This year really didn’t end up being that “greatest of the decade” as January-March may have suggested. With that said, our favorite tracks list became very album-heavy as it evolved throughout the year. With seven tracks from Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear in the top 20, you kinda get the point. Here is our very biased list of favorite tracks from 2009:
2009 started off as one of the strongest years for music in the decade but then slipped into a summer that left us scratching our heads and yearning for more. An impressive set of Fall releases surprised their way onto our Favorites List and cemented 2009 as a year that will impress music lovers in retrospect. These are our favorite albums from the past year:
1. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
2. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
3. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
4. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
5. Built to Spill – There Is No Enemy
6. Atlas Sound – Logos
7. Morrissey – Years of Refusal
8. Dredg – The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion
9. White Lies – To Lose Your Life
10. Moderat – Moderat
11. The Mars Volta – Octahedron
12. MC Rut – Middle Class Rut
13. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
14. Great Northern – Remind Me Where The Light Is
15. HEALTH – Get Color
16. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
17. The Flaming Lips – Embyronic
18. Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
19. Isis – Wavering Radiant
20. Royksopp – Junior
Most Disappointing Albums:
This is an attempt at the impossible. Here are our 100 favorite songs of the past decade (featuring multiple tracks from Animal Collective, The Knife, Radiohead, and Elliott Smith). Our top two choices are more like 1a and 1b. Be patient, as the page needs to load the embedded songs.
1. Panda Bear – “Bros” (2007)
2. The Knife – “We Share Our Mother’s Health” (2006)
3. Animal Collective – “For Reverend Green” (2007)
4. Grizzly Bear – “While You Wait For The Others” (2009)
5. The Knife – “Heartbeats” (2003)
6. Grizzly Bear – “The Knife” (2005)
7. LCD Soundsystem – “Someone Great” (2007)
8. TV on the Radio – “Staring at the Sun” (2003)
9. Crystal Castles – “Crimewave” (2008)
10. Beirut – “Ciloqut” (2007)
11. Thom Yorke – “Harrowdown Hill
12. Animal Collective – “Derek” (2007)
13. Nine Inch Nails – “Me, I’m Not” (2007)
14. Beck – “Lonesome Tears” (2002)
15. At The Drive-in – “One Armed Scissor” (2004)
16. Animal Collective – “Grass” (2005)
17. Deerhunter – “Nothing Ever Happened” (2008)
18. Atlas Sound – “Recent Bedroom” (2008)
19. Panda Bear – “Comfy in Nautica” (2007)
20. System of a Down – “Chop Suey” (2001)
21. Animal Collective – “Peacebone” (2007)
22. Battles – “Atlas” (2007)
23. Error – “Jack the Ripper” (2004)
24. Enon – “Pleasure and the Privilege”
25. Elliott Smith – “Son of Sam” (2000)
26. Animal Collective – “Did You See the Words” (2005)
27. The Knife – “Marble House” (2006)
28. LCD Soundsystem – “All My Friends” (2007)
29. Thom Yorke – “Analyse” (2006)
30. The Flaming Lips – “Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell” (2002)
31. Girl Talk – “Smash Your Head” (2006)
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32. A Perfect Circle – “Judith” (2000)
33. Radiohead – “Idioteque” (2000)
34. Tapes N’ Tapes – “Manitoba” (2006)
35. TV On The Radio – “I Was A Lover” (2006)
36. Radiohead – “Reckoner” (2007)
37. Fever Ray – “Coconut” (2009)
38. Animal Collective – “My Girls” (2009)
39. Built to Spill – “Things Fall Apart” (2009)
40. Wilco – “I’m Trying to Break Your Heart” (2002)
41. Modest Mouse – “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” (2000)
42. Animal Collective – “Leaf House” (2004)
43. Modeselektor – “Happy Birthday” (2007)
44. Arcade Fire – “Wake Up” (2004)
45. Autolux – “Blanket” (2004)
46. MGMT – “Time to Pretend” (2007)
47. Built to Spill – “Conventional Wisdom” (2006)
48. Wilco – “Side With the Seeds” (2007)
49. Elliott Smith – “Happiness/The Gondola Man” (2000)
50. Avey Tare – “I’m Your Eagle Kisser” (2007)
51. Department of Eagles – “Waves of Rye” (2008)
52. Animal Collective – “Summertime Clothes” (2009)
53. Radiohead – “2+2 = 5″ (2003)
54. Dredg – “Sang Real” (2005)
55. While Lies – “Farewell to the Fairground” (2009)
56. Grizzly Bear – “Ready, Able” (2009)
57. Matisyahu – “King Without a Crown” (2005)
58. Modest Mouse – “Paper Thin Walls” (2000)
59. Dillinger Escape Plan – “When Good Dogs Do Bad Things” (2002)
60. Elliott Smith – “Twilight” (2004)
61. Deerhunter – “Flourescent Grey” (2007)
62. Holy Fuck – “Lovely Allen” (2007)
63. LCD Soundsystem – “Never As Tired As When I’m Waking Up” (2006)
