Not Many Experts

Now that the entire list has been written, posted and embarrassing spelling mistakes removed, leaving me genuinely sweating from writing and with a body of text that is, depressingly, longer than any essay I have ever done before, I thought that I would paste the whole thing together for the completist in everyone. Anyone who notes the correctiveness (irony?) of the possessive apostrophe in the title wins a prize for pedants everywhere. The honourary mentions can be found in the #27 – #14 list, here.

Condensing an entire year of music that you’ve listened to is an absolutely impossible task. And yet, it’s so tempting to gaze at the year that hasn’t even gone and attempt to squash it all into one post. At the same time, end of year lists are exceptionally popular, and yet all anyone seems to do is complain about them. “What the hell? I was expecting your top 50 to be exactly the same as mine!”. Which, blatantly, is a ridiculous way to look at things. Personally, I think that end of year lists are more than a romantic glance back at a year, they’re simply the best way to introduce people to music that they might have missed. I guess that it’s also a great way to stimulate debate about albums, and an interesting way to think about the ways that we find music. For example, I had something of an epiphany back in 2007 when everyone’s end of year lists made me realise that I had better start using blogs to find music and the NME only for mopping up spilt coffee.

Most of all, though, we’re all guilty of using end of year lists as a sort of test. How many of my favourite albums are there? All I can ask is that you take into account that I am not saying that these are not the best albums of 2009. They are my favourite albums of 2009, nothing more. I’m sure you’ll disagree, and I’d love to hear your thoughts below. However, at the end of the day, I couldn’t allow myself to be anything less than 100% honest. These lists aren’t the place for posturing or flexing your musical muscles; the only question I asked myself when ordering these incredible albums was which one I liked more. At the end of the day, the whole compiling of end of year lists process is very time consuming and complicated, but it really shouldn’t be anything more complex than a question of which albums you liked the most. And that is all I intended this to be, so please let me hear your thoughts and which albums I missed that would be on your list, but all I can say is that I am absolutely and completely correct, because these are my 27 favourite albums of 2009:

#27 Julian Casablancas – Phrazes For The Young

The substitution of Strokesian guitar for 80s synths produced one of the most effortlessly and shamelessly pop records of the year.

Julian Casablancas – Left And Right In The Dark

#26 Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

More accessible, but balanced with incredible instrumentation, “Bitte Orca” amounted to one of Dirty Projectors finest, earnt huge amounts of critical praise, and won over a new legion of fans.

Dirty Projectors – Cannibal Resource

#25 Maximo Park – Quicken The Heart

A sore thumb in a sea of more obvious choices, but “Quicken The Heart” genuinely demonstrated a slightly more mature Maximo Park who are more than a lingering hangover from the heady days of 2005’s indie-rock, without losing the youthful vigour that made us fall for them in the first place.

Maximo Park – Let’s Get Clinical

#24 The Big Pink – A Brief History Of Love

Quite simply, hype deliverers. A staggering accomplishment for a debut album.

The Big Pink – Velvet

#23 Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

Again nominated for the coveted Mercury Prize, with “Two Suns” Natasha Khan continued to establish herself as one of the most talented British singer-songwriters.

Bat For Lashes – Daniel

#22 The Invisible – The Invisible

Looking back, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that The Invisible’s unassuming beats were so epicly under-appreciated by the masses, but they were vindicated by their nomination for the Mercury Music Prize, and their breathless live shows confirm that we can expect much more from the three piece.

The Invisible – London Girl

#21 Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue

Confusing in parts and beautiful others, we just wouldn’t expect anything else from a Warp Records artist. Probably conceived on an impressive array of Class C drugs, but where Bibio really excelled was his marriage of new electronic arrangements and traditional acoustics, which made “Ambivalence Avenue” completely peerless.

Bibio – Fire Ant

#20 White Denim – Fits

A more focused and concentrated effort than “Workout Holiday”, White Denim’s sophomore LP was a well rounded masterpiece of brains and brawn.

