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]

———-

[“Sleepyhead” – Passion Pit :: Manners]

———-

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

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#1 Album of 2009

January 16, 2010

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest [Warp; released 5/26/2009]

“While you wait for the others to make it all worthwhile, all your useless pretensions are weighing on my time.”

“While You Wait For The Others”

Much of the year’s best releases owe their success to a new found accessibility in the music, and no band refined their sound more from a previous release than Brooklyn’s (where else?) Grizzly Bear, whose 3rd album Veckatimest makes it to the top of my list as the best album of 2009.  It wasn’t as if 2006’s Yellow House was a bad album, but it did peg Grizzly Bear as a ambient and boring band whose music didn’t really go anywhere, save for a couple excellent exceptions.  However, the songs on Veckatimest don’t meander nearly as much and contain actual, honest to God, melodies.  Grizzly Bear still retains their atmospheric tendencies and signature harmonies that characterized Yellow House, but the the songs are more traditional and much more memorable and strike a perfect balance between their experimental ambitions and straightforward pop to create an absolutely triumphant album.

You don’t have to look any further to find what Veckatimest does so well than the two opening tracks “Southern Point” and my song of the year “Two Weeks” which are rivaled only by the openers on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix as the best one-two opening punch of any album this year. “Southern Point” is the psych-folk opener led by Daniel Rossen that introduces the album in a way that almost seems like an appetizer for 11 tracks that follow.  It leads into “Two Weeks” which is as standard of a pop song Grizzly Bear has ever written.  An instantly memorable piano hook backs the entire song which is carried by glorious harmonies thanks in part to guest vocals from Beach House’s Victoria Legrand.  From there the album wonders back and forth from orchestral tunes to other examples of sophisticated pop such as “Cheerleader” and “While You Wait For The Others”.  Veckatimest is a meticulously crafted record in every sense, from its production to superb songwriting.  It’s an album that many bands in similar boats as Grizzly Bear have probably tried to create, but not every band has the dedication and better yet, ability, to be able to create something so majestic.

[“Two Weeks” – Veckatimest]

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#2 Album of 2009

January 15, 2010

The Antlers – Hospice [Frenchkiss; released 8/18/2009]


“Don’t ever let anyone tell you you deserve that.”

“Wake”

The absolute out-of-nowhere success story of 2009 comes from  The Antlers with Hospice, the 3rd release from frontman Peter Silberman, but first with a full time band.  The Brooklyn-based trio was relatively unknown prior to this year, but Hospice became a web sensation largely thanks to high praise from NPR’s All Songs Considered who featured it on their weekly podcast and even named it the year’s early leader for best album. Initially self-released, the original pressing sold out before Frenchkiss eventually picked up the disc and remastered it for an August re-release.

Written during a extended period of isolation from the outside world, Silberman emerged with Hospice, a tour de force of powerful and tragic anthems that serve as an emotional journey that trumps even last year’s similar cathartic success, Bon Iver’s For Emma Forever Ago.  A concept album, Hospice centers around the story of a relationship forged between a nurse and cancer patient at Sloan Kettering Cancer Ward in New York City. Every song is a chilling look at the human emotions involved when a relationship is based around such tragedy.  Silberman’s vocals are an eerie falsetto that add to the heartbreak and coupled with the striking imagery found in not only the lyrics, but also in the music, an atmosphere of sorrow is created so palpable it’s truly startling.  Once drawn into Hospice, and it’s impossible not to be, Silberman ensures that you will be haunted long after the 10 songs have passed much like this experience haunts his characters.

[“Two” – Hospice]

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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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Top Albums of 2009: #5 and #6

January 12, 2010

#6) Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca [Domino; released 6/9/2009]

“When the child was just a child, it did not know what it was.  Like a child, it had no habits, no opinion about anything.”

