2009 music

Favourite EPs and LPs of 2009

EP

2. Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP

Song in EP:

Easier to like: Circulation
Grower: Rainwater Cassette



1. Beirut - March of the Zapotec EP / Real People - Holland EP

Song in EP:

Easier to like: The Concubine
Grower: The Akara

LP

2. Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care

Song in LP:

Easier to like: Dull to Pause
Grower: Parallel Lines

1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

Song in LP:

Easier to like: My Girls
Grower: Daily Routine

Mother of all growers: Junior Boys - "Parallel Lines"

Based on pre-listens of Beach House's Teen Dream, it contains a few good songs.

Favourite songs of 2009

20. Lady Gaga ft. Colby O'Donis - Just Dance
You just can't deny her, can you?

19. The Field - The More That I Do
Monumentally hypnotic, especially the 2nd half

18. Pomegranates - Tesseract
Feel good, easy listening tune

17. Keri Hilson ft. Kanye West & Ne-Yo - Knock You Down
OMG. You listen to that babe.

16. Boys Noize - Jeffer
Before you know it, you'd be doing some Transformers dance moves.

15. Asobi Seksu - Blind Little Rain
Cocteau Twins would be proud but fuck the long silence towards the end of the song.

14. Bill Callahan - Jim Cain
Heartrending with some beautiful violin moments

13. Junior Boys - Dull to Pause
The melody melts you.

12. Lily Allen - The Fear
A very good pop song

11. DJ Quik & Kurupt - Blaqkout
DJ Quik + Kurupt = Gumbo. One of them raps, "I'm gonna hit you right off at the intro."
He really did.

10. Royksopp ft. Lykke Li - Miss it So Much
This is a charmer from start to finish.

9. Bibio - Fire Ant
An insane transformation is in store

8. Beirut - The Akara
Imagine a funeral scene. After all the mourning is done with, the celebration of life continues, which is also portrayed in some parts of this song.

7. Maudlin of the Well - Excerpt from 6,000,000,000,000 Miles Before the First, Or, the Revisitation of the Blue Ghost
Best epic song of the year

6. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse ft. David Lynch - Star Eyes (I Can't Catch It)
I overheard David singing "R2D2". Sucha lovely lullabye with effective strings, xylophone and sounds in general.

5. The Flaming Lips - Silver Trembling Hands
Its chorus struck me instantaneously. The rest of the song is no less electrifying.
This and the track preceding it called "The Impulse" plus "Evil" can be added into the Lips' masterpiece cabinet.

4. Animal Collective - Brothersport
Plausible lyrics and energetic, bouncy music even in the absence of Dave Portner's scream session.

3. Major Lazer ft. Nina Sky & Ricky Blaze - Keep it Goin' Louder
Good blend of mild Indian beats, Auto-tune and melodic hooks
It's about partying with a truck-load of babes.

2. The Doves - Winter Hill
A seemingly simple rock tune which generates colossal resonance to your senses.
These lads can scale any slippery slope effortlessly.
I bet one of the Gallaghers secretly sings this song especially the chorus in the showers.

1. White Denim - I'd Have it Just the Way We Were
Succinctly done.
Each band member serves his purpose wonderfully in this song.
It begins with a bang, maintains its momentum and ends triumphantly.
AnCo will be happily dethroned this time around.

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)

Air and Daft Punk might be linked to the culture of Phoenix's
but thankfully, the latter's closest musical description of alt electro pop with electro garnering a minority of 10% status is fairly different from the aforementioned bands.
"1901", a song that is one of my favourite currently, can serve as an anthem on its own - a lonesome one indeed. A friend once mentioned if it has anything to do with the particular hot dog outlet. I answered silently while guzzling on some beer, "Maybe, just maybe." Indecisive? Take a listen to the 3rd track then.
"Roll the dice for me" in "Fences" clearly shows that someone is in dire need of a right-on decision and is pleading for it to be determined even if it carries some uncalculated risks.
At times, Thomas Mars' vocals are quite Earthly and tend to sound like Kevin Barnes'.
"Lisztomania", "1901" and "Fences" pack a formidable 1-2-3 combo. Unfortunately, the songs after them are rather stale in comparison.

65%

Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care (2009)

"Dull to Pause" has Modest Mouse's "Float on" vibe to it when the beat really kicks in for microbes to dance while multiplying in the biosphere. Don't get me wrong though 'cause "Dull to Pause" sonically reverberates in another realm altogether.
In comparison to 2006's So This is Goodbye, Begone Dull Care has fuller beats and happier tunes. Convulsive beats of "Hazel" fit the awkward position of Jeremy Greenspan in fathoming a girl's feelings for him.
In "Bits & Pieces", Greenspan sings "I see you better when the lights are out". Either the rods of his retina function very well or it is a metaphor whereby he further understands something or someone as they get more intricate.
There's something very groovy in Begone Dull Care such as the immaculate synth riffs of "Parallel Lines", "Bits & Pieces", "The Animator" and "Hazel". Also, brief appearances of wind instrument in "What it's For" and "Bits & Pieces" would delight listeners.
"The Animator" captures the imagination of any sort of artist while you can sing "Like a Child"'s chorus over "What it's For"'s verse.
JB will soon have some of their Begone Dull Care songs remixed.

80%

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion (2009)

Listeners would usually expect some sort of change from a new Animal Collective output. In Merriweather Post Pavillion, there are no cathartic Avey Tare screams that you get from "Grass" or "For Reverend Green" and there are minimal wordless hooks which are abundant in "Leaf House", "Did You See the Words", "Fireworks" or "Winter Wonder Land". Avey Tare and Panda Bear still have many hooks. Only this time, they are lyrical.

In the opening track, Avey Tare sings about wishing to be in two places at the same time so that he won't miss his lover when he's gone for weeks (on a tour I guess). Midway through, this song wonderfully explodes into confettis of celebration as if he has solved his dilemma. "Brother Sport" sounds like an advice to decide on your own and not be so narrow-minded. With lyrics in this album such as "Am I really all the things that are outside of me?" and "I don't mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status", Panda Bear tries to debate about over-worldly possessions. "Bluish" suggests that Avey Tare is still struck by cupid's arrow. Its chorus replaces cupid's bow for a harp-like sound. That said, "Bluish", "Brother Sport" and the first two songs are my favourite so far.

MPP is a futuristic Pet Sounds. This will seem like another tiring Beach Boys comparison but Brian Wilson will be honoured to have inspired Avey Tare and Panda Bear. Listen how "Guys Eyes" is denser and more convoluted than "God Only Knows", vocal-wise. In parallel with the album's cover art, AC has produced some 3-dimensional soundscape.

90%