The CHIRP Blog

Mike Bennett writesiPod/MP3 Friday Shuffle — Happy Birthday Grandmaster Flash

Happy New Year everybody! Not only is it the 10th Anniversary of the Y2K scare, it’s also the birthday of a master of the wheels of steel, one of the first prominent turntablists, Grandmaster Flash. Because Flash is bad, Flash is cool, go grab your iPod or MP3 player, hit shuffle, and share the first 10 tunes that come up.

Descendents — Cool To Be You (Cool To Be You): While I don’t think that the Descendents reunion stuff was as consistently good as their punk-pop heyday in the ’80s, they certainly didn’t disgrace themselves. Anyway, it was all about Milo Aukerman, who is a fine frontman and a sharp lyricist. The melodies are sweet and Bill Stevenson pounds the skins like he’s the Neal Peart of punk-pop.
Ramones — Time Has Come Today (Subterranean Jungle): A pretty straightforward cover of The Chamber Brothers’ psychedelic rock classic. It would have been real cool if the Ramones did the full album length version (which was well over 10 minutes). Or maybe not. A solid but unexceptional cover on a second tier Ramones album (fun, but not essential).
Pet Shop Boys — It Must Be Obvious (Alternative): Alternative is a 2 CD collection of B-sides and other odds and ends from the Boys’ career. The amount of strong material Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe leave on the cutting room floor is pretty astonishing. Each of the discs actually holds up better than a few of their albums. This song was certainly album worthy, with the usually urbane lyrics and dance pop backing.
Michael Nesmith — Listen To The Band (Older Stuff: Best of Michael Nesmith (1970-73)): The wool hatted Monkee was an innovator in country rock and his early solo records are a mix of great singer-songwriter material with some twang and larger band work, where he created veritable country orchestras. This remake of a great tune from The Monkees’ Present album distills the rock flourishes in favor of a more rollicking feel. Nesmith was also such a terrific vocalist — a lot of personality.
Marshall Crenshaw — Brand New Lover (Marshall Crenshaw): Crenshaw’s 1982 debut is a power pop classic. His music was not as indebted to The Beatles, The Who, etc., sounding more like he drew from the same inspirations as those acts, without being overly retro. He then worked the basic themes of longing and rejection that make up 94% of all power pop songs. A lesser track, but it still sounds swell.
The Beach Boys — Don’t Hurt My Little Sister (Today!/Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!)): With Today!, Wilson started taking his Phil Spector influence and really putting his own stamp on it. The album is really a precursor to the brilliance of Pet Sounds. This track starts out in a “Be My Baby”-ish mode, but Wilson adds a couple amazing melodic wrinkles, while still maintaining a basic Beach Boys rock ‘n’ roll feel. Great.
Madness — Night Boat to Cairo (One Step Beyond): One of the classic singles from Madness’ debut album, this ska track was originally intended to be an instrumental, until Suggs insisted on writing some lyrics. This was a good call by the band’s lead singer, as this song doesn’t quite have enough thrust to go the same route as “One Step Beyond”. The mix of the ska beat to cod-Egyptian music is inspired, and the result is a classic.
Liquor Giants — Fifth Wheel Time (Up With People): Ward Dotson left The Pontiac Brothers and fronted this way cool pop band that adapted ’60s and ’70s influences into vehicles for Dotson’s odd lyrical sensibility. The result sounds like something that would burst out of an alternative universe transistor radio. All the elements are familiar, yet something is a bit off. But it’s all undeniably catchy and fun.
Fools Face — Ballet On A Wire (Fools Face): This Springfield, Missouri band was a well-kept Midwestern secret in the early ’80s, releasing three often terrific indie albums of skinny tie new wave/power pop. They moved to L.A., released an EP and then broke up. In 2002, almost 20 years after the band’s last album, they reunited. And other than a bit more muscular sound, it sounded like they picked up right where they left off. If you like candy coated power pop with just a bit of heft, this album is worth a listen.
Tony Christie — (Is This The Way To) Amarillo (Bubblegum Classics V): I love bubblegum music. I really know nothing about Mr. Christie, but this is a bit less teenybopperish than most ’60s bubblgegum. It actually sounds like a cross between Neil Diamond and Tony Orlando, with heavy production. Tony is pining for his Maria and travels to Texas. On the way, he rhymes “Amarillo” with “pillow,” which is pure bubblegum poetry.

