The shortest month of the year was also a month that offered what might be some of the biggest stories of the year. But between Kanye’s Storytellers, Lil Wayne dominating the Grammys and U2’s leak sending people into a frenzy, these are the stories that we feel best represent the month that was.

Solid Gold at First Avenue: We have been pulling for these guys for a while so it was absolutely great to see them totally dominate the First Ave. mainroom. It’s not often that the opener blows away both of the bands that follow it, but both Tapes ‘n Tapes and Wild Light were essentially dead on arrival. You can officially consider SG the next big thing. [Jon Behm]

Tapes ‘n Tapes, Wild Light & Solid Gold @ First Avenue

Radiohead at the Grammys: The highlight of the entire Grammys (or so I’m going to assume since I only caught clips of it after it had aired) found Radiohead once again making good on an utterly ridiculous premise. The band performed “15 Step” with the entire USC marching band, and despite how it sounds like something from a gimmicky high school talent show, it materialized as one of the most recent examples of the breathtaking music that Radiohead is capable of creating. [Chris DeLine]

Radiohead at the 2009 Grammys

Antony & the Johnsons at Pantages Theater: As stark and stunning as a live show can be, Antony wowed the audience at the Pantages with his plaintive, emotional songs as well as charming stories about his time spent in Minneapolis. It turned out to be the perfect show to see on Valentines Day, as Antony’s songs are filled with hope and a search for love, and the concert proved to be the perfect antidote to everything that is saccharine and fake about the holiday. This could easily end up being my show of the year. [Erik Thompson]

Antony and the Johnsons @ Pantages Theatre

Canadian Hip Hop: Led by the one-two punch of K’naan and k-os, Canada is putting out some great hip hop these days. K’naan’s album was soaringly triumphant, and K-OS’ new album, while not as immediately mind-blowing as his last two, is still a worthy addition to his catalog. Add to this recent and/or upcoming releases from Cadence Weapon, Drake, Buck 65 and others, and you’ve got quite an interesting scene—not so much a cohesive sound (Canada is an entire country, after all, contrary to what some might believe), but a diverse group of strong artists making unique, compelling music. [Kyle "Guante" Myhre]

K’naan “Troubadour” Review
Refresher Course: K-OS

Rift Magazine Benefit Show: Fledgling Minneapolis based arts magazine Rift decided to throw a benefit show to raise some funds for their next issue and they invited some great local bands to perform at the show. The two acts I was most excited to see were spoken word artist/rapper Guante and the indie pop band Zoo Animal. I had seen Guante before, but always seemed to walk into the venue as he was on his last song, and I had never see Zoo Animal. Fighting off a cold, Guante showed his great lyrical stylings and performed some material off of his forthcoming CD with beat maker Big Cats! His sociopolitical raps are even more in your face in the live setting and showed an artist who I believe will be making a big splash very soon. Zoo Animal, a three piece band, relied heavily on material from the excellent debut CD, Young Blood, for their great set following Guante and Big Cats! They are fronted by Holly Hanson and combine her great, drawn out singing with some angular music that sounds fragile yet confident in the live setting. Both are great local acts who play often around the cities have excellent CDs that are well worth checking out. [Josh Keller]

Zoo Animal “Young Blood” Review
Guante/Zoo Animal @ Stasius

Alela Diane at First Avenue: Blitzen Trapper and Alela Diane took one look at First Avenue’s main stage and had two very different reactions. The dudes in BT got psyched out, and ended up totally shitting the bed. Diane, however, slapped a guitar into her hands and decided to folk music cool again. Maybe she was more comfortable because she was backed up by her Neil Young lookalike dad. Or maybe she was just born to own the stage. [Jon Behm]

Blitzen Trapper & Alela Diane @ First Avenue 02/18/2009

Dark Was The Night Compilation: Produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National, this exemplary double-disc compilation (or triple vinyl!) is not only a benefit album to raise AIDS awareness and money for research for the Red Hot Organization, it also is one of the best collection of songs to be released in 2009. Featuring contributions from Arcade Fire, the Decemberists, Bon Iver, Spoon, Beirut, Antony, My Morning Jacket, Stuart Murdoch, Grizzly Bear, et al. (the Indie-rock All-Star list goes on and on). It’s for a worthy cause, and features some really beautiful, original songs, as well as Dore’s wonderful illustrations for Milton’s Paradise Lost that make up the imagery in the booklet. Pick up a copy and you will fall in love with a different song from this record every day.

Dark Was The Night: Official Site
The Red Hot Organization: Official Site

Garage Rock: It was a good month for new releases from one of my favorite genres, Garage Rock. Two albums have been in constant rotation for most of the month of February, one that I was expecting and one that was a surprise. The album I was not surprised to love was 200 Million Thousand by the Black Lips, who have been stalwarts of the scene for the last few years. The band, well known for their raucous live show, created a consistent and engaging CD that really highlights the “flower punk” sound that they have been developing in recent years. The other album, the self titled Ty Segall debut, was an exciting find that came out of nowhere and really impressed me. Although slightly different, both are fun and engaging takes on garage rock and are highly recommended. [Josh Keller]

Black Lips “200 Million Thousand” Review
Ty Segall “Ty Segall” Review

Elvis Perkins in Dearland: Elvis Perkins is trying to make me cry again with his melancholy tunes, heartfelt songwriting, and tragic personal story. Dammit, it’s working. Except that he’s also making me dance and sing! I haven’t had mood swings this violent since I was on Teamocil. [Jon Behm]

Elvis Perkins in Dearland “Elvis Perkins in Dearland” Review

The Submarines at the Triple Rock Social Club: When the band’s debut was released in 2006 I fell in love with the band’s cohesive sound, and with their return to Minneapolis I found myself once again diving into an album that I now look back on as one of my favorites of the year. (Unabashed music nerd alert) Though she really wanted to make it out, my sister had to work and couldn’t make it to the show. After talking to both Blake Hazard and John Dragonetti for a while during and after the show John offered a copy of their tour-exclusive remix CD, and furthermore they both wrote a note to my sister on it after I passed on her regret. Fantastic people, and I can’t say enough about the entire night.

Interview with the Submarines

Last night, an Ipod Shuffle Saved My Life: A recent discovery: mp3 players that only hold a gig or so of songs are liberating. If you’re a music head, trying to choose what to listen to out of 5,000 or 10,000 songs can be overwhelming, even stressful; in psychology, it’s called “the paradox of choice.” While we value having lots of choices, in some situations this can cause more harm than happiness. I bought an affordable, one-gig mp3 player and now just carry around my 200 favorite songs. This may seem like a silly little thing, but it’s definitely helped me rediscover my love of really good music. Riding the bus hearing “A Song for You” followed by “Creep” followed by “Ex-Factor” followed by “One Love” (the Nas version) followed by “List of Demands;” it’s quite an experience to hear your music collection focused into solely its highest points. The part of me who is still very much an “album guy” may be a little uncomfortable with this, but it’s hard to argue with 200 perfect songs. [Kyle "Guante" Myhre]

Also: Retroselective – The Best of Jan. 2009