2009 Sound Bets: Albums & Songs

THESE ARE THE albums I kinda remember listening to and enjoying in 2009, in no particular order because my way of listening isn't orderly. I typed them up as I remembered them because I'm like that ... and that's the way it is. Included as videos are some of the songs that stood out on the records. Then, after the epic album list, there are some more tunes that helped make 2009 sing.

» P.O.S., "Never Better" (Rhymesayers): Hip-hop as punk-rock expression. The CD title says it all.

» We Were Promised Jetpacks, "These Four Walls" (Fat Cat): The band was discovered by fellow Scottish band Frightened Rabbit, which Jetpacks kinda sounds like, and then signed to FR's label. But there are no scared bunnyman shadows cast on these kids, who were finishing university as they recorded their debut. Passionate melodies and a fierce rhythmic drive power the albums 11 songs, which recall some of the finest moments of the Flying Nun label.

» Strike Anywhere, "Iron Front" (Bridge 9): One of the most stirring melodic-hardcore-punk CDs in years. Power to the people, down with corporate oppression, don't trust the government (even a Democratic one).

» They Might Be Giants, "Science" (Disney Sound): TMBG continue its brilliant string of ultra-smart theme albums geared toward kids but sophisticated enough lyrically and musically to entertain adults. (Thank Buddha, because I had to hear this thing 9,436 times in 2009 thanks to my 2-year-old, who can now recite much of the period table thanks to this album.)

» Polar Bear Club, "Chasing Hamburg" (Bridge 9): Post-hardcore, post-emo heavy-duty rock powered by choppy chord changes, stuttering rhythms, melodic ax arpeggios/leads and the furnace-blast howl of vocalist Jimmy Stadt.
» Dead Swans, "Sleepwalkers" (Bridge 9): American-style hardcore by a U.K. group equals punch-you-in-the-face punk with just enough discordant shoegazer melody to keep your ears hooked during the pummeling.

» Moritz Von Oswald Trio, "Vertical Ascent" (Honest Jons): The Basic Channel label and Rhythm & Sound co-conspirator turns down the techno for an entirely different sort of trance: the jazz-not-jazz dubtronica hypnosis of "Vertical Ascent." It reminds me of Paul Schutze's percussive ambient jams, which I realize means nothing to virtually everybody reading this.
» Jonsi & Alex, "Riceboy Sleeps" (Parlophone): This one's pretty much for the Sigur Ros super-marks only. This is the ambient side-project of singer Jonsi and his boyfriend Alex, and it's as gorgeous as Iceland.
» Bruno Pronsato, "The Make Up the Break Up" (Thesongsays): Nearly 40 minutes of minimal techno hypnosis, interrupted by the feinst harmonic squiggles and, eventually, a sample of Nico speaking from "It Was a Pleasure Then."

» There Will Be Fireworks, "There Will Be Fireworks (The Imaginary Kind, which means self-released): Probably the 30th Scottish band I've fallen head over heels for in the past two years, but this is the only one whose album was self-released. Another epic, melancholy, "The Bends"-esque rock album that makes me want to move to Glasgow, get in knife fights, etc.
» Lambchop, "Live at Merge XX" (Merge): A full version of the band giving its all for Kurt Wagner's oblique and bleak mix of soul and folk.
» Shook Ones, "The Unquotable A.M.H." (Paper + Plastick): Only if you love "whoa-whoa-whoas" in your songs. And I do.

» Owen, "New Leaves" (Polyvinyl): Fall is revealed through broken chords, and Owen — aka Mike Kinsella — is the arpeggiator of autumn. The former Cap'n Jazz and Joan of Arc drummer is a fantastic acoustic guitarist, and his light and beautiful finger-picked-folk songs betray the darkness of his lyrics.
» North Lincoln, "Midwestern Blood" (No Idea): This Grand Rapids, Mich.-based band plays Husker Du-esque punk that flies the flannel for oppressingly gray skies, Rust Belt sadness and too many summers spent inside.

» Maxwell, "BLACKsummers'night" (Sony): Do you spend your days and nights praying Prince can eek out more ballad as good as, say, "Nothing Compares 2 U"? Stop, get off your knees, buy this album instead.

» The xx, "xx" (Young Turks): This super-young London group's debut is filled with songs that borrow from modern R&B, vintage New Wave and melancholic electronica for a strikingly original melange.

» Fever Ray, "Fever Ray" (Mute): Karin Dreijer Andersson, the singer for Swedish electro-pop act The Knife, puts out a solo album that sounds like a disturbed fever dream trapped in a Philip K. Dick novel. You'll often dream of electric nightmares after hearing this.

» El Perro del Mar, "Love Is Not Pop" (The Control Group): If only all break-ups sounded this good — we're talking sonics, not heartbreak. Recalls the lush avant-rock of '80s artists such as Kate Bush and Virginia Astley, who both shared the kind of timeless emotion that El Perro herself, Sarah Assbring, brings to the mic.

» Hudson Mohawke, "Butter" (Warp): Future-pop hip-hop, 8-bit psychedelics drunk on Willy Wonka from yet another massively talented Glaswegian.

» The Big Pink, "A Brief History of Love" (4AD): "Dominoes" was the massive big-beat single, but the whole album hangs together because of the tiny details, from ugly noise to neck-snapping beats.

» The Twilight Sad, "Forget the Night Ahead" (Fat Cat): A late-night singer-songwriter confessional hidden behind a shoegazing wall of sound. More epic music from the land of the Scots.

» Future of the Left, "Travels With Myself and Another" (4AD): This Welsh band features folks formerly of McLusky, which means nothing to 99 percent of you. The one percent who know, however, will beat you silly with the brilliant "Travels With Myself and Another" CD, which brims with sarcastic ragers that evoke The Fall at its most perversely rocking.

» Phoenix, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" (V2): Emotionally detached minimalism has never brought up so many emotions. The most uncluttered yet texturally rich pop album of the year.

» Micachu and the Shapes, "Jewellery" (Rough Trade): Pop reduced to rhythm, melodies delivered by beats. Micachu evokes the percussive craziness of No Wave and post-punk experimentation without ever losing sight of the song.

» Mavado, "Mr. Brooks...A Better Tomorrow" (VP): An absurdly talented vocalist, be it singing soul-fused reggae or chanting over the hardest dancehall beats. His lyrics and interviews make him out to be a big badman, but there's no denying he's crazy talented.

» Vijay Iyer, "Historicity" (ACT): One of the great thinkers in modern jazz has made his most accessible album. Intelligent instantaneity. Galang, you'll see what I mean.
» Arve Henriksen, "Cartography" (ECM): Ambient jazztronica at its finest.

» Thomas Dybdahl, "Thomas Dybdal" (Last Suppa): A cheat because it's a U.K. comp of this Norwegian singer-songwriter's first four albums. But it gives me one more opportunity to sing the praise of my favorite singer.

» Ida Maria, "Fortress 'Round My Heart" (Mercury): Call me Tim Donaghy, because this is another cheat: This U.S. edition of an album that's been out in Norway and Europe since 2008 (albeit with slightly different track listings). Tough-girl indie-rock on the outside with a broken heart in the middle.

» Titus Andronicus, "The Airing of Grievances" (XL): OK, I'm straight up Bernie Madoff at this point: another 2008 indie album reissued by a major in 2009. Reinvigorates all the vital parts of the best of indie rock: anger, energy and melody.

» The Riot Before, "Fist Buried in Pockets" (Say-10, aka self-released): Cheat, cheat, cheat, throw me out of the casino: The CD came out in late 2008, but I didn't hear this until they put it on vinyl in 2009. Straightforward pop-ish punk, but with enough grit to make you think of The Replacements, not "Hot Topic."
» Lloyd Cole, "Cleaning Out the Ashtrays" (Tapete): An odds-and-sods collection that rarely feels like it and features some great songs that easily stand alongside his best work.
» Big Star, "Keep an Eye on the Sky" (Rhino): Children by the millions (or several hundred, at least) still scream for Alex Chilton. But let's not forget Chris Bell, for he is the cosmos.
» The Hold Steady, "A Positive Rage" (Vagrant): Old guys rockin' it live for the kids.

