#20
Clark - Totems Flare
(July 21) (Warp) (Myspace)
RIYL: Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, music that doesn't exist yet

Around 2001, I wasn't quite yet "into" music. I had a few token indie releases, a lot of emo music, I still listened to nu-metal, but I mostly only cared about underground hip-hop. Somewhere in my foray into electronic music, one of the first few releases I really loved was Boards of Canada's Music Has The Right To Children, which remains my favorite pure electronic album. Asking a graphic-design based message board at the time for my music in that sort of vein, someone recommended Chris Clark's Clarence Park and for that year in high school, amidst my burned cds of DJ Clue mixtapes and a then-fledgling Anticon label, Clarence Park was something I told those close to me "they have to hear." Fast-forward 8 years and many more Clark releases and I can honestly say I haven't quite cared about the guy for awhile. Everything he releases gets a few plays from me, I say "oh hey, this is pretty good" and then I immediately forget about it. Body Riddle got a lot of press, but didn't cut it for me. I didn't particularly like Turning Dragon, so I didn't have high hopes for Totems Flare. Now, don't get me wrong. I still think Chris Clark is one of the most forward-thinking producers in electronic music and his ability to blend every conceivable style together is astounding, but Totems Flare is his best work to date. Melding the abstract, the insane, the beautiful, some vocals and everything else, the record demands your attention and you'd be stupid not to give it some. It's a headphone record, unless you have a nice system. All over the place and endlessly exciting. One of the most underrated records of the year, this certainly should have had a bigger audience.

#19
Skyramps - Days of Thunder
(???) (Wagon) (Youtube)
RIYL: Vangelis, 80's movies, Tangerine Dream

Skyramps is the duo of previously mentioned Emeralds guitarist Mark McGuire and synth-playing extraordinaire Dan Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never, one of Tinymixtapes favorite artists of the year. I've only heard a couple of Oneohtrix Point Never tracks and they were decent, but I should delve deeper and I've already shared my opinions on Emeralds. Together these two have put together an awesome album of 80's soundtrack epic sleeze. First track "Flight Simulator" (linked above in the Youtube link) reminds me of Tangerine Dream's excellent soundtrack work to Michael Mann's 1981 film Thief. This is the music you listen to while driving along the strip in your Trans-Am at 3am wearing your sunglasses. You need this music. "Dripping Water Hollows Out a Stone" follows with a distinctly different sound. Lopatin's synth-work transitions from the stabs of earlier into serene ambient soundscapes, while McGuire plays the same echoed chords over and over, creating a sound as serene as the title makes it seem. The track slowly builds as feedback is brought amongst the serenity. McGuire then adds a another guitar track, that comes in above the mix, sounding like a fragment of a triumphant solo of a 70s rock n roll record. "Sky Ramping" veers back towards the Tangerine Dream territory, the synth and guitar in equal parts. Of the 4 tracks on the album, this is the one that could soundtrack a sci-fi film. The album closes with "The Last Time I Saw You", 10 minutes of droning bliss. Guitar and synth effects shimmer and bounce of each other. Distortion comes in and out and at a loud volume, this track rivals anything released by anyone put out all year. It's beautiful. I like this record than any Emeralds record and for that matter, better than just about any other synth and guitar based experimental/drone record of the decade. It gets better with more listens as well, something music from this genre almost never does.

#18
DJ Quik & Kurupt - BlaQKout
(June 9) (Mad Science) (Myspace)
RIYL: Tha Dogg Pound, Snoop Dogg, West-Coast gangster rap

One of the first rap songs I knew all the words to was "Tonite" by DJ Quik. It was on some compilation called Old Skool Hip Hop Vol. 3 or something like that. It was probably put out my Lowrider even. I loved his voice and flow and listened to the song way more times than any song I've heard in the last 15 yeas probably. One of my other favorite songs I used to sing (not knowing what it meant) was "Let's Play House" by Tha Dogg Pound. Apparently I was 9 when that record came out. I can still do the whole song by heart. I tell you this because Kurupt and DJ Quik both had a huge effect on music I have listened to and loved through my life and though I don't really listen to them much anymore or value their music as the best of the hip hop genre, I still celebrate many of their releases (probably more than I should). Regardless of my own sentimentalities towards these two rappers, it was really bizarre to see this record get praise on Pitchfork this year (where it also just ended up #25 on their end of the year list). This doesn't seem like the kind of thing they would hype, though reviews of the album in general were terribly divisive. Excuse me, I'm rambling. Here's what you can expect: not understanding why you like this record which offers nothing new to hip hop. Here's why you like it: it's a fuckin riot. One of the most fun records of the year and one of my favorite car records of the year, this album sounds like two seasoned veterans just having fun, talking shit, talking about girls, doing what they can do and not trying to win anyone over. I doubt they expected positive press or any sort of impact with the album, it was probably just done because it could be. The laid-back feel is the reason why this album is the best thing that either rapper has been a part of since the beginning of the decade, if not longer.


