Sunday, January 10, 2010
Top 20(+2) Albums of 2009!
I'm alive! And amazingly, still listening to music. It's been a busy busy year in the life of Evil Brian, what with my complete retreat to facebook and whatnot. But this post is not about that, this is about the best albums of the year! Here you go:
Honorable Mentions: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!, Neko Case - Middle Cyclone, Doom - Born Like This, Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing, Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You, Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown, The Decemberists - Hazards of Love, Sonic Youth - The Eternal, Wilco - Wilco (the album), eels - Hombre Lobo, Titus Andronicus - The Airing Of Grievances, Monsters Of Folk - Monsters Of Folk, Dethklok - Dethalbum II, The Mars Volta - Octahedron, Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue, Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
(+2) Patton Oswalt - My Weakness Is Strong: The funniest nerd in America grows up! On his most mature work yet, Oswalt details the yearn to better himself for his (then) coming daughter, shopping for a house with his girlfriend and how the sudden kid-friendly fame from being in Ratatouille screwed up his Halloween among other hilarious anecdotes. It hit me in the sweet spot, especially since it came out while my own girlfriend was pregnant with my son.
Recommended Tracks: Sky Cake, Birth, Rats, Orgy.
(+1) The Lonely Island - Incredibad: Screw everyone, this album was hilarious, and still holds up to repeat listens. The best part of Saturday Night Live released this album of hits and new tracks early in the year, and most of the songs still haven't left the iPod. Most of the time reveling in their overwhelming whiteness, The Lonely Island rap, sing, and act poorly through 19 tracks of "teh funny" where they (mostly) keep all the songs short enough so they don't overstay their welcome. Plus, they gave me a huge reason to like T-Pain.
Recommended Tracks: On a Boat, Like A Boss, Jizz In My Pants, Natalie's Rap, Sax Man.
20. Japandroids - Post-Nothing: These guys blasted into the scene this year with a heavily distorted, almost punk rock take on Sonic Youth and it paid off in spades. A short & sweet album that knocks you on your ass and demands your attention.
Recommended Tracks: Wet Hair, Young Hearts Spark Fire, Crazy/Forever
19. K'Naan - Troubadour: Emerging from the most violent part of Africa (Mogadishu, Somalia), this gifted MC travelled to Canada and then America telling his story through song, culminating in this album which fuses traditional African rhythms, Jamaican reggae and American hip-hop into a whole different beast. Uplifting and soulful, not nearly enough people are giving him attention.
Recommended Tracks: Wavin' Flag, T.I.A. (This Is Africa), Somalia, ABC's,
18. Julian Casablancas - Phrazes of the Youth: I was never that big of a fan of The Strokes (the coolest thing they did was open the doors for The White Stripes to get tons of airplay). That being said, this album is pretty awesome in it's own right. Fusing The Strokes' garage rock sensibilities with retro-sounding technopop (I know how weird that sounds; just go with me on this), Casablancas released a shockingly catchy dark pop record that caught me totally off guard. Slightly Interpol-ish, but still strangely unique. Give it a chance, seriously.
Recommended Tracks: 11th Dimension, River of Brakelights, 4 Chords of the Apocalypse.
17. Florence + the Machine - Lungs: Dark piano-based cabaret pop; if nothing else, this is certainly the most interesting album of the year. Every song tells a story about a different (usually tragic) character, there is absolutely nothing else like this from 2009.
Recommended Tracks: Kiss With a Fist, My Boy Builds Coffins, Howl, Girl With One Eye.
16. M. Ward - Hold Time: The go-to guy for fans of indie folk, I hadn't actually listened to him until he released She & Him in 2008. Now I'm sorry I slept on M. Ward, because this album is an affecting masterpiece. Just a truly gorgeous album. This narrowly beat Monsters of Folk (the other album he released this year) for this spot.
