• The Independent has a locally flavored wrap-up of the end of the aughts, highlighting the top 10 albums and 40 songs (some favorites: Hammer, Red Collar, Megafaun, Bowerbirds, Midtown, Love Language and Bombadil)
• Everyone and Mac McCaughan’s mother at Merge Records has dropped a list over at their blog
• The good folks over at Trekky Records have compiled some really stellar lists in the form of “TRK Best of 2k9″ (My biased favorites: Will Hackney, Clare Connolly, Martin Anderson — Bill Callahan and Mount Eerie!)
• WXDU’s Ross Grady weighed in
• A bunch of people dropped guests lists on Pitchfork, among them lots of Merge Artists (Jeremy Gara, Dan Bejar, etc.) and rising star Chaz Bundick who we caught up with earlier this year
• Karen Mann has her five favorite local releases on her blog
• Megafaun recount some of their favorite things of the year (and release a cover of “I Saw Three Ships”) on Hometapes’ blog as part of the label’s 8 Days of Hometapes
• All Songs Considered (and NPR music) always puts together smart pieces and their year-end list is good, but this map is possibly better

Finally, I just want to throw in Freddy Ruppert’s year-end list because he has some great picks on there, but also because the Former Ghosts’ debut album was really spectacular.

Here’s to 2010.

Merge is also offering a year-long subscription for $199 that gets you 14 curated compilation CDs, a remix CD, a Merge covers CD a book of album art and tons of other stuff. Definitely worth it and it can be purchased here.

The Eye-Opener at BCHQ – August 2, 2008

A few of BCHQ’s board members work on a project to promote transgender awareness across the globe, specifically focusing on the Hijra communities in India. To help the cause locally, they put together a day-long festival in a sticky August day that included a bevvy of local artists (Mount Moriah, Des Ark, Megafaun, Embarrassing Fruits, etc.) and a vegan brunch. But the best moment of the day came at the end when the Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle gave the best endorsement ever of his current hometown. His numbers might be a little bit off, but someone in Durham needs to hire him to promote the city.


NC Rocks for Change – November 1, 2008

After the Arcade Fire/Superchunk show, president-elect Barack Obama treated Triangle residents to another feast of music. This one began at 8 a.m. and continued into the afternoon and celebrated lots of local music. In addition to classic favorites like I Was Totally Destroying, Bowerbirds and Megafaun, the Mac McCaughan-curated event included appearances by the dB’s, a solo set from the Rosebuds’ Ivan Howard, two sets from the Merge owner himself (one as Portastatic, the other an acoustic set from Superchunk) and an appearance by Mr. Love and Justice, Billy Bragg. All definitive proof that musicians still care about the state of the world, and it’s also like an endorsement of the local music scene straight from the president himself.

Troika Music Festival – November 6-8, 2008

The ultimate celebration of local music, Troika made up for a messy 2007 with an incredible festival in 2008. Tons of talented local bands (and Kimya Dawson) filled up some of Durham’s best venues. Plus, the festival marked…

The Opening of Pinhook

Nothing like a new bar/venue to prove the scene is alive and kicking.

Butterflies & the Physics of Meaning at Duke Coffeehouse – November 21, 2008

After a weaker spring semester, the Duke Coffeehouse closed for renovations in the fall semester. When it reopened in Novemeber, it had a stellar lineup, with one its first shows billing Jonathan Meiburg, Aimee from Des Ark and Cary’s the Tourist. But it was a release party from this pair of Trekky Records bands that packed the Coffeehouse. Major points to the Physics of Meaning who had a string section and chorus to augment their already lush sound.