2009 in music. • Page 6

Glad to get some backup on this, it's amazing. They were absolutely brilliant live at the time, too.

 

1. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
2. Dead Man’s Bones - S/T
3. Tegan and Sara - Sainthood

 

1. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
2. Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM
3. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
4. Raekwon - OBFCLII
5. Girls - Album

Merriweather and Veckatimest both good too but not the respective albums I gravitate towards for either of those bands.

 

Sainthood was this year? Damn I fucked up.

I’m too lazy to change my list.

 

I loved Title Fight around this time. Was cool seeing that band live.

 

Common Existence rules, i think Thursday got better with every release

 

A perfect 84 seconds

 

1. The Dangerous Summer - Reach for the Sun
2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. Ingrid Michaelson - Everybody

4. Paramore - Brand New Eyes
5. Tegan and Sara - Sainthood
6. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon
7. Meg & Dia - Here, Here and Here
8. Taking Back Sunday - New Again
9. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
10. John Mayer - Battle Studies

11. The Fray - The Fray
12. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
13. Say Anything - Say Anything
14. New Found Glory - Not Without a Fight
15. Florence and the Machine - Lungs
16. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing
17. Thirty Seconds to Mars - This is War
18. The xx - xx
19. Regina Spektor - Far
20. Ace Enders and a Million Different People - When I Hit the Ground

EPs worth mentioning: Death Cab - The Open Door EP and Bon Iver - Blood Bank

 

Damnit I totally forgot that Person L's The Positives came out in 2009.
I dont feel like editing again, but that would've definitely been in my top 10.

 

Forgot about that album from The Fray. I saw the album release show at Webster Hall (which was disrupted by this huge fucking camera setup they had in the middle of the floor). Feel like it kinda shit the bed commercially but they still did an ampitheater tour with Jack's Mannequin which was an interesting combo.

Also, been seeing some love for the Muse and Thirty Seconds To Mars albums. When both those commit to the bit of being big and bombastic, I love it but I feel like they both peter out 2/3rd's of the way.

 

Did that Fray album flop? It came out my senior year of college and it felt like everyone on campus was listening to that. And I could've sworn You Found Me cracked the Billboard top 10. Definitely think the album after this shit the bed though.
Side note, I actually went to that Fray/Jack's Mannequin show at Jones Beach and it was the same day that Michael Jackson died. It felt like nobody could pay attention to the show.

I threw the 30STM album on my list because I was OBSESSED with it when it came out. But yeah listening back it definitely feels over the top at times. Still dig songs like Alibi and Kings & Queens though. When the album first came out it felt like this was what Tom Delonge thought Angels and Airwaves was gonna sound like.

 

You know, not FLOP persay but definitely a more muted response than the self-titled. For 30STM, I feel like the last 4 songs really drag but everything up to that obtains the goal of being a larger-than-life spectacle.

 

My week feels incomplete without a @Craig Manning gem from his list to latch onto. Lol

 

@Gianni haha, I’m working on it as we speak! I’ll post something tonight. Been a crazy week. Thanks for saying that though!

 

1. The Dangerous Summer – Reach for the Sun
2. Relient K – Forget and Not Slow Down
3. Will Hoge – The Wreckage

That Dangerous Summer record is absolutely pivotal, formative shit for me. My last couple weeks of high school and the summer that followed, preserved in amber. One of my 10-15 favorite albums ever.

The Relient K album, meanwhile, is the fall of my freshman year of college. So many killer earworms snuck into this track list, which ebbs and flows in the most seamless, beautiful way.

The Wreckage is my favorite Will Hoge record, and what I wish mainstream country sounded like. He’s got big hooks and smart, accessible songwriting, but it’s also got the bruises and the grit of road-hardened rock n roll. Was pretty convinced at that time that he was the next Springsteen.

Excruciating cuts

Mat Kearney – City of Black and White: Radiant, sun-kissed California folk-rock with a dusky, melancholy tinge. A perfect “summer after high school” album. Kearney proved to be pretty mercurial as an artist going forward, but this is his most even-tempered, consistent work.

Dashboard Confessional – Alter the Ending: Chris Carrabba angst, plus Butch Walker guitar rock muscle, plus Adam Schlesinger pop hooks, equals the most fun and frothy record Dashboard ever made. Some days, I think it’s their best.

John Mayer – Battle Studies: Mayer makes his version of Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours. Desolately lonely late-night songs. Not his best album, but maybe his most evocative. Wish it had the “I’m on Fire” cover in the “Crossroads” slot, though.

Boys Like Girls – Love Drunk: One of the catchiest albums ever made. Every bit of every song feels calibrated to get stuck in your head.

The Damnwells – One Last Century: This was one of those “Here, have our album for free” records from this era, and it made me a lifelong fan of these guys. Breezy, effortless hooks with an alt-country haze. In the 90s, they would have been The Wallflowers.

Miranda Lambert – Revolution: Miranda’s best, most consistent collection of songs. Fair argument to be made that “Dead Flowers” and “The House That Built Me” are two of the five best mainstream country singles of the decade.

Also love:

Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown: Up there with my most anticipated albums ever when it came out. Everything I read about this album in the lead-up made it sound like the bigger, badder sibling to American Idiot. In reality, it’s nowhere near as good, but I have a lot of fun memories around playing the shit out of this album.

