SIS The Best of 2009 ... So Far, Part Two

As we approach the 4th of July weekend, we take a look back at the second half of what we started yesterday: the best albums of 2009 ... so far, that is. These 10 albums, listed in nothing but alphabetical, could be and are the top contenders thus far for the Top 10 of '09, but we still have many months to go, and many albums to come yet to shake things up. But until then, if the year ended today the Top 10 would include these fine albums.

Japandroids / Post-Nothing / Polyvinyl

The first time I heard this record, it was loud and it was abrasive and I couldn't find anything I really liked about it. But with every subsequent listen, I found the melodies hidden beneath the maniacal playing of this Vancouver-based duo. And then on headphones, besides the musical jewels, you listen to the lyrics and you realize this must be a concept record. All this talk of girls and their homeland, getting the sweats and the shits and "x-o-x-o-x" that end letters and text messages. I was listening to it just yesterday and "Sovereignty" and there was one lyric that sealed the deal on this being a great album and a great concept on that I dubbed Teen Angsty Love, Canadian Style: 'It's raining in Vancouver / But I don't give a fuck / Cause I'm in love with you tonight." But their not in love with just girls, but a city, a place far from home that is their hearts.

Peter, Bjorn & John - Living Thing - StarTime / Almost Gold

For their fifth album, the Swedish trio drop their guitars, fire up the samplers and drum machines, and make the best record the 80s just couldn't handle back then. Choruses of kids belt out there's nothing to worry about, and it's true: for those who feared the band wasn't the same band, they still are. All the catchy melodies are there just presented in a different form. The title track with it's nod to Graceland and the first UK single yelling out 'Hey shut the fuck up boy' are just some of the gleaming moments. "I'm Losing My Mind" veers back to what we can now call classic PB&J with a psychadelic guitar riff driving the album, but that's its low point. I much prefer the dark and ominous jams like "4 Out of 5" that will protrude from my car stereo all summer long.

Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer - Jagjaguwar

Those who say this third album from one of Spencer Krug's many guises is his most accessible are truly right in their sayings. But for me, I always thought Sunset Rubdown was accessible and easy to get in to. This album features everything you'd want - epic prog moments ("Dragon's Lair," "Black Swan") and driving, hard hitting anthems ("You Go On Ahead," "Idiot Heart"). For me, what I like most is picking up on subtle nuances or just taking in the things no one else would. Like the swirling keyboard notes that open the record on "Silver Moons" or the way everything starts to collide on the aforementioned "Swan". Hell, even their cover of "Paper Lace" (cover because it was originally done by one of Krug's other outfits, Canadian indie supergroup Swan Lake) is worthy of debating whether their version is better than the original. As prolific and as talented as this band is getting along with a spot in the limelight, makes you wonder if this could become Krug's day job over some Wolf group he plays in.

Telekinesis - Telekinesis! - Merge

It's not just because of my allegiance to the infamous label that turns 20 this year, but every year I feel they always put out a new record from an up and coming up that just resonates with me like no other. This year it Michael Benjamin Lerner, aka the Seattle-based Telekinesis. On this record, Lerner teams up with producer Chris Walla to brings us tales of obsessions with foreign lands and time zones that, while it appears he's visited on the surface, his bio will tell you otherwise. And boy are the songs catchy - we all know my love for "Awkward Kisser," but the acoustic punch of "Great Lakes" and the soaring guitars of "Tokyo" all give way to the 'I'm in love with you, return the favor' serenade of "I Saw Lightning." Dare I say this is a perfect record?

Wilco - Wilco ( The Album) - Nonesuch

So, yeah, everyone's favorite band from Chicago caught a lot of flack for the Dad-rock infused Sky Blue Sky. I know back upon its release two years ago I wasn't a big fan of it; I never even blogged about it once! But their new album, it just immediately stuck with me. It's not this mid-tempo 70s record like Sky, and it definitely veers from their meandering ways of A Ghost Is Born. It's not Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, though - but it's on par with the now legendary album. "Bull Black Nova" builds and build over repetitions before exploding. "You Never Know" is driven by a clanging honky tonk piano. "Sonny Feeling" is just that and essentially tells the entire tale of an album full of upbeat moments, and tongue-in-cheek-ism's down to the title track and band theme song.

SIS At The Club: Peter Bjorn & John

(Photo by G. Khaikin/iPhone)

After many listens to Living Thing, I was rather excited to see Peter Bjorn & John live once again. There was all this criticism, how their many performances at SXSW were universally panned due to technical glitches and a rather apathetic appearance from the Swedish trio. I still went in to the Paradise with my head on my shoulders and no opinion formulated; like when I heard for years about how Yo La Tengo's live performances were a total crapshoot between deafeningly awesome just god awful, I was going in as a fan and someone who's already seen them enough who just wants to see how these interestingly put together new songs can be performed in a live setting.

We discussed it at the office this morning and I had made up my mind: they pulled it off. I will admit at first I was nervous; the awkwardly arranged first half of the set opened with the quiet and nimble "Just The Past" into the ultimately brooding when performed live "Start to Melt", followed by "Beats Me Everytime", a song Peter introduced as on oldie that no one knew. When he used the term oldie they probably thought 1960s; it came out this decade.

But then things picked up a bit. The mid-section was chock full of Thing's tunes: the title track was executed perfectly with Bjorn's deadpan expression delivering the line "it's a living thing" as Peter, dressed in a suit that even made him look like Paul Simon, noodled away on his guitar. "Lay It Down" was different in that the key was slightly different, but a fun bouncy number the crowd seemed to enjoy. Bjorn even continued dancing doing the robot and mimicking handclaps during "It Don't Move Me".

