Where have I been?!

I know you are asking yourselves where I’ve been for the past two weeks or so. Well, I’ve been here. It’s taken me a bit longer to get to new music. Even though I gave you all my top albums last time, I still have a ton of 2009 music to listen to. So that list could change. I know I would definitely add the Orange Peels and Bobby Emmett to my list, but not sure where. Anyways, I may be a bit slower getting these reviews out, but I’m still hanging around. Enjoy!

Orange Peels – 2020 – ***1/2 – Great to hear from the Orange Peels again, they specialize in summery, California pop, and this album brings that out in a big way.

Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions – *** – Having just recently discovered this band, this album was just icing on the cake. Maybe not as good as the last, but it definitely has the heavy but melodic aspects that make them great.

The Tripwires – House To House – ***1/2 – Really awesome collection of songs from this band, the former Model Rocket really has a way of popping out with energy and style.

Murry Hammond – I Don’t Know Where I’m Going But I’m On My Way – *** – When I hear Murry come up on a Old 97’s song, I always like it, it adds a balance to the poppyness of Rhett Miller. So this solo album by Murry was great because it had his signature sound, but with a nice style of his own, very atmospheric and stark arrangements.

Bobby Emmett – Learning Love – **** – WOW! I had heard this was great, but hearing it myself, I know why people are crazy about this record. It is super energetic, rocky, poppy, everything. He was from the band The Sights, which I love, but this album is another sound and is just too good for words.

Best albums of 2009

1 Mandy Moore – Amanda Leigh
2 Brendan Benson – My Old, Familiar Friend
3 Roger Klug – More Help For Your Nerves
4 Chris Richards + The Subtractions – Sad Sounds of The Summer
5 The Shazam – Meteor
6 Bleu – A Watched Pot
7 Julian Casablancas – Phrazes For The Young
8 Mika – The Boy Who Knew Too Much
9 Adam Marsland – Go West
10 Tony Cox – Unpublished

Honorable Mentions:

The Simple Carnival – Girls Aliens Food – Even though this came out in 2008, I didn’t hear it until 2009, but I loved this record this year.
Art Brut – Art Brut vs. Satan
Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears – Mad Valentines
Butterfly Boucher – Scary Fragile
Dan Bryk – Pop Psychology
David Mead – Almost and Always
Duncan Sheik – Whisper House
Elle Macho – Es Potencial!
Office – Mecca
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson – Breakup
Switchfoot – Hello Hurricane
The Elms – The Great American Midrange
Tinted Windows – Tinted Windows

Best Movies and TV Shows of 2009

Hey folks! I know you expect non-stop music reviews, but I must take a little break to show you what else I do with my time. Here’s my favorite movies and TV shows of 2009! I will post my best music next week, but if you want a preview, go check out my twitter!
Anyways, here’s my movie list. For some reason I felt compelled to list 20 movies! I probably saw more movies this year than any other, and I didn’t even like them too much, but I did want to show you what I did like, I think the last ten show a bit more unorthodox choices that need viewing!

1 Inglorious Basterds
2 Zombieland
3 The Brothers Bloom
4 Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
5 Up In The Air
6 The Fantastic Mr. Fox
7 Up
8 Drag Me To Hell
9 Star Trek
10 (500) Days of Summer
11 Jennifer’s Body
12 Fired Up
13 Where The Wild Things Are
14 Moon
15 Coraline
16 The Men Who Stare At Goats
17 The Invention of Lying
18 Shorts
19 Extract
20 Watchmen

Here’s my favorite NEW TV shows this year. Have fun!

1 Bored To Death
2 Community
3 Delocated
4 Parks and Recreation
5 Warehouse 13
6 Castle
7 The Unusuals
8 Glee
9 White Collar
10 Kings

Something to Say

I always try to think of something interesting to day here. Usually I just resort to a bunch of crazy nonsense. That’s only interesting to me though. So today, I want to present to you the new me. The me who cares about you and your feelings. Here goes… Hey everybody, I hope you are enjoying my reviews as of late. This latest batch should be a fun bit of reviews. I go from indie releases, to more mainstream fare. I understand the need to put music out there that is less known, but to be honest, it is hard for me to differentiate between the two. Good music is good music, no matter how many copies are pressed. If that offends you, well then I’m sorry. (Wow, that did not go well, here’s a palate cleanser… gabba goop goop trappy ly ly!)

Taylor Mills – Under The Surface – *** – A nice album. Some very cool tracks on here, Taylor has a great, rich voice, and we see all sides of her on this album. While some of the songs lean a bit more on the cheesy side, it doesn’t detract from the experience too much. Best track is hands down “Living Room.” Cool beans!

Train – Save Me, San Francisco – *** – Now I know what you’re saying…what!? Well, OK, but I’m a sucker for some corporate rock, and Train just does it for me. I think this album is better than the last, and has some pretty good tracks on it. I was tappin’ my foot for sure.

Village Green – Feeling The Fall – *** – Good, mid-tempo power-pop from this group. Throw in a bit of alt country for good measure. Comes out great.

The Elms – The Great American Midrange – ***1/2 – I love the Elms! And this CD just keeps me there. I think they have had a kind of rocky few years, so I was unsure where they would be on this album, but it seems like they are just back to making great songs with cool hooks and energetic vocals. Keep it up boys!

The Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder – Makes Your Ears Smile – ***1/2 – Now this is a great record! Very quirky and energetic power pop, with a focus on great melodies and self-deprecating and confessional lyrics. A great mix of fun, but with some serious songcraft.

Music Mayhem

Hey there everybody! Ah December! That month of months! All the holiday cheer and joy, it’s enough to make you just jump in the air and scream! But, we don’t do that, do we? We’re just too scared. Scared little babies. Waah Waah! Cry all you want people, it’ll do no good. Stop screaming though…STOP IT! C’mon, we’re in public, people will stare. Oh noooo! You got me, I’m no better than you are. OK, can we make up? I’m sorry. Here, here’s some cool records for you to check out. Will that make things better? Gee, I sure hope so!

Charlotte Hatherley – New Worlds – *** – Good album from Charlotte. Not quite as energetic as that first album, it has a very different tone. The songs are these kind of wandering tunes, with electronic flourishes throughout. It’s a good mood album, each song creates it’s own atmosphere.

Julian Casablancas – Phrazes For The Young – ***1/2 – Julian Casablancas is a dork. Sure, he acts all cool and stuff, but one listen to this album, and it is confirmed. But that’s not a bad thing, because it results in some of the most interesting music this year. The melodies are simple and catchy, the instrumentation is electronic and bouncy, very “They Might Be Giants”-esque interestingly enough. Definitely still in the mold of the Strokes, but with this kind of joyful insanity.

The Rentals – Songs About Time (3 EP’s) – *** – A series of EP’s released over the past year, this collection of songs represents a band in full force. You feel like you are hearing these things come into being right in front of you. It has a kind of energy that makes the songs feel fresh and cool. And there is a variety. Upbeat songs next to slow, meandering things, different vocalists, but all with that Rentals song-structure.

Brent Weinbach – The Night Shift – *** – A unique comedy album indeed. It goes from single person bits recorded with music and sound effects to live performances of his odd and energetic act, musical interludes, full songs, and more. It’s not an always consistently funny album, but shows a real effort behind everything, and some real comedy smarts. It’s really a quite wonderful and different comedy experience.

King Khan & BBQ Show – Invisible Girl – ***1/2 – A cool collection of garbage can rock ‘n roll from these guys. I discovered King Khan last year with that King Khan & The Shrines compilation. And that was some great garage rock/soul. This is somewhat different, more just trashy rock and roll, with some soul and doo-wop elements. Very enjoyable still!

Full of stuffing

Well by now, you should be rolling around helplessly, and that’s a good thing, am I right? Yum Yum food, right? Well, you are so helpless, I would assume, that the only joy you could possibly get today would be from playing records, right? Well, have I got a treat for you!!! Listen to these records! Yes, do it!

Switchfoot – Hello Hurricane – ***1/2 – It always amazes me that Switchfoot has this endless supply of hooks and choruses that pull you into the song, and keep you engaged. There are several songs here that are sure to become staples of thier live sets. It’s great. The only complaint might be that they seem to discuss the same topics over and over, and have the same TYPE of songs, but they are still catchy!!

Relient K – Forget & Not Slow Down – *** – Another winner from Relient K. Maybe not as hooky as previous releases, but good nonetheless. This album feels a bit more self contained, with all the intros and outros, songs kind of blending into one another. It really showcases Relient K’s ability to create these kind of epic, multi-tiered songs. Cool!

Wolfmother – Cosmic Egg – **1/2 – Eh… I don’t know about this one. I liked their first record, but got a bit tired of it after a while. This is basically retreading the same ground, but with less catchy hooks overall. I think they would have needed to step it up a bit to get me back, and this didn’t do it for me.

Mike Lombardo Trio – The Fordham Sessions – *** – Pretty good album of piano-pop songs that can’t resist being compared to Ben Folds, but once you take that out of the equation, there is still solid songwriting and well thought out lyrical material. Definitely a standout for this genre.

Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears – Mad Valentines EP – ***1/2 – A fantastic taste of the power and genius of this guy. His album last year was wonderful, and this EP is just as good. Check it out!

Thanks Bunches!!

Ah, America. We must celebrate our coming into being this week! We do that by stuffing ourselves!! Too cool! All other countries, just ignore the following, and move on the the reviews. But for you Americans, remember to thank yourself for being so cool and welcoming my awesome reviews pretty much every week. I know how much you readers sit in wait for my next post. Oh boy, you say to yourselves, what amazing releases we he hip us to next? Well, you all just need to calm down. I want to THANK YOU for caring, and reading, and occasionally commenting. It rocks! See ya soon!

Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard – One Fast Move Or I’m Gone: Jack Kerouac’s Big Sur – *** – Sorry to all the smarties out there, but I am not too familiar with Jack Kerouac, I mean I know who he is, just haven’t read any of his stuff. But, lucky for me, I don’t care about lyrics that much anyways. And the music on this is solid. Very California sounding, whatever that means.

Kings of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence – ***1/2 – Great to hear these guys again, and glad to see they’ve still got it. This is classic Kings of Convenience, heartfelt songs, the almost whispered vocal delivery, and the unique but compelling melodies. Great!

The Spinto Band – Slim & Slender EP – *** – Almost too short to even call an EP, these 4 songs show that the band has more in store for us. Also includes a great cover of Brazil, which is always a good addition in my book.

Weezer – Raditude – *** – Not sure what to say about this. I think there are some great moments when they are just being themselves. But when they start adding rap elements, Indian music, whatnot, I just feel uncomfortable. And perhaps they have oversimplified, but at the same time, I don’t need complicated elements to enjoy something. I just think the enjoyment won’t last as long as previous albums.

Dashboard Confessional – Alter The Ending – *** – Solid effort from this band. I think they are less focused now on the message of their songs, and are more focused on the musicality of it all. Some songs go on a bit too long, but there are some definite bright moments in this album.

Bears

I was taken hostage by bears. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. I was minding my own business, walking along, when a great big brown bear walked up behind me, and pawed my head to the ground. I had always heard that I should play dead when attacked by bears, which I did. Well, I mean I was knocked unconscious, so that made it easier. The bears then apparently dragged me back to their cave. I didn’t really understand what they wanted from me, and when I woke up they were surrounding me. They all became excitable when my eyes opened. Normally, this would be fine, but since these were bears, their excitement quickly turned to violence. I had no choice but to join the fight. After I took down one bear, the rest of them came after me, and I really had no defense. So as they clobbered me into unconsciousness again, I rested easy knowing my mind was still in tact. That’s when they took my brains out. Now being the simple man I was, I had nothing in my brain that I needed. So, losing it meant nothing to me. They eventually replaced it with a pinecone, smeared in honey to help it stick. That new brain gave me just the right amount of smarts to get out of there. When the bears finally went back to sleep, I ran out of the cave and got to the nearest hospital. With blood and honey dripping from my skull, the hospital staff was disturbed and scared of my current state. As they opened the skull casing to find a pinecone, the horror they expressed was palpable. I assured them I was fine and that they should just pop in a new brain and I would be good to go. It wasn’t so easy. Apparently this hospital doesn’t have a dozen spare brains sitting around. So instead they jammed a few sponges in and sent me to city general, the big city hospital with all the brains. When I showed up, they threw up all over the floor. I tossed them a few sponges out of my head to clean up and went on to surgery. Turns out they weren’t ready, and I had to be put on a waiting list. So with nothing to do while waiting, I decided to head down to the 7-11 and pick up a couple snacks. I loves me a Slurpee™, so I grabbed one of those and took a super long and fast drink and amazingly, I had no brain freeze! Since there’s nothing to freeze! I was pumped, I could drink 10 Slurpees™ now with NO side effects! So awesome. Then I needed some meat, so grabbed one of them microwaveable burritos. As I placed the burrito in the mic, and started it up, I could feel a small pulse in my cranial area. The pulse suddenly turned into an insane amount of pressure, and my head exploded!! Yow! That hurted! I quickly jammed the burrito down the remaining throat pipe and headed back to the hospital. When they saw my body hobbling down the corridor, the palpable horror from earlier seemed like a gentle breeze. Suddenly, Reginald, the brown bear who I took down earlier, was there standing before me. As he ripped me from limb to limb, I realized I never completed the task I was sent out for. I was supposed to destroy bear-kind once and for all, so I guess they were justified. Funny how life goes, huh?

