Archive for November 26th, 2009
More of the Year’s Best Albums from A to Z
November 26th, 2009
Posted in Best of 2009
I’m going to be working a buttload of hours this holiday season, so I thought I’d speed things up by combining a bunch of the year’s best albums into one list.
Brendan Benson
My Old, Familiar Friend
Most likely you’ll recognize Benson from his work with The Raconteurs, but he’s also an accomplished songwriter who plays guitar, bass, keys and drums. He’s worked with a number of other bands like The Mood Elevator, The Waxwings, Ashley Monroe and Cory Chisel. Benson’s latest release dates back to 2007, when he began writing and recording material between Raconteurs albums. A lot of these songs (when they were in their early stages) ended up on Benson’s MySpace page at various times. Tennessee indie-rock band, The Features, back Benson on some of this record. These songs have often been described as ’70s Power Pop, drawing comparisons to bands like Paul McCartney’s Wings, ELO and Cheap Trick.
Bruce Springsteen
Working On A Dream
With nineteen Grammy Awards and more than 120 million albums sold worldwide, the career of the Boss needs no explanation. Songs from his most recent/16th studio album came just in time for both Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration and this past season’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #1, selling 224,000 copies in its first week. It was the Boss’s ninth number one studio album, tying him with the Rolling Stones; only The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Jay-Z have had more number one albums. Rolling Stone gave it a five star rating, comparing it to his 1975 album, Born to Run, in scale and ambition.
Built to Spill
There Is No Enemy
As one of indie rock’s most influential bands of the early ’90s, Built to Spill has inspired bands like The Ataris, Modest Mouse, The Strokes and Death Cab for Cutie. Their most recent release is their most critically-acclaimed yet, reaching #50 on the US charts.
Not only did Conor’s musical career begin at the age of thirteen, but he also founded the Saddle Creek Records label at that age with his brother Justin. Conor’s most known for his work with Bright Eyes, but has also played with many of Saddle Creek’s bands like Cursive, Commander Venus, The Faint, Desaparecidos, The Magnetas and Park Ave. His most recent album is his fifth, although it is the last album to be credited with his backing band, the Mystic Valley Band. Reviews and ratings of the album all over the place; Rolling Stone gave it 3.5 stars out of 5 while BLARE Magazine gave it four, but Pitchfork gave it a 4.9 out of 10 rating and Sputnikmusic gave it just two stars out of five.
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Why There Are Mountains
One of my ten favorites of the year, maybe even a top five, comes from an artist I previously knew about, but never really spent a lot of time listening to. Auerbach is highly respected in the music world, whether it be what he’s done with The Black Keys, or the number of band’s he has helped produce. I think I was expecting to hear something very similar to the Black Keys, but this album is actually all over the place. Whether it’s the quiet, folkier songs or the loud, bluesy-garage rock, Auerbach has introduced me to a side of him I wasn’t yet aware of.
Dave Matthews Band
Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King
DMB’s latest release is the last album to feature recorded material from their late sax player, LeRoi Moore, who is only featured on a few songs. It’s also the band’s first album in nearly ten years that features Tim Reynolds on lead electric guitar and Jeff Coffin of the Flecktones on sax and flute. Since the passing of Moore and the departure of keyboardist Butch Taylor, it seems as though the band is getting away from that jazz element that made them popular in the early ’90s, even with the help of Rashawn Ross on trumpet. There’s no telling where the band goes after this; does Coffin become a full-time member to help revive those beautiful sax solos ‘Roi was known for, or do they put the focus into Reynolds and his hard rock guitar solos? All I know is that after fifteen years, I’ll continue to stick by them to find out where they go from here.
David Bazan
Curse Your Branches
Death Cab for Cutie
The Open Door EP
The Decemberists
Hazards Of Love
When I first heard the Decemberists’ Crane Wife album (the album that introduced me to this band), I thought to myself that they would never be able to make an album that could top it. And it actually took awhile for me to consider this album up there on that same level. While the album is still growing on me, I think it deserves a best of the year mention, even though I don’t have quite the same feelings as I do for the Crane Wife.
Depeche Mode
Sounds Of The Universe
Devendra Banhart
What Will We Be
The Dirty Projectors
Bitte Orca
The Duke and the King
Nothing Gold Can Stay
eels
Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire
You’ve probably heard the eels but aren’t quite aware of it. You typically won’t hear them on commercial radio or falling into the mainstream, even though they have had songs featured in a number of films like American Beauty, Holes, The Anniversary Party, Knocked Up, Yes Man, The End of Violence, Hellboy II, Hot Fuzz and Shrek 1-3. Their latest is a concept album about desire, with the band taking on a more straight-forward rock sound rather than mellow, experimental, ambient alt rock they are known for.
Elvis Costello
Secret, Profane And Sugarcane
When you think of Elvis Costello, you probably don’t first think of Americana and country music, rather, you probably think of late ’70s New Wave and punk rock, or songs like “Alison”, “Pump It Up” or “What’s So Funny.” You actually have to do your research to discover that Costello is an avid country fan, which kind of shocked me at first. It’s a sound that he has taken on with his most recent album, and although I was skeptical at first, I have to tell you that these songs are simply brilliant. Costello’s got one of my favorite voices in music, and this album showed me that his voice is amazing with any style of music. While he was backed by Jenny Lewis and her band at this past summer’s Bonnaroo performance, the backing band for the album consists of quite an exceptional cast including T Bone Burnett, Jerry Douglas, Emmylou Harris and Jim Lauderdale.
Elvis Perkins
Elvis Perkins In Dearland
The son of the late actor Anthony Perkins (Psycho) and late photographer, Berry Berenson. His debut album, Ash Wednesday, was more of a solo effort, dealing with more somber themes and moods (he lost his mother in the 9/11 attacks), while his latest, self-titled disc seems to be more hopeful, as well as a songwriting collaboration with his bandmates, In Dearland.
Bonnarumors 2010
November 26th, 2009
Posted in music festivals
If you’re into Bonnaroo (like me), well I thought I’d post this to keep you up-to-date on the latest headliner rumors. Remember, rumors are just that, but sometimes they end up becoming true. In late 2006, Trey Anastasio of Phish mentioned something about how the greatest band he would love to see at Bonnaroo would be Tool. The following summer, Tool was there. In early 2007, rumors of The Police reunion tour surfaced, which led to rumors of a Bonnaroo appearance. They also played the festival in 2007. Bonnaroo has also featured bands who have performed recently at the Super Bowl, like Bruce Springsteen this past year (he also played Bonnaroo this past summer) which is where one of the first rumors of 2010 comes into play. The Who were one of the first biggest acts rumored for Bonnaroo 2010; they are indeed headlining this year’s Super Bowl. But the most recent rumor is U2. They are embarking on a huge 2010 US Tour, just before heading over to the Glastonbury Festival at the end of June. On another note, Springsteen also headlined Glastonbury this past summer. So, who knows. Just wanted to make a note of it for now; we should know in just a couple more months. One more note: not a headliner, but Pavement is also rumored at this point for Bonnaroo 2010.
