the top ten musical long-playing recordings of 2009
i know, i know. i blame it on list fatigue. YOU try making a list of the top 50 albums of the decade. this is horribly late but musical OC dictates that it must be done, especially since 2009 was such a great year for music, the best since 2004 (read my intros to all the previous years, and you'll know how much i hated music then). i'm also happy to say that aside from Phoenix, none of these guys have appeared here before, so it's been a great year for discovering new stuff. this applies especially to my top artist of the year; I'm so happy to love an album this much again.
i'll make this short and sweet and just about the albums. i promise to give in the 2010 list earlier. like, you know, within 2010.
10.
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
Yes, he raps about nothing but how great he is and how he has 10 no.1 albums (maybe now 11), but how he makes it so enjoyable and bouncin' is just further proof that Hova IS genius. On the opening track "What We Talkin' About" he talks about keeping it real, while he rhymes on "Thank You" his gratitude to his fans."On To The Next One" is about moving nowhere but up, and he makes sure that his competition knows how easily he can destroy them on "The Reminder". In fact, one of the only songs where he wholeheartedly talks about love for something other than himself is "Empire State of Mind", which might also be the most overplayed (and overquoted by Facebook friends who go to New York) single of the year, but it really is that fucking good. This is Hip Hop at its most excessive and narcissistic, but it's also an album whose time has come and could only be made by the only rapper to rewrite history without a pen.
9.
Zach Lucero- Fall Crash Infect
This unassuming debut, one that doesn’t even have the artist's name on the cover, is a romantic ode to 90s alt rock and a celebration of friendship and falling in love. Zach "Roly" Lucero plays all the instruments, but gets some of today’s top female vocalists to jam (including Outerhope’s Micaela Benedicto, Taken by Cars’ Sarah Marco, Cambio’s Kris Gorra, Boldstar’s Marie Jamora, The Ronnies’ Ene Lagunzad, The Dorques’ Aimee Marcos and Duster’s Katwo Puertollano). There’s even a guest appearance by Lourd de Veyra, because like all smart musicians Lucero knows that an album can only get better if Lourd pops up. Come to think of it, Fall Crash Infect is the best thing that an album could be considering who Lucero is and where he’s been-it’s cathartic.
8.
The Lonely Island - Incredibad
At best,The Lonely Island's long-awaited debut is uneven, and most of the songs in the record aren't even that good. I feel,however, like I owe Jorma, Andy and Akiva because I've gone through so many laughs, conversations and Youtube show-and-tells due to masterpieces like "Natalie's Rap", "Space Olympics" and of course, "Dick In A Box" since 2006. Putting Incredibad on this list feels like cheating because it's more a best-of collection of Saturday Night Digital Shorts than a legit first album, but at least these songs are finally out on record so there aren't any complaints here.
7.
Tegan & Sara - Sainthood
Lesbians, man. That's where it's at. And TWIN lesbians. San ka pa. Tegan and Sara Quin are my age, which is probably why I can relate to their sound so much-- 00s Canadian pop with a heavy 90s alternative influence. I hated their 2002 release If It Was You, so I stopped listening to them until Mikey convinced me to give 2007's The Con a chance. I'm glad I did, and Sainthood takes the best parts of their previous effort and only makes them better. If I have any complaints it's that the songs are better listened to individually or as part of an iPod shuffle since they tend to get a bit tired after a while, but then in this age of single-focused music distribution that's not a bad thing.
6.
Passion Pit - Manners
By this time Hipstertronica is hopefully dead in the water, and Passion Pit's Manners is a fitting document of late 2000s Williamsburg-style partay-ing. The amateurish beats and toy-sounding instruments are definitely meant to be danced to whilst drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, lighting sparklers and camwhoring. It's surprising, though, that despite this being an obvious clubhouse record there is a whole lot of sincerity. While this doesn't make for good lyrics ("Look at me oh look at me is this the way I've always been, oh no. Now I'm dreaming somebody would simply come and kidnap me oh no.")it's admirable to put brutally honest lyrics into something meant for dancing. I'm not sure if I'll even bother listening to Passion Pit's sophomore effort; I think I've had enough of Michael Angelakos' cringe-inducing falsetto, but Manners has its fair share of catchy smile-inducing music, and that's good enough for now.
5.
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
The difference between Dirty Projectors and almost every other pretentious freak folk band out there (why hello, Animal Collective) is that these guys aren't too cool to bare their souls. This is especially evident in the track Solange Knowles made famous, "Stillness is the Move" and the very moving and celebratory "Temecula Sunrise". Bitte Orca is by no means an easily digestible album, in fact upon first listen it's just a whole lot of wailing and plucking, but give it a chance and it will reward you.
