Top Albums Of 2009: #25-11

by Vinh on January 15th, 2010

2009 may have started out slowly, but it finished with a bang as both weathered veterans and newcomers to the scene produced delightful records in chamber-pop, neo soul, indie-rock, and much more. Enjoy the first set of our three-part year-end coverage and keep your eyes peeled for albums 10-2 as well as an in-depth take on our favorite album of the year in the coming days. It may turn a few heads.

#10-2
#1

25. The Decemberists – The Hazards Of Love
No one was surprised when The Decemberists announced that The Hazards Of Love would be a rock opera; this is a band known for their obsession with all things theatrical. But what may have come as a shock on first listen was that this record is just as much prog-rock as it is folk-pop. The riffs, I kid you not, are quite massive at times, and yet it doesn’t feel like an unnatural step for the band. ‘The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid’ and ‘The Rake Song’ make for the most impressive stretch of the album, the former displays a powerful guest vocal from guest Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), and the latter features a melody that will be lodged in your head for weeks. This is an album that will be written off by many on first listen, but will also remain a treasure to those willing to give it more than a fleeting chance. – Max Logan

24. Mount Eerie – Wind’s Poem
As its title may suggest, this album is sure to induce chills. There is a whole lot to appreciate here from Phil Elverum’s signature delivery with childlike wonder to Xasthur-flavoured black metal elements, making Wind’s Poem the best Elverum-related release since Mount Eerie. The difference is, this time the protagonist seeks not the universe, but instead the wind. This so-called “destroyer of worlds” is summoned and observed, leaving the protagonist to question why everything must deteriorate. Why must everything be fleeting? Though there may at first seem to be more questions than answers on this cryptic offering, profound verses like “the roots that held a tree down left a deep hole full of water reflecting sky” are enough to intrigue and challenge you to look deeper. If not into his lyrics, into yourself. – Rick Southwick

23. Shafiq Husayn – En’A-Free-Ka
As a contemporary Todd Rundgren of sorts, Shafiq Husayn’s craft is defined by the consolidation of myriad flavors into one singular identity. His debut full-length En’A-Free-Ka is a veritable kaleidoscope of colors and textures, dabbling in jagged instrumental hip hop, empyreal neo soul, and stately ambience over the course of 17 numbers as cohesive as they are distinctive. Unlike his Sa’Ra cohorts who throw caution and maps to the wind in favor of wild, occasionally abrasive experimentation, Husayn manages to focus his whims into an overarching direction. The path traveled is serpentine and mercurial though, keeping listeners on their toes from the laid back, nostalgic vibe of ‘Lil’ Girl’ to the krautrock-leaning ditty ‘The Odd Is C’. By leaving his personal stamp on every style he channels, the seemingly disparate strands employed all rest beneath Husayn’s vast umbrella; the anthemic, keyboard-driven belligerence of ‘The U.N. Plan’, the chiming start/stop rhythms of ‘No Moor’, even the spoken-word-meets-urbanized-dream-pop of ‘Le’star’. Rather than staving off his numerous influences for fear of scatterbrained output, Husayn extracts their respective essences to construct a fantastic, otherworldly mishmash of heady groove and hazy reminiscence. En’A-Free-Ka is the perpetual journeyman carving out a home at each pit stop he encounters, blurring lines in the sand to expand the horizon. – Vinh Cao

22. Brand New – Daisy
While the trend for most rock bands is to mellow out over time, Brand New decided to turn up the intensity several notches on Daisy. A women’s gorgeous bible hymn is rudely interrupted by screaming vocals on ‘Vices’, making it clear that the band has revamped their sound once again. The aggressive, get-to-the-point attitude of these songs harkens back to the days of Pixies and Nirvana; there are no wasted moments. The band does takes a few breathers (‘Bed’, ‘You Stole’, ‘Daisy), but it’s not long before the band once again returns to their furious assault. – Max Logan

21. Antony And The Johnsons – The Crying Light
On The Crying Light, Antony takes a step back from his artistic breakthrough, 2005’s deeply personal I Am A Bird Now. No less moving, the tracks here speak to a more universal audience. The subjects — love, abandonment, friendship, family — resonate with every listener on some level. This could drift off into cold ambiguity, but Antony’s delicate songwriting and baroque-style singing backed by orchestral arrangements courtesy of indie all-star composer Nico Muhly somehow all pull on our heartstrings just enough. ‘Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground’, a heartbreaking dedication to Antony’s mother fittingly opens the album as he tells her her love is pure. ‘Epilepsy Is Dancing’ is perhaps his eeriest track to date as it deals with the beautiful, epileptic protagonist and her fear of actually being cured of her supposed affliction. Songs like ‘Another World’ with its whipping winds entwined between Antony’s minimalist phrasings and ‘Everglade’ lament the slow rotting of the world we’ve all brought about through our selfish indifference. However, it’s the short, infectious ‘Dust And Water’ that is the album’s real standout with its childlike babbling that slowly dissolves into something much more self-assured and reassuring — exactly what we all need. While the album as a whole may not stand out as much as his previous effort, The Crying Light proves once and for all that Antony is no one-trick pony and truly has the songwriting chops to match up to his idols. – Shane Lawless

20. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms
In the 19 years I’ve been on this planet, I have never smoked a joint. But if I were to do so, Psychic Chasms would be the album I want playing in the background. This is not to say that you need to be high to enjoy this record, it is catchy enough for anyone to enjoy. How else could one explain Disney teen star Demetria Lovato declaring them her new favorite band? But the bubbly, hazy goodness provided by Alan Palomo seems perfectly suited for a night of smoking up with friends. When you title your tracks ‘Deadbeat Summer’, ‘Terminally Chill’, and ‘Mind, Drips’, the invitation could not be clearer. – Max Logan

19. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
Dinosaur Jr. released their debut album two years before I was born, so the fact that they are still making music together is remarkable in itself. However, since they reformed earlier this decade, they’ve managed to not only match the quality of their early recordings, but occasionally surpass it, and this year’s Farm is one of these cases. If you had to choose one reason for which Dino Jr. have enjoyed the success they have, it would be J Mascis’ guitar work, and it’s also the key to why Farm is so powerful; blending his characteristic fuzz with riffs influenced by blues and southern rock that sound just as fresh and eardrum-demolishing as the ones he turned out in the late-80s. What makes the album noteworthy for a band with such a distinguished and lengthy career is that their pop sensibilities haven’t faded either. You may come to Farm looking for distortion and face-melting riffs, which you will find, but you’ll also leave with the choruses for ‘I Want You To Know’ and ‘Over It’ stuck in your head too. – Paul Bulow

18. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
At this stage in their career, The Flaming Lips probably have no right to be making albums this good. After reaching the zenith of the indie world with now classics The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, the band maybe took a small step backwards with their last offering At War With The Mystics. Whatever questions people may have raised about the future of the band are sharply answered with Embryonic. The creative juices are obviously still flowing freely through the band as they take their quirky psychedelic pop into new, somewhat darker territory. There is certainly the cold feeling of outer space and alienation all around these songs and people looking for pop gems like ‘Do You Realize?’ or ‘Fight Test’ will be hard-pressed to find such sounds here. Instead is a paranoid opiate-textured record of sparse futuristic landscapes. You have to wait until 2 songs from the end to get to anything like an old Lips standard, the splendid ‘Silver Trembling Hands’. The rest of Embryonic is anything but instant, but in the long run is a very gratifying return to top form for The Flaming Lips. – Matthew James

17. Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer
The coils have been drawn back. The dust has settled. Spencer Krug is no longer flailing from side to side to stay ahead of the curve, he’s taking us by the hand as we ride it to the top of the Canadian indie heap. He’s been dubbed underground royalty ever since Wolf Parade vaulted into blogosphere consciousness years ago, and with his fourth SR album, he proves himself worthy of the crown. An arresting, quicksilver affair, Dragonslayer sees Krug opening his previously insular aesthetic up to outsiders while maintaining the grit and oddball character displayed on Random Spirit Lover, Shut Up I Am Dreaming, and Snake’s Got A Leg. With a keener sense of musicality in tow, the songs now verge on theatrical, evidenced by glam-drenched opener ‘Silver Moons’ or the rustling synth-laden romp ‘You Go Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)’. Krug’s vivid ruminations and endearing wit (“I hope that you die in a decent pair of shoes, you got a lot of long walking to do”) remain intact albeit arcane at times, but they’re surrounded by winsome arrangements at every turn to thin out Dragonslayer’s narrative density. Now that the puzzle pieces actually fit together, glimpses of Sunset Rubdown’s vivid artistic vision are shifting to the fore, and it’s quite a sight to behold. – Vinh Cao

16. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Little did I know that Phoenix had been around for most of the decade before releasing this, their nearly perfect breakthrough album. It is one thing for a band to strike pop gold with a great single after years of being relative unknowns (Modest Mouse with ‘Float On’, for example), but to have an entire album full of radio-ready masterpieces that just never seem to get old, even to the most hype-allergic hipster is quite a different story. Most bands would kill to come up with the hooks found on deep cuts like ‘Armistice’, ‘Girlfriend’ and ‘Lasso’, whose staccato guitar lines and unique syncopated beats have helped define Phoenix’s sound. But it’s the opening one-two punch of “Lizstomania” and “1901″ (now of Cadillac fame) which put this album into classic territory. Featuring frontman Thomas Mars’ quick delivery and yo-yo range respectively, these are melodies that just don’t go away, and you don’t want them to. – Paul Bulow

