Top 20 Artists To Look Forward To In 2009 (Part 2)
6 comments Posted by musicunderfire at 12/27/2008
Our conclusion to the artists you can't miss in 2009 continues. If you missed our first 10, head here. Once again, enjoy.
Mute Math
For the boys from New Orleans, the road ahead is well lit. Two years after their self-titled debut album hit stores and flocks of new fans clung to "Typical", Mute Math have once again been drawn to the spotlight with their song "Spotlight", which features on the the Twilight soundtrack.
Paul Meany on the keytar and wobbly Rhodes piano certainly sparked our interest when we saw them live in early '06, but the strong supporting cast of Darren King (drums) Greg Hill (guitar) and Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas (bass) places Mute Math on a must-mention and must-see act for '09.
Bell X1
Bell X1 blew the socks off of thousands when they released Flock in 2005 inside their homeland of Ireland. Then they released Flock in 2006 and 2007 in Europe and the U.S. to the renewed joy of many others.
Just last week we mentioned their upcoming album Blue Lights on the Runway which is slated for release on March 3. Four years of writing and perfecting this already enamoring sound should draw some more smiles from eager listeners.
Coldplay
Every year Coldplay has hurdles to clear so that the orchestrated music they create doesn't receive bad reviews. Since they broke onto the scene 10 years ago, the Londoners couldn't have stayed firmer at the top of the rock scene.
Although gaps in albums have occurred in the group's history, live shows across the world and that ever-burning desire to hear new material will keep the group on top of their game. Plus, Viva La Vida is hardly over despite the Prospekt's March EP which was supposedly cleaning up from the album.
Video: Coldplay - Jingle Bells (live at O2 in London)
Delorentos
To no ardent MUF reader's surprise, the Dublin bunch of the Delorentos are hot on the radar of the music industry's finest.
2008 provided some readjusting for the group as they fiddled with labels and the 'making-it-big' syndrome. They have expressed plans to release a full-length fixture in the first half of 2009 which could be even more interesting depending of which label decides to step in. We have the full scoop here.
Beirut
Every time the conglomerate Beirut comes together to record, the results turn heads.When Gulag Orkestar launched in 2006 it ascended above the clouds and coasted its sweet melody to an international audience whom welcomed it as it should have been welcomed. 2007 marked The Flying Club Cup and another classic. With a somewhat silent 2008 from Beirut, we look forward to the big third album that sets them to another level of recognition.
MP3: Beirut - A Sunday Smile (buy)
Broken Social Scene
The influence of Toronto-based indie icons Broken Social Scene mixes well with any indie rock fan's collection. Built around the idea that each album is a solo project has enabled their sound to
remain eclectic as well as manufacturable from year to year without losing any edge.
Most recently BSS released Brendan Cumming's Something For All Of Us..., which continues this individualistic approach the group has designed. Any time this group of talented artists release a new album, eager people will listen, including MUF.
MP3: Broken Social Scene - Hit the Wall (buy)
Video: Broke Social Scene - Churches Under the Stars
Pela
Hospital trips for Billy McCarthy, canceled tour dates and eventually memorable live shows highlighted 2008 for Pela. If it wasn't for such a dazzling Anytown Graffiti album from 2007, the group probably would have never traveled as much as they did despite the sporadic drawbacks.
For 2009 expect a lot less injuries, a complete tour and a new album. Anything less shouldn't suffice. MUF certainly hopes to finally see them live this time around.
Sea Wolf
Although no formal announcement has come from the group within the past few months, the touring success from Sea Wolf after their 2006 release of Leaves in the River speaks volumes about the folk hook the group has latched to the masses.
Video: Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf
Their show at the end of May really got us hyped about where they could be headed. In October the group stated they were finished touring for the year and that an album would once again be in motion starting in March. For a group with six members, including the uber-talented Alex Brown Church, the sky is the limit.
Thirteen Senses
Contact didn't jump out to the masses like Thirteen Senses expected. Many critics don't expect superb sophomore albums, so the so-called letdown wasn't really a letdown at all, just a bump in the road. What can be expected could be a reinvention of their roots that made The Invitation such a jaw-dropping debut.
With a new record in mind, lead man Will South headed to Cornwall to begin musing over lyrics and the direction of what will be their third release. Soon after his arrival, his bandmates joined in on the process at the North London studio.
MP3: Thirteen Senses - Into the Fire (buy)
Director / Editors
Filing Director and Editors together has become a routine thing for MUF. Both groups are important positions in video and print media. Both artists will both be important in 2009, too.
Director last landed on the UK rock charts in 2006 with their release of We Thrive On Big Cities, when they challenged The Killers for the top spot. For 2009 the Dublin rockers have prepared their follow-up, as we wrote about earlier this month.
