Over the course of this year a whole slew of great albums came out, providing brilliant soundscapes and audio experiences for those of us who were willing to hunt them down. Here are ten of my favorites.
10. Black Moth Super Rainbow – Eating Us
I’ve been a huge fan of Black Moth‘s dreamy, psychedelic, Vocoder-ridden sound since I first picked up Sun Lips about a year ago. Admittedly, their music isn’t for everyone, so for a while I was kind of hesitant about recommending the band to people whose tastes I wasn’t completely sure of. However, with the advent of Eating Us the band has managed to create a sound that’s both otherworldy and surprisingly accessible at the same time, which will hopefully encourage more newcomers to check into the rest of their (amazing) back catalog.
To be completely honest, I didn’t really care for the last three tracks of the album, which is why this isn’t higher up (or in this case, down) in the list. Then again, when you have such an array of showstoppers like The Sticky, Twin of Myself, Dark Bubbles and Born On A Day The Sun Didn’t Rise, it’s only reasonable that you’re allowed a few ‘misses’ every now and again.
That being said, the first 9 tracks of this album are absolutely solid, and make for a perfect soundtrack to a lazy afternoon of chillin’ out, maxin’ and relaxin’ all cool. When you’re done listening to the album be sure to check out their interactive video for Dark Bubbles. Like the band, it’s a one-of-a-kind experience.
And lastly: if you think their current band name is a mouthful, just remember that they used to be called satanstompingcaterpillars. No joke.
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Black Moth Super Rainbow – “The Sticky“
9. Sykur – Frábært eða frábært
When I first wrote about Sykur earlier on in the year they only had a couple of tracks up on their MySpace. Flash forward to about 7 months later, and the Icelandic trio now has a full-fledged album under their belts, which, not unlike the band name, is really, really sweet.
Most of my thoughts on these guys’ work can be found in the aforementioned link above, but if there’s one major additional comment I had to give regarding Frábært eða frábært it would have to be the step up in professionalism, as far as the recording is concerned. Songs that used to be on their MySpace like Nakti apinn (formerly known by its English name, Naked Ape) sound so much richer in detail, Swedish Snowboard Girl has a whole new intro, and Rakel Mjöll’s vocals in Rocketship truly have to be heard to be believed.
Given their immense talent and energy, I’m sure these guys will be huge in a few years. And when they are, you know where you heard about them first… BUAHAHAHAHAHA
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Sykur – “Nakti apinn“
8. Passion Pit – Manners
Passion Pit sort of burst onto the scene this year, first with the quick-as-wildfire campus-wide spreading of Chunk of Change, then later on with their full-on debut LP Manners. The band’s been breaking big ever since, even landing an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel earlier this week.
Even if you don’t listen to much indie music you’ve probably heard them on a number of commercials, including that Canadian PSP ad and the recent spot for the Palm Pixi. There’s a real inspiring spark of life in all of their tracks, a visual manifestation of which you can see in the music video for Little Secrets that I posted a while back.
As of this time of writing I’ll be going to see them play in Pomona later today, so hopefully that gives you an inkling how much I enjoy these guys’ work.
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Passion Pit – “Sleepyhead“
7. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms
Aaaaaand on that note, another band I got to see earlier this year was Neon Indian, whose hit Deadbeat Summer made me an instant convert to the chillwave genre, despite having some less-than-satisfactory encounters with other bands of that type before.
All in all the album runs at a surprisingly short 30 and a half minutes, but that’s not to say it’s less of an experience in any way—if anything, the sheer density of each track more than makes up for it.
Add that to the fact that, layered on top of the super lo-fi sound are a smattergasm of ridiculously catchy hooks and you’ve got yourself yet another fantastically fun debut LP on this list. In a row, even! Haha.
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Neon Indian – “Deadbeat Summer“
6. E-603 – Torn Up
Apologies for the c-c-c-c-c-c-cccombo-breaker! here, but Torn Up is by no means E-603‘s debut effort—that would have to go to 2008′s Something For Everyone, which is also every bit as amazing in its own right.
As with Sykur, I have detailed a pretty lengthy description of my admiration for this guy’s work before, but for the lazy (or click-impaired) readers of this site, imagine every song you’ve ever heard from on the radio from high school to present day all blended together into something that’s not only listenable, but pants-wettingly fun at the same time. That’s Torn Up for ya.
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E-603 – “Push ‘Em Up“
5. Candy Claws – In the Dream of the Sea Life
Listening to Candy Claws is if like you could gather all the seashells on the beach into a gigantic pile and made a gigantic, holophonic echo chamber house out of them, which somehow also had the power of flight to boot. Seeing as how that option is probably way out of most people’s budget, I guess you’ll just have to do with In the Dream of the Sea Life for now… there’s less slave labor involved, plus you can share it with more of your friends that way.
