Some aldermen sponsor ordinances and resolutions. Alderman Rey Colón sponsors concerts. The 35th Ward Alderman’s website declares that the representative for parts of Avondale, Humboldt Park, Irving Park, and Logan Square, “has been an independent, progressive leader in the City Council since May 2003.”

via Alderman Rey Colón reviews Dan Deacon and Lightning Bolt | Music | Interview | The A.V. Club Chicago.

It came as a bit of a surprise to see that an alderman would co-sponsor a concert featuring Dan Deacon and Lightning Bolt. Needless to say, I wanted to know more. So, I bothered Alderman Rey Colón’s office until I got an interview. Read it here, and check out the video below:

Alderman Rey Colón on Dan Deacon and Lightning Bolt from Leor Galil on Vimeo.

Image via Wikipedia

For the past four years, Baltimore’s Whartscape presented pop music on the edge of the avant-garde: Any hot band worth talking about now and several years from now seemed to play Whartscape at some point. As the festival hits its fifth year, it will also meet its untimely demise, as Dan Deacon told The Baltimore Sun [via Impose]:

“I don’t think it can get any larger,” Deacon said. “We do it for the love of arranging the festival, and I still love doing it, but I don’t want it to become an institution — something that just happens. I’d like to try something new next year and branch out.” …

There’s a bittersweet tinge to Deacon’s statement. Obviously, the man is proud to see his accomplishments grow in the way they have. But it must be weary, and anyone as intelligent as Deacon must be aware of the Icarus principle of pop: What shoots for the sun must come down. Hard. The Baltimore scene found some well-deserved limelight during the later part of the past decade, largely thanks to Dan Deacon.

Yet, unlike many other American towns that get eaten up by the music press for one reason or another, there was always something special about Baltimore that made it seem distinct from previous entrances in pop music geography. There was never a “Baltimore sound” in the way that one could equate grunge with Seattle, post-hardcore with D.C., Motown with Detroit, etc. In Baltimore, Deacon could make his odd mish-mash of glitchy, spazzy electronica alongside the likes of post-punk trio Double Dagger and the ambient anti-folk of Beach House, and it all seemed to work, and it continues to work.

Eventually, the music press packed up and found the next hot item in indie music, and the scene in Baltimore has continued to progress. And though Deacon’s announcement of the end of Whartscape is certainly well thought out – institutionalizing and traditionalizing an event can sometimes hurt creativity – it’s slightly painful to see the event end. I’ve watched it from afar, and felt the thrill of Whartscape through some great coverage by Impose and a number of other websites and blogs.

Perhaps it’s all for the best: If Deacon fears the festival would fall into an uncreative, rote tradition, then more power to him for mixing things up before it reaches such a level. And here’s hoping the future of Baltimore’s independent arts scene will continue to grow organically, limelight or not.

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The lineup is jam packed with indie bands. Many of those acts have received the greatest praise Pitchfork has to offer, the oft-coveted “Best New Music” chalice/crown/shiny thing. The Arcade Fire, Phoenix, The National, Spoon, Hot Chip, Yeasayer and Grizzly Bear are all in the higher-tiers of the performance list hierarchy.

I guess I should be excited by the lineup. I am, after all, an avid “indie music” listener.

Yet something feels off.

Since Lollapalooza ended its short run as a traveling tour after its resurrection in 2003 and set up camp in Chicago, it was meant to be a gigantic musical extravaganza, made to rival the growing number of Bonnaroo-type fests in the country. Lolla was created as a festival for “alternative music,” but it’s also been a forum for big artists in the mainstream pop world and the growing scenes to boot.

So why does this year’s lineup feel like a one-dimensional Pitchfork Fest redux?

Sure, Pitchfork-supported acts have been given solid stage time in recent Lolla lineups, but they seem to be just about the only notable sign of life on this years fest. Aside from the usual inclusion of ’90s-alt-rock acts (headliners Soundgarden and Green Day) and an odd act included here and there, it looks like a less-eclectic version of what Pitchfork has hosted on their own stages in the past. Only more than twice as expensive and almost entirely lacking in anything outside the term “indie rock.”

It’s probably a bad sign when Lady Gaga looks out of place in a mainstream festival lineup. Or when there is a severe lack of hip-hop acts in a mainstream festival lineup. Or when one of the biggest-tiered acts only has a few singles and soon to be two albums to their name (MGMT.) Or when a large portion of the bands featured in an expensive mainstream festival lineup can be seen for $10 and change at, say, Schubas (Cymbals Eat Guitars, $12) or Lincoln Hall (Rogue Wave, $15) for significantly longer sets.

As much as I yearn to see Yeasayer or Hot Chip, I think I may just put that money in a safe place and go to Pitchfork’s fest to see the bands that will play Lollapalooza next year.

A brief video comparison:

Dan Deacon at Pitchfork Music Festival 2007:

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Dan Deacon at Lollapalooza 2009:

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As I’ve mentioned previously, there are a lot of pitfalls for “best of” lists. I’d considering tossing the idea away if there wasn’t a little bit of fun that goes along with constructing such a list. This really is a collection of some of my favorite releases this year: It’s more than a “rank and file” of “importance,” but a selection of musical memories from the past twelve months.

