The final installment in our annual Auld Lang Syne features reflections from a number of the artists we cover most regularly on Jambands.com and in the pages of Relix Magazine—from Warren Haynes and Bill Kreutzmann to Michael Kang and the members of the Disco Biscuits. Which guitarist is listening to a lot of dupstep? What Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member likes “good jambands” and who isn’t ready to talk about this past decade for another decade? Read on to find out and be sure to check out the previous installments of our Auld Lang Syne series to hear from the likes of Galactic, Kyle Hollingsworth, Keller Williams, Ivan Neville, the Antlers, Drive-By Truckers, Danny Barnes moe., Brett Dennen, Tea Leaf Green, Railroad Earth, Rouge Wave, Chris Frantz, Eric Krasno, Dodos, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and many more.
WARREN HAYNES
What will you remember most about 2009?
The ABB Beacon theater run was unforgettable. Playing with all the amazing guests was incredible but the actual music itself was beyond our expectations.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
The Definitive Otis Redding
Other albums: Levon Helm- Electric Dirt
Derek Trucks Band- Already Free
Them Crooked Vultures- Them Crooked Vultures
Avett Brothers- I And Love And You
Gov’t Mule- By A Thread
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
The 2nd night with Eric Clapton at the Beacon during the ABB run. He played great and the band with him was amazing. I was too busy to see any shows so I’ll list shows that I was part of: Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon-2nd night with Eric Clapton, the Dead at Rothbury, Gov’t Mule’s Halloween show at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
London Souls, Earl Greyhound
*****
ADAM DEITCH (LETTUCE, BREAK SCIENCE)
What will you remember most about 2009?
The loss of MJ and the birth of Break Science.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Hank Mobley “soul station” and Big L’s 1st record 3.Rothbury was insane…every artist there killed..
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Y’all betta watch out for GLK, DJ Alias, vex’d, Alex B, Flylo, flying skulls, and Break Science…
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
As far as the decade is concerned, Kanye, Jay-Z, the Dap Kings, Amy Wine, T Pain, and the emergence of dubstep music..
*****
CHRIS GANGI (CORNMEAL)
What will you remember most about 2009?
The inauguration of Barrack Obama.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Chris and Thomas- Land of Sea
MGMT- Oracular Spectacular
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Pete Seeger-Clearwater Festival celebrating his 90th birthday
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
The Devil Makes Three
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Radiohead
*****
PATRICK JORDAN (RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Phish walking onstage at Hampton for the first show back.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Phish – Joy
Ben Harper and Relentless7— White Lies for Dark Times
Grace Woodroofe—“unreleased”
Misfits— Walk Among Us
Belle and Sebastian— BBC Sessions
The Felice Brothers—Yonder is the Clock_
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Favorite show was the final night of Festival 8. The second set was the HOSE.
Favorite tour was Gogol Bordello in Brazil. It was the experience of a lifetime which I hope to recreate often.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Grace Woodroofe
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
While they put out my personal favorite record in their catalog in the mid 90s (_Being There_ Disc 1) and I can admit I didn’t really spend too much time with their last two studio albums I think that Wilco stands out as an important artist in the last decade. They’ve consistently made great music and put on even better shows throughout the decade. More importantly they’ve made wise business choices in all aspects of their business all the while taking chances and facing seemingly endless mountains to climb. It has been a bittersweet decade for sure for them but it’s made for some great art.
MICHAEL KANG (STRING CHEESE INCIDENT, PANJEA, CHRIS BERRY TRIO)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Building my house in Santa Cruz! Great surf in Kauai, Rothbury and a black president!
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Ojos De Brujo, Tipper
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
As a performer, SCI at Rothbury followed by Panjea with Giovanni Hidalgo and Sikiru at Schwagstock. As a spectator Phish Halloween was amazing all the way around. I am kicking myself for not making it to see U2 though!
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Hmmmmmm…CB-3, EOTO, SCI!!!
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Hard to answer that one as far as popular culture goes since I don’t listen to that as much, but for me it would be the emergence of electronic music being integrated into the Jamband culture. DJs like Bassnectar and the popularization of dubstep!
