While Uncle Joe is best known as one of America's top Classic Rock historians, throughout his 40-year career he's always been acutely aware of current trends in the music industry. Indeed, Classic Rock itself was the finest new music of its day, composed and performed by artists at their creative peak. For a scholarly insight into today's trends, J.B. presents Rave's Raves.
Rave's Raves are composed by Bruce Ravid, a veteran of Capitol Record's A&R Department and in no way reflect the official viewpoint of Uncle Joe, his staff or management. They are written from Rave's industry viewpoint, originally for friends within the music business, but now shared with the world. New editions appear in April/May, August/September, and December with occasional updates in between. And don't miss checking out the Rave's Raves website! Enjoy!
December 2009
***RAVE'S RAVES #37***
RAVE'S FAVES (on the air)
Muse, Cage the Elephant, Hockey, Vampire Weekend ("Cousins", "White Sky"), The Big Pink ("Dominos"), Dead Man's Bones ("Pa Pa Power"), Fanfarlo ("I'm A Pilot"), Girls ("Laura"), Devendra Banhart ("16th and Valencia Roxy Music"), Airborne Toxic Event, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Florence + the Machine (XX remix of "You've Got the Love" and other tracks by her), Editors, The XX ("Crystalized"), VV Brown ("Crying Blood"), Them Crooked Vultures ("Scumbag Blues").
If no specific tracks are listed, I'm favoring various tracks by these artists. As of this writing, "Uprising" by Muse has been the most-played song on U.S. alternative stations for the past 14 weeks! Talk about a perfect radio track that is also very cool. Cage are on their second hit and may have more on their very deep album. These two Vampire Weekend advance tunes provide hope that their sophomore effort will be a step forward. Dead Man's Bones is an L.A. band that uses a local choir and gives their "Pa Pa Power" the feel of "Kids" by MGMT. The remix of the Florence song can be a mainstream pop hit in the U.S. with the right edit, and the track is already doing well in the U.K. Editors new album will be more synth-oriented, and The XX from the U.K. are rising stars in the indie-electro world. VV Brown is another great singer in the line of British birds sounding retro. "Scumbag Blues" sure sounds lots like Cream from the Sixties.
TOP ALBUMS OF 2009
The Bird and the Bee – "Ray Guns Are Not the Future"
Brendan Benson – "My Old Familiar Friend"
Cage the Elephant – "Cage the Elephant"
Jet – "Shaka Rock"
Late Of the Pier – "Fantasy Black Channel"
Lilly Allen – "It's Not Me, It's You"
Matt & Kim – "Grand"
Morrissey – "Years Of Refusal"
Muse – "The Resistance"
Phoenix – "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"
White Lies – "To Lose My Life"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – "It's Blitz"
These CD's are listed in alphabetical order, as the world becomes more and more track-oriented. If I have a #1, it would be Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They altered their sound and still came up with a huge win. It's interesting to note that only the Muse disc was released towards the end of the year. The Jet album seemed to have never really gotten a chance and was underrated. White Lies are huge in the U.K. and I feel would have done better here if the track "Unfinished Business" was released as a single.
TOP TRACKS OF 2009
1) Muse – "Uprising"
2) Friendly Fires – "Kiss Of Life"
3) Pet Shop Boys – "All Over the World"
4) Vampire Weekend – "Cousins"
5) Hockey – "Too Fake"
6) Metric – "Gimme Sympathy"
7) White Lies – "Unfinished Business"
8) Noisettes – "Never Forget You"
9) Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – "Home"
10) VV Brown – "Crying Blood"
11) Neko Case – "Don't Forget Me"
12) Wilco – "You Never Know"
13) Care Bears On Fire – "I'm Not Like Everybody Else"
I know. "Uprising" has been a mainstream #1 song forever but hey, it's perfect for what it is. The rest of these tracks received airplay at least on some level. The biggest reaction song of 2009 on my Go Deep shows was one where I broke character and played a track not yet available in the U.S. It was "Going to the Casino (Tomorrow Night)" by the Aussie band Philadelphia Grand Jury. I believe the band will be at SXSW in Austin this March and will play some other US dates as well.
LIVE
Following an extended November vacation when a bunch of shows came through that I wanted to see, my only national-level live gig these couple of months was Zero 7 at the Orpheum in L.A. They're very good at what they do. The band's evolution has become less my glass of wine, but they did very nicely with the sold-out crowd. This is an ideal venue for this kind of show. Looking back over this year, Friendly Fires struck me as the fastest-rising concert band in terms of onstage power, while Matt & Kim put on some of the most fun shows I've seen in ages.
TOPS ON LATE-NIGHT TV
(November 2 - December 19)
Letterman: The Cribs
Conan: 30 Seconds To Mars
Kimmel: Weezer, Band Of Skulls, Passion Pit
Carson Daly: La Roux, The XX, The Gossip
Fallon: Ronnie Spector
SNL: Muse
...and...
My band of the decade is Muse. That doesn't sound too adventurous now, but I was turned on to them early in the decade when Breakfast With the Beatles' Chris Carter used to play "Muscle Museum" on his old Y-107 new music show. That song was a true indicator of what Muse would become and I'm honored to have been on their wagon way ahead of time. Thanks to Chris! The rest is history of course, with the band releasing three of my favorite albums. Their "Hysteria" is probably my #1 disc over the past ten years. I got to see their amazing live shows when they were still in clubs... I'm just now thinking of working on a top of the decade list after all, so stay tuned for that... Among my musical highlights of the 2009 year was the plethora of positive retro sounds coming from such people as Noisettes, La Roux, Ladyhawke, VV Brown and Glasvegas... Informed sources in the U.K. feel that the most of the newly influential sounds coming from that region in 2010 will be on the electronic side... My next WSUM Rave-A-Thon will be Wednesday, January 13th. Keep an eye on my website for specific times, but we're anticipating an 8-hour show concentrating on great new music, beginning at 11am EST... I continue to record my monthly Go Deep webcasts for friends, and the playlists are on site's broadcast page. I can't post the links on the site due to licensing restrictions, but let me know if you have questions about the shows. We look forward to debuting the nationally syndicated version of Go Deep in the new year... Thanks as always to our buddy Uncle Joe Benson for putting these Raves super informative unclejoe.com site... Here's hoping the holiday season treats you really well and that 2010 is your best year yet... Whatever you do and wherever you go over the next decade, you gotta remember to...