for the good time Jerry’s ramblings…

I was planning on posting my “Best of 2009″ lists for music, but kept on getting stalled by a daughter a lack of content. Musically, 2009 wasn’t a great year for me… there were only a few albums I really got excited about, and over half of them weren’t even released in 2009. Since the end of the year, I have been scouring the wealth of MP3 blogs out there, trying to see if there was some really great stuff that I missed, or if 2009 really just didn’t jive with me. I’m leaning towards the latter, although I’m still thinking there is some great music out there that I missed. And I have officially sacked my entire MP3 blogroll as it seems that my tastes and theirs are diverging. So, instead of producing an official “Best of 2009″, I thought I’d throw out a few artists that I had been meaning to mention here, but never got around to last year.

Local Natives – Gorilla Manor

This California band is keeping up with the trend of my favorite US bands releasing their albums on UK labels. What’s up with that?! I was too excited about this album to wait for the US release, so I ordered direct from Rough Trade UK. The album did not disappoint, and may even be my favorite from the year. It was also the last album I bought this year, so that could be a testament to my memory. In any case, enjoy…

Local Natives – Camera Talk
Local Natives – Airplanes
Local Natives – Stranger Things

White Denim – Fits

White Denim is still one of my favorite bands out there right now, producing consistently great math rock. One thing I don’t get, though – why is this Austin, TX band making releases in Europe first and following up with the US next? It seemed to be a trend for 2009 (see Local Natives). I haven’t seen them live, but from the albums, it seems like they would be a fantastic live act.

White Denim – El Hard Attack DCWYW
White Denim – Paint Yourself
White Denim – Say What You Want

The Shaky Hands – Lunglight

I love Portland, and I’m always impressed at the number of bands that I like are living almost in my back yard. The Shaky Hands is one of my favorites (other current favorite: The Joggers, who, incidentally appear primed to release a new album in 2010!). I accidentally stumbled on this release as I was surfing the web one day early in 2009. I think this was my first clue that the blogs I follow aren’t meeting my standards – this release should NOT have slipped by me in 2008! And, this just in, apparently they released another album this year on Kill Rock Stars… Argh!

The Shaky Hands – Air Better Come
The Shaky Hands – You’re The Light
The Shaky Hands – Wake the Breathing Light

Jack Peñate – Everything Is New

I really loved Jack Peñate’s first album. This one is similarly pop, although it has a darker feel to it than his first, and I like it equally. Katie thinks that it is reminiscient of some newer Cure albums. This was annoying to her, but I think it is a compliment .

Jack Peñate – Give Yourself Away
Jack Peñate – Let’s All Die
Jack Peñate – Tonight’s Today

The Units – History of the Units

Keeping up with the theme of “bands that I should have been into when I was four” (see The Nerves), I really got into this album this year. Truth is that I first heard “High Pressure Days” late last year and only got around to buying the album in the latter half of 2009. Interestingly, I received the album from a Portland address, and it turns out that the re-issue of this music came from a group of local DJ’s that had a music club of sorts where they introduced to each other old, obscure and interesting music. Out of that came this retrospective of a short-lived electronic punk band. At first, I was certain that this was some precurser to the Talking Heads, but alas it is not.

The Units – High Pressure Days
The Units – Warm Moving Bodies
The Units – Digital Stimulation

Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

I actually blogged about these guys before, but that was prior to my purchase of the new album. It lived up to my expectations and was easily on par with their first release (one of my favorite albums from last year).

Wild Beasts – All The King’s Men
Wild Beasts – This Is Our Lot
Wild Beasts – The Fun Powder Plot

Chet – Chelsea Silver, Please Come Home

I would like to call this band my “best new artist” of 2009, except that this is something like their 8th album, and if I had to name a favorite, Local Natives would probably win out. But we are talking about the best of my favorites, and this was a damn fine album. I look forward to checking out their back catalog.

Chet – Cautious Melody
Chet – The Night, The Night
Chet – Every Night a Supper Wine