A Round of Sound: 2009 Mixtape

January 17, 2010

Now that the countdown is complete, all that is left is to present my 2009 Mixtape, an annual mix of the songs that helped shape the past year in music.  This is maybe becoming my favorite part of my yearly top albums tradition because it’s fun to see what tunes I can pack into an 80 minute disc.  I started doing this on my own just to make a mix cd of some of my favorite songs of the year to keep for listening in my car, but it has evolved into a way for me to kind of summarize the best music of the year in just a “mixtape” form, especially since I find it pretty impossible to do a ranking of the best songs of the year.  And people seem to enjoy it, so here we are again.  By the way if you want to see my complete top 25 Albums of 2009 on one nice, put together page, head on over to my Amazon.com list to give it a look.

So, here’s some stats about the mix.  This year I packed 19 songs on the disc (down one from last year’s 20), but as usual this does not necessarily mean these are my 19 favorite songs of the year.  There a plenty of songs that I had to leave off because they were too long, or maybe they just didn’t fit with the mix.  Also, as usual the order here is how they appear on my mix, but it is not a ranking.  The songs are placed based on how they appear on their respective albums.  For this year, 9 of the songs are off albums in my top 10 (Antony & the Johnsons is the only top 10 album not represented).  Five of the songs are from albums in my #11-#25 range and two songs come from albums outside my top 25.  The lowest ranking album with a song in the mix is Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free by Akron/Family (ranked #44) with “River”.  And finally, three songs (“Blood Bank”, “My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille”, and “It Gets Your Body Movin'”) are songs off of EPs, and thus came from albums not eligible to be in my rankings.  Most of these songs have been featured somewhere on this blog in the past, or in the top albums countdown, but now here they are all in one place!

The picture above is thanks to Amy Boyd, who for the second year in a row has provided me with the album art for the Mixtape.  Another fine job indeed. Today is her birthday (as well as Zooey Deschanel’s) so she also has that going for her.  Enjoy!

———-

[“French Navy” – Camera Obscura :: My Maudlin Career]

———-

[“Blood Bank” – Bon Iver :: Blood Bank]

———-

[“1901” – Phoenix :: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix]

———-

[“Two Weeks” – Grizzly Bear :: Veckatimest]

———-

[“River” – Akron/Family :: Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free]

———-

[“My Girls” – Animal Collective :: Merriweather Post Pavilion]

———-

[“Young Adult Friction” – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart :: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart]

———-

[“Crystalised” – The xx :: xx]

———-

[“Funeral Singers” – Califone :: All My Friends Are Funeral Singers]

———-

[“Now We Can See” – The Thermals :: Now We Can See]

———-

[“Stillness is the Move” – Dirty Projectors :: Bitte Orca]

———-

[“Don’t Haunt This Place” – Rural Alberta Advantage :: Hometowns]

———-

[“Never Seen” – Lightning Dust :: Infinite Light]

———-

[“Home” – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros :: Up From Below]

———-

[“Two” – The Antlers :: Hospice]

———-

[“My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille” – Beirut :: March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland]

———-

[“Marrow” – St Vincent :: Actor]

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[“Sleepyhead” – Passion Pit :: Manners]

———-

[“It Gets Your Body Movin'” – Suckers :: Suckers EP]

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Top Albums of 2009: #3 and #4

January 14, 2010

#4) Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix [Glassnote; released 5/26/2009]

“Do you remember when 21 years was old?”

“Countdown”

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, the 4th album from the French pop-rockers is one of, if not, the most easy to listen to, and enjoyable albums of 2009. That’s not to say there isn’t depth in the music, but trying to delve into what makes the album such a success is completely unnecessary and a waste of time, especially when there’s an album this good to be enjoyed. Whether it’s the ambient electronics that create an almost nostalgic feel, or just the abundance of danceable hooks that make up Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, one thing’s for sure, it’s masterpiece of sophisticated pop that takes Phoenix to a whole new level.  It’s 10 songs and 36 minutes of tightly constructed synth driven pop-rock songs that don’t try to be more than what they are, but still display a craftsmanship of detail so fine that not a second is wasted. Oftentimes the joy of listening to an album can be lost in trying to over-analyze all it’s intricacies that make it what it is.  But for an album as fun as Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, sometimes it’s best just to sit back and enjoy the ride…preferably in a Cadillac.

[“1901” – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix]

#3) Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion [Domino; released 1/20/2009]

“I don’t mean to seem like I care about material things, like our social stats. I just want four walls and adobe slats for my girls.”

