Well, after a long day of travel, I'm back in my current 'home' of Toronto, and as promised, I will be presenting the final award of 2009; the coveted album of the year. Before I do, let me comment on this year as a whole. 2009 was a huge year in the world of music, both on a personal level, and on a global level. We lost some musical geniuses (even if they did have a thing for little boys) and welcomed back some old faces (though I'm starting to feel the word 'supergroup' is getting overused). Personally, I was able to start up a new project with a close friend and come a long way with it in only a year. 2010 has some big shoes to fill, but I think, looking forward, everything's going to be alright.
Let me first tell you who didn't win the 2009 Shanie for album of the year. Them Crooked Vultures self-titled debut was an obvious good guess for anyone who knows me at all. The group featured 3 of my favorite musicians in the world collaborating to create the most rock and roll collection of songs I've ever heard, however, it didn't come together as an album. The debut felt more like a collection of singles (possibly because all songs are equally as awesome and they never stopped being mind blowing) and less like a fluid, comprehensive, flowing album. Say what you will, but I am a puritan at heart who still values a group which is able to group a collection of songs together to tell a story greater than any one track.
Ok, but seriously, that album fucking rocks.
Mutemath came close with their softmore effort, Armistice, however while the album started off strong, the 2nd half of the album began to feel like ambient filler. The opening 6 tracks of this CD are so incredibly well orchestrated and tied together that it is almost painful to listen to the remaining 6 tracks, again, not because they are bad songs, but because they lack the flow and consistency of what an album should strive for. Once again, this CD was one of my most highly rotated discs this year, possibly more so than the winner, but it wasn't the album which I wanted to listen to songs, NOT the album which I was torn between wanting to hear the end, and wanting to stop and smell every rose.
For 2009, that bouquet of roses belonged to The Dudes and their 2nd full length, Blood Guts Bruises Cuts. This may come as a shock to many people, but it was a ballady, alcoholic, lovey-duvy-filled, back to basics rock album which stole my heart this past year. I don't know if BGBC somehow got in sync with my emotions and just struck the right chord, or if it really was that good, but I found myself completely enthralled with this disc, from start to finish, every time I threw it on. If you haven't given this Calgary quartet a chance yet, I implore you, NAY DEMAND, that you go try out a few tracks. This is an album which The Beatles could have made, had they been born in the prairies in the 70s and spent their years just playing rock and roll and trying to bed down women. (Ok, I suppose the whole sleeping with women is pretty much the main reason that every guy plays with a band).
So to summarize, 2009 was an incredible year on so many levels, and my one parting shot to you is this simply; get a bit more dude in your life.
-Off to Boston for some decade-ending-insanity. Catch you when we're done with the noughties (I still fucking hate that term).
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Shanies: Video of the Year
This was probably the single most difficult category I had to decide upon this year, and unfortunately because there were no absolutely brilliant videos. The music was great, but 2009 lacked the visual genius of 2008 which we saw in videos such as Shad's Old Prince, Mutemath's Typical or Spinerette's Ghetto Love.
An honourable mention goes to The Dead Weather for their disturbingly violent video for Treat Me Like Your Mother. The video features Jack White and Alison Mosshart striding angirily towards each other and riddling the other with bullets, only to turn away at the end of the video and stumble off. I'm sure someone much smarter than I has a lot to say about the video, but I just thought it was an interesting concept.
Secondly, I need to point out Every Time I Die and their video for Wanderlust. The video is cool, but not ground breaking. I appreciated it because I think it does a very good job of visually interpreting the sound of this band. It features a dimly lit building with band members shredding under swinging lights and frontman Keith Buckley in a tattered suit stumbling between doors of unspeakable cartoon horror. Also, New Junk Aesthetic was fucking awesome.
However, in the absence of one of my favorite bands of the day putting out a mind blowing video, I must step back to one of my favorite groups from childhood, who released the most entertaining 5 minutes of video footage I've seen on the internet since the fat star wars kid.
-Final Award tomorrow for Album of the year!!
An honourable mention goes to The Dead Weather for their disturbingly violent video for Treat Me Like Your Mother. The video features Jack White and Alison Mosshart striding angirily towards each other and riddling the other with bullets, only to turn away at the end of the video and stumble off. I'm sure someone much smarter than I has a lot to say about the video, but I just thought it was an interesting concept.
Secondly, I need to point out Every Time I Die and their video for Wanderlust. The video is cool, but not ground breaking. I appreciated it because I think it does a very good job of visually interpreting the sound of this band. It features a dimly lit building with band members shredding under swinging lights and frontman Keith Buckley in a tattered suit stumbling between doors of unspeakable cartoon horror. Also, New Junk Aesthetic was fucking awesome.
However, in the absence of one of my favorite bands of the day putting out a mind blowing video, I must step back to one of my favorite groups from childhood, who released the most entertaining 5 minutes of video footage I've seen on the internet since the fat star wars kid.
-Final Award tomorrow for Album of the year!!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Shanies: Rookie of the Year
We're down to just 3 awards left, and the tension is building. By that, I of course mean that I've eaten so much that the skin covering my belly is starting to stretch. It's a little concerning.