*****
CHRIS KEATING AND IRA WOLF TUTON (YEASAYER)
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Major Laser record
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Queen Tina the New Orleans Diva, there was this transvestite New Orleans bounce hip hop show, dude it was nice, it was so hype and crazy…
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Javelin
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Neptunes production, Timbaland, Kid A
*****
MATT BUTLER (EVERYONE ORCHESTRA, HOT BUTTERED RUM)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Being in a band and hitting the road (with Hot Buttered Rum) on a regular basis for the first time in 10 years. AND learning how to take care of our backyard chicken flock in between being gigs!
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Wilco: Wilco (The Album)
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Hot Buttered Rum and Everyone Orchestra Pacific Northwest Tour with Michael Kang.
At the Capital Theatre in Olympia, WA we had Alice Stuart sit in with us. Alice, who is definitely grandma age, traded solos with Kang and led us in a couple tunes and it was epic! I love when EO is able to bring different worlds together like this.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
In the jam scene: The Heavy Pets
In the indie scene: Blind Pilot
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Even though they came and went a couple of times…Phish
*****
ICE CREAM MAN
What will you remember most about 2009?
Being able to rock Road Trippin’ with Ice Cream Man. We had ZERO dollars the first half of the year then got PacSun on board as our main sponsor then Babelgum funded our video series. Don’t think we would have been able to make it around the country otherwise.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Early in the year it was Phoenix, lately it’s been a bunch of stuff. AA Bondy, Think About Life, The Antlers, Girls, Akron/Family, Islands. Rocking Minutemen now… great way to begin a day
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Dylan at Rothbury was a blast. Yeasayer at Bonnaroo (can’t wait for new album). The Very Best at Pitchfork. Times New Viking at Bitchpork party. Saw quite a few shows this year… gotta be some more in there
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Avi Buffalo should do really well (GO Long Beach!). Washed Out could appeal to the Panda Bear/Animal Collective crowd. Hoping Miracle Fortress put something else out.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
hmm… past decade? Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Wilco?!?
JON GUTWILLIG (THE DISCO BISCUITS)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Headlining Red Rocks and anchoring the “Field of Dreams” stage at Fuji Rock, Japan.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Anything Joker put out in 2009. He’s making really awesome dubstep. He had a lot of remixes in 2009, as well as official releases, so I guess he gets all of my top spots for the year.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
I played 100 concerts. Starkey at Camp Bisco (the namesake festival we founded and curate) was really cool. When Phish did the dedication at Hampton to Fishman’s dad and Marc (Brownstein, Disco Biscuits bassist) was sitting next to him that was pretty funny. Charlie P & M80 Dubstation (my dubstep project) jamming samples together in ATL was sickness! Benga on the world beat tip in Philly was ragin’.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Bonobo; Starkey; Borgore
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Jay-Z; Muse; Radiohead
Disco Biscuits keyboardist Aron Magner also offered the following reflection:
Electronic music has mostly in the past been about the party or setting the mood. As technology has improved there are many artists redefining the changing landscape of electronic genres.
There’s a new movement of young artists with equal parts musician, DJ, sound sculpture and producer that are re-shaping electronic music and how it is performed. I was blown away last week when I saw Alex B whack down the house for an official Disco Biscuits after party. This young lion has masterful control of his software that enable all of his original and banging tracks constant manipulation for live, almost improvised, computer performance.
Also out of Colorado is the young Derek Smith (aka Pretty Lights). Derek took the changing climate of the music industry and used it to his direct advantage. In a new era where music fans feel more entitled to receive their music without paying for it, Derek said ‘thats cool then…here it is’ and released Filling Up The City Skies for free on his website, instantly catapulting his career to a new level and gaining multitudes of fans around the country almost overnight. The music speaks for itself. Deep electronic grooves with attention grabbing glitch and ear candy all with a type of soul not normally conveyed in dance music.
Elliot Lipp frequently runs in this same circle and performs with Alex B in the project Lipp Service. His 2009 release, Peace Love Weed 3D almost feels retro-electro yet still pushed the boundaries of computer manipulation. His use of analog synth melodies lends a warm and engaging quality to his tunes. His songs evolve and have a story to tell from beginning to end.
