I figured Christmas eve was as good a time as any to add the heaviest Year End List you'll see on this website in the foreseeable future. Very occasional contributor Streetmeat has listed his favorite records, along with a few he simply liked and some he didn't like at all... anyway, scroll down and enjoy, and you'll see lists from myself, DL and TC here pretty soon. Happy holidays. PS-- we'll do a quick post of weekend shows on Friday afternoon, and be back in full swing on Monday. --(SR)This thing is gonna be longwinded, in no particular order, overly opinionated, and underinformed. I haven't listened to everything this year. I haven't even listened to HALF of everything. I've forgotten lots of stuff. You know you can't wait to hear what I have to say. Right? Oh. Anyway, you'll probably hate the things I like and be offended by the things I don't...but let's be honest, since none of these bands are the Bad Brains circa 1980, none of them are any good anyway.
All apologies for filling this list with "heavy" music. Sort of. You know, if you really hate all things heavy, though, there's a website called Pitchfork that might be up your alley. I hear they REALLY have the scoop on the new Vampire Weekend.
So here we go. I liked this first group of albums a lot-- you might say I think they're the "best" of 2009. remember - these aren't in order!
- - - - - - - - - -
Nadja - When I See the Sun Always Shines On TVThis covers record by the (overly?) prolific doom/drone band Nadja kicks off with a cover of MBV's "Only Shallow," and then goes on to reimagine Elliott Smith, Slayer, Swans, Codeine, and a few others. This might be my favorite record of the entire year. It's gorgeous, well-produced, and far better than any covers record has a right to be, really. the Kids in the Hall cover is one of the gloomiest things I've heard in a long, long time.
Hatred Surge - DeconstructDunno what it says about me that this record was probably my most-played of this year, but it was. The self-applied "grinding powerviolence" descriptor fits this perfectly. Ugly, bleak, raw, oppressive, and just about ideal as far as this stuff goes. This was originally a very Despise You-esque project of the bassplayer from Insect Warfare, but it's a lot more than that now. People will try to top this for a long, long time, which leads me to...
Mammoth Grinder - Extinction of HumanityBasically a couple of dudes from Hatred Surge, but sans Faiza and plus someone else.(?)(!) Really good old-school death metal. the riffs. THE RIFFS.
Trapped Under Ice - Secrets of the WorldBaltimore hardcore in the vein of Cold World and all that other Wilkes-Barre business - sort of. Bleak, angry, memorable, no-frills stuff. Kind of a must-have, as far as these things go.
Dinosaur Jr - FarmI don't need to talk about it. I just need to let you know that if you don't like it you're a jerk.
Moutheater - OrnamentIncredible Jesus Lizard-meets-Cursed kind of noise rock record, if I may oversimplify. Bits of harsh noise stylings creep into this release in a very welcome way-- its maybe a bit angsty for some, but I think it's phenomenal. I'm just afraid this band is peaking early with their first LP. Can't recommend this enough, along with all the EPs they released prior to this.
The Atlas Moth - A Glorified Piece of Blue SkyThis is the first full-length by these guys, and I can't wait to hear more. It should be noted - although I'm gonna compare them vaguely to Neurosis and what Isis should sound like now, there's a lot more going on than that, and it's not tired at all, unlike the vast, plodding majority of the bands that fall under that umbrella. A significant amount of NOLA-styled sludge (think Eyehategod) and texture are happening here as well, along with a heaping helping of American doom. This and the new Yob are atop the list for me as far as the longer, meaner stuff goes. Give it a spin. Or four.
speaking of Yob,
Yob - The Great CessationTry and find a better doom record this year. I dare you. The Pacific Northwest must be really, really oppressive, because even though at least one of these guys is a family man, it hasn't toned them down a bit since their inception. Man, despondent rage never sounded so excellent.
Burnt By the Sun - Heart of DarknessThis sounds exactly like it was supposed to, which is why it's so phenomenal. These dudes didn't slow down a bit during their (rather lengthy) hiatus. Heavy, complex, and proficient. Excellent. It's been a good year for old guys making relevant music typically executed by "kids."
Afgrund - Vid Helvetets GrindarTop-notch crusty Swedish grind in the vein of Human 2.0-era Nasum or Rotten Sound. Does the new Magrudergrind one better. Grind nerds shouldn't miss out. Willowtip is on a roll this year, seems like.
Coalesce - OX/OXEPI'm treating these as one entry because they're both from the same recording sessions and are quite similar. I'm not gonna try to sell anyone on this band - if you know who they are then you already know whether or not you like them based on years and years of releases. This seems to be the year of the comeback record for bands that have been inactive, and OX is probably the best of them all. (OXEP is the stuff that didn't fit on OX.)
last, but certainly not least...
Agoraphobic Nosebleed - AgorapocalypseThis is so good. They took the old ANb formula (short songs, frantic drum machines, lack of a bass) and threw it all away. The songs are 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes long, they've added a female vocalist (Kat of Salome), they've added a bass, and there's a drum machine solo. It's fantastic. The lyrics are absurdly offensive, and so is the Florian Bertmer artwork.
- - - - - - - - - -
ok, here's the stuff I rather liked but didn't feel made it to whatever arbitrary list is above this text, with a blurb about each.
Polvo - In Prism - Like I said earlier, 2009 was pretty magical for bands returning from inactivity to record solid albums. this stands with any of their previous records, I think, and it continues to grow on me with every listen.
Rise & Fall - Our Circle is Vicious - Nasty Integrity-influenced Belgian hardcore. I felt the previous record was better, but this is still pretty good.
Reign Supreme - Testing the Limits of Infinite - I think I wore this out early on. It's kind of dumb, but it's immensely memorable and enjoyable. Very solid "typical" hardcore record.
Behemoth - Evangelion - Great death metal record, zero trendy "deathcore" garbage. Reminds me of Nile, but with a Sumerian theme. I think this is on here because I didn't listen to nearly enough new death metal this year, but either way, it's solid.
Yeah Yeah Yeah's - It's Blitz! - This wins for the occasional Italodisco stylings alone.
Baroness - The Blue Album - Maybe if Mastodon had any talent left after their one good record and one decent record they might have evolved into this band, but instead they put out Crack the Skye and made a prog album for deaf people. Pity. Anyway, this is good.
Poison the Well - The Tropic Rot - I didn't expect to enjoy this, so much so that I had to be convinced to listen to it. It's way, way better than it has any right to be. Honestly! (and no matter what anyone says, this band was embarrassing back in their 'heyday.')
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca - I really liked the last one (which was quite different in tone, I think), and I might like this one even better. Unique and inventive.
Tombs - Winter Hours - I might have liked this more, except for the part where they kind of sucked live, TWICE. "Merrimack" is a standout track though.
Darkest Hour - The Eternal Return - Look, I'm supremely mortified to add this, but I have to be honest, it's really good. This band got pretty wretched for a few years there, and they've always kind of been (ok, they've always really been) an At The Gates knockoff, but this...this is actually good thrash. Who knew? 2009 has been full of surprises.
Ancestors - Of Sound Mind - If King Crimson and Black Sabbath had a baby...
Church of Misery - Houses of the Unholy - Nothing groundbreaking, but Japanese EHG-worship bands writing long songs about serial killers apparently happens to really be my thing, so on the list it goes.
Magrudergrind - Magrudergrind - How did the generic grind band with a bad name suddenly put out a completely solid Nasum knockoff record? I'm pleased and surprised. I can see them improving with age.
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures - Hey, neat. didn't want to like this but I kinda do. Dave Grohl should stick to drumming if he won't write anything like Foo Fighters - S/T again.
Brutal Truth - Evolution Through Revolution - Another one of those releases where you either know if you're gonna like it or not before you even hear it. Solid grind release by a band that's been around the block many, many times.
- - - - - - - - - -
ok, I didn't like these. I'll start lightly. or at least I'll try to.
Clipse - Til the Casket Drops - Too bad this has one of the best hip-hop singles of the year on it (Popular Demand), because otherwise I could write it off almost entirely. What happened to these guys?
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion - I recall making fun of this last year when it leaked. Gonna do it again. Overrated, overrated, overrated. I don't even like the word and I feel it applies here more than anywhere else. Look, this is pleasant enough, fine. But come on. Enough. It's not mindblowing because it's a hopscotch sonic collage - it's just temporarily interesting. This is not the new Pet Sounds. Everyone seems to have conveniently forgotten that these guys were wearing animal suits and playing bad freak-folk (now there's a redundant phrase) a few years ago. Yawn.
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 - What, naming it after 2 better records somehow validates this phoned-in garbage? Nice try, dude. There are a couple of good tracks on here, but by and large, this is filler and yacht payment slurry. Forget it.
Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem - Elvrum's "black metal" album turns out to be nothing more than a gimmick backed with monotonous songwriting and fuzzy overproduction; indie world takes no notice, purchases in droves anyway. more at eleven. (ok, fine, the Twin Peaks song was good. because he didn't write the cool parts.)
The Mars Volta - There was some new one, right? - didn't listen to this because I'm a decent human being.
Immortal - All Will Fall - These guys and Darkthrone are apparently in some sort of grim, kvlt race to see who hits the frostbitten pinnacle of black metal irrelevancy first. Darkthrone's winning but this just closed the gap. spare me the mid-tempo drudgery.
Converge - Axe to Fall - I heard the first track off of this and got really excited. Then I heard more and got really unexcited.
Mastodon - Crack the Skye - I don't know which makes me more embarrassed to admit I like metal - garbage like Disturbed that the average Joe seems to think is metal, or garbage like this that used to BE metal but sounds like a toothless prog-for-dummies bar band. Nice face tattoos, dude. At this rate, two albums from now they'll record an album that Phish fans will enjoy.
Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder - This isn't horrible, don't get me wrong. However, if a sludgy doom band has Wino, Al Cisneros of Sleep, Dale Crover, and Scott Kelly in it, I expect - nay, demand! - more than mediocre, forgettably decent songs. What a colossal letdown.
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest - Feeling very sleepppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp
sorry, dozed off on the keyboard there.
Trail of Dead - Century of Self - More like Century of Suck, amirite?! Seriously, this sucks.
Jim Jones - Pray IV Reign - Think about this - when was the last time you heard a hip-hop album where the intro was better than any of the tracks that followed? Now that's special.
Cam'ron - Crime Pays - Bad year for Dipset stuff. this one's not too good either.
Sonic Youth - The Eternal - Band makes good album and breaks with tradition; band follows up good tradition-breaking album with laurel-resting, badly written album. hm.
Slayer - World Painted Blood - Look, I should've known, ok?
- - - - - - - - - -
I liked these records, but I didn't hear enough of them to honestly list them.
Girls - Album (I need to get this...it's exceptionally pleasant)
Nadja / Pyramids - split (you may have noted that I have a thing for Aidan Baker/Nadja)
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns (what's up, Kate Bush worship?)
Napalm Death - Time Waits for No Slave (saw the show. does that count?)
- - - - - - - - - -
and finally, three things I didn't listen to/couldn't stand because I am a decent human being with a conscience:
Wavves - whatever it's called (maybe if I didn't shower enough and wore TOMS shoes I would 'get it')
Vampire Weekend - whatever it's called (despite what NPR and J. Crew tell you, this is worthless.)
Jay Reatard - whatever it's called (look, I enjoyed Blood Visions, but COME ON.)
- - - - - - - - - -
discuss!
Limits of Control - OST: Boris and Sun O)))) are not artists I particularly stay up with, but their music was a perfect match for Jarmush's dadaist romp. I really liked the movie but everyone else seemed to hate it. The majority of the criticism, from both peers and journalist alike, claimed it was slow, boring and pointless. The exact words that pop into my head when I think of Boris and Sun O))). When people complain about the pretentious artiness of the movie, I imagine sitting them down and explaining-- "This isn't a movie about philosophy nor does it have anything near a complex plot. It is not driven by plot, but rather by brief character interactions and imagery which isn't something done very often in Western cinema. There is nothing to 'figure out' in the storytelling. Just sit back and try to approach it like listening to a piece of Jazz or Classical music." Now if anyone sat me down with a similar line concerning Boris I would punch them in the face, so is the polarizing nature of art. Anyhow, the soundtrack reminds me of the movie and I like that. There are some surprise ethnic tinged tracks thrown through out to break up the monotony a bit. Just like the movie, this soundtrack is a slow journey and can loose your attention if you don't watch out, but the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.
McAlmont and Nyman, T
Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: While not quite as consistent as 2007's It's Never Been Like That, Phoenix still delivered one of the most polished and fun records of the year. Phoenix seem to exist in an universe un-daunted by musical trends or fashions. Some tracks work much better than others, but the ones that stand out do so with a Cadillac grade bullet.
Yoko Ono and Plastic Ono Band, Between my Head and the Sky: Funny how the freshest sounding album of the year comes from someone is 77 years old. Ono assembled this new incarnation of The Plastic Ono Band with members of Corneilus, Cibbo Mato and her son Sean Lennon. Under Yoko's tutelage, the band creates an album that we have come to expect from the iconic screecher-- namely, the unexpected. I was also surprised at how accessible this album is. Of course Yoko wears her avant-garde ideals on her sleeve, both musically and socially, but the results here are more therapeutic and less jaw clinchingly forward thinking. If I had to rank my choices, and thankfully I don't, this would be my number one.
Keith Canisus, Waves: Shoegazer album of the year. Big time Coceatu Twins vibe throughout but more Heaven or Las Vegas than Treasure. If you know what that means then you know this is worth checking out.
Cold Cave, Cremations/Love Comes Close: I bought the single "Painted Nails" on a whim-- very rarely will I pass up a record with a topless woman on the cover. Very caustic, very dark, reminiscent of something you might catch at House of Tinnitus but with a pop sensibility that recalls Nine Inch Nails or Depeche Mode. "Painted Nails," along with other early demos and live recordings were featured on the release Cremations. There is a creativity in the recordings that has long been missing in the genre, like since the 80's. Love Comes Close, the full length LP re-released through Matador, shows their progression into less experimental and harsh realms and streamlined, albeit very dark, synth-pop territory. This initially pissed me off but I shrugged my shoulders and came to terms with the fact that it is still an awesome album. The band utilizes a diverse array of synth/gothic influences to create distinct nuggets of modulated sorrow. Very dark, but less tongue in cheek than you might expect. Side B opener "The Trees Grew Emotions and Died" is my favorite track of the year.
The Clientele, Bonfires on the Heath: There are certain bands that you can count on to release a solid album every season, and The Clientele is one of them. God Save the Clientele saw the band moving away from the hazy lofi pop of previous releases and into more polished and produced territory, some say to a fault. Bonfire does a great job of retaining the maturity of the band as performers but recalling back to those rainy fall nights of the early E.Ps.
Royksopp, Junior: Without a doubt the best electro-pop album of the year. The Norwegian duo have totally abandoned the electro-chill of their brilliant debut and have elected to build on the unapologetic post modern dance pop of The Understanding, which was good but showed a band trying to find their foothold, something they accomplish here. Even though it is electronic and has the trappings of dance music, this album would fit in better as score to a sci-fi movie than on the dance floor. The album features an array of female vocalist (Lyyke Li, Robyn Karin Dreijer of The Knife) that help bring soul to the synthetic sound the music, and although the soul may be that of a robot, it's a robot that is ready too boogie in a post-modern disco of inequity.
The Pastels/Tenniscoats, Two Sunsets: Not content with reliving the glories of old, The Pastels teamed up with Tenniscoats to make this sparse yet engaging album. This one came totally out of left field for me-- I had actually never Tenniscoats before, which I quickly corrected, and I always like The Pastels even though they are not one of my favorite bands from the C86 era. Even though both bands could fall under the "twee" category, they approach it in very different ways: The Pastels with their guitar based jangle pop and Tenniscoats with their sparse, electronic, Mum like experimentation. On this album, the bands somehow marry these two very different styles together into something new and refreshing. The two have no concern for the conformity of either genre and allow the art to explore and grow into an expectantly fragile but emotionally rich experience. The hazy, childlike mood had the potential of becoming wary, but the pacing is handled with such care that it works from start to finish.
