Richard Swift - “Lady Luck” *
Well, it’s that time of year again. You know this time of year: when all the music blogs get together and decide how they’re all going to post the same 10 albums in different orders, with maybe one or two curveballs thrown in for ‘flair’.
Tuneage will of course participate in this year-end circle-jerk round-up, but we like to think ours is slightly different. First, we don’t post a single list (we’re far too lazy to get together to come up with a single list and argue over whether Merriweather Post Pavilion was really better than Veckatimest or just better hyped). Second, we’re posting our favorite albums of the year. Sure, they may not be the best (technically speaking), but they’re the ones we enjoyed the most…and I’d rather hear about the music someone really liked, rather than what they appreciate for its technical merits.
OK, enough babbling, here are my favorite albums of 2009 (in alphabetical order)…
Bill’s Favorites of 2009:
- Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
- Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
- jj - nº 2
- Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
- The xx - xx
Much like last year’s list, I don’t think there’s much surprise here, but I’ve listened to each of these albums a few dozen times each over the course of the year and I have yet to grow tired of any of them. And if that’s not enjoying an album, I don’t know what is.
* Although his album, The Atlantic Ocean, didn’t quite make my favorites-of-the-year list,”Lady Luck” was easily one of my favorite songs of the year and somehow hadn’t been posted here yet. Oops, that makes two of these this week.
WWTB?
Here are today’s Tuneage-approved music releases. All lnks point to Amazon, as usual.
- Bat For Lashes - Two Suns (Buy the CD/MP3s) (Artwork pictured above.)
- Doves - Kingdom of Rust (Buy the CD/MP3s)
- The Hold Steady - Positive Rage (Buy the CD)
- The Thermals - Now We Can See (Buy the CD/MP3s)
- Micachu & the Shapes - Jewelry (Buy the CD/MP3s)
- Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Vs. Children (Buy the CD/MP3s)
- It Hugs Back - Inside Your Guitar (Buy the CD/MP3s)
- Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care (Buy the CD/MP3s)
- Richard Swift - The Atlantic Ocean (Buy the CD/MP3s)
- The Veils - Sun Gangs (Buy the CD/MP3s)
Tuneage has covered Richard Swift before, but I can’t help it; I have to bring him up again. There’s a playfulness to Swift’s music that’s undeniable, and it’s that playfulness that keeps me coming back to him (his range of styles and influences doesn’t hurt either).
This song first appeared on his Ground Trouble Jaw EP, and it’s set to make a second appearance on his latest album, The Atlantic Ocean (out today on Secretly Canadian. The song features a fantastic falsetto and a classic sound, and should be quite the ear opener if you haven’t heard it yet.
Richard Swift - “Would You”
I stumbled across Richard Swift recently and was shocked by what I heard. Was I actually hearing a guy in 2008 doing 50s soul/doo-wop? Yes. Yes I was.
Richard Swift recently released a free 5-song EP called Ground Trouble Jaw that sports a little soul, a little doo-wop, and even a little synth-pop. This song, “Would You”, is the lead-off cut and one of the soul tracks. I can’t help but be reminded of the Motown era when I listen to this, and that’s reason enough alone to love it. All-in-all, the EP is a winner in my book and well worth the cost. Besides, who couldn’t use more doo-wop in their musical life?