“Stillness Is The Move”

All those first time Dirty Projectors listeners who picked up Bitte Orca after hearing of it’s “accessibility” from the reviews had to be scratching their heads after one spin of the disc.  Make no mistake about it; this is a weird album. However, by DP’s standards, the strangeness is scaled back to an enormous degree, even to the point where some first time listeners would be immediately drawn in. Notice I said some, because Bitte Orca is a definitely a polarizing listen, but those that accept the eccentricities are rewarded with an exhilarating listen and certainly one of the year’s best.  Frontman Dave Longstreth loves the human voice as an instrument and for Bitte Orca he gives his girls the chance to shine on these 9 songs, none more prevalent than album centerpieces “Stillness Is The Move” and “Two Doves”, the former being one of the best tracks of 2009 with it’s R&B grooves and Amber Coffman led vocals.  Bitte Orca is a refreshing release from the Brooklyn-based art rockers that while more accessible than previous efforts, still contains the complex arrangements and quirkiness to satisfy even the most avant-garde hipsters.

[“Stillness Is The Move” – Bitte Orca]

#5) St. Vincent – Actor [4AD; released 5/5/2009]

“Desperate don’t look good on you, neither does your virtue.”

“The Strangers”

In an interview this past summer Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, was approached with the thought that she could “skate by” with her talent, voice, and looks to write “really easy stuff” and be just as successful.  While flattered, Clark didn’t agree and thankfully for all of us, she has chosen to use her talent to become one of the most creative musicians going today and her sophomore album Actor has vaulted her to the top of my list of favorite female artists.  A former Sufjan Stevens tour cheerleader and member of Polyphonic Spree, the Brooklyn-by-way-of-Texas musician composes smart and abstract pop-rock songs that are sweet but come with a hint of dementia.  Clark’s tunes are complex but melodic and with her voice, I dare say even beautiful at times.  Possibly no song encapsulates what Actor does so well better than “Marrow”, with its initial woodwinds before evolving in some sort of sinister wordplay and then exploding into a chorus that no one should be able to pull off; but Clark does so as second nature.  The song employs the distorted instrumentation that St. Vincent is becoming know for and takes the song to a completely unexpected level. It’s brilliant.  There’s a bit of everything on Actor, from the straightforward rock of “Actor Out of Work” to the glorious harmonies that close out “The Party”, but when it all comes together, there’s no doubt that it’s a defining release for the art-pop genre.

[“Marrow” – Actor]

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Top Albums of 2009: #7 and #8

January 12, 2010

#8) The xx – xx [Young Turks; released 8/16/2009]

“I can’t give it up to someone else’s touch, because I care too much”

“Infinity”

The sparse cover art for the debut album from The xx speaks volumes for the 11 songs contained within.  It’s simple, to the point, and says no more than what is needed, which appropriately captures what this South London quartet have been able accomplish on this year’s best debut album. Released with loads of hype from the blogosphere as well as the British media, xx has captivated and intrigued listeners with its sexy melodies while employing minimal instrumentation to create an atmosphere so stunning it’s hard to believe this is a group made up of four 20 year olds. Alternating guy/girl vocals rise to forefront on these tunes which are essentially love songs, eerie as they may be, and while the lyrics aren’t as accomplished as the music and can come across as cheezy, the vocals somehow hide that and make it seem real.  Riding on the strength of their own confidence, there’s no telling what comes next from this group considering most bands might take multiple releases trying to master the sound that The xx seems to do almost effortlessly.

[“Crystalised” – xx]

#7) Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career [4AD; released 4/20/2009]

“This maudlin career has come to an end, I don’t want to be sad again.”

“My Maudlin Career”

Overflowing with sentimentality and emotion, My Maudlin Career is perhaps the most appropriately titled album of the year.  Tracyanne Campbell’s vocals are as melancholy as ever and pack a vulnerability to go along with her ballads of lost love.  However, paired with some of the most lush songs the group has ever produced and complete with their usual sweet catchy melodies, My Maudlin Career is Camera Obscura’s most endearing work to date. Camera Obscura’s existence to this point has always been tied to fellow indie-pop Scotsmen Belle & Sebastian, but Camera Obscura’s 2006 masterpiece Let’s Get Out of the Country helped the group escape from B&S’s shadow and My Maudlin Career only further sets them apart.  String arrangements absolutely dominate this album, and the songs are better for it.  Openers “French Navy” and “The Sweetest Thing” each show off the strings in exploding choruses, while a song like “Careless Love” is complimented throughout by the orchestration before a final beautiful climax to close out the song.  But when it comes down to it,  My Maudlin Career succeeds by conveying sadness without being overly gloomy.  It’s both a heartbreaking and uplifting listen and Camera Obscura pulls it off seamlessly.

