Well 2009 is coming to a close and I felt it was necessary to make a blog of sorts discussing 2009's music. I'm going to start out by saying 2009 was a GOOD year for music. That is if you know where to look.
Sadly Top 40 and your Mainstream Modern Rock radio stations won't be playing most of the music that rocked the house this year. So I've decided to talk about my favorites that have come out this year.
I'm going to note that this list is not concrete. There was probably a lot of stuffed I've missed, either not getting around to purchasing and/or downloading or haven't given an extensive listen to yet. This is just going over the stuff I've come across this year and have given an extensive listen to. So without further ado, onto the honorable mentions . . .
Genre: Celtic/New Age
This one is so different from everything else I'll be listing but I've listened to it so much lately that I have to mention it.
I'll admit right now that this is a guilty pleasure. Claire Tchaikowski's sound is best described as somber, peaceful and occasionally catchy Celtic Pop.
As you can guess, she isn't for everyone, but if you like ethereal/eclectic music and have room in your heart for something New Age-ey, give her a listen.
Notable Tracks: Dance Around, Something Blue, In Your Arms
Genre: Indie/Experimental
The only reason this is only a honorable mention and not on the top ten where it probably deserves to be is that I haven't given this enough of a listen to completely appreciate it.
I will say that Natasha Khan's vocals are very haunting and hypnotic and that the concept of the album is quite intriguing. It's concept explores duality (polar opposites, yin and yang and the like) and is pretty experimental instrumentally.
Notable Tracks: Daniel, Siren Song, Pearl's Song
Genre: Progressive Metal
This is another one that I haven't given a good listen to yet, but I already know that it's not as good as their last record. It's not their fault, though. These guys are a Swedish Progressive Metal band and their last three albums were amazing. The best part was that they were all part of a concept album known as "The Reality Dream Trilogy".
Needless to say, it's really hard to surpass the epic-ness their last three albums had encompassed. I guess my biggest complaints is that their new album is a little short and lacks the cohesion of their last three.
Overall, though, this album still deserves an honorable mention and any fans of Progressive Metal need to check out this album as well as all their older stuff.
Notable Tracks: Hyperactive, Egoist Hedonist
Genre: Progressive Metal/Post-Hardcore
God, I love these guys. The only reason they aren't on my top ten is that this isn't a full album so much as a "B-Sides/Unreleased Tracks" collection and it has its hits and misses.
If you don't know who these guys are, picture Coheed and Cambria – minus all their unlikeable traits (i.e. Claudio's vocal and their occasionally emo-esque sound) – fused with the dark ethereal sound of Tool or A Perfect Circle.
Notable Tracks: Anyone Human, Automobile, Halloween
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Yes, Death Metal's favorite parody/"fake" band (as made famous by the Brendan Small's Metalocalypse) makes the list.
Essentially, the album is the soundtrack for Season 2 - containing most, if not all the songs used throughout the season.
For some reason, lyrically, the album seems to take itself too seriously in comparison to the first album. Maybe it was the because of the overall tone of season 2 or just the music choices made on Brendan Small's part but more blatant "tongue-in-cheek" tracks such as "Fansong," "Murmaider" and "Hatredcopter" were replaced with more "straight-faced" material, with the humor subtly hidden in its parody of the genre.
Musically, the band is still very much Death/Black Metal, but songs like "I Tamper With The Evidence At The Murder Site Of Odin" lyrically lean towards the over-the-top, borderline cheesy style of Power Metal. Overall, the album is still hilarious and as epic as the first one, perfect for the head banger in all of us.
Notable Tracks: Black Fire Upon Us, I Tamper With The Evidence At The Murder Site Of Odin, Bloodline
Genre: Metalcore/Country-Punk
I'm guessing not many have heard of Hank III. He's the grandson of country legend Hank Williams. He's begun to make a name of himself for reviving TRUE Outlaw Country in the midst of the poppy white trash nonsense that pollutes country radio nowadays, combining traditional country-blues with some punk rock elements. Think of what Flogging Molly does for Irish music; that's what Hank Williams III is in terms of the country music scene.
