Alex Goldfarb
(of the bands Gatorface, No Friends, + New Mexican Disaster Squad)
1 – Cloak/Dagger “Lost Art”
2 – Marked Men “Ghosts”
3 – Psyched to Die “Year One”
4 – Paint It Black “Amnesia”
5 – Municipal Waste “Massive Aggressive”
6 – Strike Anywhere “Iron Front”
7 – Dead to Me “African Elephants”
8 - Jay Reatard ‘Watch Me Fall”
9 – Obits “I Blame You”
10 – Whiskey Trench “Television” |
Billy Hamilton
(of the band Silverstein)
1 – Camera Obscura “My Maudlin Career”
2 – Mew “No More Stories…”
3 – Propagandhi “Supporting Caste”
4 – David Bazan “Curse Your Branches”
5 – Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
6 – Wilco “Wilco (The Album)”
7 – The Wooden Sky “If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone”
8 – Strike Anywhere “Iron Front”
9 – Weatherbox “The Cosmic Drama”
10 – Lucero “1372 Overton Park” |
Bret Morgan
(of BandsOnABudget.com)
In no order:
1- Frank Turner “Poetry of the Deed”
2- Chuck Ragan “Gold Country”
3- Atlas Sound “Logos”
4- Wilco “Wilco (The Album)”
5- The Bronx “Mariachi el Bronx”
6- Lucero “1372 Overton Park”
7- Regina Spektor “Far”
8- William Elliott Whitmore “Animals in the Dark”
9- The Roadside Graves “My Son’s Name”
10- Tegan and Sara “Sainthood” |
Brian Amsterdam
(of the bands Werewolves + Frozen Warnings)
2009: WHERE'S THE MUZIK AT?
A very disappointing year in terms of new releases. Total snooze fest. Here is a list of (properly released) records in no particular order (f--- that s---) that didn't totally suck.
1- Psychic Ills - Mirror Eye
2- IUD - The Proper Sex
3- Broadcast and the Focus Group - Investigate with Cults of the Radio Age
4- Sharon Van Etten - Because I Was in Love
5- Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem
6- Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II
7- Julie Doiron - I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day
8- The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
9- Atlas Sound - Logos
10- XX - xx
What am I looking forward to in 2010? The new CLIPD BEAKS record (myspace.com/clipdbeaks) 'TO REALIZE' will be released January 26 on Love Pump United. If you sleep on this you are truly f---ing stupid. |
Bryan Quilty
(of the band Gatorface)
1 – Propagandhi “Supporting Caste”
2 – Dear Landlord “Dream Homes”
3 – Converge “Axe to Fall”
4 – Marked Men “Ghosts”
5 – No Friends s/t
6 – A Wilhelm Scream s/t
7 – Strike Anywhere “Iron Front”
8 – Russian Circles “Geneva”
9 – Polar Bear Club “Chasing Hamburg”
10 – Vicious Cycle “Pale Blue Dot” |
Cam Taylor (of No Idea Records + Southern Lovin' PR)
1 - Paintbox "Trip, Trance, Traveling"
2 - Obits "I Blame You"
3 - Marked Men "Ghosts"
4 - Fleshies "Brown Flag"
5 - Pygmy Lush/Turboslut split
6 - Brainworms "Swear to Me"
7 - North Lincoln "Midwestern Blood"
8 - Tubers "Anachronous"
9 The Catalyst "Swallow Your Teeth"
10 - Coalesce "OX" |
Brooke Pridemore
(musician)
Okay, here's a different best-of than the one I gave the other guy that asked me for one. My name is Brook Pridemore, and I approve this message.
10. Joe Crow Ryan-This Machine Kills Purists Vol. I (Weemayk Music)-Joe Crown Ryan is New York's greatest living Subway singer. His first album of platform standards, including original songs and a handful of classics by Hoagie Carmichael, Patience and Prudence, etc., is tastefully underproduced, largely focusing on Ryan's ukelele and banjo, with occasional percussion touches by drummer Doug Johnson (of Elastic No-No Band). Ryan has said that, in picking a song to cover, he has to decide if he wouldn't mind singing the song every day for the rest of his life, and the song list herein sounds appropriately loved and lived in. His rendition of "Tonight You Belong to Me" is the (modern) definitive version. New York songwriters: please stop doing cutesy versions of this song!
9. Daniel Johnston-Is and Always Was (Eternal Yip-Eye Music)-I have always been a fan of Daniel Johnston's...success in the face of adversity...but not so much a fan of the music. The tape albums are too lo-fi for my taste, and the studio albums just aren't very good. But Is and Always Was is the best collection of songs from the guy since Yip Jump Music, and the production quality is exactly the kind of tasteful Daniel's songs deserve. Start with opener, "Mind Movies," as an insight into the man's awareness of his condition (actually a running theme through the album).
8. Sarah Jaffe-Even Born Again (Self-Released)-Being the Sunday night soundguy at Sidewalk Cafe is a pretty ear-draining job, as Sunday is the night that a lot of new or..."differently-abled" acts get booked. So seeing an unfamiliar name at 11:00 on a Sunday is typically not cause for rejoice. A few months ago, though, Denton, TX native Sarah Jaffe played a warmup set for a more prestigious New York gig, reminding me of the greatest truth about New York City-absolutely anything can happen, at any time, without reason. Sarah Jaffe's songs sound like the midway point between Neko Case and Gillian Welch-modern country music that is neither "young" nor "insurgent." Opener "Even Born Again," is a haunting, circular ballad, a la Johnny Cash's rendition of "I Hung My Head."
7. Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard-'Em Are I (Rough Trade) Jeffrey Lewis' debut album was the first "antifolk" music I'd ever heard, a month or so before I moved to New York in 2002. I thought then (and have proven myself right since) that, if Jeff could live and thrive making music in New York, then so could I. His subsequent albums have, for various reasons, been real disappointments to me, as they have matched neither the natural wittiness of the early songs, nor the ferocity of his live band, including brother Jack on bass and David Beauchamp on drums. 'Em Are I, however, is gritty, punk/folk fun, showcasing the band's penchant for long, two chord trance numbers and straight-ahead punk songs. There are too many stone classics on this disc, but start with "If Life Exists."
6. The Beets-Spit in the Face of You (Captured Tracks)-These guys played my house the other night, and I couldn't figure out if someone wasn't playing an amazingly elaborate practical joke on me. These guys sound like a Mexican Velvet Underground (more the Doug Yule era than the earlier, noisier stuff). Nico's thick accent replaced by everyone's thick accent? The general feeling of psychedelia in the room while they played? Seriously, my living room looked like the back cover of The Velvet Underground and Nico. Judging by the choking smell of smug in the air while they played, lots of hip folks knew about them long before I did. Whatever, check this out before it costs $30 to see 'em. "Broken English" seems an appropriate starter.
5. M. Ward-Post War (Merge) I don't really care that M. Ward released Hold Time is 2009, frankly, I'm still stuck on 2006's Post War. Somehow Gothic, as though Ward were channeling the crushing loneliness of life in West Texas, put a new coat of paint on it, and made loneliness the new, reserved cool, Post War finally delivers a high fidelity take on the new-country promise of his earlier, home-made albums. "Chinese Translation" should be on any mix you make for someone you love.
4. Emmett and Mary-S/T (My Idea of Fun)-Brandon Locher, auxiliary member of Endless Mike and the Beagle Club (as well as numerous other Johnstown, PA bands) sets to music the stories of local favorite Chris Bell, telling the tale of a post-apocalyptic small town in Western PA. Neutral Milk Hotel meets Modest Mouse meets Dark Side of the Moon. As a bonus surprise, "Trilogy: Sequel" borrows one of this writer's lyrics, to great ends.
3. The Mountain Goats-Satanic Messiah EP (Self Released)-As a precursor (and companion piece) to the new The Life of the World to Come, John Darnielle in solo mode weaves four more simple, elegant songs about the desperation and perserverance of the unloveable and perpetually misunderstood. Anyone who still says The Mountain Goats suck since they went hi-fi clearly hasn't heard this one. "Wizard Buys a Hat" contains the latter-day Mountain Goats' most harrowing lyric: "If I came here to drown, I'm gonna take a few people down. Here is the church, occupied by the enemy."
2. One Night Stand In North Dakota-Dworkin's Bastards (Discount Horse) This Fall, I went from saying, "Who the fuck is this ONSIND, stealing my thunder by doing a split with Ghost Mice less than six months after MY split with Ghost Mice came out?" to, "Oh, shit, here I am in the ONSIND house in Durham, UK, eating songwriter Nathan Griffin's food, sleeping on his couch, and watching his copy of Donnie Darko." Turns out Nathan and bandmate Daniel Ellis make some of the most socially-conscious, thought out folk-punk I've ever heard (and at least two years after folk-punk was deemed "played-out"). Also, they (and everyone else I met in Durham) are some of the nicest and most generous people I've met i my travels. Also-also, turns out I'm a greedy little fucker, who stupidly thought another band's split with Ghost Mice would hurt sales of mine. Brook Pridemore, there's enough of Ghost Mice to go around (and when did you ever care about "sales," really?) For what it's worth, closer, "Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter," is one of the smartest songs about social unrest I've ever heard.
1. Bill Callahan-Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle (Drag City)-So I've already turned in another year's best list, and was trying to do a completely different set for this page, but. Former Smog-ster Bill Callahan's newest is the most gorgeous record I've heard all year. Where his Smog albums were largely lo-fi exercises in noise and cheek, often sounding like a poor man's Magnetic Fields (2005's A River Ain't Too Much To Love excepted), Eagle splits the difference between Leonard Cohen's Death of a Ladies' Man and Lee Hazlewoodism: It's Cause and Cure. The album seems largely to deal with the dissolution of Callahan's relationship with fellow seemingly-can-do-no-wrong-of-late songwriter Joanna Newsom, but this is no bitter breakup record: Callahan seems wiser for the experience, and grateful for the time they spent together. I honestly think "Rococo Zephyr" is the pinnacle of songwriting in the new millenium, and if you don't believe me, know that I recently got its' coda, "I used to be sorta blind, now I can sorta see," tattooed on my forearms. I consider that dedication. |
Chris Farren
(of the band Fake Problems)
1- Frank Turner “Poetry of the Deed”
2- Lucero “1371 Overton Park”
3- Bomb the Music Industry! “Scrambles”
4- Andrew Jackson Jihad “Can’t Maintain”
5- Cobra Skulls “American Rubicon”
6- The Dead Weather “Horehound”
7- Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band “Outer South”
8- Monsters of Folk s/t
9- Touche Amore “…To the Beat of a Dead Horse”
10- The Weight “Summer Sessions” |
Chris Shields
(of Warner Bros. Records)
1- Florence & the Machine “Lungs”
2- Mastodon “Crack the Skye”
3- Thrice “Beggars”
4- The Bronx “Mariachi el Bronx”
5- Manchester Orchestra “Mean Everything to Nothing”
6- Killswitch Engage s/t
7- AFI “Crash Love”
8- Brand New “Daisy”
9- Metric “Fantasies”
10- Dawes “North Hills” |
Christina Louise
(of the band Foxes and Lions)
1 – Nana Grizol “Ruth”
2 – Fake Problems “It’s Great to Be Alive”
3 – Andrew Jackson Jihad “Can’t Maintain”
4 – Frank Turner “Poetry of the Deed”
5 – Bryan Scary “Mad Valentines EP”
6 – William Elliott Whitmore “Animals in the Dark”
7 – Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
8 – The Bronx “Mariachi el Bronx”
9 – Mischief Brew/Guignol “Fight Dirty”
10 – The Mountain Goats “Life of the World to Come” |
Cody Bradley
(of the band Take It Back!)
