Read & Listen

2009 in songs: those listened to more than others or loved deeper.

1. The Radio Dept. - David
2. The Crêpes – What Else?
3. Animal Collective - My Girls
4. Pallers - Humdrum
5. Metric - Sick Muse
6. Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
7. The XX - Crystallised
8. Camera Obscura - French Navy
9. Burial & Four Tet - Moth
10. JJ - My Hopes and Dreams

Honorable mention:

Masha Qrella - Speak Low
Royksopp - The Girl and the Robot
Four Tet - Love Cry
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – 103
Sally Shapiro - Love In July

The top 10 albums of 2009 (subjectively) look like this:

1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. Metric - Fantasies
3. Telefon Tel Aviv - Immolate Yourself
4. Royksopp - Junior
5. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
6. Burial & Four Tet - Moth/Wolf Cub (not really an album, but exceptional)
7. Beak> - Beak>
8. The XX - The XX
9. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
10. Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra - Take Off!

It was a bit easier to decide on my favorite tracks of the year. There were more distinct songs that I couldn’t stop listening to. So, I stuck to top 10, and excluded general favorites like Hercules & Love Affair “Blind” or Hot Chip “Ready For The Floor”. I didn’t really listen to them on repeat - if not consider the fact that “Ready For The Floor” has been my boyfriend’s alarm song…

Here it goes:

1. Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Possess Your Heart
2. Jersey – Shoeshine
3. Tricky – Bacative
4. Pram - Salva (Throwing Toys Into The Pram) (Modified Toy Orchestra version)
5. Portishead – Machine Gun
6. Populous with Short Stories – Royale Gold
7. Pallers – Humdrum
8. M83 – Graveyard Girl
9. The National Bank – Home
10. Morgan Geist – Detroit

P.S. Some notes:

“I will Possess Your Heart” is the most talented song of the year, really great, with this long intro especially. I didn’t include Morgan Geist’s “Most of All”, because the song was available in 2007, before the album. The National Bank’s “Home” is a bit cheesy, but I loved it, so it’s here. And Animal Collective’s “Brothersport” is not included, as it was leaked. The rest pretty much speaks for itself.

Assigning places to music is very hard and relative. I more or less managed with 1-20, though after the top 5, it was hard to decide what I liked better. And this all is very, very subjective. So, don’t judge - or do, it’s all up to you. I can only say that my favorite albums of the year were the great comebacks, Portishead, which was acknowledged by everyone, and underrated Tricky. Don’t know, but I found it a great album, and Tricky is still one of the best poets alive. And Jersey - these guys brought hours and hours of my listening to their new album. Concerned about being biased, I didn’t give them 1st place, but they come as #3 not because I happen to know them personally, but just because the album is so good! Anyway, here it goes - top 20 and other favorites whose places I wasn’t able to figure out.

1. Portishead – Third
2. Tricky – Knowle West Boy
3. Jersey – Itinerary
4. High Places – High Places
5. Flying Lotus – Los Angeles
6. The Sea and Cake – Car Alarm
7. The Cure – 4:13 Dream
8. M83 – Saturdays=Youth
9. Max Richter – 24 Postcards in Full Colour
10. Fujiya & Miyagi – Lightbulbs
11. Air France - No Way Down EP
12. Mogran Geist – Double Night Time
13. The Notwist – The Devil, You + Me
14. She & Him – Volume One
15. Koushik – Out My Window
16. Moscow Olympics – Cut The World
17. Psapp – The Camel’s Back
18. Animal Collective – Water Curses EP
19. Four Tet - Ringer (no review, but the EP is great)
20. Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs

Special Thanks:

Pram - Prisoner Of The Seven Pines EP
Kuryakin – Still Here EP
Max Tundra – Parallax Error Beheads You
Amadou & Mariam – Welcome To Mali
Hercules and Love Affair – Hercules and Love Affair
Gang Gang Dance – Saint Dymphna
Annie – Don’t Stop (let’s consider it 2008)
Johann Johannsson – Fordlandia
Hauschka – Ferndorf
Simon Bookish – Everything/Everything
Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista
Rubies – Explode From The Center
Sigur Ros - ed sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust
Styrofoam – A Thousand Words
TV on the Radio – Dear Science
Ulrich Schnauss – Stars EP

The list of top tracks of 2008 is coming next.