The last year of the first decade of the 21st century provided me with some albums that rocked my world and then some. Here's what I consider the best of the past year.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
The Golden Filter
The Golden Filter is one of my favorite new acts of the year but having only released six songs over two singles (
Solid Gold and
THUNDERBIRD) so far, I couldn't really find a place for them on the list. The Golden Filter's unique brand of colorful, fortune-teller-esque disco is something I can definitely get down with and I predict big things for them. Their full-length debut album will be released sometime in the spring of 2010.
Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM
Charlotte Gainsbourg is definitely on my list of favorite actresses and regulation hottie chicks that I'd bend my sexual orientation for. And her new album, with help from Beck, is exactly what a Charlotte/Beck collaboration should sound like. Sleek, sexy, polished and intriguing. Tracks like
IRM,
Trick Pony, and
La Collectionneuse are big standouts for me. This album was released early this month in Gainsbourg's native France but the album isn't released in the US until January 26th, 2010 so I didn't include it on the list. However, if I did place it on the list, it'd probably be somewhere in the teens.
Beach House - Teen Dream
My oh my, what do I say about this one...
Well, I think it's safe to say that Beach House is my current favorite artist of all time... the only artist that surpasses them is the genius of modern music that is
Björk. Beach House's first two albums already put them at this level of adoration for me. And then along came their third album. This piece of monumental art won't be released until January 26th either so I also haven't included it on the list. But if I did, I can guarantee it'd be #1. It will most definitely be #1 on my list for 2010. And when I'm 80 years old and make a list of my favorite albums of all time, Teen Dream will definitely be in my top 3; I can say that with confidence. The entire album is absolutely gorgeous and engaging but I'd have the say the penultimate track,
Real Love, is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. It's almost scary how good this song is to me. Music hasn't ever moved me like this. It's a perfect album and I can't say enough good things about it.
aaaaaaaand moving on to my Top 20 Album Releases of 2OO9:
#20: Vivian Girls - Everything Goes Wrong
A vast improvement to their sloppy self-titled debut. Well, I guess some would say this album's sloppy as well but I guess what I'm trying to say is that it pulls it off better. Tracks like
The Desert and
The End sound tighter and more focused, while songs like
Can't Get Over You and
Before I Start To Cry show a more vulnerable side to the V Girls that we haven't seen before.
#19[: Zola Jesus - The Spoils
Zola Jesus sounds like nothing I did before. She's young (my age), hot, and her voice is seriously out of this world. The music she makes (which has been given the kinda lame genre name "Lo-Fi Goth") is dark, spooky, stealthy, and emotionally evoking. Her vocal delivery is borderline opera and can send chills down your spine. Opening track
Six Feet (From My Baby) is the highlight of the album in my opinion and a beautiful introduction to a truly harrowing album.
#18: Real Estate - Real Estate
Like being stoned? You'll like this album. New Jersey's Real Estate makes music that you put on while you're cruising down a coastal highway with the windows down on a perfect-temperature sunny day. It's not really anything new but it's definitely something that's pleasant on the ears... very pleasant.
#17: Here We Go Magic - Here We Go Magic
Here We Go Magic's debut album is like having your own personal opium den. Imagine countless fluffy pillows, colorful tapestries everywhere, and seeing everything in kaleidoscope vision. That's why I love this album.
#16: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions - Through The Devil Softly
Hope Sandoval has one of the most velvety, beautiful voices you'll ever hear. She could sing you the dictionary and you'd fall into a euphoric lull, just like I do when I hear her music. Her first album in eight years,
Through the Devil Softly is no less gorgeous than her band's first record or the three albums from her previous band
Mazzy Star. The album sounds slightly narcotic, like a haze that washes over you.
Satellite is sleepy enough to slip you into a coma... in a good way.
#15: Washed out - Life Of Leisure
There's nothing like kicking off your sandals at the beach on a hot summer day, burying your feet in the sand, lying back and staring into the sun until your world becomes soaked in reverb and you're kinda blind. Washed Out's debut EP is the perfect soundtrack for that activity.
#14: St. Vincent - Actor
The cover of this album perfectly reflects the music; elegant, poised, left-field and pretty. I had a hard time getting into Annie Clark's first album but this one worked like a charm. The lyrics are engaging, to say the least, and the melodies are poignantly striking; a perfect pop album with a twist. Songs like
Marrow and
Save Me From What I Want would never receive radio play but have a lovely accessibility about them.
#13: Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
Video game blips and beeps, head-bobbing hooks, distorted vocals with a little bit of LSD is what Neon Indian sounds like to me. It sound completely retro and at the same time, it sounds like the year 2020. If the song
Ephemeral Artery doesn't get you moving, you're probably not human.
#12: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
I was never big on AC until this album. At times, I still dismiss them as utter trash but then I listen to MPP again and am reminded that there are definitely some shards of genius in there. This album is going to be remembered as their poppiest, most accessible record. It'll also probably be remembered as their best. This album does for my ears what drugs do to your pupils. Songs like
Daily Routine and
Brother Sport can whip your brain up into a dizzy euphoric slush in just one listen.
