Marc.E.B.'s Healthy Serving of 2009

I've been tracking my favourite songs all year and I literally had a enough to fit two albums worth. This got me thinking that next year I may produce a multi-volume "best of". As with everything in life, music is best in moderation. So, I forced myself to ration my servings of this year's best tracks.

I agree with G.R.O. that this year left no shortage of quality tracks and I hope that you enjoy some of my faves.

Enjoy!

A Healthy Serving of 2009 (Download here)

Settler - Balmorhea
Havin' My Baby - Think About Life
You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II) - Sunset Rubdown
It's Thunder and It's Lightning - We Were Promised Jetpacks
Dust - Crystal Antlers
Swim (To Reach the End) - Surfer Blood
Pretty Girl - White Wires
Lust for Life - Girls

Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin' - Mayer Hawthorne
Heartbreaker - MSTRKRFT
Ghosts - Silver Starling

Tender Torture - Islands
Armistice - Phoenix
Drain the Blood - The Rural Alberta Advantage
Radio Kaliningrad - Handsome Furs
Lowiza - The Lovely Feathers
Serious Bedtime - The Balconies

bn... favourites of 2009

With attention to flow rather than order of preference, my absolute favourite songs of 2009.

1. Happy Up Here - Röyksopp
2. 1901 - Phoenix
3. Osaka Loop Line - Discovery
4. Lovesick Teenagers - Bear in Heaven
5. Blood Pt 2 - Buck 65 Remix ft Sufjan Stevens & Serengeti
6. Die Slow - Health
7. Shining - Islands
8. Only If You Run - Julian Plenty
9. Slow Life - Grizzly Bear ft Victoria Legrand
10. Winter Water - Harlem Shakes
11. Shelter - The xx
12. Revenge - Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse ft Wayne Coyne
13. Repeater Beater - Mew
14. Now We Can See - The Thermals
15. Come Saturday - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
16. Longform - The Dodos
17. 333 - Malajube
18. Feel.Love.Thinking.Of. - Faunts
19. Kettering - The Antlers
20. Sleep Alone - Bat For Lashes

Special mention to Fuck Button's album Tarot Sport, which would be represented on here had most of its best songs not been over 9 minutes long...

Download here!

New Music Monday: Islands' Vapours

It's a week into the release of Vapours and things are looking up for Islands. Last year's Arm's Way left something to be desired and the loss of founding member Jamie Thompson soon after its release appeared to handicap Islands' potential. Darker than Return to the Sea, Arm's Way lacked the fun that for which Islands are known.

The triumphant return of Thompson in time to record Vapours injected a fresh wave of Islands greatness into their latest effort. Vapours successfully blends the playfulness of Return to the Sea and the anthemic Arm's Way; throw in a little auto-tune in 2009 and Islands have assured success for the coming year.

It's nice to see such a great band back to its fine form.

Enjoy!

Islands - Tender Torture

Islands - Heartbeat

a.m.p.m. favourites of 2008

Squeezing as many songs as possible into 80 minutes in order to summarise the best of a whole year of music is a pretty daunting task involving tough decisions and regrettably obligatory omissions. But after much deliberation, here are my favourite tracks from 2008:
01 Why? - Fatalist Palmistry
02 Amadou and Mariam - Sabali
03 Born Ruffians - Kurt Vonnegut
04 TV on the Radio - Family Tree
05 The Walkmen - In the New Year
06 Titus Andronicus - My Time Outside The Womb
07 Islands - Creeper
08 Laura Marling - The Captain And Hourglass
09 Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why
10 No Age - Eraser
11 Crystal Castles - Courtship Date
12 Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance
13 Shearwater - Rooks
14 White Denim - I Can Tell
15 Little Joy - Keep Me In Mind
16 Frightened Rabbit - The Twist
17 Foals - Cassius
18 Love Is All - Wishing Well
19 Times New Viking - Drop-Out
20 Ratatat - Falcon Jab
21 Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree
22 Grand Archives - Sleepdriving
23 Jay Jay Pistolet - Friend

The whole kit and caboodle: ampm2008mix.zip

Thanks to Andy Gilmore for the cover art.

