Fishpork’s 10 Favorite Shows of 2009

It was another full year of remarkable live shows in 2009, which was also not immune to a few train wrecks (Enon, Dan Deacon). Whether it was a cold and rainy night in Philly to see White Lies overcome a historically shitty venue to play a show for the ages or a late night train ride to the East Village to see Karin Dreijer Andersson’s Fever Ray outfit put on a visually stunning performance, this past year reinforced our music fandom. Here’s a list of our favorite shows of 2009:

1. White Lies @ First Unitarian Church
2. Grizzly Bear @ Trocadero
3. Fever Ray @ Webster Hall
4. Tapes N’ Tapes @ Johnny Brenda’s
5. Animal Collective @ Bowery Ballroom
6. Morrissey @ Carnegie Hall
7. Vic Chestnutt & Elf Power @ Bowery Ballroom
8. Autolux @ Johnny Brenda’s
9. Built to Spill @ SIREN Festival
10. Monsters of Folk @ United Palace
    

Least Favorite:

• Enon @ Johnny Brenda’s
• Dan Deacon/Deerhunter/No Age @ Fly W Airport
• NIN/JA @ PNC Bank Arts Center

Fishpork’s 50 Favorite Tracks of 2009

This year really didn’t end up being that “greatest of the decade” as January-March may have suggested. With that said, our favorite tracks list became very album-heavy as it evolved throughout the year. With seven tracks from Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear in the top 20, you kinda get the point. Here is our very biased list of favorite tracks from 2009:

1. HEALTH - “Die Slow”
2. Grizzly Bear - “While You Wait for the Others“
3. Animal Collective - “Summertime Clothes”
4. Fuck Buttons - “Olympians”
5. Built to Spill - “Things Fall Apart”
6. Animal Collective - “My Girls”
7. Fever Ray - “Concrete Walls”
8. Grizzly Bear - “Ready, Able“
9. White Lies - “Farewell to the Foreground”
10. Moderat - “New Error”
11. Atlas Sound - “Attic Lights”
12. Grizzly Bear - “Two Weeks“
13. Animal Collective - “Guy’s Eyes”
14. Fuck Buttons - “The Lisbon Maru”
15. Atlas Sound - “Walkabout”
16. Animal Collective - “What Would I Want? Sky”
17. Dredg - “Information”
18. White Lies - “Death”
19. Fever Ray - “Coconut”
20. Animal Collective - “Brothersport”
21. Built to Spill - “Good Ol’ Boredom”
22. MC Rut - “I Don’t Really Know”
23. The Mars Volta - “Since We’ve Been Wrong”
24. Modest Mouse - “The Whale Song”
25. Dirty Projectors - “Cannibal Resource”
26. Deerhunter - “Game of Diamonds”
27. Morrissey - “It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore”
28. Animal Collective - “I Think I Can”
29. HEALTH - “We Are Water”
30. Dredg - “Mourning This Morning”
31. Sufjan Stevens - “You Are the Blood”
32. Fuck Buttons - “Surf Solar”
33. Phoenix - “Girlfriend”
34. The Flaming Lips - “Silver Trembling Hands”
35. White Rabbits - “Rudie Fails”
36. The Mars Volta - “With Twilight As Our Guide”
37. Radiohead - “These Are My Twisted Words”
38. Great Northern - “Fingers”
39. Royksopp - “Tricky, Tricky”
40. Dirty Projectors - “Useful Chamber”
41. St. Vincent - “The Party”
42. YACHT - “Ring The Bell”
43. Bat For Lashes - “Sleep Alone”
44. Atlas Sound - “Sheila”
45. Washed Out - “Feel It All Around”
46. Das Racist - “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell”
47. Dirty Projectors - “Stillness Is The Move”
48. Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs - “Skeletons”
49. Great Northern - “Driveway”
50. Morrissey - “I’m OK By Myself”

