Last year I did a list of twenty five albums, and I began to think that the rank ordering no longer meant anything once I hit a certain number. This year I thought I was going to do a top ten with a not so short list of other albums, but then I decided that would be the same thing as a top twenty five.

I feel like I settled in the middle. I was able to narrow 2009 down to fifteen albums, and no short list. These are my favorites.  If you haven’t heard them check out the mp3, and if you like it buy the album…you won’t be disappointed. Cheers.

———————————————–

The Great Pumpkin’s favorite albums of 2009.

15.) Screaming Females- Power Move

Hearing this record for the first time was like the first time I heard Dinosaur Jr.  Power Move was released by Don Geovanni Records.

[mp3] Screaming Females- “Bell”

• buy it here.
• more on Screaming Females can be found here.

14.) Desolation Wilderness- New Universe

When I saw the cover and title of this album I hoped it would sound like it looked.   And it did.  A shoegaze master piece released by K Records.

[mp3] Desolation Wilderness- “Boardwalk Theme”

• buy it here.
• more on Desolation Wilderness can be found here.

13.) Alex Bleeker and the Freaks- Alex Bleeker and the Freaks

Classic Rock for my generation. This record gets more powerful with each listen. Released via the wonderful Underwater Peoples Records. Their cover of “Animal Tracks” is just as good as the original.

[mp3] Alex Bleeker & The Freaks- “Animal Tracks (Mountain Man cover)”

• buy it here.
• more on Alex Bleeker can be found here.

12.) Sonny and The Sunsets- Tomorrow is Alright

Sonny and the Sunsets made the perfect warm weather pop album that it transcends seasons. I find that even on a morning as cold as today Tomorrow is Alright can make me feel warm inside. Sonny is part of the Endless Nest Collective, and if you know what is good for you should have your eye on the nest…so many great records came out of this group in 2009. Tomorrow is Alright was released by Soft Abuse Records.

[mp3] Sonny and the Sunsets- “Too Young To Burn”

• buy it here (the LP is sold out…maybe get it here?).
• Sonny’s website
• Endless Nest’s website.

11.) Nite Jewel- Good Evening

This is an album of psychedelic dance jams  and not necessarily the dance music you would hear in a club, but more what you want to chill out with at the end of the night.  This record was released by Human Ear Music / Gloriette Records. 

[mp3] Nite Jewel- “Weak for Me”

• buy it here.
• Nite Jewel’s website// myspace

10.) BOAT- Setting the Paces

If there has been one album this year that can bring me out of dark times it is Setting the Paces.   Released by Magic Marker Records.

[mp3] BOAT- “Prince Of Tacoma”

• buy it here.
• more on BOAT can be found here.

9.) Julie Doiron- I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day

While she is known for her sad songs this album shows her lighter side, and that is something that I really enjoy…and she can totally wail on that guitar too.  Released by  Jagjaguwar Records.

[mp3] Julie Doiron- “Spill Yer Lungs”

• buy it here.
• more on Julie Doiron can be found  here.

8.) Ducktails- Ducktails// Landscapes

As far as I’m concerned these two should have been a double album.  I have a hard time thinking about them separately. Ducktails in a sense gave birth to Real Estate, and possibly this whole thing chillwave thing.  Ducktails came out via Not Not Fun and Lanscapes via Olde English Spelling Bee.

[mp3] Ducktails- “Landrunners” (off of Landscapes)

• buy Ducktails here // buy Landscapes here.
• more on Ducktails can be found here.

7.) Karl Blau- Zebra

This man is a constant inspiration to me.  This record is just one of three albums that he made this year that I fell in love with. Released by K Records.

[mp3] Karl Blau- “Dark Sedan”

• buy it here.
• more on Karl Blau can be found here.

6.) Pains of Being Pure at Heart- Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Like a time machine to the late eighties //early nineties.  Another great album from Slumberland.

[mp3] Pains of Being Pure at Heart- “Come Saturday”

• buy it here.
• more on Pains Of Being Pure at Heart can be found here.

5.) Ganglians- Monster Head Room

The first full length form this Sacramento band, and it was pretty much perfect.  The LP was released by Weird Forest and CD by Woodsist (who will be repressing the LP).

[mp3] Ganglians- “Crying Smoke”

• buy it here.
• more on Ganglians can be found here.

