OSS’s Sweetest Songs and Notable Moments of 2009

It’s that time of year again—every music blogger and their music-blogging mothers are writing out their “Best of the Year” lists. Don’t get me wrong—I’m highly appreciative of this trend. It helps me remember to check out albums that I may have missed throughout the year and gives me fodder for bickering with friends (“Bitta Orca is their number four. I knew there was a reason I liked that blog!” vs “Really!? THAT made their list?”).

Last year, I didn’t do a “Best of the Year” list. And, because I think there are just too many lists already, I’m going to shy away from it again this year. HOWEVER, I do want to make a list because it’s the end of the year and I think it’s a nice way to look back and recap. HENCE, I am pleased to present OSS’s Sweetest Songs and Notable Moments of 2009, a compendium of my favorite tracks featured on this blog over the last year (in chronological order), a synopsis of what makes them essential in 2009 and an alternate (and also sweet) track by the same artist.



OSS’s Sweetest Songs and Notable Moments of 2009

1/20: Nina Simone//Feelin’ Good
A liberal president finally shows up to break the hell-streak of GWB and to break down some racial barriers in America. Obama is inaugurated, we feel “good”…until of course we remember all those problems we still have as a nation.
Alternate Take: See Line Woman.mp3

1/29: Brothersport//Animal Collective
I hereby declare this the jam of the year.
Alternate Take: College.mp3

2/9: Jeff Buckley//Hallelujah
The ninth of February was the day that my girlfriend left for Minneapolis to be in a show for two months. We had only been dating for two months. It blew.
Alternate Take: Dream Brother.mp3

4/15: Edith Piaf//Milord
A. and I weep uncontrollably over the life and death of Edith Piaf after watching Ma Vie En Rose. Later, we Netflix I’m Not There, the even-weirder Bob Dylan biopic. We shed no tears over it.
Alternate Take: Padam, Padam.mp3

6/25: Fleetwood Mac//The Ledge
My friends, Mitch and Karen, get married. We take a trip out to the Midwest for the wedding and stop in Chicago to see friends. Ali gives me her summer mix, which brings me the brutal realization that there is a Fleetwood Mac song I actually like.
Alternate Take: Enough for Me.mp3 (Also off Tusk, which is actually a good album).

6/26: Michael Jackson//Billie Jean
2009 was our last year with the King of Pop. Jackson died, shockingly, on June 25th.
Alternate Take: Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.mp3

9/29: Graceland//Paul Simon
My band went on tour and listened to this album nonstop, which made me understand that it was truly awesome.
Alternate Take: I Know What I Know.mp3

10/20: Atlas Sound//Walkabout
Ethan and I went to see Atlas Sound and Broadcast at La Poisson Rouge. Broadcast permanently damaged my hearing.
Alternate Take: Criminals.mp3

12/2: Beyonce//Single Ladies
NY State Senate votes down Marriage Equality, dooming me to a life of being unable to “put a ring on it.”
Alternate Take: Crazy in Love.mp3

12/8: The Monks//Shut Up
I finally listen to the birthday present that Ali gave me. My mind is blown. Also, it should be noted that I was listening to this album during The Great Computer Disaster of 2009(which, by the way, resolved positively—my computer lived).
Alternate Take: Drunken Maria.mp3

And with that, friends, I am going on vacation (to Minneapolis and DC). 2009 has been an awesome year for me and for OSS. Hope it's been good to you too.

Have lovely holidays and see you in the new year.

Jeff Buckley//Hallelujah

While my true motivations for posting this song today honestly may be too personal to share, I can say a lot about it, because it’s wonderful.

This is, in my opinion, the best version of this song—and there have been many (the track has now been recorded more than 180 times by everyone from KD Lang to John Cale to Rufus Wainwright).

To start like an anthropologist, the original version of this song was written and recorded by Leonard Cohen, who elicits feelings in me similar to the feelings elicited by a Bob Dylan or a Neil Young; that these men are fantastic songwriters (most likely some of the best around), but are often not the best singers/performers of their work…or more specifically, that especially with Young and Cohen, it has taken time and maturity for me to appreciate their own performances of their masterpieces. My love for Leonard Cohen began with covers by Tori Amos (Famous Blue Raincoat), my dear friend Michael Beauchamp (who does mean versions of Chelsea Hotel #2 and Bird on a Wire), and of course, Jeff Buckley.

So then, on to Jeff Buckley, who recorded the cover for his one and only incredible, near perfect 1994 studio album, Grace. Really, I could put any song from this collection up here and be wholly satisfied, as there is no filler on the album. Buckley, who drowned mysteriously and tragically while swimming in a river in Memphis in 1997, had serious soul. His vocals would feel overdramatic, if not for the sincerity that belies his performance and lyrical composition skills. His rendition of Cohen’s classic track is no exception, as Buckley doesn’t even have to convince you of the truth in the content (that love can be simultaneously richly holy and somewhat broken, perfect and flawed and that the underlying broken bits and flaws of human nature, however painful, may be what make for all that beauty).
On the contrary, the truth is just there, effortlessly bleeding through the track like the heartbeats we don’t notice sustaining our bodies: involuntary, but vital.



Hallelujah.mp3

I've seen your flag on the marble arch,
But love is not a victory march;
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah.