Lisztomania: 2009 Edition

let's face it. 2009 was a wash for me on this blog. i kept trying to start up fresh, only to take on new projects and responsibilties at both my radio station and another music website that i'm trying to help back to health. then there was the whole starting a new relationship/having a life thing that kept getting in the way. all of it added up to less time to be spent on here, and will doubtless continue to.

that said, i still love my blog and miss coming on regularly to rant and rave about stuff i like/dislike in music and pop culture so i'm going to start coming on here on a semi-regular but much more leisurely pace. for reals this time. before letting those good times roll though, i wanted to wrap up what ended up being an exceptional year (not to mention a pretty rad decade) for music. rather than go into those pretentious, long-winded spiels that i've done in the past (those will return in due time), i'm just cutting my losses and dumping all of my major lists for the year below at once. i figure all of these albums are great enough that a few good listens each could explain it better than i would.

i tried to play fair and base my inclusions and rankings on both what i listened to the most and what i see myself continuing to listen to more of in the future.

click below to see what made the cut and let me know what i left out in the comments.



my favorite albums of 2009

20. fuck buttons - tarot sport
19. raekwon - only built 4 cuban linx part 2
18. bat for lashes - two suns
17. antlers - hospice
16. japandroids - post-nothing
15. dirty projectors - bitte orca
14. atlas sound - logos
13. a sunny day in glasgow - ashes grammar
12. washed out - life of leisure ep/high times
11. phoenix - wolfgang amadeus phoenix














my favorite songs of 2009

1. animal collective - my girls
2. washed out - feel it all around
3. jj - ecstasy
4. dirty projectors - stillness is the move
   
5. atlas sound - walkabout (feat. noah lennox)
6. the xx - crystalised
7. VEGA - no reasons
8. phoenix - lisztomania
9. memory tapes - plain material
10. girls - lust for life
11. st. vincent - laughing with a mouth of blood
12. fever ray - now's the only time i know
13. grizzly bear - ready, able
14. cold cave - love comes close
15. bat for lashes - daniel
16. the big pink - velvet
17. neon indian - mind, drips
18. the golden filter - solid gold
19. major lazer - keep it goin' louder
20. toro y moi - blessa
21. animal collective - what would i want? sky
22. a sunny day in glasgow - passionate introverts (dinosaurs)
23. washed out - you'll see it
24. HEALTH - die slow
25. fuck buttons - surf solar
26. yeah yeah yeahs - zero
27. annie - songs remind me of you
28. delorean - deli
29. desire - if i can't hold you
30. passion pit - moth's wings
31. atlas sound - quick canal (feat. laetitia sadier)
32. pictureplane - goth star
33. museum of bellas artes - who do you love?
34. raekwon - house of flying daggers (feat. inspectah deck, ghostface, and method man)
35. SALEM - frost
36. bear in heaven - lovesick teenager
37. girls - summertime
    
38. japandroids - i quit girls
39. antlers - two
40. neko case - this tornado loves you
    

my favorite remixes of 2009

florence and the machine - you've got the love (the xx remix)
animal collective - daily routine (phaseone remix)
fever ray - seven (the twelves remix)
au revoir simone - another likely story (aeroplane remix)
small black - despicable dogs (washed out remix)


my favorite albums from the rest of the decade

radiohead - kid a
the arcade fire - funeral
lcd soundsystem - sound of silver
panda bear - person pitch
the knife - silent shout
sigur rós - Ágætis Byrjun
sufjan stevens - illinoise
m.i.a. - kala
outkast - stankonia
the avalanches - since i left you
daft punk - discovery
interpol - turn on the bright lights
white stripes - white blood cells
animal collective - sung tongs
joanna newsom - ys
spoon - kill the moonlight
wilco - yankee hotel foxtrot
jay-z - the blueprint
burial - untrue
modest mouse - the moon & antarctica
the strokes - is this it?
the streets - original pirate material
deerhunter - microcastle
hot chip - the warning
broken social scene - you forgot it in people

happy 2010 all.

what the frak is a horchata?

really, vampire weekend? is this where we're at in our relationship? i mean you had a fun album last year and you managed to turn a lot of umbrella into smiles at all points wet this summer (too soon?) but now i'm expected to take valuable time out of my work day to sit by my computer and stare at some nebulous countdown for a tiny crumb from your new album? really???

ah, who am i kidding, the track's embedded after the jump. new album contra is out jan. 12. sounds like more of the same but "funner," i guess...

phoenix = this year's cut copy?

