Top 15 Albums of 2009
Yeah, so we’re a bit late on this. Oh well. I’m just trying to slowly get back in the groove of things. Unfortunately, I’m not going to be making this too detailed. However, I will be writing a more in depth review of each of these albums throughout this month. I may cover, them all, I may not. We’ll see.
So here you have it, the best of 2009:
15. Mew – No More Stores…[Album title is long...lol.]
14. Blakroc – Blakroc [Collaboration between the Black Keys and a lot of hip-hop artists.]
13. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Solar Gambling [Great album, but the live versions of some songs recorded at Abbey-Road for Los Sueños sounded better.]
12. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion [I don't think these guys can release a bad album. Simply great.]
11. Oceansize – Home & Minor [An fairly lengthy EP that includes some great drum grooves, odd time signatures, and some beautiful ambient sections.]
10. The Mars Volta – Octahedron [Possibly their weakest release to date, but that really doesn't say anything considering the quality music these guys produce. My favorite band with yet another good release. A great showcasing of Cedric's abilities as a vocalist and a bit chiller side of Thomas Pridgen before saying farewell to the band.]
9. Brownout – Aguilas and Cobras [An absolutely phenomenal Latin/Funk band with a great sophomore release to follow their debut album.]
8. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Old Money [The first of many great releases from Omar in 2009. An instrumental powerhouse that revived some old jams that made an appearance in the 2005 tour of The Mars Volta]
7. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Los Sueños De Un Hidago [The live sessions of the ORL Group recorded live at Abbey Road earlier in the 2009 year. This was the first official release of ORL to feature Omar's new girlfriend, Ximena. Her voice and melodies that she writes is simply jaw-dropping. Very beautiful indeed. This album also featured new live versions of songs from Old Money and The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange.]
6. Mastodon – Crack the Skye [A much calmer and more atmospheric release than past albums. Probably my favorite release from this great heavy prog band.]
5. MUTEMATH – Armistice [Another great release from the energetic New Orleans band, MUTEMATH. Unfortunately there weren't any instrumental songs, but there were a few instrumental sections in several songs. The iTunes release and "Backside" single feature an epic B-side, "Architecture." This song debuts the first asymmetrical time signature used by the band.]
4. Extra Golden – Thank You Very Quickly [An amazing African/American (not African American lol) band that grew from a band known as Golden. I still can't decide if one's better than the other, but either way, amazing music is always released from them.]
3. Tyondai Braxton – Central Market [This is the guitarist and singer for Battles. Apparently he is a pretty amazing composer. This album has an avant-garde, classical feeling to it. A very trippy experience that makes you think of Disneyland, but maybe if it were on drugs or something.]
2. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Xenophanes [Best Omar solo release, period. From front to back this album is epic. This is the first time I've ever heard one of Omar's solo releases that completely blew away his work for The Mars Volta. It's also great to hear Omar singing for the first time.]
1. BLK JKS – After Robots [Up the for best album of the 2000-2010 decade. It's been a long time since I've felt such passion and energy from a single album. Unfortunately I missed them last year due to being just shy of 21 years old, but the next time they are here for a show, I can't pass it up. I've heard amazing things of their live sets, and depending on their next release or two, this may possibly be my new favorite band alongside The Mars Volta.]
