Happy new year.  It's been awhile.
I will start this post with some recently acquired stuff that I am enjoying.

Liars - Sisterworld

I checked on-line to see what the official release date of this is, but I found conflicting results.  I decided not to look anymore, mostly because I don't give a shit when it came out/will come out.  The fact is that is is available by dubious means right now, and it is a tasteful blend of drone and bombast that makes me feel like a badass as I listen to it walking down the street.  In fact, the chimey bells near the end of the second track make me think of the chimey bells in the "For a Few Dollars More" soundtrack.  Badass.

Here is the second track.  It is called "No Barrier Fun":

Speaking of walking down the street listening to music, I used to own a pair of Shure in ear/sound isolating headphones that I enjoyed, but one day the left channel unexplainably stopped working.  I reverted to the stock apple earbuds, and while the earbuds are fine, switching from the expensive ones to the stock buds was a decisive downgrade.  Fortunately, the pain is over because I got some new headphones over the holiday gift giving season.  They are Etymotic HF2s, and they are pretty sweet.  If you don't mind jamming little things in your ear to seal out the outside, these come highly recommended.  Some say that they don't have enough bass.  Others say they are accurate.  I say that listening to big muffy headphones with bigger drivers in them sounds a bit better, but I don't always want to walk around with the big muffies.  For those of you who are subway listeners, you will be pleased with their sound isolation performance.  I like mine very much.    

Broken Bells - Broken Bells

I've also listened to Broken Bells a few times.  If you like the Shins, you should check it out.  As far as I know, Broken Bells is James Mercer from the Shins and Dangermouse.  It's better than the last Shins record.  I feel like someone had told the band that that album had to be a modern masterpiece, and they got all stressed out about it. Unfortunately, it ended up sounding more like a tinkered with James Mercer solo project than a solid band effort.  Broken Bells is smoother, the songs are good, and it sounds as if it came together naturally. The poppy songs are well accompanied by the synthesizers and sequencers that provide much of the music.  Some of the production is quite elaborate, with dramatic chorus style back up vocals, but it sounds good.  Here's a sample.  It's called "The Mall and the Misery":




I've always been bad making these kinds of lists, but here are some choices from the past year in no particular order.  I'm sure I'm neglecting some important stuff, but I already told you I was bad at this:


Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Circulatory System - Signal Morning
Zu - Carboniferous
Sunn O))) -  Monoliths and Dimensions

Here are a few that I thought were from 2009, but were from 2008:

The Go - Tracking the Trail of the Haunted Beat
Dead Man - Euphoria
Dungen - 4


That is all for now.  Have a lovely year.

Jim