Last December I cross-posted my Best Music of 2008 piece over here and got some great tips from some of the regulars. Obviously they were too late to include in the list so this year I decided to do a midyear call for favorites as well. Great tips may end up on this December's list. Drop suggestions in the comments, and if possible include an active link to a free mp3 so we can try before we buy. Here's what I'm digging so far in 2009:
Song Of The Year:
Tahiti Boy And The Palmtree Family (Feat. Tunde Adebimpe) - That Song - Dares to be laid back.
Album Of The Year:
The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele - It will take an absolute monster to dislodge this from the top spot. The guy is a creative genius and a total noncomformist. He doesn't sound like anyone else out there right now. And I can't remember the last time I loved - I mean loved - every single song on an album like I do with this. Seriously great stuff.
Aceyalone - The Way It Was Ft. Bionik - A great hook, and a Motown vibe that doesn't sound the slightest bit retro. More like a contemporary update of a classic car.
Sarah Siskind - Falling Stars - Jordan at Said the Gramophone:
Sad music and production this present usually go together like tea and poison...The impassioned, highly melodious babble of Al Green's "Simply Beautiful" has always floored me, despite its proper production, as have countless other soul tear-jerkers. Sarah Siskind avoids perfection's pitfalls by sullying her antiseptic sonic space with distortion and density and counterintuitive musical lines, and thus creates an ideal showcase for her pure, falling country cadences.
Jazmine Sullivan & Waajeed (feat. Coultrain) - Jumpoff - God those horns, that beat. I didn't isten to much R&B growing up so sometimes I wonder if I get the new stuff or if it's just going over my head. Then something like this comes along and I am reassured that good music is good music, period. If you're willing to give it an honest listen the quality stuff will shine through.
I did, however, grow up with rock and roll. Which is why a song like Rev by Elusive Parallelograms gets to me right away.
In pre-2009 music news, this was the year I finally listened to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel. Most lost classics are more lost than classic if you know what I mean, but this one lived up to the hype. Highly recommended.
So what has done it for you these first six months?
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Singles Year So Far For Me
I don't think I've found a [whole] album that has really stuck with me this year, but it has been a fruitful one for singles. All of these songs can be listened to for free on playlist.com (no, not advertising, just giving an avenue with which to listen).
(Artist--Song title)
Au Revoir Simone--All or Nothing (Been a big fan of her work in the past).
The Love Language--LaLita
Whispertown2000--Restless
Loney, Dear--Airport Surroundings
Bird and the Bee--Love Letter to Japan
Late of the Pier---Space and the Woods
Matt and Kim--Daylight (love or hate them, I'm of the former)
Norman Bleik--I Was King
Black Moth Super Rainbow--Born on a Day the Sun Didn't Rise (kinda iffy on this one)
The Thermals--Now We Can See (Shallow, but fun)
Single of the Year for Me: Time Lapse Lifeline by Maria Taylor (who I had the absolute pleasure of seeing live in Seattle. If you get the chance to see her....do. She's amazing and the crowds are usually small.)
The Decemberists recent album has fallen on deaf ears for me. I am tempted to pick up their latest (despite hearing bad things about it), if only to keep my collection intact; but I have a hard time listening to them after their huge concert Lovefest to Obama in Portland.
http://news.opb.org/article/2107-obama-p...
And if you are looking for remakes of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, you should check out Matt Pond PA's version of it (better than Neutral Milk Hotel in my opinion).
Neoliberalization has led to the financialization of everything. (Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism, Chapter 1).
OK, here goes
Au Revoir Simone--All or Nothing - Kind of like it. I was blown away by "In the Backyards" a couple years ago and have listened to a few of their songs since, but nothing seems to be as good.
The Love Language--LaLita - Didn't do anything for me.
Loney, Dear--Airport Surroundings - Didn't do anything for me.
Late of the Pier - I listened to "Space and the Woods" last year and wasn't blown away enough to keep an eye out for anything else they did.
Black Moth Super Rainbow - listened to "Lost, Picking Flowers In the Woods" a couple years ago, same thing.
The Thermals - Listened to "Now We Can See" and liked it.
Norman Bleik--I Was King - Good stuff
Haven't heard:
Whispertown2000--Restless
Bird and the Bee--Love Letter to Japan
Matt and Kim--Daylight (I did listen to "Oh My Love" by Inara George last year though. Eh.)
I'll track those last 3 down. Thanks for the recs!