Журнал

Nothing like business from keeping you from blogging. Unfortunately most of the events I'll be relating are now mostly a blur, but just for my own personal satisfaction (and so I don't forget), I'm going to scrawl down a few lines...

In late December, Guenter Schulz (ex-KMFDM, ex-Slick Idiot) came to town with his Schulz unit, and I was lucky enough to be "on the list", so to speak. Vlad from VD had scrimped and saved to get enough cash to get him and his Canadian-based band over, but the crowd at Osaka Clapper was a bit on the small side. Maybe it could've been promoted a little more actively...I was one of the first to arrive and chatted up some of VDs acquaintances for a bit before Nick (Fucked 76 and Ben (Heian) arrived to provide me some company. Ben had been playing tour guide for Guenter and his son, who was playing bass with the band that night. I wasn't looking forward to spending the whole night awake, but there was enough going on to keep me interested:

LOVEBEACH was first, and for an OFFMASK 00 / Psychouts alumni, it was a bit disappointing. Weird electronic rock (which is good), but a bit too sloppy and abstract to hold my interest. DJ Tuttle (just written up in Japanzine as one of Japan's Top DJs) however, surprised us all with an aweseome and very appropriate set of rare-groove 80's electro and a bit of industrial. Really obscure stuff in the Art of Noise vein. Ka4u also played an ultra hyper breakcore set that might have been fine at another venue on another night, but he basically ended driving us all outside.

Schulz came on REALLY late, and they were pretty good. I wish the drum programming would have been a little more dynamic, but eveything else (including the somewhat creepy ex-Marine-ish raspy lead singer) was fun. Then circa 4 fucking AM Ultra Bide came on and kicked the usual ass in front of the 10 or so people there. Guenter even guest guitared on Look You Up There!, which was pretty awesome. Later on I sat outside and talked with two of the women running the ticket counter and chatted about the underground scene a bit. Turns out, one of them was actually a member of 赤痢, which totally blew my mind...

FFW to the beginning of January at Club Metro, and yet another Ultra Bide show. The whole thing was basically free (1000 yen entrance, but you get two drink tickets), and fun, though I came stag and was a bit lonely. ヤーヤーボールヤー (if I'm not mistaken) was quite good, funky Buffalo Daughter influence, and DeeJayおしゃれ was really pushing the envelope playing
Geinoh Yamashirogumi, which really panders to all my prejudices at once. Ultra Bide was practically on fire that night, the huge crowd of college kids reacting to his fiery speeches about the true spirit of Japanese punk between his energetic sets.

Fucked 76 and Heian had a free show at Cafe Independants in Kyoto a few days later, which finally gave me a chance to check out this cool basement space. Just a block of Teramachi, it's smack dab in one of the trendier neighborhoods downtown, and the decor and atmosphere hinted at it's former glory as one of the premier live houses in Kyoto. Ben's Kyodai girlfriend was there and good conversation as always, and Nick's set was well received. Ben started to get nervous, realizing his dark set was a bit too evil for the coffeehouse atmosphere, but he went up there and rocked the house regardless. Good times, and I (J.P. DuQuette) will be playing with those two on the 15th at Urbanguild it seems, so that's going to be fun.

Picked up the new Passion Pit CD with the Japan-only bonus tracks, and absolutely fell in love with it; in utter bliss when the DJ at the 5th Anniversary WhyNot!?!? Japan party played both remixes of The Reeling. (Now even Miwa and Alex are addicted..) The WhyNot sisters asked me to DJ at one of their parties in the near future, and I gladly accepted; it may be a meat market, but the dance floor is always full during the last hour of the party, and that's very gratifying for a DJ...

Ah, yes and a representative from The Molice (one of my favorite new J-rock bands) contacted me on Facebook and agreed to let me upload their album to Last.FM. That's for later today, though.

Finally, amazon saliva played at Yaso last Saturday, and it was predictably fantastic. Nick DJed, that night as well. NASCA CAR also performed, and it was the first time I'd seen them play with れお (ULTRA Jr., ex-Ni Hao!) on drums. She was electric, as usual.

This was the first time I'd seen AS play as a trio (last time I'd seen them, Tabata had just been hospitalized for liver trouble). Anyway, it was the psych-punk super group I had expected, with Hide on bass, Tabata (ex-Boredoms) on guitar and NANI (BOGULTA, NANYCAL Z) on drums. Krautrock meets punk with lots of marijuana references = my kinda show. Not to mention you had Kawabata Makoto (Acid Mothers Temple and The Melting Paraiso UFO) in the crowd playfully heckling, as well as the usual Kyoto Underground royalty. Hope I get a chance to see Tabata when he plays with Zeni Geva at Bears later this month...

Afterwards Hide talked to me about getting some sort of English "talk show" events started where he'd lecture on Japanese punk. I have no clue in hell where to even start getting something like that going (and have my doubts about it flying at all), but I'll do my best...

Oh yeah, and I finally got the new
Nitzer Ebb in the mail; glad I got the Belgian version with the four bonus remixes, as they are all pretty good. The album itself is predictably cheesy, feeding heavily on the detris-genres of Futurepop and late 90's industrial electro that were actually spawned from the wake of the Ebb's groundbreaking late 80's/early 90's EBM stuff. What's really lacking is the stark and sleazy rivethead poetry they are known best for, but I was just happy to hear the voice and stomp around a bit to some of the more aggressive tracks on the disc.

The third season of the Japanese Rock Artist League is over, and well done to our new Champion NUMBER GIRL

However, the artists that finished in the bottom four places in J-League 3 get relegated from the league system. This season they are; Boredoms, Loudness, lynch. and サディ (Sadie). Which means we once again need four new artists.

Join the Japanese Rock Artists League Group

Please read these four simple rules before voting.

1. The artist must be formed in Japan. For example, Asobi Seksu has Japanese members, but was formed in the US and are an American band.

2. The band must be acoustic, rock or metal, or any sort of sub-genre. I will normally check the last.fm tags.

3. You may vote for up to 4 artists. Take your time to vote, this thread will be open for at least 3 weeks [from 25th January]. If you vote for more than 4, I'll just take your top 4.

4. Do not vote for any in this list, as they are already in the league system.

9mm Parabellum Bullet
abingdon boys school
ACIDMAN
ART-SCHOOL
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
Aqua Timez
The Band Apart
Base Ball Bear
BEAT CRUSADERS
Boredoms
Boris
BUMP OF CHICKEN
Cornelius
DéspairsRay
Dir en grey
ELLEGARDEN
flumpool
ガゼット (the GazettE)
ギルガメッシュ (girugamesh)
GO!GO!7188
HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR
HYDE
L'Arc~en~Ciel
Loudness
LUNA SEA
lynch.
MALICE MIZER
Maximum the Hormone
Melt-Banana
雅-miyavi-
Mono
ムック (MUCC)
NUMBER GIRL
Ogre You Asshole
ONE OK ROCK
ORANGE RANGE
the pillows
Plastic Tree
Plus-Tech Squeeze Box
Polysics
凛として時雨 (Rin Toshite Shigure)
サディ (Sadie)
椎名林檎 (Shiina Ringo)
SPARTA LOCALS
ストレイテナー (Straightener)
Supercar
Syrup16g
té
THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT
UVERworld
VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE
World's End Girlfriend
X JAPAN
Zazen Boys


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is what people have voted for so far;

4 Votes

downy
GACKT

3 Votes

chatmonchy/チャットモンチー
D
ミドリ (Midori)
Spangle call Lilli line
THE NOVEMBERS
Versailles

2 Votes

Deadman
toddle

1 Vote

54-71
BUCK-TICK
Coaltar of the Deepers
Condor44
Corrupted
Church of Misery
DELUHI
die in cries
Envy
Eve of Destiny
FACT
FAKE?
hide
LM.C
LOSALIOS
Mirror
夢中夢/Mutyumu
Psychic Lover
S O a P ??
Spitz
Sunny Day Service
The Birthday
toe
VAMPS

So, like every year, I make a 'Best Of' without ranking - listed in the order I heard them. They're simply what I feel are the very best albums of the year; more likely than not, they were listened to more than anything else.

Following that I've shared a list of albums entirely worthy of anyone's time, that didn't quite merit a "best of" designation.

And finally, a new segment: music I discovered in 2009 which was released prior, whether it's last year or 40 years ago. Listen to everything on this list to enrich your life.

BEST OF 2009:


Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion



I don't ascribe to revisionist history. You probably went apeshit for this album in January but talk shit now that your kid brother likes 'em. This is a great psychedelic pop album.

Bullion - Young Heartache



Incredible 'instrumental hiphop' although that term is sorely lacking here. This is the first dj-based music I've heard since The Avalanches seminal Since I Left You to give me even a remotely similar feeling. Pair it with his Get Familiar + Rude Effort single and you've got the sweetest half hour of 2009 music.