Now, Hank Williams III is mostly known for his live shows and every show consists of two segments. One segment consists of his country act known as simply Hank Williams III. But then he continues with his Punk/Metal band, Assjack. Up until this year, Hank was unable to release any legitimate records from his band due to contractual limitations with his record company (essentially, his record company was refusing to release his records for a number of reasons). So he's been limited to releasing bootlegs at his shows.
Well, as of 2009, he's no longer restricted from releasing his albums and has released Assjack's first official record, simple titled "Assjack." The album is as insane as you'd expect: loud crushing guitars, intensely insane punk riffs, brutal vocals, and the lyrical stylings of classic outlaw country. This is truly a unique record and definitely worth checking out.
Notable Tracks: Tennessee Driver, Cut Throat, Cocaine the White Devil
Genre: Indie Folk/Experimental-Progressive
I just recently got into The Decemberists, with this record being their only one I currently own. But, wow, is it amazing. This really ought to be on my top ten (I just don't have room). The Decemberists have always been more of an Indie/Folk Rock group and that sound still remains, but the experimentation on this record borders on being considered progressive rock.
The record is a rock opera that essentially tells of a love story filled with conflict and tragedy. It focuses on a woman named Margaret, who has fallen in love with a shape-shifting forest dweller named William. The story's arc focuses on a conflict that is brought on by the jealous forest queen (who is also William's mother) and a villainous Rake. The story has a very Shakespearean air to it and is somewhat reminiscent of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (which is one of my favorite Shakespearean comedies, btw).
The whole album is rather unique, but also nostalgic as it shows some obvious influences from The Beatles. But unlike some other indie rock groups that just exploit their Beatle-esque sound, they continue to develop into something unique by combining a menagerie of genres including Country/Bluegrass and Celtic Folk.
Notable Tracks: The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone), Isn't It a Lovely Night, The Wanting Comes in Waves, The Rake's Song
Now onto the main event, The Top Ten Best Albums of 2009
If you haven't heard of these guys, you're not alone. They are a virtually unknown Irish band that release all their albums independently. The band takes the best aspects of traditional Irish folk and add in some Pop Rock sensibilities, resulting in some really catchy tunes.
The best part is that they counter all their poppy songs with some amazing folksy instrumentals and interludes. Anyone who likes Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphy's and wants to expand their tastes to something that's a little more traditional but still catchy ought to give these guys and gals a listen.
Notable Tracks: Stretched Out On Your Grave, Nova Scotia Farewell, Tam Lin, He Moved Through The Fair
Genre: Indie/Country
Any dissenter of country needs to give this a listen before they continue in their blasting of a genre that is truly under-appreciated due to the nonsense that pollutes country radio stations nowadays. Neko Case is a singer/songwriter described as "Alternative Country", whatever that means.
What she really is a Country/Folk artist that adds the lyrical notions and style of acoustic guitar-based Indie Rock, whose voice and lyrics add some much needed sophistication to a dying genre.
Notable Tracks: This Tornado Loves You, Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth, Red Tide
Genre: Post-Punk
I have to admit that when I heard that British musicians were reviving New Wave a few years back, I was skeptical. And I remain so. I mean, I like The Killers and Franz Ferdinand as much as the next Indie Rocker, but something was missing and that was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
This goes above and beyond "New Wave" and "Indie Rock". This is post-punk revival. And, oh yeah, it's catchy too and just downright fun.
Overall, I would say it's sound both appeals to all the old-school fans of Joy Division and The Pixies while it's danceablely catchy songs will make all you indie rockers happy as well.
Notable Tracks: Heads Will Roll, Dragon Queen, Hysteric, Zero
Genre: Folk/Classical
Oh, where do I start? Essentially, mix Indie Rock, Modern Folk and Classical and you get the genius that is Andrew Bird. And let's not stop there. This modern day Bob Dylan has also been known to experiment with jazz and even gypsy music. And did I mention that he's a brilliant lyricist as well?
His newest album, "Noble Beast", dives even deeper into this blackhole of skewing genres, exploring classical music even more than before.
Notable Tracks: Anonanimal, Oh No, The Privateers, Fitz & Dizzyspells
Genre: Experimental-Progressive
I only recently discovered these guys sadly. Unfortunately for the longest time I thought these guys were emo. Not even close. These guys take what Radiohead started and dive deeper into experimental and progressive rock while occasionally jumping back and throwing out something unexpectedly catchy and fun.
