2009 (Thank God It's Over) Top Ten
I'd written grand essays on everything on this list, took one look, and decided to edit with a meat hook. My top ten, with runners-up, each in 5 words or less.
And although some of these seem particularly obvious, I took special care to leave off anything "important" - I just put what I listened to the most this year.
Go to itunes and sample anything you don't know - it's been a very good year for music.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, if you got this you know you are loved.
Cheers,
John
10
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
naive • sincere • smalltown • storytellers
9 (tie)
Built To Spill - There Is No Enemy
Thermals - Now We Can See
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
still • searching • for • another • R.E.M.
8
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
Pavement • Modest • Mouse • solid • pop
7
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
music • still • equals • art • Yaaaaaay
6
Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
Rock/Folk? • Folk/Rock? • who • cares • listen
5
Washed Out - Life Of Leisure
lovely • floating • dance • or not
4
Atlas Sound - Logos
funny • scary • sunny • dark
3
Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do
fun • funny • dancehall • get • up
2
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
psychedelic • americana • shimmering • noisy • beautiful
1
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
screw • hipsters • listen • anyway
(HOLIDAY EXPERIMENT: Play Veckatimest for your mom or grandmother sometime without telling them what it is, they'll be delighted you did.)
Runners-Up
The xx - xx
post-coital • austere • ambivalent • smooth • glassy
Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
singalong • smart • straightforward • energetic
The Antlers - Hospice
sad • deep • cathartic • beautiful
Wish I had room for: Fuck Buttons, Surfer Blood, Cold Cave
Happy New Year!
John
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
MIDYEAR TOP TEN LIST
I KNOW I'm a dinosaur, I still listen to records as set pieces, but I've isolated singles on some of these. I've tried hard to pare off the songs of the moment that always trip me up - I find myself "falling in love every second song", (1) anything with a strong hook or two sends me spinning head over heels, but by the end of the year I've long forgotten it - well, there'll be none of that, it's substance over style here all the way...I'll pop a sampler disc in the mail to you soon if I haven't already, If you got this it means I love you enough to bore you to death with this... Happy Wednesday!
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns (especially "The Ballad of the RAA")
Punker than anything else you're likely to hear this year, most everything clocks in under 3 minutes, at moments a Canadian John and Exene, at others you can practically see the Albertan prairie layed out before you... I've said it before (in reference to Weakerthans, I think) Canucks and Midwestern 'Murikuns convey this storytelling of smalltown isolation better than anyone.
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains (especially "Indiana")
Somewhere Stephen Malkmus is grimacing (he'd be sufficiently horrified to be informed of his and Pavement's pervading influence, but it's undeniable.) There's other influences (Modest Mouse) but after a few listens I settled in, forgot the heavy borrowing and enjoyed it for what it is - a solid indie pop record.
Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do (especially "Hold The Line")
Smart collaborations by Diplo and Switch, getting the right voices tied together with Jamaican flavored dancehall - Maybe the most fun you'll have listening to a record this year, it's sometimes the aural equivalent of sitting on the throne and reading a comic book, then subtly shifting gears into experimental electronica, which is where it wins my heart - I defy you to stay still while listening. (2)
Moby - Wait For Me
I'm the last person on the planet I'd ever suspect of recommending a Moby record to anyone - but for an artist I consider quite conventional, this is a most unconventional and uncharacteristic record, which is the highest compliment I can pay him. Nothing musically surprises me anymore, this did, a superior record for a drive, a plane or a train, without anything sounding like it'll be the next Target jingle.
Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter (song)
Nice. And not in the way I usually mean nice, (i.e. boring and conventional,) but really, really... nice, in the nicest sense of the word. (Oh, fuck it, I like this record, okay?)
Doves - Kingdom of Rust (especially "Jetstream")
I have a soft spot in my head for these guys, nothing they ever do will ever be as good as "Some Cities" was for me, but this is a good record.
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels (especially "Pulling On A Line")
See Jason Lytle review. Repeat. (Sweet Jesus, am I turning into a big pussy.)
Thermals - Now We Can See (especially title song)
Pop but good, and I'll take a catchy song raking the Bushies over the coals over a kick in the gluteus any old time.
