Who yinz tryin to get lazy with, ese... Don’t you know I’m local?

Others have done a much better job than SITKOT of covering the Pittsburgh scene of late, so, that thou canst never once reflect, let's turn it over to them for the day:

- Pittsburgh Music Report's Top Ten Concerts of 2009.

- Hugh's favorite Pittsburgh songs of the decade...

- ...and his favorite shows of the year in three parts.

- Mervis gives you his own top ten (plus five country) shows.

- YEP notes that a track from their best local release of 2009--MOIP's self-titled debut*--will be featured on the new Real World tonight. (Also, tune in Thursday at 10 a.m. for Cindy's Local Year in Review show.)

- And finally, Speed of the Pittsburgh Sound has promised (but not yet delivered) a Top 20 Steel City Tracks of 2009. Keep an eye out. Hopefully this will give him the kick in the pen he needs to get that one together.

See you next year.

* I'm way late to the party, but have been really digging this album this week. Also, you might note that they're performing with GNS tomorrow at First Night.

Roberto's Top 20 Albums of the Year

I expected to have a lot of trouble ranking these, and in the end I did struggle to sort through the top half of this list. Once I picked a favorite, though, the rest fell into place surprisingly easily. What it came down to is that I regularly listen to music in a few different settings: through headphones on the bus and walking around town, through somewhat crummy speakers in the car, and through a solid system at home. I’ve started to realize recently that while some albums may really strike me as amazing at times, few hold up across all moods and scenes. And over the course of the year, there was one album that never seemed to miss the moment.

1. The xx - xx


Is this minimalistic self-titled debut defensible as my #1 album of the year? I think so. I’ve probably enjoyed it more than any other across the board. Driving on a rainy night; driving on a sunny day; strolling down Strawberry Way in the snow; laying in bed; even sitting on the floor playing Super Mario Bros. 3, this album always strikes me as perfect. I keep my player in random/shuffle mode much of the time, and xx is the one album on this list whose songs I can’t recall ever skipping when one pops up. And so, though I’ve probably listened more this year to Farm, Hold Time and MPP, xx stands out as my go-to favorite.


2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

It’s not groundbreaking exactly, but its one-of-a-kind in a familiar way. Updated Beach Boys nostalgia and refined electronic dronings work perfectly to keep this one on repeat in my head every time I turn it off.

3. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

Nothing new or surprising here, and that’s just fine. Mascis in particular is at his best in 15 years or more.


4. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Probably the most unexpected success of the year in my mind. The contrast between songs like “Stillness is the Move” and “Two Doves” is startlingly beautiful and, with only 9 tracks, the execution is superb all the way through.


5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz

I have to admit to disappointment when I first heard “Zero” and didn’t get the fill of Nick Zinner’s raw distortion I had hoped for, and when I heard the rest of the album it took me a few listens to get over that. Eventually, though, Karen O’s convincing melodies managed to slide this album into my top 5 for the year.

And now for the rest:

6. The Antlers - Hospice

7. M. Ward - Hold Time

8. Jason Lytle - Yours Truly, the Commuter


9. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

10. Washed Out - Life of Leisure

11. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

12. Wilco - Wilco (The Album)

13. Handsome Furs - Face Control


14. Girls - Album

15. Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk


16. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You

17. Heartless Bastards - The Mountain

18. The Wiyos - Broken Land Bell

19. Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11

20. Flaming Lips - Embryonic

Roberto's best non-2009 records of 2009

Umm... not sure I'm quite ready to forever make my "best of '09" of record yet. Tough stuff. Still shiffling a few around. In the end, it's obviously more of a "my favorites of '09" because, honestly, who am I to offer up anything more. A guy with a blog. That's who.

Woke up this morning thinking about laying it down, but then I couldn't get "Pigs in Zen" and "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" (the Springsteen rendition, which is possibly my least favorite) out of my head, so I figured I'll wait until I'm thinking a bit more clearly. And anyway, I've been listening to a lot of stuff lately that isn't exactly fresh, so let's deal with that first.

Top 5 Albums I Discovered in 2009 That Weren't Released in 2009:

Honorable mention: The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

An honorable mention only because it's a very recent release (late 2008) that was re-released in 2009, so it's sort of a tweener. In any event, this is unquestionably one of the best albums to find its way into my rotation all year (as you may have noticed, it's been in there for a while now). The Low Anthem craft amazing songs with a sound that might roughly blend two parts Tom Waits and one part Art Garfunkel. Thanks to JP for the intro to these guys.

5. Toubab Krewe - Toubab Krewe (2005)

Full disclosure: I don't actually own this album. But Henry does (you might remember him from the early days of this blog), and I have several shows in my iTunes courtesy of the Live Music Archive. After seeing these guys play the Arts Fest this summer, they briefly revitalized my penchant for instrumental jambandish tunes, though they certainly deserve more credit than to be categorized as such. As evidence, even after that taste dwindled again, their songs remain in my playlists.

4. Smog - The Doctor Came at Dawn (1996)

I never got into Smog until he released Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle this year under his real name, Bill Callahan. While that record didn't blow me away from the start, it definitely prompted me to explore his back-catalog (which is deep and dense), and this record in particular struck me after its songs began to pop up when I would go into shuffle mode. Something like a less energetic, more organic Silver Jews, The Doctor Came at Dawn offers haunting acoustics and pensive lyrics. "All Your Women Things" is so basic in sound and structure that I'm amazed it manages to get stuck in my head, but glad it gives me a chance to ponder that one even after powering off.

3. Pep Laguarda - Brossa d'Ahir (1977/2004)

This one started to get some buzz this summer. I learned of it through eMusic (which I think does a great job of recommending music based on past downloads) and bought it on a whim. Something like gypsy-jazz-folk-rock, the Mediterranean vibes pour through the speakers like sangria as this record starts out. As it plays on, it mellows the soul and makes me long to be walking through the hills above Malaga.

2. Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela (2006)

I may have discovered this record in 2008, but if so it was close to the end of the year. Flamenco-rock is as good a tag as you could slap on it, but the music is a bit deeper than that would suggest. With roots in traditional forms, their innovative melodies and techniques modernize a centuries-old style of guitar music. And their cover of "Stairway" is the best out there, hands-down.

1. Chris Smither - Leave the Light On (2006)

Given that he's been making records for nearly forty years and just played Pittsburgh last year courtesy of Calliope, I have no idea how I never heard of this guy. It took a PBS rebroadcast of the 2008 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival and a clip immediately following Guy Clark's performance, but after seeing him play the title track from this 2006 album, I downloaded a ton of his stuff and declared myself a huge fan. His take on Peter Case's "Cold Trail Blues" is spare and perfect, and the rest of the record is pretty awesome too.

Random Commentor's Top Ten Albums of 2009

1. Washed Out- Life of Leisure


I don’t have the aural chops to rank my top 10 (read: “I’m lazy”). Therefore, 2-10 of my 2009 bestys are in no particular order. I was, however, capable of determining that Washed Out’s Life of Leisure was my favorite album of ‘09.

For the past several years I have been fixated on metal in its myriad forms. It took the “glo/fi” (or whatever it’s called these days) music movement to pull me from the mire that is modern-day metal, in particular Washed Out. It has been a long time since an album has imprinted in my ears in such way that it marked an era of my life -- like maybe since STP’s Core in summer of ’92 when I was 15 years old and secretly tortured by an inability to communicate to girls how I felt about them. Now I think I will always remember the summer of 2009 by the cooing feel of Life of Leisure. Though I think the glo/fi trend has a shelf life of like another year, Life of Leasure will long resonate with me as a time capsule.

2. Girls- Album
3. Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavilion
4. Converge- Axe to Fall
5. Baroness- Blue Album
6. Bibio- Ambivalence Avenue


7. Memory Tapes- Seek Magic


8. Isis- Wavering Radiant
9. Dan Deacon- Bromst
10. The Very Best- Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit are the Very Best

Jimmy's Best Albums of 2009

Ok, so there are like three weeks left until the end of the year, and something great might come out in those three short weeks, but I'm not gonna sweat it. I also like to get a jump up on the competition, so before anyone can say, "you just copied [insert random blog or music site]'s list", I wanted to clear the air with my Best Albums of 2009 list. I have ranked, what I consider to be, the 20 finest albums released during the 2009 calendar year, along with the top 5 eps. Each album is ranked with the first being the best. There are also a few honorable mentions that didn't quite make the top 20, but were close, so I need to give them their props.

Top 20 Albums of 2009:

1. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca


To me, this album stands out as being far and away better than the rest this year. Now, don't get me wrong, I loves me some Animal Collective, and Merriweather Post Pavilion has some incredible tracks (and will no doubt top many a list this year); but as an album, nothing works better than Bitte Orca. The technical proficiency of the instrumentation is extraordinary and the harmonies are just absurd. I'll go out on a limb and say that this is going to fall into the realm of classic. It just works on every level and when I first listened to it, I felt like I was hearing something completely new and mind-bending. This was the feeling that I had when I listened to albums like The Soft Bulletin, Kid A and Doolittle for the first time and those have all fared pretty well in retrospect. Sometimes albums grow on you after awhile and then become your favorite, and sometimes an album is so damn awesome it just hits you in the mouth and blows your mind the first time you hear it. The former is a good album, the latter is the best of the year. Bitte Orca has quite a left hook.

2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion


3. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
5. Atlas Sound - Logos


6. Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth


7. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Self-Titled
8. The xx - Self-Titled
9. A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head


10. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
11. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
12. Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
13. The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
14. Washed Out - Life of Leisure
15. Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
16. Alec Ounsworth - Mo Beauty
17. The Antlers - Hospice
18. Dan Deacon - Bromst
19. Built to Spill - There is No Enemy
20. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

Honorable Mentions: Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall; Heartless Bastards - The Mountain; M. Ward - Hold Time; Morrissey - Years of Refusal; Donora - Self-Titled.

Top 5 EPs of 2009:

1. Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind
2. Bon Iver - Blood Bank
3. No Age - Losing Feeling
4. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Higher Than The Stars
5. Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange

Honorable Mention: Death Cab for Cutie - The Open Door

If you strongly disagree with any of my choices, I would love to hear it. Also, if there are any glaring omissions, drop me a line.

Cheers and Orcas!

Revisions to the '09 playlist

Well, I dropped "French Navy." I think hearing it a few times among the batch of tunes on this playlist just made me realize it's not on par with the rest. Also dropped "Nothing to Worry About" for similar reasons, and per Jimmy's earlier comment.

One addition: Alela Diane's "White As Diamonds" thanks to the ever-present Anon.

One substitution as well: "Stillness is the Move" for "Knotty Pine." Both great songs, so maybe both should be on there. Maybe a 'one per customer' rule is stupid in this scenario. Or, if not, maybe "My Girls" should also sub in for "Summertime Clothes." Tough decisions...

Will Neon Indian or Toro y Moi make the cut? I guess it depends how deep you got into the whole chillwave thing this year. Jury's still out for me. Is longevity a prereq?

The closest 'maybe' track on deck right now might be Edward Sharpe's "Home." Good song, but how good?

Premature "Best of 2K9" Playlist

Note the uglyass new widget in the sidebar. Early, yes, but we're almost there so I'm giving it the OK. Consider it a work in progress; I will too, and we'll revise as justice dictates.

Some of these songs were on '08 albums, you say. And you are correct. But if they were released as singles this year and I really like them, I'll allow it. Por ejemplo, "Mykonos." Great song. No way I was letting that little guy off the queue.

Proposed additions have already been made, including but not limited to:

• "You Do You” - Bear in Heaven
• "Talamak” - Toro y Moi
• “11th Dimension” - Julian Casablancas
• “Home” Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
• "And the Hazy Sea" - Cymbals Eat Guitars
• "Life's a Dream" - Built to Spill
• "Young Adult Friction" - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
• "Mind, Drips" - Neon Indian

Past and (potentially) future contributor Jimmy has also suggested "Blood Bank," which I see is making a lot of these lists. A fine song, to be sure, though I'm not sold. But if the masses speak, they will be heard.

So for now, listen, enjoy, and (as always) feel free to comment or contribute. And maybe I'll fix up those colors before winter comes to town.

EDIT: Might drop Camera Obscura from the list. "French Navy" is a great song, but I was thinking this weekend it's not up to snuff with their older stuff. Is that grounds from removal? Not sure yet...