Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest

Are you familiar with the concept of dualism? Me neither. Completely irrelevant to the philosophical concept, though, 2009 definitely presented quite the interesting polarity when it came to album releases. There were plenty of great ones and an unfortunate amount of things never meant for the ears. But focusing on just the positive side of 2009′s musical spectrum, the following are some of the records I’ve fallen in love with this year.

Personally, ranking stuff in accordance to best and least just make me uneasy. Hence, I’m listing my top ’09 records in alphabetical order (with supplementary zany visual aids for your short attention spans)!

Beacons – Ohbijou

Check: New Years – Ohbijou

Bitte Orca – Dirty Projectors

Check: Stillness is the Move

Far – Regina Spektor

Check: Laughing With – Regina Spektor

If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone – The Wooden Sky

Check: Oh My God (It Still Means a Lot to Me) – The Wooden Sky

It’s Blitz! – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Check: Heads will Roll – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Merriweather Post Pavillion – Animal Collective

Check: Summertime Clothes – Animal Collective

Speak of Trouble – Great Bloomers

Check: This Ain’t You – Great Bloomers

Technicolor Health – Harlem Shakes

Check: Strictly Game – Harlem Shakes

Tight Knit – Vetiver

Check: Everyday – Vetiver

Veckatimest – Grizzly Bear

Check: Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear

Immaculate Machine

In case you missed out on RIP: A Remix Manifesto during Canadian Music Week, you can pay what you can for a download of the whole film online! To pay (or not, if you’re financially strapped for cash at the moment) and watch it, click here.

Pink Mountaintops and Quest For Fire will be at the Horseshoe on June 14th.

Rock Plaza Central will be playing a slew of shows in Toronto soon, starting with a show at the Tranzac on May 25th. This is followed by a free in-store at Sonic Boom on May 26th and a set on May 27th at the George Weston Recital Hall during the day and at the Dakota Tavern with the Skydiggers at night. And if for some reason, you still end up missing out, they’ll be back for one more show on June 13th at Lee’s with Suckers.

Speaking of in-stores, Vetiver will be at Sonic Boom next Friday, May 15th at 7:00 pm, just before their set at the Horseshoe later that evening. This show is free and all-ages.

Immaculate Machine has a new video out for their single, “Sound the Alarms” Watch here. I’m still impartial to the new material from High on Jackson Hill, as I have yet to listen to the album, but “Sound the Alarms” is a good start; slightly stepping away from the happier pop tunes of Fables but still maintaining its light-hearted rock attitude. I look forward to hearing the full album!

Happy listening!

Musically,
Melody