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Don't let the endless hype scare you off, a perfectly lovely record - play it for your mom or grandmother sometime without telling them what it is, they'll be delighted you did. (I don't mean for this to come off as faint praise or ironic - this band draws from such a wide range of influences, it makes them impossible to pin down.)
The Field - The More That I Do (EP) (especially the Foals XIII remix of "The More That I Do")
In 2007 "From Here We Go Sublime" made it into my big list of records to play often and hasn't budged, this EP is more brilliance.
Riceboy Sleeps - AKA Jonsi & Alex - Boy 1904
Did an amazing track on Dark Was The Night compilation, this is more of that from Jonsi of Sigur Ros and his boyfriend Alex Somers - Record comes out a week from today, buy next Tuesday, enjoy Forever.
Notably excluded: Wilco (Solid but not earthshaking) Spoon (EP is okay, if it signifies a change in direction, could be very interesting.)
Almost Made It: Akron Family, Black Moth Super Rainbow
Footnotes:
(1) Fairly obscure Elbow reference for your dining and dancing pleasure.
(2) Please exit the throne room before commencing to dance.
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns (especially "The Ballad of the RAA")
Punker than anything else you're likely to hear this year, most everything clocks in under 3 minutes, at moments a Canadian John and Exene, at others you can practically see the Albertan prairie layed out before you... I've said it before (in reference to Weakerthans, I think) Canucks and Midwestern 'Murikuns convey this storytelling of smalltown isolation better than anyone.
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains (especially "Indiana")
Somewhere Stephen Malkmus is grimacing (he'd be sufficiently horrified to be informed of his and Pavement's pervading influence, but it's undeniable.) There's other influences (Modest Mouse) but after a few listens I settled in, forgot the heavy borrowing and enjoyed it for what it is - a solid indie pop record.
Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do (especially "Hold The Line")
Smart collaborations by Diplo and Switch, getting the right voices tied together with Jamaican flavored dancehall - Maybe the most fun you'll have listening to a record this year, it's sometimes the aural equivalent of sitting on the throne and reading a comic book, then subtly shifting gears into experimental electronica, which is where it wins my heart - I defy you to stay still while listening. (2)
Moby - Wait For Me
I'm the last person on the planet I'd ever suspect of recommending a Moby record to anyone - but for an artist I consider quite conventional, this is a most unconventional and uncharacteristic record, which is the highest compliment I can pay him. Nothing musically surprises me anymore, this did, a superior record for a drive, a plane or a train, without anything sounding like it'll be the next Target jingle.
Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, The Commuter (song)
Nice. And not in the way I usually mean nice, (i.e. boring and conventional,) but really, really... nice, in the nicest sense of the word. (Oh, fuck it, I like this record, okay?)
Doves - Kingdom of Rust (especially "Jetstream")
I have a soft spot in my head for these guys, nothing they ever do will ever be as good as "Some Cities" was for me, but this is a good record.
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels (especially "Pulling On A Line")
See Jason Lytle review. Repeat. (Sweet Jesus, am I turning into a big pussy.)
Thermals - Now We Can See (especially title song)
Pop but good, and I'll take a catchy song raking the Bushies over the coals over a kick in the gluteus any old time.
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Don't let the endless hype scare you off, a perfectly lovely record - play it for your mom or grandmother sometime without telling them what it is, they'll be delighted you did. (I don't mean for this to come off as faint praise or ironic - this band draws from such a wide range of influences, it makes them impossible to pin down.)
The Field - The More That I Do (EP) (especially the Foals XIII remix of "The More That I Do")
In 2007 "From Here We Go Sublime" made it into my big list of records to play often and hasn't budged, this EP is more brilliance.
Riceboy Sleeps - AKA Jonsi & Alex - Boy 1904
Did an amazing track on Dark Was The Night compilation, this is more of that from Jonsi of Sigur Ros and his boyfriend Alex Somers - Record comes out a week from today, buy next Tuesday, enjoy Forever.
Notably excluded: Wilco (Solid but not earthshaking) Spoon (EP is okay, if it signifies a change in direction, could be very interesting.)
Almost Made It: Akron Family, Black Moth Super Rainbow
Footnotes:
(1) Fairly obscure Elbow reference for your dining and dancing pleasure.
(2) Please exit the throne room before commencing to dance.
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