Recommended Tracks: Rave On, Hold Time, Jailbird, Fisher of Men
15. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug: The best Britrock band performing today, Alex Turner & crew released another winning album (albeit darker than their previous 2)this year to the surprise of absolutely no one. Catchy, poppy and unabashedly British, these guys continue to impress even after 3 albums (and one stellar side project).
Recommended Tracks: Crying Lightning, Cornerstone, Dance Little Liar, Potion Approaching.
14. They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science: This has nothing to do with the fact that I have a child now, and everything to do with the fact that these are the catchiest songs TMBG have produced since The Spine. Highly recommended equally for both families with children and TMBG fans alike.
Recommended Tracks: I Am A Paleontologist, Meet The Elements, Electric Car, My Brother The Ape, Roy G. Biv.
13. Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3: I'll be honest, it took my a while to come around to Jay-Z: The Black Album (and the Grey Album) got me to listen, this album made me a fan. Hate on him all you want, Jay-Z is the best rapper in the business today and has every right to be as cocky as he is (unlike most others *cough* Kanye *cough cough*); he knows exactly what he's doing, and exactly what the people want. Also, he has a very strong anti-Autotune stance, which is just awesome.
Recommended Tracks: D.O.A. (Death of Autotune), Run This Town, On to the Next One, Young Forever and (as much as I hate to admit it) Empire State of Mind.
12. Brother Ali - Us: This is soul music in the form of rap: this shit is good for your heart. Brother Ali is a preacher, a prophet, just an outright awesome personality. Not really any guests, no autotune, nothing about being rich, he's the realest one out there. Seriously, rapping about how much he loves his simple understated life is just a beautiful sentiment in this era of overreaching expectations.
Recommended Tracks: Bad Mufucker Part II, Fresh Air, Us, The Preacher, The Travelers.
11. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest: Very odd. A strangely catchy, slightly trippy indie rock album. I can't explain how or why it gets stuck in my head as much as it does, it just does. Equal parts laid back stoner vibe and pretentious hipster rock band: it all just kinda works.
Recommended Tracks: Southern Point, Ready, Able, While You Wait For the Others.
10. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures: BADASS. Josh Homme and Dave Grohl building songs around JOHN PAUL FREAKIN JONES. The first supergroup this decade that is actually SUPER. As in faster than a speeding bullet/more powerful than a locomotive super. How badass are these guys? They released the whole album on Youtube before it was sent to stores, just because.
Recommended Tracks: New Fang, No One Loves Me & Neither Do I, Scumbag Blues
09. Silversun Pickups - Swoon: I love this early-90's sentimentalism going around indie rock these days. It's like the hipsters suddenly discovered Sonic Youth and are utilizing their tricks and traps in their music. I just fucking love it. Silversun Pickups follow up their breakthrough Carnavas with a stellar sophomore album that takes their style to the next level, weaving strings into their rich tapestry of ROCK. I'm telling you guys, these guys have had some big singles, but they are gonna blow the fuck up, and soon.
Recommended Tracks: Panic Switch, Substitution, The Royal We, It's Nice To Know You Work Alone.
08. Clutch - Strange Cousins From the West: IT'S CLUTCH.
Recommended Tracks: 50000 Unstoppable Watts, Abraham Lincoln, Motherless Child, Sleestak Lightning, Witch Doctor, Let A Poor Man Be.
07. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: This French pop/rock band came out of absolutely nowhere, debuted on SNL without anybody having ever heard of them, and took the U.S. by storm, becoming the go-to critical darlings of the American music press. Bright, poppy, catchy and unafraid to throw a decent instrumental track on their breakout album, these songs were EVERYWHERE in 2009, and for damn good reason.
Recommended Tracks: Lisztomania, 1901, Love Like A Sunset Parts 1 & 2, Girlfriend.
06. Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect: The single most technically gifted metal band playing today (though not necessarily the best), these guys have basically (re)invented progressive hardcore. There's so much going on in this albums' six tracks that you can lose yourself real easily. Sounding liker a death metal band covering Pink Floyd, BTBAM jump from light acoustic verses to techno-inflected hardcore to trippy Yes-style prog to Fantomas-y weirdness to straight up metal, and cover all the ground in between. They just keep getting better; it's truly scary to think about where they'll be in a couple years.
Recommended Tracks: There's only 6 on the album. They're all recommended.
05. Black Joe Louis & the Honeybears - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!: These guys sound like they throw one hell of a party! Like a mixed-up combination of James Brown and The Roots' band, they bring the funk, the soul, the life, the power and the fucking fun back to indie music. Everywhere these guys go, they tear the fucking roof off. This is pimp music.
Recommended Tracks: Sugarfoot, Humpin', Get Yo Shit, I'm Broke, Master Sold My Baby.
04. Mastodon - Crack The Skye: LSD makes for some awesome music, doesn't it? Combining classic Russian literature, wormholes and intense psychedelic imagery, Mastodon just keep getting more and more ambitious with every release. Garnering universal acclaim, this is probably the best reviewed metal album of the past decade, and for good reason: it is just balls-out awesome. Somehow, Mastodon keep going further and further over the edge of sanity, and keep getting more and more popular in the mainstream.
Recommended Tracks: Oblivion, Divinations, The Czar, The Last Baron.
03. Kid CuDi - Man On The Moon:The End Of Day: For whatever reason, the music press in the US is fellating this dude Drake as being such an original artist that sings AND raps equally well, and it pisses me off because, while that's all well and good, Drake's lyrics are mostly meaningless paint-by-numbers hip-hop drivel. Meanwhile Kid Cudi, who also sings and raps, bares his soul, basically lays himself out naked for the world to see all his imperfections and, after a wild wave of hype, they ignore him. Which is angering, because his debut album is so friggin phenomenal it blows my mind. Talking frankly about his insecurities, growing up with night terrors and basically being addicted to weed, he actually turns the backing music into MUSIC and not just some flashy metronome with help from indie artists like Ratatat and MGMT, among others. The result is a dramatic, sweeping artistic achievement as equally trippy as it is honest and ill; a true breath of fresh air in a relatively stale industry. I can't possibly recommend this enough.
Recommended Tracks: Soundtrack 2 My Life, Day N Night (Nightmare), Pursuit of Happiness, Sky Might Fall, Up Up and Away (the Wake and Bake Song).
02. P.O.S. - Never Better: An underground punk rocker turns to rap and releases the best rap album of the year, which he did in FEBRUARY. Literally, I put this on my iPod when it came out, and didn't have the heart to take it off until around late autumn; I couldn't STOP listening to it. Mixing live instrumentation (especially live drums, which I always felt should be standard with rap artists) with an incredible girt for lyricism, P.O.S. stood head and shoulders above everyone else. Quicker than almost anyone and inserting his punk ethos into what should be an intense, revolutionary art form, P.O.S. carved out his own niche in hip-hop and deserves all the acclaim he can muster. Absolutely mind blowing; the first listen will peel your face off.
Recommended Tracks: Drumroll, Let It Rattle, Graves (We Wrote the Book), Purexed, Optimist (We Are Not For Them), Never Better.
01. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic: The Lips release the darkest album of their careers, and it blows away at least half of their titanic discography. My expectations were so incredibly high for this album I didn't think even the Flaming Lips could meet them; instead they exceeded in every possible way. An absolutely haunting portrait of the dark places a person's mind can go (done in that freaky technicolor way only The Flaming Lips can), Embryonic struck me immediately and didn't let up for the entire runtime. Just a nice slice of weird, this album was stuck in my car's stereo for the longest time; the perfect soundtrack for driving to work at 1:00 AM on a quiet autumn night. This is a bad trip, and we're all getting dragged down into it whether we like it or not: I LIKE IT. 2009's Album of the year.
Recommended Tracks: Convinced of the Hex, See the Leaves, If, Your Bats, Powerless, Silver Trembling Hands, Watching the Planets.
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I'm alive! And amazingly, still listening to music. It's been a busy busy year in the life of Evil Brian, what with my complete retreat to facebook and whatnot. But this post is not about that, this is about the best albums of the year! Here you go:
Honorable Mentions: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!, Neko Case - Middle Cyclone, Doom - Born Like This, Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing, Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You, Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown, The Decemberists - Hazards of Love, Sonic Youth - The Eternal, Wilco - Wilco (the album), eels - Hombre Lobo, Titus Andronicus - The Airing Of Grievances, Monsters Of Folk - Monsters Of Folk, Dethklok - Dethalbum II, The Mars Volta - Octahedron, Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue, Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
(+2) Patton Oswalt - My Weakness Is Strong: The funniest nerd in America grows up! On his most mature work yet, Oswalt details the yearn to better himself for his (then) coming daughter, shopping for a house with his girlfriend and how the sudden kid-friendly fame from being in Ratatouille screwed up his Halloween among other hilarious anecdotes. It hit me in the sweet spot, especially since it came out while my own girlfriend was pregnant with my son.
Recommended Tracks: Sky Cake, Birth, Rats, Orgy.
(+1) The Lonely Island - Incredibad: Screw everyone, this album was hilarious, and still holds up to repeat listens. The best part of Saturday Night Live released this album of hits and new tracks early in the year, and most of the songs still haven't left the iPod. Most of the time reveling in their overwhelming whiteness, The Lonely Island rap, sing, and act poorly through 19 tracks of "teh funny" where they (mostly) keep all the songs short enough so they don't overstay their welcome. Plus, they gave me a huge reason to like T-Pain.
Recommended Tracks: On a Boat, Like A Boss, Jizz In My Pants, Natalie's Rap, Sax Man.
20. Japandroids - Post-Nothing: These guys blasted into the scene this year with a heavily distorted, almost punk rock take on Sonic Youth and it paid off in spades. A short & sweet album that knocks you on your ass and demands your attention.
Recommended Tracks: Wet Hair, Young Hearts Spark Fire, Crazy/Forever
19. K'Naan - Troubadour: Emerging from the most violent part of Africa (Mogadishu, Somalia), this gifted MC travelled to Canada and then America telling his story through song, culminating in this album which fuses traditional African rhythms, Jamaican reggae and American hip-hop into a whole different beast. Uplifting and soulful, not nearly enough people are giving him attention.
Recommended Tracks: Wavin' Flag, T.I.A. (This Is Africa), Somalia, ABC's,
18. Julian Casablancas - Phrazes of the Youth: I was never that big of a fan of The Strokes (the coolest thing they did was open the doors for The White Stripes to get tons of airplay). That being said, this album is pretty awesome in it's own right. Fusing The Strokes' garage rock sensibilities with retro-sounding technopop (I know how weird that sounds; just go with me on this), Casablancas released a shockingly catchy dark pop record that caught me totally off guard. Slightly Interpol-ish, but still strangely unique. Give it a chance, seriously.
Recommended Tracks: 11th Dimension, River of Brakelights, 4 Chords of the Apocalypse.
17. Florence + the Machine - Lungs: Dark piano-based cabaret pop; if nothing else, this is certainly the most interesting album of the year. Every song tells a story about a different (usually tragic) character, there is absolutely nothing else like this from 2009.
Recommended Tracks: Kiss With a Fist, My Boy Builds Coffins, Howl, Girl With One Eye.
16. M. Ward - Hold Time: The go-to guy for fans of indie folk, I hadn't actually listened to him until he released She & Him in 2008. Now I'm sorry I slept on M. Ward, because this album is an affecting masterpiece. Just a truly gorgeous album. This narrowly beat Monsters of Folk (the other album he released this year) for this spot.
Recommended Tracks: Rave On, Hold Time, Jailbird, Fisher of Men
15. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug: The best Britrock band performing today, Alex Turner & crew released another winning album (albeit darker than their previous 2)this year to the surprise of absolutely no one. Catchy, poppy and unabashedly British, these guys continue to impress even after 3 albums (and one stellar side project).
Recommended Tracks: Crying Lightning, Cornerstone, Dance Little Liar, Potion Approaching.
14. They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science: This has nothing to do with the fact that I have a child now, and everything to do with the fact that these are the catchiest songs TMBG have produced since The Spine. Highly recommended equally for both families with children and TMBG fans alike.
Recommended Tracks: I Am A Paleontologist, Meet The Elements, Electric Car, My Brother The Ape, Roy G. Biv.
13. Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3: I'll be honest, it took my a while to come around to Jay-Z: The Black Album (and the Grey Album) got me to listen, this album made me a fan. Hate on him all you want, Jay-Z is the best rapper in the business today and has every right to be as cocky as he is (unlike most others *cough* Kanye *cough cough*); he knows exactly what he's doing, and exactly what the people want. Also, he has a very strong anti-Autotune stance, which is just awesome.
Recommended Tracks: D.O.A. (Death of Autotune), Run This Town, On to the Next One, Young Forever and (as much as I hate to admit it) Empire State of Mind.
12. Brother Ali - Us: This is soul music in the form of rap: this shit is good for your heart. Brother Ali is a preacher, a prophet, just an outright awesome personality. Not really any guests, no autotune, nothing about being rich, he's the realest one out there. Seriously, rapping about how much he loves his simple understated life is just a beautiful sentiment in this era of overreaching expectations.
Recommended Tracks: Bad Mufucker Part II, Fresh Air, Us, The Preacher, The Travelers.
11. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest: Very odd. A strangely catchy, slightly trippy indie rock album. I can't explain how or why it gets stuck in my head as much as it does, it just does. Equal parts laid back stoner vibe and pretentious hipster rock band: it all just kinda works.
Recommended Tracks: Southern Point, Ready, Able, While You Wait For the Others.
10. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures: BADASS. Josh Homme and Dave Grohl building songs around JOHN PAUL FREAKIN JONES. The first supergroup this decade that is actually SUPER. As in faster than a speeding bullet/more powerful than a locomotive super. How badass are these guys? They released the whole album on Youtube before it was sent to stores, just because.
Recommended Tracks: New Fang, No One Loves Me & Neither Do I, Scumbag Blues
09. Silversun Pickups - Swoon: I love this early-90's sentimentalism going around indie rock these days. It's like the hipsters suddenly discovered Sonic Youth and are utilizing their tricks and traps in their music. I just fucking love it. Silversun Pickups follow up their breakthrough Carnavas with a stellar sophomore album that takes their style to the next level, weaving strings into their rich tapestry of ROCK. I'm telling you guys, these guys have had some big singles, but they are gonna blow the fuck up, and soon.
Recommended Tracks: Panic Switch, Substitution, The Royal We, It's Nice To Know You Work Alone.
08. Clutch - Strange Cousins From the West: IT'S CLUTCH.
Recommended Tracks: 50000 Unstoppable Watts, Abraham Lincoln, Motherless Child, Sleestak Lightning, Witch Doctor, Let A Poor Man Be.
07. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: This French pop/rock band came out of absolutely nowhere, debuted on SNL without anybody having ever heard of them, and took the U.S. by storm, becoming the go-to critical darlings of the American music press. Bright, poppy, catchy and unafraid to throw a decent instrumental track on their breakout album, these songs were EVERYWHERE in 2009, and for damn good reason.
Recommended Tracks: Lisztomania, 1901, Love Like A Sunset Parts 1 & 2, Girlfriend.
06. Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect: The single most technically gifted metal band playing today (though not necessarily the best), these guys have basically (re)invented progressive hardcore. There's so much going on in this albums' six tracks that you can lose yourself real easily. Sounding liker a death metal band covering Pink Floyd, BTBAM jump from light acoustic verses to techno-inflected hardcore to trippy Yes-style prog to Fantomas-y weirdness to straight up metal, and cover all the ground in between. They just keep getting better; it's truly scary to think about where they'll be in a couple years.
