Songs of 2009 part 5

Had this open in the window all day, and forgot about it until now! It's all been a bit hectic...

eta: one late addition at top


## Moth's Wings by Passion Pit
from Manners

I was lucky to receive this CD for Christmas. This song is so pretty, all glintering noises as a backdrop and driving beat and airy voices.

Download:
Moth's Wings


## The Good News by Philadelphia Grand Jury
from Hope is For Hopers

Aussie pop-rock, immensely catchy with great fuzzy guitars and a rhythmic keyboard line that should drive me mad but really just makes me want to dance.

(If you missed it, here's the write-up of their show at the Factory a week ago.)

Download:
The Good News


## 1901 by Phoenix
from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Shimmery electro-pop. I love the first half of the album more than the latter, but in the right mood it's a lot of fun, and again, totally makes me want to dance.

Download:
1901


## These Are My Twisted Words by Radiohead
online single

A new Radiohead song is always welcome. A free one even more so! This is a moody (hah - when is it not?) track that's a touch of Amnesiac (wait! come back!) and In Rainbows era sound.

Download:
These Are My Twisted Words


## Bodies by Robbie Williams
from Reality Killed the Radio Star

Ignore the faux-irreligious nonsensical lyrics; focus on the music. The genius of Robbie Williams' latest album sees a return of some ridiculous catchy pop songs like this, that marries a jagged electronic sound with a lush string section and manages to sound so grand and pretty.

Watch: This video is crap. But it has brooding Robbie, on a motorcycle.



Songs of 2009 part 4
Songs of 2009 part 3
Songs of 2009 part 2
Songs of 2009 part 1

Songs of 2009 part 4

## Merrimack River by Mandy Moore
from Amanda Leigh

Bet you didn't know that a) I'm a closet Mandy Moore fan, and b) she released an album this year. A world away from the teen pop princess she once aspired to be (but could never quite be, ala Britney and Christina), Moore has, after a bumpy few transition albums, matured nicely into a singer-songwriter of some very pretty folk influenced adult contemporary music. I really like this opening track, stripped back, gentle and waltz-like.

Watch: live @ Walmart Soundcheck



## Help I’m Alive by Metric
from Fantasies

Emily Haines' pretty voice floating over fuzzy guitars and a relentless drum beat "like a hammer". I'm in.

Watch:


Download:
Help I'm Alive (acoustic)


## Satellite Skin by Modest Mouse
from No One’s First and You’re Next EP

This one is rollicking and full of attitude, Isaac Brock's growly voice, jangly guitars and an unexpected lightness. I must admit that apart from this song the EP didn't really grab me, but MM haven't lost the ability to rock out from time to time.

Watch:



## I Belong To You/Mon Coeur S'ouvre A Toi by Muse
from The Resistance

I just did not get this album at first. Muse have always been OTT and grandoise in their music and ideas, and I love them for it, but The Resistance was just too much on first listen. But then Al linked me to this review at Strange Horizons by Adam Roberts and I was so taken by how he lovingly describes and embraces it all that I gave it another go, this time with the SF framework as a guide. And it made all the difference. The album is still a little cold and synth-heavy for general listening, but when I'm in the mood for some storytelling it's evocative and interesting.

This song is immense and lush and darkly romantic, with its thumping beat and crashing piano chords and Matt Bellamy's voice poured over like syrup; and THEN they add a power-ballad bridge in French and throw in a jazzy woodwind interlude for good measure.

Listen: the karaoke version, complete with lyrics and random art. :)



Songs of 2009 part 3
Songs of 2009 part 2
Songs of 2009 part 1

Philadelphia Grand Jury - 19 Dec 2009 - The Factory

We headed down to The Factory while the sun was still up (!) for an all-ages (!!) gig, a night of Aussie music. To be honest, Al and I bought our (cheap!) tickets in a bit of a kneejerk reaction to reading A Reminder's post on the top Aussie and NZ bands of 2009 and feeling like we didn't know half of them. It was time we did our bit to support the local scene!

We got there early enough to catch half of the Tom Ugly set. They had good energy and some catchy hooks, but the vocal was weak under all the noise. They were pretty enjoyable nevertheless.

Cassette Kids were up next. They were polished and had good stage presence, despite their drummer having continual technical problems, but after a while every song sounded the same - the same driving beat, spiky guitar riffs and wailed vocal. They sounded like a mix of Metric, Phoenix and Yeah Yeah Yeahs - all bands that released good albums this year - and in the end they just seemed, as Al said, "very now" and derivative.

Watch: Lying Around

Headliners Philadelphia Grand Jury are currently seeing a great deal of airplay for their ridiculously catchy song The Good News, and just released their first album Hope is For Hopers in September. They played a fun, crazy and hilarious set, ripping through ten songs in just over half an hour. Singer/guitarist Simon Berckelman knocked his mike off the stand every second song and had to borrow bandmate Joel Beeson's mike, then the drummer's mike, to keep singing until the hardworking tech ("Give it up for George!") duct taped the mike to secure it to the stand. Berckelman then lost his glasses due to his energetic performance - maybe he needed everything taped down?

The duo finished the night with their four strongest songs back to back - I'm Going to Kill You, Going to a Casino, The Good News and I Don't Want to Party (Party). All of them ridiculously simple and a little on the repetitive side but so catchy it sucks you into dancing along. They threw in a chaotic outro with feedback and shambolic playing before dragging two fanboys on stage and letting them loose on bass and drums to play at being rockstars.

Download: The Good News

All in all, a fun, relaxing show to finish off the year. Yay for the Australian indie music scene!

On the downside, on our way to the Factory we were surprised to see an enormous queue snaking its way around the Enmore. What, we wondered, could gather so so many fluoro-tights-wearing teen girls with choppy hair around the doors at 5pm? The answer: Short Stack. Be afraid, Australian music lovers, be very afraid.

Songs of 2009 part 2

The aim: a manageable list of my favourite songs of 2009

The criteria: released in 2009, and only one per artist (this was hard!)

Presenting part 2 (of 7), in alphabetical order by artist:

## Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship
from Hot Mess

I don't think Leighton Meester should be encouraged in her music career, but you can't deny that this is one catchy fun song and video. Cobra Starship are courting commercial success with collaborations such as this on their shinier and glossier third album. While it doesn't have the heart and consistency of their great first album I'm just glad to see this long time fave (they do great live shows!) getting some recognition.

Watch: Good Girls Go Bad (HQ video)


## Nikorette by Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
from Outer South

Sure, it's lighter in tone and meaning than anything Oberst was able to churn out as Bright Eyes. But how can you not love a rollicking, toe-tapping song that restlessly drives towards a great acoustic guitar solo breakdown in the middle? (If you're still jonesing for the old stuff, check out Ahead of the Curve, one of Oberst's contributions to the Monsters of Folk album also released this year.)

Download:
Nikorette


## From the Hips by Cursive
from Mama, I'm Swollen

I've seen this described (derisively) as emo for grown ups. Whatever it is, I love the dark, slow-build towards the furious, howling conclusion.

I'm in my worst when I'm at my best
I'm at my best when I'm trying to look and think and talk
And sing and read and write like all the rest
We're all just trying to play our roles
In a play that runs ad nauseum
I hate this damn enlightenment
We were better off as animals

Download:
From the Hips


## Little Bribes by Death Cab for Cutie
from The Open Door EP

The cheeriest song about love between two problem gamblers in Vegas. Also, one of my favourite lines of the year: Pretend every slot machine is a robot amputee waving hello.

Watch:

Death Cab for Cutie - Little Bribes from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

## Every Time You Lie by Demi Lovato
from Here We Go Again

I know, Disney Spawn. But this is a really good album! She has a great, husky voice beyond her years, and an arsenal of unashamedly pop songs that touch on all kinds of styles and genres. This track has a nice swing feel and is great for belting out loud in the privacy of your car. :)

Watch:



Songs of 2009 part 1

Songs of 2009 part 1

The aim: a manageable list of my favourite songs of 2009

The criteria: released in 2009, and only one per artist (this was hard!)

Presenting, in alphabetical order by artist:

## Not a Robot but a Ghost by Andrew Bird
from Noble Beast

I have this weird word association problem: say the word 'robot', and I think 'Radiohead'. So I don't know if this is why I always think of this song as rather Radioheadesque; or if the combination of the shuffling, insistent beat, the pretty, tremulous melody in minor key and Bird's croon really is reminiscent of Thom Yorke and co. Either way, it's a good song.

Watch: live at Lollapalooza 2009 - I was there! Nowhere as close as the person taking this video was though.



## Travelling Woman by Bat for Lashes
from Two Suns

I love the dreamy, atmospheric mood of this song, how it suits Natasha Khan's dusky voice.

Listen:



## Blood Bank by Bon Iver
from Blood Bank EP

This is muted but so pretty, and I think it's really romantic in a small, quiet way, like being caught out in the snow with someone you love.

Download:
Blood Bank


## Love Drunk by Boys Like Girls
from Love Drunk

This is the musical equivalent of candied popcorn - colourful and nutritionally useless, but it's so damn more-ish. :)

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_uQO6NeFis


## You Belong to Me by Butch Walker

The Taylor Swift original is a guilty pleasure of mine (pleasure because it just begs you to sing along to its catchy lovelorn self; guilty because, well, it rightly sits amongst the pantheon of top 5 psuedo feminist anthems). This gender-flipped cover is equally as catchy, if not more so because it involves a plucked mandolin.

A mandolin! (And not a ukelele, as the link below claims it to be.)

Have I ever mentioned my love of unusual instrumentation in pop songs? :)

Listen:
You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift cover)

Tomorrow: Movies of the Decade 2001-2002