My Top 10 Songs of 2009

The presentation of this post is far less fancy than the last, but here are my favourite tracks of last year!

1. Jamie T – Sticks and Stones

2. Metric – Stadium Love

3. Editors - Papillon

4. Doves – 10:03

5. Whitley – Head First Down

6. Kid Sam – We’re Mostly Made of Water

7. Bertie Blackman – Byrds of Prey

8. Temper Trap – Resurrection

9. Franz Ferdinand – Bite Hard

10. White Lies – Death


Though these following two make 11 and 12 for having awesome film clips:

11. Philadelphia Grand Jury - The Good News


12. Kasabian - Vlad the Impaler

My Top 10 Albums of 2009

My lists begin, first of all with my favourite albums of 2009! So, here we go...

10.

Seemingly a little more serious than their previous albums, Quicken The Heart doesn’t seem to having any owning tracks like Our Velocity or Apply Some Pressure but its sinister numbers certainly make it something amusing. Top tracks are Let’s Get Clinical and The Kids Are Sick Again.

9.

I was pretty worried to here Editors had gone “electronic” with their third album, but luckily for me the reports were a little over the top. This is certainly a change for the Englishmen, but certainly not a bad one. I like it more and more with each listen. Top tracks are Papillon and Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool (for its title, if nothing else).

8.

I had my reservations about this album at first – I hadn’t realised it was released for several months after the fact and then discovered a few questionable reviews. It might not be as kickass as Pawn Shoppe Heart, but I for one think its quick, punchy rock and roll numbers are great. Top tracks are She’s Dead To Me and Blame Game.

7.

Completely changing your tune works! Not that I didn’t like her music before (Favourite Jeans was great) but Secrets and Lies just has too many good songs to excuse Bertie’s decision. It also has one of naffest choruses (White Owl). Top tracks are Byrds of Prey and Black Cats.

6.

Best festival performance of the year + two incredible singles = top 5. Again, this is a versatile album that doesn’t seem to ever get boring. Top tracks are Stadium Love, Help I’m Alive and Sick Muse.

5.

I can’t stop listening to this album, which is lucky because I loved their first album so much. This is certainly a different take to the debut, though. The View stepped away from the attitude a bit, but certainly tried out a bunch of cool new ideas. Top tracks are 5 Rebeccas, Glass Smash and Distant Doubloon (for being so theatrical).

4.

As much as I love the first two Kasabian albums, I find I’m liking this one more and more thanks to its diversity. It really moves around and provides more interesting tracks than the first two albums, albeit not as anthem-like. Top tracks are Fire and Vlad the Impaler.

3.

I saw the Arctic Monkeys at the Palais in January and immediately liked new songs (Crying Lightning, Dangerous Animals). Humbug is the perfect evolution for this band. Basically, they’ve received criticism for their live show not equalling the party energy of their tracks, whereas here they’ve developed a much darker sound that’s more mature (and awesome on a different level) to Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.

2.

I was expecting to love this album and luckily it delivered. Having seen these guys many times before they disappeared, it was weird that they had completely ditched all their old material. Releasing the album under a mass of hype then disappearing overseas seems like it paid off – doesn’t look like I’ll be catching them at the Toff again anytime soon. Top tracks are Resurrection and Science of Fear.

1.

There is not one song on this album I don’t like and I was instantly sold on its lead title track. Jimi Goodwin is singing at his best on this album. It was actually the first of the Doves I’ve heard, which of course led me to their back catalogue. Jetstream is a brilliant opener, Kingdom of Rust, Winter Hill, House of Mirrors and 10:03 are all addictive listens. An awesome show at the Palace certainly helped this choice, too.

The Age EG Awards feat. Painters and Dockers @ Prince of Wales, Melbourne (20/11/2009)

The Age EG Awards at the Prince was certainly one of the more random nights of attended of late. A room full of bogans aren't really interested in awards, nor the nominees. This was all about Painters and Dockers and boy what a set they delivered - madness - sheer, fun madness!

Read all about the show at FasterLouder by heading here

Couple of vids.

Tex Perkins performing Ring of Fire. He does Cash so well, I saw him perform the whole Man in Black show a couple of months back and it was very impressive.


Painters and Dockers - Pull Me Off. This is one of the tamer number of the night.


You're going home in the back of a divi van!

Before Too Long: Triple J's Tribute to Paul Kelly @ Forum Theatre, Melbourne (14/11/2009)

Triple J put on a fantastic tribute to Paul Kelly and his 30 years of music. The stand outs of the night were Dan Sultan doing Give In To My Love, Megan Washington singing solo on Meet Me in the Middle of the Air, Clare Bowditch rocking out on Deeper Water and of course Paul Kelly himself delivering I Remember. And how could anyone resist a sing along to From Little Things Big Things Grow?

You can read all about the gig at FasterLouder by heading here

Here are some videos:

Dan Sultan - Look So Fine, Feel So Low. This guy is just a solid entertainer and never fails to impress.


Ozi Batla - Sydney From a 727. I was really hopinh for a hip hop rendition of this, but it's cool nonetheless.


Katy Steele - Most Wanted [Wo]man in the World.


Paul Dempsey - Dumb Things. Sorry about the jumpiness, but how could I resist?


John Butler - How to Make Gravy. He wasn't billed for the Saturday night gig, which made this all the sweeter.


John Butler/Missy Higgins/Dan Sultan - From Little Things Big Things Grow. Classic.


Set list:
Before Too Long (Ash Naylor)
Love Never Runs on Time (Bob Evans)
Everybody Loves You Baby (Megan Washington)
Meet Me In The Middle of the Air (Megan Washington)
Your Lovin’ Is On My Mind (Paul Dempsey)
You Touched Me Down To My Soul (Dan Kelly)
Cross Town (Dan Kelly)
Every Fucking City (Katy Steele)
Give In To My Love (Dan Sultan)
Look So Fine, Feel So Low (Dan Sultan)
Deeper Water (Clare Bowditch)
To Her Door (Clare Bowditch)
They Thought I Was Asleep (Jae Laffer)
When I First Met Your Ma (Jae Laffer)
Careless (Ozi Batla)
Sydney From a 727 (Ozi Batla)
So Much Water So Close To Home (Adalita)
Sweet Guy (Adalita)
From St Kilda to Kings Cross (Bob Evans)
Most Wanted Man in the World (Katy Steele)
Dumb Things (Paul Dempsey)
You Can Put Your Shoes Under My Bed (Missy Higgins)
If I Could Start Today Again (Missy Higgins)
How to Make Gravy (John Butler)
From Little Things Big Things Grow (John Butler/Missy Higgins/Dan Sultan)
I Remember (Paul Kelly/Michael Barclay/Jon Schofield)



Legend.

ACDC Exhibition Launch @ Arts Centre, Melbourne (13/11/2009)

To launch the fantastic ACDC Exhibition that's just opened at the Arts Centre, a bunch of of local rock musicians got together on the back of a truck to perform some of the greats. Among the performers were Johnny Galvatron (The Galvatrons), Bel Salter (The Gin Club), Rusty (Electric Mary), Paris Wells and Adam "Colesy" Cole (Bugdust). Big credit to the half dozen on the fence rocking out for the whole set! This was a pretty decent free event, enough to remind us all of the real thing arriving in February.

Go and check out the exhibition - it's on at the Arts Centre main gallery until 28 February 2010.

Here's a bunch of videos from the gig.

Johnny Galvatron - High Voltage. I turned to Anthony during this and said, "Wow, it sounds just like the Galvatrons..."


Ben Salter - Kicked In The Teeth. Didn't realise he could scream so well!


Rusty - Let There Be Rock.


Paris Wells - Highway to Hell. Certainly a strange rendition of ACDC, but cool nonetheless.


Colesy (along with the rest of the artists performing) - If You Want Blood, You Got It. Seriously. Awesome. Beard.


For those about to rock!

Maximo Park @ Billboard, Melbourne (11/11/2009)

Top gig of the year? Perhaps... Unfortunately, my camera had no battery, so despite being in an awesome spot I couldn't get any footage :(. Paul Smith is a legend; love him!

Great set, though. Read all about it at FasterLouder by heading here

Managed to grab a set list:


Apply some pressure!

Paolo Nutini @ The Forum Theatre, Melbourne (28/10/2009)

Paolo Nutini called up the Forum on Monday to notify them they'd spelt his name wrong. Brilliant. He also put on a very cool show there the night after! You can read all about it at FasterLouder by heading here.


I've got one video from the show, Jenny Don't Be Hasty: