Matt Jordan has compiled an archive of 51 covers performed by The Decemberists and frontman Colin Meloy. The artists covered include Morrissey, The Smiths, Sam Cooke, Björk, Pink Floyd, Robyn Hitchcock, The Velvet Underground and more.
My favourite albums of 2009
(Oh look, it’s February. Please file under embarrassingly late.)
The Antlers’ Peter Silberman teamed with new bandmates to craft his first non-solo record, the tender and affecting tale of a terminally ill lover’s painful decline. Epic and desolate in equal measure, the Brooklyn trio’s Hospice tops a list that looks like this:
- Hospice — The Antlers
- xx — The xx
- Veckatimest — Grizzly Bear
- Chant Darling — Lawrence Arabia
- The Hazards Of Love — The Decemberists
- Noble Beast — Andrew Bird
- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix — Phoenix
- Followed By A Trail Of Sparks — Good Laika
- Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle — Bill Callahan
- Lungs — Florence + The Machine
Biggest surprise of the year was four (now three) 20-year-olds from South London whose sleek, sexed-up debut (xx) demonstrated experience and a command of the craft far beyond their years. The kids these days.
My favourite local albums were Silver Scroll winner James Milne’s alter ego, Lawrence Arabia, with an infectious collection of finely-tuned pop classics, and Wellington collective Good Laika, who delivered a darker, more restrained sophomore album that wasn’t without its upbeat moments.
The Grizzly Bear album is the band’s most accessible to date but didn’t charm everyone; I don’t mind admitting it took me a few listens through. The passing similarity to local indie darlings past Bressa Creeting Cake on the odd track didn’t hurt either.
Possibly against better judgement, Florence and her machine sneak in there at the end on the back of repeated listens in the lead up to a superb headline performance at the first Auckland Laneway Festival this past weekend. The album is overly-dramatic, stylistically muddled and one or two tracks too long, but the girl sings so heartily about boys and coffins that most of this is easily forgiven.
Also rans: Fever Ray’s self-titled solo release, M. Ward’s timeless Hold Time, Annie “St Vincent” Clark’s Woody-Allen-inspired Actor, Bombay Bicycle Club’s I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose (thanks Jarred for the introduction) and Noah And The Whale’s The First Days Of Spring.
Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks gig poster by Methane Studios. (via Mike Harding)
The Gaslight Anthem poster by El Jefe Design. (via OMG Posters!)
Oh my. A three-disc 21st anniversary reissue of one of my favourite albums, the Cure’s Disintegration, including 20 unreleased rarities and an extended cut of Entreat. Release date is set for the northern hemisphere spring. (via Adam McGechan)
Trent Reznor plays the first concert in the last-ever Nine Inch Nails tour, entitled “Wave Goodbye”, at New York’s Bowery Ballroom. Photo by Kyle Dean Reinford.
Amazing fan-made video by Gabe Askew for Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks”. Someone hire this guy. (via Mike Harding)
