first!
2009!
Oh! released all of these... kinda... we'll have to wait for the Whipping Wind...
but still! SO EXCITING! so many albums!
second!
what was I listening to this year?
or
best of 2009...
in no particular order...
Timber Timbre - S/T
absolutely amazing album.
Easily one of the best shows I saw all year.
Taylor has so much mood and emotion in the music, it's incredible.
Lyrics. Folk music. Amazing. I can't say much other than this is probably my favourite.
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
I was talking with Edward, and I admitted that, "sure Animal Collective is amazing, but I know how to write an Animal Collective song... but I have NO IDEA how to really write a Dirty Projectors song..."
This album is so original, and weird, and quirky, and AMAZING!
It's much different than Timber Timbre, so I can't say that it's better, but it's
just something I can't stop listening to... crazy guitar work, and crazy crazy vocal work. So much time and skill went into this album. I've never heard anything like it.
also, one of the best shows of the year.
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
I'm almost afraid to bring this up because it has become so hip and almost over hyped... but really. It's brilliant.
For me, this is the most exciting band in music right now. I'm most excited to listen to their music, and most excited to hear what comes next...
which over the past few days has really given me a writers block for the ol' folk music I'm supposed to be writing (so perhaps I'll have to put Timber Timbre on today)
but really, this album even deserves all of the pretentious Pitchfork bs...
Animal Collective, and this album in particular, are really leading the way.
Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind EP
This EP is more experimental than the above, and is therefore more exciting--at the moment--and has therefore not left my turntable since I bought it... well, it did once, after maybe 40 consecutive listens because Edward was complaining...
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimiest
The songwriting and production on this album are incredible! It's really arty indie pop music. This album is really exciting because they use fairly traditional instrumentation for a rock or an indie rock band, and really push it to it's artistic limits. Tyler and I can't stop listening to this album.
Oh, and then there are all of the vocal harmonies and crazies.
Dark Was The Night Compilation
Using the above to tie into this, this compilation basically comes across as a greatest hits album of 2009 from all of your indie favourites... with a bonus, all songs are unreleased anywhere else.
Oh! and the tie-in... the Grizzly Bear/Fiest song "Service Bell" is AMAZING. "boom" amazing...
Rubik - Dada Bandits
Open House booked a show with Rubik this year at the Blackshire Pub with The Ghost is Dancing and Beard Season... I had never heard of this band... and they BLEW ME AWAY! Rubik was the greatest surprise of the year, completely blew me away (repetition for emphatic reasons of course), everything going on at once... dancy, experimental, indie rock, horns, percussion, crazy vocals.
all over the place.
and then I was very pleased to find that the album was just as good as their live show... oh so happy with this band, all the way from Finland!
Beirut / Realpeople - March of the Zapotec / Holland --double EP
Zach Condon and Beirut go to Mexico, and record a gem! and then touch it up back in New York with some help from one Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear). This work from Beirut probably features some of Condon's best arrangements, which makes it a fantastic album, however with this he has started to move away from some of the indie-rock-hooks which perhaps helped garner him such a large audience... but I still love it. As for the Realpeople disc (this is a double EP with himself... Realpeople actually being a project he started before Beirut, or so I've read) it is straight up interesting and dancy electronic music... think Scenic World from Gulag, but not trying to disguise itself as Beirut music. Very good. If you didn't get enough pop/indie hooks on the Beirut part of this douba-EP... then this has it for you!
...also just interesting, Zach has way more listens on Myspace than Animal Collective!
Bob Dylan - Christmas In The Heart
Bob Dylan is very close to my heart. We all laughed when we heard he was coming out with a Christmas album, but it's for a good cause, and the album is actually very good. He comes across as a rougher 1930s crooner singing the old standards or perhaps your grandfather singing on Christmas day, but with great production.
...just check it out.
Also, check out some of those Beatles remasters! Although the remasters came out this year, I can't really count them as albums from this year... those belong to my favourite decade, the 1960s... really though, The Beatles catalog is the best of all time!
Albums from 2009 which I missed, and need to check out:
Evening Hymns - Spirit Guides
Atlas Sound - Logos
Phoenix - 1901
The Antlers - Hospice
St. Vincent- Actor
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
...plus all the ones you should list in comments below...
Other albums I've listened to a lot recently, but aren't from 2009:
Fleet Foxes - S/T
Daft Punk - Discovery
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (is it better than Merriweather!?!?)
Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
One Hundred Dollars - Forest of Tears
Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas
Favourite shows of 2009
Fleet Foxes - Massey Hall --crazy, could they pull those harmonies off live?!? yes yes they did. They killed it! in the encore Robin Pecknold did a completely unplugged version of the traditional 'Katie Cruel'... amazing
Beirut - Phoenix --one of my favourite bands, so very entertaining and charming. Good work Zach! the horn work between Zach and Kelly Pratt was amazing
Dirty Projectors - Opera House --everyone was in awe the whole time, and openers Tune Yards completely blew the audience away.
LOLA festival - it was a lot of fun to play this show myself... hang out with Final Fantasy, see Final Fantasy, get introduced to Slaraffenland's music, enjoy the jazz on Saturday afternoon, and then experience the crazy NOMO/audience jam.
Oh!Fest - so much fun doing this festival this year. My favourite show was AHAHB/The Ghost is Dancing/Lioness... because it was hot, sweaty, and crazy... plus I'm a bit biased... but seeing Sick Friend the next night was crazy! and the beautiful music in the church the night before!
Timber Timbre - Yale Street Speakeasy --incredible. One of the coolest things I've ever seen. Also one of the most moving musical performances I've ever seen.
Pick a Piper played two shows with Oh! this year... I really enjoyed the one at Yale Street (it was SO loud) and the one at Blackshire with Ace Kinkaid and AHAHB.
A HORSE AND HIS BOY - album release show at Museum London. Such a fun night to share our music with our friends. Sick Friend and Exit 2012 were such great openers too. Love.
My own album release show was fantastic. So much fun. So much love. So many friends. Handsome Dan and the Gally and Aaron Lozynsky were fantastic. Thanks for coming out!
I had a great time at the Oh! Holiday show, at the FOTO photography opening at EVAC... I had a lot of fun at EVAC this year actually. EVAC put on a lot of great shows.
Olenka and the Lovers at Call The Office was a lot of fun... it felt more like a celebration than a show (to me anyway)...
I'm sure there are more, I just can't think now...
Looking ahead to 2010, I'm just really excited for everything to continue as it is, which will mean things will continue to get better and better.
very exciting.
lots of love,
-Sam.
