My Favorite 75 Albums Of 2009 — Dec. 21
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.
15. Wilco The Album — Wilco
Less is way more on this one. Stripping away the overbearing artistic pretensions that plagued all its work since Summer Teeth, Wilco has focused the listener’s ear properly on the songs themselves. And that’s great because the songs themselves are among the very best of the band’s career. My favorite Wilco album.
14. The xx — The xx
The xx already sounds like a polished, veteran group on this, the most complete debut album of the year. They use sparse keyboard patches and even sparser percussion to create an album-long mood of intimacy and quiet. The tracklist ebbs and flows as a united body and not a collection of separate pieces. And lest you fear this sounds like the recipe for boredom, know that they have enough hooks (see “Crystalised” and “Basic Space”) to hold your interest.
13. Dark Days/Light Years – Super Furry Animals
I find it quite hilarious how much love Animal Collective is getting this year for being crazy and ground-breaking and all things amazing, when Super Furry Animals were doing that psychedelic-electro-pop thing in far more interesting, humorous and less-pretentious fashion more than a decade ago (please please please see “The Door To This House Remains Open”).
But I digress. Animal Collective is fine. Whatever. The point here is that this is yet another rewarding album of off-center, highly-creative pop from the Super Furries — a band that seems to have a never-ending supply of tunes.
Check back tomorrow for Day 22 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.
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
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GASP! animal collective is the pretentious version of sfa. you are so right!