Evan's favorites of 2009

Oh 2009, you bitch.

Here are my favorites.

1 - Frank Turner - Live Fast Die Old
"i bought myself back from the devil / now i'm keeping it all for myself" this pretty much characterizes 2009 for me



2 - Them Crooked Vultures - Gunman
The best supergroup of 2009



3 - Propagandhi - Potemkin City Limits
I just devoured a KFC zinger with cheese and this song made me feel bad about it.



4 - Rome - The Secret Sons of Europe
I sit alone in my room and listen to this on repeat. Then again, I'm usually alone in my room beating songs to death. I think this one fits that scenario better than "Womanizer."



5 - Brand New - Sink
wheeeee i'm trying to finish this asap so no more commentary (cept for the ones i already wrote that come after this)



6 - John Mayer - Do You Know Me



7 - Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Revenge



8 - Joel Plaskett - Through and Through and Through



9 - Japandroids - Sovereignty



10 - Converge - Reap What You Sow
I can't remember the last time I was really blown away by anything Converge had pieced together. Certainly not anytime in the past decade. Axe to Fall fucking dominates, though. Reap What You Sow makes me want to run through a wall.



11 - Yo La Tengo - All Your Secrets



12 - Dan Auerbach - I Want Some More



13 - Thrice - Doublespeak



14 - M Ward - Stars of Leo



15 - Tegan and Sara - It Was Midnight



16 - fun. - The Gambler



17 - Two Tongues - Tremors



18 - Neko Case - People Got a Lotta Nerve



19 - Bear McCreary - Kara Remembers
I don't feel the need to justify this being on here. Awesome show...awesome scene. The song stands well on its own (makes me feel like i'm in some opium den in...well..asia), but given the context, it is one of the most memorable music moments I've had this year. [note: yes it's a take on "all along the watchtower" and no i won't explain why]



20 - Set Your Goals - Our Ethos: A Legacy to Pass On



s my d 2010

Allison's Favorites of 2009

(Note: These are my favorites of 2009. They are probably not THE BEST by any means. But they are songs I discovered and loved throughout the past twelve months. When the song is from an album I thought was THE BEST, I put a double asterisk next to the artist name. Enjoy!)

Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

"Ambling Alp" is a great example of how I should learn to be more patient. I had a complete Favorites of 2009 list and was ready to officially set it in stone. Then I woke up on a Monday morning and heard this. Then I walked to the train on that abnormally warm December morning and played it on repeat. I probably listened to it thirty times by the end of the day. The last song I absolutely loved in 2009 makes the perfect first track to this collection.

Jemina Pearl - Ecstatic Appeal

It's like this girl reached inside of my head, pulled out all of my thoughts, put them on paper as lyrics, and then wrote a fun pop song. Oh, the joys of being a Gemini! (NOTE: Ignore the images and just listen to the music. Why is there not a normal YouTube clip of this yet?)

Phoenix** - 1901

Certainly, this is the Song of 2009. "1901" was a staple to any good dance night or party; the perfect climax to a stiflingly hot, incredibly fun Phoenix show in DC; and gave three exhausted travelers the ability to shout "Phoenix in Phoenix!" on the last night of the whirlwind Square States trip.

Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy

Maybe this is cheating, but I don't care. A new - a better! - version of "Skeleton Boy" was released in 2009, and it gets a spot on my favorites list for the following reasons: a) an amazing video with the band as dancing skeletons (i.e. perfect in my book), b) seeing them play the Paradise a couple weekends ago was like watching three best friends throw an incredible party onstage, and c) I too harshly judged Friendly Fires in 2008 and would like to take back any disparaging things I said about their record.

Passion Pit** - Moth's Wings

The hype surrounding Passion Pit was (still is?) a little insane. When the record came out, I listened to it on repeat for a few weeks, which might have been too much of a good thing. "Moth's Wings" still stands out as my favorite song off of Manners, and it's the only one I listen to frequently - at times, daily. I'm happy I got to see them play a secret show at Great Scott earlier in the year. Now I don't feel bad about not forking over $30 to see them play the House of Blues in 2010.

Japandroids** - Sovereignty

The recipe to a disastrously hungover Tuesday morning: a Tremblay brother, an unknown number of PBRs, Japandroids at Great Scott, and being the last two people in the place besides the guy behind the bar. This show was awesome. This record is incredible. Maybe I should have picked "Young Hearts Spark Fire" or "The Boys are Leaving Town" for this list; either is a better, more accessible introduction to these guys. But you know what? It's raining in Vancouver, and I don't give a fuck.

Pains of Being Pure at Heart** - Contender

Simply put: wonderfully noisy indie pop.

Princeton - Show Some Love, When Your Man Gets Home

Their name sums up the first 1:45 of this song: sort of stuffy, kind of pretentious, ivy league tedium. Then, all I want to do is put on a cute little dress and have a little dance party alone in my room.

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

The consistent pounding of the keys, the vocal harmonies. Slightly sweeping effect. I like this song.

Bat for Lashes - Daniel

The sexiest song of 2009.

XX** - Heart Skipped a Beat

This song (and this record) wins the award for "Album I'm Most Likely Walking Around Listening To At Night On Backroads So I Can Lip-synch And No One Will Notice." Every song is so simple that they're complex. The perfect balance of guy/girl dueling. It's subtle and alluring, and something I still haven't been able to stop listening to for weeks now.

Metric** - Blindness

Emily Haines has officially become my idol. Metric is sneaking its way into my list of favorites ever.

Doves - Kingdom of Rust

On every album Doves releases, there are always one or two excellent movie-moment-esque songs that I latch onto and consequently forget to listen to the record of the record. "Kingdom of Rust" is that track.

Owen** - Good Friends, Bad Habits

Owen released an album this year. That's all you need to know, really. (Also, that he is perfect.)

AA Bondy - Mightiest of Guns

Possibly the most beautifully sad song of 2009. My favorite lyric of the year also comes from this: "tomorrow I'll be out of my mind / the bear will dance and the organ will grind / and I'm laughing because I know there ain't no sin / all the world on the head of a pin / turning fast beneath the mightiest of guns."

Noah and the Whale** - Stranger/Blue Skies

In a way, I kind of cheated again. I took the last two minutes of "Stranger" (which, oddly, is my least favorite song on this album) and stuck it onto the beginning of "Blue Skies." It just seems so much more cohesive that way. This record drove me to drink. For a week straight. It's that good and that depressing. (NOTE: This video does not have the "Stranger" beginning. If I give you a copy of the mix, you'll have to combined track. This video is a trailer for the movie the band made to go with the album. I've not seen it. I'm terrified that it will throw me back into another bender...)

Loney, Dear - I Was Only Going Out

Hands down: Favorite Song of 2009.

Favorites from: Jimmy Eat World

When I decided to copy Allison and do a "Best of" list, there was no question as to which band I'd choose - Jimmy Eat World. It's safe to say there is no other band or artist I have listened to more in my lifetime. They're one of the bands I've loved for a better part of my life, and hopefully down the road old-person Evan will be cool enough to still connect with JEW.

The first time I heard Jimmy was in the Spring of my Freshman year of High School. I was at the Newbury Comics on Rte 9 in Shrewsbury (RIP) checking out the sample CDs and when I finally got to Clarity, I was blown away. Whenever I went to Newbury, I'd first check out the employee recommendations and then head straight for the headphones. Normally I'd flip through each CD, sampling about 10 seconds of each track. Not this time, though. I listened to every second of the first few songs, and by the end of "Your New Aesthetic," I was hooked.

Clarity just celebrated its tenth anniversary earlier this year, which means I'm both an old man and one who's still happily in love with a band that gave him a boner when he was 15. Through the years, my interest in Jimmy has never faltered, due in large part to their inability to release a shitty album. Their perfectly written and produced tracks are only rivaled by their live performances, the most recent of which (for me) couldn't even be sullied by a crowd full of Paramore fans. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to catch them this year for Clarityx10 because I'm stuck in Singapore.

There are few bands that can capture and share raw emotion and passion better than Jimmy Eat World. The list below* is a bastardization of a catalog that will stay on my side... for the rest of my life.


1 - Look At You (from One Two Three Four)
"My oh my, can you save my life? / It doesn't have to mean looking out for me"

This song is a good example of how I communicate with others. (Also released as "Cars" on their first S/T, "Look At You" is from JEW's first release. I would give a nut to get my hands on this 7")



2 - Seventeen (from Static Prevails)
"Hung up here on a web of comfort / Taking off with nowhere to go / Standing tall with your new cloak armor / Making out like it's all been done / It's harder than it seems / You slip but never fall"



3 - Your New Aesthetic (from Clarity)
"Imitate and water down / Selection breathes on its own / Before the crash I'll write it out / Selection breathes on its own / Make them open the request line / Let selection kill the old / Take back the radio"

I lol'ed when I heard this on BCN one night, the same way I lol when rednecks blast "Born in the USA." Oh, irony.



