The Inaugral Dinner Music Awards 2009

Well.... with only one more day of 2009 to go it is a time to reflect on the year that was

and so in the land of blog the best was for me to express this to you is to give you....

The Inaugural Dinner Music Awards 2009!

A Self Indulgent List of the Highs and Lows of the year through the eyes of a usually humble blogger... well at least as humble as a blogger can get. And as a New Years gift to you fine readers... a Final Mix Tape, a compilation of the Winners of 2009...

And so... with the expectation of much debate and arguing and down right violence (hey its Christmas again...) Let's get this show on the road...

Best Folk - Mumford and Son

This was a hard choice for me, as 2009 really has been the Year of Folk, i have been introduced to so many new bands in this genre that picking one out was not easy... but really all i had to do was look at the amount of playtime i put to each act, Mumford and Son won that by a mile, the great rolling banjo sounds, the eerie vocals... this would have been my artist of the year but it came in a close second.

Best New Find - Tim and Jean
I am a weekly subscriber of Triple J's Unearthed podcast, a sort of selection of the best of the unearthed songs uploaded to the Unearthed Website, and usually these are pretty good... but they never wow me. When they played Tim and Jean's track "Come Around"... i was wowed.

Best Rock - BlueJuice
In 2008 i cannot say i was a big fan of these guys, i liked vitriol but the rest of their album was not really appealing to me... but when "Head of the Hawk" Came out i took on a whole different view.   
This is not a technical feat in music production, its not a deel lyrical look at society and its ways... its just fun pop/rock/hip hop/ funk... etc.

Drummer of the Year - Mike Portnoy (Dream Theatre)

Think what you will of Metal... Mike Portnoy is widely regarded as one of the best in the business when it comes to Drumming, the double kicks, the awesome Fills, you just need to look at his kits to see why. When i saw Dream Theater at the later half of this year i already knew what to expect, but he still blew my mind. (I have tried to pick the least non-metal head offensive track that would express Mike Portnoy so give it a listen even if you don't like metal)

Guitarist of the Year - Chris Cheney (The Living End)

Chris Cheney will always be my Favorite Guitarist... but he won't always make my awards... this year i have seen him play more than one festival, do amazing work on some of the more guitar heavy songs on the ever famous White Album, and release an awesome album called "White Noise"... enough said.

Vocalist of the Year - Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine)

I am not sure exactly what it is about Florence's voice that makes it so amazing... its vewry similar to the sound of Patience Hodgson and Karen O... that sort of fun loud rock that makes you just want to jump and scream. I must remember to play some Florence on New Years Eve...

Album of the Year - First Days of Spring (Noah and the Whale)

This album really stuck with me, the intrumentals, the atmosphere that it creates.. This was my album of reflection and calm... and thats what 2009 was for me... a year of changes in who i want to be. There you go... personal facts as a bonus.

Female - Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
When thinking about who would best fit the role of best Female Artist for me it didn't take long for me to come to find Karen O, This year i have not only become a fan of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs but have also discovered one of my all time favorite soundtracks to be "where the wild things are" Performed by the lovely K.O. She is extremely talented and has a lot more to give for 2010. 

Male - Ben Folds
I don't need to justify this.... especially to you readers... 

The All Time Artist of 2009..... Pheonix

This is the band that has really made it for me in 2009, they are to say the least Amazing and although they are not the band that has had the most plays on my ipod of truth they truely represent what 2009 was for me, a mix of rock and electro two genres that have been my year.






The List can be Downloaded Here


So thats it for dinner music for 2009... i hope you have enjoyed reading and listening at least 10 times as much as i have making and compiling...
Bigger and better things for 2010... so till then Happy new year and keep listening...