People, we have a thing in April called the Norman Music Festival. And wonder of wonders, both Dirty Projectors, who made my 2009 album of the year, and Leon Russell who is the absolute nuts are playing. And it's free. And it's an easy walk from my office.
Wow.
So what is my beef?
THEY ARE BOTH PLAYING AT THE EXACT SAME TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How can this be? What kind of cruel joke is this? Do the Dons of Norman think no one could possibly like both the DPs and Leon?
How wrong they are, people, how wrong they are.
I am not making this up. It is a two day festival and there are no other acts nearly this good playing (sorry Evangelicals, you're good but not that good). Yet there it sits in black and white on the event's webpage: Sunday night, Main Stage 9:30 pm Dirty Projectors. Sunday night Jagermeister Stage 9:00 pm Leon Russell.
This is epic FUBAR, people.
Crap like this never would have happened to me if I had lived in the 1880s!
To me, there was one release that stands above all others this year. "Bitte Orca" by Dirty Projectors totally knocked my socks off. It's just so f-ing triumphant! Here is a song from the album called "Cannibal Resource"
I also really liked "XX", by The XX. I think this is their debut album. Kind of Edwyn Collins meets Young Marble Giants (i.e. freaking tremendous).
Here's a sample:
Another fantastic release for 09 is "All My Friends are Funeral Singers" by Califone. I have this as double vinyl album and it sounds so incredibly good. Califone has been good for a long time, but they really stood out to me this year in particular. Here's the video for the song "Funeral singers".
Next is a definite guilty pleasure release. I mean, come on, these guys are soundtracking Cadillac commercials. I got it for Mrs. Angus and swore I wasn't going to like it, but Holy Crap! ">"Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" by Phoenix is such a fun and practically perfect rock record, it totally won me over. Here's the video for "Liztomania":
The next picks are weird in that while they stand out from the rest of 09's releases, they are not quite as good as music by the same people from last year.
"Tarot Sport" by The F***k Buttons would be in my top picks except it's not as good as last year's "Street Horrrsing", which was my record of the year for 08.
Same for "Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle" by Bill Callahan. Stellar, but not as good as " Woke Up a Whaleheart" from 2008.
The last example of this phenomenon is "Blood Bank", the 2009 EP by Bon Iver which is awesome, but not as good as last year's "For Emma, Forever Ago".
People, could "Skinny Love" be the best song of the decade?
I also really enjoyed new releases by stalwart groups like Built to Spill's "There Is No Enemy" and Dinosaur Jr.'s "Farm".
The best live shows I saw this year were Built to Spill at the Diamond Ballroom in OKC, and Bill Callahan at the Granada Theater in Dallas
Here's a quote from Dave Longstreth about how Newsom's debut, "The Milk Eyed Mender" affected him:
“I was in college, living in this weird house off-campus with some friends, and we blasted it a lot in that house," said Longstreth. "The melodies, the stories, the rhymes, the chord progressions: she was speaking our language for sure. I think it was one of the reasons I left school the next semester. I was like, "[what] am I doing here if someone is already out there making music like this, on this level??"
I'm a big fan of both and it's cool to learn about this connection/inspiration.
People, it's gotta be "Bitte Orca" by the Dirty Projectors. So so so good. If I were to play the "sounds like" game, I'd say a mash up of The Blow, The Books, LCD Soundsystem and Led Zeppelin! Only the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
While to me this record is easy to listen too and truly beautiful, it has its fair share of fractured rhythms and dissonance. It is, I think, a very ambitious recording. The writer (David Longstreth) is clearly swinging for the fences and to me, consistently hitting it out. The only song of the 9 on the album that doesn't fully float my boat is "Two Doves". This is an essential recording.
If you get a chance, try listening to it on something other than computer speakers or an Ipod. The recording is pristine. On a decent home stereo, it throws out a huge soundstage and is crisp and clean with a wide dynamic range. Kudos!
Finally, if all this isn't enough to convince you, it has an image of Nietzsche on the back!
Wow, people, I am embarrassed that I missed this. Merrill Garbus, aka tUnE yArDs is fantastic. You can hear some songs on her myspace page, and here is a write-up along with an song from her upcoming (in April) new album.
Kind of a mix of Dirty Projectors and The Blow, with a touch of The Books thrown in.
