Mapped By What Surrounded Them: 2009 CDs of the Year

1. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

No other cd in recent memory has captivated me as much as Veckatimest. Before this release, Grizzly Bear were never much on my radar; sure, they were pleasant enough, but they didn't give me any deep satisfaction. And this cd was slow in showing me its pleasures. I listened to it several times at first and was never immediately blown away by it. The first half is very strong, with the second half a little more meandering. One day it just clicked and I could not stop listening to it. When it came time to list my top singles for the year, it was difficult not putting all of theirs in the list. Each one has such a special meaning for me. I almost listed the entire album again at the beginning of the list. Each song stands alone very well, but works even deeper charms as a whole. It is precious, without being wimpy; dense without being off putting. It is stunning.

2. The xx - The xx

Another cd that vied for the top spot in my list. It was a difficult decision between this and Grizzly Bear as both were played incessantly by me this year. I thought I would make my final decision after seeing their live shows, but they were both great for separate reasons: Grizzly Bear took the intimate and made it grand and epic, and The xx took the intimate and made it more intimate. Sigh. Ultimately, I chose Grizzly Bear because I could see the progression of a band from good to great. The xx made it difficult because their debut seems almost perfectly formed. But the music is so much more intimate. You almost feel like you are privy to deeply personal conversations between lovers, be they just started, in the middle, or towards the end of the relationship. The music is minimal: guitar, bass, and programmed keys and drum pads, evoking 80's post punk and 90's R&B sheen. Voices are hushed and whispered, and they make excellent use of negative space. I almost don't want them to make another album; this release is too perfect and I don't want it tarnished.

3. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers

I will admit I did not like Wild Beast's first cd Limbo, Panto. It always struck me as a band trying too hard to impress with vocal acrobatics and impossible to follow time signature changes. It was all too exhausting. The first thing that struck me about Two Dancers was that they really didn't make major changes in their sound, instead, they refined them and made them more subtle. Instead of having the lead singer's consuming falsetto on each track, they counter it with the bassist's rich baritone. It was a cd that grew steadily for me. Originally I had it at the bottom of my list and even considered taking it off. But I kept discovering new sounds with each listen and it kept steadily moving up the list until it was stopped by the two juggernauts ahead of it. It's a phenomenal leap from their debut.

4. Moby - Wait For Me

Wait For Me is difficult for me to describe to people. It sets a blisteringly downbeat mood from the first achingly beautiful notes and does not let up. Moby was in NYC when the Twin Towers went down and watched them fall from his loft windows. While there have been songs in his catalog that have addressed that, this cd seems to be a fuller encapsulation of how devastating that event was and how, even 8 years later, its lingering effects still haunt the city, the country, the world, and him intimately. This is not spelled out, and is just my surmise, but it has made a deep impression on me. It is a lonely listen and one that should be done with headphones. Moby released an ambient version of the cd which I enjoy, but think is completely superfluous to the original. Moby had already showed us the deepest rooms of himself.

5. Twilight Sad - Forget The Night Ahead

The follow up to Fourteen Autumns, Fifteen Winters lacks that release's strange hypnotic power. The main complaint about Forget the Night Ahead is that it is too visceral, foregoing texture in favor of brute force. Four songs off the bat pummel you into submission before there is even a respite. But it suits the character studies within, as they are given no hope or solace; from the lonely dancer of "I Became a Prostitute," the disillusioned lovers of "Made to Disappear," to the haunted grandson of "That Room." All sung with the thick brogue of Scottish singer James Graham, which embellishes this haunting, haunted album.

6. The Horrors - Primary Colours

Primary Colours came out of leftfield for me. It is band refusing to be pigeonholed and taking the reigns of their own output and doing what they want to do, critics and fans be damned. 20 years from now, I doubt we will see them pulling a U2 and trying to recapture past glories. They will be here still being as idiosyncratic as ever, or will have been snuffed out in a blaze of glory. The music here is shoegaze, drone, electro, synth-pop, krautrock, 50's girl group wall of sound, all meshed into a beautiful symphony of noise, all encapsulated by the 9 minute "Sea Within A Sea" which announces a major band taking major steps.

7. Antony & The Johnsons - The Crying Light

While lacking the striking nature of his debut cd I Am A Bird Now, Antony returns with another strong release, retaining the grand allure of the first cd, while making subtle changes that separate the two. The focus is no longer on the internal, but is more universal, carnal, and environmental, showcasing the complex workings of humans and their feelings and the physical world we inhabit. Beautiful songs such as "The Crying Light" and "Another World" lead towards the gorgeous climax of "Everglade," dictating that, regardless of our chosen or dictated paths, we all return to the soil.

8. Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Pains of Being Pure At Heart

So many layers to this band. The music is so shiny and bright, the kind you tap your feet to, while a deeper listen to the lyrics shows biting wit and a very black sense of humor. POBPAH remind me a lot of bands I listened to while in college: The Smiths, Jesus and Mary Chain, House of Love. I sometimes describe them as a very dark Belle and Sebastian. Each new listen to their debut cd shows a fresh turn of phrase or delicate melody. I am very excited to see what they have up their sleeves next.