1- U2 “No Line on the Horizon”
2- Advent “Naked and Cold”
3- Green Day “21st Century Breakdown”
4- Foo Fighters “Greatest Hits”
5- Impending Doom “The Serpant Servant”
6- Every Time I Die “New Junk Aesthetic”
7- A Plea for Purging “Depravity”
8- Austrian Death Machine “Double Brutal”
9- Sleeping Giant “Sons of Thunder”
10- Pearl Jam “Backspacer” |
Dan Jaquint
(of the band Small Brown Bike)
1 – The Paper Chase “Someday This Could All Be Yours”
2 – Zu “Carboniferous”
3 – Dead Man’s Bones s/t
4 – Beirut “March of the Zapotec”
5 – The Black Heart Procession “Six”
6 – Be My Weapon s/t
7 – Cursive “Mama, I’m Swollen”
8 – Julian Plenti “Is…Skyscraper”
9 – Soulsavers “Broken”
10 – Them Crooked Vultures s/t |
Dave Garwacke
(of the bands If You Make It, Thousandaires, Kudrow, Halo Fauna, + Golden Age of Radio)
1 – Hard Girls “Hello”
2 – Iron Chic “Shitty Rambo EP”
3 – Delay “Plain Language”
4 – Laura Stevensen and the Cans “Holy Ghost!”
5 – Stolen Parts s/t
6 – Wormburner s/t
7 – Lemuria “Ozzy”
8 – Bomb the Music Industry! “Scrambles”
9 – Bridge and Tunnel “Loss Leaders”
10 – The Sidekicks “Weight of Air” |
Dave Hause
(of the band The Loved Ones)
1 – Tegan and Sara “Sainthood”
2 – Pearl Jam “Backspacer”
3 – Monsters of Folk s/t
4 – Jay-Z “Blueprint 3”
5 – Bob Dylan “Together through Life”
6 – Neko Case “Middle Cyclone”
7 – The Avett Brothers “I and Love and You”
8 – Regina Spektor “Far”
9 – Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band “Outer South”
10 – Chuck Ragan “Gold Country” |
Dave House
(musician)
1- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart s/t
2- Broadway Calls “Good Views, Bad News”
3- Slow Club “Yeah So”
4- Frank Turner “Poetry of the Deed”
5- Our Time down Here “Live, Love, Let Go”
6- Fake Problems “It’s Great to Be Alive”
7- The Xcerts “In the Cold Wind We Smile”
8- Shook Ones “The Unquotable A.M.H.”
9- Jamie T “Kings and Queens”
10- Jenny Owen Youngs “Transmitter Failure” |
David Sitting
(of the band Impending Doom)
1- Every Time I Die “New Junk Aesthetic”
2- Lamb of God “Wrath”
3- Between the Buried and Me “The Great Misdirect”
4- Converge “Axe to Fall”
5- Mastadon “Crack the Skye”
6- Black Dahlia Murder “Deflorate”
7- The Red Chord “Fed through the Teeth Machine”
8- Job for a Cowboy “Ruination”
9- The Devil Wears Prada “With Roots above and Branches Below”
10- Impending Doom “The Serpant Servant” :) |
Dead Air Dave Sozinho
(of UNCLE Promotions)
1- The Heavy “The House That Dirt Built”
2- Stone Foxes s/t
3- Holy Rolling Empire “Gigantis”
4- The Law “A Measure of Wealth”
5- Great Northern “Remind Me Where the Light Is”
6- The Dead Eyes of London “Here Come the Dead Eyes of London”
7- Chase McBride “From the Mountains to the Sea”
8- The Features “Some Kind of Salvation”
9- Portugal the Man “The Satanic Satanists”
10- The Boy Least Likely To “The Law of the Playground” |
Derek Rinaldi
(of ShoreAlternative.com, SkateDaily.net, JuiceMagazine.com + former pro skateboarder)
I have to admit that 2009 has been my favorite year for music. Yes, there were a ton of great albums that were released and, yes, I was lucky to see some epic, live performances. But the reason it was so memorable to me was that, thanks to ShoreALT, I have not only been given the chance to program music and contribute a steady column of news but, most of all, be surrounded by amazing people who are as addicted to great music as I am.
Here are my favorite albums of the year, in no order whatsoever. See you in 2010.
