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Pitchfork Media's Top 50 Albums of 2009

post #1 of 48
12/17/09 at 3:57pm
Thread Starter 
Here's their Top 50 albums list for this year! So far they only have albums 50-26 listed, so as soon as the top 25 are posted I'll update the list on here.

HONORABLE Mention:
The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
The Clientele - Bonfires on the Heath
Converge - Axe to Fall
Delorean - Ayrton Senna EP
The-Dream - Love vs Money
Emeralds - What Happened
The Field - Yesterday & Today
Fool's Gold - Fool's Gold
Freddie Gibbs - The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs/Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik
Future of the Left - Travel With Myself and Another
Here We Go Magic - Here We Go Magic
Javelin - Jamz n Jemz
Julianna Barwick - Florine EP
Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care
Kurt Vile - God Is Saying This To You
Lindstrom and Prins Thomas - II
Maxwell - BLACKsummers'night
Megafun - Gather, Form & Fly
Morissey - Years of Refusal
Omar-5 - Fabric 45
Oneida - Rated O
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
The Smith Westerns - The Smith Westerns
Various Artists - Dark Was The Night
Washed Out - Life of Leisure EP

Top 50 Albums of 2009:

50. Woods - Songs of Shame
49. Cass McCombs - Catacombs
48. Doom - Born Like This
47. Zomby - Where Were You in '92?
46. Dan Deacon - Bromst
45. The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come
44. tUnE-yArDs - BiRd-BrAiNs
43. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
42. A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
41. Baroness - Blue Record
40. Mos Def - Ecstatic
39. Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor
38. Major Lazer - Guns Dont Kill People, Lazers Do
37. The Antlers - Hospice
36. Dinosaur Jr - Farm
35. JJ - JJ no 2
34. Passion Pit - Manners
33. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
32. Bear in Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
31. Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
30. Royskopp - Junior
29. Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
28. Micachu and the Shapes - Jewellry
27. Various Artists - 5: Five Years of Hyperdub
26. Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP


I'll update this thread with the top 25 as soon as it's posted
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post #2 of 48
12/17/09 at 4:00pm
Man, Mos Def should be higher than Laser Blazer. The Ecstatic is a damn good album.
The LB album is good, but not half as awesome as Ecstatic.
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post #3 of 48
12/17/09 at 4:28pm
Man I am out of touch. I am a fan of Mos Def and I didn't even know he released an album this year.
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post #4 of 48
12/17/09 at 4:32pm
Get it. Also, his track on Blakroc is damn good.
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post #5 of 48
12/17/09 at 4:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
Get it. Also, his track on Blakroc is damn good.
Yeah, saw the video. How's the rest of the album?
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post #6 of 48
12/17/09 at 4:39pm
I like it a lot. If that intro track doesn't make you pump your fist in the air, check your pulse!
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post #7 of 48
12/17/09 at 4:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
I like it a lot. If that intro track doesn't make you pump your fist in the air, check your pulse!
Hah, yeah it's awesome.
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post #8 of 48
12/17/09 at 5:15pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah the new Mos Def is indeed a great album. If it only made it to #40 on their list, I'm curious as to what they deemed to be in the top 25.
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post #9 of 48
12/17/09 at 7:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
Man, Mos Def should be higher than Laser Blazer. The Ecstatic is a damn good album.
The LB album is good, but not half as awesome as Ecstatic.
Totally agree. I've been meaning to check out Blackroc, too. Gotta get on that.
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post #10 of 48
12/17/09 at 10:48pm
Hmmmmm. I wonder what could be #1? Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion? I just can't get into that band.
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post #11 of 48
12/18/09 at 1:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Abed View Post
Hmmmmm. I wonder what could be #1? Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion? I just can't get into that band.
Yup. I figured there were three obvious ways Pitchfork could have gone here - MPP, Bitte Orca, and Veckatimest, and maybe a few less obvious choices like Fever Ray. I was surprised to see the xx score so high. Maybe it's because it's relatively new, but it just doesn't register as a great album to me - just a good one.

If you haven't heard the new Animal Collective, it might turn you around on them a little. My love-ambivalence-hate relationship with them has become less album-by-album and more song-by-song, and this is the first one on which the songs I love pretty thoroughly outweigh the songs I hate. "My Girls" and "Summertime Clothes" are probably the two most likely to win you over.

There are a number of albums that I'd rather listen to from this year, but I get why AC is #1 this time, and I generally haven't agreed with their high placement in the past.
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post #12 of 48
12/18/09 at 1:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB View Post
If you haven't heard the new Animal Collective, it might turn you around on them a little.
Seconded. I'm kinda like you in that I tend to like them more on a song-by-song basis...I wasn't nuts about the whole of MPP but there were definitely some strong, infectious stand-out tracks. But Fall Be Kind kinda kicked me in the gear. I love that EP.

Also, glad to see Baroness' Blue Record on there. They killed it with this one.
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post #13 of 48
12/18/09 at 1:38pm
Fever Ray is an awesome album.

Surprised The XX is so high too.

I don't get the Bat For Lashes love for Two Suns. There's good tracks on it, but it's light years away from Fever Ray and Phoenix.

I tried Baroness, but the grunting puts me off. Also tried Animal Collective, and yep, My Girls and Summertime Clothes are indeed catchy, but it's not really my cup of tea.
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post #14 of 48
12/18/09 at 1:54pm
I have never listened to any of those albums ever, nor have I heard of any of the bands/artists before.

Hmmm...

EDIT: I take that back. I've heard of Morrissey and Mos Def.
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post #15 of 48
12/18/09 at 1:58pm
The xx are number 3! That's awesome!

Also, am I the only one who hates that Neon Indian shit?
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post #16 of 48
12/18/09 at 1:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Savage View Post
Fever Ray is an awesome album.

Surprised The XX is so high too.

I don't get the Bat For Lashes love for Two Suns. There's good tracks on it, but it's light years away from Fever Ray and Phoenix.

I tried Baroness, but the grunting puts me off. Also tried Animal Collective, and yep, My Girls and Summertime Clothes are indeed catchy, but it's not really my cup of tea.
I don't get Fever Ray, but, given Pitchfork's ongoing hard-on for The Knife, I figured it would score high. The songs accompany the videos well, but I just didn't find it very satisfying as a listening experience. As on Silent Shout, those overwrought, treated vocals drive me nuts.

The Phoenix album is almost certainly in my top 10, but it's still kind of coasting on a few really, really good songs - how many critics and fans are talking up the songs that aren't "1901" and "Lizstomania"? Two Suns is more consistent.
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post #17 of 48
12/18/09 at 2:08pm
Yeah, I like a lot of the other songs, like "Love Like A Sunset 1 & 2," but it's the singles that really soar. It might not make my top 10 because of that.

As for Fever Ray, speaking as someone who LOVED Silent Shout, I couldn't get into it. It was a little too mellow for me. Silent Shout was mellow at times but had peaks and valleys.
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post #18 of 48
12/18/09 at 2:17pm
Considering how many of the albums I haven't heard on the list, I can't say this with any kind of utter shock, but I'm a little surprised Volcano Choir's Unmap didn't make it. It got an 8.3 and a Best New Music while Bon Iver's Blood Bank EP, which did make it, got a 7.9.

Both deserve to be on the list, and they function sort of as companion pieces, but Volcano Choir might be the slightly more impressive accomplishment.
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post #19 of 48
12/18/09 at 2:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parker View Post
Yeah, I like a lot of the other songs, like "Love Like A Sunset 1 & 2"
Really the only two other standout tracks for me, personally. Also, I like "Rome" and "Fences" a lot.
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post #20 of 48
12/18/09 at 2:37pm
Phoenix has a fun album. I'd say Bat for Lashes is the one with killer singles and a quite boring set of leftovers.

And Dave, if you don't love The Knife, there's no hope for Fever Ray. I love both, but I understand Parker as to why he's not getting in love with it.

And too bad Vampire Weekend is releasing their album in a month, because it ouwld have been a solid top 10 pick.
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post #21 of 48
12/18/09 at 2:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
Really the only two other standout tracks for me, personally. Also, I like "Rome" and "Fences" a lot.
fuck I just realized that those tracks along with the singles = pretty much the whole album. Disregard, I need more coffee.
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post #22 of 48
12/19/09 at 12:01pm
Can't get into Phoenix, either. Not that I don't like 'em, but many of the albums that have been getting widespread acclaim this year haven't wowed me like I was hoping. And I don't think it has anything to do with expectations.
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post #23 of 48
12/19/09 at 12:19pm
Speaking of Animal Collective...I just read this amusing email that a friend of mine sent me. Her feelings on AC are a little stronger than mine, apparently. Love her to pieces.

