1. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 'Contender' .....I listened to about half the tracks off of their self-titled release all year long. There's a lot of tracks, or albums, or bands that I'm really gung-ho about for a month or two, but the real test is whether or not I still get amped hearing it months later. Such was the case with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.
2. Dan Auerbach 'Whispered Word-Pretty Lies' ..... It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Black Keys and Auerbach is 1/2 of that twosome. As it tuned out, I actually enjoyed his solo effort more than the 2008 offering by the Black Keys 'Attack & Release'. That was a great album, but Auerbach's 'Keep It Hid' would make a short list for my favorite albums of 2009. Those two albums really illustrate the wide spectrum of the Black Keys sound well.Where 'Attack & Release' is blessed with the progressive production of Danger Mouse, Aerbach's 'Keep it Hid' is less produced and more American Roots in nature. Both are great, but the ladder is more my speed.
3. M.Ward 'Epistemology' .... Ward's 2009 release 'Hold Time' was the release that finally saw me get wise to Ward. Plus, the fact that his side project is a duo with Zooey Deschanel (sigh) and that he's half Mexican doesn't hurt either in my increased appreciation of his work. Anyhow, most are probably familiar with the album's duet w/ Zooey 'Never Had Nobody Like You' as I believe it was featured in some commercials over the course of the year. That's a great track, as is much of the album, but it's 'Epistemology' that I revist the most.
4. Mirah 'Generosity' .... It's also of little secret that I LOVE Mirah. Actually, take that back. I hate Mirah. Ok, I love Mirah's music. I hate the way it makes me feel. Anyhow, her 2009 release (A)Spera doesn't quite compare to previous releases such as 'C'mon Miracle' or 'You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This', but it's still a great album. If nothing else, this track is one of the very best for 2009.
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'Little Shadow' (acoustic version) .... OK, a brief discussion on the YYYs. They can seemingly do no wrong in my mind. If Radiohead is the best band of the past 20 years (and I don't think there's much argument against that), then YYYs may have been the most satisfying of the last 10. Some may think, 'well, they're good and all, but they're hardly one of the best bands around'. Bullocks. What makes Radiohead great more than any of the other outstanding qualities that they possess is their success and seamlessly melding together some of the best musical styles of the past 50 years. A little Rolling Stones British take on American blues. A little punk. And a little Bay Area DJ Shadow trip-hop. Some Dylan singer-song writing and some Johnny Greenwod as Slash on guitar and that just begins to describe the greatness that has been what radiohead has done. Now, the YYYs.....the proof in the pudding of their greatness is also how effortless it sounds. If you don't pay attention it just sounds....you know...good. But if you listen closely...you've got various takes on punk (post-punk, hardcore, rrrriot girl, oi!) and disco properly paired. It may sound simple. It may even sound common. But it's not something done well all that often. I mean, just considering the pairing of disco & punk in your sound should result in some terrible music, as it often does. That's the Hatfield and the McCoys of modern music right there. It SHOULD sound like shit when you try to put them together. Not, with the YYYs. They do that, and more, and make it sound effortless.
OK, long rant done. This song illustrates none of that. This is an acoustic take, with orchestra of one of 'It's Blitz' tracks, 'Little Shadow'. I feel bad choosing a song that's an acoustic B-side and therefore doesn't really illustrate how great that album is, but it's maybe my favorite song of the year. This song should have been released a year or so earlier so that it could sneak its way onto the 'Rachel Getting Married' soundtrack as I can't think of a better song that says, 'Hipster Wedding'. On first listen I said to myself, 'I want this song playing in the background at my wedding reception'. And now that I think aboot it, it does also illustrate another great aspect of YYYs. Karen O. Her vocal stylings can be vicious, sentimental, inspiring, and often playful. She's perhaps the most complete front of a band. Not the best (that's Jack White), but maybe the most complete.
6. The Thermals 'When We Were Alive' .... I didn't hear enough genuinely great punk in '09. Granted, it was probably there and I missed it. Furthermore, the Thermals latest Sub-Pop release, 'Now We Can See' was very disappointing. However, I'd rather a band release a bad album with one great track, than a decent album with 5 decent tracks. Because when the years go by I'll likely quit listening to those descent tracks, but that great track will live on. This is a great track and is the way punk should be. Short (1:46), loud, angry, playful, and fun.
7. Metric 'Waves' .... I love Metric and they put on one of the best performances that I saw live in '09. Their release 'Fantasies' was a highly enjoyable album and it was insanely hard to choose one track to represent them. I ended up going with a B-side from that album as I figure most missed out on it.
