My Favorite 75 Albums Of 2009 — Dec. 16
Posted By Ben W. on December 16, 2009
Here we go. Thirty albums. Ten days.
Getcha popcorn ready. It’s gon be a show.
30. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix — Phoenix
This album confounds. It’s sequenced so poorly. The first two songs are so far and away the best two songs here that they threaten to drown out the rest of the album. The second half is barren, with nary a hook to be found. Yet I like this album. I find as the year goes on, I like it a lot. The production is so smooth, and the band’s sound so familiarly Phoenix-like that it almost doesn’t matter that the album has only two good songs and absolutely zero sensible lyrics. A classic case of style trumping substance.
29. West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum — Kasabian
Kasabian stopped trying to sound like Oasis and started emulating Pink Floyd on this Mercury-nominated album. The result was the best record of their career. The melodies are still good, their lyrics still bad. The big change is the production and the arrangements. These aren’t your standard lunk-head Kasabian rockers anymore. They got very creative, and brought the pschedelic strings, the orchestra production, the electro loops. It’s a record so full of exciting ideas, it’s made me re-think my previously negative stance toward the band.
28. UGK 4 Life — UGK
It’s nice to see when a late artist’s legacy is handled with the proper care and respect. That’s certainly the case here. These are tracks Bun B and Pimp C were working on in 2007 just before Pimp died. Rather than mix them with ridiculous pop productions or stretch out verses over a slew of needless posthumous releases (see Biggie and 2Pac’s post-death output), Bun went back to the studio and put this album together as closely as it was originally intended. Which means it’s not a dramatic goodbye album, full of sugary tributes. In many ways, it’s just another UGK album — which really is a perfect tribute in itself.
Check back tomorrow for Day 17 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.
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
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