Here it Is The end of the year and the day after winter solstice

What A good year for music. In fact I caught up with many releases I had let fall away through out the decade. A perfect example would be Of Montral " Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer?" Which proves Kevin Barnes is a genius. It's like taking early David Bowie, Ray Davies, Neu and Kraftwerk to the moon and back again. THe Liars " Drums Not Dead" a record of great ideas and great "songs". Like an updated and contemporary SY " Bad Moon Rising". Gets into your head and flows out into your backbone and the rest of your nervous system. Prince Far I " Chapter 3" re release of his early 80's lp of the same name. The Slits, David Toop and Adrian Sherwood are all in the mix. Like all good dub records this one turns the room upside down and everything else is weightless.

What didn't make this list would be Mt. Eerie " Wind Poem" too fresh in my collection to make an impact. What I did like about my initial listens were the drones and lullaby melodies and a tribute to " Twin Peaks" tv show. Parts sound like The DEAD C jamming with Sunn O)))). A very dark and beautiful record for sure.

The count down...

2009 Best

10. WOEBOT / Woebot ( self released).

09. DOOM / Born Like This

08. Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age

07. Antony and the Johnsons / Crying Light

06. 5 Years - Hyper Dub Compilation.

05 Warp 20 ( unheard)

04 Sight Below

03 Animal Collective / Merriweather Post Pavilion

02 Grizzly Bear / Veckatimest

01 Decemberists / Hazards Of Love

Reissues

01. The Beatles / Mono Box Set Remastered

02. Warp 20 ( chosen)

03. Every Mouth Must Be Fed

04. Abner Jay/ The Story Of Abner Jay

05. Tomorrow Come Someday OST

Singles and individual songs

Radiohead / These Are My Twisted Words

Thom Yorke/ Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses

Atlas Sound / Walkabout

Animal Collective/ " Brother Sport/ Bleed"

Burial and Four Tet " Wolf Cub/ Moth"

Woebot / Central One EP

Grizzly Bear / "Two Weeks"

Hazards Of Love

How could the music review bible Pitchfork pan this?

I might be a wanna be amateur music writer but middling  the new Decemberists album seems so odd. It's a great group of songs that tell a dark end to a love story. The bands folk like roots get an overloaded and bombastic overhaul.  What I like about what they are doing on this  lp is that they are not trying to be something that they are not. In short it's honest and a good step forward. It's not just a collection of songs but a piece of music that you have to experience all in one sitting or in the hour it takes to play. Many other reviews lump it in with the progressive records  and sounds of Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention and Genesis. To be fair it sounds nothing like  any of those bands but I can see where someone might get confused.  

I hope they perform the album in it's entirety on their current tour.