a reflection on the music of 2009 for ilx

I forgot Tik Tok - now that's a song that really couldn't have come out in 2006 or 2012.

2009 was probably my most successful year musically - it seemed like at that point in time anyone from Bristol who produced halfway passable dubstep could get booked, so I spent a fair bit of time DJing in Eastern Europe / Amsterdam / various Bristol dives. Also had a remix I did for Si Begg doing the rounds which eventually came out on Tigerbeat6, good times.

Musically, aside from the neverending dubstep promos I remember really getting into Squires of Gothos / really obnoxious bassline house - nothing that has aged well at all but was great fun at the time..

Also Flying Lotus - LA came out so that automatically makes it a good year

"Heads Will Roll" was my single of the year. A karaoke banger.

Don't remember much about this year, but this was my favorite album - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Going_Away

I don't have a lot of positive feelings about the music of 2009... I like the Matrix Metals album (RIP Sam Mehren).

listened to a lot of Gucci and nudisco probably

some songs I liked:

Best Coast - When I'm With You
Cold Cave - The Trees Grew Emotions And Died
Converge - Losing Battle
Fukpig - Bombs Of War
Headlights - Telephones
Liechtenstein - All At Once
Napalm Death - De-Evolution Ad Nauseum
Rusted Shut - Shot In The Head
Sic Alps - L. Mansion
Thee Oh Sees - Enemy Destruct
Tokyo Electron - Don't Need You
Transmittens - Meet Me At The Swings
Vivian Girls - Before I Start To Cry
Wankys - Hey Crusty, Have A Fucking Bath
Xeno & Oaklander - Saracen

I find it hard to remember tracks by year but would absolutely co-sign 2009 as peak UK Funky, the Petchy / Sweep Dem Gally Live FM sets of that era remain totally exhilarating. Dunno if Benny B still posts here but he did sterling work recording and sharing those as I recall.

blimey, I made a list in 2009 :

circlesquare – songs about dancing and drugs
rebotini – music components
cabaret voltaire : kora kora kora remixes
the black dog – further vexations
king cannibal – let the night roar
kid koala – the slew
the soundcarriers : harmonium
lindstrom & prins thomas : II
spektre : live at the glade
madness : liberty of norton folgate

and to be fair, I stand by that list.
I still listen to all of those albums and love'em.

The Funky / London / UK House thread on Dissensus had some great petchy mixes on it back then - I'm guessing probably posted by the same guy?

songs I liked:

animal collective - my girls
phoenix - girlfriend
bug boi & gucci mane - shine blockade
the very best - warm heart of africa
atlas sound - walkabout
the xx - vcr
bat for lashes - daniel
emmy the great - we almost had a baby
mr hudson & kanye west - anyone but him
m. ward - for beginners
loudon wainwright iii - high wide and handsome
taken by trees - to lose someone

The xx's debut was this year? I thought it was 2010. That was great, too.

Some 2009 shit from my old blog:

END OF YEAR 2009 ALBUMS 11-30
11. Mariah Carey, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (Island)
12. Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II (EMI)
13. Telecult Powers, Twilight of the Oscillators (Temple of Pei)
14. The Bran Flakes, I Have Hands (Illegal Art)
15. HEALTH, Die Slow (Lovepump United)
16. Sonic Suicide Squad, Hardline American Overdrive (Sounds from the Pocket)
17. Cam'ron, Crime Pays (Diplomats/Asylum)
18. Storm of Corpses, Bite Your Tongue (Bug Incision)
19. Anthony Pirog, Beginning to End (Sonic Mass)
20. The Fiery Furnaces, I'm Going Away (Thrill Jockey)
21. Pissed Jeans, King of Jeans (Sub Pop)
22. Richard Youngs, Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits (Sonic Oyster)
23. Robert Inhuman, Drowning in Betrayal (MT6)
24. Twig Harper, Music for Higher Dimensional Consciousness (HereSee)
25. Newagehillbilly, Arctic (MT6)
26. Jason Urick, Husbands (Thrill Jockey)
27. Playboy Tre, Liquor Store Mascot (self-released)
28. Apes in the Aviary, Strange Town (self-released)
29. Khate, Detrivore (Just Not Normal)
30. Mya, Beauty & The Streets Vol. I (Planet 9/Young Empire Music Group/Fontana)