“My Girls”

The hype for Animal Collective’s 9th full-length album was built up long before all the glowing reviews started rolling in upon its release in mid-January.  For all intents and purposes, the critical consensus for album of the year was already set in stone not even one month in.  And when all was said and done for 2009, Merriweather Post Pavilion reigned as the best reviewed studio album of the year according to Metacritic.  So 9 albums in, what is it that sets this AC release apart from any of their others?  Well, it’s pretty simple; MPP is the most accessible and therefore easiest listen of the Brooklyn/Baltimore band’s career.  However, the originality and weirdness still remain in these psychedelic tunes making it invariably an Animal Collective album that would be impossible to mistake for anyone else.  Melodies abound in MPP in ways they never have on an Animal Collective release and while tagged as their “pop” album, there’s no shortage of the textured electronica and experimental songs that have characterized the group to this point. Merriweather Post Pavilion can be seen as an Animal Collective re-boot in a sense; one that by no means will alienate longtime fans, but will do wonders in garnering a brand new appreciation for those willing to open their minds to one of the most inventive and important American bands of this era.

[“My Girls” – Merriweather Post Pavilion]

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Mid-2009 Music Awards

July 6, 2009

A little something I like to do every year is dole out some awards for the music up to the halfway point of the year.  Nothing too detailed, just a little summary.  As usual for all my lists, the only albums I’m including are albums that I own and are currently in my itunes library.  And of course all this can change as I listen to albums more, but this is what I’m feeling so far for 2009.  Enjoy!

Animal Collective

Animal Collective

Best, let’s say, 7 Albums (in order of release date):

Antony & the Johnsons – The Crying Light

  • It’s a beautiful and affecting listen, which was to be expected from Antony Hegarty.  It was the first great release of the year and has stuck around to now.  I already mentioned in my 1st quarter of ’09 wrap-up…nothing more to add to that really.

[“Her Eyes Are Underneath the Ground – The Crying Light]

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

[“My Girls” – Merriweather Post Pavilion]

The Antlers – Hospice

  • Once again, check my 1Q of ’09 post that mentions this release as well.  People are starting to pick up on its brilliance but it will surely gain even more of a following once Frenchkiss reissiues it this August.

[“Two” – Hospice]

Passion Pit – Manners

  • A very fun listen and impressive full-length debut from the Boston, Mass band that I already featured in my review here.

[“Little Secrets” – Manners]

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

[“1901” – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix]

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

  • About as perfect as an album gets.  The review goes into more detail.

[“Two Weeks” – Veckatimest]

Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

  • The only album of these 7 that I haven’t mentioned on the blog yet.  The first 6 songs are hard to top.  Longstreth tones down the weird just a bit, and it gets album of the year hype…go figure.

[“Stillness is the Move” – Bitte Orca]

Most Overrated:

Japandroids – Post-Nothing

  • It’s a fun, rockin’ little album, but the 4th best reviewed release of the year?!…come on!

[“Young Hearts Spark Fire” – Post-Nothing]

Most Underrated:

Loney, Dear – Dear John

  • One of my most listened to albums so far this year.  It doesn’t deserve any album of the year or even top 10 talk, but I think it deserves more attention than it’s getting.

[“Airport Surroundings” – Dear John]

Biggest Disappointment:

The Appleseed Cast – Sagarmatha

  • They left behind their melodic pop hooks that made Peregrine so good, and went back to their post-rock instrumental days with bland results.  Best description I’ve heard was that it’s like Explosions in the Sky tried to make an Appleseed Cast album…not what I was hoping for.

[“The Summer Before” – Sagarmatha]

Biggest Surprise:

Maria Taylor – LadyLuck

  • Already mentioned this one here, but the more I thought about it, the more I concluded that it probably is my biggest surprise of the year.

[Time Lapse Lifeline – LadyLuck]

Need to give more listens:

Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains

  • I just haven’t put enough time into this one to get a reading on it.  Some of it has some early Built to Spill indie feel to it, which deserves my attention.

[“Indiana” – Why There Are Mountains]

Notable albums I still need to get:

Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career

St. Vincent – Actor

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Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

June 22, 2009

51nmnl5bKLL._SL500_AA240_“Do you remember when 21 years was old?” sings Thomas Mars on “Countdown”, one of the many great tracks from the fourth (and best) album from French pop-rockers Phoenix. It’s in this simple lyric that he maybe provides the best example of the sense of nostalgia that seems to carry Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix from just a fun danceable indie rock album, to a career defining work of art. You have to love a French band who writes and records all their music in English (thanks guys!), but what’s more impressive is that this is band who has not only mastered an American genre such as the NYC garage-band revival made popular by The Strokes, but also taken it to a level that similar American bands (like…The Strokes) have stalled to get to. Joining “Countdown” as album standouts is the best 1-2 punch of the year in “Lisztomania” and “1901” which open the album with two of the best tracks released in 2009 and are a great introduction to the rest of the tightly-constructed tunes that make up the disc. And while Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix may not be as in-your-face nostalgic as say, M83’s Saturday’s=Youth or The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s self titled release from earlier this year, it’s still hard to listen to the album and not get some sense of sentimentality for times gone by. It’s in the ambient electronics heard throughout, it’s in the lyrics, but nostalgic or not, Phoenix have created a great album that should appeal to all fans from those of indie-dance to NYC garage-rock, and really just anyone who wants to listen to catchy pop-rock by a band who has subtly put itself in rarefied air.

[“Lisztomania” – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix]

[“1901” – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix]

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Posted by Hawkins