Recommended Tracks: There's only 6 on the album. They're all recommended.
05. Black Joe Louis & the Honeybears - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!: These guys sound like they throw one hell of a party! Like a mixed-up combination of James Brown and The Roots' band, they bring the funk, the soul, the life, the power and the fucking fun back to indie music. Everywhere these guys go, they tear the fucking roof off. This is pimp music.
Recommended Tracks: Sugarfoot, Humpin', Get Yo Shit, I'm Broke, Master Sold My Baby.
04. Mastodon - Crack The Skye: LSD makes for some awesome music, doesn't it? Combining classic Russian literature, wormholes and intense psychedelic imagery, Mastodon just keep getting more and more ambitious with every release. Garnering universal acclaim, this is probably the best reviewed metal album of the past decade, and for good reason: it is just balls-out awesome. Somehow, Mastodon keep going further and further over the edge of sanity, and keep getting more and more popular in the mainstream.
Recommended Tracks: Oblivion, Divinations, The Czar, The Last Baron.
03. Kid CuDi - Man On The Moon:The End Of Day: For whatever reason, the music press in the US is fellating this dude Drake as being such an original artist that sings AND raps equally well, and it pisses me off because, while that's all well and good, Drake's lyrics are mostly meaningless paint-by-numbers hip-hop drivel. Meanwhile Kid Cudi, who also sings and raps, bares his soul, basically lays himself out naked for the world to see all his imperfections and, after a wild wave of hype, they ignore him. Which is angering, because his debut album is so friggin phenomenal it blows my mind. Talking frankly about his insecurities, growing up with night terrors and basically being addicted to weed, he actually turns the backing music into MUSIC and not just some flashy metronome with help from indie artists like Ratatat and MGMT, among others. The result is a dramatic, sweeping artistic achievement as equally trippy as it is honest and ill; a true breath of fresh air in a relatively stale industry. I can't possibly recommend this enough.
Recommended Tracks: Soundtrack 2 My Life, Day N Night (Nightmare), Pursuit of Happiness, Sky Might Fall, Up Up and Away (the Wake and Bake Song).
02. P.O.S. - Never Better: An underground punk rocker turns to rap and releases the best rap album of the year, which he did in FEBRUARY. Literally, I put this on my iPod when it came out, and didn't have the heart to take it off until around late autumn; I couldn't STOP listening to it. Mixing live instrumentation (especially live drums, which I always felt should be standard with rap artists) with an incredible girt for lyricism, P.O.S. stood head and shoulders above everyone else. Quicker than almost anyone and inserting his punk ethos into what should be an intense, revolutionary art form, P.O.S. carved out his own niche in hip-hop and deserves all the acclaim he can muster. Absolutely mind blowing; the first listen will peel your face off.
Recommended Tracks: Drumroll, Let It Rattle, Graves (We Wrote the Book), Purexed, Optimist (We Are Not For Them), Never Better.
01. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic: The Lips release the darkest album of their careers, and it blows away at least half of their titanic discography. My expectations were so incredibly high for this album I didn't think even the Flaming Lips could meet them; instead they exceeded in every possible way. An absolutely haunting portrait of the dark places a person's mind can go (done in that freaky technicolor way only The Flaming Lips can), Embryonic struck me immediately and didn't let up for the entire runtime. Just a nice slice of weird, this album was stuck in my car's stereo for the longest time; the perfect soundtrack for driving to work at 1:00 AM on a quiet autumn night. This is a bad trip, and we're all getting dragged down into it whether we like it or not: I LIKE IT. 2009's Album of the year.
Recommended Tracks: Convinced of the Hex, See the Leaves, If, Your Bats, Powerless, Silver Trembling Hands, Watching the Planets.
