The Scumbo Memorial "Best Albums of the First Half of 2009" Thread

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phillyfan26

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I remember Scumbo periodically throwing up threads to discuss the year so far last year, so I decided to dedicate this to him and do it again this year, right at the year's halfway point. Just list off some albums you've heard so far released this year that are good, helping those who aren't as hip to know what to look out for from January-June 2009. And discuss the rest of 2009's potential while you're at it.
 
I'll throw some out there, in no particular order; most are probably known by a lot of you already...

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Passion Pit - Manners
Akron/Family - Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free
P.O.S. - Never Better

And, a compilation that's fantastic:
Dark Was the Night

Probably most looking forward to The Flaming Lips' new one right now.
 
I would place the aforementioned Veckatimest and Bitte Orca in my top tier, along with Bat for Lashes' Two Suns, Depeche Mode's Sounds of the Universe, and Antony and the Johnsons' The Crying Light. The consistency and coherence of Sounds have particularly impressed me - Dave Gahan is in top form throughout.

Bibio's Ambivalence Avenue is a solid album that seems to have been overlooked. I've also enjoyed No Line on the Horizon, Andrew Bird's Noble Beast, and Merriweather Post Pavilion.
 
Doves - Kingdom Of Rust
Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers
Yeah Yeah Yeah's - It's Blitz!

along with Animal Collective and Depeche Mode that have already been mentioned....
 
I cannot believe that I forgot to include Morrissey's Years of Refusal among the best of the year thus far. For some reason February seems like nine or ten months ago.
 
I haven't been buying too many CDs lately, but here are albums I've enjoyed so far this year, in no particular order:

Neko Case--Middle Cyclone
Nels Cline--Coward
Sonic Youth--The Eternal
Andrew Bird--Noble Beast (and even moreso the bonus disc Useless Creatures)
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band--Outer South
Wilco--Wilco (The Album)
M. Ward--Hold Time
Pronto--All Is Golden
U2--NLOH

Nels Cline's album and The Eternal have been my favorites. I have a hunch those two and the new album by Carla Bozulich's band Evangelista (due out in October) will be my favorites for the year.
 
Vecky and MPP already being mentioned, there isn't a lot for me to add.
 
Favourites:
U2 - NLOTH
Metric - Fantasies
Director - I'll Wait for Sound

Dylan's new album deserves an honourable mention too not amazing but it's still pretty good

Biggest disappointments so far:
Morrissey - Years of Refusal (Same old same old, and it's no longer interesting sadly, it's decent just the weakest thing he's released in years)
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown (Nothing special, just a lesser version of American Idiot)
Maximo Park - Quicken the Heart (More like slow the heart with boring songs)

Grizzly Bear's new album could go either way right now, I might either end up loving it or completely disappointed in it
 
Alrighty then, let's see:

No Line on the Horizon - U2: Best album of the year so far and best album of my favorite band since Achtung Baby. You all probably know what I mean by saying this, but I'll explain: Achtung Baby is my favorite album of all time, and therefore, my favorite U2 album. Ergo, No Line is a masterpiece. Also, best album of the decade so far.
Sun Gangs - The Veils: This list is not in order, but this happens to be the second best album released this year so far. I can't explain. Just listen to it. Atemporal feeling, beautiful vocals, great lyrics. Just listen.
Together Through Life - Bob Dylan: Another great work from Bob; better than Modern Times, andthat's saying a lot already. Simple, fresh and beautiful, it seems to get better with time.
Kingdom of Rust - Doves: "Jetstream", "Kingdom of Rust", "House of Mirrors"... full of good songs and it flows really well. It needs a few listens to be fully appreciated, but it's a good, well-crafted album. The feeling of one big song comes to mind.
21st Century Breakdown - Green Day: Not better than American Idiot. But then, that's far from being a bad thing on its own. It actually comes close to Idiot and damn, that's one hell of a compliment. "Know Your Enemy" is a rocker as catchy as "American Idiot" and again, the album flows well and is packed with a lot of good tunes. And while Breakdown doesn't have another "Boulevard", Idiot doesn't have a "21 Guns" either.
West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum - Kasabian: Get their first effort, the self-titled Kasabian and mix it with their follow-up Empire, some psychadelic sounds and a spaghetti western felling and you get this. I admit I hated it at first - and second - listen, but now I'm tempted to say it's their best along with Empire. Maybe it's even better than their second.
Hands - Little Boots: Best pure-pop album in this decade along with The Fame and Confessions on a Dance Floor. That's all I'll say and I think it should be more than enough.
Working on a Dream - Bruce Springsteen: Not as good as his last efforts with The E Street Band, but then again Magic and The Rising are among the best things in his entire career. This one is not quite there (yet) but The Boss still can make an album good enough to be among the best of the year at least. The fact that one of his best songs is here also helps. :wink:
LeftRightLeftRightLeft - Coldplay: They're great live. Sue me.