END OF YEAR 2009 SONGS 11-28
11. Depeche Mode "Wrong" (Mute/EMI)
12. The Fiery Furnaces "Lost At Sea" (Thrill Jockey)
13. Speak Onion " " (No Label)
14. Mya feat. Nicky Minaj "Ponytail" (Planet 9/Young Empire Music Group/Fontana)
15. Islands "No You Don't" (ANTI-)
16. Adam Lambert "Aftermath" (RCA/19 Productions)
17. The Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow" (Interscope)
18. Anni Rossi "Las Vegas" (4AD)
19. N.A.S.A. feat. ODB and Karen O "Strange Enough" (ANTI-)
20. Scarface feat. Bilal "Can't Get Right" (Rap-A-Lot/Asylum)
21. Suckers "Afterthoughts & TV"
22. Lotus Plaza "What Grows?" (Kranky)
23. Chairlift "Bruises"
24. Lars Horntveth "Kaleidoscopic"
25. Mirah "The River" (K)
26. Pill "Pain In They Eyes"
27. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Zero" (Interscope)
28. Clipse feat. Cam'rom "Back By Popular Demand (Popeye's)" (Re-up/Star Trak)

And then here's how I pazzed/jopped:

Album Points Other Votes
The-Dream · Love Vs. Money 18 36
Jason Crumer · Walk With Me 14 0
Acidic Jews · Clean Rigs 12 0
Aaron Dilloway · Chain Shot 11 0
Atlas Sound · Logos 10 22
Halflings · Self-Esteem 9 0
Nancy Garcia · Be the Climb 8 0
John Wiese · Circle Snare 7 1
Aquarelle · Slow Circles 6 0
Ascites · Incisional Drainage 5 0

Song Other Votes
The Lonely Island (ft. T-Pain) · "I'm on a Boat" 10
Animal Collective · "Brother Sport" 7
Cold Cave · "Life Magazine" 4
Lil Wayne (ft. Young Money) · "Every Girl" 3
Cam'ron · "Cookin' Up" 0
Cryptacize · "Mythomania" 0
Eat Skull · "Cooking a Way to Be Happy" 0
Grasshopper · "Death Compass" 0
Mariah Carey (ft. Nicki Minaj) · "Ribbon" 0
Oneida · "Brownout in Lagos" 0

"Heads Will Roll" was my single of the year. A karaoke banger.

― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, January 17, 2019 9:38 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh man, I agree with this so much.

JCLC, that Eric Copeland album was a big deal for me too. As flappy's heard me say a couple times, I've drifted away from him in the last half decade or so because he's TOO prolific and I'm having a harder time keeping up (again, getting old) with artists who release so much music so quickly.

God but it's hardly a 'classic year' for music is it? is there such a thing any more? I know we've had threads about this kind of thing, where people cite 1967, 1977, 1979, 1987, 1994 etc as iconic years for one reason or another like a new style bursting into the scene or a glut of fantastic albums... ILM even had a nice 'I love 1998' moment a wee while back..
But I don't really think of many years post-2005 as being particularly remarkable either way. they all just feel like a jumble of good/bad/okay music that aren't really marked by a pivotal event

― frame casual (dog latin), Thursday, January 17, 2019 4:51 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think we're just old.

― pomenitul, Thursday, January 17, 2019 4:54 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well, I thought 2005 itself was a pretty good year for music in terms of number of great albums released. Since then, I'd say 2007 and 2009 for last decade, and this decade I'd say 2013 runs away with it, although the last couple of years have been decent.

I wish Pill had stuck around longer. I still love his mixtape from that year. And he still tweets "another beautiful day. gotta thank the lord for that" several times a week.

Black Dice
Amerie "Why R U"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Heads Will Roll"
The first Drake EP
Ke$ha "Tik Tok"
Gucci Mane "Lemonade"

― billstevejim, Thursday, January 17, 2019 3:03 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

In my head I'm hearing Plies "Becky" as still sounding ridiculous and awesome.

― billstevejim, Thursday, January 17, 2019 3:09 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

man.

(so this is time travel, huh?)

Cracking the seal on this, a 2009 song I loved but can barely remember now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTzA8XejLxE

Christ, has it really been ten years since The Flaming Lips made their last great record?

God but it's hardly a 'classic year' for music is it? is there such a thing any more? I know we've had threads about this kind of thing, where people cite 1967, 1977, 1979, 1987, 1994 etc as iconic years for one reason or another like a new style bursting into the scene or a glut of fantastic albums... ILM even had a nice 'I love 1998' moment a wee while back..
But I don't really think of many years post-2005 as being particularly remarkable either way. they all just feel like a jumble of good/bad/okay music that aren't really marked by a pivotal event

― frame casual (dog latin)

i think 2018 was a 'classic year' for music! jesus there's so much good music that came out last year, so many scenes reaching new heights.

2018 was a real stinker for me. most albums i anticipated (hop along, 1975) didn’t live up to expectations, didn’t connect w much rap (although tbh sort of stopped checking), few pop bangers... got streaming on my phone and my tastes became super normy (stopped checking for house/techno aside from mixes cus nothing is on it) few good surprises by artists i had forgotten about or written off (parquet courts, arctic monkeys, amen dunes)

going back to slsk in 2019

(so this is time travel, huh?)

do you mean it feels like yesterday or a long time ago?

looking through the '09 results threads and wild to me that black eyed peas' "i gotta feeling" placed 12th in the tracks poll

great song

going back to slsk in 2019

it's hot

my 2018 tracks list is well over 50% afro pop, dancehall, SA house and related. A clutchful of token rock acts: Ought, The Beths, Parquet Courts, Malkmus, Teleman and Kero Kero Bonita. Little bit of electronic: Ross From Friends, Autechre. If it wasn't for those, I don't know what new music I would have listened to this year. My albums list is very thin. Still, I don't think it's been a bad year for the music I did listen to.

2018 was a great year if you're into female singer/songwriters, as has been every other recent year

'09 (and especially '10-11) were tremendously exciting for me in terms of electronic music. Mount Kimbie's Maybes ep came out in' 09, and that 5 Years of Hyperdub comp, FlyLo, etc. Between UK dance music and 'post-dubstep' and the L.A. stuff it felt like a huge wave of creativity and new ideas, and for the first time (personally) also had an air of accessibility, like anyone might be able to contribute something.

describes a complex and ambiguous romantic situation, beautifully layered musically gradually morphing from textural bells into a more traditional r&b ensemble into horn arrangements which burst from the surface of the song like mountains in a relief map. and it was a hit

― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, January 16, 2019 9:13 AM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

great writing, brad. that song is timeless and gets better with age, whole album does really.

I wasn't writing and also wasn't listening to a lot of new music in 2009, but here are albums I like:

Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse
Band of Skulls - Baby Darling Doll Face Honey
Baroness - Blue Record
Cobalt - Gin
Dälek - Gutter Tactics
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Kylesa - Static Tensions
Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster
Oblomov - Communitas (Deconstructing the Order)
Oranssi Pazuzu - Muukalainen puhuu
Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans
Skeletonwitch - Breathing the Fire
Týr - By the Light of the Northern Star
Vektor - Black Future
Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade
YOB - The Great Cessation

2009 was a bit of a transitional year for me in terms of what I was listening to, in the sense that I was beginning to move towards getting back into '80s music/synthpop (both familiar and unfamiliar) in a much bigger way than ever before and starting to move away from listening to "indie"/alternative rock stuff so much.

I remember at the time playing the shit out of the Manic Street Preachers' Journal For Plague Lovers, thinking higher of Muse's The Resistance than most, being initially delighted then suddenly disappointed (it was a fast burner) by Super Furry Animals' Dark Days/Light Years, and loving The Flaming Lips' Embryonic ...