4.
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
After three varied yet equally spectacular albums, Phoenix finally comes out with what is universally hailed as their masterpiece: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. With it, the French foursome have finally perfected the art of making pop music, beginning with the annoyingly catchy "Lisztomania", a song which will have you humming the opening "tung na tung na tung nga" guitar sound for days. Then there's "1901",the best song in the album, which may have been everyone's ringtone for 2009. What sets Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix apart from other famous "00s indie bands now ready to make money" records like Death Cab for Cutie's Plans and Snow Patrol's Eyes Open is that Phoenix hasn't gone soft. If ever they've become edgier, and this is exemplified in the one-two punch of Love Like a Sunset Parts I and II, where the band puts you through an almost-six minute instrumental only to punctuate it with a few variations of these words: "Here comes a visible horizon. Right where it starts and ends. You're like a sunset."
3.
Telepathe - Dance Mother
I mentioned Hipstertronica with a bit of a scathing tone earlier, but really -- 2009 was its year. Crystal Castles, Passion Pit, Holy Hail and Cut Copy (maybe it's all the alliteration?) had their time in the sun, but for me the real electronic gem of 2009 was Telepathe's Dance Mother. Produced by Dave Sitek from TV and the Radio, this underrated debut from two too-cool for school lesbian Brooklynites is dance music for lonely, alienated teenage girls. I can just imagine them coming home from another horrible day at school, turning up Dance Mother , closing their eyes and dancing silently to themselves because really -- only Telepathe understands them. The first track, "So Fine", is a strong and groovy opener, which is then followed by the hypnotic "Chrome's On It" and enigmatic spoken word "Devil's Trident". By the time you get to the fourth and best song, "In Your Line", you know that this isn't just a dance record -- it's a manifesto, a declaration of independence, a confession set to drum machine. oh, and in case you were wondering,you read it right -- they're lesbian AND from Brooklyn. Telepathe pretty much embodied the zeitgest of 2009, and almost no one noticed.
2.
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
If i could describe Veckatimest in one word, it would be 'haunting'. Both of Grizzly Bear's earlier albums, Horn of plenty and Yellow House, were ok, but nothing could have prepared me for the masterpiece that was Veckatimest. The songwriting was just so brilliant and full of ambition and the arranging so well planned and phenomenal, that it's hard not to stand back and adore it. There's a lot of the 60s in there, like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and the Beach Boys, except it's a lot darker. Even the celebratory "Two Weeks" feels like they're hiding things from you. In the end, though, it's "While You Wait For The Others" (especially the Michael McDonald version that was a b-side single) that embodies this album -- how it can be of such an epic scale yet stay true to a minimalist sound.
This same year Grizzly Bear did one of the main tracks for New Moon, and their mainstream success is the one thing I thank Stephane Meyer for.
1.
Us-2 Evil-0 - Dirty Debutantes
i kid, i kid.
1.
The xx - xx
When xx made #16 of my Top 20 albums of the decade a number of people complained. "surely an album you loved in 2001 that you still love today has way more weight than something you've only enjoyed for a little over 4 months", someone said.Now that a lot more time has passed, I think I can say with clarity that I regret the decision.
I wish I put xx higher.
More than a year has passed and this is still the album I always come back to. It's silence and sex at a time in music when we most need it. It's the kind of album where you find yourself not only singing the words out loud, but the instrumentals as well. From the powerful intro, featuring the two leads Romy Croft and Oliver Sim humming in unison to the album's final track where Sim counters Croft's Tracey Thornesque singing with a lazy drawl, the album sometimes feels like the two are battling, and other times like they're making love. I alluded to sex earlier, but I think the more apt phrase is making love, and we don't hear that so much in music anymore.
Nevermind that the trio, at the age of 20, has already won the Mercury Prize. Nevermind that in less than a year from their album's release they've already played every major music festival in the world. Nevermind that masters like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Damon Albarn cover them. The xx have something really wonderful and personal going for them, and for my sake I wish them nothing but the best.
HONORABLE MENTION : Yeah Yeah Yeahs' It's Blitz! would have probably made it to the top 10 if I made the list a year ago. Dirty Projectors grew on me though, and slowly shot up the ranks. Metric's Fantasies is a great album, except I had room for only one 90s alternative-sounding record, and Sainthood had a larger number of great songs. Kings of Convenience's Declaration of Dependence was a great album, and I think I loved it even more because of their concert this year. Finally there's Mayer Hawthorne's A Strange Arrangement one of those rare albums that are wholly perfect for lovemaken!
EPs of the year: we have Holy Hail's the After Party because it's really punk rock in the weirdest way. actually, it's just weird in the weirdest way. but what makes it even better is that IT'S FREE! download it here . Also, Superchunk's Leaves In The Gutter, because it's always nice hearing from Superchunk, especially if it's been 8 years.
the 00s
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
i'll make this short and sweet and just about the albums. i promise to give in the 2010 list earlier. like, you know, within 2010.
10.
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
Yes, he raps about nothing but how great he is and how he has 10 no.1 albums (maybe now 11), but how he makes it so enjoyable and bouncin' is just further proof that Hova IS genius. On the opening track "What We Talkin' About" he talks about keeping it real, while he rhymes on "Thank You" his gratitude to his fans."On To The Next One" is about moving nowhere but up, and he makes sure that his competition knows how easily he can destroy them on "The Reminder". In fact, one of the only songs where he wholeheartedly talks about love for something other than himself is "Empire State of Mind", which might also be the most overplayed (and overquoted by Facebook friends who go to New York) single of the year, but it really is that fucking good. This is Hip Hop at its most excessive and narcissistic, but it's also an album whose time has come and could only be made by the only rapper to rewrite history without a pen.
9.
Zach Lucero- Fall Crash Infect
This unassuming debut, one that doesn’t even have the artist's name on the cover, is a romantic ode to 90s alt rock and a celebration of friendship and falling in love. Zach "Roly" Lucero plays all the instruments, but gets some of today’s top female vocalists to jam (including Outerhope’s Micaela Benedicto, Taken by Cars’ Sarah Marco, Cambio’s Kris Gorra, Boldstar’s Marie Jamora, The Ronnies’ Ene Lagunzad, The Dorques’ Aimee Marcos and Duster’s Katwo Puertollano). There’s even a guest appearance by Lourd de Veyra, because like all smart musicians Lucero knows that an album can only get better if Lourd pops up. Come to think of it, Fall Crash Infect is the best thing that an album could be considering who Lucero is and where he’s been-it’s cathartic.
8.
The Lonely Island - Incredibad
At best,The Lonely Island's long-awaited debut is uneven, and most of the songs in the record aren't even that good. I feel,however, like I owe Jorma, Andy and Akiva because I've gone through so many laughs, conversations and Youtube show-and-tells due to masterpieces like "Natalie's Rap", "Space Olympics" and of course, "Dick In A Box" since 2006. Putting Incredibad on this list feels like cheating because it's more a best-of collection of Saturday Night Digital Shorts than a legit first album, but at least these songs are finally out on record so there aren't any complaints here.
7.
Tegan & Sara - Sainthood
Lesbians, man. That's where it's at. And TWIN lesbians. San ka pa. Tegan and Sara Quin are my age, which is probably why I can relate to their sound so much-- 00s Canadian pop with a heavy 90s alternative influence. I hated their 2002 release If It Was You, so I stopped listening to them until Mikey convinced me to give 2007's The Con a chance. I'm glad I did, and Sainthood takes the best parts of their previous effort and only makes them better. If I have any complaints it's that the songs are better listened to individually or as part of an iPod shuffle since they tend to get a bit tired after a while, but then in this age of single-focused music distribution that's not a bad thing.
6.
Passion Pit - Manners
By this time Hipstertronica is hopefully dead in the water, and Passion Pit's Manners is a fitting document of late 2000s Williamsburg-style partay-ing. The amateurish beats and toy-sounding instruments are definitely meant to be danced to whilst drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, lighting sparklers and camwhoring. It's surprising, though, that despite this being an obvious clubhouse record there is a whole lot of sincerity. While this doesn't make for good lyrics ("Look at me oh look at me is this the way I've always been, oh no. Now I'm dreaming somebody would simply come and kidnap me oh no.")it's admirable to put brutally honest lyrics into something meant for dancing. I'm not sure if I'll even bother listening to Passion Pit's sophomore effort; I think I've had enough of Michael Angelakos' cringe-inducing falsetto, but Manners has its fair share of catchy smile-inducing music, and that's good enough for now.
5.
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
The difference between Dirty Projectors and almost every other pretentious freak folk band out there (why hello, Animal Collective) is that these guys aren't too cool to bare their souls. This is especially evident in the track Solange Knowles made famous, "Stillness is the Move" and the very moving and celebratory "Temecula Sunrise". Bitte Orca is by no means an easily digestible album, in fact upon first listen it's just a whole lot of wailing and plucking, but give it a chance and it will reward you.
4.
