Hello.
Welcome to the List 2009.
In case you wonder what the hell this is, well, it’s the most recent manifestation of a long standing tradition. Every Christmas, my friend Adam and I list our top 20 studio albums of the year. And, as you’ll soon see, we care far too much...
To qualify, an album needs to be full length, studio, and released in the year 2009.
This is my list. Scroll on down...
20.
Mastodon
Crack The Skye
Mastodon
Crack The Skye
The highest placed pure ‘metal’ album on the list this year barely made it at all, scraping in at #20. It’s an album with plenty to recommend it, with all the ferocity and technical brilliance of previous Mastodon records. The problem is that – for a band that set itself apart from the rest of the metal drones through experimentation and progression – it all sounds a little too similar to their last album, 2006’s magnificent Blood Mountain. Similar, but not quite as good: the super-long tracks are packed full of great ideas, it’s just that they’re the same ideas as last time. Mastodon still easily brush aside all other metal bands (with the possible exception of the mighty Tool, who, after all, may never make another record), and there is far too much talent in this band for anything they do to be ‘bad’ or even ‘average’: it’s their own stratospheric standards that they’re having trouble meeting here. A top twenty place is nothing to be sniffed at, of course, but given that Blood Mountain came in second in 2006 and Leviathan was sixth in 2004, I was expecting this to be better than it actually is. Grumbling aside, the amazing ‘The Czar’ is probably good enough to secure a top 20 place all by itself (it’s probably long enough to qualify as an album by itself too, at nearly 12 minutes).
19.
Therapy?
Crooked Timber
Another really good album that’s also a big disappointment, from this most prolific and consistently excellent of bands. Therapy? have six records that are bona fide masterpieces. Crooked Timber isn’t one of them. It’s certainly an improvement on their last effort, though, the rather bland and pop-tinged One Cure Fits All from 2006. In fact, it’s a totally different beast, with Therapy? once again shifting direction significantly. Crooked Timber sounds most like Therapy?’s earliest period (circa late 80s pre-heyday albums like Babyteeth and Pleasuredeath); under-produced, distorted and comparatively unpalatable. This is probably Therapy?’s most simplistic record, and it is one that essentially eschews all melody in favour of pure rhythm. Bass and drums rule on Crooked Timber, with the pop choruses of their 90s albums like Troublegum and Semi-Detached entirely absent. There is no attempt whatsoever to pander to radio – Andy Cairns sings with a strong Northern Irish accent, and the lyrics are pretty bleak (recalling 1999’s Suicide Pact – You First): see for example, ‘make the time left/a living death’ from ‘Enjoy the Struggle’. Therapy?’s best work has always come when they find a marriage between the grungey distortion and the melody – this goes a little too far into the void for my taste, but it’s still a cracking album and beats their previous radio-friendly unit shifter hands down.
Therapy?
Crooked Timber
Another really good album that’s also a big disappointment, from this most prolific and consistently excellent of bands. Therapy? have six records that are bona fide masterpieces. Crooked Timber isn’t one of them. It’s certainly an improvement on their last effort, though, the rather bland and pop-tinged One Cure Fits All from 2006. In fact, it’s a totally different beast, with Therapy? once again shifting direction significantly. Crooked Timber sounds most like Therapy?’s earliest period (circa late 80s pre-heyday albums like Babyteeth and Pleasuredeath); under-produced, distorted and comparatively unpalatable. This is probably Therapy?’s most simplistic record, and it is one that essentially eschews all melody in favour of pure rhythm. Bass and drums rule on Crooked Timber, with the pop choruses of their 90s albums like Troublegum and Semi-Detached entirely absent. There is no attempt whatsoever to pander to radio – Andy Cairns sings with a strong Northern Irish accent, and the lyrics are pretty bleak (recalling 1999’s Suicide Pact – You First): see for example, ‘make the time left/a living death’ from ‘Enjoy the Struggle’. Therapy?’s best work has always come when they find a marriage between the grungey distortion and the melody – this goes a little too far into the void for my taste, but it’s still a cracking album and beats their previous radio-friendly unit shifter hands down.
18.Arctic Monkeys
Humbug
When I first got this, I was pretty disappointed. The new album by a band I love produced by the great Josh Homme (whom I love more): this was going to be an album of the year contender. What I got wasn’t quite what I wanted, and for a while I just decided it was crap. However, repeated plays have raised my estimation of it to the point where it makes a respectable appearance on the list at #18. The greatest strength of Humbug is also its greatest flaw. It’s quite a bit different from the first two Arctic Monkeys albums in many ways. Some of the same lyrical street poetry can be found, and occasionally the band breaks out into the spiky rock that I enjoyed so much from them before (see ‘Pretty Visitors’, which is a great track but really doesn’t belong here). For the most part, though, this is a much more ‘mature’ album, with the Yorkshire accents, musings on urban culture and the quick riffing all gone in favour of deeper, more meaningful lyrics underpinned by slower and more nuanced tunes. This album has as much in common with Alex Turner’s side-project The Last Shadow Puppets as it does with previous Arctic Monkeys records. It really had to happen – another album of the same would have had me complaining that they hadn’t changed at all, and that they had just rehashed previous glories. The down side is that I simply don’t like the new sound as much as the old. Still impressive and very enjoyable, though, and indicative of an adaptability which is commendable and suggests that they might be around for a while.
17.Porcupine Tree
The Incident
A monster of an album, split over two discs, and including one track that takes up a whole CD in itself, the modern prog-rockers return with an offering that builds on their already rather self-indulgent back catalogue. Not really something to dip into, but if you have a couple of hours free, it can totally absorb you. Musical themes reoccur and the album builds and is layered in a way that can be both thrilling and overly dense and impenetrable. In terms of style, The Incident is a mix of the more progressive Fear Of A Blank Planet and its predecessor, the comparatively radio-friendly Deadwing. In other words, in amongst the floaty progressive sound there are choruses that would happily fit on MTV. The piano drives a number of songs, and I like the tracks with acoustic guitars as much as the heavier offerings. Simply too gigantic to be a contender for album of the year or even close to the top of the list (I still don’t feel I’ve properly got to grips with everything that’s to be found here), but an extremely impressive work that neatly straddles the boundary between ‘art’ and ‘pure entertainment’. The ambition alone here makes this well worth of a place on the list.
16.
Clutch
Strange Cousins From The West
If Clutch release an album in any given year, I can be pretty sure that it’ll get on the list, and also will be fairly certain that it won’t come close to bothering the top 10. You know exactly what you’re gonna get. This is pure riffing beardy trucker rock, no frills, three minute songs, stupid lyrics (‘anthrax, ham radio and liquor/coming at you live’). Strange Cousins From The West essentially sounds exactly the same as every other Clutch record, but then, one doesn’t buy Clutch albums for variety. This offering is perhaps a little bluesier than their last couple of albums, but you’ll only be able to tell that it has any kind of distinct sound after a number of listens, and the difference is, at best, subtle. There’s also a song sung in Spanish, but the music behind it’s still the same. The most original thing about this album is probably the fact that it comes in a really interesting fold out CD case... A real guilty pleasure, this has very little artistic merit; don’t expect to see this on the NME or Rolling Stone lists of the best records of 2009. At the end of the day, though, this is really good fun start to finish (if all the tracks are the same, you don’t get weak ones!). I played it non-stop for three weeks when it came out, and then hardly at all since; when I do put it on, though, it makes me smile a very big smile.
Clutch
Strange Cousins From The West
If Clutch release an album in any given year, I can be pretty sure that it’ll get on the list, and also will be fairly certain that it won’t come close to bothering the top 10. You know exactly what you’re gonna get. This is pure riffing beardy trucker rock, no frills, three minute songs, stupid lyrics (‘anthrax, ham radio and liquor/coming at you live’). Strange Cousins From The West essentially sounds exactly the same as every other Clutch record, but then, one doesn’t buy Clutch albums for variety. This offering is perhaps a little bluesier than their last couple of albums, but you’ll only be able to tell that it has any kind of distinct sound after a number of listens, and the difference is, at best, subtle. There’s also a song sung in Spanish, but the music behind it’s still the same. The most original thing about this album is probably the fact that it comes in a really interesting fold out CD case... A real guilty pleasure, this has very little artistic merit; don’t expect to see this on the NME or Rolling Stone lists of the best records of 2009. At the end of the day, though, this is really good fun start to finish (if all the tracks are the same, you don’t get weak ones!). I played it non-stop for three weeks when it came out, and then hardly at all since; when I do put it on, though, it makes me smile a very big smile.
15.Green Day
21st Century Breakdown
A really strong offering from the pop-punk stalwarts and for my money their best album since Nimrod, way back in 1997. I know everyone loved American Idiot, but I was never that keen. For me, 21st Century Breakdown takes the formula of American Idiot – a more ‘holistic’ approach to a pop-punk record, with overarching themes and seamless transitions between the songs (claims that it was a ‘punk-opera’ or ‘concept album’ were overblown, but still), and then added what was missing from that record: top quality songs. 21st Century Breakdown comes across very much as American Idiot II, but it is superior in every way that matters. The energy of their earlier albums is back (‘Christians Inferno’ kicks ass, and would sit very comfortably on Nimrod). The lyrics still have a slightly political slant, but are less preachy than those on American Idiot (I basically want fart jokes from Green Day – there are too many other bands that do political songwriting better, and their half-assed musings on Bush-era America can be embarrassing). Ok, so 21st Century Breakdown is not gonna win any awards for originality – it’s a pop-punk album, after all – but it’s great to have Green Day back producing really fun songs to dance around to after a couple of weaker albums.
14.Wolfmother
Cosmic Egg
Finally. I loved Wolfmother’s eponymous debut, and it has taken an inordinately long time for them to produce this follow up. Is it as good as the debut? Was it worth them taking all that time over it? Well, er, ‘no’ and ‘probably not’. But it’s still an extremely fun ‘retro-rock’ album of real class. Part of the reason for the delay was that in 2008 Andrew Stockdale essentially got rid of everyone else in the band, so that, Stockdale aside, Wolfmother now have an entirely new lineup – not that you can really tell. After trying out a number of versions of the retro formula on the debut, this new lineup seem to have settled on just one this time round (which sits somewhere between Black Sabbath and early Led Zeppelin). This makes Cosmic Egg a more cohesive record. The songs aren’t quite as strong, but they do flow better and this feels more like an ‘album’ than its predecessor. The tracks rocket along in nice three minute bursts. This pace is then well broken up with slightly longer ballads (see, for example, ‘Far Away’, which is like a turbocharged Magical Mystery Tour era Beatles song). Admittedly, the lyrics are just as rubbish as those of the bands from the late 60s and early 70s that Wolfmother are trying to emulate, but, then, who cares? Overall, it’s an album that’s cheesier than a ploughman’s platter, but there’s not a duff song to be found here and it’s all put together very well – a proper rock album of the kind rarely made anymore. Like both Clutch and Green Day, though, Cosmic Egg (what a shit name for an album) isn’t going to change anyone’s world.
