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.

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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.

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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.

Monday night Julian Lynch played, as far as I know, his only New York City show during his short stay in the north east.  The night would have been special if Julian took the stage by himself, but he came with a full band…consisting of 3/4 of Real Estate and Brody of Family Portrait/Underwater Peoples.  It was a magical performance, and was the perfect way for me to start off my year with live music.

Orange You Glad has been in my head for months, and I was really happy when Julian said that he would contribute a list of his favorite things from 2009 to the Great Pumpkin.  Since his album is one of my favorites I was really excited to see what he loved last year:

Julian Lynch’s Favorites of 2009

Favorite movie:

• Up (more info)

Favorite filmmakers:

• Amy Ruhl (more info)
• Richard Law (more info)

Favorite recorded music:

• Pill Wonder (website/ keep an eye out for an LP on Underwater Peoples!)

Favorite live music:

• Peaking Lights (website)
• Mountain Man (website)

Favorite record labels:

• Underwater Peoples (website)
• Olde English Spelling Bee (myspace/ blog)

Favorite home-cooked pastry:

• Yugoslavian Christmas cookies from my girlfriend, Eileen

Favorite TV series:

• Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 7) (more info)

Favorite new blog writer on the internet:

• Emilie Friedlander (visitation  rites)

Favorite online social networking:

• Twitter (tweet)

Favorite Youtube series:

• rickytic3’s Wizard Alibrataries (watch)
• Vantabill Bertaba Saga (watch)

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Chocolate Bobka was able to capture some of the magic from Monday night at Bruar Falls.  Chocolate Bobka has been doing amazing videos, and if you haven’t checked out their Vimeo channel you most definitely should.

The Underwater Peoples Winter Review was released on Christmas, and there is a new Julian Lynch song on it… as well as wonderful tracks by Pill Wonder, Fluffy Lumbers, Big Troubles, Family Portrait, Mountain Man, Alex Bleeker, Real Estate , and many more.  Get it free for a limited time here:

[Limited Time Free Download] VA- Underwater Peoples Winter Review (via Chocolate Bobka)

Oh if ya’ll didn’t already know…Julian Lynch is PopJew’s pick for the Cutest Boy in Rock n’ Roll!

I took some pictures of Julian and Big Troubles at the show on Monday, and believe it or not…I used a camera with actual film!  When I get those back I hope to post them.  Fingers crossed.

Thanks again to Julian for contributing his favorites list to the Great Pumpkin.  I’m truly looking forward to whatever he releases in twenty ten.

Links:

• Julian Lynch’s myspace / blog / tumblr / twitter
• buy Julian Lynch’s music here.
• more on Julian Lynch here.
• more on Real Estate here.
• more on Underwater Peoples Records here.
• more best of 2009 guest contributions can be found here.

Today, January 7th 2010,  also marks the birthday of the Great Pumpkin!  We are One year old as of today, and I can’t wait to see where I am in 2011!

What is Speed Dating?  Well on the Great Pumpkin that is where a bunch of singles get together, and hang out, but this time it’s mp3s, 7″s, and EPs rather than people.  Speed Dating is where I highlight some tracks that I have been listening to lately.  Whether I like them, hate them, am intrigued by them… no matter what I think they are note worthy for one reason or another. Each post will feature one to five songs by different bands, and aim to get my thoughts out on music that I have been trying to write about, but might not have formed a strong enough opinion to write a full post on. Hence I think that Speed Dating is an appropriate heading for these posts….brief thoughts on singles from my record player and the web.

CO. is from Charleston South Carolina, and first caught my attention earlier this year when I heard “Waiting for Saints to Arrive” on Somebody Come and Play.  That song again showed up on the Charleston 2009 Compilation Zine (which if you are wondering what is going on artistically in Charleston, SC right now email Kim (at) maltedmilk.org for availability of the zine…lots of good stuff on there…and some more of it will be showing up here on the Great Pumpkin).  “Waiting for Saints to Arrive” is a fuzzy stoner jam that brings me back to college in a very good way.  As bored college kids in the south this song feels very true to life, but then again I feel that it is an anthem for bored youth everywhere.  It really captures something important about life, and the first time I heard it remember rewinding the Somebody Come podcast to listen to it five times in a row.  Starting off with just an electric guitar and vocals for almost the first thirty seconds I almost didn’t expect the rest of the band to kick in, but when it does it goes from a minimalist to full blown 90’s influenced indie guitar rock.  It’s a song I find myself returning to now, even months after I initially heard it.