[“French Navy” – My Maudlin Career]

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Top Albums of 2009: #9 and #10

January 11, 2010

#10) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart [Slumberland; released 2/3/2009]

“Don’t you try to shoot up the sky, tonight we’ll stay alive.”

“Stay Alive”

There were many fine debut releases in 2009 and one of the best comes from the Brooklyn quartet The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.  This self titled album is a nostalgic throwback to the twee days of C86 and while TPOBPAH’s brand of fuzz-pop certainly isn’t breaking any new ground, it does possess the melodies and clever lyrics to help it stand out on its own.  No song better exemplifies this than “Young Adult Friction”, one of the best songs of the year with its indie-pop brightness and lyrical wittiness of capturing some sort of love encounter in a library. (Young Adult Friction…get it now?)  The album as a whole is a fusion of those indie-pop stylings and shoegaze to create a supremely confident album as infectious as any this year.  The group released a follow up EP late in the 2009 which contained possibly their greatest song to date, and only shows that The Pains of Being Pure at Heart should have no problem meeting the increased expectations that inevitably comes from being one of the year’s breakout acts.

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

#9) Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light [Secretly Canadian;  released 1/20/2009]

“I need another place, will there be peace? I need another world, this one is nearly gone.”

“Another World”

Upon hearing Antony Hegarty’s Nina Simone-like vocals, you would be excused if you thought he was about to break into tears while recording his music. Hegarty’s voice contains a tremble that is one of the most unique in the business and creates and affecting listen that is sure to put a lump in your throat even if it’s missing from Hegarty’s. However, after watching numerous performances on Youtube of Hegarty’s performances with an accompanying symphony from this past summer, I think there’s little doubt that the emotion gets the best of him too.  The Crying Light is Hegerty’s third release as Antony and the Johnsons and the follow up to 2005’s very well received I Am a Bird Now and is another hauntingly beautiful group of songs from Hegerty’s catalog.  It’s a poetic and moving listen that hits you in the gut, attacks your heart, and sinks into your mind all at the same time.

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

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Top Albums of 2009: #11-#25

January 10, 2010

So now it’s time to get to the actual rankings.  Today I’m unveiling the 15 albums that make up #11 through #25 in this year’s rankings.  I’m only including a little blurb and a track for albums that I haven’t already blurbed about on the blog.  For the others, click on the band name to link to its write up.

#25) Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

#24) Japandroids – Post-Nothing

#23) Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – Know Better Learn Faster

Know Better Learn Faster is a joy to listen to, full of 13 bubbly and infectious tunes from Thao Nguyen and her backing band. Thao’s lyrics are sweet but pack a sense of feminine empowerment with their straightforward approach with lines like “I disarm you in the morning” in the title track and “What am I, just a body in your bed?” from the handclapping and horn driven “Body”.  The songwriting is exquisite and by the second track and my personal favorite “Cool Yourself” you’re instantly drawn in and before you know it 37 minutes has flown by with not a dull moment to be found.

[“Cool Yourself” – Know Better Learn Faster]

#22) Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below

#21) The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love

#20) The Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns

If this album had been released 10 years ago, it very well could have been thrown in among the late 90’s emo/indie scene, but thankfully in 2009 it gets to stand on its own despite being picked up and re-issued by renowned “emo” label Saddle Creek (Cursive, Bright Eyes, The Faint). Hometowns is unapologetically raw album brimming with confidence from the Toronto based trio complete with emotional, yes emotional, vocals and  personal lyrics.  The musicianship is simple but inspired as the drums really carry the songs but not to be outdone by the subtle orchestration from strings and keyboards.  Hometowns is a very refreshing and surprisingly fantastic debut that from a group overflowing with potential.

[“Don’t Haunt This Place” – Hometowns]

#19) The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come

Just a quick glance at the tracklist of The Life of the World to Come can be quite a headscratcher with every song title named after a Bible verse.  However, inspiration can come from anywhere for frontman John Darnielle.  The Mountain Goats has never been, and never will be a Christian band, but John Darnielle, despite being a non-believer, is an avid reader and lover of the Bible, as he professed on his Colbert Report appearance.  The Life of the World to Come is not a religious album by any means, as Darnielle takes the lessons from these 12 Bible verses and applies them to his usual 3 or 4 minute long epics. This album does nothing to change Darnielle’s reputation as one of the 100 greatest living songwriters; it probably only strengthens that belief.

[“Genesis 3:23” – The Life of the World to Come]

#18) Built to Spill – There Is No Enemy

A band like Built to Spill has to look at the current state of indie rock and glow with pride.  Becoming one of the first indie rock bands to jump to a major label back when Warner Bros signed the band back in 1997, BTS returns with their 5th major label release and 7th overall with There is No Enemy, another excellent album for the Built to Spill catalog.  As a follow up to 2006’s You in Reverse, There Is No Enemy is a more polished effort but recaptures some of the heart that You in Reverse was missing.  Doug Martsch has to be considered a Godfather of current indie rock and he has hinted that this could be Built to Spill’s final release.  If so, they have gone out in very fine fashion and left another album for up and comers to look up to.

[“Hindsight” – There Is No Enemy]

#17) Neko Case – Middle Cyclone

#16) The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You

#15) Lightning Dust – Infinite Light

#14) Dinosaur Jr. – Farm

Back with their second album since their reunion, Farm picks up right where 2007’s Beyond left off but manages to trump it in every facet.  Farm is overflowing with the guitar drenched catchy tunes full of riffs and solos everyone would have expected Dinosaur Jr. to put out back prior to 1988, when the original lineup disbanded.  While it’s predecessor was successful possibly because of the excitement of a reunion, Farm can truly stand on it’s own as one of Dinosaur Jr’s finest.

[“Pieces” – Farm]

#13) Califone – All My Friends Are Funeral Singers

The vastly under-appreciated Chicago group returns with another collection of their experimental folk-rock songs that is again going by relatively unnoticed. Califone consistently releases some of the most interesting albums and All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is no different. The album is the soundtrack to a companion film by the same name that band created and plans to present on their tour and submit to festivals in 2010.  However, the album stands just fine on its own and might actually be some of the most tightly constructed songs of the band’s career.  The meanings of the songs should become more clear upon viewing the film, but it’s not a necessary viewing to appreciate what an impressive release it is.

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

#12) Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer

A year just wouldn’t be complete without multiple releases from Spencer Krug, one of the hardest working men in indie rock. After last year’s underwhelming Wolf Parade release, Krug released another Swan Lake album, announced another album from his Moonface project, and managed to slip in his best non-Wolf Parade release yet in Dragonslayer.  The album still features Krug’s warbling vocals, but is more accessible than his previous efforts and the backing female vocals absolutely shine on this album like none before.  It’s the easiest Sunset Rubdown album to listen to, but still contains all the quirks and ambitions that makes Krug such a brilliant musician.

[“Silver Moons” – Dragonslayer]

#11) Passion Pit – Manners

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Top Albums of 2009: Honorable Mentions

January 9, 2010

Honorable Mentions:

Before we get into the countdown, I wanted to mention a few albums that just missed out on the top 25.  These are not necessarily the next highest ranked albums after 25th.  These are just a few of the albums that I have yet to cover on the blog that couldn’t quite crack the top 25, but I felt like needed mentioning for whatever reason.

