Best Of

Looking back on 2009, most of us will remember the plunging DOW, Obama’s first year in as Commander-In-Chief, Kanye West’s antics, Disney superstars reigning supreme, and a whole slew of cultural and newsworthy events. I’ll remember where I was when I heard U2’s much-anticipated new album, how Bon Iver kept winning my heart, and how John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats musing on religion made me rethink my own hodgepodge of Jewish-agnosticism. More than ever, music has the power to soothe and uplift, to show that no matter would, creativity and artistry will persevere. When all else is lost, music…

11. Joshua Radin -- Simple Times The first I -- and I'm guessing many others - heard of Josh Radin was during a surprisingly sad conclusion to an episode of NBC's Scrubs. His song "Winter," when combined with the script, packed the sort of emotional punch rarely seen on TV; especially in 20-minute sitcoms. The problem with his first full length, We Were Here, was simply the curse of repetition. The other nine cuts just sounded too much like (and not as good as) "Winter."  Simple Times is by no means a radical variation on the Radin formula: it's still…

When I first joined the Daily Vault staff many moons ago, I was charged with the creation of my first “Best Of” list when December rolled around. After one attempt at it, I came to find the idea of ranking my top ten albums to be terribly unappealing. Since that point, I have taken a much more general approach to these yearly retrospectives, making up categories as I go along. Yet even that has grown stale. This year, I offer up a pseudo-commentary on the music of 2008. These albums may have been personal favorites, works that I felt were…

Turns out, I didn’t listen to a lot this year (which is probably terrible for a music reviewer to admit); but I tended mostly to fall for albums -- head-over-heels, hard, and wholly. Which is why Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago hasn’t left my stereo in approximately three months and I know every lyric to Viva La Vida backwards and forwards. It’s also why people around me either get converted to loving said overplayed albums…or ban me from playing them entirely. But most of this year’s heavy-hitters and indie sensations have gone right over my head, my old habit…

Like a lot of people, I barely had enough CDs in my collection to come up with a “best of” list this year. There was a lot of stuff going on in peoples’ lives in 2008, stuff where music could easily take a back seat. Folks who were busy obsessing over the presidential election might not have noticed that Lucinda Williams came out with a new album. Other folks would have liked to pick up those two covers albums by Cat Power, but were a bit busy reformatting and sending out their resumes because they feared for their job. And…

 10.  Sneaky Sound System -- 2The Aussie dance-pop trio had a big job ahead of themselves in following up a mega-selling debut, but they pulled it off with ease.  An explosion of finely-crafted pop songs, pumping bass/electronica arrangements, and Miss Connie’s powerful vocals all make for the year’s best pop release.9.  Whitesnake -- Good To Be BadYou either love or hate the Snake, and I really do love them.  Coverdale and his current line-up turned out a loud, heavy, and bombastic assault on the senses.  Overblown at times, it’s still classic Whitesnake and easily the band’s best album since 1987.8.…

 10.  The Dears -- MissilesSome fans have described Montreal’s The Dears in concert as “the sonic equivalent of seeing the face of God.” As outlandish a claim as that may be, listening to a Dears record, you at least get a sense of just what said fans are talking about. Missiles is a magnificent display of melancholy indie-pop where front man and chief songwriter Murray Lightburn flexes his muscles as a mope-rock visionary. Having rescued the writing from what on previous Dears albums was an overt and seemingly unapologetic tipping-of-the-hat to The Smiths, the songs on Missiles are concise and…

If last year was big, this year was more medium-ish, musically speaking.  Several of my favorite rock acts didn’t release anything bigger than the odd digital-only track or three (Springsteen, Switchfoot, Fountains Of Wayne, Ian Hunter, Chris Cubeta) and the prog scene was relatively quiet, other than well-received solo albums from David Gilmour and Billy Sherwood, and rumors of a Yes/ELP/Asia package tour in 2009.  Where that left me personally was focusing yet more attention on the ever-growing ranks of super-talented independent acts out there.  So this year for the first time, I’m offering five awards to label-backed releases and…

10. Hannah Montana -- Hannah Montana 2 / Meet Miley Cyrus Say what you will about teen pop-stars, but the songwriters behind the Disney tracks are geniuses. I like hooks and energy, and while there are some clunkers among the 20 tracks, there's no shortage of memorable choruses. 9. Superdrag -- 4 Track Rock!!! 1992-1995 + Complete "Bender" Sessions A 2-disc compilation of Superdrag demos prior to their first major label release. Sound quality varies from track to track, but the song quality cannot be denied. 8. Motion City Soundtrack -- Even If It Kills MeNot as fast as the…

If I could spend my time with only two genres of music -- and wouldn't life be a drag if that were the case -- then I'd probably pick classic rock and alt/indie rock. In both cases, it was a big year. The Who issued an amazing bio-pic, McCartney moved to Starbucks, and Led Zeppelin reunited. Fountains Of Wayne, the Redwalls and Jimmy Eat World all issued new albums, and in at least one case, the results were amazing. 'Twas also a big year for CD/DVD sets (witness the Zep's Mothership, among others), and box sets, and, tellingly, independent releases.…