Blog

The xx - xx
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Fever Ray - Fever Ray
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport

a:
A.J. Roach
Anna Ternheim
...and you will know us by the trial of dead
Apocaliptica
Architecture in Helsinki
Arms and Sleepers

b:
Bat for Lashes
Beatsteaks
Bon Jovi

c:
Cool Kids of Death

d:
Depeche Mode
DAF (z dystansu)

e:
Electrelane

f:
Fever Ray
Fleet Foxes

g:
Great Lake Swimmers (x2)

h:
Hatifnats
Howling Bells

i:
iLiKETRAiNS

j:
Jacob's Stories

k:
Kobiety
Kula Shaker(x2)
KoЯn (z dystansu)

l:
The Low Frequency in Stereo

m:
Mando Diao
Modeselektor
Mustasch
Myslovitz

n:
Nelly Furtado
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nine Inch Nails (z dystansu)
Nosowska

p:
Piano Magic
Placebo
port-royal
Pumajaw

r:
Radiohead
Röyksopp

s:
Seth Lakeman
Santogold
Stereophonics

y:
Yeasayer

Telepathe - Dance Mother



Animal Collective Animal Crack Box



Animal Collective merriweather post pavilion



Fuck Buttons Tarot Sports



Tickley Feather - Hors D'Oeuvres



Mi Ami- Watersports



Soap&Skin - Lovetune for Vaccuum



Geneva Jacuzzi - Lamaze



Lucky Dragons - Open Power



Röyksopp - Junior



Fever Ray - Same



Wildbirds And Peacedrums- The Snake



Salem - WATER EP



Washed out - Life of Leisure



Kreidler - Mosaik 2014



PJ Harvey and John Parish - A Woman a man walked by



JJ- jj n° 2



Bat for Lashes - Two Suns



HEALTH - Get Color



The Dø - A Mouthful



Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - From Below



Stellar Om Source - Rise In Planes



Prince Rama of Ayodhya - Zetland



I.U.D. - The Proper Sex



High Wolf- Animal Totem



Sun Araw - In Orbit



Ducktails - Same



Nite Jewel - Good Evening




Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca



YACHT - See Mystery Lights



Ödland - The Caterpillar



Flaming Lips - Embryonic



Blues Control - Local Flavor



Rainbow Arabia - Kabukimono



HTRK - Marry Me Tonight



Kuupuu - Lumen Tähden

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 [closing], The Unbelievable Truth [opening], 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

1. Two Suns - Bat for Lashes

2. Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear

3. Album - Girls

4. Primary Colours - The Horrors

5. Phrazes For The Young - Julian Casablancas

6. Grace / Wastelands - Peter Doherty

7. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

8. Coeur De Pirate - Coeur de Pirate

9. Humbug - Arctic Monkeys

10. Psychic Chasms - Neon Indian

11. Horehound - The Dead Weather

(Article link)



