Ohmpark Mixtape #13: Our Favourite Songs of 2009
If you’ve been paying attention around here this year, there is no doubt you will be familiar with everything on this list, and perhaps even a little burnt out on some of these tracks. But each of these songs are strongly linked to different moments and memories I have of 2009, and they make up the ultimate soundtrack to an amazing year in music. So jam them out one last time:
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse w/ Wayne Coyne : Revenge
Animal Collective : My Girls
Atlas Sound w/ Noah Lennox : Walkabout
The Dirty Projectors : Useful Chamber
Grizzly Bear : Two Weeks
Bat For Lashes : Daniel
Andrew Bird : Anonanimal
Here We Go Magic : Fangela
Loney, Dear : Airport Surroundings
Mew : Introducing Palace Players
St. Vincent : The Strangers
Do Make Say Think : Do
Phoenix : Lisztomania
Nomen Novum : Miracles Come True
- Posted by Davy Minor on December 7, 2009 at 5:02 pm
- 3 Comments
Ohmpark’s Top 10 Music Videos of 2009
Before I begin awarding the sounds of 2009, I wanted to give a little props to the best eye-candy I’ve seen. These ten videos clearly stood out to me above the rest of this year’s offerings. They are definitely all a million times better than that garbage from Beyonce and Taylor Swift. So, enjoy:
10. Of Montreal: “An Eluardian Instance”
This video has just got a really nice, fun vibe to it. The special effects are utilized just right and the whole thing matches up with the music beautifully.
9. Untied States: “Unsilvered Mirrors”
There are so many neat little video tricks in this one and the whole thing captures the mood of the song expertly. I love when it snaps into the end section with the band playing.
8. St. Vincent: “The Strangers” Lake Fever Session
This video wins solely on the rarity of capturing St. Vincent playing an acoustic, stripped down version of one of the year’s best songs. Totally gorgeous.
7. The Flaming Lips: “Watching the Planets”
Yeasayer tried their best to up the ante on nudity with their recent experimental video, but having a clothing-less mob feeding a naked Wayne Coyne to a vagina monster pretty much trumps anything. Warning, it’s very NSFW.
6. Mastodon: “Divinations”
I loved Mastodon’s science fiction video for “Oblivion” too, but this one got the edge due to how brutal Brent Hinds is as a caveman.
5. Clues: “You Have My Eyes Now”
This one is just simply hilarious.
4. Grizzly Bear: “Ready, Able”
Grizzly Bear have a ton of amazing videos this year, both official and fan made. But this weird claymation vid is easily my favourite.
3. Here We Go Magic: “Fangela” Black Cab Session
Taking bands and having them perform stripped down versions of their songs in various settings is all the rage these days, and one of the best in the business right now are the Black Cab Sessions. This version of “Fangela” is just pure magic.
Here we go magic from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.
2. Bibio: “Top Soil”
Bibio has such a distinct sound, and this video matches his audio style with the perfect visual enhancements.
1. Thy Mighty Contract: “Conjugal Freelance”
I laugh my ass off every time I watch this. I absolutely love everything about this video and it was an easy choice for my best of the year.
- Posted by Davy Minor on December 6, 2009 at 5:10 pm
- 2 Comments
Live Show: St. Vincent (Lake Fever Sessions)
St. Vincent @ SXSW 2009
My year long St. Vincent obsession has yet to wane at all, so I was ecstatic when I ran across this rare acoustic performance. It is really excellent, so I included both the audio and the video. I also recommend digging around at Lake Fever Sessions, because they have some nice stuff.
St. Vincent
The Lake Fever Sessions 2009
Nashville, TN
1. Actor Out of Work
2. The Strangers
3. Oh My God
Download Lossless Torrent Here
- Posted by Davy Minor on September 21, 2009 at 1:25 am
- No Comments
Bonnaroo 2009: The Female Festival
***Note From The Editor: Our newest guest contributor, Hannah Palmer, decided to do a little something experimental in her Bonnaroo experience this year and share it with us. If you are one our many Atlanta readers, I highly suggest checking out her blog Slumptown, Ga. Enjoy:
The Experiment:
I’m always whining about the lack of women performers included at big festivals. I attended Bonnaroo in 2007 and 2008 and I think the only chicks I saw onstage were Cat Power and Feist.
As soon as I saw the 2009 Bonnaroo lineup it occured to me: this could be an All Girl Bonnaroo. It seemed possible to curate my own personal Lilith Fair, in part thanks to David Byrne’s practically “all estrogen” stage. As I planned a 4-day itinerary including as many girlie acts as possible, I wondered… would this be really lame? would it feel one-sided and sexist? what difference do female performers make anyways?
Field Observations:
So apparently there’s no more day parking on Thursday. I found this out the hard way and spent the first few precious hours of Bonnaroo driving around Manchester backroads and waiting in lines while Atlanta darling Janelle Monae took the stage. We got to Centeroo in time to catch Those Darlins (from Murfreesboro, TN) in the nicely upgraded Troo Music Lounge. My spirits lifted at the sight of 3 honky tonk babes taking turns doing punky covers of Wanda Jackson while spitting beer on the crowd. Then the tornado warning rain started pelting us and I missed Chairlift (with Solange Knowles??) while trying to track down one of those free XBox ponchos. So I had a sorry first night– whether that was bad planning or overplanning, I don’t know.
