If you blog, I guess you just gotta do it…so here’s mine. And no, you’re not gonna get a ‘best albums o’ the decade’ list outta me! It was quite hard enough to think back to early ’09, thank you very much. And yes, albums are still pertinent and will become more and more important as the industry starts its slow digression back to the vinyl days. I’m not Nostradamus and shit, I just know it’s headed that way. It’s what’s the people want…records are just plain sexy! The vinyl is how you’ll listen at home (or inside places) and the mp3s (download card included inside vinyl jacket) will make it portable and shuffle-able.
Another thing to keep in mind, I don’t typically sit around ranking records as I listen to them, so this is a bit of a stretch for me. What I’m presenting here is a list of things I liked in 2009. This includes brand-new shit and also old albums that were re-released during 2009…because I listen to a lot of old music, in case you didn’t know from looking at me. So let’s go through the motions here and get to listing…in no particular order (and I’m not sure how many are going to be listed either until I put them all down, so bear with me). Here we go:
The Entrance Band – s/t : Here’s a great psych album from a new(er) band that’s not afraid of slinky guitar licks. As the mainstream indie-rock world keeps proving to us what their music is NOT, bands like The Entrance Band will do what they do, not concerned with what they are not, but proving that the most interesting thing is what it IS. And what it is is groove, swing, blues, passion, psych, sex and plenty of reverb. On Ecstatic Peace Records.
Well played, Thurston.
The Aliens – Luna : Amazing follow-up to the debut Astronomy for Dogs from 2007 by this Beta Band offshoot. Here are the deets from Wiki: The Aliens are a Scottish band consisting of former Beta Band members Gordon Anderson (aka Lone Pigeon, lead vocals, guitar), John Maclean keyboards, backing vocals) and Robin Jones (drums, backing vocals). They formed in 2005 ( following the split of The Beta Band the previous year, and frontman Gordon Anderson falling ill to “acute psychosis”. Anderson is now out of hospital and has been off medication for some time.
This is what the Beta Band promised to be from their 3 Eps debut, which will always be a classic, but what their other albums never delivered on. They lost sight of their mission or something. Well, The Aliens pick back up where the ‘good’ Beta Band left off. Cheers!
Imelda May – Love Tattoo : Soul rockabilly blues R&B…like in the days when such genres were integrated and made a beautiful noise together. I was lucky enough to be able to interview Imelda May when she was in NYC and got to see her (and her tremendous band) perform live to a packed Piano’s house on a weeknight…Uh-maze-ing! This girl can belt ‘em out. And you need to hear her band play live too. Perfectness…really. Here’s a link to the interview from Beyond Beyond is Beyond 9/24/09.
And here’s a bonus for ya’s. This is an acoustic “Love Tattoo” that Imelda and her husband/guitarist Darrel Higham did exclusively for my BBiB show on East Village Radio…
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The Growlers – Are You In or Out? : I love this album. I guess you’d call it fuzzed-out, reverb-drenched, hazy surf-guitar garage rock. Easy breezy shit that I’m looking forward to seeing played live when these Costa Mesa, California bros make it out East – which I just found out will happen at Brooklyn’s Union Pool on Valentine’s Day ’10. Hopefully my lover will want to go with…
Speaking of lovers, this album is on the great Everloving label.
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Made in Sweden – Made in England : This re-release from the top-notch Esoteric Recordings label in England, came in just under the ’09 gun, released on December 22nd, 2009. I have been in love with Esoteric Recordings output ever since I was turned on to them by some MAN reissues that started coming out a couple years ago. Since then, I’ve closely followed Esoteric’s output and even started a segment on my radio show that features Esoteric’s offerings. Well, this is one originally from 1970 that I just very recently received and am now addicted to. And it once again begs the question ‘why are the Swedish so advanced in progressive rock music?’ Why ask why, bros…just dig it. This is superb blues-jazz-prog rock. Long live Esoteric!
White Denim – Fits : Fukkin’ fantastic album! To be lazy, here are a couple quotes that I really like about the album…
“Fits locks in and finds a groove strong enough to hang a hook on” -Pitchfork
“Like Ike and Tina Turner….. White Denim never do anything nice and easy. The bands chopped up punk delirium is effortless sorcery, evoking Talking Heads’ dancing-bones rock, the dervish thrash of the Minutemen and the Strokes’ pneumatic-guitar pop…White Denim is not simple work, but everything you get is nice and rough.”- David Fricke, Rolling Stone
“It kinda makes me wanna screw.” – My wife
Mother Hips – Pacific Dust : The Mother Hips are consistently great and are consistently not recognized enough. Lots of great dual guitar interplay, amazing sunny California harmonies, and tons of hooks all over the place.
Tim Bluhm was in town for a couple Mother Hips NYC gigs and stopped by Beyond Beyond is Beyond this past Spring, long before the new album’s release and played some tunes for us. Here’s one…
Tim Bluhm: Time-Sick Son – Live at EVR
Life on Earth! – A Space Water Loop : Like The Amazing who are making their mark right now with a fantastic debut, Life On Earth! is a Dungen offshoot to keep the Dungen players busy and creative while Dungen leader, Gustav takes his time with his muse and his turntablism. Yeah, go figs. Life on Earth! is helmed by Dungen bassist, Mattias Gustavsson and is an excellent collection of Swedish psych-folk music…sung in English.
Again, my theory stands that Swedes have and extra music gene.
Check out this tune Mattias did for us on Beyond Beyond is Beyond at the East Village Radio studio:
Mattias of Life on Earth!: Gospel of the Sun – Live at EVR
Hopewell – Good Good Desperation : These next two albums represent bands that made really good albums which only tell part of the story of how amazing they are as live bands. Tee Pee Records made a great choice stepping out on a limb for Hopewell, which isn’t their traditional fare…but Tee Pee is really starting to release a lot of killer stuff (Weird Owl, The Weight, Spindrift, Night Horse, Imaad Wasif) and is one of the great small creative label forces out there now.
Pick up this album and then get yer ass out to see them live and let them show you their complete power. Good Good Desperation definitely will make you more than curious for the live show…and it’s the kind of album that gives you the feeling that Hopewell is on the verge of creating their masterpiece.
Sleepy Sun – Embrace : So, this is the other band who made a fantastic album, this one on ATP Recordings, that only hints at how great a live band they are. I was lucky enough to see both Sleepy Sun and Hopewell this summer at the super-exclusive, only-for-cool-cats-like-me All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in upstate New York…and quite frankly, both bands blew my fukkin’ head off. In a good way!
Again, another great album that will tease you into coming out to see ‘em live. Don’t miss the chance!
Exmagma – Exmagma 3 : I started doing a segment on my East Village Radio show that features the excellent re-release output of Anthology Recordings this year, because they digitally re-release some of the coolest and rarest psych, vintage rock, folk, freak, prog and other great rock forms. This is one of the coolest that I came across this year. Having already been acquainted with Exmagma’s first two ‘official’ albums, that were certainly more Miles 70s-era improvy sounding with very few vocals. Well, this more jagged-rocky, trippy-vocaled one was made as a double album by the band to follow their first two. Their label said ‘we don’t wanna release a double album’…and so the band shelved it and soon broke up. It was finally released way down the road and now Anthology’s got it on their site, ready for you to download…along with the first two Exmagma albums and singer/guitarist, Andy Goldner’s killer solo album, Infinity. Get Exmagma 3 now if you dig adventurous rock!
Rubblebucket – s/t : This one came out of the blue and landed on my CD player…or iTunes or whatever. I had not been seeking out this kind of music, but it found me, and it strapped me in for a rubble-bumpy ride! Is African music super-cool right now? Is Fela really a Broadway musical right now? Do people really hate hippies? Well, whatever the case…this is an album to be reckoned with. But instead of reckoning with it, listen to it! Yeah, that’s better.
Serious groove, a knock-you-out magic horn section, quirky guitar, odd drum rhythms, trippy dub effects, and an amazing spell-casting female vocal, of course with plenty of ‘verb!
I can’t wait to see ‘em live! This one of was may be the nicest surprise of the year.
Zoos of Berlin – Taxis : This one was actually another great surprise that Sinister Foxy turned me on to. It’s modern, it’s sleek, it’s complex, it’s Steely Dan, it’s Talking Heads, it’s uplifting, it’s fun, it’s serious, and it’s a bunch of other stuff…like REALLY GOOD! Everyone that I played this album for fell in love with it and could compare it to nothing else than any other modern indie bands are doing right now. Truly unique and quirky music made by some serious players who remember what it is to groove.