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Categorized: Friday MP3 Shuffle

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CHIRP DJ writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2009

Throughout the month of December we’ve been posting Best of lists from CHIRP’s volunteers, board members and DJs. Now that the month is over, as is the year, we’ve compiled all of those lists into one, did some maths and ended up with the Top 30 releases of 2009 as determined by CHIRP as a whole. Here’s to more great music in 2010, and to bringing it to you via CHIRPradio, launching Jan. 17th, 2010.

If you missed any of the lists, or just want to see them all again, you can get a full list here.

#1 Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion (Domino)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“I’m not sure how they did it, Animal Collective went from being a band that I had a passing interest in and absolutely bored me at their live show to creating this surprisingly incredible album. The fact that Merriweather was released in January, and people are still freaking out about it at the end of the year is pretty impressive indeed. Well crafted, catchy, and outright fun, this record makes me happy.” —Dustin Drase

#2 Neko Case – Middle Cyclone (Anti)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“Great vocals, great lyrics, great songs. She just hits the ball out of the park with this album. The singing is so emotive, and the melodies so evocative.” —Tony Breed

#3 Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“Phoenix has been putting out bedrock-solid pop for years now, and if you always thought they’d be there for a few good spins, you’d be right. But few expected the Parisian duo to come out with an effort like Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – if they’d been your shy sidekick before, on this album – and 1901 in particular – they took off their glasses, did their hair, and asked you to prom. While the trajectory of the band has probably gotten more experimental than poppier (the inverse of say, Animal Collective’s recent acceptance into the indie-rock elite), it’s only been a small dapple. But it was enough to push a perennial pleaser into a true head-turner.” —Dan Morgridge

#4 Pisces – A Lovely Sight (Numero Group)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“This is not a reissue, it’s a discovery of unheard 1969 material that was lost and buried in a fascinating story about a perfectionist rock group from Rockford, Illinois, who couldn’t catch a break. Besides earning Pisces a page in Steve Krakow’s Secret History of Chicago Music series, this album (compiled by the Numero crew) is an enjoyable listen start to finish and is essential for any fan of Rockadrome-esque swirly psychedelic fuzz. This album was built like a cathedral; it almost seems appropriate that it took over thirty years to finally see a proper release. Not only is this undisputedly my pick for best album of 2009, I think it will shine for years to come as a truly remarkable achievement both sonically and historically.” — DJ Bylamplight

#5 The Flaming Lips – Embryonic (Warner Bros.)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“If not the best record of the year, it was easily the most welcome. After the Technicolor dazzle of The Soft Bulletin and the serene trippiness of Yoshimi, the Lips lost me with 2005’s At War with the Mystics; it was fun, but I worried that the band had given themselves over entirely to cartoonish spectacle and Santa costumes at the cost of the songs. But here we have some spectacular new blood: not quite a return to form, or even a retreat to the olden days. Just a generous burst of the gloriously unpredictable weirdness that we’ve come to expect from Wayne Coyne & co., and it’s their best in 10 years.” —Billy Kalb

#6 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz (Interscope)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“I loved this album, but I never thought that the Grammy folks would agree with anything I think – to my surprise, It’s Blitz was just nominated for Best Alternative Music Album this month.” —Jenny Lizak

#7 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“I love a pop song. Make it a nice, fuzzy, lyrically-nasty-but-sweet-sounding pop song with male-female vocals, and that’s even better. The best C86 record since, if not 1986, at least the last Velocity Girl album.” —Shawn Campbell

#8 St. Vincent – Actor (4AD)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“Another artist that I saw play at Millenium Park this summer. It was fun watching parents dancing with their children to “Actor out of Work”. My parents took me to see The Osmonds so you can blame them if you don’t like this list.” —Pete Zimmerman

#9 Andrew Bird – Noble Beast (Fat Possum)

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“My brother claims he hates Andrew Bird because he feels like he needs a dictionary on hand in order to listen to his albums, but that’s precisely why I love Andrew Bird! That and I’m super envious of his whistlin’ skills.” —Erin Van Ness

#10 Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (Domino)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
''‘Cannibal Resource’ was my summer jam, especially that part in the opening guitar riff where the Moogerfooger effect takes over. “BITTE ORCA / ORCA BITTE” was my scream-along lyric of 2009. it was a weird year. pop at its most disjointed and unhinged. lovely.” —Austin Harvey

#11 Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (Warp)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“A popular artist that I didn’t spend to much time with before, I thought they were too sleepy for me. Strive for perfection is apparent in this album, multiple layers, multiple voices – brilliant. “Two Weeks” is my song of the year – it puts a smile on my face every time I hear it. I especially love the “ooh-wee-ooh” doo-wop throw back vocals at the end.” —Caitlin Lavin

#12 The Antlers – Hospice (French Kiss)

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“It took me a long time to get into this album because I was being impatient and trying to listen to it on the commute to work, and you just can’t listen to this album in that environment. It’s too quiet and soft. Once I finally gave it a fair listen with a cup of coffee in hand in a moment of peace, it became magical to me.” —Erin Van Ness

#13 Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career (4AD)

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“This album breaks my heart every time I hear it. Tracyanne Campbell’s voice is simply arresting. Of the eleven songs on the album, I called nine of them my favorite of the bunch at one time or another during the period that I spent steeping and soaking and immersing myself in this outstanding release.” —David Staples

#14 Madness – The Liberty of Norton Fulgate (Yep Roc)

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“After bursting onto the scene as a frenetic ska band, Madness put its own stamp on British observational pop, providing a more urban and urbane (but less poetic) variation on the pastoral English paeans of Ray Davies and The Kinks. Years after their heyday, it’s amazing that these elder statesmen have as much to say as they do. The album loosely revolves around the concept of snapshots of London, which suitably inspired the band to whip up a number of songs that rank with their beloved singles from the ‘80s. It is all topped off by the 10 minute title cut, a genre hopping historical journey through a diverse London neighborhood that celebrates immigration as making a great city all the stronger. This great band finally pulls off the great album that was always in them.” —Mike Bennett

#15 Thee Oh Sees – Help (In The Red)

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“Thee Oh Sees have been a busy band. A couple of albums this year, a half dozen singles, and they have all been consistently good. This is a fine album all the way around. They are a garage band writing pop songs with a hint of psych thrown in and some great male and female vocals. They rip through a dozen songs and by the time you are done you are ready to start the album over again.” —Patrick Seymour

#16 The Noisettes – Wild Young Hearts (Mercury)

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“I am a sucker for an album that moves through a variety of styles, and here the Noisettes are, pushing all of my buttons. Well‚ it’s more like an overview of Motown, with all the requisit hooks, but a dash of rock thrown in. Downsides: the album is a bit overproduced, particularly for a band known as one of the rowdiest live acts in London. And their disco-inflected hit, Don’t Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go), is a bit too slick, repetitive, and under-written for my taste (but I still groove to it every time it’s on, and never get the urge to skip to the next track).” —Tony Breed

#17 Fanfaro – Reservoir (Atantic)

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“How many instruments did they use on this album?! Strings make it passionate.” —Carolyn Kassnoff

#18 The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love (Capitol)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“You know what I love about the Decemberists? As they’ve gotten more popular, and switched to a major label (minor-major, perhaps), they’ve just gotten weirder. the Hazards of Love is not just a concept album, it’s an actual story told in song, like any one of the story-songs from Picaresque elongated into a full album. And it’s brilliant. It’s suffused with prog-rock goodness, and features guest vocals by Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond and Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond. The one flaw? With Colin Meloy singing two roles and narrating, it’s a little hard to follow. Two more guest vocalists would have been welcome. (Ooh! Ooh! The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt as The Rake; would that not have been great?)” —Tony Breed

#19 M. Ward – Hold Time (Merge)

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“He pleases me.” —Laurie Viets

#20 Silversun Pickups – Swoon (Dangerbird)

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“Yep, I thought it was a new Smashing Pumpkins song the first time I heard the Silversun Pickups. But my reluctance to investigate them further was worn down when I remembered, hey, I really liked the Pumpkins. The second chance I gave them was worth it, and I’ve been nothing but pleased.” —Jenny Lizak

#21 C. Joynes – Revenants, Prodigies and the Restless Dead (Bo’ Weavil)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“A step outside my usual realm for this gorgeous, pastoral instrumental album from a young guitar player often compared to John Fahey. Perfect rainy day, time-to-think music.” —Shawn Campbell

#22 The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You (Columbia/American)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“Their Rick Rubin produced, major label debut may be a lot smoother and more polished than their previous efforts, but maybe the brothers are just growing up. It’s sing-songy and catchy so I don’t mind.” —Erin Van Ness … “I and Love and You and Too” —Pete Zimmerman

