December 2009
42 posts
Luke's Top 10 Albums of 2009
It took me a while to process all the albums I wanted to give a fair chance at my Top 10 list. I didn’t truly know what criteria I should use for judging. Ultimately I’ve decided that re-playability is as important as originality, thus you may find this list to be a mix of noisy concept albums and pure pop gems.
10) Porcupine Tree: The Incident
“Prog rock” has its diehard fans and...
Josh V's Top 10 of 2009
10. The Very Best: Warm Heart Of Africa
It’s exciting to see such wonderful music being recognized and exported through the internet. This is a band that is more than just that hip new band from Africa. They legitimately stand above most groups producing music today and it will being interesting to see how their exposure to the rest of the world will affect their music in the future.
9....
The Hypnotist - Hypnosthesia
pimping a personal mix. good luck reading the tracklist.
Happy Holidays!
http://mixes.djfez.com/download/2809/
Obscure and Quirky Christmas Music from Sound... →
Looking for last-minute Christmas music that’s different than the standard tunes? Head over to Sound Opinions’ website before January 1, and download away!
AllMusic.com's Year In Review and Best Of... →
I like how this listing was done, because it gives each style of music its own “best of” list.
Revisit: Kid Beyond - Amplivate
San Francisco beatboxer, Andrew Chaikin, has taken the vocal acrobatics of beatboxing to an entirely new level with his debut EP, Amplivate. Kid Beyond has carried the tradition of solo-acapella music in the vein of Bobby McFerrin to a new generation of hip-hop and jungle music. In a live performance, Chaikin makes use of a pedal-triggered looping station to lay down bassline, drums, and any...
The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne Talks About Their... →
“Our new version would probably sync up in some philosophical aspects with Tron, which probably is not very watchable unless you have some really good music or marijuana to get you through it.”
Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2009 →
Long awaited!
New Stone Temple Pilots' Album Expected in 2010 |... →
Morrissey Apologizes for Swords, Disses Back... →
EU Officials Want to Restrict MP3 Player Volume... →
Hear an Unreleased Elliott Smith Song | Pitchfork →
The Clash's "London Calling" Turns 30 | Rolling... →
London Calling was released 30 years ago, yesterday—14 December 1979. In honor of it’s anniversary, The Clash re-released the album, featuring it’s 25th anniversary track listing, as well as the Don Letts documentary The Last Testament: The Making of London Calling, music videos, and home movie footage of the band.
Concert Review: Morrissey at Copley Symphony Hall,...
I remember she was staring over at my friend and saying something like, “Honey, you’ve got great features. Have you ever considered selling your eggs? They go for $40,000 a pop.” That’s how she said it too—“a pop”—and I was standing there next to Robyn with nothing much to say, wanting this complete stranger to go on and be more outrageous, but we’d made it to the front of the line for $12...
Revisit: Tipper - Tip Hop
So after consistent fan request, Tipper, the English nu-skool breaks producer, has released his 2005 mix-album, Tip Hop, as an un-mixed compilation. This is huge news if any of you are like me, a DJ who loves him some acid crunk. Never heard of acid crunk? Don’t worry, it’s pretty new. So far as I understand it, it’s a genre penned by Antennae, made popular by Bassnectar, but...
Ian McCulloch of Echo & The Bunnymen Plays... →
WatchThe White Stripes perform “Let’s Shake Hands” from the upcoming Under Great White Northern Lights documentary DVD. Here’s a trailer:
Sound Opinions Picks The Best of 2009 →
Chicago Public Radio’s “Sound Opinions” podcast picks the best albums of the year. Cheatsheet here.
WatchMorrissey performed “Don’t Make Fun of Daddy’s Voice” on the George Lopez show last night (which I did not stay up to watch because I was still tired from his great show on Tuesday). Concert review coming soon!
Rolling Stone Picks the Top 100 Albums of the... →
A collection of mostly-mainstreamers. Some deserving placements here, but also signs of absurdity:
Beck’s Sea Change gets under-rated
Springsteen’s Magic makes the list
U2 makes the list THREE times
Dylan makes Top 10
Outkast doesn’t make Top 15
No Avalanches
No Girl Talk
All four Radiohead albums made the list (overkill)
Review: Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
The Dirty Projector’s sixth studio album, Bitte Orca, was released earlier this year to much acclaim. I had heard of them before, and decided to pick this one up. I’ve read this is their tour de force, but having not listened to any of their prior albums, I have little to go on. That being said, I will state that this album is the album of the year. Nothing Comes close. [On a side...
Portishead - Chase the Tear
Just in time for International Human Rights Day on December 10th, Portishead has released a new track whose proceeds will go to benefit Amnesty International’s human rights work. The track can be purchased here.
See the video here.
Review: The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
The Flaming Lips came back this year to record their 13th studio album, Embryonic, their first double LP (although they’ve already released a quadruple…). I’m not sure how to review my favorite band without sounding a bit biased, but I’ll do my best. Listening through the Flaming Lips entire catalogue you’ll notice a trend of adaptation. In the ’80s, The Lips...
Review: Them Crooked Vultures
So unless you’ve been living under a rock or generally don’t like music, you’ve probably heard of the superstar collaboration, Them Crooked Vultures, comprised of Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), & Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana). I have to say, as little as I like cliche, pop, hard-rock, I was a little excited for this album. Well,...
Smashing Pumpkins release first single from free... →
“Song for a Son,” can be downloaded here.
Altamont, 40 Years Later | Rolling Stone →
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the fatal stabbing of a fan by a member of the Hell’s Angels at the Rolling Stones’ Altamont, CA show. Guitarist Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane was also knocked unconscious by a Hell’s Angel earlier in the show. This infamous concert can be seen in the documentary Gimme Shelter, which also features a fantastic studio segment in which the...
Chan Marhsall To Begin Recording New Cat Power... →
Billboard Compiles the "Best" One-Hit Wonders of... →
“The one-hitmakers on this list have been ranked by how high their big song climbed on the chart compared to how far down the tally their subsequent highest-charting effort peaked.”
Simon Reynolds Mulls Over the Musically Fragmented... →
Review: A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
The album is called Exploding Head, which is probably a warning to casual listeners, because this puppy is loud! With sonic textures reminiscent of The Jesus And Mary Chain’s “Psychocandy,” the New York trio of Oliver Ackermann, Jono MOFO, and Jay Space have created an album that is both a resurrection of classic shoegaze and an exploration of new fusions with psychedelic and space rock. The...
2-Disc Reissue of Tricky's Maxinquaye
A remastered and expanded 2-disc version of Tricky’s 1995 debut Maxinquaye gets released tomorrow. The bonus disc will feature 13 tracks of B-sides, outtakes and previously unreleased versions including 2009 mixes of ‘Overcome’, ‘Hell Is Round The Corner’ and ‘Black Steel’. I didn’t know this was happening, but I’m fairly excited about it!
Blogger Handpicks Ryan Adams' Unreleased Greatest... →
Ryan Adams solo compilation, assembled by the blog This Mornin’ I Am Born Again, features what the author feels are Adams’ best unreleased tracks.
“This One’s For The Rose is the quintessential ‘Greatest Hits’ formed from all of the ‘unreleased’ tracks Ryan recorded from 2000-2003. This excludes any track that was (or has since been) released in any...
Watch“Surrounded By Your Friends” by Hooray For Earth
Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold Talks Next Album, Side... →
Arcade Fire Album, Live Shows Coming In Spring |... →
Who HOO!
Pitchfork Picks The Worst Album Covers of 2009 →
Hilariously bad. Especially Sum 41.