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View Full Version : Favorite albums of 2009...so far



Acapelli
07-26-2009, 12:54 AM
so the year's more than half over, what's everyone's favorite albums from this year? what are you looking forward to hearing in the second half?

my favorites so far:
Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care
fav track: Dull To Pause (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXO8ZI_iqBs)
More from the Junior Boys. Not really sure how to describe it, but if you liked So This Is Goodbye, this is for you.

Caspa - Everybody's Talking, Nobody's Listening
fav track: Rat-A-Tat Tat feat. Dynamite MC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYBMr1QxuWI)
Some dubstep-y/grime-y goodness in the same vein as The Bug's London Zoo from last year, although not nearly as sinister.

God Help The Girl - God Help The Girl
fav track: Musicians, Please Take Heed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A7CDPBMsyk)
Sturat Murdoch's soundtrack for the musical he's been working on for the past few years. It reappropriates a couple of Belle & Sebastian tunes, but is mostly comprised of new material. There is a definite showtunes-y vibe to the whole affair, but with a B&S twist. From the lyrics to the music, it's easy to tell that Stuart Murdoch and co are responsible.

Let's Wrestle - In The Court Of The Wrestling Let's
fav track: I Won't Lie To You (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc5HnZP5v6s)
Pretty typical UK indie pop/rock, but totally fun and endearing.

jj - n° 2
fav track - From Africa To Málaga (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czFzZ0JU2rs)
New album released by label Sincerely Yours, is another "yacht rock" offering. Breezy, poppy, just a perfect album to lounge about to during these summer months.

The-Dream - Love Vs Money
fav track: Fancy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIBDpkN2eCo)
The king of modern r&b releases his masterpiece. A concept album about how r&b star gets girl, r&b star lavishes said girl with expensive gifts, r&b star loses girl and learns lesson that money can't buy happiness. The production and songwriting are top notch all the way through littered with slow jams and club hits.

The Thermals - Now We Can See
fav track: When We Were Alive (no video, so here's Now We Can See (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJu611UdfxA))
Continuing their evolution from their punk beginnings, the band starts taking some cues from power pop on this album. Their most cleanly produced album to date too.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
fav track: Hey Paul (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCpqnrjdNqc)
Indie pop in the tradition of Black Tambourine/Velocity Girl, Rocketship, etc. Most may not really find the preciousness all that appealing, but I'd recommend this to any C-86 fan.

Crocodiles - Summer Of Hate
fav track: I Wanna Kill (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRjMIQM5W5k)
An album whose sound owes as much to the 80s (The Jesus And Mary Chain) as it does to the current crop of lo-fi bands.

Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Others
fav track: Lapsed Catholics (no videos, so here's The Hope That House Built (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAwliet2vqo))
This album fucking RAWKS. That's pretty much all I need to say, especially when referring to a band comprised of ex-Mclusky members.

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
fav track: Lisztomania (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtRQsCgYmtc)
Easily my favorite album of the year and would definitely make my favorite of the decade list. Effortless guitar-driven pop/rock that's immaculately produced.

looking forward to:

Jay-Z - Blueprint 3

trotchky
07-26-2009, 01:26 AM
My top 10 looks something like this:

1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. Dan Deacon - Bromst
3. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul
4. The Thermals - Now We Can See
5. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Vs. Children
6. Akron/Family - Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free
7. Telefon Tel Aviv - Immolate Yourself
8. The Field - Yesterday and Today
9. Burial / Four Tet - Moth / Wolf Cub
10. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

I also like Japandroids' Post-Nothing, Cage's Depart From Me, Cymbals Eat Guitars' Why There Are Mountains, The Mars Volta's Octahedron, and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone's Advance Base Battery Life.

I cannot fucking wait for Why?'s Eskimo Snow. It's definitely my most looked-forward to release, in any medium, for the rest of the year.

Acapelli
07-26-2009, 01:30 AM
the blackest purse came up on shuffle and i actually liked it, checked to see who it was and was surprised it was why?. Nothing mind-blowing, but well done indie rock

Milky Joe
07-26-2009, 01:35 AM
Never been one for ranking music, but here's an assortment of what I've been listening to and enjoying the most from this year:

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast/Useless Creatures
Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us
Bowerbirds - Upper Air
Circulatory System - Signal Morning
Clues - s/t
The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away
The Mattoid - Glory Holy

trotchky
07-26-2009, 01:38 AM
the blackest purse came up on shuffle and i actually liked it, checked to see who it was and was surprised it was why?. Nothing mind-blowing, but well done indie rock

Check out Eskimo Snow (Sock Hop Version) (http://www.chickensdontclap.net/chickensdontclapfiles/2009-05/mp3/Why-Eskimo_Snow_Sock_Hop_Version.m p3), it's even better.

I'm probably a bit biased because Why? is the currently-active band that I've been following for the longest time. I first discovered them in sophomore year of high school and along with Dylan they carried me through my adolescence. They haven't really released their grip since, and I almost feel obliged to call them my favorite band.

Sorry to get all personal on you, but that's what happens when I talk about music. *shrug*

Oh yeah, and what do you mean it came up on shuffle? Did you download and the song and forgot you had it or are you using Pandora or something?

trotchky
07-26-2009, 01:45 AM
Not to go horribly off-topic, but any fans of Why? should check out The Dismemberment Plan, particularly their album Emergency & I. It's a clear influence on Why?'s sound and one of the best discs of the '90s, IMO.

Acapelli
07-26-2009, 01:49 AM
Check out Eskimo Snow (Sock Hop Version) (http://www.chickensdontclap.net/chickensdontclapfiles/2009-05/mp3/Why-Eskimo_Snow_Sock_Hop_Version.m p3), it's even better.

I'm probably a bit biased because Why? is the currently-active band that I've been following for the longest time. I first discovered them in sophomore year of high school and along with Dylan they carried me through my adolescence. They haven't really released their grip since, and I almost feel obliged to call them my favorite band.

Sorry to get all personal on you, but that's what happens when I talk about music. *shrug*

Oh yeah, and what do you mean it came up on shuffle? Did you download and the song and forgot you had it or are you using Pandora or something?
downloaded it and stuck it on my ipod. heard it wasn't them rapping so I decided to give it a shot

Acapelli
07-26-2009, 01:51 AM
Never been one for ranking music, but here's an assortment of what I've been listening to and enjoying the most from this year:

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast/Useless Creatures
Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us
Bowerbirds - Upper Air
Circulatory System - Signal Morning
Clues - s/t
The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away
The Mattoid - Glory Holy
yeah i can't really rank my choices either, besides the phoenix being my favorite

as for your list, i liked the clues album, but haven't listened to it enough. same with the new bmsr. saw them live last night though and it was awesome

Milky Joe
07-26-2009, 02:02 AM
Nice, I missed them (BMSR) a couple months ago and I seriously regret it.

And yeah, like you and Phoenix, Andrew Bird's album(s) is/are definitely #1 for me, but the rest of them I can't really rank. I'd probably put Phoenix on a list of my favorite songs, but I can't really listen to the album the whole way through. And I always need to hear more stuff.

trotchky
07-26-2009, 02:22 AM
downloaded it and stuck it on my ipod. heard it wasn't them rapping so I decided to give it a shot

Ah, cool. Was wondering because I'd really like to hear a radio station or music rec. site or something that would spit out stuff like "This Blackest Purse." I find Pandora to be incredibly weak, which is unfortunate because it's the only site of its type I know of.

trotchky
07-27-2009, 02:11 AM
Yes yes yes yes yes, Eskimo Snow has leaked.

D_Davis
07-27-2009, 03:04 AM
Lots of great music this year.

Tim Exile's The Listening Tree is the most mind blowing thing I've heard so far. This album has proven to me that Exile is in that special circle of musicians, a pantheon of talent populated by people like Eno, Byrne, Fripp, Lanois, Hassell etc. These are people who think about sound in a fundamentally different way from us normal folk. This is an all-time great creative album.

Jon Hassell's Last Night the Moon Came Dropping its Clothes in the Street is a masterpiece of modern jazz, utilizing Hassell's fourth-world approach of mixing traditional instrumentation, world influence, and modern technology. It's a timeless album, one that sounds as though it's always existed, and one that will probably sound fresh and exciting in 20 years.

Dinosaur Jr.'s Farm is awesome. Ranks up there with You're Living All Over Me.

Harold Budd's and Clive Wright's Candylion is brilliant. At first I didn't like it as much as last year's Song for Lost Blossoms, but it's really grown on me, and now I like it even more. The songs are shorter, and Budd's piano playing is amazing, and so is Wright's guitar playing.

U2 and Depeche Mode both released great albums this year.

Mastadon's Crack the Skye is amazing.

And tons of great net-releases. I imagine that most of the music I listen to from here on out will be released by net labels, by truly indipendent artists.

Arcticology's Eternal Now
Phillip Wilkerson's and Tange's Ege Dinizi
(both available for free on Earth Mantra (http://earthmantra.com/), the future home of Carl Sagan's Ghost)

Planet Bolex's and Lisa's Antena's Little World
Chris Tenz's Forlorn Memories
(available fomr Soft Phase (http://www.softphase.org/))

Maudlin of the Well (http://www.maudlinofthewell.net/)'s Part the Second is an incredible prog-rock release

EvilShoe
07-27-2009, 11:47 AM
I share a lot of my favorites with you guys (The Field, Phoenix, Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, ...) but would also add Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca and Fever Ray's self-titled album.

Llopin
07-27-2009, 06:15 PM
1. Aluk Todolo - Finsternis
2. Scul Hazzards - Landlord
3. Bill Callahan - Sometimes I wish we were an eagle
4. Black Cock - Robot Child With a God Complex
5. Double Dagger - More
6. Sylvester Anfang II - Sylvester Anfang II
8. Josef Van Wissem - It Is All That Is Made
7. Andrew Douglas Rothbard - Exodusarabesque
9. Bellini - The Precious Prize of Gravity
10. Habsyll - Habsyll
11. Black Vomit - Jungle Death
12. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
13. Brandford Marsalis - Metamorphosen
14. Locrian - Drenched Lands
15. Big Blood - Already Gone I and II
17. Stabat Mater - Stabat Mater
18. Greg Malcolm - Leather and Lacy
19. Ty Segall - Lemons
20. Masada Quintet - Stolas: Book Of Angels Volume 12
21. Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard - 'Em are I
22. Headdress - Lunes
23. Magnolia Electric Co. - Josephine
24. Nero's Day at Disneyland - From Rotting Fantasylands
25. Flower-Corsano Duo - The Four Aims
26. Clutch - Strange Cousins from the West
27. Alabaster Suns - Alabaster Suns
28. Rusted Shut - Dead
29. Kylesa - Static Tensions
30. Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem

Moreless.

Acapelli
07-27-2009, 11:54 PM
i've heard of 4 bands on your list and have heard none of those albums. i did see magnolia electric company a little over a week ago and thought they were great. i am a fan of songs: ohia to begin with though

trotchky
07-28-2009, 05:00 AM
The new Dodos album, Time to Die, took me a little bit to get into, and it isn't as good as their previous release, but it's still recommended.

And needless to say, I'm loving the hell out of the new Why? album. It sounds quite different than their previous releases--sometimes it sounds like Modest Mouse and sometimes it sounds like Sung Tongs-era Animal Collective--but the lyrics are still distinctly Yoni, and the patchwork-feel that makes it sound so personal and homey is still there. Emotionally, it's pitched somewhere between Alopecia and Elephant Eyelash, with the fragility of the latter and the existential dread of the former.

trotchky
07-28-2009, 08:09 AM
Delorean - Aryton Senna EP is so fucking good. I'm going to have to check out that disc with the purple marijuana leaf on the cover.

trotchky
08-01-2009, 02:07 AM
in other news, acapelli was right about that phoenix disc. it is Great. i am glad i finally got into it.

in more other news, eskimo snow is definitely not a summer album. fucking depressing, it is. i think i will wait until its official release before i delve any further.

Adam
12-15-2009, 06:25 AM
Hmmm, I feel like I've listened to enough music from 2009 to come up with 25 painfully obvious albums i dug to one degree or another. My favorite's probably dirty projectors, but i can't put the rest in any real order (unless alphabetical counts as a real order). Dirty Projectors had the best song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmmy9Q0bMGo), anyway

http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss47/adamstone20/florenceandthemachine-500x332.jpg

Andrew Bird Noble Beast
Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion
The Antlers Hospice
Atlas Sound Logos
Bat For Lashes Two Suns
Camera Obscura My Maudlin Career
Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca
Flight Of The Conchords I Told You I Was Freaky
Florence And The Machine Lungs
Girls Album
Glasvegas Glasvegas
Grizzly Bear Veckatimest
Julian Casablancas Phrazes For The Young
Lily Allen It's Not Me, It's You
Metric Fantasies
The Mountain Goats The Life Of The World To Come
Neko Case Middle Cyclone
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 Goodnight Oslo
St Vincent Actor
Sunset Rubdown Dragonslayer
Tegan & Sara Sainthood
Yeah Yeah Yeahs It's Blitz!
Yo La Tengo Popular Songs

i'm so white and lame

Boner M
12-15-2009, 09:41 AM
1. Kitchen's Floor - Loneliness is a Dirty Mattress
2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
3. Emeralds - The Overlook
4. Thee Oh Sees - Dog Poison
5. Intelligence - Fake Surfers
6. Tim Hecker - An Imaginary Country
7. Blues Control - Local Flavor
8. Windy & Carl / Heavy Winged - Monolith Series - 1: Earth
9. Kylesa - Static Tensions
10. A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head

Haven't heard yet and need to: Raekwon, Flaming Lips, Yo La Tengo, Magma, Natural Snow Buildings, Dinosaur Jr.
Didn't like that I thought I would: Blank Dogs, Grizzly Bear, Belbury Poly, Dirty Projectors

Boner M
12-15-2009, 09:43 AM
Hey Acapelli & Llopin, you guys should really check out the Kitchen's Floor album if you like Vaselines/Beat Happening/The Clean/lo-fi rock in general (although it's not particularly twee like the former two). Probably the best thing I've heard in that vein since god knows when.

Acapelli
12-15-2009, 08:00 PM
will do. never heard of them before either, so kind of excited to check them out based on your descriptions

your list of bands on "didn't like that i thought i would" almost mirror my own, with the exception of belbury poly, but i do remember liking previous releases

my year-end favorites

Gucci Mane - The State Vs. Radric Davis
G-Side - Huntsville International
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
Washed Out - High Times
Broadcast - Mother Is The Milky Way
Broadcast & The Focus Group - Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age
Islands - Vapours
Delorean - Ayrton Senna
WHY? - Eskimo Snow
The Big Pink - A Brief History Of Love
The xx - xx
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx PT II
Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti...Is Skyscraper
Girls - Girls
The Horrors - Primary Colors
Fast Life Yungstaz - Jamboree
Florence + The Machine - Lungs
jj - jj n° 2
Discovery - LP
Let's Wrestle - In The Court Of The Wrestling Let's
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another
God Help The Girl - God Help The Girl
The-Dream - Love Vs. Money
Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

ledfloyd
12-15-2009, 08:39 PM
i posted mine on my blog.

1. grizzly bear
2. dirty projectors
3. st vincent
4. akron/family
5. vetiver
6. wilco
7. jim o'rourke
8. sufjan - the bqe
9. built to spill
10. super furry animals

Derek
12-15-2009, 09:52 PM
Goddamnit guys. I just got my to-listen-to list for 2009 down to single digits and you pull this shit. Thanks a lot.

Acapelli
12-15-2009, 09:58 PM
Glasvegas Glasvegas
this would be on my list, except i count it as a 2008 release

Skitch
12-15-2009, 10:45 PM
Strange Cousins From The West, Clutch. I'll bet none of you fuckers have heard it, either.

EDIT: Except Llopin, who is now my favorite poster on Match Cut.

Derek
12-16-2009, 12:36 AM
Strange Cousins From The West, Clutch. I'll bet none of you fuckers have heard it, either.

http://filipinofreethinkers.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/pwned-facekick_medium.jpg

Skitch
12-16-2009, 12:45 AM
http://filipinofreethinkers.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/pwned-facekick_medium.jpg


http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e125/skitchthemovieman/Net%20Fun/spock-raise-one-eyebrow.jpg

number8
12-17-2009, 05:23 AM
MC Frontalot's Final Boss.

Llopin
12-21-2009, 11:59 AM
Clutch's album is good, but not among their finest releases.


Hey Acapelli & Llopin, you guys should really check out the Kitchen's Floor album if you like Vaselines/Beat Happening/The Clean/lo-fi rock in general (although it's not particularly twee like the former two). Probably the best thing I've heard in that vein since god knows when.

Downing.

ContinentalOp
12-26-2009, 02:00 AM
I've been particularly impressed by Pissed Jeans' "King of Jeans" And A Place to Bury Strangers' "Exploding Head." And I enjoy some of the songs on the Raveonettes' latest and Pains of Being Pure at Heart's self titled album (hate the name of this band). Yo La Tengo's "Popular Songs" hasn't done much for me but perhaps I'll need to listen to it straight through to get a better idea. So far though, most of the songs have bored the hell out of me. Overall, I'm more on the lookout and want to listen to more bands like PJ and APTBS.

D_Davis
12-29-2009, 09:20 PM
So, the two worst albums I've heard all year come from the same band, a band that I used to love a lot more than I do now:

The Flaming Lips - Emryonic and Dark Side of the Moon.

Both of these are terrible. Brickwalled to the max, stripped of all dynamics and nuance, devoid of melody, hooks, and texture, all in the name of loudness. Embryonic is a collection of terrible noise and worse songs, and Dark Side is a disgrace, not even remotely approaching the incredible job the Easy Star All-Stars did with their tribute, Dub Side of the Moon. The Flaming Lips aren't victims of the loudness wars, they're leading the charge.

ledfloyd
12-29-2009, 09:41 PM
i'm disappointed to say i agree with you. i can't figure out why embryonic has garnered the reviews it has. it's shapeless uninteresting noise with some minor hooks.

D_Davis
12-29-2009, 09:55 PM
i'm disappointed to say i agree with you. i can't figure out why embryonic has garnered the reviews it has. it's shapeless uninteresting noise with some minor hooks.

Embryonic is, to me, totally unlistenable. I can't listen to it for more than 5-10 minutes at the time before my ears give way to total ear fatigue.

Derek
12-29-2009, 09:58 PM
Embryonic is, to me, totally unlistenable. I can't listen to it for more than 5-10 minutes at the time before my ears give way to total ear fatigue.

Then I guess my ears are stronger than yours because I listened to it at least a dozen times in the first couple weeks after I got it. :) Amazing album.

D_Davis
12-29-2009, 10:03 PM
Your ears are the ears of a superman. Or really, really clogged. :)

Boner M
12-30-2009, 10:40 AM
I've only heard "Convinced of the Hex" and "Silver Trembling Hands" from Embryonic but I love both and am really keen to hear the rest. Ledfloyd & Davis; are those just the exceptions to the rule? or do you dislike the whole thing and suggest I don't heed your advice? I'm only a casual Lips fan, fwiw.

D_Davis
12-30-2009, 01:34 PM
I wouldn't tell you to stay away from it without hearing it, but I think there are other, better, Flips albums more than worthy of your time. Those two tracks are the best on the album - by far. The album obviously has its fans.