The Best Albums of 2009

With a mere 3 posts in 2009 (and even now - still fashionably late) you'd be forgiven for thinking we wouldn't be in a position to list our favorites of the year. Well, despite some major upheavals in our personal lives which definitely impacted our ability to appear here on a regular basis, our ears have not been shirking their honeyed duties. As a result, we bring you a bumper round-up of what we believe to be not only one of the best years of the decade, but also the perfect end to one of the best decades since Rock 'n' Roll first flickered into existence.

In a year where the mainstream music industry on one hand is piling the dung heap higher than ever with evermore glossy karaoke TV talent shows and on the other still failing to address the licensing and territory issue which threatens to drag it even further into the mire, choosing to have governments and clod-hopping authorities turn music fans into criminals rather than provide the download culture with a comprehensive reasonable, universal and fair solution - which surely is within their power alone to provide - the alternative/real music industry is turning out better and better music in greater numbers than ever before.

Hundreds of great albums were released this year, making it difficult to keep up with the onslaught. Quite a few appearances from old faithfuls were mostly welcome: Superdrag, Tommy Keene, Von Bondies, Cheap Trick, Terry Anderson, Green Pajamas, Ian Hunter, Mother Hips, NRPS, NGDB, Parallax Project, Mother Hips, Willie Nile, Kyle Vincent, and Naomi Star amongst them, but overwhelmingly, the majority of names were brand new (or almost new) to us - long may it continue.

In keeping with previous years, genres blur and it's hard to say what's pop and what's not. So we present a variety of lists which cover our chief area of taste but also others which for one reason or another, beg inclusion. As usual, these-are-some-that-we-have-loved, so we can't put them in any kind of order, except alphabetical. However, we have numbered them for convenience sake.

The Best Power Pop Albums of 2009

1. All Star United - The Good Album
2. American Suitcase - Pillowsky
3. Andy Lehman & The Night Moves - Lowcountry
4. Anne Soldaat - In Another Life
5. Ben Folds Presents - University A Cappella
6. Benjamin R - The Other Side Of Nowhere
7. Bigbang - Edendale
8. Biscuit - Cinnamon Fade Out
9. Bishop Allen - Grrr...
10. Black Hollies - Softly Towards The Light
11. Blame Ringo - Lucky Number 9
12. Bob Evans - Goodnight, Bull Creek
13. Bob Mould - District Line
14. Bobby Emmett - Learning To Love
15. Brendan Benson - My Old, Familiar Friend
16. Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder - Makes Your Ears Smile
17. Cass McCoombs - Catacombs
18. Casper And The Cookies - Modern Silence
19. Cheap Star - Speaking Like An Elephant
20. Cheap Trick -The Latest
21. Chris Richards - Sad Sounds Of The Summer
22. Cornershop - Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast
23. Creede Williams - After The Letters
24. Dashboard Confessional - Alter The Ending
25. David Brookings - Glass Half Full
26. David Mead - Almost And Always
27. Deleted Waveform Gatherings - Ghost, She Said
28. Dennis Diken With Bell Sound - Late Music
29. Dexateens - Singlewide
30. Dolly Rocker Movement - Our Days Mind The Tyme
31. Duckworth Lewis Method - The Duckworth Lewis Method
32. El Goodo - Coyote
33. Eric Knox - Top Ten
34. Everclear - In A Different Light
35. Fate Lions - Good Enough For You
36. Films - Oh, Scorpio
37. First In Space - This Is Not Here
38. Fun - Aim And Ignite
39. Glenn Tilbrook And The Fluffers - Pandemonium Ensues
40. Gourds - Haymaker
41. Greater California - All The Colors
42. Howie Day - Sound The Alarm
43. Humbugs - On The Up Side
44. Ian Tanner - Things Never To Say Out Loud!
45. Jason Falkner - All Quiet On The Noise Floor
46. Jeff Litman - Postscript
47. Jeremy Miller Band - Way Too Fast
48. Jet - Shaka Rock
49. Johan - 4
50. John Brodeur - Get Through
51. June - Magic Circles
52. Junior League - Smile Shoot Smile
53. Kyle Vincent - Where You Are
54. Leftovers - Eager To Please
55. Lovetones - Dimensions
56. Madd - Are Pretty Quick
57. Madness - The Liberty Of Norton Folgate
58. Marc Carroll -Dust Of Rumour
59. Mark Cronk - Playing Katchup
60. Martin Carr - Ye Gods & Little Fishes
61. Matt The Electrician - Animal Boy
62. Meat Puppets - Sewn Together
63. Michael Carpenter - Redemption #39
64. Miles Nielsen - Miles
65. Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much
66. Minky Starshine - Unidentified Hit Record
67. Minster Hill - Capturing Clouds In A Bottle
68. Mockin' Birds - Spread Your Wings
69. Morningwood - Diamonds And Studs
70. Naomi Star - Through The Eyes
71. New York Dolls - Cause I Sez So
72. Official Secrets Act - Understanding Electricity
73. Orange Peels - 2020
74. Parallax Project - I Hate Girls
75. Passports - Is It True
76. Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey - Here And Now
77. Pogo Pops - Where The Action Is
78. Pronto - All Is Golden
    