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
After three varied yet equally spectacular albums, Phoenix finally comes out with what is universally hailed as their masterpiece: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. With it, the French foursome have finally perfected the art of making pop music, beginning with the annoyingly catchy "Lisztomania", a song which will have you humming the opening "tung na tung na tung nga" guitar sound for days. Then there's "1901",the best song in the album, which may have been everyone's ringtone for 2009. What sets Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix apart from other famous "00s indie bands now ready to make money" records like Death Cab for Cutie's Plans and Snow Patrol's Eyes Open is that Phoenix hasn't gone soft. If ever they've become edgier, and this is exemplified in the one-two punch of Love Like a Sunset Parts I and II, where the band puts you through an almost-six minute instrumental only to punctuate it with a few variations of these words: "Here comes a visible horizon. Right where it starts and ends. You're like a sunset."
3.
Telepathe - Dance Mother
I mentioned Hipstertronica with a bit of a scathing tone earlier, but really -- 2009 was its year. Crystal Castles, Passion Pit, Holy Hail and Cut Copy (maybe it's all the alliteration?) had their time in the sun, but for me the real electronic gem of 2009 was Telepathe's Dance Mother. Produced by Dave Sitek from TV and the Radio, this underrated debut from two too-cool for school lesbian Brooklynites is dance music for lonely, alienated teenage girls. I can just imagine them coming home from another horrible day at school, turning up Dance Mother , closing their eyes and dancing silently to themselves because really -- only Telepathe understands them. The first track, "So Fine", is a strong and groovy opener, which is then followed by the hypnotic "Chrome's On It" and enigmatic spoken word "Devil's Trident". By the time you get to the fourth and best song, "In Your Line", you know that this isn't just a dance record -- it's a manifesto, a declaration of independence, a confession set to drum machine. oh, and in case you were wondering,you read it right -- they're lesbian AND from Brooklyn. Telepathe pretty much embodied the zeitgest of 2009, and almost no one noticed.
2.
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
If i could describe Veckatimest in one word, it would be 'haunting'. Both of Grizzly Bear's earlier albums, Horn of plenty and Yellow House, were ok, but nothing could have prepared me for the masterpiece that was Veckatimest. The songwriting was just so brilliant and full of ambition and the arranging so well planned and phenomenal, that it's hard not to stand back and adore it. There's a lot of the 60s in there, like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and the Beach Boys, except it's a lot darker. Even the celebratory "Two Weeks" feels like they're hiding things from you. In the end, though, it's "While You Wait For The Others" (especially the Michael McDonald version that was a b-side single) that embodies this album -- how it can be of such an epic scale yet stay true to a minimalist sound.
This same year Grizzly Bear did one of the main tracks for New Moon, and their mainstream success is the one thing I thank Stephane Meyer for.
1.
Us-2 Evil-0 - Dirty Debutantes
i kid, i kid.
1.
The xx - xx
When xx made #16 of my Top 20 albums of the decade a number of people complained. "surely an album you loved in 2001 that you still love today has way more weight than something you've only enjoyed for a little over 4 months", someone said.Now that a lot more time has passed, I think I can say with clarity that I regret the decision.
I wish I put xx higher.
More than a year has passed and this is still the album I always come back to. It's silence and sex at a time in music when we most need it. It's the kind of album where you find yourself not only singing the words out loud, but the instrumentals as well. From the powerful intro, featuring the two leads Romy Croft and Oliver Sim humming in unison to the album's final track where Sim counters Croft's Tracey Thornesque singing with a lazy drawl, the album sometimes feels like the two are battling, and other times like they're making love. I alluded to sex earlier, but I think the more apt phrase is making love, and we don't hear that so much in music anymore.
Nevermind that the trio, at the age of 20, has already won the Mercury Prize. Nevermind that in less than a year from their album's release they've already played every major music festival in the world. Nevermind that masters like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Damon Albarn cover them. The xx have something really wonderful and personal going for them, and for my sake I wish them nothing but the best.
HONORABLE MENTION : Yeah Yeah Yeahs' It's Blitz! would have probably made it to the top 10 if I made the list a year ago. Dirty Projectors grew on me though, and slowly shot up the ranks. Metric's Fantasies is a great album, except I had room for only one 90s alternative-sounding record, and Sainthood had a larger number of great songs. Kings of Convenience's Declaration of Dependence was a great album, and I think I loved it even more because of their concert this year. Finally there's Mayer Hawthorne's A Strange Arrangement one of those rare albums that are wholly perfect for lovemaken!
EPs of the year: we have Holy Hail's the After Party because it's really punk rock in the weirdest way. actually, it's just weird in the weirdest way. but what makes it even better is that IT'S FREE! download it here . Also, Superchunk's Leaves In The Gutter, because it's always nice hearing from Superchunk, especially if it's been 8 years.
the 00s
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003