The new album is titled Strict Joy, which comes from the work of an Irish poet named James Stephens. It was co-produced by Hansard and Peter Katis (The National, Mates of State) and finds them acompanied by many of Hansard’s band-mates from the Frames as well as many other talented instrumentalists that have played with the likes of Leonard Cohen and Levon Helm.  I haven’t had the opportunity to hear anything yet, but it’s set to be released September 29th on Anti-, and I am counting down the days.

Here is a live recording of the first track off the album and a fantastic cover of probably my favorite Van Morrison song.

The Swell Season – Low Rising (Live)

The Swell Season – Into The Mystic (Van Morrison)

Tracklist

1. Low Rising
2. Feeling the Pull
3. In These Arms
4. The Rain
5. Fantasy Man
6. Paper Cup
7. High Horses
8. The Verb
9. I Have Loved You Wrong
10. Love That Conquers
11. Two Tongues
12. Back Broke

In this inaugural post I would like to draw attention to the newest late night show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I have begun following his show closely after taking over for the legendary Conan O’Brien. I have honestly been pretty impressed with how well he has assumed this new role. I love how he has gone to great lengths to become relevant by embracing all of the new cultural and technological norms such as Twitter and Facebook (although it seems the show tries too hard at times). And I am especially impressed with the musical guests he has been able to line up thus far. The debut show, that aired March 5, 2009, included the legendary artist Van Morrison in which he played “Sweet Thing.” The two performances I would like to highlight are Glen Hansard of The Frames performing a cover of “Hair Shirt” by R.E.M. on March 12, 2009; a very intimate performance of a man and his Mandolin. The second is Vampire Weekend on March 18, 2009 debuting a brand new song, “White Sky.”  This song will be included on their new album that will hopefully be released this coming fall. I bring attention to each of these notable performances so that you may venture over to hulu.com and watch them for yourselves.

We have embedded the March 18th episode so that you can watch the Vampire Weekend performance right here, right now. This is truly one of the best late night performances I have ever seen. For those of you who have been living underground for the past year and have yet to hear their debut album, you must go out and get it immediately.  You won’t be disappointed.  Unfortunately we couldn’t find a video with just their performance, so what you have here is the entire episode.  But if you want to jump straight to Vampire Weekend’s performance, just click on the second to last white dot at the bottom of the video. Unfortunately the Van Morrison performance is no longer available, but if you head over to hulu.com, you can find the Glen Hansard performance and many more. I hope they bring you as much joy as they brought to me. I hope your ears bleed and maybe even your eyes a little with these amazing performances. More to come soon.

Vampire Weekend – White Sky

Van Morrison – Sweet Thing

10 Wilco – Sky Blue Sky

like most great albums this one took a little while to grow on me. but i am glad i gave it the time, because i have definitely found some great gems on this album. if you love wilco already just listen and enjoy. if not i suggest you see them live, it will surely help you to appreciate this album. at least it did for me.

wilco – hate it here (removed 2/13/09)

9 Beirut – Flying Club Cup

balkan music at its best. seriously. if you have never listened to this one man band you are missing out. each track has just gorgeous horn and string arrangements, and condon’s voice accompanies the music so well.

beirut – in the mausoleum (removed 2/13/09)

8 Derek Webb – The Ringing Bell

easily the best christian album of the year. webb continues to write enjoyable pop candy that is not only enjoyable to listen to, but challenges out way of thinking at the same time. i cannot tell you enough how much i love this guy. oh and did i mention he is giving this album away for free?

derek webb – can’t be without you (removed 2/13/09)

7 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

spoon has outdone themselves. by far the best that they have put together thus far. lots of intricate but simple instrumentation if that makes any sense at all. they didn’t try to hard, they have just taken what they do and brought it to the next level

spoon – you got yr cherry bomb (mp3 lost during a site crash 7/23)

6 The National – Boxer

Be patient with this one. It took a while before the national had a regular spot on my playlist, but once it got there it hasn’t left. Most of the songs on this album have very complex but very addicting rhythmic pattern. Give it a chance to entrance, for it surely will.

the national – fake empire (removed 2/13/09)

5 Band of Horses – Cease to Begin

Despite the loss of their co-founder, Mat Brooke, this stellar band not only managed to avoid the sophomore slump, but with their song “No One’s Gonna Love You” they managed to put together what is, in my humble opinion, the greatest song of 2007.

band of horses – no one’s gonna love you (removed 2/13/09)

4 Iron & Wine – The Shephard’s Dog

This is definitely one of those cases where change isn’t so bad. straying from his lo-fi acoustic roots, sam beam churns out another batch of songs that will last us a lifetime. it’s very rhythmic and has a much fuller sound than we’re used to, but it works.

iron & wine – flightless bird, american mouth (removed 2/13/09)

3 Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight

These former child stars have never sounded better. Lewis’ voice is as gorgeous as ever and Sennet’s guitar sounds like it has been in the 70′s for a while and came to show us a thing or two. An incredibly catchy album. Anything but a disappointment.

rilo kiley – give a little love (removed 2/13/09)

2 The Once Soundtrack

This incredible soundtrack to one of the best films of the year is a must. Glen Hansard (The Frames) and Marketa Irglova star in and provide the soundtrack to this modern day musical that tells the story of two people whose lives collide just once. Watch the movie and you will surely have to buy the album.

glen hansard & marketa irglova – when your mind’s made up (removed 2/13/09)

1 Feist – The Reminder

Leslie Feist has yet to let me down. I have loved everything that she had done so far. Especially this incredibly catchy album. Easily the record that I listened to the most this past year. It is infectious, once you start you can’t stop. Trust me.

feist – past in present (removed 2/13/09)

Honorable Mention: The Shins – Wincing the Nigh Away, Josh Ritter – The Historical Conquests, Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha, Arcade Fire – Neon Bible

well i hope you enjoyed my list. and just to help clarify this list was based on a combo of what i thought was the best musically and lyrically and then also what i simply enjoyed and listened to the most. but still feel free to let me know if there are any albums that you felt should have been on the list. i am sure there are still some great ones that i missed.

also the plan is for this to be the first of many. i am starting a project of creating a list like this for every year dating back to the year i was born (1985). should be fun. until next time…