79. Pugwash - Giddy
80. Reno Bo - Happenings And Other Things
81. Research Turtles - Research Turtles
82. Resonars - That Evil Drone
83. Riverdales - Invasion Usa
84. Riverwinds - Riverwinds
85. Roger Klug - More Help For Your Nerves
86. Secret Powers - And The Electric Family Choir
87. Scott Warren - Quick Fix Bandage
88. Shazam - Meteor
89. Sheer - Here And Now And Long Before
90. Solly - You Know What You Should Do
91. Sons Of Great Dane - Why Ramble
92. Spiral Stairs - The Real Feel
93. Spongetones - Scrambled Eggs
94. Spongetones Present Jamie & Steve - English Afterthoughts
95. Stephen Lawrenson - Somewhere Else
96. Stereophonics- Keep Calm & Carry On
97. Stellastarr - Civilized
98. Strangefinger - Into The Blue - Remarkable?
99. Soundtrack Of Our Lives - Communion
100. Summer Set - Love Like This
101. Surrogate - Popular Mechanics
102. Taylor Mills - Under The Surface
103. Telepathic Butterflies - Circle Man
104. Tody Castillo - Windhorse
105. Tommy Keene - In The Late Bright
106. Tomorrows - Jupiter Optimus Maximus
107. Train - Save Me San Francisco
108. Tripwires - House To House
109. Two Hours Traffic - Territory
110. Valley Lodge - Semester At Sea
111. Von Bondies - Love Hate And Then There's You
112. Webstirs - So Long
113. Wheels On Fire - Get Famous
114. Wild Bores - Wild Bores
115. Willie Nile - House Of A Thousand Guitars
116. Wiretree - Luck
117. Yeah You's - Looking Through You

The Best Alt Country/Roots/Organic of 2009

1. 1220 - Killin' For A Livin'
2. Andy Lehman & The Night Moves - Lowcountry
3. Avett Brothers - And Love And You
4. Ben Folds Presents - University A Cappella
5. Ben Harper& Relentless 7 - White Lies For Dark Times
6. Blue Rodeo - All The Things That Are Left Behind (2cd)
7. Boo Hewerdine - God Bless The Pretty Things
8. Bottle Rockets - Lean Forward
9. Brad Peterson -The Ductape Album
10. Brian Jay Cline - Nashville Tracks - Maybe
11. Brother Trucker - The Flyover
12. Calico Brothers -Tell It To The Sun
13. Carbon Leaf - Nothing Rhymes With Woman
14. Chris Isaak - Mr. Lucky
15. Chris Knight - Trailer II
16. Chuck Prophet - Let Freedom Ring (2009)
17. Clarks - Restless Days (2009)
18. Cracker - Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey
19. Cross Canadian Ragweed - Happiness And All The Other Things
20. Deadstring Brothers - Sao Paulo
21. Dinosaur Jr - Farm
22. Don Gallardo - Sweetheart Radio Revolution, Etc.
23. Elvis Perkins - Elvis Perkins In Dearland
24. Gilded Palace Of Sin - You Break Our Hearts We'll Tear Yours Out
25. Gloriana - Gloriana
26. Gomez - A New Tide
27. Grand Atlantic - How We Survive
28. Hot Dogs - Nothing But A Bad Day
29. Ian Hunter - Man Overboard
30. Ike Reilly - Hard Luck Stories
31. Jason Isbell - And The 400 Unit
32. John Fogerty - The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again
33. John Wesley Harding - Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead
34. Jon Allen - Dead Mans Suit
35. JTQ - New World
36. Karima Francis - The Author
37. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones
38. Kings Of Convenience - Declaration Of Dependence
39. Kingsbury Manx - Ascenseur Ouvert!
40. Leaving Tx - Late Gettin' Started
41. Lemonheads -Varshons
42. Levon Helm - Electric Dirt
43. Locksley - Be In Love
44. Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
45. Maplewood - Yeti Boombox
46. Megafaun - Gather Form And Fly
47. Michael Martin Murphey - Buckaroo Blue Grass
48. Minus 5 - Killingworth
49. Mother Hips - Pacific Dust
50. Nanci Griffith - The Loving Kind
51. New Riders Of The Purple Sage - Where I Come From
52. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Speed Of Life
53. Paolo Nutini - Sunny Side Up
54. Pines - Tremelo
55. Pinto -Short Songs About Konging
56. Quantic And His Combo Barbaro - Tradition Intransition
57. Refreshments - A Band's Gotta Do What A Band's Gotta Do
58. Rhett Miller - Rhett Miller
59. Roger And The Rockets - Walking Band
60. Sam Baker - Cotton
61. Scott Miller - For Crying Out Loud
62. Sister Hazel - Release
63. Statesboro Revue - Different Kind Of Light
64. Stereo Deluxe - When The Party's Over
65. Terry Anderson & The Olympic Ass Kickin Team - National Champions
66. Thea Gilmore - Recorded Delivery
67. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
68. Timothy B. Schmit - Expando
69. Tom Caufield - The Times Are Never So Bad
70. Train - Save Me San Francisco
71. Uncle Kracker - Happy Hour
72. Webb Wilder - More Like Me
73. Western States - Bye & Bye
74. White Lies - To Lose My Life
75. Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
76. Wrinkle Neck Mules - Let The Lead Fly

A Dozen & 1/2 Fab EP's From 2009

1. Chris Richards - That Covers That
2. Codaphonic - Edison's Rival
3. Cobbwebs - Demos
4. Greg Pope - Pete
5. Honeydogs - Sunshine Committee
6. Jeremy Nail & the Incidents - EP
7. John Brodeur -Slutty Nurse
8. Josh Abbott Band - Brushy Creek
9. Joshua James - Sings Songs
10. Leisure Society - A Product Of The Ego Drain
11. Mini - Must Try Harder
12. Paul Westerberg - The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys
13. Riffbackers - Sometimes
14. Rooney - Wild One
15. Sloan - Hit and Run
16. Syrups - Hear Here
17. Tearaways - Knackered
18. Whiskey Dawn - Dear Nashville

