Comments on: Top Albums of 2009

By: Matty H

Matty H — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:02:02 +0000

Top LIVE SHOWS of 2009

(available on my blog, showcowgo.com)

60. Moneypenny @ Hideout 8/6
59. Lucero @ Metro 4/10
58. Black Kids @ Metro 4/11
57. Chairlift @ Metro 4/23
56. Sea and Cake @ Millennium Park 6/22
55. M83 @ Pitchfork 7/18
54. The Thermals @ Pitchfork 7/18
53. Frightened Rabbit @ Pitchfork 7/18
52. Kings of Leon @ Lollapalooza 8/7
51. Raveonettes @ Lollapalooza 8/9
50. Snoop Dogg @ Lollapalooza 8/9
49. Pains of Being Pure at Heard @ Logan Square Auditorium 9/8
48. Arctic Monkeys @ Lollapalooza 8/8
47. Women @ Pitchfork 7/18
46. Of Montreal @ Lollapalooza 8/7
45. Cold War Kids @ Lollapalooza 8/9
44. Art Brut @ Green Music Fest 8/15
43. The Sounds @ Double Door 5/7
42. Julian Plenti @ Metro 11/21
41. Tapes n’ Tapes @ Green Music Fest 8/15
40. Wavves @ Chopin Theatre 9/20
39. Elsinore @ Beat Kitchen 9/11
38. Deerhunter @ Lollapalooza 8/9
37. Vampire Weekend @ Lollapalooza 8/9
36. Santigold @ Lollapalooza 8/8
35. Tool @ Lollapalooza 8/8
34. Fleet Foxes @ Lollapalooza 8/7
33. Decemberists @ Lollapalooza 8/7
32. Vivian Girls @ Pitchfork 7/18
31. Grizzly Bear @ Pitchfork 7/18
30. Dirty Projectors @ Millennium Park 6/22
29. Titus Andronicus @ Metro 4/10
28. Los Campesinos! @ Logan Square Auditorium 2/7
27. Born Ruffians @ Metro 3/18
26. Mates of State @ Metro 4/11
25. The Faint @ Metro 4/3
24. Your Villain My Hero @ Cubby Bear 11/14
23. Walkmen @ Pitchfork 7/18
22. Hood Internet @ Hideout 8/6
21. TV on the Radio @ Lollapalooza 8/8
20. Black Moth Super Rainbow @ Millennium Park 6/29
19. Peter, Bjorn & John @ Metro 4/23
18. Tapes n’ Tapes @ Metro 3/7
17. Ratatat @ Metro 3/23
16. Bloc Party @ Aragon Ballroom 3/28
15. Tokyo Police Club @ Metro 3/18
14. Ladytron @ Metro 4/3
13. Blitzen Trapper @ Pitchfork 7/18
12. Silversun Pickups @ Lollapalooza 8/9
11. Stellastarr* @ Double Door 7/23
10. Flaming Lips @ Pitchfork 7/18
9. Bat for Lashes @ Lollapalooza 8/9
8. Cymbals Eat Guitars @ Logan Square Auditorium 9/8
7. White Denim @ Lincoln Hall 11/6
6. Les Savy Fav @ Epiphany 1/31
5. Art Brut @ Schubas 6/8
4. Fucked Up @ Empty Bottle 2/14
3. Opeth @ House of Blues 5/6
2. Japandroids @ Schubas 10/9
1. Dan Deacon @ Lollapalooza 8/9

By: Lauren

Lauren — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:33:48 +0000

Forgot, also liked tUnE-yArDs BiRd-BrAiNs

By: tommyslax

tommyslax — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:41:08 +0000

re: pink mountaintops: arrangments and production. astounding. great hooks too. sounds great on headphones.

By: martellion

martellion — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:24:54 +0000

coming soon: favorite media of the 00’s/aughts/zeroes (whatever you call it)

By: martellion

martellion — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:22:20 +0000

albums i liked a lot:

1. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
2. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
3. Art Brut- Vs. Satan
4. The Thermals – Now We Can See
5. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – s/t
6. Girls – Album
7. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
8. King Khan & BBQ Show – Invisible Girl
9. Japandroids – Post-Nothing
10. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
11. Robyn Hitchcock – Goodnight Oslo
12. A Sunny Day in Glasgow – Ashes Grammar

liked these but not as much:

13. Vivian Girls – Everything Goes Wrong
14 Morrissey – Years of Refusal
15. A Place to Bury Strangers – Exploding Heads
16. Silversun Pickups – Swoon
17. Them Crooked Vultures – s/t
18. St. Vincent – Actor
19. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
20. Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications
21. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
22. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
23. Sonic Youth – The Eternal
24. Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer
25. Islands – Vapours
26. Dan Deacon – Bromst
27.Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
28. Mos Def – The Eternal
29. Wavves – s/t

annoyance>>enjoyment:

1. Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
2. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
3. The xx – s/t
4. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
5. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms

think i will like these if i listen to them:

1. Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs
2. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
3. The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa
4. The Dead Weather – Horehound
5. Sondre Lerche – Heartbeat Radio

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:33:59 +0000

Ohhhh the new albums I’ve listened to are starting to come back to me…. Tom, Pink Mountaintops? Sure their first album was a kind-of one-night-standdimensional, but I don’t see the any depth or worth in Outside Love, and the placid performance they gave in support of that album does.support.my.view. The only time any people danced in that near-full show was when they played a non-Outside Love song.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:07:25 +0000

Barely listened to anything new this year, sadly.
Of what I did manage to get my hands on, these were my standout faves:

Antlers – Hospice
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
St. Vincent – Actor

Didn’t know there was a new Islands. Will have to check it out.

By: tommyslax

tommyslax — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:40:05 +0000

I can’t rank anything properly so I won’t but here’s some words

Islands-Vapours is the record of the year, and better than anything the Unicorns ever did.

Except maybe Super Furry Animals-Dark Days/Light Years is better. Probably listened to “Inaugural Trams” more than any song this year.

Pink Mountaintops ARE still releasing good albums, Joe Murphy, and Outside Love is their best record yet, and proooobably better than anything recorded under the Black Mountain moniker.

I like that Jason Lytle record a lot. The beginning few songs thru “Ghost of My Old Dog” is probably the best mini-stretch of music I heard.

Uh, there’s probably more but mostly I’ve just listened to Brian Eno on shuffle for the past few months so that’s all I can really think of.

By: Matty H

Matty H — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:21:32 +0000

Ok I finished my list. It’s posted on my blog here:
http://showcowshow.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-albums-of-2009.html

but here’s the list:

25. Jason Lytle, Yours Truly, The Commuter: As close as we’re going to get to new Grandaddy.

24. Spinnerette, Spinnerette (review here): As close as we’re going to get to new Distillers.

23. Dead Weather, Horehound: Can’t remember the last time a “super group” put out a solid album.

22. Manchester Orchestra, Mean Everything to Nothing: Overwrought, but there’s some gems here.

21. Metric, Fantasies: Oh the ear worm!

20. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: Overrated, as their earlier material was far better, but nice to see some recognition.

19. Silversun Pickups, Swoon: I make no apologies for being a massive SP fan. This album rocks.

18. White Rabbits, It’s Frightening: A disappointment compared to the prior release, but it’s still well above average.

17. Wavves, Wavves: The lo-fi is played out, but there is beauty amidst the sludge.

16. Lilly Allen, It’s Not You It’s Me: What was most surprising about this album was after listening to it once I didn’t hate it. The more I listened, the more I got sucked in. It’s not high art, but there’s some artistry at play.

15. Lamb of God, Wrath: Best death metal album of the year.

14. Julian Plenti, …Is Skyscraper (review here)

13. Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca: Unlike earlier DP albums, you can actually listen to this one! It’s always good to hear prog go mainstream, and when it works like this does, it’s truly notable.

12. Art Brut, Art Brut vs. Satan: Always a better live band, AB nevertheless put together a highly listenable, themed album with some punch.

11. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion: The only AC album I can tolerate, which says a lot.

10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz!: The weakest YYY album of the last several, but it’s still a YYY album, so how can it be bad? Let’s just hope they don’t continue to advance the dance theme further.

9. Beirut, March of the Zapotec: A deceptively catchy album that is typically off-the-wall Beirut and also heart wrenchingly beautiful.

8. The Bird and The Bee, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future: A sultry, breathy album of mid-tempo pop that manages to effectively combine beauty, skill, and enjoyment. An extremely rare feat.

7. Eagle and Talon, Thracian (review here): Oh man is this good. I mean, really really good. There’s nothing as good as stumbling across an unknown commodity and it turning out to be a rare gem. This is this year’s High Places (not in terms of style, but in terms of quality), who I also absolutely adore.

6. Japandroids, Post-Nothing: Lots of ink has been spilled about this album across the blogosphere, but thankfully it’s all true. One of the stellar debuts of the year that has garnered repeat listening, and deserves even more.

5. Ida Maria, Fortress ‘Round My Heart: The girl rawk that Vivian Girls only wishes it could make.

4. Stellastarr*, Civilized: For a band that has only occasionally been brilliant, they release their most solid record to date. Every track is strong, catchy, and skillfully mastered.

3. Mastodon, Crack the Skye: mainstream metal goes more mainstream/crossover, but the chops and songcraft have never been better.

2. Cymbals Eat Guitars, Why There Are Mountains: You can’t help but be sucked into this album from the very opening note. Sure, there is inevitable filler at times, but easily among the strongest debut albums – top to bottom – creatively and interestingly in years.

1. XX, xx (review here): This band is as equally likely to burn out and never be heard from again as it is to be a breakout star for many years to come. The only headphone album this year that gets better with repeated listen. A subtile yet powerful masterpiece debut. Here’s to hoping for more to come.

By: jj

jj — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:29:12 +0000

Ok – here goes….

01. Why? – Eskimo Snow
02. Jason Lytle – Yours Truly, The Commuter
03. King Creosote – Flick the Vs
04. Islands – Vapours
05. Super Furry Animals – Dark Days Light Years
06. Atlas Sound – Logos
07. Pink Mountaintops – Outside Love
08. Animal Collective – Post Merriweather Pavillion
09. Reigning Sound – Love and Curses
10. Papercuts – You Can Have what you Want

11. Raekwon – Only Built for Cuban Linx Pt II
12. Nathan Fake – Hard Islands
13. Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health
14. Junior Boys – Begone Dull Care
15. Wilco – Wilco
16. Malajube – Labryinthes
17. Amadou & Mariam – Welcome to Mali
18. Robyn Hitchcock – Goodnight Oslo
19. Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs
20. King Khan – Invisible Girl