Most Memorable Music 2009
by: MikeD

Maybe it’s simply because I’m getting older, or maybe it’s the rigors of a particularly brutal job search beating down my self-assuredness, but it seems nearly impossible for me to imagine publishing a list of the “best” songs, records, or bands of 2009.  Which is not to say there hasn’t been great music in the past year, or opportunity to listen to it—with the proliferation of new listening services like lala and grooveshark, the great work on music blogs, podcasts and web communities (ahem, like this one), and new technologies for the archiving, editing, and distribution of music files, 2009 might mark the highest degree of musical literacy in American history.  Now, what we do with that literacy and technological ability, for good (Animal Collective) or ill (Bob Dylan’s revolting Christmas Album) is another thing entirely.  But back to the point - I don’t see a way that I could honestly offer you a list of the “best” records of the year.  Instead, I’m offering to you the music that, in my own particular little world, I will find most memorable or remarkable among 2009 releases.  Even “memorable” doesn’t quite capture the idea I’m after—2009 very well may go down as the year Lady Gaga became a superstar, so she at least deserves a mention here. Then again, I’m not sure anybody will remember the music she released, as her significance seems to be about persona and aesthetic more than any given song or album.  I’ve also not included albums from Wilco, Animal Collective, Raekwon, Neko Case, Bon Iver, The Decemberists and The Thermals - though all those albums are really good, I don’t think those albums are particularly memorable in light of those artists prior work. If I remember an Animal Collective album, it’s going to be Feels, even if Merriweather Post Pavilion is as great. I also haven’t included albums from Phoenix, Japandroids, and Zombi because I only got those this week.  M’bad.


1)  Miley Cyrus x Notorious B.I.G. - Party (and Bullshit) in the USA - hathbanger.com

Okay, this is mostly a joke.  But I do have to say, this song does represent a lot of what music is like right now - it’s both absolutely disgusting and strangely alluring, the product of the immense fan mash-up culture online and an enormous entertainment conglomerate, and juxtaposes the manufactured glossy corporatism of Miley Cyrus with a nostalgia for Biggie Smalls’ untouchable lyricism and aura of authenticity. Is this a sign of how much we’ve internalized corporate junk, or an example of how fans can take back the creative power from majors and make even the most disposable pop culture item something of their own?  These are the questions that have been simmering below the surface throughout the 2000s (remember when Girl Talk was just running between Clevo and Pgh doing shows at the Rex with Gil Mantera and Grand Buffet?), and will be only more present in the new decade.

2) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero - It’s Blitz! - Interscope Records

I know I made a big deal about saying that I wasn’t including music by bands who had made more memorable records, but for me It’s Blitz was an incredibly important record.  To me, it solidified the YYYs as one of the most important bands of the decade, up there with the White Stripes, Outkast, Wilco and Radiohead.  It made me listen to all their old records and marvel at their growth and staying power.  That’s something.

3) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Slumberland

My academic research is on the phenomenon of fifties nostalgia in the 1950s.  One of the interesting things that’s happened over the course of working on this project the last few years is how much I’ve noticed eighties nostalgia has crept into the late 2000s.  This record, and particularly this song, is highly reflective of that trend, with a bit of new wave, Morrissey, and 80s pop added to the mix.  This band’s name is terrible, granted, but it’s a good record.

4) Dananananaykroyd - Watch This! - Hey Everyone - Best Before

I first heard of this band after downloading a torrent of bands playing at SXSW, and immediately loved them.  So much energy, so much fun.  They rule. I probably listened to this band more than any other new discovery this year.

5) Mannequin Men - Rathole - Lose Your Illusion, Too - Flameshovel

These guys have been drawing a lot of comparisons to The Replacements lately, and for good reason—they do a kind of no-bullshit rocknroll that’s refreshing in light of all the dudes with beards, “glo-fi,” and Brooklyn folk that’s going around.  It’s kind of like if the Libertines went to a Big 10 school and drank MGD instead of doing junk, and had a lot of fun pissing people off in the process.

