to all the wonderful readers of this blog,

noah and the whale's top 5 albums of 2009

Well, this is probably the last best of 2009 list, and what better way to end things off with a top 5 albums list by Charlie Fink, lead vocalist from my favourite band of the year, Noah And The Whale. Please enjoy Charlie’s list in no particular order:

Sleeping States: Gardens of the North
Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Bill Calahan: Sometimes, I Wish We Were Eagles
Jay-Z: The Blueprint III
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone: Vs. Children

Noah And The Whale's The First Days of Spring/my favourite album of 2009 is out on Young and Lost Club, buy the deluxe edition CD/DVD here and visit the band's MySpace here.

grammatics' top 5 albums of 2009

So I lied. The Noah And The Whale top 5 will not be up today (tomorrow for sure, I promise!) Nonetheless, I have a very attractive top 5 albums of 2009 list by Owen from Grammatics... I totally agree with Future Of The Left, I am so in love with that album at the moment!

1. Blue Roses: Blue Roses
"Doubtful Comforts" sounded like a magical lost classic the first time I heard it. There's plenty more than that particular track to fall in love with across Blue Roses debut, especially power-ballad (!) "I Wish I" which is full of beautiful sweeping moments. Also, check out b-side "Moments Before Sleep", a great lost track of 2009.




2. Future Of The Left: Travels With Myself and Another
Made me feel five years younger, getting ready to go out in a black shirt and red tie, listening to The Icarus Line and McLusky Do Dallas. Thank God someone made a ferocious rock album and remembered to write some actual songs again.

3. Bat For Lashes: Two Suns
One of the best gigs I attended in 2009 was Bat For Lashes at Leeds Met... few people can walk onstage in a pair of peach dungarees and be loved all the more for it.

4. Ramona Falls: Intuit
Ramona Falls is Brent Knopf from Menoma's side project. "I Say Fever" is my favourite track of the moment, full of eerie subtleties and laid-back grooving vocal lines... also home to the hugest sounding drums I've heard in a long time.

5. PJ Harvey and John Parish: A Woman A Man Walked By
PJ Harvey back to her bluesy stones-esq best. Sonic Youth squall and haunted tranquilised vocals decorate album stand-out "Black Hearted Love". Also made me dig out To Bring You My Love again.




Grammatics’ amazing debut/my 4th favourite album of 09 is out on Dance To The Radio, go here to buy the CD and here for the 180g double gatefold vinyl. Follow Grammatics on Twitter and visit the band’s MySpace here.

the shitty limits' top 5 albums of 2009

So far, I am not really surprise to find some common interests in the top 5 lists from The Zookeepers, Let's Wrestle and Dananananaykroyd. Of course, there are bands on those lists that I have never heard of, but that’s why I love reading peoples’ lists—to discover new music (I am looking forward to hear more from Kylesa). Nevertheless, when I asked The Shitty Limits about their top 5 of the year, I didn’t expect to get an entire list of bands I have never heard of. Here is the list from The Shitty Limits (note that the band didn’t give me the actual titles of the albums and I had no luck with Google search either):


Love Triangle: first 3 7"s
Faults: debut LP
TV Party: 4th LP
Four Letter Word: 11th LP
Hygiene: 2nd EP


The Shitty Limits' loud and explosive album, Beware the Limits was #10 in my top 30 of 09 list; you can order the vinyl from La Vida Es Un Mus (UK/Europe/Japan/AUS) and Sorry State (Canada/USA) and in CD format from Boss Tuneage (UK/Europe/Japan/AUS) and Wallride (Canada/USA). Visit the band's MySpace here.



I am going to take a little break, but come back on Monday as Mr. Charlie Fink from my favourite band of the year—Noah And The Whale—tell us his top 5 of 2009!

the making of the flashmob album artwork

The video below is for Vitalic’s "See The Sea (Red)"; but not only that, it actually shows how the album cover for Flashmob was made... quite amazing!

new gls ep

Great Lake Swimmers will be releasing a new EP entitled Song Sung Blue on December 22nd. Head over to The Deadbolt to stream the entire EP.

dananananaykroyd's top 5 albums of 2009

I am very excited to have Calum and David from the highly entertaining band Dananananaykroyd share their five favourite albums of the year here.

Calum's Top 5:
1. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. Agoraphobic Nosebleed: Agorapocalypse
3. Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest
4. Kylesa: Static Tensions
5. Bygones: By-

David's Top 5:
Kylesa: Static Tensions
Lou Barlow: Goodnight Unknown
Real Estate: Real Estate
Black Moth Super Rainbow: Eating Us
DD/MM/YYYY: Black Square


Dananananaykroyd's debut/#9 on my top 30 of 09 list, Hey Everyone! is out on Best Before Records, get it from banquetrecords.com and visit the band's MySpace here

how bizarre

In the spirit of Christmas/to celebrate Paper Bag Records' upcoming 7 year anniversary, the label has posted a free covers compilation entitled The Seven Year Itch. I know you are excited for CFCF's cover of the classic OMC song "How Bizarre", go here to download the compilation.

let's wrestle's top 5 albums of 2009

I’ve asked some of my favourite bands of the year to tell me their top five albums of 2009. Yesterday, The Zookeepers kicked things off with their top five of the year. Today, Let's Wrestle share their five favourite albums here:


Girls: Album
La Roux: La Roux
Micachu: Jewellery
Jay Reatard: Watch Me Fall
Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs


Let's Wrestle's brilliant debut (#12 on my top 30 albums of 09 list), In The Court Of The Wrestling Let's is out on Stolen Recordings. Buy the album here and visit the band's MySpace here.

song of the moment

Kill Rock Stars released a previously unreleased Elliott Smith song entitled "Cecilia/Amanda"! The original version of "Cecilia/Amanda" was first recorded by Smith's high school band, Stranger Than Fiction; the song was known then as "Time is Ours Now". In 1997, Smith went into Jackpot! Recording Studio to rework the song with almost completely different lyrics, the end result is "Cecilia/Amanda" ...enjoy the free download of the song below.

Elliott Smith: Cecilia/Amanda

In more Elliott Smith news, Kill Rock Stars will reissue Roman Candle and From A Basement On The Hill on April 6th, 2010.