Back to my running list of great songs that came out this year...
An incredible source of songs this year was a charity compilation called Dark Was The Night. Two guys from the indie darling band The National got all their other indie darling friends to contribute songs into what turned into a 2-CD monster who's-who of Indie Rock. Some of my favorite contributors to the album included Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes), The Decemberists, Iron & Wine, Andrew Bird, Spoon, Beirut, and Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver).
And also The Books and Jose Gonzalez who got together to do this awesome cover of a Nick Drake song:
OK, I saw the annual Los Lobos show, it got its annual place in my Top Concerts, and now I can make my list...
It was another great year for concerts and I saw a lot of them, even though I did cut down a little bit on concertgoing to preserve dwindling cash reserves. With the addition of a new venue in the area (the renovated Fox Theater in Oakland) and the addition of a new concert buddy (my nephew Noah), it was a good year...
#10. Bob Dylan at the Greek Theater 10/11
I had taken a 5-year break from Dylan shows, but Michael Jackson's death reminded me I should see this guy every chance I get. (No offense, Bob. You could do it another 20 years, but sometimes you look like you're maybe one too many mornings & a thousand miles behind, if you know what I mean...) Anyway, Dylan didn't disappoint. Well, OK, the set list did disappoint a little, but the performance definitely didn't. Great harp solos, even some good guitar and piano playing, and very spirited vocals added up to another age-defying Dylan show.
#9. King Khan & The Shrines at Great American 5/28
I discovered these guys care of Lou Reed's radio show. They play retro garage-soul/funk music and that's a kind of music that you just know is going to be great live. With a horn section and a charismatic lead singer (Khan) who just might be insane, as well as an enthusiastic crowd, this show rocked from beginning to end.
#8. 1/2 Little Joy at the Independent 6/3; 1/2 The Decemberists at the Fox 5/20
Neither of these concerts deserved to be in my top 10 as a whole, but in parts, they were two of the best I saw all year. Little Joy sounded so excellent and played such great music that they would have been much higher on the list -- except that they played less than an hour. They apologized for not knowing enough music, which was no excuse in the eyes of this full-price-ticket-buying audience member.
Meanwhile, The Decemberists absolutely killed with a straight-through live performance of their Hazards of Love album. The musicianship was excellent as always, and the ending rousing and cathartic. And then, they came back for a second set that was lackluster and uninspiring and made us forget how good the first half had been.
#7. Los Lobos at the Fillmore 12/11
Los Lobos. Need I say more? OK, I will. Cesar Rosas and especially David Hidalgo are such great guitarists, it was like watching a shredding clinic standing 5 rows away from them trading solos on various blues jams. To keep things interesting (though the variety in their back catalog does that just fine), they even brought out Boz Scaggs to play and sing a few songs with them (and he was surprisingly good).
#6. Flaming Lips at Treasure Island Music Festival 10/18
This one definitely wins as the most exciting show of the year. Starting with their entrance, birthing themselves out of a giant pulsating vagina, and followed by literally tons of confetti, big balloons, big balloons filled with confetti, Wayne Coyne in his famous hamster ball surfing the crowd, and even some great songs (capped by the entire crowd singing along to lines like "Yoshimi - they don't believe me - but you won't let those robots eat me"), they really made the perfect ending to a day-long indie rock festival.
#5. Devo at The Grand 11/6
I had to miss the show where Devo played the entire Freedom Of Choice album, but I did see the entire Are We Not Men? show. Besides it being great music, it is also great live music. Every song on that album is upbeat and rocking (believe it or not, it's actually a very guitar-driven rock music on that first Devo album). And though the band is looking a little old for the jumpsuits, Mark Mothersbaugh can still sing. The crowd were extremely nerdy but also extremely into it. Can't wait for these guys to come back again next year in support of a new album.
#4. Iron & Wine at Swedish American 5/7
Iron & Wine (Sam Beam) playing an all-request solo-acoustic show in an extremely intimate venue? Guaranteed Top 5 concert. Beam was funny and self-deprecating. But mostly it was just great to hear this guy doing his amazing fingerstyle guitar, singing in his amazing warm voice, playing his amazing songs. (This video's not from the show, but it's from an in-store he did earlier that day. Same thing.)
#3. Band of Horses at the Fox 4/17
I just love this band. Their music is epic in scale but still subtle, so it's perfect for a venue the size of the Fox -- big enough to fill with sound, not too big to lose the details. They played great, and Ben Bridwell's voice sounded terrific. I had high expectations for this concert, and it met them all.
#2. Bon Iver at the Fillmore 9/22
The Bon Iver show was truly mesmerizing. Justin Vernon's falsetto is even more amazing when you can see the big guy it's coming out of. I loved the Bon Iver record, and never would have guessed it could be transformed to a viable live show, but the concert was the perfect performance that doesn't just match the recording but builds on it into something unique and memorable.
#1. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings at the Warfield 1/28
As it turns out, the first concert I heard this year was never matched. This was a classic soul revue, with a big band, strong musicians but tight and well-rehearsed. And most important, fronted by a true master. Sharon Jones owned the stage, entertaining with her charm and wit, interacting with audience members on and off-stage, as well as with her dancing. And did I mention she's an incredible singer? I love all of her originals, but she really brought down the house with her rendition of Sam Cooke's powerhouse A Change Is Gonna Come.
Los Lobos were amazing (of course) last night. I was looking to see if there were any videos of the show already up on YouTube, and stumbled on this:
and this:
Yo, Josh, I'm-a let you finish with your Best of 2009 list, but some group called Grand Atlantic had one of the best covers of that Beyonce song all year...
Hey Theo Epstein, I was just looking at an article on ESPN.com and, I'm not sure if you realize this about Red Sox Nation, but:
WE WANT A PITCHER! NOT A BELLY ITCHER!
I'm pretty sure it's been a while since I put a rap song in one of my Best Songs lists, but this year some DJ named Tor put together an incredible set of songs using Sufjan Stevens music for the beats and mixing top-notch MCs (including Grand Puba, Big Daddy Kane, and Outkast) rapping over them. He called the set "Illinoize" and he offered it free on his Web site. It will definitely be making my Best Albums list, as well.
Here's a great one with a heartwarming message, "Make You Feel That Way" featuring Gift of Gab doing the rapping...
A few years ago, I saw this guy Meric Long opening for my friend's band, who were opening for another band, at a club, in front of about 15 people. He made guitar and vocal loops live, then added more guitar and vocals on top of them, and he blew me away. I watched his Web site. He (and his drummer) changed their name to The Dodos and pretty quickly started getting a lot of buzz on various indie rock blogs. Their album Visiter was well reviewed and their latest album, Time To Die, came out this year. And who knows -- maybe they'll actually make it big...
The new CD is great. Lots of good folk music, my favorites being the songs that showcase Long's outstanding fingerstyle guitar skills. Here is, I think, the single off the album, Fables...
The Love Language are from North Carolina, and these days that's almost enough for me. Seems like I love all the music coming out of North Carolina.
Somehow I missed these guys when they came to town, can't remember why. Too bad, because this song Lalita (from their debut album "The Love Language") must be great live. I can imagine the singer really hitting the "LA-li-ta" to start the chorus.
Unfortunately, this is one of many horribly lo-fi indie recordings this year (definitely a bad side effect of the ease of creating and releasing music these days -- badly engineered & mixed recordings). Still a great rocker...
Guess what? It's that time of year again, when all the lists of Bests come out. It's already December and I've gotten a lot of great new music recently, so I have to get going with my Songs of the Year. After all, this being 2009, of course there have to be year-end lists and decade-end lists.
And now, my first pick for 2009's best songs, and this might be the best of them all.
Don't ask me how to pronounce their name, but the band is Vetiver. I have no idea if anything else they've done is any good. (OK - I just checked out Tight Knit, the album this is on. Pretty good, but most of the songs are a bit too mellow.) I got this song in a free sampler from Amazon (a Sub Pop sampler - see image below). They played the Treasure Island festival this year, but Noah and I were too cold and didn't want to lose our seats on the bleachers, so we didn't walk over to the other stage to hear them.
Nonetheless, this is a great song. It's light & bouncy and if it doesn't make you happy, I don't know what song would. Enjoy...