New Music Monday: Francois Virot

While I tend to be partial to anything French, I promise you that I am being as unbiased as possible when I tell you to watch out for Francois Virot. This quirky character from Lyon, France has been making music since the not-so-tender age of seven and has recorded a reported 17,839 demo cds since then. That part sounds made up, so emphasis on the 'reported'. If it's true, I'd like to find out where these demos are... and who was in charge of keeping count.

Virot's first solo album, Yes or No is refreshingly simple and well... refreshing. Crisply layered vocals, simple strumming and hand clapping (!!) are his MO, which results in a sound I'd describe as a mix of Malajube, Islands and sunshine. Seriously. Sometimes there's even laughter in the background. And rainbows?

I recommend Say Fiesta and the little ditty in this video. And I fully plan on getting the album as soon as it's available in Canada. Because it's amazing. And because the vinyl is royal blue.


cascade kisses from francois virot on Vimeo.

Kids Don't Know Shit

Here are a couple must-listens, some summertime jams for kids, talking about kids, or otherwise kid-related. The first one is kid-friendly, while those from Morrissey, BSS, and Islands are, well, less so.

Little My is a collective from Cardiff and Bristol of 8-15 members, playing short cheery songs designed for the young ones. The Guess Who? themed website and cartoonish image are perfect for younger listeners and nostalgic adults, while songs like "All the Beeps Meep" are clever enough to give older peeps a smirk.

Morrissey's "Children in Pieces" and Broken Social Scene's "Horses" both involve kids in distress. The former is familiar Morrissey subject matter, delivering a slick condemnation of children's roles in organized religion. "Horses," a Patti Smith cover, is a brief and jarring tale of terror and escape, quite different than anything the Arts & Crafts collective has delivered before. It appears in Bruce McDonald's The Tracey Fragments starring Ellen Page.

Little My - All the Beeps Meep
Morrissey - Children in Pieces
Broken Social Scene - Horses
Islands - Kids Don't Know Shit

- BA

Three Degrees of Separation

Speaking of Hood Internet mashups, check out their recent Islands/Bun B combo:
Islands versus Bun B - Draped Up and Creeped Out

And speaking of Bun B, the new album II Trill is fantastic.
Bun B - My Block (featuring Jazze Pha)
Bun B - Swang On 'Em (featuring Lupe Fiasco)

And finally, speaking of Lupe Fiasco, here's a classic cut:
Lupe Fiasco - Put You On Game

Enough.

- a.m.p.m.

That's Why the Arm Came For You

With a few personnel changes and an album cover that leaves us dumbfounded, Islands are ready to drop their second album, Arm's Way. ANTI- will release the sophomore drop about a month from now, but once the leak and buzz machine gets rolling there's not much to keep people from talking. The album begins with "The Arm," a song to rival the incredible opener "Swans (Life After Death)" from Return to the Sea. "The Arm" has a bit of everything you'll find on the remainder of the album. There are lyrics messing about with earnest pleas and nonsensical yammering, a great lead guitar lick, fluttering string arrangements, and most importantly, a balance between them all. A number of the tracks like "Abominable Snow" and "Creeper" have already appeared in set lists on tour, and with no surprise sound great with full production. Newer songs (at least to me) like "Kids Don't Know Shit" fill in the gaps and leave you with a pretty complete recording. With spring taking time off this year and summer leapfrogging into action, this is definitely music for the season. For rabid fans, iTunes released a cover of Beck's "Cyanide Breath Mint" to coincide with "The Arm," which by all sound reasoning should be great, haven't heard it yet though.

Islands - The Arm
Islands - Kids Don't Know Shit

- B.A.