Best Album Finds of 2009

I'm not going to do a "Top 10 albums of 2009" list because I listened to a LOT of really good albums throughout the year, but most of them only once or twice due to my crazy don't-have-time-to-listen-to-full-albums-enough-to-fall-in-love-with-them lifestyle. Since many of these albums COULD have made my top 10, and since I didn't even get to listen to all the albums I wanted to, I simply will not rank them. I'd hate to look back later this year, after I fall in love with an album that was made in 2009, and know that I didn't included it in my "Top 10 albums of 2009." So, I officially declare that I will author an annual "Best Album Finds of YEAR" list. Enjoy!

WARNING: Some of my favorite album finds of 2009 weren't made in 2009. I'm ok with that; just happy I finally found them.

Mugison's Mugiboogie is my favorite find of 2009 (even though it was released in 2008). This album is AMAZING. I discovered my love for this album on January 9, 2009, when I featured his song Mugiboogie. It was then that I first declared him a "versatile, boundary-less, unpredictable, master of sound." I encourage you to stop reading this post, click HERE, and listen to this album now (you can also download it for FREE!). This blog post will be here when you're done.


The Blow's Paper Television is chuck full of fun. Another album I highly recommend. I'm pretty late to the Paper Television party, since this album came out in 2006, but again - better late than never. You can listen to it HERE.


Although I discovered Of Montreal's Skeletal Lamping on December 27, 2008, it was still one of my absolute top albums of 2009, so I'm including it. F.A.B.ulous. Also one of my absolute favorite live shows of 2009. Listen to it HERE.


Ok, so I now realize that most of my favorite albums of 2009 were birthed earlier than 2009, so in order to get to some more current albums, I'm going to list a few more personal classics that I found-and-loved last year.

Passion Pit's Chunk of Change
Friendly Fires' Friendly Fires
Langhorne Slim's Langhorne Slim
Foals' Antidotes
Elbow's The Seldom Seen Kid
Lykke Li's Youth Novels

I love Animal Collective's Merriweather Pavilion from beginning to end. This made a lot of folks' top album lists, and for good reason. My goodness, if you haven't heard it yet, click HERE and get started!


Absolutely LOVE Golden Silver's True Romance. Kind of surprised I haven't heard more about them yet, but I'm ok assuming I'm an early adapter. :) Listen to them HERE and see if you agree.


Liam Finn and Eliza Jane's Champagne in Seashells is a love-at-first-listen album. I'm a big fan of Liam Finn's I'll Be Lightning, and this EP just confirmed that I'm a big Liam Finn fan in general. Check it out HERE.


Florence and the Machine's Lungs - Love her voice, her energy, her enthusiasm, and most importantly - her music! I'm a fan :) Listen to the album HERE.


I'd heard for-EVER about the supposed greatness of The Decemberists, and it wasn't until I listened to The Decemberists' Hazards of Love in that I understood why. AMAZING. Definitely a top find of 2009. I suggest you listen all the way through, which you can do HERE.


Other albums that maybe should be on here, but I haven't listened to enough to fully endorse include:

Muse's The Resistance
Girls' Album
Bat for Lashes' Two Suns

I can imagine your internal dialogue at this point might look something like this:

"Jiminy Cricket Tracy, you're obsessed with music and listen to it constantly,
how can this be it?! wtf"

It saddens me that my stupid life got in the way of actually listening, reviewing and becoming obsessed with a LOT more albums from 2009, but do not fear for 2010. I have aggressive goals to not only stay on top of all the fabulous 2010 releases, but to also catch up on all the great stuff I missed in 2009. Therefore, plan to see more old stuff on the list next year, and hopefully a shit more albums too.


Until then, thanks for reading and please feel encouraged to send me whatever album recommendations you have.

Upcoming Album Releases to be Excited About

So, the very fine blog Consequence of Sound posted a pretty thorough list of album releases for Q1 2010. I highlighted what I'm most excited for below, and you can check out the full list HERE.

1/12/10
Ringo Starr - Y Not [Hip-O Records]
Vampire Weekend - Contra [XL]


12/19/10
Editors - In This Light And On This Evening [Fader]
Eels - End Times [Vagrant]
Fredrik - Trilogi [Kora Records]
Spoon - Transference [Merge]


1/26/10
Animal Collective - Campfire Songs [Reissue] [Paw Tracks] Beach House - Teen Dream [Sub Pop]
David Bowie - A Reality Tour [ISO]
Four Tet - There Is Love In You [Domino Records]
Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring [Arts&Crafts]


2/9/10
AM - Future Sons & Daughters [Filter Recordings]
David Bowie - David Bowie: Deluxe Edition [Decca/Universal]
Galactic - Ya-Ka-May [Anti-]
Hot Chip - One Life Stand [Astralwerks]
Yeasayer - Odd Blood [Secretly Canadian]


2/23/10
April Smith & The Great Picture Show - Songs For a Sinking Ship
David Byrne & Fatboy Slim - Here Lives Love [Nonesuch Records]
Xiu Xiu - Dear God, I Hate Myself [Kill Rock Stars]


3/2/10
Rogue Wave - Permalight [Bushfire]
The Whigs - In The Dark [ATO Records]

3/9/10
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil’s Tattoo [Abstract Dragon]
Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks [FatCat Records]
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach [EMI]
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks [Matador Records]


3/16/10
The White Stripes - White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights [Third Man]


3/23/10
Goldfrapp - Head First [Mute Records]
She & Him - Volume Two [Merge]

Recommended Song and Lollapalooza Day 2 Recap

Sweden

8/8/09: Let it Fall, by Lykke Li

Listen to it HERE

I really like her whole album, Youth Novels. I very much encourage you to check it out. I'm serious. Youth NovelsYouth NovelsYouth Novels



Lollapalooza, Day 2

SO happy it didn't rain again! It was warm and beautiful and I LOVED it :) I decided to try the LP33.tv thing one more time, so I started my morning at the press tent. This time, I even roped Chris Balzer into it.