This isn’t a rulebook for people to follow. If anything, I hope I can point people towards a band or two they hadn’t heard, or hadn’t considered listening to before reading this list. Because a large part of the joy of music journalism is helping people discover new bands and musicians and fall in love with these songs and records. It’s not about authority. It’s about twenty-five great albums that came out this year. These records gave me so much this past year, and I only hope my words and recommendations can give something back.

So, without further ado, here is my list of the best records of 2009:

25. Mika Miko – We Be Xuxa

It was a sad day in L.A. when Mika Miko announced they would break up. The mostly all-girl quintet was at the heart of the burgeoning post-punk scene that produced some of the hottest indie bands to name drop, including No Age and HEALTH. And so We Be Xuxa became the band’s unofficial swan song, and with every listen brings to mind the thought of another underrated group with enough passion it could force the world to fall to its knees at the hands of some fantastic, fun punk ditties. The songs are short and sweet, and the band is sorely missed.

24. Deastro – Moondagger

Besides releasing some of the best free albums of the year, Deastro produced this little gem of electronic-cum-indie rock. Whereas the for-free tunes the group released seemed to reside in the bedroom pop stasis that made frontman Randolph Chabot into the songwriter he is today, Moondagger has the sheen of an act that’s been given all the time and money in the world to put together an album… Or at least a little more time and money than Chabot had in his bedroom. Songs like “Toxic Crusaders” and “Vermillion Plaza” are given a bit of depth with help from a kaleidoscope of instruments and, yes, a full band. Though the album sags a bit under some of Chabot’s less well-scripted lyrics, Moondagger displays a strong voice good enough to save itself from the duller moments of the album.

23. Jeremy Enigk – OK Bear

Just as the Sunny Day Real Estate reunion rumors began to heat up, Jeremy Enigk released his best solo album since his ’96 debut, Return of the Frog Queen. The SDRE frontman ditched the glossy production that bogged down 2006’s World Waits for a handful of tracks that sound as mesmerizing as the songs he made when he sat down with just an acoustic guitar and a small orchestra. Add in a couple of Sunny Day fans giving some heavy instrumental backup and a new muse in the guise of Spain, and Enigk came out with a winning album.

22. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport

It’s experimental! It’s techno! It’s all over the place! It’s Fuck Buttons doing what they do best – mixing things up. The duo decided to ditch the caterwauling screams and (some of) the ambience of last year’s Tarot Sport for a streamlined and potentially pop-friendly sound. Sure, a song like “Olympians” defies the attention span of pop listeners, but with its subtle changes in tone and melody at the halfway point, it’s one great knockout in an album of surprises.

21. The xx – The xx

The xx brought R&B sensuality back into the hipster lexicon this year, and all without an ironic smirk or any pretentious pitfalls. And yet, despite the ingenious combination of buttery singing and minimalist compositions, a large portion of the album seems to flow in one ear and out the other without really making an impression. The group’s method of communication is entrancing, but the album lacks any direct hit. Fortunately, the singles “Basic Space” and “Crystalised” are strong enough to carry the album and band to the end of the album.

20. Say Anything – Say Anything

It’d be hard for many bands to make an album as strong and satisfying as Say Anything’s 2004 album …is a Real Boy, never mind having to follow up such a tremendous record. The group may have tried to cover too much with 2007’s In Defense of the Genre, but the group seems a bit more focused on Say Anything. Frontman Max Bemis is in fine lyrical form, twisting words around, openly criticizing his methods of communication and producing one of the best potshots at Kings of Leon. Though some residue of overzealousness from In Defense have wound up in the band’s ideal to imbue their brand of emo with every other genre known to pop, and Bemis’s newfound appreciation for Jesus gets a little worn out, the band is still as spry and heartfelt as they were when they were “real boys.”

19. Think About Life – Family

On Think About Life’s self-titled 2006 debut, the band seemed stuck between their efforts to bridge the gaps between abrasiveness and forlorn pop. They manage to do just that on Family, as the Montreal act has produced an album that lasts from tracks one through 10. Though their feedback-laced sound is all but washed away, it exists in their charmingly offbeat instrumentation. Fortunately, their efforts have coalesced into a solid collection of forlorn alterna-pop just waiting to burst on the indie-friendly airwaves.

18. Owen – New Leaves

These days, “maturity” is hardly ever paired with the word “emo,” though its original definition was applied to musicians who composed songs that dealt with the maturation process. Owen’s Mike Kinsella is one of those musicians. As much as he would like to shed that term, it’s an excellent descriptor for Owen’s newest album. A stripped down collection of thoroughly mature songs, these little tunes are emotionally gravitating tales of being an adult with a wife and a child and all the thoughts and moments that happen during that period of life.

17. Wale – Attention Deficit

Some critics have been taking Wale to town for “selling out.” Yet, a lot of the sounds that emerge from Attention Deficit aren’t the kind of thing one would normally hear on commercial radio (or whatever is left of commercial radio.) It may not be as experimental as some of the material on Wale’s massive mixtape discography, but with D.C.’s go-go sound still present throughout a large part of the album and big, chunky beats blasting throughout, it’s hard to see where the album falters and easy to see the unbearably-high expectations.

