Best Records of 2009
UPDATE: In the event that you’re coming here late due to links from others, I’m sad to tell you that all the links in this post are dead. I have a personal policy about not giving music away indefinitely, and I left this stuff up a good bit longer than planned, but all good things end. At any rate, the recommendations still stand, but now you’ll have to acquire these records through some other source. Thanks for reading!
An Introduction:
For several years now, I have done some kind of end-of-year wrap up of music I’ve enjoyed. Because I like to give, I make all of these albums available to you to download as good quality mp3s. Read closely, here: the links in this post are all .zip files of full albums, encoded as mp3 at a totally reasonable bitrate. The links will stop working at some point - likely before new year’s day - so grab them while you can.
That said (because I have gotten flack for giving away music before): I trust that you have a conscience, and will figure out how best to support these bands if you enjoy their records (e.g., see them live, buy merch, or actually purchase their CD, if that’s something you like to do).
But really, the downloading is sort of beside the point. Mainly, I just like to take stock of things from time to time and look back. What I present to you here is a list of records I liked a lot this year, with some explanation as to why I liked them. Standard caveats apply: firstly, that there is a ton of music released this year that I simply haven’t gotten around to listening to, and if any of that turns out to be good in subsequent listening I’ll try to note it; secondly, that exclusion from this list does not necessarily mean I didn’t like the record, but only that I didn’t love it - every record on this list I would be happy to listen to at will; and thirdly, that this list is in no particular order, because ranking these things seems pretty futile to me - they’re presented instead in iTunes alphabetical order.
(So, yes, this is a completely subjective list. I have no pretensions of critical objectivity. Maybe when I start getting paid to do this, we can talk about that.)
Oh, and as always, if you enjoy getting some good free records, you are encouraged to say so in the comments. (And you can also feel free to discuss/dispute my selections there).
The list:
A.C. Newman - Get Guilty
I really loved his last solo record - it’s really pretty essential listening, if you ask me - and this is not quite as good as that, if I’m being honest. But it’s still a lovely pop record, and after awaiting it skeptically I was surprised to find that several of these songs had wormed their way into my head.
Anti-Pop Consortium - Fluorescent Black
Speaking of being skeptical: I really hoped this record would be good, and was afraid it would be terrible. APC had such a unique sound, and it seemed like things must have just clicked perfectly on “Arrhythmia” such that maybe it couldn’t be replicated. The solo work these guys did certainly suggested that (okay, the Beans records are all right, but nothing great). This wound up being a totally solid record, though. I really need to give it a few more listens, but I’m looking forward to that. I was palpably relieved when I listened the first time.
Best Coast - Where the Boys Are
60’s girl group pop as played by one woman with a four track, and more distortion. Catchy, and if you like noisy lo-fi girls as much as I do, you’ll like this.
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us
I slept on BMSR for a long time; for whatever reason I just never thought they’d be my thing. But for some reason I got turned on to Tobacco’s solo record last year (“Fucked Up Friends”) which was some great psych-pop - rap beats, vintage synths and tons of vocoder. On the strength of that, I gave this a listen and wasn’t disappointed. There’s a great retro feel to the album, but without sounding like a throwback - it still sounds new. And the vocoder on the vocals makes for an effect that I really enjoy - on this and on other records - where you can hear the vocals in the mix, but what the actual lyrics are is obscured and clearly not that important.
Dananananaykroyd - Hey Everyone
I don’t think there’s anything about this record that’s a real obvious pull, but it’s a solidly put together uptempo indie rock record. There’s a lot of exuberance and shouted group vocals; nice energy. You get the sense that these guys probably put on a good live show.
DD/MM/YYYY - Black Square
I especially like the songs on this record with no/downplayed guitar - the sound is kind of like post-punk-influenced-indie-rock (I guess?) but with prominent, buzzy synths.
The Drums - Summertime
It wasn’t that long ago that I posted some songs from this EP on here, so you may remember. But if you don’t: echoey lo-fi with a very noticeable oldies influence. The twist is really pleasant, and very much works.
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
I love “The Soft Bulletin” a lot. Front to back, it is basically a perfect pop record. The subsequent albums, however… They’ve had a few good singles (I don’t really care how many ads/movies/&c. it’s been in, “Do You Realize??” is still an incredible song, and I tend to get a little misty when I hear it), but are mostly completely forgettable otherwise. This record, though, is probably the best overall package since “The Soft Bulletin”, though there aren’t really many standout singles. Still, it’s very nice to see these guys show that they haven’t really given up on making interesting and slightly challenging records.
Flashy Python - Skin and Bones
If you liked Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, you will probably like this. It’s a little less tense, and certainly more accessible than the second CYHSY record, but Alec Ounsworth still has that voice (which sounds great to me, but I suspect is probably divisive, so, yeah).
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Last year, Fuck Buttons made the best noise record I have heard in years. This follow-up was very anticipated by me, and it’s a pleasant change of sound from that debut. Here, that post-shoegaze-ish wash of noise is filtered into four on the floor dance music, which keeps things moving really pleasantly. For techno heads: imagine Chris Liebing and Speedy J, but the distortion’s fuzzier and less crisp.
Girls - Girls
I didn’t really expect to like this record, for some reason. I think maybe that all the hype referenced bands I don’t like, or something like that? But it’s a good record, yeah. Kind of jangly, like some of the more twee indie pop I like, with vocals that definitely rip off a certain 50’s rock and roll sound. The sound does shift around a fair bit, though - “Hellhole Ratrace”, in particular, sort of updates My Bloody Valentine’s “Sometimes”, with the background noise level increasing over the length of the song.
The Horrors - Primary Colours
I know a lot of people hate this band, and admittedly, their press photos make them look pretty silly. I hadn’t heard their first album before listening to this one (I since have; decent but not outstanding garage revivalism), but I’d heard that it was a big stylistic shift for them, and that had me curious. All that said: this is pretty much a neo-shoegaze. Swirly, dreamy, pleasant. Do you like Slowdive? You will probably like this. (Maybe this record is derivative, but really, so what.)
Islands - Vapours
Loved the first album, didn’t get into the second so much, wasn’t sure what to think about this one before listening. But this was easy to like. They’re back to that more upbeat, kind of weird pop sound of the first record, and then there’s “Heartbeat”, which is the best song I’ve heard using autotune possibly ever.
iTAL tEK - Massive Error
iTAL tEK has made some of the better aggressive sounding dubstep I’ve heard (if I recall, he comes from breakcore, which makes sense), but on this EP he mixes it up a bit. There’s a song or two at hip-hop tempo, and a lot of the songs have the ethereal kind of synths that I associate with IDM. And really, IDM revivalism is a quick way to get onto my end-of-year lists.
James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game
I like all of his records, but this one seems to take his style to a logical conclusion. Reichian minimalism as applied to guitar and piano, with a little bit of cello behind it to round it out. Really beautiful, peaceful and thoughtful.
Krallice - Dimensional Bleedthrough
This is not really so different from their album from last year (which, astute readers will recall was on my end-of-year countdown then), but Krallice are still totally awesome. Their last record got me interested in black metal, and I still don’t think I’ve heard any other band working in that genre that satisfies me so much. Lots of dissonance and songs that deliberately don’t resolve. Very tense.
Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights
Similarly, this is not a record that breaks new ground for Lightning Bolt. Did you like “Hypermagic Mountain”? You should, and if you did you will also like this record.
Lullatone - Songs That Spin in Circles
This isn’t really anything terribly new from Lullatone, but they make fairly consistently pretty records. All the toy instruments and sleepy computer sounds I’ve come to expect, making for a peaceful little bedtime pop record.
Magnolia Electric Co. - Josephine
A New Magnolia Electric record isn’t necessarily an exciting thing (though I really do love their output, they’ve got a sound that they usually stick pretty closely to). It doesn’t get switched up too much here, but there’s some good organ here, and maybe a little touch of oldies influence. In short, this doesn’t sound quite as much like Neil Young, which is nice.
Mount Eerie - Wind’s Poem
The Microphones’ “The Glow Pt. 2” is one of my all-time favorite albums, and nothing Phil Elverum has put out since (under that name or the more current Mount Eerie) has really resonated with me on anywhere near that level. It’s not that I don’t like the various Mount Eerie records, but that a lot of them tend to be just guitar and voice, and so sound a little tossed off and/or rambling. This record, though, is something else. He’s said that it’s heavily inspired by black metal, and on a few distortion-heavy tracks that influence is pretty apparent. The rest of the album just borrows the tone and mood from black metal, and in either case the sound really works for him. So much of his work has been imbued with a sense of existential dread and awe, and black metal brings that out quite well (and also sounds really good). This is the first Mount Eerie record that I’m likely to return to.
Mount Kimbie - Maybes / William / Vertical / Taps
Of the stuff people are calling post-dubstep these days (and, sidebar, it is super-weird to me that we’re already post dubstep - it feels like it really hasn’t been around that long, but then I do the numbers and here we are I guess), this record is absolutely the weirdest. Really slow beats - if you can even call something so off-kilter a beat - and a totally different vibe from other dubstep. It’s sort of indirectly like how the Skull Disco folks have done a lot of work in weirdly minimal dubstep, where it’d be a challenge to a club audience to play it, but it’s certainly a different sonic aesthetic that that. Definitely some of the most experimental dance music I’ve heard in ages.
Nisennenmondai - Fan
I’ve previously only heard one record by Nisennenmondai, and honestly I don’t remember it that well (other than that I enjoyed it). This, though, is something else: one 35-minute long song, building very gradually. The first 8 minutes or so sound like a really extended intro to a hard techno song, and when the drums come in they’re doing a four on the floor beat, so you might think this is going to be just some wacky techno. And it is, in a way, but also totally not. Take certain kinds of traditional minimalism, make them rock harder and more overtly psychedelic (but not silly), and it’s maybe kind of like this.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
You’ve almost assuredly heard this record by now, right? Right? So, okay, it’s kind of derivative, but it still sounds great and the songs are fuzzy and catchy and lovely. (Cf. The Jesus and Mary Chain)
Phosphorescent - To Willie
I had thought this would be sort of an ironic hipster tribute record, but it actually comes off really sweet and earnest. I played this for my girlfriend’s mom, who is from Texas and really likes Willie Nelson, and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa
I’m not sure whether I like this album or their mixtape from last year better; they’re both just great. So exuberant, catchy, funky, &c., &c. I have a hard time getting into a lot of African (and “African”) music (I am, I guess, the one guy who doesn’t really like afrobeat), but everything about this record speaks to me. (And let’s bracket for now the issue of two white westerners making “world music” palatable to a white dude in America, please.)
Vivian Girls - Everything Goes Wrong
Is it as good as their self-titled debut? No, probably not - some of the harmonies on that record (e.g., “Where Do You Run To?”) aren’t present here. But it’s a solid listen regardless.
Worriedaboutsatan - Arrivals
I haven’t heard their previous albums (though now they’re definitely on my to-listen list), but I understand they’re basically IDM-meets-post-rock. This record sounds like a band with that background got pretty into minimal techno and replaced a lot of the IDM with that. Which is pretty rad - at times I was reminded of what I was trying to do with my “Lap Top Post Rock” album, but with less crescendo and more techno.
The xx - xx
Again, if you haven’t heard this yet, I’m seriously baffled - it seems like everyone is talking about how great this record is. But, yeah, it’s pretty great. Just the right combination of electronics and real instruments, male and female vocals, and a wonderful use of space. It’s a quiet record that doesn’t sound weak; it sounds like they’re a band that knows where to stretch out, that understands restraint.