So even though this post is named for the headlining band at the show I caught last night a couple weeks ago (took a while to finish this one…), I didn’t see em. So there isn’t much to remember. I’ve been trying to see A Day To Remember for over a year. I missed them in April 09, BOTH Warped Tour 2009 dates I went to, and again last night. Four times I’ve missed this band! Ever since I read their great cover story in Alternative Press last fall, I’ve been really into their music and their story.
But how about I talk about the bands I acutally did see…
Enter Shikari
Whoa! This band clearly sounds better indoors rather than the set I saw at last year’s Bamboozle in the middle of the afternoon. Their mix of heavy riffs, synths, London accents and even a dub-step breakdown was insane! All the bass they pump through their speakers is amazing.
Silverstein
You know what. I thought I was into this band, it’s gone back to a “meh…” for me. When I saw them in 2008 supporing Chiodos (at one of the best shows I’ve ever been to), I dug em. But at this show I thought it was just weak screamo. I give them props that they’ve been around for a good amount of time, but I think their sound has changed so much over those years and they don’t know where they should take it from here on out. I mean when Shane introduced an oldie, all that I proceded to hear was old emo/post-hardcore melodies and rhythms (aka very 2004/2005). No thanks.
August Burns Red
Man, this band absolutely rules. They’ve been in my top 5 artists on last.fm ever since I signed up to scrobble. Yes, it might be breakdown after breakdown, but these guys can PLAY. Main songwriter JB really knows how to write the riffs, and the stage presence of frontman Jake Luhrs shines (or, burns?) HARD. Especially on “White Washed”. Holy crap that song rules.
ALRIGHT! This is the first Top 10 list I’ve ever done, so bear with me here. I don’t even know how you really go about making it (so you might see some things that were released prior to 2009. Yes, that might defeat the whole purpose of a “Best of 2009″ list, so maybe consider this a “Albums/Tracks/Artists I Rocked Out To The Most In 2009.” I’m also going to cheat stick to my love of social networks and just go by my last.fm stats.…
TOPALBUMSOF 2009. Now I know what you might be thinking: “How the hell can you talk about listening to that much metal/screamo, but then have Owl City in your Top 5?” and you would be right. I have to tell you–I ran a whole bunch of errands one day and played his album on loop the whole time. It was PERFECT walking-around-NYC music. I was hooked. #10 was a big album for me in the last year, as was #4. I feel like #9 crept up there late in the game. #1 taught me that sometimes all you need are breakdowns, short transition riffs, more breadowns, and crabcore. Here’s the list, links are to Lala:
TOPTRACKSOF 2009. Okay, starting to get a bit more towards my well-publicized tastes in music. Now, my Top 10 (and 20) tracks of 2009 have several from the same artist, so to keep it interesting I omitted tracks if I had another track by the same artists with more scrobbles plays (still with me?). #10 was on BLAST after I saw them in February. I guess you could call #8 my indie jam of the year. I’m pretty sure #2 got all it’s plays in one day, after I heard them at Warped Tour and saw Adam sing upside down way up in the air. #1 is an awesome opening track to one of the best albums of the year. Here’s the list, and check the playlist at the bottom…
10. I Set My Friends on Fire — Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
TOPARTISTSOF 2009. There they are. These bands make the kind of music that, year in and year out, makes me want to straight up LIVE. I had the pleasure of seeing all of these bands perform more than once this year, and not surprisingly, they were some of the best shows I’ve ever been to (#3’s show on Dec 11 in NYC being the best!). #9 knows how to get down–but I really want some new tunes! I think #8, #7, and of course #4 all have their own genres. They did it first and the best. Okay enough, here they are, links are to myspace pages:
So that’s my first Top 10 / Best Of list. Now since I took these lists straight from last.fm scrobbles, they’re solely based on the number of times I listened to a track by a particular artist. So I have look at it this way: August Burns Red is my #1 artist for 2009 because I listened to more of their tracks than any other artist. Not necessarily based on me thinking they put out the best songs of 2009. However, I guess if I listened to them the most, they must be doing something right!
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