by MIRROR MUSIC STAFF
Rupert Bottenberg
Top 10 albums
Holy Fuck LP (Young Turks)
M.I.A. Kala (Interscope/XL)
Justice † (Ed Banger/Warner)
!!! Myth Takes (Warp/Fusion III)
LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver (Capitol/EMI)
Ghislain Poirier No Ground Under (Ninja Tune/Outside)
The Go! Team Proof of Youth (Secret City/Fusion III)
The Polyphonic Spree The Fragile Army (TVT/Universal)
Bloc Party A Weekend in the City (Vice/Warner)
Arcade Fire Neon Bible (Merge/FAB)
Bottom 3 albums
Helix The Power of Rock and Roll (EMI)
Poison Poison’d! (Capitol/EMI)
Sebastian Bach Angel Down (Caroline/EMI)
Best song: Holy Fuck, “Lovely Alien”
Worst song: Avril Lavigne, “Girlfriend”
Best show: The Polyphonic Spree, Spectrum, July 3
Worst show: N/A
“A reliable sign of a dedicated band is that they treat even a mediocre turnout as though it were a command performance for the Queen. The audience was pretty thin at le Spectrum, filling maybe half the dancefloor at best, but the Polyphonic Spree, whose nigh-on 30-member line-up augmented the crowd/band disproportion, cut no corners. Hell, not only did they pull out the stops in terms of spectacle, with banners unfurled and confetti cannons going off, they played their damn hearts out. And played. And played. And played. An explosion of euphoric pop that just wouldn’t stop.”
Scott C
Top 10 albums
 Amy Winehouse Back to Black (Island/Universal)
Sa-Ra The Hollywood Recordings (Babygrande)
Little Dragon Little Dragon (Peacefrog)
Jazzy Jeff Return of the Magnificent (Rapster /BBE)
Souljazz Orchestra Freedom No Go Die (Do Right)
Various Si Para Usted: The Funky Beats of Revolutionary Cuba (Waxing Deep)
Brassmunk Fewturistic (54th)
Think Twice With a Loop and Some Swing (P-Vine)
Sikh Knowledge Nu High (Bank of Mount Real)
Gary Marks Gathering (Kindred Spirits)
Bottom 3 albums
Timbaland Shock Value (Blackground/Universal)
Redman Red Gone Wild: Thee Album (Def Jam/Universal)
Ultramagnetic MCs The Best Kept Secret (DMAFT)
Best song: Robert Strauss, “Party In My Body” feat. Wayne Tennant & the Earth Corporation Dancers (BBE)
Worst song: Rihanna, “Umbrella”
Best show: TIE: Cody ChestnuTT, le National, Oct. 4/Ice-T, Foufounes Électriques, July 25
Worst show: N/A
“After leaving the Police to check out Ice-T at Foufs, we weren’t expecting much, but he proved himself the consummate entertainer and delivered an awesome show that had everybody amped. I won’t forget Cody ChesnuTT hypnotizing the audience at le National either, running through a one-man narrative of soul-searching truth. He managed to get people to hold their applause until the end of about 10 songs, when he received a lasting and thunderous ovation.”
Lorraine Carpenter
Top 10 albums
M.I.A. Kala (Interscope/XL)
Arcade Fire Neon Bible (Merge/FAB)
Of Montreal Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer? (Polyvinyl)
Patrick Wolf The Magic Position (Loog/Universal)
LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver (Capitol/EMI)
Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse (Jagjaguwar)
Handsome Furs Plague Park (Sub Pop)
Sunset rubdown Random Spirit Lover (Jagjaguwar)
Panda Bear Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
Fiery Furnaces Widow City (Thrill Jockey)
Bottom 3 albums
Youth Group Casino Twilight Dogs (Ivy League/Anti)
Mae Singularity (Capitol/EMI)
Raine Maida The Hunter’s Lullaby (Kingnoise)
Best song: Pop Levi, “Sugar Assault Me Now”
Worst song: Nickelback, "Rockstar”
Best show: Patrick Wolf, Cabaret, Oct. 5
Worst show: Gwen Stefani, Bell Centre, May 29
“They both use bleach and occasionally do it with men, but, to borrow a stock line from Sweet Valley High, that’s where the similarity ended. Where Wolf’s flamboyant enthusiasm was contagious, Stefani had to resort to rote hype to excite her crowd, who’d paid upwards of $70. Wolf sang, played violin and piano with vigour and glitter; Stefani was a second-rate Madonna using ska and Harajuku costumes as a backdrop for her weak ballads. Feh.”
Jonathan Cummins
Top 10 albums
Neurosis Given to the Rising (Neurot)
Pelican City of Echoes (Hydra Head/Sonic Unyon)
Pissed Jeans Hope for Men (Sub Pop)
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Raising Sand (Rounder)
Starvin’ Hungry Cold Burns (Signed By Force/Fusion III)
Fucked Up “Year of the Pig” 12” (What’s Your Rupture?)
