – I hope I can still squeeze it in this year because it’s worth a longer listen and look.

Klaus Kinski – Luke Haines

The Great Brain Robbery Part 1 – Luke Haines

The runner-up for this installment is The Yellow Mini by Jonny Cola & the A-Grades. Led by Alex Potterill (former keyboardist for the sadly-defunct Luxembourg), Jonny Cola & the A-Grades has featured on this blog before in one of the weekly mixes (specifically, the catchy, glammy song, Disappearing Act), and I think this rather brief album (seven tracks) is worth a mention. There’s a sense of quintessential, 21st-century, English urban life about the lyrics, including all its pathologies, and the music hearkens back to the heyday of glam rock with its driving electric guitars and Potterill’s vocals, which sit somewhere between early Bowie and Luke Haines. They also released a free EP this summer, entitled Another Summer Burning, which featured three brand new tracks and is also something you should make sure you get. 

We’re All Going to Die – Jonny Cola & the A-Grades

Tomorrow I will hopefully have my first part of the Everyday is Like Sunday, Except for Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday, and…Well, Friday I’m in Love Year-End Round-Up, in which I give you the first third of this year’s weekly mixes for download.

This post will be far too short and much too whimsical. This is a heavy topic, god damnit — the top 25 albums of the decade! That’s ten years, people! Ten fucking years. I crawled from 12 to 22. Others did the same. Music came pouring out of our hands, feet, and kisses. We’re still suckers for a well-timed scream, still adverse to female vocalists, and still lapping up every unknown album that comes up on Mediafire. Bear with us, we’ve got a lot more listening to do. And so do you. So here it is, Fred’s top 25 Albums of the Decade.

331 songs, 1.53 GB of data, 27 album covers = 20 hours 34 minutes and 15 seconds of that tingling, nervous stomach drop effect you get the moment before the chorus hits and the music takes you somewhere you never thought you’d go. Close your eyes, tap your snare drum three times, and repeat after me: there are no albums like these.

1) Radiohead – Kid A

2) Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary

3) Sunset Rubdown – Shut Up I’m Dreaming

4) Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights

5) Frog Eyes – Tears of the Valedictorian

6) The Strokes – Is this it?

7) Grandaddy – Software Slump

8.) Sigur Ros – ( ) & Agaetis Byrjun

9) Xiu Xiu – Fabulous Muscles

10) Future of the Left – Curses

11) Akron Family – Akron/Family

12) The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

13) Why? – Alopecia

14) Beck – Sea Change

15) Arcade Fire – Funeral

16) Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf

17) LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver

18) Andrew W.K. – I Get Wet

19) The Walkmen – Bows & Arrows

20) Mastodon – Crack the Skye

21) TV on the Radio – Cookie Mountain

22) The Rapture – Echoes

23) Godspeed – Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven

24) Muse – Origin of Symmetry & Absolution

25) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – S/T

Das ist doch mal was. Gestern hatten wir das Thema “Musikindustrie und Angst vor dem Netz” und gratis Musik – heute legen wir nach. Insound feier Geburtstag. Es gibt 50 x lecker Musik für null Taler. Wer mag folgt diesem Link.

Wer ist dabei? Newcomer und Einsteiger, welche es nötig hätten zu verschleudern? Weit gefehlt, schaut selbst, denn geschenkt gibts:

Cymbals Eat Guitars, Grizzly Bear, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Japandroids,Sonic Youth, Sunset Rubdown,Cold Cave, Passion Pit, The Antlers, Girls,Wavves, Phoenix, Dan Deacon, Bon Iver, St. Vincent, Beirut, Camera Obscura, HEALTH, Woods, Dinosaur Jr., Neon Indian, Deer Hunter, The Dodos, The Vaselines, Fever Ray, Washed Out, Neko Case, M Ward, The Thermals, Yo La Tengo, Isis, The Boy Least Likely To, Thee Oh Sees, Iron and Wine, Handsome Furs, White Rabbits, Jason Lytle, The Tallest Man on Earth, Marissa Nadler, Vivian Girls, Blank Dogs, Black Dice, YACHT, Langhorne Slim, Clues, A.C. Newman, DOOM, Asobi Seksu, Jarvis Cocker…

… ne Menge. Denkste das ist genug? Wenn nicht, hier gibts mehr für umme. Gefunden bei stylespion

Der hier ist für zwischendruch:
Einfach schön: Bic Runga – The Be All And End All

Trippy, kaleidoscopic Rorschach video to the noisy and psychedelic “Black Swan,” from Sunset Rubdown’s June 2009 Dragonslayer. The Muse in Music first announced the LP in March: you should see some of the search engine terms that have led readers to that post ever since. “Sunset Rubdown,” indeed. Here is the video:

In September Patrick reported on bassist Marc Nicol’s terrifying experience with a lake and a lightning strike. Start reading here.

First off, I am sorry for my leave of absence from the blog world.  It has been a strange couple of past weeks.  Kinda goes like this, although not exactly in this order.  Binge, binge, hangover, work with hangover, binge, double shot of jager with a beer chaser, binge, birthday, more jager, more beer, oh hello crown royal, hangover, binge halloween, binge, and… Well ya get the picture.

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Secondly here is some tracks I have been lovin in the middle of all that.  They are all across the board on selection.  Seems appropriate.

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Bad Vein – Gold and Warm

Sunset Rubdown – Idiot Heart

Delphic – Counterpoint (Delphic’s En Route Mix)

Designer Drugs – Drop Down

Empire Of the Sun – Standing On the Shore (Lifelike Remix)

Fabian – Gilourni

Cut Copy – Far Away (Bag Raiders Remix)

Kasper Bjorke – Young Again (WhoMadeWho Tomboy Edit)

Recently I decided to turn on the radio in my car (my iPod was acting up.) The sound of Jack White’s voice immediately filled my speakers and flooded my car with noise. This was not the White Stripes. It was a side-act. I do not like side-projects. They are almost never as good as the genuine product, which is understandable, because their purpose is (mostly) experimental. Jack White is the perfect example for my thesis: Side projects are not good (or rather, not as good as the original act that they are replacing.)

Case-in-point: The White Stripes (a band consisting of Jack and Meg White.) They have released six (6) albums, which I will rank in order of best to worst (according to my opinion- not aggregate sales):

1. (Best): Elephant (Best Track: I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself)

2. Get Behind Me, Satan (Best Track: My Doorbell)

3. De Stijl (Best Track: Truth Doesn’t Make a Noise)

4. White Blood Cells (Best Track: Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground)

5. Icky Thump (Best Track: I’m Slowly Turning Into You)

6. (Worst): The White Stripes (Best Track: Do)

At some point, Jack White decided he wanted to make music with a full band, and not just his percussionist (Meg White.) Enter: The Raconteurs. The Raconteurs are the most commercially successful Jack White side-project, as well as the most critically acclaimed. I understand why Jack decided to make music with them (the universal desire to explore his range as a songwriter with the addition of a bassist, keyboardist, back-up vocalist and guitarist, and a banjo.) The Raconteurs are (arguably) better than the White Stripes in some schools of thought, as their hit singles have become just as popular (if not more) as most of the the White Stripes’ material.

For instance, the following songs kick (fucking) ass: Old Enough, Level, Steady as She Goes, Broken Boy Soldier, and Hands, among others.

My gripe is not with the Raconteurs.

In exploring his desire to create music with other artists, Jack White became addicted to side-projects (to the point where the White Stripes have almost become neglected and forgotten.) I should note that their seventh (7th) studio album is in production, however. So, at the expense of the White Stripes, Jack White decided to create music with the following acts:

The Dead Weather, The Upholsterers, The Go, Loretta Lynn, Beck, Holly Golightly, Soledad Brothers, Alicia Keys

The success of these side-projects is mixed, at best. As a fan, it’s hard to quantify the way I feel about this. Yes, I love Jack White as a musician, and was (at first) interested and pleased at this newfound musical endeavors, but as the side-projects and collaborations pile up, and the 7th White Stripes album gets delayed, I find myself growing increasingly frustrated and turned-off to all these distracting duets and bands Jack has been flirting with.

Swan Lake: Better Than Sunset Rubdown

I have had these same feelings with Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade, and his subsequent side-acts:

Sunset Rubdown
Atlas Strategic
Handsome Furs
Swan Lake
Frog Eyes
Johnny and the Moon
Hot Hot Heat
Fifths of Seven

I would much rather hear a new Wolf Parade album, then another bizarre Sunset Rubdown single.

Side projects are not always bad. Sometimes they are AMAZING, and better than the original act. The best example I can come up with off the top of my head is The Postal Service. Ben Gibbard’s by-mail collaboration with Jimmy Tamborello has held up over time, and is (arguably) better than any album ever released by Death Cab for Cutie.

The case can be made for and against side projects all day long, but at the end of the day, I think artists should go the route of Ben Gibbard. Make one, solitary album that completely knocks critics out of their chair(s), while also knowing when to call it quits. Because, ultimately, if an artists strays too far from his flock, he will alienate his fan base (and probably his band mates as well.) This is why the Postal Service remains so awesome. They released one (1) album (which was incredible, and loved by fans and critics alike), and then went right back to creating music with Death Cab. Despite the (overwhelming) demand for a follow-up album, Ben Gibbard hasn’t budged. This is what makes a great artist. He knows how to toy with his audience (without upsetting them.) Ultimately, will there be a follow-up to 2003’s Give Up? Probably, yes. But in making us (the fans) wait so long, and by focusing on his primary band, Ben Gibbard has succeeded where Jack White has not: He created something amazing, took a step back, and went back to doing what his fans wanted – creating more albums with Death Cab for Cutie. I should probably also mention that Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley joined Ben Gibbard on vocals for this album – another successful side-act.)

Bravo.

