The Vox Acerbus Best Music of 2009

I’ve waited all year for this (as evidenced by the 357 days in between posts), and so have you! And today, your patience is handsomely rewarded, for today is the day I release the Vox Acerbus list of the Best Songs of 2009.

This list was a year in the making – so you know it’s good.

Because this is the 6th installment, I will spare the details of the arduous selection process, but here is the abridged version of the rules.

-- All songs are in my collection and were acquired throughout the year in the “normal course of business”. It’s not a year end Google search as many lists tend to be – it’s a year-end search of my iPod.

-- Each song has to have a lyric that catches my attention and holds some measure of intellectual sustenance, although last year I broke that rule and included an instrumental track. What’s the point of editorial discretion if I don’t use it? Just as Orson Welles declared that Paul Masson would serve no wine before its time, I will honor no song with moronic lyrics.

--Music from any genre can be included. This year’s compilation is much more diverse than the last few collections, which were dominated (for lack of a better word) by the singer-songwriter faction. There are some happy pop tracks in here, but don’t get too excited – there’s plenty of pain and suffering to go around. This year also features the first ever remix to be included.

--The first 4 versions were compiled in chronological order by date of release. Last year’s was randomly selected by iTunes. This year, much to the chagrin of Dick at Championship Vinyl, the list is iTunes-style alphabetical by artist. (If you have to ask, then you’ve never seen one of the best movies ever.) Maybe next year, I’ll go for “autobiographical” . . .

--The “one compact disc’ rule has been eliminated – because it was stupid.

Ready? Begin.

1. “Foot of the Mountain” by a-ha, from the album Foot of the Mountain

“Silence always wins, it’s the perfect alibi”

Contrary to the belief that we can’t escape our fate, much of what goes wrong in our lives is by our own doing. Learn from the past and leave it there.

2. “I Quit” by Bear Lake, from the album Places on the Side

“I didn’t even make a sound, letting it out and screaming”

Despite a subtle key change near the end, the song’s conflict remains unresolved – just the way I like it.

3. “5000 Days” by Chantal Kreviazuk, from the album Plain Jane

“My hope, this isn’t temporary”

Most love songs are about the hope and promise surrounding the prospects or beginnings of a relationship. This one is about a relationship almost 14 years old and is so powerful that she hopes it continues beyond this mortal coil. Simple lyrics, a simple arrangement, and beyond complicated.

4. “Belle of the Boulevard (Acoustic)” by Dashboard Confessional, from the album Alter the Ending

“Just this once, just for now”

Seeking solace in a manner and place it will never be found. This acoustic version lends a better background for the story.

5. “Nemesis” by David Gray, from the album Draw the Line

“I am a creeping and intangible sense of loss”

Nemesis was the Greek goddess of retribution and vengeance. If you can’t be with the one you love, then torment their memories in a song with a French horn solo. What could be more beautiful than that?

6. “Wrong (Trentemoller Remix Edit)” by Depeche Mode, from the album Sounds of the Universe

“There’s something wrong with me, chemically, something wrong with me, inherently”

Every emotionally cataclysmic event has a path that leads up to it. It’s only when the path ends that we look back and see what led us there – an unpleasant realization of the consequences of our actions. Basically, it’s entirely your fault.

7. “Papillon” by Editors, from the album In This Light and on This Evening

“You’re born, get old, and die here”

“Papillon” is the French word for butterfly, and while the song alludes to making an escape (as a butterfly from a cocoon), the reality is that most people accept their lot in life and few people ever do anything to change their circumstances.

8. “Right Next to You” by Elizabeth & The Catapult, from the album Taller Children

“Tears me up to think of all we’re losing”

There is really nothing remarkable about this song, but the instrumentation is unique and the chords are very atypical both in time and tone. It’s a fresh take on an ancient song topic.

9. “Not Sure” by Fiction Family, from the album Fiction Family

“Such a beautiful view with a long way to fall”

Fiction Family is a collaboration between Sean Watkins of the now defunct Nickel Creek and Jon Foreman of Switchfoot. While the record as a whole was an interesting marriage of rock, pop, and folk styles, this song would have been right at home on a Nickel Creek or Watkins solo album, both of whom have been included on past volumes of Vox Acerbus compilations.

10. “Airstream Driver” by Gomez, from the album A New Tide

“Oversleep the rapture”

I don’t even care that all Gomez did was lift this song from 90’s rockers Red Red Meat, eliminate 2/3 of the lyrics and rearrange the rest, and then step up the tempo while retrofitting it into their own musical style. This song has a delectable groove.

11. “Alone” by Holly Williams, from the album Here With Me

“These walls that surround me, they’re strong and they’re tall”

This song debates the merits of barriers, both physical and emotional. Which is greater – the risk or the reward? This arrangement differs from most singer-songwriter songs in that it’s driven by piano instead of a guitar, and the string section is accompanied by pedal steel. Nice.

12. “First Train Home” by Imogen Heap, from the album Ellipse

“Temporal dead zone, where clocks are barely breathing”

This is an anti-love song about that defining moment in a relationship where you realize that enough is enough and you just want out. In this case, the “first train home” means “the first train away from you”. Unfortunately, that train is always way too late.

13. “Heartbreak Warfare” by John Mayer, from the album Battle Studies

“Red wine and Ambien, you’re talking shit again”

Love and war are one and the same. Enough said.

14. “If I Didn’t Know Any Better” by Mindy Smith, from the album Stupid Love

“And I know this is just a beautiful illusion”

This song first appeared on the Lonely Runs Both Ways album by Alison Krauss back in 2004, but it was written by Smith. This version evokes more pain and sadness, which always wins out here at Vox Acerbus.

15. “Back to Manhattan” by Norah Jones, from the album The Fall

“I know nothing about leaving, but I know what I should do it today”

Should you stay or should you go? I’m not sure I’d want the Brooklyn Bridge as my life metaphor.

16. “Tidal Wave” by Owl City, from the album Ocean Eyes

“Depression, please cut to the chase and cut a long story short”

Ocean Eyes is a very happy and upbeat album. This song is the last one on the track list, and after 40 or so minutes of fun and sunshine, this lyric jumped out like it was shouted through a bullhorn. Imagine getting punched in the face at a birthday party – it’s like that.

17. “King of Rome” by Pet Shop Boys, from the album Yes

“Last night I lost all day”

Pet Shop Boys are renowned for the incorporation of history into their songs of love and loss. Napoleon’s son was dubbed King of Rome as a courtesy title upon his birth, and his sad and short (21 years) life was the textbook example of loneliness and despair amidst a life of privilege and wealth.

18. “From the Sky” by Peter Bradley Adams, from the album Traces

“In the silence you start to lose your hope . . . you dream of letting go”

This song is about coming to peaceful terms with the end of your life, and the promise of what one believes may be on the other side. Adams writes stunningly beautiful music, and this is one of his best.

19. “Today I Feel Sure” by Pilot Speed, from the album Wooden Bones

“. . . they are alone, would trade the kingdom for the throne”

This song masterfully stays a step or two below becoming an all out anthem by maintaining a sense of uncertainty and trepidation.

20. “In These Arms” by The Swell Season, from the album Strict Joy

“Use the truth as a weapon”

Life is circular. It’s not so much evolution as it is revolution. This song builds slowly and ends rather abruptly at its apex.



21. “When One Became Two” by The Verve Pipe, from the album A Family Album

“ . . . what was to be was much bigger than three”

After an eight year hiatus, the Verve Pipe returned with this record of family-oriented, children’s sing-a-long type pop songs. This song, in addition to a very catchy melody, features the bassoon. How can you NOT include a Verve Pipe song that features the bassoon?

I'm out-

KWass

The Vox Acerbus Best Music of 2008

I don't post often, but when I do, I come bearing gifts. After much listening, soul searching, and sleepless nights, the Vox Acerbus Best Music of 2008 is finally finished.

First, a quick rehash of the rules for the new readers.

All of the music below is in my collection. I don't Google it and crank out some half-ass amalgamation of somebody else's favorites. You get inside *my* head - that alone is worth the price of admission.

Lyrics are key, except of course in the case of an instrumental track that made the cut for 2008 - a Vox Acerbus first. (OK, not technically an instrumental, but the voice is offering melodic support rather than words, per se.) The music can be great, but if the lyrics are stupid, I can't in good conscience pass it along to you. Each song below has a lyric that for some unexplained reason caught my ear and made it worthy of consideration.

I don't release the list until I'm certain of it. And this year, it took over a month to get it right. I lost track of how many times I changed it, and I would wager that a over 1/3 of the list was not included in the original version.

And finally, after I make the picks, I write a few liner notes to tell you *why* the song was included. Part of that is because I think it's as important as the music, but most if it is because I am a huge dork and I live under the illusion that you care what I think.

Also, new for 2008 - the order of the songs. Since 2003, I have presented the list in chronological order from earliest release to latest. This year, I let iTunes do it. I shuffled the playlist, and this is the result. Done.

And so, without further interruption, I present the Vox Acerbus Best of 2008.

1. "Sanvean" by Sarah Brightman, from Symphony

The first "instrumental" ever included on a Vox Acerbus best of collection, Brightman's version of Lisa Gerrard's (formerly of Dead Can Dance) "Sanvean (I Am Your Shadow)" replaces Gerard's lower vocal registers with soaring purity. It feels like a long descent.

2. "And Then We Fell" by Brian Vander Ark, from Brian Vander Ark

"and all the while gravity is pulling us straight into Hell"

"And Then We Fell" was tested in front of audiences as the show opener starting in early 2007, and you can hear the progression from some of the bootleg versions that are out there. Brian Vander Ark is one of the most prolific songwriters of our time. His songs go beyond the formulaic offerings of today's pop music; they tell a story. He's a modern day troubadour, the kind who went the way of the typewriter and the door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman, who continues to earn the praise and admiration of his fans one song at a time.

3. "Los Angeles" by Peter Bradley Adams, from Leavetaking

"And you held us in your city lights when our eyes had lost the stars"

Adams is 1/2 of the former folk-pop duo eastmountainsouth, who disbanded after just one terrific self-titled album in 2003. This is his second solo effort, and while Leavetaking is a stellar album, it's the absolutely stunning song here that will stop you cold. For lack of a more colorful description, this song is gorgeous.

4. "Coney Island" by Good Old War, from Only Way to Be Alone

"Reminisce why I still hate it here"

I think Good Old War is what Nickel Creek would have sounded like if they recorded in the 1960's. This is a rare Vox Acerbus pick - a song with a driving tempo - but it is still sad and forlorn. Who says melancholy can't be conveyed with a tasty groove?

5. "The One I Love" by Greg Laswell, from Three Flights From Alto Nido

"I'll bring your words along with me, maybe one day they will mean something"

A time honored tale of the grass always being greener on the other side. Sometimes people act in a manner where there is no logical explanation for doing so, and we've all done it. Laswell brings a unique piano presence to a guitar dominated genre.

6. "Sarah" by Ray LaMontagne, from Gossip in the Grain

"Eyes closed tight, throwing punch after punch at the world"

LaMontagne's third album is less restrained and more adventurous than his previous work, which really says something, because he remains as distant and stoic as ever. People knock him for being so tormented and brooding, but what they don't realize that's where the brilliance comes from. Let the man be miserable, because it works. He already cut the set list short this past October in Detroit (I know because I have it) - you want him to stop touring and making records altogether? Shut up already.

7. "Coming In Too Low" by Steve Reynolds, from The Carnival Papers

"who is the person I have become?"

Reynolds is a Canadian artist who brings a modern touch to the normal "trials and tribulations of life" stuff of folk music. This song starts in a low drone and is driven by the low toms instead of the snare drum before building into a heavily layered and epic ending.

8. "A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife" by Stars, from Sad Robots EP

"close your eyes until tomorrow, it could bring joy it could bring sorrow, but it will come sure as light"

The Canadian duo returns with a song about "the next day", a lesson that no matter what course of action we choose (like the 3 sample verses here: continuing a loveless relationship, comtemplating suicide, and drinking to forget), the sun will come up tomorrow. The tone ranges between hope and hopelessness and is layered like an onion with synth waves and distortion.

9. "Crack The Shutter" by Snow Patrol, from A Hundred Million Suns

"It's been minutes, it's been days, it's been all I will remember"

This is really nothing more than a simple love song. A lot of people are calling it this album's version of "Chasing Cars", but that's an oversimplification. This song more than stands on its own merits. Slick pop production, yes, but worthy all the same.

10. "Maybe Be Alright" by William Fitzsimmons, from The Sparrow and the Crow

"I was just a stupid kid"

The beard alone gets this guy in. His songs are full of pain and regret, which we love here at Vox Acerbus. Truth is, anyone of the songs on this album could have made this collection, so it should be no surprise that two of them did.

11. "The World is Outside" by Hem

". . . all the ways to feel the world forgot you . . ."

No cover art for this one. This was released via Hem's website last spring, and is likely just a skeleton demo of a song that might appear on the next record sometime in 2009. That's how unbelievably talented this band is.

12. "Alicia Ross" by Kathleen Edwards, from Asking for Flowers

"Was your darkest day as dark as this one?"

I am a huge fan of Edwards, ever since I heard "Sweet Little Duck" from the Failer album back in 2003. I love the story offered between the opening lyric ("I am a girl with a forgettable face) and the closing line ("Now I'm a girl who's face they'll never forget"), but the subject material is the saddest imaginable. It's a paradox that a song about a young girl's murder could sound so beautiful.

