My Favorite Records of 2009

So I have definitely not updated this in awhile, even though I promised I would be updating this reguarly. Toss that up to the massive time-suck that is school, I suppose.

Regardless, I'll get myself back into things with this list of ten of my favorite albums from 2009 (that I've heard).




1. Japandroids - Post Nothing






I absolutely love this record and there's not a single wasted second on it. It's a complete celebration of youth and it defines what it is to be "young" better than any other record I've ever heard. Their sound is sloppy but their song writing is tight. The lyrics rarely (if at all) deviate from talking about drinking or women, but they do it with an emotional complexity that perfectly defines the endless optimism and temporary defeatism of youth (best displayed on the song "I Quit Girls"). From a personal standpoint, this album hit me at the perfect time of my life and I can't think of any other record that would define my year better than this one.




2. Flaming Lips - Embryonic






I'll admit that I'm listing this one from a slightly biased perspective. The Flaming Lips are my favorite band of all time, and I've probably listened to their most obscure (and worse written) tracks more times than I've listened to the major tracks of my other favorite bands. With that said, since its release, my feelings have been all over the place with Embryonic. The first time I heard it, I loved it-but on the second listen, I hated it. On the third round, I loved it again but on the fourth, I felt completely indifferent. This cycle of emotions continued and it was completely underwhelming and overwhelming at the same time. No other album has challenged me more this year or held more of a long-lasting impression than this one has, and that's what good art should do. Maybe this is because they're my favorite band and I hold them to a much higher standard than I do for other artists, but I consider this record a huge accomplishment and a great step forward from the radio-friendly fare of their last album. (I wrote a full review here).




3. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion





Undoubtedly the most hyped album of the year, Merriweather Post Pavilion found the perfect median for Animal Collective's pop sensibilities and sonic experimentation. Their extremely self-indulgent live show and the uninspiring late-year EP release, Fall Be Kind, have warped my good feelings for this band somewhat but that doesn't change the fact that Merriweather Post Pavilion was an album I played non-stop for five months after its release. It's a unique experience, and that's a very rare thing in music these days.




4. Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms






AV Club describes Neon Indian as "Blade Runner meets Sonic the Hedgehog" and there's probably no better description than that. Alan Paloma, who helms the band, drenches great pop songs in distorted vintage electro. For a band that just came to rise in 2009 because of hip bloggers spreadin' the word (like me, ya'll!), it is my hope that Neon Indian can outlive the limited shelf life "blog bands" have and keep growing as an artist.




5. Sparklehorse/Dangermouse - Dark Night of the Soul





While it never actually was released this year due to a undisclosed dispute between the band and the label (which may or may not be because EMI is finally getting back at Dangermouse for all those unused Beatles samples on the Grey Album several years back), a Sparklehorse/Dangermouse combo is a very potent force. The separate styles of Sparklehorse and Dangermouse compliment each other very well here, and the multiple contributions of other artists never threatens to destabilize the cohesion of the album. The Beatles remasters this year made me realize how much The Beatles have formed my musical tastes and how I'm constantly chasing some derivative of their psychedelic pop sound. This album is direct evidence of this.

**At this point, a lot of what I say will be redundant to what I've said already so the next five will be pretty brief**



6. Cotton Jones - Paranoid Coccoon






Bringing up the great Dangermouse again, it's a wonder that he didn't produce this album. Everything about his style of soulful folk hip-hop is very prevalent on this record. Even though he didn't, though, Paranoid Coccoon feels like a cousin album to the Dangermouse-produced Black Keys' album, 2008's Attack & Release, but much more dreamy and mellow.



7. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue






Very diverse record, from 70's funk breakdowns to Boards of Canada-inspired beats.



8. Passion Pit - Manners






I could very well hate these guys within the next year, but so far they've demonstrated themselves to be much better songwriters and have much more staying power than other "flavor of the month" bands like Vampire Weekend or Black Kids.


9. Flight of the Concords - I Told You I Was Freaky






While the songs aren't as good as their first album, "Too Many Dicks (On The Dance Floor)," "Sugalumps," "Fashion is Danger," and "Hurt Feelings" is enough to hold the album down...ok, so maybe I shouldn't list this album here and should list those songs on my favorite tracks of 2009 instead, but whatever.


10. Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs







The album gets dragged down too much at the end by its longer, slower tracks but everything else before that is just as good as any Yo La Tengo album...which is still 90% better than what is put out there today anyway.