1 – M. Ward "Daisy"
2 – Neko Case "Middle Cyclone"
3 – Various Artists “Score! 20 Years of Merge Records-The Covers”
4 – Various Artists "Dark Was the Night"
5 – Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard "One Fast Move or I’m Gone"
6 - Lucero "1372 Overton Park"
7 – Thao with the Get down Stay Down "Know Better Learn Faster"
8 – A.C. Newman "Get Guilty"
9 – BLKTOP Project "Lane Change"
10 - Wilco "Wilco (The Album)"
Honorable Mentions
"Leaves In The Gutter" Superchunk
"Blood Bank" Bon Iver
"Ray Barbee Meets The Mattson 2" Ray Barbee
"Mean Everything To Nothing" Manchester Orchestra
"It's Blitz" Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"A Strange Arrangement" Mayer Hawthorne |
Eddie Horn
(of Reybee, Paper + Plastick Records, + Glassnote Records)
1 – Gallows “Grey Britian”
2 – Mastodon “Crack the Skye”
3 – Taking Back Sunday “New Again”
4 – Owen “New Leaves”
5 – Isis “Wavering Radiant”
6 – Gossip “Music for Men”
7 – Converge “Axe to Fall”
8 – Coheed and Cambria “Neverender”
9 – Shook Ones “The Unquotable A.M.H.”
10 – A Wilhelm Scream s/t |
Eric Solomon
(of the band O Pioneers!!! and I Heart U Productions)
1- Kudrow “Lando”
2- The Sidekicks “Weight of Air”
3- Senders “Demo”
4- Ringers “Hurry up and Wait”
5- Tigers Jaw s/t
6- Hard Girls “Hello”
7- Bomb the Music Industry! “Scrambles”
8- So Many Dynamos "Loud Wars"
9- Cheap Girls “My Roaring 20’s”
10- Andrew Jackson Jihad “Can’t Maintain” |
Failures’ Union
(band)
1- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart s/t
2- Cheap Girls “My Roaring 20’s”
3- Camera Obscura “My Maudlin Career”
4- Dinosaur Jr. “Farm”
5- Burning Hearts “Aboa Sleeping”
6- Tegan and Sara “Sainthood”
7- Doom “Born Like This”
8- Polvo “In Prism”
9- Reigning Sound “Love and Curses”
10- A Place to Bury Strangers “Exploding Head”
|
Felicia Risolo
(of Epitaph Records)
1 – Polar Bear Club “Chasing Hamburg”
2 – Set Your Goals “This Will Be the Death of Us”
3 – Frank Turner “Poetry of the Deed”
4 – Shook Ones “The Unquotable A.M.H.”
5 – Tegan and Sara “Sainthood”
6 – Brand New “Daisy”
7 – Heartsounds “Until We Surrender”
8 – Broadway Calls “Good Views, Bad News”
9 – Thursday “Common Existence”
10 – Banner Pilot “Collapser” |
Frank Turner
(musician)
1- Converge “Axe to Fall”
2- Future of the Left “Travels with Myself and Another”
3- Crazy Arm “Born to Ruin”
4- Chuck Ragan “Gold Country”
5- School of Seven Bells “Alpinisms”
6- Propagandhi “Supporting Caste”
7- Jamie T “Kings and Queens”
8- Drag the River “Bad at Breaking Up”
9- Beans on Toast “Standing on a Chair”
10- The Hold Steady “A Positive Rage” |
Ian Graham
(of the band Cheap Girls)
1 – Neko Case “Middle Cyclone”
2 – Grant Hart “Hot Wax”
3 - …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead “The Century of Self”
4 – The Cribs “Ignore the Ignorant”
5 – Failures’ Union “In What Way”
6 – Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
7 – Reigning Sound “Love and Curses”
8 – The Thermals “Now We Can See”
9 – A Camp “Colonia”
10 – Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard “Em Are I” |
Ishay Berger
(of the band Useless ID)
1- David Bazan “Curse Your Branches”
2- AFI “Crash Love”
3- Chuck Ragan “Gold Country”
4- NOFX “Cokie the Clown”
5- Cursive “Mama, I’m Swollen”
6- Jay Reatard “Watch Me Fall”
7- Death by Stereo “Death Is My Only Friend”
8- Converge “Axe to Fall”
9- Napalm Death “Time Waits for No Slave”
10- Slayer “World Painted Blood” |
Jason Black
(of the bands Hot Water Music and Senses Fail)
1- Glasvegas s/t
2- Metric “Fantasies”
3- Every Time I Die “New Junk Aesthetic”
4- The Bouncing Souls “20th Anniversary Singles Series”
5- Muse “The Resistance”
6- The Lawrence Arms “Buttsweat and Tears” |
Jeff Cunningham
(of the band Bridge and Tunnel)
In ABC order:
Andrew Jackson Jihad “Can’t Maintain”
Attica! Attica! “Napalm and Nitrogen”
Banner Pilot “Collapser”
Canadian Rifle “Visibility Zero”
Cheeky “What the Heck”
Dave House “Intersections”
Headlights “Wildlife”
Marked Men “Ghosts”
North Lincoln “Midwestern Blood”
Owen “New Leaves”
Propagandhi “Supporting Caste”
Ringers “Hurry up and Wait”
|
Jeff Dean
(of the band The Bomb)
1 - Bob Mould "Life and Times"
2 - Superchunk "Leaves in the Gutter EP"
3 - Strike Anywhere "Iron Front"
4 - Dinosaur Jr. "Farm"
5 - New Model Army "Today Is a Good Day"
6 - Stereotyperider "Songs in the Key of F and U"
7 - Amusement Parks on Fire "Young Flight"
8 - Idlewild "Post Electric Blues"
9 - Obits "I Blame You"
10 - Classics of Love "Walking in Shadows" |
Jeff Rosenstock
(of the bands Bomb the Music Industry! and Kudrow, + Quote Unquote Records)
1- Andrew Jackson Jihad “Can’t Maintain”
2- Future of the Left “Travels with Myself and Another”
3- Cursive “Mama, I’m Swollen”
4- Dan Deacon “Bromst”
5- So Many Dynamos “The Loud Wars”
6- The Cribs “Ignore the Ignorant”
7- Regina Spektor “Far”
8- The Sidekicks “Weight of Air”
9- POS “Never Better”
10- The Thermals “Now We Can See” |
Jeremy Cochran
(of the band Smoke or Fire)
1 – Baroness “The Blue Record”
2 – Banner Pilot “Collapser”
3 – Jason Isbell and 400 Unit s/t
4 – Russian Circles “Geneva”
5 – The Bronx “Mariachi el Bronx”
6 – Mono “Hymn to the Immortal Wind”
7 – Dead to Me “African Elephants”
8 – Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves s/t
9 – The Thermals “Now We Can See”
10 – No Friends s/t |
Jim Connolly
(of the band Soul Control)
1- Dinosaur Jr. “Farm”
2- Morrissey “Years of Refusal”
3- Every Time I Die “New Junk Aesthetic”
4- Mastodon “Crack the Skye”
5- Brand New “Daisy”
6- Camera Obscura “My Maudlin Career”
7- Rise and Fall “Our Circle Is Vicious”
8- Iron Age “The Sleeping Eye”
9- Pissed Jeans “King of Jeans”
10- Blacklisted “No One Deserves to Be Here More Than Me” |
Joe Monmouth [Keating]
(of ShoreAlternative.com + 94.3 The Point;
also of the band Dalloway, and hip hop artist)
1- Converge “Axe to Fall”
2- Raekwon “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2”
3- The Hope Conspiracy “Nihilist”
4- Polar Bear Club “Chasing Hamburg”
5- POS “Never Better”
6- Every Time I Die “New Junk Aesthetic”
7- Chuck Ragan “Gold Country”
8- Apathy “Wanna Snuggle?”
9- Reign Supreme “Testing the Limits of Infinite”
10- Marco Polo and Torae “Double Barrel” |
Joe Muccino
(of the band Foxes and Lions)
1 – Frank Turner “Poetry of the Deed”
2 – Dave House “Intersections”
3 – Beirut “March of the Zapotec”
4 – The Bronx “Mariachi el Bronx”
5 – Matt & Kim “Grand” |
John Pfeiffer
(of The Aquarian’s “ShoreWorld”)
1- Willie Nile “House of a Thousand Guitars”
2- Bebe Buell “Sugar”
3- The F-Bombers “Pledge Allegiance”
4- The Boxmasters “Modbilly”
5- Keith Monacchio “The Long Evening”
6- Bess Rogers “Travel Back”
7- The Avett Brothers “I and Love and You”
8- Various Artists “A Tribute to Love & Rockets”
9- The Wogles “Tempo Tantrum”
10- Band of Skulls “Baby Darling Doll Face Honey” |
Johnny B
(of Side One Dummy Records)
1 – Fake Problems “It’s Great to Be Alive”
2 – The Bronx “Mariachi el Bronx”
3 – David Bazan “Curse Your Branches”
4 – Broadway Calls “Good Views, Bad News”
5 – Jay-Z “Blueprint 3”
6 – The Thermals “Now We Can See”
7 – Pearl Jam “Backspacer”
8 – Dear Landlord “Dream Homes”
9 – Chuck Ragan “Gold Country”
10 – The Avett Brothers “I and Love and You” |
Jorge Orsovay
(manager of the band Anti-Flag and A-F Records)
1- Brutal Youth “Evolution through Revolution
2- Cobalt “Gin”
3- Kylesa “Static Tensions”
4- Black Cobra “Chronomega”
5- Ulcerate “Everything Is Fire”
6- Absu s/t
7- Heaven & Hell “The Devil You Know”
8- Goatwhore “Carving out the Eyes of God”
9- Church of Misery “Houses of the Unholy”
10- Napalm Death “Time Waits for No Slave” |
Justin Allman
(of the band Onward to Olympas)
1- A Plea for Purging “Depravity”
2- For Today “Portraits”
3- August Burns Red “Constellations”
4- A Day to Remember “Homesick”
5- The Devil Wears Prada “With Roots above and Branches Below”
6- Gwen Stacy “A Dialogue”
7- Miss May I “Apologies Are for the Weak”
8- Sleeping Giant “Sons of Thunder”
9- Between the Buried and Me “The Great Misdirect”
10- Bury Your Dead “It’s Nothing Personal” |
Kenny Bridges
(of the band Moneen)
1 – Mutemath “Armistice”
2 – Muse “The Resistance”
3 – Alexisonfire “Old Crows/Young Cardinals”
4 – Hunter “4” + “8”
5 – Taylor Swift “Fearless”
6 – Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
7 – Mew “No More Stories…”
8 – The Swell Season “Strict Joy” |
Kevin Nunn
(of the band North Lincoln)
1- How Do We Jump This High “Deep Stationary”
2- Cheap Girls “My Roaring 20’s”
3- Japandroids “Post-Nothing”
4- Superchunk “Leaves in the Gutter”
5- Pink Razors “Leave Alive”
6- Lemuria “Ozzy”
7- Russian Circles “Geneva”
8- Grown Ups “Songs”
9- Future Virgins “Easiest Years”
10- Small Brown Bike “Composite Vol. 1” |
Kramer Lowe
(of the band Onward to Olympas)
1- August Burns Red “Constellations”
2- For Today “Portraits”
3- The Devil Wears Prada “With Roots above and Branches Below”
4- Mayday Parade “Anywhere but Here”
5- A Day to Remember “Homesick”
6- A Plea for Purging “Depravity”
7- Impending Doom “The Serpent Servant”
8- Burden of a Day “Oneonethousand”
9- Oh, Sleeper “Son of the Morning” |
Laura Stevenson and the Cans
(band)
1 - Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
2 – Cheap Girls “My Roaring 20’s”
3 – Paper Moons “New Tales”
4 – Wild Yaks “Don’t Die Yet”
5 – Bomb the Music Industry! “Scrambles”
6 – Andrew Jackson Jihad “Can’t Maintain”
7 – Iron Chic “Shitty Rambo EP”
8 – Cast Spells “Bright Works and Baton”
9 – Air Waves “Daytrotter Sessions”
10 – The Beatles stereo reissues |
Lauren Denitzio
(of the band The Measure [SA])
1 - The Reigning Sound "Love and Curses"
2 - Cheap Girls "My Roaring 20’s"
3 - Masshysteri "Var Del Av Stan"
4 - Frank Turner "Poetry of the Deed"
5 - Neko Case "Middle Cyclone"
6 - PS Eliot "Introverted Romance in Our Troubled Minds"
7 - Obits "I Blame You"
8 - Tegan and Sara "Sainthood"
9 - The Thermals "Now We Can See"
10 - Zombie Dogs "Demo" |
Laurie Cataldo
(of 94.3 The Point + ShoreAlternative.com)
In no order:
1- Kings of Leon “Only by the Night” (I know it was released in 2008, but whatever, it didn’t blow up ‘til this year)
2- Jay-Z “Blueprint 3”
3- Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
4- Silversun Pickups “Swoon”
5- Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.”
6- U2 “No Line on the Horizon”
7- Lady Gaga “The Fame Monster”
8- Britney Spears “Circus” (again, released in 2008, but blew up in ’09)
9- Lily Allen “It’s Not Me, It’s You”
10- Dave Matthews Band “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” |
Look Mexico
(band)
1 – Modest Mouse “No One’s First and You’re Next”
2 – Dirty Projectors “Bitte Orca”
3 – Dave Bazan “Curse Your Branches”
4 – Mewithoutyou “It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright!”
5 – Various Artists “Dark Was the Night”
6 – Fake Problems “It’s Great to Be Alive”
7 – Michael Jackson “This Is It”
8 – Manchester Orchestra “Mean Everything to Nothing”
9 – Built to Spill “There Is No Enemy”
10 – Frank Turner “Poetry of the Deed” |
Matt
(of TheNJUnderground.com)
1- The Love Language s/t
2- Girls “Album”
3- Brand New “Daisy”
4- Wavves s/t
5- Real Estate s/t
6- Ida Maria “Fortress ‘round My Heart”
7- Island “Vapours” |
Matt Fox
(of the band Shai Hulud)
1 – Propagandhi “Supporting Caste”
2 – Megadeath “Endgame”
3 – Voivod “Infini”
4 – Heaven and Hell “The Devil You Know”
5 – NOFX “Coaster”
6 – Vader “Necropolis”
7 – Behemoth “Evangelion”
8 – Outbreak s/t
9 – Napalm Death “Time Waits for No Slave”
10 – WASP “Babylon” |
Matt Sweeting
(of the bands Tubers, Assholeparade, Stressface, + No Idea Records)
1 - Paintbox "Trip, Trance, Traveling"
2. Reigning Sound "Love and Curses"
3 - Obits "I Blame You"
4 - Slayer "World Painted Blood"
5 - The Bomb "Speed Is Everything"
6 - Religious as Fuck/American Cheeseburger split
7 - Mourne "Untold Wait"
8 - Morpheme/D Clone split
9 - Diet Cokeheads "Jons" |
Michael Walsh
(of the band Foxes and Lions)
1 – Girls “Album”
2 – The Drums “Summertime!”
3 – The Bronx “Mariachi el Bronx”
4 – POS “Never Better”
5 – Real Estate s/t
6 – Turbo Fruits “Echo Kid”
7 – The Chariot “Wars and Rumors of Wars”
8 – Crocodiles “Summer of Hate”
9 – The Almighty Defenders s/t
10 – Abe Vigoda “Reviver” |
Mike Merrell
(of ShoreAlternative.com + “Hawk 2.0” on 105.7 The Hawk)
Honorable Mentions:
(These are just albums that I love that would have been on the list if I made a top 25)
Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport,
Atlas Sound – Logos,
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion/Fall Be Kind EP,
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!,
Sonic Youth – The Eternal,
Brand New – Daisy,
Themselves – Crowns Down, Dear And The Headlights – Drunk In Bible Times,
Dead Man’s Bones – s/t
Jay Z – BluePrint 3,
Julian Plenti is Skyscraper.
