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Best of 2009: “Album”

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[I'm participating in Gwen Bell's Best of 2009 Blog Challenge, in case you're all like, what's with the theme?]

Album of the year. What’s rocking your world?

I’m a music snob. An obsessive music snob. (I am other kinds of snob as well, but this post is about music.) In spite of–or because of?–that, I”m frequently late to the party when it comes to new music, and subsequently I often don’t realize that a band is phenomenal until a year or seven of them have gone by.  Or, I really, really want to hate something, and manage to avoid it for a good long while, until at last I can’t. (This will make more sense as you keep reading.) Then I listen to the same thing repeatedly for a very, very long time. None of this is normal, I know. I’ve made peace with it, though. Anyway, here are the top five songs I could not get enough of in 2009.

  • The Bones of You – Elbow. Looking more like the cast of a Guy Ritchie movie than a crazily-talented bunch of musicians, Elbow makes music that is richly melodic and expertly arranged. Lush vocals, deftly-written and biting lyrics. Near perfection, particularly in this insanely catchy, Spanish-influenced song.
  • Challengers – The New Pornographers. Well, let’s see. Strummy, quiet, quirky-yet-intense lyrics, featuring the wonderful Neko Case on lead vocals. How about yes. Favorite lines: “Be safe, you said/Whatever the mess you are, you mind”. Beautiful.
  • Night of the Lotus Eaters – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. [You were waiting for ol' Nick, weren't you.] Everything about this song is visceral. It’s like an auditory mosaic, dark, damp, and at once prehistoric and futuristic. The bassline is so killer, sounding like an ancient predatory fish trolling the depths of the ocean. Uplifting it ain’t–assuming the demise of civilization is not your idea of happy–but it’s so badass, its lyrics a dry snarl in the roar of the collective stupidity of the West, that it’s very difficult to resist. [Excellent for nighttime driving, too.]
  • Black Mirror – Arcade Fire. There’s nothing like a good bit of the theatrical for thrilling me. The Arcade Fire is very, very good at theatrics. (And that is a compliment.) The amazing mix of music, harmonies and carnival noises push me right over the edge. Like early Tim Burton for the auditory senses. [Also, I get a kick out of the screamy French counting.]
  • Fergalicious – Fergie. I know! I KNOW. Three years in, I finally succumbed. It’s vulgar. It’s sexist. It’s got a kick-ass beat. It’s catchy. It’s ridiculously silly. It makes me giggle. It reminds me of junior high school dances when Salt’n'Pepa’s “Supersonic” would come on. I don’t even know why that’s a good memory, frankly. Some things defy reason. This song is one of them.

What say you?