Top albums of 2009

Top albums of 2009

December 31, 2009, 7:25 pm
Filed under: H Magazine Articles, music and musings

I think it’s hard to rate albums of a year. These albums below are just a few that I think were excellent this year and worth listening to, but I know there’s tons more, probably some that I don’t like but others do, and that fine. There’s no ordering, no better or worse. These are just good artists and good records that happened to come out in 2009. That’s all, just some great music to reflect upon as the 2010 is just a day a way. Happy New Years!

City City- City Center

I wrote about this album closer to when it came out in July, and I still think that it is a solidly beautiful album. Each song is distinctly strange and quirky with odd beats and distortion. That style of music has been in a boom, especially in the winter of 2009, but I feel like this album trumps all of them with it’s diversity and the clear emotional input that can be taken from listening to it. Read full review here.

Neon Indian- Psychic Chasms

I wrote about Neon Indian for H Magazine and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Vega artist had some higher ambitions. Vega was catchy and dance-y but had no real stronghold in terms of context.  Neon Indian turns heads and starts dances parties with it’s pop-y experimental keys and electronic blips. It seems to pretty accurately capture the lifestyle, interests, and general aesthetics of what it’s like being in your early/mid-twenties or what one might want it to be. The full album review can be read in H Magazine or here.

Woods- Songs of Shame

Another album that was reviewed on Words For Food earlier this year, Woods Songs of Shame does manage to put a lot of other songs to shame.  When I first saw Woods, in the winter of 2009, it was the only band I’d seen in quite a while that gave me any hope for today’s music. They were this group that always played in low lighting, their set sounded like a dank basement recording and it always smelled like cat pee. This album amazingly reflects that, in the best way possible. The homegrown, organic quality is beautiful and somewhat creepy and I hope they have more great music on the way for 2010. Read the album review here.

Dirty Projectors- Bitte Orca

Dirty Projectors, fronted by Dave Longstreth seems to be one of the only bands from the last couple years who will actually last into the new decade and be remembered as playing a pivotal part in the music scene of it’s time.  Bitte Orca is delightfully airy and distorted, with un-intrusive vocals and constant bursts of energy and instrumentals in both an experimental and extremely post-rock quality. The female vocals are a beautiful, jazz standard-y addition, giving this Dirty Projectors an element of being timeless. It definitely makes me curious as to what Longstreth has up his sleeves for 2010.

Bon Iver- Blood Bank

Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver created probably one of the best albums of 2008 with For Emma, Forever Ago and while he didn’t create a full-length for 2009, Blood Bank is a chillingly beautiful, four song EP that leaves you feeling that wherever you breath, the breath will freeze and collapse in front of you. With his falsetto vocals and experimentations with looping, Vernon’s Blood Bank combines the wistfulness and loneliness of his previous album with a new hope of times to come. It maintains the feeling that got him to where he is, but doesn’t repeat. Definitely worth a listen.

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