As I implied in yesterday’s post, 2009’s new releases left me wanting. There were some very good records, there always are, but as a year’s worth of music, this was the easiest time I’ve had in putting together my “Best of 2009” show on KCRW out of the last three years. No tough decisions at all, which means there weren’t a lot of records that really grabbed me (this was especially true of the “big” records of the year from Animal Collective and Phoenix). But, as I said above, there were still some very good records and below is my list of the Top 5 New Releases of 2009…Let me know what you think of these and what your favorite records were!
***Honorable mentions: Hope Sandoval – Through The Devil Softly (Nettwerk), Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career (4AD), Mos Def – The Ecstatic (Downtown), CéU– Vagarosa (Six Degrees), Quantic – Tradition In Transition (Tru Thoughts)
5. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – Honest Jon’s
Having performed with Mos Def, Tony Allen and recently becoming integrated into the Gorillaz collective (at least that’s what I heard), HBE is no longer a hidden gem, playing in subway stations across the country. This debut stands as the formal coming out party for these 8 sons of Phil Cohran, and their unique blend of brass band, post-bop jazz & Hip-Hop sensibilities. Strangely, as good as this record is, with guest work from master drummers Malcolm Catto and Tony Allen, I think this record would have been even better with the group’s regular drummer. We’ll have to wait for the next one on that, but this one is a helluva debut.
4. Edan – Echo Party – 5 Day Weekend
It’s seems a bit off to include what is essentially a mix-tape on the “Best of 2009,” but Edan’s Echo Party is so much more than a mix. Everything is so seamlessly integrated that you’d be forgiven for not realizing how much Edan has manipulated and added, but it’s a marvel when fully understood. In time I feel this mix will join Double Dee & Stenski’s Lesson(s), Grandmaster Flash’s “Adventures” and Cut Chemist & DJ Shadow’s Brain Freeze as the definitive examples of Turntablist art.
3. Adam Franklin – Spent Bullets – Second Motion
My long standing relationship with Swervedriver perhaps clouds my judgment on this one, but initially Adam Franklin’s Spent Bullets was a record I fully expected to be mediocre at best. I consider the first two Swervedriver records to be amongst the best of 1990s rock, output since then has been, to put it kindly, less than inspired. Cleary, Franklin was energized and inspired after the Swervedriver reunion concerts, because this record is full of well-crafted songs. However, he doesn’t attempt to recreate the past, aside from the relatively sprightly opener “Surge” all the songs are hazy and lazy (and I mean “lazy” in the best possible way here) instead of that pulsating and driving sound Swervedriver was known for. I was never able to convince others to play this record more, but it found a happy home in my car and was on repeat for months, another reason for its high placement on this list. Spent Bullets was the record I listened to most in 2009.
2. The xx – xx –XL
Comprised of South London teenagers, this band came out of nowhere to release one of the most universally praised and universally enjoyed records of 2009. Processed beats, shimmering guitars, breathy and sultry boy/girl vocalists, the xx have a sound that fits snugly in multiple genres and with multiple types of people. It’s a sound that at times seems routed in the past and at others seems firmly apart of the new millennia. On record it’s amazing, judging from live video I’ve seen, it’s less exhilarating in person. At first I thought this band completely lacked stage presence, but then I heard that we’re supposed to be calling this “Nu-Gaze” as in “Neo-Shoe gaze” and if that’s the case, I’ll chalk up their lack of movement to fierce adherence to aesthetics. Regardless of how they look or the way they play, they made some lovely pop music for 2009 and I’m really excited to see what this group produces as its members mature. Now if only I can remember to call them “ex ex” instead of “double X”…
1. Atlas Sound – Logos – Kranky
Bradford Cox could have made another very insular, largely avant-garde side project record, but instead he made indie-rock perfection. In a year filled with so-so recordings, Logos stands out as presenting an artist who’s interested in creating music that is accessibly experimental. Cox plays with sound and song structure, but draws you in, instead of keeping you at a distance with avant-garde noodlery. Guest work from Noah Lennox of Animal Collective and Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab highlighted Cox’s abilities all the more, “Walkabout” and “Quick Canal” merged their guests into Cox’s world, retaining parts of their sounds but only on Cox’s sonic terms. Logos stands as one of the few seminal records of 2009, one that I’m sure I’ll be enjoying well into the next decade.