THE BEST LIVE ACTS OF TWO THOUSAND AND NINE
In 2009, I saw 482 sets from 389 different acts, mostly because I’m a failure as a human being. Here’s the Top 50: 50. LEONARD COHEN (Coachella Festival, Indio, California)An overwrought schmaltz-fest for much of its duration, but there's simply no beating Cohen, still impeccably stylish in his mid-70's, crooning “Hallelujah” at sunset in the middle of the Californian desert.
49. DM STITH (London Hoxton Hall)The ramshackle Victorian splendour of Hoxton Hall was the perfect fit for Dan Stith's eerie, Jeff Buckley-esque vocals and haunting piano melodies- it's just a shame more people weren't there to witness it. Plus, he had Marla Hansen in his band and I think I love her. <3
48. MODEST MOUSE (Ten Years of ATP, Minehead)Ditching Marr was the best thing that could have happened. Their dire Royal Albert Hall gig nearly put me off Modest Mouse for life, but despite Isaac Brock's faltering vocals they had a purpose and tightness here that was solely lacking in '07. No “Float On” though :-(
47. TAKEN BY TREES (London Garage)
Taken by Twee. Former Concretes songstress Victoria Bergsman lent her cool, evocative vocals to gentle, ethnic-tinged melodies, with cute projections and a fantastic Animal Collective cover completing the thoroughly charming package.
46. BEACH HOUSE (London Fleapit)Mediocre at the beautiful Union Chapel, but excellent at this obscure shoebox-sized sweatpit, Beach House appear to be more suited to intimate venues. The new “Teen Dream” material takes their ethereal dream-pop to new levels of swoonworthiness, with the divine “Walk In The Park” the standout.
45. MONO (London Scala)It's post-rock Jim, and exactly as we know it. But whilst the Japanese four-piece may not the advance the genre in the slightest, they certainly know how to rock the ridiculously epic crescendos.
44. YNDI HALDA (London Union Chapel)Having never heard the Canterbury post-rockers before, this daytime session at Union Chapel came as a very pleasant surprise. Think Hope of the States at their most cinematic, but with more cool bell-type things.
(Photo: Christoph! (Flickr))43. GOD HELP THE GIRL (London 100 Club)Literally the twee-ist thing that has ever happened. God Help The Girl are basically Belle and Sebastian with three female singers, and if that concept floats your boat (as it did mine) you'll be in pastel-tinged heaven.
42. DEVO (ATP Vs. The Fans Festival, Minehead)Q. Are We But Men?! A. WE ARE DEVO! The fact that the flowerpot-hatted ones still look like they're enjoying themselves 35 years on is impressive enough, but their flair for entertainment and well-honed musicianship sets an example younger bands should take heed of.
41. FUCK BUTTONS (Ten Years of ATP Festival, Minehead)To appropriate a quote I overheard elsewhere at the festival, “it was like a full body sonic massage, mate.” Euphoric stuff.
40. CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX (London Dingwalls)Their orchestral show in Bristol over-egged the pudding, but their ill-attended Dingwalls gig combined post-rock, prog and a sardonic sense of humour to great effect. Bloody loud too.
(Photo: Adam Elmahdi)39. AMANDA PALMER (Coachella Festival, Indio, California)Crowdsurfing through a packed tent to the strains of “Ride of the Valkyries,” the Dresden Dolls' frontwoman proceeded to perch on a audience member's shoulders and play “Creep” on a ukulele. Say what you like about the woman, but she's certainly got
style.
38. PORTUGAL. THE MAN (London Madame Jojo's)Subtlety be damned! What we want is hysterical vocals, six minute guitar solos and the world's most enthusiastic bassist. Ridiculous, but in the best possible way.
37. THE FIERY FURNACES (London Cargo) Not as obtuse as it could have been. True, it takes a while to work out which song the band is playing at any given time but the straightforward rock interpretations of their back catalogue works surprisingly well, and their sense of rhythm, offbeat as their time signatures may be, is impeccable.
36. PYRAMIDDD (London Flowerpot)Pfft, they'll always be Starfucker in my eyes. Imagine if MGMT's live shows didn't involve a couple of drug-addled, vacant-eyed karaoke merchants squandering goodwill like piss on a garage wall, and were actually, you know, fun.
(Photo: Maximillian.Garth (Flickr)) 35. TITUS ANDRONICUS (London Hoxton Bar & Kitchen)It's a shame they refuse to play the festival circuit, because such messy, passionate, punky indie-rock deserves a far bigger audience. The end of “Fear And Loathing In Mahwah, NJ” sounds like Sigur Ros fighting the Pogues in a downtown bar, and for that reason alone you should check them out.