I'm probably going to get yelled at for my choice for rookie of the year, however it does fit all the criteria. Unquestionably, Them Crooked Vultures were the most outstanding newcomer for 2009. Granted Dave Grohl is one of the most influential rock figures of the 90's, Josh Homme has recorded with more people than your average session musician and John Paul Jones is... well, John Paul Jones, however one must consider their competition this year. The Dead Weather were a fantastic new group as well, but it's not like Jack White is a stranger. Chickenfoot had some pretty fun songs too, but those guys have been rock stars since before I was swimming in my father's nutsack.
As a fun exercise, I thought it would be interesting to list off the resume of the Vultures... you know, mostly just to piss you, the reader, off for my misuse of the rookie category.
Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Butthole Surfers, Donovan, Probot, Kyuss, Tenacious D, Eagles of Death Metal, Mastodon, UNKLE, Peter Gabriel, REM, Scream, Masters of Reality, Killing Joke, Mondo Generator, Screaming Trees, KISS, Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, Brian Eno, Late!, Mike Watt, Nine Inch Nails, Garbage, L7, Neil Young, The Prodigy, The Dessert Sessions, A Perfect Circle, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, DFA1979, Melissa Auf der Mar and Spinerette.
Christ that took a while.
In short, thank you, Them Crooked Vultures, for using your massive stardom and swaths of experience to save rock and roll. That's right... save it. I said it.
-I'm scared of not being afraid
I'm probably going to get yelled at for my choice for rookie of the year, however it does fit all the criteria. Unquestionably, Them Crooked Vultures were the most outstanding newcomer for 2009. Granted Dave Grohl is one of the most influential rock figures of the 90's, Josh Homme has recorded with more people than your average session musician and John Paul Jones is... well, John Paul Jones, however one must consider their competition this year. The Dead Weather were a fantastic new group as well, but it's not like Jack White is a stranger. Chickenfoot had some pretty fun songs too, but those guys have been rock stars since before I was swimming in my father's nutsack.
As a fun exercise, I thought it would be interesting to list off the resume of the Vultures... you know, mostly just to piss you, the reader, off for my misuse of the rookie category.
Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Butthole Surfers, Donovan, Probot, Kyuss, Tenacious D, Eagles of Death Metal, Mastodon, UNKLE, Peter Gabriel, REM, Scream, Masters of Reality, Killing Joke, Mondo Generator, Screaming Trees, KISS, Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, Brian Eno, Late!, Mike Watt, Nine Inch Nails, Garbage, L7, Neil Young, The Prodigy, The Dessert Sessions, A Perfect Circle, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, DFA1979, Melissa Auf der Mar and Spinerette.
Christ that took a while.
In short, thank you, Them Crooked Vultures, for using your massive stardom and swaths of experience to save rock and roll. That's right... save it. I said it.
-I'm scared of not being afraid
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Shanies: Song of the Year
Yesterday was the expected insanity of family, food, wine and presents. As one could guess, I likely put on around an extra 2kg yesterday alone, and with the amount of leftovers currently sitting in my sister's fridge, I don't see that kind of pace slowing down anytime soon.
But enough about me... more about Mutemath. Once again, with the juggernaut of a year known as 2009, this was a difficult category. The Vultures had some rockers which stuck in my head, Black Crowes new album was FULL of amazing tracks, and Jack White even pumped out a few awesome tracks... through a few different bands. My decision was made by what song got stuck in my head most often throughout the past year, and the decision became quite clear.
Mutemath's entire Armistice album was incredible, however the 3rd track, Clipping, was an achievement of music which I found myself singing on countless walks throughout my new city of Toronto. The incredible layers of guitar, synth, piano and upright bass break through to some spine-chilling vocal harmonies in the chorus and then, just when you think the song can't get more amazing, the breakdown blows your mind. Mutemath has always had a humbling ability to write thick, complex and beautiful songs, and Clipping is, in my opinion, their current masterpiece.
If you disagree... let me know what you think.
-Don't let the bastards drag you down
But enough about me... more about Mutemath. Once again, with the juggernaut of a year known as 2009, this was a difficult category. The Vultures had some rockers which stuck in my head, Black Crowes new album was FULL of amazing tracks, and Jack White even pumped out a few awesome tracks... through a few different bands. My decision was made by what song got stuck in my head most often throughout the past year, and the decision became quite clear.
Mutemath's entire Armistice album was incredible, however the 3rd track, Clipping, was an achievement of music which I found myself singing on countless walks throughout my new city of Toronto. The incredible layers of guitar, synth, piano and upright bass break through to some spine-chilling vocal harmonies in the chorus and then, just when you think the song can't get more amazing, the breakdown blows your mind. Mutemath has always had a humbling ability to write thick, complex and beautiful songs, and Clipping is, in my opinion, their current masterpiece.
If you disagree... let me know what you think.
-Don't let the bastards drag you down
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas from Evil Shanaigans & The Noble Rogues
It's everyone's favorite time again... no, not Christmas... time for SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION!!
My little band that could, The Noble Rogues, are releasing our first recording, a 3 track demo titled Far From the Madding Crowd FREE for you on Christmas day. We spent a lot of time on these songs and I hope you enjoy them. To download the album, simply click on the image below to be taken to our website, where you can find the link the the album.
Keep rockin in 2010!!!
-Shaner
My little band that could, The Noble Rogues, are releasing our first recording, a 3 track demo titled Far From the Madding Crowd FREE for you on Christmas day. We spent a lot of time on these songs and I hope you enjoy them. To download the album, simply click on the image below to be taken to our website, where you can find the link the the album.
Keep rockin in 2010!!!
-Shaner
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