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Whew, just made it in before midnight! Here’s my list of favorites of 2010. It’s been a helluva year, I’m very much looking forward to 2011 and what it might bring. It’s all up from here, baby!
In no particular order, they’re all my favorites, and I’ve not got through most of anything past September. So apologies to all you wonderful musical folk who have sent me stuff. I’ll slowly crawling out from under my rock. These few albums are very near and very dear to my heart. I couldn’t have got through the year without them.
Crank Resolutions mp3 All Creatures Will Make Merry – Meursault …. buy it!
This hit me at the beginning of the year and knocked me away with it’s ability to just reach in and grab the right phrase, the right note. When people talk about musicians “crafting” a song or an album, All Creatures Will Make Merry is what they mean. Meursault are coming into their own on this record, taking a seat on a rising ferris wheel and you’d best get to know All Creatures Will Make Merry before their next one hits the public.
You (Understood) - Samantha Crain …. buy it!
Yes, I was waiting by the inbox for this one. Samantha Crain is maybe one of the first artists I went to see and fell in love with as I was first beginning to write about music for this blog. I’ll let you in on a little secret. It was sorta difficult to get out there and go to shows and talk to musicians. More than difficult. I was terrified. But I loved her EP “The Confiscation” so much that nothing was going to stop me. So I just closed my eyes and threw myself outside and onto the bus and did it. And as she played to a very polite crowd at the Old Town School of Folk Music, I sat up in the balcony and just fell for it, for her music. This album had the same effect on me. And seeing her a few more times over the years has done nothing to turn me from her. She gets under your skin with these songs, these words and the way she puts them out there in the ether to chords and notes for you. Go listen. Fall for it, like I did. This album takes her in some new directions, well… a couple blocks down some roads not far from where she’s been before. And I like that.
islands mp3Circles Circles – Fisherking …. buy it!
I’ve been a fan of Fisherking for awhile now. They sent me their new, debut LP record, Circles, straight from Sydney. I had high hopes. I was more than relieved when it began to play. Sometimes I wish I could really have that teleporter now please. The songwriting is first-class, the instrumentation is simply beautiful and current and lovely. But it’s the delivery that dragged me in and kept me listening through the 15th and 30th repetitions. You might not get to hear Fisherking this year, I’m not sure when they’ll be touring, (gosh, make it soon guys!) but you really ought to get to hear this album.
Crystal Castles – s/t …. buy it!
What? You didn’t think I listened to quiet, tinkly, indie folk all day long did you? This Crystal Castles record is awesome! I highly recommend “Celestia” or “Baptism” and if those aren’t somebody’s songs for 2010 then there’s something seriously wrong with the world. Electronica is a genre that will never, ever die for one simple reason: you can fuck to it.
A Thousand Voices - My Gold Mask …. buy it!
This is it, darlings. Gretta and Jack have made it with this one and if you’ve not heard it yet, well then… you’re simply nobody. I put my hand over my mouth every time they play because I’m constantly astounded that I could possibly know anyone as talented as these two wonderful people. Full of bravado and teeming with absolute sincerity, My Gold Mask is a phenomenon that only Chicago could produce and the world is a better place for it. Get a copy of this now if you can. It’s gorgeous.
Deadmalls and Nightfalls – Frontier Ruckus …. buy it!
Probably one of my favorite lyricists of the year is Matthew Milia. Frontier Ruckus came through Chicago and sang most of the songs off Deadmalls and Nightfalls and just took my breath away. This album is Americana and nostalgia and longing and heartache. Spend a rainy night, wrapped in a blanket by the warm glow of the TV static with this on.
I wish I had spent more time with Elephee, but I’ve spent more than enough to know that it will feature highly in 2011′s listening pile. Moth in the Motor got plenty of rotation. Rachael Dadd has that ethereal quality in her voice that makes her a Joni Mitchell and a Tori Amos too. And her lyrics are poetry and her guitar is a magical harp. Listening to Elephee makes you believe in something again, something that you believed in back in the 70s when it was cool and you know it’s going to be cool again, thankfully. Moth in the Motor is eerie and intriguing. I’m just so glad people are making music like this again/still – that people are producing music like this (Thank you Broken Sound!!!). Go buy it, go to their gigs. This woman is beautiful, I can’t say much more.
Elf Power – s/t … buy it!
I was giddy to hear that Elf Power had a new album coming out in 2010. I was also not disappointed. It was the best I’ve heard them sound, the best of the sound of their old material put to new form, to my ears. This tenth (!) LP, simply self-titled Elf Power is something I turn to again and again, kinda my comfort album. I hope it becomes yours too. Elf Power were equally awesome when they came here and played much of it live for us. What. A. Band.
Fossils and Other Phantoms - Peggy Sue … buy it Peggy Sue came to Schubas last summer and I was lucky to be there and hear them. This trio from Brighton won me over for good the moment I heard them play live. Harmonies that chill you coupled with a kind of dramatic (but not over the top) instrumentation that is coming out of the UK at the moment is just perfected in this band. Other groups try to do this, Peggy Sue excel at it and push it beyond the cliche back again to what is meaningful about folk music. This was a breath of fresh air, go get the album and see what I mean.
Hammer and Anvil - Pure Reason Revolution … buy it!
Perhaps one of my most anticipated albums of 2010, Pure Reason Revolution’sHammer and Anvil was a complete and total smash! I adored it at first listen and it seems so did so many others. It was a real joy to share this with you and to follow along as the excitement built around the album. If you’ve not gotten to know this band, you’d best start now. So absolutely on point with what’s going on in a number of genres, PRR have captured fans from Europe, the US and around the world with incredible stage shows and most importantly, intricately, talented instrumentation and vocal talent. Hammer and Anvil show how much they continue to evolve. And yet, for as huge a band as they have become, they continue to be involved on a very personal level with their fans. This is what rock and roll should really be.
Solid Ground mp3 Perch Patchwork – Maps & Atlases …. buy it!
Well I can’t say enough about this Chicago band. I’ve loved them for awhile now and this was another really highly anticipated album for me for the year. It verged slightly to the right of the rest of their body of work and that was just fine with me. I love, love, love Perch Patchwork and couldn’t be more pleased for Maps & Atlases’ success. Watching these guys play, feeling their enthusiasm for their work, you can’t help but be sucked into it all. Their positivity comes across in the songwriting but the performance is really where it’s at, darlins. Go get this. Go see them.
Narrow With The Hall mp3 Public Strain – Women … buy it! Women are a band (were a band?) that I’m not sure everyone “got.” And that’s a shame because there is so much going on in this music that I find to be incredibly interesting and stimulating. You don’t have to overthink it. I still listen to this album, it’s really cool how the repetitive, unexpectedness of it lets you think. Give this a try and if you didn’t get to see them live, I’m so sorry. They were incredible. Whatever they move on to next, go catch it!
Good Morning mp3 Shouting at Wildlife – buy it!
This Edinburgh band just has me wrapped around their little finger. Catchy, quirky, and at the same time, so accomplished and so just plain GOOD. I am smitten. One listen and you might be too. Kid Canaveral are a favorite of BBC radio’s Vic Galloway and for good reason. This is the new Britpop, kids. And coming from someone like me, that’s no insult.
Sugar – Dead Confederate … buy it!
While my friend Steve, of the great blog Baby You Got A Stew Goin’! might really like their older stuff, I think Dead Confederate’s new album, Sugar, just fine. And even if they didn’t play the title track at their show here in Chicago last winter, I forgive them. Honest, I do. Seriously, Dead Confederate are an amazing band to see live. Turn this up, put the headphones and let the noise just soak in. The emo-ish lyrics and sawing guitars will completely offer you an escape. Go there.
Suspicious Package – Earl Greyhound …. buy it!
I ran into Earl Greyhound as they opened for OK Go! this summer. They astounded me on a couple of levels: the combination of musical talent was boggling; the sex appeal was palatable, and I’ve not heard a drummer like that since… since, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a drummer like that live, to be honest. Their self-released debut LP, Suspicious Package is full of bluesy, rocking, hard-hitting songs that feature hard guitar solos and beautiful vocals. Did I mention the drummer? Wow. You gotta hear this shit. Seriously.
And a few more that I didn’t have time to write more about but wish I did (might add more later, but alas, have to be at work in a few short hours!)
Weather mp3 Meursault All Creatures Will Make Merry …. buy it! (and get this now as the mp3 will only be here for 48 hours, go buy the CD, honestly)
The Contrast Podcast is up again and we’re giving you our best songs so far of 2010. You’re going to find a wide variety music over there – we are a varied bunch of bloggers and music lovers! Here’s my pick, I’m sure you’ll find it to be no surprise if you know me at all. Meursault, from Edinburg has been one of my favorite bands since their debut album, Pissing on Bonfires, Kissing with Tongues, in 2008 (see my review.) Their most recent album, from which this beautiful single comes, is titled All Creatures Will Make Merry(review here)and it surpasses the genius that was their debut. Both albums, and more of their recordings are available on Song by Toad Records. You know what to do now, go!
Crank Resolutions mp3 Meursault All Creatures Will Make Merry …. buy it Sleet mp3 Meursault’s sophomore album, All Creatures Will Make Merry, has carried me away. No, I take that back. It has dragged me away, far away from all the other music in my inbox and on my iphone and in my music library. This is truly the album that we, who are true fans of this band, have been waiting for, and wishing would come sooner to our doorstep. Those of you lucky enough to live within touring distance of this young band have perhaps seen the evolution of these songs. I’ve heard rumors and snippets. I’ve followed their silvery snail trails as experiments were made, as acoustic sets happened. Musicians were added to the mix, more songs were written, Neil fiddled and futzed, I’m sure. All Creatures Will Make Merry emerges as a very personal yet also transcendent collection.
Not completely set in folkish traditions, many of these songs are more electrified, more experimental than their debut, Pissing of Bonfires, Kissing With Tongues. The production is rough at times, distortion reigns at places that are uncomfortably accepted before the galloping percussion carries it all away and you forget just how odd it sounded at first. This is not pretty, pretty indie music. It’s got it’s charm but it lies under a cloak of screeching and ticking and chiming electronics and when you figure that out and come to love it, you love it exactly because of all that. For those of you who admit a wide variety of music to your library, All Creatures Will Make Merry will have you racking your brain to identify the influences and sounds. If you’re a one genre pony, open your ears and admit this album; give it more than one listen; it will win you over. I’m immediately struck by the very bare voice set against that opening chord which then unfolds into oh so much more sound and complexity on “Payday.” It’s a short little song, a prelude, and it makes your ear ready for the way you’re to feel about the story told in “Crank Resolutions” before Neil lets out a yell and the musicians are let loose on you.
I don’t use the word transcendent lightly. The bit about All Creatures Will Make Merry being personal is obvious. The songs are lyrically about friendship and leavings, and bitterness and isolation and loss. I’d call that personal. Transcendent is harder to prove. But honestly, listen to the quiet lulls when the acoustic guitar and Neil’s voice echo out into the space just waiting there for it. Hear the wailing chorus of “Another” as they harmonize their way to the end of something that in and of itself is only a song, but broadcast to all of us, is a truth that stands on its own. Play it again. It will produce a similar feeling on the second time around. Play it for your friend. Play it for a stranger. Its truth is contained within its own existence, you see. It’s not simply subject to your own personal hearing. Now this might be true of many songs. But this is most certainly true of the music on Meursault’s beautifully done record.
Gadamer, writing on Hegel, tells us, “The light in which all truth is seen is cast from consciousness’s becoming clear about itself.” It’s as if the distillation of our collective thoughts have imparted a distinct truth to things. That’s what transcendence is about. But in order to be transcendent a thing has to also know where it comes from and to what it was once bound. Meursault’s music surely is no longer tethered to it’s Scottish plain. This record propels them to a wider and greater field, and I think knowing that is what makes me feel so strongly about it. The moment I put it in my car stereo I choked up, and soon had to pull over and just listen, tears running down my face. It’s simply so beautiful, and I’m so very proud of them. But All Creatures Will Make Merry is not an album about Neil or any of the people in Meursault (though all of them are gifted and perfectly chosen members of this band,) it is an album about beauty and the kind of essential beauty that we all instinctively understand as it stems from the human condition. It’s somber and dark and self-reflective. And as the last phrase of the last song ends so abruptly I realize how small each of us are. And that is as it should be. The music, of course, exists beyond us. xoxo
Shame on me! One of my favorite groups, Meursault, has been up to some really good music lately and I’ve not shared it with you, darlings. This must be remedied. So here, for now, go see what Off The Beaten Tracks has got on it’s lovely website. You won’t be sorry, it’s some gorgeous video footage of some new songs.
Their new album, All Creatures Will Make Merry, is of course, being put out on Song, by Toad Records and you can pre-order it there. As soon as my copy arrives, I will obviously tell you all about it and give you a stunning review of what I know will be a wonderful record. It is released on the 24th of May, BUT order it now and get a copy sooner, as starting TODAY it launches and a limited run of hand-printed copies are available. The album launch party is tonight and if you’re lucky enough to be in Edinburgh (damnit where IS my time machine!?!) you might be able to see them at Cabaret Voltaire, that is if you have a ticket. It’s sold out! (see that’s why I need a TIME machine, get it?!)
Oh, and Sandy over at Slowcoustic has a nice piece on this too, go see! EDIT: Sandy alerts us to see this:
And get a load of those tour dates down below! Wow! I’m feeling them get closer to the US, I really am. xoxo
Tracklist:
1. Payday
2. Crank Resolutions
3. All Creatures Will Make Merry
4. Weather
5. One Day This’ll All Be Fields
6. What You Don’t Have
7. Another
8. New Ruin
9. Sleet
10. Song for Martin Kippenberger
11. A Fair Exchange
Tour Dates
Apr 10 2010 8:00P ALBUM LAUNCH – Cabaret Voltaire [SOLD OUT] Edinburgh
Apr 19 2010 8:00P Cafe Video Gent
Apr 20 2010 8:00P Sub071 Leiden
Apr 21 2010 8:00P Scopitone Paris
Apr 22 2010 8:00P Pop In Paris
Apr 24 2010 8:00P Hafen 2 Offenbach
Apr 25 2010 8:00P Rationaltheater Munich
Apr 26 2010 8:00P La Tana Delle Rane Reggio Emilia
Apr 28 2010 8:00P Ambient Pub Macerate
Apr 29 2010 8:00P Beba Do Samba Rome
Apr 30 2010 8:00P Rifrullo Salerno
May 1 2010 8:00P MMB Club Neapel
May 2 2010 8:00P [tba] [tba]
May 3 2010 8:00P Dimensione Winterthur
May 4 2010 8:00P Molodoi Strasbourg
May 5 2010 8:00P Cafe Galao Stuttgart
May 6 2010 8:00P Silber Hamburg
May 7 2010 8:00P De Bliksem Den Helder
May 8 2010 8:00P Truskel Paris
May 14 2010 8:00P WALK THE LINE FESTIVAL Den Haag
May 15 2010 8:00P WALK THE LINE FESTIVAL Den Haag
Jun 24 2010 8:00P 24-27th FUSION FESTIVAL [SOLD OUT] Germany
Hard On mp3Withered Hand Good News …. buy it! (I just checked, it’s fucking SOLD OUT!! so check back, they’ll have more. Way to fucking GO, DAN!!!!!)
The time has finally come. The pushin has come to shove…And I’m going against my own word and making a numbered list. And here’s why: The Hype Machine is compiling lists as they did last year, for a big, gigantic, general list of favorite music of 2009. Now being an educated woman, I know that data is useless if it is not ordered and placed in an hierarchical fashion. So, know that theoretically I am not in favor of placing any one artist or album above another. That’s just ridiculous. How could I possibly say that I love Ice Palace slightly more than Pure Reason Revolution? Those two albums are like apples and oranges. I listen to far too wide a spectrum of music to make a comprehensive list in any sensible order, really. But, it is necessary in the name of science. So…. here is my list. And it is generally ordered as to how much I listened to these fantastic records. Now that says a lot more about me than about them, doesn’t it? xoxo
Withered HandGood News … buy it There’s a very simple reason I love this album and listen to it again and again. I fell in love with the honesty of it, the way it speaks to exactly where I am and where I’ve been and maybe even where I’m going. Dan Willson just does something that very few other singer/songwriters can do and that something is to simply lay bare what is not easy to tell. See my more thorough review here (scroll down).
And, albums/bands that I sooooo wish I had spent more, and had more time for this year! There’s always those few that slip through your fingertips, you never get to them fast enough nor spend enough time on them. But these are all wonderful and I know I’ll be listening to them well into 2010.
William Henry Miller Pt. 1 (7″ version) Meursault 7″ vinyl from Song, by Toad Records Now you tell me what you think of this… the production is very different here! Do you like it? I’m of two minds, myself… I’d rather like the vocals to be pushed up front a little more but then again, I like the windy, raw, noisy sound of it too. I just can’t wrap my brain around it all yet, too used to the EP version I think.
It’s been a Meursault kind of day. All cold and snowy and miserable. And on these winter days I think of Scotland and of folk music and especially of Neil Pennycook’s voice which bleats out the feeling that life and love is eternally lost, unrequited, then found, forgotten and dies. Perhaps, you’ll remember my review of their debut, back here, almost exactly a year ago today. I also managed to pick that record for my favorite of 2008.
I can’t exactly tell you when my affair with Scotland began but it’s a lot older than this obsession with it’s new indie folk music. It might have been born from our trip there a few years ago; spending a month traipsing over the Highlands, Shetland and Orkney, and Skye, and settling in Glasgow for a while will do that to you. But what it really did to me (especially those many days in the mist and fog of the Shetland islands) was give me a place in my brain for this music.
Of course not all of Meursault’s songs are bleak and sad. And it’s not even fair to say that any of them are, in fact. That over simplification fails to see that in the desolation of a place there is always a hidden warmth, a spot of moss that grows, or a hearth smoking with a peat fueled fire somewhere. And underlying Neil’s bleating voice lies a knowing … and a sense that is anything but despair and sadness. Obviously overlaid it all are the gorgeous sounds of banjos and guitars and that funny drum-thing called a cajon, and all those electronically made melodies and countermelodies. The harmonies and, at times, the sheer speed at which the lyrics are spit out, also lighten the mood. “The Dirt & Roots” is a prime example of this technique; depressing as hell lyrically and such a deceptively cheery, catchy tune. Sometimes I feel Neil’s being intentionally contrary- “This is an awfully cheery tune, let’s write about death, heartache and disaster!” said with a devilish smile on his face. His bandmates, Fraiser, Calum, Chris and now Phillip and Pete, no doubt heartily agree.
Their new EP, Nothing Broke, has been playing constantly at Chez Tart. On it you’ll find a really tender version of this song that nobody can really decide who wrote or what the original should sound like – for Meursault it’s “Red Candle Bulb.” You might have heard Withered Hand’s Dan Willson’s version of it, “Oldsmobile Car.” There’s a third version which I don’t have, hint, hint…. And even though I’ve picked “William Henry Miller Pt. 1″ as my #3 song in my Festive Fifty back in November, it’s been “Love and Limb” that’s been hitting me between the eyes lately. Well, until today when I opened my email and found another (7″) version of “WHM Pt. 1″ (with album version of “The Dirt & Roots”) along with a (7″) version of “WHM Pt. 2″ (with album version of “A Few Kind Words”) Fucking hell! Just when I thought I had this all sorted they up and recorded totally different takes on these great songs. You can hear guest vocals by Dan Willson (Withered Hand) and Bart Owl (of eagleowl) and the two new additions to Meursault, Pete Harvey (cello) and Phil Quirie (electric guitar). There’s no stopping these madmen. The new album they’re working on could contain just anything. I can’t wait, and you’d better be buying these singles and EP up because with the amount of good press Meursault is getting you will be saying “I knew this band when…” Trust me on this. xoxo
Tour Dates (oh many more coming soon!)
Feb 22 2010 7:00P Electric Circus w/ XIU XIU & Foundling Wheel Edinburgh
Mar 27 2010 8:00P Slaughtered Lamb London
Mar 29 2010 8:00P Bungalows and Bears Sheffield
Apr 10 2010 8:00P ALBUM LAUNCH – Cabaret Voltaire
This is from their show at Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh (their hometown) where they opened for Frightened Rabbit, to a sold out house. It gives you a preview of their new album (pay no mind to the blathering bitches in the crowd, grrr!)
Well, now this is getting interesting… Over at the Contrast Podcast, Tim’s solicited everyone for their favorite 50 songs of 2009, remember? From all the responses he’s compiled the top 155. I’m very impressed with the list! If you didn’t submit your faves yet, you’ve still got a chance to get in the game at this point! Help us out, eh? (I”ve highlighted my top 10 in blue)
Here’s what Tim has to say:
Hello Everyone,
It’s time for the final vote to determine the top fifty songs that will be crowned as this year’s Contrast Podcast Festive Fifty:
Select your favourite 10 songs from the shortlist of 155 below and rank them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 and send the list to me (at contrast.podcast@gmail.com) You may also (if you are feeling evil) give a negative vote to any single song of your choice! The deadline for doing this is one week away – Monday 23rd November. Please ask your friends, family, blog readers and anyone else you know to send me their votes too – everyone can take part!!
Last year quite a few people said that they hadn’t heard many of the songs, so this year I’ve setup a handy player with (almost) all of the tracks on it:
A.A. Bondy – When The Devil’s Loose
Aidan Moffat & the Best Ofs – Big Blonde
Alexi Murdoch – Towards The Sun
Alice In Chains – Check My Brain
Andrew Bird – Fitz & dizzyspells
Andrew Bird – Nomenclature
Andrew Bird – Not a Robot, but a Ghost
Animal Collective – My Girls
Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes Antlers (The) – Two
Art Brut – DC Comics And Chocolate Milkshake
Asobi Seksu – Transparence
At The Stars – Oxygen & Rust
Atlas Sound – Walkabout
Auld Lang Syne – Where My Fortune Lies
Avett Brothers (The) – I And Love And You
Bat for Lashes – Daniel
Beirut – The Akara
Bell X1 – The Great Defector
Big Pink (The) – Dominos
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears – Get Yo’ Shit
Bob Dylan – Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ Bombadil – Sad Birthday
Bon Iver – Blood Bank Builders and The Butchers (The) – Barcelona
Butcher Boy – Carve A Pattern
Buzz Aldrin – You and I
Camera Obscura – French Navy
Camera Obscura – Honey In The Sun
Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone – White Corolla
Cats On Fire – Horoscope
Cats On Fire – Letters From A Voyage To Sweden
Cats On Fire – Tears In Your Cup
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse with Wayne Coyne – Revenge
Das Racist & Wallpaper – Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell (Wallpaper. RMX)
Dave Matthews Band – Why I Am
David Bazan – Bless This Mess
David Gedge And The BBC Big Band – My Favourite Dress (live at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, 29 April 2009)
Death Cab for Cutie – Little Bribes
Decemberists (The) – Annan Water
Decemberists (The) – The Hazards of Love Part 4 (The Drowned)
Decemberists (The) – The Rake’s Song Decemberists (The) – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
Decemberists (The) – Won’t Want for Love
Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden – Bonkers
Doves – Jetstream
Doves – Kingdom Of Rust
Drums (The) – I Felt Stupid
Editors – Papillon
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes – 40 Day Dream
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home
Eels – Fresh Blood
Elvis Perkins In Dearland – Shampoo Fanfarlo – I’m A Pilot
Faunts (The) – It Hurts Me All The Time
Flight of the Conchords – Carol Brown
Flight Of the Conchords – Sugarlumps
Florence & The Machine – Cosmic Love
Florence & The Machine – Dog Days Are Over
Florence & The Machine – Kiss With a Fist
Franz Ferdinand – No You Girls
Franz Ferdinand – Twilight Omens
Franz Ferdinand – Ulysses
Future Of The Left – Arming Eritrea
Girls – Hellhole Ratrace
Gong – Dance with the Pixies
Grand Archives – Oslo Novelist
Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
Guggenheim Grotto (The) – Fee Da Da Dee
HEALTH – Die Slow
Heartless Bastards – The Mountain
Here We Go Magic – Fangela
Horrors (The) – Sea Within A Sea
I Like Trains – Sea Of Regrets
Iggy Pop – King Of The Dogs
Jarvis Cocker – Angela
Jarvis Cocker – I Never Said I Was Deep
Jarvis Cocker – Leftovers
Jason Lytle – Yours Truly, The Commuter
Jason Mraz – Traveler/Make it Mine (live)
Kasabian – Fire
Kurt Vonnegut & Dave Soldier – Nice Very Nice
Langhorne Slim – I Love You, But Goodbye Leisure Society (The) – A Matter Of Time Leisure Society (The) – The Darkest Place I Know Leisure Society (The) – The Last Of The Melting Snow
Lily Allen – The Fear Low Anthem (The) – Champion Angel
Madness – We are London
Memory Tapes – Bicycle
Metric – Gimme sympathy
Metric – Sick Muse
Meursault – Love Or Limb
Meursault – Nothing broke
Meursault – William Henry Miller Pt. 2 Meursault – William Henry Miller Pt. 1
Mew – New Terrain
Middle East (The) – Blood
Morrissey – I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Morrissey – Something Is Squeezing My Skull
Mountain Goats (The) – 1 John 4:16
Mumford & Sons – Roll Away Your Stone
Mumford & Sons – The Cave Mumford & Sons – White Blank Page
Muse – Uprising
National (The) – So Far Around The Bend
Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
Neko Case – People Got A Lotta Nerve
NOFX – My Orphan Year
Owl City – Fireflies
Pains of Being Pure At Heart (The) – Come Saturday
Pains of Being Pure At Heart (The) – Higher than the stars
Pains of Being Pure At Heart (The) – This Love Is Fucking Right
Pains of Being Pure At Heart (The) – Young Adult Friction
Passion Pit – Moth’s Wings
Passion Pit – The Reeling
Paul Haig – Relive
Pet Shop Boys – Love etc.
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson – Relator
Phoenix – 1901
Phoenix – Lisztomania
PJ Harvey & John Parish – Black Hearted Love
Prefab Sprout – Earth, The Story So Far
Prefab Sprout – Let There Be Music
Prefab Sprout – Music Is A Princess
Raveonettes (The) – Suicide
Regina Spektor – Folding Chair
Regina Spektor – One More Time With Feeling
Richard Hawley – As The Dawn Breaks
Saint Etienne – Method of modern love
Sam Bisbee – Never Fall In Love
Spoon – Got nuffin’
Temper Trap (The) – Sweet Disposition
Thom Yorke – Hearing damage
Throw Me The Statue – Hi-Fi Goon Twilight Sad (The) – I became a Prostitute
U2 – No Line on the Horizon
Very Best (The) – Warm Heart Of Africa
Wave Machines – The Greatest Escape We Ever Made
We Were Promised Jetpacks – Quiet Little Voices
We Were Promised Jetpacks – Roll Up Your Sleeves
White Lies – To Lose My Life
Wilco – Wilco (The Song)
Wilco – You And I
Wilco – You Never Know
Wild Beasts – All the Kings Men Withered Hand – Love in the Time of Ecstasy
Withered Hand – Religious Song
Wye Oak – That I Do
XX (The) – Crystallized
XX (The) – Intro
XX (The) – VCR
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero
Well, it’s not really me doing the soliciting, I’m just asking for a friend. Really I am! What? You don’t believe me? Oh shush! Here, I’ve copied Tim’s email request exactly:
“November is almost upon us again, so it’s time to think about the Contrast Podcast Festive 50. This year it will be on episodes 194, 195 & 196 from the 15th to the 29th of December. So here is what I need you, your friends, the readers of your blog, your milkman and anyone else you know to do:
1. Choose up to 50 (yes fifty) songs that were released in 2009 that you like. If you can only think of 10 .. don’t worry .. I’d still like to know what they are.
2. Send the list to me at contrast.podcast@gmail.com starting with your favourite track at number 1.
3. Do this by Sunday 15th November at the latest .. and try to get other people to vote too .. please!!
4. I will compile a short list of the top 100 songs which we will vote on to be in the top 50 and then start inviting people to record introductions.
5. Any questions? …. good … get thinking!!!”
Now this little project is not just for those of us who’ve contributed to the Contrast Podcast, which if you’re not familiar with you should just hop over there and get cozy right now because it’s a very, very, cool place/thing/space in the internet. No, all you regular shy people can/should participate in this list making too because it’s kind of like statistics… the larger the sample size the better the result (except in statistics it’s not really about the size of the sample but the methodology used to select the sample, but that’s beside the point here, so forget the truth and just go with my little analogy, ok?) Point being, the more people participate the better result Tim gets at the end and the upcoming podcasts are very much more fun! So, make your lists and send them out to Tim. It doesn’t matter if he knows you, if I know you, if anyone knows you at all.
No, it’s not about what you think the BEST songs are, what you think you should choose to look COOL or what band should make it or anything, really; it’s about what songs turn you on, what you like, which, by the way, is the whole point of this blog, ya know? (Well, that’s some first-class writing right there, isn’t it just?!) And by the way, the whole festive fifty idea comes from here, (hint, it has to do with the late, great John Peel.)
Here’s my list. The top 10 are in order; the remaining 40 are kinda sorta from best to least but not really because how can I possibly judge what is my 40th least, best, favorite song??? These are 50 songs that right now I’m crazy about that were released in 2009. Let me know what yours are, eh? (scroll all the way down because you really need to know who Withered Hand is and I’m gonna tell you!)
1. Love in The Time of Ecstasy mp3 – Withered Hand …. buy it here
2. Snake – One Hundred Hurricanes
3. William Henry Miller, Pt. 1 – Meursault
4. I became a Prostitute – Twilight Sad
5. Magicfish – Birdlips
6. White Blank Page – Mumford and Sons
7. Earthly Bodies – J. Tillman
8. Devils Tower – Ice Palace
9. Send Me An Angel Down – Kill It Kid
10. In Your Heart – A Place To Bury Strangers
11. Les Malheurs – Pure Reason Revolution
12. Violet Eyes – My Gold Mask
13. Let’s Go Expo – Cancel The Astronauts
14. Propeller Jet – Phil and the Osophers
15. Pastel – Still Life Still I had to include this new video for this great song, if only because I’m not exactly sure they’re even playing their instruments in it! They sure cleaned up good, hehehe. No really, good for them!
16. Red Candle Bulb – Meursault
17. Religious Songs – Withered Hand
18. Gorilla Meat – Jogger
19. IOWEEOW – The Soil and The Sun
20. Phonebook Pillow – Ice Palace
21. Vampire Lake – The Builders and The Butchers
22. Beard of Bees – Clem Snide
23. The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid – The Decemberists
24. No More Sorry Songs – Greenland is Melting
25. The Sunset – The Bony King of Nowhere
26. Honeymoon – Bombadil
27. Already Gone – Greenland is Melting
28. Outside the Gates – Ice Palace
29. Barcelona – The Builders and The Butchers
30. Clouds – Hudson Branch
31. Hum – Clem Snide
32. Songs in The Night – Samantha Crain
33. Don’t Take Me To Space (Man) – Brakes
34. Harold T. Wilkins, Or How To Wait For A Very Long Time – Fanfarlo
35. Alas My Love – The Bony King of Nowhere
36. Sad Birthday – Bombadil
37. The Rake’s Song – The Decemberists
38. Some Kind of Death – Birdlips
39. A Train Still Makes A Lonely Sound – Black Crowes
40. The Lie – Bad Veins
41. Atrophy – The Antlers
42. Gold and Warm – Bad Veins
43. Dream About Me – The Depreciation Guild
44. T-Shirts – Still Life Still
45. Look Out For Your Wife – Lord Cut Glass
46. Two – The Antlers
47. Flashlight – Super 400
48. Deus Ex Machina – Pure Reason Revolution
49. Crush on You – Brakes
50. Exploding Head – A Place To Bury Strangers
So, who is this Withered Hand? I’m sure you’re all asking, because I’ve not mentioned this band on this blog yet and now I’m telling you it’s my favorite song. What a sneaky bitch I am! Well, ya know sometimes the things that are closest to us are the hardest to share, the hardest to talk about. That’s the only reason I can think of for why I’ve not reviewed this album as well as Meursault’s EP yet even though I listen to each of them at least a few times each week.
Withered Hand is Dan Willson of Edinburgh and a few of his friends supporting him: Neil Pennycook (of Meursault), who plays banjo and sings beautiful backup harmonies, Alan Thomas (from The Leg), and Hannah Shepherd. Dan often plays solo around Edinburgh, and it seems just as often various and assorted musicians play with him. It’s all a rather incestuous little musical community over there as far as I can tell! Either way, Withered Hand is a project I’ve been following for about a year now because Dan’s songs speak to me. His voice is high and sometimes creaky and trembling and you guess that he feels like maybe he can’t sing very well but that’s the key to the charm of Withered Hand. It’s not put on; I can’t imagine his producer saying, “No, we need less confidence in that third verse there!” (or if it is, he’s fooled the fuck outta me! Bravo, Dan!) But more than his voice and what I think of it, there are his songs and the melodies that capture your attention. At first glance you might think they’re simple, but listen how choruses hesitate just enough to appear not exactly when you want them to, how verses go on one stanza too long or end all together too quickly. Then again, tracks like “Religious Songs” are built like old fashioned folk tunes… with convoluted, sometimes filthy lyrics, of course. I am no expert on this thing they call anti-folk, but maybe this is why Withered Hand is in this category. All I know for sure is that it captivates me. I never grow tired of hearing it.
As folk songs go, these tell some great stories. Of course, if you know me you know I totally relate to Dan’s references to religion throughout Good News and to the sort of scars that it leaves on those of us who’ve been raised in it strictly, may I say, (for me at least) terrifyingly? His humor, (“How does he really expect to be happy when he listens to death metal bands?”) and equal parts sarcasm delivered with such bittersweet delivery makes this record my favorite. No, strike that. You have to add all the bits about love, of course. Nobody can win me over with lyrics that are just about surviving hellfire and damnation (and evangelists, in my case). There’s love, memory, longing, and oh so much melancholy desire. “For The Maudlin” is a heart-rending tune that if you’ve ever been in a relationship, I think you’ll understand. But even when he sings about what I assume to be happiness, I still hear a melancholy desire. Maybe that’s me, I’ll grant you that. But I also think it’s him, ….his voice, his guitar, the way it all sounds is as if it’s pleading with the universe to be happy, to stay happy. And yet, I wouldn’t be surprised to meet him and find him to be a pleasant person. That’s the way it goes with musicians ya know. They write it all out of their system sometimes. I never read other reviews of an album before writing mine. What you get is my view, my opinion on it. There’s plenty out there of this album and many of them from folks who know Dan, so I encourage you to go read them all. From all accounts, I’m betting he’s a lovely person.
Good News is a gem. It’s an album that I listen to over and over because I hear in it all the things I’ve mentioned, as well as so many little phrases that make me smile, “And you’ll lose your looks, I’ll lose my religion, we’ll be God’s tiny carrier pigeons, and never return” “I don’t really know what the wine is for, cause if it was Jesus’ blood wouldn’t there be more?,” and “Did they teach you shit at school like we’re all wonderful?” And for all the quips, Dan also lays out some honest truths – things we all feel, all of us, at times, sharing that self-deprecating way of explaining our world. Beyond the lyrics, Good News has beautiful instrumentation, full of banjo that is top-notch and both acoustic and electric guitar and at times drums. Don’t forget those melodies, well actually you can’t. The reason that “Love in the Time of Ecstasy” is my #1 song is because of that melody. It is pure genius, repetitive and when you hear it you think to yourself, “haven’t I heard this before somewhere?” It’s immediately familiar but entirely new. What a gifted man Dan Willson is. And it bears mentioning that for what I guess most folks will call an “emo” record (god I hate that distinction) this is certainly not all morose and slow. On the contrary, the music is nicely paced and listening to it over and over does anything but depress me. Do I need to spell it out for you any more clearly? Obviously you need this record if you want to continue to unlock the secrets of Tart’s psyche, xoxo
And yes, I do believe with all my heart that the answer is YES when Dan asks, “Isn’t gray hair just the first light of a new dawn?”
Here’s my year end list… of my faves, and it’s just that dear readers. You’ll find an eclectic mix here, what else should you expect from a musical dilettante? It reflects my love of three major genres; indie/pop, folk, punk/industrial. All of them are on heavy rotation here at chez Tart and please do go out and support these artists! I have many, many bloggers to thank for turning me on to these fine artists, you all know who you are, xoxoxo!
Meursault Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing with Tongues. I reviewed this amazing Indie album recently here, find two tracks to listen to and support this great band put out by Song by Toad records.
The Duke SpiritNeptune. A review of their gig is here but this album has proved to be worthy of play after play. Hard hitting indie rock, with lead singer Leila Moss’ beautiful throaty vocals, and a great band, I can’t say enough about this group. This Ship Was Built To Last mp3 Buy it here.
Trapt Only Through The Pain. Mainstream industrial/alternative rock, anticipated here. Curiosity Kills mp3 What can I say? When you love a certain sound you don’t need a reason why. I’m hooked on Trapt. Buy it here.
Samantha Crain The Confiscation EP . I saw her live after falling for her folk-inspired voice on this EP, she’s even better than I hoped. Completley amazing and coming out with a new album in 2009 – someone to watch for, people! Unique and beautiful, you must listen to this. The River mp3 Buy it here.
Arizona Glowing Bird. Reviewed here with mp3 to listen to as well. All indie, sound of an angel, organically flowing creative band that scratches that itch you never knew you even had. Buy it here.
Sigur RosMed Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust. This should be on everyone’s list, completely unique and there’s no reason at all why I should like this but I absolutely do adore it very much! Góðan daginn mp3 I usually describe this kind of music as “movie music” but with an indie twist.
Frightened RabbitThe Midnight Organ Fight. Old Old Fashioned mp3This album has been on constant rotation, I mean constant. It’s so Scottish, so danceable, so alternative/indie and the sound is just so right for 2008. Buy it here.
The Loved OnesBuild and Burn. This is another anticipated album for me. I loved the Loved Ones raw melodic punk sound. They reminded me of old skool punk, back when punk bands didn’t sing so damn fast and in that awful growly way that you couldn’t understand the words, remember? These kids whine about love and being broke and life in the general punk way that we all felt when we were young. I really love this album and just couldn’t keep it off my top ten even if it’s not the greatest punk music of all time. I Swear mp3 Buy it here.
