Jamie's Top 12 Albums of 2009

So, as I have done around this time last year, I am here to post my top 12 albums of the year. They're not all actually from this year, I just discovered them at some point during the year. They're not in any particular order, because I don't know which I like best.

1. The Forgotten Arm, by Aimee Mann.
 

This is a cd that is made of pure brilliance. It's kind of a concept album about boxing, but mostly it's just a lot of really gorgeous music by one of my favorite artists ever since Andrew introduced me to her last year. She has a beautiful, unique, deep voice, and there's a lot of powerful piano and guitar as well. Her lyrics are thoughtful and intricate without sounding like she's showing off. It's perfect music for rainy days and/or walking. Favorite songs: Video and Little Bombs

2. Hold On Now, Youngster...by Los Campesinos!
 

Los Campesinos are kind of the opposite of Aimee Mann. Their M. O. is a lot of shrill British scenesters yelling absurdly complex lyrics in unison. Based on my usual taste in music, I should totally hate them, but their jangly guitars and awareness of how silly they are is completely charming. Also they're completely addictive. They have very few slow songs, but that's okay. Lots of messing around with percussion, including heavy bass and xylophone to add to the shrillness. Their famous song is You! Me! Dancing! which deserves some notice, since it's intensely fun, but their entire cd is highly enjoyable especially if you like bands with exclamation points in their names.. Good music for when you're cleaning or trying to get things done!
Favorite songs: You! Me! Dancing! and This is How You Spell Ha Ha Ha I've Destroyed The Hopes Of A Generation Of Faux Romantics.

3. The Mysterious Production of Eggs by Andrew Bird
 

I have a weird relationship with Mr. Andrew Bird and his music. I really love his solo work but his songs with his band Bowl Of Fire are completely unimpressive to me. Anyway, he actually put out a solo cd this year but I haven't downloaded it yet, so this cd it is! Andrew Bird sounds very relaxing but slightly cheerful. He is backed by strings and harmonicas and soft acoustic guitar, and sometimes he whistles! He's an amazing whistler. This cd features a lot of excellent instrumentation and a lot of really wonderful lyrics, and a random female vocalist harmonizing. Great music to cheer up to, and it's also nice to have on while drawing.
Favorite songs: Tables and Chairs and Fake Palindromes

 4. Vs. Children by Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
 

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone mostly does more electronica-ish music, but with this newest cd, he's toning down the synths and making me happy. A lot of these songs are about bank robbing and long drives, and his voice groans a little and sounds strained and a little bit meloncholy, even on the happy songs. I love how all of his songs have little stories hidden in them. The instruments range from full marching-band sections tacked onto the ends of his songs, to soft keyboards and guitar. There's still definately a techno influence but it's extremely understated and for the most part barely noticeable. This is good music for writing (if you can keep from being distracted by the lyrics), or for late nights.
Favorite songs: Optimist Vs. The Silent Alarm, and Man Of War

5. Dead Man's Bones by Dead Man's Bones (with the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children's Choir)
 

Anyone who read this livejournal or listened to me talk for more than 20 seconds in October knows this band by name at least. It's actually headed by Ryan Gosling, the actor (who I have never actually seen in a movie). I was really ready to hate this band and dismiss it as a vanity project, but it is really excellent if very gimmicky. It's a halloween cd, so all of the songs sound a little bit like the Monster Mash and are about ghosts, zombies, graves, and drowning. Ryan Gosling seems to be singing in a very large, echoey room, backed by a children's choir who spend most of their time shouting the refrains, although they sing a bit too. The actual lyrics are kind of weird indie love songs, in a lot of cases. One of the only problems I have with this cd is that the songs mostly end by trailing off awkwardly, as though Ryan Gosling forgot to write the last bars. Nevertheless a highly enjoyable cd, perfect for pretentious halloween parties or impressing your music snob friends with a band that's really bizarre but also fun to listen to!
Favorite songs: Lose Your Soul and My Body's A Zombie For You

6. Up From Below by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
 

Oh my god, how many good things can I say about this band at once? I literally can't listen to them while I'm doing anything else because I get distracted by how wonderful they are. There are like 20 people in the band, all being rad hippies and playing horns and strings and clapping their hands. The lead singers both have fantastic 70's voices, and the woman in particular sounds amazing. My main goal in life now is to see them live, because they give me such chills and sometimes make me so happy I start choking up. They're an amazing throwback to old folk and americana, they are the best band in the world. This is their first cd and I want them to make a million more. Good music for anything! They make me giddy!
Favorite songs: Home, 40 Day Dream, and Black Water.