16. Micachu & The Shapes – Jewellery

There’s been something missing in so many dour acts that have come from the U.K. this past decade: Fun. London trio Micachu & The Shapes make fun sound so natural, you have to wonder why there aren’t droves of British kids making such an irresistible racket. Yet, that’s part of the wonder that makes Jewellery unique. The oft-goofy sounds that punctuate the group’s jittery brand of poppy-punk, combined with Mica Levi’s British coo and smart songwriting make for an album that’ll stick to your head and hard drive.

15. The Antlers – Hospice

In the spring of ’08, I was putting on a show with a little band fronted by an NYU student, Peter Silberman. We were both seniors at our respective universities and dealing with our own little projects, situations and changes. A few weeks after the show, I finished off my senior thesis and graduated: Silberman went on to graduate in the winter and produce an album that spring called Hospice. A concept album about two relationships in the life of a hospice worker, every second of the album is bathed in a kind of brutal sincerity and emotional fragility that most people my age would have trouble trying to muster. Though my project rests in the basement of the Brandeis library, it’s nice to see someone who once performed parts of his project for gas money receive such critical commendation for a work that few of Silberman’s peers could muster.

14. Dananananaykroyd – Hey Everyone

I still remember catching this Scottish sextet at London’s 93 Feet East in ’07, and just being completely taken aback by what appeared before me. I left that night patiently awaiting some recording by a band that had taken their name from a former “SNL” cast member not because of their silly name, but their raucous, full-throttle show. Though it’d be hard to capture the passionate, caterwauling efforts of Dananananaykroyd on vinyl, CD or MP3, Hey Everyone certainly comes close. Veering partway between full-blasted agro-punk and twee-pop, Hey Everyone fulfills every need one might have to let loose, let out a little aggression and enjoy a good pop tune.

13. YACHT – See Mystery Lights

There’s got to be something in the water at DFA headquarters. Sure, YACHT were funky before they signed to the New York label, but now the duo’s songs have a bit more polish to them, a bit more of a hook and a whole lot more space to move around. The songs that populate See Mystery Lights benefit from a certain sense of direction and clarity that allow Claire Evans and Jona Bechtolt to really explore where their music can go. And on See Mystery Lights, it went pretty far.

12. Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health

Time isn’t friendly to some bands. “Sickos” introduced the Harlem Shakes to the blogosphere in ’05 and all was right for the band. But by the time they finally released their debut, Technicolor Health, there wasn’t enough room in a music world overpopulated by all the Vampire Weekends, Ra Ra Riots and Tokyo Police Clubs out there. Which is such a shame, because Technicolor Health is one of the best feel-good records made this year. Songs like “Strictly Game” and “Sunlight” flow effortlessly and are packed with slight tinges of punk, funk and indie pop and seem to reach to the heavens in pop passion. Though the Harlem Shakes appear to be forever lost in time – they broke up in September – Technicolor Health will hopefully be saved from the marked down bins of tomorrow.

11. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

As much as I try to not judge a book by its cover, I tend to cringe when I hear the word “indie” used more than a few times in a sentence. Perhaps that’s why I stayed away from Phoenix for so long. Or tried to at least. It was next to impossible to ignore the Parisian band this year, as their songs illustrated everything from car commercials to concert halls. And the songs were irresistible to boot. So, by the time I gave Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix a proper listen, I realized I’d already heard half of it and liked it. As for the rest of the album? It’s just as good as what I’d heard all year.

10. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion

Merriweather Post Pavillion is a lot like cotton candy. It sure is tasty, but it doesn’t really fill you, and you can get a bit sick of it if you play it too often. Still, the Baltimore-bred band has walked away with a solid pop album. “My Girls,” “Summertime Clothes,” and “Brother Sport” certainly are tunes to last through generations: Unfortunately, the rest of the album’s song sort of seep into one another and leave little lasting impression. But, half-brilliant or half-bad, it’s still got some excellent flavor to it.

9. P.O.S. – Never Better

Stefon Alexander spent the last two P.O.S. albums trying to make his two favorite genres coexist. Though most folks would never cram punk and hip-hop together, P.O.S. managed to do it with originality and flare, and with Never Better he hit the nail on the head. Between sampling Fugazi for a politically flavored rap on “Savion Glover,” the fuzzy punk instrumentation of “Drumroll (We’re All Thirsty)” and the emotional gravitating raping and screaming on “Optimist (We Are Not For Them),” Alexander has emerged with an album that challenges the capacities of musicians and listeners of hip-hop and punk. Never Better is a shot across the bow that will make many musicians of all genres tremble at its sheer existence.

8. Japandroids – Post-Nothing

Post-Nothing is kryptonite for fans of anthemic rock ‘n’ roll. The eight songs that make up Japandroids’s debut album ache in their belief that rock can save lives, remake kids as heroes and take no prisoners. Post-Nothing is the kind of album that makes old codgers of rock fans believe that, yes, rock is very much alive. And kicking. This Canadian duo has managed to string together a fair number of songs as heartfelt as those tunes people shout along to when they pop on the car stereo, and ones that’ll have people pleading for more to boot.

7. David Bazan – Curse Your Branches

A lot has changed in the five years since Bazan released the last Pedro the Lion album, and thankfully Bazan’s hand at songwriting has gotten stronger. With Curse Your Branches, Bazan has turned his introverted lyricism and woven it into some of his most personal tunes yet. Bazan has always used music as a method to explore his ideological stance on religion and humanity, and with Curse Your Branches it seems that Bazan has made a decision. Sort of. Though it would appear as though Bazan no longer considers himself a Christian, with the songs on Curse Your Branches his faith in trying to overcome personal disillusionment and problems may be stronger than ever. His songwriting certainly is.

6. We Were Promised Jetpacks – These Four Walls

The Scottish scene has produced a handful of talented bands before We Were Promised Jetpacks released their debut record this year. Though they may get pigeonholed for sounding a little too much like, say, Frightened Rabbit, the quartet makes all the noise they need to in order to assert their individuality on These Four Walls. More aggressive than Frightened Rabbit, a bit more accessible than The Twilight Sad, We Were Promised Jetpacks managed to put together an album that’s concisely built from start to finish: It grabs you in beginning with the caustic bridge halfway through “Its Thunder And It’s Lightening” and keeps you listening with baited breath all the way through “An Almighty Thud.” In the middle are an astonishing number of pop-friendly tunes with a strong emotional stasis.

5. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

Before I put on a show with The Antlers, the Dirty Projectors breezed through town. Checking in quite a bit late thanks to a gas leak, frontman Dave Longstreth immediately sought out a place to practice. I set him up in the room of a student who lived above the venue (Chum’s) and let him do his thing. When I grabbed him to set up for their set, I found Longstreth on his knees, a handful of sheets with scribbles on them lying in front of him and his fingers casually jumping along the fret of his guitar. The band, then a quartet, would go on to play “Temecula Sunrise” live for the first time at our campus’s tiny coffeehouse. The minute they finished the song, you could see the exasperated look of glee on everyone’s faces onstage. They’d done it: They performed a song that had long outwitted them in practice. All that hard work has paid off with Bitte Orca, a nine-track album filled with immaculately structured songs that seem to burst with a mixture of complexity and pop glee to boot. Hopefully, somewhere out there, Longstreth and co. can recognize that and are smilingly widely.

4. Future of the Left – Travels with Myself and Another

There’s something frightening about Future of the Left. You have to wonder about the individuals behind such strong-willed, aggressively executed punk rawk. What else are they capable of? Hopefully, all we can hope to see from the trio that is FotL are more albums like Travels with Myself and Another, an excellent collection of adrenaline-pumping, PA-blasting punk that will knock you out if you’re not prepared for it.

3. Brand New – Daisy

Hardly any critic could have thought Brand New would become the band they are today at the beginning of the decade. Whoever signed the band to Interscope probably never considered they would grow anything other than a nice new paycheck after selling off a few singles. Back when emo broke the band was seen as a smart pop-punk brand of the genre stuck in the pack. Sure they were smart, but what could they do? Turns out, a lot. After their tremendous third album, Brand New certainly had a lot riding on their backs, and it paid off in the form of Daisy. The album isn’t as immediately accessible as The Devil And G-d Are Raging Inside Me, but the rewarding repeated replays are worth the effort. Songs like “Gasoline” brim with aggression and intelligence, while the album’s first single “At The Bottom” confronts certain aspects of mortality with a brutal honesty that has long evaded “rock stars” that frequently discuss death. At forty minutes, the one thing you’ll want from the album is simply more of it.

2. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

Grizzly Bear had always made a point of balancing ambience with elements of top 40 pop. Though their previous efforts had been heavier on the ambience, the band made a point of giving both sides of their sonic personality equal footing, and the result was one of the best albums by any band this decade. Veckatimest oozes with a certain aural beauty that one would expect to hear in a church, recast over glistening guitar work and some pretty heavenly musical arrangements. On Veckatimest, everything is in its right place for Grizzly Bear and every member of the quartet seems to be perfectly in step with one another. It’s the kind of symbiotic relationship that many bands spend years trying to fabricate, and the kind of relationship that produces an album as beautiful as Veckatimest.

1. Dan Deacon – Bromst

Leave it up to the guy in day-glo clothing that made a song using samples of Woody Woodpecker to pull out the surprise album of the year. But for folks who paid attention to the entirety of Spiderman of the Rings could have heard some real potential in Dan Deacon’s oft-cartoonish electronic songs. And so, with his team of Wham City brethren and a whole lot more to work with than on any previous effort, Deacon emerged with a fully realized, gorgeously crafted album in Bromst. From the faint sounds of the player piano rising up from a space beyond in the album opener, “Build Voice,” to the syncopated, gamelan-flavored ecstatic closing track “Get Older,” Deacon created a vast, intricately composed piece that could satisfy the yearnings of musique concrète auteurs, electronica fans and indie kids alike. He may be pigeonholed as an “odd” musician, but Deacon made an album that has the potential to connect fans of all genres. It doesn’t hurt that the album is the best of the year either.

You can check out the runners up of the year on my other blog. Just remember, when it comes to your favorite record, the choice is yours.

He plays all ages shows. He plays shows for $10 a pop. He plays shows in “unorthodox” venues.

And he doesn’t sell his music to a big corporation… Normally.

Some people probably huffed and puffed when his song “Pink Batman” ended up being used for a Crayola commercial. Deacon had a brilliant response to those naysayers [via Stereogum]:

this is the first time i’ve let a large company license one of my songs. i’ve been asked by several others before but this is the first time its been for something that promotes a company that creates a product that encourages people (children) to make art and to use their minds to create. maybe i’m being naive but i used their crayons.

Makes sense.

So why is Google using Deacon’s “Build Voice” to spread their web browser, Chrome, to folks online? It seems a little… odd:

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I guess the reason isn’t why – the song is fantastic. I guess my question is how? Did Deacon give Google the thumbs up? Did Google find some loophole so they could use the song?

This is hardly an indictment of Deacon or Google, but a question first and foremost. What were the circumstances that brought a song from an artist who isn’t privy to selling his music to a big company for an advertisement and a big corporate entity together for a brief 30-second commercial?

There’s got to be hundreds of copyright infringements on this thing…

No matter, Dan Deacon seems to get away with a lot of stuff and manages to create some fantastic… well, works. I guess.

Know all the ‘toons? Enter the contest… details here.

Deacon in the glow of his green skull

My review of the Super Secret Summer Surprise – featuring Dan Deacon, Ultimate Reality, and Videohippos – is on Bostonist right now. And it ain’t pretty. That had nothing to do with the musicians involved – just the bumbling mess that was the ICA’s master plan for the evening.

You can read more about the details at Bostonist, but I left out one thing in my review: for much of the performance, it felt like looking at art in a gallery. Granted, the ICA is a museum of contemporary art, but that doesn’t mean that people should interact with performers as if they are just to be stared at and not paid much attention to. It was only until Deacon asked people to move towards the drum kits for the Ultimate Reality set that people seemed to interact with what was going on, but not that much. What’s so great about the Wham City collective (much like the DC emocore scene from Revolution Summer on) is their inherent ability to challenge concert goers with interacting with their surroundings at a show in an entirely different light. Unfortunately, the ICA crowd wasn’t up for that. Even though they moved around during Deacon’s set, I got the sense many did that because they perceived that’s how one acts at a Dan Deacon show and not because the moment grabbed them and allowed them to let loose. How do I know this? Well, probably the fact that people were ready to dance when Deacon was testing some faulty DI boxes, and while they emitted an uncontrollable buzz to the effect of something he didn’t want to send through the PA, much of the crowd took it to mean “this is Dan Deacon music, I must dance like crazy!” Obviously, it’s great when people dance and let loose, but they seemed to entirely betray the points that Deaon wants to make with his music….

And now I’ve gone on a tangent. Read the piece if you’re still interested! And if you disagree, comment on it as well!

Dan Deacon's plank o' wires

Be on the lookout for a review of the Dan Deacon + Ensemble show at the Middle East Downstairs on Bostonist in the next day or two. As a side note/review preview, it was interesting to note a certain conflict between the ritualization of a performance and Deacon himself, and the thankfully positive resolution of said conflict… in many ways, it’s a modern take on the Revolution Summer days of emocore yore…

But I digress… check out Bostonist soon!

9. Surprises

I suppose this is something resembling a cop-out in a list, but part of looking forward to the many things that will color our near-future is not knowing what will come next. Some of my favorite things from 2008 I never saw coming, anticipated, or was given any knowledge to anticipate at all. That includes things such as the release of TV On The Radio’s Dear Science, – which was a surprise simply because it was announced less than two months prior to its release so there was not any forewarning or buildup like with Return to Cookie Mountain – to movies such as The Wackness (a great summer coming-of-age movie that could have easily been a bust) and books I’ll pick up randomly, sunny days outdoors… by definition, anything really. Now how can you go wrong there?

8. New Food For Animals LP

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Food For Animals – You Right (live in Baltimore)

You read it here folks, from the mouth of the animals themselves. Food For Animals will be dropping a new album in the next year, and if Belly is any indication, it should be one hell of a package. No info or sounds on what the trio of hip-hop noiseniks are cooking up, but in the last year since Belly was released they’ve certainly mastered their live set, and if the mixes posted on their blog offer any indication, they’ve got some great stuff coming around the corner.

7. Say Anything – Say Anything

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Say Anything – Woe (live, acoustic)

I’ve been a Say Anything believer since stumbling upon …is a Real Boy in 2004. I’d found so few records that made such honest, emotionally compelling, and furiously anthemic when I picked up the album, and it remains a favorite of mine. The reason this isn’t ranked higher is because the long-awaited follow-up, In Defense of the Genre, was a bit of a disappointment (but really, it must’ve been rough following up that brilliant first record). Still, there were bright spots in that massive double album, and Max Bemis no doubt has set his goals high for a record he has said will discuss the nuances of every day life. Let’s see how people will respond to emo that strives to be simply normal.

6. Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back by Christopher R. Weingarten for 33 1/3

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Public Enemy – Bring The Noise (live, Pitchfork Music Festival)

Here’s the math equation: Take one of hip-hop’s best albums done by one of the genre’s best bands, add in the former drummer for one of the best experimental rock outfits today, and multiply it by a publishing company that lets music obsessives run wild. What do you get? It looks like what may be one of the best books in the 33 1/3 book series. According to a certain schedule, Continuum should be releasing the book on It Takes A Nation of Millions… at some point this year, a read which should be wonderful in and of itself. Add in the fact that its written by Christopher R. Weingarten, the former kit-smasher for Parts & Labor who left the band to pursue a career in journalism and to write the Public Enemy book, and you’ve got an equation for what should be a success for Continuum and readers alike.

