Now that I’ve procrastinated on this for the last month, 2008 is over and 2009 is here. In keeping with the tradition I started last year, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite local / regional songs of the past year. Some of the songs are undoubtedly older than that, but these are all songs I discovered in 2008. And just like last year, I’d like to stress that these are in no particular order, as it would be impossible for me to say that any of these songs are worse or better than any of the others.
Laarks - All The Words – To my eternal shame, I somehow managed to leave Laarks off of last year’s list. Maybe I’ve just been playing more shows with them lately, but they’ve become my favorite Eau Claire band over the past few months. This particular song is my favorite song of theirs, featuring a perfect intro, a perfect melody, a perfectly catchy guitar part, and of course, Brian Moen on drums. For now you can only check out this song on their MySpace, but they’re planning on a self-release of their debut full-length in mid to late January, and they’ll probably be picked up by some sweet indie label soon after.
The Daredevil Christopher Wright - A Conversation About Cancer – Here’s another great Eau Claire band that I forgot about last year (more of the shame, please). I honestly don’t know how I did it, considering Daredevil has been a dominating presence in our indie scene for quite a bit more than just the past year, and will only continue to grow when they (finally) release their debut, “In Deference to a Broken Back,” sometime in 2009, hopefully sooner rather than later. You won’t be able to find this particular song on their MySpace, but they did an awesome session for Daytrotter
earlier in 2008 and you can find it there. Listen for sweet time signature changes, fast singing, and their signature three-part harmonies.
The Messenger Lay Asleep - Epiphany of the Artless – Phil Grey was my roommate last year in college, so I had the pleasure of listening to his electroacoustic creations for TMLA. He only finished and put up one song last year, but it makes the list on the strength of the drums alone. I know Phil has some other songs in the works, as well as a new project called Blessings, but I honestly have no idea if or when he’ll come back to this one.
The Gentle Guest - Love Long Dead - Full disclosure: I did play banjo on this track, and have performed with Eric Rykal’s latest incarnation of The Gentle Guest on occasion. Still, even without my extremely rudimentary banjo strumming, this song would easily make this list. Most of the songs on his latest release, “We Are Bound To Save Some Souls Tonight,” are fairly simple in terms of chord progressions, but this is the exception, and it more than works. You can pick up the whole album from Amble Down, but at the very least check out my favorite sax solo of all time (played by Simon Adler) at the end of Love Long Dead.
The Cloud Hymn - To The Postmodern Man – More full disclosure: I played a little bit of piano on this song, as well as a few others on the album. But the first version I ever heard of this song (as well as John’s others) was self-recorded and just had vocals and acoustic guitar. I loved it then, and Tani’s background vocals (added for the official album) make it just that much better. It was difficult for me to pick out my favorite of John’s songs, but this particular one won out for its melody (borrowed from my favorite Radiohead song, There There) and beautiful ending (John’s own genius). Look for the first album from The Cloud Hymn, “A Seed Buried In The Ground,” sometime this winter or spring.
We Are The Willows - The Windows – I first met Peter Miller at a Red Fox Grey Fox show, and have since been lucky to share the stage with him multiple times, both with Red Fox or his quieter indie project, We Are The Willows. Last year I featured a song called Galilea from his five song “Bravery” EP, and while he hasn’t had any official releases in 2008, he did post a demo of a song called The Windows that he’d been working on. Enough people have written about his voice, so I’ll bypass that and go straight to my favorite part of the song: the handclaps. Put simply, they are perfect. Even with all of the great music that has been made in the region in the past year, there hasn’t been much that has made me stop and say WOW, but that’s exactly what happened the first time I heard this song and the chorus kicked in. From what I’ve heard, he’s working on finishing up an EP, with the hopes of releasing it this year and then starting work on a full-length.
tanialyssa - Letting Me Off – I had the great honor of playing with Tani at a Cloud Hymn show, and since it was kind of a last minute thing, I spent the night before the show on her MySpace, listening to her songs over and over to learn them. I didn’t get to play on this particular song, but it ended up being the song I listened to most. She probably has songs that are “better” songs (Inside The Lines, etc), but I’m including this one on the list because the vocal take is the most perfect vocal take I’ve heard in the past year.
The Shouting Matches - Real Good Lover –While there was plenty of Justin Vernon to go around this year with Bon Iver, there actually was supposed to be more. Locals are already familiar with The Shouting Matches, a two-man wrecking crew made up of the aforementioned Vernon and drummer extraordinaire Brian Moen (of Laarks, etc fame). Their debut EP, Mouthoil, was due to be released on Amble Down Records, but was put on hold at the last second, even with copies pressed and a release show booked. Fortunately, some of the recorded material went up on their MySpace, and it does not disappoint. Vernon’s guitar prowess isn’t always on display in Bon Iver, but here he goes toe to toe with Moen, matching him blow for blow.
wake up poland, it's nine o'clock - chapter fourteen – Final bit of full disclosure: I am the other half of wake up poland, but this song is entirely Phil’s. For this project, Phil and I would take turns writing a song each week, and then we recorded it at two in the morning. Towards the end of the semester, we’d end up writing the song right before the recording deadline, and I specifically remember Phil hurriedly scribbling lyrics into his notebook for this one at about 1:45. I really like this song because it’s the smartest guitar part and best melody that he wrote for the project. My contributions to this song were minimal; I probably should have just let Phil play it solo. In any case, we’ve been offering a free digital download of the project from our MySpace, so feel free to grab a copy.
oh, discordia!- my roof’s the leaky sky – I’m not sure if this is a secret identity thing since there aren’t any names on the MySpace page, so I won’t reveal who it is, but I will say this: this song has the worst (best?) plays : greatness ratio I’ve ever seen. As I listen to it now, there are not quite forty plays total, and I’m guessing a good number of those are from me. The intro is brilliantly executed, the guitar solo maybe goes on just a touch too long, and the second half of the song makes me feel cool when I listen to it. This song is filled with texture, with all sorts of organs droning and guitars chiming. The ending is abrupt.