Best Songs of 2009: "Corvette" by Chad VanGaalen

Chad VanGaalen, by all accounts, is a pretty weird dude. Not weird because I'm sure the two of us have different hobbies (I think it's unlikely he's a big NBA/Raptors guy), but more because he writes really strange songs that typically surround the topic of death. "Corvette" from the Soft Airplane B-Sides EP, of course, is not really a whole lot different. I mean, the song isn't entirely about death, but the song does start out with the premise that "he" got reincarnated as a corvette, meaning, of course, that he died -- unless I'm way off base with my understanding of the basic tenants of reincarnation.

Despite dealing with blood/guts/death and other such subject matter, the tone of CVG's music, like in "Corvette", is always is more of a imaginative curiosity about death rather than, say, dealing with the subject in an I want to die sort of way. He kind of reminds me of, and I'm sure I've said this before, Tim Burton. Of course, the two generally find themselves operating in two different mediums (though CVG has animated a couple of his own videos), but I'm not sure things like Beetle Juice and The Corpse Bride are too far off Infiniheart and Soft Airplane.

The CVG/TB connection, for me, runs beyond even the obvious thematic connections of their work into their ability to create these backwards, bizzare dream worlds of life and death and whatever exists inbetween. So, while I'm not sure I'd want to permanently reside in alternate universes that CVG/TB create, it's a fun visit every once in a while.

[mp3] Chad VanGaalen - Corvette

PS - I'm pretty sure he's still giving away the entire B-Sides EP at softairplane.com.

Best Songs of 2009: Ketch Harbour Wolves "Letters"

I'd like to dedicate this post to the commenter the other day who pointed out that Glasvegas' "Geraldine" was put out in '08. It was... probably, but it ended up on my computer in 2009, so, whatever. And with that, I'll point out one of my other favourite songs of 2009 released in 2008, "Letters" by the Ketch Harbour Wolves. Seems like an appropriate tie-in with the contest for KHW tickets for this coming Friday, December 11th in Toronto.

I've fluctuated on KHW's album Dead Calm Horizon. Not on whether I like it or not (it was 1c on my Best of 2008 list), but on which song was/is my favourite. Over the course of the last year I've changed my mind a few times, but I've gradually come to a point where, when listening to DCH I'll skip to "Letters" at the end of the album, then play the album from front to back so I can hear it (the song) twice.

I think it might be because Dead Calm Horizon is generally pretty dark, but "Letters" sort of feels like the light at the end of the tunnel. The gentle banjo picking (I think), and the more down-tempo nature of the song, the band has created the feeling that it (whatever it is) is over. In the case of the band, it, apparently, is the loss of loved one (to another location, not, it seems, to death). But the underlying message that I take away from the song is one of acceptance -- it reminds you that sometimes you ought to relax and let go of things you can't change... good advice (if that's what they're saying)... and either way, it's a great song.

[mp3] Ketch Harbour Wolves - Letters

Best Songs of 2009: Glasvegas "Geraldine"

Before I get to the songs that're going to end up on ye olde year end album list I'm inclined to give a little attention to the ones that aren't going to be there. And Glasvegas and their self-titled album will not be there. Glasvegas, in my opinion, doesn't really do much that hasn't been done, nor do they execute the Brit-Arena-Rock formula well enough over a period of 10 songs to sustain my attention (which, admittedly, is very limited in the first place).

Even though the album as a whole isn't something I'm going to put on and listen to from start to finish, "Geraldine" is probably one of the best, most uplifting songs of the year regardless of genre. Between the driving electric guitar that runs through the song which is, at worst, extremely catchy, and at best, something somewhere near a force of nature. There's that, and there's something about the chorus "Al beh tha anghel on ya shouldah/ma nam is Geraldine I'm yo soshal wo-kah", which, in English translates to: "I'll be the angel on your shoulder/ My name is Geraldine I'm your social worker".

Maybe it's me, and the production value on Glasvegas is just too much for someone with my tastes, and we may disagree on the quality of the album, but I suspect we'll agree that this is one of the songs Best of 2009.

[mp3] Glasvegas - Geraldine

Best Songs of 2009: Monsters of Folk "Temazcal"

For the last couple of years I've created a "Best of 200_" playlist on my iTunes and everytime I hear something really catchy, I copy it over to the playlist. More often then not, most of the songs on the playlist are great songs from my favourite albums of the year; other times, like today, they happen to be standout songs on albums that are marginal, not very good, or that I just haven't listened to all that much.

The Monsters of Folk (Bright Eyes, M. Ward, the guy from My Morning Jacket, and another guy) and their self-titled album, considering the pedigree of the group, is a little bit underwhelming. This, I think, probably has a considerable amount to do with the group having very little to prove. Every member of the group has had a pretty substantial amount of success (save perhaps for the mystery man), and while I'm sure getting together was fun, I'm not sure the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. You just don't get the sense that these guys were really pushing each other the way they might have, more that they sort of got together and wrote an album.

I guess what I mean to say is that the Monsters, collectively, don't really have a distinctive sound as a band. The songs on the album tend to rotate around, B.E. gets a song, MMJ's Jim James gets a song, and M. Ward gets a song and the others play Ringo (the other guy is Ringo the entire time). So, given my distaste and/or general lack of enthusiasm for the last couple outings of all the artist it should be unsurprising that I'm luke warm, at best, on the Monsters of Folk as a full-length, 15 song album.

Having said that (Curb reference!), I wouldn't have mentioned the album, particularly under the auspice of "Best of 20__" if there were no redeeming qualities here. And so: the one thing this album has done, IMHO, is brought out flashes of the coherent, but still sort of tortured, Bright Eyes. The best example of this, as you may have guessed, is on "Temazcal" the slow, strum and stop, song that makes you feel as though your in the middle of the denouement of an Old West love story. B.E. shows flashes of the lyricist that he was, and why early in his career people were calling him the next Dylan (probably not happening so much anymore), though that comparison, I think it goes without saying, was probably a little much to say the least.


The video (song sung by M. Ward):

[mp3] Monsters of Folk - Temazcal

I'm going to try and do one or a couple of these every week until the end of the year, though I'm not sure I'd hold your breath and wait for it to happen.