5. Jimmy Eat World Clarity Tour

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Jimmy Eat World – Lucky Denver Mint

This is an emo/Jimmy Eat World/music fan’s wet dream. Celebrating the 10th year anniversary of the little-album-that-record-executives-thought-it-couldn’t-but-did, Jimmy Eat World will triumphantly play Clarity in its entirety for an American tour starting in February. Whether or not the performance will live up to some people’s expectations is one thing; the fact that Jimmy Eat World are touring this record is an entirely different aspect which meets any and all expectations. This is the album that by all intents and purposes was something of a failure; if Jimmy Eat World were to tour one record, it would probably be their critically-acclaimed and commercially-successful self-titled album. However, Clarity remains a fan favorite, and after the many years and stories surrounding the band and that album, J.E.W. are showing what really matters to them: the fans. It should be a fantastic set, simply by the band showing up.

4. The Road Movie

Still from The Road

I read Cormac McCarthy’s The Road this past summer, a little while after it won piles of awards and recognition and a little while before the movie’s release. Turns out it was a little more than a little while before the film came out, as it was unfortunately delayed from its 2008 release. The book sent me into something of a shock after a quick gust through it in a matter of days. The transfer from the page to the screen is usually very tenuous, but McCarthy’s words have a very visual style that will no doubt aid the story’s sense of reality in a post-apocalyptic world. And noting the folks in front of and behind the camera for the movie, this may be on of the best to come out of 2009.

3. Dan Deacon – Bromst

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFlBJ1xZK10]

Dan Deacon – Crystal Cat

Dan Deacon may have unintentionally thrust himself into the limelight with 2007′s Spiderman of the Rings, but the man wasn’t unconscious of the world around him as it happened. Deacon has made a concerted effort to experiment in all forms of his life as long as he has everyone’s undivided attention and support (and he probably would if they didn’t). That means crazy local festivals, crazy town-sized tours, crazy kiddie-electronic-cum-rave songs that stick in your brain like putty. And with Bromst, an album that was meant to be released this year but has since been delayed until March, Deacon doesn’t seem to quit. No matter how the record will be received, it will physically (or at least sonically) be received, a testament to his enduring ability to test his own musical will and conceptual might. It should be quite a listen.

2. Watchmen Movie

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VLA0tg5yI0]

Watchmen Trailer 2

Why question this? Again, like most of the things on this list, simply existing will make Watchmen memorable. As a movie, who knows whether the thumb of the public will go up or down (or better yet, that of the comic’s cult fan base). But, barring the recent legal activity surrounding the film and its impending release, as long as the movie hits theaters it will be a success. Not only commercially, but for the comic book movie genre and for struggling screenplays everywhere (this film has been in talks for since the original graphic novel first hit stands). And it looks so damn pretty.

1. Inauguration

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jll5baCAaQU]

Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech

No matter what your political beliefs are, this will be a massive event. “Historic” to a pin. I’ll be there, amongst however many millions of people that are expected to show up and see Barack Obama sworn in as the President of the United States. Just typing that is getting me excited for the new year.

Happy New Year!

10. TV On The Radio at the Wilbur Theater (Boston)

Six times, and each viewing was a charm, though this performance came with a price, and I’m not talking about the expensive nosebleed seats. Like any number of listeners of “independent” or “underground” music, I was attracted to TVOTR and other acts because they exemplified something entirely different than what was being peddled to the masses… and I wanted to get away from the masses. So it’s a little odd when the masses show up – I wholly enjoy all the success that this group has been getting, but it’s a little upsetting when the only song that gets the crowd moving is their single from a few years ago (“Wolf Like Me”). You’d think people who’d plunk down money for any show over $20 would at least be willing to dance to songs; I’ve never seen a crowd so dumbfounded by a performance. And some of that was the sheer power of TVOTR (the clip below doesn’t do justice to physically seeing them). Their set was surely as heartfelt as any other I’d seen, they mixed in a wealth of excellent new material and blended it in with their older songs, and they kept it fresh with the addition of a horn section, mixing up and rearranging compositions while retaining their original essence. It’s impossible to contain Tunde’s vocal prowess on the page, same as the entire band’s instrumental whirlwinds, so I’ll just leave it at that. If only everyone had their Dancing Choose on…

TV On The Radio – Dreams (live, Wilbur Theater):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWzpijhkEdM]

9. Subtle/Zach Hill/Pattern Is Movement at the Middle East Upstairs (Boston)

After a period of concert-detox, this triple bill of underground oddballs was just the thing I needed to get back into the live show groove. Pattern Is Movement opened the show with a deft display of minimalist punk drumming smashed headstrong into a wave of gothic organ/keyboard work – and man did this duo enjoy their time onstage. Zach Hill kicked it in gear with his “backing band” Peer Pressure (aka a pre-recorded tableau) and for fourty or so minutes my eyes and ears were subject to some of the fastest, careening display of drumwork I’ve ever witnessed. And to cap off an excellent show were Subtle; after a summer soundtracked by this band, I was ready to see this group pull off their egnimatic sound in a live setting. They certainly didn’t dissapoint. With Doseone spitting lyrics a million miles a minute and the rest of the band covering an amalgam of instruments, they created an intricate pattern wholly unique to their presence in the moment. And it wasn’t a bad way to start a birthday either.

