First 1/4 of 2010

The first quarter of 2010 is a thing of the past. Music and film releases, thus far at least, haven’t been so hot. Okay, maybe the music has been passable. Or, I should say, maybe the music has been more passable than your average Spring season. Just this week alone saw new albums from MGMT, Murs & 9th Wonder, Dosh and The Tallest Man on Earth.  

The second quarter of the year will see things really heating up for both film and music. Here’s a list of some of the albums coming in the next three months (our favorites in boldface):

April 20: Apples in Stereo; Roky Erikson w/Okervill River; Willie Nelson; Rufus Wainwright

April 27: Gogol Bordello

May 4: New Pornographers; Josh Ritter; The Hold Steady; Broken Social Scene

May 11: The National; The Dead Weather, Keane, UNKLE, Woods, Phosphorescent

May 18: Band of Horses; The Black Keys; LCD Soundsystem; Jamie Lidell

June 1: Jack Johnson

June 8: Deer Tick; Here We Go Magic; Hot Hot Heat; Teenage Fanclub; The Roots

June 15: The Gaslight Anthem

Wow! May 4 is going to be one for the books!

Before we rank our Top 25 Albums from the first quarter of the year, we feel the need to mention all the bands who have released promising albums that we haven’t yet been able to afford or find: Liars; Gonjasufi; The Morning Benders; Pantha du Prince; Besnard Lakes; Fang Island; Field Music; Local Natives; Ted Leo; Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra La-La Band; Midlake; The Whigs; The Strange Boys; Retribution Gospel Choir; Shearwater; Hot Chip; Owen Pallett; JJ

Ze Catalist’s Top 29 Albums from the 1st Quarter of 2010

1. Beach House / Teen Dream - 10/10

2. Thunderhawk / Thunderhawk VI* - 9.5/10

3. Clem Snide / The Meat of Life - 9/10

4. Mark Hutchins / Sleepy Furnace - 8.75/10

5. MGMT / Congratulations** - 8.75/10

6. Spoon / Transference*** - 8.5/10

7. She & Him / Volume Two - 8/10

8. Drive-By Truckers / The Big To-Do - 8/10

9. Dr. Dog / Shame, Shame - 7.75/10

10. Joanna Newsom / Have One On Me**** - 7.5/10

11. Broken Bells / Broken Bells - 7.5/10

12. Titus Andronicus / The Monitor***** - 7.5/10

13. The Tallest Man on Earth / The Wild Hunt****** - 7.5/10

14. Harlem / Hippies - 7.5/10

15. Gorillaz / Plastic Beach - 7.25/10

16. Charlotte Gainsbourg / IRM - 7.25/10

17. The Soft Pack / The Soft Pack - 7/10

18. Erykah Badu / New Amerykah, Part Two - 6.75/10

19. Johnny Cash / Ain't No Grave - 6.5/10

20. Surfer Blood / Astro Coast - 6.25/10

21. Bonnie “Prince” Billy / The Wonder Show of the World******* - 6/10

22. Ike Reilly / Hard Luck Stories******** - 6/10

23 Thunderhawk / Vodka Hysteria - 6/10

24. Laura Gibbons & Ethan Rose / Bridge Carols - 5/10

25. Four Tet / There is Love In You - 5/10

26. Phantogram / Eyelid Movies - 4.75/10

27. Murder by Death / Good Morning, Magpie - 4.25/10

28. Yeasayer / Odd Blood - 4/10

29. The Magnetic Fields / Realism - 1/10

Note: Anything on the list that gets at least a 4/10 is definitely worth hearing. Anything that gets at least a 4.5 is pretty good. The stuff in the eight and nine range ranks super high with me.

As for movies … ugh. This has been an awful first quarter for film. AWFUL. All the studios are taking out the trash, attempting to cut their losses. Or something. Here’s a feeble attempt at a list of films released in 2010 that we’ve enjoyed thus far.

Ze Catalist’s Top 5 Films from the 1st Quarter of 2010

1. Shutter Island - 9.75/10

2. The Ghost Writer - 9/10

3. Green Zone - 7.25/10

4. The Book of Eli - 7/10

5. Alice In Wonderland - 6/10

... and, at #100,000 ... The Wolfman - 0/10

I plan to check out a couple new flicks this weekend - though nothing too promising. I still haven’t seen Greenberg (one of my most anticipated flicks of 2010) or any of the other worthwhile indies from 2010 - this due to a limited art house presence in my home city. Can’t wait for a number of films set for 2010 releases, including the new Coen Brothers flick, set for a Christmas Day release!

As for upcoming film releases ... well ... we'll cover that in an upcoming post. Lots of very promising stuff on the way. We're stoked, as this year hasn't yet been a memorable one for the cinephiles set.

*Kinda, sorta released in 2009. “Officially” a 2010 release, I guess.

**Just got this today, but am really loving the ambition of it. Could rise, could drop.

***Love these guys so much. Some classic songs and some that just haven’t clicked yet. Should grow.

****Joanna is SO hard to digest. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was in my Top 5 come December.

*****Would love this one SO much more if the singer didn’t sound EXACTLY like early 2000s Oberst.

******Just got this record today. Solid, if unoriginal. Could see it growing in a major way..

*******Damn. Fuck this album. I’ve tried so hard to get into it. Hopefully it grows through the year.

********Haven’t really digested this yet. I prefer Ike to sound scrappy, and this one is clean.

Written by G. William Locke