Filter just released their top ten album list for 2009 and this is what it looks like
1. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
2. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote)
3. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest (Warp)
4. Miike Snow, Miike Snow (Downtown)
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz! (Interscope)
6. Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Elvis Perkins in Dearland (XL)
7. Cass McCombs, Catacombs (Domino)
8. Passion Pit, Manners (Frenchkiss)
9. The Antlers, Hospice (Frenchkiss)
10. White Rabbits, It’s Frightening (TBD)
While I agree with many of their selections I can’t get past two errors:
1) Not slotting The Antlers at number one. (OK it is official -They should go ahead and process that restraining order now.
2) Leaving off the XX.. The XX’s debut record is an amazing album that deserves a top ten slotting.
I don’t want to define this as a travesty against humanity because we should save that word for the abomination that is MTV’s Jersey Shore. Instead let us simply call this an oversight. Allow me to correct these mistakes now with my rushed top ten.
Cast your mind back a few weeks. The air was cleaner, the world made sense, and herds of adorable golden retriever puppies roamed the streets spreading good will. And a younger, fresher-faced Eric Summer wrote an internet column which happened to mention that he thought most people didn’t really like music all that much–that they regarded it as little more than background noise.
Well, the long weeks have passed, and I have spent my time in quiet contemplation as I’ve grown older, and I think I have it pinned down as to why people think of music as background noise. As is usually the case in these matters, I blame Hollywood.
This train of thought began, as most of my trains of thought do, with Star Wars. I was driving home from work one day and I heard John Williams’ Star Wars score on the radio. I was happy to hear it. I like Star Wars. A lot. And as I listened, I realized I remembered exactly where most of the dialogue from the movies fit with the score. It was uncanny. So I drove on home, quoting Star Wars happily to myself and thinking. And then it dawned on me, clear and bright as a summer cliché: this score is inextricably tied with the movie it belongs to. It is simply impossible to separate the two. Any merit it has as a piece of music is completely dependent upon the pictures that go with it.
Which is not to say that it’s ineffective; far from it. It is a wonderful movie score, filled with memorable themes and underlining the emotional context of each scene it supports. But it doesn’t work without the movie. (more…)
(feel free to listen to the songs from this week’s column via the above music player)
After reeling from another kickass episode of “Lost” last week I let the TV lag and spill into “Life on Mars“. The show opened with a long montage set to Lou Reed’s “Satellite of Love“. That song and Michael Impeiroli’s badass stache were almost enough to keep my interest. I avoided temptation. I just can’t add another TV show to my dvr. Mind you I will make an exception for whenThe Duel 2 comes on MTV in April. Hearing the song reminded me of a conversation I had recently. Not counting Stillwater’s “Feverdog” or Steel Dragon’s “Stand Up (and shout)” I asked someone to come up with a list of songs that they discovered through the power of the movies. Personally for me Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day“, as heard in Trainspotting, is a perfect example of a song I was unaware of till it was featured in a film. I ran out and bought that album immediately after seeing the movie and was pretty floored by its quirky charms. I’d like to say the same thing occurred after I watched St Elmo’s Fire and heard “Man in Motion“…but, as you people know, that album is not as awe inspiring. Hell of a theme song though. With a click glance at my DVD collection I give you:
My top 5 song discoveries through film (eat it, Facebook!)
5. Almost Famous: Thunderclap Newman “Something in the Air“. The easy answer is “Tiny Dancer”, but I’ve always liked this song better. Pete Townshend played bass on this one hit wonder led by a Who roadie. Who knew!? (No pun intended. Seriously)
4.Boogie Nights: Night Ranger - “Sister Christian.” Boogie Nights was so chock full of music that it required two discs. This was a new song to me. Thank you, PT Anderson. He took the cue from Tarantino and tried to fill his soundtrack with as many lost gems as possible. On the flip side I noticed the soundtrack to The Girl Next Door might be the laziest soundtrack ever. Here are some highlights:
All great songs. All have appeared in countless movies already. You are a lazy man Mr. Wolfgang Amadeus. Nope, I’m not making that name up. You made a mix tape of your favorite songs from movies. Shame on you, Wolfgang. Can I have your job please?WhatThe Girl Next Door lacked in musical creativity it made up for with its underrated humor and a semi clad Kim Bauer.
3.Napoleon Dynamite: When in Rome - “The Promise”. If I happen across this movie and it’s close to the end I’ll leave it on and embrace this song and imagine playing tether ball and drawing leigers for my own Deb.
2.Trainspotting: Lou Reed – “Perfect Day.”
1. Donnie Darko: Echo and the Bunnymen – “The Killing Moon”. I was hip enough to see this film opening night, but not hip enough to have known this amazing song. It was instant love. Since then Richard Kelly released a director’s cut which removed “The Killing Moon” from the opening and replaced it with “Never Tear Us Apart” By INXS. If that wasn’t proof positive that Richard Kelly is a loose cannon who can’t be trusted, go rent Southland Tales. What a mess of a film. Justin Timberlake lip syncing The Killers on the Santa Monica Pier? Yeah, let’s green light that bad boy. Even after that bloodbath of a film turd I’m still looking forward to his next film, The Box, simply because The Arcade Fire will be providing the original score and bombastic and preachy is exactly how I take my scores. Thank you, Win Butler.