34. HANDSOME FURS (London Garage)Dan Boeckner's cracked rock star yowling and Alexei Perry's manic intensity give the Handsome Furs their viscerality, but it's their obvious affection for each other that provides their emotional heart. Aww.
33. EFTERKLANG (London Barbican)Their smaller shows may be more fun, but Parades performed in conjunction with the Britten Sinfonetta was as glacially beautiful as you'd expect. “Mirador” and “Cutting Ice To Snow” were particularly lovely, and the debut airing of “Modern Drift” an unexpected treat.
32. MUSIC GO MUSIC (London ICA)The Seventies were done and dusted long before I was born, not that you'd be able to tell from this retro-tastic performance. A star turn from Meredith Metcalf, whose down to earth charm contrasted nicely with her powerhouse vocals, ensured Music Go Music’s shamelessly camp ABBA revivalism was more than just a guilty pleasure.
31. ANDREW BIRD (London Shepherd's Bush Empire)Musical demi-god Andrew Bird strums, whistles, fiddles and loops his way through the most consistent set I've seen him do. His reinvention of old material (including a brilliant new arrangement for “Dark Matter”) keeps things fresh, and the new “Noble Beast” songs displayed the same marvellous ear for melody we’ve come to know and love.
30. BISHOP ALLEN (London Barden's Boudoir)Simple formula, marvellous results. Bishop Allen's tweetastic indie-pop shouldn't be as good as it is, but there's something effortlessly charming about what they do and the generous smattering of “Broken String” material really made my day.
29. GRIZZLY BEAR (ATP Vs. The Fans Festival, Minehead)Their fancy-schmancy show with the LSO may have got all the hype, but to be honest I thought their regular set up was more impressive. I maintain their harmonies tend to be stronger than their actual songwriting, but when they hit the motherlode with “Knife” and “Two Weeks” there's no denying they're something special.
28. I’M FROM BARCELONA (London Favela Chic)If you've seen I'm From Barcelona once, you've seen them a hundred times. But if you're a sucker for balloons and confetti and chirpy major-key melodies and crowdsurfing frontmen and pretending to be a treehouse (which I clearly am), then their lack of variety is a moot point.
27. MONOTONIX (London Scala)Here's a tip: when holding up drum kits for mentalist Israeli punks, ensure your finger doesn't get caught in between the metalwork because it REALLY REALLY HURTS. Then again, I should consider myself lucky for getting away so lightly, for Monotonix are not so much a band as a force of fucking nature.
(Photo: John Gleeson)26. THE ANTLERS (London 229)The heartbreakingly bleak narrative of “Hospice” is movingly recreated by the remarkably talented Brooklyn three-piece, whose layers of reverb and muscular drumming serve only to accentuate the emotion in Peter Silberman's breathtaking lyrics. The 229 show was the strongest of the five times I saw them, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention their unbelievable “Epilogue” at Bush Hall.
25. tUnE-YaRdS (London Scala)Merrill Garbus combines her soulful, dexterous vocals with tribal drumming and a loop pedal to produce something quite unlike anything I've ever heard before. Unique, offbeat and rather brilliant.
24. DEERHOOF (London Scala)Tiny Japanese women yelping about pandas, basslines that shift between angular mathrock and all-out funk, and Greg Saunier flailing about like an enraged octopus...man, I love Deerhoof. And so should you.
(Photo: John Gleeson) 23. BELL ORCHESTRE (London Garage)The climax of Icicles/Bicycles was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. Rest of the show wasn't bad either, although seeing Richard Reed Parry and Sarah Neufeld in action made me miss Arcade Fire so very much.
22. M83 (Pitchfork Festival, Chicago)Dreamy shoegaze peddlers M83 may not seem like a natural fit for festivals, but with Anthony Gonzales cranking up the bass and Morgan Kibby looking and acting increasingly like Karen O by the day they proved to be the highlight of the whole Pitchfork weekend. There's something about “Kim and Jessie” that makes me feel like I'm in a John Hughes film...
21. GANG OF FOUR (ATP: Curated By The Breeders Festival, Minehead)Gang of Four's taut, groove-heavy post punk may have been delivered with a brutal, angular efficiency that put their younger rivals to shame, but my enduring memory is watching frontman Jon King smash a microwave to smithereens with a baseball bat. I'm simple like that.
20. ZUN ZUN EGUI (London Luminaire)The Bristolian band have been variously described as “tropical grunge” and “bhangra funk” which suggests whatever they are, they’re not your garden-variety indie band. One would have mistaken the lead singer for your average punter until he started ululating wildly in the middle of the audience, as the drum and bass slowly built to a luminescent climax half Fela Kuti, half Deerhoof. With the British indie scene clogged to the gills with over-earnest folk-rock gubbins, it’s heartening to see a UK band with the balls to do something different.
