SSv’s Top 11 Albums of 2009

Features • Thursday December 3rd, 2009 • 12:00 am

Some note the underwhelming nature of music in 2009, while others have celebrated such a prolific year. But no matter the greater perspective, there were, indeed, some fine releases that made their way into our vinyl collections, playlists and cultural collective this last year. Thus, it’s only fitting that we close our year-end content with the SSv Top 11 Albums of 2009.

So far, our staff writers have discussed our Top 11 releases of all kinds – from hard rock to hip-hop, from pop to folk, from jazz to independent albums. This time, we polled our illustrious team to find out those efforts that pleased the majority of us to create the master list that everyone is up to this time of year. So here you have it with a few surprises, a few certainties and hopefully a great representation of the best that 2009 offered us.

1. Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
In the past, Dirty Projectors have been easy to admire, but hard to like. Dave Longstreth’s artistic sensibilities are so intelligent that it leaves you feeling a bit dumb – like something wonderful is happening if you could just figure out what it is. On Bitte Orca, however, his grand vision finally comes into focus for the rest of us. The Projectors have created a new brand of music – or, maybe, they’ve just perfected pop. [Tyler Huckabee]

2. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Vibrant, bouncy, colourful and enjoyable, Animal Collective’s eighth studio album thoroughly deserves its position towards the top of Stereo Subversion’s list. Merriweather Post Pavilion sees the four-piece ruthlessly smash their ever progressing sound into the world of pop; utilizing electronic effects, beautiful vocal harmonies, pretty lyrics and percussive beats to great effect, yet still sticking with the sound that is undoubtedly theirs. And what makes this album even more impressive, it may not even be their best. [Jake May]

3. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
While Veckatimest may only be Grizzly Bear’s third full-length release, the aural quality of the album belies the youth of the group. Pristine arrangements define the album as a whole with all four members playing an important role in the group’s harmonies as they create tapestries of sound that make their brand of pop music sound as though it sprang directly from the Baroque Era. “Two Weeks” shines as a blend of indie rock and R&B, while tracks like “Fine For Now” combine indie-pop sensibilities with touches of dissonance, increasing the dynamic depth of the album. Not only one of the years best, Veckatimest stands as one of the decade’s best albums. [Gregory Brown]

4. The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love
Whereas many of their peers have dissolved or dropped in quality come 2009, the Decemberists seem to be hitting their stride with The Hazards of Love, easily their most ambitious work to date. A sprawling song cycle chronicling forest dwelling demi-gods and the women who love them, The Hazards of Love is the album the Decemberists have been threatening to make since The Tain EP and the more prog indebted moments on The Crane Wife. The sound of a band pushing itself to the limits. [Anthony Saggese]

5. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
How ironic that in the year when we lost director John Hughes we got a band that conjured all those themes of coming-of-age teenage discovery that his early films portrayed. The Pain of Being Pure at Heart took ’80s pop, mixed it with some shoegaze reverb, and reminded us what it was like to be a teenager in love. Whether it was sneaking around the library (“Young Adult Friction”) or outcast alienation (“Stay Alive”), the Pains’ self-titled album was more than retro. It was a recollection. [William Trinity III]

6. St. Vincent, Actor
Annie Clark represents that new kind of indie pop artist, one who is comfortable crossing lines, both across and within genres. With Actor, her second album as St. Vincent, she boldly asserts her unique voice. Conceptually consistent, within 40 minutes the album spans pop, orchestra, folk, and electro, but everything is a bit warped, as if reflected in a fun-house mirror. The lyrics are dark and yet moving stories, a mix of St. Vincent Millay and St. Vincent de Paul. The music, to quote the artist herself is, “whimsical, delightful, but also disgusting.” Richly arranged orchestration shares the ear with grinding, distorted guitar and experimental, layered sounds masquerading as music. Her moving voice, the beautiful balance. As with real actors, in Actor nothing is quite what it seems, making you forget that it could be anything different. That is the mark of true art. [Mark Mansfield]

7. Mastodon, Crack the Skye
Mastodon has always been a metal band for the non-metal type. And their fourth studio album, Crack The Skye, expands their mass appeal without sacrificing any of the virtuosity in the instrumentation or potency of their lyrics. This album marks an evolution in the band’s craftsmanship by merging their well-known conceptualism with real and personal events. Mastodon delves deeper than ever before into melodic vocals and continue to push what a metal band can be. [Eric Masi]

8. Neko Case, Middle Cyclone
With each of her seven studio LPs, Case has incrementally transformed herself from honky-tonk rabble girl to Americana uber-frau. The screaming pop hooks and slicing lyrics on this LP are the final advance of her manifest destiny, blasting through the listener’s mind like, well, uh… a cyclone, and firmly establishing Case as the best country artist of her generation. She’s 39, and still a young pup by country standards, so perhaps even better material awaits all of us. [Joe Mitchell]

9. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
With a focused set of 10 tracks, the Frenchmen of Phoenix birthed Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, an airy 36-minute dance, dream pop journey tactfully infused with elements reminiscent of the 1980s, disco-era pop and European electronica. The record, which debuted in May, possesses an earnest tone paired with the intellect of a concept album without the indie snobbery. From the inescapable “1901″ to the experimental and daring “Love Like a Sunset” to the lamenting rave-laden “Rome,” the album’s sonic hues are eclectically diverse and so damn catchy, first-time listeners are bound to stumble across a hook they just can’t quit. [David Cawthon]

10. Passion Pit, Manners
Catchy and fun without being insipid and pandering, Manners is nothing if not a good time. Sure, electronic indie rock seems to be the flavor of the week, but Michael Angelakos keeps the beats and ditches the lazing psychedelia for a refreshing, lively effort that’s easily satisfying from start to finish. If are riding a wave, they’re at least doing it on one leg and without a life preserver, which is definitely worth a high five. [Natalie David]

11. Joe Henry, Blood From Stars
Joe Henry is best known for his conjuring of mystery (Tiny Voices) and manners (Civilians), but Blood from Stars is something else altogether. Wild and wooly and a little weird, Henry writes in earthy blues, and not since Jack White chained himself to a peppermint color scheme have self-imposed artistic constraints yielded such astonishing fruit. There are flamenco ballads, jazz interludes, and tipsy folk songs, too, on this monstrous album that explores God and love and trouble — the usual blues topics — with a cadence all its own. [Josh Hurst]

Narrowly missing the list: Flaming Lips, Richard Hawley, Jay-Z, The XX, Manchester Orchestra, Fun.