[mp3] CO.- “Waiting for Saints to Arrive”

CO. seems to be moving away from the fuzzy guitar pop in favor of more complex, almost classic rock driven, jams.  They have posted five tracks from their upcoming full length, The Shepherd’s Ocean, on their myspace (and a lot more) for your listening pleasure.

Sole is one of those artists that I can credit with turning me on to hip hop, but I unfortunately haven’t been following him that closely in recent years.  Bottles of Humans, Sole’s debut, is possibly my favorite hip hop album ever, but in recent years he picked up a backing band…the Skyrider Band.  As expected this new track has what I remember best about Sole…his lyrics.  This particular track was remixed by Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow, and adds a touch that I didn’t expect to hear in a hip hop track, even with a live band…Tobacco successfully gives Sole a synthy psychedelic touch…not overwhelming, but enough to make the track unique and still let Sole shine.  Either way it was enough to make me seek out the EP, and check out the new full length.

[mp3] Sole & The Skyrider Band- “Battlefields (remixed by Tobacco)”

[full album download] Sole- Battlefields EP

buy releases by Sole here.

track via No Conclusion.

Big Troubles? The initial information about this group only pointed to good things…from Ridgewood, NJ…associated with Underwater Peoples…and now I read that they have a 7″ and an LP coming out on Olde English Spelling Bee, another 7″ on Blackburn, a split with Fluffy Lumbers scheduled for Transparent, and will also be on the Underwater Peeps Winter compilation.  Musically Big Troubles has a bit of the fuzzy beachy surfiness you would expect hailing from this New Jersey crew, but unlike the rest portrays an almost authentic 80’s vibe on the track “Freudian Slips.”  This track got me hooked, and so far Underwater Peeps and OESB can do no wrong…can’t wait to hear the LP…only good things can come from these guys.  Keep an eye on the record labels listed above for ordering info (and from the looks of it…I’ll be writing about some of these releases in the future).

[mp3] Big Troubles- “Freudian Slips”

Video: Big Troubles- “Freudian Slips” by Ray Concepcioñ

This is it for Speed Dating Vol. One, but I hope to have another edition up next week.  I’m really looking forward to this new segment on the Great Pumpkin, and I feel like I will be able to cover some bands that I have been meaning to talk about for a long time.  Cheers, Tom.

Who knew that a walk to Permanent Records on Saturday would produce such lush soundscapes?  I sure didn’t…all I knew was that my copy of Karl Blau’s Zebra had come in…but sitting there on the wall was one of the newest things to come out of the Olde English Spelling Bee…Julian Lynch’s Orange you Glad.

I had heard two tracks off the eight song LP, and knew that was enough to peak my interest enough to grab the LP.  And as always with OESB the record probably had less than a thousand copies pressed.    This record was released back in August, but this was the first I have seen it in the shops.

Previously my only experience with Julian Lynch was his wonderful split with Ducktails that came out on Underwater Peoples, and I have to say that the combination of the two go together perfectly.

Julian Lynch is an interesting character…he has worked for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and is strongly influenced by world music siting Indian and South Asian music specifically.  Lynch also employs a wide array of instruments including harmonium, tabla, and is known for his use of circular breathing techniques on the clarinet.

While Lynch’s influences and musical talents lends itself easily to pop music these days Lynch has successfully created a beautiful album that focuses more on lush tones, and and harmonies rather than traditional pop structure.  A great way to look at Orange You Glad is in relation to Lynch’s friend and musical cohort Matt Mondanile of Ducktails.  Where Ducktails, at least for me, makes music for warm weather…Lynch has created it’s counter part…a mostly instrumental album that is perfect for cooler weather and the winter to come.  When there are vocals they tend to lend themselves to the song structure almost more so than to the words themselves. Lynch toys with this realm of noise music that is experimental and at the same extremely engaging to the listener…even those who might typically be averse to something that even dabbles in the realm of noise.   The Eastern influences are felt throughout the album, and when they are the main focus (like on “Mercury” and the epic ten minute “The Flood”) provide a warming feeling that I haven’t felt yet this year…maybe bringing to mind places with climates of much kinder weather.  It is also hard to deny that Lynch is an excellent guitarist giving the album a bit of a psychedic twist, and this is obvious in “Venom.”

