Considering that almost nothing has come out over the past 28 days, choosing a favourite for 2009 was pretty much a no-go from the start.

However, 2009 has promised the release of quite a handful of new and rather promising sounds. Some from the new and as-of-yet undiscovered bands, and some from those bands that the world has not heard of for the last handful of years.
So. 2009....what can you promise me?
To-date I am very much anticipating the release of:

The Watchmen – Soundtrack
(March 3rd 2009)
Promising a collection of classic tracks from the likes of Nat King Cole, Simon & Garfunkel, and Janis Joplin the makers of The Watchmen have promised a profound change in the understanding of the tracks once they have been heard in the context of the movie. Of course, it doesn`t help that The Smashing Pumpkins (whose track was featured in the many Watchmen trailers) and My Chemical Romance (who are releasing their cover of Bob Dylan`s Desolation Row on January 27th) have also been brought on board as sonic contributors.


Depeche Mode – Sounds of the Universe
(April 21st 2009)
If only for the fact that Depeche mode is one of the longest-living and most influence band of the times, it would be hard NOT to anticipate anything coming out of their corner. After 4 years of silence, the band has promised that this album will be a `sonic surprise` but will not put aside that wonderful synthesized sound that the world has come to expect when they hear the band`s name chanted through a crowd.


Favourite Song: Desolation Row – Originally by Bob Dylan, covered by My Chemical Romance)
Considering the sheer length of the song, and all of its rather sharp political and social standings, My Chemical Romance was sadly forced to pick and choose their lyrics and reorganize the musical arrangement, cutting an 11 minute track down to 3 minutes and change. Now, while many of the die-hard Dylan fans in the world will rail at the injustice and the changes that the band have made to the song, if one were to ignore the fact that the song is in fact a cover (and not a replica) and just listen to what My Chemical Romance has done with the music, it would be easily admitted that the band has quite the winner on its hands. Raw and passionate and just as dirty as it needs to be when covering topics such as social dissent and the whoring out of our morals, My Chemical Romance`s version of Desolation Row is a must have for any music library or playlist.


Feature by Einat Brigler


<- Back