2009 has done a number on me so far. I'll spare the details but suffice it to say things have been derailed enough to delay part two of this wrap-up another two months. What follows is the remainder of the list, and with that out of the way I should be back to updating this thing semi-regularly. Honorable mentions: Brainbombs, Nu Sensäe, Mutators, The Mole, The Anals, Love Tan, Cloudland Canyon, Ladyhawk, Hercules & Love Affair, Cave, Cro Magnon, Sun Kil Moon, etc. along with the dozens of reissues.
Jacques Renault
Technically his only release last year was a four song 12" on RVNG Intl., but plenty of mixes surfaced online and they all spent a ton of time on my ipod. Both solo and with partners Marcos Cabral (as Runaway) and Justin Miller, Renault offers up bass-heavy disco, house, and edits that blur the line between the two. The live sets are cool but the polished and refined mix he did for Allez-Allez shines with impeccable selection and an amazing flow. Out of everything I've played at work, nothing has gotten more comments.
Jacques Renault – Allez-Allez Mix
Blood On The Wall Liferz Lp (The Social Registry)
No-nonsense, old style alt-rock from this (former?) Brooklyn-based band. Synthesizing the best aspects of what SST, Homestead, Touch & Go and other classic labels released in the late 80s, everything fits together in a familiar but fresh way.
Blood On The Wall "Hibernation" (from Liferz Lp)
Thee Oh Sees The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In Lp (Tomlab)
2008 saw Thee Oh Sees release two albums and multiple EPs and split releases. All are solid but the cream of the crop is their seventh album, The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In. I'm not easily swayed by stripped down, reverb-drenched, retro r 'n' r but I do get down with The Cramps now and then so why not. I mean, when it's this good..
Thee Oh Sees "Maria Stacks" (from The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In Lp)
Blank Dogs On Two Sides Lp (Troubleman Unlimited)
Speaking of output overload, Blank Dogs is certainly up there (two 12"s and countless EPs since fall with a 2XLp and more out shortly) and much like Thee Oh Sees, Mr. Blank Dogs has a killer batting average. While the Fields EP (released late in the year) is more immediate, On Two Sides has stood up to repeat listens a little better, so it's my pick. Forget 'weird-punk', dude's failed anonymity/identity, the imitators, etc, what's relevant is that the album is full of well-written, heavily phased pop songs not nearly as foreign as they may initially seem.
Blank Dogs "Pieces" (from On Two Sides Lp)
Sic Alps US Ez Lp (Siltbreeze)
More streamlined and focused than previous Sic Alps albums. The best one yet? I think so.
Sic Alps "Gelly Roll Gum Drop" (from US Ez Lp)
Little Claw Spit & Squalor, Swallow The Snow Lp (Ecstatic Peace)
Another puzzler. What I heard initially is not what I hear now and I still find myself wondering if most of the songs didn't sound a bit different last time. It doesn't matter though; hints of the Stooges, early 90s alt-rock and more obtuse sounds mix and bubble to the surface and I'm more stoked than baffled. I'm bummed that I missed their (allegedly) spectacular trainwreck of a live show but this will do until they come back.
Little Claw "Movies For You" (from Spit & Squalor, Swallow The Snow Lp)
Crystal Stilts Alight Of Night Lp (Slumberland)
Deerhunter Microcastle Lp (Kranky)
The crowd favorites, and for once I'm part of the crowd. Do I really need to spell it out? Re-read your own blog/message board post about these two if you can't remember why they're so hot. Or better yet, just listen to them, again..
Crystal Stilts "Departure" (from Alight Of Night Lp)
Deerhunter "Never Stops" (from Microcastle Lp)
Chad VanGaalen The Soft Airplane Lp (Sub Pop)
Singer-songwriter stuff (especially when Canadian) eludes.. I mean annoys me. But on rare occasions it comes across with a totally different vibe and that's when I'm willing to give it a shot. Even though a lot of the album is fairly gentle and somber, there's an underlying edge to it – nearly every song seems to reference death and/or mystical experiences – that makes the whole thing harder to pin down. This isn't purposely esoteric freak-folk, just the product of a colorful individual, shaky voice and all.
Chad VanGaalen "Eyes like a house on fire" (vinyl-only bonus track from The Soft Airplane Lp)
Defektors Secret Trials & Torn To Pieces singles (Nominal / Hockey Dad)
Released on the same day with a quadruple a-side so it's more of an EP than a pair of singles. While they've lost the vague Wipers vibe that their older tracks had, what's left is a more polished rock/punk. The bleak lyrics contrast with the melodic writing, lending the songs a little more bite. One of Vancouver's (many, haha) best bands. Album out soon?
Defektors "Secret Trials" (from Secret Trials 7")
V/A – Emergency Room Compilation Lp (Nominal / Grotesque Modern)
Finding the ER scene a year after I moved to Vancouver was a total revelation and another year and a half later it was basically over. Somewhere in between there were shows, parties, garage sales and this album, featuring eight of the bands that practiced (and frequently played) there. Compilations are a drag – I don't need to point that out that the bad always far outweighs the good. This one seems downright miraculous; I have nothing bad to say about any of it.
Vapid "Sexstain" (from Emergency Room compilation Lp)
Mutators "Instinct" (from Emergency Room compilation Lp)
Nü Sensae "Don't Panic" (from Emergency Room compilation Lp)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring Primary Colors Lp (Goner)
Muslims – s/t Lp (1928 Recordings)
These albums are about as straight up as guitar rock gets without diverging into other sounds, and both make the most of its inherent limitations. Cursory listens painted them as a tad dull but after time the simplicity began to highlight the ingenious writing that was there all along.
Eddy Current Suppression Ring "Which Way To Go" (from Primary Colors Lp)
The Muslims "Right And Wrong" (from s/t Lp)
Cut Copy In Ghost Colours Lp (Modular)
I swore this album was at least two years old now, but it was indeed released in 2008. Out of all the synth-touched, dancefloor-friendly nouveau rock bands that made waves in 07/08, Cut Copy are the only ones that do anything for me and I'll cop to being down with In Ghost Colours. The So Cosmic mixtape they released just prior was a collection of sounds that were inspiring them at the time, and not surprisingly the tracklist (Harmonia, Alan Braxe, Fleetwood Mac, Giorgio Moroder, etc) hints that they were aiming for something a little more tempered than what their peers came up with. They could easily play it safe and slip into easy listening indie-mode with their next album but this one had enough twists and turns to keep me interested.
Cut Copy "Far Away" (from In Ghost Colours Lp)
Bottomless Pit Congress 12" (self-released)
Even less noticed than their Hammer Of The Gods album from 2007 but every bit as good. These four songs could have been seamlessly tacked onto Hammer and it would have been even better by being a bit longer. I listened to this more than anything else in 2008.
Bottomless Pit "Fish Eyes" (from Congress 12")
New update soon, for real.