19. SOAP & SKIN (London Purcell Rooms)From the harrowing scream that punctuates “Spiracle,” to the haunting a capella rendition of a Holocaust survivors’ anthem, there’s a darkness to the work of 19-year-old Anja Plaschg that sets her well apart from her peers. Her vocals veer between shimmering delicacy and steely Teutonic harshness, and there’s an unhinged quality to her intensity that’d be unsettling if not for her strong sense of the theatrical. A remarkable performance from an outstanding new talent.
18. DIRTY PROJECTORS (London Scala)Occasionally infuriating, mostly brilliant. The extra female vocalists boosted their celestial harmonising to new and breathtaking levels, and David Longstreth’s avant-garde guitar work continues to astonish. Who’d have thought they’d have been able to do R&B so well though?
17. AMIINA (London St. Leonard's Church)A bewitchingly ethereal set from the all-female Icelandic instrumentalists, soundtracking the wonderful 1920's silhouette animations of Lotte Reiniger in a candlelit church in Shoreditch. A perfect festive treat, and a delightful epilogue to a sublime year of gigs.
(Photo: Weilin Wang (Flickr))16. MÚM (Ten Years of ATP Festival, Minehead)They asked us to sing along, and sing along we did. An outstanding performance from the cheery Icelanders, which struck the perfect balance between their experimental, glitchier early stuff and the playfully effervescent chamber pop of new. “Green Grass of Tunnel” complete with Sigur Ros style wall-of-noise ending was perhaps my single favourite musical moment of any of the ATP’s.
15. BURAKA SOM SISTEMA (Coachella Festival, Indio, California)If you can get a whole tent pogo-ing at half 4 in the afternoon, you must be doing something right. Twenty five minutes of sweaty, revelatory hip-hop/electronica/rave insanity from the half-Portuguese, half-Angolan collective.
14. AFRIRAMPO (Ten Years of ATP Festival, Minehead)Two Japanese ladies dressed like the dancing girls from Gogol Bordello make the audience scream weird, incoherent noises whilst contorting their body into letters of the alphabet, conduct a sing-along of “Happy Birthday” to ATP, talk utter nonsense in broken English, and perform some of the wildest, tightest off-kilter rock 'n roll ever seen in Minehead. Like Lightning Bolt-meets-Deerhoof-meets-an otaku wet dream, they may look and act shambolic, but there's real skill and complexity at the heart of Oni and Pikachu's rhythmic cacophonising. Baffling, bizarre and utterly brilliant.
(Photo: John Gleeson)13. THE DECEMBERISTS (London Coronet)Colin Meloy and co. can be a bit hit-and-miss, but this epic performance saw the Portland band at the height of their powers. Their uninterrupted play-through of “rock-opera” The Hazards of Love was perfectly delivered, and a more playful second half concluded with a wonderful “Mariners Revenge,” where the audience was asked to pretend they were being eaten by a whale. I felt my flailing and girlish screaming was particularly authentic.
12. BATTLES (Ten Years of ATP Festival, Minehead)FUCKING BATTLES! BOOM BOOM BOOM! Delivering a set of mostly new material, it's good to see that the next album won't simply be a rehash of Mirrored. More accessible and, well, danceable than their old stuff, there's a vaudeville lightheartedness to several of the tracks that's sure to split opinion. But despite the increased prominence of Tyondai Braxton's vocals, there's no denying the star of the show's still John Stanier, assaulting his drum kit with a measured, mechanical precision that's terrifying/awesome to behold. And yeah, Atlas is still brilliant
11. SPIRITUALIZED (London Royal Festival Hall)Performing their seminal “Ladies And Gentleman, We Are Floating In Space” LP in its entirety, this was naturally just as inconsistent and meandering as the album. But hearing the title track and Come Together with 20 musicians and a 12-piece gospel choir was an experience one won't forget in a hurry, and the strobes during “Electricity” were so transcendentally intense I started seeing colours I'm sure don't actually exist.
(Photo: John Gleeson)10. THE NATIONAL (London Royal Festival Hall)The National may not be the most innovative live band around but they’re certainly one of the most reliable- the fact I’ve seen them nine times now and I’m still not bored suggests they’re doing something right. Exceptional song-writing, fantastic musicians, great stuff.
(Photo: Weilin Wang (Flickr))9. THE FLAMING LIPS (London Troxy)It's difficult to place the Flaming Lips in a list like this. For whilst half the show consists of Wayne Coyne massaging his over-large ego and spouting endless streams of cod-philosophical bollocks, the other half is so stupidly joyous that I can't help but be reduced to a state of child-like glee. An uncharacteristically downbeat setlist seemed at odds with all the multi-coloured confetti and giant balloons, but I was personally overjoyed to hear “Pompeii und Gotterdammerung,” and “Do You Realize?!” continues to be one of the best set closers of all time.