Zach Hill and Peer Pressure – Necromancer (live, Middle East):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcAqdVUHk84]

8. Liars with No Age at Paradise Rock Club (Boston)

It’s great when you see a band surprise you in concert and never see it coming – so went the tale of my Liars/No Age show. I’d been having trouble getting into Liars and heard great things about their live set; I’d heard great things about No Age and enjoyed what music of their’s I’d heard; I’d had a free weekend and desperately wanted to go see a show that I wasn’t involved in planning. What a treat. No Age seemed dwarfed on the rather-lengthy stage at the Paradise, but their zeal couldn’t be contained by the space or their place as openers, as they cleanly burst from one great hardcore-pop gem to the next. It was tough to top, but Liars were up for the challenge. Frontman Angus Andrew barely left his chair in the center of the stage, but was a riveting ringleader, headbanging to the steady, pulsating music that grabbed my rib cage and wouldn’t let go. And I no longer have any problem picking up their recorded material.

Liars – Clear Island (live, Paradise Rock Club):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxKpB4qUtKQ]

7. Why? at the MFA (Boston)

Sure, I complained about the conceit of close-minded hipsters at this Why? show in a previous post, but that was only a slight blight on what was a powerful performance. Simply the fact that the band forced people out of their seats and onto the stage by the end of the show is a testament to the force of this band’s live draw. Beyond that, there’s just something about the way they play live. It could be Yoni Wolf’s nasally drawl hitting every note just right; it could be the instrumental rearrangement of numerous songs, turning many an aesthetically muddy piece into fully-fledged bangers. It could be the great catharsis that came with dozens and dozens of fans passionately screaming alongside Wolf’s verbose lyrical displays. And it’s easily the combination of all of these things that really hit it all home.

Why? – Yo Yo Bye Bye (live, MFA):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmjGiePfh9o]

6. Mission of Burma performing all of Vs. at Paradise Rock Club (Boston)

This show was a wet dream for any Mission of Burma fan – their entire first full length performed in full. Add on two encores and a venue packed with the hometown crowd and you’d be hard pressed to not be pumping your fists in the air. Even though Burma decided to do the whole “play your best/favorite/seminal album in full,” they subverted the business as usual method of performing these kind of shows and began with a handful of tracks at the end of the record (“Laugh The World Away,” “OK/No Way,” etc). And with the whole band in perfect synchronicity, it was simply an astounding show, with one great song after another. But, is that really any different from a “normal” Burma show?

Mission of Burma – The Ballad of Johnny Burma (live, Paradise):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IBTPZSg8aI]

5. Mark Kozelek at the MFA (Boston)

Mark Kozelek (aka Sun Kil Moon/Red House Painters) was completely at ease in the MFA auditorium. Outright I was happy simply to be at this show; after several years of trying, I’d made it to a live performance featuring one of the most moving voices I’ve listened to in years. And that voice didn’t let down; the minute Kozelek opened with “Trucker’s Atlas,” he on an acoustic guitar accompanied by a touring partner on another guitar, the hair on my arms stood on end when Kozelek made an impromptu humming pattern where there was none on the record. And it just got better, with Kozelek knocking out hits from the past three Sun Kil Moon records and digging deep into his Red House Painters and solo material. Even with the live version of “Duk Koo Kim” stretching into the double digit minute run time, the show was as moving and haunting as anything Kozelek has committed to record. His encore, four different songs from his long repertoire strung together in a makeshift medley left me completely elated for days on end.

Unfortunately, there is no video of this show available online at the moment. Instead, here is a brief snippet of Kozelek performing Duk Koo Kim in California from 2004:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJMMNtxjNek&feature=related]

4. Ponytail at The Talking Head (Baltimore)

Spend half a day in a tiny Baltimore club and you’d be tired as shit. But cram that place with 50 friends and put Ponytail onstage long after midnight, and it makes for one hell of a party. I’d convinced a friend to drive down to Baltimore from DC to check out the band live, and was it worth the (sometimes awkward) wait. After seeing these folks play three times this year, their hometown show was by far the best out of the lot, with the entire band putting their whole essence into one captivating half hour that sent normally stiff concert goers into a spastic, dancing frenzy. With Molly Siegel’s bemusing and careening whoops and hollers at the helm, the band took off from the first song until the seven-minute closer, “Celebrate the Body Electric.” I left Baltimore tired and ultimately triumphant.

Ponytail – Celebrate the Body Electric (live, Talking Head):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkNxCqWXO2A]

3. Parts & Labor at Siren Music Festival (New York)

Siren’s a tough gig to do. There’s the scorching heat, the terrible sound, the crowds of oft-disinterested scenesters packed into one big sweaty mess, and the whole thing takes up most of the day. Great bands have gone through mediocre and ok sets at the hands of this festival. Parts & Labor weren’t one of them. Returning from a European tour, they gave the hometown crowd all that was in them, which was quite a bit. It was my first viewing of the band as a quartet, and it certainly knocked me out, as the group delivered one of the best performances at Siren I’ve seen, period. The hits kept coming through (“The Gold We’re Digging,” “Death,” etc), and Parts & Labor were as taught as ever. And thankful to boot; it’s often rare to see a band member smile while performing, but Dan Friel grinned while tossing his head back and forth throughout the set. And if you didn’t believe that the band really cared about each and every song of their set, perhaps the moment when B.J. Warshaw launched his well-worn bass into the crowd at the end of “Changing of the Guard” sealed the deal. It certainly did for one lucky fan.