13. "Beautiful Lie" by Yoav, from Charmed & Strange

"Fade away like frozen photographs"

It's unbelievable that every sound in this song was made by a single acoustic guitar. Sure, it's overdubbed and looped, but it's still pretty damn impressive. We need to embrace world music artists like him.

14. "Washington Square" by Counting Crows, from Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings

"And time is a number that rests on a wall"

Admittedly, before this record, I was not a big Counting Crows fan, but there is something so sparse and desolate within this pretty song, I had to include it. As you know, paradoxes rule at Vox Acerbus.

15. "Ships" by Tyler Ramsey, from A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea

"Cause by now I've seen too many of us seamlessly upon the sea, whose sails are clinging desperately to ships that once were worthy."

This entire album is amazing, but the lyric above is the reason I picked this song from the rest - those words are powerful stuff.

16. "Your New Twin-Sized Bed" by Death Cab for Cutie, from Narrow Stairs

"It's like you're in some kind of hurry to say goodbye"

This was a difficult choice, because this album had so many standouts, but in the end, the contant synth drone that starts in the second verse and continues throughout the rest of the song was the deciding factor because it adds such a sonic stability and depth to an otherwise light track.

17. "Lullaby" by Priscilla Ahn, from A Good Day

"This old library has thirty books and one dictionary"

This is a song about a desire to leave a small town behind for bigger and better things. My favorite feature of this song is the raw texture of the string arrangement. Ahn also sang with William Fitzsimmons on a couple of tracks on his The Sparrow & The Crow album, from which 2 songs made this year's list.

18. "If You Would Come Back Home" by William Fitzsimmons, from The Sparrow & The Crow

"Call the surgeon . . . mend the pieces"

Another song of heartache and despair. I feel bad for the guy that he had to go through whatever it was that brought so much pain, but the songs are so stunning and brilliant, I'm glad he did. Sorry, William - that sucks, man.

19. "Gossip in the Grain" by Ray LaMontagne, from Gossip in the Grain

"The beggar that holds is tongue . . . dines on none but air alone"

This song has a ethereal element much like his songs "Be Here Now" and "Empty" from the Till the Sun Turns Black album of 2006. His sorrowful voice and the haunting intro of flute and glockenspiel make for a powerful combination.

I'm out-
KWass

Cubicle Tunes - Week of June 17, 2008

Music is constant, even if my writing isn't, and though I wasn't able to blog over the last few weeks, I was able to listen, and as always, you - the reader - are the beneficiary.

Big news! The bitchin' Saturn ION 3 is now reloaded with XM Radio. I told myself back in May of 2007 that I couldn't justify the expense. Then I told myself that I was a complete tool, and things got pretty heated until my sensible self just up and bitch slapped my frugal self with a stinging backhand. You should have seen it. It was textbook technique, employing the obliques and turning with my torso to generate power, and the next thing I know, I was telling myself "I got knocked the #@&* out!".

So, allow me to pontificate with these:

1. Viva la Vida – Coldplay (2008)

Teaming up with Brian Eno, Coldplay is back with their fourth album, and I think it’s just swell. “Life in Technicolor” is a great opener – I like the idea of starting a record with an instrumental track. Other favorites include “Viva la Vida”, which generated substantial anticipation through the iTunes teaser spots, and the album’s closer, “Death and All His Friends”.

On a related note, I still hate the song “Yellow” from the Parachutes album. I can’t fathom how such a crappy song could come from an otherwise pretty cool band. I mean, every band has a few misses in their discography, but rarely are they so far off the pace.

2. Narrow Stairs – Death Cab for Cutie (2008)

This album is tremendous. The opener, “Bixby Canyon Bridge”, starts calmly and builds pressure and explodes into noise and chaos before settling back into serenity. “I Will Possess Your Heart” is a sublimely creepy account of a distant infatuation turned obsession: “you reject my advances and desperate pleas; I won’t let you let me down so easily”. Damn – call the cops!

“Pity and Fear” must be listened to at ridiculous decibel levels. The distortion stops so abruptly that I went back and checked iTunes to make sure I had the whole song.

And finally, “Your New Twin Sized Bed” is my new Death Cab favorite, and is the first song to be guaranteed a spot on the Vox Acerbus Best of 2008.

3. The Seldom Seen Kid – Elbow (2008)

The return of XM makes an immediate impact with the discovery of this band. I was scanning stations and chanced upon XM 45 as they were playing the magnificent track “One Day Like This”, punctuated by a blend of sweeping and staccato string arrangements. Other favorites include “Mirrorball” and “Grounds for Divorce”, where the album title is taken from the lyric “Mondays are for drinking to the seldom seen kid”. They also have one of the coolest websites out there. Check it out here and make sure your volume is up at the intro screen – you can play piano by scrolling over the different letters! Their extensive discography will certainly warrant further listening.

