The Year in Music 2011: The Not Top Ten

So over the course of the year, I counted up about 45 or so 2011 releases that I bought this year, in addition to a handful of albums that were released last year or earlier.  They can't all be in the top ten, so here's how the rest stacked up.

Albums that came out in 2010 (or earlier) that I discovered or appreciated this year:

• Crocodiles - Sleep Forever
• the 1900s - Return of the Century: Would have been higher on last year's list had I run across it earlier
• Tame Impala - Innerspeaker
• Gold Motel - Summer House
• Army Navy - Army Navy (2008): Also released a new album this year
• Superchunk - Majesty Shredding: Bought this last year, but didn't pay attention to it much before the Pitchfork Festival this year.  This a really terrific album.  May have been a top 10 last year under different circumstances.

Incompletes - Albums that I bought this year, but for whatever reason barely listened to.  Also known as albums that could show up in the category above next year:

• Panda Bear - Tomboy: PB released my favorite album of 2008, and Animal Collective released my second favorite album of 2009, yet I couldn't seem to make time for this one.
• Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness: Just released recently.  Will get around to it eventually.
• Ivy - All Hours: A band whose albums I will still buy, but need a reason to listen to.  Haven't found that reason just yet.
• Hooray for Earth - True Loves: Bought on the basis of their EP from a year or two ago.  Didn't strike me after the first lesson.  Need to head back to it.
• Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues: Just can't seem to get into this group.
• The Black Keys - El Camino: I'm half tempted to not even include this album in this year's list.  Released much too close to the end of the year for a proper evaluation, though it's pretty good so far.

Releases that I liked a lot, but don't feel right including because they were EPs:

• My My My - Wishing You Whatever's Best:  Local Chicago band.  Opened for Nicole Atkins.  Put on a great show and gave out free copies of their EP.
• Superhumanoids - Parasite Paradise:  LA act that opened for Cults and Magic Kids.  Were better than Magic Kids.

The rest of the not top 10:

36) Art Brut - Brilliant Tragic:  Loved the last album.  Was underwhelmed here.  And the antics at their live show this year were a real turn off.

35) Yuck - Yuck:   Everybody seems to love these guys, but I didn't care that much for Dinosaur Jr. the first time around.  Or apparently the second time around.  They're alright, but this album bored me.

34) Radiohead - the King of Limbs: This could also have gone into the "Incomplete" section.

33) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong:  See #36.  While I loved the first album, this was just OK, with a lot of forgettable songs, and nothing as good as the singles on the first album.  Very underwhelming live show as well.

32) the Strokes - Angles:  A couple really good songs, but a lot of meh as well.

31) the Drums - Portamento:  Another in the line of underwhelming second (or third, or fouth) efforts.  Maybe I placed the expectations too high.  Their debut was my ninth favorite album of 2010.

30) Au Ras Au Ras - Au Ras Au Ras:  The brainchild of Tess Brunet.  This is actually pretty decent, but not truly grabbing.  Donated some cash on Kickstarter for this one.  Tess seems pretty cool.

29) Cut Off Your Hands - Hollow:  Finally a sophomore effort I preferred to the debut.  Really late '80s vibe on this one.  Nothing really mind blowing, but fun to listen to.

28) The Raveonettes - Recharge and Revolt:  Kind of a by the numbers release from a band whose baseline is still pretty good.  While I liked the album, it's one that I really didn't go back to after their Lincoln Hall show in April.

27) the War on Drugs - Slave Ambient: Saw these guys three times this year, and this album has some songs that translate really well live.  Still, half of it's great, half of it is forgettable.

26) YAWN - Open Season:  Local Chicago band that was a bit of revelation. Saw them open for Tame Impala and they really impressed me.  Debut album sounds like a cross between White Rabbits and Animal Collective.

25) Nicole Atkins - Mondo Amore:  I liked this one better than her first album.  Sort of skirts "adult contemporary".  Kind of surprised she's not a bigger mainstream act.  She's beautiful and has a great voice, and this album has some really fun songs on it.

24) Those Darlins - Screws Get Loose:  One of the "girl-group retro-pop" outfits that were all over 2011.  Their schtick is GG-RP with a honkey-tonk twinge.

23) Fool's Gold - Leave No Trace:   I need to spend a bit more time with this album, but they've moved from an Israeli-African sound to something that sounds more like Foreign Born, which isn't surprising since most of the guys in Foreign Born are also in Fool's Gold.  Still, since Foreign Born hasn't released an album since 2009's fantastic 'Person to Person', this will have to do. 

22) The Ladybug Transistor - Clutching Stems:  Elephant Six connected act that's been around for 15 years or so.  This album has a bit of Burt Bacharach feel to it.  Great melodies and hooks.  

21) The Features - Wilderness:  Another album that was released pretty recently.  Like their last album, this is one that I won't need to listen to all the time, but it's something I could listen to all the time.

20) Army Navy - the Last Place:  Great power pop hooks.  Nothing too substantial, but fun to listen to.

19) Tennis - Cape Dory:  Girl-group retro-pop - the nautical version.  Sugary melodied songs from a husband and wife about their adventure sailing up and down the East Coast.  

18) Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams:  Girl-group retro-pop - the shoegazer version.  Lots of fun to listen to, and Kristen Gundred's voice sounds really nice in comparison the yelling vocals she employed in her last act 'Grand Ole Party'.  

17) Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital:  Another husband and wife act, this time writing the whole album on keyboards.  Still, the guitar heavy tracks, like "Bury Me Standing" are the stand out tracks.  Great live energy.

16) Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost:  And now we start to get into the albums that were probably in my top ten at some point in the year.  Great follow up to last year's 'Album', this has a similar mix of somewhat forgettable down tempo numbers, and really fun up tempo numbers.  Another great mix of melodies.

15) Atlas Sound - Parallax:  Hurt by it's recent release, Bradford Cox moves slightly further away from the ambient waviness of his first Atlas Sound record, and closer to the sound he's perfected with Deerhunter.  As I tend to prefer Deerhunter, it's a move I'm happy with.  "Te Amo" is to Parallax as "Helicopter" is to Halcyon Digest.

14) Destroyer - Kaputt:  I'm never quite sure what to expect from Dan Bejar.  It's safe to say that I didn't expect his latest album to be a foray in Smooth Jazz.  But Bejar pulls it off.  It's not Streethawk, but neither is anything else he's done since Streethawk.

13) Generationals - Actor Caster:  Boy-group retro-pop.  These guys really do it right.  Though I didn't like this as much as 2009's Con-Law, it's still loaded with great pure pop songs.