Daedelus is more of an experimental musician frequently on bills with the artists above. He is unique as his main “instrument” is a rather insidious device know as a monome. He is one of the pioneers of the monome which is nothing more than a matrix grid of unlabeled small buttons. They are all exclusively user programmable through a very esoteric software enabling the end user to manipulate the parts of the tracks in a very unique way. He is the Clara Rockmore of this almost cryptic device.
And then there is Simon Posford, a revered producer and artist and pioneer in the electronic music world. He is also a very highly respected mentor of mine that I finally got to work with for the 5 tracks that he produced on our forthcoming album “Planet Anthem”. Simon has a special ability to take an organic sound, be it a vocal or an acoustic guitar and tweak it in such a loving way that it maintains its original feel that emanated from a human yet somehow still evolves into digital code. A delicate balance of real and surreal all masterfully placed over global beats with soundscapes that percolate your ears as if it they were brain candy all while providing for an incredible melodic and harmonic song structure. Check out one his projects, Shpongle, “Tales of the Inexpressible” and you’ll see what I mean.
*****
CHRIS COMBS (JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Touring North America with JFJO.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Charles Mingus— Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Charles Mingus— Live at Antibes
Department of Eagles— In Ear Park
Outkast— Various Albums
Steven Bernstein’s Mellinial Territory Orchestra— We Are MTO
Never Enough Hope— The Gift Economy
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Of Montreal—Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Two bands from Tulsa- Dead Sea Choir and Panda Resistance
*****
STEVE TEREBECKI (WHITE DENIM)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Living the same day over and over in different cities for about 100 days or so. Hard to forget.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Everything by: Cass McCombs, Abner Jay, Sneaky Feelings, Harvey Milk, R. Stevie Moore, R. Kelly
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
The tour we had in Europe was really exciting. Pulling into cities you’ve never heard of and people being there for your show is a pretty special feelin’. Stockholm was great because we got to meet and play with some great Stockholm musicians, that doesn’t happen enough on tour. But I can’t leave out the tour we had with the Sound Carriers and the recent tour we had with Brazos. It’s really nice getting to know some folks while you’re using the same parts of your brain everyday for 3 weeks or more.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
My Mind from Philadelphia, Brazos from Austin.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
For me Cass McCombs. For the world Beyonce.
*****
JOSHUA KNIGHT (MONTEREY INTERNATIONAL)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Obama taking office / signing my hero / MJ dying / getting engaged to my lovely Michelle
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Levon Helm— Electric Dirt
Michael Jackson— Number Ones
Assembly of Dust— Some Assembly Required
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Phish – 1st night of Hampton – great to see them back
BonTaj Roulet Summer Tour – Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal – couldn’t have had a better night of music
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Joe Pug
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
As much as I would like to say someone or something else… I am sure it will be Black Eyed Peas and/or Coldplay
BILL KREUTZMANN (GRATEFUL DEAD)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Playing with other musicians that I have not worked with before.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Roots music, African music, Jazz, the new bands i’m playing in.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
The Dead shows at Shoreline Amphitheater, with the fire dancers from” Sol Studios”.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
The Chirs Berry Band.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Phish, String Cheese Incident, the good jambands.
*****
ALBERTA CROSS
What will you remember most about 2009?
Finally having George W. out of the White House.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
The new Grizzly Bear and Dirty Projectors albums as well as the Verve classic A Storm In Heaven.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Best show all year was Neil Young in Hyde Park, London. It was part of the Hyde Park Calling Festival that we played along with Fleet Foxes and the Pretenders. Neil’s still got it. Truly inspiring.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
New Villager. They’re a duo that Austin (our drummer) and I used to play in a band with. They’re based in San Francisco and are creating an art installation that will interactively accompany their record. The music is very psychedelic while still containing well written pop songs at their core. Great stuff.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Radiohead
*****
STEVE ADAMS (ALO)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Obama taking office. Spending April in Hawaii making the next ALO record. The passing of the King of Pop. Lots of grambling with a great Bay Area music scene. Buying my first drum set!!
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Albums getting lots of play this year:
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
Dr. Dog – Fate
Hiss Golden Messenger – Country Hai East Cotton
Chris Velan – Solidago
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Phish – Hampton Coliseum – Hampton, VA 3/6-8
Dr. Dog – Brookdale Lodge – Boulder Creek, CA 10/5
Monsters of Folk – The Fox Theater – Oakland, CA 10/17
The Black Crowes – Fillmore – San Francisco, CA 12/6
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Dr. Dog, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, Big Light
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Not easy, but I’ll try:
Individuals: Phil Lesh, Jeff Tweedy, Jack White, Jack Johnson, Norah Jones, Jim James, Tim Bluhm
Bands: Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Galactic, STS9
*****
MATT BUSCH (BOB WEIR/RATDOG MANAGEMENT)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Being in the White House Oval Office with President Obama and the Grateful Dead. Surreal doesn’t even begin to describe it.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Common Rotation vs. The Dust Bowl Cavaliers
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Tough to top the Allman Brothers Band w/ Eric Clapton at the Beacon.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Furthur of course…
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
For me, the decade started and ended with Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising, and he was about as consistently strong as anyone over the last 10 years.
JAMES MCMURTRY
What will you remember most about 2009?
The brief resurgence of the hope that the US would join the rest of the so called free world and find a way to guarantee health care for all its citizens. it’s cheaper than war.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
I’m a Luddite. I don’t use iTunes. I still play CDs. Danny Barnes’ Pizza Box, though recently released, is my most frequently played CD of ’09.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
My favorite tour of the year was our first European run in January, during which we recorded “Live in Europe”. We had Ian McLagan playing keyboards and Jon Dee Graham opening, seven of us piled in a Sprinter van driven by the legendary German tour manager, Carsten Eckerman. no mercy, no prisoners, no survivors.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Bob Dylan. Charlie Sexton is back in the band.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
That Timberlake fellow, and Janet Jackson. Why weren’t we supposed to see a bare female breast on a broadcast sponsored by Cialis?
*****
MATT MORRIS
What will you remember most about 2009?
Opening for the Indigo Girls on my 30th birthday.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Regina Spektor / Far
Midlake / The Trials of Van Occupanther
Houses / All of their 2009 EP’s
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Houses’s “Fall EP” release party. The amazing Denver band, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, opened and blew me away!
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Houses (we-are-houses.com)
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Kanye West, for his hubris.
Regina Spektor, for her understated beauty.
Lady GaGa, for her postmodern genius.
*****
ELIOT KRIMSKY (GLASS GHOST)
What will you remember most about 2009?
I guess that for me, releasing the first Glass Ghost album will be the thing that I remember most. It’s been our first real year working on this band and we’ve had so many amazing experiences with it.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
DJ Screw- The Legend.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
We got to tour this year with White Rabbits which was totally awesome. They’re one of my favorite bands and they’re such an awesome bunch of guys. We also got to play with the Dirty Projectors which was really cool and with one of my very favorites, Deerhoof.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Here We Go Magic
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Susan Boyle… right? I don’t know. Or maybe people will remember all the huge changes that have happened in the way that people listen to music: the internet, blogs, etc.
*****
JESSE JARNOW (RELIX, JAMBANDS.COM, VILLAGE VOICE, WFMU)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Musically: semi-weekly trips to LaMonte Young’s Dream House. Otherwise: Barack Obama and the reality of reality.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
New Music:
Dirty Projectors, _Bitte Orca _
Greg Davis, _Midpoint _ (also Northern Songs, Greg with Chris Weisman, and Tape Walk by Chris Weisman)
Megafaun, _Gather Form _ and _Fly _
The Circulatory System, _Signal Morning _
Oneida, _Rated O _
Flaming Lips, _Embryonic _
Yo La Tengo, _Popular Songs _
Real Estate & Ducktails
various tapes/EPs/CD-Rs including Atlantic City Expressway
Animal Collective, _Fall Be Kind _ EP
Akron/Family, _Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free _
Reissues:
