Following much debate regarding breakthrough’s of 2009, we decided to tell the world about what we consider our “Most Twerk-tastic of 2009″ picks, which are the only opinions that matter, after all. We each posted our top 5 twerk-arific albums, songs, discoveries, concerts and movies. Let us know what you think!
BC’s Picks
Albums:
1) Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears – Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!
Best described as James Brown meets Chris Rock, front man Joe Lewis brings 60s soul and blues and gives it 21st century attitude. With their first single “Bitch, I Love You,” Black Joe and the gang gained national notoriety in early 2009 with a spread in SPIN magazine. The release of their debut full-length, Tell ‘Em… is chocked full of Motown soul and Robert Johnson blues, with Lewis’ own brand of story telling. Tell ‘Em… is refreshing in that it’s the most original sound you’ve already heard.
2) N.A.S.A. – The Spirit of Apollo
3) Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon: The End of Day
4) Amanda Blank – I Love You
5) Let’s Go To War – Karmageddon
Songs:
1) Jay-Z – “Young Forever”
About a month before Jay-Z’s The Blueprint III was released, I was listening to 80’s pop band Alphaville’s single, “Forever Young” and thought how cool it would be if someone rapped over that track. So when I was giving The Blueprint III a first listen on my iPod, track 15 began to play and I thought “How the hell did Alphaville get on this play list?! No way, Jay-Z is NOT going to rap over this!” And wouldn’t you know it, 2 bars into the song, the drum machine kicked in and HOVA entered. True story. I should be a producer, I know. Jay spits rhymes about living life to the fullest, especially with lines like Fear not when, fear not why/Fear not much while were alive/Life is for living not living up tight/See ya somewhere up in the sky. With so many tracks dedicated to dick-measuring, it’s good that Jay can still be inspirational.
2) N.A.S.A. feat. Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke Li – “Gifted”
3) Friendly Fires – “Skeleton Boy”
4) Basement Jaxx – “Raindrops”
5) Passion Pit – “Little Secrets”
Discoveries:
1) Woodhands
These Canadian dance-rock fiends really know how to get a dance floor moving, which is something you could never tell by their appearance. Singer/keyboardist Dan Werb looks like an even more boyish Zach Braff and drummer Paul Banwatt looks kind of like comedian Aziz Ansari. But man, after hearing Woodhands “Under Attack (Live Remix)” back in February, I HAD to go buy their album. In fact, “Under Attack” has more plays than any other song on my iPod and three other tracks off their debut are within my top 20 most played songs. Merch and I almost didn’t make it to their set at South By Southwest this year, but we are forever glad we did. Merch literally danced so hard she barfed (that one was for all her gentlemen callers out there. Yummy!) And I can’t wait for their sophomore release, Remorsecapade, which is due out on January 26!
2) Justice
3) Does It Offend You Yeah?
4) Brother Ali
5) The Hood Internet
Concerts:
1) Bruce Springsteen @ Bonnaroo, Manchester, TX – June 13, 2009
Having never seen The Boss in concert before, I was pleasantly surprised at how bat-shit insane his live performance is! I mean, this guy is 60 years old and in much better shape than I am (and as the ladies can attest, is no easy feat…). He was jumping around on the stage, diving into the audience and basically proved he has bigger balls than any 20-something douche trying to compete. You don’t really even have to be an avid Springsteen fan to be entertained by him. So apparently, it is a regular shtick for Springsteen concert-goers to make posters with song requests on them, and Bruce will snatch a bunch of them from the audience, sort through the pile of requests, and jam out a bunch of them. One strange request was “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” in which The Boss said “It’s too fucking hot for Santa!” But being the bad ass he is, Bruce played it any way. Only Bruce Springsteen could bring Christmas in June, bitches!
2) Jay-Z @ Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TX – November 10, 2009
3) Pop Unknown @ The Mohawk, Austin, TX – February 21, 2009
4) Passion Pit @ Emo’s, Austin, TX – June 3, 2009
5) Woodhands @ SXSW, Austin, TX – March 18, 2009
Movies:
1) Star Trek
Being a huge Star Wars fan my entire life, I’ve never really been much of a Trekkie. J.J. Abrham’s revamped take on the Captain Kirk-era Star Trek was visually stunning with a captivating story. Deciding to use time travel to allow for a completely different story to be told is not necissarily a new idea (see, well, every Terminator movie, EVER), but Ahbrams did a great job of using it to make the story of the SS Enterprise actually interesting (no offense, Trekkies).
2) Hangover
3) District 9
4) Inglorious Basterds
5) Zombieland
Merch’s Picks
Albums:
1.) Them Crooked Vultures-“Them Crooked Vultures”
When I started hearing rumors about this insane trio, I was instantly intrigued. The band came to Austin and played an intimate performance at Austin City Limits followed by the ACL festival without even releasing their album. This was the one festival performance that I was actually star-stricken by. In November they streamed the full album on their Web site and through a mailing list titled, “Fuck the Patience, Let’s Dance.” The album combines sounds unlike any other, but bring in some familiar beats from Foo Fighters and Led Zeppelin.
2.) The XX- “xx”
3.) Friendly Fires- “Friendly Fires”
4.) Grizzly Bear- “Vekatimest”
5.) Passion Pit- “Manners”
Songs:
1.) Friendly Fires- “Skeleton Boy”
This upbeat track attracted dancers by the masses when it released in March. The video alone was amazing, and the song urged listeners to trace down the musicians who created it. When we caught wind of this song and the band, we couldn’t wait to play it on-air. It’s bubbling synths demand flashing lights and a dance floor.
2.) Yeah Yeah Yeah’s -”Heads Will Roll”
3.) Kennedy- “Let It Out”
4.) Empire of the Sun- “Walking On A Dream”
5.) Miike Snow- “Black and Blue”
Discoveries:
1.) Woodhands- BC and I both agree on this one!
2.) Amanda Blank
3.) Raphael Saadiq
4.) Grizzly Bear
5.) Kid Sister
Concerts:
1.) Black Joe Lewis @KTSW MR.Fest, San Marcos,TX
This past May I planned a day festival called MR.Fest [My Radio Fest] for our radio station with nearly 20 bands and Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears as the headliner. The festival took place at 4 local venues with Black Joe Lewis serving as the grand finale. The San Marcos venue Bar One Forty One, formerly known as Lucy’s, filled to capacity and amazed the crowd with a 2 1/2 hour enthusiastic set. The band members has so much energy and never stopped dancing, and BC and I couldn’t have been more proud of all the hard work we put into the festival…and it paid off. Since then we have watched the gang explode in popularity and continue their awesome live performance.
2). Woodhands -SXSW
3.) Public Enemy- Bonnaroo
4.) Bruce Springsteen- Bonnaroo
5.) Kanye West-SXSW Perez Hilton Party (simply because I got knocked out during the show & paramedics came.)
Movies:
1.) Avatar
When I first heard about this movie I wasn’t very interested. I like sci-fi movies, but the name alone made me shy away. Catching wind of reviews and ratings from friends I began to gain interest. It blew me away. This movie is an epic visual masterpiece and I truly feel there will never be another movie like it. The ability to influence an audience to turn against its own race is remarkable. After I watched the film I spent hours researching and intrigued to find that planet, species, plants, animals and environment is by scientific explanation. There is even an entire book that describes the planet Pandora! If you loved it as much as I, check out the Discovery News interviews and videos.
2.) Inglorious Basterds
3.) Zombieland
4.) The Hangover
5.) Fantastic Mr. Fox
