Another year of music has come and gone and thus I compose my list of the top ten albums of 2009. Sadly, after sifting through my iTunes by year and seeing that I had 94 albums for 2009, only one really stuck out as a gem. And with that statement, the list begins…

1. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest [Warp]

This album has both immediately captivating material like “Two Weeks” and songs that grow over time such as “While You Wait for the Others.” Between the Daniel Rossen/Department of Eagles release in late 2008 and the rumored “disconnect” between Rossen and fellow bandmate Ed Drost, I was surprised to see a new Grizzly Bear album released in May of 2009. The quality of recording is astonishing, and as my friend Sonia mentioned, to truly enjoy the album, put it on loud with some really nice speakers.

Top songs: “Two Weeks”, “Southern Point”, “All We Ask”

2. Vetiver – Tight Knit [Sub Pop]

Sub Pop made a really wise decision in bringing Andy Cabic and Vetiver onto their label. I had a chance to see them at the Chopin Theatre here in Chicago in May and much of the material they played came from Tight Knit. The performance only confirmed my respect for the band and their latest album. After a great album of covers (Thing of the Past) last year, it was nice to hear some Andy Cabic originals.

Top songs: “Everyday”, “Through the Front Door”, “More of This”

3. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix [V2]

Ok, this could qualify as a guilty pleasure. This is “pop”, a term that generally makes me cringe–but then again–they’re from France. Not unlike how Jens Lekman would be unlistenable if he was American, it is his “Swedishness” allows me to overlook/tolerate some of the cheese.

Top Songs: “Lasso”, “Girlfriend”, “Armistice”

4. The xx – xx [Young Turks]

Yeah, they’re only 20 years old and one member has already decided to pack it in but the understated tone of this album shows undeniable potential. The vocal pairing and low key lyrics are catchy and the album has a unique late night mood that grows on you. I missed them at the Bottom Lounge a few weeks back but will definitely catch them at Lincoln Hall in April.

Top songs: “VCR”, “Heart Skipped a Beat”, “Basic Space”

5. Fanfarlo – Reservoir [self released]

Unfortunately this album didn’t out perform the slew of singles and EPs that Fanfarlo had released prior but still, for a year like 2009 this definitely on the list. Saw them at Schubas a couple months back and I get the impression that they’re a band that’s gonna be prolific in years to come. The fact that they released this album themselves shows that with some backing they’ll only get better

Top Songs: “I’m a Pilot”, “Finish Line”, “Luna”

6. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca [Domino]

This album would probably be higher had I made this list a few months back but surprisingly, some of my favorite tracks actually started to lose their hard fought appeal. Why? Hard to say but if I had to make an argument I’d say their song structures can become grating. This is definitely not material for everyone. That being said, the beginning of a song like “Temecula Sunrise” is worth also the subsequent exploration.

Top songs: “Temecula Sunrise”, “Cannibal Resource”, “Two Doves”

7. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below [Rough Trade]

Some of the songs are a raucous party, others are beautifully structured acoustic material with Alex Ebert’s voice as the showcase. Both are great.

Top songs: “Brother”, “Home”, “40 Day Dream”

8. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone [ANTI]

Her most consistent album to date. If you’ve longed to hear Neko make full use of her unmistakeable voice on some really strong chorus compositions, this is the album for you.

Top songs: “This Tornado Loves You”, “Middle Cyclone”, “I’m an Animal”

9. Loudon Wainwright III – High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project [2nd Story Sound]

I love Loudon. This album spans two discs and contains 30 songs and had it been pared down to 10 to 12 of the best I might have named it album of the year. That being said, High Wide and Lonesome was nominated for a Grammy (”Best Traditional Folk Album”) and I got the man to sign a copy for me after his show last month.

Top songs: “High Wide & Handsome”, “Didn’t He Ramble”, “If I Lose”

10. Deer Tick – Born on Flag Day [Partisan Records]

Deer Tick had managed to elude me up until this release. John McCauley’s distinctly gruff vocal and alt country sound of the band was a pleasant surprise from what I was expecting. I guess with all these “deer” bands (”Deerhunter”, “Deer Tick”, “Deerhoof”) it’s just been too hard to keep track.