On the same island in the pond, Editors last recorded An End Has A Start in mid-2007 and have their third album looming in front of them. We will keep you posted on any new info on the group as it passes our inbox.
Top 20 Artists To Look Forward To In 2009 (Part 1)
1 comments Posted by musicunderfire at 12/26/2008
This year has been sentimental to look back on, and although we'd love to revel in what we've discovered this year, in the great tradition of music, we must prey on what greatness is to come.
The list below is a compilation of artists we've been following over this past year, have learned to love and feel their next move could be the one that will make the blogosphere go bonkers. Although if there was one group we could really have on this list, The Shout Out Louds, who have been speculated to come out with an album in 2009, they will most likely be a bit longer. There's no doubt in our minds the bands below will be drawing much attention to themselves.
The Answering Machine
This may be the group MUF has been partial to since we named them one of our 'band you must know' back in February. Playing the role of a group in the small clubs of London this past year while inching their way towards , The Answering Machine was signed to Heist or Hit in November recording with Dave Eringa and are all ready to release their first album entitled Another City, Another Sorry. Their first single will be out in Spring 2009.
MP3: The Answering Machine - Lightbulbs (buy UK Link)
If you're a fan of the Strokes or even Tokyo Police Club, these guys have the right mix for you. The Answering Machine has found their niche. If you're looking to see what these guys can do, check out "Lightbulbs", which was finished over a year ago.
Video: The Answering Machine - Lightbulbs
Fair
These guys have been tinkering around for a few months now perfecting their subtle rock style in the studio. Even though their sophomore album is not yet completed, you can catch up with their album The Best Worst-Case Scenario released in 2006. The lead singer has a great voice, the band has a great deal of chemistry, and their music is quite good. You can check updates on their official site or on their MySpace.
From the band:
It's been almost a year since we started. The finish line is closer than before.
Band of Horses
As if everyone doesn't know about BOH already, they're currently on tour, and will be touring through the very end of December playing a New Years Eve show in Atlanta, GA. In the meantime, they've been keeping us updated with lots of photos on their tour blog.
The band announced on October 14th on their MySpace page that they would begin recording a new record. Although they haven't specified that they would finish it in 2009, they already had three months of a jump in 2008. Looking forward to lots of Band of Horses news to come in the coming months...
Wilco
Yes, Wilco is due out for their umpteenth album with Jeff Tweedy at the helm once more. "Impossible Germany" was our highlight of Sky Blue Sky, and the band seems to be carrying more and more momentum year after year. We're giddy just thinking about it.
Apparently this time around, according to Paste, Tweedy "kinda hates" all six albums to date. This is quite typical for our finickey friend whose neural system will not let him sleep over anything less than perfection. Alas, we have great confidence that Wilco can yet again achieve their overachiever status once more in 2009.
MP3: Wilco - Sunny Feeling (buy)
MP3: Wilco - One Wing (buy)
Thus far the band has shown their fans a peek at two of their songs in recent concerts with "One Wing" and "Sunny Feeling".
Vdieo: Wilco - One Wing (Live from Lalapalooza)
Doves
Its been a tough four-year gap for Doves fans as their last album left them lingering for 3 years (will be 4 in 2009). Well, the wait is over and the Doves are back with their fourth album and follow up to their most widely acclaimed album Some Cities. According to Pitchfork, the band has not yet released a title for the album, but their first single will be called "Kingdom of Rust". Sounds tasty, eh?
As of the beginning of December recording has almost been finished, which will lead the way for lots of polishing up and mixing the tracks in the months to come. The band has expressed excitement for other tracks such as "Jetstream", "The Outsiders" and "Winter Hill".
Dirty Projectors
The Dirty Projectors are back with their sixth studio album. We would love to give you a giant breakdown of everything that will be tied into this album, but Stereogum already did that. If you'd like to learn more visit their update on them.
The Strokes
According to their official site, the Strokes posed the question back in June whether they would be getting back together to continue their triumphant tour of the world with more classic Strokes songs you'll be bragging are: "Just too easy to play... why are they so famous"? Although you may admit to not having all the mojo The Strokes have managed to suck the world in with, we can assure you they'll be back at it again in February of 2009 - says bassist Nikolai Fraiture.
In the meantime, be sure to keep your hands clean of any Strokes mp3s floating out there - Sony BMG will be sure to suffocate your blog and maybe eat up a post or two of yours, which we've been hearing about so much lately. So be safe, kids...
Silversun Pickups
These guys may just pop into our #1 excitement slot in terms of upcoming albums. Carnavas, Silversun Pickups' highly touted sophomore released in 2006 and sent forth an army of newborn fans akin to the bands tumultuous rockability, snapping drums and all of the fury held by the genius himself, Brian Aubert.
Silversun Pickups new album, Swoon, does not yet have a release date, but we do know it will be comprised of 17 tracks. Aubert says "some songs are very quiet and delicate, others are just fucking loud".
MP3: Silversun Pickups - Little Lover's So Polite (Grayarea Remix) (buy)
Video: Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye
The Radio Dept
As mentioned in our post in mid November, we said The Radio Dept would be back in 2009 with Clinging To A Scheme. Their original projection of their new album was to be in the Fall/Winter of 2008. Well as of right now, their projection looks to be a bit off and will be in 2009. After their news of a new album following their EP Freddie and The Trojan Horse
Well, this isn't really news, but we get a lot of questions. So... we really don't have a release date for The Radio Dept. album. Sorry! We will however set a release date as soon as they've finished the recordings. And don't worry friends, it's well worth the wait!While the albums date has passed, the release date will most likely not be pushed back further past 2009. Look for Clinging To A Scheme to drop this next year.
MP3: The Radio Dept - What Will Give? (buy)
The Appleseed Cast
The Appleseed Cast (Christopher Crisci and Aaron Pillar with Nate Whitman and John Momberg) have taken quite a break from their music dating their last full album release back to their 2006 Peregrine. Now back with some enlightening news, the band has not only announced that their new album will be released in January of 2009, but their first single is already on their MySpace page, called "Raise the Sails". As expected, it sounds great.
If you're looking for more Appleseed Cast in the meantime, go to their MySpace and you can purchase a song titled "The New Stage (For So Long)". You won't be dissapointed.
MP3: Appleseed Cast - Raise The Sails (buy)
MP3: Appleseed Cast - On Reflection (buy)
Video: The Appleseed Cast - Steps and Numbers
Missed our rundown of this year's best? See our top 30.
Many albums that didn't make our Top-30 list for the year, reached lofty places on other sites' lists. As our motto is, we won't saturate you with music we don't think is worth mentioning. The albums below were all quite good, but just fell below the best of the year.
MP3: Eureka Birds - Mars (buy)
MP3: Daniel Martin Moore - Stray Age (buy)
MP3: Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened (buy)
MP3: Nada Surf - Weightless (buy)
Here are MusicUnderFire's honorable mentions for 2008:
Not flashy. Not laced with catchy refrains. This Baltimore group caught our attention and has stuck with us since, thanks to a consistent debut album. We reviewed them and we liked them quite a bit. If you like an album off the beaten path, this is for you.
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Taking the first major step of 2008 was VW. Songs such as "A-Punk", "Oxford Comma" and "Campus" certainly earned this high marks for many and would have been higher if not for some transitional drawbacks.
The top singer/songwriter on our list for this year, Moore used his simplicity and songwriting talents only he could pull off. Although a heavy contender to make it in the top 30, Moore was found he could do only one type of songwriting style, but nail it every time. Stray Age was a cinch to listen through the whole way - perfect for a relaxing situation, not something you will want to put on your iPod to go to the gym. We particularly enjoyed "That'll Be The Plan". Outstanding effort by Sub Pop's newest songwriter.
Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns
Snow patrol didn't particularly stun us this time around, but the album had enough versatility with some of their traditional poker hands to some longshots they took, which actually worked. If you've listened to SP as long as we have, "Chocolate" seems to be in heavier rotation than "Engines", but that could possibly change. Just like most Snow Patrol albums, this one is a grower. Many tracks veer in a different dirrection that their older albums, particularly their last track "The Lightning Strike: (i) What If This Storm Ends? / (ii) The Sunlight Through The Flags / (iii) Daybreak", a three part song, in which each part blends into the next. I'm not sure why they didn't do their whole album this way, but this is just one example of how the band is growing and reaching deeper into their creative interworkings.
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
These youngsters are growing up quick, and as if you haven't noticed already, there's something special about them. Not only has the world of pop taken in "Sex On Fire", but the band managed to make a bit of consistency out of their name. Their listeners got another solid outing by Kings of Leon once again. Songs such as "Manhattan" and "Revelry" made this album that more intriguing. Although they did have some gems on here, KOL seem to have the same formula time and time again, when in fact we were never head over heels for it to begin with. This would be the only reason we could not keep it in with our favs of this year.
Greg Laswell - Three Flights from Alto Nido
An album laced with not just your run-of-the mill sappy singer/songwriter material, Greg Laswell had a bit of every emotion poured into his debut. Songs such as "Comes and Goes (In Waves)" are well orchestrated and much has to do with his classy label, Vangard. Laswells songs excelled in both the studio and on the road. There's not much to say about this album that hasn't already been said here.
Where A Weekend In The City left off, Intimacy took that and notched it up ten times, in terms of sheer loudness that is. The albums glory may be captured in the club-friendly "Better Than Heaven", but this album had too many pitfalls to be considered for our top albums. What did make this album great is the unbridled feel to the songs. Tracks such as "One Month Off" made for a great anthem for this album as did many other songs that followed the same raucous attitude. Bloc Party continues to put out albums with a few likable songs on each album.