12) Viva Voce - The Future Will Destroy You:  Third husband and wife duo.  This Portland act took a side trip last year with their Blue Giant project, and released a great country tinged pop album.  Their back in their original format, but this felt more like a melding of Blue Giant and Viva Voce.  

11) the Joy Formidable - The Big Roar:  Pixieish Welsh vocalist Ritzy Bryan delivers some booming energy on this swirling rock and roll debut.  Big, anthemic songs delivered by a power trio that really lives up to the power aspect.  

Tomorrow we start with the top ten.  

Pujols and Wilson and Hawkins, oh my !

Here are some quick thoughts on the Angels' flurry of activity in the last 48 hours.

• Albert's contract is an overpayment that will look pretty bad in four or five years.  And that being the case, who the hell cares?  It's not my money, and Arte has pretty clearly shown that the worst contract in baseball (Vernon Wells) is not going to keep him from spending money on excellent players who want to come to Southern California.  If he delivers a championship somewhere over the course of this contract, it's worth it.
• CJ Wilson would make serviceable #1 starter, but he'll be a pretty terrific #4 starter on the Angels.  And while he's 30 years old, he's only been starting in the majors for two years, so he doesn't have a tremendous amount of innings on his arm.  
• Latroy Hawkins is going to feel really out of place at that press conference.  
• How would you like to be Jerry DiPoto?  You finally get your first real GM job, and take over a relatively solid team with some holes to fill, a team with a pretty decent farm system, arguably the best prospect in all of baseball, and oh yeah, the owner also has given $40 plus million to spend in the off-season.  
• I have a lot of friends who are Cardinals fans, and so far I haven't sensed much animosity towards Pujols.  My friend Dayn says that Albert will continue to be one of his favorite players.  And while I understand that they're disappointed right now, they are just coming off a World Series Championship.  Given the option of losing the WS, or winning it and being forced to give up my team's best player, I'd probably choose the latter.  Flags fly forever.  
• These are pretty great moves to make right before you sign a new television contract.
• If there was ever a question about whether Arte Moreno cared about winning, I think it has been answered. Talk about a breath of fresh air, this is a guy that absolutely could not handle missing the playoffs two years in a row.  Long time Angels fans have been conditioned to survive at least 16 consecutive years with no post-season baseball. 
• I love it when teams add to their strengths.  Everyone talks about balance, and sure it's important, but the Wilson signing reminds me a lot of the Braves in the 1992 off-season.  Everybody expected the Braves, coming off two straight WS losses, to go after free agent Barry Bonds.  He was a perfect fit, and would have given them an outfield of Bonds, Otis Nixon, and David Justice.  Instead, the team with the best pitching staff in baseball at the time signed reigning Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux.  They took their best part and made it better.  All that did was get them into the playoffs for the next decade.  
• Really fun day to be an Angels fan coming off the disappointments of the Teixeira and Crawford misses.  

The Year in Music: The Year in Live Shows

Exactly one year ago, I posted about the year in live shows, 2010. Following the same format, here's the rundown on 2011, keeping in mind that I still have tickets for two upcoming shows: the War on Drugs @ Lincoln Hall (12/7), and Joy Formidable @ the Metro (12/15).

•  Shows attended: 54 (plus two remaining), which means I'll beat last year by about 10. 
•  Sets witnessed: 97 (plus about four remaining). Again, besting last year by about 10.

Shows by venue:

• Lincoln Hall - 20
• Schuba's - 12
• Empty Bottle - 5
• the Metro - 3
• The Vic - 2
• Subterranean - 2
• the Bottom Lounge - 2
• the Double Door - 2
• The Hideout - 1
• Beat Kitchen - 1
• Fireside Bowl - 1
• Silverlake Lounge - 1
• Plus a number of Festival shows

Bands Seen Multiple Times (including festival shows):

• tUnE-yArDs - 4
• the 1900s - 3
• the War on Drugs - 3
• Smith Westerns - 3
• Besnard Lakes - 2
• Cults - 2
• Destroyer - 2
• Eleanor Friedberger - 2
• the Fiery Furnaces - 2
• Handsome Furs - 2
• Joy Formidable - 2
• Peter Bjorn and John - 2
• Team Band - 2
• Ted Leo - 2 (once solo, once with the Pharmacists)
• the Thermals - 2
• Wild Flag - 2
• YAWN - 2

Biggest Months: 

• July - 9
• May - 7
• October - 7
• June - 6
• August - 6

This year seemed more evenly spread out than last year.  

Biggest Letdowns:

Can't say I really had too many letdowns this year.  Most of the shows I went to provided a pretty good value, and I can't say there was anyone I was really psyched to see who didn't deliver.  I suppose I was not well positioned for either St. Vincent or Lykke Li, but that's really my own fault.  I was a bit let down by Pitchfork's overall lineup, particularly Saturday, a day on which Destroyer was the only band I really wanted to see.  I was also a bit let down by the fact that PJ Harvey didn't play any Chicago dates.

Biggest Surprise of the Year:

Actually, this year's biggest surprise was a band who was one of last year's biggest letdowns.  Girls gave what I thought was a pretty awful performance at the Pitchfork Festival, but they redeemed themselves this year with a really phenomenal show at Lincoln Hall.  I'd imagine the venue played no small role in that, but beyond the hot sun last year, I just thought their set and the tempo at which it was played didn't translate well to a live show.  No such problems this year.  I was also somewhat surprised by how much I really enjoyed the two Peter, Bjorn, & John shows I attended, particularly because those shows weren't on my radar until I learned that the 1900s would be opening one of them.  the 1900s are the reason I bought a ticket, and I ended up really being glad that I got a chance to see PB&J.

Best Single Night of Music:

Sunday at the Pitchfork Festival probably had the best overall lineup of music that I saw this year, starting off with Superchunk, leading into Deerhunter, followed by Cut Copy, and closed out with TV on the Radio.  Deerhunter put on the best performance of the weekend, and Cut Copy was better than I expected.  It was a nice way to end the Festival after a solid Friday (tUnE-yArDs, Guided by Voices, Animal Collective), and a crappy Saturday.

Biggest Screw-Job of the Year:

On June 15th at the Double Door, Team Band got totally hosed by Art Brut, a band they had been friendly with in the past.  The show was supposed to start at 9:00, with Team Band as the first opener.  Art Brut made them go on at 8:30.  Fortunately, I had checked the venue's website, which had been updated, but all of the information for the show had originally listed the start time as 9:00.  Other people who actually wanted to see Team Band, a really fun local act (and by local, I mean like my neighborhood) weren't so lucky.  The surprising thing about this is that the two bands have played together quite a few times, and the guys in Art Brut were kinda dicks about the whole thing, which really makes me want to not like Art Brut.  Fortunately, their album this year kind of sucked, so the situation kind of took care of itself.  

Top Five Shows of the Year:  

This was kind of a weird year in that there were a lot of really good shows, but very few, if any, really stood out and blew me away like the Fiery Furnaces, Titus Andronicus, and Deerhunter last year.  That said, these are the five that made the largest impression.

5) Gruff Rhys@ Schuba's - June 9th: It's been a couple years since Gruff Rhys has been to town with his main act, the Super Furry Animals, but he's been to town twice in the last few years promoting his solo stuff.  A couple years ago, he brought an extra vocalist, a bunch of props, and that was pretty much it.  He created a swirl of loops and percussion to fill in for the lack of backing musicians, and it nicely complemented his album Candylion.  This time, the Welsh surf rock band Y Niwl acted as both Gruff's opening band, and his back-up band.  The set up was well suited for his most recent album Hotel Shampoo, which is a bit more pop/rock forward than Candylion was.  His self deprecation played well to the smallish crowd in an intimate setting (Schuba's holds fewer than 200 people even when sold out).  It was among the best shows I've seen him do, with or without SFA. 

4) Wild Flag @ the Empty Bottle - October 9th: These ladies come to rock.  With Janet Weiss pounding away on drums while lead guitar duties switched back and forth between Mary Timony and Carrie Brownstein, they brought a lot of energy to the packed crowd at the Empty Bottle.  

3) tUnE-yArDs @ Lincoln Hall - May 10th: The first of the three shows she played at Lincoln Hall this year, I actually made it over the venue in plenty of time after having seen the Fiery Furnaces play their "recital show" at Schuba's earlier in the evening.  

2) the Thermals @ the Green Music Festival - June 26th: It's almost impossible for the Thermals to put together a set list that won't translate well to a live show.  They tried at the Onion AV Fest show in September, but even that show turned out pretty good.  At the Green Music Festival in Wicker Park, they were as close to perfect as possible.  They broke out all of their best stuff from across their entire catalog, and they hit every note.  They're also a band who clearly has a good time playing live.  Drummer Westin Glass may be the most enthusiastic musician I've ever seen.  It was also the only show I've ever seen with a stage set up right in front of a retirement home, and they even had those residents interested.

1) Ted Leo and the Pharmacist @ the Fireside Bowl - July 26th:  TL/Rx can sell out a venue like the Metro that holds over a thousand people.  So if you have the opportunity to see them in front of about a hundred people at an old bowling alley, you have to take advantage.  No big speaker system, no fancy light show.  Just a couple of big PA speakers and a punk band playing the kind of stuff they played back when bowling alley style gigs were all they could get.  The sound wasn't terrific, but the set was long and the setting was perfect.

Eleanor Friedberger @ the Hideout - 7/20/11

Fresh off a late Spring tour with her brother, the Fiery Furnaces as a duo, Eleanor Friedberger released her first true solo album, "Last Summer", and has hit the road in support. She called the duo tour their "recital", and it really had that type of feel. Just her brother Matt at the keys and Eleanor on vocals as they re-interpreted a selection of music covering more or less their entire catalog.

Last night she hit the stage without the security of a fellow performer and played an interesting mix of album tracks, Fiery Furnaces classics, new tracks that aren't on the album, and even a cover of a Spoon song, which she introduced as a song written by "the guy that licks my face" in the video for her first single "My Mistakes" (below).

The venue was packed and fairly hot, and as a Chicago local (Oak Park, actually), there appeared to be plenty of friends and family in the crowd. Eleanor went the Ted Leo route, a solo act playing an electric guitar. Typically a singer-songwriter playing solo will go acoustic, as the instrument tends to allow the performer to improvise some percussion. With just the electric, all you're getting is the guitar, but in the right hands, it can work. Whereas Ted basically plays his lead guitar parts as if he had a band behind him, Eleanor's set had more of a demo feel, like she was previewing songs that would be fleshed out at some point in the future. Of course, she's already done that on the album, and she announced that she'll be back with a full band "sometime around Halloween".

Like their Schuba's shows earlier this year, the Hideout is a venue that really lends itself well to her personality. She comes off as shy, but funny, and the bits of crowd interaction are really enjoyable. I was a bit surprised that she didn't play more from the new album, but I really look forward to hearing the full band arrangements in the fall.

Setlist - I'm creating my own titles for the new songs:

• I Won't Fall Apart on You Tonight
• Scenes From Bensonhurst
• That Was When I Knew - (new song)
• My Mistakes
• Trouble Comes Running - (Spoon cover)
• Noise in the Distance - (new song)
• Lost at See - (Fiery Furnaces song)
• Heaven
• After Perfection - (new song)
• Early Earthquakes
• Tropical Iceland - (Fiery Furnaces song)
• Inn of the Seventh Ray
• Trying Not to Stare Into the Sun - (new song)

My Mistakes


I Won't Fall Apart on You Tonight

G.A.

Maybe it was the inevitability of the thing, or maybe I've just consumed a few thousand gallons of alcohol since it happened, but I don't recall the level of reaction in the Halosphere, such as it was, to Tim Salmon's retirement as there has been to Garret Anderson's retirement. Maybe it's because there's been a lot of coverage at the OC Register's excellent blog. That's not a criticism, it's just an observation.

Anyway, the day has finally arrived for GA to hang 'em up, and that makes this as good a time as any to look back at the career of the man who a) scored the winning run in the most important inning in Angels history, and b) drove in the winnning runs in the most important game in Angels history.

He burst onto the scene in 1995, posting what would be the third best OPS+ of his career in 106 games, and was one of the three young outfielders that pushed the '95 Angels out to the huge lead that they would piss away in August and September, a collapse that probably cost him the rookie of the year. After a few less than mediocre years, he put up huge counting stats in 2000, a year in which four Angels hit more than 35 home runs (Anderson had 35 and 107 RBIs). He put up arguably his best all around year in 2002 with 29 homers and a monstrous 56 doubles. He'd put up his best OPS+ in 2003, but the career slide started the next year, with a bit of a blip in 2007.