Top sons: “Houston, TX”, “Hell on Earth”, “Stung”

Honorable Mentions

Dodos – Time to Die [Frenchkiss Records]
Wheat – White Ink, Black Ink [The Rebel Group]
Devendra Banhart – What Will We Be [Reprise Records]
Dawes – North Hills [ATO Records]
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion [Domino]

Outside the Vic prior to the show

This is about as far as I made towards entering the Vic before I was told to check my camera. Definitely a downside to having an SLR is that it’s significantly more difficult to get it into a show with. Why did I have to check my SLR camera but not my iPhone which has a camera? The Vic is slowly moving on to my list of shitty venues.

Oh well, I was late to the show anyway and spent most of the performance up in the balcony which is a poor spot to get pics but a good vantage point for a low key show like Loudon. He played a few classics (”Motel Blues” was a fav) but much of the material came from more recent albums such as Recovery, Strange Weirdos, and a couple of albums I hadn’t heard yet (The Krugman Blues and High Wide & Handsome).

The album cover for High Wide & Handsome

High Wide & Handsome is an homage to Charlie Poole who was a well-renowned banjo player and singer from the ’20s and ’30s. The album spans two discs and contains some thirty songs. Some are covers of songs often included in Poole’s repertoire and others were composed by Loudon and Dick Connette for the album. The title track of the album–written by Loudon–is one of the best and a highlight from the show at the Vic as well.

I really don’t think I can recall a month-span with the release of so many new albums from such great musicians. It’s been hard to get through all of them and to be honest I’d still like to give some of them a longer listen. Here’s just a few:

Radiohead: In Rainbows – Fantastic from start to finish. A classic Radiohead combination of guitars, synth sounds and Thom Yorke’s voice. I paid $16 for it and it was worth every penny. I especially love ‘Nude’, ‘House of Cards’ and ‘Weird Fishes/Arpeggi’ but to honest the whole thing is great.

Band of Horses: Cease to Begin – Another GREAT album. Ben Bridwell didn’t steer to far from his successful formula utilized on Everything All the Time. I really dig ‘Is There a Ghost’, ‘No One’s Gonna Love You’, ‘The General Specific’, and ‘Marry Song’.

Iron and Wine: The Shepherd’s Dog – This one is all about ‘Innocent Bones’ for me. Such a fantastic song. That and ‘Boy With a Coin’ as well.

Devendra Banhart: Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon – I recently saw Devendra live and I was all about ‘Samba Vexillographica’. I don’t think I’d be as high on this album as I am if I hadn’t had the opportunity to see the stuff live – a lot of the material was so great in concert – such as ‘Freely’ and ‘Seahorse’ that the album took a few listens to dig.

Holy shit folks. A new Radiohead album (apparently titled In Rainbows) is on it’s way in 10 days. You can only purchase it through their site www.radiohead.com. And get this – you determine how much to pay for it!

This was just published on their site:

“Hello everyone.
Well, the new album is finished, and it’s coming out in 10 days;
We’ve called it In Rainbows.
Love from us all.
Jonny”

The long awaited new Interpol album Our Love to Admire finally arrived just over a week ago and I must say I really dig it. While these guys have never quite been able to match their first album Turn on the Bright Lights [2002], Admire has a number of great songs that get better with each listen.

My favorite song of the moment has to “Wrecking Ball” with it’s familiar guitar drone intro, sharp atmospheric rhythms and poignant lyrics: “Nobody warned you / Nobody told you / to make up your mind”. The message is up to the listener’s interpretation and for me it pertains to the difficulties of post-collegiate career path and expectations that come with it: relationships, love, responsibility and success.

New to this album is the addition of keyboards and what could be considered orchestration, both conventions that lend themselves well to the Interpol sound – you really can’t go on forever with simply two guitars, bass and drums and the additions were well executed. While Paul Banks has opened his singing approach somewhat from previous efforts, he hasn’t turned his back on his trademark downcast delivery (a style that still draws comparisons to Ian Curtis and Joy Division).

If “Wrecking Ball” doesn’t do it for you, I also recommend the second track “No I in Threesome” as well.

Spoon is streaming a new song from their upcoming album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga every day until all of the songs are up and playable individually. I’ve given a listen to the first 2 songs and I gotta say I’m excited for the official release July 10th. Click here to check out the site.

The new National album Boxer has been leaked online. I managed to get a copy and I’m giving it my first listen – I feel no guilt since I’ve already pre-ordered the album (which doesn’t come out until 5/22). I’ll certainly let you know what my impressions are soon… For now you can check out the officially released single “Fake Empire” – amazing stuff. Don’t forget they’re coming to Chicago 6/7 to play the Metro.

Son Volt
The Search
Transmit Sound/Legacy[2006]

I’m sure that by now everyone has gotten themselves a copy of the new Arcade Fire album ‘Neon Bible’ and perhaps because that album has gotten so much ink I feel compelled to mention an album that will likely be overlooked – the new Son Volt album ‘The Search’ which came out the same day (March 6th).

‘The Search’ is (in my opinion) the strongest Son Volt album to date. The material swings from raucous rock ‘n roll to minimalistic piano-based songs, all set to the sometimes poignant – sometimes paranoid lyrics of Jay Farrar. Son Volt decided for whatever reason to release two versions of the album – one with a 14 song tracklist and then an extended version that contained 22 songs. Naturally, I had to get the one with all the tracks and while some of the songs sound the same (tends to happen when you put out 22 songs on one disc) there are a some songs from the extended version that shouldn’t be missed.

If you’re a skeptic give a few tracks a listen on the iTunes store or Amazon… here’s the ones that I highly recommend:

1. Slow Hearse: first song on the album – the first time I heard it I was blown away – such a downer but so beautiful.

2. The Search: this one falls under the category of ‘raucous’ – great intro, great song.

3. Adrenaline and Heresy: the best song on the album – another one that just blew me away at first listen.

4. Exurbia: this one is only on the extended version of the album – best song from the extended tracklist.

Alright, it’s almost 2007 so I thought I’d take the time to list my 10 favorite albums of 2006. I’m certain I’ll leave some glaring omission so feel free to let me know what I left out but anyways – here’s what I’ve got:

1. Band of Horses: Everything All the Time (don’t have it? – get it)

2. Wooden Wand & the Sky High Band: Second Attention

3. Tapes ‘n Tapes: The Loon

4. Sunset Rubdown: Shut Up I Am Dreaming

5. Calexico: Garden Ruin

6. The Decemberists: The Crane Wife

7. Johnny and the Moon: Johnny and the Moon

8. Figurines: Skeleton

9. Thom Yorke: The Eraser

10. M. Ward: Post-War

Catfish Haven
Tell Me
Secretly Canadian [2006]

I stumbled across this album a few days ago and I haven’t been listening to much else lately. The album is Catfish Haven’s second release and I decided to pick it up after hearing the song ‘Please Come Back’ from their first release.

Catfish is a three-piece band (guitar/bass/drums) and creating a sustainable sound with just these instruments can be a challenging feat. Catfish is able to pull it off effectively in part due to the vocal power of their lead singer George Hunter. Hunter has a distinct style that stands apart from much of stuff you hear today. I hate to draw comparisons but if I had to cite a vocal similarity it would have to be Joe Cocker. And the comparison doesn’t just stop at the vocal sound but also the material. Catfish draws inspiration from outside the traditional rock realm – on the title track ‘Tell Me’ their use of a jubilant pop chord progression and vocal harmonies are reminiscent of old-school soul.

While Catfish Haven’s sound is pretty well defined by Hunter’s voice – the songs jump around the rock spectrum and draw upon indie, soul, and even jam band conventions; ‘Let It Go (Let It Grow)’ sounds like it came right from a moe. album and I guess if you have to be compared to a jam band, moe would be one of the few honorable ones left.

My guess is that a lot of the material came from a break-up and the song titles themselves support this motif: ‘Crazy for Leaving’ – ‘If I Was Right’ – ‘Tell Me’. The lyrics center on regret, sleepless nights, and the confusion of love. The strongest track on the album is ‘Another Late Night’ – a vigorous number that starts right in with biting lyrics: “Don’t leave me standing in the doorway / I don’t want to worry about yesterday / I don’t wanna think about things we never meant to say. / You can bet I’ve never been untrue / And you know I never lied to you.” If you’re into the heartbreak stuff (such as I) you’ll find Tell Me one of the best new albums out there.