This year is the fifth anniversary of the annual A Reminder Top Aussie/NZ Bands list. Once again I sent out emails to tons of Australian and New Zealander bloggers, DJs, writers, and music geeks asking for lists of Australian and Kiwi bands that they thought were pretty great in 2009. Over 100 bands were voted for! Their lists were then tallied and the following list is the result.

What I love about this year’s list is the number of bands who made the Top 25 who were not in last year’s Top 25. Time for some new blood…

25. The Basics
“Keep Your Friends Close sounds like it marks a new beginning for The Basics and I’m excited (and a touch nervous) to see where they head now.”
Watch: With This Ship
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 11

24. Philadelphia Grand Jury
“Best beard in the music industry.”
Download: The Good News
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 25+

23. Over The Atlantic
“Consistently excellent live and recorded, I don’t know why these guys aren’t bigger yet, they’re criminally underrated.”
Download: Loveless Devotion
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 25+

22. A Dead Forest Index
“The minimal structure these guys adopt produces one of the most chilling, unusual sounds. When their debut album is released in early 2010 they’ll be huge.”
Download: Sleep From Eyes
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: n/a

21. Rowland S. Howard
“A genius songwriter no one can even come close to.”
Watch: Shivers
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: n/a

20. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
“They make the list simply for absolutely slaying at the ATP Festival. Holy hell that was unreal.”
Download: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 2

19. The Temper Trap
“They got big. Sort of.”
Watch: Sweet Disposition
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 25+

18. Talons
“Rough-&-ready punk. An explosion of sound but of the good kind.”
Download: Redheads
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 25+

17. Leader Cheetah
“The album was good, but live they are getting better at each and every show.”
Watch: Bloodlines
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 25+

16. Cloud Control
“These guys cannot write a bad song. Singles, B-sides, they’re all great. If they can harness this consistency into a full-length then these guys are going to be unstoppable. And I like it that they’re making twee a bit more accessible for those of us who don’t wear cardigans.”
Download: Vintage Books
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 18

15. Cuthbert & The Night Walkers
“I have not witnessed music celebrated in such fine fashion for sometime now.”
Download: Pace Ourselves
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 12

14. DZ
“Love these guys.”
Watch: Blue Blood
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: n/a

13. The Stabs
“Filthy, filthy, dirty rock.”
Download: No Hoper
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 25+

12. Beaches
“Every time I see them live, the songs still sound fresh and exciting.”
“Don’t go!”
Download: The Sky Was White
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: n/a

11. Red Riders
“I thought Drown In Colour was a great return to form after a bit of a disappointment in Replica Replica. The first half of the album is great Aussie indie pop, and the song Ordinary was one of the best of the year.”
Watch: Ordinary
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: n/a

10. Seekae
“Ambient noise that is so luscious and comforting. I really foresee a big future for these guys.”
Download: Seekae EP Launch (live)
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: n/a

09. Dead Letter Chorus
“With every record and every show they keep getting better and better.”
Watch: Magnolia Farm
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 25+

08. Crayon Fields
“Soft tropical pop that transports me to a pristine beach holding a coconut in my hand. It’s always just sunny with the Crayon Fields.”
Download: Impossible Things
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: n/a

07. Songs
“One very talented Sydney collective that produced pretty much the quintessential soundtrack of Sydney.”
Watch: Keeping It Clean
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 25+

06. Eddy Current Suppression Ring
“Yeah they didn’t release anything this year, but they still toured a lot and my ECSR play count was higher this year than last year. It’s just a record that you don’t get bored of very easily.”
Download: You Let Me Be Honest With You
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 5

05. The Middle East
“A stunning debut EP; a great and pleasant surprise. Who knew Townsville could produce something this good?”
Download: The Darkest Side
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: n/a

04. The Drones
“Not even mono or gland fever would stop me from missing their tour this year.”
“I’m yet to meet a non Drones fan who has good taste in anything.”
Download: Jezebel (live)
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 1

