So this band clearly hijacked my music library while I was sleeping. Digested said library over a long period of time. Then they made this album perfectly crafted to my taste. I would like to take this opportunity to thank this outfit from Bloomington, IN for doing such a thoughtful thing!
If you dislike the word “one” for any reason stay very far away from this recording. I happen to love the word “one.” Hence the ranking! This is an extremely fun album that can even be slightly haunting at times. Lots of energy abound.
Cave highest ranking Chicago band on my list which thus dubs them my favorite Chicago band of 2011 apparently. The best way for me to sum up this album is a collection of psych drones that will enter your soul and never leave. You will be feeling this album long after it is done playing!
This is just a very intelligent sounding album with layers of sound and style.
Every year I need a “happy fun” album and for 2011 Givers presented me with such an album. This debut full length for the Louisiana band is not just for fun it has some depth as well. But it is best played with the sun shining!
Another year means another Disappears album on my top 10. This band, that we are all very lucky to have locally, just keeps getting better. There is a new album due in March and it makes me wonder if they will make it 3 for 3 on my list in 2012.
This is more great music to come out of our fair city. Put together by former members of The M’s this is a collection of beautiful tracks. It features one of my favorite songs of the year, “Old Times”
Wilco? Really? Wilco made my top 10? Well when I first listened to this album I was blown away just by the fact that Wilco was able to excite me again. Just when I had written them off they pull me back in. Well done!
OK for this slot it was going to be Ducktails, Woods, or Real Estate. Ducktails wins out! Although I like all three albums a lot this Ducktails album stuck out slightly more as a complete album. No slumps throughout and slightly more adventurous as the off shoot of Real Estate.
This just snuck in at the end of the year. What a good album! This band really grew up with this release. I will not be surprised if a much bigger audience stands up and takes notice of this Chicago band.
The future of Jazz is in good hands with the London outfit Polar Bear. Coffee and Peepers will start any day off on a the right foot. This record has become my most listened to release in 2010.
If my life was a Chinese calendar 2010 would be known as the “Year of the Funk!” Now if that said year were to be conceptualized into a movie, Calibro 35 would score the soundtrack. The straight funk, mixed with 70’s action film chase scene fun, filled my summer with plenty of windows down car driving material! 
When I want no frills, stripped down, fuzzed up rock nothing beats White Mystery. The pure energy and quick pace of this album makes this band a Chicago treasure.
I had a transcendental experience with this LP on a flight to New Orleans in April. It took a few listens for the album to speak to me, or even make sense. But when it finally does it will hook you.
Here is the second local act to make this list. This album was recorded live in Millennium Park which features Chicago music icon Mike Reed. This album is a celebration of new sounds to old Chicago jazz songs. For me the album is downright mood altering. In a good way!
On paper this collaboration should not work. You take one part folk artist from San Francisco and mix in a 9 piece avant-garde jazz collective from Richmond, VA. what you come up with is one outstanding fusion LP.
Clocking in at just 27 minutes long there is not one second wasted on this EP. This Chicago artist displays an incredible wide range of styles and influences packed into this little package.
The blues had to represent somewhere on this list for me. This new release from the late Jack Rose is very fitting for my blues pallet which is predominately acoustic and all instrumental. 
The fourth and final Chicago representation on my top 10 is the Disappears. The raw guitar and haunting vocals spoke to me in a way that few albums did this year. There was plenty of garage style rock to choose from in 2010 but this one stood out from the pack. 
So for my money “Swim” is the feel good song of the year. In my mind every year needs a good “drinking beer on a boat under the hot sun” song. This album delivers just that! Andy Weber's Best of 2009
Throughout the month of December we’ll be posting lists of the best music of the year as determined by the volunteers that make CHIRP what it is. Today’s is from CHIRP volunteer, Andy Weber.
OK my list consists of my top 10 songs along with a few other honorable mentions… I chose to do songs for a few reasons. The main one is that it most closely represents my listening habits. I am not a full album guy anymore. I lost all of my CD’s in a flood in ’07 and I turned to Rhapsody to take me out of my doldrums. I actually feel guilty about that but it is the reality of my life. The problem is now I feel a bit like a music poser! I feel like the kid who only bought 45’s and not the LP’s back in the day. But my life is more nuts these days so I end up being the guy with playlist after playlist of new stuff from various artists but I don’t have that much time to dedicate to listening to a full length over and over to fall in love with it like I did in 1990 with the Stone Roses debut. So with that being said here are my songs…
- The Cave Singers “Leap” – Welcome Joy (Matador) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
This is the second album from this Seattle band. They have a driving folk sound with some outstanding blues harp interludes throughout a number of their tracks. I am a lover of songs that build the whole way. Which is very evident to me when I look at this list. This is a song that I would listen to and back it up and listen to it again. In this day and age of music access that is something I rarely do so for that reason alone it sits a top my list. - Elvis Perkins “I Heard A Voice In Dresden” – Elvis Perkins In Dearland (XL) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
How creepy would it be being the son of Anthony Perkins? At what age was he allowed to see Psycho? Talk about scaring! It scared me and Norman Bates was not my dad! Well it did not effect him in his musical development. His voice does have a hauntingly beautiful quality. - Throw Me The Statue “Waving at the Shore” – Creaturesque (Secretly Canadian) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Is it 1991? More Seattle bands on my list. This is off of their second full length release which was released in early August. It has such a poppy feel good hop throughout. There is a definite 80’s influence with the synth breaks. Almost Cure-like. This song is “good mood” waiting to happen. - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart “Come Saturday” – Self-Titled (Slumberland) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
I am not looking for controversy but I am with Shawn Campbell and Co. when it comes to TPOBPAH. I am a sucker for a great pop song as well and I think these guys can do one as well as anyone out there. - Rural Alberta Advantage “Four Night Rider” – Hometowns (Saddle Creek) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Weighing in at 1 minute and 54 seconds this Canadian trio really blows out a great little track full of energy on their debut LP. - The Harlem Shakes “Sunlight” – Technicolor Health (Gigantic) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Yet another LP debut brings us this happy tune tune that does a fine job of pairing vocals with melody. These guys also played Rib Fest in North Center this summer. The very same neighborhood that is home to the luxurious new CHIRP Studios. - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson “The Sound” – Summer of Fear (Saddle Creek) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
What a great duo! WAIT! Where is the &? Oh wait that is just one, 4 word, name. But he is from the music hot bed of Brooklyn. WAIT! Brooklyn, Oregon! This 27 year old has some talent. Check him out. - Stellastarr “Graffiti Eyes” – Civilized (Self-Released) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
OK I have a soft spot for outright party rock. To me the energy of this track cannot be avoided. I struggled to put this on my list but it just has a “live music, summer evening, feel good quality” to it that I could not ignore. - The Vaselines “Son of a Gun” – Enter the Vaselines (Sub Pop) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
OK, OK, I know it is not a NEW song. The re-release of The Vaselines – Enter The Vaselines really turned my head this year. I always knew of them as a Kurt Cobain influence and thus I never gave them the time of day. WOW thank you for the re-release. This band should not be ignored and Son Of A Gun really leads the way. - We Were Promised Jetpacks “Keeping Warm” – These Four Walls (Fat Cat) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
This song makes my list as service to my fellow CHIRP DJ’s clocking in at 8 minutes 12 seconds it is a great track to play when you need to run downstairs and open the door for the next shift. Bathroom breaks galore! Enjoy. Also…. Holy cow do these guys sound Scottish!
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