My Favorite 75 Albums Of 2009 – Dec. 23

Posted By Ben W. on December 23, 2009

seriously_pet_shop_boys

Christmas Eve Eve brings us a unique hypothetical.

What would happen if MF Doom, Raekwon and the Pet Shop Boys got together for lunch?

9. Yes – Pet Shop Boys

Is this album loaded with Neil Tennant’s typically vicious social commentary? (See album title.) Does it have the Boys’ typical combination of dance-pop drum programming with grandiose arrangements? (See album title.) Does it have at least three legitimate candidates for the duo’s next Greatest Hits album? (See album title.) Are these guys in their ’50s and still completely and totally relevant to modern pop music? (See album title.) Is this their finest work of the decade? (See album title.)

8. Born Like This – DOOM

That rare album that serves both as artistic progress and a consolidation of an artist’s styles and talents. It’s a short record, particularly by rap standards, but is chock-full of DOOMisms — the wicked sense of humor, the self-righteous anger, the occasional drops of wisdom, the demented flow, the skittish beats, the bizarre samples and the downright inscrutable genius of the entire presentation.

7. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. 2 – Raekwon

Improbably, Rae lives up to the album title’s high standard. Fourteen years later, he has channeled the original record’s glorious blend of glamor and grit and maintains the mood for more than hour. Of course, it’s not quite up to the purple tape’s quality. If Pt. 1 had a handful of classic tracks surrounded by a bunch of great ones, then Pt. 2 has a handful of great tracks surrounded by a bunch of good ones. Hard to make that sound like a failure, though. In fact, this is the best Wu-related project of the decade.

Check back tomorrow for Day 24 of the Advent calendar countdown. We’ll be listing three albums every day from now through Christmas when we get to No. 1.

Click DAY ONE to view Nos. 75-73.

Click DAY TWO to view Nos. 72-70.

Click DAY THREE to view Nos. 69-67.

Click DAY FOUR to view Nos. 66-64.

Click DAY FIVE to view Nos. 63-61.

Click DAY SIX to view Nos. 60-58.

Click DAY SEVEN to view Nos. 57-55.

Click DAY EIGHT to view Nos. 54-52.

Click DAY NINE to view Nos. 51-49.

Click DAY 10 to view Nos. 48-46.

Click DAY 11 to view Nos. 45-43.

Click DAY 12 to view Nos. 42-40.

Click DAY 13 to view Nos. 39-37.

Click DAY 14 to view Nos. 36-34.

Click DAY 15 to view Nos. 33-31.

Click DAY 16 to view Nos. 30-28.

Click DAY 17 to view Nos. 27-25.

Click DAY 18 to view Nos. 24-22.

Click DAY 19 to view Nos. 21-19.

Click DAY 20 to view Nos. 18-16.

Click DAY 21 to view Nos. 15-13.

Click DAY 22 to view Nos. 12-10.


MY FAVORITE 75 ALBUMS OF 2009 (THE LIST SO FAR)

75. Man Of Aran (Soundtrack) – British Sea Power

74. March Of The Zapotec/Holland EP – Beirut

73. Changing Horses – Ben Kweller

72. It’s Frightening – White Rabbits

71. Living Thing – Peter Bjorn And John

70. Working On A Dream – Bruce Springsteen

69. 21st Century Breakdown – Green Day

68. Grrr… – Bishop Allen

67. Let The Dominoes Fall – Rancid

66. Kingdom Of Rust – Doves

65. Get Guilty – A.C. Newman

64. Hands – Little Boots

63. Further Complications — Jarvis Cocker

62. Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future — The Bird And The Bee

61. The Love Language — The Love Language

60. The Crying Light — Antony And The Johnsons

59. Don’t Stop — Annie

58. My Way — Ian Brown

57. Post Electric Blues — Idlewild

56. Dragonslayer — Sunset Rubdown

55. Middle Cyclone — Neko Case

54. Tongue ‘N Cheek — Dizzee Rascal

53. Art Brut Vs. Satan — Art Brut

52. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand — Franz Ferdinand

51. Phrazes For The Young — Julian Casablancas

50. It’s Not Me, It’s You — Lily Allen

49. The Hazards Of Love — The Decemberists

48. Album — Girls

47. Manners — Passion Pit

46. Watch Me Fall — Jay Reatard

45. 200 Million Thousand – The Black Lips

44. Now We Can See – The Thermals

43. Scars – Basement Jaxx

42. Ghostdini The Wizard Of Poetry In The Emerald City — Ghostface Killah

41. Yesterday And Today — The Field

40. The Duckworth Lewis Method — The Duckworth Lewis Method

39. Merriweather Post Pavilion — Animal Collective

38. Love 2 — Air

37. I’m Going Away — Fiery Furnaces

36. Junior — Royksopp

35. Ignore The Ignorant — The Cribs

34. Wall Of Arms — The Maccabees

33. Ready For The Weekend — Calvin Harris

32. A Brief History Of Love — The Big Pink

31. Temporary Pleasure — Simian Mobile Disco

30. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix — Phoenix

29. West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum — Kasabian

28. UGK 4 Life — UGK

27. In And Out Of Control — The Raveonettes

26. Primary Colours — The Horrors

25. Goodnight Oslo – Robyn Hitchcock

24. Face Control – Handsome Furs

23. The Blueprint 3 – Jay-Z

22. Attention Deficit – Wale

21. It’s Blitz! — Yeah Yeah Yeahs

20. Mo Beauty — Alec Ounsworth

19. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart — The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

18. Popular Songs — Yo La Tengo

17. The Liberty Of Norton Folgate — Madness

16. Man On The Moon: The End Of Day — Kid Cudi

15. Wilco The Album — Wilco

14. The xx — The xx

13. Dark Days/Light Years — Super Furry Animals

12. My Maudlin Career – Camera Obscura

11. Grace/Wastelands – Pete Doherty

10. BLACKsummer’snight – Maxwell

9. Yes – Pet Shop Boys

8. Born Like This – DOOM

7. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. 2 – Raekwon

Related posts:

  1. My Favorite Albums Of 2009 v4
  2. My Favorite 36 Chambers — Wu-Tang ‘93-’97
  3. Best Of 2009 – Tiffany Luckey

About the author

Ben W.

Wonderful highs. Terrible lows.

Comments

Leave a Reply

About Almost Four Stars

A borderline psychotic explosion of opinion.


Better Tag Cloud