As an Angels fan, there are a few GA moments I'll never forget:

• Game two of the 2002 ALDS against the Yankees. Needing a win after dropping game one, the Angels went into the 8th inning trailing 5-4. With GA leading off the inning, Orlando Hernandez hung one, and I can still see him going into his windup and hearing Joe Buck say "The Angels trail by one.....the Angels have tied this game". Troy Glaus would follow with the second of back to back homers, the Angels would go on to win the game and series.
• Game three of the 2002 ALCS against the Twins. The Angels split in Minnesota and came home hoping to take control of the series. Again, leading off, GA's second inning home run stood as the Angels' only marker until Troy Glaus' game winner in the 8th.
• Game six of the 2002 World Series. Following Darin Erstad's home run and Tim Salmon's grossly underrated single, GA's bloop down the left field line eluded Barry Bonds. Heads up base running by Chone Figgins and GA put the winning run on second base, shortly before Troy Glaus' double cashed them in, setting up game seven's heroics.
• Game seven of the 2002 World Series. Anderson's bases loaded double broke a 1-1 tie, cashing in all three baserunners, and provided the margin for the greatest win in Angels history.
• The 2003 All-Star Game. This was a special couple of days for me as an Angels fan living in Chicago. It's the only ASG I've ever attended. GA won the home run derby, and was the very model of efficiency. Albert Pujols wowed the crowed with his monster shots, but GA got the job done by depositing pitch after pitch in the first row, second row, just enough to clear the wall in right center field. He followed up that performance with an ASG MVP, finishing the game, the first one that "counted", with a homer and a double.

He holds just about every offensive record in team history. He's a Southern California native who played all of the productive parts of his career in front of his home fans. Objectively, he should be the franchise's top icon. But he'll always lack the gravitas of Tim Salmon, Nolan Ryan, Brian Downing, etc. Why? I think the easiest player to compare him to is Salmon, since their careers mostly overlapped, they played similar positions, and were similar hitters in that they there were middle of the order hitters expected to produce runs.

But when you really compare their careers, a couple things jump out at me. Salmon's career OPS+ is 128 to GA's 102, primarily a function of the fact in 2,000 fewer plate appearances, Salmon drew over twice as many walks. Despite a career batting average that was 10 points lower, Salmon finished with an OBP 60 points higher, and he slugged almost 40 points higher. He also never put up the sub-mediocre years that Anderson did. Salmon had one full season with an OPS+ below 100, and that was his "cliff" year in 2001, when his OPS+ slid to 98. Anderson had five Angels seasons lower than 98, another at 99, and another four below 110, which adjusted for position is pretty average. Put simply, despite the counting stats (again, GA had nearly 2,000 more plate appearances as an Angel) Salmon was simply the better hitter.

But I should point out that in those prime years, Anderson spent a lot of his time hitting fifth and sixth behind Glaus, Salmon, and Mo Vaughn. I'm not going to argue that GA could have been a great OBP guy if the situation called for it. The guy was a swinger, and he put the ball in play ALL THE TIME. If you were hitting sixth for the Angels in the early part of the aughts, you were hitting behind relatively high OBP guys like Salmon, Glaus, Vaughn, Fullmer... Who exactly are you trying to get on base for? Orlando Palmeiro? The Ben(j)gies? Anyway.

In addition to the numbers, Tim Salmon remains the Angels only rookie of the year, and he did so by "winning from the front" so to speak. He was the odds on favorite to win the ROY before the 1993 season started, and won the award with relative ease. He was the savior that actually delivered the franchise to the promised land (with a heck of a lot of help), and like Anderson, Salmon made HUGE contributions in the 2002 playoff run. One would not have to create an logical loop to make the case that Tim Salmon is an Angel legend, while Anderson is merely an Angel hall-of-famer.

Maybe more importantly, regardless of whether the perception equals reality (I believe it does NOT), Anderson was perceived as less of a competitor. Tim Salmon was perceived as the "run through walls" competitor, while GA was content with good enough. I think this is BS, and I think when things aren't going well, fans need to find a scapegoat. GA was an easy scapegoat.

For me, the enduring GA memory will always be his interview with Steve Lyons on the Angel Stadium field after game seven of the 2002 World Series. For a guy who didn't show a lot of emotion, GA flashed one of the best smiles I've ever seen, the joy of the moment evident in his voice. This was a man who had worked hard toward a goal, who had suffered through that 1995 collapse, who had failed to reach his potential until that season, and he and his teammates had finally reached the mountaintop, thanks in large part to his heroics. GA will never be considered the greatest Angel, regardless of the record books, but he'll always be a cornerstone of my favorite team.

Snowtorious B.I.G.

The blizzard of 2011

Vernon

We've all read a lot in the last few days about the Vernon Wells trade, and now that Mike Napoli has ended up with the rival Rangers, things break down as such:

Angels get Vernon Wells and will owe him roughly $20MM per over the next four years to probably play left field. They lose Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera, both defensive butchers with power bats and the ability to draw a walk.

Blue Jays get Juan Rivera and Frank Francisco in exchange for getting someone to take Wells' contract off their hands.

Rangers get Napoli and lose Francisco.

So what does it mean for each team? I'm going to speculate that everyone involved is going to play, though I honestly don't know what the Jays plan to do with Rivera, or what the Rangers plan to do with Napoli.

The Blue Jays don't really lose a whole lot on offense, the lose a bit of outfield defense, and they continue to stock their bullpen. Of course, this all the rearranging of deck chairs. Their largest hope is that they might be able to catch the Rays for third place. Honestly, I don't even think Blue Jays fans care what they do. They're like the kid who gets a bunch of new pogs, when everyone knows he's going to lose them all to the school bully within a week. It's fun to get new stuff, then reality sets in.

The Rangers cruised into the playoffs and almost won a World Series last year all while getting about about a 60 OPS+ out of their catchers. Napoli is a good bet to almost double that. Their bullpen will take a hit, but it probably won't be bad enough to lose the division.

Which brings us to the Angels. I'm going to be honest, I don't think this makes the 2011 Angels any worse, and probably makes them a bit better on the field. I believe that to be true because Mike Scioscia has an unhealthy affection for catcher's ERA. It's my belief that Napoli would not have seen a ton of at bats this year, barring injury. In that sense, I truly believe that Napoli's value to the Angels does not represent his true value. And the idea that they didn't get equal value from an objective standpoint is meaningless.

Wells is a real wild card. He's been excellent in even numbered years, horrible in odd numbered years. And we're coming up on the 2011 season. We don't know which Wells we're going to get. If we get last year's model, it's an upgrade offensively and defensively. Enough of an upgrade that they can afford to let Bourjos develop offensively while providing excellent defense.

I can even begin to figure out what this means for the next few years. I'm not sure the Angels have done what they've been expected to do in off-season since Arte Moreno bought the team. But for 2011, they've probably improved the bullpen, the outfield defense, and the offense (just a smidge), but that's based on Morales' return and my belief that Napoli's bat would not have been in the lineup every day. Unfortunately, they probably didn't improve enough to to catch the Rangers even IF they hadn't done anything this off-season. With the move the Rangers have made, Angels fans may as well be Blue Jays fans this season.

