BEATS EDITION: Keep Yourself Alive - Best of 2009

Like many of you music junkies, I spent a lot of time obsessing with music when I was young. If we ever sit down to count up the hours it would blow our minds. From listening to radio, mixing tapes, talking to friends, going to shows, writing reviews, dj’ing, time in records stores, surfing, downloading, sharing, tweeting – blow our minds! Never mind if you are in a band to boot. For some of us it tapers off once we get older and settle down as you can tell from one’s music collection where the Bodyguard soundtrack is the most recent disc around. Today I feel like I’m taking more music in than ever before but it is not taking up as much of my time. I think artist/producer Chin Injeti said it best, “Now I can record a song in one day and then with a press of a button I can make it go to a thousand different places.”



Back in the day I was also buying a ton of music magazines to find out about new music. Now I’m reading hundreds more but I don’t have to read them cover-to-cover. I have a list of regular blogs and websites I also check out, not to mention all the recommendations I get from all my friends. Music is simply inescapable from our lives and there are so many people out there inspired and creating great music to share with us all. For many of us, we do this out of love and not money. All the bloggers, the fan sites, people like me writing their Top 10 lists – it’s just our way to give back and keep spreading the word. It’s impossible to make a best of list with so much music being heard but for me these albums were simply played a lot this year.

1. Beat Assailant - Rhyme Space Continuum
2. Grand Analog - Metropolis is Burning
3. Pearl Jam - Backspacer
4. Exile - Radio
5. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
6. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
7. DJ Trax - Thoughts in Widescreen
8. Jully Black - The Black Book
9. Islands - Vapours
10. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon
11. Amadou and Miriam - Dimanche A Bamako
12. Passion Pit - Manners
13. Tinariwen - Aman Iman
14. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
15. Afro Classics - Classic Rock
16. Dragonette - Fixed to Thrill
17. N’Dambi - Pink Elephant
18. Brand New - Daisy
19. Pink Martini- Splendor in the Grass
20. DJ Honda - IV





So here we go. The sounds of the Beat Assailant came out of left field for me at the end of this year and made me want to sing, rap and dance. His album Rhyme Space Continuum is my new favorite album of the moment. I kept listening to Grand Analog and Islands throughout 2008 and 2009 thanks to new releases from those bands to keep the fire burning. Grand Analog’s old album Calligraffiti was in high rotation so I was happy to finally hear the new Metropolis is Burning, definitely one of the top Canadian acts around. Islands somehow managed to release something to top last year’s Arm’s Way. Vapours is an album that will continue to get played throughout 2010. The first time I heard Eric Earley’s voice and lyrics singing Black River Killer I was hooked on Blitzen Trapper. DJ Trax tripped me out and DJ Honda thumped me out while Exile mixed out a perfect record, aural bliss I tell ya! Phoenix hooked me with their stellar Saturday Night Live performances and for my harder dose, Brand New’s Daisy album edged out great records from Converge and Pelican. This fire is still out of control for Franz Ferdinand five years after their first release, the Tonight album keeps us guessing what sounds will come up next for the Scottish group. Dragonette turned it up while still turning us on. Kid Cudi was too catchy to ignore and too cool to implode. Amadou and Miriam’s Dimance A Bamako alongside the sounds of Tinariwen was transcendental. The Afro Classics beats were relentless and made me want to have a car again just to blast this off the doors. Little Secrets by Passion Pit put a smile on my face and the rest of the record kept it there. Pink Martini’s Splendor in the Grass has played host for many dinner parties. N’Dambi and Jully Black’s voices have filled these rooms for the last month with their passionate soul. Finally, Pearl Jam continues to keep the spirit alive and Eddie Vedder is writing and singing some of his best stuff ever. Thanks for making my year with the signed disc and guitar pick for my son.





There is so much new music being created daily yet we always can remember a time, small pockets of time, by their soundtracks. Leading me into 2010, this small list is already making up the new soundtrack.

Chin Injeti, The New Royales, The Danks, Shannon Lyon, D-Sisive, Hideyo Blackmoon, Kid Sister, Calamalka, Max Ulis, Real Estate, First Aid Kit…





What else will 2010 bring? More great music will be created for sure. Hopefully face-n-crotch-grinding will be kept to a minimal and we do not lose as many talented people so early as we did this year. In the words of Queen’s Freddie Mercury – “Keep Yourself Alive.”