2009 picks

though i was gone for part of the year, i was still able to keep in touch with some of the music of 2009.

in no particular order, my standouts

neko case, middle cyclone,
avett brother, i and love and you
phoenix, wolfgang amadeus phoenix
dan auerbach, keep it hid
the xx, xx
the vaselines, enter the vaselines (i know, reissue, but it's new to me)
woods, songs of shame
japandroids, post-nothing
megafaun, gather, form and fly

the highlight of the year was definitely seeing some carolina stars shine in a big way, particularly megafaun and avett brothers. both albums i still have on my ipod even after a hundred listens.

Obnoxious: The Best kind of Rock there is

I know I'm too old to be doing this, but I still blare my music up in my care like I'm 17 years old. Perhaps because some of my favorite types of rock is that rock that is meant to be blared from your speaks to the point of being obnoxious.

Using the label to describe obnoxious shouldn't be anything new. Picture the founding fathers: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino. Between their clothes, hair, and style of playing, obnoxious is the least you could describe them as.

So who's your favorite artist to fit in this category? I'm sure the Rolling Stones could be placed in this group, they practically brought obnoxiousness to the masses, but they get enough attention as it is, so I'll let you in on a few more obscure I'll start with my 80's indie heros. . .The Replacements and Husker Du. A lot of the 00's artists could qualify. Top of my list would be The Libertines. "Can't Stand Me Now" virtually epitomizes what I'm talking about. Maybe all those early 00's garage acts. . .The Strokes, The Hives.

And whenever this earth crumbles, Blood On The Tracks will still sounds amazing.

If you've never listened to Dylan, or just afraid of all the self-righteous "dylanologist" our there who might mock you for misquoting Highway 61 Revisited, my suggestion would be to avoid the compilations and start with Blood on the Tracks.

It's his most accessible album in many ways. His usually nasal-y voice found in his 60's albums is a little lower. The songs aren't about hippie politics, but rather finding, fulfilling, and ultimately losing love. And of course, the fact that every song has a great hook, and he's writing at his best, doesn't hurt at all either.

The opening track, Tangled Up In Blue, in perhaps his most incoherent of his many incoherent story songs. The lyrics don't make much sense on first listen, but the melody is so up beat that you don't really care. This sequel, or antithesis, or fascimile, of the opener is the second to last song, Shelter from the Storm. Neither really have a chorus, and both are based on imagery rather than linear story, and both are absolutely amazing, like the entire album, once you have time to absorb it each time you revisit it.

Best Damn Love Song: Love Minus Zero/No Limit

So I've been on a Dylan kick the last week or so. One of my favorite Dylan songs, or perhaps one of my favorite songs of any artist, is "Love Minus Zero/No Limit."

I heard it first being sung by Buck Owens on some obscure album he did in the late '60s. The complex, almost string-of-conscience, lyrics took me off guard from the typical Buck Owens songs (which, albeit clever and smart, are usually typical country cliche ridden).

Filled with contradictions ("speaks like silence", "no success like failure") because after all, isn't an artist loving someone who doesn't really care at all a contradiction in itself? To have someone who doesn't care about what everyone says (even though, for christ sakes, your Bob Dylan) but just love you for who you are. . . now that's a love to write a song about.

"She knows too much to argue or to judge," speaking of the love of my life, I couldn't have said it better.

Finally music in Raleigh to talk about. . .

with the Bowerbirds and Megafaun both getting huge indie buzz in the last month, I'm finally excited to be a Raleigh-ite. I'm very excited to see where they go with their two excellent albums. No longer do I need to lie, and say I'm from Chapel Hill or Asheville, when talking to music fans in other areas.

Unfortunately, Raleigh's last gift of music to the world came in the form of Clay Aiken. Before that, I'd say Whiskeytown, though as soon as they meant anything, Ryan Adams moved to L.A., then NYC, and hasn't shown back us since. FU too, Ryan.

Edit: Megafaun is technically from Durham. Oh well. . who's counting? It's not like anybody reads this blog anyways.

If Bob Dylan is only half as good as they say he is. . .

then he's just incredible.

Me: "Have you ever listened to Dylan?"
You: "Yeah."
Me: "Have you listened to Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited, Bringing It All Back Home, and Blood on the Tracks in their entirety?"
You: "No."
Me: "Then you haven't listened to Dylan."

Granted, everything he's every touched is doomed to be overanalyzed and critiqued to total exhaustion, but that shouldn't be any reason to knock him off.

Here's my desert island Dylantrack list. I've tried to favor the obscurities (Like A Rolling Stone's a great song, but overplayed).

Side note: "It's alright ma, I'm only bleeding," my favorite song off my least favorite "pinnacle" dylan album, reads to me like proto-rap, which predates grandmaster flash about 15 years I think.

"He Not Busy Being Born is Busy Dying."

my best of list. . . finally

alright, been a little slow on this post. i've devoted a lot of time to bellsbites.blogspot.com.

i don't want to miss a chance to list my favorite albums of 2008. here's my top ten:

1. Titus Andronicus, The Airing of Grievances
2. The Kills, Midnight Boom
3. Los Campesinos, Hold On Now Youngster,. . . . .
4. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
5. Bon Iver, For Emma
6. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
7. Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours
8. The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
9. Calexico, Carried to Dust
10. The Dodos, Visiter

Honorable mentions: Coldplay, The Nouns, Abe Vigoda, Jenny Lewis

Not Bad, but not as good as they should have been: The Killers, Santogold, Death Cab for Cutie, Kings of Leon

And these are my favorite albums which weren't new, but were new to me because somehow I missed them whenever they came out. They made 2008 that much better. . .

*Life On Other Planets, Supergrass
*Every single Calexico album, especially Feast of Wire and Garden Ruin
*Cut Copy, Bright Like Neon Love