And finally, what it is about Matt Welch and Vernon? Be it the player, or the small in size but huge in corruption town in SoCal, I'm thinking he just really likes the sound of the word "Vernon".

The Year in Music - My Favorite Album of 2010

Finally, we reach the end.

Titus Andronicus - The Monitor

I was initially sort of dreading this album's release. I'm not really big on concept albums, and when it comes to history, I've never really been all that interested in the Civil War. So when I learned that Titus Andronicus were following up 2008's 'The Airing of Grievances' with a sprawling epic of a Civil War themed concept album, I was skeptical. I was also very wrong to be skeptical.

This is not an easy album to love from the start. This is an album lover's album in the age of singles and one track downloads. Compared to a band like, say, the Drums, who's album has all of two songs that clock in at barely over four minutes, 'The Monitor' is 67 minutes long, and it does that in only ten tracks, two of which take up a combined 4:19. So that's eight tracks lasting an average of just under eight minutes long. This album has a lot going against it.

That said, I'm worried about Titus Andronicus. I'm worried about where they go from here. I'm worried that they won't be able to top this. 'The Monitor' is an ambitious album that sets a very high bar for itself, and manages to somehow exceed all expectations. They set out to create an album that tells the loose story of a young man's journey from his small New Jersey town to the bright lights of Boston, and they decided to tell the story using a Civil War motif. It's punctuated with Abe Lincoln and Jefferson Davis speeches, pamphlet and poetry readings. It's really kinda nuts.

But it's also a monumental achievement. It's almost not a collection of separate tracks so much as one long movement. The typical song starts slow, with an almost depressed sounding Patrick Stickles bearing his soul. Before long, they've built up to a raucous, angry, spittle flecked rant proclaiming at various points that "You will always be a loser", "You ain't never been no virgin, kid, you were fucked from the start", and "It's still us against them". This is not an album you will instantly love. You need to spend some time with it. You need to work a little bit to love it. But the payoff is absolutely worth it. It's stuff that really plays incredibly well live.

It begins with a reading from Abe Lincoln's Lyceum address leading into the beat for the song that's my choice for the best track of 2010, 'A More Perfect Union'. The album culminates in the 14 minute long epic 'the Battle of Hampton Roads', named after the two day long Civil War naval battle of ironclad warships, in which the inspiration for the album's title, the USS Monitor, fought the CSS Virginia to a virtual draw. In the song, our beaten protagonist leaves Boston defeated, but determined to remain "...as much of an asshole as [he's] ever been".

Like I said, I don't know how they top it. But I can't wait to see them try. And even if they never tread this ground again, they've left us with masterpiece.

I'm going to post the official video for 'A More Perfect Union', and by all means, watch and get the visual, but they cut the song in half, and the second part is every bit as good as the first. I'd suggest clicking on the second vid to hear the whole thing.

A More Perfect Union, a less than perfect cut of the song.


A More Perfect Union


A Pot in Which to Piss


The Battle of Hampton Roads (all 14+ minutes of it)

The Year in Music - 2nd Favorite Album of the Year

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

I've gone back and forth between #s 2 and 3. #1 has been set for a while, but this album and the one that came before it are pretty much based on my whim at any given time. But whereas the Morning Benders released an album that hit me instantly AND grew on me, this one I've loved pretty much start to finish from day one.

Like many of the albums on my list, I think this one is really well paced. It starts out ambient with 'Earthquake' before dipping to the lo-fi 'Don't Cry', followed up by the brilliant 'Revival'. You get a chance to catch your breath on 'Sailing' before it picks up the pace again with 'Memory Boy' flowing into the second real standout 'Desire Lines'. It's down and up from there, as the first single, 'Helicopter', and 'Coronado' highlight the second half of the album.

The last 16 months or so have really been a breakout period for Bradford Cox. Building on the critical success of Deerhunter's 2008 release Microcastle, he released the second album of his solo project, Atlas Sound, to even more critical acclaim. It was Pitchfork's 18th best album, and landed two tracks in their top 100. And they continue their trend towards accessibility. Microcastle was more instantly accessible than their 2007 release Cryptograms, and Halcyon Digest take that even further, with a handful of tracks that should delight on first listen.

And while Cox continues to pad his resumé as a master songwrite, Lockett Pundt proves himself no slouch with the epic 'Desire Lines' and psych-rock 'Fountain Stairs'. This really should serve as their breakthrough album.

Revival


Desire Lines


Helicopter

The Year in Music - 3rd Favorite Album of the Year

The Morning Benders - Big Echo

A friend of mine sent out an email about show these guys were set to play in October, and it reminded me that I'd been meaning to listen to this album. When I finally got around to doing so, I couldn't stop, and it's still a go to record when I need some music to fill the office. He missed their show, but I have him to thank for finally convincing me to listen to one of my favorite albums of the year.

Last year, Veckatimist by Grizzly Bear was one of my favorite albums. That album had a handful of really incredible songs, and a handful of somewhat forgettable songs. This album was produced by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear, and it's a lot like Veckatimist in that it also has a handful of incredible songs. But the difference here is that there are no forgettable songs.

Half of this album hits instantly, and half of grows slowly. Songs like 'Promises' and 'All Day Daylight' make instant impressions, while slower tracks like 'Stitches' and 'Pleasure Sighs' build slowly to a crescendo. 'Stitches' is my favorite type of song. The type that sounds alright the first time you hear it, but makes a completely different impression in their live show, after which you'll never hear it the same way again. There are a few songs out there I've had this reaction to, such as 'Half the World Away' by the Whigs and 'All Hands and the Cook' by the Walkmen. And the opening track, 'Excuses', is one of the best live sing alongs you may ever get the chance to see. The video below is a great example of how that song is great in a big group. Watch it and imagine that in a club with about 400-500 people all singing along.

There's not much else to say other than that listening to this album is just a really enjoyable experience.

All Day Daylight


Promises


Excuses

The Year in Music - 4th Favorite Album of the Year

The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night


Pinko Punko posted this on Song of the Day earlier in the year, and if you click through to that link, you can see my love for this album evolve in the comments. There was a good three week period when I was listening to this album all the way through at least once or twice every day. It's an album that really grows on you, and while individual songs on the album are great, it's really an album that needs to be listened to start to finish.

The Besnard Lakes sit kind of at the intersection of prog and shoegaze. A couple songs, 'Glass Printer' and the album's best track 'And This Is What We Call Progress' sound like they could have come off one of the first two Catherine Wheel albums. They're a Canadian band whose main feature is the husband and wife pair of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas. They're also a bit unique in that Lasek is spends much of the time singing in a falsetto, at a higher pitch than his wife.

