Top10 albums of 2009

This list is the definitive, objective 2009 list and anyone who disagrees has been shot, what with the revolution happening ‘n all. 

In keeping with previous years self-imposed rules, live albums were out (bye bye Len C, Tom W, Iron M) as were compilations (bye bye the superb Pineapple Thief 3000 days) and reissues (byebye King Crimson remasters, Red in particular was a revelation, and Elbow Asleep at the Wheel deluxe edition).

Generally 2009 saw a number of excellent releases and limiting the list to 10 (well ok, 11 but thats chauvinism coming through) was tricky, hence the bonus ones in the next post. 

I’ve tried to roughly order them, but really, aside from the top3 the rest are all just great albums. 

10= Family Cactus “Gone Howling” / Lawrence Arabia “Chant Darling”

The first of the NZ releases, I tried separating the two of them, but it proved too difficult so, in keeping with last years cop-out, let them both in. FC supported Okkervil River when I saw them in Wellington, and blew me away. Brilliant pairing of two stunning bands. Both quite similar, although FC are more guitar-americana than OR. There are similarities to their city-mates, Phoenix Foundation, and that can’t be a bad thing.

I really don’t know how to describe LA, it’s a beautiful, whimsical, quirky and sometimes upbeat album. It is very typical of NZ music, but for most of you that won’t help, so think Neil Finn addictive melodies but more quirky music to them (I’m not a big fan of the Finn’s so don’t like this description). The influences LA has had recently, including OR come through with, I felt, more time allowed for the songs to grow - you do need to listen to it to get hooked, but it is delightful reveal when it happens.

LA review: http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/43nv

LA is currently touring the UK, definitely recommend seeing him.

9: The Decemberists - Hazards of Love I only heard this late in the year as reviews had been pretty damning. Well a brit-folk-prog-americana album shouldn’t work. As a genre, it’s one I’d avoid like the plague. Annoyingly this album has made it work. Damn them. Sure there’s Tull in there, there’s Beach Boys, there’s Enid, but over-all it’s so different, so catchy, so gorgeous, it transcends the influences (like how Muse used to).

8: Dredg - The pariah the parrot the delusion A band who have featured in my top10 previously, where I suspect I described them as pop/rock. They’ve gone more prog-pop on this one, and it’s a winner. It’s certainly not as accessible as their previous album, Catch Without Arms, but the hooks are there and I like it. Very guitar driven, but the main focus of the band is definitely the lyrics. Intelligent without being pretentious, and interesting without dominating - so not really typical prog ! Good comparison would be The Weakerthans. 

7: Porcupine Tree - The Incident. The previous album caused division within the fans for being too metal or lyrically too immature, personally I liked it. This one is more a combination of recent material, as such there appears to be a bit of oohhh that’s from album XX. But it works, everyso often it’s good to consolidate, and PT have done very well with this. It is complex, multi-layered album, both sonically and lyrically, as you’d expect from PT. But it also has some killer hooks. And some tracks will not get out of your head, Drawing the Line in particular is stunning in surround sound. Based around a song-cycle (oh dear god, how prog is that) concerning a road accident (or incident) the album seems to explore more how people react to suffering. Perhaps the next album could explore similar themes but focus on bankers, should be quite upbeat...

6: Steve Hackett - Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth. I’d never listened to much Hackett outside of Genesis, so when Neil suggested we catch him at a festival, it seemed churlish to say no. And he blew us away. The new tracks he played were stunners and caused me to pick up some (well ok quite a few) albums from his website. The new album has been, so far, my favourite. It’s diverse, it’s interesting, and it’s a great combination of rock, prog, and a bunch of other influences. It seems more accessible than other albums of his, which I suspect is the rock influences coming through. The songs, although hitting the 5+ minute mark, don’t seem too long (common criticism of prog), suggesting SH knows how to let them breath without stretching them too far.

5: Mark Olson and Gary Louris - Ready for the flood. The legendary Jayhawks reunite for a this-is-not-a-jayhawks album. It’s rough and loose, and it works. Their voices work beautifully - the harmonies on this album are quite stunning. There is a danger in this type of music that it becomes too dull, too samey, but the variety and relaxed approach to delivery doesn’t allow this to happen - conjuring up dust-bowls with interesting dusty characters,  very much in the Dylan mode. 

4: The Enid - Arise and Shine Vol 1. Now, I’m not a huge fan of the Enid, but something about this album has hooked me bad. Symphonic-electronica? Yeah it shouldn’t work, but somehow it does. As far as I can tell, it’s a website only purchase. But you do support the band directly and if the plaintive emails coming out of Enid land are anything to go by, they need it. So the album, well it’s symphonic, almost bombastically so in places, but there’s a very sympathetic electronica sitting underneath a lot of it. It’s lush, it sweeps you up, and it makes you lose yourself in the album, I can’t ask for more than that.

3: IQ - Frequency. I loved Seventh House but was largely bored by Dark Matter, which I felt lacked emotion and punch. No such complaints with Frequency, loved it from first listen. It’s more direct, it’s got hooks, and it’s got variety. Love it. Title track in particular is classic IQ without out-staying its welcome.

2: Rhian Sheehan - Standing in Silence. No vocals, ambient, film-ic, electronica, symphonic. This is the most complete of Rhian’s recordings. I’ve had the feeling that his previous albums have suffered from a lack of funds for production. Thankfully this wasn’t the case on this album. A film made to this music would have to include vast open spaces, for that’s how this album sounds. There’s a huge spacial quality to the album that just envelops the listener, imagine staring out on an Antarctic landscape, that’s this album. But just as the vastness threatens to overwhelm, small details are introduced. This should have been my #1 album. More kiwi music too!!

1: Dream Theater - Black Clouds and Silver Linings No I don’t know how this got to #1 either, but looking at the albums released in 2009 I kept coming back to this album. It’s everything you want from a DT album, rock, metal, prog, solos, but none sounds too over the top (certainly an achievement when Portnoy is involved). It’s got hooks and tunes in obscene levels, James sounds like he’s really having fun singing, and it works as a whole. Buy the 3 disc version, well it’s prog, of course there’s a 3CD version, the covers album includes a blinding version of tracks from my favourite Queen album, Queen II. Also quite partial to their cover of Crimson’s Larks Tongues in Aspic. 

Next up, also rans and WTF where they thinking...