03. Die! Die! Die!
“Great punk band with a hectic live show that keeps you on your toes.”
“So tight it seems inhuman.”
Download: Sideways Here We Come
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 7

02. Bridezilla
“Their debut album is only a sign of the great things to come. This band will continue to get better and better.”
“I am convinced they are wicked sorcerers. They leave me totally enchanted and subservient.”
Download: Beaches
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 25+

01. Dappled Cities
“Released their most mature and best perhaps best work to date. Still the benchmark in Australia for melodic rock.”
“To summarise every blogger over the last few years: they’re real good.”
Download: The Price
MySpace / Hype Machine / Last FM
2008 position: 4

So, for the first time ever in the history of this list a band has won it for the second time. Dappled first won the poll back in 2006 just after the release of Granddance and they’ve done it again this year on the strength of Zounds and their always jubilant live shows.

A huge thanks to everyone who sent in a list of their favourite bands from Australia and New Zealand. All the quotations used above come from the following Australian music people: Amanda, Jonny, Graham, Nick & Sarah, Cara, Sean, Alexandra, Wayne, Pix, Peter, Lee Tran, Agnes, Marc, and Ro. I really appreciate the effort you all put into your lists. Thank you thank you thank you.

So there it is for another year. What bands are too high? Too low? Who’s missing?

You know a gig was pretty great when the Donut Toss was not the highlight of the night.

Last night Vancouver’s own Said The Whale made a much-welcomed return home after crossing the country launching their fantastic brand new record, Islands Disappear. It was my first time seeing the band and I could not have been more impressed. I certainly enjoy the records but I was not expecting so much energy from the band and so much love from the crowd.

Seeing as it was the album launch for Islands Disappear, it was fitting that most of the record was played throughout the night. The band opened with a semi-choral version of False Creek Change before diving into “oldie” This City’s A Mess. This City’s A Mess was the first song I ever heard by the band so seeing it live, with even more energy than the recorded version, was pretty great.

My Government Heart, another song from Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia, featured some great keyboard work from Jaycelyn Brown and it was one of the night’s finer performances. But throughout the entire gig I was consistently impressed with the band’s musicianship. Drummer Spencer Schoening was in particular impressive as his playing was at times quite inventive (spinning cymbals!), something I hadn’t really realized on record; good thing too, as any drummer wearing a Velvet Underground shirt is just begging to be critically appraised at a gig.

Much of the new material came off extremely well live and most of it was greeted by the eager crowd as if they’ve been living with these songs for years. The Gift Of A Black Heart and Goodnight Moon were two examples of this, the latter’s Arcade Fire-esque finale causing the crowd to shake of the floor of the St. James Community Square enough to make me think there might have been an earthquake.

All night the band balanced their set between their more upbeat, bouncy songs (see: Camilo (The Magician), Goodnight Moon) with quieter moments. In fact, the final song of the night, Curse of The Currents, was played more or less unplugged well after curfew. Coming out to the edge of the stage, singer Ben Worcester led the crowd in a delicate singalong to cap off a memorable evening. Check it out below:

I’ve put up a few photos from the gig here.

Spiritualized’s 1997 heartbreaking work of staggering genius Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space easily sits on my Top Ten Albums Of All Time list. From the celestial beauty of the opening title track through the brain-melting overdose cacaphony of No God Only Religion and cleansing purity of Cool Waves to the monstrous, brooding swagger of closer Cop Shoot Cop, LAGWAFIS is, without any hint of hyperbole, a perfect record. Every second is essential.

The only thing that kept this record from garnering all the attention it deserved in 1997 was that OK Computer came out that year as well and we all know the attention that record by another British guitar band soaked up all year long. So while LAGWAFIS is certainly a well-known album I’ve always felt it deserved a much bigger audience and, with the impending reissue of the album, maybe it will finally find itself on more people’s shelves (or hard drives).

