I hate doing this. Rounding up the year's best local releases only makes me think of failure.
Not failure on the part of any artist, mind you -- well, not usually -- but rather failure on my part to pay wholehearted attention to each and every worthwhile development in the local music scene. I mean, it's my job, right? Maybe one day when I should've been listening to such-and-such record, I went for a jog instead and then completely forgot. Two weeks after the fact, I remember and smack myself on the head with the nearest metal object.
But most of what you'll see on the list below are, I think, the most significant and bestest records that came out of here in the past year. I know of some that I left off because they just weren't doing it for me. And there are no doubt others that I left off because I didn't know about them..
The good news, however, is that within the past few years, there have been so many great releases from the town's homegrown, original music culture that it's simply impossible to keep track of everything. 2009 was especially good.
And hey, at least I included MP3s.
Top 20 Kansas City/Lawrence Releases of 2009
Capybara, Try Brother (Record Machine)
MP3:
The Life and Times, Tragic Boogie (Arena Rock)
MP3:
Rooftop Vigilantes, Carrot Atlas (Wooden Man)
MP3:
Ron Ron, Skitzo-Frinik (Brainiak)
MP3:
Be/Non, A Mountain of Yeses (Unipegadong)
MP3:
Drakkar Sauna, 20009 (Marriage Recs)
MP3:
Coalesce, OX (Relapse)
MP3:
Max Justus, No Mercy (The Record Machine)
MP3:
The Architects, The Hard Way (Skeleton Crew)
MP3:
Antennas Up, Antennas Up (self-released)
MP3:
Mac Lethal, Love Potion Collection 5 (Black Clover)
MP3:
Hammerlord, Hammerlord (Init)
MP3:
Biarchy, Strength in Numbers (self-released)
MP3:
Calamity Cubes, Calamity Cubes (self-released)
MP3:
CES Cru, The Playground (INnatesounds)
MP3:
Sam Billen, Headphones & Cellphones (The Record Machine)
MP3:
Tech N9ne, KOD (Strange Music)
MP3:
The Runaway Sons, Soy España (self-released)
MP3:
Stik Figa & D/Will, Hello, Goodbye (self-released)
MP3:
Wonkachild, Urkel (self-released)
MP3:
Honorable Mentions
Krizz Kaliko, Genius (Strange Music)
Kick Kick, Powerplay (Bossibility)
London Transit, Digital Kid (self-released)
The Appleseed Cast, Sagarmatha (Vagrant)
Diverse, Diverse (Origin)
Teasers of the Year
Cowboy Indian Bear, Cowboy Indian Bear EP
The Dactyls, The Dactyls EP (Yeti Party)
Soft Reeds, Three Songs EP
Making Movies, Libertad EP
2008 Album That I Found and Loved in 2009:
Adam Lee & the Dead Horse Sound Company, Ghostly Fires (self-released)
Album That I Still Haven't Listened to But That Should Be on My List If the Hype Is True:
Katlyn Conroy, I Think I'll Stay Inside (self-released)
Best Semi-Local Album
Chrissy Murderbot, Chrissy Murderbot (Sleaze Tone)
Showing 1-19 of 19
I have to say, all in all, its a pretty round way of looking at our scene. Good work.
Hey jason great list! Must agree about Antennas Up...such a good band! Also I noticed that The Runaway Sons were on this list. This is a wonderful site, yet unexpected thing to see! Must say they have one of the best live shows I have seen in years :)
Hey jason great list! Must agree about Antennas Up...such a good band! Also I noticed that The Runaway Sons were on this list. This is a wonderful site, yet unexpected thing to see! Must say they have one of the best live shows I have seen in years :)
Man I'm finally glad to see the runaway sons being pushed in this town! I saw them awhile ago and was blown away by there crazy live show! So thank you for finding band like this! Hope to hear more about these mad rockers!
Definitely a better list than the KC Star put together all around.
Funny to me i thought D/Will's "Battery Effect" was better than his project with Stik and it made both lists and "BE" wasn't mentioned at all?
@Will: Those are all worthy for a local hip-hop roundup. You got one? For my part, the releases by Steddy and also the Deep Thinkers were really good -- and we gave them good reviews in print (mostly) -- but they just didn't spin my head around like the others.
@Mike: "Poot Case" was a classic. And you, sir, are my trombonist of the year!
I'd like to give the many, many songs and videos that John Bersuch recorded, usually in the space of a day or two, then posted to the web. Probably put out a few albums worth of material.
Jason Harper is totally my favorite Music Editor for the Pitch in 2009 too.
I liked that Ron Ron, Krizz Kaliko, Stik Figa, & D/Will. But where's the Steddy P record? It's the album of the year. Also Skiem and Killa Tay deserves an honorable mention, D-Locc Da Chop and Cash Image put out a fantastic compilation, and Milkdrop dropped an album and a few mixtapes! And don't forget all the Rich The Factor releases.
@jjskck: You mean The ___s? They sold out, man!
@anonymous: Yeah, that Bleachbloodz record arrived here literally a few days ago. Kind of like the Adam Lee record above, it's probably going to get more attention the year after (but not *a* year after) its official release.
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