4 - Over (from Stay on my Side Tonight EP)
"I'm not exactly sure what I should say / Everything I do is a mistake / Your attention is attention / It doesn't matter if it's fake or real / Ill take it if I get it"

Oh, unrequited love. Why are you the subject of so many great songs, yet such a bitch?



5 - Bleed American (from Bleed American)
"And rest, clean your conscience / Clear your thoughts with Speyside with your brain / Clean your conscience, clear your thoughts with Speyside"

Any American with a beating heart has felt the pains and frustrations associated with being American. We either quell it in our own ways, or do our best to break free.



6 - For Me This is Heaven (from Clarity)
"When the time we had now ends / And when the big hand goes round again / Can you still feel the butterflies? / Can you still hear the last goodnight?



7 - Spangle (from Singles)
"Don't think that you'll ever know how you could be so cruel / It's so clear / I can hear, and I'm not gonna share you with no one / Surprise, I've got eyes, now goodbye"

Given the subject matter and lyrical styling, you'd think they wrote this one. Unbelievably good cover.



8 - Let It Happen (from Chase This Light)
"Talk, talking a lot, but it's still talk / Gotta love how it's somehow all on me / All the petty scenes / And all the pretty things / Say whatever you want / Cause I can laugh it off"

I could've used this when I was dumped in 9th grade and was subjected to a mountain of ex shit-talk. Glad I can laugh it off now, though!



9 - Blister (from Clarity)
"Don't try and stop me / Because I'm falling fast into this pit of fire which surrounds us all / In a blanket of fear that I've been wrapped in for years / Don't try and stop me / You can't stop me"



10 - Sweetness (from Bleed American)
"I'm still running away / I won't play your hide and seek game"

I'm pretty sure those "whoaaaaaa's" are screams of frustration, not joy.



11 - Table for Glasses (from Clarity)
"Where do you intend to go with your dirty dress? / Lead my skeptic sight to the table and the light / It happened too fast to make sense of it / Make it last"

My first love.



12 - Pain (from Futures)
"I never thought I'd walk away from you / I did / But it's a false sense of accomplishment / Everytime time I quit"

Pain echoes the mood I loved from Bleed American



13 - Get it Faster (from Bleed American)
"I don't care what you do / I'm getting out / No nothing ever shames me / Don't want a thing from you / I'm going out / I don't care if you're angry"

This is one of my favorites for a few reasons. One, it's badass from the intro, through the roaring choruses, to the screaming dual-guitar soli, right to the bitter end. Two, it's even more badass live. And three, it's one of the few times that the anger/frustration builds to a point where Jim's just like "GAH FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"




14 - Lucky Denver Mint (from Clarity)
"A dollar under water keeps on dreaming for me"

If you can't relate to this song, then you're probably the type of person Jim's singing to.



15 - Disintegration (from Stay on my Side Tonight EP)
"I wonder why I'm so caught off guard when we kiss / I'd rather live my life in regret then do this / What happened to the love we both knew, we both chased? / Hanging on a cigarette, you need me, you'll burn me / You'll burn me"

Disintegration, like most JEW songs, brings you to a familiar place, albeit one loosely constructed by the lyrics, mood, and music. The gaps are filled with your own experiences and emotions. JEW's ability to evoke such personal feelings and memories from the listener through their own deeply emotional music is what sets them apart.



*The sixty-minute limit previously set by Allison kept "Goodbye, Sky Harbor" (among others) off the list, which is why I could never call it a "Best of."

Best Of: Owen

I've been in love with Owen for years. I remember the first song I ever heard from him and everything about that moment when I pressed play. Seeing him live will never cease to leave an ear-to-ear grin on my face for days. Or that creepy stalker/star-struck look I have right up there. I met him. I spoke to him. And I'd never been so nervous!

1. One Of These Days
One of these days I'll make some money / And buy myself those things that I want: / Acrylic paints, acoustic guitar strings, a new bicycle seat / For my ride over to your house each night



2. Who Found Who'se Hair In Who's Bed?
I’m usually not one to speak out / But your decisions of late are, on all accounts / Pretty fucked up / And not in a good way

3. Good Friends, Bad Habits
Well sometimes, like every time a train passes / I get jealous of the long nights / And blurred lights / The red eyes / The bar fights / Where in the hell am I, and how did I get here? / And which way to the nearest train?


