Decade in Review: Sigur Ros
Sigur Ros
Sigur Ros is a giant ball of emotion. They are every movie, every event and every memory in your life that has had an emotional impact on you wrapped up into musical notes. I’m a grown man and don’t cry very often. Not because I’m a “MAN” but because I have better control then others – unlike my father. But I will admit it right now that when I saw the documentary Heima (means Home in Icelandic), I shed a few tears. Not sad but happy, joyous and celebratory tears. From the pounding beats to the whale like melodies that lead singer, Jonsi, is able to produce, this band is truly a phenomenon that we are lucky to have the opportunity to experience live. For those of you who have yet to see Sigur Ros in person, I call on you to not let this opportunity pass you by. You have to let yourself succumb to the intense aura that both this band and their country emit just once in your life and I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.
We were lucky enough to visit the mysterious land they hail from, Iceland, this past year. Lucky for me I’m marrying someone with many friends sprinkled throughout the world. Amanda’s friend Kristjan, his lovely girlfriend and baby daughter were a warm welcome to a country that has warm welcome written all over it. From the bar, ironically called Boston, to the natural spring called Blue Lagoon, it was truly a trip to remember and one that has convinced us of multiple return visits.
2009 Album: No album
Lead singer, Jonsi, released a solo album called “go” this year. Learn more about the album and get a free download at his website.
Got me hooked: ( ) – Untitled
“Untitled 4″ – (Download & Stream)
Hip2besquare 2009: Decade in Review
While I began my exploration without the help of the Internet, there’s no question that without it my music collection would not be where it is today. Modern day radio or MTV are over commercialized and it would have been almost impossible to learn about these great artists without the open possibilities of the Internet. It started with Fluxblog, Stereogum, Pitchfork and Scenestars (no longer in existence). This list of course has grown exponentially since then.
To start off my year end list like so many of my fellow bloggers have done, I will highlight my top inspirational artists of the past 10 years.
There are about twenty bands / artists on this list. They’ll be posted during the remainder of the year and at the very end I’ll share the rest of the albums that I picked up this year that are worth mentioning.
Note: To purchase albums, scroll over the album title and an Amazon window will pop up. In some cases Hip2besquare gets a small referral fee if you purchase the album.
Wilco
When I first heard Yankee Hotel Foxtrot I was convinced that this album would easily be remembered as one of the great masterpieces of classic American rock / pop music. In reality, what I was listening to was one of the greatest bands and artists, Jeff Tweedy, of our time. It took me a little while to get into some of their older material such as Being There (2 LP 180g vinyl with bonus CD)
2009 Album: Wilco (The Album)
Got me hooked: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Flaming Lips
“Oh Yoshimi, They don’t believe me, but you won’t let those robots eat me.” Screaming this line from the top of my lungs down Green St. in Burlington Vermont my Junior year is definitely a fond memory of this past decade in music. When someone put Flaming Lips in my hand for the first time since I had heard the She Don’t Use Jelly song from back in the 90’s, I thought it was a joke. While their behavior may come off as not being serious, and they would probably be the first to make claim to such non-serious behavior, their ability to write conceptual albums and masterful psychedelic rock music is nothing but serious. And for those who thought Flaming Lips were getting out of the coneptual album business and were happy being the wacky live show dudes, their latest, Embryonic, should help deter those thoughts.
2009 Album: Embryonic
Got me hooked: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Stephen Malkmus
Some may find it strange that I’m putting Malkmus and not Pavement on this list. To be honest, there are moments of Pavement that I really enjoy but just about all moments on the Malkmus albums that I own are enjoyed with every listen. When I first heard Pig Lib, the guitar and vocals produced by Stephen practically fried my brain. I didn’t know what to think or rather how to comprehend what was going on. There are so many twists and turns in his song writing that for the casual music listener there is a clear “enter at your own risk” stamped to his style. He has a rather unattractive singing voice which causes some to claim Pavement as well as Stephen overrated. But they said the same thing about David Byrne and the Talking Heads in the 70’s and 80’s so you do the math. If you’re like me and a sucker for guitar mastery, look know further then Malkmus.
No 2009 album
Got me hooked: Pig Lib
Bonus Download: “Cold Son” from the album Face the Truth
Phoenix
If it wasn’t for the great directing of Sophia Coppola and the performance by Bill Murray in Lost in Translation I may not have been so drawn to this movie and all that went with it, including the music. After listening to the soundtrack once, It only took a few seconds before Too Young’s pulsating guitar riff and intoxicating chorus section were forever supplanted into the fabric of my musical bones. While I’ve been a fan since 2005, it was only recently at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston that I got to see them live. And they may just make the ranks as one of my all time favorite live performers. They just keep getting better in my opinion.
2009 Album:Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Got me hooked: United
Bonus video:
Andrew Bird
I can remember the exact moment when I took a break from work and perused the usual blogs to see if I could find any new gems. The one most frequent visit was to Fluxblog and it was here that I heard the song “A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left” by Andrew Bird that blew me away. It was like nothing I had ever heard before. From his ability to whistle any melody imaginable to his ability to intertwine lyrics through his bouncy rhythms, Andrew is a true virtuoso. The lyrics, the meanings of which would make Dr. Seuss proud, dive deep from the consciousness of a down home Midwestern farm boy. Ladies and gentleman, I give you my maestro of the first decade of the 21st century.
2009 album: Noble Beast
Got me hooked: Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
Bonus Video:
Tom Waits
This obsession started when my college buddy, Fred Torphy, who’s got his own band now out in San Francisco (Big Light), introduced me to Tom’s 1973 classic, Closing Time. Since then, I’ve been in awe of his ability to continuously pump out songs with lyrics that could easily put him up in the top ranks of one of the greatest poets of our generation. My favorite material comes from Tom’s older albums where it sounds like he has inhaled five cigarettes and a couple shots of whiskey before singing into the box instead of today where it’s more like a full pack and an entire bottle of whiskey are on the menu before taking his cue. But his three disc monster released in 2006, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
2009 Album: Glitter and Doom Live
Got me hooked: Closing Time
Bill Frisell
To express how much Bill means to me in words is not easy. Much like the difficulty of putting a category to his music – part jazz, country, Americana and old timey music. It all started back in the early 90’s when he released the album Have a Little Faith
2009 Album: Disfarmer
A beast of an album with 26 tracks, this is classic Frisell at his best. The album is honoring the late Mike Disfarmer, a famous photographer who was born in 1884 and died in 1959. Chances are you’ve seen one of his black and white photos of the late 19th to early 20th century America. Learn more about the Disfarmer Project at www.disfarmer.org
Got me hooked: Nashville
To Be Continued…
Review of Phish 3.0 – Summer 2009
Phish - Comcast Theatre, Hartford, CT - 8-14-09 - Photo by Dave Vann © Phish 2009
Ah yes, the ever loving Phish heads and their plans to take over the music world by convincing every living soul that Phish is the gateway to complete and total consciousness. I will admit, when I was 16 and saw my first Phish show at the Spectrum in Philadelphia in 1996 I was set on adopting this mission. But as someone who has grown both musically and professionally, I’ve come to realize that Phish is just one of many bands that elicit these feelings of joy.
Unfortunately for many, this realization has yet to set in. But I digress and will confidently say Phish is one heck of a good time when they’re on their game. The fist pumping, funk shaking, groove making sounds can fill an arena of 30,000 quite nicely and it would be hard for any music critic to not get swept up in the energy that ensues.
As an old Phish head who after these past two shows in August (Hartford and Saratoga) has seen 52 shows, I have a strong platform to provide a quick look at their sound and where it stands today compared to years past.
What appears to have changed the most for me is the identity of the show. From what I’ve heard and experienced the focus has turned to the identity of the song. Whether this is on purpose or not, clearly the shows themselves don’t seem to be all that different accept for a few surprises here and there. I had a couple of friends who went from Darien, NY then to Hartford, CT and finally Saratoga Springs. For them, the song selections and line up was very similar to Darien (except the wild and wacky Harpua at the end). I’ve heard this same argument from other individuals who went to more then two shows back to back. If you want to go to a show where you hear the same music over and over again you’d go to one of those “indie” shows we hear so much about (disclaimer: I go to lots of indie shows). But of course, this isn’t the reason you trek out to see Phish. You go to be privy to a unique experience.
Mention the word “bomb factory” to an old Phish head and they’ll know exactly what you mean (Download from livephish.com). Today this identity appears to be unhinged. It could be that the band is just getting their kinks figured out and eventually the crazy flows will return to their original form.
Some people may love the first set monsters they’ve been pumping out this tour. I for one would have been satisfied if they stopped with “David Bowie” at Saratoga but instead they kept it going with “Cavern,” “Possum”, “Ocelot” (new song) and finally “Antelope”. To me, this is over doing it. Perhaps they are trying to avoid the fans from complaining about the lack of classic tunes being played. Maybe they’re not worried about the flow any more. Maybe they just want to play what they want when they want. I personally don’t believe this to be true. For one, Trey Anastasio is way too anal of a person to let something like the flow of a show go without a thought. In the end, the identity issue is more then how tight they perform each song but about how connected they become to each show.
Saying my piece on what I miss, I will say that when it comes to playing their classics, they’ve done their homework. One song that stands out as the all encompassing come back song has to be “Stash”. From the first one I heard at Fenway, to the amazing 20 minute long excursion they busted out at Red Rocks to the straight up tension building killer at Hartford, their ability to transcend the original components of this song to their peak capacity is enough to keep me coming back for more. If it helps to add to this songs cred, in 1998 it came in at 73 in Guitar World Magazines Readers’ choice for greatest solo of all-time.
Does this mean I’ll travel 1,000 of miles to see them in Indio, California for their Halloween throwdown? Probably not. If I haven’t made the trip out there for Coachella yet I doubt I’ll make an exception for ganga goo balls.
As for my compadres out in the music blog world that look upon Phish with a smirk and a smile, keep in mind that this isn’t about the amazing studio and production outputs by Phish. It’s not about how well they translate from studio to stage (in fact, it’s quite the opposite). The Phish thing is more about letting go and getting caught up in a moment. But like with any band, it’s not going to groove with everyone.
If you’re going to give Phish a shot next time they’re around, go out of your way to get as close to the stage as possible, get the VIP treatment, stay out of the way of the bouncing hippies and focus on the rock jams in front of you. Barring any major disasters, I guarantee you’ll enjoy the show.
Download & Listen to “Stash” from the Comcast Theatre @ Hartford, CT:
Download & Listen
Thank you to Mr. Miner for the “Stash” download.
Looking forward to these albums in 2009
Another favorite year end lists is the list of anticipated albums for the following year. Here are some that I’ve heard about that get me pumped.
P.S. More Best of Albums to come just need that two or three hours of alone time to put more down on ‘computer screen’
1/20: Animal Collective, “Merriweather Post Pavillion” (Domino Records)
1/20: Antony and the Johnsons, “The Crying Light” (Secretly Canadian)
1/20: Bon Iver, “Blood Bank EP” (Jagjaguwar)
1/27: Andrew Bird, “Noble Beast” (Fat Possum)
1/27: Franz Ferdinand, “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand” (Domino Records)
1/27: Warren G, “The G-File”
1/27: Loney Dear, “Dear John”
2/3: Mos Def, “The Ecstatic”
2/10: Dan Auerbach (Black Keys singer), “Keep It Hid”
2/17: M. Ward, “Hold Time” (Merge Records)
2/24: Black Lips, “200 Million Thousand” (Vice Records)
3/3: Neko Case, “Middle Cyclone” (Anti-)
3/17: Bonnie “Prince” Billy, “Beware” (Drag City)
3/17: MSTRKRFT, “Fist of God” (Dim Mak/Downtown Records)
Early 2009: Phoenix [Title TBA]
Spring 2009: Wilco [Title TBA]
?: Doves [Title TBA]
?: Blur [Title TBA]
?: Naughty by Nature [Title TBA]
?: New Pornographers [Title TBA]
If you know of any others, let us know by posting it in the comments.
Updated by me:
1/20: A.C. Newman, “Get Guilty” [Matador] – Listen to “Submarines of Stockholm” (Download song at Stereogum)
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Early 2009: Akron/Family, TBD [Secretly Canadian / Dead Oceans] – They have a show at TT the Bears on 12/28 and will be showcasing some of the new songs off this album. Listen to their music: http://www.akronfamily.com/?id=av
3/31/09: Great Lake Swimmers, “Lost Channels” [Nettwerk] – Their 2007 release, Onigara, was definitely a favorite album of mine this year. In fact, since I discovered it in 2008, it may even end up on my year end list. Listen and download “Your Rocky Spine” from Onigara: (Download)
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About Editor
Name: Luke "Kip" Owen
Location: Boston, MA
Contact: kippy[AT]hip2besquare[DOT]net
Twitter: twitter.com/kipdog
Youtube: youtube.com/kipdog
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