8. Silversun Pickups 'Growing Old Is Getting Old' .... Another of the best performances I saw live in '09 was from Silversun (on the same show w/ Metric). I've seen them 4 times now as I write this and encourage anyone who gets the chance to go see them. Some often compare them to the Smashing Pumpkins. That comparison comes as either an encouraging compliment or a criticism hinting at their being too derivative depending upon whom the comparison is coming from. I suppose this comparison is because of the often melodic sound grounded in a guitar reared on My Blood Valentine as well as a lead singer with a rather different sound and style. The comparison is fine and I definitely see it at times, but I certainly think the band stands alone. I've enjoyed all of their efforts so far, and '09's 'Swoon' is no different. The track here illustrates some of their best qualities as the song is a bloated anthem ala U2, a celebration of the pumpkins-esque melodic reckoning of the guitar, but it also has a certain swagger to it. It's not a British-punk swagger, but rather a bit of an American Roots swagger. It's often the spice that makes a dish standout.
9. Phoenix 'Lisztomania' .... seemingly the band that was 2009, Phoenix conquered the globe. They didn't do it with a inspiring ballads like U2 or Coldplay, but with infectious and irresistible pop songs. I don't care much for pop, so I hope that some identify my too being infected with songs such as 'Lisztomania' as further proof of the band's 2009 release 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' as being worthy of the seemingly universal praise it has received from such varied circles. If I had to offer a possible explanation for what sets this ear pleasing pop so far above the heap, it's that it's unpredictable. Listen to 'Lisztomania' and tell me that what's going on during the final minute of this track is at all predictable. Predictability is what often kills pop for me.
10. Mos Def 'Quiet Dog' .... If the Thermals' 'When We Were Alive' illustrates what i want from punk, then this illustrates what i want from rap.
11. Spinnerette 'Baptized by Fire' .... It's no secret that I have something of an infatuation for Brody Dalle. I mean, she's no Jessica Duval, but she's pretty great. I loved the Distillers as they were a perfect blend of rrrrriot girl, Bay Area punk and Los Angeles punk. Sadly, they broke up, and it took far too long for Brody's next project to come to fruition. Of course, she made a baby or 2 with the lead singer of Queens of the Stone Age along the way (bastard beat me to it, but that's fine as I was occupied myself).
Anyhow, Spinnerette's self-titled release got a LOT of play in my car at high volumes during the summer of '09.
12. The Dead Weather '60 Feet Tall' .... perhaps the most anticipated release of 2009 (for me at least) was The Dead Weather. Another Jack White projects puts music's best front-man/guitarist int he back on drums, with members of the Raconteurs filling out the rhythm section and the lead singer of one of my favorite bands, the Kills, VV, aka Alison Mosshart in front. The result was a bit disappointing as my favorite track was this album opener. That said, this is a great song and perhaps the sexist track of '09.
13. Lightning Dust 'I Knew' ..... I'm quite the fan of Black Mountain and that brought me to this side-project of sorts with some of that bands members. God damn does this sound great.
14. The XX 'Intro' .... One of the most hyped, and therefore one of the most divisive bands of 2009 was The XX. Well, this track will offer little help on one determining their opinion on just how good or overrated The XX is as this is just a 2 minute intro to their 2009 self-titled album. Oh well, as it was still my favorite track on the album and the more short tracks we get the more songs we get to out on here. win-win.
15. Vivian Girls 'I Have No Fun' .... there are few things that i enjoy more than confident punk/indie girls whose ability to play their instruments is in question.
16. Jay-Z 'Empire State Of Mind' (w/ Alicia Keys) .... If Phoenix was THE band in 2009, then Jay-Z was THE solo artists. That's par for the course whenever he releases an album.
17. Kid Cudi 'Simple As...' .... Probably my favorite new-to-me discover in 2009 was Kid Cudi. For me, Rap is like Horror movies. I enjoy the hell out of horror movies, it's just that 95% of what I see out there appears to be horrible. So, on the rare occasion that something comes along that seems original and good I'm all over it. I'm writing this in June of 2010 and I believe it was less than 48 hours since I was last listening to Cudi's 2009 'Man On The Moon: The End of Day'.
18. The Twilight Sad 'That Room' ....I got nothing. I like this sour Scottish band.
19. Karen O and the Kids 'Rumpus' ... earlier, when slobbering over my admiration of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs I mentioned Karen O's playful quality. Well, along with some 'friends' (YYYs maestro guitarist Nick Zinner, Imaad Wassif as well as folks from the Dead Weather, Raconteurs, and Deerhunter), Karen put together a playful soundtrack to the film adaptation of 'Where the Wild Things Are'. There was many a rumpus around the apartment carried out to this soundtrack in 2009.
20. Noah and the Whale 'Blue Skies' ....I have to love a band that loves a movie so much that it becomes their identity. This bands name originates out of the film, 'The Squid and the Whale' by Noah Baumbach.
21. Phantogram 'When I'm Small' .... Trip-hop is one of my favorite specific genres of music. And it's not ever day I hear a new band do Trip Hop well. This is it. So good.
22. Thom Yorke 'Hearing Damage' ....As it turns out, those 'twilight' flicks have some insanely good stuff on their soundtracks. So, while those films appear to be something better suited for the WB, if nothing else they may be weaning some tweens onto some excellent music. I mean, it gave us a new freakin' Thom Yorke song and it's a great one.