13.
Regina Spektor
Far
Regina Spektor has been making some really great music for quite a while now, but has only recently hit on the style that suits her best. Far builds on the formula she discovered on 2007’s excellent Begin To Hope. Simple but haunting piano which is very easy to listen to, but also has a number of deeper things going on underneath it. She has a beautiful voice, and writes striking tunes that are both quirky and fiercely intelligent. It’s a bit of a shame that the guitars that made sporadic appearances on Begin To Hope are now virtually non-existent, and it is probably for that reason that I ultimately prefer the 2007 album. Nonetheless, in many ways, Far is a step forward: it is more confident and more consistent as a record. It showcases Regina Spektor’s many talents without ever being overly flashy – the songs are given room to breathe. Lyrically, there is also a lot going on. I’m not sure if ‘Laughing With’ is anti or pro religion – it seems to poke fun at both Christians and atheists in a way that would be offensive to neither, and ‘Folding Chair’ makes a day at the beach both hilarious and poignant. Far is the sound of a singer-songwriter coming of age; it’s a wholly distinctive but inherently accessible sound which will raise her growing profile still further. The first ‘must have’ record on this list.
Regina Spektor
Far
Regina Spektor has been making some really great music for quite a while now, but has only recently hit on the style that suits her best. Far builds on the formula she discovered on 2007’s excellent Begin To Hope. Simple but haunting piano which is very easy to listen to, but also has a number of deeper things going on underneath it. She has a beautiful voice, and writes striking tunes that are both quirky and fiercely intelligent. It’s a bit of a shame that the guitars that made sporadic appearances on Begin To Hope are now virtually non-existent, and it is probably for that reason that I ultimately prefer the 2007 album. Nonetheless, in many ways, Far is a step forward: it is more confident and more consistent as a record. It showcases Regina Spektor’s many talents without ever being overly flashy – the songs are given room to breathe. Lyrically, there is also a lot going on. I’m not sure if ‘Laughing With’ is anti or pro religion – it seems to poke fun at both Christians and atheists in a way that would be offensive to neither, and ‘Folding Chair’ makes a day at the beach both hilarious and poignant. Far is the sound of a singer-songwriter coming of age; it’s a wholly distinctive but inherently accessible sound which will raise her growing profile still further. The first ‘must have’ record on this list.
12.
Muse
The Resistance
Muse are always good value; bringing a style and level of quality to all they do, and making sure they get the right balance on each album between delivering the Muse ‘sound’ whilst also keeping it fresh by changing things up. This time, amongst other things, they have dabbled with some Eastern sounds (‘United States of Eurasia’), 80s electro (‘Undisclosed Desires’) and Arcade Fire style ecclesial organs (intro to ‘Unnatural Selection’). All of this whilst still maintaining the overall operatic space rock of previous records. It’s interesting that many of the tracks are in multiple parts, with piano intros or outros, which gives the album a bit more scope (and reminds me a bit of Silverchair’s Diorama). The Resistance isn’t in the same league as their masterpiece, 1997’s The Origin of Symmetry (what is?), but it definitely compares well to their more recent albums (Absolution and Black Holes And Revelations). Consistently inventive without disappearing up its own behind, The Resistance maintains the high level that Muse always seem to produce.
Muse
The Resistance
Muse are always good value; bringing a style and level of quality to all they do, and making sure they get the right balance on each album between delivering the Muse ‘sound’ whilst also keeping it fresh by changing things up. This time, amongst other things, they have dabbled with some Eastern sounds (‘United States of Eurasia’), 80s electro (‘Undisclosed Desires’) and Arcade Fire style ecclesial organs (intro to ‘Unnatural Selection’). All of this whilst still maintaining the overall operatic space rock of previous records. It’s interesting that many of the tracks are in multiple parts, with piano intros or outros, which gives the album a bit more scope (and reminds me a bit of Silverchair’s Diorama). The Resistance isn’t in the same league as their masterpiece, 1997’s The Origin of Symmetry (what is?), but it definitely compares well to their more recent albums (Absolution and Black Holes And Revelations). Consistently inventive without disappearing up its own behind, The Resistance maintains the high level that Muse always seem to produce.
