Okay, I know that I’m something like a broken record at this point, but I will say it one more time for the cheap seats. What a year for music. There were no fewer than seven or eight albums that would undoubtedly be on any best of the decade list, and possibly that number would be more in the range of ten or eleven after some careful consideration. As far as I’m concerned, 2009 was the very cream of the musical crop, and that’s something that just about any fan could be thankful for.
This year we heard some music out of some brand spanking new bands, as well as career bests from a number of bands that had been toiling in musical obscurity for years now. In short, it was the year where groups both small, big, and unheard of, broke through to the mainstream and became utterly huge. What’s most impressive to me is that in every single case, this newfound attention and success was entirely deserved. There weren’t too many one-hit wonders this year. So what does it sound like when talented and hardworking musicians make good? I guess now we know.
Now, it’s with much pride and excitement that I present Hollering Into the Void’s top albums of 2009!
—————————————————–
15. The Flaming Lips – “Embryonic”
I think that most music fans could agree that after opening the 2000′s with an all-out classic in Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the Flaming Lips work for most of the decade has been a little lack-luster. This being the case, as I’m sure you can imagine, when I heard Embryonic being called one the band’s weirdest efforts to date, well let’s just say that I was a little dubious. Apparently, my concerns were less than justified. Yes Embryonic is a pretty weird album, but let’s face it, the Flaming Lips are a pretty weird band. Besides, it’s a good kind of weird. ”Watching the Planets” is a hard-rocking sonic burst of noise, featuring some nice guest work from the always fabulous Karen O. Meanwhile, “Silver Trembling Hands” is the band’s single best song since “Do You Realize??” That’s not even mentioning fabulous songs like the hazy “Scorpio Sword,” or the mischievous “I Can Be a Frog,” which again features the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ lead singer, this time doing her best impression of any number of animal noises. In the end, doesn’t it seem only fitting that the Flaming Lips, one of the decade’s most feel-good musical stories, close out the a noughts the same way it opened them?
—————————————————–
14. Miike Snow – “Self Titled”
This mysterious group of musicians out of Stockholm, Sweden started as a success of clever marketing, and ended up being just a plain success. Hiding behind white masks, producers Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson, and Pontus Winnberg, continue Sweden’s monster musical year by creating an album full of ready to enjoy songs that are made to be listened to over and over again. The singles “Animal” and “Burial” may burn the brightest, but there is no shortage of stand tracks on this album. ”Song For No One,” “Black and Blue,” and “Cult Logic,” are all so catchy that they may as well be singles themselves, and each track is just as ready to be enjoyed on a night out on the town with friends as they are in your car on your weekly commutes into work. Miike Snow might not exactly be the most groundbreaking electro-pop group that you’ll ever listen to, but what they do, they do extremely well. If you like music that you can just as happily dance to as you can chill with, then look no further; Miike Snow is the band for you.
—————————————————–
13. Tegan and Sara – “Sainthood”
Tegan and Sara Quin haven’t changed up their sound a whole lot over the course of their already decade long career (when did that happen?), but the sister’s have certainly perfected it. Lyrically, their music is still mostly about breakups and relationships both good and bad, as evidenced by lyrics like; “go steady with me, I know it turns you off when I, I get talking like a teen.” But don’t let the winking and self-aware juvenility of the music fool you, the sisters Quin have become absolutely adept at creating razor sharp pop-masterpieces. Tunes like “The Cure” and “Don’t Rush” are tightly wound balls of bubblegum enjoyment, the lyrics are simple enough to be relatable and the hooks are so peppy that you can’t help but sing along. And as a bonus, super-fans of the band will be excited by the fact that the album was also notable as it was the first to feature a track, “Paperback Head,” on which Tegan and Sara both share a writing credit. Sainthood not only represents a high water mark for the duo, but it also just about represents pop perfection.
