The 2009 Magazine Albums Of The Year Thread For Posting Lists and Discussion.

Having read some of the Best of Decade lists, I can't help but think that 2009 has been really lackluster. The Pitchfork Top 100 tracks list (which I normally enjoy) didn't excite me much this year. There are some good songs on there, but hardly any great ones. Of the top of my head... Other years this decade that I found wanting still saw some extraordinary new talent emerge. For example:

2002 saw the Neptunes and Timbaland doing some of their best work. And you had tracks like "Grindin'", "Cry Me a River", "Can't Get You Out of My Head", etc.

2003 brought us Dizzee Rascal, The Knife (to an international audience), Villalobos' Alcachofa. Tracks like "Crazy in Love", "Hey Ya", "Ignition (Remix)", "Heartbeats", etc.

2004 gave us Sung Tongs, Piracy Funds Terrorism, tracks like "Toxic, "Heartbeat", etc.

2005: Arular, Robyn, Antony. Tracks like "1 Thing", "Hope There's Someone", "What You Know", etc.

2008: New Amerykah, Portishead's transformation, London Zoo. Tracks like "Machine Gun", "White Winter Hymnal", "Blind", etc.

I think the abundance of creativity found in 2000-01 and 2006-07 is undeniable.

2009 felt to me mostly like the Top Box Office list of the year: most of it a "sequel" of sorts, nothing terribly groundbreaking. I suppose MPP and Bitte Orca might be the most original albums I heard this year. I like some of the Glo-Fi stuff (particularly) Neon Indian, but does it measure up to past year highlights? I suppose 2008 wasn't too much different. But nothing this year blew me away like the three albums I listed above.

I'm hoping to be convinced otherwise...

Just to add to that... Fever Ray is my favorite album this year. But I would say that, while Karin is definitely an original, that her album is more of a subtle, intriguing offshoot of The Knife, rather than a big leap forward.

all years are the same

^ yes. apart from 2000 which sucked.

lauding "white winter hymnal" as groundbreaking or w/e is prob even more lol than the whole aspie/troll decade breakdown thing

In 2009, we got...Lady Gaga, and even you all were, like us, slow to coming around embracing her. If we polled a month later, she'd have two songs in the top 30 instead of top 100 I reckon. Polled two months earlier, she may have had none.

― scottpl, Tuesday, December 15, 2009 5:16 AM Bookmark

that's fair re: gaga. I mean, I came around to her literally yesterday when I decided I wasn't offended by "Paparazzi" stuck in my head

but that doesn't change that 2009 also had "Turnin' Me On", "I Know You Want Me", "Loba", "Turn My Swag On", "Boom Boom Pow", "Birthday Sex", "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart", etc. maybe even "Single Ladies" would count, didn't notice it skimming through your 2008 list and it definitely feels like it impacted this year

Yep, you're right. That one should be left off from the argument. That said...

Someone who devotes their commenting time to simply looking for a detail to laugh at is 'even more lol'. See troll.

the level of resistance to the idea that you might have to put in a tiny bit of effort these days to find the most inventive/excellent examples of (formerly-)popular genres is weird. but i don't think anyone can take it for granted any more that great pop music will just drop into your lap like it would have seven years ago. if you wait for that, you'll end up thinking:

"2009 felt to me mostly like the Top Box Office list of the year: most of it a "sequel" of sorts, nothing terribly groundbreaking"

i've been bitching about the charts - UK even worse than US - all year, so i'd probably agree w/that - though as rev's just pointed out the top 40 was hardly a pop wilderness. but it's totally unreflective of the music actually being made.

i refuse to believe anyone outside of rock critics listens to dubstep

You're the one who keeps wondering how people hear No. 1 singles so this doesn't surprise me a bit.

it's still completely weird to me that rock critics have started listening to dubstep tbh

xps: the lack of hit music wasn't a detail I was looking for so much as something that struck me. it seemed like it wasn't always like that so I went back to an older list to double-check my hunch

ive made this point before w/r/t rap but i think it works for R&B & pop etc too -- theres a simultaneous thing going on where it does seem like most artists arent interested in attacking that pop middle ground that you used to find nsync vs. eminem on TRL-type battles for the hearts of the great center. Very few rap artists seem interested in crossing over that way (which is why i felt like gucci was such a big deal -- rap artist who actually wanted to be a star, as quoted yesterday by caramanica). Gaga is another example. But most artists dont seem like they're trying to hit that big mainstream area (the artists Rev named, like Pitbull etc are also exceptions)

but at the same time i still think there's been a disengagement from the charts in the last couple years, & its not just about pitchfork although its about them/us too, but the audience as well. I do think stuff like "swag surfin" or "turn my swag on" or "i know you want me" "she wolf" would have made it in years past (real surprised the "it sounds like shakira x DFA" thing didnt have any narrative purchase)

ive made this point before w/r/t rap but i think it works for R&B & pop etc too -- theres a simultaneous thing going on where it does seem like most artists arent interested in attacking that pop middle ground that you used to find nsync vs. eminem on TRL-type battles for the hearts of the great center. Very few rap artists seem interested in crossing over that way (which is why i felt like gucci was such a big deal -- rap artist who actually wanted to be a star, as quoted yesterday by caramanica).

You might have to elaborate a bit about this for me, I don't really understand how Gucci seems any more interested in crossing over and being a big star than, I dunno, Kanye or Wayne or T.I. or Jay-Z or a billion rappers that haven't become big crossover stars.

I mean you realize that every popular rapper of the last 15 years has done a song with Mariah Carey, right?

dude im not comparing him to them -- im talking about artists in 2009 who havent already reached that point

im comparing him to like -- boosie, z-ro

Although I wouldn't put myself into this category, I think it's understandable that a lot of people make less of an effort to engage with unpopular "pop" music than with unpopular "indie" music - one of the key claims to greatness of populist genres is that they're populist, and it's a big part of the enjoyment of those genres (for me at least) that you see the video clips, hear the songs on the radio, or out at clubs etc. and everyone knows them.

I think "Single Ladies" and Gaga songs are the only real "unifiers" there've been in the last 12 months, and that's distressing - pop is failing in one of its core duties if it's not currently able to serve that function regularly, never mind that it's still producing heaps of great (un- or only partially successful) music.

It's the same reason why people who dismiss Radio Disney and CD Baby failed tweenpop stars on account of their invisibility have a partial point - I will always prefer Ashlee Simpson over (insert random unknown) because she's bringing the (relative) pop stardom to the table as well as great songs. Whereas all the (insert random unknowns), because they're working in a genre which implies pop stardom, have to fabricate it, the trials and tribulations of being famous etc.

im comparing him to like -- boosie, z-ro

― unicorn strapped with a unabomb (deej), Tuesday, December 15, 2009 7:12 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Pill, Gibbs, Tre

basically saying gucci is more a t.i./jeezy/jay-z/wayne rapper ... im just saying he belongs in that rap -> pop lineage

a better (& less divisive) example is "all the way turnt up" "swag surfin" "turn my swag on" "break up" --> these songs were huge urban radio anthems & particularly 'break up' & 'swag surfin' i heard allllll summer non stop on the radio at my job

OK...I understand your point somewhat now, apparently by "very few rap artists" you meant "very few southern rap artists that are nationally known but not already hugely popular," which is kind of a different deal. there's still lots and lots and lots of low level and mid level rappers aiming for the pop charts with varied success.

but that doesn't change that 2009 also had "Turnin' Me On", "I Know You Want Me", "Loba", "Turn My Swag On", "Boom Boom Pow", "Birthday Sex", "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart", etc. maybe even "Single Ladies" would count, didn't notice it skimming through your 2008 list and it definitely feels like it impacted this year

― LA CANCION MAS PRETENCIOSA DEL MUNDO... (The Reverend), Tuesday, December 15, 2009 7:06 PM (1 hour ago)

almost positive "single ladies" was on the 2008 list, but looking at that selection of songs i don't see any of those as can't-miss song of the year contenders, except maybe "birthday sex". not even because it's the best song of the bunch (prob "broken heart") but cuz there was actual discourse about the song and some inkling of a "yeah, this is good" consensus among a lotta people

all years are the same
― Ward Fowler, Tuesday, December 15, 2009 11:32 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^ yes. apart from 2000 which sucked.
― mdskltr (blueski), Tuesday, December 15, 2009 11:42 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

I disagree with both statements.

pretty sure both were sarcastic fwiw

In that case I agree.

it seems crazy now that circa 04-05 pfork lists actually helped change my tastes by taking me out of insular rap purist bubble and getting me to take chart fodder seriously

"she wolf" would have made it in years past (real surprised the "it sounds like shakira x DFA" thing didnt have any narrative purchase)

even more indie fodderific than that. it sounds like robyn/annie x DFA.

so Pitchfork's songs list looks like this:

1 Animal Collective - "My Girls"
2 Dirty Projectors - "Stillness Is the Move"
3 Phoenix - "1901"
4 Bat For Lashes - "Daniel"
5 Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"
6 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Zero"
7 Big Boi [Feat. Gucci Mane] - "Shine Blockas"
8 Phoenix - "Lisztomania"
9 Girls - "Lust for Life"
10 Washed Out - "Feel It All Around"
11 Animal Collective - "What Would I Want? Sky"
12 Grizzly Bear - "While You Wait for the Others"
13 Neon Indian - "Deadbeat Summer"
14 Joy Orbison - "Hyph Mngo"
15 Girls - "Hellhole Ratrace"
16 The xx - "Crystalised"
17 Fuck Buttons - "Surf Solar"
18 The Big Pink - "Dominos"
19 Joker - "Digidesgin"
20 Japandroids - "Young Hearts Spark Fire"
21 Raekwon [Feat. Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, & Method Man] - "House of Flying Daggers"
22 Delorean - "Seasun"
23 Animal Collective - "Brother Sport"
24 Basement Jaxx - "Raindrops"
25 Cass McCombs - "You Saved My Life"
26 Bon Iver - "Blood Bank"
27 Four Tet - "Love Cry"
28 Neko Case - "This Tornado Loves You"
29 jj - "Ecstasy"
30 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Young Adult Friction"
31 Lily Allen - "The Fear"
32 The Very Best [Feat. Ezra Koenig] - "Warm Heart of Africa"
33 DJ Quik and Kurupt - "9x's Outta 10"
34 Atlas Sound [Feat. Noah Lennox] - "Walkabout"
35 Micachu and the Shapes - "Golden Phone"
36 Fever Ray - "When I Grow Up"
37 Surfer Blood - "Swim"
38 Dirty Projectors and David Byrne -"Knotty Pine"
39 Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
40 Bear in Heaven - "Lovesick Teenagers"
41 Major Lazer [Feat. Nina Sky and Ricky Blaze] - "Keep It Goin' Louder"
42 The Big Pink - "Velvet"
43 Camera Obscura - "French Navy"
44 Jay-Z [Feat. Alicia Keys] - "Empire State of Mind"
45 The Flaming Lips [Feat. Karen O] - "Watching the Planets"
46 Memory Tapes - "Bicycle"
47 Yeah Yeah Yeahs -"Heads Will Roll"
48 Destroyer - "Bay of Pigs"
49 Yo La Tengo - "Here to Fall"
50 Matias Aguayo - "Rollerskate"
51 Antony and the Johnsons - "Aeon"
52 St. Vincent - "Actor Out of Work"
53 The xx - "Islands"
54 Joker & Ginz - "Purple City"
55 Bat For Lashes - "Glass"
56 John Talabot - "Sunshine"
57 Sleigh Bells - "Crown on the Ground"
58 Fever Ray - "If I Had a Heart"
59 tUnE-yArDs - "Sunlight"
60 Kurt Vile - "Freeway"
61 Atlas Sound [Feat. Lætitia Sadier] - "Quick Canal" 
62 Volcano Choir - "Island, IS"
63 Real Estate - "Fake Blues"
64 Annie - "Songs Remind Me of You"
65 The Tough Alliance - "A New Chance (The Juan MacLean Remix)"
66 Julian Casablancas - "11th Dimension"
67 Arctic Monkeys - "Cornerstone"
68 Röyksopp [Feat. Robyn] - "The Girl and the Robot" 
69 Taylor Swift - "You Belong With Me"
70 Discovery - "Orange Shirt"
71 A Sunny Day in Glasgow - "Close Chorus"
72 Matt & Kim - "Daylight"
73 Woods - "Rain On"
74 Neon Indian - "Should Have Taken Acid With You"
75 Gold Panda - "Quitter's Raga"
76 The Rural Alberta Advantage - "Don't Haunt This Place"
77 Frida Hyvönen - "Jesus Was a Cross Maker"
78 Charlotte Gainsbourg - "IRM"
79 Pictureplane - "Goth Star"
80 YACHT - "Psychic City (Voodoo City)"
81 Bowerbirds - "Northern Lights"
82 DJ Kaos - "Love the Nite Away (Tiedye remix)"
83 Lady Gaga - "Paparazzi"
84 Junior Boys - "Parallel Lines"
85 Wavves - "No Hope Kids"
86 Drake - "Best I Ever Had"
87 Here We Go Magic - "Fangela"
88 Passion Pit - "Moth's Wings"
89 No Age - "You're a Target"
90 The-Dream - "Rockin' That Shit"
91 HEALTH - "Die Slow"
92 Cam'ron - "I Hate My Job"
93 Morrissey - "Something is Squeezing My Skull"
94 Best Coast - "Sun Was High (So Was I)"
95 The Thermals - "Now We Can See"
96 Gucci Mane [Feat. Plies] - "Wasted"
97 The Smith Westerns - "Be My Girl"
98 Future of the Left - "Arming Eritrea"
99 Julianna Barwick - "Bode"
100 Darkstar - "Aidy's Girl's a Computer"