White Denim – Regina Holding Hands

#19 Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Laddish? Uncultured? Not at all. Kasabian’s steps into psychadelica and committal to more progressive arrangements brilliantly refuted all of their stereotypes, whilst retaining a level of immediate appeal.

Kasabian – Underdog

#18 The Maccabees – Wall Of Arms

It would have been easy to trot out “Colour Me In Part II”, but the band struck out into a darker and larger sound, and produced an album that was near impossible not to love.

The Maccabees – One Hand Holding

#17 Passion Pit – Manners

Seemingly unfazed by the eyes of the assembled media, Passion Pit released another tremendous debut that contained a succession of brilliant singles that extraordinarily failed to break them into the big time in the UK.

Passion Pit – Sleepyhead

#16 Japandroids – Post-Nothing

Garage rock. Big deal? Generally not, but Japandroids’ anthems of teenage laziness and hedonism really couldn’t have been sound-tracked by anything else so poignantly. Completely deserving of the critical acclaimed heaped onto them.

Japandroids – Young Hearts Spark Fire

#15 Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream

“Walking On A Dream” was always going to be one of the best songs of the year, but I genuinely didn’t think that Empire Of The Sun had such a complete album in them. The songs mix effortlessly into each other, all tied together by an obvious musical genius.

Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream

#14 The Cribs – Ignore The Ignorant

2009 was the year that The Cribs received both their first top 10 single and heavy radio support from Radio 2, but they also gained a certain Mr Marr and released another characteristically honest and punchy album. Pretty good year, then?

The Cribs – We Share The Same Skies

#13 Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

Almost universally salivated over, and with good reason. Without a doubt, it all sounded laboured over and meticulously put together, but that only added to the record’s delicacy. One of 2009’s most accomplished works of art; “Veckatimest” will define 2009 for years to come.

Grizzly Bear – While You Wait For The Others

#12 Here We Go Magic – Here We Go Magic

On his debut LP, Luke Temple showed a knack for weaving together strangely fantastic pop songs and white noise that was far beyond his experience, creating a huge anticipation for his second LP due to be released early next year. In “Fangela” and “Tunnelvision”, he had one his conscience two of the most perfectly inattentive pop songs of the year.

Here We Go Magic – Fangela

#11 Julian Plenti – Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper

“…Skyscraper” helped Julian Plenti to establish an identity for himself outside of Interpol, and set upon us another unexpectedly great collection of work. Where he really excelled was his reluctance to trot out a safe collection of Interpol-a-likes. Admittedly, “…Skyscraper” is far from revolutionary and is hardly going to be being meticulously combed over by musicians in generations to come, but it is a shining example of how to pull off the increasingly popular one-man-side-project.

Julian Plenti – Skyscraper

#10 Cold Cave – Love Comes Close

Dark, affecting and paranoid, “Love Comes Close” pretty much encapsulated the spirit of 2009 and cleverly made us fall for them by disguising pop songs as industrial rackets.

Cold Cave – Life Magazine

#9 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz

Not exactly a coming of age, or even a career best, but given their previous albums, that’s hardly a fair comparison. What “It’s Blitz” was, though, was Yeah Yeah Yeahs tearing into pop and coming out bearing an an album that dwarfed its competitors. Still unrivalled in whatever musical spheres they choose to inhabit.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Hysteric

#8 Arctic Monkeys – Humbug

Thirteen year old skinheads seemed surprised that the newly matured Arctic Monkeys released a newly mature album that ditched their slightly infantile lager-drenched anthems, favouring a sound that stretched from aggressively poetic to smoothly wise. Whilst it failed to produce any stand out singles, that was made completely irrelevant by the fact that “Humbug” was, undeniably, the Monkeys’ best.

Arctic Monkeys – Dance Little Liar

#7 Metric – Fantasies

Whilst still far from being the stadium-filling, wallet-raping band that they more than deserve to be, “Fantasies” swerved from quasi-metal onslaughts to moments of quiet reflection. Perfectly balanced and faithfully conceived like any great album, “Fantasies” established Metric as an incredibly diverse rock band with the pummelling urgency and uncompromising ability of one of the year’s best.

Metric – Gimme Sympathy

#6 Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

For me at least, the unequalled hysteria and hype that preceded the album was completely out of proportion and threatened to ruin the album before I had even heard it, but it remains the case that, musings of the 30 year old unemployed aside, “Merriweather Post Pavilion” is a stunning piece of work. Challenging at times, instantly embracing at others, “Merriweather Post Pavilion” was a varied work that still retained that Animal Collective signature throughout. Nearly a year on, we can finally afford  the record some perspective and… well, all of that hysteria has almost been vindicated. A real classic.

Animal Collective – Also Frightened

#5 Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

After the underwhelming “Limbo Panto”, the second effort from Wild Beasts was nothing other than a completely unexpected triumph. Ambushing critics with album centre-piece “Hooting And Howling”, expectation rose and was realised in a startlingly complete record for such a young band. Where before there was only ambition, now there was substance as that notorious falsetto was joined by an equally astonishing baritone, ultimately coming over like an extraordinarily camp version of The National. “Two Dancers” is Wild Beast’s immense upper-cut; a comeback of Lazarus-esque proportions.

Wild Beasts – The Fun Powder Plot

#4 Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport

“Tarot Sport” being so mind bendingly good has become the 12 inch steak knife in my side. So good is it that I am persuaded to write about it worryingly frequently, yet as I based my own review of the album around; “Tarot Sport” is getting worryingly near to being impossible to describe. So, although there’s no shortage of reviews asserting that, in effect, “this album is very good”, there’s a complete wealth of reviews that are merely a splurge of completely ludricrous, pretentious and very, very long words. Here I find myself again, attempting to find the words to describe an album that I love only because it confuses me and astounds me equally. At the end of a very long year, though, “Tarot Sport” has to come out simply as the indispensable album for the discerning music lover; for those who refuse to let music wash over them and are drawn in by those strange imperfections, nuances and eccentricities of music.

Fuck Buttons – Surf Solar

#3 Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Throughout their career, Phoenix have proved that they don’t find it particularly hard to knock out rock-pop anthems that sound like they should be destroying some chart somewhere, but end up being adored by a few rather than liked by a nation. However, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” drew together all of their many strengths, producing an album that reeled you in with the warm glow of their loping instrumentals, before knocking you out with their trademark foot-stomping, lung-emptying anthems. Never have we forgiven the French so much, so quickly.

Phoenix – 1901

#2 The Antlers – Hospice

The premise of the album is morbid and seemingly inappropriate. A collection of songs written about the dead wife of the lead singer, detailing almost every last fragment of their crumbling relationship. This shouldn’t work. This should be filed under “inappropriate” and dismissed as a desperate attempt to draw attention to another band that just never quite made it. But it’s not. Every last lyric is filled with a blank, staring honesty that strides far past being contrived and fills every song with a respect and understanding of humanity that you feel has never been committed to record before. Without question, the most touching record I have ever heard, rendered completely timeless by the genuine emotion that is bared and ripped apart throughout each song.

The Antlers – Epilogue

#1 The xx – xx

2009 was a year in which impossibly well realised debut albums were hardly in short supply, but four innocent looking teenagers from South London took that pretence and stretched it as far as it would go; leaving us with an album flanked by subtly put together instrumentation, but filled with an enormity of space, which the band deftly exploited to create some of the most heart-warming musical moments of the year. More to their credit, “xx” was an album that was completely unique, a triumph of originality, yet wore the influences of R&B, dubstep and post punk proudly. The record also displayed, with no better example than album opener “Intro”,  an incredible understanding of mood and an ability to draw it out in any direction they wished that far exceeded their years. Universally heralded as absolutely vital, never have both online and on-paper media agreed so vehemently with each other. And the reasons why were simple; “xx” is simultaneously a huge jump forwards and a knowing nod to the past, a beacon of synthetic beats and a record filled with real human warmth, constituting of both rigorously put together arrangements and an infinite space that lent the record a sense of personality and made “xx”, for many, the inevitable record of the year.

The xx – Basic Space

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