50 For 2009: 40-31
Carrying on with the 50 For 2009 rundown!
40. Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
A beautiful record that you can listen to again and again because of the way Callahan’s imagery-laden lyrics and vocal delivery draw you in. For the darker days of the year, this is a perfect winter warmer.
39. Jay Reatard – Watch Me Fall
It is unlikely that Jay Reatard will change musical direction and there’s no real need to when he makes consistently exhilarating albums like Watch Me Fall. It’s a short album in comparison to the rest of the list but one that never loses momentum.
38. Emmy The Great – First Love
A solid, understated album with effortless songwriting skills on display. She also has an incredibly maturity that you’d think would belong to someone much older than she is.
37. Brendan Benson – My Old, Familiar Friend
After a couple of albums with The Raconteurs, Brendan Benson did some things on his own and showed he is secretly the man who gels that band together. A record of delightful pop rock songs that is enjoyable to listen to.
36. Howling Bells – Radio Wars
The Australian quartet focused more on their songwriting ability for their second album. A mix of the new plus the sweeping arrangements of old in songs like Treasure Hunt and Cities Burning Down showed a steadily evolving band.
35. Doves – Kingdom Of Rust
Four years of toiling by the Mancunian three-piece resulted in Kingdom Of Rust, a textured record that took their sound to new depths. What hadn’t changed was that it full of songs straight from their battered and bruised hearts.
34. Eels – Hombre Lobo (see original review here)
After a four-year waiting period, the man known as E returned with an album much shorter than his 2005 double album, Blinking Lights And Other Revelations. Thankfully, Hombre Lobo was a varied and almost juxtaposed album that was worth the wait.
33. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion (see original review here)
It feels like ages since this was released, since it got put out in the first couple of weeks of the year, but time hasn’t affected a wonderful palette of song. Even better were the great pop songs hidden underneath the many layers and textures on all eleven songs.
32. Future Of The Left – Travels With Myself And Another
Following up Curses was going to be tough for Future Of The Left and they’ve given it a good shot. The humorous lyrics, vicious vocal delivery, and the punk-like aggression of the music remained to deliver a worthy follow up.
31. Marissa Nadler – Little Hells
A ghostly record that contains incredibly lush and delicate song arrangements that almost cushion the beautiful vocals of Nadler. Deservedly hyped on the blogosphere (and by Elbow’s Guy Garvey), this was a nice surprise.
Like this? Try these!
Posted on December 11th, 2009 by Max
Filed under: 50 For 2009, Albums
Leave a Reply