Maybe Yeah Yeah Yeah's It's Blitz! and Jarvis Cocker's Further Complications should also be here, but let's see what happens til the end of the year. Those listed I'm almost sure that'll make the end-year list with reservations for Coldplay, Bruce and Doves.
I expect Horehound by The Dead Weather to be a strong contender for top 10, maybe 5. And Muse, if they're still releasing something this year.
 
If we're tossing disappointments in there, Regina Spektor's latest is so, so bad.
 
Shut your mouth.

I get sucked into Two Suns immediately with the percussion in "Glass." Fucking fantastic.
 
But I'm talking about Sha-- no, this time I'm actually not talking about Shaft.
 
As a top 5:

1. Passion Pit - Manners

and then these fuckers are second tier:

Fever Ray - Fever Ray
Grizzily Beer - Becky Timest
Royksopp - Junior
Doves - Kingdom of Rust
 
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream
The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love
Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
Regina Spektor - Far
Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - S/T
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
Nickel Eye - The Time of the Assassins
Little Boots - Hands
Silversun Pickups - Swoon
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Lookin forward to:
Pearl Jam, Arctic Monkeys, Jemina Pearl, The Dead Weather, FLips, Leighton, Chezza, etc.
 
Shuttlecock, No Net on the Horizon
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz!
Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Dinosaur Jr., Farm
 
Been a pretty rough year for me, away from music, so I haven't been able to listen to as much as I usually do. Haven't even heard the Dino album, laz. If I thought that "Over It" kinda sucked, do you think that I should bother with the album? I'm only a fan in passing (ie, I only have Your Living All Over Me and mostly didn't give a shit about Sebadoh), for context. Anyway, after thinking about it for like five minutes, it looks something like this...

1) Future of the Left: Travels With Myself and Another
2) Lotus Plaza: The Floodlight Collective
3) Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
4) Super Furry Animals: Dark Days/Light Years
5) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
6) The Fiery Furnaces: I'm Going Away
7) Sunset Rubdown: Dragonslayer
8) Dan Deacon: Bromst
9) A.C. Newman: Get Guilty
10) Asobi Seksu: Hush

That's a pretty fluid list, right now. Even near the top. I mean, if that Los Campesinos! record winds up coming out later this year, rather than earlier next year, it is conceivable that my top three records will be Welsh, as I am hopelessly in love with Dark Days/Light Years. Added to this list or just after it could be some, all, or even none of the following records, mood depending:

The Phantom Band: Checkmate Savage
The Horrors: Primary Colours (the record suffers a bit, at the hands of the longer numbers...they're not bad songs, but I feel that they overstay their welcomes, after several listens)
Japandroids: Post-Nothing

Special shout-out to Charles Spearin and The Happiness Project. Magnificent stuff.
 
i'm not seeing enough mention of the new Phoenix album. it's my favorite of the year.
 
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1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

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2. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

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3. St. Vincent - Actor

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4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

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5. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

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6. Wilco - Wilco (the Album)

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7. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

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8. Here We Go Magic - Here We Go Magic

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9. Bob Dylan - Together Through Life

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10. Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
 
U2 - No Line on the Horizon
Alamaailman Vasarat - Huuro Kolkko
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light
Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
Zu - Carboniferous
 
Uh, yeah. It really is. The only song I really don't care for is "Life is Hard."
 
I find it rather boring, considering the last few albums. Nothing I actually dislike (though I agree that Life is Hard is the weakes), but only a couple that sound particularly inspiring, whereas each of the last three have had half an album full of future classics each. Just because he makes it look easy doesn't prevent it from being a bit disappointing.
 
It's tough to say Together is better than the previous two, but those are two of the finest of his career. That doesn't keep it from being a nice album, although I'd probably put Two Suns above it if I could edit that post.

But I certainly find it better than No Net.
 
Which was the Daniel Lanois Dylan album. That thing fucking rules my world. I always get two of his latter albums confused. Love and Theft and Time Out of Mind, yes? In either case both of those are stunning.
 
Cockois did Time Out of Mind (and also Oh Mercy, if I remember correctly), not Love & Theft.
 
Right, I knew he did one of those two. I always get their titles confused for some reason. Time Out Of Mind is one of my favorite Dylan albums.
 
I prefer the Lanois-produced Oh Mercy, as Dylan's vocals are significantly smoother, and more importantly there's a couple upbeat songs to lighten the mood (throw in the songs cut from the album and it's even better), but both albums, as well as Love & Theft, are all masterpieces.

Modern Times was a bit of a step down, but its high points are as good as its predecessors. This new one, though, it's just really underwhelming to me. Compare it to Desire, which also had a similar southwestern flavor (substitute David Hidalgo's accordion on Together Through Life for Scarlet Rivera's fiddle), and it's not even close.
 
I also must add as a strong contender for the end-year list The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists.
 
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