2009: the musical year in review

Forward
This was the best musical year of my life. Literally every single band I’ve ever truly loved throughout my life came out with new music this year. And most didn’t disappoint. I attended some great shows, I released my first ep as “next week’s weather” (download at
http://www.mediafire.com/?2y5wwgnwmtm), and I heard some spectacular music. Besides new releases, I dove into the back catalog of some new and old favorites and discovered some great stuff. But this is a place for new music right now, and all the new stuff I experienced this year.

Shows
-ron white -- ub center for the arts
-lewis black -- shea’s
-brand new/rise against -- ub spring fest
-manchester orchestra -- rochester water street
-the bouncing souls -- town ballroom
-kevin devine and the god damn band -- mohawk place
-warped tour -- cleveland
-brand new/robbers -- grog shop cleveland
-rancid/rise against -- erie county fair agre center
-blink 182 -- darien lake
-weezer/blink 182 -- toronto molson amphitheatre
-akron/family/jeffrey lewis and the junkyard -- mohawk place
-the mad caddies -- extreme wheels
-big d and the kids table -- town ballroom
-brand new -- kool haus day 1
-brand new -- rochester dome arena

Shows I Regret Missing
-brad paisley -- darien lake
-brian regan -- ub center for the arts
-bruce springsteen and the e street band -- hsbc arena
-the get up kids featuring kevin devine -- town ballroom
-green day -- Hamilton
-weezer -- toronto acc
-the rest of warped (nofx in particular)



Albums
-against me! -- the original cowboy
-akron/family -- set ‘em wild, set ‘em free
-and you will know us by the trail of dead -- century of self
-animal collective -- merriweather post pavilion
-big d and the kids table -- fluent in stroll
-the bouncing souls -- 20th anniversary 7”s
-brad paisley -- american Saturday night
-brand new -- daisy
- foo fighters -- greatest hits
-green day -- 21st century breakdown
-jeffrey lewis -- city and eastern TAPES
-kevin devine -- brothers blood
-kevin devine -- I could be with anyone ep
-manchester orchestra -- mean everything to nothing
-manchester orchestra -- 14 years of excellence ep
-noah and the whale -- the first days of spring
-nofx -- coaster
-rancid -- let the dominoes fall
-robbers -- flesh ep
-them crooked vultures -- them crooked vultures
-weezer -- raditude


A “top 10” of the Year

10. Against me! -- the original cowboy
9. …and you will know us by the trail of dead -- century of self
8. Noah and the whale -- the first days of spring
7. Akron/family -- set ‘em wild, set ‘em free
6. Green day -- 21st century breakdown
5. Kevin devine -- brothers blood
4. Brand new -- daisy
3. Weezer -- raditude
2. Manchester orchestra -- mean everything to nothing
1. Big d and the kids table -- fluent in stroll


10. Against me! -- the original cowboy
The original recordings of my favorite punk record of all time. How I could not love it was beyond me. Didn’t touch the first release, but still a great collection of songs….I mean…. a great ALBUM.

9. …and you will know us by the trail of dead -- century of self
Everyone loves source tags and codes. I love worlds apart. This record fits in the middle for me. Its trail of dead, they have such a great thick sound and I love it. Their albums are excellent as whole concepts. Unfortunately, this is a live-recorded album, and instead of adding energy, it takes away some of the thick layered sound worlds apart has.

8. Noah and the whale -- the first days of spring
Wow. This album was sent my way from an old high school friend late in the year (early December) when I was going through some rough shit. This album was an absolute soundtrack to my life at the time, completely fitting my mood both lyrically and musically. It’s a beautiful listen. Absolutely excellent.

7. Akron/family -- set ‘em wild, set ‘em free
These guys are truly magical. What they do on record is amazing. And this record is no exception. My second favorite of theirs, held only behind their self titled. The mood and energy is unlike any other. Unfortunately memories have made me not want to listen to this album as much as I should cause it really is an underrated release of the year.

6. Green day -- 21st century breakdown
Psshhhh where to start…. People loved american idiot. I loved american idiot. Now I hate american idiot. But I love 21st century breakdown. The sound is very thick and rich, and I love that. This album may be the most underrated record of the year just because it didn’t explode like it should have. The story is stronger than that of american idiot, the message is more intelligent, and it’s as relevant as ever. Great great underrated record and I don’t care what anybody else says.

