DELTRON 3030 RECOMMENDED: Spoon – Transference
Judging from the announced line up for Coachella months from now, you’ll be put in the awkward position of choosing between Day Three performers Spoon and Phoenix. A few weeks ago this would have been an easy decision for me. Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus. Phoenix had been the soundtrack for far too many parties for 2009. There’s no way I could not see them. Fast forward to this week and the release of Spoon’s Transference and shit just got real. Decisions will have to be made. There will be sacrifices. Tears will be shed. In a perfectly scheduled world I’ll be able to see both bands but it never works out that way. I’ll be sitting at Orbital like a jerk wondering why the hell the organizers couldn’t have tailored the set times towards my specific needs and interests. For now I’m going to remain sided with Team Phoenix but the more I listen to Transference the harder the decision will be in April. One song is swaying me. Spoon’s jangly guitars and funky bass grooves are great but I’m a sucker for piano ballads. “Good Night Laura” is a gem full of lush piano melodies and humming that can only be matched by the Crash Test Dummies seminal “Mmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmm.“ The rest of the new album’s tracks act as a sampling of sounds from the life and times of Spoon making it a great introduction for new listeners who ignored their previous six releases…or people who had sworn allegiance to Phoenix. Present company included.
Highlights: “Goodnight Laura,” “The Mystery Zone,” “Written in Reverse,” “I Saw the Light”
DELTRON 3030′S TOP 10 OF 2009
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.
Del’s top ten of 2009
1 The Antlers – Hospice (more…)