Lasek also produced the album, and his experience shows. He's worked with other Canadian bands Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown, and his ability at the soundboard is every bit as evident as his talent as a songwriter. A few of the songs are fairly long ('Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent', 'the Land of Living Skies', and 'Light Up the Night), but they all reward patient listeners with terrific payoffs. And of course, it's got the best Chicago themed song since Spoon's 'Chicago at Night'. It's really an album worth a few listens.

And This Is What We Call Progress


Albatross


Last Train to Chicago

The Year in Music - 5th Favorite Album of the Year

The Walkmen - Lisbon



Whereas the New Pornographers, Spoon, and Broken Social Scene all more or less met expectations, the Walkmen rarely fail to exceed them. A bit more stripped down than 'You & Me', my choice for the best album in their catalog, 'Lisbon' finds the Walkmen once again doing what they do best. Lisbon provides a vehicle for Hamilton Leithauser's emotional vocals, Paul Maroon's deliberate guitar, and Matt Barrick's powerful percussion.

Leithauser is able to cut loose in his traditional fashion on the choruses of 'Victory' and 'Angela Surf City', the album's best track, and as good as anything they've done since 'The Rat'. He keeps an even pace on 'Woe is Me' and the opening "Juveniles", a track on which Ham sets the stage by crooning "You're one of us, or one of them". 'Blue as Your Blood' is like a version of 'On the Water' that doesn't reach a crescendo. And like some of the best stuff from their previous albums, Lisbon is littered with gems that require some additional mining, such as 'Torch Song' and the horn backed 'Stranded'.

Five albums in, the Walkmen may not be breaking new ground, but they've found their sound, and they're continually perfecting it. And I should mention, they are, in my opinion, the best touring act in the country. The first and third videos were taken at a show I attended in August (not by me, though. They were filmed by other people).

Angela Surf City


Juveniles


Victory

The Year in Music - 6th Favorite Album of the Year

Free Energy - Stuck on Nothing



The brother of a friend of mine from law school is one of the music writers for Chicagoist. He wrote an entry about these guys after I already had tickets to see them (they opened for Foreign Born), but before I had heard anything by them. That was the first of five Free Energy shows I saw this year.

There's a fine line between creative camp and parody. These guys walk that line as well as anyone. They're basically a band that plays a sort of late '70s semi-glam, reminding me a lot of Thin Lizzy. It has a way of sounding kind of cheesy (I hate that word), but they really make it work, especially in their live show.

And I should say, it's hard for me to separate a band's album from their live show. Obviously I haven't seen every band on this list, but it's not uncommon for me to come away from a show liking an album more than I did before the show, and vice versa. These guys got better and better every time I saw them. And it helps that this album was released on May 4th, just in time for summer. It's a terrific summer album. It's the type of stuff that should be blaring from every car stereo when the sun is out. Advertisers have noticed, with at least one of their songs being used in couple different commercials, including one for Flip video cameras. Here's a taste.

Free Energy (the song)


Bang Pop

The Year in Music - 7th Favorite Album of the Year

Miles Kurosky - The Desert of Shallow Effects



I discovered Beulah along with a bunch of the other Elephant 6 related stuff probably back in 2002 or so, right after they released The Coast is Never Clear, probably my favorite Beulah album. They would go on to release YOKO in 2004 before calling it quits that year after a final tour (during which I saw them twice).

After a fairly long hiatus, former frontman Kurosky finally released his long awaited solo album, and if you like Beulah, then you probably weren't disappointed. He packs in tons of hooks, tons of instruments, and the clever turns of phrase that delighted Beulah's fan base. It's a pleasant surprise, and not exactly what I expected. But Kurosky has a real ear for pop melodies. This album has been criticized for being TOO stimulating, and lacking subtlety, but hey, I'm a guy who likes Los Campesinos!, so I don't always go in for subtlety. This is indie pop at its finest.

An Apple for an Apple


Dog in the Burning Building

The Year in Music - 8th Favorite Album of the Year

The Black Keys - Brothers



Second of three Top 10 bands that I didn't see live this year. Never really listened to the Black Keys much until this year. There's a plethora of "Black" bands out there. Black Mountain, the Black Kids, the Black Lips, the Black Angels... I think in my head I've always just sort of lumped them all in with one another.

When you subscribe to a bunch of music blogs through a reader (like Google Reader), you tend to see the same stuff posted quite a bit. When I saw the video for "Tighten Up" posted a bunch of times, I finally watched it and listened to the song. So I streamed the album and found out that I really liked it. A few more listens and I was in love. Maybe because it's so different than everything else I listen to. There's not a lot of blues/soul music in my collection. The fact that two white guys from Akron do it so well is pretty unique.

I really like the way this album is paced. It eases the listener in with "Everlasting Light", then pounds away with "Next Girl", "Tighten Up", "Howlin' For You", and "Long Gone" before descending into emotional noise on "Black Mud". From there on out, it's a roller coaster peaking with "the Only One", "Sinister Kid", and "Unknown Brother" before slowing cruising through the finishing "These Days". This is an album as equally appealing when played as background music as it is when blasted from a car stereo. It really makes me want to dig into their back catalog.

And they do make really great videos.

Tighten Up


Next Girl

The Year in Music - 9th Favorite Album of the Year

The Drums - The Drums



I hadn't even heard of these guys until Stereogum posted their list of the 40 best new bands of 2010, a list that they didn't even make. Someone in the comments mentioned them. Turns out I actually had tickets to see them at the time. They were playing a double bill (which is a regular show, except the bands are considered "co-headliners") with Surfer Blood at Lincoln Hall. So I looked into their stuff and found the 'Summertime' EP that was released in 2009. I liked it a lot, and finally listened to the album a few times before the show.

Turns out there was enough interest in the bill that they added a second 10:00 pm show in addition to the original 7:00 pm show. I was meeting up with some friends at the early show, and I had another friend interested in going to the late show. When I arrived, I was told that my admission to the early show was valid for the late show as well. The Drums were so good that I decided to stay around for both. Everyone I was with was there to see Surfer Blood. Everyone left much more impressed with the Drums.

There are some definite Smiths vibes on this albums, and just in case you weren't sure where their influences are from, you're more or less hit on the head with Morrissey in the opening line of the first track on the album, Best Friend:

You were my best friend, and then you died

Mozzer couldn't have said it any better. But the '80s callbacks don't stop there. This album sounds like it was made by the children resulting from a love affair between Joy Division/New Order and the Cure, but only the really melodic stuff (not like Disintegration). This album is a lot of fun to listen to if you're a fan of music from that era, and since that was around the time that I really started paying attention, it strikes a chord with me.

