2009 Wrap-up: The Dan Edition

I was the one who essentially asked the entire band to have their Year End Wrap-Ups in before Christmas. And only Josh listened. I didn't even listen. I am incapable of following even my own instructions. Yay me!

My list(s) isn't so much a Top Ten type thing, but a series of smaller lists. Some have to do with my own listening habits. Some have to do with being on the and off the road with the band. Some have to do with neither of those. Enjoy!

2009: My Top Records That Were Released This Year

If you scroll down through my previous posts, you'll see I've mentioned several records already this year that I've highly enjoyed. But here are a handful of ones that have really stuck with me.

- St. Vincent, "Actor": I'm absolutely in love with her voice as well as the outstanding arrangement on this one.

- The Dead Weather, "Horehound": There's a sucker born every minute, and I am that sucker for Jack White projects. While I was never enthused with The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather hit me hard with garage lo-fi hooks and some really great grooves going on with the drums (played by White). One of my many "gimmees" of the year.

- Bat for Lashes, "Two Suns": This year has definitely been a year where the records that have really hooked me have been the labored-over studio pieces more than the fast-and-dirty rock that I also gravitate towards. Bat for Lashes garnered a lot of Kate Bush-a-like praises, but her vision and scope for this record is a study in how a sparse song can be realized as a massive sonic masterpiece by surrounding yourself with the right band and the right studio crew.

- Converge, "Axe To Wield": I came to Converge a little late to the party, but I'm so glad I showed up. This is the Converge record for people who've never heard of them. Blistering metal-core for people who aren't into "that screaming shit", this will make a convert out of any metal fan.

- Mastodon, "Crack The Skye": Josh is correct, this is one of my absolute favorites of 2009. I would put it on my MP3 player and be mad at myself for not having put it on 20 minutes sooner. I have huge respect for any band that simply goes out and makes the record it wants to make, regardless of where they stand in their genre. Fans who dismissed this record don't love music, they love an image and a logo. This is phenomenal music, regardless of what music you call "yours". My wife loves this record, and she throws things at me when I blast my Botch or Meshuggah in the house (and rightfully so). Enough said.

2009: My Favorite Bands I Have Been Lucky Enough To Share A Stage With

- Ashpark, Boston MA: Think Mew meets The Gloria Record meets late-period Sunny Day Real Estate. A true find for any music fan, and the lead singer has a license plate that simply reads "Khaaaan". I love these guys.

- The Lights Out, Boston MA: What is it about bands from Boston? We were lucky to play just earlier this month with this ungodly good band. Tight rock with a superior sense of dynamics and rhythm, and half the band has ties to Syracuse (Go 'Cuse!). So happy we got to meet them.

-Stalking Horses, Baltimore MD: Imaging if The Boss had been born as a quiet looking Mid-Atlantic girl, and she went on to use her killer pipes to front a killer band. Played with these folks twice, and they brought their A-game every time.

- Caroline Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps, Minneapolis, MN: This band was a pleasant surprise in the midst of a month of playing with really ho-hum bands. Excellent pop sensibilities matched with great melody writing. For any fan of Regina Spektor, Mirah and the like.

- Filmstar, Philadelphia PA: All it takes is a subtle Smiths vibe and some really retro, 80s college radio sounds to sign me on. Filmstar has all of that. They were one of the great treats in life: discovering a great band who lives in your own backyard. Every time I got to see them this year, I had roughly 40 minutes of heaven.

2009: Favorite Eating Things I Never Got To Have Until This Year

- Seaweed salad

- Oxtail dumplings

- Homemade soy sauce

- Lamb chili

- Mahi mahi tacos

- Zucchini fries

- The French Dog at Devil's Den

- Brazilian style sausage

2009: Best Drink I Invented

The Sacajawea

- 1 part sweet tea vodka

- 2 parts champagne

Mix together in a paper coffee cup (neat) while hanging out in a hotel lounge long after a wedding is over and you really should have stopped drinking, let alone inventing drinks, hours ago. Fall into a very drunken sleep, wake up hung-over as all hell and then drive back to Philadelphia from New Hampshire. Do not repeat. For the love of God.

This year was a good year for The Sobriquets, and if we haven't said so already, we thank everyone who came out and supported us, bought a record or was just nice to us while were were away from home. 2010 will be a great year as well, with upcoming shows in NYC, Harrisburg and our own night at The Blinkin' Lincoln with Talahassee and some other special guests. Hope to see you out there! Have a great New Year!

-Dan

Whatcha Listenin' Tooooo? (I Ain't Got Much This Week)

Yeah, nothing hugely of note this week. Josh has been busy working pit orchestra gigs, I've been busy looking for a new job, we're between practice spaces for a week or so, so not a ton of breaking news on my part. I thought I'd give a few records I've acquired over the last month that I'm listening to a once over. Who knows, maybe you'll find something you like.

M.I.A.- Kala

I missed the "outing" of M.I.A. a few years back. But on the drive to Coachella from LA last week, this record came up on a friend's iPod a few times and I decided to give it a real listen. I'm really weird about dance music- I do not dance in any fashion and tend to ignore the new genre of "dance-music-for-white-hipsters". But the beats and general production value of this record are really appealing: bits of dub, house, UK club and really unique samples (I'm particular to the Bollywood string samples).

Buraka Som Sistema- Black Diamond
Again with the white-kid dance music. These guys are from Portugal (I worked a lot with Brazilians over the last year, so my taste for things Portugese was awakened), and are just highly energetic and fun. Seeing them do it live also helped my appreciation for them, they were a live electronic band with live drums (two guys, in fact, one on kit and one on percussion), instead of the usual "guy-with sampler-deck" set up you usually see. The percussion definitely made them a dynamic live band as well as a great band on CD.

The Tragically Hip- We Are The Same
I've pretty much bought everything by these guys. Possibly one of the finest rock bands I have ever seen play, and their last couple of records have been outstanding. Produced my Bob Rock (of Metallica fame), this one and the last have a very rich sound and share more in common with their live sound than anything they've done previous. "We Are The Same" explores a little more of the country and Americana side of the band (the last one was straight-up stadium rock), and Gord Downie's lyrics are still as arresting and unique as they were when I first heard "Ahead By A Century" back in 1996. If you like awesome, awesome rock, you need to get anything by this band.

Mastodon- Crack The Skye

Josh and I have been absolutely nuts about this record for the last several weeks. Mastodon gets the label "the metal band for people who don't think they like metal", and it often gets said with a bit of a sneer. What on Earth is wrong with being what I like to call a "gateway band"? If this record gets a bunch of people to explore Mastodon's back catalog, and maybe Neurosis (their singer appears on just about every Mastodon record) and a few others, what the hell is wrong with that? Even James likes this one, and James normally makes faces at just about any metal Josh and I put on in the car. The sneers about Mastodon remind me of the sneers thrown Metallica's way back in the day. The only difference is that Metallica wishes it was/could ever be as good as Mastodon. And now... let the hate mail commence.

Bat for Lashes- Two Suns

My love for artists like Kate Bush, Beth Orton, Bjork, PJ Harvey etc., is nothing short of endless. And I'm really digging Natasha Khan's project, Bat For Lashes. There's something about ornate studio production and soulful vocals that just does it for me. This record is so dense with great arrangements (another one of my major musical turn-ons), it's both highly relaxing and highly energizing. I find myself remarking out loud "Wow, THAT works well!" to my speakers when this record is on.

Next week, I think I'll give my list "Top Musical Crimes Perpetuated In The Name of 'Alternative' In The 90s". It may be a multiple week thing, I can think of A LOT of "crimes".

-Dan