Pig Destroyer Phantom Limb (Relapse/Koch)
Brutal Knights Feast of Shame (Deranged)
CPC Gangbangs Mutilation Nation (Swami/Alien8/Sonic Unyon)
Steve Earle Washington Square Serenade (New West)
Bottom 3 albums
Good Charlotte Good Morning Revival (Epic/Sony)
Hedley Famous Last Words (Universal)
Ted Nugent Love Grenade (Armoury/Eagle Rock)
Best song: Sightings, “The Electrician”
Worst song: Rihanna, “Umbrella” (unless Nickelback churned something out this year)
Best show: Patti Smith, Église St-Jean-Baptiste, Oct. 5
Worst shows: (actually, more just disappointing) Gov’t Mule, le National, Sept. 14/Fucked Up, le National, Oct. 3
“Intensity easily overcame the challenge and myth of advanced age as Patti Smith laid out her punk/folk sermon from her pulpit on high. Spitting on the altar while screaming “Rock ’n’ Roll Nigger” will go down as one of the most punk fucking rock things I will ever experience. It’s rare that someone can rally the troops rather than merely come across as a tired bumpersticker with the trite and sadly often vacant statement of “power to the people,” but this legend meant every word and made all of us feel like we actually mattered.”
Gerard Dee
 Top 10 albums
Donnie The Daily News (SoulThought)
Chrisette Michele I Am (Def Jam/Universal)
Ledesi Lost & Found (Verve/Universal)
Rahsaan Patterson Wines & Spirits (Artistry)
Chaka Khan Funk This (Burgundy/Sony BMG)
Angie Stone The Art of Love & War (Stax)
Alicia Keys As I Am (J/Sony BMG)
Jill Scott The Real Thing: Words & Sounds Vol. 3 (Hidden Beach/Universal)
Joss Stone Introducing (Virgin/EMI)
Anthony Hamilton Southern Comfort (Merovingian)
Bottom 3 albums
Omarion 21 (Sony BMG)
Pretty Ricky Late Night Special (Atlantic/Warner)
Joe Ain’t Nothin’ Like Me (Jive/Sony BMG)
Best song: Corneille, “A Man of This World”
Worst song: R. Kelly, “Same Girl”
Best show: Stevie Wonder, Bell Centre, Oct. 25
Worst show: Joss Stone, Metropolis, June 5
“Chaka rocked the house, and Beyoncé put the haters firmly in check, but Stevie came with almost three hours of hits and no intermission, thank you very much. He was funny, enlightened, engaging, just a consummate pro who proved why, well into the fifth decade of his sterling career, he’s still in a class by his own self. As for Joss Stone, she sounds great on disc, but it’s never good when your background singers out-sing you at your own show.”
Erik Leijon
Top 10 albums
Justice † (Ed Banger/Warner)
Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare (Domino/Outside)
Prinzhorn Dance Schoo self-titled (DFA)
Klaxons Myths of the Near Future (Geffen/Universal)
National Parcs Timbervision (Audiogram/Select)
Code Pie The Most Trusted Name in Yous (Flagless)
LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver (Capitol/EMI)
Ghislain Poirier No Ground Under (Ninja Tune/Outside)
Kanye West Graduation (Def Jam/Roc-a-Fella/Universal)
T.I. T.I. vs. T.I.P. (Grand Hustle/Atlantic)
Bottom 3 albums
Soulja Boy Souljaboytellem.com (Interscope/Universal)
Smashing Pumpkins Zeitgeist (Reprise/Warner)
Dashboard Confessional The Shade of Poison Trees (Vagrant/Universal)
Best song: Rich Boy feat. Polow Da Don, “Throw Some D’s”
Worst song: Soulja Boy, “Crank That”
Best show: Girl Talk, Club Soda, June 30
Worst show: Smashing Pumpkins, Osheaga, Sept. 8
“Of Girl Talk’s approximately eight million visits to Montreal since Night Ripper opened a brave new world of mash-ups, Gregg Gillis’s Jazz Fest show was unique for taking a tightly packed and sweaty crowd to the alley behind Club Soda. Amid garbage-filled shopping carts and confused onlookers, he fused every recognizable hit from the last 20 years into a glorious mess of copyright infringement and party streamers—with merely a laptop and portable generator (attached to some schmuck’s back)—long past the witching hour.”
Erin Macleod
 Top 10 albums
Burial Untrue (Hyperdub)
Ghislain Poirier No Ground Under (Ninja Tune/Outside)
Tinariwen Aman Iman (World Village)
Mavado Gangster for Life (VP)
Vieux Farka Toure self-titled (Modiba)
Arcade Fire Neon Bible (Merge/FAB)
Andy Palacio & the Garifuna Collective Wátina (Combancha)
Skream Rinse 02 (Rinse FM)
Sdunkero Edladleni Vol. 1 (House Afrika)
King Jammy’s Selector’s Choice Vols. 1-4 (VP)
Bottom 3 albums
Bunny Rabbit Lovers and Crypts (Voodoo-Eros)
Sinead O’Connor Theology (Koch)
Shaggy Intoxication (VP)
Best song: Teddy Afro, “Abebeyehosh”/Mutya Buena and Groove Armada, “Song 4 Mutya” (tie)
Worst song: Natasha Bedingfield, “I Wanna Have Your Babies”
Best show: Ghislain Poirier, la Tulipe, Nov. 2
Worst show: Benga and Hatcha, Death of Vinyl, Oct. 27
“My cheerleading of Ghislain continues. Heaps of fun as always, his launch demonstrated just how much fun an audience crammed with Montrealers can be. Benga and Hatcha came out swinging, but the crowd was far less than stellar. It’s pot, not coke, that goes with dubstep, kids! If that’s my biggest complaint though, things seem to be quite all right. Now, if only I could convince someone to launch a kwaito/2-step night, this city would be perfect.”
