Last year, the lot of us put together some of our more unconventional year end lists from 2008. We had a lot of fun doing so, and have decided to make it a yearly thing.
John Wenzel (Denver Post Reverb)
— Top Ten Marginally Useful Skills I Honed in 2009 —
1. Ignoring stupid people and their stupid conversations
2. Owning up to my elitism
3. Timing hangovers for airline flights
4. Grocery shopping with lightning speed
5. Timing breathing so as to avoid noxious scent of cheap cologne and perfume
6. Not feeling guilty about all the books I’m not reading
7. Reigning in my dilettante tendencies to a dozen unrelated projects
8. Loving pho
9. Working on the Post’s Underground Music Showcase without freaking out
10. Disowning my elitism
Favorite albums of 2009
1. Metric, “Fantasies” (PIAS/Metric)
Like a damaged supermodel, “Fantasies” is unabashedly glossy and desperate for approval, but no other dance-rock platter grabs you so immediately and refuses to let go.
2. Smug Brothers, “Fortune Rumors” (self-released EP series)
The literal and figurative descendants of a long line of fantastic indie rock bands from Dayton, Ohio (Guided by Voices, the Breeders), the Smug Brothers’ “Fortune Rumors” EP series provided regular doses of 2009’s most addictive lo-fi rock.
3. The Flaming Lips, “Embryonic” (Warner Bros.)
Few artists make chaos and darkness as palatable as the Lips, and here the long-running Oklahoma act blesses us with their most evil, stripped-down collection of songs.
4. Phoenix, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” (Glass Note)
These French pop-rockers were impossible to escape and this slick, catchy opus justifies the ubiquity.
5. Siriusmo, “The Uninvited Guest” (Monkeytown Records)
German electro music has never been known for its warmth, but Siriusmo (a.k.a. Moritz Friedrich) proved that experimental impulses fit seamlessly with fizzing, dance-oriented disco.
6. Tortoise, “Beacons of Ancestorship” (Thrill Jockey)
The Chicago jazz-rock godfathers returned to the schizophrenic waters that nurtured them and found themselves sounding more upbeat than ever.
7. Camera Obscura, “My Maudlin Career” (Merge)
Aching melodies and sentiments find each other on this devastatingly sad, pretty disc from this reliable Scottish indie-pop act.
8. Telekinesis, “Telekinesis” (Merge)
Derivative but undeniably catchy and pregnant with promise, Michael Benjamin Lerner’s out-of-the-gate statement is better than many artists’ career highs.
9. The Thermals, “Now We Can See” (Kill Rock Stars)
Most of the songs on this Portland, Ore. punk trio’s fourth album sound (and feel) better in concert, but the trick is writing such killer songs to begin with.
10. Heartless Bastards, “The Mountain” (Fat Possum)
Erika Wennerstrom’s old-soul blues voice continues to stun and motivate on the Bastards’ third and most mature outing.
Tim Weilert ( Something Like Sound (Colorado Mines Music Blog))
Top 10 Cover Songs at Denver Shows (in no particular order)
– Hot IQs – “Web In Front” (Archers of Loaf). The Hot IQs farewell show was a night of goodbyes and the proper send-off for a group that helped define the current era of indie-pop in Denver. Overheard that night: “Now that’s just wrong. You can’t have sex with Cookie Monster, he’s in a children’s show.” – Eli Mishkin -6/19/09
– Houses & Hello Kavita – “Alabama” (Neil Young). The release show for Hello Kavita’s album To A Loved One showcased 2 hot Denver bands that draw heavily from Young. “Alabama” was a fitting closing song for the night. -10/23/09
– Everything Absent or Distorted – “Holland 1945” (Neutral Milk Hotel). I think their rendition may have surpassed the original in energy and drunkenness. Their version of The National’s “Abel” wasn’t too shabby either. -10/24/09
– Fissure Mystic – “Territorial Pissings” (Nirvana). One of the most ruckus events I have ever attended was the Hot Congress Prevue at Patrick Kelley’s Colfax attic apartment. Fissure Mystic blasted everyone’s eardrums out with their cover of this grunge classic. -10/16/09
– Old Radio – “Apartment Story” (The National). It was almost too fitting to have Patrick Kelley playing a song about apartments at his own apartment party. The entire Old Radio set stood out among the grunge and punk pulsing from the way-too-small-for-that-many-people party. -10/16/09
– Danielle Ate The Sandwich – “Waterfall” (TLC). No stranger to covers, this one was just a portion of Danielle’s arsenal. The tired and un-sober crowds at the UMS certainly appreciated hearing her rhythm and lyrics. -7/26/09
– The Fray – “Heartless” (Kanye West). By the time I realized that I was enjoying The Fray’s rendition of “Heartless” at the Mile High Music Festival it was already too late: all my hipster-cred had vanished. -7/19/09
– Dualistics – In Utero (Nirvana). Rather than just taking on one song Dualistics took an an entire record! The other Nirvana-related performances that night also deserve some credit.. -4/3/09
– Flobots – “So Happy Together” (The Turtles). Even though crappy weather had the 2009 E-Days festival in low spirits, Flobots got things going with the golden oldie “So Happy Together.+” -4/4/09
– Denver Does Denver. Just consider the whole thing, in all it’s incestuous glory. Welcome to Denver, we only really have 3 bands. -6/6/09
– Denver Does Denver: just the whole thing, in all it’s incestuous glory. Welcome to Denver, we only really have 3 bands. -6/6/09
Katherine Peterson (Radio 1190)
Top 5 Bands Discovered Posthumously in 2009
1. Only Ones
2. Patsy Cline
3. Exploding Hearts
4. Lesley Gore
5. Elton Motello
Top 5 Concerts of 2009
1. Vaselines @ Bimbo’s
2. Nobunny and Rock n Roll Adventure Kids @ Trevor’s house
3. Julie Doiron @ Spider House (SXSW)
4. My Bloody Valentine @ Fillmore
5. SUNN O))) @ Empty Bottle
Top 5 Local Releases (Besides Local Shakedown Vol. 3) of 2009
1. Moonspeed – Flowers of the Moon
2. Various – Rocky Mountain Low
3. The Omens – Send Black Flowers
4. Snake Rattle Rattle Snake – EP
5. Bad Weather California – Young Punks
Top 5 People/Things I Formed an Obsession with in 2009
1. My crock pot
2. Colorado history
3. Carousel of Happiness in Nederland, CO
4. Yoga
5. bell hooks
Top 5 Most Interesting/Exciting Events of 2009 That Weren’t Concerts
1. Nau Desu Kan anime convention @ Denver Tech Center
2. Sock Hop @ Forney Museum
3. Demolition Derby @ Boulder County Fair
4. Rafting @ Gunnison River
5. Chic-a-go-go Dance Party @ Millenium Park
Top 5 Most Satisfying Impulsive Internet Purchases of 2009
1. Edirol Roland R-09 Wave/MP3 Recorder
2. GRISTLEISM
3. One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found Box Set
4. Looking for Europe: the Neofolk Compendium Box Set
5. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains DVD
Top 5 Comic Books Read in 2009
1. Need More Love: A Graphic Memoir – Aline Kominsky-Crumb
2. Amy and Jordan – Mark Beyer
3. Blammo #4 – Noah Van Sciver