Hip Hop Roundup Vol. 1

There's a lot of reasons rap, for the large part, is absolute shit right now. The blatant contradictions, the focus on largely superficial values, and the well-known cliches and stereotypes that still permeate and discredit the genre all contribute to how low rap has sunk. Even well-established rappers like Jay-Z (on this year's "Death of Autotune" track) and Nas (on his 2007 album, "Hip Hop is Dead") don't offer much relief or creative guidance in their self-awareness. With hip hop coming closer and closer to the absolute pinnacle of self-parody, the most interesting things coming out in rap these days are antithetical to the gangster heavy God complexes that have eaten away a once formidable genre.

D-Sisive : Let The Children Die


Canadian rapper, D-Sisive, made a name for himself in the early 00's with a handful of singles that got him a fair amount of press and radio airplay. Despite that, he all but disappeared entirely after his father's death in 2001 until he resurfaced back on the scene last year with his album "The Book."

"Let The Children Die," his second release in two years, is a dark album driven by D-Sisive's dissatisfaction with the current state of hip hop, his socioeconomic status, and the aftermath of his father's death. Its an album vulnerable in its conviction and a refreshing blast from the braggadocio of lesser rappers. On "Wonderful World," below, D-Sisive discusses the nature of injustice.

Songs About Loneliness

I decided to compile a short list of songs that deal with the nature of loneliness, seclusion, and the feelings that come with being isolated from the rest of the world.

Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles

"Eleanor rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father mckenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved"

I figured I'd start off this list with an obvious one. The most poignant thing about the nature of loneliness in this song is that each person never surrenders their routine to the reality of isolation. Even within the small spectrum of community, their existence is nothing but that doesn't stop them from losing hope in a hopeless situation that one day they will be acknowledged and cared for by other human beings. Regardless, they pass on and the culmination of their lives results to nothing more than a mound. A mound that is already composting into the world around it.

Street Flash - Animal Collective

"Does anyone in here get hit
with inside fever?
So bad sometimes it's hard
to move around"

A song about seclusion, "Street Flash" deals with the feelings of self-doubt that depression brings and how being completely isolated does nothing to stop someone from reinforcing bad ideas about themselves. The only relief comes in the passing observation of others as the speaker walks through the streets and lessens some of the negative feelings that were built up in isolation.

I Just Wasn't Made For These Times - The Beach Boys

"Where can I turn when my fair weather friends cop out?"

A lamentation for an inability to build true long-lasting relationships, completely hopeless and (essentially) alone-the speaker here also has nothing to stop themselves from reinforcing feelings of sadness and self-doubt.

If I Go Mad/Funeral In My Head - The Flaming Lips

"But if I go mad no one will no it
I won't let it be seen
'Cause I don't want you to be sad for me
Be happy, don't cry"

A track about the nature of inner-turmoil and the sides of ourselves we'll never share with others.

Whatever - Gnarls Barkley

"I don't have any friends at all
Cause I have nothing in common with ya'll
So who's gonna catch me if I fall
My backs always against the wall
I don't have anything to say
I want everything to go my way
Shut up mom it is not OK
I'm alone almost every day"

A trademark in the loneliness of youth are the Holden-esque irrational self-loathings and juvenile mentalities that a lot of teenagers have. Mocking those feelings, this song provides a great portrait of the world many have come from and many more sprightly kiddos will unknowingly go through.

Lamentations for the music video

One thing that really annoys me these days is how there's no longer a TV channel that just plays straight up music videos. The music video is a dying (or some would debate dead) art form and because of that very few artists actually make music videos for their new releases. Thus, the ones that do get made have a very little chance of ever being seen unless they're from an already well-established artist that can win the very exclusive 30 second time slot MTV uses between commercials to play them. Yes, I realize there is the internet to watch videos on but having to actively seek out an artist ruins the feeling of discovery or rediscovery that the random playlist of a television program affords.

Anyway, I'll close this out with a video from music video's golden age (the eighties) with "Head Like A Hole" by Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: Head Like a Hole (1990) from Nine Inch Nails on Vimeo.

Celebrity Crush Case #2: Lily Allen

First off, I informed a handful of people about this blog and told them I'd be updating "every day" and then the day after I said this...I stopped updating everyday. Don't let that deter you from checking this often though! I was all over the place this last weekend and didn't really have the time to ego trip and share my thoughts and opinion with you all. Now that that's past, lets move on shall we?

I'm pretty enamored with English culture and because of that I have a real thing for English chicks. The attitudes, the styles and...of course, the accents. I could meet an English lady and she could be some screeching bitch with a batshit level of insanity and I'd be so charmed with her that I wouldn't even notice.


Around 2006, I came across Lily Allen's video for "LDN" and that's when my crush began. I checked out her record, a fun ska pop album, shortly after and grew a real thing for her. She was spunky, cute, bratty (but not bitchy), intellectual, and self-aware. And yeah, the British thing was a definite plus too. I followed her a lot after that and we had a real good thing going on.