The reissue is being handled in two parts. The main reissue is being handled by Sony and includes a one disc version and a three disc Deluxe Edition. The single disc features the original record with the original version of the title track which features a medley of the Elvis standard, Can’t Help Falling In Love. This was always supposed to be the version that appeared on the record but Elvis’s people weren’t happy with it so the offending parts were excised and the version of the track we all know and love was born. Of course the Elvis version of the song has been kicking around for years (thanks to a leaked promo copy of the record) but now we get to hear it in all its official glory.

The Deluxe Edition features the album on Disc One with two additional discs of demos, alternate versions, and alternate takes. Basically you get totally different versions of the record. In addition, the discs will be packaged in blister packs in honour of the original release of the album back in 1997. The artwork for the reissue maintains the prescription theme but it is now black and grey as opposed to the original blue and white. I’ve heard the original 1997 CD versions of the album will now be out of print so hang on to them.

The tracklisting for these bonus discs are as follows:

Bonus Disc 1
1. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (A Cappella)
2. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (Demo)
3. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (Strings)
4. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (Kate Telephone Call)
5. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (Moles Studio Mix 7)
6. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (Original Oratone Ideas)
7. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (A Cappella with Lead Vocal)
8. “Come Together” (Instrumental Demo)
9. “Come Together” (Demo in Lower Key)
10. “I Think I’m in Love” (Original Demo Idea)
11. “I Think I’m in Love” (Demo)
12. “I Think I’m in Love” (Drums/Wah)
13. “I Think I’m in Love” (A Cappella)
14. “I Think I’m in Love” (Vocal Demo January 1996)
15. “I Think I’m in Love” (Gospel Choir Session)
16. “All of My Thoughts” (Demo)
17. “All of My Thoughts” (Strings)
18. “Rocket Shaped Song”

Bonus Disc 2
1. “Electricity” (Demo)
2. “Electricity” (January 1996)
3. “Electricity” (June 1996)
4. “Home of the Brave” (Demo)
5. “Home of the Brave” (Panned Vocal)
6. “Beautiful Happiness”
7. “Broken Heart” (Demo)
8. “Broken Heart” (Strings)
9. “Broken Heart” (Vocal Harmony/Angel Corpus Christi)
10. “Broken Heart” (Early Vocal)
11. “No God Only Religion” (Demo)
12. “No God Only Religion” (Horns)
13. “Cool Waves” (Demo)
14. “Cool Waves” (String Session Mix)
15. “Cop Shoot Cop…” (Demo)
16. “Cop Shoot Cop…” (Dr. John The National Anthem)
17. “Cop Shoot Cop…” (String Session Mix)

For musical trainspotting fans of Spiritualized these discs are akin to a holy grail. These two versions of the reissue are out November 30.

Now, the second part of the reissue is being handled by ATP Recordings and features the same music as the above but then dives deep, deep, deep into Collector territory. Much like the extremely limited edition of the 1997 release, ATP along with Jason Pierce have created a pretty remarkable artifact. From the presser:

ATP Recordings / Spaceman are pleased to be able to offer the very limited collectors edition. This includes 12 x 3” Mini CD’s of the complete album track-by-track, a homage to the original release. This will be accompanied by 2 bonus discs. For those who don’t wish to open the blister pack, each unit will come with a code to download the original album in MP3 format.

Limited to just 1000 units, each collectors edition will come with a prescription numbered out of 1000 and signed by J Spaceman. Anyone who pre-orders the collectors edition before November 30th can have their own name, or name of their choosing printed on the prescription.

See above for a photo of this edition. It’s bananas. Of course, this is also costly. £125. Or about $220 Canadian dollars. You can order it here. Jason Pierce generally pays for a lot of the extravagant artwork himself…so know that your money will be well spent.

Regardless of how you hear this record, if you have not done so before, now is the time. Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space is a landmark record and one that even twelve years later I probably play every few weeks.

