Top 15 Albums of 2009

15. Troubadour by K'naan

In so many ways, this is the Somali-Canadian's coming out party. A man of poetry, K'naan (Keinan Abdi Warsame) has evolved from an unknown Canadian poet fighting for support for his home country to an all world musician, internationally renowned and incredibly refined in his craft. Troubadour is seamless: a marvel in modern alternative hip-hop, with a variety of interesting guests (most worthy of note is Kirk Hamett from Metallica on the track If Rap Gets Jealous). K'naan's work has grown in such leaps and bounds, his songs Wavin' Flag has been chosen as the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. If there was any doubt who this Canadian rapper was before, this album sheds all doubt aside.

Wavin' Flag (World Cup Celebration Remix) by K'naan. CLICK HERE!!!




14. It's Blitz by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Now this is a band that is full of surprises. Their neo-punk debut remains one of my favourite albums, with its quick drums and raw screams. Their sophomore effort was a lot more reserved, but turned more towards an acoustic-indie vibe. Now veterans of the New York scene, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs return with a techno album? What?!? This band is a lot like the fashion it preaches: trendy, unique and ever-changing. Luckily (and sometimes unluckily for the listening public), this is a band that loves trying different things on and knows how to pull off every outfit with a certain level of intrigue. Karen O may be the voice everyone recognizes, but the person who deserves the most accolades for this work is drummer Brian Chase, who often allows himself to take a back seat to a drum machine to make a track work. As always, this band continues to develop brilliance.

LISTEN HERE!!! Zero by Yeah Yeah Yeahs





13. Bromst by Dan Deacon

There isn't much negative I can say about an album like this. Something interesting happens on every turn and every synthesized note is something special. Electronica has challenged me in a lot of ways in the past, as a lot of the time it just felt too simple. However, throughout his entire career, Dan Deacon has produced some of the most interesting feats of computerization the world has seen. Much of his earlier work remains lost through time, but on Bromst and Spiderman of the Rings, we see incredible diversity. This one leaves me with few words, so I'll say nothing more than this album is fucking awesome.

Listen to Snookered by Dan Deacon HERE!!!!!





12. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

This is something rare: a pure pop album that I absolutely love. The Pains are a band that I haven't heard of for very long, but that have taken control of a good chunk of my playlists. This band takes a chapter from the book of college rock/shoegaze bands of the 80's and 90's. Their brand of dream pop is lovely, elaborate and, interestingly enough, incredibly catchy. Their self-titled effort only further elaborates this notion. Even though it's the most poppy of their works to date, it's probably their best. Think My Bloody Valentine with sunshine and rainbows attached.

Young Adult Friction by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart





11. Ashes Grammar by A Sunny Day in Glasgow

The sophomore effort from A Sunny Day in Glasgow saw the changing of the guard on an already fantastic lineup. With broken bones and lost faith, instead of giving up, 4 new members were added to this band's permanent roster. However, with all this change, the sound remains the same. ASDIG's brand of ambient pop awesomeness has been unparalleled in the 21st century thus far. Ashes Grammar is an out-of-body experience, as if we're hearing smells or seeing what we touch. That being said, we feel relatively comfortable in how cryptic it all is, like we're exactly where we're supposed to be immersed in a wall of sound. This 22-song behemoth of mellow music is stunning throughout.

Listen to Failure by A Sunny Day in Glasgow here





10. Post-Nothing by Japandroids

Vancouver's Japandroids have delivered one of this year's most prominent performances. The duo have taken simplicity in rock (guitar and drums) and turned it into something remarkably listenable and very human. Let's start with the obvious: this album is sludgy and youthful. Everything about this work, created by guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse, is a powerhouse, delivering speed and craft in the instrumentation. The guitar screams on songs like Young Hearts Spark Fire, and groans on tracks like I Quit Girls. The drums, to borrow a phrase, are cyclonic, pulsating through the veins of this album and delivering an up-tempo brand of college rock that would give J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. a hard-on. The lyrics leave something to be desired, but this band's future is cemented with this landmark debut.

Listen to Young Hearts Spark Fire here!!!!!!!!!





9. xx by The xx

A second debut album comes to us from London, England. The xx is a mellow, dreamy outfit. As Japandroids won me with raw power, The xx did the exact opposite, being serene and sublime. This album's ambiance reminds me of a less noisy My Bloody Valentine with the mood it sets. The vocal work of Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft is particularly of note. On songs like Crystalised, the question/response feeling their vocals sends chills and makes the listener weak. A band of 20-somethings has done something seemingly impossible: created an entrancing, precisely-crafted debut album that is minimalistic and grandiose at the same time. There's something to be said about an album that can be this quiet and have such a profound impact.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE XX!!!!!





8. Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors

Critics this year have leaned towards brands of experimental indie in 2009. While the term experimental is rather broad, I can say without a doubt that New York's Dirty Projectors cannot be described using a single label. Ever since the band's inception early this decade, David Longstreth and company have become stylistically groundbreaking with their new brand of art rock. This brand reaches its pinnacle with Bitte Orca: a work of ingenious, often dubious experimental tracks that possess outstanding vocals and even greater instrumentation. Of particular note is Temecula Sunrise. Beginning with a ticklish guitar riff, the temperature rises and boils into a passionate vocal crescendo. The entire thing is folkloric, powerful, captivating and is ultimately what Dirty Projectors are all about.

Temecula Sunrise by Dirty Projectors





7. ...And the Ever Expanding Universe by The Most Serene Republic

The Most Serene Republic are enigmatic in the best possible way. Their music can be described as anywhere between anthemic and overwhelming, but with their latest release, ...And the Ever Expanding Universe, they have bridged the gap between pure melodic chaos and gleeful synthpop a lot more successfully than in previous attempts. While I am more appreciative of the obtuse immersions seen in their first two albums, this one has moments of fantasy (Patternicity) as well as pure pop brevity (Phi). The greatest thing I can say about The Most Serene Republic is that they are merely a test tube baby at this point. Their work is anything but homogeneous, but that being said, they don't have a long way to go for it to be truly sublime.

A really cool video for Heavens to Purgatory by The Most Serene Republic





6. Monoliths and Dimensions by Sunn O)))

Drone is never something to be taken lightly. Albums that lack fixed time signatures, vocals...or even melodies are very difficult to take in for average listeners. I myself was part of that group, even with Sunn O)))'s (pronounced "sun", named after the amplifier company) latest feat of drone metal supremacy, Monoliths and Dimensions. Initially, the decency of this album was difficult to fathom; most of the time, all you hear is blaring guitar fuzz. But the brilliance of this album dawned on me when I got lost in it. This music is about being lost: taking something bold and chaotic and just allowing yourself to be immersed by it. And immersed I definitely was.

Big Church by Sunn O))). CLICK HERE!!!





5. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix

Released about 30 years past its disco prime, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a record that is irreparably catchy. The marvel in it is not the power the songs deliver, but the frequency with which we remember them. I can distinctly remember times where I have listened to songs like 1901 over and over again throughout an entire afternoon, simply because it is so damn catchy. What Phoenix has delivered with this album is something prestigious and catchy: an album that is so tightly constructed with so much poise, yet somehow still forces us to get up and dance. It's a wondrous disco renaissance, much like MGMT a few years back.

1901 by Phoenix. LISTEN HERE!!!!!!!!





4. The Incident by Porcupine Tree

It's no secret that my affinity for Porcupine Tree would naturally put their album in high standings. That being said, Steven Wilson and company went to great lengths for their 60+ minute composition known as The Incident. We naturally hear the influences of early progressive acts, as with every PT work, but Wilson explores a more broad range of musical styling, including metal, drone, electronic and many others. The concept behind the music is also fascinating: we tend to associate incidents with the unfortunate things we shelter, so Wilson and company would like to give a voice to the voiceless. In this pursuit, we see monumental PT works and a few generic pop blunders. However, the work as a whole is a welcome and incredible addition to an already vast PT repertoire.

Listen to Time Flies by Porcupine Tree






3. Vekatimest by Grizzly Bear

This Brooklyn band is something else. Being hailed by all-world music outfits like Radiohead and music critics the world over, Grizzly Bear have quickly risen from once anonymity to the absolute forefront of indie music. Their third release, Vekatimest, soars high above the lofty heights of its predecessors. While Knife and Horn of Plenty were both fantastic, the synth-pop mastery of songs like Two Weeks and Ready, Able put this work over the top. A variety of vocals, instrumental compositions and an overall brilliant musical display have put this album on top of many critics charts. Frankly though, the thing I find most stunning about Vekatimest is that despite it's praise as a revolution in experimental rock, it is incredibly easy to listen to and like.

Listen to Two Weeks!!!!!!





2. Insurgentes by Steven Wilson

This is the album I was expecting from Steven Wilson this year. Right from the start, this work soars to great heights and never lets go. Wilson extends his musical imagination beyond the realm of traditional Porcupine Tree, working towards drone influences and classic rock undertones. Yet in this work, we are able to see a more human side of Wilson that isn't always visible in his works with PT. We hear tortured beauty and the soul of a musician elaborated through songs of his caliber. While some songs are noticeably PT, like Harmony Korine for instance, Wilson's own work is distinct on tracks like No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun and Get All You Deserve: elaborate riffs and thunderous guitar crunches, things that chill and thrill you equally. We see a much darker dynamic in Wilson's music that is haunting, personal and incredibly brilliant. An outstanding solo album.

Harmony Korine and a haunting video HERE





And the #1 album of 2009 is...







1. Merriweather Post Pavillion by Animal Collective

Where do I even begin with the brilliance of Merriweather Post Pavillion. This album came out in January of 2009 and was slated to be the best album of the year even then. 12 months later, I'm still listening to it on a regular basis, its songs make up 4 of my top 10 most listened to, and its overall greatness hasn't even slightly faded in my mind. If anything, it's gotten better.

The first thing to note is how seamless it all is. Despite the eclectic nature of the songs being created, this band has been able to take the trippiest of riffs and slide it perfectly into a slot between two mellow, off-time mixes. The production quality is off the charts, no steps are missed when it comes to the development of MPP.

We are also able to see how great this album is in the phenomenal sounds it produces. Opening with In the Flowers, we become bewildered and confused, not knowing exactly what to expect. However, as soon as we hit the opening rhythms of the tour-de-force that is My Girls, we know we're somewhere mystical and bewildering. Escalating from Also Frightened to Summertime Clothes, we flow right into the more mellow portion: Daily Routine, Bluish, Guys Eyes and Taste, each providing a distinct flavour and incandescent glow that makes us more comfortable. Getting more bizarre with Lion in a Coma and mellowing out with No More Runnin, we hit the catchy beats and towering screams of Brother Sport. When it's all over, we don't know exactly what has happened...but we're anxious to go again as soon as possible.

Finally, it must be noted that we see this band becoming something different: bizarre and beautiful still, but now, they are accessible. We listen to Strawberry Jam and Sung Tongs and believe we thoroughly understand about a quarter of it at best on first listen. Merriweather gives us a fighting chance: gaining insights into the brilliant minds of each of these composers as soon as the first vibrations resonate within us. They are tentative at best, but they give us something to aspire to and keep us coming back to the same melodies like they're new.

This album is among the all-time greats. Period.

Amazing songs:

My Girls
In The Flowers
Brother Sport (Live)
Summertime Clothes

The Pretend Music Diversity Awards: A Grammy Rant

Ladies and Gents, welcome to the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards!

Arguably music's most prestigious event, the Grammies are catered to the masses: an astounding and often obtuse celebration of musical viability in the world today. Celebrating genres across the board and allowing new artists a way into the public eye, this awards show is something worth celebrating for musicians in the industry today.

That being said, let's cut the crap.

While it is easy to observe the diversity at the Grammies, with 109 awards spread out over 29 categories and multiple genres, it is easy to get lost in figures and forget the real value of representation.On television, when we watch the Grammies, we see all the prominent faces: Beyonce Knowles, Taylor Swift, Lady GaGa, even Kanye West briefly as he makes his way to call out Ms. Swift again. We see exactly what the record companies want us to see: their shiny, beautiful clients. No one is interested in the real musicians receiving awards that evening: modern composers, sound technicians, alternative rock bands and small middle-American baptist choirs that win lifetime achievement. The record companies have no cause to support these artists: they aren't world-renowned, they don't reel in platinum records and, frankly, a lot of them look like the ugly kids corporate execs picked on in high school.

Thus, the Grammies are reduced to drooling at the television in envy. The world of music must be so glamorous, and that glamour mongering is an important selling tool in the industry today. Where once the prestige of being a musician was in the difficulty to achieve success and viability among your peers, it is now reduced to a pair of double-D's and adding the words "feat. Usher" to your song title.

There was once a time where the Grammies meant something. Let's observe past Grammy winners for Best Record:

Moon River, The Girl from Impanema, Mrs. Robinson,
Strangers in the Night, Bridge over Troubled Waters,
Love Will Keep Us Together, Hotel California,
Beat It, Don't Worry Be Happy, Unforgettable,
Tears in Heaven, Beautiful Day

These songs are both instantly recognizable and have left astounding marks on both music and human consciousness. When I mention any of these songs to you, you can instantly hum a bar, maybe even sing the entire song to me. Artists like Henry Mancini, Paul Simon, Quincey Jones, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and many others have created pop songs that are worthy of mention: masterfully crafted, beautifully performed and truly representative of the 20th century as a whole.

Now let's observe this year's nominations for Record of the Year:

Halo by Beyonce
I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas
Use Somebody by Kings of Leon
Pokerface by Lady GaGa
You Belong with Me by Taylor Swift.

In reading these nominations, I was absolutely stunned. The things I've listened to this year collectively have not added up to a series of nominations this bleak and devoid of true inspiration. Can any of these even compare to the songs I mentioned above? Even to other songs in the 2000's like Smooth, Walk On and Don't Know Why?

Let's look at each individually.

First, we have Beyonce Knowles. Queen of the R&B/passionate female pop kingdom, she rule with an iron fist and will not relinquish her grip for another 15 years at least. Her record, I Am...Sasha Fierce, is a statute of 21st century female empowerment and truly glamorous pop. Songs like Halo, If I Were a Boy and of course Single Ladies are all exemplary of this year in music and her 10 Grammy nominations reflect this.

However, glamorous pop doesn't make good pop. Has anyone forgotten that If I Were A Boy was stolen from BC Jean, an up-coming singer-songwriter from California? Has anyone forgotten that SHE WAS 22 AT THE TIME!?!?!??!?! Has anyone forgotten that Beyonce and Columbia Records payed her off and gave her writer credits?

Single Ladies, while compared by some to Respect and I Will Survive as a means of female empowerment, has Beyonce becoming a paranoid schizophrenic. Her alter ego, Sasha Fierce, is a broken, empowered woman on the rebound just wanting to let her hair down and prove to her man that she ain't no hollaback girl. Beyonce again proves that women can be both powerful, passionate and complete sluts all at once and STILL get a $5 million engagement ring from Jay-Z.

Halo, the nominated song, is intriguing. Of the songs here, it's probably the best. Beyonce has an uncanny way of drawing us into her music using little more than her passion and the expressive nature of her voice. Her scars are evident and that makes the passion of this track stand out. Quite good, but no record of the year.

Oh the Black Eyed Peas. If you really think about it, this is the ultimate boy band. There's one musically relevant member, a few mediocre submembers in the background to round it out and then a seemingly attractive one, who in this case is a woman. The industry salivates over the prospect of this group and their latest album, The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies). 4 years in the making, it has the future beats and vapid lyrics that make women wanna dance and guys feel like they'll grind with a chick way hotter than they are.

While we know who will.i.am and Fergie are and acknowledge what they do, there is one person who makes truly makes this album work. His name is David Guetta. Odds are you've heard his work, as he's basically developed every catchy beat this year (Sexy Bitch, When Love Takes Over, Love is Gone). However, you probably have no idea who he is. He's a DJ, born and raised in Paris, France. He's Jewish and a devout family man. He's also 42. The list of songs developed to appease the culturally empty white kids in middle America, who just want to go clubbing on the weekend, were all mixed by a middle-aged French Jew. That's kind of amazing.