My first stop was Ezra Furman (Chicago, IL). And while the music was certainly good, I spent most of their show in the shade lathering on sunscreen and ordering a cheeseburger for breakfast. Delta Spirit (CA) was the first act on my list of must-sees. They were awesome! I'm officially a fan, and big thanks to @Labatt205 for the inspiration :) Here's a clip of their performance:

From Delta Spirit I went right over to Langhorne Slim. I was SUPER excited to see him, as I love his song "Rebel Side of Heaven." I captured a bit of that song on video, which you can see HERE.

From here Chris and I did our LP33.tv stints, both failing miserably at trying to say "LP33.tv." I headed over to the XRT Relax and Recharge area and Chris visited the ADIDAS shoe van-thing. Again, you'll see it when I run for office...

I headed to Gomez (Southport, UK) next, against my own advice, but on the insistence of others. Again, I don't remember what it was that turned me off to Gomez, but for some reason I regretfully tagged along. (I was OK not going to Chairlift because I have tickets to see them with Micachu & the Shapes soon at Schubas) Thankfully, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed them! I need to add them to my current "Need to Listen to" playlist so I can hear more, and maybe soon you'll see them featured on MPD!

Following Gomez we hiked to Arctic Monkeys (England, UK). I met up with some friends for this, so I didn't really concentrate on their show. I was hoping to pay a bit more attention to them, as I like several of their songs, but oh well.

I caught Santigold (Brooklyn, NY) from the TV on the Radio stage. She was fun! I was impressed, and had no idea she'd been touring for the last two years. Lolla's show was her first show back in the states after her tour overseas, and the last show of her U.S. and overseas tour - so a big night for her!

TV on the radio (Brooklyn, NY) was a HUGE surprise. Sure, I liked them. Sure, I featured them. But goodness people, these guys are FABulous! A whole new level of respect and admiration for TVOTR. I left their show a few songs into it though, to try and get a good spot at Animal Collective (Baltimore, MD) (one of my top 3 shows to see). I failed horribly at this mission. It's sad and embarrassing.

I stood for an hour at the wrong stage. Yep, completely wrong stage. In retrosect, all our questioning of "what's taking so long?" and "why are those people next to us dressed like Jesus and the Devil?" makes more sense once you realize we were up front at Tool's stage! UGH! Uuuuuuugh. I suck at life. :(

Anyway, I caught 1.4 songs of Animal Collective's set, and all 1.4 songs were AWESOME. I'm SO sad I missed it, and SO happy we realized we were at the wrong state when we did, or I would have been in for a ruuuuude awakening when the band came out.

After Animal Collective, I did watch 15 minutes of Tool (LA, CA) (from a distance far, far away from the stage) and then closed out the night with Yeah Yeah Yeahs (NYC) at the other end. Truth be told, I don't remember much of their set. I was ready for bed.

The quick replacement of the Beastie Boys with YYY got me to thinking, who would be on my dream Lolla line-up? Some of my line-up actually was there, including Of Montreal, Passion Pit, Animal Collective and Friendly Fires. Others I'd add would include The Faint, Semi Precious Weapons, Bowie, Paul McCartney, Calvin Harris, Arcade Fire, The Blow, Hard-fi, No Doubt, Muse, Hot Chip, Yeasayer, Ha Ha Tonka, Verona Red, Modest Mouse, Paul Simon, Radiohead, Moving Units, and The Black Keys. OOOOOOOrgasmic. :)


Here are some more random pictures from Lollapalooza Day 2:

Next up, Day 3! :)

Tracy :)

To hear artists from Lollapalooza Day 2 that I've featured on MY blog, click the links:

Delta Spirit
Los Campesinos!
Santigold
TV on the Radio
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Joe Pug
Chairlift

Cool Playlist

HERE's a playlist from Pitchfork that includes:

Bat for Lashes
Suckers
Woods
Nodzzz
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Phoenix
Japandroids
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Animal Collective
Bill Callahan
Real Estate
tUne-YaRdS
Dirty Projects w/David Byrne

My Current Pandora QuickMix

Here's who's included:

Coltrane Motion
Office
CSS
Kyle Andrews
Stereo MC's
Radiohead
Fujiya & Miyagi
Architecture in Helsinki
Passion Pit
Animal Collective
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
Of Montreal
Moving Units
The Blow
Calvin Harris
Justice
MGMT
The Faint
Junior Senior

Click here to listen!

Recommended Song of the Day

2/5/09: Summertime Clothes, by Animal Collective

Where to begin... I saw Animal Collective at Pitchfork last summer and was awestruck. Completely surprised by the wonderfulness they seeped into my ears. I'm bummed I missed them in Chicago last month at the Metro. :(

I heard so many good things about their new album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, and all of it is true. Big fan of the album, but like many of my favorite artists who I've yet to bring to the blog, I couldn't decide which song to post! Well, life kept happening and they slipped my mind, until just now on the way home. Props to XRT for bringing them back to the forefront of my attention.

Not recognizing that the song on the radio was Animal Collective's Summertime Clothes, I anxiously started googling the lyrics as I heard them on my phone. I contemplated rolling down the window and asking passerbys if they knew. Alas, XRT told me, and I nearly knocked myself unconscious with the "duh" slap of the forehead.

Enjoy!

Tracy :)

Baltimore, MD