it may not be besting animal collective or grizzly bear on end of year lists come december, but damn if wolfgang amadeus phoenix still hasn't proven to be one of the more prolific releases of '09. like the aforementioned cut copy's excellent in ghost colours released one year prior, it's a sweetly seductive summer record for all seasons that has inspired remix after remix after remix, none of which have managed to fuck up the source material. yet.


phoenix is currently prepping a full album of nothing but remixes of their songs (shades of sally shapiro's remix romances). it's seeing a digital release on oct. 13 but they've been offering fans a steady stream of teasers via their blog, most being different takes on fabled next single "fences" (good choice btw). the takes by friendly fires and soft pack (which may as well just be a cover) are well and good, but my personal favorite of the bunch so far is animal collective's lovely spin on album instrumental "love like a sunset," which they've even enhanced with their own vocals.

check it out and find out your own favorites right now.

pop that y-rocks 9.22.09

my weekly circuit program airs tonight from 10-midnight and again saturday at the same time. this week, i'm rocking new music from the golden filter, the pains of being pure at heart, a place to bury strangers and more.

this wasn't the playlist i originally set out to run with this week. I actually did a complete overhaul of the first hour upon discovering newer stuff this week. overall, i'm happy with the changes and think everything flows a lot better than it did last week.

full playlist lies beyond...



the golden filter - thunderbird
hercules & love affair - i can't wait
the pains of being pure at heart - higher than the stars (saint etienne visits lord spank remix)
phoenix - fences (friendly fires remix)
lake heartbeat - mystery (ydre rymden dansskola remix)
the rapture - house of jealous lovers
toro y moi - left alone at night (pink skull remix)
ghosthustler - only me to trust
a place to bury strangers - in your heart (cereal spiller remix)
gang gang dance - bebey (dj/rupture and matt shadetek remix)
the very best - rain dance (feat. m.i.a.)
memory tapes - bicycle (horrors cosmic dub)
the xx - basic space (pariah remix)
animal collective vs. the beach boys - i'm waiting for my banshee
a sunny day in glasgow - passionate introverts
caribou - hendrix with ko
maps - i dream of crystal
the big pink - too young to love (delorean remix)
desire - under your spell
basement jaxx - feelings gone (feat. sam sparro)
the field - the more that i do (foals remix)

if you have any requests or recommendations for next week's playlist, don't be shy. shoot me an email or leave one in the comments below...

scoring life with the golden filter

another random daily activity, another oddly appropriate soundtrack, this time courtesy of two tracks, old and new, from one of my favorite up and coming blog artists of 2009, the golden filter...


my love affair with this group actually began not with their first single, the epic song-of-the-year contender "solid gold," but with a remix of one of my favorite singles of 2008, cut copy's "far away." the winning disco glide they gave to that track prompted me to check out their own stuff (or what little of it i could find) and from there, i was hooked.

with nary a roller rink in sight where i live, i often find myself shuffling to solid gold while doing the next best thing: walking. i walk to work. i walk home. i walk aimlessly throughout the city, and every time "solid gold" comes on my ipod, my walk hastens into a catwalk-worthy strut, regardless of who's watching. the simple yet insistent beats (both programmed and live), the razor-sharp synth jabs, even singer penelope's languily lilting vocals inspire blissfully linear momentum.

this past weekend, i found myself walking up the avenue of the arts to wxpn in the evening to do some prep work for my radio show (more details on that later) and guess what came on the shuffle? as the song reached its percolating crescendo, something almost magical happened. the lights that dress and caress the upper windows of the buildings on the block of broad street between walnut and locust street began to blink, changing colors in nearly perfect synch with the song's twinkling final chorus like some large-scale, metropolitan mirrorball. i kept waiting for the passers-by on the street to form a soul train.

needless to say, this fanciful occurrence re-piqued my interest in the filter (who've been more or less radio silent throughout the summer) going into the new week. i came into work to do my daily morning blog scroll and came across the most gloriously timed news, they have a new single coming out in november on dummy! it's called "thunderbird" and the label was oh so kind enough to release the track (along with a pretty sick dub version) this week for free download.

they recommended playing the track "somewhere very high just before dawn breaks, somewhere very cold and very bright, or at night anywhere the northern nights can be expected." i couldn't wait to find anywhere like that so i listened to it while walking through the city, just as the sun was setting. daybreak, twilight, this song is all about the sun. the percolating bass in the verse was personified by the dull glimmers of light bouncing off of the building surrounding me. and as the soaring chorus took flight, i passed the buildings and the sun literally blossumed out from behind, bathing and blinding me while penelope's donna summer wail (i dare you not to think of "i feel love" when hearing this) simply went higher and higher until it seemed to be swallowed into its own light. the feeling i was left with was downright ethereal.

