According to me, these are the best records that came out in 2009. Enjoy!
Anthemic, inspired guitar pop that dabbles with afrobeat rhythms and offers strong lead vocals. This record is contagiously optimistic without coming off as contrived. Ah, youth.
I actually found Strange House to be charming in an obvious kind of way. When this came out, I expected more of the same from these guys, but what I found was something almost completely different. All the kitsch and spooky gimmicks have been stripped away here, leaving only traces of the macabre atop an early post-punk sound.
More stunning, unabashedly optimistic and upbeat offerings from this unlikely pairing of Euro-crunk Djs Radioclit and Malawian Melodist Esau Mwamwaya. The African influence is immediately felt here, but don't call this worldbeat. This is a more true hybrid of styles than a co-opting of one.
Titling your record "My Maudlin Career" is either the play of a painfully serious or playfully melancholy band. Fans of Camera Obscura know it's the latter, but you'd have to be pretty thick not to get that after the first listen. Bittersweet, captivating pop that flirts with twee, retro pop and country western, but never loses its identity.
I don't know much about this band yet, but this record is killer.The xx offer understated, tidy pop music that favors a minimal approach. Certainly there are plenty of influences here, but this record comes off as refreshingly original, especially in the context of young bands in 2009.
Stephen Wilkinson, the guy behind Bibio, has been putting out decent records for a couple of years. In 2009, he found the perfect blend of folk and dance music one presumes he's been searching for all along. Ambivalence Avenue is the electronic record with an acoustic guitar's soul that defies your ideas about what dance music can be.
I'm just going to be up front about this: I fucking love Bradford Cox. He's brilliant, and he makes heartfelt and deeply personal music that never feels self-indulgent or contrived. On Logos, his second effort as Atlas Sound, Cox hides less behind the reverb and fuzz he's so fond of, letting staggeringly beautiful arrangements float lazily on the surface and stay there.
There isn't a lot left to say about these guys after all the critical acclaim they received in 2009, except that maybe they deserved all of it. MPP is easily Animal Collective's most approachable record to date, as well as their most cohesive. Playful rhythms and lush textures are anchored by singsongy vocals that range from melodic to screaming on this record, and unconventional song structures are its backbone.
Girls frontman Christopher Owens possesses the rare ability to write deeply sad songs that don't all sound like wallowing, sad bastard music. In fact, despite the subject matter of a lot of these songs, they mostly feel hopeful, if a little damaged. You get a similar feeling about Owens, who appears to want you to be more concerned with the song than the guy who's singing it, even though he looks really, really, really weird/interesting. Tear-jerking, jangly guitar pop. Nothing fancy, just really good.
Since I discovered his 2005 release Prefection, I've been a big fan of Cass McCombs' puzzling lyrics and genre-surfing style(s). I considered him a sort of solo, Smiths-era Morrissey for our time; sharing in his sardonic sense of humor, though certainly less despairing.
With his 2009 release, McCombs shattered previous perceptions about his music, leaving little cause for comparison to other artists. The sound here is pared down from previous records, letting simple melody and compelling lyrics take charge. This is a more traditional singer/songwriter approach than McCombs has taken so far, and it works well. Catacombs is said to be a love letter to McCombs' wife, which could be the reason this is the most beautiful record from 2009. I hope it's a sign of things to come.
If you read all that, your prize is being awesome! Congratulations! Happy new year y'all, keep it safe.
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