I very briefly wrote about The XX’s debut album back in September and since then I’ve only grown to love it more; it’s going to be right up there with my favourite albums of the year. But due to a combination of having Canucks’ tickets on the night of their show in Vancouver (which were eventually swapped for the Ranger game a couple weeks back) and the state of flux The XX seem to be in at the moment, I was contemplating buying tickets…but I contemplated too long: their gig with Friendly Fires at the Commodore next week sold out.

Thankfully, the kind folks at Zulu are giving me another chance to see the band as they will be performing an instore at 5pm next Thursday, November 26. If I’m not snowboarding that day I hope to catch this. But I imagine it will be packed, so get there early if you’re going.

Download
The xx – Crystalised

Vancouver’s Said The Whale have recently released their new record, Islands Disappear, and it has been a fantastic record to delve into for someone (like me) who has spent the last four years away from the Terminal City. Much like their previous work, Islands Disappear is rooted in the geography of Canada and, in particular, Vancouver.

While I wasn’t home for the massive storm that tore apart Stanley Park, it’s nice to have a human response (as opposed to the internet headlines I had at the time) to the event in the form of Black Day In December, a song depicting a foray into the park during the storm. False Creek Change and BC Orienteering are other songs that really encapsulate a lot of modern Vancouver life. The city forms so much of this record that it really is perfectly timed for me: “Welcome back to Vancouver, here’s what’s been going on while you were away.”

That’s not to say the whole record is Vancouver-centric. In fact, the record manages to document little moments captured across a whole lot of the country. In every instance, Said The Whale bring the listener right into their songs and stories which makes the personal experience of the songwriter become, if only momentarily, the experience of the listener as well. And that is what has really impressed me about this record: the growth this band has shown in a relatively short period of time. While the early EPs were full of energy and ideas, it seems now that the band has coalesced into a tight songwriting unit. They may not be there quite yet, but Said The Whale are certainly threatening to become some of this country’s finest songwriters.

Download
Said The Whale – The Gift Of A Black Heart

Islands Disappear is out now on Hidden Pony. The band will be officially launching the record with two shows in Vancouver on November 25th at St. James Hall on 10th Avenue. The 5pm show is all ages while the 8pm show is for the grown-ups. Hannah Georgas will be supporting.

I loved the last Charlotte Gainsbourg record 5:55 and I still play it a lot. It’s got this gorgeous, nocturnal feel that I am very often in the mood for. News of a new record from the French chanteuse/actreuse is, therefore, exciting and I am very much looking forward to IRM, her new album due out in January here in North America. While Air composed the music for 5:55 (it is in fact one of the better Air albums, period), this time around Charlotte has roped in Beck to help her compose the music and lyrics (he’s also produced and mixed the record).

You can listen to the first single, Heaven Can Wait, here and you can download the title track from the album direct from Charlotte Gainsbourg’s site (in exchange for that email address you reserve solely for situations such as this). IRM sounds very, very Beck-y: it’s a bit frantic and really kinetic. This new sound from Charlotte Gainsbourg might really appeal to some but given Beck’s patchy output of recent years I must admit I am slightly less enthused for this record than I might have been had Air once again been involved. Check out IRM below.

Download
Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM

Jens Lekman is currently residing in Melbourne and, seemingly, enjoying his time in Australia. Over the past couple months Jens has been DJing and playing a few shows in Australian backyards. One of these shows recently took place in Sydney’s Inner West and after reading some thoughts and seeing some photos I thought I’d check out Jens’ website to see what else he’s been up to lately. While wandering through his site I cam across a little live EP that he’s posted for free.

Jens describes the EP as:

A limited Night Falls Over Kortedala Companion, a last concert for Kortedala Beauty Center, before I moved out of there. And yes, I do know that “I Got Loaded” was written by Little Bob & the Lollipops, not Los Lobos.

I imagine the tone of the EP is similar to his recent backyard shows. Jens performs on his own, stripping down some of Night Falls’ busy arrangements to their acoustic base. The versions of Shirin and A Postcard To Nina are particularly effective.

Download
Jens Lekman – Kalendervägen 113.D

(The mp3 is one big [31min; 45mb] file)