Top 10 of 2009

I think Mike summed it up perfectly. It wasn't a great year for music, but there were some really good records. Below's my top 10 for the year.

10.Röyksopp - Junior
9.Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
8.Kings of Convenience - Declaration Of Dependence
7.Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
6.Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
5.Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
4.Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
3.Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs - It's Blitz
2.Fever Ray - Fever Ray
1.Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

2009 Top 10: Everyone Else is Doing it...

Not the best year in music (worse than 2008 to be honest), but there still were some stellar releases. A lot of these records below you've probably seen on other lists, but some you may have not. I made my list based on several factors: what initially appealed to me the most; it's lasting power or legs; the contribution it made to my day-to-day life; and the quality of the songs. Enjoy!

10. Tiny Vipers - Life on Earth

Like the old bat-shit crazy Cat Power we all loved, Tiny Vipers uses stripped down music to wear a thin mask to cover up the insanity of everyday life. You listen to the simple songs here and you feel it, but you also feel comfort in that we all share the same basic secret.

9. the Antlers - Hospice

Upon first listen, this was a fascinating record and I thought it had a great chance of being my record of the year; however, it's strained style and composition just didn't stick into my head and plead to be listened to like the records above it.

8. Frankel - Anonymity is the New Fame

Beautiful record much in the line of mid-90's Jude, but with less tongue in cheek and more focus on the style. I liked this record so much that I ordered the vinyl from this independent artist and even received a nice 'Thank You' note from him.

7. Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms

Chillwave (God, I hate that label!) is the late 2000's version turntablism blending multiple styles and recording techniques to achieve a constantly varying song type that mostly falls flat. Most of these groups get completely lost in the process and forget to make god songs. Neon Indian is not one of those-they make quality music and I look forward to hearing their style progress.

6. CFCF - Continent

CFCF is mostly known as a producer and this is his first full length release. Electronic simplicity is his goal with this record and it achieved beautifully. Most of the tracks are downtempo and consist of only a few generic sounds, but the songs develop something larger than their production.

5. Lee Fields & the Expressions - My World

This was my summer jam! I haven't listened to it in a couple months, but after going over it again I'm still loving this funky soul record. Production is simple and the music is full of emotion that can shake anyone to the bone.

4. Silversun Pickups - Swoon

Was extremely excited to see what they would do with a completely clean sheet on this record. I really didn't know what to expect and initially I just thought it was a decent effort, but about mid-way through the third listen I realized how much they have grown in the time from Carnavas to present and how great this record actually is. Some of the production may have been a bit over-the-top, but every band should experiment if they have the chance.

3. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

Another 'grower' record. Upon first listen, I thought it was just another Neko record, but after a while I started craving the songs and getting excited hen I heard them randomly. Love her work, voice, and emotion.

2. Fever Ray - Fever Ray

Can't escape this record. It came out in mid-January and still sounds fresh, vibrant, and brilliant. It's jerky style always keeps your mind leaning forward to hear the next beat and section.

1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

Ok. I really dislike Animal Collective, but the more I heard 'My Girls,' 'Daily Routine,' 'Bluish,' 'Guys Eyes,' etc. the more I had to admit this was a great record. It made me go back and listen to all of their previous releases even-I still don't like them, but I am willing to concede defeat and crown MPP the best record of the year.

'til next time!

Kid British/Electric Sex/Japandroids

Time to catch up!

Kid British - It Was This or Football...
I'm a sucker for British pop, especially the upbeat/dancy variety, but Kid British is just too sugary for me. If you took the absolute worst aspects of Madness and mediocre 90's pop (think New Radicals), then you'd have Kid British. There are some stand-out tracks like 'Our House is Dadless' and 'Lost in London,' but they are worth hearing only because the formersamples Madness along with a decent beat and the latter has a good feel akin to the Streets first hit 'Let's Push Things Forward.' The ideas seem to be there, but the pop aspect is a full-on fail. Maybe they should have chosen football.

Grade: 3.3

Electric Six - Kill

Electric Six, who brought us the great 'Gay Bar' years ago, comes back with Kill and while it's dangerously close to being really good-it's relentless style changes and themes of over the top machismo kills most songs on this record. Anthemic dance beats usually give way to over-powering, Green Jelly/Ugly Kid Joe style guitars and it just doesn't mesh well. I liked the tracks 'My Idea of Fun,' which had a good progression and actually lacked the masculine aggression present on 90% of the record, and 'White Eyes,' which had a tolerable beat and a White Lies (the band) feel to the track despite the more terrible lyrics. Overall, yuck.

Grade: 2.6

Japandroids - Post-Nothing

A decent record, finally. Vancouver, B.C.'s garage rock is pretty good on record and imagine it's thrilling live. If you are into the Thermals, the Henry Clay People, or Titus Andronicus, etc. then you'll like Japandroids. I do think the Japandroids have some growing yet to do in order to be a really good band. The progressions and songwriting are not just up to par with bands like the Thermals yet. The songs lean keenly forward over the beat pushing tracks, like 'The Boys Are Leaving Town,' forward nicely, but not too much to make it uncomfortable to the listener. Emotion carries the band through the initial tracks, especially coming clean on 'Young Hearts Spark Fire,' but then falls flat. The band seems to blow it's 'load early and lose its electricity soon after the first few tracks regressing to sound more like a early 90's Dinosaur Jr. demo tape that was thrown away for good reason.

Grade: 4.2