#17
Svarte Greiner - Kappe
(Mar. 3) (Type) (Myspace)
RIYL: Earth, David Lynch, Horror movies

I expected this record to be bigger than it was. Really. In January, I posted this record on my blog with a lengthy review about it's brilliance. I thought this would be one of the most talked about experimental releases of the year. I've hardly seen anything about it, and what I have seen was never all that positive. Just kind of "meh." At the time of that review, the album worked miracles soundtracking cold winter nights in Northern California. I listened to it probably every night for 2 weeks. Moving on and 11 months later, I can tell you that it's no longer the 2nd best album of the year, but the sounds within still captivate me for its duration. It is dark, you know it's dark, you can see the feelings it brings up in me in my old review. The point here is that it hasn't lost the effect it had back then. Greiner has created an album that maintains a thoroughly dark feeling throughout without resulting in a claustrophobic and dreadful sound. There is a faint beauty and familiarity in the tracks that tell you "hey, you need to be in the mood for this" but "that mood doesn't have to be THAT bad."


#16
Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care
(April 7) (Domino) (Myspace)
RIYL: New Order, Pet Shop Boys except nothing like either

It is sad that history will refer to this album as a disappointment. Sure it got lots of positive press, but it will always be remembered as the album where Junior Boys weren't outstanding. That's absurd. Last Exit is a top 5 album of the decade most likely. So This is Goodbye is a classic of the decade in some other sense. Begone Dull Care might not be immediate as those releases, but it does hold it's own, fuck what others say. I called it a disappointment, I didn't and haven't listened to it nearly as many times as the other two records because of this, but towards the end of the year it really picked up steam. It still has the groove that you can move (sort of dance) to. Greenspan's vocals are just getting better and better. The production is still unlike anything else out there. There are only 8 songs and they are almost all a bit longer than people want slow electronic-pop songs to be, but have some goddamn patience. This one is going to keep growing. It's time to make it official and just called Junior Boys one of the best acts of the decade, because they are.

Makes sense. Still packaging of the year in my opinion. That set is just gorgeous.

I don't know what it was with that, somehow a lot of it really sounded better to me. Kind of like with Six Organs, Nightly Trembling just sounds remarkable on vinyl.

Why have I not listened to that Skyramps? I suck.

#15
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
(May 26) (Warp) (Myspace)
RIYL: Intricately produced soft voiced rock music with real nice harmonies

If I had to whittle 2009 down into the best single part of any song, I think it would be the harmony vocals kick in during the chorus of "Two Weeks." Nothing brings the joy quite as much as those moments in that track, despite many similar sounding (and perhaps nearly equally beautiful) harmonies throughout the entire record. Grizzly Bear was probably one of the most talked about bands this year. Straddling the line between mainstream and indie rock tighter than anyone, their 3rd official album Veckatimest is the first album of theirs that I have actually noticed as something special. It also debuted at Number 7 on the Billboard chart (despite leaking early). Here's the annotated Grizzly Bear: 4 dudes who are probably music nerds and happen to have pretty voices get together and created very orchestral though fairly unique music. They call in strings-wünderkid Nico Muhly to make their songs even more beautiful. They create songs that have a lot of layers. They sing these songs with good vocals and beautiful harmonies. You can't understand their lyrics. It's epic sounding songs without epic length. It can be exhaustive. I just think it's pretty. "Two Weeks" is still my favorite, despite it being pretty popular and played out. Up in the ranks of song of the year, if not the single best song. Oh, and there are other great ones too.



#14
The XX - The XX
(Aug. 18) (XL) (Myspace)
RIYL: The Cure, Young Marble Giants, Interpol fronted by Peter, Bjorn & John

The XX will almost unanimously win the award for Best New Act of 2009. These kids from England are like 5 years younger than me (that puts them in or just out of high school), sport this bizarre Euro-hip-goth look complete with funny haircuts and the absence of any color but black. They cite influences from Aaliyah to The Cure and their music is sort of hard to pin down. The music is sophisticated in its simplicity. Their debut album is short, a joy to listen to (though it sounds like a downer at first), and just unbelievable considering those involved. Throughout their tracks you hear Cure and Interpol and Durutti Column-esque guitars, spattering drum machines, fey indie-pop vocals barely above a whisper. The songs are boy-girl songs and I'm sure are so cute it hurts. The XX succeed because they sound like every hip band that has come before them yet sound entirely like themselves. I'm hard pressed to think of another album that so perfectly captures what it's like to be a teenager in an urban environment. Hyperbole galore. There is a lot of talk about this band and there should be. Let us hope they don't implode.



