Top 10 Albums of '09

I make no omissions about feeling a LITTLE bit lackluster about this year's crop of new music. While last year saw a return to form by Portishead, the cough syrup-toting New Orleans Nightmare, Weezy, and the melodic trance creating MGMT, there will not be one band or rapper returning this year except Bon Iver. But, there were plenty of surprises and bright spots and these ten albums were truly great for individual reasons. While last year I found more indie rock sneak their way in the door, this year was great for pop. Maybe the recession inspired the industry to make slap-happy grooves that lifted the soul? Whatever the cause, pick up these albums.


10. Daisy - Brand New

The boys from Long Island released their fourth studio album to much fanfare. This was their highest charted album reaching number 6 on the Billboard 200 thanks in large to the success of The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me. This album infuses surf-rock, bluesy riffs, and heavy metal. As experimental as the sound came across, Jesse still was able to inject enough of himself to create a link between this album and the rest of their catalogue - barely. Jarring, loud, and aggressive are just a couple of adjectives that could be used to sum up this album. It is trying. But it is complete. Mike Sapone did an excellent job breathing life into this angry beast. Standout tracks include, "Bed," "You Stole," "At the Bottom," and "Bought a Bride."

9. The Ecstatic - Mos Def

It's interesting how the two hip hop albums on this list are almost a throwback. A novelty. Let's hit rewind and remember what it was to listen to hip in the 90s. Grooving melodies crafted by neo-soul hits of the 50s and 60s. Of course Def puts his unique spin on it. While this may be one of his more accessible records of recent memory, he really strikes a rhythm that is deeply satisfying. It's a short romp, but the Brooklyn Bomber does his thing here. Standout tracks include, "History (feat Kweli)," "Twilite Speedball," and "Auditorium (feat. The Ruler)."

8. The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga

I will admit. I was late to this party. And as much as this might be a guilty admission into my top ten, I cannot dismiss the power of Lady Gaga. Her club hits that started out as infectious hook-laden pop hits like "Just Dance" flourished to full-fledged arena-sized power ballads such as "Bad Romance." Her entry into music consciousness was as smooth as blunt force trauma. If the door wasn't to open, she would kick it down. Soon she was singing hooks on up-and-coming hip hop acts such as Wale and Kid Cudi. To her credit, once the populace was ready to receive her, she took the light and ran with it. She is a performer first and then musician. She has done a good job of keeping her music sonically different than fluff acts and to that I will give her artist to watch for years to follow. Standout tracks are, "Just Dance," "Poker Face," and "Bad Romance."

7. Blood Bank EP - Bon Iver

Justin Vernon just has a knack of creating wintery melancholy tunes that message the aches and pains of life. While this might be a bit boisterous to put a four song EP in the top ten of the year -- this is pretty much just an extra slap on the back for his highly-successful full length album last year. If you need some Iver to hold you over til the spring, this may be just the drink. All four tracks are standout. Even the final track that proved even a folk singer like Vernon could take the auto-tune and make something organic come of it.

6. Album - Girls

Christopher Owens may be one of the most interesting musicians to emerge this year. Creating the masterpiece that calls itself Album may be enough to give him the most misunderstood musical figure in the industry. He's a junkie. He is an ex-member of the Children of God cult. And that's just the beginning. He's a musical genius and his anti-hero anthem, "Hellhole Ratrace" may just sum up 09' as a whole. Born out of San Francisco, California, Owens croons to be believed in. We might not have a choice after this initial offering. Standout tracks include, "Hellhole Ratrace," "Lust for Life," and "Morning Light."

5. Manners - Passion Pit

The earnest crooning of Michael Angelakos is only the beginning to this band formed out of Cambridge, Massachusetts. This electronic band wedges itself somewhere in between MGMT and Postal Service. The pure wall of sound that drenches every track creates a dramatic soundscape peppered with light keyboard strokes. This album is the dark horse. Created out of Angelakos' wanting to create music for his girlfriend, now their EP feels like a tremendous freshman effort to woo every girl listening. It's light. It's fun. There's not much to challenge the listener so repeat listens may not break any new ground, but damn it if it's not infectious. Standout tracks include, "Moth's Wings," "Sleepyhead," "The Reeling," and "Swimming in the Flood."

4. It's Blitz! - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Karen O may just be my hero. It just seems like whatever she touches to gold. Born to be the princess of Indie rock. This being their third offering, they ditch slow emo ballads for some electronic dance music. "Zero" seemed to come hurtling through the sonic sphere right in the nick of time. The critical success of this album seems to parallel the success of LCD Soundsystem's Sounds of Silver which saw the band reach a different kind of success with their electronic offering. Already nominated for the Grammy for Best Alternative Album, It's Blitz! seems to find the YYYs in a different world. One that loves them almost as much as they love themselves. Karen O has always been Indie rock's superstar, but the mainstream success has never fully eyed her until now. It'll be interesting to see how they go from here. Standout tracks include, "Zero," "Heads Will Roll," "Skeletons," and "Dull Life."

3. Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective

Holy coherent melodies, Batman! Who would have thought Animal Collective would have been able to release a comprehensive albums that hardcore freakfolk nerds and simpletons could sway to alike? Not me. And yet, they've done it. They're crossing over from independent glory to mainstream with deft ease. Did Panda Bear give Ben Gibbard a call? Reaching 13 on the Billboard 200, this is easily their most commercially successful album to date. And perhaps the sonic sound of the album was bred out of necessity and not out of creativity entirely. Josh Gibb (guitarist) needed to take some time from the band out of personal reasons, so the now trio had to come up with sounds for substitutes in lieu of the guitar. The outcome was something close to Panda Bear's solo album Person Pitch. Using samplers as their primary instrument, the result also draws comparisons to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. Technically, this might be the best album of the year. Best Tracks include: "My Girls," "Summertime Clothes," and "Brother Sport."

2. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Part II - Raekwon

What an re-entry. If the music industry were a steel door, Rae used OB4CL like a chainsaw. He was not gonna be denied with this album. With some of the best producers to ever sit at the table he received beats from Dre, RZA, J Dilla, The Alchemist, Marley Marl, and Pete Rock, he could have done nothing over the sonic landscape laid out and still had a top ten album. But perhaps that's the icing, every single line and lyric seemed laid in perfect positioning. Every guest spot seemed to up the last. Jada has never seemed more gruff. Ghostface has never seemed more wise. Slick Rick has never seemed so immediately relevant. And if the first installment of this series was Godfather I, this definitely feels like Godfather II. The rise of Brando. Raekwon the Chef aka Lex Diamonds is back with something the hood and mainstream can bump alike. Everything feels dangerous from the strings to the samples. Give a lot of credit to RZA for that. If last year was the year of the forward-thinking Weezy, this year is an homage to everything rap used to be. Top Tracks include: "Surgical Gloves," "Canal Street," and "10 Bricks."

1. Two Suns - Bat For Lashes

The difference in genres couldn't be any more different between number 1 and 2 on this list. Natasha Khan will be the next Indie rock superstar -- well if you want to call it rock. She plays piano, guitar, harpsichord, and autoharp. Not exactly what the pillars of rock were built on. But this beautiful album plays one part mysticism and one part sexuality. It seeps out of every corner and somehow feels out of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack or something. Playing on a lot of ambient noise, these songs almost feel organic in nature. Beautifully composed, each track rises and falls with almost breath-like qualities. There really isn't anything out there like this right now sonically and maybe that's the reason they may not be as big as they should be right now. If I had to peg a musical equivalent, I could draw comparisons to Feist or Tori Amos, but dynamic sampling and synths infuse genres that simply put Bat for Lashes on an island for one. If you listen to one track all year -- just one. Pick "Daniel." It is a flagship single if I've ever heard one. The production comes screaming -- ahem sighing -- out of the 80s but Khan's voice feels timeless making it relevant. They may borrow techniques out of the 60s, 70s and 80s, but this band has created one of the most beautiful albums to date and it feels so new. Much like Damien Rice's album O, sometimes beauty is the missing piece behind these musical compositions and the highlights reside in this album's softer moments. Intimate. Almost naked. She bares all and I dare you to turn away. Highlight tracks: "Daniel," "Glass," "Moon and Moon," and "Siren Song."

Long Away From Long Island

The emo alt-rockers known as Brand New have come a long way since their pop/punk roots in Your Favorite Weapon. Every band aspires to truly evolve and change with each new record, but none do it with quite the style like Brand New. Jesse Lacey, frontman and lead writer on their first three albums, takes a backseat to Vin Accardi in Daisy. And from beginning to end you can feel the stark difference from this album compared to the other three.

From "Vices" to "Noro" this is Brand New's heaviest record yet aiming its sights on prog/heavy metal rock. Jesse and Co. self admitted that they wanted to create a record that would be fun to play live and scheduled many days off for fear of the toll this record would take on their voices. If The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me was the band in quiet contemplation Daisy finds them in angry resolution. With buzzing guitars, this record is loud -- really loud.

Jesse channels his best Kurt Cobain impression in "Bed." Strangely dark and cryptic, Vin writes the framework for this dark masterpiece. "I don't know what you feel like/Ambushed on the root, stole your gold and you laugh/Everything that you own starts to pile up/Like bones make the walls of your prison." And perhaps the lack of redemption in the lyrics is the main difference between Vin and Jesse. Jesse wrote songs that were drizzled with sadness, but you always felt the tiny vein of hope poking through for air.

Above all things, this is Brand New's most experimental album as well. In "You Stole," Brand New finds itself exploring and experimenting with a surf rock sound. "Be Gone" features a sitar-like imitation with Lacey's voice distorted as if sonically being projected through a body of water. Also they bookcased the album with a gospel hymn called "On Life's Highway" written by Bertrand Brown. Above all though, many will think this album plays up the guitars, but this is album shines due to the drummer, Brian Lane. And producer Mike Sapone, who produced their first album Your Favorite Weapon, gave this album a continuity like none before it.

Only 40 minutes long, the album is quick. Straight to the point. There have been allusions that this may be the last Brand New album, at least with this same lineup. Four albums that altogether are very different yet strangely connected. It's been a decade for these boys turned men and they take nothing for granted. This album is their most creative, cohesive work ever. Deja Entendu may be their crowning achievement, but Daisy takes every opportunity that album gave them and churned out a fiery force that resonates long after the first listen.

Heading a tour that will pack arenas, these guys are a long way from their underground punk roots, yet you never really feel they've ever lost a sense of who they are and what they aim to convey.


9/10


This. Is. Truth.

So many thoughts.....

This is what I frequently end up doing. Create a successful month or two of blogging to follow it up with a half-year hiatus til the point that I have so many thoughts, I can't focus it into a streamlined article. Over the past month, I think I have downloaded about 10 albums, read that Thom Yorke is starting a new band with Flea, Pavement is back, Alice In Chains has re-formed with William DuVall, reached a new zenith for my love of "Poker Face" by Lada Gaga, finished the first season of Dexter...err...and seen the rebirth of the Wu! Let's get down to this.



I hate to start with the dude, but how can I not? Kanye West. The dude is a titan. A superstar. He may be the last of his kind. So self-absorbed and egotistical I'm not even sure he can escape his own gravitational pull -- but neither can we. And he finally achieved his ultimate goal with 808s and Heartbreak, he has transcended hip hop and is a true music star. He can work with anyone, anywhere, anytime and be accepted for truth. Karen O? Coldplay? Freaking Elvis Costello? He is in true charge of whatever music he wants to make and we will continue to support him in the process because the man is a genius at crafting a hook. He has opened to the door for acts like Kid Cudi and Lupe Fiasco to go out and fuse hip-hop with indie alternative and still stay mainstream to the hip-hop heads out there. We are reaching a point in music where there is no one where to go but back. Starchy synths, hooks straight outta the 80s, and glam rock is pumping through top radio stations everywhere. Kanye has a hand in that. Truly a visionary, he may be one of the most repugnant figures in music, but damn if I can't smile at his kid genius.


AND he may have done the unthinkable. He might have had a hand in delivering Hov his worst album...maybe ever.

Back to the Blueprint?

I wasn't sure if it was just me as I was listening to the Blueprint 3, but I was actually bored. This was my second time to FYE and they had just gotten the shipment in. I broke the seal and started the third installment of the landmark series. The dude sounds tired. His rhetoric is so repetitive it's hard to imagine this is one of the best rappers ever to walk. All this elder of rap stuff is getting old and his hooks didn't help much. Jeezy's feature, "Real As It Gets" goes downhill right as the homage to "Public Service Announcement" ends. Even up-and-comers Drake, J. Cole, and Kid Cudi can't keep this product fresh (Let's not even get to the Kanye track, "Hate"). The fact it was released around the same time as Raekwon's stellar hip-hop follow-up Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, made it even more apparent that Hov's lost some edge. He's lost some connection for the game and the hustle. Three weeks later, the album has already fallen out of my daily rotation. And perhaps that's the most alienating offense -- it's completely forgettable.

Do It For the Kids

We are a week away from Spike Jonze's chronicling of childhood favorite, "Where the Wild Things Are," and I think the only thing better than this movie might be the soundtrack. Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) has composed and co-produced this whole soundtrack. Officially the artist is listed as Karen O and the Kids. However the "Kids" constitute of Deerhunter mastermind, Bradford Cox, YYYs members, Nick Zinner and Brian Chase, Dead Weather/Raconteurs' Dean Fertita and Jack Lawrence, Liars' Aaron Hemphill, The Bird and the Bees' Greg Kurstin, as well as a children's choir. If you can't wait a week for the movie (and who can?), skip on over to your music store and pick up a copy of this. Another check for Karen O and her undeniable quest to become alt-rock's demi god.


Finally, I find myself renewed with vigor and vim (P.s. I looked up vim finally -- now I truly understand what it means) for the last quarter of music that will come hurtling its way this holiday season. I rededicate this blog to the notion that good music comes in all shapes, sizes, accents, and instrumentation. I specialize in nothing. Just have a thirst for trending music that makes me happy. Feel free to share, critique, or compliment. This week I'll get a review up for the new Alice in Chains record, Monsters of Folk, AFI, Paramore, Brand New, and Raekwon. As well as highlight a project I'm pretty pumped about: Blakroc.


This. Is. Truth.

Standing O

The art rockers Yeah Yeah Yeahs released their latest album, It's Blitz! to heavy anticipation. They have all the momentum in the world to make this release their landmark. Legions of underground media pub. Check. New York supported cast. Check. Incredibly hot and fashionable female lead singer. Check. Talent. Check.

From open to close this album challenges every YYYs fan of old. Dropping the Indie lo-fi mantra, this album explores every sonic inch of space with synths, hollow drums, and hushed wails. The lead single and first track, "Zero" throws Karen O into a bed of rippling, buzzing rave sounds. Immediately shaking off any relevance to previous work, anyone ill-prepared likely experienced whiplash by the evolution of sound. The upbeat wall of sound threatens to intimidate, but once engulfed, you can't help but feel revitalized by the dance disco track. There is no letdown by the next track, "Heads Will Roll." In fact, when I listened to this I couldn't help but feel reminiscent of Orgy's "Blue Monday."

Standout track "Soft Shock" teaches new fans and old just how strong Karen O can be no matter what the soundscape. However, through the many varied transformations found on It's Blitz! Karen O and Co. still shine through the song writing. "It's a soft shock...to your soft side." The hooks never feel repetitive but layered in way that the mind keeps bringing the most important sentiments to the forefront of consciousness. Like a familiar memory, "Skeletons" welcomes in the most exciting shoe-gaze pop song since "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star. With a Celtic melody and rolling drum lick, this may top "Maps" as their best ballad to date.

The change in concept may or may not be attributed by the producer credits belonging to Nick Launay (Nick Cave) and Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio). I would like to think that it's the need for the YYYs insatious need to stay out of familiar territory. The only track that really could be pegged a YYYs song might be "Dull Life," but even that track has a groove that Gold Lion could never have claimed its own. With the aforementioned track, "Skeletons," "Runaway" and "Little Shadow" round the album's more ambient songs and provide a change a of pace against the disco-fueled lineup. Each are perfectly tinted with a bit of glam rock that still keeps relevancy with the other songs and the album a march through time.

In essence, this is a classic dance/disco alt-rock gem that is best listened to in the company of others. Play it at a party. Play it on a road trip. Hell, play it at a wake. Music this infectious deserves to be heard by the populace. Oh and take a good look at the album art for this album because it may be the best you'll see all year.


8.5/10



This. Is. Truth.

IncrediBLE

After a two-month hiatus, I have deemed it necessary to keep compiling these blogs as liner notes in my musical evolution. Honestly, it almost felt necessary to abandon music for a short period of time. In December, I was listening to music about 6-7 hours a day and I burnt myself out. The first album I listened to upon returning was The Lonely Island's Incredibad. It felt almost fitting that the album that pulled me out of my stupor was music mockery of sorts. Paralleling the worst music has to offer from rastafarian ("Tras Rent") to hip-hop ("Punch You In the Jeans"), these guys did something Flight of the Conchords couldn't: Make me laugh. Not smile or chuckle, but laugh. 

It might be one of the funniest albums ever. Pooling the best Digital Shorts from SNL, the favorites already make the album worth the purchase, but the other songs reach the same merit. The gift of repetition was not lost on Samburg and crew. "Like a Boss" starts off as a meager storyline that dissolves into a dizzying array of crass depictions that somehow works on every level. Appearances by E-40, Norah Jones, T-Pain, and Jack Black feel fresh and right, not forced. Plus the bonus songs of "Dick in a Box" and "Natalie's Rap" are a gift in their own right. The odd part is how the music and comedy compliment each other. These are songs that find themselves chock full of one-liners that are brilliantly placed. 

Favorite Lines: "I'm ridin on a dolphin/doing flips and shit/the dolphin's splashing/getting everybody all wet." - "I'm On A Boat"

"E to the S to the P to the N/Is all I watch cause I'm the man/If my team loses I'll be mean all night/If you tell me to relax/We'll get in a fight" - "We Like Sportz"

"Pussy out (like a boss)/Puke on Debra's desk (like a boss)/Jump out the window (like a boss)/Suck a dude's dick (like a boss)/Score some coke (like a boss)/Crash my car (like a boss)/Suck my own dick (like a boss)/Eat some chicken strips (like a boss)/Cut my balls off (like a boss)/Blackout in the sewer (like a boss)/Meet a giant fish (like a boss)/Fuck his brains out (like a boss)/Turn into a jet (like a boss)/Bomb the Russians (like a boss)/Crash into the sun (like a boss)/Now I'm dead (like a boss)" - "Like A Boss"

"Yo, reach in my pocket pull out some dough/girl acted like she never saw a 10 before/It's all about the Hamilton's baby/Throw the snacks in a bag and I'm Ghost like Swayze." - "Lazy Sunday"

"I bust in dude's mouth like Gushers motherfucker/Roll up in NBC and smack  the shit out Jeff Zucker/What you want, Natalie?/To drink and fight/What you need, Natalie?/To fuck all night." - "Natalie's Rap"

2nd - "My dick is afraid of you." - "Natalie's Rap"

"Yo I'll punch your jeans/We said it before/Best believe this is not a metaphor/You got something to say/We got the proper retort/Beat your jeans so bad/That they'll wish they were shorts." - "Punch You In the Jeans"

2nd "Gonna revise your Levi's/With physical harm/Put divots in the rivots/With my physical arm/Gonna beat those jeans/Wanna dip em in slime/Turn your 501s/Into 499s" - "Punch You In the Jeans"

"Last week I thought I saw you on the street/Turned out to be a bag of trash/Just a big ole bag of trash/I thought you looked like a bag of trash." - "Dreamgirl"

Well I had fun going through and listing those. It was gonna be one or two and I just couldn't help myself. There are literally a hundred more I could have listed. Pick it up an have a laugh. I think our country could use it. 

8.0/10

This. Is. Truth.