1- The Horrors “Primary Colours”
2- The XX “XX”
3- Why? “Eskimo Snow”
4- Silversun Pickups “Swoon”
5- Grizzly Bear “Veckitamest”
6- Moby “Wait for Me”
7- Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
8- Metric “Fantasies”
9- Camera Obscura “My Maudlin Career”
10- The Rural Alberta Advantage “Hometowns” |
Mike Reed
(of the band Small Brown Bike)
1 - Them Crooked Vultures s/t
2 – Bowerbirds “Upper Air”
3 – Mew “No More Stories…”
4 – Glorytellers “Atone”
5 – Coalesce “OX” + “OX EP”
6 – Mike Hale “Lives Like Mine”
7 – Cheap Girls “My Roaring 20’s”
8 – Obits “I Blame You”
9 – Cursive “Mama, I’m Swollen”
10 – The Antlers “Hospice” |
Nate Gangelhoff
(of the bands Off with Their Heads + Banner Pilot)
1 – Dear Landlord “Dream Homes”
2 – Little Lungs “Hoist Me Up!”
3 – New Creases s/t
4 – Tegan and Sara “Sainthood”
5 – House Boat “The Delaware Octopus”
6 – Teenage Bottlerocket “They Came from the Shadows”
7 – The Menzingers “Hold on Dodge”
8 – Ringers “Hurry up and Wait”
9 – Frank Turner “Poetry of the Deed”
10 – Dead to Me “African Elephants” |
Nicole Lipman
(of Hey Cole Presents)
Most are local with a few biggies in there. In no particular order:
1- Brandi Carlile “Give up the Ghost”
2- Cavalier Rose “Primary Colors”
3- Rick Barry “This Antediluvian World”
4- Ben Kweller “Changing Horses”
5- Bess Rogers “Travel Back”
6- Allie Moss “Passerby”
7- Alex Brumel “To Bring You Home”
8- Amanda Duncan “Love I Have for You”
9- Alex Brumel and Janel Elizabeth “The Mill Stone”
10- The Bloodsugars “I Can’t Go on, I’ll Go On” |
Pat Schramm
(of the band Bridge and Tunnel)
1 – Banner Pilot “Collapser”
2 – Propagandhi “Supporting Caste”
3 – Ringers “Hurry up and Wait”
4 – Good Luck “Into Lake Griffy”
5 – Kudrow “Lando EP”
6 – Iron Chic “Shitty Rambo EP”
7 – Timeshares “Demo EP”
8 – Laura Stevenson and the Cans “Holy Ghost EP” |
Paul Koehler
(of the band Silverstein)
1- Dirty Projectors “Bitte Orca”
2- Mount Eerie “Wind’s Poem”
3- Mew “No More Stories Are Told Today I'm Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories the World Is Grey I'm Tired Let's Wash Away”
4- Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
5- Animal Collective “Merriweather Post Pavilion”
6- Converge “Axe to Fall”
7- Japandroids “Post-Nothing”
8- Propagandhi “Supporting Caste”
9- Russian Circles “Geneva”
10- Silversun Pickups “Swoon” |
Pete Lepore
(of ShoreAlternative.com + “The Punkyard” on 105.7 The Hawk)
There are too many Honorable Mentions for me this year, I won’t list them. I loved this year in music so much.
1- Alice in Chains “Black Gives Way to Blue”
[fav track: Your Decision]
2- Metric “Fantasies”
[fav track: Satellite Mind]
3- Silversun Pickups “Swoon”
[fav track: There’s No Secrets This Year]
4- U2 “No Line on the Horizon”
[fav track: Magnificent]
5- White Lies “To Lose My Life…”
[fav track: Farewell to the Fairground]
6- Alexisonfire “Old Crows/Young Cardinals”
[fav track: Sons of Priviledge]
7- Bob Mould “Life and Times”
[fav track: City Lights (Days Go By)]
8- O Pioneers!!! “Neon Creeps”
[fav track: Dead City Sound]
9- Marilyn Manson “The High End of Low”
[fav track: Leave a Scar]
10- Lily Allen “It’s Not Me, It’s You”
[fav track: F*** You] |
Race
(of 105.7 The Hawk + ShoreAlternative.com)
Honorable Mentions: Wilco, Eels, Marilyn Manson, Flaming Lips, Friendly Fires, Passion Pit, Grand Archives, Mew, Metric
1- Empire of the Sun “Walking on a Dream”
2- Jeniferever “Spring Tides”
3- Kings of Convenience “Declaration of Dependence”
4- Amazing Baby “Rewild”
5- The Raveonettes “In and out of Control”
6- The Mary Onettes “Islands”
7- Loney, Dear “Dear John”
8- All the Day Holiday “The Things We’ve Grown to Love”
9- Alice in Chains “Black Gives Way to Blue”
10- Eels “Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire” |
Rachel Rubino
(of the band Bridge and Tunnel)
1 – P.S. Elliot “Introverted Romance in Our Troubled Minds”
2 – Lady Gaga “The Fame Monster”
3 – Summer People “Good Problems”
4 – Cheeky “What the Heck”
5 – Mono “Hymn to the Immortal Wind”
6 – Owen “New Leaves”
7 – Circuits “Demo”
8 – Zombie Dogs “Demo”
9 – Field Day “Christian Television EP” |
The Rekoning