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
One of the most influential albums for the first half of the year, Frightened Rabbit used many unorthodox methods of song. Perhaps its their folk-pop appeal, or maybe we liked them because we love Scottish bands. But no, FR was something quite special this year, and this list of 'almosts' also serves a purpose to show that other albums did not even make it into our 'honorable mentions' list. The Midnight Organ Fight was driven by some nifty songwriting by Scott Hutchison and backed by a talented band (sans bass). This is a well deserved spot in the midst of many other talented bands we've heard this year. (if you're looking for a Christmas song from Frightened Rabbit, check our short list of Indie Christmas Songs.)
Another album teetering on the brink of making it into our top albums of this year, Deerhunter put out a marvelous effort, yet didni't score enough songs for us to truly 'get'. Most notable from this album is "Nothing Ever Happened". It looks like this group's future is quite bright, so I would anticipate much to happen in their future.
Nada Surf - Lucky
Their latest album showcased why they are such a timeless group. Songs such as "See These Bones", "Beautiful Beat" and "Weightless" highlighted this addition to your Nada Surf collection. Nada Surf has quite a bit of experience and it shined on this album.
What a year its been, we feel practically spoiled with the music we've discovered.
Its a wonder our favorite album of the year came out at the end of January, and had been bypassed on so many other lists - topped by groups we didn't list, such as TV on the Radio, Crystal Stilts, Death and Cab For Cutie to name a few. The Helio Sequence's Keep Your Eyes Ahead was a shoo-in after their performance in May and although the group is composed of only two, they still have all of the guitar, drums and background instrumentation done via computer to make a great, diversified album able to be reproduced in live format.
Not to shun our other top choices, Cut Copy's In Ghost Colours was a close second, as was Tokyo Police Club's Elephant Shell. Both albums carried a different appeal, yet made for many repeat listens. All of our 11-20 picks had some of the best singles we've heard all year, and also had great album flow. Despite much criticism, we believe Coldplay's VLV was their second best album yet for the band (behind Parachutes of course), which says quite a bit about the over-critiqued foursome. As you go through our list, you will see many of these guys again in our top 50 songs of the year, which will be a complete list worthy of making several mix tapes to look back at 2008.
MP3: Coldplay - Strawberry Swing (live from Philadelphia) (buy)
MP3: Tokyo Police Club - Juno (buy)
MP3: The Helio Sequence - Back To This (buy)
MP3: Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (buy)
MP3: Fleet Foxes - Your Protector (buy)
Although we could have done a top 40 or even 50, we wanted our list to be solid, so we cut down many of the albums we didn't feel were up to par with the ones listed below. Afterall, we don't have the abililty to listen to every album out there, and we didn't want to list every single album we listened to this year, so this list was considerably cut down to represent an accurate list according to our tastes. Our top 30 was decided by the two of us and if you've been following us throughout the year, some of these picks may come as no surprise. Please share your comments on our list, we'd like to say that nobody's opinion is wrong when it comes down to your personal tastes. There are ours:
Elbow
The Seldom Seen Kid (Polydor)
Pictures and Sound
Pictures and Sound (Vangard)
Beck
Modern Guilt (DGC)
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Perishing (Polyvinyl)
The Academy Is...
Fast Times at Barrington High (Atlantic)
Glasvegas
Glasvegas (Sony)
This Will Destroy You
This Will Destroy You (Magic Bullet)
The Walkmen
You & Me (Gigantic)
The Stills
Oceans Will Rise (Arts & Crafts)
Department of Eagles
In Ear Park (4AD)
School of Seven Bells
Alpinisms (Ghostly)
Cartridge
Fractures (Revolver)
Dr. Dog
Fate (Park the Van)
MGMT
Oracular Spectacular (Sony)
French Kicks
Swimming (Vagrant)
15
Ladytron
Velocifero (Nettwerk)
M83
Saturdays = Youth (Virgin)
Blitzen Trapper
Furr (Sub Pop)
Plants & Animals
Parc Avenue (Secret City)
Ra Ra Riot
The Rhumb Line (Barsuk)
Low vs Diamond
Low vs Diamond (Sony)
Air Traffic
Fractured Life (EMI)
The Shore
Light Years (Weather Machine)
Delta Spirit
Ode To Sunshine (Rounder)
Your Vegas
A Town and Two Cities (Universal Republic)
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
Coldplay
Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends (EMI)
Cut Copy
In Ghost Colours (Modular)
Tokyo Police Club
Elephant Shell (Saddle Creek)
The Helio Sequence
Keep Your Eyes Ahead
See Our Runners-Up!
