At the behest of another member of the KYMN staff, I’ve decided to post my top ten albums and top ten songs of 2009, for your reading, and possibly listening pleasure. If you are an avid listener of the KeYMN Radio Show, you may be familiar with my musical tastes, and you may even be familiar with some of the albums or songs listed. If you aren’t, here’s a great time to get acquainted with some excellent music.
Top Ten Albums
1. Yo La Tengo- Popular Songs
For a band that’s over 20 years old, the last 12 is where Yo La Tengo have hit their stride, as far as putting out pretty consistently good and slightly similar records, further propelling them into indie-rock royalty and cult status. The band has found a formula that works—feedback ladened rockers, tender moments, and 10+ minute epics. On Popular Songs the band infuses some Motown (“If It’s True”) and funk (“Periodically Double or Triple”) into the equation to craft this batch of catchy tunes.
2. Wye Oak- The Knot
Released just slightly over a year after their debut, Wye Oak expand on the sound they introduced themselves with—elements of jangle-pop mix with the shoegaze of Sonic Youth and the accessibility of the aforementioned Yo La Tengo—but it’s a sound all their own. Pedal steels and lush string arrangements compliment the two-piece band—guitar and drums. But it’s the lyrics that really stand out—songs about finding a dead body in your back yard (“Mary Is Mary”) and songs about falling out of love (“Take It In”) haunt you every time you listen.
3. The Twilight Sad- Forget The Night Ahead
On their second LP, Scotland’s The Twilight Sad bridge the gap between the sometimes inaccessibility that was found on their first effort from 2007, with a new straight-forward approach to songwriting. Sure, there’s still lots and lots of feedback and guitar droning. It wouldn’t be a Twilight Sad album without it. But the band embraces it’s “shoegaze meets U2” labeling, and on some songs, they aim for arena rock heights. The great thing about this record is they never miss. The lyrics are still ambiguous and unsettling (see “The Room”), the cover art is still horrifying (oh god, what is happening there?), and the lead singer’s Scottish accent is still what makes this band one to watch.
4. Wheat- White Ink, Black Ink
This album was a long time coming for me—I heard the demos in the summer of 2008, and the record was released roughly a year later. Wheat is a band that continues to amaze, and continue to progress musically. From making “downer rock,” as a friend of mine calls it, in the 90’s with their first two records, to well-polished “jangle pop,” as I call it, with their foray into the majors in 2003, to a frustrating and misunderstood concept album about loss, released two years ago after practically breaking up, to this—White Ink, Black Ink combines the bands past with a somewhat sunny sounding outlook on the future.
5. Doveman- The Conformist
You either love Thomas Bartlett’s voice, or you can’t stand it. There’s no in between. On his third proper album as Doveman, Bartlett is joined by members of The National. The Conformist plays out like a break-up record, and the songwriting has never been tighter—musically speaking. Gone are the meandering interludes that were in between every song on his last LP, and what replaces it is like nothing Bartlett has really done before. National frontman Matt Berninger sings back up on quite a few of these songs—specifically “The Best Thing” which barely rises above a whisper, but stays with you long after you are done listening.
6. Land of Talk- Fun and Laughter EP
EPs can be tricky. Some are debut efforts by new bands, some are cash grabs by well-established bands, and then there’s this Land of Talk EP. From the opening track, which startles me still every time I hit play, you know the band’s not here to mess around. The Canadian three-piece is still a relatively young band, and they spent the fall of 2008 touring with Broken Social Scene, but have been very quiet since then. Whether this EP is bridging the gap between a new full length effort, or if it was just to get these four songs out to the masses, it doesn’t matter—what matters is how good this is.
7. A Place to Bury Strangers- Exploding Head
I think the album title pretty much sums this up. If you know anything about APTBS, you know that they claim to be the “loudest band in the world,” that they offer you “total sonic annihilation,” and that their live show show that, in the past, has been shut down by the police. But what’s funny about their sophomore LP is that it is so much more accessible to a casual listener than their self-titled debut from 2007. Heck, this stuff gets played on 89.3 The Current now. But just because it’s more accessible doesn’t mean the distortion has been turned down on the guitar, or the reverb hasn’t been removed from the vocals. Because it’s all still there. It’s just been honed in to a manageable level that makes this an enjoyable record to listen to.
8. F–k Buttons- Tarot Sport
Last year, when the debut F–k Buttons record came out, I was playing it one night, and my wife thought it sounded like “people being murdered.” The good news for her, and everyone else who thought Street Horrrsing was a terrifying listen, is that this sophomore LP is not like people being murdered, but possibly computers. The primal howls and throat-bleeding screams are gone now, and replaced with heavy beats and even heavier keyboards. For a band with such a confrontational and somewhat offensive name (when I play them on the radio, I just call them “Buttons”) this two-man band from the UK has really traded in that nightmarish sound for something entirely more accessible, and strangely danceable.
9. Ciao, My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy
Somewhere, buried deep within the 40+ tracks included on the iTunes “Bonus Edition” of this benefit/tribute album, is a very concise 80-minute album that fits on one c.d. The main disc, comprised of 21 songs, makes use of marquee names attached to this project—Thom Yorke, The National, Michael Stipe, Dinosaur JR, and Frank Black are all featured early on. The 20 bonus tracks available from the iTunes store are hit-or-miss, and a lot of them are by band so obscure, that I hadn’t even heard of them (have you heard of a band called Butterflies of Love? I think not.) Whether your use this record as a jumping off point to hear some super obscure bands, or to hear new material from your favorite popular recording artists—the real reason that this album matters is the man who wrote these songs: Mark Mulcahy. Mulcahy fronted a 1980’s college rock band named Miracle Legion, and then went on to release three very excellent solo albums in more recent years. You may even know him as the man behind the soundtrack to the television program “The Adventures of Pete and Pete.” Mulcahy’s wife passed away suddenly last year, and in an effort to raise funds for him to keep performing as a musician and still be a dad to his young twin daughters, artists influenced by Mulcahy stepped up and got this album together. Whether you buy the iTunes version, or the physical single disc edition—liner notes include a heartbreaking essay by Mulcahy—or if you buy both (you should), you should use this opportunity to discover a great, and unfortunately underrated songwriter.
10. Hurricane Bells- Tonight Is The Ghost
Whenever you get a vanity project, or a side project going, there’s always the risk that it’s just going to sound like your other band, only slightly less like the other people in the band, and slightly more like you. Steve Schlitz, the front man of Brooklyn’s shoegazey/jangle-poppy Longwave, recorded this short collection of songs on his own time into his laptop. He was going to release it on his own in 2010, but a moderately large indie label stepped in and put it out digitally this fall—thanks in part to his placement on the “New Moon” soundtrack. Musically, some of the guitar solos are very Longwave-y, but that’s okay. From the epic opening track “This Year,” to some of the more quiet moments, it showcases Schlitz’s songwriting abilities outside of the constraints of his band.
Top Ten Songs
1. “Take It In” by Wye Oak
Usually, for what I consider the best songs of the year, I try to pull things that weren’t included on my best albums of the year list. Because I don’t know if it’s always necessary to keep showering the same group/album with praise. But man, I tell you—no song released this year affected me the way that “Take It In” did. Where do I even start on this one? Do I start with Jenn Wasner’s quiet/loud/quiet guitar playing, or her half sleepy/half saddened vocal delivery? Or do I start with the lyrics—lines like “we are both the same; unwell,” what works as a refrain- “I turn to smoke when you need air. I’m sorry baby, I don’t care,” or the final haunting line of the song- “I’ll take it back, I’ll take it in ‘til I’ll never need air again.” “Take It In” proves that you don’t have to write a sparse song, musically speaking, to create one of the saddest songs I have ever heard.
2. “The Room” by The Twilight Sad
Again, continuing to shower praise upon my third favorite album of 2009, but really, this is a song that I cannot exclude from this list. Appearing originally as an acoustic demo in 2008 called “Untitled 27” on a tour only release, the song exceeds it’s maximum potential here. All the elements of the Twilight Sad come together—driving rhythms, guitar feedback, the Scottish dialect of frontman James Graham, the anthem-like quality that this song reaches, and above everything else: the terrifying and ambiguous song lyrics. What is “The Room” even about? Somebody did something they weren’t supposed to, because they “failed to care,” and now a woman is injured possibly? Or worse? This song is giving me chills and I’m not even listening to it right now.