Special Mentions for 2009
Big Star - Keep An Eye On The Sky [Box Set] - Essential Box Set Of The Year for the brilliant but unappreciated Archie Bell support set alone - a 1000 musicians smile in ironic recognition!
Brothers Streep - Anna Paquin - Greatest Comedy Song With A Power Pop Flavor from these young gifted South African satirists
Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream - Bruce's single is perhaps the Most Pop Thing he's done Since 'Hungry Heart' - more like this please Bruce.
Clay Broome - Sunscreen Secrets - Clay, I love this! - When does it get official release?
Clem Snide - Hungry Bird - Consistently Great Singer/Songwriter still delivering the goods
Noel Gallagher - The Dreams We Have As Children - Fave Live Album
Prince - Crimson & Clover - Fave Bubblegum Cover of the Year
Jayhawks - Music From The North Country - Most welcome Anthology of the Year
Jon Boden - Songs From The Floodplain - Best UK Folk Album of the Year
Chris Smither - Time Stands Still - Best US Folk Album of the Year
Sadies & John Doe - Country Club - Great New Partnership
Avenues (From Leeds UK) - The Saddest Demise Of A Brilliant Band
Booker T Jones - Potato Hole - Best Fabulous Return
Graham Coxon - The Spinning Top - Massive Change Of Direction Award goes to Graham for his embrace of something like Nick Drake bedsit country
New York Dolls - Cause I Sez So - Favorite Re-Emergence
Spinal Tap - Back From The Dead - Welcome Re-serving of the Year
Richard Lloyd - The Jamie Neverts Story - Best Hendrix Covers We've Heard all Decade
Tragically Hip - We Are The Same - Favorite Canadians of the Year
Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg - Best Trad Hard Rock Album

We've largely sidestepped tributes, compilations and reissues - not that there weren't some great examples of each, bur we had to draw the line somewhere. Looking forward to more great music in 2010.
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Going Down To Liverpool To Do Something

Yes it's been a while, but we're back again, after some period spent on the non blog life for a while - apologies, we won't let it happen again!

One of the advantages of being able to attend Liverpool's International Powerpop Overthrow Festival is experiencing a plethora of powerpop bands from a pool which is truly international (as the name implies) encompassing musicians the whole length of Scandinavia, many parts of Southern Europe, regions of Asia, the USA and the UK etc, in intimate, cosy surroundings like the Cavern. Any serious music fan will already know how important the Cavern was in terms of rock music history and that musical heritage is still being carried on by the 175 bands that performed last week or so at the IPO Fest.

Since we could only attend the festival on Saturday, Mr Qwerty and I will be highlighting the bands that impressed us the most that day. This particular year the festival took place not only on the back and front stages of the Cavern but also across the road at the Cavern Pub, and round the corner at the Beaconsfield and the Grapes. Since the last 2 places mentioned are fairly close it wasn't impossible to catch the bands that we wanted to see, but a bit hectic, not helped by some skewed scheduling at the further venues, which resulted in us endlessly catching the last song by one band or another for the first two hours we were there.
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One such band was Slumberjet (think a little XTC, a little Neil Finn but like neither really other than that knack with an adventurous melody) who we caught for two and a half numbers at the Beaconsfield where the Irish 3-piece were delighting an audience of 2 or 3 interested parties and possibly the pub pooch. This embarrassing turnout must have been due to the crazy scheduling. We'd actually turned up to see the Romeo Flynns, but they didn't even leave the airport owing to some UK entry faux pas. Anyway Mr Q was very impressed with Barry O'Brien's slighty off-centre take on hooky, sometime pastoral psyche pop, and managed to catch them for a few more songs later when they played the Cavern main stage. Recommended is Barry O'Brien's own EP Spark, the 3 songs on the bands MySpace. Can't wait for a fully fledged Slumberjet Record. Soon I hope! More information on Slumberjet here: www.myspace.com/slumberjet

The first band to send our collective thumbs aloft were the Edinburgh ensemble Honeybug. This 7 piece fit into an unusual and select niche only previously reserved for the likes of Curt Boettcher (Sagittarius, Millennium California, & Association), Harpers Bizarre, the Merry-Go-Around, the Turtles and Yellow Balloon.

Their harmony drenched soft pop, the level of sophistication and interweave is an awfully rare beast, even in the phenomenal world of powerpop. Thus it was truly a delight to experience their aural brilliance for the first time, from the delightful first song 'Time' which featured just Ni's piano and the bands glorious voices, to 'Anything For You' from their Naked Songs EP. 

Although their own material is very strong, it's arguable whether the real highlights were their crowd pleasing rendition of Jellyfish's 'That Is Why' and later and even better known, the Buggles 'Video Killed the Radio Star.' Both were nigh on perfect, particularly the Jellyfish cover which was frankly awe inspiring.

We are indebted to Debbie's Twitterfriend, Anne Marie for the recommendation and an introduction to main man Nigel Frayling-Kelly. Explore more at www.myspace.com/honeybug

You wait for years for new, well crafted soft harmony pop, then two come along at once.

Piano led by Yani Martinelli, Navy Blue too have a level of sophistication and command of the medium that impresses immediately. The material often recalls the mini symphonies and welded multi-strand short pieces of the Smile-era Beach Boys, the experimental touches of Harper's Bizzare, Ben Folds and Todd Rundgren. I even hear references from as far afield as Harry Nilsson and amazingly, Stereolab. But Madrid's Navy Blue make it all their own, in a rich melle of gorgeous flavours.

The band possess two excellent lead vocalists in the charming Yani Martinelli and lead/back-up singer/percussionist Angel Gago - a finer set of pipes than you could ever wish to meet. Their new album 'At Home' is as charming and seductive as they are. Investigate more at www.myspace.com/navyblueproject

Mini moved through the club like a clean waft of fresh air, delivering a tight set of dynamic, twisting, turning songs of love lost and unrequited, set to flawless and tasteful, inventive instrumentation.

The material flowed smoothly and effortlessly for half-an-hour of relentless entertainment. The band connected well with the audience and lead singer (and drummer) had oodles of charisma, with bags to spare. Also, great to see a band with two lead singers plus strong vocal harmonies and back-ups - all band members sing - and perform like their life depended on it. Their cover of Cliff Richard's 'We Don't Talk Anymore' was a showstopping demonstration of just how great a powerpop song this was. Mini did the 1980 #1 Alan Tarney penned hit total justice and didn't shortchange us at all when they included all the vocal pyrotechnics of the original, delivered with stunning and appropriate acrobatics!!

Mini were new to us but we will go away with nothing but admiration for their standout song 'Since Yesterday' - a tremendous showcase for the incredible vocal performance and quality of lead singer Scott Richardson and guitar of the Gary Davies. The song has an expansive sound which takes in both Macca (Circa 'Band on The Run') and Stevie Wonder (Circa 'Innervisions/Believe When I Fall In Love') with a dose of psychedelia to tag out with. Unmissable.

Mini's EP with a nice self-depreciating title of 'Must Try Harder' should be purchased immediately - find out more about Mini: www.myspace.com/soundofmini

If memory serves, almost one week on, I believe Smash Palace opened with the superb career high 'Steal Her Thunder' from their 'Over The Top' album. A wickedly perfect soaring slice of pop psychedelia that recalls both fellow New Jerseyites 'The Grip Weeds' and (of course perfect PP reference) the Byrds

Although the crowd wasn't huge, Smash Palace can't realise their almost legendary status as the wonderful 'Juliet To Me' (from both the 1st album & the fully realised/rounded version which graces 'Over The Top') was requested by audience member. Leader Stephen Butler seemed genuinely humbled by the fact that some people in England might know their stuff when he asked "How do you know that song?". "Cos I bought the album when it came out" replied the English guy. Yeah Stephen that makes at least of two of us - and I'm sure many more!

The band (formerly the main shakers from the obscure, rare & underrated 'Quincy') continued with 'She' (From the last album 'Everybody Comes & Goes') and a very nice cover of the Beatles 'Hey Bulldog' in recognition of their being at the Cavern. Personally I can't believe how far they've come from that now passe sub U2/New Romantic sound of 1985's 'Living On The Borderline'. www.myspace.com/smashpalace and www.smashpalacemusic.com/

Unfortunately due to switching from one venue to another we were only able to catch 2 songs by Peter Parker, which was a real shame. His break speed guitar work welds Chuck Berry to Marc Bolan, and chugs and splutters like no other. An arresting spectacle, Parker jerks and quirks like a man who’s eaten tourettes tablets for breakfast. He’s only one man, and although great, I think fronting a band would serve him well. The songs available at www.myspace.com/peterparkerrocks and MySpace Vids are gloriously hooky and blew these writers away.


