The Top Albums of 2009

Or, as I should call it, the "I MUST BEAT PITCHFORK EDITION!" It's 11:45 pm Tuesday night, I have been drinking boxed wine and watching TV for hours. Yes, it's my day off tomorrow. I put an incredible amount of thought into my best of the decade list. In contrast, my best of 2009 compilation was mostly scrawled on squares of notes at Samarkand YDC, and yet I feel compelled to make a few snap decisions tonight and publish the final list. Away we go...

Obligatory intro- Before I composed the final version of this list, I had a feeling I just couldn't shake: 2009 was a weaker year for music compared to 2008 and my first real decade as a human being in the music world would culminate in a fucking lachrymose whimper. Weaksauce, right? But in between chugs from numerous glasses of Franzia's boxed Sangria I finally came to the wise decision to reconsider the year's body of work before I perpetuate a pathogenically bullshit meme of that nature. Here's what I decided--2008 was a deeper year overall; however, 2009 is fucking top-heavy in a way 2008 cannot compare. After all, 2008 was the year that heavily disco-influenced music stormed back. As much as I love Hercules & Love Affair and Cut Copy, shouldn't I have known they were just biding time?

So, here's the double D's I couldn't tear myself away from in 2009.

20.) Woods - "Songs of Shame"
My low-fi guilty pleasure of the year. You have to live in North Carolina, the "land of the long-leaf pines," to truly know what's it's like to mainline home-brewed coffee while burning through speed traps in brutal fog to truly appreciate a driving record like this bastard.

19.) Sister Suvi - "Now I am Champion"
I'M AN AMERICAN. I WANT TO RIP OFF YOUR HEAD JUST TO SEE YOUR GUTS. 2009 may eventually be known as the definitive year of fucking brilliant one-liners in indie-rock and I'm going to let my list start right here. How couldn't I?

18.) Grizzly Bear - "Veckatimest"
How the fuck did "Two Weeks" charm the hell out of everyone? I know it's an fantastic single, but the audience it reached just slays me. And yet, for my sentimental "bang for my buck," the album's opener--Southern Point--is the best track. Perhaps that's due to the fact that it's been the theme of the past four months of my life. (Just change Southern Point to Southern Pines and you can probably guess why.)

17.) Bon Iver - "Blood Bank EP"
YOU SAID, “AIN’T THIS JUST LIKE THE PRESENT TO BE SHOWING UP LIKE THIS?” If this four track EP had been a full length album with the same momentum, it could have cracked the top five. In an unprecedented move, I will say an album this “low” on the list has a “top three” song, which would of course be the eponymous track.

16.) Built to Spill - "There is No Enemy"

FINALLY DECIDED, AND BY DECIDE I MEAN ACCEPT, I DON’T NEED ALL THOSE OTHER CHANCES I WON’T GET. SO WHY ROW ON? That line crushes me, and probably always will. 2009 will always be the year in which I had to accept that there’s things in life I want, but I want them on my terms in my own due time, and as such I might have to turn down those awesome “things” because the timing isn’t right. I accept there may be no other chances at them. So why row on? Because I don’t *need* those other chances I won’t get, I’ll keep going just fine, but it doesn’t mean I won’t get them. Thank you Built to Spill, a top 5 group from the 90s.

15.) Camera Obscura - "My Maudlin Career"
This is the kind of album you listen to while sitting around drinking gin and smoking cigars. Every year needs one of those albums, and this year it came from a very unlikely source. And although I settled for my first (and only) pack of Camel Royals in two years, I will never forget smoking and driving through Jackson National Forest with the windows down while this album roared to Dixie. Just think about that.

14.) Wilco - "Wilco (The Album)"
Oh, Wilco, I love you babe. Fucking sue me, I like Wilco.

13.) Fever Ray - "Fever Ray"
A funny psychological game I play with myself is wondering how much higher I would rate this album if it had been listed as “The Knife –‘Fever Ray’.” It certainly feels like the follow-up to Silent Shout to me. Hell, I would love to have experienced “Concrete Walls” at 4am in Scotty and C Murder’s apartment after a particularly brutal night of being lit up.

12.) The Bats - "The Guilty Office"
AND I COULD TAKE YOU THE GUILTY OFFICE FOR A DAY. Maybe you have to be a part of the horseshit corporate Starbucks/Enron/Keslar accounting world, but I think most people who graduated in 2007 have a guilty office by this point. The great part about this album is that it is a critique of our lifestyle framed through a 1968 style and lens, which either makes it ironic or fucking depression. Fortunately, the music is so good I convince myself it’s ironic.

11.) The Rural Alberta Advantage - "Hometowns"
THEN YOU FOUND ME ALONE ON A FRIDAY, NOW, SOMETHINGS MOVING OUT HERE. In 2009 I also moved from one rural area to a completely foreign rural area and if you have ever done this, you can completely appreciate the opening track to Hometowns. This album makes it so high on the list because, above all, it reminds me of a 2009 version of In The Aeroplane Over the Sea.

10.) Wavves - "Wavves"
I’MMMMMMMMMMM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOOOOORED. I wish I could have a fucking drug induced melt-down in Spain while my most accessible song was about being bored as a result of skateboarding too much. Then again I didn’t play Pitchfork with a fucking broken hand wrapped in a big cast, I only got drunk there and bemoaned the state of hipsters who frothed at the mouth for draft Sparks.

9.) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart"
In part two of our three -part Pitchfork commentary, how the fuck did that broad sound so fucking bad during Young Adult Friction? Despite that giant misstep, The Pains were an 80s throw-back and I hope to god they have a follow-up album that does this effort justice.

8.) Matt & Kim - "Grand"
In part three of the Pitchfork commentary, allow me to say this—MATT & KIM FUCKING ROCK. Forget the fact that every show/commercial bought their music. Just forget it. PLEASE. Just forget it. This is a great fucking band and if you don’t believe me go back to their self-titled debut. I know the Star-Fucking Mainstreamers love Daylight (which is a good fucking pop song), the closer (I’ll take Us Home) capture everything the album does strongly, and makes it perfect: harmonizing, a chorus hook, steady percussion, the synth—IiiiIiiiIIiiiiiI WILL TAKE US HOME, CUT DOWN THE BLINDS FROM MY WINDOWS.

7.) Bat for Lashes - "Two Suns"
TIL THE SIREN COME CALLING, IT’S DRIVINGME EVIL-EVIL. True fucking story: Shortly after moving into my NC apartment , I got black-out drunk and passed out on my computer. Now, if you are a former roommate of mine, ex-girlfriend, or my mom you won’t be surprised by this. The hook here is that my 85 year old next door neighbor had to call management and complain because I had Radiohead’s “The Bends” blaring on vinyl four inches away from computer speakers REALLY FUCKING BLARING Bat for Lashes. This is just an incredible album. Almost any other year it could be number one, but this is the top-heavy 2009. Still, Siren Song is the reverse androgynous anthem of the major relationship in my life the past two years. (And if that’s the case, The National’s “Baby We’ll Be Fine” is the particularly poignant narrative of everything that’s happened since.)

6.) The Flaming Lips - "Embryonic"

When we first heard Silver Trembling Hands at Pitchfork I had an inkling that they would be back, but holy fuck, this is what I have been waiting for since the Soft Bulletin. Yoshimi was great (not amazing), and At War with the Mystics was a struggle. This—THIS—was the Lips record I needed. Unfortunately for an unabashed Lips promulgator, there was just better music this year

5.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs -"It's Blitz!"
DRIPPING WITH ALCHEMY—SHIVER STOPSHIVERING. Wait a minute…. Is this mainstream? I cannot believe that for a second. And if that’s the case, I don’t know whether to be sad or fucking pissed.

4.) The XX - "XX"
I’m not going to lie—this is what sex sounds like in my head. So, uh, yeah… if you ever read this and you are someone who has/did/are/will have sex with me… this album pretty much sums up exactly what is going through my cephalic head. Beyond my personal connection to the sound of this record… oh fuck it. I honestly don’t care. Thankfully, for me & my indie cred, pretentious journalists love this album. If they didn’t, I’d have to make a ton of excuses because this recording feels so personal. Dear god, make their follow-up just as good.

3.) Girls - "Album"

This is the real nitty-gritty: the hardest internal debate I had was over which album would be 3 and which would be 2. It was tough—TOUGH—like picking between favorite stories from living in the Barn. Honestly, what finally hurt this record was completely irrelevant towards the sound: the intended video for Lust for Life is honestly gay porn. And that makes me really uncomfortable. I went to Michigan. I’m not a complete bigot. I love Lust for Life as a song. But I don’t need homoeroticism (LITERALLY!) pointed towards my gullet.

2.) Phoenix - "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN 21 YEARS WAS OLD? What’s the best track on this record? Lasso? Rome? Countdown? Love like a Sunset Part 1? Part 2? The hits—Lisztomania? 1901? Ok, so maybe the debate between #2 and #3 wasn’t as close as I initially thought. Maybe it came down to the fact that I either needed to support an album whose music I loved but the accompanying imagery made me uncomfortable, or an album whose music was featured in a car commercial. And guess what? I fucking sided with Cadillac. I kind of hate myself right now. Or, I would hate myself, except I don’t think anyone can deny how incredible this record is. And honestly, it’s all about the music because the lyrics are quite pedestrian.

1.) Animal Collective - "Merriweather Post Pavilion"

In the Flowers. Summertime Clothes. Bluish. Guys Eyes. And, oh yes, the song /video of the year (decade?), My Girls. Animal Collective, the fucking kings of pretentious bastards of no reproach, finally released and album which was remotely accessible. This album came out early in 2009, and there was pretty much never a question of whether or not it would be album of the year. I will never forget that I purchased it from Best Buy (wow!) on the second awful Valentine’s Day in a row I spent with the elven kiddo. That particular weekend was so awful I tried to leave at 3am completely drunk (which would have been a 4 hour cross-state drive) while she berated me in nothing but her sexy red underwear in 30 degree weather. Considering the circumstances, this album only grows in importance.

Top Albums of the Decade

30. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – “Clap Your Hands Say Yeah” (2005)

CYHSY: indy darlings who have fallen off the map for the most part. Funny that The National has really held up over time, when it was CYHSY that caught all the buzz when they toured together. And though they might be down, you can’t forget their first effort, or their video for Over and Over Again.

29. Doves – “Some Cities” (2005)

If you partied at the Barn from 2004-06, you know this album as it was a part of the steady porch rotation along with Queens of the Stone Age’s “Rated R,” and another album on this list. Although we played it mostly in warm weather, this album is essential listening in winter as it felicitously sets a frosty mood.

28. Fleet Foxes – "Fleet Foxes" (2008)

Here’s the question: 10 years from now will this album be in the pantheon of great albums or will Fleet Foxes seem like a throw-away band to me (like My Morning Jacket, who I find quite boring). I hopped on this gravy train early getting their EP in winter, and then the full album when it came out in June. Last year I put it in the top 10 and said Ragged Wood was its standout track, and a year later I still feel really good about that statement.

27. Daft Punk – “Discovery” (2001)

On the strength of Digital Love alone, this would get on the list. Lord knows how many times that track has got “more dudes grinding!” The album as a whole is just damn fun, although if I never hear “One More Time” one more time, it would be just grand. Thanks Arnau.

26. Eels – Blinking Lights… (2005)

The double album that just drainsssssss you. In fact, it’s almost too much music to handle. The highs and lows are crushing. To promote this effort, E and the gang went on tour “with strings” and we saw them in Royal Oak and enjoyed their 4 or 5 (?) encore set. They came back so many times, I forget.

25. TV on the Radio – “Dear Science” (2008)

Dear TV on the Radio, thank you for roping me back in. When I first heard “Return to Cookie Mountain” I wasn’t a fan. After some prodding I gave it a few more chances and by the time Dear Science came out, I had a feeling it was going to be epic. And it doesn’t hurt that the video for Family Tree still absolutely slays me.