yeah, would have traded a bunch of chillwave and electronic nonsense for some more pop and rap

Paste albums:

25. Thomas Function – In the Valley of Sickness
24. Various Artists – Dark Was the Night
23. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz!
22. Sufjan Stevens – The BQE
21. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
20. Wild Light – Adult Nights
19. Mastodon – Crack the Skye
18. Flaming Lips – Embryonic
17. The Antlers – Hospice
16. Passion Pit – Manners
15. Thao with the Get Down Stay Down – Know Better, Learn Faster
14. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orce
13. Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk
12. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
11. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
10. Frank Turner – Poetry of the Deed
9. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
8. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
7. The Decemberists – Hazards of Love
6. Brandi Carlile – Give Up The Ghost
5. David Bazan – Curse Your Branches
4. The Low Anthem – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
3. Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Elvis Perkins In Dearland
2. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
1. The Avett Brothers – I And Love And You

wtf is a 'chillwave'?

i think it's the same as hynagogic pop

u would not like it

okay I'm down with any name that's a less stupid term for that one. carry on, chillwave

boomkat charts for 2009

http://www.boomkat.com/charts.cfm

Pfork Honorable Mentions:

http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7745-albums-of-the-year-honorable-mention/

I think it's understandable that a lot of people make less of an effort to engage with unpopular "pop" music than with unpopular "indie" music - one of the key claims to greatness of populist genres is that they're populist, and it's a big part of the enjoyment of those genres

i don't want to dismiss the impact of "unifying" songs at all, but i have to basically disagree here - there's lots to unpack, but

