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Last Active 02-01-18 2:34 am
Joined 10-09-07
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| Top 10 Albums Of 2009
Anyone else fill out Pitchfork's best of 2009 poll? Anyways I did and decided to expand a little on it with my top 10 and why they are such. Enjoy! | | 1 |  | Camera Obscura
My Maudlin Career
It couldn't be anything else. No other band in the last few years has captured my imagination like Camera Obscura. The irresistible hooks, the soaring instrumentals, the yearning melancholy, Tracyanne Campbell's tender croon; their music shines with charm and beauty. With 2009's My Maudlin Career, their most consistent work, Camera Obscura is now solidly one of my top five favorite bands. | | 2 |  | The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
TPOBPAH revive so many old sounds ('90s Britpop, lo-fi shoegaze) that to deliver a debut as fresh-sounding as this is in 2009 is a major accomplishment. As their video for "Everything With You" suggests, this album of uplifting, fuzzy dream rock could soundtrack the best times of your young adult life. The moral: Live your best life. | | 3 |  | Japandroids
Post-Nothing
In an overflowing online universe of music reviews and opinion, it's fascinating to me that so many have come to the same translation of Post-Nothing's sound: young freedom. Japandroids are all-or-nothing rockers that drop frantic drumming and furious riffs to release their can't-sit-still zest for life. This album gets you out of your over-thinking head and into your life. | | 4 |  | Neon Indian
Psychic Chasms
Psychic Chasms lives in a world of colorful hallucinations and kaleidoscopes of sight and sound. Neon Indian lifts '80s synths and chirpy electronics to make an album that's part dance, part chillout electronica, and all fun. The album-long groove is irresistible, especially on "Terminally Chill" which is the year's best song. | | 5 |  | fun.
Aim and Ignite
fun.'s debut is so dense with slick hooks and bursting melodies that you soon realize you're hearing an album's worth of quality power pop singles. "Power pop" only hastily describes it; there's some Queen in there, as well as Nate Ruess's former band the Format, among other influences. Above all, fun. is truth in advertising. | | 6 |  | Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion
One of the year's most enchanting albums, Merriweather Post Pavilion absolutely engulfs you in it's glow party dream world. On "In the Flowers", the pounding drums after "if I could just leave my body for the night" always send chills up my spine. Aside from some sleepers in the album's mid-section, MPP is abounding in warm psychedelic pleasures. This is Animal Collective for the masses. | | 7 |  | Grizzly Bear
Veckatimest
This album had a long winter for me. It's an extreme case of an album appearing plain and one-dimensional at first that then (very) gradually blooming with all its drama, intrigue and skillful design coming to light. Veckatimest is carefully composed and expertly crafted, with the group's chamber choir vocals carrying the album's mostly subdued melodies as well as operatic major pieces like "Two Weeks" and "While You Wait For the Others". | | 8 |  | Dirty Projectors
Bitte Orca
Any indie album that can be described as "unclassifiable" and "accessible" is almost guaranteed to be a hit, and Bitte Orca is exactly that. From the delicate acoustics on the catchy "Temecula Sunrise" to bass-driven beats on "Stillness is the Move" to David Longstreth's offbeat falsetto, Bitte Orca can't be pinned down. The constant, however, is its bountiful charm and unique brand of pop. | | 9 |  | Ramona Falls
Intuit
A low-key release, Ramona Falls accomplishes beautiful acoustic and lush orchestral songs in the vein of Sufjan Stevens, but refreshingly, he makes it sound much easier. His smoothly flowing melodies and layered-vocal harmonies combine to form a beautifully original style of music that stays with you long after its 44 minutes. This hidden gem is the most underrated album of the year. | | 10 |  | No Age
Losing Feeling EP
It's just a 14-minute EP, but it's everything about No Age that's to get excited about. A seamless blend of sleepy atmospherics and noise rock makes this a mesmerizing, highly replayable excursion. If this project had become a full sized LP, it would have been higher up this list. | |
bungy
12.11.09 | Oh shit only top of '09 list with 9 on it. props | Trundle
12.11.09 | Can't really comment on the list snce I don't listen to any of these, but what the hell is your profile pic of? | klap
12.11.09 | love your cojones for number 1, really great album. write more reviews bro | timbo8
12.11.09 | That's the hidden camera catching Marion Barry doing crack in 1990. Thanks klap4music, I'm gonna try to do at least a couple reviews this month. | Prophet178
12.11.09 | 9 is really underrated. | jrowa001
12.11.09 | i probably shouldve included 1 in the list i made today but it hasnt really hooked me all that much like her previous album did. i didnt care a whole lot for 8. its ok i guess. | timbo8
12.11.09 | *their previous album. To be fair, Camera Obscura is alot more than just Tracyanne Campbell. | DDconjoined
12.11.09 | good list dude, been seeing a lot of reviews & hype about a few of these this year..but never got to hearing them ie. fun MPP etc. this list may force me to check em out. cheers DD | Kyle
12.11.09 | Ramona Falls album is great. |
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