The Year in Music - 10th Favorite Album of the Year

First, a note about the process. I hate the construct of a "Top 10" or "10 Best". This process is subjective by nature, and the idea that my selections are THE best is kind of ridiculous. The only thing I can honestly say about these albums is that they are/were my favorite of the past year.

Now, I typically listen to a band's album the most before I see that band in concert, which happened a lot this year. There are three bands in my 10 favorites that I did not see this year. Aside from them, I tried to pick albums that I kept coming back to long after I'd seen their show. I decided that was the true measure of how much I liked an album. So with that said here we go.

10th Favorite Album of the Year:

The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs



I loved Funeral. I did not much care for Neon Bible. And I have a bit of an aversion to bands with huge popularity. So I was not expecting this album to be one of my 10 favorites. But I couldn't help it. I just really enjoy listening to it. I wouldn't call it a return to their Funeral sound, but they found a way to be more engaging, more melodic, and I really like the diversity of sounds on this album, from the rollicking piano in the opening title track to the driving guitar riff on City With No Children. Ready to Start and Sprawl II are real anthems. And if you haven't experienced it yet, download Google Chrome and watch the HTML 5 video for We Used to Wait.

This was an album that I wasn't expecting to like. I almost didn't want to like it. But I can't help it. I have a feeling I'm going to be listening to this one a lot over the next few years.

The Year in Music Vol. 2 - The Not Top Ten

I thought 2009 was a pretty damn good year for music. I actually had a fairly difficult time putting together a CD for friends because I felt like there was a lot of great stuff I had to leave off. I was pretty sure 2010 was going to be a bit of step back. I was wrong. 2010 featured a ton of great music, so much that I'm about to list a bunch of albums that I would have almost guaranteed top 10 status before the year started. But in the end, these albums didn't quite entertain me as much as the top 10, to be revealed in the next week or two.

Good, but not quite top 10 - High Expectations Division:

• New Pornographers - Together
• Spoon - Transference
• The Apples in Stereo - Travelers in Space and Time
• Blitzen Trapper - Destroyer of the Void
• Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
• Interpol - Interpol
• Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring
• Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - the Brutalist Bricks
• Vampire Weekend - Contra
• The Whigs - In the Dark
• Wavves - King of the Beach
  

I could pick ten albums from that list, present it as my top 10, and no one would be surprised. They're all bands I love, all bands I'd seen before this year (except Vampire Weekend and Blitzen Trapper, both of whom I saw this year), and all albums that I was really looking forward to. There's not a bad album in the bunch, and my only regret is that my top 10 list is limited to 10.

Apples in Stereo, Spoon, Broken Social Scene, New Pornographers, Los Campesinos!, Vampire Weekend, and Ted Leo were probably victims of their own success. I had really high expectations for all of those albums, maybe too high. And while all had songs that I really love, none of them were good enough start to finish to rank higher.

Admittedly, the Whigs, Interpol, and Blitzen Trapper fell a little flat for me this year, though Blitzen Trapper did put on a really great show in August.

Albums I never really gave a chance to:

• The National - High Violet
• Wolf Parade - Expo 86
• Beach House - Teen Dream
• Broken Bells - Broken Bells
  

I really enjoyed Wolf Parade's set at Pitchfork. I love the first few tracks from Teen Dream. And while I really want to like the National, I'm just missing something that everyone else is getting. Like their first two albums, High Violet has some stuff I like, but just doesn't grab me enough to make me want to listen to the whole thing.

Broken Bells, like Teen Dream, starts out really great, and then I just kind of get lost in the rest, and sometime after I stop paying attention, the record ends. I supposed that's my fault, but hey, this is my list. As for Wolf Parade, I had the misfortune to get their album around a time where I had a bunch of shows coming up, and I usually spend that time listening to the bands I'm going to see. It was a problem of timing for them. I need to get back and listen to that album a few more times.


Unexpected Returns and Side Projects who released great albums in 2010:

• Teenage Fanclub - Shadows
• The Posies - Blood/Candy
• Blue Giant - Blue Giant
• Admiral Radley - Admiral Radley
• Everybody Was in the French Resistance, Now - Fixing the Charts, Vol. 1
  

Teenage Fanclub returned after a fairly long absence with more jangly power-pop, and this album fits perfectly into their repertoire. They put on two great shows in October. It was my first time seeing them, and they didn't disappoint.

The Posies just missed making my list, and indeed they were included on various versions. I really love the Ken Stringfellow songs on this record, and I think it's their best since Frosting on the Beater was released 17 years or so ago. Their show with Brendan Benson in November was terrific.

Blue Giant is the alt-country version of Viva Voce, one of my favorite bands. It's not my favorite musical style, but they pull it off well, and anything that includes lead guitar from Anita Robinson is worth listening to.

Admiral Radley is the fusion of Earlimart and Grandaddy, and the album sounds like, well, what you'd expect if you combined Earlimart with Grandaddy.

EWITFR,N is the side project of Eddie Argos (Art Brut) and Dyan Valdes (the Blood Arm). It's a response record, in which they respond to other pop-songs. The live show is part concert, part comedy routine.

Stuff that wasn't on my radar when 2010 began:

• Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
• Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo
  
• The Happy Hollows - Spells
• Sleigh Bells - Treats
• The 1900s - Return of the Century

Surfer Blood were good enough for me to want to see a couple times, but ultimately the album, while good, didn't force me to listen over and over again. The Happy Hollows are a band I missed in November, but I'm still hoping to see them live sometime soon. Avi Buffalo really bring a lot of energy to their live sets, and for a bunch of kids who can barely get in to the bars that they play (they're mostly under 21), they released a great album.

Sleigh Bells, as mentioned yesterday, put out an album I really like a lot, but their live show was underwhelming. Still, I love the album, and in another year it probably could have made the top 10.

The 1900s suffered only from a late release. Their album is excellent, but their live show (last Friday) was absolutely phenomenal. One of the best translations of an album to a live show that I've ever seen. They sound like Belle and Sebastian, but on stage, they really crank up the energy. They're local to Chicago, so I really hope we get a lot of opportunities to see them play.

Finally, I can't think of a category for the Thermals, who I didn't discover until 2010 even though I'd heard of them before. I started listening to their 2009 album "Now We Can See" before the new album came out, and I fell in love with it. I like it a lot more than I like their 2010 album "Personal Life", which has some great tracks, though I don't like it much start to finish as NWCS.

Tomorrow: Day 1 of the main event.

The Year in Music Vol. 1 - Live Shows

It's December 6th, and at current, I have a ticket to one more show before the year ends (Tennis @ Schuba's), with no immediate plans to add any others. So how do the numbers add up for 2010?

