Best/Favorite Music of 2009 Thread

[corianderstem]

That is a headwrap!

Holy shit, is that my Great Aunt Mabel?

 

[Dalton]

Holy shit, is that my Great Aunt Mabel?

I'm totally trying to look up your aunt's skirt.

 

[corianderstem]

Careful - she'll kick you ass five ways from Sunday.

 

[SeattleVertigo]

10 favorites:

U2 - No Line on the Horizon
The Swell Season - Strict Joy
Paul McCartney - Good Evening, New York City
Leonard Cohen - Live in London
Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
P.T. Walkley - Mr. Macy Wakes Alone (Probably the most interesting new artist I discovered in 2009. He needs to be heard by more people.)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young
Muse - The Resistance
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

The rest:

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
M. Ward - Hold Time
Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky
Miike Snow - Miike Snow
Kevin Devine - Brother's Blood
Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper
Iggy Pop - Preliminaires
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux Kin
Bell X1 - Blue Lights on the Runway
The xx - The xx
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson -- Summer of Fear
A.C. Newman - Get Guilty
Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom
Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
Norah Jones - The Fall

 

[phanan]

Death Cab For Cutie - 'The Open Door'

I did a top 3 EPs on the fly, but I totally forgot about this one. This probably is my real favorite.

 

[u2popmofo]

I did a top 3 EPs on the fly, but I totally forgot about this one. This probably is my real favorite.

It probably has more songs I like on it than Plans does!

 

[Imperor]

I'm a Plans apologist, but the EP was certainly better than Narrow Stairs, which only had two good (scratch that. fantastic) songs ("Bixby" and "Possess").

 

[u2popmofo]

Ha, I actually meant Narrow Stairs. Probably says something about the quality of an album if you can't even remember the title....

 

[lazarus]

I'm a Plans apologist, but the EP was certainly better than Narrow Stairs, which only had two good (scratch that. fantastic) songs ("Bixby" and "Possess").

I liked Plans a lot when it came out. But I NEVER liked Soul Meets Body, which is as bad as its title suggests.

 

[Imperor]

"Soul Meets Body," "Someday You Will Be Loved," and "Your Heart is an Empty Room" are terribly pedestrian tracks. "Crooked Teeth" isn't a favorite of mine either, but there is a lot to like on there. "Marching Bands of Manhattan" and "Brothers on a Hotel Bed Mothers on a Brothel Bed" are as good as anything they've ever done.

 

[u2popmofo]

"Marching Bands of Manhattan" ...... as good as anything they've ever done.

Agreed.

I like Soul Meets Body quite a bit for a lead major label single. I like Plans too, my bad on album title forgettingz.

 

[Imperor]

I actually think "Marching Bands" would have been a killer lead single and probably more of a hit than "Soul Meets Body" was.

Doing my top 100 of the decade made me really reevaluate Death Cab in the grand scheme of the music universe, so it's cool that this discussion would pop up right now.

 

[mikal]

i agree about "Marching Bands". great song, that and "Summer Skin".

 

[lazarus]

"Soul Meets Body," "Someday You Will Be Loved," and "Your Heart is an Empty Room" are terribly pedestrian tracks. "Crooked Teeth" isn't a favorite of mine either, but there is a lot to like on there. "Marching Bands of Manhattan" and "Brothers on a Hotel Bed Mothers on a Brothel Bed" are as good as anything they've ever done.

Munching Wands In Manhattan is definitely a fantastic opener, as well as the other ones you mentioned. I also like I Will Follow Lube Into The Crack, and Stable Dong, which is a nice little sequel to the bestiality epic b-side from The Photo Album.

My old roommate, who's a huge longtime fan, insists that We Have The Clap... is their finest hour.

 

[phillyfan26]

There are some more albums I want to listen to, but they're pretty much the same as ones everyone else has already listed, so fuck it, here's my top twenty:

1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
2. The Dead Weather – Horehound
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
4. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
5. Doves – Kingdom of Rust
6. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
7. The xx – xx
8. Passion Pit – Manners
9. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
10. Girls – Album
11. U2 – No Line on the Horizon
12. St. Vincent – Actor
13. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
14. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
15. We Were Promised Jetpacks – These Four Walls
16. Fruit Bats – The Ruminant Band
17. White Rabbits – It’s Frightening
18. Mute Math – Armistice
19. Future of the Left – Travels with Myself and Another
20. Franz Ferdinand – Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

 

[LMP]

I'm happy with this set, even if I didn't get to all of the music I wanted to this year:

1. Embryonic by The Flaming Lips
2. Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective
3. It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4. No Line on the Horizon by U2
5. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
6. Manners by Passion Pit
7. Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
8. Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors
9. Man on the Moon: The End of Day by Kid Cudi
10. Popular Songs by Yo La Tengo
11. Dark Days / Light Years by Super Furry Animals
12. I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers
13. Wilco (The Album) by Wilco
14. Actor by St. Vincent
15. Dark Was the Night by Various Artists
16. The BQE by Sufjan Stevens
17. The Eternal by Sonic Youth
18. These Four Walls by We Were Promised Jet Packs
19. The Resistance by Muse
20. Real Estate by Real Estate