———-

The Thermals – Now We Can See

Following up their landmark album The Body, the Blood, the Machine, the Portland trio return with another pop punk album full of guitar driven hooks.  While Now We Can See doesn’t quite have the politically-charged themes as their previous effort, the lyrics are still some of the best in the business from one of the best songwriters in the game.  There was a great deal of anticipation for this album following the critical acclaim of TBTBTM, and while this album isn’t nearly as epic, it is an excellent follow up overflowing with catchy melodies and some great sing along tunes.

[“Now We Can See” – Now We Can See]

———-

Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Elvis Perkins in Dearland

After initially being disappointed with this release, I did eventually come around to appreciate it.  This is the follow up to Perkins’ cathartic debut Ash Wednesday, one of my favorites in 2007, and it is much more ambitious than his previous effort this time employing a multi-instrumental backing band that adds a little bit more pomp to his tunes. My first reaction to the album was that some of the emotion was sacrificed, but considering the subject matter of Ash Wednesday, I think that was a little hard to re-create. This release shows Perkins maturation as a songwriter and songs like “Shampoo” and “Doomdsay” are a couple of the year’s best. (“Shampoo” was featured on my mid-year Round of Sound here.)

[“Doomsday” – Elvis Perkins in Dearland]

———-

The Low Anthem – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

Initially self-released in 2008, Nonesuch Records picked up Oh My God, Charlie Darwin and re-released it this year maybe trying to pull their own For Emma, Forever Ago success story.  However, while this album can’t quite match the brilliance of Bon Iver, it does pack some immensely beautiful and intimate folk tunes that serve as a lovely listen.  This is the 2nd full-length release from the Rhode Island trio and if anything it sets them up for much greater success in the future.

[“Charlie Darwin” – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin]

———-

Islands – Vapours

The third album from the ex-Unicorns members is a return to form to their gloriously quirky debut Return to the Sea.  Founding member Jamie Thompson departed after that release and follow up Arm’s Way was a much darker album and while still enjoyable, it was a disappointment.  However, Thompson returned for Vapours and while everything on Return to Sea hasn’t been recaptured, Vapours is the kind of album these guys should be putting out.  This is one of those albums where there really isn’t a standout track, but that’s due to the abundance of consistently good songs on the album as a whole.

[“Switched On” – Vapours]

———-

Girls – Album

With what has to be one of the least Google-able band names and album titles ever, the San Francisco duo of Girls introduced themselves to the masses with a debut album thats sure to garner some sort of gut reaction due to the incredibly earnest lyrics.  Frontman Christopher Owens has an interesting backstory having grown up in the Children of God cult and his world view was obviously molded from his traumatic upbringing.  It’s a fascinating and refreshing release of pop songs with a variety of influences.

[“Hellhole Ratrace” – Album]

———-

Dishonorable Mentions:

Now for some albums, that for lack of a better term, I can only call my Dishonorable mentions.  These are some of my lower rated albums of the year (but by no means my lowest rated…these all fall in the lower half of my rankings).  Now, since I am usually only going to buy albums that I have some sort of interest in, I can’t say these are bad albums.  For the most part these are just releases that disappointed me in some way that deserve a mention.  And just like my honorable mentions, I’m only featuring albums that I haven’t previously done a write-up on here on the blog.

———-

Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk

I honestly don’t know why I was expecting so much out of this album.  Oh wait, I know…it’s because it features M. Ward, Jim James, and Conor Oberst!  However, “supergroup” albums are frequently disappointing and this one is no different.  It’s just uninspired, way too long, boring and not enough Jim James (and too much Oberst).

[“Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.)” – Monsters of Folk]

———-

Wilco – Wilco (The Album)

This is an example of one of those albums that is by no means a bad release, it’s just that I miss what Wilco used to be.  They have completely evolved into an adult oriented rock band and while the music isn’t bad, it is quite boring.  I was hoping Sky Blue Sky was just an aberration, but Wilco (The Album), while better, did nothing to excite me.  Maybe I’ll like it more when I’m 40.