• Shows attended (not including Pitchfork) - 46
• Sets witnessed (including Pitchfork) - ~90

Shows by venue:

• Lincoln Hall - 15
• Schuba's - 8
• Metro - 8
• Empty Bottle - 4
• Bottom Lounge - 3
• Riviera - 2
• Vic - 2
• Logan Square Auditorium - 1
  
• Reggie's Rock Club - 1
• Double Door - 1
• Subterranean - 1

Bands Seen Multiple Times (including festival shows):

• Free Energy - 5
• Titus Andronicus - 4
• Surfer Blood - 4 (if you include both sets at Lincoln Hall on 10/7)
• The Drums - 2 (see the Surfer Blood note)
• New Pornographers - 2
  
• Generationals - 2
• Blue Giant - 2
• Local Natives - 2
• Avi Buffalo - 2
• Teenage Fanclub - 2
• Cymbals Eat Guitars - 2
  

Biggest Months:

• October - 15 shows
• April - 8 shows
• August - 5 shows
  
• No shows in January for some reason

Biggest letdowns of the year

Tie between the Pitchfork sets for Sleigh Bells and Girls. Of bands I hadn't seen before, those were the two sets I was most looking forward to. Girls played a daytime set in some pretty intense heat, but the crowd was fairly large. They just didn't deliver. They found a way to play almost all down-tempo songs, and for some reason, they felt the need to play them slower than they play them on the album. Sleigh Bells set was short, but that wasn't unanticipated. They have one album, and it's not very long. The problem with their set is that it was way too quiet. To sound good, Sleigh Bells need to be ear-splittingly loud. My friend and I had a normal volume conversation during their set. That shouldn't happen.

Biggest surprise of the year:

A few come to mind, such as the Pitchfork set by LCD Soundsystem. Never really listened to them before that show, but they really delivered. The 1900s show at the Empty Bottle just this past Saturday ranks pretty highly here as well. Their new album doesn't come off as a real rocker, but they really cranked up the energy during the show. The Drums shows at Lincoln Hall in October were pretty great, too. Everyone I was with went to those shows to see Surfer Blood. Everyone left much more impressed with the Drums.

But for me personally, the best surprise was when Miles Kurosky to the stage at Schuba's backed by two former members of Beulah. With roughly half of the last formation of Beulah in attendance, I was able to get a few autographs on my setlist from their final shows in Chicago in 2004. The show itself was pretty great, too. Definitely worth missing Spoon.

Best single night of music - Non-festival:

April 30th. Cymbals Eat Guitars & Los Campesinos! at the Metro, followed by Generationals and the Apples in Stereo at Lincoln Hall. Perfectly timed so that I could see all four sets. The first time I had hit two different shows at two different venues in the same night (though I did it about three more times later in the year).

A close second goes to October 13th. I was invited to see New Pornographers play a small club set at lunch, which was recorded by WXRT. I followed that show up with a double bill of Surfer Blood and the Drums at Lincoln Hall. It was a night on which they were playing both an early show and a late show. I had a ticket for the early show, which I was told at the door would also be valid for the late show. I had some friends at the early show, and a friend at the late show, so I stuck around for both.

Best single day of music - Festival:

The Saturday of Pitchfork was the second best day of the festival on paper, but turned out to be the best day in terms of the quality of the sets. It started with Free Energy kicking off the day in 90+ degree heat at 1:00. Titus Andronicus followed that up at 3:00. Wolf Parade played a pretty solid set at about 7:00, and LCD Soundsystem ended the night in front of a huge crowd at 8:30 or so.

Top Five shows of the year:

HM) Brian Jonestown Massacre @ the Metro - 5/30: The last time I saw them, it was ridiculous. A two hour show with 10 songs, either ending with overly long and patience trying ragas, or extended rants from Anton Newcombe. This time? A near original lineup including Joel Gion and Matt Hollywood. Two hours, about 20 songs, and all of their best stuff from the Give it Back/Strung Out in Heaven period. Really impressive.

5) The Walkmen @ Double Door - 8/6: This was their Lollapalooza aftershow. And quite frankly, anytime the Walkmen play, there's a chance that their show will be in my top five of the year. They're America's finest touring rock band in my opinion, and the band most worthy of my entertainment dollar. They played a selection of material from their not-yet-released album Lisbon (since released), and now I can't wait to see them again having listened to the album lord knows how many times. I missed their follow up show in Chicago because I had tickets for Guided By Voices on the same night. I considered driving to Madison the next night for their show (a Thursday), but that was the same day as the Drums/Surfer Blood show.

4) Foreign Born/Free Energy @ the Empty Bottle - 3/5: I'd seen Foreign Born, who's Person to Person was one of my favorite albums of 2009, a few months earlier at the end of 2009 while I was in Los Angeles. They put on a great show, and they're perfect for a small venue. This was also the first time I saw Free Energy at the suggestion of an acquaintance who writes for Chicagoist. They were pretty great live. Good enough to see about four more times in 2010.

3) Deerhunter @ the Metro - 10/14: These guys were on my radar for a while, but I started listening to Halcyon Digest a few weeks before this show. I fell in love with it and snagged a ticket when I saw they were coming. The show lived up to the excitement generated by the album. They're now a can't miss band for me when they come to town.

2) Titus Andronicus @ Subterranean - 7/16: This was a Friday night show after the first evening of Pitchfork, which featured Broken Social Scene and Modest Mouse. T/A played a tiny club in sweltering heat, at least a good 10 hotter inside than outside on arguably the hottest weekend of the year. But they were incredible in that setting. Just feeding off the heat and energy from the packed crowed. I probably lost about 3 pounds in sweat during their set. It was the best of the four sets I saw them play this year.

1) The Fiery Furnaces @ the Empty Bottle - 6/18: A Friday night show while my family was in town for the Angels/Cubs series at Wrigley Field. I went to this show with my brother, a real trooper. He arrived in Chicago at about 7:00 am on the red-eye from Anchorage. He sat through a baseball game at 1:00 pm, went to dinner with our parents at 7:00 pm, and after a brief nap, was ready for this show around 11:00 pm.

As for the show itself, it was an hour of pure brilliance. I've never seen anything like it. They played for an hour straight, and I when I say straight, I mean straight. No breaks. Not even for applause between songs. It was like an hour long 25 song medley. And they were impressively tight. Not one missed beat or note all night long. I can't even describe how incredible that is based on what they played. Time signatures and keys jumped around like a kangaroo on meth. It was pure perfection. And to top the night off, while chatting with Eleanor Friedberger at the merch table after the show, she commented on my Super Furry Animals t-shirt. It was a really great night.

Tomorrow: Albums of the year - Honorable Mentions