- whether or not a "pop" (scare quotes b/c i'm talking about all populist non-indie genres - problematic in itself) song actually becomes a unifying success is at least partially, if not mostly, dependent on behind-the-scenes politicking, marketing budgets, a year's particular trends. i think a lot of "pop" fans, at least here, would agree that the sound of 2009 - redone-esque lowest-common-denominator eurocheese beats - isn't particularly satisfying or interesting in itself - so it makes sense that bar the occasional artist who can parlay it into something more (lady gaga), you'll have to look elsewhere for your pop thrills
- blah blah contraction of industry - this really has to be taken into account, and i'm frankly shocked that not more decade/year round-ups have covered how the music industry is dying on its arse, and THIS is why a lot of the more innovative, fascinating pop music of 2009 hasn't necessarily broken through. why take a risk on electrik red when you've got the safer bet of jordin sparks?
- isn't part of the appeal of r&b and hip-hop in particular the way they can adeptly balance commercial aspirations with being true to a relatively individual vision? ie, they're not wholly populist genres - not in the way that a britney spears album would be - and judging them on that basis is kinda reductive. dismissing eg richgirl's "he ain't with me now (tho)" because it wasn't a chart hit seems...completely wrong-headed
- some of the genres scott mentioned - teenpop and dancehall - are insular enough that wide populist appeal isn't even a factor. i mean, every 12-year-old girl in the country might see demi lovato as a unifying force - i'm not sure that she's particularly aiming to appeal across the board
- and this is the fundamental point really - it is a critic's JOB to make an effort here - acting like a passive consumer just doesn't cut it! saying "oh, what makes these songs special is their unifying force" is a bullshit abdication of responsibility when it's fucking obvious that non-musical factors have such an impact on that, especially with the industry in the state it's in. this doesn't mean great music should get overlooked.

- some of the genres scott mentioned - teenpop and dancehall - are insular enough that wide populist appeal isn't even a factor. i mean, every 12-year-old girl in the country might see demi lovato as a unifying force - i'm not sure that she's particularly aiming to appeal across the board

haha, I had a 12-yo girl in one of my dance classes completely aghast that I played all this obscure music in there but yet was not familiar with the works of jesse mccartney

Has this been posted yet?

Resident Advisor - Top 20 Albums

20. Moderat - Moderat (BPitch Control)
19. Peverelist - Jarvik Mindstate (Punch Drunk)
18. Black Jazz Consortium - Structure (Soul People Music)
17. Brock Van Wey - White Clouds Drift On And On (echospace detroit)
16. Ben Frost - By the Throat (Bedroom Community)
15. Dinky - Anemik (Wagon Repair)
14. Lawrence - Until Then, Goodbye (Mule Electronic)
13. Black Meteoric Star - Black Meteoric Star (DFA Records)
12. The Field - Yesterday And Today (Kompakt)
11. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport (ATP Recordings)
10. 2562 - Unbalance (Tectonic Recordings)
09. Redshape - The Dance Paradox (Delsin)
08. Ben Klock - One (Ostgut Ton)
07. Matias Aguayo - Ay Ay Ay (Kompakt)
06. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
05. Shackleton - Three EPs (Perlon)
04. Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Vertical Ascent (Honest Jon's Records)
03. Martyn - Great Lengths (3024)
02. Fever Ray - Fever Ray (Rabid Records)
01. DJ Sprinkles - Midtown 120 Blues (Mule Musiq)

pfork honorable mentions has some dope stuff on it

yeah -- i really hope this this doesn't continue to become just another pitchfork argument thread and we can keep seeing and discussing lists from other outlets though

that's dope that midtown 120 blues is their #1

yeah -- i really hope this this doesn't continue to become just another pitchfork argument thread and we can keep seeing and discussing lists from other outlets though

Give it through Friday for Pfork's list to play out and then we'll return to your regularly scheduled programming.

kind of a boring day on ilm, huh?

Animal Collective even the Resident Advisor list, oh dear.

