Delta Brilliant

What I loved listening to in 2009

2010-01-01T01:14:48Z

I thought about writing a "best of 2009" list, but then I Googled In Rainbows to find out when it was released. 2007. I think that says it all about my luck discovering interesting new music this year. That said, here is a list of some records I loved over the past 12 months, regardless of when they were released:

A Silent Performance by The Sads | The Sads
Do you ever watch movies set in the 1960s and see kids lying on their bedroom floors listening to vinyl with the lights off? Well, that was me this year, listening to The Sads.

Songs in A&E | Spiritualized
A serious return to form. Finally. Now if only Jason would bring those Ladies & Gentleman ... shows over to NYC.

Springtime! LP | Soiled Mattress & the Springs
I admit it, I bought this based on their name and the artwork, and it didn't disappoint at all. Shame they broke up.

Beggars Banquet | the Rolling Stones
Because I never stop listening to this record. Blah blah blah Exile, this is the best--and tightest--Stones record ever.

Revolutionary Road O.S.T. | Thomas Newman
Beautiful. File under "what I listen to at work."

Modern Guilt [Acoustic Version] | Beck
It bettered the original, especially since I'm always craving more Sea Change.

Come Hell or High Water | Flowers of Hell
Absolutely heavenly music. A must-have accompaniment for flying, coding, reading, and and falling asleep to.

In Rainbows | Radiohead
I can't stop. It's perfect. Repeat.

Sigh No More | Mumford & Sons
While I feel this sounds a little too much like an I Am Kloot record, I don't care, since I love them too. Oddly this was played on repeat at multiple Christmas parties I went to. Whatever works.

Truelove's Gutter | Richard Hawley
Because everyone needs a record to tear up to.

Salon des Refuses | George Pringle
An intriguing record encompassing two of my favorite things: a can-do spirit and a sharp, dry wit.

Journal for Plague Lovers | Manic Street Preachers
I think I laughed out loud when I first played this. Or scoffed. Then I gave it a second chance, and then I found myself listening to it on repeat at work. Some have labeled it "part two" of The Holy Bible, but while it's more like a collection of rejects, it's still pretty great.

Self-titled | Rosetta Hightower
I wasn't really in the mood for much Ella this year, so I rediscovered Rosetta. Best enjoyed on big can 'phones while in a very crowded rush hour subway carriage.

Man of Aran | British Sea Power
I don't find myself missing England very much, but this album makes me miss the rain and the countryside. I love it.

Tim Hardin II | Tim Hardin
Bedtime stories for morning commutes.

Paul's Boutique (20th Anniversary Edition) | Beastie Boys
How is this even more important and relevant today? Amazing.

And an honorable mention to Beck / Record Club's cover of The Velvet Underground & Nico, and Minty Fresh's Jaydiohead mashups.

All that, and nary a bear, wolf, or deer in sight. How is that even possible in 2009? Anyway, that's what I like. Happy New Year.

My 20 Favorite Albums of the Noughties

2009-10-19T20:41:28Z

This is still a work in progress, but they might be something like this (in no particular order):

I'm sure I've missed something obvious. Beck's online-only acoustic version of Modern Guilt would be one, but I suppose loses on a technicality. It would take the place of Spiritualized's Amazing Grace, which is a good record, but I'm cheatng myself since they haven't made a great record since Pure Phase. Anyway, perhaps I should think about a Top 20 Discoveries of the 2000s, too, since many of my favorite records of the last decade weren't necessarily made or released in that window.

Tokyo Calling, or Why Do All the Things I Want Live in Japan?

2009-08-10T11:29:33Z

I really love the new typography pins, vintage scaves, city mugs, and wool totes from United Arrows. Tokyo calling.

Zooey and Joseph are Robbing Hearts

2009-08-08T20:23:59Z

Shut up and dance.

2009-07-20T19:26:53Z

Mexico. Three looks across a line on a map.

2009-07-07T03:28:24Z

No one in this video is Michael Jackson.

2009-06-27T05:00:07Z

Beck's Record Club playing the Velvet Underground & Nico's 'Waiting for My Man'

The Record Club is my favorite thing happening in music right now. Bring back the standards (or, I suppose, make new ones)!

Five songs reflecting my week, or what I've been listening to just to get me through it.

2009-06-27T04:36:44Z

Well, that mixed with all the music stations (or what's left of them) playing 100% Michael Jackson right now, I needed to see these again.

Spiritualized / Shine a Light (Live)
- If my week was the noisy intro, this Friday night is the melodic change.

... more after the jump ...

]]> Spacemen 3 / Revolution
- I want to play this in the empty buildings of Detroit. See photograph, above.

The Clash / Something About England
- The History Channel for my subway journey.

Beck & the Record Club / Sunday Morning
- At least once-a-day.

Make-Up / Live in the Rhythm Hive
- For Thursday

On reflection, this seems like every week for me, but at least I finally put them in a post for myself.

It's something that I learnt on my own.

2009-06-27T04:02:33Z

I love the Britpop documentary, Live Forever--Netflix it, for the line where they ask Oasis's Liam Gallagher what it takes to be the frontman of a rock and roll band. He answers something along the lines of, "You've gotta 'ave it. You've either got it or you 'aven't, and I've got it." It's near impossible to deny that statement, and his philosophy, if I can call it that, behind his new clothing line, Pretty Green, isn't far off the mark either.

The journey is the spoken destination.

2009-06-16T19:56:48Z

I've often wondered if there is technology in development to perfectly imitate famous voices so that cartoons and voice-over favorites can survive for ever. And then I saw the Homer Simpson GPS plug-in. I really want this. And a car, too.

Gabe and I were brainstorming other GPS voices we'd like. Alec Guinness is a definite "yes," while Yoda wouldn't make the cut ("So sure are you?"), and ditto for Chewbacca and R2-D2. Obama would tire really quickly, especially when asking you to "change lanes" and would likely attract a crowd of people wanting to listen in.

I'd like one with Jane Fonda, as Hannah Warren in California Suite, or Sir Ian McKellen doing Gandalf. Gabe wants Charlton Heston as Moses ... or Kermit.

There's got to be a market for these.

Loree Rackstraw's Love As Always, Kurt: Vonnegut As I Knew Him

2009-06-16T02:49:22Z

Here's a book I'd buy for it's cover.

If there's an end to this map, I don't want to find it

2009-06-16T02:37:39Z

Sometimes I think I was a subpar navigator in a previous life ... one who collected maps, obsessed over the minute details of itineraries, and then collected necessary (and often unnecessary) belongings to take on the journey, only to spend the whole adventure looking out of the window, taking photographs, and collecting souvenirs.

Images from the beautiful Flickr group "maps charts diagrams".

Southern Depths, or how I love the True Blood opening credits.

2009-06-15T04:58:23Z

True Blood has the most beautiful opening credits of a television show since The Wire, and it's good to have it back.

There are so many good frames to see, I've dissected it here.

Or watch the regular opening sequence below:

Brothers and sisters, please bother with Brothers.

2009-06-10T16:37:35Z

Photograph by Davey Wilson.

It would be in the best interest of all Brooklyn-concerned (and the greater New York area, of course) to head to Union Hall (702 Union St at 5th Avenue) tonight. There, in the basement-dwelling, one will discover a performance by Brothers, a splendid soul-stomping garage-door denting four-piece from Red Hook.

Hear them here.

Yesterday I invented a new word: Trustawayfarians

2009-06-07T14:17:15Z

Oh yes I did.