I don’t tend to pick up on much music in the year that it’s released.  I usually only ever latch onto albums several years after they’ve peaked in popularity for some reason.  That said here are a few items that took my fancy in 2009.

Ivy St – Picture Machine cd
In two words, dark and intense. A Tasmanian group who possess that special something that you can’t quite put your finger on but want to get more of. A class act who have only just begun to scratch the surface.

Johnny Casino & The Secrets – Live On 3PBS cd
Top songs and a top vibe with this live set.  One of a few groups that have made me think I’d like to be playing in that band.

Liam Finn & Eliza Jane – Champagne in Seashells cd
A revelation and an inspiration live.  Opened up a whole world of performance possibilities after seeing them. I like a ‘solo’ act that can avoid the rote acoustic strum-strum for 45 minutes too.  The first two tracks on this EP are thoroughly enjoyable.  I’m also envious of artists like Liam who can play all the instruments on an album a’la Graham Coxon or Grant Hart.

Nirvana – Live at Reading cd/dvd
After years of owning a bootleg cd with half the set missing and a video with a time stamp at the bottom of the screen blocking the picture, this release was a pleasure for the eyes and ears.  A small round of applause to whoever it was that polished the footage of this set up for official release, it’s wonderfully sharp.

The Hold Steady – A Positive Rage cd/dvd
As a regular guy with one foot in his thirties who likes to play guitar loud, I thoroughly enjoy this bunch of regular guys with both feet in their thirties who use loud guitars to belt out anthems for regular girls and guys to get drunk and shout along too. I wish more rock lyricists were half as interesting with their turns of phrase as Craig Finn is. This set is a nice document of an apparently typical THS night out.

The Russell Brand Radio Show – The Best Of What’s Legal cd/dvd
Never have I enjoyed a spoilt only child running amok until I twigged to Ol’ Russ’s BBC podcasts before he got yanked off the air in ‘08.  This collects the best (legal) bits here on 3 cds.  If that wasn’t enough, all the same highlights appear again on dvd filmed by the in studio camera so you can see Russell fidget about on the mic dressed in tight black girls jeans. His schtick can wear a little bit thin after 3 consecutive cds so I recommend small doses, unless of course you can’t get enough of a verbose 30 something dressed as a pirate, behaving like a cheeky 17 year old and telling stories of his bedroom conquests. Oh behave.

Pearl Jam – Etihad Stadium 20 November 2009
Although impossible to avoid in the 90′s I wasn’t particularly interested in this bands music until their Jack Irons period and gave them another listen and kinda stuck around ever since.  50,000 people in a stadium sounds potentially awful but I’ve never seen a band more on their game or an audience give so much back to the musicians on stage as I did that night.  An incredible sense of community I’ve only witnessed at local shows with a squillionth that sized crowd.  To convert that vibe to 50,000 is impressive. A cracking Baba O’Riley to cap the night too.

Third Man Records Subscriptions - musically I particularly dug on the cover song b-sides of all the Dead Weather 7′s more than the Dead Weathers own output but all the releases by TMR are pretty quality from the product manufacture to the music.  I also like the little touches like messages engraved in the vinyl run out grooves or the random live webcam performances at Thirdman Studios and all sorts of other cool content like competitions to win Jack Whites clothes.

Nurse Jackie (TV Series) - I like interesting characters and Nurse Jackie ticks a lot of boxes for me.  The comedy is dark and the mess of contradictions that is the lead character keeps it interesting.  Ideally I’d like to be able to write 3-minute songs that involved complex characters like Nurse Jackie but Pete Townshend has already done that quite well.

Youtube links on Facebook – Viewing all sorts of amazing and random things that I wouldn’t otherwise remotely think to search out.  This clip of Hobart musician Peter Escott of Native Cats fame performing a stand up routine at the local comedy night is one such example…

Observe and Report (movie) – just kidding.  This movie was terrible. Seth Rogan should have stopped at Superbad.

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