Grammatics
Choosing a top 100 records of 2009 may seem a little excessive but it has been a fucking awesome year for music. No question. We’ve mixed together albums, singles and individual tracks in our list, because we can.
The first batch is our top 100-81 and even though they’re at the lower reaches of our countdown, they’re all still amazing. We stand by every single record in the whole 100 and encourage you to check out, purchase and enjoy our recommended releases of this year.
The debut single from Vienna Ditto is a hooky electro pop number with awesome sultry vocals and satisfying retro tinges.
Download Hold On
Check out Vienna Ditto on myspace
pic from www.brooklynvegan.com
A Mae Shi or two, a Residual Echo and some of their friends all play a part in the creation of this punk rock spazz out. Available as part of a split cassette with Metal Marty King, on Kill Shaman.
Check out Man’s Assassination, Man on myspace
Infectious electro types kicked off the year with this cracking debut single, available on Silver Music Machine
Check out My Tiger My Timing on myspace
You can rely on The Devil to pick all the winners and he uncovered a firm favourite late this year with BYOB. Genre defying, with some wit and filth.
Download Prescription from The Devil’s blog
Paper Chase chuck a whole plethora of different sounds into the blender for their fifth album, lacing the mix with good measures of passion and anthemic melodies to make it all the more tasty.
Check out The Paper Chase on myspace
Classic indie sounds a la Psychedelic Furs and Joy Division from Red Drapes who get the balance of reverence, authenticity and originality just right.
Check out Red Drapes on myspace
Photo by Al De Perez
Giving us some thumping rock n roll with gothic tinges, An experiment on a bird in the air pump came out like a noisy no-wave Spector produced Banshees.
Check out An experiment on a bird in the air pump on myspace
Scuzzy pop punk from High Wycombe’s finest. Unpretensious cool.
Check out the Shitty Limits on myspace
Classic Paul Q Kolderie sounds mix with Stephen MacDonald’s expert ear for a tune - open chords, open hearts. A great album which fans of Lemonheads & Buffalo Tom at their finest will enjoy.
Check out Stephen MacDonald and the Okay Win on myspace
Excellent debut from noise pop two piece. Reminds of Husker Du & No Age (and I would guess, No Age playing Husker Du songs), kind of nu-gazey but with a firm shot in the arm.
Download Young Hearts Spark Fire
Check out Japandroids on myspace
Laurent HINI www.tasteofindie.com
Fantastic raw-to-the-bone organ heavy blues and soul from BDH - capturing them lively and raucus at a gig in Texas. One of many perfect party records in our top 100 - also available in fetching Blue Vinyl.
Check out the Black Diamond Heavies on myspace
Stripped down country rocking from The Ferocious Few. As their name suggests, they’re fiery and there’s not many of them. A two piece from San Francisco playing the kind of amped up southern rock that Kings of Leon used to grasp at before they went shit.
Check out The Ferocious Few on myspace
So, he may have come off as a bit of a prick in his spat with The Black Lips and ridiculous onstage Primavera meltdown, but there’s no denying that Nathan Williams’s Wavves album is a bit of a winner.
pic by Jon Fishe
A lot of people (including Emmy herself by all accounts) were waiting for quite a while for Emma-Lee Moss’s debut album and she didn’t disappoint them with First Love. Artful lyrics give weight to the charming unashamedly folky tunes.
Check out Emmy the Great on myspace
"Adventuring is dangerous, but danger can be fun". The title track of Calories’ Adventuring LP is one of the songs of the year, as exhilirating as its subject matter.
Download Let’s Pretend That We’re Older (from new EP)
Just the kind of blues punk cool you’d expect from an ex Immortal Lee County Killer / Quadrajet and Sweetdog, the Midnight Mayor - drummer on practically every Fat Possum blues record worth owning.
Check out Silver Lions 20/20 on myspace
200 Million Thousand is The Black Lips through a psychedelic filter - languid, louche and fuzzy. It’s good to know that they also found an outlet for their more raucous side this year (see the Almighty Defenders LP higher up in our top 100 list).
Pic by Erika Goldring
Some great contemporary country from Steve Earle’s boy - including a great cover of The Replacement’s Can’t Hardly Wait. One of the finest country rock records of the year.
Justin Townes Earle~I Don’t Care from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.
Check out a the whole JTE session on Laundromatinee
The Zookeepers put out two great LPs this year, both worthy of inclusion in our top 100. I’m sure the band wouldn’t be suprised to find Elmer’s Paste Land a bit lower down in our list than it’s counterpart Ballin’ Outrageous. Elmer’s Paste Land is a buffet of out takes and jokey jams - but even something the band consider so throwaway contains some golden nuggets. Darling and Oh to be Loved are both killer tunes and there’s a whole heap more of them on the LP.
The Zookeepers have the same mix of ridiculousness and musical experimentation as Ween - you should download this free album now. It will make your day.
Download Elmer’s paste land in its entirety >
Check out The Zookeepers on myspace
The Dance to the Radio label have put out some cracking records this year - fast becoming one of our favourite music purveyors. The debut from Grammatics is no exception - a near perfect LP.
Check out Grammatics on myspace
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