4. You Should Do It Now While It's On Your Mind
It's your last chance to change things / I know you've been getting by / But I saw you at the party without a drink in hand or a word in mouth / Nothing to do or talk about / Poor skinny fat kid without any interest in making friends / It's not easy being / But i know, it's not easy being
[This song makes more sense to me than I care to admit!]

5. The Sad Waltzes of Pietro Crespi
Could you love someone who does whatever he wants to do / Whenever I want to? / It's a simple question / I'm only asking 'cause I don't want to die alone


6. More Than Words
[Extreme cover! Excellent.]

7. Femme Fatale
[We've been over this. An Owen cover of a Velvet Underground song about Edie Sedgwick. Perfect?]

8. New Leaves
You'll spend your whole fucking life walking

9. Declaration Of Incompetence
I don't know what I think / I'm unsure that I could or couldn't care less or more / About everyone I do or don't know

10. Breaking Away
We're two bicyles, ridden / Too tired to know / Which one of us of us two / Was dumb enough to choose the other as a lover

11. Bags of Bones
We're two bags of bones / broken and talking of people we both know in common / Amongst other things that I shouldn't mention

12. Never Meant
[This exchange between Mike Kinsella and some dude who doesn't know much is hysterical - and from the Owen MySpace page:

Date: Nov 20, 2008 11:35 PM You should really put Never Meant as a cover since it is by American Football and you didn't write it. :| I apologize if you already did, but I didn't see anything about it. That's one of my favorite songs and that's why I'm reacting like this.

From: OWEN Date: Nov 20, 2008 6:08 PM ummm...but i did write it. mk

Why are you lying? They wrote that song circa 1999. You pretty much changed some lyrics around to make it your own (which really sucks by the way.) What's the harm of putting "cover" after it? You're a disgrace to the music business if you can't even write your own music and steal other people's amazing work.

From: OWEN Date: Nov 20, 2008 11:35 PM um (again)....I can't tell if you're joking or not, but I'm laughing anyway... mk

You are making me facepalm to no end. Why would I be joking about this? And WHY are you playing stupid? You can get in serious trouble for doing this. Hello copyrights. You can stop trying to sound like you're right, WHEN YOU KNOW you aren't. So why are you doing this? Take the song down or change it so it says it's a cover. It's just wrong. How could you do this? Do you have a conscience? And if you really are that stupid.. (Which I doubt) http://www. myspace. com/amfootball - It's right there. Liars like you live the shortest lives.]

13. Nobody's Nothing
Go on, get out of here / You’ve got everything you came for / Warm arms, a warm bed to fall into / When you can’t get what you did out of your head

14. The Ghost of What Should Have Been
What else in this fucking empty room reminds me of fucking you? / An orphaned couch where I spent some long nights / While you went out with our friends
[Here's another that hits where it hurts.]

15. Curtain Call
From now on it's do's and don'ts / To a room of antique maps and ghosts / Where I have been where I will go

16. Places to Go
You were taking a break from life / You were traveling light / (A pair of walking shoes and a sweater) / You were where you were / When you pictured where you'd be: / Anywhere but home
[This was the first song of Owen's I ever heard. And it's still my favorite. Always will be.]

There you have it: an hour of Owen.

Best of: The Weakerthans

Tomorrow night, I'm going to see The Weakerthans for the fourth time. The Weakerthans are a band that first brought me into the realm of independent music. I bought Left & Leaving the first time I saw them live: way way way back in 2000 at the Roboto Project. A few months later, my high school boyfriend gave me a copy of Fallow for Christmas (he gave it to me already opened, because he'd wanted to listen to it too - he told me my favorite song off it would be "None of the Above" and it still is). I love this band. In my mind, this is one group that will do no wrong.

Here's an hour's worth of Weakerthan's goodness. Otherwise known as my favorites.
1. Aside (from Left & Leaving)
2. Anchorless (from Fallow)
3. Wellington's Wednesdays (from Fallow)
4. Pamphleteer (from Left & Leaving)
5. None of the Above (from Fallow)
6. Hymn of the Medical Oddity (from Reunion Tour)
7. Plea From a Cat Named Virtute (from Reconstruction Site)
8. Sounds Familiar (from Fallow)
9. The Reasons (from Reconstruction Site)
10. Civil Twilight (from Reunion Tour)
11. Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure (from Reunion Tour)
12. Elegy for Gump Worsley (from Reunion Tour)
13. Night Windows (from Reunion Tour)
14. Tournament of Hearts (from Reunion Tour)
15. My Favourite Chords (from Left & Leaving)
16. One Great City! (from Reconstruction Site)
17. Left & Leaving (from Left & Leaving)