Now let’s just hope that Mr. White “gets it” and the White Stripes‘ 7th album is better than their last effort (the progressive, experimental, and mediocre Icky Thump.) Also, let’s hope that the side projects end. Because, let’s be honest, The Dead Weather sucks, and will probably motivate tired acts like the Kings of Leon (who are already far too commercial) to set out on the side-act expedition (something that no one [see: the real fans] want.)

Final Note: Some of the best side-acts come from Canada. Leslie Feist (of Feist and Kings of Convenience, and formerly of Broken Social Scene and Wilco) is incredible.

The logical side of me that also took an advertising class in college understood perfectly why OGRE YOU ASSHOLE headlined over Sunset Rubdown – 95 percent of the people crammed into Osaka’s Unagidani Sunsui venue came out to see OGRE and probably never heard of Sunset Rubdown. The geek in me who also absolutely loathed those soul-crushing advertising classes, though, couldn’t get over the fact that one of North America’s most captivating rock bands responsible for one of the top albums of 2009 didn’t nab the top spot Monday night. Maybe I just wanted to see maximum Spencer Krug. Or maybe I just felt gipped being unable to get a beer before the second set.

A day later I’m still not sure what to make of openers Qomolangma Tomato. They thrashed around while playing a pshychy hardcore that pounds a great riff down as much as possible, the lead singer leaping into the air and pumping his fist as if possessed by the music. After seeing the singer repeat the mid-air-fist-pump move about eight times during the first few songs, though, the gesture seemed less spontaneous and more “look at us we’re so energetic” while the once-awesome riffs were stretched out for too long. Then one of the guitarists climbed up the amps and fell off them, and they won me back. Then the lead singer kept on posing and doing a dance best described as “taking the pulse” and he started looking like the guy from Incubus. I just don’t know.

Qomolangma Tomato do a great job of playing loud, moshable hardcore punctured by the lead singer’s howls, that still has a melodic underbelly. Their best song sounded like skull-bashing Yo La Tengo. When they stepped out of that zone, though, yikes. The last song of their set was a slower tune and it just kept going and going, never veering towards the hardcore noise. Anytime Qomolangma Tomato slowed things down, the results were boring and made me miss the energy (put-on or not) of their faster moments. And someone tell the lead singer to stop posing so much.

“Hello, we’re Sunset Rubdown and we know absolutely no Japanese” Krug said to the crowd before picking up a can of Heineken and letting out a “kompai” before diving into “Silver Moons,” the lead track from this year’s rewarding Dragonslayer. The group only played three songs from their latest, though, mixing in plenty of older material as well. Shouldn’t come as a surprise – Sunset Rubdown is less album-oriented and more about allowing Krug’s achingly personal surrealist lyrics a place to slither around. This was well on display during the group’s excellent set.

Lets step away from Krug for a moment – his backing band did an excellent job making the all-over-the-place music of Sunset Rubdown come alive. The group switched off instruments song to song, the member’s musical chops clearly evident, especially on the stuffed-to-the-seams rock of “The Mending Of The Gown.” The drums sounded especially prominent during the band’s set (though it should be noted they sounded extra loud for all three bands), adding an extra oomph to the songs. They especially stood out on a sped-up version of Dragonslayer standout “Idiot Heart.”

But these are Krug’s songs, and he gets completely lost in them live. The lyrics have always been what sets Sunset Rubdown apart from the crowd, and it’s weird to think lines like “And I’d like to watch the white flash of your heels as they take turns / Breaking the desert heat to beckon me in languages I’ve never learned” just shoot over the majority of the audience. Still, Krug poured himself into every song, whether he manned a guitar as on “Idiot Heart” or sat behind a keyboard like on the slow-burning “Us Ones In Between.” The highlight of the set came on “You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)” where Krug’s voice overpowered all the noise around him, his shouts of “you got to wait, you got to wait for me” sounding especially desperate. Sunset Rubdown closed out with a massive rendition of “The Men Are Called Horsemen There” where Krug played keyboard from his knees while shouting “If I was the horse I’d throw up the reigns!”

OGRE YOU ASSHOLE had a lot to follow up, but they did an admirable job. Unlike the other two bands, the members of OGRE mostly stood still while playing their instruments, working up to an excited sway. They let their ‘90 indie rock influenced music do all the talking – and it was loud. OGRE push a lot of sound out of their guitars, adding a nice ooomph to their slacker rock.

OGRE’s influences come through clearly in their music – one song sounded exactly like “Doin’ the Cockroach” – but they never become derivative. OGRE’s music tends to circle around itself, the guitars sticking mostly to the same riff with an occasional variation thrown in. This song, performed with a little more bite thanks to the louder drums, offers a great snapshot of what OGRE’s music is all about. The standout of the set was the aggressive guitar-workout “Coin-Laundry (Laundromat)” which saw the band at their most excited and the crowd at their most pumped. I still think Sunset Rubdown should have headlined, but they are a special band. OGRE YOU ASSHOLE showed they can definitely handle the spotlight and they’ve got great tunes to boot.