Unfortunately, there is no video of this show available online at the moment. Instead, here is a performance of Changing of the Guard in Dallas from this year:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B0e_Er4IFY]

2. Boredoms at Paradise Rock Club (Boston)

I think my mind literally melted during this show. Boredoms have put out a lot of records – many of them unlistenable and unpalatable for those with the slightest distaste for punk. But I’d be hard pressed to find someone who likes to dance who wouldn’t have freaked out at this performance. With three members on drums and frontman Eye on a combination of synths, 8-necked guitar, two strange glowing balls of light that made static noise, and random chanting, Boredoms put together a fantastic and fluid set that was more a rave than a punk show. Hip shaking syncopated beats  provided by the three drumsets gave way to techno-like synths with change ups that tugged at your ears and feet. It lasted well over and hour and a half, but ended far to quickly.

Unfortunately, there is no video of this show available online at the moment. Instead, enjoy this selection from their ATP set from 2006:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfss4Julqv4]

1. The Baltimore Round Robin Tour at Mass Art – Feet Night (Boston)

This is what shows should be like. Bands packed in, playing for the thrill of performance and a sense of urgency that cannot be covered by a ticketmaster fee, a big chaotic mess wherein things fall apart, but everyone is there to help pick it up, where concert goers and performers intermingle freely and lines are blurred to the point where no one really cares who is who, where one act who may not mean anything to folks outside of a certain city performs as an equal to other musicians who get more press than folks who spend lifetimes in the PR industry could dream of, where a four and a half hour show gets you twelve different bands of a diverse set of genres, all pleading with you to dance and enjoy life and take a chance because hell they just did by treking around parts of North America to show you their community. It’s about community and it’s about creating and it’s about music for the sake of music and not hype or fame. And man is it thrilling. So thrilling it’s made attending most shows afterwards seem downright complacent by design. You have to give it a hand to the Wham City crew for pulling that show together; equipment broke, set times ran long, the Pozen Center at Mass Art smelled like a middle school locker room, but it fucking worked. It was in the moment, and the moment was captivating. Although some of the acts didn’t quite perform as passionately/deftly/well as others, they tore it up just by being there. Double Dagger brought the political punk mosh pit, but not before the Deathset provided a heady mix of electronics and thrash punk, while Smartgrowth had some downright danceable mashups, Future Islands got everyone to dance even in cramped conditions, Videohippos overcame technical difficulties to bring some lo-fi dance pop, and Nuclear Power Pants were downright in-your-face hilarious. Of course props to Dan Deacon, who ended the evening with a stellar performance of “Wham City”; as most of the hype-following crowd members had abandoned the show in droves before the end of the fourth and final go-round of the Round Robin, it felt like one big communal celebration, with members of the Wham City family and the concert die-hards dancing and singing around Deacon to what has ultimately become that community’s theme song. Right then, everyone there was a member of Wham City and a performer in the traveling circus of the Baltimore Round Robin. Now that’s in the moment.

Dan Deacon at Feet Night (live, Mass Art):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVMBepxs6tc]

(Very) Honorable Mentions:

Iron & Wine (Pearl Street, Northampton): Sam Beam’s voice can warm a thousand + person crowd while the rain outside provides ample acoustic rhythms.

Shudder to Think (Paradise Rock Club, Boston): Reuniting for the first tour after their break up in the later half of the 90s, these first-wave prog-emo rockers kicked out all the best of the best of their backcatalog.

Edie Sedgwick (Oxfam Cafe, Somerville): Minimalist twee-styled punk done by a full band – complete with a couple of chorus singers in matching dresses – and an outlandish sense of self-aware humor not unlike labelmate trailblazers Nation of Ulysses and you’ve got one hell of a fun dance party.

Videohippos (Union Square, Somerville): A great set as part of an outdoor art festival in Union Square, this duo brought a surprising amount of energy and whipped up people into something resembling a dancing frenzy.

The Hold Steady/Drive By Truckers (The Orpheum Theater, Boston): These two bands just want to have fun (as if the smile on Craig Finn’s face didn’t tell you), and the Hold Steady certainly stole the show with one guitar-fueled-Americana song after another. Their pairing may have felt a little awkward, but these two bands certainly had a great time.

After the Jump Festival at four stages in Brooklyn: Four stages of free sets by a range of Brooklyn artists, this was an excellent place to check out those artists about to burst onto the national scene. Great sets by Noveller, an acoustic two-manned version of Extra Life, a pre-iPod fame Chairlift, and finally, where would a great noise fest be without Ponytail.

Dr. Dog (Rickenbacker Park, Philadelphia): People of all ages from all across town packed into a park on a beautiful day – isn’t that what summer’s all about? And Dr. Dog was there to pull all those warm ‘n fun summer feelings together with over 2 hours of classic rock cum modern indie. If only every summer day could be so great…