The Field - Yesterday and Today



Minimal techno blossoming into something altogether more wide-reaching and accessible, expanding the definition of what Kompakt records invokes. Touches of the Boredoms' tribal transcendence, trance-like trippiness, and unabashed pop music ooze out of this album's pores.

Fox Bat Strategy - Fox Bat Strategy



A decade+ old recording by the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me house band, curated and released by David Lynch himself. Think everything Lynchian: 50's pop, piles of reverb, spooky atmospherics, sweet / menacing lyrics, and a creaky, lived in demeanor that helps define this as utterly timeless. 1959, 2009, or 2059, these songs live in your dreams.

Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport



Tribal noise drone dance trance whatever you want to call it. This is deeply affecting, gravitationally heavy dance music for a caveman rave or an asteroid collision. The most tangible elements of the past locked into a technicolor display of modern virtuosity. Hypnotizing.

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band - Between My Head and the Sky



A longtime hero of the art world returns with one of, if not the best album in her career, with a little help from her friends. Think John Lennon's post-Beatles experiments, psyched out kraut grooves straight out of Cologne in the 70s, New York post-punk, no-wave, disco-not-disco, and the most singular and influencial voice in recent history rolled into an adventurous lifetime-spanning collection of music with an energy that puts folks half, even a quarter of her age, to shame.

The Flaming Lips - Embryonic



Don't call it a return or comeback: this may be the Lips reclaiming their raucous early days as far as shaggy noise goes, but the album is both more experimental and more mature and accomplished than anything they've yet unleashed. Harkening back to the ragged psychedelic roots of their sound, using that as a base to jump through everything from their mid-90's carnival extravaganzas to the string-laden height of their musical growth (Zaireeka / Soft Bulletin), they've managed to round up every loose end possible while leaving a whole raft of new threads hanging, ready to pull out towards the future. Nothing in years has sounded this HUGE.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar



Leapfrogging over their 2007 debut by miles, this Philly group synthesizes everything interesting they were known for (shoegaze sheen, noisey feedback twisting, wobbly synth lines and dreampop vocals) and spills forth this continuous dream of blasted pop tunes bubbling from post rock structures (or lack thereof) into the most hypnotically unified, dizzying rollercoaster of an album this year.

White Rainbow - New Clouds



Everything you know about dream music is taken into consideration, multiplied together, and promptly disregarded by this masterpiece. More than perhaps any LP in 2009, this one defines the year for me. So-called hypnagogic pop has nothing on the truly woozy mind-melting 4 tracks contained here. The review on my blog says everything I could say: http://optimisticunderground.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/new-clouds/ Basically, this is bliss on record. Clouds don't even begin to describe the effervescent joy White Rainbow rides here. Put it on low volume to set sail for dreamland, or crank it up to shake your house apart in a sun-worshipping frenzy.

Shackleton - Three EPs



Hearing about both the continued vitality and impending death of dubstep all year, it's easy to understand folks stepping back and ignoring the whole galaxy while the dust settles, content to pick up whatever pieces are left after the fact. Well fuck that laziness. Shackleton has done more to stretch the boundaries of the genre, incorporating nearly every active subgenre of electronic music in vogue this decade into a cavernously dubbed out sculpture of forward thinking chill out music. Play it to anyone thinking there's nothing new under the sun and watch the grins slowly creep up. Weed optional.

Dam-Funk - Toeachizown



Funk, through and through. This is the most futuristic album made by old school instruments made all year, if not the entire "oughts" decade. Dam-Funk has crafted such a singular and deep body of work here that it demands attention from anyone coming into near orbit with the massive (2CD, 5LP!) thing. Despite standing FAR outside any of the trendy genres 2009 had to offer, this album stands head and shoulders above anything your favorite blog went apeshit over - and because of this it will most likely be far more fondly recalled when the time comes to look back on these days. Get it now to hear what I mean. Or go back to your 'chillwave' acts which you'll be shitting on in a year's time.

Oneohtrix Point Never - Rifts



This one snuck up on me at the last second; in fact I'd only heard a track or two before the official end of 2009. Luckily I have the common decency to wait until the year is actually complete before sharing the best of it (ahem, every music magazine in existence) so a gorgeous bombshell of alien earworm fantasy like this can get the recognition it's due. A 2CD set collection the band's 3 LPs and various rarities, Rifts takes me on a trip through a wormhole filled with the best 80's soundtracks (think Thief, Blade Runner, Legend, etc etc etc) and minimalism/drone epics of the modern era, mixed through a lense orbiting Terry Riley, Ashra, Emeralds, and anyone else popping into your mind while reading this. Despite arriving at the tail end of the year (for me), this one colors the past 365 days as deeply as anything else on the list.

