Top Ten Albums Of 2009

It’s that time again where every music blogger on these here intertubes sorts his iTunes by year and selects their favorite albums of the year. Naturally, we at rowjimmy.com wouldn’t want to miss out on that so we’ve come out of hibernation to give you our obligatory list.

Unmap

10 – Volcano Choir – Unmap

This dreamy collaboration between Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Collections of Colonies of Bees began several years ago but didn’t get recorded until late last year. Merge Vernon’s low key vocal style with a bit of quiet, electronic, math rock and you get a striking, contemplative record that is hard to ignore.

Around The Well

09 – Iron & Wine – Around The Well

Largely acoustic with occasional bouts of electric guitars, percussion and more, this record firmly cements the singer songwriter atop the heap of the current crop of folkies. Check this out on a snowbound Sunday morning.

Embryonic

08 – The Flaming Lips – Embryonic

Even before its release, I might have guessed that this record would make this year’s list but I had no idea that it would be such a dark throwback to the earlier bizarreness o the Lips. Instead of easing up the popular path laid by “Yoshimi” and “Mystics” the band re-explored its history and produced a record of marvelous cacophony, melody, and heart with less of the slick, overdriven, nonsense (“Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” anyone?) If you are a Flaming Lips fan that likes anything prior to “Yoshimi” you should dig into this record.

More after the jump…

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Festival 8

fest8

For those of you playing along at home, Festival 8 has begun…

The campgrounds are open, The Bunny is on the air and they even played a soundcheck last night.

I’m not there but I’ll be following closely from home (and wherever else I go this weekend) and I thought I’d offer up a few links and whatnot so that you too, the random reader of this oft-neglected blog, can stay informed.

So… Campgrounds. As you probably know, the campgrounds are named for albums that remain on the Phish Festival Eight site. If you are avoiding knowing the albums at all, don’t click on this link HERE. that’s a pdg of the festival map. It’s pretty sweet.

As for The Bunny(!) they’re live from the site now and will be doing so all weekend. Their website features a spot for requests and a twitter stream so you can follow the action.

Now, if you want to hear the Phish sets, your best bet is to fire up your Sirius/XM radio and… What? You don’t have a satellite radio subscription? Me neither. Head over to their website and hook up a free, online, streaming 7-day demo. then tune in at the following times:

  • Friday 6PM ET (9hours)
  • Saturday 6PM ET (9hours)
  • Sunday 3PM ET (9hours)

Update: Sirius/XM streaming is during the sets ONLY.  They do not stream The Bunny at all and they do not start at the times shown on their schedule. Tune in at the set times posted below. This is the best capacity stream for the sets.

Actual set times are as follows (these are Pacific Time):

  • FRIDAY (10/30)

7:30PM Set 1
10:00PM Set 2

  • SATURDAY (10/31)

3:00PM Set 1
7:30PM The Halloween Set
10:00PM Set 3

  • SUNDAY (11/01)

12:00PM Acoustic Set
5:30PM Set 2
8:30PM Set 3

Otherwise, The Bunny is streaming in a more limited capacity. Phish.net has the scoop on that here. (By the way, have you checked out the new Phish.net? It’s great. )

Update! Now you can stream it via LivePhish Radio!

Follow setlists via Phish’s website here.

This being the 21st Century,  Twitter has got more info that you need. Check the #Phish and #Fest8 tags. You can follow rowjimmy.com on twitter as well and I’ll try to keep folks abreast of any points of interest that I hit upon during the weekend. Look for updates after the jump.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!
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Phish Finds Joy

With Joy, Phish returns to the studio with producer Steve Lillywhite (Billy Breathes) and caps off their return from the indefinite dark time since they ‘broke up’ in 2004. They’re older, wiser, healthier, and more optimistic than on 2004s Undermind and it shows. Life hasn’t always been easy for the past five years but there are good things around us all and Phish has decided to show us the way.

“Backwards Down The number Line” is a perfect distillation of a jamband pop-rock song. Catchy melody merged with interwoven instruments and a solo that gives chills. Reminiscent of the ecstatic, melodies in a Summer ’97 “Gin” jam with a touch of early 70s Dickey Betts, this solo is worth the price of admission. The lyric may be a tad syrupy but syrupy is not territory that Phish has mined heavily in the past so it’s not as if we should be sick of it, yet. They go there several times on this record and come out with some delightful gems. If “BDTNL” was too syrupy, “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan” responds with a bit of a punch in the face. Opening with tension, driven by a pounding piano and ripping guitar riff (“machine-gun Trey” makes an appearance on the solo,) this song has a strong yet abstract lyric that is open to enough interpretation to keep the fans guessing.

The title track follows with a delicate introduction and a moving lyric. “Joy” is connected to Anastasio’s sister’s recent passing from cancer. Such a topic could leave a listener wrapped in grief but this tune turns sadness into inspiration. In life, if you encounter someone who is hurting, it can be a challenge to reach out with empathy and lift them up. Phish would not be my first guess of bands that could do so in song; until now. Continue reading →

Phish at Red Rocks

Red Rocks

Phish begins the second leg of their Summer Tour tonight and they’re kicking things off with four nights at Red Rocks.

We’ll try to keep this post updated with anything worth reporting so, check back on the regular!

I’d promise to have live, updated, setlists on here but, frankly, those West coast shows run past my bedtime. Keep an eye on Phish’s “From The Road” page or hit up their Twitter.

Also, Yemblog will be twittering from the shows.

The Butter Room plans to stream audio from the shows.

Video streams will also be here.

Meanwhile, check out the Red Rocks Webcam. I can’t imagine that it’ll be on during the shows but I imagine you’ll be able to see the stage being setup during the day.
More after the jump!

-rowjimmy

2009-07-30
Red Rocks Amphitheater – Morrison, CO
Sound Check: Foam, Party Time, Sugar Shack, Beauty of a Broken Heart, (Mike tune), Billy Breathes, Time Turns Elastic
Set 1: Divided Sky, Ocelot,The Wedge, Poor Heart, The Moma Dance, Horn, Stash, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Possum
Set 2: Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Ghost, Wolfman’s Brother, Limb By Limb, Billy Breathes, Squirming Coil, David Bowie
Encore: Loving Cup

2009-07-31
Red Rocks Amphitheater – Morrison, CO
Set 1: Runaway Jim, Chalk Dust Torture, Bathtub Gin, Time Turns Elastic, Lawn Boy, Water in the Sky, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Split Open and Melt
Set 2: Drowned> Crosseyed and Painless> Joy, Tweezer> Backwards Down the Numberline> Fluffhead*> Piper> A Day in the Life
Encore: Suzy Greenberg**> Tweezer Reprise
*Unfinished
**Crosseyed and Painless Tease

2009-08-01
Red Rocks Amphitheater – Morrison, CO
Set 1: AC/DC Bag, The Curtain With, Mound, Gotta Jibboo, Guyute, Punch You In The Eye, Tube, Alaska, Run Like An Antelope
Set 2: Rock and Roll > Down with Disease -> Free, Esther, Dirt, Harry Hood
Encore: Sleeping Monkey > First Tube

2009-08-02
Red Rocks Ampitheater – Morrison, CO
Set 1: Roses are Free, Wilson, NICU, Prince Caspian, Back on the Train, Reba, Grind, Beauty of a Broken Heart, Sample in a Jar, Sugar Shack, Waste, Kill Devil Falls
Set 2: Boogie On, You Enjoy Myself > Undermind* > Drums* > Seven Below* > 2001*> Waves*, Character Zero*
Encore: Bittersweet Motel, Bouncing Around The Room, Slave To The Traffic Light
* with Bill Kreutzmann

Billy K 7 Fishman by John Redden

[youtube width=”560″ height=”340″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S_ih9bIwDc[/youtube]

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