The shows that I attended this year, according to my computer’s calendar: Lykke Li, Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine, Doves, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Wighonomy Bros, Micachu, Tune-Yards (4times), Bon Iver, Flight of the Conchords, The Jesus Lizard, McCoy Tyner.

Have a great holiday season, and remember to share music, always !!! Also, our good friends at Red Choo Choo have extended their holiday coupon for our readers.  Please enter FOEWEEL at check out for a 10% off coupon until the end of the year.

2009 Best Albums (in no particular order)

Bibio-Ambivalence Avenue (Warp) Lover’s Carving

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Fever Ray – Fever Ray (Mute) If I Had A Heart

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The XX – XX (Young Turks) Basic Space

__________________________________________________________________________ Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote/Loyaute) Girlfriend

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Matias Aguayo - Ay Ay Ay (Kompakt) Rollerskate

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St. Vincent – Actor (4AD) Save Me From What I Want

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Beach House – Devotion (Carpark) Heart Of Chambers

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Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (Domino) No Intention

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Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)

Summertime Clothes

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Micahu & The Shapes – Jewellery (Rough Trade) Vulture

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Tune-Yards – Bird Brains (4AD/Marriage) Lions

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Mix of the Year:
Richie Hawtin – Tsugi 100th Podcast (Big Outside Festival 2009 Live Mix)

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Reissue of the Year:
Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (Sony) Cop Shoot Cop (Demo)

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Compilation of the Year:
5: 5 Years of Hyperdub (Hyperdub) Burial – Fostercare

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Live Recording of the Year:
Jeff Buckley – Live @ King Theater, Seattle May 7th 1995 (Sony) What Will You Say

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Box Set, Old but New Release of the Year:
Ella Fitzgerald – Twelve Nights in Hollywood (Hip-O Select) Angel Eyes

I wanted to take the image of a wire coat hanger and make a shirt out of it with words,”Old School?” underneath it. It was going to be a pro-choice shirt. It may be lacking in a little tact, but it gets the point across. It can’t be worse than a PETA billboard.

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Brendan Monroe is currently having an exhibit at the Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica, CA. It’s entitled Places Between Here and Here. His work can also be seen at Red Choo Choo (Awakening, Crossing, Blob Sleep)

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Richie Hawtin has done the 100th podcast for Tsugi which is a live mix from the Big Outside Festival.  It’s the best live set/mix I’ve heard in a long time, and it harks back to Hawtin’s thumpier and funkier days and away from this boring minimal stuff that’s been the musical equivalent of Ambien for the past few years.

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Loöq Records has just release a new downtempo long player from Methodrone. It’s a departure from the their dance floor centered releases, and from the track, Slow It Down, it looks to be another stellar release from this San Francisco based label.

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Jon Brion – Little Person feat. Deanna Storey - From the Synecdoche, NY soundtrack, Jon Brion known for his excellent work on Paul Thomas Anderson films as well as being a member of The Grays and producing the stellar version of Fiona Apple’s Extraordinary Machine. A simple ode that puts Storey’s vocal upfront and center.

St. Vincent – Marrow - Annie Clark was a member of the Polyphonic Spree (don’t hold that against her) and a member of Sufjan Stevens’ live band, and on this album, Actor she again pumps and sprays her pleasantly skunk like juices on all of her songs. She knows how to use all of the spices instead of just the same old salt and pepper that normally goes with her brand of souffle.

Fever Ray with Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid – Here Before – A B-side, and an incredible cover of Vashti Bunyan’s song. It’s on the Stranger Than Kindness single.

Matias Aguayo – Menta Latte – Another contender for release of the year. His second full length release, and again Aguayo ventures further away from his Kompakt label mates by making some of the best music that goes beyond the boundaries of his techno (Closer Musik) heritage.

We’ve been waiting and waiting for what, we have no idea, but we have some choice selections for you. Maybe it’s been a dull year for music. I’ve been focusing most of my attention on a business venture which if you’re into design and t-shirts, check it out, Red Choo Choo.

I’m really itching for Richie Hawtin, Marco Carola, Adam Beyer, Henrik B, Ricardo Villalobos or someone in that vain to come to San Francisco, so some FuzzyTeeth and SmellyFeet can be had from a night of sensory overload. Traditional rock shows can be moving, but there’s nothing like the give and take of a 4 hour “running man” battle with yourself. Ya feel me?

Oh well.

Burial – Fostercare - A brand new one from a person who changed the face of music, though most people haven’t realized it yet…..in the form of his own Dubstep. Trademark menacing voices, knife sharpening-like noises and everything you need to have a Halloween party in your head.

Fever Ray – If I Had A Heart – I finally figured it out. And now back to The Knife, but this Fever Ray album is dark and menacing which the videos do perfect justice, and I am slowly getting used to the vocals, but the music is a darker, more gothic version of Portishead, but for the Techno crowd. Frightening.

Andrew Bird – Lull – Sounds similar to Rufus Wainwright. I do love the line “Moderation itself can be a kind of extreme”.

Bon Iver – Re:Stacks (Live @ The Fox Theater, Oakland) – Recorded from my phone, the warmest song on an album full of songs that when heard on a cold day will make you go to the bathroon due to the sudden change in temperature.