Top Ten Albums of 2009 (In no particular order)

10.) Matthew Shipp Trio “Harmonic Disorder” [Thirsty Ear]
09.) Sonic Youth “The Eternal” [Matador]
08.) Wooden Shjips “Dos” [Southern Lord]
07.) Lightning Bolt “Earthly Delights” [Load]
06.) Arrington de Dionyso “Malaiakat Dan Singha” [K]
05.) Moonspeed “Flowers on the Moon” [Flight Approved]
04.) Advisory Circle “Mind How You Go” [Ghost Box]
03.) Alasehir “Torment of the Metals” (LP only) [Important Records]
02.) sunn o))) “Monoliths and Dimensions” [Southern Lord]
01.) Emeralds “What Happened” [No Fun]

Also of note: Ilyas Ahmed “Goner” [Roaratorio], OM “God is Good” [Drag City], Yo La Tengo “Popular Songs” [Matador], Alasehir “Sharing the Sacred” [Important], Lake “Let’s Build a Roof” [K], Dinosaur Jr. “Farm” [Jagjagwar], Shrinebuilder “s/t”

Top Ten Concerts of 2009

01.) Ghost/Lichens/Pontiac @ The Hi Dive
Helena Espvall, Masaki Batoh, Michio Kurihawa, Lichens (aka Robert Lowe)… it was an incredible night of music: stoner rock, Japanese psych, ambient, freak folk… mind bending. In all honesty, it was a three way tie between Dino Jr., Sonic Youth, and Ghost.

2.) Sonic Youth/Awesome Color @ The Ogden
My second time seeing Thurston, Kim, Lee, Steve and Mark. It was a blast. They played 2 encores and revisited such classics as “Cross the Breeze” “Silver Rocket” “Hey Johnny” and “Death Valley 69”.

03.) Dinosaur Jr./Lou Barlow and the Missingmen/Violent Soho @ The Aggie
Murph, Mascis, and Barlow ripped it up. A good time was had by all. Highlights of the evening include “Little Fury Things” “Kracked” “Bulbs of Passion” “The Lung” “Feel the Pain”. Murph and Lou both lost their glasses in the midst of rocking…

04.) Mogwai/Women @ The Bluebird
Breathtaking, to say the least. I was moved to tears… I’m not afraid to admit it.

05.) sunn o))) @ The Bluebird
This scared the living shit out of me, Uncle Jeff and Johnny Trrrash, but we loved it nonetheless.

06.) Yo La Tengo/Cheap Time @ The Ogden

07.) Arrington de Dionyso @ Rhinoceropolis
The man from Old Time Relijun, playing bass clarinet and throat singing. He sounded like an earthquake. I purchased an awesome one-of-a-kind flexidisk from Arrington, complete with hand painted sleeve.

08.) Moonspeed/Widowers @ The Larimer Lounge
A great night of space rock and psych. Moonspeed has like… 9 member. They sounded incredible.

09.) Sleepy Sun/Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound @ The Larimer Lounge
Webmaster J cajoled me into going to the Larimer Lounge on this Thursday night. I’m glad he was so persuasive.

10.) Wolf Eyes/Cougar Legs/Spellcaster @ The Hi Dive
On an unseasonably cold summer night with friends, a pack of Camel Lights, and A coke bottle full of Kentucky deluxe, Wolf Eyes, and local noise practitioners Cougar Legs and Spellcaster... the night couldn’t have been more perfect.