I'm back for December because it's just that time of the year. And because I have an obsessive compulsive desire to make lists of things that I like. And because I know other folks have an obsessive compulsive desire to read said lists and disagree. That's the power of the internet! Let's get into it with #30 - #15 (just cause it's more fun to get over the hump). The final 14 should be up by the end of the week, with my picks for the top 50 songs to follow. Enjoy:
30.The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Terrible band name, good album.
29.The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
Ditto #30.
28.Wale - Attention Deficit
Hip-hop had another year of overall creative drought (Dirty Money, anyone?), but the DC MC rose above to deliver a solid debut, making good on the promise of his widely circulated mixtapes.
27.Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
Natasha Khan was first out the gate in '09 with the "dark, mysterious vamp singing over synths and stuff" sub-genre that's quickly spread like wildfire. She was also one of the few who could pull it all off & make it sound natural.
26. Girls - Album
I caught these guys at The Bootleg early this summer, before the wave of hype spread across the blogs. Good thing too, as I was able to enjoy the songs on their own merits. They're not anything revolutionary, like some folks might want you to believe, but they write some damn catchy (and referencial) songs that can engage you & tell a great story.
25.Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
These guys are really British, and really weird. And can write one hell of a melody.
24.The Dead Weather - Horehound
Jack White's latest experiment is darker & funkier than anything else he's produced, and while the debut loses steam as it goes on, the first half hints at some serious greatness to come, should these guys stick together for a few more albums. More excuses to showcase Alison Mosshart are always appreciated, too.
23.Beirut - March of the Zapotec/Real People
When Zack Condon wants to shake things up, he doesn't mess around. For his newest venture, Condon creates a double album - one half produced in Mexico City with a local marching band at his fingers, and the other marking his first foray into electronic sound. Neither appears to be a legit direction for his Beirut project, but they both serve as pretty nifty ways for him to flex his musical muscles.
22.Matt & Kim - Grand
A lot of folks wrote the hipster husband and wife band off as a novelty after their first album. They won't make the same mistake after listening to the duo's sophomore effort, which is packed with the kind of hooks that get stuck in your head for weeks, not to mention songwriting that suggests they've got a lot more tricks up their sleeves.
21.White Rabbits - It's Frightening
Those initially listening just to get a small Walkmen fix found a lot more than they bargained for with the Missouri boys' second album. Yes, they kind of sound like Hamilton & crew on a few of the tracks (considering both bands toured together, it's only natural that a few things rubbed off), but they're very much their own band too, as proven with the relentless drumming employed on half the album, and the quiet focus employed on the other half. Give it a listen; these guys are undoubtedly ones to watch.
20.HEALTH - Get Color
Count the LA noise rockers among the few to escape the Lo-Fi black hole that swallowed so many in '09. Instead of settling for the same bag of tricks performed for the same five folks at The Smell, they pushed forward; strengthening the electronic edge of their sound & letting shoe-gazey vocals take a backseat to some seriously creative instrumentation. The new music is darker, harsher and infinitely more propulsive than anything they had done before might suggest. Count me as one of the folks who didn't get their initial appeal; in many ways, this record was the nicest surprise of the year. Hopefully, opening for NIN on their farewell tour will open up even more doors for these guys in the future; it's the perfect fanbase for them to capitalize on.
19.Nico Vega - Nico Vega
After much prodding from my friends, I finally checked these guys out live this year, and promptly fell in love. There's nothing here that hasn't been explored before, but when you perform this hard, you don't need to innovate much. Only warning I have to give is that, regardless of how much you like the album, SEE THIS BAND LIVE. For real. It's a fun album, but this is one of those cases where the music lives to be played right in your face. Oh, and Aja Volkman is a freaking animal.
18.White Lies - To Lose My Life
And this, surely, is the point where purists might check out. I'm all right with that, cause the truth is a killer mainstream rock album, that for whatever reason hasn't yet been discovered by the mainstream. If you skim the tracks, you might be quick to accuse these guys of being the latest young band cursed with Ian Curtis syndrome. Fact is, they've got more in common with bands like Tears for Fears and The Cult than Joy Division (whose status as "cool influence" died the moment She Wants Revenge came into being). They're a fun throwback to the Gothic Brit rock of the mid-80s, married with thoroughly modern production and songwriting, and as witnessed by myself, are the real deal when it comes to live performance. Just don't take them too seriously.
17. Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster
And now for the few cool folks still reading, the exit's still open. But in all seriousness, thank god for Lady Gaga, especially in a year filled with Jason DeRullo, David Guetta, Jeremih and (most fearfully) a new Black Eyed Peas album. Pop may be stuck in a hollow sewer of tastelessness, but at least we've got someone with a little ambition out there. Turning The Fame Monster from a couple of add-on tracks intended to repackage her debut into a full blown sophomore album might be 2009's canniest trick. It firmly established Gaga as more than a flash in the pan, and began building her into a Madonna-like icon. But the theatrics would be nothing if there weren't substance to back it up, and thankfully, Monster's got that to spare, providing some insanely catchy songs that may or may not be fucking with you for choosing to listen to them in the first place. It now seems evident that the woman was always here to stay; she just had to convince the rest of the world first. Mission accomplished.
16. Harlem Shakes - Technicolor Health
While their name might justifiably roll a few eyeballs, these (very) white boys from NYC (though not from Harlem) have some serious talent, pairing folksy vocals with off-kilter guitars and fast paced rhythms. All in all though, it feels like they're just getting started.
15.Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind
Yes, it's just a five song EP. And yes, one of the five songs is just kind of there. But when the heart of your album consists of an awesome, one-two suckerpunch like "What Would I Want? Sky" and "Bleed", you've created a damn good piece of music, regardless of how many tracks you've got. Created from the aftermath of Merriweather's new sound, this could have been a quick cash in for the band, but the final product has a life of its own, and best of all, features the most confident singing ever heard from the boys. Should they look to start stripping away their production for their next album (which is a fairly logical step), it's good to know they've got the pipes & the backbone to pull it off.
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