Top Twenty (+1) CDs of 2009

1. Ha Ha Tonka Novel Sounds of the Nouveaux South
2. Jon Dee Graham It’s Not as Bad as It Looks
3. Great Lake Swimmers Lost Channels
4. Chuck Prophet ¡Let Freedom Ring!
5. Bob Dylan Together Through Life
6. Monsters of Folk s/t
7. Grant Lee Phillips Little Moon
8. Joe Pernice It Feels So Good When I Stop
9. M Ward Hold Time
10. Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard One Fast Move or I’m Gone
11. inBOIL Daddy Tole Me
12. The Thermals Now We Can See
13. Bottle Rockets Lean Forward
14. Icarus Himself Coffins
15. Anders Parker Skyscraper Crow
16. Superdrag Giants of Industry
17. Bishop Allen Grrr…
18. Micah Schnabel When the Stage Lights Go Dim
19. Brendan Benson My Old Familiar Friend
20. eels Hombre Lobo
+1. Cheap Trick Sgt Pepper Live

Top Twenty (+1) Shows of 2009 (all venues Madison unless otherwise noted)

1. The Wrens/Palomar (early) The Bob Fields (late); December 3; Maxwell’s, Hoboken NJ
there were two shows this night, the early one featured 03’s The Meadowlands in its entirety, the second was simply mind blowing
2. Ha Ha Tonka/Ben Weaver/The Selfish Gene; May 1; The Frequency
they won me over with their live shows, and this was one of the best I’ve seen
3. Bob Dylan/Willie Nelson; July 1; Summerfest, Milwaukee
Charlie Sexton had rejoined the band(!) when I saw him in October, but this show was the best I’d seen from the legend in five years
4. The Bottle Rockets; July 23; Cranky Pat’s, Neenah
no opener, two sets, all the hits
5. Superdrag/25 Minutes To Go/Emotron; June 19; The Milestone Club, Charlotte NC
they were as amazing in this dingy little club as they were earlier in the year in front of a huge crowd at Chicago’s Metro
6. Ben Weaver/Nathaniel Seer; September 12; Kiki’s House of Righteous Music (KHoRM)
my favorite house concert this year, Weaver’s music needs to be heard in an environment like this
7. M. Ward/The Watson Twins; April 24; Pabst Theater, Milwaukee
Ward has a voice from another time, he gets better every time I see him
8. Jon Dee Graham & the Fighting Cocks; November 6; KHoRM
thankfully too ornery and hard-headed to die, Jon Dee is never better than he is in the basement
9. Grant Lee Phillips/Nelly McKay; December 5; Schubas, Chicago
his stunning voice and manic stage presence make Phillips a need to see performer
10. Great Lake Swimmers/Kate Maki/The Championship; April 23; High Noon Saloon (HNS)
every time Tony Dekker opens his mouth you can almost hear a heart break
11. Joe Pernice/Kate Boothman; September 11; Schubas
Pernice covered “Chim Chim Cheree” and was still amazing. His book is pretty good too
12. The Thermals/Shaky Hands/Point Juncture WA; April 28; HNS
the most unexpected mosh pit this year
13. Last Band Standing V (The Motorz/The Runners Up/Shazy Hade/Goat Radio); January 16; HNS
the Runners Up last show (I miss you guys), and sadly the only Motorz show this year
14. Hamell on Trial/inBOIL; March 25; KHoRM
perhaps the funniest show in the basement yet, SitA’s Phil and Elliott were the perfect openers
15. Peter Mulvey/Blake Thomas/Josh Harty; June 25; Folk on State
for the first time perfect weather, and Peter was hilarious
16. Sleeping in the Aviary; August 29; PA’s Lounge, Somerville, MA
worth the trip to see the look on this formerly local band’s faces, and they played a great show too
17. Daniel Johnston/Marty Finkel/Mark Waldoch; August 12; The Annex
it wasn’t always easy to watch, but it was great to see Johnston play a show
18. Monsters of Folk; October 30, 2009; Auditorium Theater, Chicago
almost three hours of amazing music, and later Conor Oberst introduced himself to me, really
19. Theodore/Jeremiah Nelson & the Achilles Heel; November 1; KHoRM
the most instruments I’ve seen in the basement, and Theodore made beautiful music with them
20. The Sadies/Chris Mills; November 28; The Hideout, Chicago
the Sadies still didn’t knock me out, but Mills’ old school trio was fantastic
+1. Bloodshot 15th Anniversary Beer-B-Q; August 23; Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis
my favorite label takes their show on the road featuring some of my favorite bands