64. The Notwist – “Boneless (Panda Bear Remix)” (2008)
65. Liars – “Nothing Is Ever Lost or Can Be Lost My Science Friend” (2004)
66. The Mars Volta – “Inertiatic E.S.P.” (2003)
67. The Notwist – “Solitaire” (2002)
68. Of Montreal – “The Past is a Grotesque Animal” (2007)
69. Queens of the Stone Age – “Tangled Up in Plaid” (2005)
70. Radiohead – “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” (2007)
71. Saul Williams – “Raised To Be Lowered” (2007)
72. Autolux – “Great Days for the Passenger Element” (2004)
73. Sigur Ros – “Untitled 8″ (2002)
74. Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs – “Maps” (2003)
75. Portishead – “Threads” (2008)
76. Sufjan Stevens – “Chicago” (2005)
77. Ugly Casanova – “Things I Don’t Remember” (2002)
78. Animal Collective – “Brothersport” (2009)
79. Radiohead – “Pyramid Song” (2001)
80. Nine Inch Nails – “Only” (2005)
81. El-P – “Flyentology” (2007)
82. Queens of the Stone Age – “No One Knows” (2002)
83. Ghostface Killah – “Shakey Dog” (2006)
84. Modest Mouse – “Missed the Boat” (2007)
85. UNKLE – “Persons and Machinery” (2007)
86. Amon Tobin – “Verbal” (2002)
87. The White Stripes – “Denial Twist” (2005)
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88. Tomahawk – “Captain Midnight” (2003)
89. Modest Mouse – “Bukowski” (2004)
90. Sigur Ros – “Hoppipolia” (2005)
92. Fuck Buttons – “Sweet Love For Planet Earth” (2008)
93. Bon Iver – “Skinny Love” (2008)
94. Built to Spill – “In Your Mind” (2001)
95. The White Stripes – “Icky Thump” (2007)
96. Does It Offend You, Yeah? – “We Are Rockstars” (2008)
97. Dub Trio – “Not Alone” (2006)
98. Modest Mouse – “The World At Large”
99. The Walkmen – “In the New Year” (2008)
100. Nine Inch Nails – “The Great Destroyer (Modwheelmood Remix)” (2007)
Compiling a list of your favorite albums for an entire decade is quite the challenge, especially when that decade was as strong as the 2000s were. Six of our favorites come from two bands (Animal Collective and Radiohead), and two were from this past year (Veckatimest and Merriweather Post Pavilion). This list is by no means a definitive statement of the best music from last decade. Instead, these are our favorite albums that were on heavy rotation in our iPods and scrobbled endlessly on Last.FM.
1. Strawberry Jam (2007) – Animal Collective
2. Silent Shout (2006) – The Knife
3. The Moon and Antarctica (2000) - Modest Mouse
4. Kid A (2000) – Radiohead
5. Figure 8 (2000) – Elliott Smith
6. Veckatimest (2009) – Grizzly Bear
7. De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003) – The Mars Volta
8. Future Perfect (2004) – Autolux
9. The Eraser (2006) – Thom Yorke
10. Person Pitch (2007) – Panda Bear
11. Return to Cookie Mountain (2006) – TV on the Radio
12. Sea Change (2002) – Beck
13. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002) – Wilco
14. High Society (2002) – Enon
15. The Loon (2006) – Tapes N’ Tapes
16. Microcastle (2008) – Deerhunter
17. Feels (2005) – Animal Collective
18. Sound of Silver (2007) – LCD Soundsystem
19. In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
20. Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009) – Animal Collective
It’s that time of year again, when music blog debates get nasty and irrational. We wouldn’t dare declare a “best of” list. These are simply our favorites. We’ll start with releases that didn’t make full album status but were too good to be ignored. These are our favorite EPs of the decade:
1. Flourescent Grey – Deerhunter (2007)
Deerhunter have yet to misstep in their short but brilliant career. Flourescent Grey represents the band at their best.
2. Error – Error (2004)
A real supergroup featuring NIN programmer Atticus Ross, Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz, and Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato. It’s hard to believe that this is their only release. “Jack the Ripper” is mind-numbing perfection.
3. Irony is a Dead Scene – Dillinger Escape Plan (2002)
Dillinger Escape Plan is a decent band known for their energetic live sets. Throw in Mike Patton as guest vocalist for an entire EP, and DEP reach their pinnacle. Patton shows his entire vocal palette on Irony by softly crooning one minute and conjuring screamo and Fantomas-style yelping the next. “When Good Dogs Do Bad Things” might be the best song Patton has ever been associated with.
4. Water Curses – Animal Collective (2008)
An underrated EP from Animal Collective that held us over between the releases of 2007′s Strawberry Jam and 2009′s Merriweather Post Pavilion. “Street Flash” is a highlight.
5. Tremulant – The Mars Volta (2002)
The first introduction to The Mars Volta after the 2001 split of At The Drive-in. Our ears would never be the same.
