2009 Albums

Well it's New Years Eve today, that means we can look forward to upcoming albums in 2009. Are you guys looking out for any specific albums?

Some highlights for me are the following...

Animal Collective
Andrew Bird
Chris Cornell
Built To Spill
Doves
M. Ward
Wilco
Stone Temple Pilots
The Postal Service

I'm particularly excited for Built to Spill and Doves latest. I think they are both going to gain a much larger audience this year. I won't hold my breath on The Postal Service album, but it will interesting how they follow up with 2003's Give Up. 

CLAPTRAPPED TRACKS OF 2008

Bryan O'Donnell
The Walkmen -Four Provinces
TV on the Radio -Golden Age
Ra Ra Ra Riot -Ghost Under Rocks

Danny Haas
Fleet Foxes -Ragged Wood
Okkervil River -Singer Songwriter
Kids Don't Know Shit -Islands

Kurt Marquis
Vampire Weekend -Walcott
Walter Meego -Forever
Bodies of Water -Water Here

John O’Connell
Anathallo -The River
Bon Iver -Skinny Love
Hot Chip -Out At The Pictures

Jeff Totsch
Hot Chip -One Pure Thought
Kings of Leon -Sex on Fire
David Byrne & Brian Eno -Strange Overtones

Adam Kosecki
Vampire Weekend -M79
Hot Chip -We're Looking For A Lot of Love
Crystal Castles -Crimewave

Mickey Waszkowski
Cage The Elephant -In One Ear
Late of The Pier -The Bears are Coming
Foals -The French Open

The Wire: Best theme song?

If I've had a conversation with you in the past 6 months, there's a pretty good chance, at some point, I suggested that you watch HBO's "The Wire." I think the show's writing, characters, and themes are absolutely brilliant.

But on top of it being an excellent TV show, it has a really awesome opening credits theme. A unique aspect of the opening credits is that it features the same song -- "Way Down in the Hole," written by Tom Waits -- performed by a different artist each season.

Season 1 is performed by The Blind Boys of Alabama; Season 2 is Tom Waits; Season 3 is performed by the Neville Brothers; Season 4 is DoMaJe; and Season 5 is Steve Earle.

DoMaJe is a group made up of five teenagers from Baltimore (the setting of the show), and Steve Earle plays the character Walon (a recovering drug addict) in the show.

I enjoy all of the versions, with my favorite probably being Season 3. I just found the different versions of the same song to be really unique, on a show that could really do no wrong.

Season 1




Season 2




Season 3




Season 4




Season 5

Top 5 Albums of 2008 - Claptrapped's Picks

Bryan O'Donnell

1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
2. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
3. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
4. The Walkmen - You and Me
5. M83 - Saturdays = Youth

Danny Haas

1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
2. Islands - Arm’s Way
3. She & Him - Volume 1
4. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
5. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins

Adam Kosecki

1. Portishead - Third
2. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
3. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
4. Murs - Murs for President
5. The Kills - Midnight Boom

Kurt Marquis

1. Bonnie Prince Billy - Lie Down in the Light
2. Q-Tip - The Renaissance
3. Stereolab - Chemical Chords
4. Stephen Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash
5. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

John O’Connell

1. Elbow - Seldom seen Kid
2. Anathallo - Canopy Glow
3. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
4. The Black Keys - Attack and Release
5. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Jeff Totsch

1. Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
2. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
3. British Sea Power - Do you Like Rock Music

Mickey Waszkowski

1. Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid
2. Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint that Shit Gold
3. The Heavenly States - Delayer
4. Johnny Foreigner - Waited Up Til It Was Light
5. Hot Chip - Made in the Dark

Drunktrapped

Posting a good drunk playlist would probaly (spelled like that on purpose to emphasise drunkeness) be a good idea to keep people involved. I don't know about you folks but I always listen to atleast 1 or 5 songs before I fall asleep on a Friday or Saturday.

Here is my song selection tonight.

Band of Horses - The Funeral
Andrew Bird - Fake Palindromes
Cold War Kids - Hospital Bed
Golden Age -TV On The Radio ( Won't lie, def thought it was Prince)

ok actually itunes shuffle actually played that in a row...miracle? you tell me.

Most Anticipated 2009 Releases

Next year has the possibilty of being one of my favorite years of music. Most of my staple bands are releasing new albums with Andrew Bird being the first to release his newest LP Noble Beast on January 20th. Some other bands with upcoming releases include:

Wilco

Flaming Lips

Band of Horses

Anyone else pumped about a release coming next year?

Thanksgiving listening

I listened to a lot of music this past long weekend. Many times, I tried to actively listen, rather than listen while doing something else. (See my post from Nov. 11.)

Here's what I was digging:

• TV on the Radio, "Dear Science"
• Ra Ra Riot, "The Rhumb Line"
• Kaiser Chiefs, "Off with their Heads"
• The Walkmen, "You and Me"
• M. Ward, "Transistor Radio" (really great for when you're stressed)