And here are my favorite tracks:

1. "Watching the Planets" by The Flaming Lips
2. "Lisztomania" by Phoenix
3. "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit
4. "Keeping Warm" by We Were Promised Jet Packs
5. "Breathe" by U2
6. "Summertime Clothes" by Animal Collective
7. "Stillness Is the Move" by Dirty Projectors
8. "I and Love and You" by The Avett Brothers
9. "Two Weeks" by Grizzly Bear
10. "Toe Jam (ft. David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal)" by The BPA
11. "1901" by Phoenix
12. "You and I" by Wilco
13. "Zero" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
14. "Soundtrack 2 My Life" by Kid Cudi
15. "United States of Eurasia / Collateral Damage" by Muse
16. "Time / Breathe (Reprise)" by Stardeath and the White Dwarfs
17. "Laughing with a Mouth of Blood" by St. Vincent
18. "Turn It On" by Franz Ferdinand
19. "Outlaw Pete" by Bruce Springsteen
20. "You Are the Blood" by Sufjan Stevens

 

[If you shout...]

I have STILL not heard The Eternal. Not even a single track. Damn it.

 

[phillyfan26]

I can't do favorite song lists anymore. I just can't. I have lost the ability to properly discern tracks in that way.

 

[onebloodonelife]

I can't do favorite song lists anymore. I just can't. I have lost the ability to properly discern tracks in that way.

Neither can I. I'm too album-oriented to differentiate between songs anymore.

 

[mikal]

There are some more albums I want to listen to, but they're pretty much the same as ones everyone else has already listed, so fuck it, here's my top twenty:

1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
2. The Dead Weather – Horehound
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
4. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
5. Doves – Kingdom of Rust
6. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
7. The xx – xx
8. Passion Pit – Manners
9. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
10. Girls – Album
11. U2 – No Line on the Horizon
12. St. Vincent – Actor
13. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
14. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
15. We Were Promised Jetpacks – These Four Walls
16. Fruit Bats – The Ruminant Band
17. White Rabbits – It’s Frightening
18. Mute Math – Armistice
19. Future of the Left – Travels with Myself and Another
20. Franz Ferdinand – Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

good list. i, for some reason, have not heard of The Dead Weather. what are they like. kudos for ranking Doves so high.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

They're a heavy, bluesy rock band with Jack White on drums, some dude from Queens of the Stone Age on guitar, and the ultra sexy Alison Mosshart on vocals. They kick ass.

 

[phillyfan26]

good list. i, for some reason, have not heard of The Dead Weather. what are they like. kudos for ranking Doves so high.

It's not The White Stripes ... it's not the Raconteurs ... it's The Dead Weather!

Yeah, what GAF said. It's like if he played in a full band, only this time the band has a keyboard that can play synthesizer or organ sounds. And the lead vocalist is a hot, talented girl.

 

[u2popmofo]

I can't do favorite song lists anymore. I just can't. I have lost the ability to properly discern tracks in that way.

Neither can I. I'm too album-oriented to differentiate between songs anymore.

I'd probably just end up listing way too many tracks, as I'd feel like I'd need to include my favorites from every album I got in 2009.

 

[CrashedCarDriver]

pitchfork is your guide here

 

[phanan]

I just realized I didn't include Royksopp's This Must Be It in my favorite songs of 2009. It came up on random and I forgot how much I dig it.

 

[u2popmofo]

I don't remember that album much, I just remember not liking it as much as I wanted to at the time. I loved their first two albums though, so I need to give it another shot. I'll listen to that song right now.

 

[phanan]

Same - the album as a whole didn't hold up for me, but The Girl With The Robot and This Must Be It are standouts.

Supposedly they are releasing a companion album this year called Senior which is more on the slow side.

 

[u2popmofo]

I've seriously listened to that song 4 or 5 times since you mentioned it yesterday, I love it! Not sure how I missed it before. Is that Karin Dreijer Andersson from The Knife / Fever Ray on vocals? Glad you mentioned it.

 

[phanan]

It is indeed Karin Dreijer Andersson. She's also on another track, Tricky Tricky.

I was inspired enough to take a listen to the entire album this morning, and it's actually quite solid, now that I really took the time to listen to it. The aforementioned songs from my other post are still by far the high points, but overall, this album is better than I remember.

 

[corianderstem]

I love that album. And Tricky Tricky - isn't that the one with the line "6 afraid of 7, 'cause 7 8 9!"

The Girl and the Robot is my favorite on the album - I Robyn. I wish she'd hurry up and put out a new album.