2009...a year in review

Top albums of 2009--by listen:

1. Baroness "Blue Record"
2. Mastodon "Crack The Skye" **
3. Lamb of God "Wrath"
4. Every Time I Die "New Junk Aesthetic"
5. Pearl Jam "Backspacer" **
6. Russian Circles "Geneva"
7. Big Business "Mind The Drift"
8. Doomriders "Darkness Come Alive"
9. Killswitch Engage S/T
10. Gallows "Grey Britain"**
11. Mariachi El Bronx "El Bronx"
    
12. Priestess "Prior To The Fire"
13. Red Fang S/T
14. Kylesa "Static Tensions"
15. Isis "Wavering Radiant"
16. Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson "Break Up"
17. Muse "The Resistance"
18. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead "The Century Of Self"
19. Dan Auerbach "Keep It Hid"**^
20. Darkest Hour "The Eternal Return"
21. Dear Landlord "Dream Homes"**^
22. Devildriver "Pray For Villains"
23. Eels "Hombre Lobo"^
24. Franz Ferdinand "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand"
25. We Were Promised Jetpacks "These Four Walls"^
26. Alice In Chains "Black Gives Way To Blue"
27. Frank Turner "Poetry Of The Deed"
28. Pelican "What We All Need To Come"
29. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "It's Blitz!"
30. Them Crooked Vultures **

THIS IS AN EDITORIAL--THESE ARE MY TOP 20 AFTER FURTHER ANALYSIS AND A FINAL LISTEN TO EACH RECORD
** denotes there were way more listens than indicated due to the fact that I listened to these on vinyl, too.
^ denotes that these should be higher on the list as they deserved more listens and stand out the most in my list as favourites of the year from first listen. That's not to discredit the top 10 by listen as those are "gimmes" for favourite records.


Top 10 Shows of 2009 (chronologically)

1. Buckcherry & Avenged Sevenfold (Nokia Theatre - 4/16)
2. Jeff Beck (El Rey - 4/21)
3. Green Day (Music Box at the Fonda - 6/4)
4. Epicenter Festival [Alice In Chains & Tool] (Fairplex at Pomona - 8/22)
5. Pearl Jam (Gibson Amphitheatre 10/7)
6. Reverend Horton Heat & Motorhead (Club Nokia - 10/9)
7. The Lawrence Arms (Troubadour - 11/14)
   
8. High On Fire, Mastodon & Dethklok (Palladium - 11/19)
9. Baroness (Reggie's Rock Club - 11/25)
10. Against Me! (Spaceland - 12/17)
    

as for movies, i can't quite remember what I've seen this year as it's been a nutty one....
in no particular order (based on memory of what I've seen):

1. I Love You Man
   
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Pirate Radio
   
4. Hangover
5. Law Abiding Citizen
   
6. The Watchmen
7. Inglorious Basterds
8. Zombieland
   
9. Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
10. UP
11. Public Enemies
12. Up In The Air
    
13. The Informant
14. Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs
    
15. Star Trek
16. Brothers
    

From what I can recall, the ones in bold stand out as my favourites of the year....I'm sure I saw at least 20 movies in theatres this year, but cannot recall all of them, nor are some worth mentioning...albeit, the company was always better than the movies themselves.

stay tuned for my DECADE list of music.....

...until then: Rock n Roll!
-Uncle J.