CLOUD NOTHINGS

i am ashamed to admit that i looked up this band because of how cute they appeared in the brooklynvegan photo set that introduced me to their existence.

look at their bassist. you will understand


anyway, it turns out that they're really good. don't you love how that works out sometimes!

CAN'T STAY AWAKE --- CLOUD NOTHINGS

FAVORITE CONCERTS OF 2009

i only did six last year, but i've seen sixty-seven bands so far this year (not counting the five bands i saw multiple times) and i felt like ten shows had to be represented. let's count backwards, shall we...

first, some props to beach house, hatcham social, here we go magic, andrew bird, and japandroids for putting on excellent shows this year that didn't make the cut.

10. WARPAINT 10.16 @ PEARL STREET NIGHTCLUB
having only heard elephants i expected good but not great and then there were three beautiful girls on this tiny stage who proceeded to make some of the most haunting, powerful, and gorgeous music i'd heard all year - well played, ladies.

9. DIRTY PROJECTORS 7.19 @ WILLIAMSBURG WATERFRONT
the sun set behind their heads: i see that my silhouette is golden, yeah; dancing, sunlight - dave and amber and angel and brian broke out some tracks from rise above and new attitude, "gimme i need some more don't ask what for."

8. RA RA RIOT 4.4 @ WEBSTER HALL
what i said then: "no one in this cavernous room stands still, and everything jitters electrically." this band deliver, constantly, without fail.

7. YEASAYER 8.13 @ A PIER ON THE LOWER WEST SIDE
ambling alp before we knew what it was, tightrope, sunrise, 2080 - all well and good, but what still sticks with me is wait for the wintertime, this intense sensual onslaught.

6, 5, 4.
FLEET FOXES,
THE NATIONAL,
VAMPIRE WEEKEND,
at ALL POINTS DAMP 2009
fleet foxes played, the gathering clouds eerily visible, an extraordinary and otherworldly cold breeze coming out of nowhere, and at the end of their set as if by magic it began to rain; the national came on and it started to pour and matt berninger sang with his eyes closed standing very still until mr. november when he came down with us and the crowd wrapped him up in open wet arms; vampire weekend came on and it was raining so hard they had to stop using half the cameras and toward the end of oxford comma one of the cameramen on stage snuck up behind ezra's back and the picture on the screen was that plaid shirt and that huge crowd and new york city behind us and this black black terrible beautiful sky. i knew vampire weekend could bring in the rain, and bring it they did - but the national and fleet foxes surprised me.

3. THE WALKMEN 9.20 @ PEARL STREET NIGHTCLUB
a foot off the floor on a low stage in a dark room hamilton leithauser screamed a song about someone named angela the way he yells everything, that fantastic and breathtaking and incredible yell, from somewhere i can't see in a skinny tall blonde guy, and the drums and the drums and the drums and the reverb on the guitar and the horns. the walkmen know what they are doing.

2. FOOL'S GOLD 11.21 @ PEARL STREET NIGHTCLUB
jamming out a song of seven minutes in length into possibly fifteen ecstatic sweaty minutes of dancing with three afro-pop guitars and saxophone and countless means of percussion and melismatic hebrew vocals - does this sound like the most amazing fifteen minutes of your life, or does this sound like the most amazing fifteen minutes of your life.

1. GRIZZLY BEAR 5.29 @ TOWN HALL
this is summed up by a text i sent to my father while i was walking down the stairs out to the street with nicole afterwards. "gb just blew my mind off my face"


still coming: favorite songs, what i'm looking forward to in 2010, and a LIST SUMMARY of 2009 :)

FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2009

i just made my top five list for pitchfork's reader's poll and figured i'd do it RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW for you guys!

runners up:
passion pit, manners
phoenix, wolfgang amadeus phoenix
various, dark was the night
it's frightening, white rabbits

#5 FOOL'S GOLD, FOOL'S GOLD

NADINE

#4 DIRTY PROJECTORS, BITTE ORCA

REMADE HORIZON (LIVE FOR WXPN)

#3 LATE OF THE PIER, FANTASY BLACK CHANNEL

SPACE AND THE WOODS

#2 DISCOVERY, LP

SO INSANE

#1 GRIZZLY BEAR, VECKATIMEST

CHEERLEADER


this top 5 is not very diverse in terms of place --- three bands from brooklyn, one from LA, one from britain. i think it is very diverse in terms of sound (and even moreso when we consider the runners-up!) starting off with fool's gold, a very world-beat album, to dave longstreth's deconstructed talking headsy/pop opus, to synthed out british eighties revivalist new wave, to an electronic pop album by two guys who helm orchestral indie bands, to VECK, FUCKING VECK, far and away the greatest thing i heard this year, total pure gorgeous quasi-pastoral dizzy orchestrations. beautiful.
but seriously, all these albums are so different and so great and real standouts in their respective fields. each one is worth your time!
this was a great year and i'm looking forward to 2010 more than anything.
i'm going to do favorite songs, concerts, and things i'm looking forward to next year. i'm in the middle of writing little blurbs and stories about every song, i'm excited for you to read them!

WRITTEN IN REVERSE

TIME FOR YOU GUYS TO HEAR THE FIRST SINGLE FROM SPOON'S TRANSFERENCE.


WRITTEN IN REVERSE. it takes some NPR spelunking to find it, but i'm sure you'll be able to. that piano intro.... dear god in heaven. if my roommates were not in my room i probably would've screamed out loud. something about that piano is sooooo sexy. i don't even know what it is.
i'm sure you REMEMBER THIS POST... well, my feelings have not changed.

BONUS FLASHBAQ TIME: SPOON LIVE SOMEWHERE IN KNOXVILLE IN JUNE OF 1996. i was FIVE YEARS OLD when this show was recorded and it's full of some of my favorite spoon songs. take a walk doesn't even have real lyrics yet BUT IT'S SO SICK.

archive.org has a ton of spoon bootlegs you should check out. i'm making my way through all the pre-2000 ones! i can't believe i've only seen this band once --- and when i saw them i only knew gimme fiction stuff. NOW THAT I AM AWARE OF THEIR ENTIRE DISCOGRAPHY...

OLD SCHOOL DPZ

lately i've been really into dirty projectors circa getty address (2005) and the new attitude ep (2006). both of these recordings precede the lineup pictured above and are totally ridiculous and awesome. to give you a hint: for getty address dave longstreth gathered together a touring lineup of about fifteen people which included TWO FLUTES, TWO SAXOPHONES, and TWO CELLOS.

anyway, here is a DIFFERENT LINEUP ENTIRELY doing two TOTAL JAMS for a college radio station in 2006. i wish more than anything that they had two sheep asleep up, but unfortunately they do not :( these recordings are amazing, though! check them out.

FUCKED FOR LIFE --- DIRTY PROJECTORS (from new attitude)
NOT HAVING FOUND --- DIRTY PROJECTORS (from getty address)

also, here's my favorite song from getty address, FINCHES' SONG AT OCEANIC PARKING LOT.

FOOL'S GOLD

i went to go see fool's gold last weekend. sweet afro-pop jams, sung in hebrew, lots of percussion and saxophone. i wish i'd been into this in the summer. i've got to drive around playing their music ASAP!!
they're awesome live, let me tell you --- so much fun! such nice dudes, as well.



SURPRISE HOTEL --- FOOL'S GOLD
you can download this, just click "read full post."

and watch NADINE

IDIOT DRIVER IDIOT DRIVE

reading decade-end lists really just makes me sad that people do not understand the pure unadulterated genius which is this band, spoon. their evolution as a band / sound absolutely blows my mind.

IDIOT DRIVER --- SPOON from telephono, released when i was five years old.