24. Vampire Weekend – “Vampire Weekend” (2008)

The “will they” or “won’t they” band of the decade. Their forthcoming second album is going to make or break this band. A lot of my friends can’t stand VW, some more fervently than others . When this album first came out, I absolutely loved them. I’ve definitely cooled on them (largely due to people over-playing their singles), so I’m curious how I’ll feel about their next batch of tunes. On this particular album, there is such a delightfully catchy marriage of sounds I couldn’t help but get wrapped up in their damn Columbia peppiness.

23. M83 – “Dead Cities, Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts” (2004)

I am in the minority here, but I give this the tip of the cap over “Before the Dawn Heals Us.” Track 3, “Run into Flower,” has always stuck with me—probably because there definitely are some chemicals I’d like to run into.

22. MIA – "Kala" (2007)

Why oh why oh why did people have to run Paper Planes into the ground? I know it was a pretty awesome song, but you don’t have to play it 9869889623^7 times in every movie and TV show.

21. Dodos – “Visiter” (2008)

So the word on the street is that they are adding a third member and are “more of a band” for their album due out later this year. I’m actually pretty skeptical because I love the sound they exposed us to on this album. It’s bare, it’s stripped down, and that’s exactly what I want from them.

20. Animal Collective – "Merriweather Post Pavilion" (2009)

Their best, most accessible album. Quite frankly, “My Girls” is my pick for song of the decade. It also could be video of the decade. Start to finish, this album is amazing, and I will never forget the horrendous Valentine’s Day weekend I spent in Philadelphia that this album saved.

19. Killers – “Hot Fuss” (2004)

Five years ago, I would have guessed that this band would be well on their way to being my favorite of all time. The reality? I can’t stand anything they have done since this album. Hot Fuss was easily the soundtrack to partying at the Barn. Oh, and it was nice of the fraternity across the street to start playing it once it got popular (half a year after we started pumping it out).

18. Badly Drawn Boy – “The Hour of the Bewilderbeast”(2000)

The Shining. Fall in a River. Once Around the Block. Three of my favorite songs of all time come on this one album. How did this album come out almost 10 years ago? God I feel old.

17. The Decemberists – “Castaways and Cutouts” (2003)

Picking your favorite Decemberists’ album is like picking off the menu at Benny’s: you can’t go wrong, and you’ll leave full, satisfied, but still hung over. For me, this is the one that does it. It just feels like Freshman year of college.

16. The Knife – “Deep Cuts” (2006)

Let me say this right now: If anyone ever finds a T-Shirt of the cover to their self-titled album, I will fucking love you forever. I love it that much; it is easily my pick for album cover of the decade. Musically, however, Deep Cuts get the nod on the strength of Heartbeats and Pass this On (a candidate for video of the decade, nay, entire history of music videos).

15. Cut Copy – “In Ghost Colors” (2008)

Last year, I picked this as album of the year. If it’s even possible, I love it more 12 months later. You can put this album on in the car, and before you know it, an hour has gone by and you’ve been dancing in your seat the whole way.

14. Air – “Moon Safari” (1999/2000)

Ok, I cheated a little here. The album technically came out in 1999, but I couldn’t get my hands on it until 2000 so it will eternally feel like a part of this decade to me.

13. The National – “Alligator” (2006)

Before Pitchfork this year, this album would have been in the 20s. Based on their performance, it vaults all the way up to 13. Some people prefer “Boxer,” but this record just feels far more completely to me. When it reaches its apex with “Mr. November” you just have to scream out the chorus. Even if you’re in church.

12. The Flaming Lips – “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” (2002)

Could this album be higher? Yes. Could it be lower? Yes. It’s almost impossible to gauge the Flaming Lips after the “Soft Bulletin,” which would be my pick for Album of the 1990s.

11. The Stills – “Logic Will break Your Heart” (2006)

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and that says a lot because the parts are fucking awesome. This is the poster child for “LISTEN TO THE WHOLE DAMN ALBUM STRAIGHT THROUGH, PLEASE!”

10. Spoon – “Kill the Moonlight”(2002)

My top 10 starts off with Spoon’s album which will forever make me think of Scotty & Forgo’s freshman dorm room. Unfortunately, since then, “The Way We Get By” has been played today in a hundred different mediums. In an upset, my favorite track on the record is “Paper Tiger.” Although, I can’t promise that I will no longer do the devil’s wishes.

9. Arcade Fire – “Funeral” (2004)

Ok, I’ll admit it—“Neon Bible” was just a tad too dark & brooding for me. That’s not the aspect of Arcade Fire’s sound that I enjoy. That’s why Funeral gets the pick here. It distills their never-ending nostalgia for nascent days. Oh, and also the fact that #2 (Laika), Wake Up, and Rebellion (Lies) are fantastic. More accordion, please.

8. Modest Mouse – “The Moon & Antarctica” (2000)

This album was so good, in the summer of 2004, I got a bunch of 5-15 year olds to fall in love with it. Gravity does indeed ride everything. Oh, and no I’m not some pervert, I just spent that summer as a playground leader.

7. Interpol – Turn on Your Bright Lights (2002)

Will Interpol’s lyrics every make sense? Will they ever make an album which can top this one? I enjoyed both Antics and Our Love to Admire, but Turn on Your Bright Lights is a flat-out addictive exercise in indulging your iniquity.

6. LCD Soundsystem – “Sound of Silver” (2007)

I could listen to “All My Friends” for an eternity and not get sick of it. Commercially, this is an album that has really been overused, but I’ve done my best to avoid it outside of my own headset. I think that’s gone a long way to keeping James Murphy on my good side. It’s been two years, come out with another album already!

5. The Hold Steady – “Boys and Girls in America” (2006)

The group I am dying to see live. The album that somehow finds it way onto my MP3 players and CD player every week. It's a blueprint for how to party, how to lament, how to win, how to lose, and how to kick out the jams.

4. Girl Talk – “Night Ripper” (2006)

Hey girl, how ya doing? Did this thing get played 5000, or 6000 times in a row at 711 Arch? Does it even matter anymore? The Pittsburgh product gave us the album of senior year, and quite possibly the best night of senior year when we saw him live.

3. The Avalanches – “Since I Left You” (2001)

I was REEEEALLLY tempted to slide this all the way up to number 1. I just couldn’t do it, but that says more about the top two than this one. The way this album folds in and out of itself, does it with humor and seriousness, all the while adhering to an absolutely beautiful production--making it the audio equivalent of Shaun of the Dead (quite possibly THE perfect film). We’re all still waiting for their second completely original album, and what a brutal wait it has been.

2. Of Montreal – “Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?” (2007)

As Scotty said—THE break-up album. And who thought breaking up could be this funky? Although I love Skeletal Lamping, I HIGHLY doubt they can top this gut-wrenching and pulchritudinous record.

1. The Notwist – “Neon Golden” (2003)

Yep, I couldn’t resist. When I put the list together, I wrote out the name of 50 albums I loved, alphabetically. From there, I just put my pen to paper a few times writing out several top 10s. Every time, instinctively, The Notwist took my number one spot. The album is solemn and exciting at the same time. Perhaps most important, it was the album that served as the conduit for me to truly begin to connect with indy. The pulse on this album has become the pulse of my life.

Breakdown by Years:

2000: 3

2001: 2

2002: 3

2003: 2

2004: 3

2005: 3

2006: 5

2007: 3

2008: 5

2009: 1

5 Found Albums of 2008

Tommy Boy finally put out his Top 20 of 2008 (found here), and he included a neat idea: his "5 Found Albums of 2008," older albums that he got into last year. After some thought, here's mine:

5. Archers of Loaf: Icky Mettle (1994)

When Chaz was home for Christmas, he suggested I give them a try as I was describing how much I liked Pavement and Built to Spill.

4. The National: Boxer (2007)

C Murder saw them in concert and said they deserved a second chance, and I will admit I do very much enjoy this album.

3. Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)

I had always heard certain tracks off this album and loved them. I finally bought the Album itself last year and I'm pissed I waited so long.

2. The Tough Alliance: The New School (2005)

I think I meant to get this long before, but it was an import I had trouble tracking down.

1. The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America (2006)

For some reason I couldn't stand them in college... now they are one of my favorite bands.