Well, sometime after her first album hit the US and she started to get some real fame-things began to change between us. She dyed her hair blond, started hanging out with Lindsay Lohan, and focused more on being a crackhead socialite than making good music. Then, her second album hit. All the ska from the first album was replace with electro-pop which wasn't necessarily a bad thing but the album somehow managed to do away with all the good will I had left for her. The songs wreaked of a higher social purpose as her idol complex kicked in and all the intellect and self-awareness I pegged her for before was gone when her social criticisms offered nothing more than shallow, immature observations.

Regardless, my relationship with Lily Allen wasn't over. I'd see clips and pictures of her around and read an interview or two with her and I couldn't help but renew my love. As far as celebrity crushes go, Lily Allen is the girl that is completely wrong for me yet I keep coming back time and time again. It's a doomed relationship but I can't help but stick around.

The Beatles....!

So, I was going to write a whole blog about how the Beatles are the greatest band ever and how they're the only band in the history of the planet that's equally respected by people with absolute shit taste in music and people who are absolutely obsessed with everything to do about music and blah blah blah.

Anyway, it's all been said a billion times before so I'll just give you this video and remind all of you to download the Beatles remasters because they're really fucking good.

Good day!

Batman, yo!

For the most part, I'm pretty bored with the superhero genre. There's little left in it that hasn't been exhausted completely everywhere else. Plus, superhero comic books are so scatter shot in quality and absorbed in making self-references to previous issues, obscure fact's about the character's history, and other heroes in the universe that I couldn't give a shit about and who (inevitably) appear often-that comic books are not very friendly to people who aren't completely obsessed with them.


Regardless, Batman is still a superhero that excites me. I absolutely love the current generation of Batman movies and the new Batman game, Arkham Asylum, manages to achieve what it is to be Batman rather than just using some simple conception. I love the gothic, noir style of Batman's world and how he's (at heart) just as crazy as the people he's capturing. Not to mention there's no better antithetical super villain to a superhero than the Joker is to Batman. Any other lesser superhero has some lame ass evil twin type villain with the signifying evil mustache and a slightly different color palate that's little more than a shallow mirror copy.

Plus, the old nineties Batman cartoon is fucking great. It's one of the few things that has more long lasting quality than anything my childhood nostalgia usually needs to vouch for to appreciate.

You can download and read the 25 best Batman graphic novels: here
The site is in Spanish, so just bear with that. I recommend starting with "Arkham Asylum" or (if you're unfamiliar with the character/universe) "Year One"...though I find the art on that one a bit of a drag.

At some point after I read through all of those, I'll post some sort of cohesive analysis of the Batman character. Oh yes, be excited.

Autumn Story - Fire Kites

I really love the late parts of the year. Despite the huge clusterfuck rush that is Christmas and (sometimes) Halloween-Winter and Fall are largely mellow, chill seasons. There's a certain solitude with the later parts of the year that most find depressing (and at times it is), but I find great for listening to intimate, emotionally raw music. While the colder seasons aren't here just yet, I figured I'd share a beautiful music video someone else shared with me that embodies what I love about late season music: "Autumn Story" by Firekites.

Check it out.

Celebrity Crush Case #1: Aubrey Plaza

One year ago, Aubrey Plaza was virtually a nonexistent. Now she's one of the stars on NBC's "Parks and Recreations" and Seth Rogen's love interest on the beautifully cluttered mess "Funny People." Aubrey Plaza has a lot of traits I really like in a lady-great sense of humor, intelligent, dark haired, art girl sense of style, and she's pretty cute. In my deluded mind we are together, she's madly in love with me, and we write hundreds of great scripts for TV shows and movies.

Check out her impression of Sarah Silverman and this highlight reel below:

Yppah is happy backwards...get it?

One album I'm digging lately is They Know What Ghost Know by Houston based electronic artist, Yppah. It's a real melancholy trip that has a tendency to be bogged down by it's slower paces, but it's still a great album to chill out with. Check out the video for the first single off the album, "Gumball Machine Weekend," below.

Yppah-"Gumball Machine Weekend" from Ein on Vimeo.
Official Myspace

Japandroids is fun on the bun.

My favorite record this summer is Japandroids' debut album, Post-Nothing. Incorporating their garage band sound with old school nineties distortion and noise, Post-Nothing is an album with incredibly infectious melodies. They're a lot of fun to listen to and their music feels like a celebration of energy and life.

Check it out.
My favorite song off their album : Wet Hair

Band Site
Myspace