—————————————————–
12. The Dead Weather – “Horehound”
Jack White might have a focus problem. The White Stripes are pretty universally adored by music geeks, and his side-project the Raconteurs wasn’t exactly starving for critical acclaim, but that wasn’t quite enough. No, the only thing that would content Jack was going out and getting one of the most exciting female voices in music today for yet another new group (and if she wasn’t one of the most exciting voices before Horehound, she certainly is after). In fact, Alison Mosshart is so good, that she’ll have you forgetting entirely about Meg White and pretty much begging for more. The Dead Weather’s debut album hits you like a hot blast of air off the bayou, and the swampy fever doesn’t wear off until the last track slowly fades out. If ever there was an album that suggests a band should be, no needs to be, heard live, it’s this one. The Dead Weather flat out rock, and they don’t just rock, but they do it with an edgy sexiness that is sure to leave you feeling dirty. But, you know, in a good way.
—————————————————–
11. St. Vincent – “Actor”
There is no great a divide between sweet sounding music and utterly dark lyrics than the one that exists on St. Vincent’s Actor. Yet, somehow, Annie Clark is just so damned adorable (and I say that with the least amount of misogyny possible) that she completely pulls it off. ”Laughing With a Mouth Full of Blood” pretty much typifies the album perfectly as Clark sweetly sings “all of my old friends aren’t so friendly, and all my old haunts are now all haunting me.” It’s a song about being trapped in a state of discontent, but it’s presented so smoothly, Clark sings it with so much sugar, that it goes down completely smooth. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t relate to her protagonists’ plights. On the album’s opener she sings “there’s a black rainbow above my house, match the curtains and the floor,” on the single “Actor” she chirps “you’re the curses through my teeth, you’re the laughter, you’re the obscene” as cheerfully as a songbird. Never before has such bleak subject matter seemed so bizarrely sunny.
—————————————————–
10. Raekwon – “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II”
If absence truly makes the heart grow fonder, then maybe it shouldn’t be any surprise that Raekwon’s latest is so very good. With six years between albums (and fourteen since his last Only Built 4 Cuban Linx) it’s pretty mind-blowing that Raekwon’s game is still so fresh. Age and success have done virtually nothing to tame Raekwon’s sound, as the Wu-Tang alum presents us with a Godfather-level crime epic with a little help of some old friends. What makes Cuban Linx II so special, though, is that Raekwon still raps like he has a chip on his shoulder, but none of the nagging insecurity that comes with it. To relate the music to the crack game (which is what this crime epic is built upon), Raekwon’s tale doesn’t come off like that of the young gangster on the corner, slinging his modest product what he can but talking like he runs the game, instead he is in the role of the don, sitting hunched over his chessboard while all of the young guns are busy playing checkers. Who says that getting old has to be boring?
—————————————————–
9. The xx – “xx”
There’s a quiet confidence to this London band’s music that is very much beyond their years. Most of this is due to Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim’s subtle but emotionally rich contributions. There’s an intimacy between the that suggests a relationship, which may or may not be the case, but it lends a definite feeling of authenticity to the music. On the song “Heart Skipped a Beat,” the two singers volley the lyric “sometimes I still need you” back and forth between one another with such a sense of longing, with such heartsick conviction, that you can’t help but buy in. On the surface songs like “VCR” or “Crystalized” would seem to be about something very simple, but there is so much meaning and emotion simmering underneath that surface. One would think that all of the navel-gazing should have eventually grown a bit tiresome, but The xx manage to find a way to keep every single track fresh and inventive. The band may have already lost a member (Baria Qureshi left the group a few months ago), but I still expect nothing but great things from this group down the road.
—————————————————–
8. M. Ward – “Hold Time”
As much as I loved M. Ward’s collaboration with indie-darling Zooey Deschanel under the moniker of She & Him, it was good to hear him break out on his own again. Besides, Zooey pops up here and there on some of the albums better tracks, including the wonderful Buddy Holly cover “Rave On,” which is better than any Buddy Holly cover has any business being. Over the last ten plus years, M. Ward has quietly but steadily been building a body over work whose quality and consistency rivals that of anybody else in the industry. At times, Hold Time feels something like a victory lap, completely with guest spots from some of Ward’s buddies, including Deschanel, Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle, and the always fabulous Lucinda Williams (who just seems like she is everywhere lately). Oh yeah, and M. Ward also somehow found the time this year to appear in the supergroup Monsters of Folk. Not too shabby for a boy spotlight adverse guy from Portland who is content with nothing but his guitar and a good tune.
—————————————————–
Pages: 1 2
