I'll Judge Yours If You Judge Mine

It's that time of year when music geeks are furiously trying to decide what to put on their Best of 2009 lists.

Shoot, I've been compiling a list since early summer, adding to it occasionally and crossing others off when something even more impressive comes along.

We music geeks take our lists seriously (and it didn't hurt that I had nothing better to do).

Yesterday I got a tentative list from my music geek friend Andrew and it's a whopping 25 CD scroll!

I understand why; it is difficult to winnow down a year's worth of good music to just ten or even a dozen CDs.

Also, he included local bands on his list and I purposely did not, preferring to make that a completely separate list for my own purposes.

I found it fascinating to read his list because as much as we discuss music, which is every single time we see each other and via e-mail, I was still surprised at some of what was on his list.

He was the one who gave me Great Northern's "Remind Me Where the Light Is" and never really mentioned it much again.

When we were driving home from the Raveonettes show in DC, I played that CD non-stop for the entire trip back and he didn't say a word.

Oh, wait, he might have been sleeping.

And speaking of the Raveonettes, "In and Out of Control" will most definitely be on my list but I didn't expect to see it on his.

This CD has far less of a recorded-in-a-cave sound, which pleases him because he's less of a cave-lover than I am, but I had no idea it was Top 25 list material for him.

Maybe I'm making a cave convert out of him (next up: The Twilight Sad?).

And Guggenheim Grotto?

I got this CD a solid year ago and rushed off to Charlottesville to see them by myself last winter without any idea that he was a fan.

It was an intimate and amazing show, but why the hell did I go alone, I'm wondering?

Next time I'll ask.

I started pushing Passion Pit's "Manners" on all my friends hard late last spring, even more so once their show at the National was announced for June.

Their very 70s-based dance music for non-dance music lovers is one of my favorites and still in regular rotation, but I hadn't realized how highly it rated with Andrew.

And Neko Case, of course.

I saw her twice this year (only once with Andrew), and the cover art of "Middle Cyclone" is probably the best CD cover of the past five years, IMHO.

Every time I listen to her sing, I want to cry or have an in-depth conversation with her about men.

That voice, that attitude!

I see that after much internal deliberation, Andrew included The Decemberist's "Hazards of Love" and I know this caused him much soul-searching because he hated putting something on his list that was on every other critic's best of list.

Sometimes, my friend, there's a reason why everyone acknowledges a CD.

No surprise that Plushguns' "Pins and Panzers" was one of Andrew's favorites.

When we discovered them in 2008, we were both terribly impressed with what a guy in his Brooklyn bedroom could make for sound.

But that show at Alley Katz, complete with glow sticks, sealed the deal.

We're undoubtedly among the few putting this CD on our end-of-year lists, but only because not enough people have experienced it.

Their loss.

I could go through the rest of my friend's list, but perhaps I'd better finish up my own instead.

He probably wants to judge mine as much as he wanted me to peruse his.

And then, like two lawyers battling a case, we'll have the epic Best of 2009 List discussion.

It could go on for days.

Lust! for the Raveonettes & Ben's Chili Bowl

Anyone who knows my musical taste knows I'm especially fond of a certain sound, "music from a cave," as we affectionately refer to it. And a perfect example of that sound is the Raveonettes, so tonight Andrew and I headed to D.C. through the pea soup and drizzle to catch their show at the 9:30 Club.

Our first stop was Ben's Chili Bowl for eats (R.I.P. founder Ben Ali; two enormous funeral wreaths still stand outside the restaurant). I got the chili half-smoke (being a native and aware of its origins) and Andrew got the chili cheeseburger; we shared a giant order of perfectly cooked fries. Chili and onions dripped off my half-smoke with every bite, but that's what the plastic fork is for, after all. Overheard at the table nearest us, "I've never actually been here sober before." Given that Ben's is open until 4 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, that statement wasn't too terribly surprising.

I had only discovered openers The Black Angels last week on a CD sampler Andrew had lent me, but I immediately appreciated their cave-like sound, so I was pleased to learn we'd be hearing them tonight. Their sound was full of echo, and right up my alley, except for the hole that developed in the drummer's snare, but he did a quick patch job with duct tape and soldiered on...until that gave way and he solicited the audience, "Anyone got a snare drum we can borrow?"

The main event, The Raveonettes, a Danish duo with the most amazing two-part harmonies, was impressive, to say the least. I love the sheer amount of noise they make, but it's the guitar leads that take it to another level. Then there's the sunny melodies coupled with invariably dark lyrics; on the new "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)," the upbeat simplicity of the melody belies the dark words. They used multiple drummers in some songs and switched instruments, two of my favorite band tricks, not to mention strobe lights galore, tons of reverb, and effects of all kinds. At one point, Sune told the audience, "There's been a lot of dancing here tonight. We like dancing. We dance when we go to shows." We witnessed dancing of all sorts, strange, frenetic and otherwise, but it was hard not to move, given the music.

A wall of sound and a chili half-smoke from Ben's; tell the truth, was your night half as excellent as all that? I don't see how.