v/a – _Fire in My Bones: Raw, Rare and Other-Worldly African-American Gospel 1944-2007 _
v/a – _Cazumbi: African Sixties Garage v. 1 & 2 _
Hector Zazou and Bony Bekaye, _Noir Et Blanc _
Eno Moebius Roedelius, _After the Heat _
Neil Young, _From the Archives _
Sly & the Family Stone, The Woodstock Experience
Robert Wyatt, Radio Experiment Rome, February 1981
v/a – Where the Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets, 1965-1968
Som, _Persona _
Jerry Garcia Band, Bay Area 1978
OLD MUSIC, JUST DISCOVERED:
Grateful Dead, every known show from May through December
The Fugs, all ’60s albums
Roland Young, _Isophonic Boogie Woogie _
Departmentstore Santas, _At the Medieval Castle Nineteen 100-Year Lifetimes Since _
The Clean, _Anthology _
Yoshida Tatsuya, _A Million Years _
Jackson Browne, The Nina Demos
Karuna Khyal, _Alomoni 1985 _
v/a, _15 Early Tejano Classics _
Sachiko Kanenobu, Misora
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
All Tomorrow’s Parties at Kutsher’s Country Club in Monticello, NY. No commercial sponsorship, no backstage, no hassle, just great music and a psychedelically bizarre Borscht Belt resort. Though the gold-spangled belt I scored at the gift shop (and which kept my pants up all weekend) disintegrated during the Flaming Lips’ closing set, ATP was all wowza, no filler. Mostly, I will remember the 11-hour Oneida jam, drum sets getting passed over the crowd during the Boredoms’ set, the Jesus Lizard at full intensity, a rusty merry-go-round singing like a saw, and a signed poster of Lenny Schultz, the Bionic Chicken.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
The music of their friends and neighbors.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
All of them. Music listeners have, in the past 10 years, achieved the singularity. Or, if you prefer, Radiohead.
WAYNE KRANTZ
What will you remember most about 2009?
Musically? Probably making a studio/label record for the first time in years.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
I like the idea of iTunes, but not the sound of it. So it sits idle on my desktop. Somebody said higher resolutions are available, maybe I should try them.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
To play? Maybe some concerts we did in India in November. Great audiences. There was another great one in Terni, Italy. That was one of the best ever, for reasons beyond the musical.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
In my entire life, I don’t think I’ve ever been aware of an emerging band. Even as a kid, bands were either underground or overground.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
The ones that were promoted the most, unfortunately. But everybody has their own reference points, as always. Not coming soon on big screens everywhere. Fortunately.
*****
MATT COSTA
What will you remember most about 2009?
Spending my honeymoon with my wife in a chateau in France.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Os Mutantes and Vashti Bunyan
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Leonard Cohen
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
The Romany Rye
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Ask me in 20 years.
*****
JEFF MATTSON (DONNA JEAN GODCHAUX BAND, ZEN TRICKSTERS, DARK STAR ORCHESTRA)
What will you remember most about 2009?
The birth of the Donna Jean Godchaux Band. We’ve had so much fun and made a lot of great music too!
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Good Ol’ Grateful Dead in preparation for filling in on lead guitar with Dark Star Orchestra. Heard a lot of good music I haven’t listened to in a while. Other recent favorites include Electric Dirt by Levon Helm, Wilco (The Album), Jerry Garcia and Nicky Hopkins’ Let It Rock, Bob Dylan’s Together Through Life, and Iron and Wine Around the Well.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Leonard Cohen. Even for a long-time hard core Leonard Cohen fan, I was skeptical at first that his music would work in a sold-out Madison Square Garden. Boy was I wrong! A fantastic band, a respectful audience, and a completely entrancing performance by Leonard.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Keep your eyes open for the re-emergence of the David Nelson Band! They are better than ever!
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
For me, it would have to be Wilco.
MIKE PINTO BAND
What will you remember most about 2009?
That my band spent a lot of time in the van, which is a good thing!
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Dr. Dog – Fate
The Beatles – Mostly every album
Fat Freddy’s Drop – Based on a True Story
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
The Roxy in Hollywood for The B Foundation’s CD Release Party. We got an encore at The Roxy as the opening band, very special to me.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Fat Freddy’s Drop! New Zealand’s finest Dub/Reggae band
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Who cares about the past? I’m more concerned with who’s coming next…
G. LOVE
What will you remember most about 2009?