5. Kevin devine -- brothers blood
His most “whole” album to date. I don’t listen to it a lot, but I started loving a few tracks, and then loved a few more and a few more and now every time I listen to it I like it more as a whole. A lot of great songs. Some need to grow on you, but it’s some of his best work. Not his BEST, but damn close. (I could be with anyone ep was a collection of b-sides/demos/etc and it was unfortunately forgettable)

4. Brand new -- daisy
I’ve said everything I think I can say about this record. I was expecting so much and it JUST BARELY missed. Lyrics are weak and theres some serious sloppy production, but this is comparing it to the devil and god are raging inside me, which is the best record ever created (no, I’m not joking). The album is good, just not as great as their other stuff.

3. Weezer -- raditude
Another incredibly underrated release. This record holds some of weezer’s worst songs from their career, but it also holds a return to them writing good music. Make believe sucked, lets face it. And the red album was an attempt at experimentation that didn’t quiet pay off. Rivers wants to be a pop star, and if you’ve figured that out, you can really enjoy this record. Some of the best stuff they’ve done in years is on this album, as well as some of the catchiest.

2. Manchester orchestra -- mean everything to nothing
I’ve said it a couple times already but great thick sound to this album. They were going for the pinkerton sound and it definitely paid off on some tracks. The first half of this album is genius and the only problem is the 2nd half of the album gets a little muddy and indistinguishable. But this was the best follow-up their first effort could ask for. A really great record and a good listen. (“14 years of excellence” is the slower side of the band’s sessions and it’s a good listen as well, a good companion to this album)

1. Big d and the kids table -- fluent in stroll
The. Best. Record. I’ve. Heard. In. Years. I haven’t heard anything this good sense the devil and god are raging inside me. I loved their last 2 releases and when I heard bits and pieces of this record before it came out I was disappointed. But the first time I listened to it, I’ll never forget, I was riding in the car, and I just started laughing. This record is the greatest feel-good record of all time. But it has attitude. For a band that was highly liberal, they didn’t just claim victory. No, they wrote a song about how they have a long way to go. Besides that, they wrote some great fictional stories, and they wrote some great relatable music dealing with your cares and your relationship woes/high points. It’s near perfect. Some of the lyrics are a bit dorky, but like early weezer, it doesn’t take away from the record one bit. A spectacular piece of music from top to bottom. (make sure you get the version with the bonus track “don’t ask me”)


Let down of the year

-nofx -- coaster
A band ive never expect a lot from, but have always expected consistancy from, put out a phoned in musical effort. The lyrics are strong, but the melodies and the arrangements are weaker than ever. I guess this is what comes from a band that openly admits that they’ve already made their best music?

-brad paisley -- american Saturday night
My current favortie country artist, this album has some excellent songs but as a whole doesn’t stack up to an album like 5th gear. Not to mention his new liberal stance is one I don’t enjoy swallowing considering the state of our country.


Thoughts on the Rest

-animal collective -- merriweather post pavilion
Any record that comes out in january and is already regarded as “album of the year” makes me very skeptical upon listening. As a matter of fact, I was so skeptical I put off listening for some time. It is a good record though. I’ve just never loved the band or their style, and the same goes for this record. I enjoy it but I don’t love it. Fact of the matter, with 11 months of music to come, you can’t say “this is as good as it gets.” Words don’t taste good when you have to eat them.

-the bouncing souls -- 20th anniversary
Released on 4 7”s, it just doesn’t have the heart the old music had. Flat out. Good songs, but the fire isn’t there.

-foo fighters -- greatest hits
I’ve previously owned all the past foo releases, so the only thing new to me were the two new songs “wheels” and “word forward” but both these songs are in my top songs of the year. They are really amazing and seeing them on storytellers and hearing their meanings just made them that much more powerful for me. Two of my favorite foo songs. Unfortunately the tracklisting for this “greatest hits” record is truly lacking some of their best stuff.

-jeffrey lewis -- city and eastern TAPES
Technically I think this album came out in 2008 but he was my favorite discovery of the year. Just some shmuck with an acoustic guitar covered in stickers who opened for akron/family. And I almost missed him, cause me and the girl I was with almost left to go back to my place to drink before the show. SO glad I stayed. The guy captivated me, incredibly unique. And this album is so low-fi, its really special. The 08 thing is the only reason its not high in my top 10

-rancid -- let the dominoes fall
Not their best, not their worst. Fits right in with the thick of their catalog. I give them credit for going for it, but the lack of lars songs and tim’s new desire to frontman really holds this record back. The acoustic side is a nice touch.