11.Franz Ferdinand
Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
All the pre-release talk was of the ‘reggae influence’ that was going to form the basis of the third Franz Ferdinand album. I was a little worried, but I needn’t have been. There are some touches here and there that could be described as ‘reggae’ and even ‘dub’, but they are few and far between, and don’t intrude on the indie rock sound in the way I feared they would. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand definitely has something different in the mix than previous albums, though. I’m not quite sure what, but, ultimately, it makes me want to dance more than their earlier work, so I guess it’s something to do with the rhythm section being, for want of a better word, ‘funkier’. Opening track ‘Ulysses’ is a blinder (I always have to shout along to the end of the song, and even did so on the bus without realising once), and unfortunately they never quite reach that watermark for the rest of the album. That’s not to say that any of the other songs are weak: ‘What She Came For’ is perfect 60s sleaze and ‘No You Girls’ is a super sing-a-long punk tune. The only real flaw with Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is the woeful lyrical decision to make the entire album follow the ‘story’ (such as it is) of a lad’s night out. As concept album concepts go, it’s a pretty lame one, and results in song after song of misogynistic drivel and self-congratulatory tales of drug taking and idiocy. Maybe I’m getting old, maybe that’s what rock bands are supposed to do, but I don’t think that it’s that I object on principle. Take, for example, pretty much any Queens Of the Stone Age song: a band which deals with similar themes, but which infuses them with humour, self-depreciation and style. The lyrical content of Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is just soulless. Still, ignore the lyrics and this is another quality record from a band that continues to adapt and improve.
10.The Leisure Society
The Sleeper
A confident, but very delicate debut from England’s The Leisure Society. They’re lead by Nick Hemming, who used to be in a band with Paddy Considine and Shane Meadows – Hemming wrote the music for a number of Meadows’ films, including the awesome Dead Man’s Shoes. This album draws on the various strands of ‘nu-folk’, and so has clear links to the likes of Bright Eyes, The Hotel Alexis, Ambrose Tompkins and Noah And The Whale. The songs are all vulnerable and beautiful, and there is a wide range of stringed and woodwind instruments used to create a variety of touching sounds. Simplicity is at the heart of the record though, and some of the tracks are really minimalist. Over everything, Hemming’s emotional voice pulls on the heart strings. The lyrics are always intelligent without being flashy, and, although the key theme is love (of the broken-hearted melancholic variety), there are also references to apathy, American homogeny and social alienation. Nothing here is massively original, but it really is all done so well. The sort of album that could easily pass people by; it’s not likely to create any kind of great stir in the wider consciousness. If it’s passed you by, go back and get it.
09.
Tegan And Sara
Sainthood
Tegan And Sara
Sainthood
Not as instantly likeable or as enduring as their last album, 2007’s The Con, Sainthood is nonetheless an excellent record, which shows Canadian twins Tegan And Sara developing their sound further. To my ears, there’s an increased use of electronic sound here (sometimes in quite an 80s style), and also less of a poppy sheen – the album feels deliberately a bit more confrontational, both lyrically and musically. One if the advantages of Tegan And Sara is that they both write quite different styles of songs, which are then very complimentary and enhance each other’s effectiveness. That’s true again on Sainthood, and the tension between the more introspective slower tracks of Sara’s and the rockier faster songs that tend to be Tegan’s gives everything a great ebb and flow. It’s notable that the weakest track here is the one they wrote together (‘Paperback Head’). My pick on the album is the single, the excellent ‘Hell’ (which I think is written by Tegan), but there are no bad songs. Enough variety to always keep things interesting and a great ear for writing a pop song (combined with the inventiveness to make them not sound like pop songs) means that Sainthood is another quality release from a quality band.
08.
Noah And The Whale
The First Days Of Spring
The second year in a row that Noah And The Whale have made the list, though this time they have improved on 2008’s #14 placing for Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down and broken into the top 10. The First Days of Spring is an entirely different animal from Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down, though. Where their debut was uplifting and whimsical, their sophomore effort is melancholic and sparse. This huge shift has its roots in the breakup between frontman Charlie Fink and Laura Marling (who was formerly a member of Noah And The Whale and who’s excellent solo album Fink produced). The First Days of Spring is therefore almost entirely about that breakup. It’s not a bitter record, but rather a very sad one (ie, it is in the same circle as Nick Cave’s The Boatman’s Call, and in a different one to PJ Harvey’s Is This Desire? on the album-about-a-break-up Venn diagram). At times it can get a little much if you’re not in the mood (track names include ‘I Have Nothing’ and ‘My Broken Heart’). Yet, loving and losing has brought the best out in Fink, and The First Days of Spring is a much more accomplished, musically adventurous and lyrically developed album than their debut. It is split into two chunks, separated by the uplifting and orchestral (as the name would suggest) ‘Love Of An Orchestra’. This track is completely different in tone to everything else, but it is brilliantly placed to raise the spirits at just the right time, and must have been written when Fink was in a more philosophical mood (‘I know I’ll never be lonely/I’ve got songs in my blood’). An album that’s not for the faint hearted (as it were), or anyone who views a broken heart as a self-indulgence. But, for anyone who thinks such things give rise to some of the best art, this is an album to wallow in.
Noah And The Whale
The First Days Of Spring
The second year in a row that Noah And The Whale have made the list, though this time they have improved on 2008’s #14 placing for Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down and broken into the top 10. The First Days of Spring is an entirely different animal from Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down, though. Where their debut was uplifting and whimsical, their sophomore effort is melancholic and sparse. This huge shift has its roots in the breakup between frontman Charlie Fink and Laura Marling (who was formerly a member of Noah And The Whale and who’s excellent solo album Fink produced). The First Days of Spring is therefore almost entirely about that breakup. It’s not a bitter record, but rather a very sad one (ie, it is in the same circle as Nick Cave’s The Boatman’s Call, and in a different one to PJ Harvey’s Is This Desire? on the album-about-a-break-up Venn diagram). At times it can get a little much if you’re not in the mood (track names include ‘I Have Nothing’ and ‘My Broken Heart’). Yet, loving and losing has brought the best out in Fink, and The First Days of Spring is a much more accomplished, musically adventurous and lyrically developed album than their debut. It is split into two chunks, separated by the uplifting and orchestral (as the name would suggest) ‘Love Of An Orchestra’. This track is completely different in tone to everything else, but it is brilliantly placed to raise the spirits at just the right time, and must have been written when Fink was in a more philosophical mood (‘I know I’ll never be lonely/I’ve got songs in my blood’). An album that’s not for the faint hearted (as it were), or anyone who views a broken heart as a self-indulgence. But, for anyone who thinks such things give rise to some of the best art, this is an album to wallow in.
07.
Monsters Of Folk
Monsters Of Folk
A superb supergroup album, which really makes use of the diverse talents of its (all rather talented) members: Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes and loads of other stuff) Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes again) and M. Ward (of, well, M. Ward). This is about as good as ‘nu-folk’ gets. There are a variety of treasures here: the floaty ambiance of (oddly positioned) opener ‘Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F)’, the hip-shaking ‘Whole Lot Of Losin’’, the Fleet Foxes harmonies of ‘Slow Down Joe’ and my personal favourite, the hillbilly jam of ‘A Man Named Truth’. Every song is pure class, with technical excellence and peerless songwriting throughout. I like the different vocal styles, which I think complement each other well. It feels very much like this is a departure from the day job for these guys, and, as such, there’s a sense of fun and energy about everything. They don’t seem too bothered if it’s seen as a ‘credible’ record. It’s all about it being an enjoyable one. The result is that actually this beats the last Bright Eyes record and the last My Morning Jacket record. It probably doesn’t have quite the objective ‘quality’ of the usual outputs from these people, but it is, for me, more fun to listen to. The complete opposite in tone from Noah And The Whale’s The First Days Of Spring, this is happy folk music for happy people. What a joy.
Monsters Of Folk
Monsters Of Folk
A superb supergroup album, which really makes use of the diverse talents of its (all rather talented) members: Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes and loads of other stuff) Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes again) and M. Ward (of, well, M. Ward). This is about as good as ‘nu-folk’ gets. There are a variety of treasures here: the floaty ambiance of (oddly positioned) opener ‘Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F)’, the hip-shaking ‘Whole Lot Of Losin’’, the Fleet Foxes harmonies of ‘Slow Down Joe’ and my personal favourite, the hillbilly jam of ‘A Man Named Truth’. Every song is pure class, with technical excellence and peerless songwriting throughout. I like the different vocal styles, which I think complement each other well. It feels very much like this is a departure from the day job for these guys, and, as such, there’s a sense of fun and energy about everything. They don’t seem too bothered if it’s seen as a ‘credible’ record. It’s all about it being an enjoyable one. The result is that actually this beats the last Bright Eyes record and the last My Morning Jacket record. It probably doesn’t have quite the objective ‘quality’ of the usual outputs from these people, but it is, for me, more fun to listen to. The complete opposite in tone from Noah And The Whale’s The First Days Of Spring, this is happy folk music for happy people. What a joy.
06.Red Light Company
Fine Fascination
Stadium rock from a band that’s nowhere near famous enough (yet) to actually fill a stadium. Not for the want of trying, though: Red Light Company clearly have a grand plan, and that plan is to sell more copies of their album than God did of his holy book. The band are really full of themselves (their interviews make them sound like U2 did 20 years ago). Somewhat irritatingly, they have the quality songs (loads of them!) to have the potential to be as big as they are in their own heads, and, more annoyingly still, actually probably deserve to be. Fine Fascination demonstrates that the (counter-intuitive) concept of heavily produced, clean sounding ‘grunge’ isn’t just the preserve of shitty bands like Nickleback. Red Light Company take the basic 90s quiet/loud rock template and give it their own spin. Big swelling verses and even bigger choruses, with an interesting (but not intrusive) electronic element, and a strong but very palatable vocalist: this is how to make a commercial rock album. There’s not really anything original to be found here, but there is enough of a sense of self about the record that possible comparisons (Editors etc) really don’t work, not least because Red Light Company are in another league. Ok, so the lyrics are banal to the point of barely existing (go figure, this is radio-rock). And, yes, if you want ‘art’ or innovation from your music, this is the wrong place to come. But, these are larger-than-life anthemic rock songs of a consistently excellent standard throughout, something that is particularly impressive given that this is their debut. They’re songs that are impossible to get out of your head, and which really should be filling huge spaces. Coming to an arena near you soon.
05.
Ben Kweller
Changing Horses
This was the only album this year that I had no trouble placing in the list. That’s because there are four albums that are clearly way and above all others, and yet, this album is just as clearly better than all the rest. So, right from the start of drawing up my list this year, it was clear that Ben Kweller was going to come in at #5. I think this is probably my favourite of his records, which is odd because it moves much more notably towards country music, a genre I’ve never really been a fan of. True, he has flirted with country in the past, but Changing Horses is basically a country music album. And a fine one, too. Ben Kweller has come a long way since his days as a teenage Cobain wannabe in Radish. This is a mature album from a ‘proper’ musician, which, first and foremost, highlights his talent as a songwriter. Lyrically, the songs are bittersweet vignettes, musing on love and life. Musically, they range from the upbeat sing-song style of ‘Fight’ to the soft piano ballad of ‘Homeward Bound’ (the album closer, and easily the best track on show). Much like the Monsters Of Folk album, this is a record of real class, start to finish.
Ben Kweller
Changing Horses
This was the only album this year that I had no trouble placing in the list. That’s because there are four albums that are clearly way and above all others, and yet, this album is just as clearly better than all the rest. So, right from the start of drawing up my list this year, it was clear that Ben Kweller was going to come in at #5. I think this is probably my favourite of his records, which is odd because it moves much more notably towards country music, a genre I’ve never really been a fan of. True, he has flirted with country in the past, but Changing Horses is basically a country music album. And a fine one, too. Ben Kweller has come a long way since his days as a teenage Cobain wannabe in Radish. This is a mature album from a ‘proper’ musician, which, first and foremost, highlights his talent as a songwriter. Lyrically, the songs are bittersweet vignettes, musing on love and life. Musically, they range from the upbeat sing-song style of ‘Fight’ to the soft piano ballad of ‘Homeward Bound’ (the album closer, and easily the best track on show). Much like the Monsters Of Folk album, this is a record of real class, start to finish.
04.Manic Street Preachers
Journal For Plague Lovers
The top four caused me trouble this year. I had four albums that were easily way above all others in my estimation, but which I had real difficulty weighing against one another. Every time I listened to any of them, then that record, the one on my stereo right now, that was the album of the year. After a concerted effort I eventually ranked them, and so the Manic Street Preachers ultimately got the worst deal, coming in fourth. The big surprise, though, is that an album by the Manic Street Preachers was part of this illustrious Champions League grouping. They have been so consistently middle of the road and so blandly awful for so long that Journal For Plague Lovers is nothing short of a miracle. It was made using entirely old lyrics of Richie Edwards’ from a scrap book of his. The artist from 1994’s The Holy Bible was recommissioned to do the artwork, and so, somehow, the ghost of Richie also seemed to have a hand in the music. This album is a natural successor to The Holy Bible (ignore the five albums in between); it has the same punk attitude, the same swagger and the same musical ‘feel’ as the Manic Street Preachers’ long forgotten masterpiece. Ok, so it’s not quite in the same league as The Holy Bible (which is still one of my top five albums ever), but it is certainly my favourite record of theirs since then, and represents the rebirth of the band that I used to love. Not to say that Journal For Plague Lovers is just a rehash of The Holy Bible. The Manic Street Preachers have learned from their years in the Mums/Vicars/dinner parties wilderness that ‘melody’ is no bad thing, and so Journal For Plague Lovers draws on some of the good things that came out of the post-Richie years and adds them to their old punk sound. So, while ‘Jackie Collins Existential Question Time’ rockets along much like ‘Yes’ did 15 years ago, it does so with a melodic underpinning that wasn’t a part of their early work. A back from the dead album to surpass even Machine Head’s rebirth with 2007’s The Blackening (a totally different type of band, of course, but the point still holds). This is what I want from the Manic Street Preachers and had long since given up on getting. In one record they have gone from being barely worth considering to being right near the top of the tree again. Where they should be.
03.
Bombay Bicycle Club
I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose
From the opening drum clicks and layered guitars of instrumental opener ‘Emergency Contraception Blues’ to the understated acoustic plucking of the final notes of ‘The Giantess’ this is a near perfect album. As with Journal For Plague Lovers, this really should be an album of the year winner – it’s just a shame that this year produced two albums that were even more perfect. The quirky, distinctive vocal style holds together an album bursting at the seams with ideas, but one that, ultimately, is comfortable as an indie rock album, and never over-cooks the pudding. The Maxïmo Park-like jangling of ‘Dust On The Ground’ showcases a more traditional side to the band, while the Death From Above 1979 style distorted bassline and Bloc Party-esque scatter-drumming of the wonderful ‘Evening/Morning’ offers something totally different. Every track is catchy as hell. But they’re also all different enough from each other (and short enough) that there’s really no time to get comfortable. Whichever track is playing is usually my favourite, but the one that takes the honour when I’m not actually playing the record is the haunting ‘Ghost’ (get it…haunting…). Bombay Bicycle Club have had a good bit of hype, but have suffered from suggestions that they can’t produce live – I can’t comment, cause I’ve not had the chance to see them, but the album’s a winner. I reason that if they’re playing these songs they must be half decent live, however bad they are… This album shits on anything released over recent years by broadly comparable acts (Franz Ferdinand, Maxïmo Park and even Bloc Party – including my top album of 2008). Absolutely essential.
Bombay Bicycle Club
I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose
From the opening drum clicks and layered guitars of instrumental opener ‘Emergency Contraception Blues’ to the understated acoustic plucking of the final notes of ‘The Giantess’ this is a near perfect album. As with Journal For Plague Lovers, this really should be an album of the year winner – it’s just a shame that this year produced two albums that were even more perfect. The quirky, distinctive vocal style holds together an album bursting at the seams with ideas, but one that, ultimately, is comfortable as an indie rock album, and never over-cooks the pudding. The Maxïmo Park-like jangling of ‘Dust On The Ground’ showcases a more traditional side to the band, while the Death From Above 1979 style distorted bassline and Bloc Party-esque scatter-drumming of the wonderful ‘Evening/Morning’ offers something totally different. Every track is catchy as hell. But they’re also all different enough from each other (and short enough) that there’s really no time to get comfortable. Whichever track is playing is usually my favourite, but the one that takes the honour when I’m not actually playing the record is the haunting ‘Ghost’ (get it…haunting…). Bombay Bicycle Club have had a good bit of hype, but have suffered from suggestions that they can’t produce live – I can’t comment, cause I’ve not had the chance to see them, but the album’s a winner. I reason that if they’re playing these songs they must be half decent live, however bad they are… This album shits on anything released over recent years by broadly comparable acts (Franz Ferdinand, Maxïmo Park and even Bloc Party – including my top album of 2008). Absolutely essential.
02.
The Decemberists
The Hazards Of Love
Wow. There’s so much going on here I hardly know where to start. The Hazards Of Love is epic. Truly epic. It is certainly The Decemberists’ best album, and most years would have been a clear album of the year choice. If you have this and know all about it, forgive me for the following, but if not, I think I need to explain...
The Hazards Of Love is a rock-opera concept album of the most wonderfully pretentious kind. Lyrically, it follows a mystical love story between a shape-changing faun/man, and the woman who finds him in the forest. It is layered with Celtic language, pagan imagery and magical fantasy. Different characters are portrayed by different vocalists, and are usually accompanied either by a specific musical theme, or at least by a musical style (the character of ‘The Queen’, for example, is always accompanied by heavier music than the other characters when she appears). In terms of the music, it is an album that is never silent, from start to finish: the tracks blend into one long and perfectly crafted piece.
There are folk elements, classic rock flourishes, orchestral sections (including a children’s choir at one point – representing the ghosts of murdered children) and some nifty accordion playing. Overall, there is so much on offer here that one could become obsessed with this record: the imagery, the references to place names or people, its musical themes etc etc. I have partially immersed myself in it, but I don’t have the time or inclination to give it the attention that one easily could. And that’s probably the best thing about this album. You don’t need to: it is a single piece of music, but it is also a collection of really good songs. Unlike, say, Porcupine Tree’s The Incident, it’s very easy to just listen to a single track from The Hazards Of Love, ignore the lyrical and musical density of the album as a whole, and enjoy it on a much more basic level. These are great tunes in themselves. Take, ‘The Rake’s Song’ (which has a similar chord change to David Bowie’s Space Oddity), with its horrific lyrics (it’s about a man who, left widowed, decides to murder his children to return to his previous life of philandering). ‘The Rake’s Song’ is a superb stand-alone track, but this vile man is also a key character in the great play that is The Hazards Of Love. If you care enough to notice. This is an album that’s an achievement of magnificent scale, and one that will presumably annoy as many people as it enthrals. If you don’t own it, do.
The Hazards Of Love
Wow. There’s so much going on here I hardly know where to start. The Hazards Of Love is epic. Truly epic. It is certainly The Decemberists’ best album, and most years would have been a clear album of the year choice. If you have this and know all about it, forgive me for the following, but if not, I think I need to explain...
The Hazards Of Love is a rock-opera concept album of the most wonderfully pretentious kind. Lyrically, it follows a mystical love story between a shape-changing faun/man, and the woman who finds him in the forest. It is layered with Celtic language, pagan imagery and magical fantasy. Different characters are portrayed by different vocalists, and are usually accompanied either by a specific musical theme, or at least by a musical style (the character of ‘The Queen’, for example, is always accompanied by heavier music than the other characters when she appears). In terms of the music, it is an album that is never silent, from start to finish: the tracks blend into one long and perfectly crafted piece.
There are folk elements, classic rock flourishes, orchestral sections (including a children’s choir at one point – representing the ghosts of murdered children) and some nifty accordion playing. Overall, there is so much on offer here that one could become obsessed with this record: the imagery, the references to place names or people, its musical themes etc etc. I have partially immersed myself in it, but I don’t have the time or inclination to give it the attention that one easily could. And that’s probably the best thing about this album. You don’t need to: it is a single piece of music, but it is also a collection of really good songs. Unlike, say, Porcupine Tree’s The Incident, it’s very easy to just listen to a single track from The Hazards Of Love, ignore the lyrical and musical density of the album as a whole, and enjoy it on a much more basic level. These are great tunes in themselves. Take, ‘The Rake’s Song’ (which has a similar chord change to David Bowie’s Space Oddity), with its horrific lyrics (it’s about a man who, left widowed, decides to murder his children to return to his previous life of philandering). ‘The Rake’s Song’ is a superb stand-alone track, but this vile man is also a key character in the great play that is The Hazards Of Love. If you care enough to notice. This is an album that’s an achievement of magnificent scale, and one that will presumably annoy as many people as it enthrals. If you don’t own it, do.
01.
Them Crooked Vultures
Them Crooked Vultures
My God. Did I say ‘my God’? Sorry, I meant my Grohl. This actually is as good as I thought it might be. Wait, no, it’s actually better than I thought it might be. One of those ‘believe the hype’ situations. A supergroup indeed.
What do we have, then? Well, for those who don’t know (is there anybody?) this is Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters/Nirvana) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin). Them Crooked Vultures sound more like Queens Of The Stone Age than either the Foo Fighters or Led Zeppelin, but that’s not surprising given that it’s Josh Homme on lead vocals and guitar. Whilst it might sound a bit like Queens Of The Stone Age, it’s better than anything they’ve put out since Songs For The Deaf in 2002, and, to be honest, it even rivals that masterpiece. It also beats anything that the Foo Fighters have managed since we changed centuries. And although I think it sounds most like Queens Of The Stone Age, there is plenty else in here – the bluesy undercurrent (most notable on tracks like ‘Scumbag Blues’, which I think is my favourite on the album, but then it’s hard to tell as they’re all so good) is presumably a John Paul Jones thing, and the perfectly understated use of piano and organ at various points certainly is. Dave Grohl’s drumming is rarely flashy (unlike, say, his work with Josh Homme on Songs For The Deaf). Rather, he does what’s necessary to make each song work: I recently noticed, for example, that the guitars and bass on the dancey ‘New Fang’ are pretty much the same all the way through, and it is the variety of the pace of the drums that turns the riff into the song.
‘Elephants’ is the bluesier brother of Queens Of The Stone Age’s classic ‘A Song For The Dead’. ‘Dead End Friends’ is a perfect little rock song and ‘Gunman’ is the best use of a wah wah pedal since Jimi Hendrix. These are my favourites, but every track is better than anything most bands could dream of. The only possible criticism of the album is that it is a little overlong, and there are a couple of tracks that are not quite as good as the rest. As I say, though, they’re still amazing (even the weakest track, ‘Interlude With Ludes’ – which I get the feeling they knocked up in an afternoon – is still a lot better than pretty much anything on the last Queens Of The Stone Age album).
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’d prefer it if we had no more Queens Of The Stone Age and no more Foo Fighters (and no more of whatever it is that John Paul Jones has been doing recently), and instead got a heap more of this. I just love Those Wonky Pigeons. Blinding.
Them Crooked Vultures
My God. Did I say ‘my God’? Sorry, I meant my Grohl. This actually is as good as I thought it might be. Wait, no, it’s actually better than I thought it might be. One of those ‘believe the hype’ situations. A supergroup indeed.
What do we have, then? Well, for those who don’t know (is there anybody?) this is Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters/Nirvana) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin). Them Crooked Vultures sound more like Queens Of The Stone Age than either the Foo Fighters or Led Zeppelin, but that’s not surprising given that it’s Josh Homme on lead vocals and guitar. Whilst it might sound a bit like Queens Of The Stone Age, it’s better than anything they’ve put out since Songs For The Deaf in 2002, and, to be honest, it even rivals that masterpiece. It also beats anything that the Foo Fighters have managed since we changed centuries. And although I think it sounds most like Queens Of The Stone Age, there is plenty else in here – the bluesy undercurrent (most notable on tracks like ‘Scumbag Blues’, which I think is my favourite on the album, but then it’s hard to tell as they’re all so good) is presumably a John Paul Jones thing, and the perfectly understated use of piano and organ at various points certainly is. Dave Grohl’s drumming is rarely flashy (unlike, say, his work with Josh Homme on Songs For The Deaf). Rather, he does what’s necessary to make each song work: I recently noticed, for example, that the guitars and bass on the dancey ‘New Fang’ are pretty much the same all the way through, and it is the variety of the pace of the drums that turns the riff into the song.
‘Elephants’ is the bluesier brother of Queens Of The Stone Age’s classic ‘A Song For The Dead’. ‘Dead End Friends’ is a perfect little rock song and ‘Gunman’ is the best use of a wah wah pedal since Jimi Hendrix. These are my favourites, but every track is better than anything most bands could dream of. The only possible criticism of the album is that it is a little overlong, and there are a couple of tracks that are not quite as good as the rest. As I say, though, they’re still amazing (even the weakest track, ‘Interlude With Ludes’ – which I get the feeling they knocked up in an afternoon – is still a lot better than pretty much anything on the last Queens Of The Stone Age album).
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’d prefer it if we had no more Queens Of The Stone Age and no more Foo Fighters (and no more of whatever it is that John Paul Jones has been doing recently), and instead got a heap more of this. I just love Those Wonky Pigeons. Blinding.
The end
So... That’s it for another year.
2009: an odd year in music for me, with four albums being much better than anything that was released last year, but pretty much everything else being weaker than the 2008 crop of albums, at least in general terms.
I hope you enjoyed reading this list. If you made it to the end, you are still nowhere near as sad as I am for writing it all.
A Merry Christmas to you.
J
2009: an odd year in music for me, with four albums being much better than anything that was released last year, but pretty much everything else being weaker than the 2008 crop of albums, at least in general terms.
I hope you enjoyed reading this list. If you made it to the end, you are still nowhere near as sad as I am for writing it all.
A Merry Christmas to you.
J
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