2009年 Dec 16日 Wednesday, 14:53

I thought about making a best of list, but I haven't even listened to a quarter of the albums released this year. So, I decided to do what I did last year and make a list of albums that I bought this year.

1. Fiona Apple-Extraordinary Machine 2005: My favorite tracks are Extraordinary Machine, Better Version of Me, and Not About Love. I like the font and the color in the CD booklet, but overall it's pretty boring. Not enough pictures.
2. Maya Barsony-Femme d'exterieur 2008: Pompe a diesel, Laisse Couler, and Dis-moi. The booklet has nice photographs, but the inside is poorly designed.
3. Bat For Lashes-Two Suns 2009: Daniel, Peace of Mind, and The Big Sleep. The first time I listened to this, I was slightly disappointed because all of the songs seemed to sound the same. After several listens, it grew on me. However, I still prefer Fur And Gold. The album cover is interesting, but the picture of "Pearl" on the back is better. The booklet has no lyrics and no photographs. Since Natasha Khan is a also a visual artist, I thought she wold make creative CD booklets. Unfortunately, both of her booklets feature the cover art and little else.
4. Claire Denamur- Claire Denamur 2009: In the mood for l'amour, Ah les hommes, and Elio. The booklet has some nice drawings by Cedric Rivain but no lyrics.
5. Hal Hartley-Possible Music 1: From the Films of Hal Hartley 2003: I love the whole album, but my favorites are Trust , The Unbelievable Truth , and Run. I never really paid attention to movie scores before, but I love the music in the three Hal Hartley films that I've seen. When I saw Trust, the main theme annoyed me throughout the movie, but by the end I loved it. The CD booklet is great- it has nice stills from each movie.
6. Leila-Blood, Looms & Blooms 2009: Time to Blow, Daisies, Cats & Spacemen, and Deflect. The cover is beautiful, but the lyrics inside the digipak are hard to read because of the font.
7. Emily Loizeau-Pays sauvage 2009: Fais Battre Ton Tambour, Princess & The Toad, and Dis-moi que toi tu ne pleures pas. I like her best when she sings in French. She doesn't have the best voice, but somehow French masks all of her imperfections. In English she sounds like Rihanna.
8. Lykke Li-Youth Novels 2008: I love every song, but my current favorite is Time Flies. It has a wonderful CD cover and booklet. The black and white photographs are lovely. Although I usually hate collages, I love the ones in this booklet.
9. Ariane Moffatt-Le coeur dans la tete 2006: Combustion lente, Montreal, and Retourne chez elle. I prefer Tous les sens, but this album is enjoyable.
10. Soap&Skin-Lovetune for Vacuum 2009: This is my favorite 2009 album. Thanatos, Spiracle, Marche Funebre, and The Sun. I love the design of the whole package- the black and yellow CD, the song titles printed on the CD case, and the beautiful cover. This is the kind of attention to detail I expect from a visual artist. However, I cannot understand why they printed the lyrics on the inside of the cover sleeve. I would have to tear the cover apart to read the lyrics.
11. Regina Spektor- Far 2009: This CD was a big disappointment. I only like two songs- Eet and Blue Lips. I absolutely hate Laughing With and Wallet for their banality and triteness. The cover art is mediocre and the digipak doesn't have a booklet.

Here's a playlist of songs that I listened to the most this year: The Year That Was 2009 Playlist