#13
Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
(June 30) (Nonesuch) (Myspace)
RIYL: George Harrison, Big Star, Americana on the pop side

The album in which Wilco hears the term "Dad-Rock" applied in even greater degress despite the fact that the term is bullshit, especially whena applied to their music. Obviously, Wilco is experimenting in less extreme sonics on Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (The Album) than on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born, but to call this band
boring, regressing into some sort of old-man phase of life seems terribly absurd. After trading in Jay Bennett (RIP) for Nels Cline, Wilco HAS changed, but I find it neither better nor worse, just different. Cline's guitar rips through tracks, makes them feel more like George Harrison in 2009 rather than a band blending shoegaze elements with americana song structures. The fact is that this self-titled album might be the tightest album Wilco has ever recorded. If it bores you, or the songs don't seem exciting, I just don't think you're listening. I was close to ready to write them off: Wilco has been my favorite band since YHF, though steadily decreasing through the ranks. This album makes me realize that they may just be finding their groove. I remember remarking last year or the year prior that Spoon is a great band because of all their intricacies in their songs, things you don't notice until you lie in bed listening through headphones. Little chimes, unnoticable guitar parts, any other sort of instrument that is added in just the perfect place. Perhaps Wilco has always been like Spoon in this way, or Spoon like Wilco, but on this album, more than any other - the music is exquisite. It's not the sonic experiment of records past (and really - we're talking one or maybe two records), but the musicianship and the thought process the band went through during the recording was probably excruciating. Put that music with Tweedy's simplest lyrics to date but some of his most emotive singing, and the record is a winner. And it's pretty. AND the songs get stuck in your head. It's a great record.


#12
Andrew Douglas Rothbard - Exodusarabesque
(Feb. 13) (Peaking Mandala) (CDBaby)
RIYL: Panda Bear/Animal Collective, Holy Modal Rounders with Pink Floyd passages and 1970s psych-folk and some Zappa-esque freakouts. Oh and electronics.

Blending equal parts Animal Collective, Aphex Twin, Benoit Pioulard, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa and Dr. Strangely Strange, the second solo album by San Francisco-based musician Andrew Douglas Rothbard is the definitive underrated record of 2009. I mean that literally. I haven't seen anything published in typical indie or experimental locations that have mentioned or reviewed this record. I don't remember how I cam upon it. The only place I see glowing reviews are over at RYM. This record is literally all over the place. Twisting, psychedelic electronics and drums patterns, muffled yet high-pitched 70s folk vocals, warm passages with eastern-tuned guitars. You will simultaneously dance, meditate, laugh, and feel paranoia. Most of all you will marvel at this album. I've used a lot of hyperbole in my reviews thus far, but I honestly think that given more listens, this album could be album of the year, or at the very least in the top 3. Do yourself a favor, listen to the samples, get the cd or however you want to hear it, listen, love.


#11
Tyondai Braxton - Central Market
(Sept. 15) (Warp) (Myspace)
RIYL: 20th Century compositions. Not quite avant-garde, but definitely not traditional. Battles.

Despite composing avant-garde classical-esque music for the better part of a decade, Tyondai Braxton today is best known as the leader of indie-darlings Battles. 2007 was the breakout year for Battles, who were praised for the adept musicianship, compositional skills and for putting out music that didn't sound like anything else in 2007. While other prog and post rock bands were still opting for songs that started quiet and then got all Sabbath on you, Braxton and his band created something like Kraftwerk for the 2000s. Tyondai's second solo album titled Central Market is far more delightful than Battles debut, and one of the very best releases of the year. The most striking thing about Central Market is how playful it is in comparison to Mirrored, which often sounded robotic and soulless. There is guitar prevalant in every track, but there is so much more and the general tone wouldn't sound out of place soundtracking some sort of odd cartoon. It's a challenging listen, but Braxton doens't make it so challenging that you feel overwhelmed. Instead, there is joy throughout the record just given to us is some bizarre ways. Springy sounding synthesizer effects, bizarre hip-hop esque beats, woodblocks galore. In my mind these are the kind of compositions that Dan Deacon wishes he could create. The album straddle the classical and the indie rock world and if you want to really delve into it, probably about 10 other genres. Probably the best way to think of it is Copland producing in this time period with a lot more at his disposal. Really engaging.

ok, you're redeeming yourself a little bit here.

i should probably listen to that ryan leslie and tyondai braxton at some point.

I need to hear that Clark album.

My man