JJ Ramone's Top 25 Albums of 2009 #'s 5-1

5. Tegan And Sara - Sainthood

Tegan And Sara can do no wrong. Every album they release is always different enough from their prior release and this one is no exception. After the generally mellow, keyboard heavy The Con, Sainthood cranks up the guitars and beats for a dancier, punkier feel. One thing that does not change is their incredibly catchy, yet quirky melodies. Highlights include "Hell," "The Cure" and "Northshore."

4. Metric - Fantasies

Emily Haines and company have come out with their strongest album to date, the self-released Fantasies. As in the past, Metric keep this album to a slim and trim 10 tracks and 40 minutes, which keeps the focus on their killer hooks. The guitars are less prominent than they have been on their last couple albums but it is easily their most uptempo and fun album to date. "Gimme Sympathy" is definitely a contender for single of the year.

3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

Largely ditching their punked out guitars in favour of more textured and dance-oriented synths paid off handsomely for these New York art punks. Karen O's distinctive spastic Banshee-esque yelps are transcendent over dance floor ready songs like "Zero" and "Heads Will Roll," as well as over subdued tracks like "Little Shadow." The 4 alternate acoustic bonus tracks prove that great songs exist beneath the fancy electronic embellishments.

2. U2 - No Line On The Horizon

U2 are on the hottest streak of their career, pulling off quite the artistic hat trick with All That You Can't Leave Behind, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, and now this undisputed classic. This album requires a little more patience than some of U2's prior releases, which is probably why it's been somewhat of a commercial flop, but it definitely rewards the listener with repeated listens. "Magnificent" and "Breathe" are classic U2 stadium-ready songs while "Moment Of Surrender" and "White As Snow" give the album a contemplative, meditative feel.

1. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

Green Day have come a long way from singing about jerking off and smoking pot. Billie Joe Armstrong and company have officially joined the upper echelon of classic "important" bands with American Idiot and now 21st Century Breakdown. The 18 songs collected here flow better than any album I've listed to this year, while the band combines the melodies of the Ramones, the politics of The Clash, the power and grandiose of The Who and a few hints of The Beatles for good measure. Fittingly, the band covers Social Distortion and The Who as iTunes bonus tracks.

Tom Waits Is 60 Years Old Today

Today marks the 60th birthday of one of my favourite artists of all time: Tom Waits. Waits is a man who seemingly has no sense of the normal process of time because he somehow gets cooler and more relevant with each passing year. In a world where youth is king, Waits has forged an incredibly long and consistent career making music and movies while hovering just on the periphery of mainstream pop culture. Yet, artists as wide ranging as Bruce Springsteen, the Ramones, Scarlett Johansson, Tori Amos, the Eagles, 10,000 Maniacs, Diana Krall, Steve Earle and Rod Stewart have covered Waits tunes over the years. For me, he is the prime example of how to grow old gracefully.

I can't think of another artist who has remained this vital at 60. Neil Young and Bob Dylan come close but those guys aren't putting out the best music of their careers at this phase of their lives. Case in point is Waits' recent double live album Glitter And Doom Live, culled from shows on his brief 2008 tour. Far from a greatest hits album, Waits focuses on songs from his stellar recent albums such as Orphans, Real Gone and Mule Variations. His rollicking version of "Goin' Out West" is probably the best thing to blast out of my speakers all year.

I'll be the first to admit that Waits is an acquired taste. I can see how his gruff voice can be a bit off-putting for a first time listener and his Swordfishtrombones era might be too avante garde for the average rock/pop fan but he definitely rewards a listener with patience and an attention span. I liken it to developing a taste for Guinness or Scotch.

So Happy Birthday Tom. I'd rather a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy indeed.

... submitted by JJ

Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young...

Last night on Late Night, Jimmy Fallon did an amazing, and hilarious, spot-on impersonation of Neil Young covering the theme song for The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air. Yes... you read that correctly. And Jimmy Fallon doesn't even crack up half way through.

Check it out below.

... submitted by JJ

Ohbijou @ The Exchange

Indie darlings Ohbijou made their way through our neck of the woods Monday, bringing their brand of orchestral chamber dream pop to a decent sized crowd. Ohbijou have been getting lots of buzz across the world since their debut album Swift Feet For Troubling Times came out a couple years ago. After seeing them live and listening to their two albums, I can definitely say the acclaim is well deserved.

