*Oh Shit! It’s about to go down!* The Top 20 Songs of Winter 2009
Helluva start to the year. Thank you Animal Collective for setting this shit in motion, starting the year off with a “Hey bitches, top this” sorta method. Well there definitely should be some competition. Between Phoenix’s pop perfection, Dan Deacon maturing sound, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs dance album, and a barrage of new local LA acts surrounding me, 2009 will closer match the achieving heights of 2007 and not the depressive, lost 2008.
20:> Cymbals Eat Guitars – And The Hazy Sea
Fuckin’ Pitchfork. It’s hard to hate when they come through with a band you probably otherwise wouldn’t of heard for a while. CEG are brash, scattered, and polarizing. At their hardest Test Icicles or angry early Modest Mouse, at their softest Foundry Field Recordings or the unsettling quiet side The Microphones sometimes unleash. And the Hazy Sea launches right off, and really waves in and out of delicate guitar melodies, piano breakdowns, and actually quits before the ultimate return, as loud and outright at you were hoping for in the first 3 1/2 minutes.
19:> Voxhaul Broadcast – Chained Up
I’ve gotten really into local Los Angeles bands this past season, particularly in the Silver Lake/Echo Park region. There are some fantastic acts that float around there, and Voxhaul Broadcast is one of ‘em. I really admire the way the lead singer/guitar David Dennis plays between odd rests and with frequent bending. Good live act too.
18.>Ezra Furman and the Harpoons – Take Off Your Sunglasses
Good sing-a-long from early winter. Makes me miss Indie 103.1…tear
17>Handsome Furs – I’m Confused
Well this is just straight bad ass. Watch the video, its fucked up.
Scandanavia’s finest in Electro, Junior is totally sweet. It keeps you up in the air, and elements drop down to an almost trip hop status at points. Wish they were playing Coachella.
These 4 from Caste Donington stole the Klaxons idea(“Hey! lets get a DJ to produce the album!”) and made a better album. Broken was my intro to this band, and the combining speed, guitar fury, and sharp turn direction this track took blew me away. Brownie points for the vocal climb during “Crying outttttttttaa!”
14>The Answering Machine – Lightbulbs
Fast Paced and loaded with hooks, Lightbulbs is a great intro to this up and coming band from the UK. The production is as modern as it gets, with biting guitars pocketed in all corners and crisp drums that steer the song through. A true grower, the song becomes comfortable and more endearing with each listen.
13>Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes
MPP was fuckin brilliant, and hard to choose favorites from. Summertime Clothes is just most likely the catchiest AC will ever get. The choruses are sugary sweet and seem to naturally flow from Avery like never before. His verses are dark, but set up for a gleeful chorus. The song bubbles and beeps, and rolls into itself before synthesizing into another summer-sounding chorus.
12>Eastern Conference Champions – The Box
Here’s an LA band that by all logic should be huge right now. They fall on the same plane of under-recognized bands that Electric president, The Weakerthans, and Foundry Field Recordings fall under. Their music is lush and emotional, and transfers from dark to grandiose. The Box was my introduction to this ECC’s snare drivin’ melodies, their refined and methodical guitar tone, and lead vocalist Josh Ostrander’s comforting wail.
11>Late Of The Pier – Heartbeat
I spent a lot of time high this season listening to Late Of the Pier. I hope their Coachella appearance doesn’t suck as much as their Televised SXSW performance.
Christ, another LA band. This will be the Local Natives year, with their recent residency at Silverlake Lounge and their 9 SXSW performances (this song playing on Chuck won’t hurt either.) The obvious influences are there, with the fullness of Arcade Fire and the playful rimshots of any modern day indie rock band, but the heart of the song is what makes it impacting, especially live.
The zipper bass is too damn ill.
8>Dan Deacon – Of The Mountains
Dan Deacon, like neighbors Animal Collective, really has matured this year. Bromst has takin the Progressive ADD from Spiderman Of the Rings and done something powerful with it, exceptionally highlighted on of the mountains. The overall feeling is tribal, yet the epicenter of the song lies within the Blue Man Group-esque tube drums. Bromst is what it sounds like when a crazy, brilliant man’s hobby turns into his 9 – 5.
7>Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll
The new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album (mixed by Spike Stent and Matty Green) is a step outwards for them into the Psuedo-Dance Rock Genre. So it should suck right? Yet its awesome! Karen has never sounded sexier, and the band vibes back and forth from hot, synthy, dance rock to sensual ballady numbers. Heads Will Roll is of the dancier formula.
It slowly bubbles in…”ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-oooh!-oohh-ohh-ohh!” Bluish is one of the superior aspects of MPP in the sense that AC has now mastered their slow, delicate, hallucinatory side. Don’t get me wrong, I like when Panda Bear smokes to much hash or whatever and goes on a 6 minute drone with one long phrase, I do, I fuckin’ love it. But Bluish is Avery Tare’s soft side, a side that usually falls short on previous outings (excluding Banshee Beat.) Geologist’s moaning, driving sub chugs at the perfect pace for all the sugary bleeps that sparkle throughout the higher frequencies of the tune. Solid stuff.
5>Empire Of The Sun – We Are The People
MGMT did not leave they just re-energized as Empire Of the Sun (ha, like MGMT ever left anyway.) This song is as danceable and infectious as you can achieve with an acoustic guitar and fuzzy beats. The vocal delays, the vocal stacks, the attitude, all catchy and fun…way better than Walking On A Dream. (fyi…you can literally sing Kids during the chorus…its kinda scary.)
4>Eastern Conference Champions – Some Sorta Light
I can’t say enough about this band. This is the track off Ameritown as far as I’m concerned. Filtered first verse gives a false sense of bedroom rock before the epic snare driven 2nd half that ensues, covered in vocal climbs and effects. It’s real special.
Electronic Pop Perfection. From the vocals to the synths to the drum patterns, perfection.
2>Vanaprasta – Something Better
One of my favorite songs of the year for sure. The guitars are everywhere, scraping back and forth amongst Steven Wilkin’s soaring vocals. Looking forward to this LA bands debut album sometime this year.
1>Animal Collective – In The Flowers
Easily one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. Period. On the kind of level tracks from Dark Side Of the Moon convey. It’s originality is unprecedented, undeniable. It’s explosion epic. Like a tribal circus in the center of the earth, Avery Tare delivers the four catchiest stanza’s he’s delivered to date. A rolling drum sub pierces through the 3/4 waltz rolling at 4/4. It drops back down and wraps up in just over 5 minutes but feels like a heavy 8. And all this for an Animal Collective love dream.
Hey-O!
