My Favorite Albums of 2009

[Derek]

13



Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms

Key Tracks: “Deadbeat Summer”, “Should Have Taken Acid With You”, “Psychic Chasms”

The unavoidable entanglement of sunny, psychedelic pop and hipsters is real shame because although Neon Indian’s debut is the kind of borderline ironic take on trendy 80s retro that’ll have plaid and tight jeans lined up around the block to get in, Psychic Chasms is too exuberant, creative and filled to the brim with pure joy to dismiss as anything close to pandering. No, this album takes beats that may seem at home in an old school Mariah Carey or Paula Abdul song (stay with me, please) and runs them through filters, distorting them into something twisted and unique. It’s weird and danceable and produced to within an inch of its life, but in doing so is a really wicked and entertaining reimagining of 80s and early 90s pop music, like, as if it didn’t completely suck. One in a long line of recent laptop musicians, Neon Indian uses technology to revive dismissed, long lost sounds and transforms them into lively, exciting and self-reflexively modern dance pop tunes with an attitude. Undoubted, this is one of the most fun albums of the year.

[Melville]

I'm enjoying the music, of course, but I've noticed that a lot of your links don't work (probably because of an excess of quotation marks).

[Derek]

I'm enjoying the music, of course, but I've noticed that a lot of your links don't work (probably because of an excess of quotation marks).

Thanks for head's up. The links should all work now, but let me know if there are still any dead ones.

[Melville]

Thanks for head's up. The links should all work now, but let me know if there are still any dead ones.

Yeah, they all seem to be good now. My apologies for seemingly following you around pointing out your mistakes on New Year's Day. Take solace in the fact that I have such faith in your usual reliability that when I went to IMDb to make sure that Preston Sturges directed Unfaithfully Yours, even when I discovered that I was correct, I momentarily wondered if somebody had sabotaged the site by maliciously changing the film's director from Lubitsch to Sturges.

[Derek]

Yeah, they all seem to be good now. My apologies for seemingly following you around pointing out your mistakes on New Year's Day. Take solace in the fact that I have such faith in your usual reliability that when I went to IMDb to make sure that Preston Sturges directed Unfaithfully Yours, even when I discovered that I was correct, I momentarily wondered if somebody had sabotaged the site by maliciously changing the film's director from Lubitsch to Sturges.

Haha, it's okay. I'm actually surprised no one pointed out the link's earlier and at least now they'll work for the rest of the entries as well. As for the Lubitsch/Sturges error, I don't know what I was thinking. I even looked at my own list of Lubitsch films and thought I must've forgotten to add it.

[D_Davis]

In a year with few standout minimalist techno albums.

I disagree. There were a ton of great minimal techno albums released....just not commercially.

[Derek]

I disagree. There were a ton of great minimal techno albums released....just not commercially.

I'll change it to "In a year with few standout minimalist techno albums that anyone other than Daniel Davis heard...", okay?

[D_Davis]

I'll change it to "In a year with few standout minimalist techno albums that anyone other than Daniel Davis heard...", okay?

That sounds kind of awkward.

We need people like you to help spread the word of CC music. Seriously. More people with fine tastes such as yourself are what the CC community needs. Probably even more than it needs additional talented artists. It has those in spades. It needs more listeners and champions.

[Derek]

That sounds kind of awkward.

We need people like you to help spread the word of CC music. Seriously. More people with fine tastes such as yourself are what the CC community needs. Probably even more than it needs additional talented artists. It has those in spades. It needs more listeners and champions.

I will definitely try to make a concerted effort to check more of that stuff out. Considering my preference for ambient and minimal techno, I imagine there's a lot of CC stuff out there that I'd love. Keep the recs coming and I'll be sure to listen to more this year!

[D_Davis]

I will definitely try to make a concerted effort to check more of that stuff out. Considering my preference for ambient and minimal techno, I imagine there's a lot of CC stuff out there that I'd love. Keep the recs coming and I'll be sure to listen to more this year!

There are more releases worth your time than you will ever have time for. It's insane.

[D_Davis]

Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy[/CENTER]

I dug this album - especially the cover. Really nice.

[D_Davis]

Probably my last entry until Friday when I'll have more time again...

17



Hildur Guðnadóttir - Without Sinking

Key Track: “Iridescence”

Perhaps the closest approximation of heartbreak or dusk on a cold, gloomy day you can’t wait to end, Hildur Guðnadóttir brings modern classical into the realm of dark ambient. I’m not entirely sure if the album’s title is a tip of the hat to Gavin Bryars’ masterful The Sinking of the Titanic, but I can only imagine it is as that’s the only thing I’ve heard that sounds anything like this. As was Bryars motive, Hildur G. replicates the feeling of an orchestra underwater, with instruments distorted as songs go on, reshaping the sounds we hear and creating a true sense of fluidity through its otherwordly tones. As with all great ambient music, this one is perfectly suited for the background while reading, but ends up all the more impressive upon a close inspection. It is packed with little details and touches that fill out its sound, which is dense yet not overstuffed and overpowering as it finds way to strike you at the center of your core.

This is gorgeous. Love Sinking of the Titanic. Wish I had heard this in 2009... I can't buy it now. Remind me in a year.

Really great pick.

[ledfloyd]

hmm. i've never thought of built to spill as being similar to galaxie 500.

[Derek]

hmm. i've never thought of built to spill as being similar to galaxie 500.

Maybe it's just me, but the latter's sluggish guitars immediately reminded me of BTS (I first heard G500 after I'd heard several BTS albums). Built to Spill is rarely as slow, but both bands seem to have a similar use of dual guitars.

[ledfloyd]

Maybe it's just me, but the latter's sluggish guitars immediately reminded me of BTS (I first heard G500 after I'd heard several BTS albums). Built to Spill is rarely as slow, but both bands seem to have a similar use of dual guitars.

maybe. martsch in general seems more proficient on guitar than wareham is. also, built to spill tends to be poppier. less shoegazey.

[Llopin]

BTS are by no means a slowcore band. At all.

Their last album is pretty nice though, and I heard many bashing comments.

PD: Oh, and BTS have three friggin guitars, while Galaxie has only Wareham's.

[Derek]

Ok, Built to Spill are not in any way shape or form slowcore and they sound nothing like Galaxie 500. I was wrong and apologize for the damage caused to both bands reputations and anyone reading my campaign of misinformation. Can we move on now since people coming in here just to bitch really makes the idea of putting any more effort into to this seem really unappealing?

12



Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics - Inspiration Information

Key Tracks: “Addis Black Widow”, “Cha Cha”, “An Epic Story”

Forty years into his career, legendary Ethiopian jazz musician Mulatu Astatke combined with The Heliocentrics to create a jazz-funk-rock that contains enough of each element to keep all fans happy. Inspiration Information is an album that quickly finds it groove and never lets go, unrelenting jams fleshed out by a soulful trumpet section and Astatke’s magical fingers on the keyboards. Every instrument is given its chance to sign, but the album flourishes most noticeably when the musicians are fully keyed into one other developing complex rhythms that tickle the eardrum and would make even the most somber listener bob their head and smile. Songs have the freshness of an improvised session, yet the attention to detail that comes only from carefully designed compositions. In that, it’s equally suited for setting your rhythm for the day as it to closer listens to admire the pure talent of everyone involved.

[Derek]

11



Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Key Tracks: “Ready, Able”, “Two Weeks”, “Cheerleader”

Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House is one of my favorite albums of the decade, so I expected the release of Veckatimest to be the musical highlight of my year. To my surprise, the lush, dense homespun melodies of their previous album were replaced by more deliberately constructed songs which use the space between notes rather than a relentless flowing of one to the next. In a way, Veckatimest is the more patient album with its more minimal approach whose pleasures lie in its restraint and occasional interlocking of all four band members in perfect unison rather the crashing waves of sound on Yellow House. There were always several songs that I loved (the three above along with “Southern Point”) and others that could never quite capture my interest. I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed that this album got the press and praise that Yellow House should have, until I finally got to see them live. Not to say their live show forced me to completely reappraise Veckatimest, but their sheer meticulousness and the talents of everyone on stage somehow allowed me to feel the power and precision behind every note on the album. It’s a perfectionist’s album that leaves room for some rust and torn edges to give it some character. It’s quaintness may be a turn-off to some, but it’s part of the band’s old-timey charm that continues to make them one of the best young bands out there.

[ledfloyd]

that's my favorite album of the year. i think it improves upon yellow house because, as you said, the four band members are working in perfect unison here. also, every song does it for me. i really have trouble picking out a 'weakest' song.

i haven't had the pleasure to see them live yet. seeing st. vincent live did lead to me liking actor alot more. the songs have really grown on the road with her band. there's stuff hidden in there i didn't hear until i heard it live.

[Derek]

10



OOIOO - Armonico Hewa

Key Tracks: “Polacca”, “O O I A H”, “Sol”

While we’re all sitting back and praying for another Boredoms release, Armonico Hewa comes along to slap our faces and remind us that sometimes side projects can approach the greatness of the original act. OOIOO is an all-girl band with a pure punk attitude and a penchant for seemingly nonsensical lyrical play (including phonetically pronounced song names, my favorite being “Honki Ponki”) and tribal drumming that will send you higher into the stratosphere than anything since Vision Creation Newsun. Reducing them to an all-girl band, as undeniably sexy as that notion is, is not meant to deny the fact that these girls flat-out rocked it harder than any other band in ’09 and yet their abrasive edginess doesn’t completely cancel out their cuter, more feminine qualities. If this description seems all over the place, it’s because OOIOO is the kind of band that is creatively restless and never confined to a genre or “sound”. Their music seems driven by nothing other than a desire to create in a progressive way and ultimately shatter all barriers by simply ignoring the fact that they exist. Break into a random prog jam for a minute with “Konjo”? Sure, why not? Follow that with a 6-minute synth-driven downer that threatens to stop the album in its tracks? No worries, we’ll awake you from your slumber with the epic jam and contender for best track of the year, “Polacca”, which is the kind of song that really can unite the children around the world. Or maybe “O O I A H” would be best to further that cause. Either way, I’d pay good money to see a children’s chorus cover that one.

[Derek]

that's my favorite album of the year. i think it improves upon yellow house because, as you said, the four band members are working in perfect unison here. also, every song does it for me. i really have trouble picking out a 'weakest' song.

i haven't had the pleasure to see them live yet. seeing st. vincent live did lead to me liking actor alot more. the songs have really grown on the road with her band. there's stuff hidden in there i didn't hear until i heard it live.

I thought they worked in perfect unison on Yellow House as well, but in a different way. Still, I can't fault anyone for preferring this album as I obviously love it myself.

They really are a treat to see live, as long as you're prepared for a more laid back show. I'd love to catch St. Vincent live, maybe this year.


COMING UP: Another entry by a band who's had a previous album as my #1 of the year, two great ambient albums that Daniel Davis won't listen to until 2011 and an album that somehow went from outside of my top 50 to #6 in less than the 6 weeks.

[ledfloyd]

I thought they worked in perfect unison on Yellow House as well, but in a different way. Still, I can't fault anyone for preferring this album as I obviously love it myself.

yeah, i love both albums as well. but on yellow house it sounds to me like they're learning how to play together, and on veckatimest it all comes together.

[D_Davis]

COMING UP: Another entry by a band who's had a previous album as my #1 of the year, two great ambient albums that Daniel Davis won't listen to until 2011 and an album that somehow went from outside of my top 50 to #6 in less than the 6 weeks.

Maybe I've already heard them. :P

Can't wait!

[Winston*]

Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy

This should be an instrumental act.

James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game

Dude is too talented to live.


Fever Ray - Fever Ray

Cuts like a dull knife.

PRE - Hope Freaks

Fuck yeah.

[Acapelli]

Fever Ray - Fever Ray

Cuts like a dull knife.

hehe