Dead Flowers: Ten Tracks from 2009

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1. The Veils - Sit Down By The Fire

An absolute epic on a record that could've used a few more of them, to be honest. Big, rolling drums and chiming acoustic guitar sound like a statement of intent from From Finn Andrews and Co.
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2. Pete Doherty - Arcady
Ever since Up the Bracket, Pete has dealt with high expectations. His failure to meet them means that even his good records get overlooked.
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3. Mew - Beach
Mew recaptures the magic of Frengers on this and most of the other tracks on No More Stories...
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4. Animal Kingdom - Signs and Wonders

Although it falls squarely in the guilty pleasure category, this is still a top tune.
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5. Foreign Born - Early Warnings

The high point of an otherwise spotty sophomore effort.
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6. Fool's Gold - Surprise Hotel

Great song. Good band. Mediocre record.
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7. The Notwist - Gloomy Planets (Live)

Probably my most listened to track in 2009, this live performance is featured on the new documentary Music No Music.
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8. The Raveonettes - Break Up Girls!
One of a handful of standout tracks from a great, great album.
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9. The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love

More tracks like this and The Big Pink could emerge as an important band.
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10. Dead Skeletons - Dead Mantra

Still gets my vote for song of the year. It will open up new musical worlds you didn't know existed.
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Honorable Mention:
The Ruling Class - Sleeping Beauty
A little too early 90s Britrock for its own good, this was still an intriguing track in a year with precious few of them.

Highlights from 2009 on Dead Flowers:
Interview with Sune Rose Wagner (The Raveonettes)
Interview with The Ruling Class
The "Utterly Brilliant" Radiohead (Video)
The Veils - Sun Gangs Review
Pete Doherty - Grace/Wastelands Review
Download Special - The Veils Acoustic
Download Special - Radiohead - Kid A: Amnesiac Live in Paris
Download Special - The Sound of Young Denmark
RIP Steven Wells
The Veils/Foreign Born Live Review
Fall Review Omnibus
My band releases its first EP

And a bit of history...
Best of 2006
Best of 2007
Best of 2008

Thanks for visiting Dead Flowers in 2009. See you next year!

The Dead Flowers Best of Britpop Mix

Let's face it: any jerk can put some Pulp and Elastica on a CD and call it a Britpop mix. The recent Brit Box? Good intentions, but kind of boring. In the end, only one person could put you inside the head of a University of Michigan sophomore studying abroad in London in '96. Only one person could pick the music that would evoke day trips to Manchester on Smiths pilgrimages, or evenings spent sipping Newcastle and watching the band whose first release just got Melody Maker's "Single of the Week". That person is Dead Flowers' resident Britpop expert, Phil. For a year I've been pestering him to put together a mix like this, and he's finally delivered. Here's a track-by-track rundown:

1. Echobelly - Insomniac
Phil's Comment: Sept. 1994, Echobelly and Oasis both sell out the same venue, same capacity on different days in ny (wetlands). alas, quite different paths after that.


2. Gene - London, Can You Wait?
P: Never given their due/respect!
Mike (Dead Flowers)'s comment: I agree. Taken in small doses, Gene were quite good.

3. Blur - Chemical World
M: One of my favorite Blur tracks. Amazing guitar, and the lyrics would set the template for Britpop songs to come.


4. Oasis - Whatever
M: There's nothing better than a great non-album single. Sure, this apes The Beatles, but it does it in a classy way. Liam's voice would never sound better.


5. Suede - We are the Pigs
P: Best song intro in the britpop era.
M: While most latter-period Britpop bands would draw on mundane events like soccer championships and elections to find inspiration for their anthems, Suede had it right from the beginning: bad drugs and JG Ballard novels.

6. Tricky - brand new you're retro
P: I guess some trip-hop needs to be thrown in.
M: Sure, it sounds really dated. But it's interesting to hear what passed for 'cutting-edge' back then.

7. Salad - Granite Statue
P: Even the lesser players at the time were still quality
M: At first I thought this song was crap, but I've had it stuck in my head for the past few days and I can assure you it's top-notch. The girl can't sing, but only half of the Britpop singers could anyways.

8. The Auteurs - Lenny Valentino
P: Also criminally underrated, Luke Haines' post-auteurs stuff was never topped.
M: Haines really looks like Paul Banks in this video. Brilliant track.


9. Morrissey - Hated for Loving
P: Still the godfather of british pop

10. Marion - Time
P: Obligatory Manchester-based, smiths-heirs-to-the-throne-but-never-were band.

11. Sultans of Ping - Where's me Jumper?
P: The unofficial anthem of britpop.. bar-none
M: I think Art Brut heard these guys.


[Download The Dead Flowers Best of Britpop Mix]
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Listen to "We are the Pigs" by Suede:

[Download the MP3 Here]