Lightspeed ChampionFalling Off The Lavender Bridge. This guy’s voice just KILLS me… it’s unique, it’s full of locality, his songs are angsty, humours, gutsy and instantaneously recongnizable. Listen to Lightspeed Champion’s indie/freak/folk style and you’ll agree with me, I swear. Let The Bitches Die mp3 Buy it here.
Robin GreyI Love Leonard Cohen EP. I’m way behind in my review of this EP of a wonderful folk singer who I found on a blog nearby. He’s a Leonard Cohen fan, has a beautiful voice, and well… check back soon for more of why I love this record! I Love Leonard Cohen mp3and you can download the EP on Jamendo … maybe give Mr. Grey a donation there too, eh?
The Poison Arrows Casual Wave EP. Reviewed their gig here, as they opened for Holy Fuck. I’ve listened to this moody, dark EP quite a lot since then and they surely deserve more air space and a major signing in 2009. Here’s hoping! Frozen Human Satellite mp3 buy it here.
The Midway State Holes. Recently reviewed this band here. I still can’t get these songs out of my head. Definitely, this is a band to watch, mp3 on that review for ya.
Rolo TomassiHysterics. This album is so interesting. I keep listening to it because I can’t catergorize it. It’s punk/experimental/synth/just plain mental. And the fact that it’s a woman doing all that screetching is even more intriguing and amazing. It’s also near impossible to pick one track off it to give you, the whole album should be listened to through, as a whole. But try this Oh Hello Ghost mp3, and go buy it here.
Jesus on ExtasyBeloved Enemy. I never got around to reviewing this album, but although it’s not as great as their last, I still love it.Lies mp3. Industrial/dance music doesn’t get much better than this, buy it here.
…you just can’t stop playing it, everywhere you go. I mean I turn on Meursault’s album, Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing with Tongues, in the car… in the house… on my ipod in bed… on my computer while I work. I keep twittering how I’m soaking in it. And readers, I am. Soaking. In it.
Disclaimer #1. I love Scottish music pop/rock/indie/synth/folk, whatever you wish to label this. I’ve always loved that sound that is so decidedly not American, and so decidedly not British…from The Bay City Rollers (eek!) to The Skids, to Simple Minds, to The Jesus and Mary Chain, to Texas, (and even Glasvegas, tho I know Matthew will likely hate me for saying so). Meursault fits the bill. There’s just enough there that’s not quite been colonized, and god bless em for that.
Disclaimer #2. Reverb/distortion makes me writhe in ecstasy and Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing with Tongues uses reverb/distortion like an experienced dominatrix uses her whip. In other, cleaner, words this album is pure delight, balanced and proportioned in a way that keeps you paying attention to the highs and lows. At times you strain to make out the wonderful lyrics – the words of longing and pining for love or musings on a millionaire (!) – at others you find yourself falling away at the end of a song, let down only to be revived by the beginning of the next, gorgeous tune. And throughout, the band plays, roiling and cascading around Neil Pennycook’s wailing vocals. I love the sound the band makes to offset and compliment his voice and they use reverb and distortion masterfully to do so.
Now for the pure adoration of that which is Meursault. It’s difficult to categorize music today. Indie/folk/rock or perhaps syntho-pop, maybe folkish-synth/rock, tonight I have settled on “indysnthfolk”. It’s not all bright, it’s not all dark, it’s not particularly acoustic or synth-laden, nor is it danceable entirely or something you want to pull up a chair to watch if you had the chance to see them live, I’m guessing. These kids these days, they just give you everything. This band is versatile, this band seems well traveled, this band can do much. And this album showcases what Meursault is capable of doing. As a debut, it’s exactly what it should be, and that something is truly marvelous.
Aside from Pennycook’s penetrating tenor voice, electric guitars, drums, synthesizers, and a multitude of instruments create some truly memorable music. The synthesizer plays such a simple line, but it’s the perfect addition to the jingly jangly guitar work and the folksy tune found on tracks like “Salt 1″, “Pissing on Bonfires, Kissing with Tongues”, and “The Dirt and the Roots.” These are such pure and beautiful folk inspired idie tunes I have to check the track listing to make sure I’ve not confused them with other music I’ve been listening to, – that’s how much of a home they’ve found in me. It seems as if I’ve been listening to them for years now. But at the same time, the sound is purely Meursault and that is the key to this band’s genius.
The Furnace mp3 “The Furnace” is the one that rambles through my head all day long. I have this picture in my head of a cacophony of sound, a field of crazy dancers and so much sound, and arms in the air, and just a huge amount of light and joy. This song is evocative, it’s very simple in it’s complexity and it just feels like pure fucking genius!
A Small Stretch Of Land mp3 Other songs, like “A Small Stretch of Land” seems like it was written so long ago, like it has traveled around with someone for years and years and somehow has found itself on this album this year. It’s eerie, it echoes in your ears and Pennycook’s voice breaks just a wee bit, just enough to make it real. If the whole album were like this it would be too much, but as an accent this tune provides a nice relief to the rest and makes me hope that Meursault finds their way to Chicago soon.
Go stuff someone’s stocking with a copy of Meursault’s Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing with Tongues and help this band’s debut really make a mark this season. It’s a solid piece of work, it’s a beautifully impressive album that gives us the best of the Edinburgh sound, no… scratch that… the best of Edinburgh’s indysnthfolk sound.
![241.x600.music.TwilightSad.credi](<a href="http://www.citylife.co.uk/img/17457/35305_mumford__sons.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-5139" title="35305_mumford__sons" src= "Twilight Sad")
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