St. Vincent
Friday restored my faith in girls with guitars with back-to-back scary-good performances by Kaki King and St. Vincent. From there, I found myself torn between some killer women performers – sacrificing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for Santigold, Ani DiFranco for Lucinda Williams. As my friends split to see Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear, I felt somewhat relieved to have my little assignment, otherwise the decisions would’ve been even tougher. Click here to read the entire post…
- Posted by Hannah Palmer on June 18, 2009 at 3:38 am
- 3 Comments
Bonnaroo 2009: Friday (Day 2): Oh So Harmonious
Friday morning started with some nice cloud cover that made it easy to sleep in a little while. After hanging out at camp, I headed for the press area to work and sit through an orientation, and then I went to see some tunes. I caught the last half of Katzenjammer’s set, and it was really good. The Norwegian 4-piece was comprised completely of ladies and they put on a damn good show. They would all be switching instruments between every song and had a striking sense of showmanship to match their musical prowess. At one point they did an a cappella number with everyone singing that was impressive, and this would seem to be the theme for most of the day: Stunning vocal harmonies.
After that I managed to get one person back from the front for Dirty Projectors on That Tent, and they totally brought it as per usual. I’m still blown away by the vocal tricks they employ. They opened with a slow jam in duet form, and then brought the rest of the band in for the second tune as they would continue changing their on-stage configuration for different sections of the show. They rocked some older jams this time in addition to all the best stuff from Bitte Orca. Pretty much everyone expected a David Byrne & Dirty Projectors team up on “Knotty Pine”, and when they closed with just that, the crowd went nuts.
Click here to read the entire post…
- Posted by Davy Minor on June 13, 2009 at 4:12 pm
- 2 Comments
Ohmpark Mixtape #9: Bonnaroo 2009
Right now I am totally obsessed with Bonnaroo and getting very excited about the coming week. I’ve built my annual playlist of ‘roo artists, but even if you aren’t going, some of these will be swinging by Atlanta as well. Also, I’ve dropped some fun Bonna-links below to get you in the mood too. If you are still on the fence as to whether to go to this fest or not, I suggest you go big, but if you can’t attend, you can go along vicariously with our total coverage.
Grizzly Bear : Southern Point
Dirty Projectors : What I See
Phoenix : Lisztomania
Passion Pit : The Reeling
Portugal The Man : Elephants
Animal Collective : The Purple Bottle
Tobacco : Backwoods Altar
St. Vincent : Dig A Pony (The Beatles cover)
White Rabbits : Percussion Gun
Phish : The Divided Sky
Bonnaroo website
Bonnaroo 2008 coverage
Bonnaroo 2007 coverage
Stories from Bonnaroo 2002 – 2006
Guide to Bonnaroo 2009 Schedule
2009 Weather (Updated daily)
Inforoo (The Bonnaroo message board that can answer any question you have)
- Posted by Davy Minor on June 7, 2009 at 5:29 pm
- 1 Comment
Ohmpark Mixtape #8: May Daze
Technically summer doesn’t start until next month, but my long tenure in college and regular association with students leads me to consider May as the beginning of the summer. To celebrate the coming of the season, I’m about to take a nice little week vacation at the beach, so I figured I would leave you readers with a summery mixtape to jam while I’m gone. Here at Ohmpark we have some exciting things coming soon. Bonnaroo is now less than a month away and we will have total coverage for you. Then Corndogorama is right around the corner. And after that I’ll be blogging on the road for all of July. So keep it here and we’ll keep bringing you the best music from the ATL and beyond. Thanks for reading and enjoy some hott tunage:
Harlem Shakes : Nothing But Change Part II
Buy Technicolor Health
Still Flyin’ : Good Thing It’s A Ghost Town Around Here
Buy Never Gonna Touch The Ground
Wavves : Beach Demon
Buy Wavvves
Crystal Antlers : Andrew
Buy Tentacles
Animal Collective : Summertime Clothes
Buy Merriweather Post Pavilion
St. Vincent : Laughing With a Mouth Of Blood
Buy Actor
Camera Obscura : French Navy
Buy My Maudlin Career
Jeffrey Lewis & The Jackals : Bugs & Flowers
Buy ‘Em Are I
Akron/Family : Sun Will Shine (Warmth Of The Sunship Verison)
Buy Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free
Sufjan Stevens : You Are The Blood (Castanets cover)
Buy Dark Was The Night
- Posted by Davy Minor on May 13, 2009 at 2:15 pm
- No Comments
What The Hell Am I Listening To?!?
Two ridiculously talented females up the ante with a sophomore release from each of their respective projects:
St Vincent
Annie Clark’s first release as St Vincent, Marry Me, was an album that I really enjoyed, but it had this ultra-light, whimsical character to it that made it hard for me to sink my teeth into at first. I eventually grew to adore it, but it always sounded like it was a couple of steps away from the brilliant potential I thought she possessed. On only her second attempt, Actor, she has fully realized that untapped inner genius. I’m going to go ahead and declare it: Right now, this record is my favourite to come out officially so far this year. Every single song seems to contain one of those hair raising sort of moments that just wow you. It is simply a perfectly crafted composition from beginning to end and I cannot stop listening to it. So jump on the bandwagon sooner than later and get your tickets to her show at The Earl June 14 now because I hear they are selling fast.
Bat For Lashes
Natasha Khan returns with a more consistent and altogether stunning release than her really good debut album 2 years ago, Fur & Gold. The Tori Amos influence is still heavily felt here, but she has been able to carve out a more unique and personal sound this time around. The clear standout on the record is “Daniel”, which manages to do the ’80s nostalgia thing more successfully than anything on M83’s entire album of attempts from last year. Although the two tracks I picked out below don’t represent it, this record as a whole will be a bit of a difficult listen for someone who prefers their music upbeat. But there are some really amazing parts on the slower songs as well, so make sure to check this one out:
- Posted by Davy Minor on May 6, 2009 at 1:56 am
- 2 Comments
