15-11 :: Continuing the countdown, the final five come next weekend.

10. Daniel Fridholm – Daniel Fridholm May 2009. Unreleased

Some may remember Daniel Fridholm’s praising review earlier this year. Since then popular, Record of the Year-nomiated blog ‘Cosmic Disco’ has also ran features articles, and 2010 should be seeing more material.

‘I Need Green’ is a synthpop masterpiece that feels as at home under December’s darkened skies and drunken nights, as it does; picnics in the fleeting days of British summer. The middle eight would fail to get anyone popping shoulders, or shaking hips. Still a fantastic album.

LISTEN: I Need Green

9. Peter Doherty – Sheepskin Tearaway March 2009.

About four years ago I went to see some rather banal, rather dull comedy with an ex-girlfriend. A video montage begins and it is soundtracked by a beautiful guitar track that I recognized instantly. Years before that, running parallel to The Libertines, Peter Doherty had sat and recorded his own sessions in hotel rooms, in crack dens, in taxis, in pubs, and at home; demos that formed narratives throughout his life. Sheepskin Tearaway, was the song I recognized, and its inclusion instantly made me smile.

Grace/Wasteland was met to murky reception this year. Peter Doherty has the potential to be his best when he records alone, and Grace/Wasteland was a nice dip into an ocean that would keep him afloat. This album version is polished there is intentionally added reverb, rather than that achieved reverberating from his hollowed squat-walls of earlier days and his voice sounds fragile, yet with a pop edge that mothers could love him everywhere. This album only signals what is to come.

LISTEN:  Sheepskin Tearaway

8. The High Wire – Leave Me In Love Dec 2009. Grandpa Stan

The High Wire are a band who have been quietly bettering themselves and gaining recognition throughout the year.

Leave Me In Love, like a lot of their most recent material, fuses a sound akin to the americana-indiepop of Fleet Foxes, and a pop-psychedelia in a distant vein to Animal Collective. Yet with a lofi British edge to it, still breeding in the afterglow of 2008′s new folk revival. If this is progression of our strain of the genre, then I welcome it wholeheartedly.

LISTEN: Leave Me In Love

7.  Example – Watch the Sun Come Up Sep 2009.

One of the greatest tragedies this year was Example’s release date for Watch The Sun Come Up; released in a month that, retrospectively was admittedly one of our hottest of the year, ‘Watch the Sun Come Up’s September release just felt overdue. Example had written the hit of the summer, it was just four months too late.

With Balearic piano, and electro-house beats, Example’s white-rapping deep croon fits the music perfectly; who’d have known this was that rapper we loved, who use to rap over The Rolling Stones, Harry Nilsson, and Lily Allen back in the day. Equally as good, and certainly the biggest track he’s ever done.

LISTEN: Watch The Sun Come Up

6.  Jamie T – Sticks N Stones June 2009. Pacemaker Records

Working in Wimbledon this summer, a lot of songs are both synonymous both to working and summer; the tracks from the ‘Sticks ‘N’ Stones’ E.P. rest reassuredly in both those lists.

While his album delivery in 2009 was a letdown as a followup to 2007′s classic “Panic Prevention,” this little E.P. released just weeks before served as more than enough for fans. Fast-paced punk-inspired hiphop, reggae-inspired pop, and even the mellowed-out, featured here in just four tracks. ‘St. Christopher’ was the perfect for the lows, and ‘Sticks N Stones’ was perfect for the highs; triumphant E.P.

LISTEN: Sticks ‘N’ Stones

GLASSJAW by Mike Fox

First and foremost I would like to thank my buddy Danielle at musicisart for allowing me to give this guest review for one of my favorite bands. On Wednesday November 25th 2009 at The Chevrolet Theater in Wallingford, CT, GlassJaw took the stage with a very dim lighting set, a backdrop of green Puerto Rican flag, Mr. Daryl Palumbo lead singer/front man of GJ bearing a very dapper suit.

The intro started with (You Think You’re) John Fucking Lennon which has not been released on cd as of yet but will be released hopefully soon! which starts out with a very simple drum beat that builds to a chaotic heavy masterpiece a perfect way to start the evenings set. The set followed with glass jaw favorites like Tip Your Bartender, Mu Empire, Star Above My Bed, Ape Dos Mil a set that was very “Worship and Tribute” influenced for the most part with a few newer song‘s and one which front man Daryl claimed to call “Chicken Salad“, just an inside joke .

