Minutos musicales

Eolrin over at Minutos Musicales has posted a 2CD compilation of his favourite indie pop of 2009. It's a good, diverse and pretty international mix that will help catch you up with some stuff you might have missed the past 12 months. His introductory text is in Spanish, but the mediafire download links work no matter what languages you happen to read or speak. :)

On to the next decade now!

Decadeology (Robot Hero Edition)

I tried my hand at Madmadcat's decade mixtape challenge: 20 songs, 2 songs from each year, with no band duplicates. I tried to go for a mix with a decent flow and I think I succeeded somewhat. Naturally, it was difficult to pick just 20 songs to represent the past 10 years, but that is part of the fun. And really, it's in no way representative of the entire decade. Get the download link after the jump. You can peruse the tracklist while you wait for the file and clown (or praise) me in the comments.

Favorite films of 2009

Because we all like lists of some sort, these are my favorite films of the past year. Keep in mind these aren't really in any order, and they are basically out of what I've seen. I haven't seen Avatar, Up In The Air, Precious or anything else that people are going crazy about. So there. Check out my faves after the jump.

Listomania

The Line of Best Fit have posted their Top 50 albums of 2009, as voted on by their contributors. Each of us had a ballot of 25; six of my choices made the list, three of them (Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Fever Ray) made the Top 10.

I can't say I'm overly surprised by the absence from the list of my favourite record of 2009, Es' Kesämaan Lapset (or, "Children of Summerland"). But in some alternate universe, this warm and inviting piece of folk-electronic-drone-chant from Finland would be on everyone's communal party stereos. I would have found a place for an excerpt on my 2009 mix, but the most compilation-friendly track is designated for my decade mix (forthcoming soon).

I'm a little bit more surprised by HEALTH's Get Color not finding any love. I had thought their shiny blend of noise-thrash was gaining traction out in the wider world beyond anarchist performance spaces and vegan cafes, but apparently not so much (at least when it comes to British music webzines). In any case, seeing them nearly burn down the Echoplex in L.A. was my personal live event of the year. Fucking astonishing.

Further down on my ballot, Get Back Guinozzi! made a late entrance to my jukebox this year, leaving enough of a happy impression to splash in at #10. Their idiosyncratic, ye-ye-ish take on C86 charms me greatly.

My full ballot is after the jump.

Robot Hero's Faves of 2009

I know you've been waiting patiently, so here are my favorite albums of 2009. Finally. There was a ton of great stuff this year, but this is the stuff I listened to the most. Because I am retarded, I'll more than likely have forgotten something and I'll end up changing the list in a couple days, but this is it for now. There's no particular order, check 'em out if you're so inclined.

Sweet Trip - You Will Never Know Why


Bat For Lashes - Two Suns


Neko Case - Middle Cyclone


Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz


Isis - Wavering Radiant


Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix


Fever Ray - Fever Ray

I Was A King - I Was A King


Riceboy Sleeps - Riceboy Sleeps


Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career


SPC ECO - 3D

Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangement

Timing is Everything

I've been working diligently on my 2009 mix. It's a little bit longer than I initially thought it might be, but oh well, this is the stuff I liked. 2009 has been a pretty good year, even if I was attending less gigs. One of the more memorable events of 2009 is illustrated in the images below.

It was also a pretty good year for music. I tried to keep my tracklist low, but it slid up to 30 and I couldn't figure out what to cut. Therefore, I'm just gonna post the whole thing in its entire glory. Some of the songs are kinda long (5 tracks at 7 mins or more) and the entire mix clocks in around 2 hours and 15 minutes. But as I mentioned, this is the stuff I liked, for better or for worse. Check it out, maybe you'll like it. Burn an mp3 disc or stick it on your media player of choice. Scope the tracklist below, and download it here if it suits your fancy. Props to my buddy, @MiriamIsntFunny, from twitter (who also should be posting here as Semaphore Bronte) who inspired the mix title when I couldn't come up with a thing.

Timing is Everything

1. The Twilight Sad - I Became a Prostitute
2. Fleeting Joys - You Are The Darkness
3. The Raveonettes - Bang!
4. Afternoon Naps - Seasons May Change
5. Camera Obscura - French Navy
6. The Postmarks - Go Jetsetter
7. Phoenix - Love Like a Sunset
8. Perfume - edge (triangle mix)
9. Fever Ray - If I Had A Heart
10. Riceboy Sleeps - Daniell In The Sea
11. Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard - One Fast Move Or I'm Gone
12. Neko Case - I'm An Animal
13. Mayer Hawthorne - Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'
14. Kleerup - Until We Bleed (With Lykke Li)
15. Asobi Seksu - Sunshower
16. Bat For Lashes - Pearl's Dream
17. El Perro Del Mar - Gotta Get Smart
18. The xx - Shelter
19. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Little Shadow
20. Sparklehorse & Fennesz - Goodnight Sweetheart
21. Bon Iver & St. Vincent - Roslyn
22. Summer Camp - Ghost Train
23. Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse - The Man Who Played God (feat. Suzanne Vega)
24. Fuck Buttons - The Lisbon Maru
25. Sweet Trip - Your World is Eternally Complete
26. I Was A King - Step Aside
27. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - This Love Is Fucking Right
28. St. Vincent - Marrow
29. Them Crooked Vultures - New Fang
30. ISIS - Stone To Wake A Serpent

Robot Hero's Fave Gigs of 2009

I think I've consciously been trying to dial back on the number of gigs I've been attending. Money has been a little tight, and I've already seen a lot of the bands that I'd like to see live. In the past, I've made lists with at least 10-12 shows (just favorites) I attended over the course of the year. I even remember one list that named close to 20 favorites. This year has been slower for me, which is okay I guess. Save some money and eardrums. So this year, I'm gonna roll with a top 3. See? I told you I haven't been to many this year. So here goes...

3. Like most indie kids, I love the Pixies and Doolittle is probably my favorite album of theirs, depending on which day you ask me. Apparently, many people in the bay area love the Pixies as well, as they played three sold-out shows at the Fox Theater. Not only did they play Doolittle in its entirety, but they played a handful of b-sides from that era, including my faves Manta Ray and Into The White. It was really, really great (despite being surrounded by hipster douchebags and chatty scenesters).

http://www.pixiesmusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/pixies

2. Madcat Joe tipped me to Fever Ray about a year ago, I think he played If I Had A Heart for me the night before we were gonna leave for Mexico. I loved it right off the bat, it was creepy and ominous. I had sorta figured that, like The Knife, there wouldn't be much chance to see a Fever Ray gig. So it was pretty much a no-brainer when some limited tour dates were announced, including a San Francisco stop. The venue wasn't exactly my favorite, but there's not much room to be choosy in this case.

Naturally, I thought the performance was excellent, or else I wouldn't be writing about it right here. There was a collection of old lamps that would flicker to the beat of the music. The performers were backlit most of the time, which lent to the spooky atmosphere which also consisted of dry ice fog and lasers. They played most of the album and they also included a cover of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' Stranger Than Kindness. Completely mesmerising.

http://feverray.com/
http://www.myspace.com/feverray


1. Bat For Lashes gets the barest of nods over Fever Ray just because of the venue. The Great American Music Hall is far, far superior to the Regency Ballroom. The band was tight, the sound was great and Natasha Khan has a fantastic voice (not to mention she is gorgeous). They absolutely KILLED Pearl's Dream, which is my favorite song on Two Suns. I dunno, everything about this show was just perfect to me.

http://www.batforlashes.com/
http://www.myspace.com/batforlashes