Yes, lists are lame, but whatever? Does anyone besides you actually read this anyway?
So here they are, my five favourite albums of 2009. And let’s be clear, my lonely reader, these are my five favourites. Not the best of 2009. The nice thing about choosing my five favourites is you can judge my taste, rather than, if I were to state that these are the five best albums of ’09, to which you would be judging my sanity.
But if you’re up for that (judging my sanity, or lack-there-of), mull this: these are not just my faves, these are five of the most underrated albums of 2009. So there.
The Veils, Sun Gangs
Finn Andrews continues to play the role of melodramatic troubadour on this, The Veils’ third album. He has unique vocals matched with great lyrics. Standout tracks include Sit Down by the Fire, Three Sisters and the Elvis tribute Larkspur. I’m surprised the group has yet to garner the attention I think they deserve. The good part of that, though, is getting to see them in tiny clubs with just a couple dozen other people. Not for long, I wager.
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Metric, Fantasies
The one downside to when a Canadian act releases a really, truly great album is the indie stations play it to death, if just to get their content up to appease the CRTC. Such was the case for Emily Haines and Co. with this glossy package of 10 tracks. And what a concept to have an album with 10 track, 10 of which are good? Not a throw away in the bunch, which also means my fav (Satellite Mind) never got the incessant radio replay.
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The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love
Since the first time I heard them I’ve been arguing that nobody delivers bad news more beautifully than Colin Meloy. This is an ambition album and deserves to be listened to all at once, from beginning to end (as it is clearly intended to be). Still, within the whole package are fantastic nuances, where the love theme gets fully explored in all its beauty and agony. Getting to see it performed in its entirety was one of my highlights of the year.
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Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz!
After Maps I kind of got the impression that Yeah Yeah Yeahs had had their first and last Yeah (There’s a premature ejaculation joke in there somewhere, but I’m feeling lazy.) I really thought that Show Your Bones was a Yeah Yeah Yawn, but Blitz! is excellent. The opening track Zero was inescapable this summer and never seemed to get tired. And just about everything that comes after hold its own anytime todPod’s Random called its number.
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Arctic Monkeys, Humbug
You’d never know it from social media. The album that launched a thousand Facebook profile updates with, “Which came first, the chicken or the dickhead?” also showed that these other Monkeys have grown up. Humbug is dark & introspective, especially in comparison to its predecessors. Had I to choose the best tracks of the year, Cornerstone would be in the top three. Is it wrong that I initially though his girlfriend was dead? I think it better suites the mood too.
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Honourable mention: Tom Waits, Glitter and Doom Live
Ridiculously overrated: Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Posted on January 5, 2010
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