Detroit guys, btw. They’re still making plenty of good music there. Cars…not so much.
The Beatles – Remastered Catalog : This has to be in there, doesn’t it? Such a perfect job was done on these albums…and the world would’ve collectively cringed if it had been otherwise. This music demands perfection, and the remastering/mixing job that they did is incredible. Who knew that the best music ever made could sound even better?!
I have all the stereo versions, now I may need to geek out and score all the remastered mono albums! Most of the stuff up until Rubber Soul/Revolver are meant to be heard mono anyway.
Btw, is the White Album the best rock album ever made?
Bryan Scary & the Shredding Tears – Mad Valentines : I swear to god, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I almost forgot to add these guys to the list AGAIN this year! And I did the same with their Flight of the Knife album last year! Maybe it’s because they’re so much drastically better than most of the modern bands you hear these days, and maybe it’s because their sound doesn’t seem to quite fit in whatever ‘era’ we’re in right now. But BSST are pure theatrical bubblegum, prog-pop escapist bliss…and you’re missing out on all of that if you don’t know ‘em. So get to know ‘em and come join the party. And don’t miss them live!
Here’s a quick stirpped-down tune that they guys did in our completely un-soundproofed booth at East Village Radio. It’s a delight…
BSST – The Garden Eleanor (Live at EVR)
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Very honorable mentions : Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (as if you needed to see that one on another list), Real Estate – s/t, Man- s/t (reissue on Esoteric Recordings), Ben Kweller – Changing Horses, BLK JKS – After Robots, The Blakes – Souvenir, La Fleur Fatale – Silent Revolution, Monsters of Folk – s/t, Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound – When Sweet Sleep Returned…
What else am I missing? What are your faves o’ the year? Lemme know below…
High there, Bee-yawnders…
Halloween is fast-approaching, so I’m gonna dig out some great creepy jams for you this Thursday at noon eastern on my BBiB show. So what’s the best version of ‘Season of the Witch’ anyway?! I definitely have a contender…
I also will have some great tunes from vinyl that I just scored at the Record Fair on Sunday. Here’s a sneak peek…
AND, thanks to our good friends at Sundazed Records, I’ll also be playing some tunes off of Bob Dylan’s Self Portrait album, which Sundazed just released on vinyl on Tuesday. Bob has always put on a lot of different musical masks over his 45+ year career, and this album has always been one of his most baffling. But as a listener who loves variety, I’ve always dug this double album filled with oddities. Let’s listen to some of the best from it…along with some Halloweeny-style jams, and brand-new old vinyl…on Beyond Beyond is Beyond on East Village Radio on Thursday at noon eastern. Be there and be scared!
This is pretty hilarious to see that we now have a loudness contest in the recording industry. It’s yet another reason to give up on music that is made for business over rock for rock’s sake. Check out this article from the Wall Street Journal on Metallica’s new Death Magnetic album and how many fans are complaining that it’s just TOO LOUD! (Ever think you’d ever hear Metallica fans saying that?!) And be sure to listen to the comparison in mastering in the box that looks like this…
No wonder I love the sound of old music. Also, it’s pretty much impossible to master things this way for vinyl, because the needle would be knocked right out of the groove. Vinyl demands nuance.
(Anyone get the ‘pickin’ pockets’ reference?)
Well, yesterday was Brooklyn’s famous Atlantic Antic street festival, the absolute best of all the New York street festivals because it’s massive, it’s the last gasp of organized outdoor fun before the cold weather kicks in, there’s live music, the food is amazing, there are plenty of adult beverages to enjoy, and it’s in Brooklyn! And, for me, it’s right outside my apartment door.
I didn’t get out there till about 3:30 because I was nursing a pretty hefty hangover from a late Saturday night, but quickly grabbed myself a bloody mary and a yummy Vietnamese sandwich and was on the up and up. I met up with a couple friends and ran into some others, but mainly spent the next couple of hours first with Red David and then just with my hazy hangover-headed self.
It was really nice to see all the Obama frenzy at the Antic this year. Everywhere I looked were people of different races, colors, religions, sexes, sexual preferences, musical tastes, and ice cream flavor preferences banding together in support of positivity, hope, and America’s future. You could get your picture taken with a life-size cutout of Barack, you could order an organic Obama burger, and even order Biden gelato. It reminded me of New Yorkers inate ability to see through bullshit, and it’s easy for us to see that there is only one presidential campaign right now which is running on truth and honesty…and it ain’t McCain/Palin.