9. The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love

In my original review for this band and record I indicated that I didn't want to like them but did despite all of my best attempts. I've totally fallen under their spell now. I don't even add the caveat to my pleasure for this album. Songwriting this strong and with this much attitude deserves to be respected. From the killer hook of "Dominoes" down to the acerbic lyrics of "Velvet" show a band in full command of their arsenal. All walls will fall upon their full-fronted attack.

10. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

Who knows why the original members of Dinosaur Jr. had a falling out so many years ago, and why, even more mysteriously, they reformed a few years ago. Most reunions of dissolved bands are made for the wrong reasons, usually of the monetary kind. That does not seem to be the case in this instance as this is the second cd of new material J. Macsis and the boys have put together since reforming and it stands alongside with, and in some cases bests their original output. Farm is the sound of a band comfortable with itself and putting out strong, muscular material. Macsis guitar has never sounded better, as displayed in the soaring 4 minute guitar solo of "I Don't Wanna Go There."

11. Annie - Don't Stop

Don't Stop doesn't have any singles as immediate as "Chewing Gum" or "Heartbeat" from her debut Anniemal, however, it is a stronger series of tracks that shows more range and depth. Annie is still willing to diss a lover ("I Don't Like Your Band"), get us sweaty on the dancefloor ("Songs Remind Me Of You"), and quiet us down with a soft lullaby ("Heaven and Hell").

12. Florence + The Machine - Lungs

Channeling female artists as well-known as Kate Bush, Bjork, Alison Moyet, and Annie Lennox and then processing them all to emerge as distinctive as the originals is no easy feat. That Florence does so with almost no effort is what truly makes her debut album so special. I first came upon her through The xx's remix of her cover of "You Got The Love" by Candi Stanton. I liked the remix so much more over her version that I almost didn't give her cd a chance. Finally, I gave in and started listening and the whole definitely outweighed the sum of the parts. I believe Florence + The Machine are true album artists and will be around for a long time.

13. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

This year was a strong one from female artists. Somehow they all fell into a block of my top cd list. It was purely coincidental. I've been asked how I determine the list, and to be honest there is no mathematical formula I use, I simply put all my favorite cds from the year and then start pitting them against one another to see if I liked one over the other. I eventually get to a point where the list is immobile. And thus we reach Bat for Lashes. She is a unique artist with a distinct way of bringing her characters to full life in her songs. She combines the mystical, the emotional, and the primal in her music, from the haunting "Glass," the touching "Daniel," and the full tribal onslaught of "Two Planets."

14. St. Vincent - Actor

St. Vincent is the traditional yin to Bat for Lashes yang. Whereas Bat for Lashes tends to fly off into the realms of fantasy and myth, St. Vincent is anchored firmly in the real world, her characters obsessing over life's seemingly inconsequential problems, be it dating ("Actor Out Of Work"), interpersonal relationships ("The Party"), or simply the fear of the dark ("The Bed"), but she does so with such probing insight and strange turn of phrase that she turns the seemingly ordinary to something on the grand scale of Wagner.

15. Fever Ray - Fever Ray

Fever Ray is Karin Dreijer Andersson of Swedish electronic act The Knife. There is not a huge difference between her work with her brother in that band and her solo work as Fever Ray, however, she moves into an even darker, more ominous place. Where the music is still eerie electronics, muted beats, pitch-shifted vocals, there is less of an Asian bent, and the worldly themes are replaced by very personal, internal struggles. No other artist this year put together such a complete and singular artistic viewpoint; one must also see all of the Fever Ray videos on youtube to capture the full range of her vision.

16. Royksopp - Junior

Royksopp blew their sophomore album by taking out the fun, quirky elements of their debut and focusing more on their serious side. Not that it was a bad album, it just didn't stand out among the other down-tempo acts. Luckily, they refocused their strengths and put forth probably the most fun album of the summer. And once again they have impeccable taste in picking vocalists, using the wonderful Karin Dreijer Andersson (Fever Ray and The Knife) and the awesome Robyn, who adds her quirky voice to the cd's top track "The Girl and the Robot."

17. Mew - No More Stories

This album, along with Wild Beast's Two Dancers, made me excited about music again; with the time changes and over the top nature of the melodies and themes, it was a like a rebirth of Queen all over, without the bombast. I guess technically this album should be up there alongside Wild Beasts, but Wild Beasts were a little more judicious with their editing which made for a more concise listen. Mew is still brilliant though, and when they do reign their sound in, as on the 3 minute pop burst of "Repeaterbeater," there is almost no one out there that can better them.

18. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

I had no preconceived notions of It's Bliz! before I listened to it. I was expecting another Fever to Tell redux, however, I was shocked and surprised to find a new Yeah Yeah Yeahs, channelling the great synth and new wave acts of my formative years, and putting their inemitable spin on it.

19. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport