Top 10 of 2009: 5-1

5: Richmond Fontaine – We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River

Now that the aforementioned Morrissey has renounced unwieldy song titles, Richmond Fontaine have ‘stepped up to the plate.’ Here’s my review:

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.com/2009/09/review-richmond-fontaine-we-used-to.html

4: Pearl Jam - Backspacer

I love Pearl Jam. Well, it’s probably the idea of Pearl Jam I love more than the actuality, but I love what I think they are. They are like the last, old-school bit rock band who are ok to like. Their last few albums had been somewhat patchy, but Eddie Vedder released a solo album soundtrack to Into the Wild 2 years ago where he absolutely nailed the essence of the film. It made me wonder why he hadn’t released a quieter album years ago.

Anyway, enough of that, Backspacer was billed as the ‘Pearl Jam having fun again’ album. They sound ‘alive’ (boom boom) and revitalised on the faster numbers, but the slower ones are generally more memorable. Not just the wonderful Just Breathe, an acoustic ballad with strings in the vein of Into the Wild, but also the mid-paced Speed of Sound, a kind of slow-burning anthem which only a band like Pearl Jam could pull off. The final track, appropriately named The End is almost a little much, but Vedder’s vocal, where his voice almost cracks, makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand out. The final line of the song “I’m here, but not much longer” is a downbeat note to end on. Some have interpreted it as the end for Pearl Jam??

Note: the album also came with a code which gives access to 2 full concert downloads, which is nice touch for the rabid fans.

3: Mark Eitzel – Klamath

Mr American Music Club’s latest album was almost entirely created using his laptop and a guitar. It sounds very insubstantial when you hear it first, and drifts by almost unnoticed. But I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the slowburner of the year. Given time the songs (as opposed to the 2 instrumentals) gradually reveal themselves. Blood on My Hands is a strong, self-deprecated waltz, while I Live In This Place is classic Eitzel, with the memorable line “I know I’ll be doing this for the rest of my life” (here’s hoping). Why I’m Bullshit is another strong track, which is a little more self-flagellation from Eitzel. All of the above would be tiresome except for the fact that the music is generally very strong. His vocals are a little low in the mix, would be great to hear him more prominently (a la his live shows) but after a few haphazard electronic experiments, he appears to have finally mastered it with this album.


2: Sonic Youth – The Eternal

Sonic Youth’s albums of this decade are arguably up there with their strongest work. Advancing years seems to suit them. The Eternal is a strong collection of songs, probably a little heavier than the likes of Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped but no real noisy freak-outs. Kim gets her quota of songs, with mixed results (God bless her she likes to shout), but she’s a little more tuneful on Malibu Gas Station (which reminds me of Juliana Hatfield of all people) and Massage the History. Thurston chips in with some strong songs, the best of which being Antenna, while Lee’s 2 tracks – What We Know and Walkin Blue are among the strongest on the album.

1: Soulsavers - Broken

See my previous review:

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-soulsavers-broken.html

Concert Review: Mark Eitzel in the Village, Dublin - 11th November 2009

I'm shocked and ashamed to discover that this is my first Eitzel/AMC related post on this blog. I'd better come clean and admit that I have been a fan of American Music Club for 10-15 years and happen to think Mr. Eitzel is a bit of a genius. Or some might say, sad b**t**d music.

Was really and truly in the mood for this gig. I'm enjoying his latest album, Klamath which is very much framed by electronics (more about this in a future post). This gig promised to be a rather different affair, as it featured just him and a piano player (Marc Capelle?).

It was a dark, November rainy night, perfect for this gig. The Guinness was flowing and anticipation was high. The support was a fairly nondescript guy playing guitar, but Mark followed shortly afterwards. He was in fine voice, starting off with 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco' which set the mood quite nicely. The music was great, but the inter-song rambling was equally entertaining, though he seemed to have gaybashing on his mind (!) as he swigged his pint of lager. It was heartening how well his guitar-based songs transferred to just him and a piano. One great song after another followed, some of the highlights were Myopic Books, Last Harbour and the newer songs - Blood On My Hands and I Live In This Place, which stood up well amongst the classics.

Thankfully he came back out and did 2 more songs, the last of which he introduced as wanting the audience to go home happy and have the best sex of their lives. Then he said 'this is a song about my mother who died of cancer,' and played Nightwatchman.

I was really and truly, charmed. One sad aspect, which was commented on elsewhere but needs to be repeated here, is that there was a table right in the middle in front of the stage which had a 'Reserved' sign on it. Nobody sat at it.