Best Albums 2009

Dette er min liste over de bedste albums fra 2009:

10. The Black Heart Procession - Six
The Black Heart Procession har på Six igen lavet en plade, der beskriver livets skyggesider. Musikken er mørk og dyster og pladen virker utrolig sammenhængende.

De stærkeste sange på pladen er When you finish me, Drugs og Forget my heart.

Myspace



9. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
Dinosaur Jr. har i 2009 udgivet deres 9. studiealbum, og Dinosaur Jr. lyder stadig som de har gjort i de sidste 25 år. Musikken er stadigvæk kendetegnet ved J Mascis helt specielle guitar-lyd og hans skrøbelige vokal.

Der bliver ikke opfundet nogen dybtallerken på Farm, men bandet beviser stadig, hvorfor at bandet har været et af de mest indflydelsesrige band indenfor den alternative rockscene i 80'erne og 90'erne. Farm er vel et af deres bedste albums nogensinde.

De bedste sange er Pieces, Plans og Said the People.

Myspace



8. The Antlers - Hospice
Brooklyn-trioen The Antlers udgav i 2009 deres tredje album Hospice. Albummet handler om 2 personer, der møder hinanden på et hospice.

Musikken er stemningsmættet og passer fremragende til sangenes handling om liv og død samt drømme.

De stærkeste sange er selvom at det er en plade som skal ses som en helhed Sylvia, Atrophy og Wake.

Dette er en plade som sagtens kunne være en endt længere oppe på listen, hvis jeg havde kendt til den tidligere på året.

Myspace



7. Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Støjrockens godfather har i 2009 udgivet deres 16. studiealbum The Eternal. Bandet er langtfra banebrydende med dette album. Til gengæld virker de langt mere målrettet end længe, og man kan sige at de er tilbage ved fordums styrke.

Sangene er skarpe og leveres med gejst, og pladen er knap så eksperimenterende som de forrige. Dette klæder bandet. Sonic Youth beviser på denne plade, at der stadig er lang til pensionsalderen.

De bedste sange er Antenna, What We Know og Walkin Blue.

Myspace



6. Broken Records - Until the Earth Begins to Part

Broken Records debutalbum er et yderst vellykket album. Musikken er en god blanding af folk/rock, og leder tankerne hen på the Waterboys og et af mit egne favoritband Midnight Choir. Der benyttes udover guitar, bas og trommer også violiner, trompeter, klaver, mandolin, ukulele og cello.

Armbevægelserne er store og musikken er pompøs, men jeg synes at det holder hele vejen.

De bedste sange fra pladen er If The News Makes You Sad, Don't Watch It, A Promise og Wolwes.

Myspace



5. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Animal Collective's har på deres 9. studiealbum formået at skabe en plade, hvor deres anarkistiske tilgang til musikskrivningen går hånd i hånd med de gode sange. Der kan helt sikkert hentet inspiration fra the Beach Boys især på den vokale front. Musikken er dog så rodet og anderledes, at pladen kan stå helt alene.

Pladen er helt sikkert en klassiker og vil nok på de fleste årslister ende på førstepladsen.

De stærkeste sange på pladen er In the Flowers, My Girls og Daily Routine.

Myspace



4. Wilco - Wilco (the album)

Det syvende studiealbum fra bringer ikke meget nyt i forhold til tidligere, men er endnu engang et bevis på, at Jeff Tweedy simpelthen ikke kan lave en dårlig plade.

Musikken ligger sig tæt op af deres forrige plade den melodiøse Sky Blue Sky, men med enkelte afstikkere som vækker minder om mesterværket A Ghost is Born. De bedste sange er One Wing, Bull Black Nova og Country Disappeared.

Man kan kun blive imponeret over, at bandet kan blive ved med at have et så højt niveau på deres plader.

Myspace



3. The XX - XX

Debutpladen fra the XX har høstet en masse fortjente roser. Det er en plade uden de store armbevægelser, men er derimod et bevis på at man kan nå langt med en minimalistisk tilgang til sangskrivningen.

Musikken er dyster og er ellers opbygget omkring de to vokalister Romy Madley Croft og Oliver Slim fremragende sammenspil.

De stærkeste sange er Crystalised, Heart Skipped A Beat og Shelter.

Myspace



2. Antony & the Johnsons - The Crying Light
Det tredje album fra Antony And The Johnsons fortsætter på mange måder i den samme rille som de to tidligere albums. Musikken er dog knap så pompøs og eksperimenterende som tidligere og på visse sange er tonen ligefrem poppet.

De bedste sange er Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground, Epilepsy Is Dancing og Another World.

Det tårnhøje niveau fra I am a Bird Now kan ikke holdes helt, men The Crying Light er fra start til slut en stor oplevelse, der kun vokser for hver gennemlytning.

Myspace



1. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Phoenix var for mig et helt ukendt fransk band inden dette år startede. Albummet er fyldt med gode popsange med små finurlige opbygninger, guitarriffs og synth-lyde. Pladen er nem at komme til men gemmer stadig på en masse overraskelser ved flere gennemlytninger.

