Geekscape Picks the Best Music of 2009!
For many of us, music in 2009 died when Kanye West claimed that a music video of Beyonce Knowles dancing in front of a white background was somehow one of the best music videos of all time. Oh, and that Michael Jackson guy. He was taken from us too soon, I suppose.
Luckily for us philistines, Noel Nocciolo had her ears perked throughout the year and now brings forth her picks for the Best Albums of 2009. And stay tuned afterwards, because none other than Jonathan London himself might chime in too!
“End of” lists time, kids, and this year, my tops were all over the place. Hopefully, there is something for everyone. And remember, like with most things in art, “best” is in the eye of the beholder.
10. Rocco DeLuca And The Burden, Mercy
Haunting, sexy, lustful, rock and roll from Los Angeles’ Gibson Dobro-playing prodigy, Rocco DeLuca, and his band, The Burden. Produced by U2’s storied producer, Daniel Lanois, released by Kiefer Sutherland’s Ironworks Records. You can read more about it here: http://www.geekscape.net/features/3e0bba20b525c0dfbd3c9d180b0e11b1/
9. Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros, Up From Below
The story is this: boy gets sober, moves out of house, breaks up with girlfriend. Boy meets girl, falls in love. Boy and girl write nouveau-folk music together. Boy and girl record album and tour the USA with a bunch of musician friends in a big white school bus. As much as I continuously roll my eyes both at the story, (Minus the sobriety. I back that. Hard.) and that boy is consistently spotted at the hippest of the hip spots in LA and NYC….I have to say that annoyances aside, this is a great album. Earthy, rootsy, hand-clapping, appropriate use of mandolins, keys, ukelele, percussion and choral background vocals. Its reminiscent quality of an analog age in Woodstock, New York, drops it onto my list.
8. Heartless Bastards, The Mountain
The Bastards had the best opening-song-off-an-album of the year, (or maybe ever) with title track, “The Mountain.” Check out more: (http://www.geekscape.net/features/449d7cdbace1da686cb5bb654de2b148/ )
7. Vaneese Thomas, Soul Sister, Vol One.
Everything old is new again with the gorgeous Thomas; who I loved learning was one of the singing Muses in Disney’s Hercules! Taking classic songs from the golden age of R&B, and singing from the bottom of her heart to an audience who is probably unfamiliar with the purity of this style, she put out a record of gems. This is an album you and your parents can agree upon.
6. Ha Ha Tonka, Novel Sounds Of The Nouveau South
One of the freshest takes on alt-country I’ve heard in quite some time. 2007’s Buckle In The Bible Belt is bad-ass, to boot. Check them out!
5. The Dead Weather, Horehound
Jack White kills it, once again. In this project, he teams with Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Dean Fertita of Queens Of The Stone Age and Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs. It is gritty, delicious rock and roll. Splashed hard with Tennessee whiskey.
4. Lady GaGa, The Fame Monster
Love, hate, judge, whatever….appreciate her crazy costumes, makeup and approach at being a pop star. She is not going anywhere. Her songs will not leave your head, but will make you dance and some may even make you think. About life. Or weird fashion.
3. DJ MR. F Mixtapes #1 and #2
What do you get when you mash-up Sesame Street, Butthole Surfers, Green Day and Tupac Shakur? You get a bad-ass track from DJ MR. F. Named after that eponymous episode of “Arrested Development,” MR F DJs around New York City, Boston and in Austin at parties during South By Southwest. My faves include Afroman vs Jackson 5, Third Eye Blind vs Nelly, Vampire Weekend vs. Eminem and Jay Z vs Alanis Morrisette, with a splash of Abba. Ideal for a dance party or playlist to work out to, MR F’s two mixtapes, are available for free download here:
Mix Tape #1: http://www.box.net/shared/69f2bjennk
Mix Tape #2: http://www.box.net/shared/p9sekkudd0
2. Wilco, (The Album)
Let the debates begin. It is oft speculated by the very hardcore that 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and 2004’s A Ghost Is Born are the bands’s (namely Jeff Tweedy’s) crowning achievements and 2009’s release as well as 2007’s Sky Blue Sky are Tweedy’s decline into “dad-rock.” Yankee and Ghost, in addition to being epic and experimentally gorgeous, are Jeff Tweedy and his struggle with his addiction. If Wilco never makes another record in the vein of those two and Tweedy stays sober as a direct or indirect result…I am very much ok with that scenario. Though I LOVE this year’s album, too; there is a kind of lyrical sadness and longing to it as a whole, whether he’s (presumably) singing about the W. Bush administration in “Country Disappeared” or about a man’s suffering, painted like a Monet painting in “Deeper Down.” Indie-rock darling, Feist, sits in on the soul-shattering, “You and I” and delivers the hurt with tenderness. Tweedy got sober; he didn’t get a lobotomy. The music may have evolved, but it is still worth the listen.