NEW GROUNDED WONDER: Ghislain PoirierLateef Martin
Top 10 albums
Jill Scott The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 (Hidden beach)
Amon Tobin The Foley Room (Ninja Tune/Outside)
Saul Williams The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust (Fader)
M.I.A. Kala (Interscope/XL)
Nine Inch Nails Year Zero (Interscope/Universal)
Venetian Snares My Downfall (Original Soundtrack)
DJ Food and DK Now Listen Again (Ninja Tune/Outside)
Fishbone Still Stuck in Your Throat (Sound in Color)
David Gahan Hourglass (Virgin/Mute)
The Agonist Once Only Imagined (Century Media)
Bottom 3 albums
Raggedy Angry Take Me, Break Me, Make Me Pretty (independent)
Biffy Clyro Puzzle (14th Floor)
Finger Eleven Them Vs. You Vs. Me (Wind-Up)
Best song: Jill Scott, “My Love”
Worst song: Don’t know, I have blocked it out from memory
Best show: Cody ChestnuTT, le National, Oct. 4
Worst show: Skinny Puppy, Spectrum, June 6
“Gracing our city as his only North American stop on his tour, the caped Cody ChesnuTT served up a blistering one-man show. This man with a mission refused applause between songs as his whole set was one piece. Political, factual, spiritual and something to roll to, ChesnuTT sang and spoke over guitar licks, switching to keys and encoring on drums. The crowd filled things out, enlisted to sing hooks and harmonies. Even my rocked-out nephew dug it.”
SHE’S TROUBLE: Amy WinehouseNarcel X
Top 10 albums
Amy Winehouse Back to Black (Island/Universal)
Pharaohe Monch Desire (UMVD)
Kanye West Graduation (Def Jam/Roc-a-Fella/Universal)
Mos Def True Magic (Geffen/Universal)
KRS-ONE and Marley Marl Hip-Hop Lives (Koch)
Radiohead In Rainbows (independent)
Wu-Tang Clan 8 Diagrams (SRC/Wu-tang)
Talib Kweli Eardrum (Blacksmith/Warner)
Madlib Beat Konducta Vol 3–4: In India (Stones Throw/Koch)
Cilvaringz I (Babygrande)
Bottom 3 albums
Avril Lavigne The Best Damn Thing (RCA)
Hedley Famous Last Words (Universal)
Bedouin Soundclash Street Gospels (Side One Dummy)
Best song: Amy Winehouse, “Love Is a Losing Game”
Worst song: Belly, “Pressure”
Best show: Nas, Metropolis, Apr. 16
Worst show: Madlib, le National, Oct. 31
“Nas came out and killed it. Being one of my favourite MCs, I had heard lukewarm responses to his past shows in Montreal, but this was just Nas-ty. He came out with a banger and left with a bang. This was the quintessential hip hop show of the year in MTL, something we don’t get often enough, unfortunately. Then there was Madlib’s 2 a.m. set. Between the horrible sound and Madlib’s half-stoned/half-nowhere outlook on crowd rocking, I lost interest after Percee P’s set. The sheer excitement of seeing the Beat Konducta in action was crushed by his lethargic delivery and lackluster interest in showmanship. The beats banged but the lyrics couldn’t be heard at all. Plus there wasn’t enough Dilla for my liking!”
Jack Oatmon
 Top 10 albums
Theatre of Disco self-titled EP (Future Classic)
Modeselektor Happy Birthday (BPitch Control)
Digitalism Idealism (Kitsuné/Virgin/EMI)
Klaxons Myths of the Near Future (Geffen/Universal)
Justice † (Ed Banger/Warner)
LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver (Capitol/EMI)
Feist The Reminder (Arts & Crafts)
Ghettonuns Omnipath City Distort (independent)
Miracle Fortress Five Roses (Secret City/Fusion III)
!!! Myth Takes (Warp/Fusion III)
Bottom 3 albums
Radiohead In Rainbows (independent)
Arcade Fire Neon Bible (Merge/FAB)
M.I.A. Kala (Interscope/XL)
Best song: Simian Mobile Disco, “I Believe”
Worst song: Rihanna, “Umbrella”
Best show: Simian Mobile Disco, la Sala Rossa, Sept. 16
Worst show: Yacht, Spectrum, May 9
“Before you bust a gasket about my worst albums, I decided that instead of sifting through Top 40 radio for actual crap, I’d pick on what I thought were the biggest letdowns of the year—good, but orders of magnitude worse than they should have been. As for Simian Mobile Disco, those guys are an addictive drug that should be placed on the contraband substances list. Don’t expect to get to see them in such a small room ever again.” |