#11: Cotton Jones - PARANOID COCOON
Another great album for driving on a beautiful, sunny day, this album is great from start to finish. Mellow, organic, and folky. The duo's male/female vocals really work well together and it's hard not to just chill out when you're listening to this one.
I Am The Changer is one of the best songs to listen to on a warm, summer evening.
#10: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have made quite the transformation since they emerged at the beginning of the decade. They've evolved from thrashy lo-fi punk to calculated alternative rock to... pop/electronic/but-still-rock... and I wouldn't have it any other way. In my opinion, this is the YYY's golden album so far. They've fused electronics and rock beautifully and the raw emotion that's felt in songs like
Soft Shock and
Skeletons are hard to compete with. And the cover is beyond awesome.
#9: Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
While it doesn't posess the ornate gold-metal achievement of their previous album, this one is a great step forward in terms of their sound. Grizzly Bear's use of a wide selection of instruments provides our ears with lovely, well-crafted, shimmery pop songs.
Ready, Able earns them an A+ for sure.
#8: The xx - xx
Pitchfork was accurate when they said,
"It is so fully formed and thoughtful that it feels like three or four lesser, noisier records should have preceded it." in their review of The xx's debut album. It's a focused record, it's got plenty of different shades of the same color. The record makes a quiet entrance and a quiet exit but it leaves you breathless. The sixth track,
Fantasy, is the centerpiece of the album and is as effective as a scream, though the song itself is hardly a whisper.
#7: Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Natasha Kahn has stolen my heart on this one. She has crafted some music that is seriously beautiful. A perfect listen in the desert, this album is a work of art. She has fused her more acoustic style from her first record with a touch of electronica and modern pop to make a gorgeous mosaic of emotion, hope, and delicate beauty.
Daniel is undoubtedly one of the best songs of the year and album closer
The Big Sleep gave me chills like I've never felt before.
#6: warpaint - Exquisite Corpse
This 6-song EP from newcomers Warpaint is very promising. I simply cannot wait for them to record a full-length album. It's so refreshing to hear a brand new band that can
already play - we don't have to wait two or three albums for them to get really good. This EP is already down-tempo perfection and is rich like mahogany. Standouts are definitely
Stars and
Billie Holiday, the latter which concludes with the most haunting coda I've ever heard. These ladies are beautiful song-crafters and I cannot wait for more.
#5: Telepathe - Dance Mother
Telepathe
sounds like 2009. Their nine-song debut album is an unorthodox electronic endeavor and rubs me the right way, that's for sure. Opener
So Fine is a club-banger that's sure to be a hit at your next hipster party and
Can't Stand It has a sort of ethereal beauty that is only achieved when you're standing at the top of the tallest mountain. The beats are fresh, the vocals are... interesting, and the girls are hot. What's left to be desired?
#4: Atlas Sound - Logos
I'm a huuuuge Deerhunter fan but after hearing Atlas Sound's first solo album, I wasn't too jazzed about the follow-up. But man, talk about a step forward! Bradford Cox has outdone himself yet again. From start to finish, Cox has made a perfect pop album (spiked with painkillers, of course). It's trippy, yet accessible.
Washington School is what it sounds like to be robotripping,
Shelia couldn't be a more perfect poppy love song, and
Quick Canal (w/ Laetitia Sadier) is one of the most dizzying songs I've ever heard (and I mean that in a gooooood way).
#3: Lady GaGa - The Fame Monster
I am a firm believer in the theory that you cannot call yourself a fan of pop music if you don't totally love Lady GaGa. She IS pop. She is a breath of fresh air for mainstream music and I personally feel she gets ragged on slightly too much. You can't deny her vocal talent, her clothes are on-par creatively with fashion icons like
Björk and
Róisín Murphy, and it is
scary how many catchy hooks she can fit into one song.
Bad Romance is GaGa's catchiest song to date and has been embedded in my head since I first heard it. The entire 8-song mini album is wonderful. A great pop record.
#2: Peaches - I Feel Cream
I've always had a soft spot for the Peach with a hole in the middle, but she has really outdone herself on this album. She hasn't lost her raunchy signature but she's upped her game when it comes to production. The beats are extraordinary, her vocal delivery is flawless, her rhymes are tighter, and the songs are just outright catchier. Tracks like Talk To Me and Lose You even show a vulnerability that Peaches has never displayed, without losing her slickness. Without a doubt her best record.
#1:
Fever Ray - Fever Ray
I have never seen a project come together quite as well as Fever Ray has. The visual imagery and music work hand in hand like a well-oiled machine and the result is stunning. This album is dark, brooding, ominous, and outright creepy. These songs have an anxious, neurotic feel to them and provide your ears with the most innovative of sounds. All ten tracks are necessary; they paint a vivid picture of modern horror. And like I said earlier, the visual aspect of the Fever Ray project is flawless as well. Check out all of her music videos and clips of her live tour; everything Fever Ray is awesome, you can't go wrong.
Animal Collective