-robbers -- flesh
Vin Accardi from brand new’s brother’s band. I started listening to them before this ep was released and I picked it up at their show. I liked ‘em as soon as I heard them, and they have a really cool sound. Good stuff here.

-them crooked vultures -- them crooked vultures
I loved the first single. I had heard the album described as a proper follow up to the first queens of the stone age record and I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately I feel the same way I do about this as the first queens record. I like it but I can’t love it. It’s too jam-heavy and not enough feeling for me. Still a good release though. In my book, Dave Grohl can do no wrong.




Best of Shows

I started off the year attending my first two ever stand-up comedy shows by two of my favorite comedians (yeah, I like ron white, fuck off.) and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Both guys exceeded my expectations by a mile.

next highlight/lowwwwlight came brand new and rise against. I was pumped for this show. brand new was supposed to headline, they were going to shred, they had been recording a new album and no one knew anything about it, my expectations were outta control. rise against was announced as the headliner after the show had almost sold out, and brand new was bumped to support. huge let down. UB realized their mistakes though I think when half the crowd left before rise against. and for the record, rise against is the worst live band I ever saw.

manchester orchestra and the bouncing souls came within a few days of each other. I almost didn’t go to the manchester show and I’m glad I did. they didn’t disappoint one bit. the bouncing souls however, played a pretty short set and I was expecting more.

seeing Kevin Devine playing with the god damn band for the first time sense the brand new tour was a treat. they were spot on, they were funny, and like always, kevin blew my mind. how a guy can be that nice and that caring and that intelligent blows my mind. He’s a huge inspiration.

my day spent in cleveland was a musical experience. it was originally just going to be brand new playing in a bar. that alone was enough to make me beyond pumped. but then robbers were going to be the opener. excellent. wait? warped tour is the same day? Big d is on warped? oh my god. and NONE of it disappointed. brand new played an insane set, robbers were great, and big d….oh man…..awesome. for only playing a half hour warped set, they still were the best of the day. only regret is having to leave warped early and missing flogging molly and nofx.

rise against sucks, rancid are still legends.

Blink-182? oh yeah, they got back together. And they toured with fucking Weezer! me and two of my friends had promised we would never miss them if they got back together….so we went and saw them twice. We had to, weezer was playing with them on the second date. The first date was a day to get fucked up and enjoy life from the grass. The second date was a trip. Floor seats, overnight hotel, dehydration, no working gps, a stolen shoe……but both shows were incredible. Weezer was epic and blink were all we had ever hoped for.

akron/family are a magical experience. They were the coolest guys to talk to, and discovering jeffrey lewis and the junkyard was a huge plus. The show was just a huge jam session and I enjoyed it, I wish they had played a few more songs however. Only problem is this is a memory that hurts to relive because of who I attended the show with.

mad caddies, lowest attended show of theirs in a decade. Oh well, I had fun, and it was a perfect warm-up for the shows that came that weekend.

big d and the kids table not only had my album of the year, but my concert of the year. Ill Scarlett opened, and I hadnt heard them before but one of my friends assured me I would love them. They were good. Not going to lie. Big d though…..oh my god. I could not have asked for anything more. They played the perfect set. All the best off their new album and enough classics to make it beyond special.

toronto is always the place to go see brand new. I will not miss a chance to see them there unless I absolutely have to. So they were playing two nights back to back. I got tickets to both nights, but that reason I can’t enjoy akron/family is the reason this show kinda sucked. I missed the second night cause I no longer had anyone to go with. The first night they played a generic set (because the second night they were going to unload). I hoped for more in rochester, unfortunately I was let down. It was the same show as in toronto. Now I’ve seen brand new a lot, and they’ve never played the same show twice prior to these two dates. I was unlucky, I missed the sick show do to an unfortunate situation. But oh well, thus is life. I saw them play a one-of-a-kind show earlier in the summer.


Oddest Thing of the Year

Andrew W.K. is a fraud? He’s a corporate creation that has had various actors? What the fuck.


Needless to say, I look forward to this coming february when he’ll set the record straight.

The new year will be interesting. New against me! is coming, this is their last chance to redeem themselves in my eyes (especially after kicking out warren). alk3 has a new one on the way. Warped tour will be a unique experience. Hopefully my music career will find itself. Other new promising releases will surely appear, and I’m looking forward to it. When the music hits, aren’t you supposed to feel no pain?


--jc