As promised, this week I’m presenting my favorite albums and songs of 2009. And as in years past, no ranking, just favorites. As always it’s very tough to narrow it down, because as I started to look back, there was some really great music that came out this year.
BLK JKS, After Robots
Hailing from South Africa, this is likely my favorite new band of the year. “After Robots” is filled with amazing rhythms, shimmering, distorted guitars, and soaring vocals. It is kind of hard to describe, but so easy to love. I was listening again this afternoon. So if I had to pick today, this might be my favorite record of the year.
Hubcap, Silencer
Of all the really good bands in the Ithaca music scene, one really stands out for me as my favorite—Hubcap. To me it’s the best of the local bands. Every time I listen to the band, I think to myself, “Why aren’t these guys huge?” And their brand new album, “Silencer,” has only solidified this belief in my mind. This was my favorite local (Ithaca, NY) release of the year.
Linda Oh, Entry
Linda Oh is a young bass player living in New York City. And this year she released her debut recording. And she followed the cordless trio format, utilizing trumpet, bass, and drums. From the first notes of “Entry” I noticed she has a huge sound on the bass and that a major new voice in the jazz world was her first, of hopefully many, statements.
The Bad Plus, For All I Care
Prior to this year’s release, The Bad Plus had been an instrumental trio. “For All I Care,” is a departure from this tradition. For this recording the band added Wendy Lewis. Or in the bands lingo, “The Bad Plus Joined by Wendy Lewis.” Wendy Lewis is a well-known fixture on the Minneapolis music scene and, by design, not a jazz vocalist. The result is stunning. The addition of vocals to this band, has taken its music to another level. The combination of the way The Bad Plus interprets tunes added, now, with the singer’s beautiful vocals creates a sound that reminds me some contemporary classical composers.
Mike Doughty, Sad Man Happy Man
Mike Doughty’s new recording perfectly melds the acoustic approach he has been following in recent years with his much beloved early Soul Coughing work and has therefore put forth the strongest album of his career. In the end, the one element of major importance in the greatness of “Sad Man Happy Man,” is that Mike Doughty is making powerful music on his own terms. Music that is lovely, funky, and meaningful. And with every listen this depth is becoming more and more apparent.
Leonard Cohen, Live In London
Leonard Cohen is a master lyricist. He also had not toured in about 15 years. So his 2008 tour was an incredible opportunity for fans to see him. Or for most of us, not see him. But listening to him sing lines such as “There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in” sends chills up my spine every time I hear it. And if you are new to his music, this is the ideal introduction.
Nirvana, Live At Reading
There was a time in the 1990s when there was no bigger band than Nirvana. Period. This live recording from 1992 captures the band in its musical and creative high point. And being able to hear the tunes recorded live really shows the greatness of the band was not overrated.
Neko Case, Middle Cyclone
In 2006, Neko Case released the album that has defined her career so far—“Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.” This album was critically acclaimed (it landed on almost every year end best of list), was adored by her current fans, and turned a whole lot more people onto her music. In 2009, however, Ms. Case had the very difficult task of releasing a follow-up album. This was no easy task. The result of this work is “Middle Cyclone.” And lucky for all of us, she was up to the task and delivered another great record.
Samantha Crain, Songs In The Night
One of the bands I’ve been really excited with over the past couple of years is Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers. In 2008, the band released a very, very good EP, “The River.” This got the buzz going for them and they made a lot of best of year end lists. This April they released “Songs In The Night.” This truly excellent album got a huge amount of play on my iPod this year.
Works Progress Administration, Works Progress Administration
This indie super group is made up of former members of Toad The Wet Sprocket and Nickel Creek. They released a really great record of rocked out blue grass. Having released this release completely without a label or distribution, this gets my award for independent release of the year.
Brandi Carlile, Give Up The Ghost
I’ve loved every Brandi Carlile record and “Give Up The Ghost” is no exception. She’s an extraordinary talent. Deep. lovely tunes. “That Year,” from this album, might be the most lovely, and heartbreaking, of 2009.
Wilco, Wilco
What can I say, I totally dig Wilco. So any new album is good news to me. They continue to record great albums full of really compelling tunes. THis album produced one of my favorite songs of the year with the Feist duet, “You and I.”
My website of the year award goes to National Public Radio’s Music site. If you haven’t explored www.npr.org/music, you really must. The site has a vast archive of interviews and concerts. Many of the shows can be downloaded. This site has greatly expanded the web for the music lover.
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