Sunday, December 27, 2009

Top 10 Albums of 2009

I'm such a horrible writer, but I'm more than willing to put my ninth grade skills on display for the world to see if it means having the chance to sell you on a few of my favorite releases for the past year. And when I say "world to see," that means the 9 or 10 people that will access this entry. Let's go!

1. The xx - xx
What to say about a bunch of 20 year-olds that put out the best album of 2009? Which way does the band go? What happens next? Part of you wants to say that there's no way in hell that they could ever top this one, that it was lightning in a bottle, that the planets aligned perfectly for them to produce such a fine album... On the other hand, looking at their age? They were TWENTY YEARS OLD when they made it, so there's nowhere to go but up, right? After seeing them @ Bottom Lounge on 12/1, I can say that their live show will probably be a lot better when they come back around in April opening for Hot Chip @ The Riv and playing their own gig @ the new Lincoln Hall. Not that their set was bad in any way, I'm just saying that being as young as they are, they'll have more reps under their belt, the album, hopefully, will have gained some momentum, and they'll be one of the hottest tickets in town that week, so I'm thinking that when all those factors add up we'll be seeing a band on the rise, even more so than we did back in early December. Male/female vocals, lots of songs about sex, simple, catchy, sometimes dark riffs and melodies are just a few of the reasons these songs were so easy to get into. I thought that "Intro" set up the album perfectly, especially hearing it for the first time on the iPod walking down a quiet street at night as the weather began to turn cool in early Chicago fall, and by the time "Crystalised" finished up, I knew this was gonna be a contender for #1. They turned me into a salesman. I had to limit the spins I gave this album just to protect myself from burning out on it. I had to ration The xx! I wouldn't shut up about this album for weeks and weeks. I told anyone I knew that would listen to get it for themselves. I had an extra promo copy that I gave to a friend of mine one night and 5 minutes after she left the bar, on her drive home I got a text that read, "holy shit." It was my musical obsession for months until I finally got the Fuck Buttons album.

2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Everyone's #1 album of 2009. When Marty Lennartz was telling me about it at the tail end of 2008, he mentioned that some people were already calling it the best album of 2009, AND IT WASN'T EVEN 2009 YET. How do you live up to hype like that? Oh, right, you're named Animal Collective. Pissed off that I missed 'em early in '09 @ Metro and then missed them again @ Lollapalooza. I can't remember what I was doing that caused me to miss their set at Lollapalooza. I sure as hell hope it wasn't because of this interview. That wouldn't have been a very good tradeoff. Oh, and not only did Animal Collective give us a legendary album in '09, they also found time to release an EP called "Fall Be Kind," that, yes, you guessed it, is brilliant. I had a blast playing "Summertime Clothes" and "My Girls" on XRT a bunch this year, and if you got sick of me slurping this album on the radio over and over again, my apologies, but if you have it, I'm sure you understand.

3. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
WHAT?! THE?! FUCK?! I had their "Street Horrsing" release from 2008 and liked it a lot, especially "Okay, Let's Talk About Magic," but nothing prepared me for this. So many nice things to say about this band. First, their live show in November at The Empty Bottle. I mean, how interesting can two dudes pushing buttons and twisting knobs be live? When the music is as genius and as beautiful as theirs can be, to me, it doesn't really matter how they get it out. They could have the whole damn show pre-recorded on a laptop, hit the play button and fake it for all I care. Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power floored me with this release. This band's sound is incredible. They made me smile when I'd play the '08 release for someone that just couldn't get past their sometimes shockingly abrasive sound, but with this album, someone that wasn't getting 'em before has a chance. You'd think that "The Lisbon Maru" and "Olympians" have most likely pulled some people in that weren't feeling this band before. The beauty of those two songs is immeasurable. I fucking wish I could create something like that.

4. The Raveonettes - In & Out of Control
An album that made me realize how much I liked this band. I'd always liked The Raveonettes but maybe I'd been taking them for granted. Describe to me your sound again. You're part Ronettes and part Jesus & Mary Chain? I'm so in. When the good folks at Terrorbird sent me the first single, "Last Dance," I listened to it eight or nine times that first night. I can remember that night well. It included a nice walk from my place to Liar's Club where some asshole tried to steal a 20 of mine off the bar right in front of me. Have you ever even heard of that? What a bitch. His friend then asked me to step outside, obviously part of a crew of fuckheads looking to start shit with people that night, and even though I know everyone well at that place, the thought of getting pummeled by 4 or 5 guys wasn't too appealing, mostly because it probably would've interfered with the walk home I was looking forward to later that night that would include another 2 or 3 spins for "Last Dance." That, and I'm not much of a fighter. So, I blew it off and DID get to walk home in one piece, and I DID enjoy "Last Dance" 2 or 3 more times. Also, looking at the song titles when I first got the full album, there was one that stuck out more than any other. It was, "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)." Huh? What were they trying to do here? Yeah, we can all agree on that, but how do they fit that message into a song? Can the song be good? Will a strong, heartfelt message be clumsily crammed into an album of pop gems? Not only did they make it work, but it happens to be one of the best songs on the album. Why was I doubting this band? Haven't I learned my lesson yet? Oh, and they're Danish. Big fan of the northern Euro bands. There are a couple others on this list. Of course there is.

5. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Who likes pop? Uh, I do. Who likes Teenage Fanclub? Who likes James? Who likes Ride? Uh, I do, I do and I do. They liked the cornbread muffins I hooked 'em up with @ Pitchfork, too. What kind of hack needs props to interview a band? Uh, I do.

6. The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
"Talks of future with you caves me in." Uh, did I write that? No, and I'm not a huge lyrics guy, but lines like that one and, "As soon as I love her it's been too long," and, "You call out my name for the love you need, which you won't find in me," hit a little close to home in '09. Let's just move on.

7. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
Excellent set from this band @ Schubas on 10/9. What I remember most about it was having a light bulb, smack in the face moment, realizing during their set how nice it is for bands to come along now and again that remind me how much I actually like rock. What's going on here?! No synth-pop? No shoegazing psychedelics? An audience that isn't completely silent and motionless at their live show?! What is this? Oh, it's just a rock 'n' roll band. I almost forgot how rad they can be.

8. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
Speaking of live shows, Fever Ray played Metro on 10/3 and it took me a few songs to remember something about her. About the third song in, amidst the smokescreen and lasers, I remembered that as part of The Knife, Karin Dreijer had this thing about not being seen. Apparently, that carries over to her live performances under the name Fever Ray. Once you get past the fact that there isn't too much to look at, it's becomes about settling in and enjoying the brilliance of her music. And root for Sweden! Abba, I'm From Barcelona, Refused, Peter, Bjorn & John, Shout Out Louds, Lykke Li, The Cardigans, The Sounds, Jens Lekman, Air France, The Legends, The Concretes... Wait a second. A little research shows that the Consulate General of Sweden states that "Sweden is the third largest exporter of music worldwide, behind the U.S. and the U.K." Well, alright! Like I said, root for Sweden!

9. Miike Snow - Miike Snow
Another Swedish export. The Consulate General wasn't fucking around. A band that made everyone smile at the Empty Bottle back on 9/25. That was actually the first time I'd seen them, and it was only because I was there to see the opener, Jack Penate, who actually just missed this list. He's crushed, I'm sure. Not only does another Swedish act make my list, but another Swedish act that's been known to wear masks onstage! (Fever Ray being the other) Whoa! Swedish mask wearers are taking over. More electropop, too. Japandroids and The Big Pink almost had this looking like a rock 'n' roll album list. They'll be back in Chicago on 4/5/10 @ Metro, and do yourself a favor and find the Treasure Fingers remix of "Animal." It's a jam.

10. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
I can honestly understand if someone wasn't getting this album. Grizzly Bear isn't for everyone (maybe a little too sleepy, I guess?), but if some of those same people got to see their sets at Metro at the end of September, they could've been had. The crowd was silent, courteous, and appreciative on those nights. Like, Old Town School quiet. They were there to see and HEAR the band play their songs. The first time I heard "Two Weeks," which was almost assuredly on KCRW w/Mr. Bentley, I stopped what I was doing, found it online, downloaded it immediately, burned copies for Norm (my Program Director), John (Music Director), and Marty (who had it already, I think) and said that we needed to play it ASAP, and that it was the best song I'd heard so far in '09. We did play it a few times, but "Cheerleader" ended up being the song that we spun the most. They played the Pitchfork Music Fest in Union Park back in July and re-recorded one of their songs with Michael McDonald, for crying out loud! How can a year get any better than that?! Oh, and another remix alert... The Fred Falke mixes of "Two Weeks" are incredible.

Top 10 Movies of 2009 coming soon! And if I get off my ass, a top 10 or 25 albums of the decade list, too. Oh, and top 25 songs of 2009 will be up in the next day or two.

Enjoy the winter.

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I play records at WXRT in Chicago. 93.1 on the FM dial. 93xrt.com as well.