#23 Elvis Perkins – Elvis Perkins In Dearland (XL)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“How creepy would it be being the son of Anthony Perkins? At what age was he allowed to see Psycho? Talk about scaring! It scared me and Norman Bates was not my dad! Well it did not effect him in his musical development. His voice does have a hauntingly beautiful quality.” —Andy Weber

#24 Japandroids – Post-Nothing (Polyvinyl)

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“I was shocked when I saw a five-minute running time for this song, which I’d previously brain-labeled as a sparse punk burner. And while the song could have potentially ended about two minutes in (the lyrics are basically just played twice in a row), the song gives itself a big bridge to ramp itself up with again, and takes off. This could have all been repetitive and grating, but the feedback fuzz, earnest yelps, and heart-on-sleeve lyrics (“Well you can keep tomorrow after tonight we’re not gonna need it…/Background, we’re too drunk to feel it”) catches your ear, plants itself, and waits for your next moment of triumph to blast back to memory as your victory soundtrack.” —Dan Morgridge (Re: “Young Hearts Spark Fire”)

#25 Mi Ami – Watersports (Quarterstick)

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“After a couple excellent EPs these ex-Black Eyes members put out their full length debut. It is a strange mix of forward thinking punk, Afro beat, free jazz and dub. While that makes it seem like they are throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks, it actually works well blending everything together creating a very unique sounding album, strong debut.” —Patrick Seymour

#26 Micachu and the Shapes – Jewellery (Rough Trade)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“Just when you thought that the latest crop of post-punk revivalists had squeezed the last drop out of the sounds of the Ghosts of ‘78-‘82 Indie Past, along comes 21 year old Mica Levi to show that there are always new ways to cobble together dissonance and melody. Bits of the early Cure, The Fall, Orange Juice, Wire and others all collide and ping-pong about, while Mica is at turns wistful, cheeky and wise. Adding to the excitement is Mica’s distinctive oddball guitar playing.” —Mike Bennett

#27 Woods – Songs of Shame (Woodsist)

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“If I was making some sort of pseudo-indie flick of nihilism and despair, sitting on my couch w/ the phone of the hook in a lobotomized state – “Military Madness” would be the background music.” —Caitlin Lavin

#28 The Cave Singers – Welcome Joy (Matador)

Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“This is the second album from this Seattle band. They have a driving folk sound with some outstanding blues harp interludes throughout a number of their tracks. I am a lover of songs that build the whole way. Which is very evident to me when I look at this list. This is a song that I would listen to and back it up and listen to it again. In this day and age of music access that is something I rarely do so for that reason alone it sits a top my list.” —Andy Weber

#29 Windmill – Epcot Starfields (Friendly Fire Recordings)

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“Windmill’s sophomore album bridges the narrow gap between an optimistic future and a disappointing past. Science and technology create a majestic backdrop for tales we can all relate to; Tales of loss and disappointing everyone that is important to you. This delicate balance plays out perfectly in each song’s fragile composition. Simply put, I haven’t heard an album with this much depth in quite some time, and it quickly became the soundtrack of my summer commutes.” —Mike Gibson

#30 National Skyline – Bliss & Death (Self-Released)

Amazon / iTunes
“National Skyline grew from the broken pieces of Hum. Only available through download, Bliss & Death is an epic and emotional roller coaster, and by far my personal favorite release from Nat. Skyline. It’s a shoegaze wall of sound flavored with layered guitar harmony. I can’t say enough. Ok… I’ll go ahead and say it: This is the best album I’ve heard in years.” —David Staples

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Categorized: Best Albums of the Year

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Mike Scales writesMike Scales’ Best of 2009

Throughout the month of December we’ll be posting lists of the best music of the year as determined by the volunteers that make CHIRP what it is. Today’s is from CHIRP DJ, Mike Scales.

Baroness – Blue Record (Relapse) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
First in a trilogy of Georgian metal acts on this list, Baroness breathed energetic new life into their signature roar and dizzying riffage on this year’s Blue Record. Fine-tuned, dynamic arrangements and soulful acoustic passages make for an instantly classic and cohesive feel to the work as a whole. I’m beginning to expect nothing but the best from this band.
Blakroc – s/t (V2) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Blues-based, ass shakin’ beats courtesy of the Black Keys with off-the-cuff rap performances by the likes of Wu-Tang’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Raekwon & RZA, Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch, Ludacris, Q-Tip, etc. What more could you ask for?
Eyedea & Abilities – By The Throat (Rhymesayers) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
This record from the veteran Rhymesayers Entertainment emcee/DJ duo took me a couple listens to get into. But once the noisy, distorted rock guitars and half-sung songs sunk in, I was hooked. By the Throat is a grand testament to the power of innovative indie hip-hop; can’t wait to hear what these guys do next.
Kylesa – Static Tensions (Prosthetic) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Georgian sludge maidens Kylesa have really come into their own with Static Tensions; their signature co-ed vocals and dual-drummer attack more melodically and structurally sound than ever. And, truth be told, I just can’t get enough of sultry guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasants. She simply rules.
Mariachi El Bronx – s/t (Swami) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
L.A.’s punk rock scorchers the Bronx strip-down and suit-up for their new project: a traditional, full-blown, honest-a-god Mariachi band! Cowbells, mandolins, horns and all! It is simply awesome! Do yourself a solid and also download their version of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U.” It’s a shame it wasn’t included on the album, might just leave you speechless.
Mastodon – Crack the Skye (Reprise) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
One of the biggest buzz bands of the metal community and beyond this year, Mastodon has proven themselves truly epic and progressive better than any of their prior output. A record inspired by personal tragedy, out-of-body travel through space and time and good ol’ Rasputin, Crack the Skye can and will be studied on many levels by heavy music aficionados for a long time to come.
Mayer Hawthorne – A Strange Arrangement (Stones Throw) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
True old-timey soul revival in its purest form. Well, as pure and true as a 30-year old white dude from Ann Arbor, MI, can get at least. Hawthorne wrote, arranged, produced and played most of the instruments on this heck-of-an album for the Stones Throw label. Listen to “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” now!
Priestess – Prior to the Fire (TeePee) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
I simply cannot say enough about Montreal’s hard rock/metal masters Priestess! The band churns out tunes with the kind of wide-open, barnstorming rock riffs and old school metal swagger that will instantly have you singing along and banging your head in delight. Prior to the Fire may just be near-perfect record #2 for these guys.
Serengeti & Polyphonic – Terradactyl (Anticon) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
With his genre-defying funny/strange flows, one of the most unique and prolific unsung heroes of Chicago hip-hop, Serengeti, is an emcee in a world of his own. And yet somehow dude found and equally eccentric producer in Polyphonic to perfectly compliment his style. Their second full-length together, Terradactyl, is also some of the best left-field hip-hop to come out of the Anticon label in years.
Slayer – World Painted Blood (American) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
What can I say? I have to give love in 2009 to thrash titans/Hot Topic whores Slayer for proving once and for all that reuniting with original drummer Dave Lombardo and putting out a beast as badass as 2006’s Christ Illusion was no mere fluke. The righteous riffage of World Painted Blood is as uncompromising as any of Slayer’s last 20 years of work and, lyrically, these old ass dudes are still as pissed off as ever. Hail.

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Categorized: Best Albums of the Year

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Austin B. Harvey presents: The Liquid Diet writesAustin Harvey’s Best of 2009

Throughout the month of December we’ll be posting lists of the best music of the year as determined by the volunteers that make CHIRP what it is. Today’s is from CHIRP DJ, Austin Harvey.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
A classic example of an album that seems to touch all the bases without trying too hard. Phoenix manage to marry catchy choruses with an inherent dancefloor sensibility, tying the whole thing together with an unmistakably French cool.
Fanfarlo – Reservoir (Atantic) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Picture this: Arcade Fire fronted by a Swedish David Byrne, in London, without electric guitars. Sounds like a noble experiment if anything else, right? Kitchen sink instrumentation and irresistible melodies all come effortlessly on an album that can’t possibly be a debut.
The Antlers – Hospice (French Kiss) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
If 2009 was a complete bummer of a year for you (as it was for me), then maybe a heartbreaking album detailing the protagonist’s struggle – watching a lover die in a cancer ward – brought a little bit of release into our seemingly bleak existence. At once hauntingly intimate and stunningly epic.
Pisces – A Lovely Sight (Numero Group) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
A frequent member of my cohorts’ top 10 lsits, this rediscovered local nugget from the 1960’s serves as a fitting companion to the rest of the decade’s lost gems. Come for the psychedelic freakouts, but stay for “Are You Changing In Your Time”, and “A Flower For All Seasons”, two of the finest ballads from any decade.
Montee – Isle of Now (Strømland) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Combining the danceable bliss of Duran Duran’s Rio with the polyrhythms and musical deftness of Talking Heads’ Remain In Light. This might be the best new wave album made in 25 years, and it’s from a bunch of harmonizing Norwegians who care little for anachronism. Self-assured, yet precocious.
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (Domino) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“Cannibal Resource” was my summer jam, especially that part in the opening guitar riff where the Moogerfooger effect takes over. “BITTE ORCA / ORCA BITTE” was my scream-along lyric of 2009. it was a weird year. pop at its most disjointed and unhinged. lovely.
A Sunny Day In Glasgow – Ashes Grammar (Mis Ojos Discos) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
A shoegaze album worth getting excited about? From Philly? Yes. They do it with dream-pop interludes between the longer tracks, and heaps of sonic depth. An added bonus: this album also knows how to dance, check out “Close Chorus”.
Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue (Warp) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Wikipedia’s genre classifications for this album are “Ambient music” and “Jangle Pop”. You could throw in “Alternative Hip-Hop” and “Folk” into the recipe for this incredibly singular and exciting album from Stephen Wilkinson. The VGM-inspired “Sugarette” jumps to the gorgeous folk of “Lovers’ Carvings” without a chance to catch your breath.
Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career (4ad) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Tracyanne Campbell sounds more assured with each record, and with good reason. Her band is peaking on this collection of chamber pop tunes with plenty of blue-eyed soul influence, perhaps even a bit of country. The upbeat songs, though, steal the show with a time-honored mix of heartbroken lyrics and euphoric instrumentation.
The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love (4ad) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Though I’m not the biggest fan of Robbie Furze’s vocal style, I can’t argue with the gigantic hooks on this album. They don’t sound much like The Band, but I hear Screamadelica-era Primal Scream fed through electroclash’s brattiness, or a more hard-rocking version of Cut Copy. Whatever the description, the results are lush and highly rewarding.

Reissue of the Year:
The Vaselines – Enter the Vaselines (Sub Pop) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
I will admit that I missed the boat on these guys when I was first getting into Nirvana back in middle school. I’ll turn in my indie-rock cool-kid card and write “‘Son Of A Gun’ might be the best song ever written” 50 times on the chalkboard. This is truly ahead of its time, indie pop clatter that’s at once catchy, messy, and irreverent. Perfect.

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Categorized: Best Albums of the Year

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Tony Breed writesTony Breed’s Best of 2009

Throughout the month of December we’ll be posting lists of the best music of the year as determined by the volunteers that make CHIRP what it is. Today’s is from CHIRP’s March Director and DJ, Tony Breed.

They say the album is dead; people are just interested in singles. I say the album will never die. Sure, most CDs these days are just collections of songs written at the same time — not really “albums” at all — so why not just buy the good songs and leave behind the filler? (This is not news; it’s been the case for decades, but it’s only been recently that you can buy any single songs that interests you.)

But there are still people making real albums: collections of songs around a central theme; songs that proceed in order and sound better as a whole than as individuals; or sometimes albums that tell stories, like an opera or a ballet. No less than four of my top ten albums of the 2009 are true albums: The Decemberists, The Flaming Lips, Madness, and Sufjan Stevens. And the rest? Well they are good too.