Another highlight was walking by at the right time to watch a fantastic country rock band from west Jersey playing outside of Hank’s Saloon. I found that the band was called Citizens Band Radio, and these guys (and gal) know how to jam! It was cool seeing all types of people smiling and dancing to CBR’s music. Cheers to the band if they happen to stumble on this post!!! Keep up the good stuff!
And another highlight for me was scoring some new cheap vinyl! I got all of these for $1 each! And they’re all perfectly listenable. I’m listening to Fleetwood Mac’s cover of the Yardbirds’ “For Your Love” right now. Mystery To Me is a great album…I don’t think I even knew that the amazing song “Hypnotized” was done by the Mac. Here’s the full haul that I got for a total of $11…
I also, while I had the camera and records out, took some pics of the last couple vinyl scores I had over the last couple months. Click on through to see the others…
…I mean, at Warsaw in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on Sunday, the 28th. Kick out the jams with some kielbasa and beer! The first one in July was a blast. Here are the details. And here is a nice video…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svo-t7YeVuU&hl=en&fs=1]
Here’s an interesting entry on Rolling Stone’s blog about some vinyl reissues, from Radiohead’s early albums to Pet Sounds. Seems the only rising trend in the industry is vinyl. But unfortunately it looks like the industry is jacking the cost of the records to help heal its wounds, rather than make the records affordable to everyone and selling in quantity! Come on! Learn lessons. What do you think about the $20-$30 price tag?
Anyway, it’s nice to see the vinyl thing making its way back! What’s your favorite record?
Well, the weather done gave all us New Yorkers the ol’ bitch-slap this past week, as it got tired of hearing us complain about cold, rainy days. We’ve already seen 100 degree weather and it ain’t even July yet! I won’t complain because I fuckin’ love summer. It’s hard to live in New York in the winter. You can’t let your mind go where it naturally tends to go, you know? Here’s the famous telescope that stretches from Brooklyn to London, that we checked out on Saturday, the first above 90 degree day, before we boarded the water taxi for Manhattan…
Here’s a bunch of stuff I noticed that stood out this week…
Radiohead fans are furious over EMI’s Best Of release now that Radiohead are Indie again. Check out some of the hundreds of pissed-off reviews via this link to iTunes. Relax, people. I guess it’s hard to lighten up when you listen to too much Radiohead (sorry, had to got there).
Rolling Stone talks about the gradual return of vinyl, as people fall back in love with its aesthetic. Reminder: who’s been talking about vinyl’s return since the onset of this here blog?
Animal Collective listen like Newms does. Check out the links to these AC mixes and playlists!
I think the hip-hop community could use some chess too, Wu. It’d be one thing that’s not about bling and being the biggest asshole.
Check out my review of the Man Raze album. Def Lep meets Sex Pistols equals HOT!
Luckily the little ma & pop store, Wal-Mart, has some people to get their back. Now if only the poor people behind the counter making $17k a year, trying to raise a family, could get someone to get their back. Pay more and support living wages, says I! But I’m sure that makes me a communist. Did I even mention how UN-rock & roll it is for AC/DC to do a Wal-Mart exclusive?! Stoppit, world!
What’s missing from these Greatest Guitar Songs of All-Time?
I found this recent article about the current resurgence of vinyl, relatively speaking, as we watch CD sales decline drastically year after year. As I’ve said before, CD’s just aren’t sexy…at all. Have you ever gone to a used CD store and had an enjoyable experience? No, CD’s just aren’t fun to flip through and look at. When CDs first came out, they were tauted as the indestructible medium of the future, but we’ve all found that a CD skip can just about render a CD unplayable. As a guy with tens of thousands of mp3′s, hundreds of CD’s, and hundreds of vinyl albums, I can objectively say that the CD is the weak link. You’ve heard me say it before… record companies: start selling records again with a code for the digital files to redeem online. There is no need for a CD any longer! Some record companies are hearing me and I even have an album by a new band called Pride Tiger (EMI) sitting here in my work studio with the digital files code inside AND a silk-screened poster created by the band. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Here’s the recent WIRED article on vinyl’s resurgence.
What do you think? Are you tied to CD’s? Do you have a turntable? Am I a geek?
…East Village Radio