After the set ended with the 1-2 punch of "Young Folks" and "Objects of My Affection" from the stellar Writer's Block, the encore was where it had to be. Not for the heavier rendition of new single "Nothing to Worry About" but for the 14 minute (I am not kidding) rendition of "Up Against The Wall". Peter and Bjorn careened across the stage, almost dropping instruments and their own bodies on myself many a time, while John wailed away on the drums where he stood - not sat - all night. Oh and Peter was wearing shorts during the encore with dress shoes and argyle socks - what a European. Well done, boys.

This clip is from what some called a disastrous headlining set at Emo's during SXSW. This is their cover of the Weepies "Fa Ci La". I wish they would have played it last night. Oh well!


Set List:
Just The Past / Start To Melt / Beats Me Everytime / Chills / Lay It Down / It Don't Move Me / Living Thing / Let's Call It Off / Young Folks / Objects of My Affection // Stay This Way / Nothing To Worry About / Up Against The Wall

Peter Bjorn & John on The Interface

So, I still can't stop spinning Living Thing, the new Peter Bjorn & John long player, and with every listen I always get these vivid daydreams of how they will pull all of this off in a live setting. And then I checked my inbox and it appears that the swedes completed an AOL Spinner session playing all my favorites from the album. Even that nod to Graceland in the title track.

My only complaint is that the songs don't sound as meaty, but maybe it's because it is just the three of them in a room. Maybe at the club and when the bass will be heavier and in my face it won't feel so hollow. You be the judge.

Here's "It Don't Move Me"


Check out "Nothing To Worry About", "Lay it Down" and "Living Thing" at the Spinner site.

Can't Stop Spinning: Living Thing by Peter Bjorn & John

I'll first go on record by saying I went in to this record turned off. We were in a van, driving along I-84 through Connecticut from NYC back to Boston one weekend. We were graced with one of those fancy watermarked copies of Living Thing, the brand spanking new album from everyone's three favorite Swedes Peter, Bjorn & John. Our van driver said "Issac said this one's different - there's next to no guitars on it." We put it in, a beeping tone goes off like someone opened the door to the van. John starts singing amidst breaks of hand claps and doo-doo's. Our jaws had dropped, with the collective look that could be summarized by one sentence:

What the fuck is this?

There were no guitars there. There were no guitars in the second song, "It Don't Move Me", either. Instead of some chords being strummed, it's all drum beats piano loops and exotic sounding moments of percussion, something I would soon realize was rather prevalent with every future listen. I remember the record starting to pick up by the time the first single, "Nothing To Worry About" came on. Guitars finally entered when Bjorn sang "I'm Losing My Mind", but by the time we got to the final quarter of the album we were all lost. We didn't know what we just heard. Was it a joke, was it an album made on a dare?

With me being me, I was automatically excited. Like it reads in their new bio, most people probably don't know that is their fifth album, following up last year's vinyl/digital only Seaside Rock instrumental opus. Most ignorant Americans probably figure this is their second album. They've been making songs since 1998, people!

I gave it a break, but came back week's later. "The Feeling" still irks me, but as a whole I guess it just is the right song to start it off with, to give the new feeling and vibe that you're about to go on a different journey. I feel like Peter doesn't sing so much, but if you do a breakdown of the songs he still sings lead on seven of the dozen.

The shining section, the suite that ties the room together is right in the middle, from American single ("Worry") to the even better European single ("Lay It Down"). In between there, the first prominent guitars show up on "Mind"; a trippy nod to 60s pop that might almost fit on Writer's Block. After that comes the not-so-far from Graceland/could be on Made In The Dark title track, a song doused in every new element the band is embracing. The clanging empty bottles or whatever they are juxtaposed with Bjorn panning the statement 'It's a living thing,' with a near schizophrenic breakdown in the chorus. "I Want You!", like "Mind", is as close as it's gonna get to pre-Living Thing PB&J.

After "Lay It Down" the album almost becomes forgettable, just making it's way to the end, yet it still has its moments and worth listening to. "4 Out of 5" is full-on last song at the club at 3 AM with a fat bear and docile vocals from Bjorn. And the album comes down with the synth echos of "Last Night", a moment John says that sure could change the past, as random beats come swooping in from the darkest corners like "In The Air Tonight". Maybe Phil Collins is in the room?

If I could write one thing, and this post was only allowed to be one sentence long, it would be something about how I applaud them for making an album they want to. This isn't Writer's Block II, no one is whistling in between verses traded off by a boy and a girl. This is a band who deserves to be awarded for their artistic merit, making this stark/dark 80s pop record. This is like when The Rosebuds took a step off the path and succeeded with Night of the Furies, going down that dark and ominous path to come out with something different yet accessible. Most people are going to pan this like their ill-fated SXSW gigs last week, but maybe people will go in with an open mind and a good set of headphones to take it all in.

Stream: Living Thing [MySpace]

New Peter, Bjorn & John video: "Nothing To Worry About"

So a few weeks ago, Kanye got the honor premiering the first single off of Peter, Bjorn & John's new album, Living Thing. He was all stoked, talking about the big beat, the kids on the hook. I download it and was pleasantly surprised. And after a few listens that I've been privileged to already have, I can happily reported the Swedish trio have not made a sequel to Writer's Block, there is no "Young Folks II." Instead, there's a band who made an abitious record that's missing lots of guitars and replaced with awesome, awesome things. Get ready.

Until then, here's the video for "Nothing To Worry About." They are called Japanese greasers, or so I have been told.