50 for 2009: 20-11
Part 4 of the 50 for 2009 rundown!
20. Antony & The Johnsons – The Crying Light (see original review here) – Four years after his Mercury-winning I Am A Bird Now, The Crying Light is another fine showcase for Antony Hegarty. The arrangements, which were assisted on this album by Nico Muhly, are utterly gorgeous and moving. His songs are emotive and strikingly minimal. However, the most compelling part of the album is Antony’s voice – one that remains distinct and unique and used to great effect.
19. Franz Ferdinand – Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (see original review here) – Put simply, this is the album that should have followed their stunning debut. 2005′s You Could Have It So Much Better was a record that actually lived up to its title, in hindsight, and Tonight feels more like a natural progression than their previous effort. There is more emphasis on the groove and the songs are even more disco-tastic than before. What’s more, the four minute wig-out at the end of Lucid Dreams is one of the more exhilarating moments of the year.
18. Placebo – Battle For The Sun (see original review here) – Placebo in 2009 were a re-ignited band thanks in large part to an album that turned out to be their best for a decade. After the gloom and despair of Meds, Battle For The Sun is a much more optimistic account of the band, now boosted by a new and youthful drummer, Steve Forrest. It’s thirteen songs about a band coming back from the brink and back in a happy place. In particular, Kings Of Medicine ranks as one of the best album finishers of the year.
17. Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures (see original review here) – At the beginning of the year, whilst everyone was fanning themselves over Animal Collective, the trio of Homme, Grohl, and Paul Jones were creating a monster. By that, I mean a monster of the rock variety. Three giants of the genre created a supergroup that put all of Jack White’s activities to shame in terms of scale. The album itself wasn’t a disappointment and is one of the most highly enjoyable hours you’ll ever spend.
16. The Big Pink – A Brief History Of Love – Holy hell, an NME hyped band make a really good album shocker! For all the adulation they’ve received in the press, A Brief History Of Love is a fine debut that showcases a band with lots of potential. Combining ugly industrial noise, shoegaze guitar layer after shoegaze guitar layer, and pop sensibilities resulted in something you can keep coming back to. So what if their hit song was used in an Xbox 360 commercial?
15. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (see original review here) – Phoenix have made on of the more steady ascensions to fame in the last year. Since Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix came out they’ve been playing to bigger and bigger audiences by the day. Indie pop hasn’t really sounded any finer this entire year than the songs featured here and have even showed up their US and UK contemporaries at their own game. It’s an album that contains universal appeal and gave them a universal breakthrough.
14. The Twilight Sad – Forget The Night Ahead (see original review here) – Upon first listen it was hard to not feel a little bit disappointed. But then again, I was only disappointed because it didn’t meet expectations that were almost ashamedly high. On repeated listens you realise that Forget The Night Ahead is actually not so much a crushing low but more of high that ranks them as one of Scotland’s finest indie bands currently playing. It’s noisy but behind the layers hides real emotion that makes so refreshingly authentic.
13. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career – For fans of twee indie pop hailing from Scotland, they should have been thrilled that this Camera Obscura album filled almost every bit of criteria. Downbeat lyrics about romance were there. Arrangements that felt incredibly exciting instead of just a cheap throwback to 50s/60s pop were also there. Amongst all of this was Tracyanne Campbell, whose vocals were utterly gorgeous and utterly befitting of the eleven songs on show.
12. Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions (see original review here) – Whilst their last album, Puzzle, was ponderous and reflective, Only Revolutions finds a band with new-found optimism. They also seem to write every song with string and brass arrangements, but they’re all the more brilliant for it. Songs on the band’s fifth album range from the beautiful to the sublime to the completely downright ridiculous. It’s these factors that make this record a new peak for the band and should catapult them to deserved success.
11. Richard Hawley – Truelove’s Gutter (see original review here) – If you went to your label and said that you want to do an album that features your voice prominently against a minimal instrumental backing, you’d be sent away. Sheffield’s master crooner Richard Hawley doesn’t have this problem. Truelove’s Gutter is a stunning listen that requires your absolute attention all the way through and contains arrangements to make grown men cry. That is how Hawley reached a new artistic high in his career.
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Posted on December 15th, 2009 by Max
Filed under: 50 For 2009, Albums
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