(Photo: Valido (Flickr))8. MY BLOODY VALENTINE (Coachella Festival, Indio, California)You know, I actually heard “You Made Me Realise's” 20-minute wall of white noise shift into the coda this time round- at the Roundhouse, my ears were just too wounded to accept sound any more. This is thanks to the miracle-makers at Coachella, who achieved a crystal-clear sound mix without sacrificing the punishing decibel-levels we've come to expect (and while this may break the tenets of the Orthodox Church of Shoegaze, I thought being able to hear the vocals was kinda nice).
7. ST. VINCENT (London ICA)Annie Clark solo can be frustrating and pretentious; Annie Clark with a couple of guitarists; a bit bland. Annie Clark with a proper band with saxophones and bass and all – fucking sublime.
(Photo: Leah Pritchard)6. YEAH YEAH YEAHS (Ten Years of ATP Festival, Minehead)When Karen O's on form, few can match her for charisma, vitality and downright sexiness, and this performance of “Fever To Tell” was elevated a hundredfold by her mesmerising stage presence. It was also one of the more energetic sets of the year, with me ending up on the other side to the Pavillion to where I started, having lost my MP3 player in the process.
(Photo: tnarik (Flickr)) 5. SUNSET RUBDOWN (London Garage)They played Mending Of The Gown, You Go On Ahead and The Men Are Called Horseman There in succession. The rest of the set could have been Scouting For Girls covers for all I cared, and it still would have made my top 5.
(Photo: John Gleeson)4. DAVID BYRNE (London Royal Festival Hall)If the sight of David Byrne in a white tutu wasn't enough to catapult this into the higher echelons of my end-of-year list, the fact he got the whole (all-seated) RFH on their feet and dancing before the half-way mark stands testament to his brilliance. Inventive choreography, excellent arrangements and a liberal sprinkling of Talking Heads material- what more could you want?
3. PONYTAIL (Primavera Festival, Barcelona)A small creature of indeterminate gender yelps wildly, bounding energetically around the Pitchfork stage at 1 in the morning. Amazingly intricate guitar lines fizzle with creativity and vitality, held together by exceptionally tight drumming. Relatively few people seem prepared to miss MBV for this little known Baltimore band, but for my money Kevin Shields was thoroughly outclassed here. Ponytail's latest album is called “Ice Cream Spiritual,” and it suits them perfectly- lighthearted but epiphanal, brilliant fun but with substance under all the high-pitched squealing. Though the crowd was modest, there was a real sense of atmosphere- they were clearly putting on the performance of their lives, and the audience were responding in kind. Best festival set of the year, bar none.
2. WILDBIRDS AND PEACEDRUMS (London Union Chapel)The Swedish husband-and-wife duo have consistently impressed since I first saw them at the Luminaire last year, but I reckon this set was as close to a religious experience as I'll ever get in a church. Mariam's husky, soulful vocals and Andreas' peerless jazz drumming are remarkable by any standards, but it's their riveting, breathtaking passion that elevates them to the very top tier of live acts. “My Heart” with its steel drum coda was sublime but Today/Tomorrow, accentuated by the wonderful acoustics of Union Chapel was just something else entirely- the best individual gig moment of the year, and one of the most astounding things I've ever heard.
(Photo: Kata Rokkar (Flickr)) 1. THE DAN DEACON ENSEMBLE (San Francisco Great American Music Hall)The ULU show may have been better overall, but seeing one of my favourite acts for the first time- and in San Francisco no less- made this, without a doubt, the most memorable gig of 2009. Dan Deacon doesn’t do things by half-measures when it comes to audience participation- even with a broken arm, he directed a cavalcade of madness which resulted in a frenzied dance-off, the entire crowd running circuits round the GAMH and a shifting archway of people that snaked its way through the entire venue, including backstage. In between the antics, the atmosphere was no less anarchic with the whole venue going bat-shit mental for old favourites like “The Crystal Cat” and “Paddling Ghost,” and of course there was the 14-piece ensemble that impeccably recreated “Bromst” in all its glory (the percussion in particular was phenomenal). If the quality of a show can be measured by the number of people leaving with grins on their face, then this would be a contender for the greatest gig ever. In reality, it wasn’t quite on the same level as Bjork, Arcade Fire and Sigur Ros, but in terms of euphoria induced it came respectably close.
(Unless otherwise stated, photos by Anika Mottershaw)