4.) TOM: WFMU’s the Best Show’s Tribute to Paul McCartney’s RAM (various artists)

The Best Show put together the best tribute album ever.  If you are unfamiliar with RAM it is the only album I have ever heard of by Paul McCartney refered to as dirty (and that is a very good thing). Released as a DJ Premium for donating to WFMU… Sad that it was so exclusive.  The moral of this story is…DONATE TO WFMU!

I haven’t really listened to Danielson over the past couple albums, but this cover makes me want to rethink that…one of my favorite tracks from this album, and one of the best covers I have heard in a long time.

Danielson- “Monkberry Moon Delight”

• The Best Show// WFMU
• Oh and if you don’t already have it…buy Paul McCartney’s Ram here (or used on LP here).

3.) Mount Eerie- Wind’s Poem

I am a long time fan of Phil Elverum, and on this album he took me to a place I never imagined I’d go.  Dark and beautiful…seeing it performed live gave me the best halloween I’ve had in years.

[mp3] Mount Eerie- “Between Two Mysteries”

• buy it here from P.W. Elverum and Suns.
• more about Mount Eerie  can be found here.

2.) Julian Lynch- Orange You Glad

After this record I will be on the look out for anything Julian Lynch ever releases.  Orange You Glad has moved me. Released on Olde English Spelling Bee.

[mp3] Julian Lynch- “Rancher”

• buy it here.
• more on Julian Lynch (mp3s, video, pictures, reviews, more) can be found here.

1.) So Cow- So Cow

By far the record I listened to most this past year.  The pop catches you, but the guitar and lyrics keep you. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to Tic Tac Totally Records.  If you didn’t catch So Cow when they were in the states last year their 2010 American Tour starts in less than two week!  Tour dates can be found here.

[mp3] So Cow- “Casablanca”

• Buy it here.
• more on So Cow (reviews, posters, mp3s, pictures)can be found here.

———————————————–

Thanks for reading my best of lists.  I’m pretty sure this is the end of it…my goal was to get it up by February 1st, but I ended up one day late…I’m ok with that.

You can find more of mine, and some of my special guests, best of lists here.

Compared to other blogs I’m a little behind on posting my best of lists…but I’m not beating myself up about it, and in fact I’m right on par for my lists from the past two years (actually a little a head of last year). Now that all most my guest posts up I’m finally moving on to my own favorites.

First up is going to be my favorite songs of 2009.  While I loved many songs this year these tracks are by far what I think of when I think of 2009.  If you have been following me over the past year most of these will come as no surprise because most of them come from artist I have been obsessed with for years.  All songs in this short list have been covered on the Great Pumpkin in 2009, and below the track will be a link to buy the album as well as a link to the posts I’ve made about the artist.

the great pumpkin’s favorite songs of 2009

in no particular order.

[mp3] Karl Blau- “Dark Sedan”

• my posts on “Dark Sedan” can be found here (mp3) and here (live video).
• other posts on Karl Blau can be found here.
• “Dark Sedan” appears on Zebra (K Records)
  • Buy it here.

[mp3] Ganglians- “Crying Smoke”

• my post on “Crying Smoke”
• other posts on Ganglians can be found here.
• “Crying Smoke” appeared on Monster Head Room (Weird Forest/ Woodsist)
  • Buy it here.

[mp3] Mount Eerie- “Between Two Mysteries”

• my posts on “Between Two Mysteries” can be found here (mp3) and here (live video).
• other posts on Mount Eerie/ Phil Elverum here.
• “Between Two Mysteries” appeared on Wind’s Poem (P.W. Elverum & Suns)
  • Buy it here.

[mp3] Ariel Pink & the Haunted Graffiti- “Can’t Hear My Eyes”

• my post on “Can’t Hear My Eyes”
• other posts on Ariel Pink can be found here.
• “Can’t Hear My Eyes” was originally on a 7″ that is now out of print (Mexican Summer).
• oops.  this came out in 2008.  whatever…I was obsessed with it in 2009.

[mp3] Real Estate- “Beach Comber”

• My post on “Beach Comber”
• other posts on Real Estate can be found here.
• “Beach Comber” appeared on Real Estate (Woodsist).
  • Buy it here.

There will be a best of compilation to come that will include all of these tracks, as well as tracks from my favorite albums of 2009.  Keep your eye on the blog for the zip file.

Next up in my best of series will be my favorite 7″, 10″, and 12″ EPs.

Other Info:

• the photo above of Phil Elverum was taken by klk and I on halloween at market hotel on a holga.  one of the best shows of the year.
• the great pumpkin had lots of guests contribute best of lists… find those here.

