ChrisBellini.com » Music

fave albums of 2009

Chris — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:59:01 +0000

It seems fitting that I end the year with a post about the only thing that it seemed that I could write about in the last 365 days - music. Honestly, to those who are able to work a hectic job, spend time with a significant other and do whatever else life requires of them and still find time to regularly blog about a variety of topics of interest to them...kudos! 2009 simply didn't now allow me that luxury, and there's no telling if 2010 will relent. The benefit to developing software in a fast-paced environment is that when I'm not in meetings or manically scrawling ideas on a whiteboard, it's "nose to the grindstone" coding and I require a soundtrack for that.

Like bygone years, I have assembled a list of albums released this year that I found to be to my liking. As per usual, here it is in alphabetical order and includes my selection for "album of the year".

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - The Century of Self
Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
Built To Spill - There Is No Enemy
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
Dan Deacon - Bromst
Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
Do Make Say Think -The Other Truths
Echo & the Bunnymen - The Fountain
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Future of the Left - Travels With Myself And Another
The Horrors - Primary Colours
Idlewild - Post Electric Blues
Japandroids - Post-Nothing
Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers
Matthew Good - Vancouver
Metric - Fantasies
The Most Serene Republic - ...And The Ever Expanding Universe
The Pains of Being Pure of Heart - The Pains of Being Pure of Heart
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
Silversun Pickups - Swoon
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions
Think About Life - Family
The Twilight Sad - Forget The Night Ahead
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs

Some honourable mentions:
The Big Pink - A Brief History Of Love
Lou Barlow - Goodnight Unknown
Muse - The Resistance
NOFX - Coaster
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
The Tragically Hip - We Are The Same
Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker - Questamation
We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls
Wilco - Wilco (The Album)

I had hoped for the best of Spiral Stairs' The Real Feel but I simply would rather see the reunited Pavement come to Toronto. And I was really anticipating Mew's follow-up to their excellent And the Glass Handed Kite album, No More Stories, but I found it quite "meh".

Finally, I'm not Pitchfork nor am I some hipster with black-rimmed glasses, skinny jeans, ironic t-shirts and an iPhone in my hand. That being said, I always try to like an Animal Collective album when it's released but I'm ultimately disappointed at how unlistenable (to me) their music is. Merriweather Post Pavilion is no exception. It'll appear at the top of all of the "cool" year end lists, and maybe even some uncool lists too. However, it won't be on mine. Yuck.

what i’m listening to – september 2009

Chris — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:45:53 +0000

I know this blog exists, but you wouldn't believe it based on the frequency of my posts. I can honestly say that I haven't been this busy in a very long time. That's a good thing! Although it's not such a good thing if you faithfully followed this blog 'o mine (perhaps by subscribing to the RSS feed) and have seen the rate of new posts drop off like Kanye West's respectability (wow, topical!).

There's a lot of exciting tech, sports and life topics I'm hoping to write about, but until I get the chance (again, not a bad thing), we'll all have to make-do merely knowing what kind of music I'm listening to lately.

Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another
Like a more-accomplished mclusky, Travels With Myself and Another is an energetic and entertaining scuzz-rock record.

Manic Street Preachers - Journal for Plague Lovers
With lyrics entirely provided by notes left behind by Richey Edwards, Journal for Plague Lovers makes it look like the Manics have been reinvigorated with a sense of urgency.

Mew - No More Stories...
Even more grandiose than ...And the Glass Handed Kite and much peppier and hopeful.

Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next
Holding me over until we see a new Modest Mouse full-length.

Muse - The Resistance
Operatic, classical and rocking.

NOFX - Coaster
The anti-Bush sentiments are no longer required, so they boys have settled back into their old ways, with a couple of mature tricks (Example: "My Orphan Year").

Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Best PJ album since Yield.

Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
Combines all of YLT's best fuzz-pop, drone, twee elements into a single cohesive album. My easy fave is "More Stars Than There Are In Heaven".

what i’m listening to – july 2009

Chris — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:28:10 +0000

July is the marriage month and I have two weddings to go to; I'm the best man in one of them and wife is the maid of honour in the other. Does this mean my tunes taste has turned to wistful songs of love and devotion?

Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
Funky and tuneful with a splash of shoegaze. Hip wedding receptions would play some tracks off this album to get people to kick off their shoes and spaz out on the dance floor; "On Board" (made famous by the original Wii Fit TV commercial) at the very least.

The Horrors - Primary Colours
The Cure + Bauhaus + My Bloody Valentine = The Horror's Primary Colours; that's the best way for me to describe it.

The Most Serene Republic - ...And the Ever Expanding Universe
Grandiose songs for a hip romantic comedy. Too bad "hip" and "romantic comedy" are mutually exclusive. With love, from Milton, ON.

The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
A friend of mine knows the folks in this band and gushed about them for so long, I gave in. Turns out, he's right. Bedroom rock with big ambitions.

Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
Wilco, Wilco, Wilco will love you, baby. Need I say more?

what i’m listening to – june 2009

Chris — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:46:13 +0000

The Pens surprised every one (including me) and won the Cup. Iran's citizens had their election stolen from them. A bunch of celebrities died. At the end of the month, I'll be attending two weddings. Combined with a heavy workload at work, I've done absolutely nothing with this website o' mine in the past few months. Yet somehow, I always find time for tunes. Here's what I've been listening to lately while I try to figure out what to do next with ChrisBellini.com:

Alexisonfire - Old Crows / Young Cardinals
Yes, I like "that screaming band". You hear screaming - I hear another texture in the wall of noise. And I don't shun noise. This time around, though, the screaming has been toned way down with Dallas and Wade sharing much more of the vocal duties. Lotsa mid-tempo numbers too, but it all sounds great to me.

Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
Album number two for the re-united J, Murph and Lou (yes, I rhymed that on purpose - I'm lame). Their ninth album takes all of Dinosaur Jr's best traits - noise, J's solos and more noise - and puts them together in a nice package. Even Lou's songs, which are traditionally mellow and introspective, are rockers. It's good to see them in fine form.

Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Contrary to many reviews, this album does not hark back to EVOL, Sister or Daydream Nation. Finely tuned out-of-tune guitars aside, this album chugs along (thanks to Mark Ibold?) with the energy of a band not showing their age.

Think About Life - Family
I don't want to say that Think About Life are Canada's version TV on the Radio, because you'd only agree with that after the initial listen. Repeated listens will reveal their upbeat nature and put you in a good frame of mind.

Winter Gloves - About A Girl
Catchy electro-rock that leaves me anticipating a new album.

fave albums of 2008

Chris — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:44:14 +0000

I know I can't speak for everyone, but this year went by really quickly for me. So much so that I've been a dismally absent blogger in recent months. Work has been hectic and I found little time away from it to come up with original thoughts to share, since I'd hate to regurgitate what you already know or can easily read about elsewhere. For 2009, I'll make a conscious effort to return to form, assuming I had a form at one point or another. I'll add it to my list of New Years' resolutions...making it the only thing on the list at the moment.

Until then, let's carry on with an annual tradition of mine - listing my favourite albums released in the past year. 2008 saw a deluge of albums from indie rockers who were either a) skinny indie rockers from England with tight pants and black-rimmed glasses producing watered-down jangle that would make 1980's R.E.M. puke or b) bearded American indie rockers who look like they could fell you with a single swing with an axe, but instead choose to sing some Belle and Sebastien-inspired twee pop. Thankfully, my list contains none of those. I proudly present my "Album of the Year" award to Scotland's Glasvegas. Their self-titled debut album packs plenty of emotional punch (if "Flowers and Football Tops" doesn't make you pause to reflect on those you care about, you're a prick) and wraps it in glimmering walls of reverb. Voici la liste dans l'ordre alphabétique pour toute le gang:

Bloc Party - Intimacy
The Breeders - Mountain Battles
Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning - Something For All Of Us
Constantines - Kensington Heights
The Cure - 4:13 Dream
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
Deerhunter - Microcastle
Glasvegas - Glasvegas
Her Space Holiday - XOXO, Panda And The New Kid Revival
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Local H - Twelve Angry Months
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Mercury Rev - Snowflake Midnight
Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
Mudhoney - The Lucky Ones
Nada Surf - Lucky
Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
No Age - Nouns
The Notwist - The Devil, You + Me
R.E.M. - Accelerate
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Sloan - Parallel Play
Spiritualized - Songs in A & E
Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell
TV on the Radio - Dear Science

2008 had its share of disappointing albums for me, too. I normally love Stephen Malkmus, but Real Emotional Trash did nothing for me; I preferred the deluxe re-release of Pavement's Brighten the Corners. Also, both Wolf Parade's At Mount Zoomer and Tapes 'n' Tapes' Walk It Off were boring sophomore albums, and Weezer's "Red Album" seems too content to try produce "hits" in the hopes of amassing MySpace and YouTube views it seems.

My hopes for 2009? A new My Bloody Valentine album!

what i’m listening to – october 2008

Chris — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:11:47 +0000

With all the goings-on of the seasons' change, elections, and the collapse of financial markets, here's the albums I've been listening to lately:

Bloc Party - Intimacy
Rave-inspired, this time around, it would seem.

Mercury Rev - Snowflake Midnight
Classic Mercury Rev lushness, with the added touch of IDM elements.

Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
This album will do a number on your body; it will send shivers up and down your spine, and melt your face.

TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Brilliant and versatile; a successful merger of all the best from Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes and Return to Cookie Mountain,