The Uprising is so fun and bizarre and unexpectedly complex at times, especially with their closing three track suite "Exogenesis: Symphony" which can only be described as "15 minutes of psychedelic space-rock".
Notable Tracks: Uprising, Resistance, Exogenesis: Symphony
Genre: Progressive Metal
At this point we've reached this list's core, starting with an amazing album that should have been even better: Porcupine Tree's "The Incident." These guys have been around forever and are one the biggest bands in the UK next to Radiohead, yet are virtually unknown in the states except to Prog Rock fans such as myself.
These guys started out in the mid 80s as a fake/joke band (sort of the Spin Tap of prog rock). But at the start of 90s, singer/guitarist Steve Wilson turned the joke into the real deal, combining Pink Floyd-ish Psychedelic Prog with certain elements of early Electronica and "Krautrock" acts such as Tangerine Dream and Can. But as time went on, they slowly evolved with the coming trends, blending in British Alternative at the end of the 90s and more recently turned towards Heavy Metal. Their last album "Fear of a Blank Planet" was the pinnacle of their new sound, containing 6 tracks of pure conceptual brilliance exploring themes from the Brett Eastin Ellis book "Lunar Park."
So how do you top that? It was kind of difficult, and you can tell. The Incident is a 2 disc album, with their first disc only being one track, albeit 55 minutes long divided into a 14 movement suite. The entire suite explores the concept of witnessing various tragedies from the outsider's point of view and how cold, yet curious people can be when passing by various accidents/tragedies or "Incidents." Overall, a brilliant piece. The second disc is where it's a little disappointing and why it's not higher on this list. I expected even more brilliance continued off the concept of the first disc. Nope. Just four unrelated, short standalone tracks having nothing to do with the initial concept. Overall, however, it is a great album that's still worth a listen.
Notable Tracks: Time Flies, The Blind House, The Incident
Genre: Experimental-Progressive/Glam Metal/Nintendocore
Alright, just to warn you all: what will follow is a very long explanation of who these guys are. The Protomen are a concept band who essentially write Rock Operas based on Megaman. Yes, a Megaman Rock Opera. And I'm not talking just some campy chiptune, electronica tribute or some elaborate symphonic remix tribute – a la Overclocked Remix (ocremix.org).
These guys combine 80s Glam Metal and Experimental/Progressive and perform a rather dark interpretation of the Megaman story. Dr. Wily isn't just some blundering mad scientist who repeatedly tries to takeover the world and fails. He is a Stalin like dictator who has succeeded in taking over the world and has created an Orwellian dystopia.
Here's a relapse of the intro to the first album (Without The Spoilers): Dr. Light had been hiding out in the slums of the Wily's central city building the man/machine Protoman who would lead the people in overthrowing Wily's regime. Unfortunately, Protoman is wounded in battle. As Protoman struggles to stay alive, his army of rebels abandons him and watches as he is torn apart by Wily's robots. Dr. Light then forsake the people and returned home and built another robotic man to fill the void left in his left heart after the death of his "son." Years later, Megaman has come of age and hears the truth behind the story of his "brother." He swears to avenge Protoman's death and to free the people of Wily's society.
Yeah, so the story is pretty epic but it doesn't stop there. The new album explores the backstory of Dr. Light and Dr. Wily and how the world came to be. The new album lacks many of the campy game references the first album had but it's story is so engrossing that it should still entertain classic Megaman and Nintendo fans.
The band also continues to experiment, mixing genres such as country and punk while also referencing and glorifying the cheesiness of prog-ish glam rock bands such as Styx and ELO and the cheesy sci-fi concept albums they've produced. Even the album cover looks like something out of a cheesy 80s sci-fi flick. Anyone who is a fan of classic Nintendo needs to check out this album and the preceding one, simply titled "The Protomen."
Notable Tracks: The Good Doctor, The Hounds, The State Vs.Thomas Light, Breaking Out, Keep Quiet
And now we've reached the big three. I have to say that I had to make a difficult decision on which of the following deserves the number one slot, but without further ado . . .
Genre: Metalcore/Melodic Death Metal/Experimental-Progressive
These guys are insane. Since they started, they broke down the barriers of what defines Metalcore, and with each album continued to combined more and more genres to the point where they were impossible to classify. This album continues that trend, combining their unique brand of Progressive Death Metal and Metalcore with genres such as Post-Rock, Country and even Vaudeville (that's right, Vaudeville). This album is just so utterly bizarre and epic it's funny. There are times you'll be banging your head intensely and suddenly find yourself smiling and grinning, possibly even laughing. Even greater is how fluid it is. The album is only 6 tracks, but you'd never notice. This album is so enveloping that once the album is over, you would never guess a whole hour just passed you by.
Notable Tracks: Obfuscation, Fossil Genera – A Feed from Cloud Mountain, Desert of Song
Genre: Progressive Metal
It's been a long time since Dream Theater was able to impress me this much. I've always thought of Dream Theater as a guilty pleasure. Their progressiveness and complexity borders on the nerdy and their fascination with long guitar solos borders on the type of wankery that's usually associated with pretentious "Guitar Instrumentalists" such as Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen.
However, this album is just too good to diss as a "guilty pleasure". This is probably their best work since their masterpiece and my personal favorite "Metropolis 2: Scenes From A Memory."
It's just so balanced and so personal. It's also one of their heaviest albums to date, sometimes bordering on Gothic Symphonic Metal.
This is a very personal album, with several tracks touching on the experiences of guitarist John Pretrucci while the track "The Shattered Fortress" completes the Twelve Step Suite, a suite that explores drummer Mike Portnoy's struggles with alcoholism.
Overall, this 6 track symphonic masterpiece is a must need for any prog metal fan. And to make things better, the special edition includes an extra disc full of covers of great artists such as Queen, Iron Maiden, King Crimson and Rainbow.
Notable Tracks: A Nightmare To Remember, The Shattered Fortress, The Count Of Tuscany
Genre: Progressive Metal
This was a difficult decision, but given how long I was anticipating this album before it finally came out, it was quite obvious to me that this would be my number one album of 2009.
Dredg is certainly a unique, one of a kind band. Starting out as a Deftones-esque Alternative Metal band in the early 90s, they slowly starting mixing in elements of progressive metal and post-rock until they transformed into what can only be described as a unique mix of Alternative Metal, Progressive Metal and Post-Rock/Shoegazer. Think Tool meets Sigur Ros, with small amounts of The Mars Volta added in. The pinnacle of their brilliance is their 2001 album "El Cielo," a concept album that originally was just based on Salvador Dalí's painting "Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bumblebee around a Pomegranate One Second Before Awakening" but eventually took the concept even further, exploring the themes behind the painting, particularly Sleep Paralysis.
It was difficult to top this masterpiece but they tried with "Catch Without Arms." It was a slightly disappointing album, with song structures simplified, disregarding complexity in exchange for catchiness.
Afterwards, they started on another album, one that would take four years to make, "The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion".
Needless to say, they succeeded where CWA failed, and then some. They combined the complexity of "El Cielo" and the catchiness and emotion of "Catch Without Arms" to create something truly unique. And it was utterly breathtaking and rather poignant. The album is once again conceptual, exploring the themes of the essay "A Letter to the Six Billionth Citizen" by Salman Rushdie, exploring religion and evolution, science and politics, death and acceptance, and the emotional implications all these topics have on the human mind. Overall, this album is something unique which should be experienced by anyone who appreciates music in its many unique forms and is my all-time favorite album of 2009.
Notable Tracks: The Pariah, Gathering Stones, Information, Mourning This Morning
Well, there you have it: my favorite albums of 2009. Like I said before, 2009 was a good year for music. Also remember, this list it just my opinion and is not written in stone. There was a lot of stuff I missed this year. If you want, please tell me your favorite albums of 2009 and don't be afraid to comment on my choices. Please, however, be open to different kinds of music and if you have a moment, to take a listen to some of the the artists and albums I have mentioned.
Andrew Bird FTW! I haven't read your entire blog because I keep stopping and checking out songs on youtube. :) Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteWow, I've only heard two of these albums. Time to bone up on my 2009 shit.
ReplyDelete