Ireland, as much as any other country, is blessed with a rich musical heritage, and it was from regular sessions in and around his house as a youngster that Damien Dempsey caught the folk bug. On his first (hopefully of many) album of standards, Dempsey is joined by two legends- John Sheahan and Barney McKenna of the Dubliners- and runs through a selection of traditional and contemporary Irish classics, from an extraordinary violin n’ tin whistle take on the Pogues’ (seemingly inimitable) ‘A Rainy Night In Soho’ to more jocular renditions of Ewan MacColl’s ‘Schooldays Over’ and ‘Kelly For Killan.’ At times, Dempsey is perhaps a little too in awe of his hero Luke Kelly (ex- of the Dubliners), which is reflected in his versions of a couple of Kelly’s standards, but in general The Rocky Road is a collection that racks up well alongside the greats he seeks to emulate. [Review]
Recommended: ‘Schooldays Over,’ ‘A Rainy Night In Soho’
Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy (Interscope/Geffen)
It’s vintage Axl Rose: even when he has people bending over backwards to do it his way, Axl always finds a way to get screwed by the man, and so the words Chinese Democracy will one day be synonymous with the words “fuck” and “up.” It sold poorly, the CD itself is plagued by audible blips and the overall presentation is embarrassing: if a booklet riddled with transcr1ption errors isn’t enough (“my’d own denial and so afraid” is a personal fave), the fact the entire thing looks like it was hacked together in MS Paint definitely is. Yet for all its obvious flaws, it exemplifies the best of post-Appetite Guns: long, gradually-unfurling ballads in the mould of ‘Madagascar’ and the Spanish guitar-assisted ‘If The World’ stack up well alongside industrial-tinged rockers like ‘Shackler’s Revenge’ and the title track, while fans of the old band will find plenty to love in pretty ballads like ‘Street Of Dreams’ and rocker ‘Riad N’ The Bedouins,’ the latter a ‘70s rock-channelling sleaze rocker that could be confused for one of Slash’s. Chinese Democracy doesn’t take risks per se, but it does succeed in marrying the best aspects of dinosaur rock with more unique elements of industrial rock, shred and trip-hop. Axl’s lyrics on the other hand...[Review]
Recommended: ‘Sorry,’ ‘Better’
Britney Spears – Circus (Jive Records)
Nobody is more surprised than yours truly to see this album ranked so highly. While lead single ‘Womanizer’ may prove to be one of 2008’s enduring moments, the equal of ‘Toxic’ and ‘...Baby One More Time’ in years past, even that borrowed heavily from a previous single, 2007’s ‘Radar.’ The rest of the pre-release material was far from promising, abandoning the sinister club vibes of Blackout for a return to her schmaltzy pop days, but somehow it all works. ‘If U Seek Amy’ may be either the greatest or the shittiest pun ever committed to record, but with super-producer Max Martin in tow, the bouncy power pop arrangement is the perfect foil for Britney’s mischievous, knowing vocal. In a year where few straight-up pop records managed to crack the upper echelons of the charts, Britney’s return to some semblance of sanity is all the more welcome, not to mention surprising.[Review]
Recommended: ‘Womanizer,’ ‘If U Seek Amy’
Heathers – Here, Not There (Hide Away Records/Plan-It X)
Another year, another year-end list, and another list embarrassingly short on female-fronted music. Women always seem to get short shrift in critics’ lists, especially in the rock and rap fields, so it’s nice to be able to hold up at least one non-Britney album from my pitifully small sample this year. Louise and Ellie McNamara, a.k.a. Heathers, are twin 18-year old sisters from Dublin who wrote and recorded their debut album while in school, did their exams, and then toured the US on Florida punk label Plan-It X’s dime. The Tegan & Sara comparisons are inevitable, and somewhat justified, but where the former fill out their records with ultra-sleek indie pop arrangements, Heathers are literally just two voices and an acoustic guitar, and their songs are all the more visceral for it. The album clocks in below a half-hour, but in truth it could probably go on twice as long and sacrifice little in the way of awesome.
Recommended: ‘Remember When,’ ‘Margie’
Yngve – Tell Men This (Posttone Records)
As a boy, Yngve Wieland’s parents moved from Kaiserslautern, Germany to the west coast of Ireland in search of a simpler life and mediocre farmland. They found both in abundance and, while the country’s economic fortunes have skyrocketed since then, there is still much of the earthy aesthetic to be found on the singer-songwriter’s debut LP Tell Men This. Released on his own Posttone Records, Tell Men This consists of ten tracks, ranging from whimsical folk duets of the ‘Gondola Song’ ilk to more robust rock n’ roll efforts, as typified by the title track, which channels Blonde On Blonde-era Dylan. Tell Men This doesn’t quite have the hook or the backstory that’s made cult hits of Sufjan Stevens, that one elfish girl and this year’s runaway folk smash Bon Iver, but it’s a consistently engaging and always thoughtful modern folk album that warrants serious attention.
RSAG – Organic Sampler (Psychonavigation Records)
In his State Magazine review of Organic Sampler, my sometimes boss Phil Udell guessed that the album would “surely find its way into the hands of remixers all over the place,” a sentiment so money I decided to steal it and pass it off as my own. Yet it also sells the album a little short: Jeremy Hickey a.k.a. Rarely Seen Above Ground’s second full-length record might be sparse and effortlessly funky, a sampler's dream, but it’s also a finely crafted post-punk/electronic record in its own right, heavy on the percussion but loaded with killer melodies too. The overall mood is sombre and introverted, like that Joy Division guy everybody seems to be influenced by, but Organic Sampler’s most transcendent moments comes when he throws in the kitchen sink, as with opener ‘Counting Down.’
Recommended: ‘Counting Down,’ ‘Good Times’
Messiah J and the Expert – From The Word Go (Inaudible Records)
Frequent viewers of this site will be familiar with this writer’s hard-on for Irish hip hop duo Messiah J and the Expert, so it was with pleasure that Sputnik was allowed to host the album preev for what is arguably their most accomplished record to date, From The Word Go. Many white people might not be fully comfortable with the idea of unashamedly fun and upbeat rap music, but From The Word Go steps up the game on both the lyrical front and the dancefloor. ‘Jean Is Planning An Escape’ examines the complexity of an abusive relationship above a furious four-to-the-floor beat, while pulsating opener ‘Year Of The Genie’ sheds light on the absurdity of election season, with all its slick hair and empty promises. On the flipside, ‘Turn The Magic On’ (featuring Leda Egri) touches on the telepathic relationship shared by old friends as ‘Geography’ laments the difficulties of a long-distance friendship. Messiah J’s rhymes have been tightened significantly, to the extent that it’s advisable to hang on his every word, while the Expert’s musical base has expanded, making for a more diverse but no less distinctive album.[Review]
Recommended: ‘Turn The Magic On,’ ‘Amnesia Comes Easily’
Adebisi Shank – This Is The Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank (Richter Collective)
My review of the Wicklow math rock outfit’s quirkily-titled debut dispensed with such bourgeois luxuries as long sentences and personality, but there was a method to the madness. This Is The Album... exudes a rigid, robotic quality, the sort that seemed to be in vogue among the various indie rock/dance crossover acts a few years back and appears to have become law at James Murphy’s DFA Records, i.e. “robotic” in the silly dance that everybody tries to do badly. This Is The Album... is reassuringly retro: guitarist Lar Kaye is a virtuoso, pulling his tricks as liberally from the shred guitar cannon as the experimental hardcore playbook, while bassist Vinnie McCreith’s makes video game noises with his one-man side-project The Vinny Club (see #19). There are no words on the CD- though there is some nifty vocoder action- and it lasts just 23 minutes, but This Is The Album... might just be the party record of 2009 if words gets out and all the other albums die in a horrible plane crash or something. [Review]
From the Richter Collective’s stable band to the Richter Collective’s other stable band we march. Dublin five-piece BATS will head to Seattle in the new year to record their debut full-length with Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, but in the mean time these five tracks are more than enough to satisfy even the largest of appetites. Boasting influences as diffuse as Circle Takes The Square, Blood Brothers, Mike Patton and the theory of evolution (fyi, “it’s just a theory” doesn’t count as an argument), Cruel Sea Scientist’s five tracks range from the straight-up hardcore of opener ‘Death To Kent Hovind’ to the jazzy, post-rock influenced sounds of ‘These Ones Lay Eggs’ and ‘Husband & Wife (Sliced Lung, Served Cold).’ BATS’ full-length may just turn out to be the most disappointing album of 2009, so high have they set the bar with Cruel Sea Scientist, and remember kids: BATS is only three letters away from BATSHIT.[Review]
Recommended: ‘Death To Kent Hovind,’ ‘Husband & Wife (Sliced Lung, Served Cold)
Blood On The Tracks, Jagged Little Pill, Sea Change. Iconic break-up records all, but it’s all just a little bit gloomy and one-paced. Sycamore Meadows isn’t all about a break-up- in fact it’s not so clear there was a full-blown break-up at all- but it’s a record that hits on the full range of emotions that accompany a great loss. Highlight ‘Here Comes The...’ is his most moving and emotionally vulnerable composition to date, flawlessly evoking the fear and isolation of a relationship going wrong, while ‘Vessels’ takes a more whimsical stance, recalling the exciting “having sex on the hoods of cars” stage of a relationship. The glammy, horn-filled ‘Ponce De Leon Ave’ takes place during the letting loose period after the fact, ‘The Weight Of Her’ channels Elvis Costello in its righteous dismissal of petty post-relationship politics, while songs like 'Going Back/Going Home' and closer 'ATL' ruminate on the meaning of the word "home." [Review]
Recommended: ‘Here Comes The...,’ ‘Closer To The Truth And Further From The Sky’
#25-11.
25. Pivot - O Soundtrack My Heart (Warp Records) 24. Shugo Tokumaru - Exit (P-Vine/Almost Gold) [Review] 23. Kaizers Orchestra - Maskineri (Petroleum Records) 22. Vessels - White Fields And Open Devices (Cuckundoo Records) [Review] 21. Metallica - Death Magnetic (Warner Bros Records) [Review]
20. The Mighty Stef - Death Threats (The Firstborn Is Dead Recordings) [Review] 19. The Vinny Club - Rocky V Reckyrd (Richter Collective) 18. 1969 - Maya (Power Ballad Records) [Review] 17. Ludacris - Theater Of The Mind (Disturbing Tha Peace Records) 16. Keplers Odd - Strena Seu De Nive Sexangula (Desolation House)
15. The Infomatics - Kill Or Create (Q-NISS Records) [Review] 14. Have A Nice Life - Deathconsciousness (Enemies List) [Review] 13. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella) [Review] 12. Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop And Roll!!! (Jingle Town Records) 11. Tidal District - Hold The Party Line (Quiet Guy)
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