The Fishpork 20: Favorite Albums of 2009

2009 started off as one of the strongest years for music in the decade but then slipped into a summer that left us scratching our heads and yearning for more. An impressive set of Fall releases surprised their way onto our Favorites List and cemented 2009 as a year that will impress music lovers in retrospect. These are our favorite albums from the past year:

1. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

2. Fever Ray - Fever Ray

3. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

4. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport

5. Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy

6. Atlas Sound - Logos

7. Morrissey - Years of Refusal

8. Dredg - The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion

9. White Lies - To Lose Your Life

10. Moderat - Moderat

11. The Mars Volta - Octahedron

12. MC Rut - Middle Class Rut

13. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

14. Great Northern - Remind Me Where The Light Is

15. HEALTH - Get Color

16. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

17. The Flaming Lips - Embyronic

18. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

19. Isis - Wavering Radiant

20. Royksopp - Junior

Most Disappointing Albums:

• Lotus Plaza - The Floodlight Collective
• Wilco - Wilco (The Album)

Morrissey @ Carnegie Hall

Morrissey has already put out one of the best records of 2009, and the opportunity to see him at one of the most prestigious halls in the world was overwhelming. He took the stage in his tux Thursday night at Carnegie Hall, backed by his band who were dressed in matching black button-down shirts with white ties decorated with a James Dean decal at the bottom. Moz bowed to a standing ovation and confided, “To think I sat down by Grand Central Station and wept” before going into the opener “This Charming Man” from The Smiths self-titled debut released some 26 years ago. It was fitting that Morrissey then went into “Black Cloud” from his 2009 release Years of Refusal. Moments earlier he quipped, “It’s a great privilege to be in this hall. Leonard Bernstein, the entire cast of Lost in Space, James Darren. It’s a privilege.”

Moz’s voice was flawless throughout the set, and he was quite talkative in between each song. After introducing the band he said, “And who am I? I’m the great and filthy tide of life.” Modesty has never been his strong suit. He even went on to a bit of trash talk, asking the audience, “Well, you didn’t make it to the Bowery Ballroom? Well, you’re quite wise.” The grand hall is a magnificent venue, with its tiered balconies overlooking the floor seats that are separated by two aisles.  The first row and the front of the aisles became a crowd of hands, longing for a touch of Moz throughout the show. He put the microphone in front of one girl who screamed “I love you!” He replied with what would be the line of the night: “No, no I’m like a dog from a rescue home, I can’t be loved.”  Seconds later, as he walked to the other side of the grand stage toward a sea of hands, a man screamed out “I broke my neck at one of your concerts.”  Unmoved, Moz replied, “It was worth it.”

The set was well balanced with his solo work and a smattering of Smiths songs, including the crowd pleasing “How Soon Is Now.” At 49, Moz still rips his shirt off (twice), throwing it into the audience as fans scatter to get a piece of a living musical legend. With the raw power of his latest release, he has proven to be viable in the modern day music scene. He approached the end of his set with new songs “I’m OK by Myself” and “Something Is Squeezing My Skull.” The energy in the Hall was electric, and the audience included a mix of longtime fans and a younger crowd that was there to show respect for arguably one of the most influential recording artists of all time.

For the encore he played “First of the Gang To Die” from his 2004 album You Are the Quarry. The tradition of fans running on stage began shortly thereafter, and two fans were successful before bouncers carried them off the stage and out the door. The highlight of the night came in the middle of the show when Moz went backstage and came out holding his tour manager’s son in the same position as the cover of Years of Refusal. He said, “This is Sebastian, the star of Years of Refusal.” This moment in the show sent chills down my spine and sealed the perfect unforgettable night.