U2 – No Line on the Horizon: Unfairly maligned late period U2. The singles are tough, but the rest is unshackled widescreen stadium rock. At its best, feels like a decades-later sequel to The Unforgettable Fire.

Michael McDermott – Hey La Hey: Beautiful, heartfelt singer-songwriter music from a true lifer. Once sang Springsteen songs on stage with this guy and it was lit.

Third Eye Blind – Ursa Major: I’m never sure whether I overrate or underrate this album. It was the first new 3EB album in six years and I was READY for it. Definitely has some of their best songs, particularly “Sharp Knife” and “Water Landing.”

Dawes – North Hills: Didn’t get into these guys until their next album, but they have IMO the best run of records of any band from the past 10-12 years. “When My Time Comes” is an all-timer.

Ingrid Michaelson – Everybody: Felt like a big “level up” record for Ingrid at the time. I remember a lot of girls in my high school playing the shit out of this thing. Has maybe her best song in “Sort Of.”

Switchfoot – Hello Hurricane: One of those albums that has a pretty deep gulf between the great stuff and the just okay stuff, but the best songs here are fucking unbelievable. “Needle in Haystack Life” should have been a massive hit.

The Fray – The Fray: I’ll go to bat for these guys. IMO, their best album is their third, from 2012, but some of their most undeniable jams (“Absolute,” “You Found Me”) are here, plus some stellar deep cuts (I really adore the closer, “Happiness”).

Matt Hires – Take Us to the Start: This guy never got the attention he deserved. Kind of sounds like Adam Duritz by way of Matt Nathanson. A very important album to me and my wife; we played at least two songs from it at our wedding.

Rob Thomas – Cradlesong: A big step up from Something to Be, and to date the only Rob Thomas solo record that I think is really good. “Someday” is a monumentally important song to me.

Sherwood – QU: Have never been able to figure out why these guys weren’t bigger. They had such a knack for approachable pop hooks. This album is my favorite of theirs.

Honorables:

Jason Isbell – Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit: Probably the least great Isbell solo record, but there are some huge highlights, particularly “Cigarettes & Wine” and “The Last Song I Will Ever Write.”

Fun. – Aim and Ignite: I’ve always preferred Some Nights to this album, which tends to be the less “cool” take in the fanbase. There’s some really audacious pop music on this record, though. Particularly love the first three tracks.

The Swell Season – Strict Joy: Glen Hansard is one of the only artists I really love who I’d say has never made a start-to-finish great album. This one is no exception, but the highs (“In These Arms,” “I Have Loved You Wrong”) are among the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.

Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything to Nothing: I’ve never fallen head over heels for this one like a lot of people have; probably my third or fourth favorite MO record, to be honest. But it’s still got a big, urgent bite to it that I find really exciting when I’m in the right mood.

Bruce Springsteen – Working on a Dream: Bottom tier Springsteen, but there’s still some great stuff. I’ve got a big soft spot for “Outlaw Pete,” and “The Last Carnival” is one of his great sundown beauties – to the point where it kind of predicts the whole rubric for the (far superior) Western Stars.

Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More: Look, I was a sucker for the folk-rock revival that started around this time. Sigh No More is like the string band Hot Fuss, in that the first half is unbelievable and the second half is kind of just ok.

Silversun Pickups – Swoon: I remember getting really, really into this album the spring of that year. Their dark, brooding schtick wore thin for me after another album or two, but this was them at the peak of their powers for me.

The Alternate Routes – A Sucker’s Dream: There’s a song on this record called “Already November” that I consider one of my favorite songs ever. These guys did the big, anthemic roots rock sound so well. They haven’t made an album in eight years and I miss them.

Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King: I’ve got a soft spot for this era of DMB. They’d just lost LeRoi Moore and this album felt like a really poignant tribute. “You & Me” remains a favorite summer-at-dusk song for me.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: Just a big ol’ barrel of fun. I rocked the singles from this album at a party last fall and they still kill.

All Time Low – Nothing Personal: Not sure where we stand on these guys, but man, this album was all over my summer playlists at the time. Some massive, massive hooks on this record.

 

listened to Raditude and not sure if it was just because I was expecting something awful based on what I've heard but I was pleasantly surprised, I liked it!

I'm having fun going through their catalogue and I feel like some of their weirder experiments probably work more for me going through like this than they did for big fans of the band when this was released.

 

There's some great stuff on Raditude, still quite enjoyable

 

y’all know people can read these posts right

 

umm... what?????

 

They're just lost. Meant to post here Bad opinions • Page 637 • forum.chorus.fm

 

i like weezer more than anyone should claim to at this point and even i think raditude fucking sucks

 

If You're Wondering - perfection
I'm Your Daddy - dumb but catchy
The Girl Got Hot - eh
Can't Stop Partying - dumb but kinda fun
Put Me Back Together - great
Trippin Down The Freeway - great
Love Is The Answer - one of their worst ever
Let It All Hang Out - enjoyable
In The Mall - dumb but catchy
I Don't Want To Let You Go - I don't actually remember this song

 

can’t stop partying is abysmal

 

if that's your only takeaway from my review then I'm good with it

 

You know how some people say "That album should have been an EP?" Raditude should have been a single.