Top Ten Local Albums, 2009

A Word in Advance:
This list is by no means all inclusive. The idea started out as all inclusive... but the idea also started on December 26th, 2009. Nick mentioned we should do a post, I heartily agreed. Best Local Albums of 2009.

We wanted to consider more albums, but we just didn't have the resources, time or inclination. We're new at this "reviewing" stuff and didn't realize the amount of work that goes into making a complete and accurate, unbiased view of the year. I rushed down to Bull Moose and found several albums we wanted to look at out of stock. Plus, listening to some 20 albums in three days isn't ideal for the task at hand.

Frankly, the task is too ridiculously huge for the two of us to undertake in the two weeks we gave ourselves. Next year's list will be more comprehensive, we promise.

So the list for top local albums of 2009 is actually more of "the albums we heard that we thought were totally amazing."

And another thing, Nick and I are both horribly infected with a love of the organic, acoustic sound. At least, right now we are. Luckily, it seems a lot of Portland is, too. Our list definitely is biased toward (though not entirely given over to) that sound.

So, to get to the list.

At #10 on our list, Spose shows how rap has a unique ability to feed the self. Spose raps about life in Maine, working class Wells, lower class life. He revels in it, and what's more, he makes it fun. The rhyme's are smooth and his voice keeps a mellifluous cadence as he alternately boasts and self-deprecates. His voice sounds like most of your traditional "white-boy rappers," which makes sense as Spose is one of the Beastie Boys at Clash of The Titans. He talks about dealing... pot. The production on the album is smooth. It's not on the avant garde, the beats aren't cutting. They sound... I don't know how to say it... they sound kinda like beats from the turn of the century. It's a tight album that provides the same escape from drudgery as the "it" in "We smoke it all."

We all know he plays classic country chords and drones in a Johnny Cash baritone. But what this album is is the birth of an exciting new moment. The lo-fi technique previews the punk energy of his live show. It's a DIY, must-be-done, get-it-out now statement that holds true with the image of a man and his guitar just playing because he's got to. And then he takes the stage with a full band and the country ballads pick up and energize and blend in with a raucous, electrified band. The album is a placeholder for an act that is going to grow more and more in Portland this year. I'm predicting big things for Jesse this year, and this album is just the start.

S&SSM's album is as deliciously pop sweet as the title of the album might suggest. Playing, frolicking, really, in the playful McCartney song structures, the songs often dwell on the melancholy and trick you into having a good time along with them. The attitude is delightful; shit might suck, but so what? It's joyous, raucous. Blasting it out of your car at high speeds on Maine summer highways is entirely recommended. Also, sing along. The cultish-pop-orchestrations are even more fun live, when a whole crowd is positively hopping up and down and you can feel the energy of the band standing right in front of you.

Jacob's debut album is as big as he is. Powerful, moving, epic. He sings personal songs in his dulcet tenor and strums metal rhythms on folk chords. Belts out tales of God and love and loss. Showcases staggering empathy. It's a beautiful work, with odes to old friends, suffering souls and love and love lost. Tender connections, proud defiance. The album is thematically and musically very richly textured. A deeply personal statement from one of Portland's too-hidden talents.

An expansive and complex album, Worried Love plays in all the areas Fire on Fire can't explore... and some it can. Sutherland's guitar and song-writing are in top form. Flamenco, folk, Americana. Singing in Spanish, aided by broad instrumentation and an exhaustive and amazing guest list, the album is a beautiful personal statement. It's Sutherland's album, and he's gonna do what he wants. And it just so happens that what he wants to do is make a superlative album.

Sam's latest recording shows growth in many directions. His guitarmanship is, fittingly, I suppose, his top game. There were last minute changes to many of his songs as he released many of the structures and patterns in them were the same when he finally sat down to record them. The result is that the album blossoms in a beautiful way. The songs deal with issues that Sam wears on his sleeve - love, race, friendship, disenfranchisement and the wild caricatures only blues music foments - but few are directly about him. It's personal and distant at once. A pleasant complexity. The recording itself is some of the finest yet, clear and sharp. Although it stands in contrast with the grittiness of his live show. Also, multi-tracking? Sam on a piano? Yes, please.

Casual monsters of Maine music Fire on Fire seem to effortlessly dazzle with everything they touch. Their organic, hooky largely-acoustic music is mesmerizing and always gripping. The Orchard trends toward the dreamy while their five song EP seems to be a little more alert. The Orchard is not quite narcotic, though, no music junk for the jonesing listener. There is more quality than mere addiction, here. That is not to say it doesn't develop dependency, there is something that leads to a craving but I don't think its unhealthy. In fact, there's a community fostering love here that bleeds off the tracks. Each song has a sense of crowded completeness that lends toward some feelings of fraternity... although I'm not exactly sure why.

dilly dilly is beautiful. Her album, released for free (or however much you want to donate, a al "in rainbows") on her website, is a sweet testament to not only the fleshy, DIY collective that comprises much of the Portland scene, but the (ideally) viral network it is plugged into. The album is not strictly organic, as there is evidence of many effects, loopings, dubs, etc. all through the album. But the way they are used comes together in such a way that each element seems an organ in the whole of the body. It is a complete and utter testament to heart and soul. A thoughtful, complex and layered album that resonates profoundly.

It's lovely.

And it gave birth to this beautiful beast... which we here at D&P studios may have a particular affection for.

It's back to Texas for Wes as he kicks off a tour that takes him all over the south. And his music has taken a turn for the country. It is fitting that to listen to his new album, I had to first remove Townes Van Zandt from my CD player. Although I feel that when Wes' music takes the down turn, there's something a little more sardonic to it than ol' Mr. Zandt ever got up to. WAH&TTT is both modern and anachronistic. It's a look at vice and value and self that can only happen right now, but it uses a fairly classic American format to do it. The recording is superb, and Ron Harrity deserves showering praise for his work in getting it all down in just one day.

I have a hard time explaining just how much I love this album. It hits me as a whole every time, and I find it difficult to pick out which parts it is that's grabbing me. Because the whole thing is grabbing me. When you're hit by a truck, you don't stop to think about what part's doing the damage at the current second, you're too caught up in the experience of being hit by a truck. Devil Dancing is like that for me, except it's a truck of awesome bliss. And it doesn't break your spine and crush your pancreas, it makes your ears tingle and your lips grin.

All right, so you might notice one thing, one feature, when you're getting hit. Maybe the headlights stick out. So I'm just going to say it was the bass, all the bass on Devil Dancing. I mean, of course there's so much more... but it's hard to think about when you're washed over in a sea of bliss.