----------------------------------------------------

THE (VERY WORTHY) REST:

ROVO - Nuou

Boredoms - Super Roots 10

Dan Deacon - Bromst

The Durutti Column - Love in the Time of Recession

Hudson Mohawke - Polyfolk Dance

Coconot - Cosa Astral

Peter Bjorn and John - Living Thing

Shogun Kunitoki - Vinonaamakasio

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us

Dorian Concept - When Planets Explode

Dusty Kid - A Raver's Diary

Fever Ray - Fever Ray

Burial & Four Tet - Moth / Wolf Cub

Prefuse 73 - Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian

Meanderthals - Desire Lines

Subway - Subway II

J Dilla - Jay Stay Paid

Paul White - The Dreams of Paul White

Moby - Wait For Me

Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas - II

Lunar Testing Lab - Seashore Blvd.

Ganglians - Monster Head Room

Yagya - Rigning

Tim Exile - Listening Tree

jj - jj n° 2

Nosaj Thing - Drift

Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs

The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa

Flying Lotus - LA EP 3X3

Nudge - As Good As Gone

OOIOO - Armonico Hewa

The Antlers - Hospice

Oh No - Dr. No's Ethiopium

Flight of the Conchords - I Told You I Was Freaky

Eliot Lipp - Peace Love Weed 3D

the Gaslamp Killer - My Troubled Mind EP

Universal Studios Florida - Ocean Sunbirds

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon

Tim Hecker - An Imaginary Country

Tyondai Braxton - Central Market

Teebs - Teeps 09 Mix

Memory Tapes - Seek Magic

Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2

Emeralds - Emeralds

DJ /rupture - Solar Life Raft

Dr. Strangeloop - Are We Lost Mammals of an Approaching Transcendental Epoch?

Boris - Japanese Heavy Rock Hits Vol. 3

Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Sweet Trip - You Will Never Know Why

Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind EP

King Midas Sound - Waiting For You

Sun Araw - Heavy Deeds

Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem

Black to Comm - Alphabet 1968

Grackle - Desert Acid EP

-----------------------------------------------

NOT FROM 2009:

Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein

Shogun Kunitoki - Tasankokaiku

Dimlite - This Is Embracing

Steve Reich - Music For 18 Musicians

A.R. Rahman - Dil Se

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin

Caural - Mirrors for Eyes

Santo & Johnny - Santo & Johnny

Omar Khorshid - Rhythms of the Orient

Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul

Dif Juz - Soundpool

John Cale & Terry Riley - Church of Anthrax

Alice Coltrane - Transcendence

Boris - Flood

Bill Fay - Bill Fay

the Gaslamp Killer - I Spit On Your Grave

Z-Rock Hawaii - Z-Rock Hawaii

Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4

Blue Sky Black Death - Late Night Cinema

Bows - Cassidy

Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness

Tetsu Inoue - Ambient Otaku

William Basinski - El Camino Real

...and there are many more I'm forgetting at the moment, so this segment will most likely be appended soon.

The Flexible Entertainer is the new album by the Chicago experimental rock band Pit Er Pat. It's coming out later this month on Thrill Jockey. Judging by the free track Water, the duo comprising Butchy Fuego and Fay Davis-Jeffers seems to have made quite a shift in sound from their previous efforts, the subtle and creepy High Time and Pyramids. (Fuego has since been playing drums with the likes of Boredoms, Lucky Dragons, Lichens and others.)
Pre-order and stream the whole album here. Download Water below.