Radio Days, an Italian band from Milan, made a visual statement soon as they appeared - all clad in all black, thin ties, skinny frames and a front line of white guitars. The Band had fabulous stage presence and unstoppable energy! Their set was over way too quickly for us.

These guys had definitely done their powerpop homework. They performed brilliant covers of both the Rubinoos "I Want To Be Your Boyfriend" and a sublime Paul Collins' Beat: 'Rock 'n' Roll Girl'. These covers perfectly placed their own songs which revisits the best in the short sharp shocks of bands like the Romantics, the Ramones, Green Day and of course, the Beat. www.myspace.com/radiodays



My husband and I were pleasantly surprised to find out while doing research for this article that the origins of Irwin Starr from Denmark date back to the excellent Shiner 22. Who? I hear you say, but we had discovered the music of Shiner 22 many years ago (one and a half brilliant albums in 'Mint' and 'Where's The Catch') and often wondered what had happened to them.

Amazingly they still have a web site www.shiner22.net/ but main man Fjeder (aka Pete Shiner) now leads Irwin Starr, who were superb BTW. Their song 'Sally Can't Wait' is as solid a gold piece of powerpop if ever you heard some and remained the high point of their hot and sweaty set in the bowls of the Cavern Pub. The audience was a little thin on the ground but was frequently peppered by streams of scantily clad young women on a night out, a sight which thrilled the band enough to make up for the paucity of numbers and provided a few laughs for us in the audience and the band at the irony of the whole thing. See Irwin Starr's Facebook page

Peter and the Penguins are able to capture the essence of Beatlesque harmonies, melodies and song structure without sounding totally derivative of their idols. The exception might be the infectious 'Surprise' which is such a dead ringer for 'Please Please Me' it may as well have been a Rutles song!

However the band more than redeem themselves with very original spin given on their song 'There Goes Pete Best' which tells the story of how the writer is about to get Pete Best's autograph, but has a change of heart when he questions why he'd want the autograph of "...the unluckiest bastard in the world".

The Penguins went down a storm with more than a sprinkling of dedicated fans amongst the throng. Their nifty cover of the Spongetones "She Goes Out with Everybody" was another highlight and prompted our purchase of their latest album 'How To Choose A Sweetheart' at the gig as a souvenir of a great concert. Go to www.myspace.com/peterthepenguins to find out how to get your copy.


Mellowmen were initially the band that compelled Debbie to pick Saturday for the day that we would attend IPO as we'd seen them twice before - again, they were our favorite band of the day.

Their songwriting, musicianship and performance makes one wonder why their name isn't better known. The sheer energy of the show had the audience as much engrossed in the music as the band members were themselves transfixed by something outside our immediate vision (see photo below for evidence). The men of Mellow began with Out Of Shape Part I from their 2004 EP of the same name, a crowd pleaser to the anointed as many of us sang along about just how 'Out of Shape' we were. From beginning to end these guys give their absolute all and by end of the performance are completely hung out to dry. When they come off stage they resemble the MC5 in that classic cover shot from their second album 'Back in the USA'(pic) - although musically they are not at all alike - they certainly capture that energy and commitment.

This time the Men had a surprise for us all when lead guitarist Anders Lofgren came over all Pete Townshend like and suddenly smashed his guitar into splinters in 60's pop-art style. It was certainly a great end to a terrific day!

Best personal surprise of all, Debbie got an advance promo of 4 new tracks of the band from hunk bassist Jonas Lofgren - the contents of which indicate that their projected fall second album promises to be brilliant - can't wait! www.myspace.com/mellowmen
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It seems churlish to complain, the IPO is a free festival and although he seems a little more aloof than when I first met him 5 years ago in New York, there's no doubt that it's the enthusiasm and drive of David Bash that flies the powerpop flag so large and so high, but I feel that a 7 day festival and 175 bands, while admirable is spreading the goods a little thin. For me, the influx of indie and other extraneous styles sometimes dilutes the artist mix a little too much.



Posted by Mr Qwerty & Debra47
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