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

I try to never say anybody's overthinking anything but wow you guys

i.e.:

perhaps they enjoy them.

― strongohulkingtonsghost

otm

people are entitled to both their pet conspiracy theories and how they decide to waste their worktime, but 90 percent of y'all are about one step from stone-circa-"jfk" level paranoia, without the hilarious panacea of joe pesci's eyebrows and john candy filtering terry southern through snagglepuss.

I can get into describing 1) what it means that people like stuff (what motivates them? why do they like this, and not that) 2) what the absence of given genres or records from a list says about the listmakers' taste, all that seems fertile ground for discussion & reaction, but OTOH to begin with any supposition other than "people make lists of things they like based on something other than whether they like them" is a stance that's really wrongheaded imo and worse yet I recognize it from elsewhere: it's how indie rock people used to talk about people who liked pop music. like there's no way these people actually like this stuff, is there? which is a revoltingly conservative stance no matter whose taste you're insulting imo

keenly aware however that I'm the dude who is constantly harping on metal noobs about liking metal that's actually indie rock & you don't really like metal you posing beardo blah blah blah so yeah check out my glass house, it was totally expensive

Kerrang Albums Of The Year 2009

20 Kylesa - Static Tensions
19 Placebo - Battle For The Sun
18 Leathermouth - XO
17 Lamb Of God - Wrath
16 The Ghost Of A Thousand
15 Steel Panther - Fight The Steel
14 The Wildhearts - Chutzpah!
13 Alexisonfire - OldCrows/Young Cardinals
12 Enter Shikari - Common Dreads
11 Brand New - Daisy
10 Rammstein - Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da
9 The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
8 Paramore - Brand New Eyes
7 Converge - Axe To Fall
6 Pearl Jam - Backspacer
5 Mariachi El Bronx - El Bronx
4 Mastodon - Crack The Skye
3 Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
2 Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue
1 Gallows - Grey Britain

Winning album there has a strong 'ex-pat in Daily Mail online comment box' theme and I know we all love a bit of that

perhaps they enjoy them.

― strongohulkingtonsghost, Friday, December 18, 2009 8:10 AM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeesh im not saying theres something WRONG with those choices, just that as an argument that makes at least a little more sense

I can get into describing 1) what it means that people like stuff (what motivates them? why do they like this, and not that) 2) what the absence of given genres or records from a list says about the listmakers' taste, all that seems fertile ground for discussion & reaction, but OTOH to begin with any supposition other than "people make lists of things they like based on something other than whether they like them" is a stance that's really wrongheaded imo and worse yet I recognize it from elsewhere: it's how indie rock people used to talk about people who liked pop music. like there's no way these people actually like this stuff, is there? which is a revoltingly conservative stance no matter whose taste you're insulting imo

― Herodcare for the Unborn (J0hn D.), Friday, December 18, 2009 8:20 AM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark

and yet ... it formed indie?

Leaving aside my actual enjoyment of the bands I kind of find Kerrang the weirdest list yet in that it's like 80% albums that I thought were met on release with an overwhelming 'eh it's OK I guess but they're just treading water at this point'

I can get into describing 1) what it means that people like stuff (what motivates them? why do they like this, and not that) 2) what the absence of given genres or records from a list says about the listmakers' taste, all that seems fertile ground for discussion & reaction, but OTOH to begin with any supposition other than "people make lists of things they like based on something other than whether they like them" is a stance that's really wrongheaded imo and worse yet I recognize it from elsewhere: it's how indie rock people used to talk about people who liked pop music. like there's no way these people actually like this stuff, is there? which is a revoltingly conservative stance no matter whose taste you're insulting imo

― Herodcare for the Unborn (J0hn D.), Friday, December 18, 2009 9:20 AM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark

booming post

i think its completely healthy to look @ indie charts & be like, "well, I dont really listen to most of this -- why not construct a similar constellation-style aesthetic that isnt so completely indebted to this particular site's worldview?"

i think FACT's list is being praised bcuz of how strong the variation feels right now, but in a couple of years it will probably feel relatively conservative, as other sites begin pushing against the pfork canon

lol i think my top 20 and pforks top 20 match up more closely this year than in any other.

so far theyve mostly been butthumping it pretty much across the board xp

Im quite happy that Animal Collective are at the top in so many charts. I wasnt a huge fan of the album but I understand why a lot of people are and it was wonderful to see them playing massive venues to the same teens who would have been listening to the fucking vines or something if they were 5 years younger

Are the individual Pfork writers' lists going to be posted? Does anyone know?

John Mulvey @ Uncut - Wild Mercury Sound's 2009 Top 100

http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/index.php?blog=6&title=wild_mercury_sound_s_2009_top_100&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

100. Sunn 0))): “Monoliths And Dimensions”

99. The Dead Weather: “Horehound”

98. Adam Payne: "Organ"

97. Shrinebuilder: “Shrinebuilder”

96. OOIOO: “Armonico Hewa”

95. Black Sheep: "Kiss My Sweet Apocalypse"

94. Madness: “The Liberty Of Norton Folgate”

93. Condo Fucks: "Fuckbook"

92. Peaches: "I Feel Cream"

91. White Rainbow: “New Clouds”

90. Nick Jonah Davis: “Guitar Recordings Vol 1”

89. Blues Control: “Local Flavor”

88. Jarvis Cocker: "Further Complications"

87. Flower-Corsano Duo: "The Four Aims"

86. Tim Hecker: “An Imaginary Country”

85. Bob Dylan: “Together Through Life”

84. The Rakes: "Klang!"

83. PJ Harvey & John Parish: "A Woman A Man Walked By"

82. Eagles Of Death Metal: “Heart On”

81. Neko Case: Middle Cyclone

80. MV & EE: “Barn Nova”

79. Bruce Springsteen: "Working On A Dream"

78. Lightning Bolt: “Earthly Delights”

77. Flaming Lips: “Embryonic”

76. Mamer: “Eagle”

75. Alela Diane: "To Be Still"

74. Neil Young: "Fork In The Road"

73. Pocahaunted: "Passage"

72. Wavves: "Wavvves"

71. James Yorkston & The Big Eyes Family Players: "Folk Songs"

70. Cornershop: "Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast"

69. Andrew WK: "55 Cadillac"

68. Peter Walker: "Spanish Guitar"

67. Dirty Projectors: "Bitte Orca"

66 Ben Reynolds: "How Day Earnt Its Night"

65. Alasdair Roberts: "Spoils"

64. DOOM: "BORN LIKE THIS"

63. The Lemonheads: "Varshons"

62. Sir Richard Bishop: “The Freak Of Araby”

61. Mark Kozelek: "Lost Verses - Live

60. Os Mutantes: "Haih"

59. Matias Aguayo: “Ay Ay Ay”

58. Richard Swift: "The Atlantic Ocean"

57. Liam Hayes & Plush: "Bright Penny"

56. Om: "God Is Good"

55. Sonic Youth: "The Eternal"

54. Dinosaur Jr: "Farm"

53. Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound: “When Sweet Sleep Returned”

52. Ducktails: "Ducktails"

51. The Fiery Furnaces: "I'm Going Away"

50. Magik Markers: "Balf Quarry"

49. Jack Rose And The Black Twig Pickers: “Jack Rose And The Black Twig Pickers”

48. Obits: "I Blame You"

47. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy: "Beware"

46. Volcano Choir: "Unmap"

45. Beak: "Beak>"

44. On Fillmore: "Extended Vacation"

43. Hush Arbors: "Yankee Reality"

42. Arctic Monkeys: "Humbug"

41. Yo La Tengo: "Popular Songs"

40. The xx: "xx"

39. Espers: "III"

38. The Unthanks: “Here’s The Tender Coming”

37. Leonard Cohen: "Live In London"

36. Them Crooked Vultures: "Them Crooked Vultures"

35. Sufjan Stevens: "The BQE"

34. Califone: "All My Friends Are Funeral Singers"

33. The Field: "Yesterday And Today"

32. Sleepy Sun: "Embrace"

31. Tim Buckley: "Live At The Folklore Center, NYC – March 6, 1967"

30. Broadcast And The Focus Group: “Broadcast And The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age”

29. Glass Rock: “Tall Firs Meet Soft Location”

28. Ganglians: "Monster Head Room"

27. Kurt Vile: "Childish Prodigy"

26. Super Furry Animals: "Dark Days/ Light Years"

25. The Necks: "Silverwater"

24. Real Estate: "Real Estate"

23. Trembling Bells: "Carbeth"

22. Raphael Saadiq: "The Way I See It"

21. Reigning Sound: "Love And Curses"

20. Etienne Jaumet: "Night Music"

19. Fever Ray: "Fever Ray"

18. Fuck Buttons: "Tarot Sport"

17. Wooden Shjips: "Dos"

16. Tinariwen: “Imidiwan: Companions”

15. Wilco: "Wilco (The Album)"

14. James Blackshaw: "The Glass Bead Game"

13. Mountains: "Choral"

12. Death: ". . . For The Whole World To See"

11. Arbouretum: "Song Of The Pearl"

10. Boredoms: "Super Roots 10"

9. White Denim: "Fits"

8. Bill Callahan: "Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle"

7. Mountains: "Etching"

6. Sun Araw: "Heavy Deeds"

5. Wild Beasts: "Two Dancers"

4. Jim O'Rourke: "The Visitor"

3. Animal Collective: "Merriweather Post Pavilion"

2. Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas; "II"