Did you see the Pitchfork list of the top 100 songs of the year? http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-...racks-of-2009/ Animal Collective at #1? Please. Animal Collective features that freak Panda Bear, that abysmally crappy band that all the critics were raving about last year. Music critics in general are pretty stupid, but the ones at Pitchfork seem especially brain-dead. In fact, I'm thinking I'll start a band. I'll call it....I dunno...Polar Bear? And I'll just record a bunch of random noises and send it to the critics at Pitchfork. They'll love it, and then hipster douchebags everywhere will rush out to buy it. Let me know if you want in on this project; I think its gonna be big.
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post #24 of 48
12/19/09 at 12:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Savage View Post
And Dave, if you don't love The Knife, there's no hope for Fever Ray. I love both, but I understand Parker as to why he's not getting in love with it.
Whoa there. I really don't care for The Knife, but Fever Ray just blew me away. Seeing the live show might've helped. TK is too 'Nordic Dance' for me, but FR reminds me more of dark triphop like Tricky or Massive Attack.

The Sun O))), Baroness and Isis definitely belong there. Great music for metalheads & non-metalheads alike.
On the brink, I'd like to recommend Edan's Echo Party. No original material, but he treats some obscure oldschool hiphop with such irreverence it becomes his own, psyched-out shit. Not for everyone, but definitely one of the more peculiar records of the year.
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post #25 of 48
12/19/09 at 12:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Abed View Post
Please. Animal Collective features that freak Panda Bear, that abysmally crappy band that all the critics were raving about last year.
Abysmally crappy? No, they're pretty good, lady. Not AMAZING, but I can see the appeal and it's kinda hard to deny their musical talent.
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post #26 of 48
12/19/09 at 12:46pm
I do not get the continuing fascination with hipster exotism though. Major Lazer, Buraka SS, or 'The Very Best', all rooted in sounds that are very cheap and mainstream- loved by the same people who'd look down their noses on the Western equivalent of that crap.
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post #27 of 48
12/19/09 at 3:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheftournel View Post
Whoa there. I really don't care for The Knife, but Fever Ray just blew me away. Seeing the live show might've helped. TK is too 'Nordic Dance' for me, but FR reminds me more of dark triphop like Tricky or Massive Attack.
Fever is more light than The Knife, but it shares the same DNA. Fever Ray is just slower, and darker. And Dave didn't like the singing, which is the same on both albums.
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post #28 of 48
12/19/09 at 4:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheftournel View Post
I do not get the continuing fascination with hipster exotism though. Major Lazer, Buraka SS, or 'The Very Best', all rooted in sounds that are very cheap and mainstream- loved by the same people who'd look down their noses on the Western equivalent of that crap.
I dunno. Someone once referred to it as "world music for people who have never left their hometown", and the shoe kinda fits in some cases.
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post #29 of 48
12/20/09 at 12:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Abed View Post
Did you see the Pitchfork list of the top 100 songs of the year? http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-...racks-of-2009/ Animal Collective at #1? Please. Animal Collective features that freak Panda Bear, that abysmally crappy band that all the critics were raving about last year. Music critics in general are pretty stupid, but the ones at Pitchfork seem especially brain-dead. In fact, I'm thinking I'll start a band. I'll call it....I dunno...Polar Bear? And I'll just record a bunch of random noises and send it to the critics at Pitchfork. They'll love it, and then hipster douchebags everywhere will rush out to buy it. Let me know if you want in on this project; I think its gonna be big.
So how poorly does the person who wrote this dress
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post #30 of 48
12/20/09 at 1:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
I dunno. Someone once referred to it as "world music for people who have never left their hometown", and the shoe kinda fits in some cases.
Is what I mean. There's a lot of 'world music' (let's use that horrid nomen for convenience sake) around that's simply amazing- I can wholeheartedly recommend Tinariwen's last album from this year, for example. But there's a lot of stuff around now that's influenced by very base local pop (yes, even MIA who I find horribly overrated), which was influenced by the most mainstream pap coming from the west in the first place. Yet filtered through the locale it came from, it suddenly turns into authentic gold? Can't get behind that.
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post #31 of 48
12/20/09 at 2:29pm
Thread Starter 
Here's the top 25 of the list:

25. DJ Quick and Kurupt - BlaQkout
24. Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
23. Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
22. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
21. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
20. Real Estate - Real Estate
19. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
18. Atlas Sound - Logos
17. The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa
16. Antony and the Johnsons - Crying Light
15. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
14. Neon Indians - Psychic Chasms
13. St. Vincent - Actor
12. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
11. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
10. Girls - Album
9. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
8. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
7. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
6. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
5. Raekwon - Only Built For Cuban Linx...Pt 2
4. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
3. The XX - The XX
2. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Overall, I'd say the list is pretty good, but at the same time pretty predictable I'd say. I was most surprised by the lack of Avett Brothers - I And Love And You...perhaps one of the better albums of the last few years.
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post #32 of 48
12/20/09 at 2:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Count Chocula View Post
So how poorly does the person who wrote this dress
Better than you and your strap-on barrel?
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post #33 of 48
12/20/09 at 3:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Savage View Post
Better than you and your strap-on barrel?
My friend would eat up Count Chocula alive in person. She's dealt with her fair share of douchebags.
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post #34 of 48
12/20/09 at 3:31pm
Thing is "it's a bunch of noise" is the go-to criticism when it comes to innovative rock music.

Plus, it doesn't seem to be an informed opinion - she seems to be basing her reaction to Pitchfork's list based not on the album in question, but on a solo album made by one of the members of the band that made the album in question. It's akin to saying that any list that has the Velvet Underground and Nico near the top of its greatest albums of all time list is total bullshit because the guy in that band put out his fair share of lousy solo albums.

I like Person Pitch, and MPP has some sonic similarities, but they're different enough that you can't judge one based on the other. And, as a few of us have mentioned, Animal Collective can really be a song-by-song band. They're not as easily generalizable as, say, The Hold Steady (whom I vastly prefer to AC, but their music is quite a bit more uniform).
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post #35 of 48
12/20/09 at 3:36pm
I dunno what she means by Panda Bear being a freak, either. Did he do something terrible that I'm unaware of?
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post #36 of 48
12/20/09 at 3:47pm
"Freak" is usually her slang for "creepy men who hit on her." Don't know if she ever ran into Panda Bear in the past...
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post #37 of 48
12/20/09 at 4:09pm
Well, the name Panda Bear has to come from somewhere....
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post #38 of 48
12/20/09 at 5:07pm
Equating Animal Collective (a band I don't even like) with "a bunch of random noises" is hilariously ignorant and kinda implies that this person has never even heard their music and is just making an uninformed snap judgment based on their "hipster" status. Cuz like, when I hear Animal Collective, I hear pop music. It's not Dave Burrell's Echo.
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post #39 of 48
12/20/09 at 5:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Savage View Post
Better than you and your strap-on barrel?
Really. Is this really the best you can do. That's sad, Martin.
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post #40 of 48
12/23/09 at 10:09am
The Animal Collective record is basically a bunch of normal, moderately artsy indie pop songs dressed up in strikingly tasteless production and arrangement gimmicks to vomitous effect.
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post #41 of 48
12/25/09 at 12:20am
Seeing "Album" and "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" in the top ten makes me very happy. I can't really get into Animal Collective, but I keep giving them chances, and I really like "My Girls."

Also, fuck yeah, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.
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post #42 of 48
12/25/09 at 12:58am
"Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" is a great fucking album. I know it's always the singles that get most of the attention but I really do think Rome is the best song on there.

I don't have a problem with that top ten actually and I'm really glad to see The XX as high as it is.
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post #43 of 48
12/25/09 at 4:11am
I honestly think the three tracks that follow "Lisztomania" and "1901" are some of the strongest stuff on the album.
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post #44 of 48
1/3/10 at 11:00pm
Dig The Antlers.
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post #45 of 48
1/4/10 at 2:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirby Drummond View Post
Dig The Antlers.
Shit's depressing. Good, though.
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post #46 of 48
1/4/10 at 10:35pm
Thread Starter 
Considering how widely acclaimed the Avett Brothers new album was, and how its shown up on just about every "top albums" list, I'm very surprised its not even on this list at all.
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post #47 of 48
1/5/10 at 1:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
Also, fuck yeah, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.
In theory I should love TPOBPAH, they namedrop all the right bands as influences and everything, but whenever I listen to their music I always find myself bored and just wanting to listen to the Pastels/the Wedding Present/Tiger Trap instead.
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post #48 of 48
1/5/10 at 2:40am
They're derivative as all get out, but I enjoy a couple of a songs enough to like the album. It's no best of the year, but it hits all the right notes. I can see why someone would be bored with it though. As Jay Reatard put it, "Pains of Being Boring at Heart."
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