4. Perfect Example – John Porcellino
5. Bookhunter – Jason Shiga
Twist and Shout Independent Music Store
Our Number One winner for 2009, with 8 votes:
The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Our Number Two placer for 2009, with 7 votes:
Yoko Ono – Between My Head and the Sky
Our Number Three shower for 2009, with 6 votes:
Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
Our Number Four mentions for 2009, tied with 5 votes each:
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Our Number Five mentions for 2009, tied with 4 votes each:
Baroness – Blue Record
Fever Ray – Fever Ray
Hudson Mohawke – Butter
Jesu – Opiate Sun
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Sonic Youth – The Eternal
Our Number Six mentions for 2009, tied with 3 votes each:
Air – Love 2
Franco – Francophonic Vol. 2
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Mos Def – The Ecstatic
Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. 2
Tom Waits – Glitter and Doom Live
Our Number Seven mentions for 2009, with 2 votes:
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast/Useless Creatures
Tyondai Braxton – Central Market
Built to Spill – There Is No Enemy
Clues – Clues
Leonard Cohen – Live in London
Dead Man’s Bones – Dead Man’s Bones
Dead Weather – Horehound
Dethklok – Dethalbum II
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
El Michels Affair – Enter the 37th Chamber
Marianne Faithfull – Easy Come, Easy Go
Goblin Cock – Come With Me If You Want To Live
Greymachine – Disconnected
Mary Anne Hobbs – Wild Angels
Lady Gaga – Fame Monster
The Mars Volta – Octahedron
Modest Mouse – No One’s First And You’re Next
Nirvana – Live at Reading
Paperbird – Live at Twist & Shout
Passion Pit – Manners
Pelican – What We All Come To Need
Pere Ubu – Long Live Pere Ubu
Oumou Sangare – Seya
Ronnie Spector – Last of the Rock Stars
Sunn O))) – Monoliths & Dimensions
Tegan & Sara – Sainthood
Henry Threadgill – This Brings Us To Vol. 1
Brock van Wey – White Clouds Drift On and On
Various – Warp 20 Box Set
Weezer – Raditude (1 vote for album, 1 for single)
Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
The XX – The XX
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
Jeff Dennis (Windfarm)
Top 5 shows of 2009:
Lucero – Fox Theatre, May
Everything Absent or Distorted – Hi-Dive (UMS), July
Bon Iver – Fox Theatre, July
Richard Buckner – Walnut Room, May
The Lusitania – Three Kings Tavern, July
Top songs of 2009:
“Mama’s Eyes” – Justin Townes Earle
“When My Time Comes” – Dawes
“The Perfect Space” – The Avett Brothers
“Walk Around” – Cory Branan
“No Occasion” – J. Tillman
Best interviews of 2009:
Aquarium Drunkard – Kris Kristofferson interview
Wall Street Journal – Cormac McCarthy
Fuel/Friends – Langhorne Slim
Radio Free Chicago – Justin Townes Earle
Top web music sessions:
Dawes – Luxury Wafers
Lucero – Daytrotter
Thrift Store Cowboys – Live at KAMP
Kurt Wagner – NPR Tiny Desk Concert
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Wheel – Daytrotter
Top used vinyl finds of 2009:
Flying Burrito Brothers – Gilded Palace of Sin
Guy Clark – Texas Cookin’
John Braden – S/T
Talking Heads – True Stories
The Reejers – Coffee Grounds/Same Key
Top things about Colorado that don’t fit into one of the above categories:
Chauncey Billups
the UMS
Mediterranean Market in Boulder
summer
What’s So Funny?
Twist and Shout
Pasquini’s
Best books I read in 2009 that weren’t necessarily published in 2009:
Where Men Win Glory – Jon Krakauer
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name – Vendela Vida
Paper Lion – George Plimpton
Zeitoun – Dave Eggers
Stand Proud – Elmer Kelton
Derek Pierce (Windfarm)
Bands that more people should know from 2009:
Ricardo Baca (Denver Post Reverb)
Top 5 random-ass 2009 CDs on my desk right now – 10:25 a.m. Dec. 11, 2009
1. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
2. “Before I Self Destruct,” 50 Cent
3. “Til the Casket Drops,” Clipse
4. “40/40,” Carpenters
5. “This is It,” Michael Jackson (Kind of. With family like that, who needs enemies?)