1. Grizzly Bear: "Veckatimest"

DOES ANYONE KNOW?!?!?!

:P

I kind of find Kerrang the weirdest list yet in that it's like 80% albums that I thought were met on release with an overwhelming 'eh it's OK I guess but they're just treading water at this point'

15 yrs ago I read Kerrang! and the Wildhearts, Pearl Jam, the Prodigy and Alice in Chains quite possibly would've featured in my top 20 albums of the year. I dunno if I'd have gone "hell yeah" or "don't be stupid" on being told that they'd be topping the K! charts for 2009 but I'm guessing the latter

wait, not fully awake, I meant to write

I can get into describing 1) what it means that people like stuff (what motivates them? why do they like this, and not that) 2) what the absence of given genres or records from a list says about the listmakers' taste, all that seems fertile ground for discussion & reaction, but OTOH to begin with any supposition other than the supposition that people make lists of things they like based on something other than whether they like them is a stance that's really wrongheaded imo and worse yet I recognize it from elsewhere: it's how indie rock people used to talk about people who liked pop music. like there's no way these people actually like this stuff, is there? which is a revoltingly conservative stance no matter whose taste you're insulting imo

should have coffee before opining further tbh

Ah, the incessant use of the appalling "wrongheaded", ILM's favorite literary formalization of "nuh-uh!!"

Allmusic

Matias Aguayo - Ay Ay Ay
Lily Allen - It’s Not Me, It’s You
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Antipop Consortium - Fluorescent Black
Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
Baroness - Blue Record
Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
The Black Crowes - Before the Frost/Until the Freeze
Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
Brandi Carlile - Give Up the Ghost
Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Rosanne Cash - The List
Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications
Dälek - Gutter Tactics
Dâm-Funk - Toeachizown
The Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Drake - So Far Gone (Explicit)
The-Dream - Love vs Money
Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
Fever Ray - Fever Ray
The Fiery Furnaces - I’m Going Away
Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Jan Garbarek Group - Dresden: In Concert
Girls - Album
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Hudson Mohawke - Butter
Shafiq Husayn - Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka
Japandroids - Post-Nothing
Norah Jones - The Fall
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day
King Midas Sound - Waiting for You
La Roux - La Roux
Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster
Miranda Lambert - Revolution
Sondre Lerche - Heartbeat Radio
Little Boots - Hands
Madness - The The Liberty of Norton Folgate
Major Lazer - Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do
Manic Street Preachers - Journal for Plague Lovers
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Maxwell - BLACKsummers’night
Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Os Mutantes - Haih…Ou Amortecedor…
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
David “Fathead” Newman - The Blessing
Brad Paisley - American Saturday Night
Pelican - What We All Come to Need
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
Roberto Juan Rodriguez - The First Basket
St. Vincent - Actor
Shakira - She Wolf
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Sunn 0))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
Super Furry Animals - Dark Days/Light Years
The Swell Season - Strict Joy
David Sylvian - Manafon
Tanya Morgan - Brooklynati
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi
Moritz von Oswald Trio - Vertical Ascent
Wale - Attention Deficit
Sara Watkins - Sara Watkins
Weezer - Raditude
Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
The xx - XX
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz!
Various Artists - 5 Years of Hyperdub

