Favorite albums of 2009 - post your lists here

[mvd]

Here's my list:

A Fine Frenzy - Bomb In A Birdcage (Album of the Year)
U2 - No Line On The Horizon
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
Metric - Fantasies
Cheap Trick - The Latest
Regina Spektor - Far
Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted
Indigo Girls - Poseidon And The Bitter Bug
The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
Molly Jenson - Maybe Tomorrow
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Kate Voegele - A Fine Mess
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Oh Darling - self-titled
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
The Raveonettes - In And Out Of Control
Orianthi - Believe
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream
Brandi Carlile - Give Up The Ghost

HM:

Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment, Ingrid Michaelson - Everybody, Tegan & Sara - Sainthood, Caitlin Crosby - Flawz, Vedera - Stages, Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest, Hana Pestle - This Way, Mandy Moore - Amanda Leigh, Tinted Windows - self-titled, Chris Isaak - Mr. Lucky, Neko Case - Middle Cyclone, Lights - The Listening, Miranda Lambert - Revolution, The Love Willows - Hey! Hey!, Rob Thomas - Cradlesong

I expanded the HM section to 15 due to the amount of good albums. There are more albums than this that are well worth purchasing, but I had to limit the list. There are also some albums I might have included that I did not get a chance to hear.

[EastTennesseeDem]

1. Mine.

1.) The Antlers - Hospice
-The single most heartbreaking record I have ever heard.

2.) Modest Mouse - No One's First, and You're Next
-It's an EP, but the music is still astonishing.

3.) Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
-I thought it was incredibly boring until I kept listening to it and it grew on me.

4.) Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
-I really miss Wilco's three-headed sonic experimentation monster (Summerteeth, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost Is Born), but they've still got a ton of melodic talent.

5.) Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
-I thought it was incredibly annoying until I kept listening to it. And I still think they've made a lot better (Feels). Think Kid A + Pet Sounds.

Edited to add "There Is No Enemy" by Built to Spill, a band I've always loved.


Those are about the only six albums I cared for this year. And I heard a lot. Springsteen and U2 I feel are losing their touch (which is to be expected). I just don't care much for the Dirty Projectors or xx, as much as I tried to.

[mvd]

2. I like the Dirty Projectors; kind of agree on xx, though

And obviously, I disagree on Bruce and U2. I'll have to check out The Antlers.

[tigereye]

13. those guys are kind of interesting - very eclectic, with some nice Slits-type

harmonies - reminiscent of the 80s, but with almost reggae/renaissance-feel to the tempo...


Cool to see so many large bands now with lots of women in them. Kind of refreshing.

[mvd]

14. As you know, my lists have a lot of female artists

I just think they tend to focus more on melody, which I like. Classic rock was full of good melodies, and it seems we got away from that in modern music.

[tigereye]

16. well, I like melody, but I also like odd and off-beat melodies and harmelodic

stuff, too.


But I love a good rave-up, raucous rock or punk tune.

[mvd]

3. Oh, I forgot The Love Willows - Hey Hey

It was only released on iTunes, but it still counts. It could be there in place of Kendel Carson.

[LTR]

4. "No Line On The Horizon" was a boring mess

Perhaps U2's worst album. The music is sluggish and over-compressed. And they spend way too much time making dance mixes.

I guess I'm getting old, at a point where I'm not listening to a lot of new music. I'm only familiar with a few albums on the list. Neko Case's album is great, but I'd say the best album of 2009 (that I heard) is Pearl Jam's "Backspacer". Probably their best since "Ten". Just a great, no bullshit rock record.

[mvd]

5. I thought the U2 was innovative while still being very U2-ish

I stand by my rating. I do see what you mean about the Pearl Jam, though - it was a very fun album.

[Captain Hilts]

46. I MUCH prefer How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. nt

[mvd]

47. That one I thought suffered a bit in the 2nd half

GREAT first half, though.

[Captain Hilts]

48. Yeah, Side Two isn't quite Side One. nt

[Lex]

6. 2 you have on your list I played the heck out of

last year:

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
and
Indigo Girls - Poseidon And The Bitter Bug

[mvd]

7. Hi, Lex - so glad to see you are still listening to the Indigo Girls

They aren't very popular anymore. But I thought PATBB was a return to the beautiful acoustic they used to do. :hi:

I wish my list had more R&B and rock, but my purchases in those genres were limited.

[Initech]

8. My list:

Porcupine Tree - The Incident
Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe
Dream Theater - Black Clouds And Silver Linings
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Katatonia - Night Is The New Day
Them Crooked Vultures - s/t
Mike Keneally - Scambot I
OSI - Blood
Modest Mouse - No One's First And You're Next
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

[alarimer]

9. I agree on some of those

Grizzly Bear
Camera Obscura

Other favorites for me:
Levon Helm, Electric Dirt
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros s/t
Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, Tell em what your name is
Chuck Prophet, Let Freedom Ring
Gomez, A New Tide
The Gourds, Haymaker
Ha Ha Tonka, Novel Sounds of the New South
Lucero 1342 Overton Park
Nanci Griffith, The Loving Kind
Slaid Cleaves, Everything you love will be taken away
Son Volt, American Central Dust
The Swell Season, Strict Joy

I am a bigger fan of Son Volt than Wilco. What I heard of Wilco (the Album) bored me. Dad Rock.

[mvd]

10. I liked the Wilco

Not dad rock to me. More like a band just feeling comfortable. I heard it a while ago, though, so that's why it is not in my list.

[tigereye]

11. while I'm thinking about what I liked, here's Spin's list

some pretty intriguing stuff, too, and not just the usual Adult Alternative, some of which i like, but often sounds too formulaic and not nearly raucous enough for my old- school indie/punk heart. :D


http://www.spin.com/gallery/40-best-albums-2009?page=6#main

:hi: Matt, Happy New Year!



I do like the Avett Brothers, though, especially Kick Drum Heart (love how he sounds like Warren Zevon, whom I still miss tremendously)

[mvd]

12. Happy new year to you too, tigereye!

Hope your holidays were good. It was sad taking down the Christmas tree today.

That's one of my favorite Avett Brothers songs, too. Also enjoy how at times they are like an alt-country Billy Joel. :hi:

[tigereye]

15. we put our tree up late, so it'll be up a bit longer

I like leaving stuff up til Ephphany - Jan 6th.

We had a nice time, lots of family and food. It was fun, if a bit damn cold!

[tigereye]

17. hey I think you'd like these guys, if you don't already

http://www.spin.com/gallery/40-best-albums-2009?page=21#main

have a bit of a Teen Idols-feel, if a bit poppier.


Also for some nice global sounds http://www.spin.com/gallery/40-best-albums-2009?page=27#main

[mvd]

18. Oh yes, Paramore

Brand New Eyes is a good album. She has a very good voice; if she cut out the whininess a little, this album would likely be in my list. Thanks for the links!

I'm pop fan, but I am open to the sophisticated sounds of Dirty Projectors, St. Vincent, Imogen Heap, etc.

[Bryan]

19. I tried to keep it down to ten

Black Moth Super Rainbow, Eating Us
Camera Obscura, My Maudlin Career
The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love
The Flaming Lips, Embryonic
Florence and the Machine, Lungs
Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
The Horrors, Primary Colours
The Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
Mos Def, The Ecstatic
Neko Case, Middle Cyclone

Middle Cyclone was my favorite of the year. Dense, lyrical, and completely nuts.

Honorable Mention
The Bird and the Bee, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future
British Sea Power, Man of Aran
Morrissey, Years of Refusal
Richard Swift, The Atlantic Ocean
Wilco, Wilco (The Album)

[mvd]

20. Are there more lists? I might make one more revision after..

hearing a couple more albums, but I always close my list for good at the end of Jan.

[BlueIris]

21. Tori Amos' "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" and...uh...

I actually didn't really buy any other "new" CDs this last year. Well, except for Tori's winter album, which I haven't listened to yet.

[Brickbat]

22. Meat Puppets' "Sewn Together." I was terribly disappointed with "Middle Cyclone."

[Tyrone Slothrop]

23. #1: Merriweather Post Pavilion

Took me awhile to get into it, but MPP by Animal Collective takes the one spot.

#2: Dragonslayer by Sunset Rubdown
#3: The Eternal by Sonic Youth
#4: Noble Beast by Andrew Bird
#5: Dark Days/Light Years by Super Furry Animals

HM to: It's Blitz by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix, Real Estate (self-titled), and There Is No Enemy by Built to Spill.

[mvd]

24. It's Blitz is my favorite YYY's album

:hi:

Haven't heard the Built To Spill yet; would like to.

[Common Sense Party]

25. The only two I heard were U2 and Cheap Trick.

U2 I'd live about a 6 or 7 out of ten. I like about half the album.

