First Quarter Music Report

I'm just about done digesting all the various writers I enjoy and their end-of-2008 "best of" lists. Yes, I'm slow, but there are also a lot of them out there.

One thing I've noticed is that by the end of the year, they tend to (forgivably) forget the great stuff from the beginning of the year, and end up with an unintentional bias toward later releases and those big ones from earlier in the year that caught a lot of buzz.

To avoid that, I've decided to do a first-quarter report, about what I like in 2009 so far. Here goes:

TOP ALBUMS:

1) Sholi
2) The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
3) Coconut Records, Davy
4) Cotton Jones, Paranoid Cocoon
5) Abe Vigoda, Reviver

BEST LIVE SHOW:

1) Phosphorescent @ Beachland
2) Tom and Leia (from the Afternoon Naps) acoustic @ Beachland
3) Dent May/Afternoon Naps @ Beachland
4) Cotton-Jones in-store @ Music Saves
5) Anya Marina @ the Winchester

(Note: Anyone who follows this might notice a lack of mention for The Black Lips. I was at their show the other night and had the misfortune of speaking with some of these guys afterwards, and they are such testoro-douches I'm just totally turned off of them right now. That being said, the new album is pretty great, and I'm pretty sure I'll be digging it out and playing it some time in the summer after my ADD causes me to forget I didn't like them as people. I hate when my critical appreciation gets outweighed by my personal preferences, but whatever - I'm not a professional.)

EAGERLY ANTICIPATED RELEASES:

1) Jason Lytle
2) Wavves
3) Harlem Shakes
4) Papercuts
5) Akron/Family

EAGERLY ANTICIPATED LIVE SHOWS:

1) Dinosaur Jr. @ Akron Musica
2) Ra Ra Riot/Cut Off Your Hands/Passion Pit @ Akron Musica
3) Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Grog Shop
4) Jon Ganoli @ B-Side
5) Pains of Being Pure At Heart/Afternoon Naps @ Beachland
BONUS: Vetiver/Papercuts @ Beachland