Water

elliedi's top albums (12 months) 1. Nite Jewel - Good Evening (255) 2. Geneva Jacuzzi - kooze control (217) 3. Lush - Gala (209) 4. DJ Chaos X - Live Mixxx (186) 5. John Maus - Love Is Real (172) 6. Amon Düül II - Yeti [Germany Bonus Tracks] (170) 7. Hawkwind - Warrior on the Edge of Time (128) 8. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - House Arrest (2006) (117) 9. DJ 光光光 - Planetary Natural Love Gas Webbin' 199999 (110) 10. Young Marble Giants - Singles And Salad Days (93) 11. Mary Timony - Mountains (89) 12. My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything (85) 13. Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living (78) 14. Helium - The Magic City (75) 15. Excepter - Debt Dept (70) 16. Baby Sloth Spirit - VOLUME II (70) 17. Excepter - Streams 01 (66) 18. Flying Saucer Attack - Flying Saucer Attack (60) 19. Dolphins Into the Future - Untitled (58) 20. Yma Sumac - Voice of Xtabay (57) 21. ADULT. - Resuscitation (57) 22. Ariel Pink - Haunted Graffiti 2: The Doldrums (57) 23. Sunroof! - Cloudz (55) 24. Kate Bush - Phoenix Demos (51) 25. Billie Holiday - Complete Original American Decca Recordings (51) 26. Michael Flower - returning to knowing nothing (phase two) (50) 27. John Maus - Songs (49) 28. Le Tigre - Feminist Sweepstakes (49) 29. Boredoms - Pop Tatari (49) 30. Basic Channel - Basic Channel - BCD-2 [BCD-2] (47) 31. Men's Recovery Project - Bolides Over Basra (47) 32. Silver Summit - Silver Summit (46) 33. Growing - Color Wheel (45) 34. Harumi - Harumi (45) 35. The Damned - The Light at the End of the Tunnel (disc 2) (44) 36. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (42) 37. Psychic Ills - Dins (42) 38. Excepter - Self Destruction LP (41) 39. Talking Heads - Sand In The Vaseline [Disc 2] (40) 40. Amon Düül II - Phallus Dei (40) 41. Talking Heads - Sand In The Vaseline [Disc 1] (40) 42. Orbital - In Sides (40) 43. Cursillistas - Thee Seven Storey Mountain (40) 44. Death in June - The World That Summer (39) 45. Księżyc - Księżyc (39) 46. The KLF - The White Room (38) 47. Harmonia - Deluxe (38) 48. Growing - All the Way (38) 49. Popol Vuh - In den Gärten Pharaos (37) 50. Smog - A River Ain't Too Much to Love (37)

WIZARDISHUNGRY's top albums (12 months) 1. Karlheinz Stockhausen - Stimmung (163) 2. Excepter - Presidence I (107) 3. Young Jeezy - Evil Empire And Young Jeezy - The American Dream (105) 4. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna (88) 5. Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You (87) 6. The Juan Maclean - The Future Will Come (82) 7. DJ 光光光 - Planetary Natural Love Gas Webbin' 199999 (81) 8. Cansei de Ser Sexy - Cansei de Ser Sexy (81) 9. Kraftwerk - Radio-Activity (78) 10. Excepter - Alternation (72) 11. Men's Recovery Project - Bolides Over Basra (71) 12. The Beatles - White Album [The Beatles] (Disc 1) (71) 13. Kraftwerk - Tour de France Soundtracks (71) 14. OOIOO - ARMONICO HEWA (70) 15. Laserdance - Discovery Trip (69) 16. Excepter - Debt Dept. (69) 17. Throbbing Gristle - 20 Jazz Funk Greats (67) 18. Nintendo - Famicom 20th Anniversary Original Sound Tracks Vol. 1 (67) 19. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (66) 20. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (63) 21. Atom and His Package - A Society of People Named Elihu (63) 22. Boredoms - Super Roots 10 (61) 23. Gong - Camembert Electrique (61) 24. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt II (60) 25. Harmonia - Deluxe (60) 26. Piebald - Barely Legal/All Ages (60) 27. Gong - Angel's Egg (59) 28. The Flying Lizards - Fourth Wall (59) 29. Baby Sloth Spirit - VOLUME II (58) 30. Gang Gang Dance - God's Money (56) 31. Force of Nature - III (56) 32. Todd Terry - Let It Ride 12'' Single (55) 33. Jean Michel Jarre - Magnetic Fields (55) 34. Daniele Baldelli - Cosmic (55) 35. Tinchy Stryder - Catch 22 (55) 36. Orbital - Orbital 2 (Brown Album) (55) 37. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs (54) 38. Altz - V4 (54) 39. Love - Forever Changes (53) 40. Animal Collective - Spirit They're Gone Spirit They've Vanished (52) 41. DJ Chaos X (aka Eye) - Live Mix Happy Set (51) 42. Seiichi Yamamoto - Crown of Fuzzy Groove (50) 43. The Advantage - The Advantage - Elf Titled (49) 44. Sunroof! - Cloudz (49) 45. Fleetwood Mac - Tusk (48) 46. Frankie Chan - Ashes of Time OST (46) 47. The Flying Lizards - The Secret Dub Life of the Flying Lizards (45) 48. Oneohtrix Point Never - Rifts (44) 49. OLAibi - tingaruda (44) 50. The Knife - Deep Cuts (44)

The Neon Handshake - Hell Is for Heroes [2009]
Radio friendly alt rock. pass

Psychic Chasms - Neon Indian [2009]
Ariel Pink stripped of the humor; I'm disappoint.