[mp3] Julian Lynch- “Venom”

[mp3] Julian Lynch- “Rancher”

video: Julian Lynch- “Seed”

Purchase Orange You Glad from Julian Lynch here, or if you have other musical needs at insound here.

Do yourself a favor and pick this one  up…it is already making this cold fall a little bit better for me.

Julian Lynch will be preforming tonight via live broadcast at  Chocolate Bobka’s Showcase at Monkey Town.  The line up for the show is nothing less than stellar:

Please note Ducktails will not be playing this show, but Mountain Man will.

Julian Lynch also has a show at the Project Lodge in Madison, WI with the Dirty Beaches (Projectors oops…sorry about that one) on November 25th.

Links:

• more on Julian Lynch here.
• buy Julian Lynch releases here.
• more on Ducktails here.
• buy Ducktails releases here.

Tonight there are several amazing shows, but I’m really looking forward to seeing Woods and Ducktails play at a place like the Bell House (not to mention Dungen! get tickets here!).  If you happen to have a ticket stub from Animal Collective in Prospect Park the word is you get $5 off admission.

This is one of those shows where I’m hoping to pick up a couple records that I have been meaning to get for quite a while.

Record #1

The Ducktails split 7″ with Julian Lynch that the wonderful Underwater Peoples put out:

I hope most of you reading this are familiar with Underwater Peoples by now…they were the first ones to bring us a record by Real Estate, and this is their second piece of vinyl.  Just as the Real Estate 7″ came with a CD of the tracks…this release also has a bonus, but this time it is a DVD of Richard Law’s portrait art.  Underwater Peeps were nice enough to post two of the tracks from the 7″ in video from (which I assume are coming from the DVD!):

Ducktails- “Parasailing”

although Julian Lynch isn’t playing tonight…his tracks on this record are rad.

Julian Lynch- “Garden 2″

Buy this Ducktails/Julian Lynch split 7″/DVD combo from Underwater Peoples here!

On top this wonderful Ducktails’ 7″ Matt Mondanile is on a role with his second LP this year…this one is out on Olde English Spelling Bee!

Record #2

The new Ducktails LP is titled Landscapes.  I haven’t heard the LP, but this song happens to be on it:

Ducktails- “Landrunner”

I always forget how crazy that video is until I re-watch it, and the song is awesome…so if that is any indication of what to expect we should all be snagging this LP as well.  I really can’t get enough of this surfy psychedelica, and it seems to be what Ducktails does best.  Olde English Spelling Bee seems to do pretty limited releases so this one might not be around too long.

Buy Ducktails’ Landscapes here.

On the topic of limited re-leases Woods has out a 4 song “bootleg” out.

Record #3

This record is titled Acoustic Family Creeps (Play Live In the Woods), which I’ve come to think is a collaboration between Woodsist and Captured Tracks (not sure?).

This record isn’t very common on the internets…but you can get it at Woods shows and Academy Annex in Brooklyn, or try Florida is Dying (or email Captured Tracks or Woodsist?).  It seems to be going for about $12-$15 for the four songs, but people seem to be raving about it (which is expected these days…Woods have been putting out great records one after another).

This last one will be a game time decision for me, but the Ducktails records should be coming back to my house for sure.

Recently Ray Concepcion put together this compilation video of Woods playing at the Whitney.  It’s a pretty rad video, and is making me really excited for the show tonight (thanks to ChocolateBobka for the tip on this one):

Woods- “Rain On”

Ahhh now all I have to do is wait a couple more hours.  Hope to see you there, and if you are make sure to grab some vinyl…records should be plentiful.

If you aren’t going to this show tonight, you should think about hitting up the Underwater Peoples monster Late Summer Showcase at Market Hotel featuring Real Estate, Air Waves, Ducktails, and Beach Fossils, Family Portrait, Pill Wonder, Andrew Cedermark, Dana Jewell, Liam the Younger, Fluffy Lumbers, Alex Bleeker & the Freaks, Frat Dad, Big Troubles, and DJ Etienne.  More to come on this as it gets a little closer…meaning next week.

End Notes:

• Although I will not be buying these records via mail order they are definitly This Week In Mail Order worthy!
• More on Ducktails here.
• More on Woods here.