Since their jaw-dropping Tremulant EP and De-Loused in the Comatorium masterworks, The Mars Volta have seen a steady decline in the quality of their album releases. Amputechture and Bedlam in Goliath were big disappointments for me. The band has always had a proflific work ethic (with five albums in six years), but it seemed that the band was content with releasing jam sessions for albums. Lead guitarist Omar Rodriguz-Lopez considers their latest release an acoustic album. In Octahedron, The Mars Volta have revisited the formula that brought them early success and released their best album since 2005′s Frances the Mute.
Album opener, “Since You’ve Been Wrong” is one of the best tracks of 2009 and follows in the tradition of “Televators” and “The Widow” as accessible, radio-friendly singles. Another highlight is the 8-minute epic “With Twilight As My Guide,” which is one of the best tracks the band has conceived to date. Lead singer Cedric Bixler Zavala’s stunning vocals and Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s mix of acoustic guitars and effects creates an eerie atmosphere that works in every way. “Copernicus” contains some electronic elements that offers a welcomed progressive sound.
Zavala had previous mentioned that Octahedron would be The Mars Volta’s pop record, “The band wanted to make the opposite of all the records we’ve done. All along we’ve threatened people that we’d make a pop record, and now we have.” The band’s declaration of Octahedron as an acoustic album isn’t exactly accurate. European single “Cotopaxi” and the excellent “Desperate Graves” are as heavy as anything the band has released before. Rodriguz-Lopez said in early 2009 that the next two records were already recorded and awaiting release dates. Octahedron was one of those albums, and another is yet to come. While we wait for official news of an At The Drive-In reunion, it’s good to know that The Mars Volta have returned to form.
Mark’s
Peter’s
Dredg explores some new ground with old formulas on their impressive new release, The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion. Their former record and my personal favorite, Catch Without Arms, disappointed some hardcore fans who were expecting another Leifmotif or El Cielo. The album took a complete 180 from previous work and explored more accessible and pop-driven areas of Dredg’s creative palette. This time around, the format is similar to El Cielo, as the record includes an epic 18-tracks. Just as El Cielo segued with instrumental interludes labeled as “Movements,” Dredg calls these interludes (there are vocals) “Stamps of Origin” this time. The segues on El Cielo were often very strong additions to that record and served well as the glue tying the concept and cohesiveness of the album as a digestible whole. That’s not the case as much with The Pariah. The band’s sound is not much different than the previous effort, Catch Without Arms. Although this record is not as instantly impressive as that release, there is much here to like.
Dredg has left major lable Interscope and releases their new album on indie outfit Ohlone Recordings. The album cover takes the form of a letter, including concept-related postage. Dredg has always been a bit “out there” with the themes of their records. El Cielo was inspired and based entirely on the painting “Sleep Paralysis” by Salvador Dali. The effort resulted in 16-tracks that used sleep paralysis as the central theme. This time around the inspiration is a Salmon Rushdie essay, entitled A Letter to the Sixth Billionth Citizen. The album was dedicated to Deftone’s bassist Chi Cheng, who was in a serious accident during the time Dredg was recording. As of today, Cheng is still in a coma.
The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion starts off strong with the melodic and guitar-driven track “Pariah.” The song begins with the sound of children singing a harmony over a repeating piano rhythm but quickly turns to heavy guitar riffs and off-beat drumming. The song finally progresses to Dredg’s signature anthemic vocal chorus. One of the album’s two instrumentals follows with “Drunk-Slide”. However, the second instrumental, “Long Days and Vague Clues” is an epic track and album highlight, deserving of Grammy consideration for best instrumental at year’s end. A track that Dredg has been playing for sometime now live, “Ireland,” follows. The ballad-like track brings Dredg back to their El Cielo era with majestic guitars and a sweeping chorus.
Additional album highlights include “The Information,” Dredg’s most accessible song to date. “Saviour,” the album’s first single exhibits a louder, guitar-heavy sound more reminiscent of Dredg’s earlier recordings. “I Don’t Know” is another pop-friendly track that features spiritual overtones and revisits Dredg’s El Cielo sound. “Mourning This Morning” is funk-inspired guilty pleasure similar to “Zebraskin” off of Catch Without Arms. The album’s most unique and impressive track takes the form of “Quotes.” The song clocks in at at epic six minutes and takes more musical tangents than a Girl Talk track. The lyrics of lead singer Gavin Hayes are a standout here:
Our sobriety will diminish
Discriminate we fade slow, fade slow
These drugs will expand us
United we will grow
The overall critical response to The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion has been mostly positive and deservedly so. One of the few problems with The Pariah is its length. El Cielo was a excellent but tedious listen, as is this album. The Stamp of Origin tracks do not tie everything together as neatly as they did with the former and seem more like intermissions than interludes. Although the album does contain some filler, the majority of the record does support the fact that Dredg is still an important and relevant band. The band has scored a co-headlining tour with Rx Bandits and supporting act Zech Marchis (featuring Marcel Lopez-Rodriguez from The Mars Volta). Dredg has released a video for their latest single, The Information. You can watch it below:
http://www.dredg.com
http://myspace.com/dredg
Mark’s:
Pete’s:
