Posted By Ben W. on December 28, 2009

It was not the year of New York rock rebirth (see 2001). It was not the year of garage rock revival (see 2002). It was not the year of dance punk (see 2003). It was not the year of second-wave British post-punk (see 2005). It was not the year of electro (see 2007). It was not the year of mainstream hip hop gold (see 2008).
Nope. 2009 was the year of nothing. (more…)
Category: Best of 2009 |
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Posted By Ben W. on December 25, 2009

Phew. We finally made it.
This was the most work I’ve ever put in getting through an Advent calendar.
But here we are. It’s Christmas. Which means, among other things, the top of the Great 2009 Album Countdown!
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Category: Best of 2009 |
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Tags: Arctic Monkeys, Future Of The Left, Morrissey
Posted By Ben W. on December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve!
One day left.
Better get to reading about 2009 albums.
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Category: Best of 2009 |
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Tags: Grizzly Bear, K'naan, Wild Beasts
Posted By Ben W. on December 23, 2009

Christmas Eve Eve brings us a unique hypothetical.
What would happen if MF Doom, Raekwon and the Pet Shop Boys got together for lunch?
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Category: Best of 2009 |
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Tags: DOOM, Pet Shop Boys, Raekwon
Posted By Ben W. on December 22, 2009

We have progressed to that part of the countdown where the albums in question are not just good by 2009 standards. These rank among the best of the decade.
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Category: Best of 2009 |
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Tags: Camera Obscura, Maxwell, Pete Doherty
Posted By Ben W. on December 22, 2009

And now for something completely different…
My sister, Kit Walpole, is here with her Best Of list; her Best of Musical Theater 2009.
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Posted By Ben W. on December 21, 2009

Welcome to the working week.
We’re in the Top 15, which means three more very, very, very good albums to discuss today.
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Category: Best of 2009 |
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Tags: Animal Collective, Super Furry Animals, The xx, Wilco
Posted By Ben W. on December 21, 2009

In addition to being one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, Greg Asher also has finely honed music taste. Here’s his list of favored 2009 albums.
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Category: Best of 2009 |
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Tags: Atlas Sound, Fever Ray, Japandroids, Metric, The Decemberists
Posted By Ben W. on December 20, 2009

Last weekend before Christmas. Hope you got your shopping done.
What’s that? You haven’t started yet?
Well, might as well put it off for another 10 minutes. Read about three more great 2009 albums before you go out.
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Category: Best of 2009 |
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Tags: Kid Cudi, Madness, Yo La Tengo
Posted By Ben W. on December 20, 2009

If you didn’t get your fill of Michael Bond opinions yesterday with his list of 2009 albums, I have good news — he’s back today with a list of non-2009 music that he listened to in 2009.
If you did, in fact, get your fill of Michael Bond yesterday, ummm… well… too bad?
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Category: Best of 2009 |
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Tags: Blossom Dearie, Built To Spill, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Leonard Cohen, Procol Harum, The Beatles, The Byrds, The Cramps, The Pharcyde