That list of songs includes I Gotta Feeling. The title is a grammatical error, which already makes me want to punch Fergie in the throat until she pees herself. The beat is instantly danceable and vapid, just like this megamix's music should be. But there's something missing in The E.N.D. that I once saw from BEP on Elephunk and Monkey Business. Despite the slow wit and lack of panache in their greatest hits, there were moments of clarity. The E.N.D., however, has none and therefore is irrelevant. This song is much the same.

Kings of Leon are a bit of an enigma. There's one part of them that's badass, rock n' roll and intriguing to listen to. The part that gives us an edgy, post-grunge vibe, reminiscent of a simpler time for the Foo Fighters. This part has passion, talent and gives us a real kick when the band cranks it to 11 and unleashes something raw and untamed.

On the other hand...this band is essentially the Jonas Brothers. Four brothers banded together through faith, middle-America and a mutual love of songwriting sounds a lot like the horrible, HORRIBLE Disney stars that have pervaded the industry recently. Take from it what you will, their success was gradual and in they eyes of teenage girls, they're the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Use Somebody is a catchy tune with decent guitar work. Unrequited love and heartbreak seem to be common pop themes recently, but wrapping it up in a shaggy, unshaven rock band bow is something not quite as frequent. KOL do something interesting with this song, as they move away from misogynist mainstream rock like Nickelback and Theory of a Deadman. Oh wait, never mind...they're also the band that wrote Sex on Fire. The long and the short, Kings of Leon aren't the worst thing to come out in 2009, but the Grammies can do far better.

Lady Gaga can also be said to be enigmatic, but for a host of other reasons. Although her gender and sexuality aren't specific, this creature is the most profound performer among the nominees. Enriched in philosophy and subcultural understanding, her album, The Fame, grew to dramatic heights in 2009 and received unprecedented number of award nominations. Her work is weird, inspired, musically relevant and, in a bizarre way, touching.

Does anyone else think that The Fame was way too easy a title to pick for this work?

The many sides of love and fame are explored in this album, yet the entire experience still lacks in a refined sentiment. Her dancing and fashion are bizarre and horrible, respectively, yet where she's trying to come off as a person with complex emotions to be reflected in the listening public, she still comes up rather shallow a lot of the time. One such shallow moment is Poker Face, the nominated song. Instantly catchy and lyrically decent, Gaga has played upon many of the pop world's soggy cliches and hasn't progressed much further than her contemporaries with this one.

Finally, we look at Coyote Ugly bartender in the making, Taylor Swift. Quickly becoming the world's biggest country star (both figuratively and in height), Swift's new album Fearless is as vapid and poppy as country can get. Combining the horrible Disney channel phenomena and a penchant for sappy acoustic breakup songs, it's plain to see why this 20 year old woman is now the world's most downloaded artist.

You Belong twith Me is an easy song to break down in the sense that there is nothing even remotely good about it. Let's observe the lyrics: comparative high school feminism, crush on an athlete, remote feelings of pathos and even poorer word choice (She wears short skirts/I wear t-shirts? Really!!?!?!?). Swift has written a song about 70% of self-loathing high school girls in America and it shows. Let's look at the music: bland guitar chorus, simple harmonies and scathing verses. The vocals are also incredibly suspect, not only in the accuracy of notation, but whether Swift is actually able to sound like that in real life.

Arguably the most frightening thing about this song is that this is, in fact, the record's cover. The cover is, in fact, EXACTLY what the song is about. Creativity, along with chivalry, has been brutally stabbed this day and, speaking on their behalf, band geeks have been horribly misrepresented. I'd rather not say anything more about this track. Long story short, I'll be least satisfied if this wins.

To conclude, the inevitability of the crap-generating machine that is the recording industry is certain to remain with us for quite some time. Naturally, the pursuit of capitalism remains its top priority, but I would rather the large corporations like Capitol, EMI and Sony BMG take a step back, reflect on their musical decisions and adopt more talent that is, in fact, talented! We take a rather large amount of music for granted (on the radio, on TV, on the Internet), but for those who search for music as a tool for enlightenment and brilliance, the recording industry has stymied them over and over again in recent years. Indie artists need to take the power back.