Halloween is a holiday that always has really high expectations, and typically doesn’t live up to them…so when I heard that Mount Eerie was playing my decision was made for me…Mount Eerie never disappoints.

This was my first time hearing Malkuth and Liturgy.  Malkuth went on shortly after we got to Market Hotel, and played for what seemed like forever…and not forever in a bad way, but more like…wow this opening band is playing for over an hour.  I was pretty impressed, but as I soon found out it is hard for any band to share the stage with Liturgy. I haven’t been to a metal show in a couple months, and I really did enjoy it…even klk got into Liturgy, and the metal typically isn’t her thing.  As far as black metal goes I got more out of Liturgy’s performance on Saturday than I did out of Wolves In the Throne Room earlier this year. Liturgy can keep the underlying melodic guitars even during a full blown thrash session.  Totally worth checking out:

[full album] Liturgy- Live on My Castle of Quiet at WFMU (via FMA)

Mount Eerie took the stage in a form that I have yet to see, and this was due to the recent release of Wind’s Poem.  Not only was Elverum on stage, but he was accompanied by both Julia Chirka and Nick Krgovich of No Kids as well as two drummers.  Their set consisted entirely of songs from Wind’s Poem, and Phil let us in on something that I was previously unaware of…Wind’s Poem was written by himself and Nick Krgovich (last time I saw Nick play it was less than exciting, but he redeemed himself on Saturday night).  Mount Eerie sounded thunderous, and the amazing part was that there was only one guitar on stage.  Krgovich and Chirka both played keyboards, and Elverum stood center with the guitar. For me heavier music can sometimes get lost in the wall of sound created by too many guitars, and I think Elverum has found the perfect combination for his live set up to show off both his song writing and vocals.  With only one guitar Elverum was able to shine over the the heaviest music he has ever written.  Mount Eerie’s set was near perfect, and Krgovich even interjected a dance beat into what I consider one of the best songs of the year:

Mount Eerie still have most of their tour to go…I highly recommend catching them…only good things can come of it….tour dates can be found here.

In other Mount Eerie related news….

Julie Doiron, who collaborated with Phil Elverum on last year’s wonderful Lost Wisdom, will be gracing NYC this Thursday, November 5th, accompanied by Herman Dune at the Bell House. Julie released an excellent album this year, I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day (which will also be making my best of 2009 list), and was great when she played Cake Shop this past spring.  If you are unfamiliar with Julie she used to play in Eric’s Trip, and has been making music on her own since the early 90’s.  Check out one of my favorite tracks from last year’s Lost Wisdom:

[mp3] Mount Eerie w/ Julie Doiron & Fred Squire- “Voice in Headphones” (from Lost Wisdom, buy it here.)

Links:

• more on Mount Eerie and Phil Elverum here.
• buy Mount Eerie and P.W. Elverum and Suns releases here.
• more on Julie Doiron here.
• buy Julie Doiron’s releases here.
• more from the free music archive here.
• more gprecs video (Karl Blau, Dum Dum Girls, Los Campesinos! and More) here.

End Note: There has been a lot going on in my real, non-internet, life this week…so blog posts will be scarce until sometime next week.  My stress will greatly decrease tomorrow, and I am looking forward to enjoying Julie play in one of my favorite venues in Booklyn…beer will be calling my name.

There are very few things musically that could make my week better than Karl Blau coming to New York, but this week has topped it.  Phil Elverum and his Mount Eerie will be making two New York appearances this weekend as well!

Mount Eerie released the wonderful Wind’s Poem a couple months back, and if you are a listener or reader of NPR you might have heard about it from them (they know their stuff).  Wind’s Poem is Elverum’s second venture into the realm of black metal, and his vision is breath taking.

Don’t let the words “black metal” or even just the word “metal” scare you away from this album…let me assure you the Phil put’s his own spin on the genre (s), and it is unlike anything I’ve have heard before…metal or otherwise.   Bringing things a little closer to the pacific north west Elverum even incorporates elements of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks into this album, and brings this to the forefront on, another one, of my favorite songs of the year:

[mp3] Mount Eerie- “Between Two Mysteries”

Buy Wind’s Poem here!

I’ve now let you in on two of my favorite songs of the year (one yesterday and one today), but I will even go as far to say that Wind’s Poem is right near the top of my best records of 2009 as well.

Appropriately enough Mount Eerie right after this venture into the expanding realm of black metal will be performing on Halloween….with two of New York’s finest black metal acts….Liturgy and Malkuth!

This is not just any show, but a collaboration between Todd P and Pitchfork’s Brandon Stosuy.  This show is part of Stosuy’s  Show No Mercy series:

Halloween!
Saturday October 31st
at Market Hotel

Also appearing at this show will be No Kids and Tara Jane O’Neil.

I have seen Phil Elverum play as Mount Eerie several times before, and it has never been anything less than magical.  I’m extremely excited to see what type of set he decides to perform while playing with not only one, but two well know black metal acts….could there be a collaboration…I can’t wait to find out on Saturday.

If Market Hotel and black metal aren’t your thing you have a second chance to catch Elverum’s magic:

Sunday November 1st
Wordless Music Presents:
Mount Eerie
with
Tara Jane O’Neil
No Kids
and
Dina Pruzhansky
at Le Poisson Rouge

If you have a chance to catch Mount Eerie at either of these shows you will not be disappointed…if you are not in NYC Mount Eerie will also be appearing at these times and places:

• Mon. Nov. 2nd- Harrisburg, PA- Midtown Scholar Bookstore
  • $7- doors at 6:30, show at 7PM (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Tues. Nov. 3rd- Pittsburgh, PA- Garfield Art Works
  • 8pm doors, $8 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Weds. Nov. 4th- Cincinnati, OH- Art Damage Lodge
  • $7 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Thurs. Nov. 5th- Louisville, KY- Skull Alley
  • $8, doors at 8pm (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Fri. Nov. 6th- Bloomington, IN- Banneker Community Center
  • 9:30, $8 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids and Prayer Breakfast)
• Sat. Nov. 7th- Madison, WI- High Noon Saloon
  • $10, EARLY! 5pm doors, show ends at 8pm (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Sun. Nov. 8th- Chicago, IL- Lakeshore Theater
  • $10, doors at 6pm, show at 7 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Mon. Nov. 9th- Iowa City, IA- Public Space One
  • 9pm, $5 (with No Kids)
• Tues. Nov. 10th- Minneapolis, MN- Bedlam Theater
  • EARLY! doors at 5pm, music at 6, $10 (with No Kids and Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles)
• Weds. Nov. 11th- Rapid City, SD- Sports Rock Pizza!
  • $5 (with No Kids and Motorbikes and St. Merman)
• Fri. Nov. 13th- Pullman, Wash- The Bell Tower
  • $6/$8

Links:

• more on Mount Eerie and Phil Elverum  here.
• buy Mount Eerie and P.W. Elverum and Suns releases here.
  • Mount Eerie releases should always be purchased directly from Phil…I am always amazed at how delicately they are packaged.  I have never been disappointed…hands down some of the best things to pass through the USPS.

In the past I’ve talked about bike riding and injuries, but about a month ago I had an unfortunate incident with the a really shitty UES street (damn potholes). I was fine, despite some some bruising and scrapes…but my hands is pretty telling:

My hand looked worse than it actually was, except for the pinky finger it got pretty swollen for several weeks…and might have been/ possibly still is broken?  It is still tender to the touch…but realistically what can you do for the pinky finger other than tape it to the ring finger?  I didn’t even do that and I think it is healing fine.

The UES really is the worst place to ride in the city…few bike lanes, and very few cars who want to share the road, but I think I have perfected my route to work.  That’s enough about my injuries.

I thought the title “I Cut My Hands Off” was appropriate being that my hand was pretty beat up, and it also happens to be one of my favorite tracks by Mount Eerie.  It ended up making its way on to several mixes over the past year, and has gotten me thinking a whole lot about Phil Elverum’s new album Wind Poems.

From what I understand, and what I have heard of the record, Wind Poems is carrying on the tradition of Black Wooden Ceiling Opening (one of Elverum’s three releases last year) in the sense that is is heavily influenced by black metal.  Elverum is a known fan of Wolves In The Throne Room and Xasthur…and NPR reports that Elverum says that Xasthur’s Subliminal Genoside is a direct influence on Wind Poems.  This influence on top of what people are considering a David Lynch esque Twin Peaks type vibe are pointing to this being one of my favorite albums of the year. And honestly if anyone can pull off the woodsy creepyness of Lynch’s Twin Peaks in their music it’s Elverum…he is already from the pacific north west, and seems to be at one with the nature in the area.

As far as musicians go Elverum is one that I have respected for a long time, and while some people are still looking for him to produce the Glow Pt. 3  I feel that Elverum continues to grow in a way most musicians can only dream of.

As always P.W. Elverum and Suns will be putting out this release, and here is a little bit about it directly from the label:

Wind’s Poem is the 3rd “official” album by Mount Eerie, the third in the continuum of semi-narrative explorations on the themes of erosion and mortality. It is the best record ever made by Mount Eerie or any related projects.

Double clear vinyl, incredible heavy gatefold jackets with bronze foil stamping, 36 inch double sided lyrics poster, everything manufactured to the highest standards of quality.

As expected the packaging of the release sounds above and beyond what normal record companies do.  By this point I hope you are as intrigued by the record as I am…National Public Radio is, and they have the full album streaming from their website.  Check it out here (the link is to the stream and the NPR article):

[full album stream!] Mount Eerie- Wind Poems

Wind Poems as well as all other available releases by Mount Eerie/The Microphones/Phil Elverum can be purchased here.  If you were wondering “I Cut My Hands Off” appeared on the Mount Eerie album Singers.

Mount Eerie is also going on tour!

• Thurs. Aug. 6th- Halifax, NS- North Street Church (with Julie Doiron, Rick White, Calvin Johnson and Calm Down It’s Monday)
• Sat. Aug. 8th- St. John’s, Newfoundland- George Street United Church (with Julie Doiron, Rick White, Calvin Johnson and Calm Down It’s Monday)
• Aug. 13th – 15th, 2009- Asheville, N.C.- Transfigurations
• Fri. Sept. 18th- Portland, Ore.- Backspace (with Tara Jane O’Neil, No Kids, and Karl Blau)
• Sat. Sept. 19th- Oakland, CA- 21 Grand- 416 25th St. (at Broadway) – $8 (with Tara Jane O’Neil, No Kids, and Karl Blau)
• Sun. Sept. 20th- Los Angeles, CA- Center for Arts, Eagle Rock, 2225 Colorado Blvd. – $8/$10 (with Tara Jane O’Neil, No Kids, and Karl Blau)
• Thurs. Sept. 24th- Eugene, OR- Agate Hall at U of O (with Tara Jane O’Neil, No Kids, and Karl Blau)
• Fri. Sept. 25th- Olympia, WA- Northern (with NO KIDS, Karl Blau, Tara Jane O’Neil)
• Mon. Oct. 5th- Oak Harbor, Wash.- Oak Harbor Library, 1000 SE Regatta Dr.- 3pm
• Tues. Oct. 13th- Anacortes, Wash.- Department of Safety (with WHY?)
• Weds. Oct. 14th- Seattle, Wash.- Vera Project (with WHY? and No Kids)
• Thurs. Oct. 15th- Portland, OR- Wonder Ballroom (with WHY? and No Kids)
• Fri. Oct. 16th- southern OR/nor. CA- anyone there?
• Sat. Oct. 17th- San Francisco, CA- Great American Music Hall (with WHY? and No Kids)
• Sun. Oct. 18th- Reno, NV- some help?
• Mon. Oct. 19th- Salt Lake City, UT- Kilby Court, 7pm, $8 (with No Kids)
• Tues. Oct. 20th- Denver, CO- Rhinoceropolis, 3553 Brighton Blvd. (with No Kids)
• Weds. Oct. 21st- Springfield, MO- tba
• Thurs. Oct. 22nd- Lexington, KY- Red Mile Round Barn (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Fri. Oct. 23rd- Charlottesville, VA- tba
• Sat. Oct. 24th- Philadelphia, PA- Haverford College (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Sun. Oct. 25th- Philadelphia, PA- 1st Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut Street (22nd and Chestnut Sts) $10/$12 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Sat. Oct. 31st- Brooklyn, NY- Market Hotel (with Liturgy and Malkuth and Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Sun. Nov. 1st- New York, NY- Wordless Music
• Tues. Nov. 3rd- Pittsburgh, PA- Garfield Art Works, 4931 Penn Ave., 8pm doors, $8 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Weds. Nov. 4th- Cincinnati, OH- Art Damage Lodge, 4120 Hamilton Ave., $7 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Thurs. Nov. 5th- Louisville, KY- tba
• Fri. Nov. 6th- Bloomington, IN- Banneker Community Center, 930 W. 7th St., 9:30, $8 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids and Prayer Breakfast)
• Sat. Nov. 7th- Chicago, IL- tba
• Sun. Nov. 8th- Madison, WI- tba
• Mon. Nov. 9th- Iowa City, IA- Public Space One, 129 E. Washington St., 9pm, $5 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)

Wind Poems comes out August 18th, but there is a chance if you order now you will get it before that (it’s happened before for me with Elverum’s releases).

More on Mount Eerie/The Microphones/Phil Elverum here.

May 2009 brings the first release of the year by Mount Eerie.  The time around it is a CD only (for the time being) release titled: White Stag.

I was unaware of this until I read about it on No Conclusion (and a twitter message from  Chocolate Bobka) this morning, and immediately made my way over to the P.W. Elverum & Suns store to make the purchase.

Phil Elverum gives the background of the new CD:

“From March 30th to April 4th 2009, at the invitation of Matthew Stadler and his Publication Studio organization, I lived in the so called “White Stag Building” in the middle of Portland, Oregon. The building sat on the old mud where Portland began, pretty much, and currently belonged to the University of Oregon and had a long history of various occupants. I wandered the building at night with recording equipment after students had left and ruminated on the site, specifically what the spot might have been like before the building was even there. The result is this 10 “song” CD of sloppy 4 track recordings with the presence of the building clearly audible. Sorry to say, it’s limited edition. We’ll probably eventually release it “officially” (on vinyl) but that might be a while. For now here is a short CD folded up in a complex way inside a poster with words and imagined historical scenery.” – Phil Elverum, May 4th 2009
Here is a newspaper article about the project and here is another.

As you can see by the description that these are very new recordings (as recent as last month!), and that Phil wrote this blurb just yesterday.   While I loved the three Mount Eerie releases of last year, they were in fact old songs… where I’m excited to hear these new recordings where his co-musician is a building.

While it is probably obvious by this point that I am a pretty big fan of Elverum… I’ve learned my lesson with his releases, and I know if he says it’s limited that it won’t be around all that long. For those keeping track: Black Wooden Ceiling Opening is now in it’s second set of packaging, an actual 10″ sleeve rather than the wonderful posters that the early mail order copies came with.

No Conclusion posted a couple tracks from the album (click thru here to listen to them streaming):

[mp3]Mount Eerie- Sighing

[mp3]Mount Eerie- Wasted Wealth

Links taken down. Both songs were off of White Stag.  I recommend getting it soon.

Buy  White Stage from P.W. Elverum & Suns here.

Julie Doiron has been making music for many years now, and it all started back in 1990 with Eric’s Trip.  I wish I would have know about Julie back in high school and college, when all those Eric’s Trip 7″s were sitting on the shelf at 52.5…I guess I was too punk rock or hardcore or something to explore it at that time, but I’m glad I found her now.  She has been releasing solo recordings since 1993 (first as Broken Girl, and then as Julie Doiron)

I guess what opened my eyes to Julie Doiron’s beautiful music was her collaboration with Mount Eerie and Fred Squire last year titled Lost Wisdom.  Admittedly I am a really big Phil Elverum fan, and Lost Wisdom almost brings me to tears each time I listen to it.  I have to say that there really couldn’t have been a better way for me to be introduced to Julie Doiron, and he lovely voice.

It was about a month ago that I tracked down Doiron’s newest album I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day, and I’m so very glad that I did.  I had been told that her previous albums were depressingly beautiful so I wasn’t expecting I Can Wonder… to be a wonderfully up lifting album.  While you get a couple tracks on this album that are mellow with just Julie singing and playing guitar…those tracks are interspersed with really rocking heavier numbers (almost in the vein of Scout Niblett, but less abrasive) that really show how talented and diverse Doiron can be.  I Can Wonder… is a nice counter balance to Lost Wisdom, and I have tended to listen to them back to back…going from depressed to more or less happy in under two hours (manic depressive through music I guess).  It is a wonderful thing for one artist to be able to convey such diverse strong feelings through their music, and this is what Julie Doiron does best.

Other than Mount Eerie, Doiron has collaborated with Calvin Johnson and Herman Dune and many others.

I was able to see Julie play with Mount Eerie, but now that I am familiar with her solo work I am excited about the upcoming shows this weekend here in New York:

4/24/09- New York, NY @ Cake Shop (Early Show: Julie goes on at 9pm)

4/25/09-Brooklyn, NY @ Union Hall

for other tour dates check out her click here.

[mp3] Julie Doiron- “Spill Yer Lungs”

“Spill Yer Lungs” is possibly my favorite song off of her new album.  Buy I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day here! If you can make it out to either of these shows I think you will be very happy that you did.  See you at Cake Shop.

Today was a great day for a rainy walk in the East Village while listening to Mount Eerie’s Dawn.  Here are some of my finds:

for more info on Mount Eerie’s Dawn (where to buy, and what it is) click here.