The stage performance of Glassjaw was a very intimate set, all band members very close to one another as if they were a garage band in a cramped basement setting. The vibe on stage was very calm and collected during moments and front man Daryl Palumbo’s energy and stage presence has never failed to amaze as usual, often comparative to Deftones Chino Moreno and Jacob Bannon of Converge, from his gut wrenching screaming in John Lennon to singing the catchy melodies of Ape Dos Mil.

The moment Glassjaw arrived on stage to the final song Siberian Kiss, It brought my to a very nostalgic point of remembering the first time I heard the cd “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence”, and feeling eternally hooked. GlassJaw is a powerful band that has stayed true to themselves and their music throughout the many of lineup changes and obstacles that has hit them in their face‘s, I amongst many other Glassjaw fans look forward to their future plan’s and projects.

Words by Max Vernon

I personally love when music tells a great story, so I try to create portraits of the people I meet. I admit I’m not above writing songs to get back at people who suck (as in the case of “Around Your Finger” and “Your Girlfriend”), as long as there is some kind of disconnect between the emo-ness of the music and the lyrics to keep it interesting. To me there’s nothing worse than a whiny, pissed off break up song that sounds like a whiny, pissed off break up song. But, if you take those bitter, slightly immature lyrics and stick them with a jaunty honky tonk jazz piano riff, then it’s a whole different creature…

If there’s one song on the EP that isn’t like the others (SAT flashback time), it’s probably “Hunted.” I still have no idea why or how I ended up writing a song about Grendel. I didn’t even really like the book! Must have been some good weed…

All of the songs on Manic Impression were recorded in my bedroom with basically just a laptop, a microphone, and a keyboard/guitar. I hear fuller arrangements in my head for a lot of these tracks and hope to rerecord them with more ambitious orchestration someday soon.

Music Is Art

In honor of the nature of this blog, I thought it also might be cool to share some of my other art with you guys also. I think the visual art and the costumes I create for performances are more surreal and a bit darker than my music, but it’s all just two sides of the same coin. The new songs I’m recording for my second EP kind of bridge the gap thematically between my music and art.

This is the outfit I created for my recent CMJ show, using about 1000 googly eyes.

.Inspirations of Music.

There’s so much incredible music being made right now, I can’t get enough! I love Final Fantasy, Fever Ray, St. Vincent, Beach House, and Joanna Newsom in particular. However, I feel a really deep sense of connection with Laura Nyro’s music. She had a lot of success writing for other artists in the late sixties, but I could never understand why people weren’t as receptive to her as a solo artist. She’s by far her best interpreter. Her ability to conform the pop music idiom to her crazy song structures, tempo and key changes, as well as her courage to pursue a musical vision that was so distinct from her contemporaries…it’s very inspirational to me. I could write an essay, but it’d be much better if you just listened for yourself.

.Fashion of Alexander Mcqueen.

His new Atlantis themed collection blows my mind. Those shoes/torture devices should be in a museum. I love the fearless creativity of his work, it inspires me to think outside the box when I’m making my costumes for shows and can’t afford to spend $12,000 on a jacket. I think life would be more exciting if people had the courage to turn themselves into walking works of art. All you need is hot glue, glitter, and a salvation army… check it out here: http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2010RTW-AMCQUEEN

.Art of Gottfried Helnwein.

Gottfried Helnwein is probably my favorite visual artist. I love this particular painting in which he reimagines the annunciation as an angel coming out of the TV screen. His work tends to be very provocative and macabre, but it definitely resonates with me. He basically does everything- film, photography, painting, drawing, set design, makeup, etc. Check out more of his stuff here: http://www.helnwein.com/

.Philosophy of  Michel Foucault.

I think it might be a central ambition of mine to be the first Foucauldian pop singer…

As a student of queer theory, Foucault is kind of the starting point before you begin your slow descent into having an anxiety disorder haha!  There is no centralized power to fight against! There is no such thing as sexual repression, because it is the repression that creates desire in the first place! We should all fist each other! You know, it’s all very enlightening…to anyone interested, be sure to check out History of Sexuality vol. 1, as well as Halperin’s Saint Foucault.

Listen Feist – Mushaboom (Postal Service Remix)

Image PlanetSark

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Panda Bear and Grizzly Bear created their very own majestic and rare remixes for the Notwist’s song “Boneless” from the 2008 beautiful and haunting album “The Devil, You + Me”.

Listen ♥

The Notwist :: Boneless (Grizzly Bear Remix)

The Notwist :: Boneless (Panda Bear Remix)