Top 5 Avett Brothers Concerts (That I Saw) of 2009
1. Aug. 21, Boulder Theater
2. Aug. 20, base of Steamboat Springs
3. May 22, Crystal Ballroom (Portland, Oregon)
4. Aug. 19, Telluride Mountain Village
5. May 24, Sasquatch Music Festival (George, Washington)
Luke Hunter (Some Love Music and Drummer from the Dont’s and the Be Carefuls )
Favorite ’09 Records, no order:
jj – jj n° 2
Black Dice – Repo
The Antlers – Hospice
Mount Eerie – Wind’s Poem
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Burial/Four Tet – Moth/Wolf Cub 12″
The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come
Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Dan Deacon – Bromst
Atlas Sound – Logos
Boredoms – Ant 10
The xx – The xx
Favorite ’09 Song:
Sunset Rubdown – Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!
Favorite Festival:
Titwrench
Favorite local bands, no order:
Hot White
Hideous Men
Pollination Population
Vampire Pussy
Water
Favorite band I saw all year:
Eli Keszler/Ashley Paul (aka Aster)
Favorite Venue:
still Rhinoceropolis, but the R&R House/The Big Apple made a darn good run for it.
Favorite Record that didn’t come out this year:
Prinzhorn Dance School – s/t
Favorite song that didn’t come out this year:
Tom Waits – Green Grass
Bree Davies (AV Club Denver/Bassist for Night of Joy)
Donnybrook Writing Academy
Favorite Life-Saving Hangover Miracle: Santiago’s Drive-Thru Breakfast Burritos on Federal and 27th
Breakfast burritos are all about balance. At about 2 bucks a pop, Santiago’s breakfast burritos are perfectly balanced: they are big enough to fill you up, but not so big you can’t have two; they have the perfect ratio of green chile to cheese to filling (the worst is a dry breakfast burrito); the potatoes are perfectly cooked, and there’s enough egg to go around but god forbid, not too much. They have a different meat every day, for us regulars to get a little variety. And thank Bajeesus for Santiago’s Drive-Thru, so we can minimize movement and human contact. Burritoheads rejoice.
Favorite Restaurant: Beatrice & Woodsley
Stumbling upon Beatrice & Woodsley is like falling through the rabbit hole on hipster South Broadway and finding yourself in a whimsical, enchanted forest. There are literally aspen trees and lanterns inside; the windows are tinted to give everything a magical, golden light; the bathrooms are puzzling and whimsical in an Alice & Wonderland way; and the menu, delectable and strange at times, features dishes like turtle soup and frog’s eyes (they are actually donut holes, and they are delicious). It’s like the fantasy dining experience you loved as a kid at places like Casa Bonita, except it’s classy and gorgeous, the food is amazing (especially brunch).
Favorite show: the Big Pink and Crystal Antlers at Larimer Lounge
You can read about it here:
Favorite Dress Ever of 2009: the Robin’s Egg Dress by Sarah Seven
Favorite Moments:
An explanation kind of cheapens this one, doesn’t it? We’ll let you imagine what led us to get hammered with this guy:
Ian Cooke engages in a human pyramid at the Starz Film Fest after party:
Karen O rocks our world up close and personal-like at Monolith:
Smoking a cig and doing an informal interview with Ryan Ward, director of Son of the Sunshine:
Getting hammered with this cowboy named Mac in Eagle’s Nest:(apparently, we enjoy getting hammered with old dudes)
Donnybrook’s favorite gentleman’s jacket: the reversible corduroy smoking jacket
You could have at least gotten a list from a real record shop like WAX TRAX, not some lame local version of Virgin Mega Store (twist and shout).
Why doesn’t Twist count?
I agree- Twist is as local as it gets. Just because they are a successful, larger capacity store doesn’t negate the fact that they’re locally owned and operated.
I should have clarified- I agree with Julio’s question!
Agreed, Twist is a great store. What makes them the local version of Virgin? (which, by the way, went out of business)
And agreed on Animal Collective, Bree. I don’t it with that band either.
john wenzel, i want to eat pho with you.