2009 Albums Worth Your Time

February 9, 2010

Reed Signature
DISCLAIMER: I refuse to declare “the best” or even “the notable” albums of 2009. The best I can is offer is a list of music that gripped me last year. So let there be no hateful comments or shoes thrown.

Merriweather Post Pavillion (Animal Collective): Easily my favorite album of 2009. Epic, crazy, ugly soundscapes.
Manners (Passion Pit): Worth the buzz. Electronic pop with a lovely twist
Veckatimest (Grizzly Bear): Such a mature sound from a sophomore album. Eclectic with a mix of post-rock and folk. Very easy to listen to while studying.
Ellipse (Imogen Heap): Lovely mixing and creative noises turned music.
The xx (The xx): Chill, London sob stories. Listen to it late at night with headphones. Dynamic minimalism
The BQE (Sufjan Stevens): Read ADHUNT’s post and accompanying comments
Humbug (Arctic Monkeys): A great follow album for Britain’s indie blog approved darlings. A return to the attitude rock is supposed to have before Ben Gibbard made us all sensitive and dull.
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Phoenix): They won a Grammy. Listen to them anyway.
Grand (Matt and Kim): So much fun with a drum set and a Casio keyboard
Storyboards (Sleeping At Last): Read my review

Twin Cities

Reasons (Red Pens): Low-fi rock that generated a ton of attention last year.
Bodies of Water (Solid Gold): More electro-pop from a Twin Cities band with high expectations. I’m beginning to notice a trend in my listening.

2010 (So Far)

Contra (Vampire Weekend): The beach vacation we all need right now.
Transference (Spoon): Another great album from Austin, TX. It sounds like Spoon. That’s enough.

3 Responses to “2009 Albums Worth Your Time”

  1. Bob Cornwall Says:

    Your list just makes me feel old. I simply haven’t heard of any of these groups/people. Ah, for the good old days of Neil Young and the Beatles!

  2. reed Says:

    Neil Young and the Beatles are a core part of our tradition! I wouldn’t be catholic if I didn’t recognize the voices of my ancestors.

    The above list simply represents my reformation principles—semper reformanda!

  3. Shawn Wamsley Says:

    Bob,

    There probably aren’t many people in the world that would recognize these bands (only a couple of them hit the “top 100″ list on Amazon – and most people don’t seek out new music, they just listen to what’s on the radio or in their personal collection), don’t feel bad.

    Reed,

    It is part of my campaign against being “that out-of-touch old guy” to continue to seek out and listen to the most contemporary music – so, thanks for the list. I can’t say that I have listened to much of this (my tastes tend to run toward the angrier music), but I’ll check it out.


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