December 15 2009
Top 15 Albums of 2009
My #1 Pick: St. Vincent – Actor
Lilting orchestral fantasias erupt into noisy guitar freak-outs while Annie Clark’s sweetie-pie voice gives breath to disturbing, Lynchian lyrics.
Bat for Lashes – Two Suns
Utterly modern…music for a synthique tribe! Hints of Kate Bush, of course, but Bats for Lashes has its own flavor of weird.
Black Tape for a Blue Girl – 10 Neurotics
A big departure for Black Tape. Slight traces of ethereal goth remain, but this is far more in the cabaret vein. An almost Weimar-esque fixation on sexual fetish is writ large in acoustic tones.
Zoe Boekbinder – Artichoke Perfume
Bluesy, whimsical vaudeville constructed from carefully layered sound. And that voice! I’d like to live inside that voice!
Built to Spill – There is No Enemy
Is this my nostalgia pick? It does remind me of being in college, but…nah, this is just a solid alt. rock album of a type you just don’t see anymore.
Depeche Mode – Sounds of the Universe
I never expected to like a Depeche Mode album this much again. DM delves into vintage analog synths and surfaces with their best album in years. Who would have thought?
The Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Probably my second most-played album of 2009. Sunlit voices and lush, arboreal arrangements are pierced with bursts of rhizomatic noise.
The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
In all seriousness: this sounds like a more organic, more psychedelic Throbbing Gristle to me. Punk Floyd!
God Save the Girl – s/t
Breezy-yet-cinematic indie pop with lovely vocals. If you felt like you didn’t get your Belle & Sebastian fix, this should be your first stop.
Imogen Heap – Ellipse
Experimental pop as sound collage. Plus, there is something about Imogen Heap’s vocals I just find simply charming.
Katzenjammer Kabarett – Grand Guignol & Verities
One of the few “goth” bands with the will to pursue their own sound. Arty and humorous, they make quite a din.
Luminescent Orchestrii – Neptune’s Daughter
Avant gypsy! Traditional Eastern European music and sounds for modern nomads get married to the vagabond spirit.
Morrissey – Years of Refusal
It’s Morrissey. You know what to expect. I like this better than Ringleader of the Tormentors.
Sonic Youth – The Eternal
Experimental stalwarts stay firmly in the groove. I’m calling this their “shoegaze album,” for whatever reason.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!!
YYYs drop a little of their rock swagger and pick up a big dose of P.I.L. death disco. Their biggest stylistic shift yet, but it is infectious.
I showed you mine…now show me yours?
(Anyone can play!)
Honorable mentions!
The Dead Weather – Horehound
Doves – Kingdom of Rust
Polly Scattergood – s/t
Artists whose 2009 albums were not as good as their previous albums!
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
The Gossip – Music for Men
Regina Spektor – Far
General observations:
My list from last year was packed with cabaret and circus-y sounds, which were a little thin on the ground this year. Maybe it will make a comeback in 2010. I expect a new album from World/Inferno at least!
This year’s list is dominated by indie/alt. rock bands. That’s not really my scene, but that’s where the new, interesting music was coming from in 20009.
The world of goth/industrial music continues to be dead, dead, deadski instead of undead, undead, undead. The problem in that scene is that genre bands are afraid to innovate; nearly every album that came from that quarter sounds exactly like something I’ve heard before.
All in all though, 2009 was a kick-ass year for music fans!
I’ve been so out of touch with new music this year. Glad to see so many favorite bands continued to produce good stuff. I’ll second the vote for Depeche Mode, they really carry the retro synth theme all the way on their new album.
by Mike on December 15, 2009 @ 2:24 pm