4. Gavin DeGraw – Gavin DeGraw (2008)

I was hooked on Gavin DeGraw the night I saw him open for Barenaked Ladies back in 2004. I had no idea who he was before then, but he put on one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen. The single “In Love with a Girl” picks up right where the material from Chariot left off. Other favorites include “Next to Me (Wait A Minute Sister”, “Untamed”, “We Belong Together” and “Cheated on Me” (I love a song that I can relate to on such a personal level).

So what if it took him 5 years to release another album? I love it, even if he does look like a dead ringer for Mike Damone from Fast Times at Ridgemont High on the album cover.


5. Gattaca – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1997)

Michael Nyman’s score is gorgeous. This is a film where the score holds critical importance; the surrealism and depth of the movie could not have been attained without this music behind it. Try this one on your iPod some time when you retire for the evening – a dark room with no distractions would take this up a notch, methinks.

I’m out-
KWass

Cubicle Tunes - Week of May 6, 2008

You thought you had heard the last of my incessant musical ramblings, yes?

To be honest, I thought I might have written the last of said musical ramblings. Lots of bitter happenings in the world of Vox Acerbus lately - a real estate deal gone sour, work travel for 3 of the last 5 weeks, and another real estate deal to replace the aforementioned sour one. Rodney Dangerfield said it best in Ladybugs:

"Two-story house. Yeah - before you buy it they give you one story, after you move in you get another story."

But I digress.

Through it all, I've managed to stay abreast of some very cool new stuff, as well as finally getting around to giving some earlier procured tunes their due credence. A few thousand miles in a van affords you that kind of opportunity.

1. You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into - Does It Offend You, Yeah? (2008)

This album goes against EVERYTHING that I like, and yet I can't stop listening. Electro-punk, funk-rock - whatever you want to call it - it ain't the soothing acoustic melancholy I usually immerse myself in. My favorites are "Battle Royale" and "Being Bad Feels Pretty Good", which would be quite at home on The Killers' Hot Fuss album. A paradox of the aural variety.

2. Who You Are - Cary Brothers (2007)

I was initially drawn into this record for the worthy cover of The Thompson Twins' classic "If You Were Here", but the dark and lonely miles of the western Michigan Upper Peninsula revealed the greatness of the rest of the album. "Ride" is simply stunning, and "Precious Lie" is epic sadness. And "The Glass Parade" features just the type of lyric that Vox Acerbus appreciates: "Just a voice inside your head, whispering that all the hope is dead, all the time you had to prove that no one really loves you". That, boys and girls, is why we listen to the words.

3. The Slip – Nine Inch Nails (2008)

The Slip is the second full length album released through the Nine Inch Nails website, and as a thank you to his loyal fans for years of support, Trent Reznor is offering it free of charge. Just click here, fill out the information, and you’ll get an e-mail with a link to the download site, where the files are available in many digital formats. You can also register and become eligible for presale tickets for the upcoming North American tour.

The album continues the raw machine-gun energy of 2007’s Year Zero, but for those (like myself) who revel in NIN’s darkened soundscapes, “Corona Radiata” and “The Four of Us are Dying” fit the bill.

4. Transatlanticism – Death Cab for Cutie (2005)

In anticipation of next week’s release of Narrow Stairs, I thought it prudent to revisit my favorite Death Cab album to date. Favorites include “Title & Registration” and its clever opening verse (“the glove compartment is inaccurately named, and everybody knows it, so I’m proposing a swift orderly change, because behind its door, there’s nothing to keep my fingers warm”) and the epic title track, which is one of those songs meant to be listened to at full volume. The record also contains one of my favorite songs of love desolation, “Tiny Vessels”, where Ben Gibbard sings “It was vile, and it was cheap, and you are beautiful, but you don’t mean a thing to me.”

5. Nonsuch – XTC (1992)

I am among the very few who wonder why people laud Skylarking so much more, because to me, Nonsuch is a better album. In fact, I would also rank Apple Venus Vol. 1 ahead of Skylarking as well. Blasphemy? Not to me, and it’s my blog. There it is.

XTC are some of the best lyricists ever. “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead” is probably the most recognizable track, but the real gems here are “My Bird Performs” (“the cage is open but she has no desire to fly”), “The Disappointed” (“seems your ring upon my finger signifies that I’ve become the spokesman of . . . the disappointed”), and “Then She Appeared” (“and the moon which formally shone on the marbled midnight mile suddenly just packed its bags, now shines from her bright smile”).

It’s good to be home.

I’m out-
KWass