2009: The Year in Music

2009 was quite frankly a brilliant year for music, a treasure trove in comparison to 2008. Let's look back on some of the fantastic sounds released this year...

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2009
The majority of these will probably be fairly obvious, but I'm hoping my music taste will turn out to be quite interesting after all.

1. The xx - xx
Every year many groups and artists realise their dreams and get a shot at a debut album, but it's a much more rare event when one of those debuts ends up surprising everyone and becomes one of the defining albums of the year. This is what happened to The xx, a former four-piece (they've since lost a member) from London, this year. Their debut (released August 2009) had a quiet release but gradually invaded our collective consciousness (both the critics and the public alike) until all of a sudden people were hyping them as 'the next big thing'. This was helped by huge radio play of their singles Crystalised and Islands, and by the end of the year The xx were one of the biggest success stories of 2009. Unfortunately sudden success took its toll and the constant touring (as well as a few other differences, I suspect) caused one of their number to leave. With a debut album this good though, it's difficult to see that slowing them down at all. The album itself is a brilliant collection of sometimes upbeat and sometimes harrowing songs about growing up, set to very minimal soundscapes and warm vocals. They seem to be able to describe perfectly all the emotion and elation associated with growing up in song, and it's this quality that makes them so likeable.
Favourite tracks: Islands, Crystalised, Heart Skipped a Beat

2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Animal Collective are a band who have been going for a long time, though I only found out about them this year with this, their eighth album. Merriweather Post Pavilion has been their most successful album (in the mainstream) so far, before this they seem to have been somewhat of a cult band (over here, anyway) and so this is my reason for only just hearing about them. It is a fantastic album, taking the listener on a wondrous journey through lush soundscapes and echoed vocals, complete with rolling drumbeats that lift the listener up into the clouds and beyond... It may take you a while to get into it though, as it sounds like nothing I have ever heard before. It took me a while anyway, I'm not really used to such mindblowing music. It starts with the dreamy In the Flowers and keeps the dreamy, happy mood right up until the final track, the climactic (but no less uplifting) Brother Sport. Although technically the music is quite complex, there's nothing deep to understand here; it's just very very happy music.
Favourite tracks: Brother Sport, My Girls, Lion in a Coma

3. Björk - Voltaïc
Okay, I accept this isn't really in the same league as the others but it's so damn good I wanted to include it anyway. Voltaïc is a box set comprised of 2 CDs (one live disc and one disc of remixes) and 2 DVDs (one live disc and one disc of music videos) containing material from her Volta campaign (Volta was her last proper studio album). It's not really an album like the others on this list by it's very nature, but this is so good any Björk fan (and most open minded people) would be stupid to miss it. Her songs come to life a lot more when she performs them live and this is worth the expensive price (unless you can find it cheap somewhere) for the live material alone. It is difficult to describe the brilliance of Björk in words, so I will simply urge you to buy it (or at least have a look). You won't be disappointed.
Favourite tracks: It's all good here, though the live performances of Earth Intruders, Hyperballad and Declare Independence are particularly brilliant. The remixes are all top-notch too.

4. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
Fever Ray (I can't remember her real name, her stage name is awesome anyway) is one half of Swedish electropop duo The Knife (they gave us the original version of Heartbeats, or 'that song on the advert with all the colourful bouncing balls'). Fever Ray sounds very different to her parent band, though happily she sounds a lot better too. The sounds present in her songs are still in the same vein as those used in The Knife's songs (lots of weird synthy noises and bouncy drums) but Fever Ray's music is a lot darker. Out of all the albums mentioned here, this is the only one I would describe as being 'scary'; the vocals are so eerie and those weird electro noises I already mentioned are twisted into much more spooky versions of their originals. It is difficult to find flaw in this album, every song moves so well into the next and you get dragged further and further into Fever Ray's dark musings on herself as it progresses. Essential listening for anyone in possession of a soul.
Favourite tracks: If I Had a Heart, When I Grow Up, Concrete Walls

5. Deadmau5 - For Lack of a Better Name
I have never been that much into electronica and I don't think I'll ever be an expert on the genre, but this album (very much an electronica album) made such a buzz on the internet earlier this year that I had to listen to it for myself. What a brilliant discovery that was. Deadmau5 has been going for several years now, but he has only really found mainstream success over the last two, with his first two full studio albums. This, the second, is far more diverse than it's predecessor and takes the listener through a world of slick beats and catchy samples. Every track is mixed seamlessly into the next and as a result the album feels like one complete item rather than a collection of songs. This 'item' manages to constantly keep the listener interested by mixing up the flow with each track change, giving a very danceable experience complete with mellow moments to cool down and savour the masterfully produced sounds within. One of the more danceable moments is the fantastic Ghosts n' Stuff, featuring Rob Swire of Pendulum on very auto-tuned vocals. It's an epic track, complete with apocalyptic organs and a heavy synth bass line. Even the auto-tuned vocals work. This epicness does not go away, instead sticking around for more or less the entire album. For Lack of a Better Name is an electronic masterpiece.
Favourite tracks: Moar Ghosts n' Stuff/Ghosts n' Stuff, Hi Friend!, FML

6. Muse - The Resistance
So here it is, the one album I was anticipating much more than anything else musically oriented this year. It is a testament then, to how much good music was released in 2009 when 5 other albums have beaten it. I was honestly expecting The Resistance to blow everything else away, for it all to pale in comparison to this, Muse's fifth and most challenging album to date. When I saw them live in November I was completely blown away, on the stage they not only lived up to my expectations, they soared right over them. The tracks fall a bit short on the album though. Don't get me wrong, there are a few absolutely amazing songs here (probably some of the best of their career) but the consistency is all over the place. Take the closing three part (Muse don't seem to understand the word 'boundaries') Exogenesis, for example. The first two parts (Overture and Cross-Pollination) are fantastically apocalyptic pieces, especially the former, with its never-ending spiral of strings and falsetto of doom. The final part (and last track on the album, named Redemption) is rather tame in comparison and to make things worse, very repetitive. The whole album is plagued by issues like this one but if you can overlook its flaws, The Resistance is a very enjoyable experience. I was just expecting something a bit more ridiculous.
Favourite tracks: United States of Eurasia, Uprising, MK Ultra

7. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
This album (and it seems, everything Green Day has done since they released Dookie) was the subject of a lot of mixed feedback when it was released way back in May. I've always kind of liked Green Day though, so I thought I may as well give it a chance. Even after the first listen, this album draws you in and you become addicted, having to listen to all three of the 'acts' all over again. One of the things that surprised me most about this album was its level of ambition. It is very long (by anyone's standards), clocking in at around 70 minutes, but when you listen to it all the way through it doesn't feel that long. When they released American Idiot over five years ago, critics said they couldn't make an album more ambitious. With this one though they've smashed that statement through, rocketing upwards to write an album of stratospheric proportions. The album is a sequel of sorts to American Idiot, telling a story of a young couple caught up in the events post-American Idiot. The story flows through three distinct acts and while there are moments of awe-inspiring brilliance (such as penultimate track American Eulogy, which releases all the tension surrounding 21st century America in a chaotic 4 minutes) the album is ultimately let down by the same thing as The Resistance, its lack of consistency.
Favourite tracks: American Eulogy, 21st Century Breakdown, ¡Viva La Gloria!

8. Maxïmo Park - Quicken the Heart
This third album from Maxïmo is on a somewhat different trajectory to the first two, in a way they seem to have grown up a bit. This means that they've traded their trademark bonkers 3 minute guitar/keyboard songs for a sound that is altogether more intelligent. The only song on this album that is strongly reminiscent of the first two is the opener - Wraithlike, a song which ironically focuses on criticising the band's past. The opening line itself 'Here's a song that finally you can understand' is clearly cynical regarding frontman Paul Smith's random and often chaotic lyrics. Just because they've grown up doesn't mean they've becoming boring though. I really really like this album, and it sees them as sharp and witty as ever. It's just a bit different to what you might expect.
Favourite tracks: The Kids Are Sick Again, Wraithlike, I Haven't Seen Her in Ages

9. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
This was one of the first albums of 2009 I listened to and it definitely set the scene for the rest of the year. Tonight is a brilliant journey through what would be commonly called the 'perfect night out'. It starts with Ulysses, a track very aptly named (Ulysses was an adventurer in Greek mythology) as it sets up the night ahead, with a frantic build up of tense energy from a very quiet beginning. All the while Alex sings about his desire to go out and 'get high' before exploding into a frenetic chorus. The album keeps going at its own unrelenting pace as the 'night out' gets more and more intense; by the time Lucid Dreams comes around you're spinning in a pool of cocktails and acid trips. You just about have enough time to regain your senses for the surreal Dream Again (sounds like even more acid) and the somewhat calmer Katherine Kiss Me (a song which quite accurately describes the 'morning after'). Tonight is good because of the way it progresses so well, it's also a lot of fun.
Favourite tracks: Lucid Dreams, Ulysses, Send Him Away

10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
This is another album in which the band making it have gone off in a completely different direction to what you would expect. It's Blitz! still sounds unmistakably like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but there are a lot of differences between this album and its two predecessors. For one thing, Nick Zinner has traded in his guitars for keyboards and synths on most of the tracks. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though. A lot of the tracks sound just as energetic as they always have been, although in a few of the tracks it does seem like there is something lacking. A bit like an empty space where Nick's guitars used to be, an empty space which cannot be filled by anything else. That said though this album contains some of the best songs of their career and overall it is a good album, just not as good as the previous two.
Favourite tracks: Zero, Hysteric, Skeletons

TOP TEN SONGS OF 2009
This list was somewhat easier to do than the album one, it also comes with SOUND!

1. United States of Eurasia - Muse
When I first heard this (it was released for free way before the album) I couldn't stop listening to it and with the Collateral Damage outro (a nice bit of Chopin) it becomes simply a flawless piece of music to listen to. That's what I think, anyway.

2. Moar Ghosts n' Stuff/Ghosts n' Stuff - Deadmau5
Okay, so this is actually two songs... but on the album they're mixed so that one leads straight into the other and they are both very similar. Unfortunately I couldn't find a single mixed track on youtube so you'll have to cope with two separate ones.

3. Brother Sport - Animal Collective
The version posted here is live.


4. If I Had a Heart - Fever Ray
This song gives me serious shivers.

5. Islands - The xx

6. The Kids Are Sick Again - Maxïmo Park

7. Crystalised - The xx

8. My Girls - Animal Collective

9. Uprising - Muse
Live version.

10. Lucid Dreams - Franz Ferdinand

That's all for 2009 folks! I know this one ran on a bit late (oops...) but nevermind, eh? Roll on 2010!