Classical Releases
Gerd Albrecht - Hans Werner Henze: Gogo no eiku
Lief Ove Andsnes - Shadows of Silence
Artemis Quartet - The Piazzolla Project
Cecilia Bartoli, Il Giardino Armonico - Sacrificium
Bartosz Cajler, Symphony Orchestra of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic in Bialystok, Marcin Naleçz-Niesiolowski - Alexandre Tansman: Cinq Pièces; Violin Concerto; Suite Baroque
Cinquecento - Jacobus Vaet: Missa Ego flos campi
Dallas Wind Symphony - Lincolnshire Posy: Music for Band by Percy Grainger
Forde Ensemble - Spohr: Double Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
John Eliot Gardiner, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique - Brahms: Symphony No. 2
Hildegurls - Electric Ordo Virtutum
Paul Hillier - David Lang: The Little Match Girl Passion
Phil Kline - John the Revelator
Gidon Kremer, Martha Argerich - The Berlin Recital
Kronos Quartet - Floodplain
Sir Charles Mackerras, Staatskapelle Dresden, Staatsopernchor Dresden - Schubert: Messe in Es; Mozart: Vesparae Solennes de Confessore
Jun Märkl - Messiaen: Poèmes pour Mi; Les offrandes oubliées; Un sourire
Maki Namekawa & Dennis Russell Davies - Philip Glass: Piano Music
Jonathan Nott, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra - Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Ralf Otto, Mainz Bach Choir - Mozart: Requiem (edited by Robert D. Levin)
Maria João Pires - Chopin
Bente Vist - Per Nøgärd: Seadrift
Xiayin Wang - Scriabin: Piano Music
Alastair Willis, Nashville Symphony Orchestra & Chorus - Maurice Ravel: L’Enfant et les sortilèges; Shéhérazade
Benjamin Zander, Philharmonia Orchestra - Bruckner: Symphony No. 5

Guardian:

01 The xx - xx
02 Fever Ray - Fever Ray
03 Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
04 Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
05 Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
06 Florence & The Machine - Lungs
07 Noah And The Whale - The First Days Of Spring
08 Micachu And The Shapes - Jewellery
09 La Roux - La Roux
10 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
11 Manic Street Preachers – Journal for Plague Lovers
12 Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
13 The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
14 Tune Yards – Bird Brains
15 Lady Gaga – Just Dance
16 Girls – Album
17 Future of the Left – Travels with Myself and Another
18 Japandroids – Post-Nothing
19 Jamie T – Kings and Queens
20 Richard Hawley – Truelove's Gutter
21 The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition
22 Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions
23 The Hidden Cameras – Origin:Orphan
24 Doom – Born Like This
25 Taken By Trees – East of Eden
26 Patrick Watson – Wooden Arms
27 Electrik Red – How to Be a Lady: Vol 1
28 Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Primary Colours
29 Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
30 Mos Def – The Ecstatic
31 Cass McCombs – Catacombs
32 Clues – Clues
33 Part Chimp – Thriller (Rock Action)
34 The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die
35 Empire of the Sun – Walking On a Dream
36 Dizzee Rascal – Tongue'N'Cheek
37 Rihanna – Rated R
38 Raekwon – Only Built for Cuban Linx ... Pt 2
39 The Hunches – Exit Dream (In The Red)
40 Taylor Swift – Fearless
41 The Low Anthem – Oh My God Charlie Darwin
42 The Drones – Havilah
43 Iggy Pop – Preliminaries
44 God Help the Girl – God Help the Girl
45 The Almighty Defenders – The Almighty Defenders
46 Years – Years
47 Noisettes – Wild Young Hearts
48 Annie – Don't Stop
49 Major Lazer – Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do
50 Fanfarlo – Reservoir

I just had a good conversation with a French guy on ssk who writes for this site -- some good lists there - http://www.tsugi.fr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1853&Itemid=9

Ah, the incessant use of the appalling "wrongheaded", ILM's favorite literary formalization of "nuh-uh!!"

chris with respect you're too smart for this man - you're many degrees above "outraged nitpicker" and it's disappointing to see you copping that look. it's no secret that I'm a huge fucking blowhard tho so if you want me to tease out various other more productive better & righter readings of the word "wrongheaded," say the word, I got keystrokes to spare this morning

okay, i'm likely gonna do this myself if the day gets slow, but is anybody gonna order up a "every list on this thread condensed to one list"?

Why i just save you the trouble and say animal collective will be number one

sure, today can't suck any more

I kind of find Kerrang the weirdest list yet in that it's like 80% albums that I thought were met on release with an overwhelming 'eh it's OK I guess but they're just treading water at this point'

15 yrs ago I read Kerrang! and the Wildhearts, Pearl Jam, the Prodigy and Alice in Chains quite possibly would've featured in my top 20 albums of the year. I dunno if I'd have gone "hell yeah" or "don't be stupid" on being told that they'd be topping the K! charts for 2009 but I'm guessing the latter

― brett favre vs bernard fevre, fite (a passing spacecadet),

I'm surprised for some reason that you ever read Kerrang. RAW was better I think.