Setlist
This Charming Man
Black Cloud
When Last I Spoke To Carol
How Soon Is Now
Irish Blood English Heart
Let Me Kiss You
I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel
Seasick Yet Still Docked
The Loop
I Keep Mine Hidden
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
Ask
Best Friend On The Payroll
Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed
One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
Death Of A Disco Dancer
Sorry Doesn’t Help
Something Is Squeezing My Skull
I’m OK By Myself

Encore:
First Of The Gang To Die

Morrissey-First of the Gang to die (Live from Jools Holland 2004)

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Album Review: Years of Refusal

This week saw the release of Morrissey’s highly anticipated new album, Years of Refusal. It does not mark what some are calling a comeback, because Morrissey’s last few records have been a revitalization of one of our greatest songwriters. No musical icon has aged more gracefully than the 49-year old vegetarian. It’s just that his new batch of self-pity and self-aggrandizement make up one of the best records that will be released this year. Morrissey’s mix of transparent arrogance and non-stop self-loathing has never been better. There is a certain edge to several of the tracks this time around, as well as a facetious edict disguised as a ballad (see “You Were Good in Your Time”).

The opening track, which Moz performed brilliantly on Jimmy Kimmel Live (embedded video below), is an album standout and works perfectly as an introduction to all the feel good songs to follow. In the closing moments Morrissey professes his frustrations with anti-depressants,  “Diazapam, Valium, Tarmazpam, Lithium, HRT, ECT | How long must I stay on this stuff? | Please don’t give me more (repeating).” There is absolutely no filler on the album, a requirement of an end-of-year list. The first single, “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris” is the most radio-friendly track on the album. The song highlights Moz’s lyrical self-pity juxtaposed with an upbeat, melodic instrumentation: “I’m throwing my arms around Paris because nobody wants my love.”

The lyrics on Years of Refusal are among Morrissey’s best, and that’s saying something considering his track record. Every line of every song seems quotable. There are too many highlights to list, but here are a few:

• “You don’t like me, but you love me. Either way you’re wrong.” (from “All I Need is Me”)
• “I was driving my car. I crashed and broke my spine. So, yes, there is things worse in life than never being someone’s sweetie.” (from “That’s How People Grow Up”)
• “It’s not your birthday anymore. There’s no need to be kind to you.” (from “It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore”)
• “I’ve been thinking, what, with my final brain cell how time grips you slyly in its spell.” (from “One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell”)
• “Life is nothing much to lose, it’s just so lonely here without you.” (from “Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed”)

Morrissey closes the album lyrically in grandiose fashion, admitting that his lifelong struggle for companionship may be a blessing in disguise: “This might make you throw up in your bed | I’m OK by myself, and I don’t need you | And I never have, never have.” Moz ends the track by relentlessly yelping “No, no, no.” The words are barely decipherable over the effects and noise of the album’s crescendo, but it’s the best moment of the record. You’ll be hearing more about this album, and it should see Moz included on many end-of-year lists. Yeah, the Grammys are an industry joke, but this record will most likely collect a few nominations.

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February’s Fresh Pork Cuts

Mark’s:

• Fever Ray - “Triangle Walks”
• Sufjan Stevens - “You Are The Blood”
• Lotus Plaza - “Red Oak Way”
• The Flaming Lips - “Anything You Say Now I Believe You”
• Animal Collective - “What Would I Want Sky”

Pete’s:

• Morrissey - “Mama Lay Softly on the RIverbed”
• Dälek  - “We Lost Sight”
• Lotus Plaza - “Whiteout”
• TV on the Radio “Heroes” (Bowie Cover)
• Fever Ray - “Concrete Walls”

January’s Fresh Pork Cuts

Marks:

• Animal Collective - Bluish
• Arcade Fire - Burning Bridges
• Morrissey - I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
• Stereolab - Neon Beanbag (Atlas Sound Southern Baptist Remix)
• Sufjan Stevens - Good King Wenceslas
  

Petes:

• Julian Koster - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
• The Breeders - Bang On
• Vivian Girls - Tell The World
• Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Moonland
• Lindstrom -  Where You Go I Go Too