#13 - Miniature Tigers - Tell It To The Volcano

Artist:  Miniature Tigers
Album:  Tell It To The Volcano
Label:  Modern Art Records
Release Date:  Late 2008

This is the 2nd of three Phoenix acts in the Top 15 Albums of 2009 and the 1st of two bands off Modern Art Records to make the list.  This label was started by band members of Chronic Future and their talent seeking abilities amazes me with this album being a prime example.

Do you remember Beck's Mellow Gold album?  The one that was released in 1994 and had the Top Ten single Loser?  This Miniature Tiger album reminds me a lot of early Beck.  Tell It To The Volcano is cleverly written and light-hearted.  It's "indie pop" at its best!

The calming vocals of Charlie Brand mixed with the relaxing music and catchy melodies makes this the perfect coffee shop soundtrack (thanks All Time Low).  This album would be loved by a fan of Beck, The Beatles or Death Cab For Cutie.

The album is definitely playable from front to back without skipping a "filler" track.  The album's strongest song The Wolf has yet to be released (not sure if there are plans for its release) and isn't even on their MySpace player.  I added it to the LaLa player below so make sure you check it out.  But The Wolf can easily be heard on every alt rock station during rush hour traffic and maybe even crack some Top 40 stations.  I even included it as one of my songs of the week back in early August.  Other strong songs include Cannibal Queen which made MTVu rotation, Tell It To The Volcano and Giraffe.

Yes, the album was released in 2008 but the band has been getting most of their album attention in 2009, including tours with Ben Folds and Say Anything.  This album could even have legs deep into 2010.

The Wolf - Miniature Tigers

#14 - Raining and OK - Always Will Be EP

Artist:  Raining And OK
Album:  Always Will Be EP
Label:  Unsigned
Release Date:  2009

This is the only EP and unsigned band on the Top 15 Albums of 2009.  Yes, I have a long history with this band but before you cast aside this pick as a "homer" pick, you must give this EP a spin or two.

This 5-song EP called Always Will Be is the perfect next step from their ambitious 10-song debut album The Devil On Your Shoulder.  Always Will Be is more fluid and takes a step forward in the songwriting department.  The band focused more on emotion and conveying that emotion through melody and lyrics rather than TDOYS alt rock flavor.

The song Empty Handed got a minute long vocal spot in 2009's The Real World Cancun.  That spot put RAOK in the national spotlight with hundreds of EPs and thousands of songs being bought overnight - literally.  This proved that the potential is there.

The band is currently recording with Grammy nominated producer Mitch Dane (Jars Of Clay) for a 2010 release.  With this 5-song EP and Dane in the mix on the next release, RAOK should be a step away from their national launch pad.

Always Will Be captures an emotional side that TDOYS flirted with but couldn't quite keep it fluid.  This EP was one giant leap for man.....I mean, RAOK-kind.

Raining And OK's MySpace

#15 - Now Now Every Children - Cars

Artist:  Now Now Every Children
Album:  Cars
Label:  Afternoon Records
Release Date:  July 9th, 2009

Ian Anderson, the owner of Afternoon Records, sent me an email in the summer of 2008 with a demo version of Now Now Every Children's song Not One, But Two.  I never heard of Afternoon Records or Now Now Every Children.  I listened and I couldn't stop listening.

Cacie Dalager and Brad Hale make up this lo-fi duo that has potential to be the next indie alt rock mainstream darlings.  Cacie's almost eerie, childlike vocals mixed with stripped down, lo-fi guitars and drums makes them a Sonic Youth fan's dream.

Cars reminds me of PJ Harvey's Rid Of Me album mixed with any Sonic Youth album or Guided By Voices album of the 90's.  It's quiet music mixed with dirty guitar sounds and stripped down drums.  But don't forget to relish the grungy jam sessions that sporadically pop up in almost every song.

The songs on Cars reeks of innocence.  You can almost tell that Cacie and Brad weren't influenced by the artists of the lo-fi movement of the 80's and 90's but are writing songs from the heart.  These kids (teenagers when the album was written) have a bright future and major labels will come-a-knockin'.

Not One, But Two - Now, Now Ev...

Top 15 Albums of 2009

Starting tomorrow, I'll be posting my Top 15 Albums of 2009.  I'll post a new album every weekday until the #1 album is unveiled.  On the weekends, I'll post "best of" album lists of 2009 from other websites and periodicals.

This list contains only one unsigned band which you might find unusual from a list coming from me.  The main reason is the fact that the unsigned band market in 2009 was fairly weak.  Not only did I notice but so did many label owners and scouts.  I think 2007 and 2008 spoiled us with many signings that propelled bands on the Billboard charts.  But 2009 seemed to be a down year in the unsigned band market.

But I hope that means 2010 will be a big year for the unsigned artist.

The list also contains three 2010 Grammy nominated artists and two albums released in 2008.  I'll defend my reasons for placing the 2008 albums on the 2009 list as they are revealed.

I'll also be giving the new podcast details throughout the days including the format, pictures, release date and the name of the podcast.

2010 is going to be a great year for music, right?

Ke$ha Breaks Digital Record

New pop sensation Ke$ha broke Lady GaGa's record for most downloads in a week by a female artist by eclipsing 610,000 paid downloads last week for her song TiK ToK.  She was just 27,000 downloads short of breaking the all-time record held by Flo Rida's Right Round.

Her album Animal comes out tomorrow (January 5th).

So who is this again?