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Welcome to the Editor’s Open Thread (E.O.T.)! This Open Thread is designed for feedback from YOU a.k.a. the reader. We’ll pose a question and then we’ll post views/opinions from our editors/contributors for you to read, dissect and agree/disagree with by commenting on the story. The idea is to create some interesting musical dialogue.
First up we ask, What was the best album from June 2009? Now, the editor/contributor picks for best album from June 2009…
Artist: Cheap Trick
Album: The Latest
Release Date: June 23, 2009
Label: Self-Released
Cheap Trick’s The Latest is my favorite June release, edging out the new Dinosaur Jr. Both are throw-backs and both bands lean heavily on their strengths, but I’m more impressed with Cheap Trick merely for the fact that these guys have been around for so long and have reached some pretty embarrassing lows. And yet they’ve put together a string of new material that, although not rivaling their classics, is both strong and confident. The Latest might be the best of the bunch. There is no resting on their laurels as the boys add touches of orchestration (“Miss Tomorrow”) and short bursts of pure energy (“Sick Man of Europe”, “Every Day You Make Me Crazy”) to their Beatles-esque melodies. Whereas most “oldies” acts trudge their asses on tour to play the songs they’ve been playing for decades, or put out limp new releases to seem like they are still a working band – I’m looking at you, The Eagles – Cheap Trick sounds revitalized, brash and willing to take some risks. Most importantly they keep adding songs to their canon that one might actually look forward to hearing live. Four albums into what one might see as their rebirth, Cheap Trick seem to be gaining strength. And that pleases me to no end. - Ross Meyerson
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Artist: PJ Harvey
Album: Rid Of Me (Reissue)
Release Date: June 23, 2009
Label: PLAIN
June 2009 offered the reissue of PJ Harvey’s 1993 album Rid of Me. We all grew up knowing Harvey for her song “Down By the Water” from To Bring You My Love. But I would have to say, the little lady with the big mouth finally seduced me by alternating screaming rock with an uncouth bluesy voice when she sang “Lick my legs, I’m on fire,” on the reissue’s title track “Rid of me”. She’s raw, a bombshell on stage and a true commanding artist of the 90′s who gives all the boys a run for their money. - Britni Day
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Artist: Tortoise
Album: Beacons Of Ancestorship
Release Date: June 23, 2009
Label: Thrill Jockey
Tortoise’s Beacons Of Ancestorship is my favorite album from June. It’s solid from front to back and sounds fresh with hardly any wasted space. Tightly performed compositions and great grooves throughout have brought me back for repeated listens. The album is interesting and fun at the same time. Though it took five years for a new album to materialize, it was certainly worth the wait. Tortoise maintains its signature sound while shifting away from vibraphones in favor of heavily layered synthesizers. The epic 8-minute, “High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In,” along with the proggy “Yinxianghechengqi” and the single “Prepare Your Coffin” are highlights. - Andy Kahn
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Artist: Sonic Youth
Album: The Eternal
Release Date: June 9, 2009
Label: Matador
It’s loud, it’s noisy, it’s pure rock. Sonic Youth showed no signs of aging on studio album number 16. Instead, the band actually sounds younger than they have in years with an energetic album that recalls the band’s ’90s material such as Goo and Dirty. When played live, as witnessed this past weekend at the Vic Theatre, the new songs fit in seamlessly with classic material from their landmark 1988 album Daydream Nation. The Eternal is not only my favorite album from June 2009, but it’s poised to become my favorite rock album of the year. - Richard Giraldi
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That’s it! Love our picks? Hate’em? Want to drop some indie-knowledge on our little Web site? Then comment on the story! We promise to respond to everyone. Let us know what YOU think.
- Posted by Richard Giraldi in: Features
9 Responses to “Editor’s Open Thread (E.O.T.) – What was the best album from June 2009?”
Haven’t heard the new Cheap Trick, but I do love Beacons of Ancestorship. As for PJ Harvey, I never really got into her – what’s a good album to start with?
i thnk it’s funny we all picked things one might call dated. 2 of us (richard and myself) picked bands that have been around 25 plus years. tortoise is well established and the pj harvey record is many years old. seems june is all about yesterday. as for pj, i really like dry and rid of me and that’s where i stopped. i never dug to bring you my love.
Music today is all about going back in time. Bands are listening heavily, re-developing, re-shaping, and then adapting styles and sounds with novel flourishes. I’m in awe of how even new bands manage to mimic the multifarious sounds of yesterday without any noticeable effort.
I hate that I have to choose between Sonic Youth and PJ Harvey. If it wasn’t for Harvey destroying my innocence back when I was still an exclusive U2 fanatic (she came to Columbus, Ohio on tour with Bono and the gang when I was a lil’ lad), I might not have gotten into Sonic Youth. Be that as it may, Harvey’s CD is a re-issue, not an entirely nouveau piece of art. I have to give all the credit to Kim Gordon’s boys for creating such a bang-up album, especially when most of us would have thought they had distorted and feedbacked their last. Wish I had seen them at the Vic.
PJ is so ecclectic, sometimes it’s hard to get into her albums. So, I completely understand not liking some of her music.
“Rid of Me” is a great album, but “Stories from the City Stories from the Sea” is another one that my die hard PJ fan-friends have recommended. It’s very airy album for her. They also recommend “To Bring You My Love”.
I think you should look up the live version of her song “Rid of Me”. The 2001 Sydney Big Day Out festival is my favorite one. It’s just her and an electric guitar that almost swallows her up, but she is such a bad ass.
I guess all the picks go to show you how the great ones will always be around.
I never really got into Cheap Trick, but I love Sonic Youth. I’ve never heard of Tortoise. What did they do that I would know?
One last thing, the entire “Rid of Me” album was recorded in Chicago over at Electrical Audio with Steve Albini. And my old band recorded over there with a friend and Steve gave us all Billiards pointers and let me play with his cats.
So, it all holds a special place in my heart!
- On Tortoise…they’re an instrumental rock group from Chicago. They just released their new album Beacons Of Ancestorship and it’s really good. Their performing at Pitchfork on Friday.
- Yeah, it is a bit sad most of these picks are from older, established groups. There has been plenty of new music out in 09 that’s exciting, but it seemed June was a time for older groups to release new material.
- I really wanted to love Wilco’s new album, but unfortunately, it’s not a masterpiece. It’s good, but not the step forward I was hoping for…
It’s hard for me to imagine sometimes what a “step forward” for Wilco would even look like. But ultimately I feel the same way about the new record.
There were glimpses of greatness on Wilco (The Album)…one example is Deeper Down, which I think is probably one of the best Wilco songs since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But I guess step forward was a bit of an overstatment, I just wished their new album a bit more variation.
i think i’m going to buy the new wilco. i never got the last but could use some new wilco in my life. plus it’s on vinyl and not all that expensive.
britni, please, get yourself the self titled debut cheap trick. it’s one of the greatest debuts of all time. pop, punk, snarky, it’s just like nothing you’ve heard.
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