Ohbijou are a band that are not going to leap out at anyone. Their music, which is infused with violin, cello, horns, and lush keyboards, is ideal for movie soundtracks or for chilling out at a coffee shop. If you are a fan of Stars, Broken Social Scene or Metric's more mellow offerings I would highly recommend this band.

The band, which is based out of Toronto and led by sisters Casey (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Jennifer (violin, vocals) Mecija, perfectly replicate their layered sound onstage. Casey's voice is very soft, but shows flashes of gutteral power every now and then. This is pretty impressive considering the diminutive size of the singer.

Overall, I was really impressed with the show. My only complaint, which is very minor, is that their music might be a bit TOO mellow for a live performance. That being said, after listening to their two albums on my iPod for the last couple of weeks I knew what to expect. But it might be a bit off-putting for a newbie to the band.

The band were pretty serene and sedate during their performance. However, given the music they play, you can't exactly expect scissor kicks and windmill guitar strokes. Casey kept her onstage banter to a minimum but when she did speak she was extremely soft spoken, exhibiting a hint of shyness. However, this added a certain charm to the performance.

Long story short, it was a great way to spend a Monday night. You can check them out at their myspace page here.

... submitted by JJ

The Flaming Lips - "Watching The Planets"

The Flaming Lips are a band I appreciate more than I actually like. I only own one album, 2008's At War With The Mystics, and think it is mostly self-indulgent psychedelia. However, I hear that that was the wrong album to get properly introduced to the trippy world of The Flaming Lips. One thing I will give them credit for is that they are never boring. Their live show is legendary, particularly Wayne Coyne walking over the crowd inside an oversized bubble. Plus, any band that backed up Beck on a tour is ok in my books.

Well The Flaming Lips have another album that just came out, Embryonic, that is getting some mixed reviews. This is probably due to that fact that it's a double album... That is probably way too much weirdness in one sitting for my liking.

However, at their best, The Flaming Lips are one of the most fun and adventurous bands out there. Probably because they are so" out there." Case in point is the first single and video from Embryonic, :Watching The Planets." I first heard this song when The Lips performed on Letterman or Conan. It was an absolutely stunning performance of a killer tune.

I saw the video for the first time a couple days ago and it is hands down the craziest, trippiest video I have ever seen. It's as if the promo posters for Queen's "Bicycle Race" came to life while you are tripping on magic mushrooms. It truly has to be seen to be believed. There are naked people riding bicycles. There are naked people coming out of some sort of embryo/vagine that looks like something out of Where The Wild Things Are. And Wayne Coyne even whips out his roll of "coynes" for all the world to see, which takes a lot of balls. (So needless to say, this video is VERY NSFW!!!!!)

You can check out the video exclusively at NME. Don't say I didn't warn you.

...submitted by JJ

You Say Party! We Say Die! w/ The War Doves & Patrick Swan @ The Lazy Owl

You Say Party! We Say Die! are a fantastic band from Vancouver that I have been listening to nonstop lately. Their recent album XXXX is easily one of my favourites of the year so needless to say I was pretty stoked to see that they were playing a show in town. Their music is a blend of electro pop, punk, new wave and dance music. Lead singer Becky Ninkovic has a distinct voice that reminds me of Nico on speed with a hint of Cat Power thrown in for good measure.

Apparently CBC Radio 2 chose this show at the Lazy Owl as one of the top 5 things to do that night... in CANADA. Unfortunately, only 50 or so people in Regina shared that sentiment. People bitch and complain that “no good shows ever come to Regina,” but when a cool band does come no one shows up. It’s usually the same 20 or so hardcore music fans plus a handful of others. But I digress. I’ll save this subject for another article. The people that DID show up saw three amazing bands/artists for a mere $8. If that’s not a helluva deal I don’t know what is.

The night began with a jaw dropping performance of spoken word poetry by Saskatchewan’s own Patrick Swan. I am a relative newbie to the whole spoken word poetry scene, but I was completely blown away by Swan’s charismatic, manic performance. His words just exploded out of him, with perfect rhythm, metre and the perfect amount of humour for levity. He had a percussive delivery that had the majority of the audience transfixed to the stage. I had no idea what to expect but you can now count me as a huge fan. He is definitely worth checking out. Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg would be proud.