15. Japandroids – Post-Nothing
Japandroids don’t do anything new, but guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse have more fun doing it than most. Over simple but lively distorted guitar lines and driving beats, King pines for the carefree days of summer and childhood and tries to persuade you to up and leave all your responsibilities and go “French-kiss some French girls”. While they certainly weren’t the only ones this year trying to escape a less than promising present for an idealized past, it’s nearly impossible not to get caught up in their incredibly catchy anthems and sincere lyrics. Originality might not be among the list of Japandroids’ most attractive characteristics, but fun and sincerity certainly are, which makes Post-Nothing one of the more purely enjoyable releases of 2009. – Paul Bulow

14. Califone – All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
Having grown weary of unspooling its trajectory at a snail’s pace, pseudo-folk troupe Califone slightly straightens its course on All My Friends Are Funeral Singers. The tapestries woven by Tim Rutili and company have been pared down a notch, placing greater emphasis on melody and guiding our furtive discoveries with increased lucidity. While drones, hisses, bells, and whistles are integral components of the Chicago outfit’s equation, this transition to slender, lucent pastures strikes smoothly, as an effortless extension of its stomping ground instead of a brusque relocation. Few if any of its hallmarks are forsaken; they’re simply refined. Intermittent field recordings and specks of muffled noise surface sparingly, working within the compositions as opposed to framing them which allows Califone to tap into a well of latent dynamics. The band capitalizes by presenting its most sparkling vocal outing to date, equally compelling carrying the torch (‘Evidence’) or lingering in the shadows (‘Krill’). In the end, All My Friends Are Funeral Singers was devised with a film of the same name (written/directed by Rutili) depicting a woman’s life amidst ghosts in mind, and this can be heard in the songs themselves which are subtly expressive, brushed with a brand of resolve both spectral and autumnal. We all have our own ghosts — forces from the past and present looming above our heads or lurking behind our footsteps — and with over a decade in the books, Califone is finally learning to live with theirs. – Vinh Cao

13. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
Humbug is one of those records that came with the caution that this was to be the “mature” record. That usually is something of a black flag for a band whose early success was based on the highs and lows of being young. All fears were allayed as it became clear that while the members of Arctic Monkeys have grown up a bit, they are still a more than captivating rock band. Incorporating new psychedelic influences to their sounds, there are some lovely Lennon-like moments and stoner metal to go along with their more recognized pop-punk output. Lyrically, Alex Turner continues to impress with his creative wordplay and descriptive nature. While a very good album in its own right, one gets the impression that Humbug is most likely a stepping stone. It’s the sound of a band solidifying their position, experimenting with new sounds and refusing to stand still. It would have been easy to churn out another record of ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ and it would surely have been gobbled up by the public. Instead, we are left with something much more satisfying. Arctic Monkeys continue to defy the old adage that overblown early hype will eventually lead to huge disappointment and continue to be the current UK’s indie crop most likely to touch greatness in the future. – Matthew James

12. Noah And The Whale – The First Days Of Spring
Spring is the season of renewal. A time to re-examine and reshape our beliefs. The First Days Of Spring is a testament to this idea, as it features a revitalized band, “bigger and stronger than ever before”. A more mature Charlie Fink narrates his recent breakup with former member Laura Marling with honesty and precision, and the absence of her vocals only adds to the sincerity. It is a cold and lonely experience, and the presence of a cheerful choir and lines like “I don’t think I ever loved you” plague the album with a musty scent of denial. But he knows it is time for the sun to shine. It is time for dew to fill the grass. It is time for whistling birds. It is time to move on. It is time to give Noah And The Whale another shot. – Rick Southwick

11. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
“Powerful” and “hypnotic” are adjectives that have been thrown around about this album, as have descriptions like “repetitive” and “boring”. The lesson learned through the polarizing response that Fuck Buttons’ latest outing has received is the importance of patience. This electronic drone record requires a lot of it, but is always worth your time in the end. Every slow-burning melody shines through violently dense noise like a gradually unfolding message, and every climactic explosion is an outright epiphany. Minimalist tribal rhythms dance through the heavy percussion like the flame of a forest fire, destroying everything in its path. Shimmering synthesizers waver in and out like a heartbeat, and layer after layer of melodic accompaniment rages through the impenetrable clatter. The vastness of Tarot Sport may be repetitive, but in the end this only adds fuel to the fire. – Rick Southwick