6) Mos Def - Casa Bey - The Ecstatic - Downtown

One of the more irritating things about this decade has been nerdy white dudes (like yours truly, unfortunately) holding forth on the merits of “true hip hop” like we know anything about anything.  Mos Def, starting with his collaboration with Talib Kweli on Black Star and his debut solo record Black on Both Sides became the paragon of so-called “conscious” hip hop that could be contrasted with the artless hip hop “mainstream”  (as if Mos Def, a guy who starred in a movie with Jack Black, was not “mainstream” himself).  Unfortunately through much of the decade Mos Def did little musically to warrant such praise, the odd track here and there notwithstanding.  This album represents the return to form that everyone’s been waiting for - drawing equally from MF Doom’s mad-scientist metaphors, Slick Rick’s old school lyricism, and a truly global sonic landscape, The Ecstatic was probably the greatest relief of any record I heard this year.  I didn’t necessarily expect it to be this good, but I really wanted it to be.

7) Dirty Projectors - Cannibal Resource - Bitte Orca - Domino

Sometime this summer, I was at Max’s Allegheny Tavern when my buddy Rev told me about this great record that he thought was called “Orca Butt.”  I never really thought much of the Dirty Projectors before Bitte Orca, but that story has enhanced my experience of that record by about 30%. And considering how much I enjoy it on its own, that’s saying something.

8) Cheeky - Two Faced Basket Case - What the Heck? - Freedom School

This Long Island/Brooklyn band broke up the day after I heard this album.  Sucks. No Idea is still selling their records, though.  T

9) Dear Landlord - Three to the Beach - Dream Homes - No Idea Records

There’s nothing particularly new about this band, but I’ve been looking for a band like this ever since The Ergs broke up.  Sometimes you need a reminder of how good it can feel to listen to a band that nobody else really cares about.  Possibly the record I needed most in 2009.

10) The xx - Islands - xx - Young Turks

I expected to hate this record, but I found myself listening to it on many a bus ride in Syracuse.  It manages to use a lot of electronic influences and arrangements without losing its warmth or intimacy. 

11-13)
Cheap Girls - Lab Technicians - My Roaring 20’s - Paper and Plastick
Girls - Lust for Life - Album - True Panther
Marked Men - My Love - Ghosts - Dirtnap Records

A few years ago the thing with band names was to put a color in your band name, preferably “White” or “Black.”  Then it was including an animal with sharp teeth, particularly “Wolf” or “Bear.”  This year it’s either calling yourselves “Men” or “Girls.”  I don’t know what any of this means, but I went along with it, and I’m happier for it.

14) Camera Obscura - French Navy - My Maudlin Career - 4AD

I have been hearing about Camera Obscura for years, but it wasn’t until this album that they really grabbed my ear. It might have just been that I needed to hear some other records first to find my way into them. I love those strings and harmonies—it’s what I’ve always loved from those bands like ELO, and they’re used to great effect here. 

15) Big Boi featuring Gucci Mane - Shine Blockas - Sir Luscious Left Foot - Jive

After all the dopes in the country started talking about how Outkast was simply the Andre 3000 show, this track from Big Boi leaked late in the year.  The album has been in limbo all year, bouncing between LaFace/Jive and Def Jam for months.  Yet another reason to believe record companies can’t do anything right.

16) Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks - Veckatimest - Warp

So I’ve already made fun of bands with animals in the title, dudes with beards, and indie folk darlings from Brooklyn.  But, um, this record is really reaaallly good. 

17) Mika Miko - I Got a Lot (New New New) - We Be Xuxa - Past Present Medium

Raise a glass for Mika Miko, who disbanded this October after their latest LP.  They were one of my favorite bands from the last couple of years, ever since I got a KRS care package including records from The Decemberists, Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, Gravy Train!!! and more.  Mika Miko were my favorite discovery from that package, because it seemed like they were one of the last punk bands left that didn’t care about their hair or their quote-unquote musicianship.  They played fast, they played loud, and they had a lot of fun. 

18) Banner Pilot - Farewell to Iron Bastards - Collapser - Fat Wreck Chords

And farewell to 2009.  Hopefully 2010 will be as good for music, and better for everything else.

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