7. Once Soundtrack, by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
 

Once is a charming movie about buskers, staring Glen Hansard, the lead singer of The Frames, and a nice pianist named Marketa Irglova who I don't believe has a band. She and Glen have now formed their own group called Swell Seasons, which I still need to listen to, because they're an amazing pair. Glen Hansard has a very sincere and aching voice, and he plays guitar and wrote all the songs, while Marketa Irglova plays piano and sings very sweetly. Their voices fit insanely well together, and their lyrics are very simple and heartfelt. Wonderful to listen to when you feel a little bit unhappy or introspective.
Favorite songs: Falling Slowly and When Your Mind's Made Up

8. Midnight Boom by The Kills
 

The Kills are very low-fi garage rock-ey or grunge...I don't know exactly what to call them, because they've also got a weird pop/funk thing going on too. They're great fun. The lead singer has a smokey and strong voice and she seems like she'd be extremely fun to hang out with. They sound a little bit like the White Stripes, which is probably why their lead singer is in a side band with Jack White called Horehound. I think what I enjoy about this cd is the range of emotion- it goes from dancey and silly and fun to a total grunge rock downer, and then back. Maybe they're kind of rockabilly too? I don't even know. Great music for when you want to feel like a rockstar.
Favorite songs: U.R.A. Fever, Last Day of Magic, and Goodnight Bad Morning.

9. Fantasies, by Metric
 
 
Metric has long been one of my favorite bands, ever since high school. This is their most recent cds and it is much in line with their previous ones, although I think it's way better than their last. The lead singer, Emily Haines, is backed by highly produced music, including a lot of bands and random electronic noise. Some of these songs could be dance anthems, some are rock anthems, and some are anthems of being alone, but they are all very big sounding. Great music to play while driving, although it is really hard not to speed to some of these songs.
Favorite Songs: Gimme Sympathy and Stadium Love

10. The Hours soundtrack by Philip Glass


Lately I've been getting really into Philip Glass, after finding out that he wrote a really gorgeous song featured on Battlestar Galactica. I have never seen The Hours, but I do love the score. It's a lot of very sparse, simple piano melodies, with very little other instrumentation. Every once in a while there's a violin but for the most part it's this great minimalist piano, which is so expressive and kind of yearning. It's starting to slowly get me into classical music, which I never expected to happen. Thanks, Minimalist Composer Philip Glass! This is a good cd to listen to while writing or reading a good book.
Favorite songs: The Poet Acts and Morning Passages

11. Far by Regina Spektor
 

Another intensely obvious choice if you know my musical taste at all. I have loved Regina Spektor since early high school, and this cd, which was released this year, is still really fantastic. It's a lot more produced than her previous stuff, and quite a bit more mainstream, but she's still Regina Spektor and I am bound by law to love her. The song that everyone has heard off this cd is the one about how god can be so hilarious, ha ha, but I think that song's actually the low point of a really lovely cd. As with her previous stuff, Regina's pretty voice and piano playing are showcased, but new on this cd is a full band with strings backing her. She still sings offbeat little tunes about boys masturbating and computers made of macaroni, though, and even manages to make silly dolphin noises on one of the songs. Good music for mornings, drinking tea or coffee, and good weather.
Favorite songs: The Genius Next Door, Dance Anthem of the 80's, and Folding Chair

12. I'm Not There soundtrack, by various artists.
 

I'm Not There was a movie I didn't really like (you can see my review of it here) but the soundtrack was freaking unbelievable. I really like Bob Dylan's music but sometimes his voice gets very annoying, which is why a 2-disk set of indie bands covering his songs is basically guaranteed to make me happy. This cd is actually how I found out about Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, because they're on it, as well as Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Hold Steady, Cat Power, Iron and Wine, Sufjan Stevens, and a thousand other people I like. The styles of the covers range from those that sound exactly like Bob (John Doe of X's version of I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine), to wildly different (Calexico and Iron and Wine's Dark Eyes). It's a great variety and there is guaranteed to be at least one song for everyone.
Favorite songs: Highway 61 Revisited, You Ain't Goin' Nowhere, and Tombstone Blues

And so that is it for my stupid little year-end album review thingy, hopefully this inspires people to look at some new music or post their own reviews or something...? Or at least I hope it's been an amusing diversion. It will be back next December or January!