retrospective ears

Before I get to discussing my favourite music from 2009, I first wanna look at my favourite music in 2009. The following is a list of my top 5 most played artists during the last 12 months:

1. Rilo Kiley:

I know they've been around forever, but it wasn't until "Silver Lining" entered my life in a big way in the fall of '08 that my ears became attuned to Rilo. Throughout 2009 I slowly discovered the beauty of their discography with groups of songs at a time. The entire More Adventurous album and songs like "With Arms Outstretched" and "The Good That Won't Come Out" were my summer. If I had to pick one artist/band who defined my life this past year it would be Rilo.

2. Mirah:

The other artist who defined my summer and probably the best discovery I made in '09 (though I have Lux to thank for that). Like with Rilo, my love affair with Mirah deepened a few songs at a time. This meant that I became absolutely immersed in the music and the lyrics in a really unique way. Songs that deserve specific mentions: "Recommendation", "Don't Die in Me", and "Oh! September".

3. The Smiths: Occurs naturally on the list because they're probably my most played artist ever. Smiths songs that I particularly related to in a new way this year: "Ask", "Is it Really So Strange?", "Half A Person", and, most recently, "Back to the Old House".

4. Tegan and Sara:

They've been one of my favourite bands for a number of years now; I feel like I've witnessed their growth from album to album. The arrival of Sainthood this year (probably the only full album that actually came out in '09 that I can say hit me in a huge way) did not disappoint at all. The entire album flows really nicely, but "Someday" really stands out for me.

5. Neko Case: Though I started listening to her later in the year, Neko stands as a close second to Mirah in terms of the most frapping artist discoveries I made this year (I'm counting Bon Iver as an '08 discovery). "This Tornado Loves You", "I'm An Animal", "I Wish I Was the Moon", "Hold On Hold On"... one after the other these songs have taken hold of my heart. And with an artist like Neko, who has been making music for years, it's always interesting to expose oneself to groups of songs from different eras at a time.

6. Bon Iver: It's only fair to include Bon Iver as a postscript to the list because I've played the hell out of For Emma, Forever Ago and every non-album track that's been released. I think I made my passion for Justin clear in my post dedicated to "Skinny Love", but really the entire Bon Iver catalogue has been a really important part of 2009 for me.

Other artists who frapped me in some way in '09:

Fleet Foxes

Jenny Lewis

Real Estate

Langhorne Slim

The Duke Spirit

Lykke Li

Bloc Party

Girls

Kings of Leon

-T.Dawg

my, my, my. my, my, my. MY, MY.

My love affair with Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" began just about a year ago. And, just as Justin Vernon pleads of his lover, my relationship with the song did last the year. According to last.fm charts, it has remained unchallenged in its position as my most played song. Of all the wonderful music I've discovered and rediscovered in 2009, why is that this one song has been able to frapp my ears and my heart more than any other?

The very first time I heard "Skinny Love"--on NPR All Songs Considered's Best of 2008 podcast episode--I fell in love. That acoustic guitar. That falsetto. When I heard the "my my my" 's, I was intrigued. By the time he got to "And I told you to be patient", I was hooked. And then: "Who will love you?/Who will fight?/Who will fall far behind?" I was in love. It's at this point of the song that, each time I hear it, my heart feels like it can't take any more. Then, at 3:24 Justin sings one last "ooh ooh ooh" which, as followed by that heart-wrenching chord change, seals the deal. Love and pain, hope and anguish, yearning, vulnerability--an array of emotions comprehended in four musical minutes.

After that first listen, I downloaded the song and, shortly thereafter, the entire For Emma, Forever Ago album. I became obsessed with it and with every listen I became more attached to the song that started it all for me. I remember going back to school in January and nights of drunkenly singing "my my my my my my MY MY" as earnestly as I could to friends who's ears had not yet been acquainted with the song. After that period, my attachment to the song became almost a joke. It was the song that my housemates would hear coming from my room, any time of day or night, whether I was happy or sad, studying or enjoying downtime. But soon enough Justin's voice and guitar could be heard coming from their rooms too. I'd like to think that the song struck the same chord, tugged at the same heartstrings, for them as it did me.

What is that chord and where are those heartstrings located? I wish I knew. Truthfully, the fact that I can't give a name to the all-encompassing emotion that the song creates speaks volumes.

It's not that I'd never heard anything that touched me in this way before. Nor is it the case that I haven't since. But "Skinny Love" stands alone as the single most frapping song of the past year for me.

ooh OOH ooh

-T.Dawg

Honeymooning Ears

I'm by no means done with my '09 reflections, but I want to put a hold on that for a second and reflect on the songs frapping me this week:

1. Cass McCombs - You Saved My Life

2. Au Revoir Simone - Take Me As I Am

3. Iron & Wine - Die

All three of these songs have 70+ playcounts and I'm still in that honeymoon phase with them where it feels like I can go another 70 listens without tiring. I had been aware of the existence of all three artists prior to this week, but these three songs pretty much mark my first love affair-ish experience with their (I guess maybe there's a slight exception with Au Revoir Simone because of "The Disco Song" but Disco Song gets me in the fun way, not the emotional one). The thing that makes this week's obsession more "fuck my heart is drowning" is the fact that these songs are frapping in all the ways one should be frapped - lyrically, vocally, instrumentally, secret-subtle-sound-ly, etc. It's fucking awesome when there's a week where one song does that to you but with 3 - is there such a thing as too much frapp?

I do want to give the Cass song, an extra special nod because I really think it goes on that special list of songs unique to each person, that wring your heart dry of all its love and stick with you forever. It's tragic. It's beautiful. It's desperate. It's hopeful. It's loving. And I think it might just be my Skinny Love.

-DJ

cold decembers and overflowing ears

When December rolls around, it usually means I’m well into my holiday playlists, but because I cheat every year and let the peanuts tell me christmas time is here in November, I get mad cravings for new music by mid-December. I used to rely on certain radio stations in L.A. for filling me on the new artists of the year, but that era’s over. So instead I stay mostly in the dark with all the new music and just anxiously await the 'end of the year retrospectives' so I can continue being one year behind all the new music. Now even though I find myself doing a horrible job of following the new music each year, this past one seems the worst – I managed to be completely oblivious to almost all the new bands. And sure, I’ve found some amazing songs from ‘09, but if I look at my last.fm charts, the songs, the singers, and the sounds that I found the most frapping come from the past. So in the midst of these ‘09 retrospectives featuring purely the bands and albums of this past year, here’s my ‘09 restrospective, featuring the music that burned my ears in 2009.

*Note: I composed this list using purely my last.fm playcounts. If I sat around trying to put together a most frapping list, it would have to include bands that came long before ‘09 and it would probs take more than 15 minutes to discuss.

1. Mirah

2. Rilo Kiley

3. Neko Case

4. Tegan and Sarah

5. Jessica Lea Mayfield

6. The Duke Spirit (this probably doesn’t belong on this list because I found them when they first came out, but the way they’ve gone about re-frapping my heart over the last few weeks earned them this spot)

7. Beyoncé (she’s here purely for Halo/it took me until now to hit repeat on Irreplaceable)

8. Thao

9. Jenny Lewis

10. Bon Iver

11. Real Estate

So this is my preliminary list (I’m pretending it’s a Top 10 – #11 was necessary since The Duke Spirit and Beyoncé inclusion was kinda cheating). I let the playcounts speak. But really this post doesn’t do justice as my ‘09 retrospective. It’s a starting point. If anything, seeing my ‘09 artists listed like this, by playcount, just takes me back through the year, to times when I may have listened to alt.end 65 times and then did the same thing with halo, 9 months later.

-DJ