I was just perusing the respected Rough Trade Shops’ 2009 Albums of the Year List, and noticed something awesome: all of the Top 10 have RT-exclusive bonus CDs bundled with them. AND, I noticed something else awesome: in addition to some names you might expect to see in a Rough Trade Top 10 (The XX, Grizzly Bear, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart), there’s one I certainly didn’t expect to see:

(#9) Forest Fire – Survival

…which RT calls “an absolute revelation.”

To recap, Catbird released this album back in June, 2008 — on CD, on ridiculous “Giant Size CD”, and as a totally free 320kbps MP3 download. At the end of 2008, Survival had the honor of being crowned Le Blogotheque’s Album of the Year. In 2009, the record was picked up by the great French label Talitres (home to the National, Destroyer, & the Walkmen) for European release, and by Broken Sound for a UK one. Then in July ‘09 — almost exactly a year after we first released Survival — the record was graced with a full U.S. re-release, courtesy of Brooklyn’s own Infinite Best (which included a (yes!) limited-edition vinyl version (!). Cut to 5 months later and there’s Survival sitting comfortably in Rough Trade Shops’ 2009 Albums of the Year List.

In my eyes, that’s a hell of a long way to go for a record that started its life as a free download. It’s continued to go on, to keep rolling along and picking up new admirers, DESPITE being (even still) largely ignored right here in the US. And I’m so incredibly proud to have been part of it. Congratulations, Forest Fire!

MP3: Forest Fire – “I Make Windows”
STREAM: Survival at Catbird Records
BUY CD/LP (US): at Infinite Best
BUY CD (EUR): at Talitres
BUY CD (UK): at Broken Sound / at Rough Trade (w/bonus CD)

FWIW, Merriweather Post Pavilion made also Rough Trade’s 2009 List: it came eleventh.