Get Ready…

Get ready folks, it’s about to get real. Ok, not really. Blah blah blah bleep glorp gloop glop. See, I’m still here, no worse for the wear. OK, but let’s get ready for one thing, and that is, more reviews. We are like a month and a half away from finishing this year, and I still have tons of CD’s to share with you. But, it’s all leading up to that great moment, the moment when I reflect on the albums of the year. Oh, you all are just chomping at the bit for that moment! But you’ll just HAVE TO WAIT!! Rock.

Julianna Raye – Dominoes – *** – A bit of bossa nova from Julianna, who always has something interesting to offer. This album sounds great and instantly captures the bossa nova mood, while still having the Julianna Raye stamp in the lyrics and melodies, that kind of a bit of darkness with the light.

Elle Macho – Es Potencial! – **** – A top notch set of songs, which I hope shed light on even more we may be hearing from this band! I think it is a perfect blend of a blast of power, some rock bravado, while still maintaining a interesting and unique sound. It’s awesome.

Dennis Diken with Bell Sound – Late Music – ***1/2 – Good, Beach Boy/Beatlesque blend of power pop, keeping alive that wonderful sound. I think shows that the template can be used if done with skill and thought. Diken does this brilliantly with this album.

They Might Be Giants – Here Comes Science – ***1/2 – Another fantastic addition to the TMBG kids album collection. This time, dealing with science, which I think even us oldsters can learn from. It’s amazing how many scientific facts we don’t really think about much, that are still interesting and good info to know. Oh, and the music is cool and fun too!

Brandi Carlile – Give Up The Ghost – ***1/2 – I know I say this about a lot of people, but you can’t go wrong with Brandi Carlile. Each album brings something different and interesting, while sticking with the formula that makes it work. I think this album explores a bit more with some more upbeat songs and kind of is a bit of a lighter touch, not quite as heavy as the last one.

Why oh why?

Well, here we are, the last two months of the year. It seems like we just got into this year, but so it goes, right? So, now, we are going to really kick start this year, and live it up in 2009!! Oh yeah! Let’s make this year HAPPEN!! OK, whatevs… just read some reviews, OK?

Robbert Bobbert and his Bubble Machine – Robbert Bobbert and his Bubble Machine – ***1/2 – The transition from “adult” music to “kids” music is not a huge stretch for Robert Schneider – his band The Apples in Stereo create simple and fun pop music. Changing the lyrics from grown-up stuff like love and junk, to cool songs about baby animals, super heroes, and just fun, is a welcome change to me! If I had kids, I would force them to listen to this, but since I don’t, I will FORCE YOU TO!

Works Progress Administration – WPA – *** – Good set of songs from this collective, featuring Glen Phillips, Sara and Sean Watkins, etc. For the most part, slow and country-tinged songs, very engaging and beautiful.

Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson – Breakup – ***1/2 – A fantastic CD from these two, better than either of their most recent albums, I think. It has a nice energy, and is not trying to hard. So it comes off as effortless, fun, and cool.

Mika – The Boy Who Knew Too Much – ***1/2 – I think I may even like this one better than the first. There seems to be a more focused production style on this one. So it’s more consistent, yet still has the great moments and sounds from that first record. I think we’ll be hearing a lot more good stuff from Mika!

Maxi Dunn – Welcome To Soonville – *** – A good collection of songs, very thoughtful pop music. I especially like the tracks with the guys from Cokeroque, who add a bit of of their flavor to the songs. Maxi is a good songwriter, and has a nice voice as well.