I guess I will remember 2009 as my best year but my worst year. Because in the midst of kind of a low year I wrote my best album ever.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
2009 was the year of Wu Tang Clan and old vinyl for me. Whenever I run- which is almost daily, I rock Wu Tang 36 Chambers or GZA Liquid Swords. Whenever I am home chilling and cooking, I listen to old records by Freddy King, Velvet Underground, Al Green, Otis Redding and King Tubby. The list goes on…
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
I really enjoyed supporting DMB at the Gorge for 3 nights. Dave’s voice was struggling but got better every night and the band was firing on all cylinders. It was heavy. I also liked an upstart band “The Movement” who opened for us a bunch. Also- Kid Rock, The Raconteurs and John Hammond were some amazing shows.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
New to me was Danny Barnes whose songs “cave man times” and “Side of the Road” were siiiick. Also The Movement who I mentioned earlier
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Hopefully G.love and Special Sauce! I also think Jack White has been really doing so many interesting and powerful projects. Slightly Stoopid has really risen up big time on the touring side. Jack Johnson has remained a steady presence. Hmmmm…. So much good music made I’ve seen and played thousands of shows and loved them all.
*****
SIMON ALLEN (THE NEW MASTERSOUNDS)
What will you remember most about 2009?
My son learning to read
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
J.A.C. by Tosca
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Phantom Limb at Sela Bar in Leeds last Sunday
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Phantom Limb, from Bristol, UK.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Rufus Wainwright
*****
WILBIRDS AND PEACEDRUMS
What will you remember most about 2009?
Mariam Wallentin: Learning how to drive a car. The special autum light in a small deserted beach town in Italy. Touring. Rowing a boat along the coast in the very north part of Sweden. Tokyo in Japan and the island Trena in Norway.
Andreas Wallentin: I also learned to drive a car – I never thought I would so it’s a big step. The importance of bass.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
M: A Maria Callas Anthology. Bach Cello Suites. Girls.
A: Mark Hollis Soloalbum, Fuck Buttons and John Coltrane.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
M: Our US in February together with Lykke Li was a good start of the year- sleeping in a nightliner, playing at The Fillmore in SF, and also to tour with some other girls was a nice change. And our show in September at Union Chapel in London- the acoustic there was so amazing.
A: German hippie festivals could be the best in the world – this year we played at Fusion and the all around experience there was breathtaking.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
M: Swedish Mapei and Little Dragon.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
M: Beyonce.
A: I wouldn´t say an artist but an area: Brooklyn.
ERIC LANESE (EKOOSTIK HOOKAH)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Spending three weeks in Eastern Europe and thinking, “Man would these folks love the music and music scene we have back home.”
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
All the Who albums I have loaded into the thing.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Clapton and Winwood. I had no idea Winwood would rock me like that.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Columbus’s Floorwalkers have been working very hard and it sounds like it.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
I’m sure it will be someone that I don’t know a thing about. Or maybe Miley Cyrus, who I also know nothing about.
JAMIE MCLEAN (JAMIE MCLEAN BAND, DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Watching Obama get sworn in. Jamming with Blues Traveler. Essentially living in a recording studio tracking 17 new songs with my band. Getting completely lost on a mountain bike ride and not really being all that interested in finding my way back. The ridiculous media circus that chooses to swarm around all the non sense.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Bon Iver For Emma
Tom Petty Full Moon Fever
Dr. Dog Fate
The Hold Steady
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Wilco in Asheville was polite and fun. Black Crowes with Luther was gritty and new. Mason Jennings on a beach in the Hamptons with cocktails and goodies was surreal. Watching Russo is always a treat.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Not emerging at all but I’m curious to hear Norah Jones’ dive into a more modern electric thing this year. Surprise Me Mr. Davis did just that a few months ago in Brooklyn. The Madison Square Gardners kick some rock and roll ass if you’re in NYC.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
How many records did Ryan Adams put out in the last 10 years? He’s had a pretty good run. Radiohead has to be near the top.
CHAD STOKES (STATE RADIO)
What will you remember most about 2009?
The inauguration, Gettin caught riding the rails in Brattleboro, Halloween shows in Northampton and Burlington, surfing in Maine during hurricane Fred, sleepin in our rental car in Australia after failing to find our hotel, relaxing in hobo hot springs in Saratoga Wyoming, another action packed thanksgiving with Sybil, the arrival of our dog Lefty courtesy of toothless Donny who ran out of gas next to the Navajo res in winslow Arizona.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Blind Pig – Ann Arbor Michigan
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Elephant Revival
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Jack White, Feist, Chan Marshall, Kings of Leon, Ray Lamontagne, Mastadon, lamb of god, system of a down,
*****
BRADFORD COX (DEERHUNTER, ATLAS SOUND)
What will you remember most about 2009?
The opportunities I’ve had as a musician. I will remember it as a busy and exciting time.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Privacy – Songs
Casino Versus Japan – New Demos
Lo Borges’ First Album
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Touring with Broadcast and having the Selmanaires as my band for Atlas Sound this fall. Also Deerhunter touring Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Kurt Vile
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Animal Collective
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LOTUS
What will you remember most about 2009?
Jesse Miller: The great recession.
Luke Miller: Obama’s Inauguration and the incredible since of hope that swept the
nation.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
JM: These appeared often on my record player – Dirty Projectors – _Bitte
Orca_, Animal Collective – Merriweather Post-Pavilion, Rolling Stones –
Emotional Rescue, Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship.
LM: Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
JM: Of our own shows Fillmore Denver 10/17/2009. Of our festival appearances, definitely Rothbury. I didn’t see a huge amount of shows by other artists this year but Dirty Projectors in Philly and Broken Social Scene at Rothbury were both great.
LM: Attending – Dirty Projectors – First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, PA. This was one of the most unique vocal performances I’ve ever seen.
Performing – Metamorphose Festival – Shizuoka, Japan 8,000 Japanese electronic fans rocking out to Lotus on the side of a mountain from 4 in the morning until sunrise. Unreal.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
JM: I’ve been preaching the merits of the Beach House album Devotion and I think they are going to take a big leap when they put out their new album on Sub Pop early next year.
LM: & One – coming out of the burgeoning Denver electronic scene. Blunted beats and big bass.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
JM: Radiohead, Animal Collective, Wilco, Flaming Lips
LM: It was the decade where “Indie” took over. Major labels weren’t needed any more. Radiohead released Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief, and then turned the record selling business on its head with In Rainbows.
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BRADY RYMER (FROM GOOD HOMES)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Personally, it’s gonna have to be being part of the Grammy Awards last February. My children’s CD Here Comes Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could was up for best Children’s Musical Recording, so I traveled to LA with my band for Grammy weekend. The music, the parties, the lifetime achievement awards, playing a show at the Grammy Museum & then the awards themselves – it was a trip of a lifetime, and something I’d wanted to be a part of since I can remember. It was a thrill and an honor to be a part of it all.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Levon Helm’s Electric Dirt —Larry Campbell did a brilliant job producing
Bruce Springsteen’s Working on a Dream
Bob Dylan’s Live Through This
Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone
M. Ward- Post-War
This year I also spent time revisiting & rediscovering the work of Allen Toussaint – Bright Mississippi is one highlight among many. There are wonderful versions of his tunes covered by others as well; “I’ll Take a Melody” by Garcia is one of my all-time favorites.
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GREG MCLOUGHLIN (BUZZUNIVERSE)
What will you remember most about 2009?
My second child being born around midnight, two weeks early, the night before being obligated to perform at two festivals in one day in remote regions. Slept for three hours in the hospital, sax player picked me up at 6 AM, played in Massachussetts at 1 PM, then Western Upstate NY at Midnight, and straight back home…. having pictures sent to my blackberry and exchanging texts with my wife all day and night…. tearful, joyous & inspired all at the same time… dying to get home, but in a surreal state of happiness…. the midnight show at Sterling Stage was my favorite BuzzUniverse set of the year…
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
The Black Crowes – Before the Frost (its about time the Crowes restored themselves to their past glory on record)
Christian McBride – Kind of Brown (this record swings SO hard)
Grand Funk Railroad – Grand Funk (raw 1970s power trio that never gets old)
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
I very rarely get out aside from our own shows, but my wife and I got a babysitter for Galactic at the Brooklyn Bowl, and that was mind blowing.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus of Dreams – A hard working, completely independent band that has released several great albums under the radar, and toured extensively…. I discovered them at Green Apple a few years back and I feel like something great is right around the corner for them…..
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
I think Wilco is at the top there. They’ve proved year in and year out that at the end of the day, great songs win.
