Best albums of the year

Attack In Black – Years (By One Thousand Fingertips)
Bruce Peninsula – A Mountain is A Mouth
Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Ohbijou – Beacons
Portugal. The Man – The Satanic Satanist
The Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns
Timber Timbre – Timber Timbre
Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
The Wooden Sky – If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone

I wasn’t kidding when I said I listened to a lot of Canadian music this year. Only 4 of those artists aren’t Canadian.  While The Rural Alberta Advantage’s album didn’t technically come out this year, I definitely got into them way after everyone, so I had to include it. And Wilco’s latest album is nowhere near as good as previous efforts (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost Is Born, Summer Teeth) but it’s still Wilco.

Honorable mentions

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillon
As Tall As Lions – You Can’t Take It With You
Daniel, Fred & Julie – Daniel, Fred & Julie
Evening Hymns – Spirit Guides
Fun. – Aim and Ignite
Gentleman Reg – Jet Black
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Jonsi & Alex – Riceboy Sleeps
Jordaan Mason & The Horse Museum – Divorce Lawyers, I Shaved My Head
Julie Doiron – I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
Mew – No More Stories Are Told Today, I’m Sorry, They Washed Away
mewithoutYou – It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright
The Most Serene Republic – … And The Ever Expanding Universe
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Regina Spektor – Far
Said The Whale – Islands Disappear
St. Vincent – Actor
Tegan & Sara – Sainthood

Best EPs of the year

Bon Iver – Blood Bank
Animal Collective – Fall Be Kind
The Wilderness of Manitoba – Hymns of Love and Spirits

Best songs of the year

Diamond Rings – All Yr Songs
Florence + The Machine – Dog Days Are Over
Girls – Lust For Life
Great Lake Swimmers – Still
Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
Joel Plaskett – Through & Through & Through
La Roux – Bulletproof
Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
Matt & Kim – Daylight
Passion Pit – Little Secrets

What can I say… I’m a sucker for fun, dance music.

Best videos of the year

Diamond Rings – All Yr Songs
Attack In Black – Liberties
Ohbijou – New Years
Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
The Most Serene Republic – Heavens To Purgatory

Diamond Rings, again?! That’s right. The first time I saw this video and heard the song, I fell in love. I loved it so much I showed it to all my friends, housemates – anyone who would listen.  They all loved it too. Props to Colin Medley for creating this gem!

Best concerts of the year

Owen Pallett @ Hillside Festival – the entire festival should count as the best show I went to this year, but I feel like that would be cheating. Watching Owen Pallett play in the rain and thunder is probably the most memorable moment, and one of the best performances I’ve witnessed.
Fleet Foxes @ Metropolis
Wilco @ Massey Hall
Broken Social Scene @ Harbourfront
Bruce Peninsula @ Music Gallery

]]> http://www.dtrwebzine.com/?feed=rss2&p=1352 0 http://www.dtrwebzine.com/?p=1345 http://www.dtrwebzine.com/?p=1345#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:57:42 +0000 Marine Gobert http://www.dtrwebzine.com/?p=1345 July 30, 2009: Incubus – Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto

A broad variety of musical performances spanned the three days, from Native American activist Buffy Sainte-Marie to ethereal Celtic star Loreena McKennitt to Canadian R&B performer Divine Brown, from percussionist Gurpreet Chana to lesbian folk comedian Kate Reid to storm-battling violinist Owen Pallett, and many indie, folky, spooky, spoken, and soulful acts in between.
In the midst of all this outdoorsy, musical loveliness, there were some crappy elements. Cultural appropriation seemed to be a bit of an underlying (and sometimes overt) theme.

While the drumming and dance coordinated by members of the aboriginal community in Guelph were an important and beautiful part of the weekend, other things, such as the white women wearing leather-fringed Pocahontas garb to the drum and social dance, the white shirtless dudes and synthetic dreadlocked girls dancing “tribally” around the late-night fires, and the over-sized “Native Status Card” with a cut-out framed by black braids for people to insert their faces in, were a little unsettling.

Plenty of workshops were offered throughout the weekend on topics such as stone balancing, collective movement, yoga, healing, urban homesteading, aikido, bellydance, bike repair for women, tattooing and piercing, and anal play. Sadly, neither the body mod or backdoor workshops offered demonstrations. It was a family event, to be fair.

The environmentally-conscious festival was well-organized, with a truck full of free, clean water that was served all weekend instead of bottled water, reusable dishes and cutlery for all food served there, and a great staff of volunteers scrubbed non-stop. Accessible seating in the shade for seniors, disabled people, pregnant women and parents with young children was available in front of the main stage.

The food was delicious, healthy, plentiful, and not terribly overpriced. African peanut stew, Kiwi nachos, Carribean vegan chickpea sandwiches, organic ice cream, and creamy, cold, hyper-making drinking chocolate were just some of the many tasty options to choose from.

And one of the best things about camping on an “island” for a muddy three-day musical festival? Many of the performers camped there, too. Maybe they slept in warm trailers rather than tents with puddles, but they could be spotted walking around, watching other artists perform, eating beside you at a picnic table, partaking in the hula hooping workshop, and slipping in the wet grass. It was pretty charming.

Day 1 photos
Day 2 photos
Day 3 photos