» Snow Patrol, "Up to Now" (Geffen): A compilation cash-in with singles, album tracks, rarities and a few new songs should be the nail in the coffin for this band to everybody in the universe who doesn't wear pink panties. Sorry, baby: I look good in roseate undies.

» Funky Homosapien & Tame 1, "Parallel Uni-Verses" (Gold Dust): As Del says, "Our whole history of creativity is the funk."
» VA, "Five Years of Hyperdub" (Hyperdub): So, this is what they call dubstep. Boom boom pow.
» Oh No, "Dr. No's Ethiopium" (Stones Throw): Madlib's li'l bro plays boom-bap Mad Libs with Ethiopian pop, jazz and funk.
» VA, "Psych Funk 101: A Global Psychedelic Funk Curriculum" (Stones Throw): What it says, with 10 times more sweat.

» Gallows, "Grey Britain" (Warner Bros.): These English punks deliver a metallic K.O. on their polished but powerful second album.
» Obscura, "Cosmogenesis" (Relapse): Prog-math metal. And so begins a list of all the metal albums I just remembered.
» Portal, "Swarth" (Profound Lore): Ultra-math black metal.
» Mastodon, "Crack the Skye" (Warner Bros.): Polished and epic prog-art metal with stadium potential.
» Weapon, "Drakonian Paradigm" (Ajna Offensive): Canadian black metal that's as influenced by the horrors of heroin abuse as it is Satanic rituals. Intense bleakness from the dark side of Alberta.

» Behemoth, "Evangelion" (Metal Blade): Easy to take for granted since all this Polish trio does is turn out professional blackened death metal by the pound, but if you listen to enough extreme music it's easy to appreciate the how perfectly formed is the group's vision, from its visually captivating videos and well-groomed mien to its well-researched relentless attacks on all things orthodox.
» Sunn O))), "Monoliths & Dimensions" (Southern Lord): Drone, drone drone, drone, drone, drone, drone, dooooooom, drone.
» Wolves in the Throne Room, "Black Cascade" (Southern Lord): Insanely intense black metal. How drummer Aaron Weaver hasn't lost a foot by now I'll never know. He smashes his kick drums for 10-plus minutes on every song.
» Darkest Hour, "The Eternal Return" (Victory): D.C.'s biggest metal band made its (likely) swan song for Victory, but like the true pros they are, the dudes in Darkest went out hard. Metal that's punk as fuck.

» Napalm Death, "Time Waits No Slave" (Century Media): After 28 years and dozens of lineup changes, the best political grindcore band ever keeps seething on its 14th studio record. Models for living.
» Marduk, "Wormwood"(Regain): Keeping it hate-filled since 1990, this Swedish black-metal band will kick you in the teeth.

» Converge, "Axe to Fall"(Epitaph): Angry enough to be punk, complicated enough to be metal, this album finds the long-running band getting the balance right between extreme full-on chaos and catchy mosh-pit mayhem. Plus, the singer runs the essential Death Wish hardcore label.
» Rancid, "Let the Dominoes Fall"(Epitaph): These dudes do what they do so well it's almost second nature to overlook them. Mega-catchy street punk for middle-aged guys still worried about the street. As good as ever.

» Frank Turner, "Poetry of the Deed" (Epitaph): Punk-informed folk-gone-pop with more than a little debt to Billy Bragg, but Turner's calls to action are always are as impassioned as they are earnest. Seriously, listen to the title track and try to avoid feeling like you — yes, YOU — can get up and make something of your life.

» Below, a bunch of songs I like from albums that I can't really remember (or they're 2009 singles from 2008 CDs):

Photo by Ivor Karabatkovic

Posted By Christopher Porter at 6:06 AM on December 28, 2009 Tagged in Arts & Events , Music , Sound Bets , Staff Picks 2009

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