Jan 14, 2010
Favorite Albums 2009
So what happened in 2009? The economy went south, MdM posting was slacking, and the world turns gospel and hymn. I guess we have our Simon & Garfunkel moment.
Animal Collective - My Girls
Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
If you want to know why Animal collective is popular, then look no further than early american hymn. This is why so many people like them despite the strange blurry recording, while to others the sound simply doesn’t compute. The danceable rhythm section is just added side attraction. If one carefully follows and sing the album, it has the same effect as singing traditional hymn. It feels good. We are all Mennonite deep down. That is the big secret. (see also similar effect on Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver, Arcade Fire, etc)
Liechtenstein - Sophistication
Survival Strategies in a Modern World (Slumberland Records)
Swedish pop. Yes I know this is an odd pick and the lead singer can use little throat stretch before recording. But for some reason, this becomes my self indulgence album in 2009. It’s that neon purple colored cereal coated with extra sugar. Mom says the cereal will give her cancer just by looking at the oozing color of milk inside the bowl. The secret is to play this album at nearly audible low background volume. It has the exact same effect as eating a bowl of cereal with 3 table spoons of sugar. Your brain instantly bouncing around goes sugar high. Don’t tell mom.
Sholi - November through june
Sholi (Quarter Stick)
My top rock album of the year. It has exotic construction with difficult tempo and keys. Unusually sweet math rock songs. It has dreamy texture balance that comes right out of California drenched on acid. Good trip. Kudos to Touch and Go records for keep supporting difficult cutting edge work.
Ramona Falls - Going Once, Going Twice
Intuit (Barsuk)
A beautiful debut album that hasn’t received a lot of coverage due to somewhat odd release date. At anyrate if Ramona Falls work sounds familiar, it’s because Brent Knopf is one third of menomena. ‘Friend and Foe‘ was all the rage in 2007. Intuit is an album one carries around while traveling because it is so beautiful and timeless.
The Books and José González - Cello Song
Dark Was The Night (4ad)
A compilation album for AIDS benefit by Red Hot Organization. It is who’s who of folks, songwriter and indie rock favorite of the decade. This compilation essentially is a time capsule of what a lot of mp3 blogs are covering mid 00’s decade.
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (Slumberland Records)
Good execution of old formula, comfortable pieces, if not already covered too often. But Brooklyn indie rock has to be represented in the list somewhere right? Plus shoegazer is the official genre around here. Either you buy this album or the last Echo & the Bunnymen album.
Silversun Pickups - Draining
Swoon (Dangerbird)
My limited search this year really shows with this rock album pick. But I can’t help fall back into tried and true comfort zone. I won’t add about how Silversun Pickups sounds like Smashing Pumpkins. Or how Smashing pumpkins in turn is just Metallica repackaged. Look, that’s what pop means.
Peaches - I Feel Cream
I Feel Cream (XL)
Peaches doing her sexy thing again.
DJ Spooky - Heliocentric
The Secret Song (Thirsty Ear)
A sprawling hip-hop work covering Nine Inch Nails, Thurston Moore, Vijay Iyer and Radiohead for inspiration and collaboration. With supposedly big textual theme. The sound is incredibly eclectic. I am still trying to figure out how the songs work together as an album. The experience is closer to watching documentary or reading multimedia magazine instead of traditional hip-hop album. Whatever it is, the individual pieces in it are excellent.
Gui Boratto - Ballroom
Take My Breath Away (Kompakt Germany)
The solution of bickering rock and electro fan without being electro clash redo. It’s danceable house with rock sampling. A head bopper.
Zu - Carbon
Carboniferous (Ipecac Recordings)
Experimental rock or avant jazz? This Italian crew sure knows how to ruin good boundary. Check out the drone and buzz on second half of the song above. That bit draws me back into the album. Playing it at extra high volume helps.
Wiretree - Falling
Luck (Cobaltworks)
Ever wonder what counter balance all those abstract MdM posts? Now you know. There are certain seemingly ordinary and overdone pop rock songs that balance it all. This album is an archetype of the basic and standard. Too much of it and you want to go very abstract and layered. It’s part of the big picture.
see also: Love And Missing Pieces ‘08
image: mel!nka
Smashing pumpkins in turn is just Metallica repackaged.