3. “The Best I Ever Had” by Drake
Yes, I am not kidding. This year was the year I fully embraced listening to “contemporary urban radio,” and oh what a year it was. Drake had me at the “hair tied/sweatpants/chillin’ with no make up on” line, and it only gets better from there (wait until he explains why he is called a referee.) The casual delivery of his rhymes over the infectiously laid-back beat made the one of the best summertime jams of 2009.
4. “Two Weeks” by Grizzly Bear
Three years ago, Grizzly Bear were a music blog secret—a small band creating strange, atmospheric, folky records, that were barely listened to by anyone outside of the Pitchfork demographic. Somehow they honed their songwriting abilities to create one of the catchiest pop songs I have encountered in a long time. From the doo-woppy piano, and the tight harmonies sprinkled throughout—it may stand out like a sore thumb in comparison to some of their other tracks, but it stands out as one of the best this year.
5. Four of the six songs that Radiohead and/or Thom Yorke are responsible for
Since springing In Rainbows on an unsuspecting public in 2007, Radiohead have sort of become masters of surprise. This year, the band was responsible for releasing two songs, while front man Thom Yorke released four. As a fan of the band (some of you may have known that), I am practically contractually obligated to include some of them on this best of list. Of the six released, four were excellent and two were….okay. So here’s a sub-ranking of these, for your reading pleasure:
• “All For The Best” by Thom Yorke- the lead off track from the Mark Mulcahy Tribute project. Yorke puts his trademark electronica spin on a Miracle Legion-era track. Here, Yorke also sings harmony with his brother Andy.
• “Hearing Damage” by Thom Yorke- in one of the bigger eyebrow raising moments of 2009, this track popped up on the New Moon soundtrack. Uncertain if this was recorded for usage in the movie, this sounds more thought out than an out-take from Yorke’s 2006 solo effort.
• “These are My Twisted Words” by Radiohead- apparently released as a sign of things to come from the studio, the band dropped some knowledge back in August after days of internet rumors swirling around about the prospect of a new Radiohead single. It meanders, and at times feels like it wants to go in a direction it never does, this song shows that the band still isn’t afraid to try something different—i.e.: not sounding like Radiohead.
• “Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses” by Thom Yorke- on In Rainbows, the band released a song called “Reckoner,” using the title of a very very old track that was never recorded. Here, Yorke uses the leftover lyrics from the original “Reckoner” to create a dubby, echoy, wonderfully self-indulgent single.
6. “Young Hearts Spark Fire” by Japandroids
A relatively young band out of Canada, the Japandroids’ buzz preceded the release of their LP Post Nothing and the buzz was cut short at times due to a twice-delayed tour. All that aside though, hearing this song for the first time was like a punch in the face. Sure, all their songs are about being young and reckless, but at 26, hearing that line “we used to dream, but now we worry about dying,” hit home harder than it should have. The music is loud and sloppy. But sometimes that’s just like life.
7. “So Far Around The Bend” by The National
Recorded as part of a charity album curated by the Dessner brothers (one set of bros that make up The National), it was nice to hear a new song from the band who has been taking what seems like forever to record a follow up to Boxer. The parts that make up a great song by The National are all featured on this track- added instrumentation by wood winds, excellent drumming by Bryan Devendorf, and of course, clever lyrics by Matt Berninger.
8. “This Tornado Loves You” and “People Got A Lotta Nerve” by Neko Case
So yeah, I’m putting two songs in this slot, what are you going to do about it? I am a bit uneducated in the ways of Neko Case, but if you listen to public radio at all this year, these two singles from her Middle Cyclone effort were inescapable. Not to pigeon hole Ms. Case into writing things that sound similar, but both songs prominently feature phrases that are repeated– “I left the motherless, fatherless” in “Tornado,” and “I’m a maneater,” in “People.” What’s really great about both of these is their imaginative and heavily metaphorical lyrics.
9. “Velvet” by The Big Pink
The Big Pink kind of came out of nowhere this summer, to literally dominate indie radio airwaves with their second single “Dominoes.” But the underlying darkness in the sound of their debut single, “Velvet” is really where it’s at. The rhythm drives, the programming adds an extra layer onto what is already a pretty well written song, and the squalling guitar feedback at the end punctuates what is said with the lyrics.
10. “This Maudlin Career” by Camera Obscura
The music is a clear throwback to the pop of yesteryear, but the chorus of this song is what made it one of the greatest- “This maudlin career has come to an end, I don’t want to be sad again.”