- isn't part of the appeal of r&b and hip-hop in particular the way they can adeptly balance commercial aspirations with being true to a relatively individual vision? ie, they're not wholly populist genres - not in the way that a britney spears album would be - and judging them on that basis is kinda reductive. dismissing eg richgirl's "he ain't with me now (tho)" because it wasn't a chart hit seems...completely wrong-headed

I agree with this, but don't you think it was more exciting when a tune like "Bills Bills Bills" - at least as bizarre as "He Ain't Wit' Me Now (Tho)" was also a really big hit? I know that my own pro-pop anti-indie campaign back in 2000 was based entirely on the fact that everyone I knew was listening to mopey rock while ignoring the amazing music at the top of the charts. It's my favourite album of the year but I can't similarly justify being disdainful of someone simply because they haven't checked out Electrik Red.

Sure there are all sorts of reasons why it's harder for those sorts of big crossovers to happen now, but that doesn't change the fact that pop - in the broad sense - simply feels like it has less momentum now than at any time since I've approached such things with an amateur music critic hat (since I was 15 basically).

Wasn't dancehall similarly more exciting when it felt like it was in more of a conversation with pop/hip hop/r&b? Hasn't ILX's drop in interest in dancehall neatly coincided with its own retreat from chart populism? Sure that doesn't make it somehow noble to ignore dancehall (and I try not to) but I think it does explain why I went from listening to heaps and heaps and heaps of it during 2001 - 2004 to listening to maybe 10-20 tracks per year now.

UK Funky has filled any resulting gap for me but it doesn't change the fact that it all feels like a drop off for me.

None of which is to say that I agree with the ultimate Pitchfork list - and my own list looked very different, though so weighted towards UK funky that it had basically zero impact on any of what ended up on the final list - but more to say that we should acknowledge that the goalposts have moved.

At the beginning of the decade pop music (again, in the broad sense) was in as good health as it's ever been; ignoring it then seemed like wilful perversity. It also seemed grinchlike - I used to think "do none of these writers go to parties or clubs? And if they do, do they just lean against the wall with their arms folded while all the ace songs of the year get played?"

Now, keeping on top of good pop music is much like keeping on top of any genre. One of the key weapons in the whole anti-rockist debate - "all of this great music is right under your nose, why are you ignoring it???" - has effectively fallen away, now that smart pop-fans basically agree that the public have bad taste. It seems just a bit less grinchlike to have failed to check out "He Ain't Wit' Me Now (Tho)" on youtube - though, sure, wrongheaded and to the critic's detriment.

a drop-off in...what, though? a drop-off in indie critical interest certainly, but not a drop-off in quality. and the latter is what we judge songs on, right?

uk funky is an appropriate thing to bring up, b/c people could easily shrug and say the same things of it as they might say about richgirl or electrik red or busy signal - it has no commercial traction, it hasn't provided any big hits...so why check it out? and - as i'm sure you'd answer - the answer is that the music is really exciting and incredible, and the fact that "in the morning" never became a "flowers" or "girls like us" is ultimately irrelevant.

Wasn't dancehall similarly more exciting when it felt like it was in more of a conversation with pop/hip hop/r&b?

it still is! it's just that the conversation's not taking place in the charts, and the reason for that is mostly to do with extra-musical factors and trends changing.

also, isn't it a critic's job to bring attention to great music which, for whatever reason, didn't break through? "it feels like a drop-off" is a cop-out if you're not listening to the music in question.

Now, keeping on top of good pop music is much like keeping on top of any genre. One of the key weapons in the whole anti-rockist debate - "all of this great music is right under your nose, why are you ignoring it???" - has effectively fallen away, now that smart pop-fans basically agree that the public have bad taste

haha i never actually used or subscribed to this argument b/c it's so easily countered with a swift reminder of eg westlife, who always used to be right under our noses but who i'd actively avoid. no, the argument for great music is that the music is great and why do i even have to make this argument in 2009?

At the beginning of the decade pop music (again, in the broad sense) was in as good health as it's ever been

it just seems so obvious that the reason for its relative ill health now is largely to do with industry upheaval - plus, wasn't a lot of critically-repped pop from the early part of the decade kind of cratediggery as well? not just the obvious m.i.a./annie internet pop types, but things like rejected album tracks, obscure remixes and so on have always been part and parcel of it.