Does not compute.
You know I’ve been having this conversation recently about poor Mellon Collie and his Infinite Sadness. If you started with 1991 Smashing Pumpkins, they were right there on Gish with a very unique sound that comprised the deliciously textured patchwork quilt of the early grunge moment. Then all of a sudden grunge became popular and people realized they could make money off it, and suddenly all these bands were in competition to make the most heavily produced, blown out of proportion albums in existence. And people *LOVED it*. I mean I’m loosely grabbing here, but really, when you start comparing the themes, production value and complexity of the following albums of the time period you start to see the trend.
Gish > Siamese Dream
Bleach > Nevermind
Mother’s Milk >Bloodsugarsexmagik
Ten > Vs.
Louderthanlove/Badmotorfinger > Superunknown
Core > Purple
Aside from Ten or Core, most people who were way into Grunge/Alternative never even heard the debut albums. And unless they’re nuts for the bands, they didn’t even like them.
Getting back to Corgan - can anyone name the album that came out right after Siamese Dream? Most people can’t, and they’ve never heard of it.
It’s Pisces/Iscariot.
Despite that it was a higher Billboard rating than Siamese Dream, I still find people that have never heard of Pisces or Gish, and this is because ultimately the industry didn’t want to promote experimental music that was outside of a certain type expected sound.
This where you get comments like “Smashing Pumpkins is repackaged Metallica”. It’s not they weren’t making genre bending music, it’s that everything they did that wasn’t post-processed and layered over with fifty violins wasn’t promoted.
Okay rant off.. lol.
They do sound like Smashing Pumpkins though, heh.
Technically PISCES ISCARIOT wasn’t a proper album; it was a B-sides/outtakes album (the 1st of many that the Pumpkins would do, almost as many as they had albums, more if we’re talking in terms of discs).
In case anybody wonders. Heavy metal and all its close cousins from MdM point of view are genres that represent style to get away from because it dominates so much of 80’s rock. (somewhere between Led Zep - Metallica) Influence of major labels probably plays the biggest role in diminishing outlet varieties. In general, the attitude is to ignore them all when possible aside from a historical footnote. Who needs big labels. A dab of arrogant revisionism of style if you will. It makes an amusing thought experiment. It doesn’t mean led zep-metallica et.all contribution will be ignored, just that they won’t receive emphasis. In relation to which sound form the base of MdM beefier rock sound done by more recognized bands, probably closer to late 90’s scene and on (MBV, bunch of TGRec bands, few experimental doom, etc) ….hmmm, probably should do better inventory what MdM has done with hardcore beside punk…
anyway
Album sales figure for comparison…
Metallica:
Kill ‘Em All (1983) ______________ 3 M
…And Justice For All (1988)_____ 8 M
Metallica (1991)________________14 M
St. Anger (2003)_________________2 M
Nirvana
Nevermind (1991) _______________8M
Smashing Pumpkin:
Gish (1991) _________________________________ 1M
Siamese Dream (1993)_______________________ 4M
Pisces Iscariot (1994)_________________________ 1M
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)___ 9M
http://www.mac-archive.com/metallica/sales.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevermind
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Smashing-Pumpkins-593/records-sold.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smashing_Pumpkins
Why is it that I can’t find 299 229 Girls Against Shit by Shit and Shine mentioned on any music bloggers year end lists?
The traditional hymn reference is accurate I think. “My Girls”, “Taste” and “Summertime Clothes” especially.
Squash I totally see and agree with your point. But I now I’m inspired to rustle through my old CD’s and bust out the Mudhoney, make a grunge/alternative playlist. .
But the requirement would be that it’s comprised entirely of stuff before alt/grunge went big.
Sorry, but I’m not finding much here to like. I usually like the music here, but this list isn’t your best, far from it.
the song “The Books and José González - Cello Song” is a really cool cover of a Nick Drake tune!!
thanks for sharing!
you are a breath of fresh air in the stale moon light! thank you so much for your eclectic offerings and introducing me to these great new sounds
psp