**Tag Station: Link // PLAY**

100.Darkstar - Aidy's Girl's A Computer
99. Julianna Barwick - Bode
98. Future of the Left - Arming Eritrea
97. The Smith Westerns - Be My Girl
96. Gucci Mane - Wasted
95. The Thermals - Now We Can See
94. Best Coast - Sun Was High (So Was I)
93. Morrissey - Something Is Squeezing My Skull
92. Cam'ron - I Hate My Job
91. HEALTH - Die Slow
90. The-Dream - Rockin' That Shit
89. No Age - You're a Target
88. Passion Pit - Moth's Wings
87. Here We Go Magic - Fangela
86. Drake - Best I Ever Had
85. Wavves - No Hope Kids
84. Junior Boys - Parallel Lines
83. Lady GaGa - Paparazzi
82. DJ Kaos - Love The Nite Away (Tiedye remix)
81. Bowerbirds - Northern Lights
80. YACHT - Psychic City (Voodoo City)
79. Pictureplane - Goth Star
78. Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM
77. Frida Hyvönen - Jesus Was A Cross Maker
76. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Don't Haunt This Place
75. Gold Panda - Quitter's Raga
74. Neon Indian - Should Have Taken Acid With You
73. Woods - Rain On
72. Matt & Kim - Daylight
71. A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Close chorus
70. Discovery - Orange Shirt
69. Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
68. Röyksopp - The Girl And The Robot
67. Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone
66. Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension
65. The Tough Alliance - a new chance (juan maclean remix)
64. Annie - Songs Remind Me of You
63. Real Estate - Fake Blues
62. Volcano Choir - Island, Is
61. Atlas Sound - Quick Canal
60. Kurt Vile - Freeway
59. Tune-Yards - Sunlight
58. Fever Ray - If I Had A Heart
57. SLEIGH BELLS - Crown On The Ground
56. John Talabot - Sunshine
55. Bat for Lashes - Glass
54. Joker & Ginz - Purple City
53. The xx - Islands
52. St. Vincent - Actor Out of Work
51. Antony and the Johnsons - Aeon
50. Matias Aguayo - Rollerskate
49. Yo La Tengo - Here to fall
48. Destroyer - Bay Of Pigs
47. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
46. Memory Tapes - Bicycle
45. The Flaming Lips - Watching The Planets
44. Jay-Z - Empire State of Mind
43. Camera Obscura - French Navy
42. The Big Pink - Velvet
41. Major Lazer - Keep It Goin' Louder
40. Bear In Heaven - Lovesick Teenagers
39. Lady GaGa - Bad Romance
38. Dirty Projectors + David Byrne - Knotty Pine
37. Surfer blood - Swim
36. Fever Ray - When I Grow Up
35. Micachu - Golden Phone
34. Atlas Sound - Walkabout
33. DJ Quik & Kurupt - 9x's Outta 10
32. The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa
31. Lily Allen - The Fear
30. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction
29. JJ - Ecstasy
28. Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You
27. Four Tet - Love Cry
26. Bon Iver - Blood Bank
25. Cass McCombs - You Saved My Life
24. Basement Jaxx - Raindrops
23. Animal Collective - Brother Sport
22. Delorean - Seasun
21. Raekwon - House of Flying Daggers
20. Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire
19. Joker - Digidesign
18. The Big Pink - Dominos
17. Fuck Buttons - Fuck Buttons
16. The xx - Crystalised
15. Girls - Hellhole Ratrace
14. Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo
13. Neon Indian - Deadbeat Summer
12. Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others
11. Animal Collective - What Would I Want? Sky
10. Washed out - Feel It All Around
9. Girls - Lust For Life
8. Phoenix - Lisztomania
7. Big Boi - Shine Blockas
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero
5. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
4. Bat for Lashes - Daniel
3. Phoenix - 1901
2. Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is the Move
1. Animal Collective - My Girls

A shaky year for music, personally. The UK Garage renaissance, under its many new monikers, became a little absurd overground (Funky?) and the 00's genre juggernaut Dubstep, with few exceptions, got a little stagnant.

The 80s synth-revival has been too big for too long to pigeon it as accelerated recontextualisation. And super-gloss-aesthetics for quirky starlets on both sides of the pond, (Gaga/Roux/Florence) must herald a pendulous swing back into anti-fashion and zero aesthetic (of course a fashion in itself) for the coming decade. How far can this 'four million costumes per video-chic' be taken? And you're hearing this from a trend slave. In the war between style and substance - substance is, of course, just another style - and a style that needs to make a very welcome return to prominence.

Here are my current favourites from 2009, followed by some caustic, unoriginal remarks on those disposable offerings that became big critic darlings. Sigh. Zeitgeist. Sigh.

1. Clubroot-Clubroot

A chilly, endlessly playable LP of headphone dub. There's a downtempo grace to the whole work that rarely dips for a moment let alone an entire track. It's Distance but better. Massive Attack's 100th Window but better. This is just a great collection of background ambience tracks that demand to be in the foreground.

2. Gallows-Grey Britain

A touch slicker than their first effort but equally visceral. The metallic edges of their hardcore punk seem lessened this time around but Frank's throaty snarl keeps things very rock & roll. Apocalyptic, nihilistic and revivalist. Brilliant when at its most uncompromising.

