Blog

Find all these albums, along with to 25 EPs/Demos of 2009 and hundreds more artists and albums on Watch the Tapes! Comments are appreciated!


2009 was quite a year. A lot happened in the world, in my life, and in music. In theory, those all seem like distinct things - but retrospectively, they can be hard to differentiate from one another. Events blur together, timelines become jumbled, memories get obscured by the haze of passing time; memories of how I felt, memories of people I know (or knew), and memories of the music that soundtracked it all. Most people seem content to simply let these things slip into the past, marching merrily into the future, but I'm never able to fully let go, it seems, and this process of archiving my favorite albums of the year reflects that in a big way.

When I look back at this list in the year(s) to come, I'm not going to see an objective list of the best albums of 2009; I'm not even going to see a list I agree with anymore. …

Okay, I just re-read Nick Hornby's book 31 Songs. This books is about pop music, with each chapter dedicated to one song, and uses this song to write a small essay about one aspect of pop music. And the best thing to do is to listen to the song while you read the chapter.

To listen to all these songs, check this personal tag radio, if you are allowed to:
http://www.last.fm/listen/usertags/pumpkinlll/31%20songs

Or this playlist, including several alternative version and some more stuff by O.V. Wright just to reach the number of 45 tracks:
http://www.last.fm/user/pumpkinlll/library/playlists/220zb_31_songs

The playlist features:
1. Your Love Is The Place Where I Come From, Teenage Fanclub
2. Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen
3. I'm Like a Bird, Nelly Furtado
4. Heartbreaker, Led Zeppelin
5. One Man Guy, Rufus Wainwright
6. Samba Pa Ti, Santana
7. Mama You Been On My Mind, Rod Stewart
8. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?, Bob Dylan
9. Rain, The Beatles
10. You Had Time, Ani DiFranco
…

1. How did you get into 31?
Paul McCartney. Well I got into his solo stuff when a friend told me that his new album was the best he'd done in years.

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22?
The White Stripes. We're Going to Be Friends in the opening credits of Napoleon Dynamite.

3. What's your favourite lyric by 29?
Okkervil River. I don't know if I can pinpoint one, all the ones on The Stage Names are really good.

4. What is your favourite album by 49?
Bear McCreary. I dunno, probably the most recent Battlestar Galactica soundtrack.

5. How many albums by 13 do you own?
Bob Dylan. In my iTunes I have 8

6. What is your favourite song by 50?
The Postal Service. Either Such Great Heights or Sleeping In

7. Is there a song by 4 that makes you sad?
Oh No! Oh My! yes! "Lisa, Make Love! (It's Okay!)"

8. What is your favourite song by 15?
Marcus Rubio. My favorite is probably Post Apocalyptic Zombie Fighting

…

A spoonerism is a play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or syllables are switched. They are commonly heard as slips of the tongue (or, rather, tips of the slung). I’ve applied this form of a pun to song titles, as inspired by Amiright.com. Below are some of my favorites.

Original song: Flavor of the Week (American Hi-Fi)
Spoonerized song: Weaver of the Flake
Comments: I just like this one.

Light Up My Room (Barenaked Ladies)
Write up my Loom
What the weaver says to the journalist.

Take The Skinheads Bowling (Camper Van Beethoven)
Bake the Skinheads' Toweling
It needs to be baked. And I’m sure it’ll do as much good as taking them bowling…

Down On The Corner (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Corn on the Downer
Because downers deserve to have corn on them.

Have You Ever Seen the Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Have You Ever Ran the Scene?
I just like it ‘cause it sounds like it should be a line from CSI.

…

Sat 28 Apr – Meriden Daffodil Festival

Mark Mulcahy setlist:

29th Annual Meriden Daffodil Festival
Hubbard Park
Meriden, Connecticut
http://www.daffodilfest.com

Saturday, April 28, 2007
2:30-ish on the Welcome Stage

MM went on early, as The Mountain Movers's bass died. MM and Ken Maiuri were playing with Dave Houghton and Josh Thayer (who play guitar and upright bass respectively in Northampton's Fancy Trash: http://www.fancytrash.com), so there was no electric bass to borrow.

The sponsor's sign at the back of the stage reads Kelli's: A Salon and MM's wearing an acid green hat and canary yellow Members Only-ish jacket. Seen in the crowd: Mr. Ray Neal, Jeff Weiderschall, Dan Greene, Frank Critelli, The Furors, Dean Falcone, Tom Wolf, Kathleen Cei. Burt's Bees sent people up into the bleachers to distribute free samples.

Introduction: If we have anything resembling musical royalty here in Connecticut, this is it.

Micon the Icon

Cookie Jar

The Quiet One

…

I've always wanted to do one of these.

You know the deal.
Guess the song and artist.

1. Autumn’s sweet, we call it fall
I’ll make it to the moon if I have to crawl
Scar Tissue

2. Where have you been all night?
I checked my watch for the fourteenth time
I was thinking about what you had in mind when you said
Honey, yours are the only hands that feel right
You're the One Lee

3. Reach down your hand in your pocket
Pull out some hope for me
Long Day

4. The past'll be presented
Recast and reinvented
Until it's how we meant it
Testing 1, 2, 3

5. I made my bed and now I can't sleep at night
'Cause I'm tossing and turning, you know
You know it ain't right
Girl Right Next to Me

6. Guess I've changed, but, yeah, couldn't you?
Given all we've been through
And Around

7. Never mind overjoyed
Just start with happy
Hey Self Defeater

8. You can see a million miles tonight
But you can't get very far
Mrs. Potter's Lullaby

9. There's a splinter in your eye and it reads "react"
…

This is mostly for me to remember, but you're reading this, so I suppose you get to share in the wealth.

Mark Mulcahy
Mark Booth
Four Tet
Sean Smith
The Artificial Hearts
Harold Budd
Squarepusher
Michael Jackson(I know, I know,I need some of his old, GOOD stuff.)

Have anyone else you'd like to suggest to me at this point?

Because two of these came up in my "Recommended Reading" and I heart Googlisms.

Take your top ten bands and find a Googlism for them from www.googlism.com. Pick your favorite one.

1. Goo Goo Dolls is not a fairy tale
2. R.E.M. is the number of "rads" multiplied by a quality factor
3. Miracle Legion is unbelievable
4. Matchbox Twenty is no Hootie and the Blowfish
5. Tabitha's Secret is really a strange band
6. Red Hot Chili Peppers is the theme on this tapestry afghan throw blanket
..(or)
..Red Hot Chili Peppers is enjoying life in the fast lane with a new scooter
..(I couldn't decide which I liked better)
7. Mark Mulcahy is the name on the door
8. Barenaked Ladies is not a sleezy strip club
9. Counting Crows is gewoon errug goed
10. Creedence Clearwater Revival is more popular hindi pop