The Best of 2009

It's been a long one, but the end of 2009 is finally here. Figured I'd throw my hat into the ring and offer up my list of the best records of the year. Everyone else is doing it, amirite?

Here's what grabbed me in 2009:


RECORD OF THE YEAR

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble S/T

There's so much to love about this band -- their pedigree, the strong roots of family, their story of coming up in the subway stations and the streets of NYC. But it all comes back to the music, and woah, what awesome music this is. Driving and complex and upful and funky and full of terror and just... hypnotic. Extra bonus points for their purity: HBE is a truly organic band. Aside from a little bit of electric synth and a bass on one song, this whole album is done with acoustic instruments. Brass, drums, hand claps and voice, all burning with the intensity of a hundred suns.






NOTABLES, IN NO ORDER


Wooden Shjips "Dos"

Kling-klang gets stoned on NorCal indica and rides a motorcycle from Dusseldorf to the Redwoods without a helmet.




Dan Auerbach "Keep It Hid"

Scary gospel-garage-delta blues from a beardo white guy. His other band (Black Keys) doesn't have a bass player, which is criminal, but this album redeems him and then some.




A.A. Bondy "When the Devil's Loose"

Dark dreamy stuff. So full of hooks, you could put it on the end of a line, throw it in the ocean and haul up a shark.




Jason Lytle "Yours Truly, the Commuter"

Former Grandaddy man moves north and comes back with this batch of beauties. Sad and gorgeous.




Atlas Sound "Logos" (real & leaked)

I can't decide which version of this album I like better, the leaked and chaotic "unmastered" version or the tidied-up "official" version. Both good enough to be one of the years' best. Wins points for creepy Marfan's fetishist cover art. "Logos" is one of the two OMG-hipster-beloved records from this year that actually didn't get deleted off the iPod after half a dozen listens.




Real Estate "S/T"

The other one.




Medeski, Martin and Wood "Radiolarians III"

The experimental jazz trio took a chance on this year-long Radiolarians project and came out the other side with their strongest album in years. It flows like the Mississippi -- the whole first side plays like the soundtrack to a movie about a Frenchman who kills his wife in a fit of passion and escapes to Japan where he winds up at a PJ Harvey concert. And side two reminds me of an awesome night in New Orleans spent eating Jamaican food.




Mulatu Astatke & Heliocentrics "Inspiration Information 3"

Ethiopian god-on-Earth Mulatu goes into a London studio with Malcom Catto's electric funk ensemble and this happens. It's so good, has so many awesome flavors, and just cooks. Put it on at your next party and watch the heads nod.




White Rainbow "New Clouds"

The best ambient release this year. This is the one album that I keep putting on repeat whenever I get to the end of it. It's thick and gauzy, but it floats by like a dream and you think you missed something because you got lost in the sounds, so you just want to hear it again. Deep like Atlantis.




Lotus Plaza "The Floodlight Collective"

An afternoon spent in the fading sunlight under a blossoming apple tree with a guitar, a drum machine and seven miles of tape delay.




Caetano Veloso "Zii & Zie"

The man with the most beautiful voice in the world drops another bomb. He's 67 years old and still relevant, musically and culturally. "Zii & Zie" uses the same band as his last record, "Ce," and they ride the razor's edge with these sharp Motorik grooves. Expertly produced by CV's son, Moreno. Features the outstanding guitar work of Pedro Sa, Brazil's answer to Marc Ribot.




John Zorn "O'o"

The Dreamers band is back for a second trip. It's cinematic surf music on the surface, but it goes deep into ambient, lounge, noisy jazz and Sephardic themes. Vibraphones and exotic percussion sounds abound. Features the outstanding guitar work of Marc Ribot, New Jersey's answer to Pedro Sa.




Mayer Hawthorne "A Strange Arrangement"

Most of these retro-soul releases are pretty blah. They get the sound right, but the songwriting is weak or it just sounds cliched. This is the opposite -- killer funk hooks, beautiful ballads, the tightest rhythm section on wax and Mayer's beautiful and oddly throaty voice above it all. Bonus for putting the tambourine to such good use.




Sonny & The Sunsets "Tomorrow Is Alright"

San Francisco's own Sonny Smith and his rotating cast of characters. Little stories in songs, sung with an acoustic guitar and an antique vibe. Lyrics walk the line between funny and sad, the music is warm and timeless.




Wilco "S/T"

From Chicago. Watch these guys, they're gonna be big.



Mount Eerie "Wind's Poem"

Each of Phil Elverum's songs on this disc is an emotional masterpiece. I consider this a companion to his awesome "Dawn" book and album from a couple of years ago. It sounds like winter in Norway, stillness and drugs.




Jimi Tenor & Kabu Kabu "The Fourth Dimension"

West African jams as charted by weirdo Finnish multi-instrumentalist Jimi Tenor. It has a heavy Sun Ra/Pharaoh Sanders vibe at times (especially with the cheesy lyrics), but if that bugs you, just zone out on the amazing horn arrangements and the huge Afro-strut beats.




OTHER STUFF:

Best Reissues: The Beatles boxes, Kraftwerk "Autobahn" and Red Red Meat "Bunny Gets Paid"

Best Non-Audio Music Artifact: Velvet Underground "New York Art"

Best Music Docs: "Medeski Martin & Wood: Fly in a Bottle" by Billy Martin, "Wilco: Ashes of American Flags" by Brendan Canty, "Soul Power" by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, "Anvil" by Sacha Gervasi and "Iron Maiden: Flight 666" by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn

Best things that happened to me, musically: My band put out its debut album. My podcasts were featured by Ropeadope


BEST LIVE SHOWS OF THE YEAR

The Lions at Slim's in San Franciscio
Sunny Day Real Estate at the Fillmore
Phish at Shoreline Amphitheater
Charlie Hunter Quintet at Yoshi's SF
MyCoy Tyner with Marc Ribot at Yoshi's Oakland
Juana Molina at YBCA
Earthless at Cafe Dunord
Bart Davenport at Cafe Dunord
Ween at Eureka Theatre


BEST ALBUMS OF THE DECADE, IN NO ORDER

PJ Harvey "Uh Huh Her"
M. Ward "Transfiguration of Vincent"
Jan Jelinek "Kosmischer Pitch"
Medeski, Martin and Wood "The Dropper"
Bar Kokhba Sextet "Live at Tonic: John Zorn's 50th Birthday"
Cass McCombs "A"
Ween "Quebec"
Bonnie Prince Billy "Ease Down the Road"
Virgil Shaw "Quad Cities"
Kelley Stoltz "Below the Branches"
Little Joy S/T


SINGLE OF THE DECADE:

Squarepusher "My Red Hot Car"