I have a difficult time with the concept of guilty pleasures. It feels like an excuse, an easy way of explaining away an otherwise unexplainable affection for something trite, uncool or just plain bad. I mean, whoever hangs that sword of aesthetic acceptability over our heads is doing an effing great job; as a culture, we spend a lot of time apologizing for shit we enjoy.

But awkward teenage years aside, I’ve never felt truly guilty for liking admittedly iffy pieces of music or art, even if those things have led me down a slippery-slope of eye-rolls and what-the-fuck-is-she-thinkings. If I like it, there’s a reason I like it, and I’m secure enough in whatever weird identity I’ve cultivated—and capable enough of succinctly justifying my taste—to not care one bit if anyone else likes it too.

Which is precisely why this cult of irony—part and parcel of the guilty pleasure connundrum if you ask me—tends to be problematic. It’s okay to love stuff that isn’t intellectually good. Music, movies, television, books, whatever can totally suck and still be totally rad. It’s not always about base quality; sometimes things just jive with us on a primal if not purely emotional level. I mean, Taco Bell isn’t technically great food, but I know people who could write sonnets about that elusive chili-cheese burrito.

That said, tastes are contradictory. There’s really no accounting for them. And sometimes, yes, even overly wordy, high-horse girls like me need a shorthand term for the things we love but know run anathema to what others expect of us. So with all that in mind, here are the Bloglin’s collective “guilty” favorites of the year.
- Rue Sauvage

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Paramore - Brand New Eyes [Fueled by Ramen]

Ever since last year’s “Decode”, pop-punk tween faves Paramore have been flirting with an edgier, less saccharine vibe…but whatever, who cares. Saccharine or no, these kids write super-fun, catchy-as-hell pop songs, and frontgirl Haley is crazy cute and sassy to boot. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t secretly love this band—they’re a ridiculous singalong waiting to happen.
- Rue Sauvage

Not originally reviewed on the Bloglin

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Passion Pit - Manners [Frenchkiss]

Every fiber of my being tells me that I should hate this album, but I cant and I won’t! Hell I can’t even go a single week without needing to hear Manners. Yes, It’s a calculated smorgasbord of every buzz inducing sound of the past few years but it’s just so good at being exactly that. And like it or not, once you hear it it, it’s enthralls you in it’s Hipster spell. Trust me one full listen and you’ll all be humming along
- My Pal the Crook

Original Bloglin Review

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Tommy Sparks - S/T [Island]

I was first turned on to Tommy Sparks simply because Eric Wareheim directed the video for “She’s Got Me Dancing”. A song you all may be familiar with from this iPod commercial which probably made you think Hey this is the best Franz Ferdinand song I’ve heard from them since “Take Me Out”. That’s what this whole album is like… except it has a a whole lot more synth.
- My Pal the Crook

Not originally reviewed on the Bloglin

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Mr. Hudson – Straight No Chaser [G.O.O.D.]

Alright, so it’s filled with Chris Martin-esque vocal melodies, an endless stampede of modern hip-hop production cliches and way, way, way too much auto-tune. But Hudson’s gorgeously desperate voice and the sheer brilliance of a few 80s pop hooks make this album sort of difficult not to keep coming back to—even if you swore, over and over, that you wouldn’t.
- Rue Sauvage

Original Bloglin review

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Insane Clown Posse - Bang! Pow! Boom! [Psychopathic]

What’s that? You thought we were gonna do our best-of-year lists and not drop some love for the clown? Ninja please! Sure Violent J’s gotten a lil’ softer over the years (hello “I Need Love” “Vera Lee”) but Bang! Pow! Boom! is the duos first album to thankfully return us back to the wonderful world of the Dark Carnival since the Joker’s Card series concluded in 2004.

And if you know Мишка, then you know we’ll be down with the clown ’til we’re dead in the ground. Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha FUCK YOU!
- My Pal the Crook

Not originally reviewed on the Bloglin

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Filthy Dukes - Nonsense in the Dark [Fiction]

Nonsense in the Dark is one sweet and decadent trip through any and every form of electronic-pop you can imagine from the past 3 decades. Sure things can get over the top cheesy and you can hear the clock ticking towards the albums expiration date with each passing track but that doesn’t mean it isn’t one fun journey from start to finish.  This is the sort of album you burn out on in 2 weeks, only to find it 5 years later and have the cycle begin a new.
- My Pal the Crook

Not originally reviewed on the Bloglin

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Datarock - Red [Young Aspiring Professionals]

A real smorgasbord of 80s references. There’s a goofy sense of irony here that grates if you think about it too much, but stop yourself from considering how many people have done this before and focus instead on how well Datarock are doing it—or, you know, don’t consider anything at all and just find a dancefloor stat.
- Rue Sauvage

Original Bloglin review

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Gucci Mane - The State vs. Radric Davis [So Icy]

Anyone who knows me personally should be well aware of my fondness for rap. I try to give any mainstream album release a fair listen, even if I know that it’s probably going to be a failed attempt at recapturing the limelight of yesteryears (*cough*, *ahem*, Eminem, *cough*, Relapse…). Anyhow, one of the last albums I’ll pick up in 2009 is Gucci Mane’s The State vs. Radric Davis and after giving it a few spins, I can honestly say that while Gucci isn’t breaking any new ground lyrically, the production & guest spots make this one of my favorite hip-hop albums of the year. Sometimes all I want is an album filled with hood bangers and trap songs to pass the time spent in front of a computer… after all, I’m just a dude trying to make a living as a designer.
- Mike Jones

Not originally reviewed on the Bloglin

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Depeche Mode – Sounds of the Universe [Capitol]

Look we know this isn’t Depeche Mode’s best work, but it is still easily their best album this decade. And there’s something compelling about them try so damn hard to still be relevant and almost succeeding. I know these guys have another Ultra in them and Songs of the Universe sounds like a warm up to it and you know what? I’ll take it.
- My Pal the Crook

Original Bloglin review

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Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster [Interscope]

Gaga is a seriously study in the laws of attraction and repulsion. She’s obnoxiously weird, way over the top in, like, every possible regard and sometimes really cringe-inducing. And yet, we can’t stop listening. Maybe it has something to do with a sort of drag culture allure, but there’s something about this weirdo chick and her uber-catchy music that makes it easy to forgive her bat-shit insanity.
- Rue Sauvage

Not originally reviewed on the Bloglin