Up next were Regina’s own War Doves. This was the first time I had a chance to see a whole set from these guys and I was really impressed. Their brand of melodic indie rock isn’t overly thrashy but it definitely still rocks. I really like their set up of two co-lead vocalists. The lower voice of John De Gennaro blends very nicely with Dagan Stoody-Harding’s higher Perry Farrell-esque voice. The War Doves strike me as a band that might take two or three listens to truly “get.” As a result, I would probably be way more into their live show if I listened to their album a few times (which I plan on doing). However, despite not being overly familiar with their material I thought they sounded great and can’t wait to see them again.

You Say Party! We Say Die! hit the stage and sounded great, considering the circumstances. The band sounded great for the first three or four songs but it was really hard to hear singer Becky Ninkovic in the mix. I first thought it might have been the sound but it soon became apparent what was going wrong: there was something wrong with her voice. The band bravely tried to soldier on with other band members picking up more of the vocal slack but they eventually made an “executive decision” and pulled the plug on the set due to Ninkovic having laryngitis. I know from experience that not being able to sing or talk when that is your job can be one of the most frustrating things ever so I definitely feel for Ninkovic. Apparently they have cancelled the next couple shows on their tour so hopefully she gets better soon. In the mean time, the band said that they would play for free next time they swing through town, which is a pretty cool move on their part. I can’t wait to see them when they are firing on all cylinders.

Below is a promo video for YSPWSD’s XXXX album along with links to each artist’s Myspace pages.

http://www.myspace.com/yousaypartywesaydie

http://www.myspace.com/thewardoves

http://www.myspace.com/patrickswan

...submitted by JJ

Library Voices w/ In-Flight Safety @ The Exchange

Library Voices are a pop band from Regina. According to the t-shirts at the merch table they are "pop as fuck," which I presume is about as pop as you can get. However, after seeing them for presumably the eighth or ninth time, Library Voices are definitely "pop" in the classic sense of the world. These guys and gals are definitely more Talking Heads than Britney Spears.

It's been a few months since I've seen Library Voices in action and they didn't disappoint. They keep getting better and better as a live act, and they were fantastic right from the get go. The band has been trimmed down to "only" eight members from the ten or so they have had in the past, which may be a contributing factor in the band sounding a little more tight musically.

One of the standard criticisms of indie rock is that most of the bands don't put on a show, preferring to gaze at their shoes. While this is true in some cases, Library Voices definitely cannot be accused of this. The entire band just oozes energy. It's obvious the band is having a blast onstage every time they perform and this fun energy is contagious. Primary singer, Carl Johnson, has so much natural charisma and the rest of the band follows suit. Simply put, the band knows how to put on one helluva show.

No matter how good their show is, the main reason Library Voices have been getting so much buzz from the likes of Spin is that they write and perform absolutely killer tunes. Their lyrics are intelligent, referencing Kurt Vonnegut and Tom Waits, and are delivered with undeniable pop sensibilities. It should be a crime that a band should have this many hooks in their songs. They played most of the tracks from their debut EP, Hunting Ghosts & Other Collected Stories, and a good chunk of new songs from their forthcoming album. While I'm not familiar with the titles for these new songs, every new song was instantly memorable. Every song could conceivably be a single. In particular, I was blown away with a song about an apocalyptic dance party, possibly called "2012."

I also noticed that their newer songs are a lot punchier, showcasing a lot more soft/loud dynamics reminiscent of the Pixies. This is particularly noticeable in their new single "Drinking Games," which the band recently shot a music video for.

Halifax's In-Flight Safety opened up the night, putting on a really solid 10 song set of jangly guitar pop with an 80's new wave influence. I was only familiar with a video these guys put out a few years ago, "Somebody's Been Watching You." However, perhaps because the song is a bit of a dirge, the band excluded it from the set and focused instead on more uptempo and danceable material. The guys from In-Flight Safety later joined Library Voice onstage for an unbelievable cover of Neil young's "Unknown Legend." These two bands are midway through a cross Canada tour so a certain camaraderie has been established between the members and it certainly showed during this song. It was probably the highlight of the night.

Below are clips of Library Voices' "Step Off The Map And Float" and In-Flight Safety's "Model Homes."

...submitted by JJ