Of course there was also Fever Ray and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' It's Blitz!, both of which I still play the shit out of. Greek synthpoppers Marsheaux released their best album, Lumineux Noir. Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys released albums this year that admittedly weren't up there with their best, but both featured at least one killer single and it mattered little since I was listening to and getting a lot out of the back catalogues of both bands a lot.

I didn't really rate the La Roux album or The xx's debut, even though on paper I should have been into both. It took until 2 years ago for The xx to finally make an album I liked. Of course, I disliked the Animal Collective album and still do.

I hated Arctic Monkeys in 2009 but have since come to really, really love Humbug, and I still think the album Franz Ferdinand put out that year wasn't all that bad.

(so this is time travel, huh?)

do you mean it feels like yesterday or a long time ago?

― billstevejim, Thursday, January 17, 2019 10:44 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

A little of both.

Also, I seem to remember 2009 as the year that a lot of bands/artists that had only been popular a couple of years before were starting to enter the "yawn, nobody gives a fuck" zone: Maximo Park, The Cribs, Jarvis Cocker, The Rakes (who I never liked), Kasabian (who I also never liked), Weezer, Doves, Editors and Green Day all released lousy records that year. Eels, Art Brut, Gomez and Graham Coxon all released albums that even their own fanbases struggled to get excited about.

(x-post)

Gucci mane

I would say that sadly very many people still give a fuck about Weezer

For me, in retrospect, 2009 was a pretty bad year, maybe the worst of the 2000s. Stuff I liked then that I think still holds up would be the Bat For Lashes, Camera Obscura, Nellie McKay and Tanya Morgan albums, but it trails off pretty quickly after that. I think I was kind of in a transitional place in my listening habits.

Also, I seem to remember 2009 as the year that a lot of bands/artists that had only been popular a couple of years before were starting to enter the "yawn, nobody gives a fuck" zone: Maximo Park, The Cribs, Jarvis Cocker, The Rakes (who I never liked), Kasabian (who I also never liked), Weezer, Doves, Editors and Green Day all released lousy records that year. Eels, Art Brut, Gomez and Graham Coxon all released albums that even their own fanbases struggled to get excited about.

(x-post)

― Le Baton Rose (Turrican)

I hate to stand up for Kasabian in any way, but that album was pretty huge for them. It gave them a top three single and sold just as much as the previous album. I will happily stand up for the Art Brut album though. They came very close to repeating the brilliance of the debut and it is very popular with their (admittedly quite modest) fanbase. You're right about the others. 2008/9 was a great time seeing all those landfill indie bands falling one by one. The relative failure of the Kaiser Chiefs and Razorlight albums in the fall of 2008 were particular highlights from that era.

some albums/tracks that I loved back then that still sound great to me now:

DJ Sprinkles – Midtown 120 Blues
Sun Araw – Heavy Deeds
Jim O'Rourke – The Visitor
Oneohtrix Point Never – Rifts
Ben Frost – By the Throat
Shackleton – 3 EPS
The XX – xx
Moritz von Oswald Trio – Vertical Ascent
Emeralds – What Happened
King Midas Sound – Waiting For You

Joy Orbison – Hyph Mngo
Rustie – Bad Science
Darkstar – Aidy's Girl's a Computer
Cooly G – Love Dub
Untold – Gonna Work Out Fine
Joker – Digidesign
Joker and Ginz – Purple City
The XX – Crystallised
Burial & Four Tet – Moth / Wolf Cub
Girls – Lust for Life
The-Dream – Rockin' That Shit

oh yeah, that Jim O'Rourke album is great. i liked it in 2009 but came to really appreciate it more over time.

imo, 2009 is easily the worst year for music of the 21st century so far.

I went to last.fm to see what was my 2009 list, which I'm pretty sure I posted there, but apparently they removed this feature and deleted the old lists?

Good shout on the King Midas Sound - I still listen to that pretty regularly.

I liked (and reviewed) The Visitor at the time, but don't think I've listened to it in five years.