Bricolage, ST: These Pains of Being Pure at Heat label mates share a love for 80's indie pop and are not afraid to show it, but Bricolage's approach is rooted in crisp guitars and vocals similar to Orange Juice or Vic Godard as oppose to Pain's fuzz worship. While it would be easy to cry rehash here, the music is done so well that it just doesn't matter. Plus it's not like this music is attempted too often these days, anyway. One of the things I love about indie-pop is that it has taken shape in so many different forms over the years that it's possible to create fresh sounding music by imploring the wellspring of stylistic choices. Of course this is all music that caters to a niche of people who over analyze things like this, so if you're not in the boat already this probably won't provide anything to lure you in. But for those of us still clinging to our copies of You Can't Hide Your Love Forever, this is a warm and welcomed addition to the cannon. Also Slumberland, Bricolage and Pain's label, have been distributing this kind of music since it began so I think that helps support the idea that this new wave is an extension of the previous and not just an emulation.
God Help the Girl , ST/Stills: While the details of the plot might be sketchy, the album is written around three central female singers and their tales of loneliness, social misfits, un-requited love, taking mushrooms and sensual sponge baths. I have always appreciated the way Murdoch is able to shape a song from begging to end, not relying on a catchy chorus or flash to keep his songs going. All of his songs are shaped from the ground up, painting stories and vignettes that resonate on a level that all sad sack boys and girls can appreciate. Murdoch started GHtG as an outlet for songs he had written intended for women-- Belle and Sebastian has had two female singers, but neither of them have much in the way of vocal range. These new songs writing specifically for women has given his characters a new dimension and frees up the limitations of his muses' voices. The thematic territory here is nothing new, Murdoch's characters are all beautiful losers, but this time they are more realized characters as oppose to the abstract characters of his previous work. Writing aside, the album is filled with some of the lushest strings and melodies heard in awhile, and although I could go on forever, I want to go listen to this album right now. With out question my most listened to releases of the year.
Pains of Being Pure at Heart, ST/Higher Than the Stars: I already made my case for these guys when they made their way through so I'll leave the gushing for Stoned Ranger, cause I have a feeling this one is going to show up on his list. I would also like to say that interviewing Kip was a great experience-- we talked for half an hour off camera about the music we love and it was pretty rad. That's all.
Jim O'Rourke, The Visitor: When I heard that Mr. O'Rourke would be releasing a new solo album I got tingly all over. I was a little upset to find out that it was going to be a one track instrumental album, but luckily it is more of the Bad Timing variety as opposed to Terminal Pharmacy. I think this is a better album than the similarly guitar driven Bad Timing, and there is much more cohesiveness to this recording. The styles range from Fahey style guitar work to AM soft rock that wouldn't seem out of place on the Delilah radio show. All these ideas are loosely strung together in what seem to be almost a classical constructed orchestra piece with one man at the controls. What can't this guy do? Now if only he would get to that movie he said he was planning on directing.
Kings of Convenience, Declaration of Dependence: When Erlend Oye isn't plucking and cooing and one half of Kings of Convenience he is involved in numerous projects where his sunny side gets to show through. Once every few years he sits down with his bandmate and records some pristine folk very much in the vein of Simon and Garfunkel. Their latest is a concept of album of sorts concerning the hellish parallels between relationships and war. KoC have a very direct and earnest brand of songwriting, at the end of the day it's just them and their guitars. I know alot of people who are uncomfortable with this Bookends style of music making, but you should really try to just give yourself into the far stretching sense of melancholy here that must be taken with a grain of salt. Definitely not for everyone but one of my favorites of the year.
Etienne Jaumet, Night Music: Ok you ready for a descriptive sentence? This album is beautifully composed and ecletic electropop with numerous and crunchy synth lines coupled with ominous sci-fi sax and other unconventional surprises. Very similar to early Air. If you try to listen to this in a car with a decent, bass heavy system, you will undoubtedly throw up.
