The Bloglin’s Best of 2009: Best Albums, #100-81
It was about 11 months ago that we decided to do music reviews here on the Bloglin. At first it was just me doing the bulk of the write-ups. But here we are at the end of 2009 and our reviewer ranks have fluctuated to 5 dedicated music reviewers along with a few other Bloglin regulars pitching in review here and there.
From Punk & Metal, to Indie Rock and Dance We tried to cover as many of the musical bases that fuel Мишка as a brand. We hope you’ve enjoyed the one, sometimes two reviews we’d post Monday through Friday and we hope they lead to you guys discovering some great new music you might otherwise have been unfamiliar with or adverse in discovering.
The Bloglin’s Best 100 albums of 2009 list was compiled by polling the Bloglin’s various reviewers, bloggers and our staff along with of course the original reviews that appeared the Bloglin. As a result you’ll notice not all (but most) of the top 100 were originally reviewed, and the list doesn’t merely rehash in sequential graded order all of the records reviewed on The Bloglin. For the next 5 days we’ll be unveiling 20 of our top 100 albums until we hit numero uno for the year!
If you would like any upcoming release in 2010 to be considered for review by the Bloglin, please either email a link to digital files to bloglin@mishkanyc.com OR mail a Vinyl, Tape or CD copy to Mishka NYC c/o The Bloglin, 350 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11222.
Now on to the list…
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Honorable Mentions
Here are ten great albums just on the outside looking in:
• Minsk – With Echos in the Movement of Stone
• National Suicide – The Old Family Is Still Alive
• Brilliant Colors - Introducing
• Amen Dunes – Dia
• Sarke – Vorunah
• Pajo – Scream With Me
• Ducktails - Landscapes
• Ghostface Killah – Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry
• Magik Markers – Balf Quarry
• Silversun Pickups – Swoon
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100) Blues Control – Local Flavor (2009) [Slitbreeze]
The latest full-length from Krautrock disciples Blues Control finds them enamored in the lo-fi end of dirty, droney sound exploration. Super-hypnotic and full of dreamily interwoven riffs, this is among 2009′s best albums to zone out to.
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99) Telepathe – Dance Mother (2009) [IAMSOUND]
This album takes a minute to get used to, but it’s just strange enough to be totally charming. Equal parts synth-pop, hip-hop and pure David Sitek, Dance Mother pits throbbing beats against a constantly ambient atmosphere, resulting in several songs that are so insanely great, even the so-so ones bask in their glow.
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98) Whitest Boy Alive – Rules (2009) [Bubbles]
Erlend Oye’s quiet reluctance meets the dancefloor-destined work he’s done with Royksopp, Morgan Geist, Phonique (pick a producer, any producer). Rules is the most withdrawn of Oye’s Whitest Boy Alive stuff, but it’s also the warmest and most gut-wrenchingly real.
Not originally reviewed on the Bloglin
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97) St. Vincent - Actor (2009) [4AD]
Annie Clark’s St. Vincent jams skirt the edge of schizophrenia: nervous, unfettered and embracingly cold, with vocals that pace between shriek and lullabye. The uber-dramatic pop on Actor is an acquired taste to be sure, but once it envelops you, there’s really no going back.
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96) Zoot Woman - Things Are What They Used To Be (2009) [ZWR]
Producer extraordinaire Stuart Price returns with the first Zoot Woman album in 6 years. Still mining the same Electropop that broke them during the original Electroclash days, Things Are What They Used to Be amps up the slickness on a cold and catchy journey through some the best Synth and New Romantic Pop outside of the 1980s.
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95) The Fresh & Onlys - Grey-Eyed Girls (2009) [Woodist]
2009 was a busy year for the Fresh & Only’s. While originally planning to release three full lengths, the last has been pushed to 2010. No worries though as they left us with more than enough great music regardless. Grey-Eyed Girls, their 2nd full length of year has the band refine and tighten the rough and tumble garage pop of the their self-titled album from earlier in the year.
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94) Dinosaur Jr. – Farm (2009) [Jagjaguwar]
Who says you can’t come home again? Don’t tell that to Lou Barlow! Ever since rejoining J. Mascis and Murph the trio hasn’t skipped a beat from where they left things in the late 80s as a trio. 2007 Beyond was no novel fluke, Dinosaur Jr. is back and making some of the best fuzzed out indie rock just like they used to.
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93) Zola Jesus - The Spoils (2009) [Sacred Bones]
Reminiscent of toned-down, Juju-era Siouxsie, The Spoils is one hell of a zoned-out creepfest. Nika Rosa Danilova’s brand of lo-fi industrial teems with crawling noise and haunted, ethereal vocals—among the most disturbing, albeit often catchy, releases of the year.
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92) Alpinist – Minus.Mensch (2009) [Alerta Antifascista]
Germany’s Alpinist bring 2009 some of the best Crust/Hardcore cross-bred intensity since Tragedy’s better days. Minus.Mensch is unapologetic and bombastic blasts of riffage and frenetic vocals that will leave you battered, beaten and begging for more.
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91) Jack of Heart - S/T (2009) [Born Bad]
Piero Ilov has stamped his name across some of the best garage and psych albums over the past few years. But he has truly come into his own with fronting Jack of Heart’s self-titled debut. A strange and compelling journey through 60′s garage and psyche that will leave you wanting to a tab or two while listening.
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90) Revelation – For the Sake of No One (2009) [Shadow King]
Baltimore Stoner/Doom legends Revelation return with an album that could easily rival 1995′s …Yet So Far. Slow methodically and absolutely transfixing. With so much attention being payed to modern day Stoner/Doom Metal we hope this new release by one of the scene’s forefathers get it’s due attention.
Download Revelation’s For the Sake of No One here
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89) Chain & The Gang – Down With Liberty… (2009) [K]
Ian Svenonius returns with his newest project, Chain & The Gang… the closest he’s come back to the much missed “Gopel, Yeah, Yeah!” sound of the Make-Up. Down With Liberty… Up With Chains! is littered with Svenonius’ usual tongue-in-cheek wit over the catchy 60′s psych and pop we’ve come to love from the legend.
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88) Embrace of Thorns – Atonement Ritual (2009) [Nuclear War Now!]
Possible the most terrifying release of this year, and I’m certain Embrace of Thorns wouldn’t have it any other way. At a point in time when Black Metal is as commercial as almost every other genre, Atonement Ritual sticks to those fundamental roots of clandestine satanic metal that made us scared and curious in Black Metal in the first place.
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87) Goes Cube - Another Day Has Passed (2009) [The End]
An album of contradictions: simple and intricate, beautiful and heavy as fuck. Weaving influences that span from Torche to Refused to Helmet into one cohesive whole, Another Day Has Passed is unassuming and bare-bones—an explosion of sludge, shimmer and strangely gorgeous melody.
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86) Röyksopp – Junior (2009) [Astralwerks]
One of those do-no-wrong bands that continue to, well, do no wrong. Featuring collabs with Karin Dreijer-Andersson, Robyn and Lykke Li, Junior moves seamlessly between sugary pop and sinister robotics, all the while maintaining a sort of dramatic, tech-house flair. If this is a junior effort, I can’t wait to hear what Senior (reported to release next year) will be.
Not originally reviewed on the Bloglin
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85) Sabertooth Zombie – And Your Fathers…(2009) [Twelve Gauge]
Sabertooth Zombie return with their best and heaviest work to date. This creatively ambitious longplayer is a pulverizing concoction of Hardcore, Thrash and Doom metal is one of the most inventive albums within three usually creative stifling of genres. Welcome to Doomcore!
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84) Jeremy Jay – Slow Dance (2009) [K]
Jeremy Jay keeps it short, sweet and simple in unleashing some of the years best bedroom pop. Catchy, eccentric and even a bit creepy, Slow Dance is like sliding into a pair of well-worn slippers after a long day out in the world. Warm and comforting.
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83) Ganglians – Monster Head Room (2009) [Woodist]
Sun drenched Lo-Fi Pop like no other! Sacramento based, Van Dyke Park disciples, Ganglians transform the aural restriction of Lo-Fi recording into a world of catchy sonic wealth across the expansive and charming Monster Head Room.
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82) Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship (2009) [Thrill Jockey]
Post-Rock legends Tortoise pull themselves back into relevancy with their strongest album since the late 90s. While more of throwback, Beacons of Ancestorship is a fantastic mind-altering journey full of Electronic, Krautrock and Jazz touches that only Tortoise could successfully and cohesively pull off.
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81) Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans (2009) [Sub Pop]
Pissed Jeans find the perfect blend of dissonance and control on their 3rd full length, King of Jeans. These masters of sloppy hardcore punk anthems tighten up the structure without sacrificing any of the snarl on route to becoming the heir apparent to The Jesus Lizard.
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Stay tuned tomorrow for parts 80 through 61!