(band)
1- Take It Back! “Atrocities”
2- Abel “The Honest Love”
3- Strike Anywhere “Iron Front”
4- A Plea for Purging “Depravity”
5- Sleeping Giant “Sons of Thunder”
6- Riverboat Gamblers “Underneath the Owl”
7- Rancid “Let the Dominos Fall”
8- Bruce Springsteen “Working on a Dream”
9- Thieves & Liars “American Rock n Roll”
10- Broadway Calls “Good Views, Bad News” |
Richard Minino
(of the bands None More Black + Horsebites)
1 – Dead to Me “African Elephants
2 – The Bronx “Mariachi el Bronx”
3 – Strike Anywhere “Iron Front”
4 – The Night Marchers “See You in Magic”
5 – Psyched to Die “Year One”
6 – Municipal Waste “Massive Aggressive”
7 – Lords “F*** All Y’all Mother F***ers” |
Ryan Buist
(of the band Foxes and Lions)
1 – Banner Pilot “Collapser”
2 – Polar Bear Club “Chasing Hamburg”
3 – Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves s/t
4 – Paint It Black “Amnesia”
5 – Ruiner “Hell Is Empty”
6 – The Chariot “Wars and Rumors of Wars” |
Sam Johnson
(of the bands No Friends + Virgins)
1 - Cloak/Dagger "Lost Art"
2 - Psyched to Die "Year One"
3 - Municipal Waste "Massive Aggressive"
4 - Dead to Me "African Elephants" |
Steve Theo
(of Pirate! Promotions)
1- Blakroc s/t
2- Shad “The Old Prince”
3- Sage Francis “Side of Wasting”
4- NASA “The Spirit of Apollo”
5- Mean Creek “The Sky (Or the Underground)”
6- Polar Bear Club “Chasing Hamburg”
7- Dead Man’s Bones s/t
8- Russian Circles “Geneva”
9- Julie Peel “Near the Son”
10- Leo Blais “The Everyone’s Feelin’ Alone Collection” |
Steve Z
(of “The Punkyard”)
1- Animal Collective “Merriweather Post Pavilion”
[fav track: Bluish]
2- Cursive “Mama, I’m Swollen”
[fav track: Caveman]
3- Yeah Yeah Yeahs “It’s Blitz!”
[fav track: Runaway]
4- Eels “Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire”
[fav track: All the Beautiful Things]
5- Kevin Devine “Brother’s Blood”
[fav track: Carnival]
6- The Thermals “Now We Can See”
[fav track: When I Died]
7- POS “Never Better”
[fav track: Goodbye]
8- Strike Anywhere “Iron Front”
[fav track: Failed State]
9- Converge “Axe to Fall”
[fav track: Wishing Well]
10- Coconut Records “Davy”
[fav track: I Am Young] |
Tom Gabel
(of the band Against Me!)
1- Matt & Kim “Grand”
2- Handsome Furs “Face Control”
3- Fever Ray s/t
4- Dead to Me “African Elephants”
5- Future of the Left “Travels with Myself and Another”
6- The Horrors “Primary Colours”
7- Metric “Fantasies”
8- Moneybrother “Real Control”
9- The Raveonettes “In and out of Control”
10- The Mountain Goats “The Life of the World to Come” |
Tony Foresta
(of the bands Municipal Waste + No Friends)
1- Banner Pilot “Collapser”
2- Marked Men “Ghosts”
3- Wasted Time “Futility”
4- Strike Anywhere “Iron Front”
5- Tegan and Sara “Sainthood” |
Tony Weinbender
(of No Idea Records)
1- POS “Never Better”
2- Banner Pilot “Collapser”
3- Dear Landlord “Dream Homes”
4- Marked Men “Ghosts”
5- No Friends s/t
6- Strike Anywhere “Iron Front”
7- Vicious Cycle “Pale Blue Dot”
8- Obits “I Blame You”
9- Madeline “White Flag” |
Travis Dopp
(of the band Small Brown Bike)
1 – Dead Man’s Bones s/t
2 – Grizzly Bear “Veckatimest”
3 – Amanda Blank “I Love You”
4 – Animal Collective “Merriweather Post Pavilion”
5 – Swan Lake “Enemy Mine”
6 – Bon Iver “Blood Bank”
7 – Cheao Girls “My Roaring 20’s”
8 – The Lonely Island “Incredibad”
9 – Various Artists “Dark Was the Night”
10 – Blackout Beach “Skin of Evil” |
Vinnie Fiorello
(of the band Less Than Jake and Paper + Plastick Records)
1- Fun “Aim and Ignite”
2- NOFX “Coaster”
3- Frank Turner “Poetry of the Deed”
4- Cheap Girls “My Roaring 20’s”
5- Teenage Bottlerocket “They Came from the Shadows”
6- A Wilhelm Scream s/t
7- Bomb the Music Industry! “Scrambles”
8- Shook Ones “The Unquotable A.M.H.”
9- Anti-Flag “The People or the Gun”
10- New Found Glory “Not without a Fight” |
Worn in Red
(band)
1 - Brand New "Daisy"
2 - Converge "Axe to Fall"
3 - Golden City s/t
4 - Kylesa "Static Tensions"
5 - Mastodon "Crack the Skye"
6 - Neko Case "Middle Cyclone"
7 - Propagandhi "Supporting Caste"
8 - Red Knife Lottery "Soiled Soul & Rapture"
9 - Russian Circles "Geneva"
10 - Small Brown Bike "Composite Vol. 1" |