Side note: for those of you who can actually make it past all the noise and admire the beauty in Candy Claws’ work, I’d recommend taking on their (free!) EP Two Airships/Exploder Falls next. It’s actually my favorite release from the band, and if that came out in ’09, it would definitely be on this list in ITDOTSL’s stead.
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Candy Claws – “Lantern Fish”
4. Dan Black – Un
While most people who’ve heard of Dan Black know him as ‘that guy who mashed up Rihanna and Notorious B.I.G.’, the guy’s got a pretty interesting musical history as the former frontperson for The Servant, whose song ‘Cells‘ you’ve probably heard from a certain trailer that came out a few years back.
Un, doubling as both representative of Black’s solo status as well as the fact that this is his first album in that regard, starts off strong with Symphonies and doesn’t let up for a second. There’s not a single bad, or even mediocre, track on this album, which makes it a perfect record to keep it on repeat when you’re not really sure what else to listen to next.
The only reason I could find for people not liking Un is either a dislike for Black’s Thom Yorke-esque strainy voice, or if they just don’t care much for electro-pop in general. Other than that, I have no doubt that anyone you let listen to this album will absolutely fall in love with it—I know of at least two other guys who did.
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Dan Black – “Symphonies“
3. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
I’m by no means the first person to say this: Animal Collective‘s one of those bands you either love or hate, with not much middle ground in between. When I first picked up their work after a last.fm recommendation via Ratatat, I dismissed most of it as incoherent avant-garbage. Luckily, Merriweather Post Pavilion came along, and after giving them another chance I’m now a huge fan (save for most of their pre-Sung Tongs work… yeah, let’s not talk about those).
Much like the #10 entry on this list, Merriweather is a toned-down release from the band in terms of their experimental eccentricities, but by no means a lesser work in any way. If anything, actually being able to make out what the band is saying on this album is definitely a huge plus as far as I’m concerned.
Though, of course, that still doesn’t entirely preclude the whole slab/slat issue still brewing up in the community. C’mon Noah, enunciate already! Y’know… just open up your / open up your / open up your throat a little.
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Animal Collective – “My Girls“
2. Miike Snow – Miike Snow
Marking the 6th debut album on this list is Swedish band Miike Snow‘s phenomenal self-titled LP, spelt with two i’s even though it’s pronounced as if it just had one.
What I love about this record if how it always manages to somehow always strike the perfect balance between somber, bittersweet heartbreak and catchy, upbeat head-nodding all at the same time. Plus, Andrew Wyatt’s voice is probably the best out of all the other artists listed in this post, which the more vocally-inclined of you will definitely gravitate towards.
As with Un, Miike Snow is one of those albums I would have no problem with just constantly having on auto-repeat forever, if not for the fact that I’m always checking out new music out nearly every day. And while the next entry in this list takes the #1 spot for this year, if I were stuck on a desert island with one 2009 album to listen to, it’d have to be this one.
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Miike Snow – “Silvia“
1. Dan Deacon – Bromst
I’ve seen Dan Deacon twice this year (would have been thrice if he had showed up to the FYF fest), and both times it’s been absolute blast. If you ever get the chance to see him live, for your sake and mine please do—it’ll be the most fun you’ll ever have, even though you do risk complete and utter deafness as a result.
As for Bromst… well, to tell the truth, even though it’s my favorite album this year I still don’t think it’s actually possible to even approximate an accurate description of what Dan Deacon sounds like in text. But hey, I’ll give it a shot.
Mental floss. Holophonic eargasm. Pre-historic food fight. Dr. Who’s naughty parts bundled in Saran Wrap. Ligers corn-holing Tapirs. A musically-inclined fire brigade on anti-antidepressants. Mythical, nightmarish beasts delivered in enema form. Austin Powers: Criterion Collection edition.
Hey, I tried.
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Dan Deacon – “Get Older“
— — — —
{ Honorable Mentions }
- múm – Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know
- the xx – xx
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
- The Bloody Beetroots – Romborama
- Telefon Tel Aviv – Immolate Yourself
- Awesome New Republic – Hearts
- Florence + The Machine – Lungs
- Discovery – LP
- Starfucker/Pyramiddd – Jupiter
- The Mummers – Tale to Tell
- Roland Lim – The Anaconda OST
Well there are a couple on there I still have to check out, but or else, I agree mostly with your choice of the top ten.
Top four are dead on, although I think it should be MPP, Un, Bromst, Miike.
Metric’s Fantasies should have gotten an honorable mention, no? http://www.last.fm/music/Metric/Fantasies
Great list though.
-Alex
I must admit that I haven’t heard of Dan Deacon but after listening to that sample song, it sounds like it is definitely worth checking out.
Just made my own top ten.
check it.
http://www.last.fm/user/ajaniuk/journal
-alex