From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V14 #339 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Thursday, December 17 2009 Volume 14 : Number 339 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Top 10 Albums of 2009 [Jon Wesley Huff ] Re: Top 10 Albums of 2009 [neal copperman ] Re: The official word on Issa [Dan_Stark <2005.carnivore99@verizon.net>] top 50 of the 00's [Jason Gordon ] Re: Top 10 Albums of 2009 ["Yngve Hauge" ] Re: top 50 of the 00's ["Yngve Hauge" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:53:32 -0600 From: Jon Wesley Huff Subject: Top 10 Albums of 2009 Well, looking ahead to the next couple of weeks I don't think there's really anything that's going to knock my socks off so I've been counting down my top 10 of 2009 a little early... 1. Ellipse - Imogen Heap Here it is! Number one! I was looking forward to this for so long and it was one of the few albums like that which hasn't disappointed me in some way. I've listened to this so many times since it was released. She's a great musician. The way she forges the music together from all these different elements... its pretty incredible. Add to that her lyrics and that magical voice... yep, this was definitely number one. 2-1 is amazing, but also check out Wait It Out, Tidal and Canvas. 2. Middle Cyclone - Neko Case She's one of those artists I've always heard was amazing but could never quite get into. Until Middle Cyclone. There's a nice mix of slower songs and songs that have more drive and energy to them. Her voice has a great emotional range, but I have to say it'...s the songwriting that is probably her greatest asset. Tons of great moments on this album. 3. Lungs - Florence + The Machine This album came out of nowhere and knocked me over the head. There are too many amazing songs to list but "Dog Days Are Over," "Rabbit Heart," "Drumming Song," My Boy Builds Coffins." "Cosmic Love" is my favorite though. It's epic and huge and it rips my heart out. 4. If I Had A Heart - Fever Ray I was hooked on Karin Dreijer Andersson's voice when I first heard it in Rvyksopp's amazing "What Else Is There?" but I didn't have a lot of luck getting into her first group (The Knife.) Then she starts a solo project (Fever Ray) and I am amazed. I don't know how to describe the songs to do them justice. Just watch. And listen. There are quite a few videos and they are all amazing. 5. Wait For Me - Moby It's been a while since I've felt much of an emotional connection to Moby's work, although I've certainly enjoyed a good deal of it. But this album is definitely different. A return to form, I think. Watch the David Lynch directed video for "Shot In The Back of the Head" and listen to "Pale Horse" 6. Anna Teirnheim - Leaving on A Mayday I fell in love with her music when I first listened to her last album Halfway To Fivepoints. The new album does not disappoint. Quietly powerful music. Listen to "No, I Don't Remember," "My Heart Still Beats For You" and "Make It On My Own" 7. Light of X - Miranda Lee Richards I waited five years for this album. Select tracks appeared sometime in 2004 on her website. I'd go to her site just to listen to the tracks she had up over and over. One of them was "Early November." Even after all that time, I never got sick of them. Light of X feels a bit more "complete" then her debut album (also worth checking out) although it takes longer seeping into your skin. She deserves such a bigger following then she has. Also check out "Breathless." 8. The Fame Monster - Lady GaGa Look folks! It's an artist on my list who actually gets radio play. Whether it's all calculated marketing, "pure artistry" or a mix of both... she just makes some great songs. And yes, she writes ALL HER OWN songs. Not that I think it's required for a great ...singer... but it's a feather in the cap. 9. Kingdom of Welcome Addiction - IAMX This was a relatively late find for me (via Imogen Heap) and I have to say... I was totally enthralled. Dark, sexy, apocalyptic and at times very tender and emotionally raw. Check out tracks "Tear Garden," "My Secret Friend" and "I Am Terrified" 10. Taller Children - Elizabeth and The Catapult It's an amazing little pop album. Elizabeth Ziman's songwriting and voice are captivating and the album as a whole has a great emotional range while maintaining a strong melodic sensibility. I suggest sampling the title track, "Complimentary Me" and "Apathy." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:44:07 -0700 From: neal copperman Subject: Re: Top 10 Albums of 2009 Wow, great find! I haven't been paying enough attention and have missed so many good things out there, but thought I'd pick one of the unknowns off Jon's list and check it out. Wow! I never even heard of The Knife, but all the videos and tracks on Fever Ray's web site are stunning. I wish vimeo would have caught on more. The videos look so much better then YouTube. I hear the obvious sources, like Kate and Bjork, but also Danielle Dax (in both sound and video appeal), Sisters of Mercy and many more that slide in and out from second to second. Read the bio and found out that The Knife wasn't her first band. That was Honey is Cool, which I actually got in a trade with Anna Maria in 1997! I'll have to dig that one out and give it a spin again. Thanks Jon! neal On Dec 15, 2009, at 11:53 PM, Jon Wesley Huff wrote: > 4. If I Had A Heart - Fever Ray > I was hooked on Karin Dreijer Andersson's voice when I first heard > it in > Rvyksopp's amazing "What Else Is There?" but I didn't have a lot of > luck > getting into her first group (The Knife.) Then she starts a solo > project > (Fever Ray) and I am amazed. I don't know how to describe the songs > to do > them justice. Just watch. And listen. There are quite a few videos > and they > are all amazing. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:39:20 -0500 From: Dan_Stark <2005.carnivore99@verizon.net> Subject: Re: The official word on Issa > > as of one month ago, i have officially changed my name from issa to > > jane siberry. Just when I had finally stopped writing (Jane Siberry) after her name every time. Dan ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:31:02 -0500 (EST) From: Jason Gordon Subject: top 50 of the 00's my top 50 of 00's 1. My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me the Workhorse 2. Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs 3. Inga Liljestrom - Elk 4. Carina Round - The First Blood Mystery 5. Florence and The Machine - Lungs 6. Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline 7. Over the Rhine - Drunkard's Prayer 8. Rachel Smith - The Clearing 9. Efterklang - Parades 10. Jesca Hoop - Kismet 11. Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold 12. Martina Topley-Bird - Quixotic 13. The Knife - The Knife 14. Stina Nordenstam - The World Is Saved 15. Camille - Le fil 16. Portishead - Third 17. Tunng - Good Arrows 18. Emiliana Torrini - Me and Armini 19. Thea Gilmore - Avalanche 20. Vienna Teng - Waking Hour 21. Lau Nau - Kuutarha 22. Kristy Thirsk - Souvenir 23. Juliet Turner - Season of the Hurricane 24. Rachel Unthank & the Winterset - The Bairns 25. Emilie Simon - Emilie Simon 26. Tanya Donelly - Whiskey Tango Ghosts 27. Feist - Let It Die 28. The Shortwave Set - The Debt Collection 29. Eisley - Room Noises 30. Lykke Li - Youth Novels 31. Hanne Hukkelberg - Little Things 32. Azure Ray - Hold on Love 33. Jenny Wilson - Love and Youth 34. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator) 35. Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature 36. Poe - Haunted 37. The Be Good Tanyas - Blue Horse 38. Candie Payne - I Wish I Could Have Loved You More 39. Amy Annelle - A School of Secret Dangers 40. Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself 41. Paul The Girl - Electro-Magnetic Blues 42. Johnny Hollow - Dirty Hands 43. Nitin Sawhney - Prophesy 44. Margo - The Catnap 45. Under Byen - Siamesisk 46. Terami Hirsch - A Broke Machine 47. The Knife - Silent Shout 48. Hem - Rabbit Songs 49. Helicopter Girl - Voodoo Chic 50. Willow - Sweet Dark Demon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:50:20 +0100 From: "Yngve Hauge" Subject: Re: Top 10 Albums of 2009 PC% Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:53:32 +0100, skrev Jon Wesley Huff : > 3. Lungs - Florence + The Machine > This album came out of nowhere and knocked me over the head. There are > too > many amazing songs to list but "Dog Days Are Over," "Rabbit Heart," > "Drumming Song," My Boy Builds Coffins." "Cosmic Love" is my favorite > though. It's epic and huge and it rips my heart out. Definitely gonna check this out ... thanks for the heads up! :D > 4. If I Had A Heart - Fever Ray > I was hooked on Karin Dreijer Andersson's voice when I first heard it in > Rvyksopp's amazing "What Else Is There?" but I didn't have a lot of luck > getting into her first group (The Knife.) Then she starts a solo project > (Fever Ray) and I am amazed. I don't know how to describe the songs to do > them justice. Just watch. And listen. There are quite a few videos and > they > are all amazing. Okey ... that voice gotta be explored further ... > 6. Anna Teirnheim - Leaving on A Mayday > I fell in love with her music when I first listened to her last albumr > Halfway To Fivepoints. The new album does not disappoint. Quietly > powerful > music. Listen to "No, I Don't Remember," "My Heart Still Beats For You" > and > "Make It On My Own" Anna Ternheim never let me down - she has written one of my top 10 favorite songs :) But this year another Scandinavian artist has completely circled her. I'll come back to who in a separate post, but I'll reveal that she is a norwegian - no, it isn't Ane Brun even though her live album is amazing. - -- n.p. ... hmmm ... don't want to reveal that just yet ... - -- Sendt med Operas revolusjonerende e-postprogram: http://www.opera.com/mail/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:19:51 +0100 From: "Yngve Hauge" Subject: Re: top 50 of the 00's PC% Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:31:02 +0100, skrev Jason Gordon : > my top 50 of 00's > Interesting concept ... gonna have to think about that one - -- Yngve - -- Sendt med Operas revolusjonerende e-postprogram: http://www.opera.com/mail/ ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V14 #339 ***************************