De stærkeste sange fra pladen er Lisztomania, Lasso og Countdown.

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Bedste EP:
The Mountain Goats & John Vanderslice - Moon Colony Bloodbath

Bedste genudgivelse:
Chris Bell - I am the Cosmos

Bedste plade fra 2008, som jeg først rigtig har hørt i 2009:
Peter Broderick - Home

Best Albums 2008

This is a list of the best music albums of 2008. Feel free to comment.


10. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
The idea of Dulli and Lanegan collaborating together as the Gutter Twins has been in the works since 2003. But it wasn't until last year that the pair finally turned their full attention to the project. Saturnalia, the Gutter Twins' debut, was released earlier this year by Sub Pop. The album is yet another exploration of the dark side.

The Gutter Twins website
The Gutter Twins at Myspace







9. Thalia Zedek Band - Liars and Prayers
Thalia Zedek's second album for Thrill Jockey finds the ex-Come frontwoman in fine voice and backed by a band who know just how to present her songs. A very political record - the title refers to those who lie and those who pray - LIARS AND PRAYERS finds Zedek's wonderfully coarse voice enveloped by simple but moving arrangements and the best set of songs she has written since her Come days.

Thalia Zedek Band at Myspace





8. Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-partying Through Tornadoes)
The group, led by Craig Minowa, might best fit in the electronica-folk-indie-chamber-pop-rock genre. That won't really give you an idea of what goes on through the 13 tracks of Cloud Cult's latest album, Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-partying Through Tornadoes). It's a genre-mashing set of songs that is at once weird, wonderful, inspiring, exciting, and strange. Cloud Cult is a remarkable band who have made a album just as full of melodic hooks as mind-blowing experimentation.

Cloud Cult at Myspace




7. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
Abandoning the Bright Eyes moniker he's been performing under since his teens, Conor Oberst reverted to his birth name for his 2008 follow-up to 2007's Cassadaga.

Conor Oberst at Myspace










6. Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins
Essentially a sequel to 2007’s The Stage Names, which was briefly considered for release as a two-disc album before being scaled down to a single album, Okkervil River's The Stand Ins uses central images of musicians and life on the stage to again address many of the themes that first surfaced on the band's 2007 album.
Emotional without being weepy, literate without being pretentious, The Stand Ins is another excellent release from a highly creative and evolving band.

Okkervil River at Myspace





5. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Dear Science is a brilliant balancing act between pop aspiration and music-geek aesthetics. More tuneful than its predecessor, the album is packed with New Wave hooks and funky dance beats — albeit amid bleak lyrical visions, Afrobeat rhythmic arrangements and densely layered, terabyte-era production. Though that sound might not make for megastardom, it's made for one damn fine record.

TV on the Radio at Myspace







4. Samamidon - All is Well
Sam Amidon, more commonly known as Samamidon, very quietly released one of the year’s best folk records way back in February. It’s called All Is Well, and if it sounds at all timeless, well, it’s because it basically is. All 10 songs come from the public domain, songs passed down through generations until the origins are all but forgotten. There is a natural sadness in Amidon’s voice, which suits the quiet and contemplative mood of these 10 songs perfectly.

Samamidon at Myspace






3. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes describe their music as "baroque pop, music from fantasy movies, Motown, block harmonies ... not much of a rock band", which is one way of describing the indefinable brilliance of one of those records that sounds like it has arrived, fully formed, from another planet. Though there are musical touchstones - English folk, late 60s west-coast music (particularly the Beach Boys and Love) - this is the sound of late-night forests, skipping animals, music made by people as old as the hills they dwell in. Implausibly, they are actually in their 20s and live in Seattle. The dizzyingly uplifting four-part harmonies of songs such as Tiger Mountain Peasant Song are interspersed with profound darkness in the death-stalked Your Protector, or Oliver James, the chilling tale of a child's drowning. It all adds up to a landmark in American music, an instant classic.

Fleet Foxes at Myspace




2. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
With their fifth full-length album, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust, Sigur Rós have taken the poppy, sunshiny leanings of their previous album a step further into the light. As ever with Sigur Rós, if you're a fan you will lap this up - the unconvinced will, despite the more commercial touches, probably remain unconvinced. Overall though, this is another wondrous album from a band at the height of their considerable powers.

Sigur Rós at Myspace





1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Nu folk's Bon Iver, aka Justin Vernon, recorded For Emma, Forever Ago in an isolated cabin in Wisconsin, where he existed on a diet of deer he'd slaughtered and water and leftovers delivered by his dad. Accordingly, his debut prompts few comparisons, as if Vernon's three-month stint in self-imposed exile wasn't just an exercise in survivalism but an attempt to underscore the distance dividing Bon Iver from his contemporaries. Certainly, For Emma, though only nine tracks long, is as beautiful, bleak and intimate as anything 2008 is likely to throw up.

Bon Iver at Myspace