i've re-listened to the track at least ten more times in the twenty four hour span since then. no such moment of equal euphoria has happened again yet. but i doubt that will stop me from trying at least another ten times by tomorrow.

get the song here and see if you have your own revelation.

back in the swing of things

i promised a fuller re-launch this month and technically i'm sticking to that promise. i'm still ironing out some different ideas for what and how to post to make pop that rocks really... well, pop. but in the meantime, you may have noticed that i've posted a little poll for all to see. with summer fading fast from minds and weather, i thought it fitting to reminisce on which songs released during it really summed up or brightened our off seasons. take a look at the options and vote for your favorite. if you select "other," please state your choice in the comments below. enjoy.

in other news...



my radio show has moved to a new night! from now on, pop that rocks is taking over the circuit on y-rock on xpn. i'll be specializing in alternative dance, remixes, mash-ups, and a little of my good ole' fashioned bloggy goodness for consistency's sake. it will air from ten to midnight every tuesday night and re-air at the same time every saturday night. this week's show featured new music from fever ray, HEALTH, memory tapes, and more.

check out the full playlist after the jump...


passion pit - the reeling (calvin harris remix)
fever ray - seven (martyn's seventh mix)
delorean - deli
junior boys - work
la roux - bulletproof (fred falke remix)
washed out - you'll see it
VEGA - no reasons
deastro - kurgan wave number one
pictureplane - gang signs
the xx - shelter (them jeans drum edit)
major lazer - keep it goin' louder (tommie sunshine 12" mix)
YACHT - we have all we ever wanted
au revoir simone - another likely story (neon indian remix)
bloc party - letter to my sun (twins remix)
HEALTH - before tigers (CFCF remix)
cut copy - sands of time
sally shapiro - miracle (bogdan irkuk remix)
max tundra - parallax error beheads you
memory tapes - stop talking
telefon tel aviv - stay away from being maybe
the big pink - velvet (gang gang dance remix)
the notwist - boneless (panda bear remix)

my girls and boys

well this is just... neat. victoria bergstram's new album as taken by trees, east of eden, is due out in just over a week on rough trade records. it was produced by dan lissvik of studio fame and it's all kinds of gorgeous from what i've heard, something akin to lykke li backed by an acoustic tough alliance.

a flamenco-flavored track called "watch the waves" is already floating around the interwebs, and a lot of buzz is building for a song featuring noah "panda bear" lennox called "anna." this greedy bastard just has to have his name somewhere on every awesome album this year doesn't he?

as if his contribution to that song wasn't enough, bergstram is perhaps setting a record for quickest cover turnaround in history and including a beautifully buoyant cover of animal collective's "my girls" on the record. lennox and avey tare rather carelessly left out the boys in their plea for four walls and adobe slabs so bergstram is making sure they get their due, and i for one am totally with her on this.

hear her out after the jump...




now how long before the inevitable mash-up???

first impressions: the big pink - a brief history of love

* this first impression was made possible by the band themselves, who streamed the album for free on their website a few weeks ago.

i meant to get this up earlier in the week but what are you going to do? the album isn't out yet so this still counts as a first impression. full review after the jump...


the uk press has been building this duo up for months as "the band to watch." you know. them and basically everyone else with a british birth certificate to release a single within the last year. but all cynicism aside, there is good reason to pay attention to these guys. robbie furze has played guitar for alec empire and milo cordell fostered the likes of the klaxons and the teenagers among others as founder of merok records.

each member of the big pink brings their respective experience to the table on their debut, a brief history of love, and for the most part, it pays off splendidly. one can assume that cordell's work with his label is at least partially responsible for the commanding sense of melody and pop savvy that permeates the record, while furze's work with empire seems responsible for the harsh electronic undercurrents on several of the songs, not to mention the explosive intensity of their choruses.