The top 4 on the Drowned in Sound top 50 (5-50 are above):

1) Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
2) St Vincent - Actor
3) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
4) Manic Street Preachers - Journal for Plague Lovers

okay, i'm likely gonna do this myself if the day gets slow, but is anybody gonna order up a "every list on this thread condensed to one list"?

― fictional, homosexual, Baltimore hoodlum (forksclovetofu), Friday, 18 December 2009 16:01 (8 minutes ago)

http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Forum/albums2009.xls - updated almost daily, 76 lists at present.

With both EOY lists, I cant help feeling that like the NME, Kerrang is a bit at a loss with their direction. The emo kids are growing up yet there's no movement as such for Kerrang to latch onto. I really can't see them covering Crabcore.

xp, thanks!

I really, really hate that word John. That's all. But to your actual message you conflate individual taste with a publication. I am not suggesting a person or persons are being disingenuous; I am considering FACT as a publication with editors and therefore one that makes editorially strategic decisions. Perhaps I am overestimating them? In any case I said I liked their list, it just, to reiterate, seems to do a lot of purposeful cartwheels.

I'm surprised for some reason that you ever read Kerrang. RAW was better I think.

Ha, well, Raw and Metal Hammer were definitely friendlier to grunge- and weedy postgrunge-liking teenage girls like me (enemies of true metal!), and by then I was probably reading Vox/Select more than any of them. But I only started listening to John Peel because for a while he was on after the Friday Rock Show, which I listened to every week...

I guess the metal mags were kind of lost when I read them too, after the hair bands, latching onto grunge and "alternative" and other things which I discovered I liked more than their main coverage and which eventually led me to stop reading them.

(found myself wondering the other week, was it Raw or Kerrang who did the "gagging for a shagging" column? oh dear)

But cee-oh-tee-tee, if lists are voted by individual writers, then the votes are aggregated, then there's no editorial strategy at work. Just individual tastes.

the otm way to be critical of fact would be to point out how much stuff they include & rank highly is reflective of pfork, not trying some complicated explanation of why their entire mo is ... a statement ... or something. if anything is a statement, its their unwillingness to jettison pfork's critical faves

Given Pitchfork's long shadow over indie-rock criticism this decade, you could argue that listing any indie rock at all is "reflective of" the site in some fashion. But even though they may direct the discourse to an extent, they don't have a monopoly on it. Lots of people get into Pitchfork favorites without even knowing they're Pitchfork favorites.

Gaggin' For A Shaggin' if you please and it was Kerrang... recall more girls getting their letters printed than boys tho I might be recalling wrong

Oh yes, you are correct on both counts, and then there would be grumpy letters about these terrible girls who liked things which were insufficiently heavy or only liked bands because the guitarist was fit etc etc...

(NB there may not actually have been very many of these but as I decided to be personally offended by them all they stick in my mind)

(found myself wondering the other week, was it Raw or Kerrang who did the "gagging for a shagging" column? oh dear)

I think it might've been Kerrang.
You think that's bad, try reading old copies of pre-grunge Kerrang, they were unbelievably sexist and every week there was a poster of a scantily clad female rock singer or vixen type bands. I remember reading a mates late 80s/early 1990 copies and it was like another world,(yet bizarrely,until emo, this was the period of highest female readership the magazine supposedly had. Changed days now.
Grunge definitely killed off a lot of sexism in a lot of rock/metal but in particular Kerrang. Kerrang even had to change Pandora Peroxide to her "niece".

xps

R did you buy RAW when it became a britpop mag for 2 issues before dying? It was basically select (infact i think (1st issue) even was a joint issue with Select complete with cereal box cover.

Go on, get nostalgic
http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/kerrang.html
http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/raw.htm

lol at the difference in the RAW 1995 list

You know how you had cartoon teamups BITD like the Flintstones meet the Jetsons and stuff like that? I would be really stoked to see 'George & Lynne meets Pandora' - thinking they could answer an Adultfriendfinder ad or something. Every other shitty cartoon in the world has rafts of fan art drawn by perverts so why not

oh dear god no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

George & Lynne meets Hagar The Horrible maybe ..

But cee-oh-tee-tee, if lists are voted by individual writers, then the votes are aggregated, then there's no editorial strategy at work. Just individual tastes.
--ithappens

I got a harsh wakeup call for you, homie.

I'm not sure you do, Whiney. Well, put it this way. The publication I work for just aggregates the votes. If you know others say they do that, but in fact fiddle the results, name them. Otherwise it's just an unbacked assertion.

I can personally back it for at least five publications mentioned here. Whiney probably all of them save RAW.