3. Sonic Youth-The Eternal

Being not too aware of their noughties work, I wasn't sure what I'd make of this. Then I pressed play. Anti-Orgasm is up their with their early Geffen output, as is much of the record. This is solid rock & roll, occasionally unremarkable, always reliable, but sometimes breathtaking.

4. Maxwell-BLACKsummer'snight

I'm not sure why I like this so much. I'm a total Soul junkie, but this is much poppier than I can usually handle. Maxwell's voice is obviously a revelation; like early Al Green, he refuses to oversing but manages to sustain all the notes you'd expect him to throw away in the phrasing. The whole product is slick, digital ballad-heavy, contemporary R&B but arranged with a mid-90s style band. Yet instead of sounded dated or in congruent the album seems timeless, sexy, clever and heartfelt. Silver-age Prince, Boyz-II-Men, Marvin Gaye, D'Angelo...are all evoked but this just works on so many intriguing levels. Nice comeback, Maxwell.

5. Florence + The Machine-Lungs

Okay it's over-produced. And that XX remix of her murdering You've Got The Love is pretty much the nail in the coffin for my affection for her - but this is a record with more than a few great flighty pop songs. I think it's stronger and more ballsy than that Bat for Lashes second effort and I guess I'm just a sucker for those Kate Bush theatrics.

6. Crystal Antlers-Tentacles

Okay, so a little disappointing given that storming E.P. last year. And take away the strangled Phil Spector goes Punk beauty of Andrew (my favourite track of 2009), this looses much momentum. However, there are still some fantastic moments of swirling texture and groove to be found, especially on the first half.

7. The Cave Singers-Welcome Joy

Underrated much? A breezy, unpretentious and sincere album of busk-folk that stays interesting. What these guys lack in ambition they make up in songwriting. There's still a heavy ghost of Dylan but when they find that Americana groove this sounds unstoppable. Beach House and the steady, rising train-chug of Leap are up there with my favourites for the year.

8. Blakroc-Blakroc

This works far better than it should given it's another groan-rap-rock-collaboration.
In fact, it works great because the Black Keys keep their bluesy noise out of the way so nothing threatens to swallow the guest MC's vocals. By providing a restrained (but still interesting) organic foundation for the tracks we get fantastic cuts like Raekwon's Stay Off The Fucking Flowers which could have easily been lifted off Cuban Linx II. Just a shame they couldn't afford Jay-Z so had to settle for NORE.

9. Clark-Totems Flare

Patchy but brilliant IDM record. Definitely Clark's best, it's kind of like a paranoid Digitalism without the pop sensibility. This is another one that got an unfair slap from some of the critics.

10. Major Lazer-Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do

A colourful, hyperactive cartoon of an album with the bowel-shaking rocksteady of Can't Stop Now being the early highlight for me. Much to like here.


The honourable mentions:

50 Cent-Before I Self Destruct

The first half alone made this superior to the patchy, bloated, guest-overloaded Blueprint 3. Wow, that rhymed.

Japandriods-Post-Nothing

Not quite No Age but definitely my next favourite new noise-revivalists. Wavves are utter dross after an aural dosage exceeding 88 seconds. And as for Cymbals Eat Guitars...yawn. Four or so tracks off this record are white-hot.

Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II

This isn't Ghost's Supreme Clientèle. Hell, it isn't even Fishscale. And most importantly, it isn't Cuban Linx Pt. I. I think the critics have been a little too easy on this given how awful the project could have sounded but the end product, to me, feels overlong, overcooked and all over the place. But hey, trim ten tracks and this would be a real Rex Diamond.

Newham Generals-Generally Speaking

This was the under-promoted could-of-been of 2009. A solid grime album with an absolute killer, menacing lead single. Way better than Dizzee's effort though he puts in a good appearance here on Violence.

PrinceMPLSOUND/LotusFlow3r

Underrated effort from the master. At least half the tracks spread across both albums are worthy cuts. Prince has picked up his guitar again, disregarding his more recent indulgent experiments to evoke the funky new wave of 1999 and Dirty Mind . Classic. If only the lyrics were rude again.

To be continued...