Cheap trick I just got for Christmas, so I haven't really absorbed it yet, but it's pretty good.

[mvd]

27. The Cheap Trick has more ballads than I expected, but..

they are amazing IMO - kind of Beatles-esque. While I don't think the new U2 is as good as All You Can't Leave Behind, I personally love about everything U2 does.

[Common Sense Party]

29. CT has always been compared to the Beatles. I think they're very

unique and different, but you can definitely hear Beatles influence in everything they do (especially the old album All Shook Up).

I was hoping to be blown away by the new U2, but it was merely...adequate. I like most everything they've done (with the unforgivable exceptions of Pop and Zooropa), but this didn't seem to have a lot of soul in it. (Unforgettable Fire is still my favorite.)

[mvd]

31. There's plenty of soul in my opinion

I'm just not hearing what some are hearing on NLOTH. Absolutely love the ballad "White As Snow," and Bono is in great vocal form.

[SteppingRazor]

26. Here's mine:

http://citylinkmix.com/music/the-year-of-magical-listening/

[blue_onyx]

28. I haven't bought many CDs

There's only a few artists that I buy entire CDs from. I buy individuals songs more often. These are the CDs I bought:

Adam Lambert (For Your Entertainment): I was surprised how good his CD is. There are some really good songs and Adam should have a few big hit singles this year.

Kelly Clarkson (All I Ever Wanted): Great CD. It wasn't quite as good as Breakaway but still very good. I wish she would have released "Cry" as the third single instead of "Already Gone." Since she's already working on a new CD, I guess "Cry" won't get released as the fourth single either.

Lady Gaga (The Fame Monster): This CD was good but not great. There are really only 3 new songs (Bad Romance, Telephone, Alejando) worth buying.

[mvd]

32. All I Ever Wanted is very close to Breakaway

Maybe more consistent even though there might not be a single that is the monster "Since U Been Gone" is.

I think not using the typical hit makers on every song allowed Adam to keep some of that uniqueness I like.

[blue_onyx]

34. Yeah, it is close to Breakaway

but didn't quite live up to Breakaway.

My favorite songs on Adam's CD were the ones he did record with "the typical hit maker" (Max Martin). I also really like the song Lady Gaga wrote, "Fever."

[mvd]

36. I think it's close enough to live up to it

Really not that far apart IMO. "Fever" is very good even though I'm not a Lady Gaga fan. Love the diversity in songwriting on Adam's CD. Even Aimee Mayo, a country songwriter, helped make the somewhat Goth-sounding "Sleepwalker."

[EndersDame]

30. The Flaming Lips -Embryonic, Franz Ferdinand- Tonight, Rosanne Cash - The List

[Broken_Hero]

33. hmm,

War is the Answer by Five Finger Death Punch.

I think, this was the only 2009 cd I bought.

[EndersDame]

35. Pilar Diaz- Self Titled, Anita Tijoux 1977

[CatholicEdHead]

37. Gravity of Grace -> Johnsmith

[bif]

38. Lhasa. Self-titled.

Sadly, she passed away on New Year's Day at 37!

[Bennyboy]

39. Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women..the only "Album" I bought

Don't go much for paying for music but I had to have this one. One of the best bands i saw all year too..http://www.archive.org/details/DA_TGW2009-10-02_Matrix Here is a show (which I listen to way more than the album! This one was the night Amy Ferris died, the band fiddle player (natural causes, she wanted to go out playing music and she did)...

[Madrone]

40. I know there is a bookmark thread option somewhere....

but....where is it?

[mvd]

41. Top left of the page

There's a bookmark thread option.

[Madrone]

42. thank YOU! lol.

I knew it was there somehwere....and I was sure I was overlooking it and it was obvious.

[Violet_Crumble]

43. Warning for dial-up users - very long list!

Kingdom of Rust - Doves


Everything else released last year was crap...

[mvd]

44. Thought it was a better year than most

:hi:

[cbdo2007]

45. The new Weezer - Raditude album is actually REALLY good!

For those of you Weezer fans out there who may have been put off by the stupid picture on the cover.

I don't really buy a lot of albums or even listen to much new music so I can't really compile a "list" but that one stood out for me. It usually takes me a few years to get into stuff so expect my 2009 favorites list around 2012. :)

[Forkboy]

49. List here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=9192174

:hi:

[mvd]

50. Hi, Forkboy!

Hope you had a good holiday season, and happy 2010 to you! :hi:

Should be another good year of music.