Mister Pop - The Clean [2009]
The first song I heard from Beach House was Auburn and Ivory, which I feel in love with instantly, the rest of that album is another story. At any rate, The Clean reminds me of that song mixed with a little The Magnetic Fields. It's too bad that the later half of album kinda falls apart.

Clean Hands Go Foul - Khanate [2009]
A screaming mess of metal, 70's psych, and dark ambient. Sometimes these styles get in the way of each other.

Flashmob - Vitalic [2009]
Did you like Cross by Justice? DID YOU? HERE'S MORE OF THE SAME.

Houses of the Unholy - Church of Misery [2009]
Stoner metal ala Clutch and Kyuss only with a "darker edge."

American Football - American Football [1999]
Very similar to Moving Mountains, but with less emo and more instrumental pieces. The instrumental pieces can be a bit boring. I guess I just wish they were even more like moving mountains.

All Reflections Drained - Xasthur [2009]
Surprisingly pretty and not as depressing as his previous releases, but there's still ugliness to be found in the gurgling voice of Malefic.

The Freak of Araby - Sir Richard Bishop [2009]
Instrumental mid-eastern style guitar-centric music. Reminds me of the 60's surfer-ish pop of India.
See:


The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart [2009]
Poppy shoegaze that sounds straight out of the 90's. Pretty meh overall though. I'd rather listen to Polaris.

Discipline/Communication - Shmu [2009]
Disgustingly inoffensive pop with 70's leanings. Squeaky clean with no bite and no balls.

Spirit Animal - Zombi [2009]
Embarrassing 70's style prog rock

Aleph At Hallucinatory Mountain - Current 93 [2009]
Average Current 93 release with the running theme of Adam and Eve and murrrdyeerraah.
Invocation of Almost stands out though very hypnotic.

Earthly Delights - Lightning Bolt [2009]
The first time I listened to Lightning Bolt (the album Wonderful Rainbow to be exact) I was extremely disappointed. It seems that they took all the most annoying parts of Japanoise and threw them together. This album is a different story. The Japanoise influence is much more understated here. If someone told me this was a Boredoms and Boris collab, I'd believe them.

Ataraxiis - Enoid [2009]
Black metals with a pinch of sludge.

Cleanse - Deterior [2009]
Lo-fi black metal infused college alt. rock. There are not enough wtf's to describe this. It's offered as a free d/l from last.fm.

I Just Want To Be Your Everything - The Best Pessimist [2009]
Ambient electronic and post-rock; The Album Leaf pulls off this combo so much better.

Of Sound Mind - Ancestors [2009]
Too much prog in my stoner rock makes me a sad panda.

Animals As Leaders - Animals as Leaders [2009]
Math-rock at it's worst. Somehow boring and weird at the same time.

My Maudlin Career - Camera Obscura [2009]
It's so catchy and super slick production-wise.
Nothing innovative, but it's relying on you feeling nostalgic for a time that never was, at least on some level. Simple pop music hearkening back to a simpler time. Staying up late for a chance to catch them on the Ed Sullivan show. The lead singer wearing a tight, short dress and tall go-go boots, maybe one of the band members will wear a cowboy hat on the more country-tinged tracks. I could totally see a synth player (note: Camera Obscura does not currently have a regular synth player.) on Away With Murder wearing a cowboy hat, but I mostly see close-ups of Tracyanne Campbell looking introspective when I hear that song.

Actor - St. Vincent [2009]
The sugary sweetness is cut with whimsy to make it all go down. Battles is to rock as St. Vincent is to pop. Sometimes sounds like classic Disney songs (the ones in Alice in Wonderland and Snow White and The Seven Dwarves, specifically) have been cut up and thrown into the beat. An Animal Collective colab would be wonderful. The main structure of the songs and the lyrics remind me of a Broadway musical in the same vein as Grease or West Side Story, especially Actor Out of Work.

Two Suns - Bat for Lashes [2009]
Too meh, too normal. Needs more weirdness (see: Actor and My Maudlin Career).

Arrow - Clare and the Reasons [2009]
So cute. Reminds me of Minnutes; who's best known best for that more to luv song in the target commercials
Obvious hipster cred comment goes here.

An Empty Canvas - Wixel [2009]
Downtempo electronic music
A grower for sure. Released in June, but more of a winter album, if you ask me.