A couple months back, we pointed you to “Ascending Melody” which appeared on the UK release of the “Temecula Sunrise” EP. Now the Dirty Projectors have decided to release “Ascending Melody” for their US fans. They are giving away the single, backed with “Emblem of the World, for free. But you can still purchase a physical copy if you’re inclined to do so.
Download the virtual 7″ below: Continue reading →
Artwork by the talented and generous Adam Sarpalius.
The final list is here. We have been working on this Absolute (sarcasm) Best Songs of 2009 list all year, updating it at the end of every quarter. I was only going to have PMA’s Top 50 of the year listen, but I couldn’t narrow it down beyond the top 75. This list will represent and acknowledge some of the artists I felt had to be left out of our Best Albums of 2009 list.
As always, I upheld only one rule while making this list: a song cannot be on this list, unless it was released as a single. As a reminder, here is my definition of the word “single” — 1) A song that has been given away for free to promote an upcoming album (known as a promotional single). 2) A song that has been played on TV or the radio (two of the largest mediums of discovering new music). 3) A song with its own music video and/or EP. 4) Loophole: an album-track that has attracted enormous amounts of attention that it’s become that artist’s “calling card” of sorts.
I want to thank everyone who takes the time to leave a comment, even if its obvious that you came here through Google (PMA pops up when you google “Best Songs of 2009″). As always, don’t be shy to share your personal favorites of the year. Trust me when I tell you I didn’t go out of my way to list all of your favorite songs of the year, so if you want those songs represented, list them yourselves in the comments. I also want to thank the wonderful contributors this site has for helping me with this list. And finally, Adam Sarpalius, whose work as graced this list since July.
Now, onto the Top 75: Continue reading →
Photo by Sarah Cass
NYCtaper recorded this 90-minute set by the Dirty Projectors from their recent gig at the Bowery Ballroom. I recently saw the Dirty Projectors live, leaving quite disappointed (in the venue mostly). Listening to this superb set, complete with appearances by David Byrne and the Roots. As you might recall, Byrne collaborated with Dirty Projectors on the fantastic “Knotty Pine” for Dark Was The Night (one of our favorite releases of the year). You can download the entire set over at NYCtaper (via Pitchfork). The tracklist is as follows: Continue reading →
Artwork by Brian Kuperman
2009 was an exceptional last year in an exceptional decade for music. In 2009 we were bombarded with solid release after great release after epic release throughout the entire year (upfront: I didn’t listen to every album released in 2009), so narrowing my picks for the best albums of the year was not easy. Nonetheless, I have here Pretty Much Amazing’s 25 best albums of the 2009.
At the end of this list, you will have the chance to enter the last PMA contest of 2009. I will be giving away — courtesy of my wallet, unless someone wants to sponsor 
— a copy of every album on this list on vinyl (or CD, at winner’s request) in a Vinyl is Forever Tote Bag, along with a poster featuring one of the listed artists of their choice, and a custom one year subscription to Paste Magazine. More details on that at the end of the list. Continue reading →
We are finally here. The decade’s closing year. Over these 11 months we’ve heard some groundbreaking music from old and new favorites. As always, the shortlist for 2009 won’t please all of you, but we are trying our best to capture the zeitgeist in music in 2009. Please vote for your favorite of the bunch:
A. The Antlers – Hospice
B. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
C. The Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
D. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
E. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
F. The xx – xx
G. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
H. Japandroids – Post-Nothing
I. Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Plague Lovers
J. Passion Pit – Manners
A quick note on my apparent memory loss: a top ten list is just that — ten albums. For this specific one, like the other polls, I turned to prominent music critics to select albums that really captured music fans in 2009. But in a year where dozens of great albums were released, a majority of them are bound to get snubbed.
Photo by Filkoe
I saw Tune-Yards (not TuNe-YaRdS, as I’m afraid of my shift key) open for the Dirty Projectors last week while visiting the cold and wet Salt Lake City. I had no idea who they (I later found out it was just a she) were, but the gorgeous, all-over-the-spectrum noises this woman was making, all on her own, mind you, was downright awesome.
As Merrill Garbus (the woman) banged and bellowed and wailed through her set, I excitedly tweeted about the excellence my ears were treated to. I’ll be honest, this folk-inspired for-real DIY lo-fi music does sound about a hundred times better live than it does on your headphones, so I implore you to check her out live with the Dirty Projectors, if you can. They will be playing Boston, November 17th, New York City November 18th (Bowery), 19th 21th (Music Hall of W.), and 22nd (Bowery, again).
These are my favorite tracks off Tune-Yards’ debut album Bird-Brains:
MP3: Tune-Yards – Fiya
MP3: Tune-Yards – Hatari
MP3: Tune-Yards – Jumping Jack
Buy her debut album BiRd-BrAiNs and other releases at InSound. Stream the entire album below: Continue reading →
The blipster of the Knowles family and Queen B’s little sister Solange took the time to cover one of my favorite songs of the year, and I’ll love her eternally for it. Her “Stillness Is The Move” cover is built one of the most recognizable Dr. Dre samples out there (yes, that funky, ear-bending “XXplosive” twang).
Major props to Pitchfork for finally dropping this one. I’ve been dying to hear it ever since Solange tweeted about it back in July! Listen and download to the cover after the jump. Continue reading →
Dirty Projectors just released an EP for their track “Temecula Sunrise” that will also include another Bitte Orca track “Cannibal Resource”. From the EP, we do receive two exclusive tracks that did not make it on their album release. Unfortunately for those Stateside, the EP is only being released in the UK, but we do have “Ascending Melody” available for you and we think that it is just amazing.
It’s a jam session where the vocals harmonize sweetly and the guitars are complicated and add a nice flair to a vocally driven track. By the end you’re clapping along as if you were there for the session. Listen to the track below and just enjoy the experience of “Ascending Melody”. Continue reading →
Discovery
LP
XL
out July 7th
86/100
[Rating Scale]
[rating:86/100]
With the recent passing of Michael Jackson, every blog I read had some kind of eulogy to the king of pop – by the same writers who, a post earlier, had extolled the music of Dirty Projectors or Grizzly Bear or Animal Collective, or by musicians whose work seems worlds apart from Jackson’s. We might see indie music and pop music as worlds apart, but the trick is not to think of indie music as a reactionary measure, but as a division of pop music that is just less well-known. I feel like sometimes in our day and age people have a genre allegiance that thoroughly blinds them – a weird pretentious image, “too good for pop music.” “Too hip for pop music.” When you think about this, I’m sure you can realize how useless it is. Where would any of us be without pop music? There would be nothing without pop music. None of us is too good for the music we grew up with, and the music that inspired every musician we know.
In short, pop music is not a crime, and what I’ve been getting at this whole time is that Discovery’s LP is not a crime and it is perfect summer pop music. What’s wrong with that?
Just a note, the PMA Rating scale has been updated. Because it now extends to most tracks as well, you will be seeing big, bold, red ratings often and you should probably educate yourself and know what they mean. See the scale here. Thank you.
There is so much music out there and so little time to talk about it! So every time I feel there’s a build up of some songs I genuinely like that aren’t being represented here at PMA, I will do one of these bulk posts, limiting my comments on the song to 50 words. Think of this as an indescript playlist.
This time I’ll be focusing on songs by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Sounds, The Antlers, Dirty Projectors, and Fools Gold Continue reading →
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