Having gotten my obvious choices out of the way, it's now time for the albums that didn't quite make it. These 5 albums were all amazing, I just didn't think they were part of my Top 5 for the year. Still, attention they deserve, and attention they will get. So without further ado, I present my Top 5 underdog albums of 2009, in no particular order.
Another All Songs Considered discovery for me. The album itself disappointed the show's host after he saw them live, but I loved it. They have a sort of band of hippies quality to them, but even though you were likely beaten down and brought to absolutely hate "hippies" with the resurgence of the trend this decade.
A clarification: The kids who wore Pink Floyd shirts and smoked pot in your high school weren't hippies. This band, is much closer to the title -- just a completely harmless, ragtag group of musicians. You can't help but find them adorable. And I'm not sure why I turned this into a whole conversation about hippies simply because the band reminds me of them, but I'm leaving it this way.
Continue Reading------}
What is it about places like Iceland, or in this case Denmark, putting out all the great, spacey, "progressive" rock music. Come on, America! We can out-arthouse them any day of the week! Where's our next Radiohead?
I absolutely loved And the Glass Handed Kites, so No More Stories disappointed me at first. It was much more calm and soothing a release, but eventually I came to accept it as still amazing, even if it was much less... intense.
Hawaii
When I heard that Robert Ashley, a game journalist I knew of from podcasts, was putting out a CD, I never imagined it would be good. Then the sample song he played ingrained itself in my head and wouldn't get out. So I downloaded the album when it came out.
"Blown away" is probably a good description. By the time I finished the first play-through, I wanted to listen to it again. In case you missed it, I even contacted Robert and interviewed him about it. You can find the interview here, and you can find the whole album, for a pay-what-you-want (including nothing) fee here.
Another Sunday Morning
I'm all for "super-groups". Can the combination of two people from two bands be a super-group? Either way, I like Ra Ra Riot and I like Vampire Weekend, so when a member from each came together to put out this CD under the name, Discovery, I was interested.
This was an album that slowly grew on me. I gave it a listen, enjoyed it, and put in some other music. Throughout that first week with it, I kept coming back to it, though. I hope that they seperate from their respective bands again in the future and put out a follow-up.
Osaka Loop Line
With every release Big D try out a new sound. It keeps things interesting, and keeps me coming back. On this CD, they've invented "stroll", which is some sort of almagamation of ska-like genres. I'm not one for classifications, but if they call this stroll, then I love stroll.
It's just plain fun. Back when Fluent in Stroll came out, and I was tweeting up a storm to absolutely no one, I would frequently call it the album of the summer. That still holds true. In 2010 when the weather gets warm, I want you to blast this from your car as you drive around with the windows down. Going to the beach? Bring a boombox. Whatever it takes, because it will bring smiles to the faces of those around you. If it doesn't, then you will know they are demons and you can slay them appropriately.
Doped Up Dollies
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment