Is it me or are albums getting shorter? This list has an average of 10.2 tracks for each album, if you are a statistic obsessive like myself. It sure makes it easier to review albums. Another observation: it seems like the first half of the list is fantastic music, while the second half is all really emotional. Anyway, here are my favourite albums of 2009:
1. Tarot Sport – Fuck Buttons
Though I enjoyed their first album, Fuck Buttons‘ second blew me away. There are no words that can describe how epic this album this is. I could just throw random metaphors out there, but none would give it justice. Well, maybe this album is like Usain Bolt beating the triathlon record, in space. Or Zeus racing in the grand prix in the year 20,000. Perhaps I should just stick with describing what music they are creating? If you don’t know them, it’s pretty simple; just four-on-the-flour steady bass pounding with layers of noise, melodies and other cyclical movements. And if you know their second album, listen to the track Bright Tomorrow and imagine it ten times more powerful, spread seven times over an album. This record is perfect.
Olympians
2. Hey Everyone! – Dananananaykroyd
Dananananaykroyd captured my heart this year, because of their mix of really happy music, orgasm inducing riffs, screaming vocals, their overall hardcore sound and because they have two drummers. They have two drummers! Though I can’t say it’s the most polished album on the list, it was their unique sound that had me stuck to them. I rarely listen to hardcore or metal, it’s far too aggressive for me, I normally don’t want to be angry when I listen to music. But with these guys, I can shout along with a huge smile on my face, and easily resist the temptation to punch the nearest passer-by.
Infinity Milk
3. Merriweather Post Pavilion – Animal Collective
Yes, I am one of the people who had never heard of Animal Collective before this record (yes it’s their eighth and yes I am a bit late), but I don’t care. They make some damn good music. It didn’t quite seem to grab me as much as the rest of the world, by forcing me to herald it as the best record of the decade, however, their layered synthesized beats, basic melodies and captivating vocal arrangements made this album an intense one, rotating throughout the year and being my most listened to album. It only really lost out to the two above, because I love air punching and it wasn’t quite overall perfect like number one.
Brother Sport
4. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – Phoenix
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, is an album of masterfully create pop music. It’s catchy and every song has in its grasp, a single. Even as they veer off into a completely different direction with Love Like A Sunset, Phoenix take it in their stride, creating a barrage of sound dynamics which is, with everything on this album, perfectly produced. Phoenix are not a typical pop rock band, they combined enough interesting types of sound to place it at number four.
Fences
5. Everything Is New – Jack Peñate
I did like Jack Peñate’s first album. Yeah, it wasn’t amazing, but he quickly became a whipping boy of the music world for the crime of making simple, happy indie pop. Tonight’s Today was the first track I got my hands on, after having kept Jack Peñate’s debut lying dormant in my record collection, and (if you remember rightly) it entranced me. Jack Peñate had me under his spell, like most music fans. His complete turn around was welcome, and the rest of the album managed to keep up the pop vibes, wrapped in strange Latin, African and many other, seemingly random, influences, much like Friendly Fires did with dance music last year.
Pull My Heart Away
6. Yeah So – Slow Club
It’s not really a case of justifying why Slow Club managed to get onto the top 10 albums of 2009 list. If you like emotional folk duos, you’ll like Slow Club. If this is an instant turn off because of the whole Juno phenomenon, wait a moment. The heartbreaks, the falling in love and just the good old-looking at somebody else wistfully, seems so genuine. And when your wrap it in the vocalists voices’, well it’s something quite special. Plus they can make some great fast tempo songs (Giving Up On Love and It Doesn’t Have To Be Beautiful are just two examples). The only reason this didn’t grab the number one spot, was simply because Slow Club couldn’t keep up the incredibly high quality of their initial EPs.
Apples and Pairs
7. XX – The XX
The XX created an awesome collection of stripped down, mysterious songs, with minimalist guitar riffs, intertwining the girl/boy vocals. I really don’t care where their sound came from, it’s fantastic to listen to.
Crystalized
8. Bitte Orca – Dirty Projectors
Most people throw around the term experimental with these guys, but don’t assume you’re getting into some weird, fuzzy noise rock, or complex, pretentious melodies. Dirty Projectors use fascinating start and stop rhythms, something which makes them pretty unique. This combined with sweet melodies, wavering girl backup vocals and finally pulled along by awesome guitar solos makes for a brilliant record.
Temecula Sunrise
9. The First Days Of Spring - Noah and the Whale
Instead of indie pop tunes this year, Noah and the Whale made some really stunning music, with incredible emotional depth, which isn’t full of its self. Describing his recent breakup, this piece of art steals the award for the most beautiful music award this year. And unlike The XX, you can actually understand what the vocal’s raw, and powerful emotions are.
Blue Skies
10. These Four Walls - We Were Promised Jetpacks
We Were Promised Jetpacks‘ debut is as bleak as the cover. The lyrics are incredibly depressing, not helped by the mumbled Scottish vocals. Oh, and of course the steady, minor dominated indie rock guitars, violently fighting alongside, just add to the cause. Halfway through, the album slows to acoustic tracks, but with the same vocal style kept throughout. It’s a really neat package, with my favourite track being It’s Thunder And It’s Lightning. With its gradual build, the constant guitar riff and the crashing explosion halfway, this track rivals Fuck Buttons in its epic qualities, and therfore making it one of my favourite tracks this year.
It’s Thunder And It’s Lightning