The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love (Capitol) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
You know what I love about the Decemberists? As they’ve gotten more popular, and switched to a major label (minor-major, perhaps), they’ve just gotten weirder. the Hazards of Love is not just a concept album, it’s an actual story told in song, like any one of the story-songs from Picaresque elongated into a full album. And it’s brilliant. It’s suffused with prog-rock goodness, and features guest vocals by Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond and Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond. The one flaw? With Colin Meloy singing two roles and narrating, it’s a little hard to follow. Two more guest vocalists would have been welcome. (Ooh! Ooh! The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt as The Rake; would that not have been great?)
Flaming Lips – Embryonic (Warner Bros.) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Another album with a dash of prog rock and a good dose of weird. I discovered The Flaming Lips with 2002’s excellent Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, where the sweet, odd and tuneful title track is followed by a wild instrumental breakdown featuring screaming. Embryonic is like that track: it grabs you by the collar, throws you to the ground, demands your attention.
Pomplamoose – Pomplamoose Videosongs (Self-Released) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
And now for something completely different: a fantastically adorable duo who make videos for all their songs and post them to their YouTube page. Perhaps you, like me, saw their amusing cover of Beyoncé‘s Single Ladies when that was being forwarded around. Perhaps you didn’t then go to their video home page and listen to some other songs. If you had, you probably would have fallen in love and bought their album, as I did. Singer Nataly Dawn has a gorgeous voice, and Jack Conte’s instruments and production create perfect confections. Promise me you will check them out.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz (Interscope) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Take note: if you are a band and you want to change styles for an album, this is how it’s done. It’s Blitz’s electro dance sound is reminiscent of Ladytron and CSS, as well as a good chunk of 1983. It certainly helps to have Karen O, who has great presence, vocally (see her collaborations with Har Mar Superstar and The Flaming Lips, and her work on the I’m Not There soundtrack).
The Noisettes – Wild Young Hearts (Mercury) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
I am a sucker for an album that moves through a variety of styles, and here the Noisettes are, pushing all of my buttons. Well‚ it’s more like an overview of Motown, with all the requisit hooks, but a dash of rock thrown in. Downsides: the album is a bit overproduced, particularly for a band known as one of the rowdiest live acts in London. And their disco-inflected hit, Don’t Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go), is a bit too slick, repetitive, and under-written for my taste (but I still groove to it every time it’s on, and never get the urge to skip to the next track).
Madness – The Liberty of Norton Fulgate (Yep Roc) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
My goodness, is Madness back? And could this be any good? YES. Peppy, cheerful ska, great stuff from start to finish, never repetitive‚ and capped off with an epic 10-minute track incorporating elements of South Asian music, in honor of the Punjabi population now living around Norton Folgate in London.
Sonic Youth – The Eternal (Matador) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
For me, Sonic Youth had always been a band that can cross the line with their dissonance and noise, into something I just don’t want to hear (e.g. the second last few tracks of Goo). The Eternal sees them instead riding that line, never crossing it, always staying close to the edge. It is a whole album that is like their best stuff. It is Sonic Youth sounding like Sonic Youth in the best possible way.
St. Vincent – Actor (4ad) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Oh Annie Clark you are an odd one, with your dark vignettes, sweet vocals, and angular notes. I dub you the inheritor of the Kate Bush/Tori Amos weird-lady singer-songwriter mantle. Keep it up. I look forward to your whole career. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Sufjan Stevens – The BQE (Asthmatic Kitty) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Yeah, I know, sometimes you just want to smack him. Ambitious, grand projects that get attention: Sufjan Stevens is an artist who knows how to get himself noticed. But at the same time, he’s good. He delivers. If only every artist who was this talented set themselves on projects of this magnitude. What this is, basically, is Stevens trying to make classical music. It’s like Sketches of Spain for 2009 (in fact, it has some real echoes of that great 1960 Miles Davis album), except instead of being about beautiful Spain, it’s about the BQE, the most unloved and unlovely highway in the five boroughs of New York. It features Stevens’ signature arpeggios and flute trills, as well as a funky electronica breakdown in the middle. It also comes with a DVD video (the album being really a soundtrack to the video) featuring a trio of hula-hoopers that I confess I have not yet watched. (Yes, hula-hoopers. You do kind of want to smack him, don’t you?)
Neko Case – Middle Cyclone (Anti) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Great vocals, great lyrics, great songs. She just hits the ball out of the park with this album. The singing is so emotive, and the melodies so evocative.

Honorable Mention:
John Vanderslice / Romanian Names
It’s always to hard to whittle my list down to 10. Romanian Names is great for all the same reasons the Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone is great (though the vocal styles are very different). I say, go get both of them.

Song of the year:
“Swing” by Zero 7
You know that song you hear on the radio, stop what you’re doing, and just listen? This year it’s “Swing”, by Zero 7, featuring vocals by Jackie Daniels. There are a number of other good songs on the album, though it didn’t really cohere as an album for me. But this song, this one track… I could listen again and again.

Guest of the year:
Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond as the queen on Hazards of Love is so, so good. Note to self: check out My Brightest Diamond. That’s gotta be good stuff.

Belated 2008 album of note:
Grace Jones / Hurricane
Not released in the US, Hurricane (Jone’s first album released in 19 years) didn’t get any attention here at all. By the time I even found out it existed, 2008 was almost over. Comeback albums can be hit-or-miss, and I didn’t muster the enthusiasm to get myself a copy until a few weeks ago. This album is a hit; great stuff, start to finish — everything I would want it to be, and absolutely worthy of your attention.

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