Rave's Raves Blog

RAVE’S FAVES (on the air)

Muse, Cage the Elephant, Hockey, Vampire Weekend(“Cousins”, “White Sky”), The Big Pink(“Dominos”), Dead Man’s Bones(“Pa Pa Power”), Fanfarlo(“I’m A Pilot”), Girls(“Laura”), Devendra Banhart(“16th and Valencia Roxy Music”), Airborne Toxic Event, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Florence + the Machine(XX remix of ”You’ve Got the Love” and other tracks by her), Editors, The XX(“Crystalized”), VV Brown(“Crying Blood”), Them Crooked Vultures(“Scumbag Blues”).

If no specific tracks are listed, I’m favoring various tracks by these artists.  As of this writing, “Uprising” by Muse has been the most-played song on US alternative stations for the past 14 weeks!  Talk about a perfect radio track that is also very cool.  Cage are on their second hit and may have more on their very deep album.  These two Vampire Weekend advance tunes provide hope that their sophomore effort will be a step forward.   Dead Man’s Bones is an LA band that uses a local choir and gives their “Pa Pa Power” the feel of “Kids” by MGMT.  The remix of the Florence song can be a mainstream pop hit in the US with the right edit, and the track is already doing well in the UK.  Editors new album will be more synth-oriented, and The XX from the U.K. are rising stars in the indie-electro world.  VV Brown is another great singer in the line of British birds sounding retro.  “Scumbag Blues” sure sounds lots like Cream from the 60’s.

TOP ALBUMS OF 2009

The Bird and the Bee – Ray Guns Are Not the Future
Brendan Benson – My Old Familiar Friend
Cage the Elephant – Cage the Elephant
Jet – Shaka Rock
Late Of the Pier – Fantasy Black Channel
Lilly Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You
Matt & Kim – Grand
Morrissey – Years Of Refusal
Muse – The Resistance
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
White Lies – To Lose My Life
Yeah YeahYeahs – It’s Blitz

These CD’s are listed in alphabetical order, as the world becomes more and more track-oriented.  If I have a #1, it would be Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  They altered their sound and still came up with a huge win.  It’s interesting to note that only the Muse disc was released towards the end of the year.  The Jet album seemed to have never really gotten a chance and was underrated.  White Lies are huge in the UK and I feel would have done better here if the track “Unfinished Business” was released as a single.

TOP TRACKS OF 2009

1)     Muse – Uprising
2)     Friendly Fires – Kiss Of Life
3)     Shiny Toy Guns – Ghost Town
4)     Pet Shop Boys – All Over the World
5)     Vampire Weekend – Cousins
6)     Hockey – Too Fake
7)     Metric – Gimme Sympathy
8)     White Lies – Unfinished Business
9)     Noisettes – Never Forget You
10)   Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros – Home
11)   VV Brown – Crying Blood
12)   Neko Case – Don’t Forget Me
13)   Wilco – You Never Know
14)   Care Bears On Fire – Everybody Else

I know.  “Uprising” has been a mainstream #1 song forever but hey, it’s perfect for what it is.  The rest of these tracks received airplay at least on some level.  The biggest reaction song of 2009 on my Go Deep shows was one where I broke character and played a track not yet available in the U.S.  It was “Going to the Casino (Tomorrow Night)” by the Aussie band Philadelphia Grand Jury.  I believe the band will be at SXSW in Austin this March and will play some other US dates as well.

FAVE 22 ALBUMS OF THE DECADE BASED ON PERSONAL PREFERENCE AND IMPORTANCE OF RELEASE

–DOMINATING DOZEN, A-Z:

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
Art Brut – Bang Bang Rock & Roll
Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
Butch Walker – The Rise and Fall Of Butch Walker
Dandy Warhols – Thirteen Tales Of Urban Bohemia
Elbow – Leaders Of the Free World
Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
Goldfrapp – Supernature
Muse – Absolution
Muse – Black Holes & Revelations
Von Bondies – Pawn Shaped Heart

–THE REST OF THE BEST, A-Z:

Air – Talkie Walkie
Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
Jet – Get Born
Muse – The Resistance
New Pornographers – Twin Cinema
Of Montreal – Deflated Chime…
Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna…
Skybombers – Take Me to Town
Switches – Lay Down the Law
Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

Following an extended November vacation when a bunch of shows came through that I wanted to see, my only national-level live gig these couple of months was Zero 7 at the Orpheum in LA.  They’re very good at what they do.  The band’s evolution has become less my glass of wine, but they did very nicely with the sold-out crowd.  This is an ideal venue for this kind of show.  Looking back over this year, Friendly Fires struck me as the fastest-rising concert band in terms of onstage power, while Matt & Kim put on some of the most fun shows I’ve seen in ages.

Links are directly to the show performances whenever I was able to find them. If removed, try Hulu:

(November 2 through December 19)

Letterman: The Cribs
Conan: 30 Seconds to Mars
Kimmel: Weezer, Band Of Skulls, Passion Pit
Carson : La Roux, The XX, The Gossip
Fallon: Ronnie Spector
SNL: Muse

My band of the decade is Muse.  That doesn’t sound too adventurous now, but I was turned on to them early in the decade when Breakfast With the Beatles’ Chris Carter used to play “Muscle Museum” on his old Y-107 new music show.  That song was a true indicator of what Muse would become and I’m honored to have been on their wagon way ahead of time.  Thanks to Chris!  The rest is history of course, with the band releasing three of my favorite albums.  Their “Hysteria” is probably my #1 disc over the past ten years.  I got to see their amazing live shows when they were still in clubs…I’m just now thinking of working on a top of the decade list after all, so stay tuned for that…Among my musical highlights of the 2009 year was the plethora of positive retro sounds coming from such people as Noisettes, La Roux, Ladyhawke, VV Brown, and Glasvegas…Informed sources in the UK feel that the most of the newly influential sounds coming from that region in 2010 will  be on the electronic side…My next WSUM Rave-A-Thon will be Wednesday, January 13th.  Keep an eye on my website for specific times, but we’re anticipating an 8-hour show concentrating on great new music, beginning at 11am EST…I continue to record my monthly Go Deep webcasts for friends, and the playlists are on site’s broadcast page.  I can’t post the links on the site due to licensing restrictions, but let me know if you have questions about the shows.  We look forward to debuting the nationally syndicated version of Go Deep in the new year…Thanks as always to our buddy Uncle Joe Benson for putting these Raves super informative unclejoe site…Here’s hoping the holiday season treats you really well and that 2010 is your best year yet…Whatever you do and wherever you go over the next decade, you gotta remember to…

RAVE ON!!!