1. fun. Aim And Ignite
fun. is my pick for album of the year, not to mention debut of the year. fun. is the best new musical group to come out of 2009. Period. They will be on tour most of 2010 so you can see the magic in person. Taking the individual talents of its three members, Nate Ruess, formerly of The Format, Andrew Dost, formerly of Anathallo and Jack Antonoff of Steel Train, lyrics, arrangements and guitar thrashing, respectively, and sometimes an amalgamation of all three, plus the talents of their touring musicians, they not only live up to their name, but are simply exquisite. “Benson Hedges” (randomly named after Peter Dinklage‘s character in Michael Showalter’s ‘The Baxter’) and “Barlights” have just the right amount of soul, making you almost forget that these are the creations of three suburban white boys. Dost’s wistful “Light A Roman Candle With Me” is the best Brian Wilson song that Wilson wasn’t well enough to write. Buy it, and love it.
Most Anticipated Album of 2010
The Yet-To-Be-Titled Second Album from Tally Hall
Recently tracked with producer Tony Hoffer, (Beck, Belle & Sebastian) the Michigan quintet have taken a turn for the more-mature and dark stylings of quirky nerd-rock. This is sure to be a treat.
——- AND NOW FOR TWO CENTS FROM JONATHAN LONDON ——-
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Leftovers – Eager to Please
It’s simple. It’s fast. And it’s fun. Ever since suburban garage born punk rockers realized they could get rich rocking out 15 years ago, it seems like most bands have clawed and scratched at each other to overwrite, overcomplicate and oversell their sound. Bands like Green Day, Rancid and Blink 182 established big careers and bigger fan bases with straightforward rock songs that they left behind to pursue more developed sounds. With Green Day it worked (once… but then they tried it again). Blink 182 capsized their band when they pushed the directions too far (you really think they’re back together and NOT just doing a reunion tour? Where’s the album already?). Rancid had to go back and reestablish their sound with an album this year that sounds almost identical to their late 90s sound. What’s so wrong with sticking with what you know and just having fun with it?
Luckily, Portland Maine’s The Leftovers aren’t trying to impress you as much as their just trying to get you on your feet and dancing. There are 16 tracks on Eager to Please and every one of them does its job well. Some people might lump this in with the slew of Ramones influenced groups from 10 years ago but give yourself a listen and you’ll find a lot more going on here. This band takes everything that was RIGHT with The Ramones, Screeching Weasel and The Buzzcocks and meets them halfway. While every young band and their mom are trying to reinvent folk music (what the FUCK kind of BULLSHIT FAD IS THAT!?! REALLY!?!) and learning to play the banjo or ukulele in order to stand out, The Leftovers are too busy delivering songs we actually want to hear. You won’t find them proving that they can grow moustaches or pull off wearing their dad’s stupid hats (and sister’s stupid pants) on stage. Thank you, Portland Maine for a breath of fresh air. I’m officially a Leftovers fan of for life.
SONG OF THE YEAR
Weezer – (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
Go ahead and say what you will about Weezer. I think it’ll land somewhere between “I miss that Pinkerton sound” and “they’ve sucked since Matt Sharp left”. Are you done? Did you get it out of your system? Great. Because the rest of us are living in the present day and are better off for it. I get the fact that you think no Weezer album since 1996 has felt as complete as those first two albums and that the bands’ b-sides are almost always more satisfying… BUT YOU WERE ALSO 15 FUCKING YEARS OLD! Here are some of the other things you liked when you were 15: Pogs, Final Fantasy 7, getting your head smacked into a locker because you couldn’t throw a punch and racing home after school to smack it before a) your parents got home or b) the memory of your French teacher faded completely and left you staring at a Sports Illustrated Swim Suit issue from 1992.
Now that we’re all here in the present, thank you, Weezer, for putting out the kind of song that just makes your day feel a little bit better. My friend Tony Hartman describes it as “the kind of song that animals in a Disney movie would dance to” and we both view that as a huge positive. The radio dial is crowded with bands and artists working too hard to be taken seriously and Weezer get it done just by being who they’ve always been: the kind of guys who used to be more into pogs, Final Fantasy 7 and getting their heads smacked into lockers because they couldn’t throw a punch. They’ve grown up along side us and if you find that their recent albums are only 50% what you’re looking for (then you’ll enjoy the b-sides compilation coming out in 2010… AND the Pinkerton reissue with bonus material), all I can say is go back and listen to those first two albums today and TRY not to skip a few tracks. When you’re done, we’ll be back here in the present day, dancing like animals in a Disney movie to this fun and uplifting Weezer song.