"too young to love," an early teaser single that resurfaces here in slightly more polished form, is arguably the most textbook consolidation of these strengths. over stuttering programmed drums and squalling feedback, the song plays like one long extended chorus, tailor-made for maximum volume at shows. the other buzz track (and still the pink's best achievement to date) "velvet" employs all of the same elements in an almost completely different way. the drum loops are more languid, and the guitar squalor more restrained and used to punctuate the gorgeously swooning vocals. one couldn't be blamed for recalling early verve on initial listens, but i don't remember ashcroft ever sounding this sincere or unassuming.

most of the other songs heed to either one side of the pink spectrum or the other, never quite matching these previous heights but still coming pretty damn close at best and deserving admiration for trying at worst. opener "crystal visions" is what stone roses' second coming could and should have sounded like. "dominos" compresses "velvet's" throb into a radio-ready nugget with a delightully dumb sentiment at its core ("these girls fall like dominoooooes!"). the title track and closing "count backwards from ten" scale back the industrial touches, opting instead for hazy, spaceman 3 territory, and provide most welcome changes of pace, particularly the former with its anonymous, hope sandoval-esque vocal accompaniment (anyone else hear the album and know who she is yet? please tell me).

equal parts brit-pop, m83, and my bloody valentine, it's no surprise that the big pink have found and made a home at 4ad. there's an oddly nostalgic quality to this record that fits their aesthetic and history perfectly while also offering glimpses at what till hopefully be a long and fulfilling career for one of the year's more promising upstarts.

a brief history of love is out on 9/8. here is the video for the aforementioned "dominoes." rad stuff it is.

my guilty pleasure and no one else's?

oh sally. i don't know what happened. most people don't seem to be as in love with you the second time around. it's like now that they know you actually are a real person (albeit with a fake name), you've lost your allure.

well fear not, sally. we still love you here at pop that rocks. my guilty pleasure may not pack quite the same dramatic oomph that disco romance did (this is all relative, people), but it still brings nothing but smiles to my face and has proven the perfect complimentary summer pop album to its predecessor's wintry grandeur.

i had the opportunity to say lots more nice things about it and its strengths for mwdwn magazine this past week. find a link to my review and a free track after the jump...


album review: my guilty pleasure

sally said this album was supposed to "make you fall in love with the person sitting next to you on the bus." i don't take public transportation so i can't vouch for that, but i can say that this album bangs in its own adorably winsome way. it may even have some potential pop singles on it hands: the tensnake-tinged "moonlight dance" and freestyling "save your love" come immediately to mind.

but like romance, one of its highlights is a cover, this time of nicolas makelberge's "dying in africa." his alternately morbid and melancholy lyric is spliced over rainfall synths and a house-styled beat evocative of underworld. never has third world stryfe sounded so beautiful.

listen for yourself, courtesy of paper bag, and then get the album. it's out now.

dying in africa

and sorry about the lack of posts this week. still trying to get all of my ducks in a row for the big relaunch next month. stay tuned...

pop that y-rocks 8.22.09

my most recent online radio show aired this past saturday on y-rock on xpn from 1-3. it featured new music from radiohead, the antlers, pictureplane, the xx, and more. full playlist rundown and random observations after the jump...


radiohead - these are my twisted words
phoenix - girlfriend
st. vincent - laughing with a mouth of blood
the pains of being pure at heart - ramona
lansing-dreiden - metal on a gun
throw me the statue - ancestors
xtc - senses working overtime
grizzly bear - two weeks
deastro - shield whip
japandroids - wet hair
health - die slow
delorean - moonsoon
discovery - orange shirt
the antlers - sylvia
jj - me & dean
pictureplane - goth star
the knife - heartbeats
the big pink - velvet
spoon - got nuffin
white denim - regina holding hands
a sunny day in glasgow - ashes grammar - ashes maths
atlas sound - walkabout (feat. noah lennox)
passion pit - the reeling
washed out - you'll see it
yacht - summer song
the xx - basic space
the streets - fit but you know it
simian mobile disco - audacity of huge (feat. chris keating)
basement jaxx - raindrops

listenership seemed to be up a great deal this week, with a lot of my song selections getting positive feedback.

this may be my last "regular" playlist for a while. with roughly ten shows to do for the rest of the year, i've decided to shift my focus from showcasing the new to reflecting on the old for a bit. each of this year's remaining shows will be dedicated to one year in music this decade, beginning with 2000 and working my way up.

I will be welcoming interaction with readers and listeners during this time, taking requests and recommendations and hopefully shining some light on music you may have missed the first time around. with each shift, i will blog my playlist and progress, posting the occasional mp3 and noting songs and transitions that move me in one way or another as i incorporate them into what will become my definite ipod playlist for the decade, to be unveiled on decemeber 31st, 2009.

so stay tuned. hopefully we'll all learn something over the next few months and have some fun doing it. it all kicks off this saturday, august 29 at 1pm.

cheers.