Vampire Weekend’s “Contra” Tops Charts
The sophomore release by the highly-respected afropop band recently reached position 1 on the Billboard album chart, topping Susan Boyle and Lady Gaga with over 124,000 copies sold. “Contra,” though a considerable step backward from their eponymous debut of near-universal renown, is unique for its penchant for experimentation atypical to the Columbia University quartet and was allegedly intended as a parallel to The Clash’s record “Sandinista!” “Contra,” by the end of the week, ended up topping recent releases by Alicia Keys, Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift, and Mary J. Blige in one fell swoop, perhaps marking a stylistic shift in dominant musical tastes.
Jay Reatard Dead At 29
It’s a sad day people. Jay Reatard, the Garage Rocker from Memphis, has passed away in his sleep at the age of 29. Record Label Goner Records confirms that he “died in his sleep last night” and that funeral arrangments would be reported when they are made public.
Reatard was always known his widespread influence over the Memphis lo-fi Garage Rock scene, being one of the most prolific and active musicians in the genre. He will be missed, especially by the Avery Island staff, who always were fans of this DIY Hero. Best wishes to his friends and family, Rest In Peace, Jay.
New Joanna Newsom Album Confirmed
That’s right people; after almost 4 years of silence, the beautiful songstress is releasing a new album entitled Have One On Me, which, within the context of the comic that accompanies this news on Spunk’s official site, is quite a pun.
For those of you unfamiliar with Ms. Newsom, she has released two excellent albums already entitled The Milk-Eyed Mender and Ys, both of which were wonders of lyrical prose and Harpist mastery. Also she’s presumably dating Andy Samburg, also known as the only man keeping SNL alive who isn’t Bill Hader.
http://www.spunk.com.au/2010/01/joanna-newsom-have-one-on-me-out-february-19/
Be excited people. Be very excited. Hopefully it won’t be a disappointment like Contra was…
Top 25 Albums of the Year
Well folks, the holidays of 2009 have come and past, and the new horizon of 2010 is awaiting. The Avery Island team has compiled (and fought to the death to bring you) a list of the top 25 Albums of the year 2009, as well as what we think about them. Hopefully this will be a time to reflect on this eventful year in music or perhaps to see what you missed out on.
Click the link below to see the full list.
Avery Island: Musical Opinions From Music Geeks 
Reviews Update!
January 31, 2010 at 1:24 AM (News Commentary) (andronicus, between, buried, great, Johnson, liars, Mason, McGough, misdirect, reviews, sisterworld, titus, Trevor)
We’ve been a little lax lately, however this hasn’t stopped us from writing up a few things for you good people. Here’s some of the new reviews we’ve done:
Between the Buried & Me – The Great Misdirect, by Mason McGough
Titus Andronicus – The Monitor, by Trevor Johnson
Liars – Sisterworld, by Trevor Johnson
Look out for the upcoming Yeasayer – Odd Blood and Owen Pallett – Heartland reviews!
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