[“You and I” – Wilco (The Album)]

———-

Muse – Resistance

Now this one is hard on me.  I like Muse, I really do.  Their debut album, Showbiz, was a very important album for me and my musical evolution.  But ever since then (except for Origin of Symmetry), they have been on a slippery slope of becoming caricatures of themselves.  Well, Resistance pretty much completes that downfall.  It’s one of the most self-indulgent, overtly pretentious albums I have heard in quite some time.  And this is coming from a fan of indie-rock…I hear plenty of pretentious music.

[“Uprising” – Resistance]

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Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – Summer of Fear

I loved loved loved MBAR’s self titled debut album released in 2008 (I even mentioned it in my first ever AROS post), which is why I am so disappointed in this absolute mess of an album, Summer of Fear. A few of the songs are keepers, but even those can be grating to listen to.  MBAR’s ambitions got the best of him here, and it doesn’t work out well at all. The lyrics are awful, and the music is disjointed and just plain hard to listen to.

[“Losing 4 Winners” – Summer of Fear]

2 Comments | All, Music, Top Albums of 2009 | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Hawkins

Top Albums of 2009: Eligible Albums

January 8, 2010

So here we are.  Today kicks off my look back at the music of 2009 featuring a countdown of my Top 10 Albums of the year which will span a few days and then be capped off by my annual Mixtape.  This will be the first year I do the countdown on the blog so I’ve mixed things up a little bit, but it’s still pretty much the same thing I’ve always done.  Over on the right you can see the schedule for the next few days as it relates to my Albums of 2009 postings.  You’ll notice that this year, I am starting off with #11-#25 before heading into my top 10 countdown.  Now, I always do a top 25, but usually I just post a link to my Amazon.com list after I’ve completed my top 10 countdown.  I’ve never really thought enough of my complete top 25 to go into too much detail, but this year I had as much trouble figuring out my top 25 than I usually do with my top 10.  That is clearly due to the amount of albums I got this year as compared with year’s past, but also can be attributed to the amount of very solid releases that I didn’t want to omit here on the blog.  As you can see, today is when I offer a little introduction and also provide a list of all the albums I got in 2009.  So…

As a whole, I thought 2009 was a very solid year.  It maybe wasn’t as spectacular as I had hoped, but it was certainly better than 2008.  Trying to summarize the year by coming up with a common theme between all the music released is an absurd task because there are so many different kinds of releases from so many genres.  I guess if there’s something that sticks out to me, it’s the continuing infiltration of indie rock into the mainstream.  I think 2009 has to be considered a landmark year for that movement, if you want to call it that.  More and more indie songs are showing up in commercials, television promos, or just the general mainstream media. You had bands like Phoenix, Fleet Foxes, and TV on the Radio performing on SNL, not to mention all the late night talk shows that featured acts like Andrew Bird, Animal Collective, St Vincent, White Rabbits, Antony and the Johnsons, Dinosaur Jr, and Grizzly Bear just to name a few.  Heck, Grizzly Bear’s album debuted at #8 on the Billboard charts! Accessibility was a major theme to many of the successful albums of ’09, so it’s probably no coincidence that we see those bands being accepted more in a mainstream fashion like they were in 2009.  As the countdown goes on, you will see some of these themes come to light as well as the major impact the Brooklyn music scene had on the year in music.  Like it or not, it was a banner year for the hipsters.

This year, I got a total of 94 albums, 86 of which are eligible to be included in my list.  As usual, only full-length studio albums released in 2009 that I own are eligible.  That means EPs, compilations/soundtracks, live albums, or b-side/rarities type releases can not be considered for the purposes of my list.  Of course, there are a good bit of albums I never got around to getting, so I will most likely have a post-2009 album post like I did last year. For the complete list of all albums I got this year in order of their release date, you can click here or “Continue Reading” link below and the list will show after the jump.  Tomorrow, I will start things off by unveiling my Honorable and Dis-Honorable mentions.

Continue Reading >>

1 Comment | All, Music, Top Albums of 2009 | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Hawkins