new 2009 albums

[Llama]

My roomate just turned me onto this new band called Hyperstory, their debut album comes out November 10th, http://www.hyperstory.com/, they have two singles up on the site right now, the song A Happening, sounds pretty good.

 

[Llama]

Not meaning to double post, but I finally got around to listening to BTS's new album, and its not their old stuff, but its good in its own right, I enjoyed it, I just need to listen to it a few more times.

 

[GatitoNeku]

Katatonia's Night is the New Day is pretty good, and The Qemists' Join The Q is good too

no one mentioned Porcupine Tree's new album (or is it just me didn't see anyone mention it?)

 

[DM]

Not meaning to double post, but I finally got around to listening to BTS's new album, and its not their old stuff, but its good in its own right, I enjoyed it, I just need to listen to it a few more times.

I gave it my usual cursory 5 listens, and I'm lukewarm on it. I didn't rate any songs 5 stars, and the rest average slightly above 3.5 stars. Now, I finally downloaded Brand New's Daisy, and I liked that much better. It can't touch The Devil and God..., but what can?

 

[Zoro]

I dont know why but I listened to Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster and I think its way better than her debut album. Dunno, has a kinda different feeling, and its actually good.

Still not my type of music though.


edit: I'd actually like sth like this for albums not only released in 2009 too.. like if I'd want to know what others here think about Arcade Fire's Funeral.

 

[Wishy]

I dont know why but I listened to Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster and I think its way better than her debut album. Dunno, has a kinda different feeling, and its actually good.

:jump:

It really is great, I'm a huge fan. She actually puts a lot of work into her music, and is a real artist - She isn't another sham like Miley Cyrus or a pop starlet who's only process in the music making is half-ass singing into a mic and then getting DUIs. She writes the music, she works on the production, she is involved in the music and the art. Her last album, The Fame, may have been a bit 'shallow' but it's an album about fame, sex, and drugs. It's not like Britney's 3 which is really pathetically shallow- Gaga uses smart lyrics and whatnot... And she's talented to. Listen to some of her acoustic pieces if you want hard evidence, she's great live. She's a true artist.

I think people are afraid of getting into her music because it's mainstream. I'd reccomend anyone who has shown any interest in acts like La Roux, or Lights, or other electro/synthpop acts like that. Just because Gaga's music is on the radio a lot doesn't mean it's bad. It's really good.

Her debut album and her latest album are probably some of my favorite albums, ever. I didn't even like pop music until her (I still hate most pop music, because Britney and Miley suck).

The Fame Monster drops upcoming Monday, please check it out!

 

[BigPDaMonsta]

edit: I'd actually like sth like this for albums not only released in 2009 too.. like if I'd want to know what others here think about Arcade Fire's Funeral.

That's me favorite arcade fire album by far!

but as for 2009... I've been listening to the new Royce Da 5'9" album non stop, along with US by Brother Ali and Eyedea & Abilities' By the Throat

edit: fuck Lady Gaga I've never given her music too much of a chance other than overhearing it at shitty parties that I leave, but her whole personality just strikes me as "artistic" masturbation

 

[moot]

:jump:

It really is great, I'm a huge fan. She actually puts a lot of work into her music, and is a real artist - She isn't another sham like Miley Cyrus or a pop starlet who's only process in the music making is half-ass singing into a mic and then getting DUIs. She writes the music, she works on the production, she is involved in the music and the art. Her last album, The Fame, may have been a bit 'shallow' but it's an album about fame, sex, and drugs. It's not like Britney's 3 which is really pathetically shallow- Gaga uses smart lyrics and whatnot... And she's talented to. Listen to some of her acoustic pieces if you want hard evidence, she's great live. She's a true artist.

I think people are afraid of getting into her music because it's mainstream. I'd reccomend anyone who has shown any interest in acts like La Roux, or Lights, or other electro/synthpop acts like that. Just because Gaga's music is on the radio a lot doesn't mean it's bad. It's really good.

Her debut album and her latest album are probably some of my favorite albums, ever. I didn't even like pop music until her (I still hate most pop music, because Britney and Miley suck).

The Fame Monster drops upcoming Monday, please check it out!

I've had the leak for about a week and to be honest, the only tracks I really am not a fan of are Alejandro and Speechless. Speechless reminds me a lot of queen, and her voice and usual style does not really compliment how the general aura of the sound plays out. Alejandro...had the makings to be something good, but it suffers from the same problems that Speechless suffers from. The latin style of the song just doesn't sound like her. I don't know, maybe I'm being too picky, it just doesn't sound right.

I do like, however, Bad Romance. It's a fantastic song (the video is so fucking trippy, I love it, particularly the shots when she is almost crying) and my favourite part is at around 4;00 when she fucking belts the lines. So fucking passionate. Monster and Teeth are also tracks that I really enjoy.

It's a good album, just has a couple tiny flaws. But it's definitely not unlistenable, as far as pop goes.

edit; i missed 'artistic masturbation' that is funny hahaha

Say Anything - Say Anything is fantastic. Still doesn't compare to ...Is a Real Boy (though nothing ever will, damn you, therapy and medication!) but it's millions of time better than their last album.

I gave this band my first listen through with this album and I really, really don't like them for some reason...it's a bit too poppy for my tastes (I know how ironic this is, considering I just gave Gaga an indepth review lol) and some of the tracks just seem really out of place.

edit again; (i hate doing this) Has anyone else given the new Animal Collective EP a listen? I like what I hear so far, particularly the way they've gone back to the softer, ambient stuff. The vocals are a little off, though. Still, it's AC. Can't not love them.

 

[Glen]

i'm pretty late to the party, but i just got casiotone for the painfully alone's vs. children

and it's really cute. pretty much the same fare as most of his older stuff but, like etiquette, it's substantially less lo-fi. he's still a really sad and honest guy.

the song optimist vs. the silent alarm is really good, check

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoY2_mQYGSE

 

[evan]

better late than never Glen :)

very cute album. me being the twee kid i am i love it a lot.

 

[Flounder]

I gave this band my first listen through with this album and I really, really don't like them for some reason...it's a bit too poppy for my tastes (I know how ironic this is, considering I just gave Gaga an indepth review lol) and some of the tracks just seem really out of place.

your issue is you started listening to Say Anything with this album.
I'll try to restrain myself on this subject - Say Anything isn't really a band most people like unless your first album is ...Is a Real Boy. It's the easiest way to get accustomed to Max Bemis's voice, lyrics, etc. and is definitely their best work.
I agree with the fact that this newest album is really poppy and doesn't flow that great, but a long-time Say Anything fan looks at this album and says "holy shit, that's a synthesizer in a Say Anything song."
So yeah. >_> really only an album you'll like if you're already into Say Anything, I guess.

 

[dysphonia]

Taste of Extreme Divinity by Hypocrisy and Life Starts Now by Three Days Grace were.. decent.

Otherwise this was a terrible year.

 

[Stoo]

i decided to check out vs children just now after being underwhelmed by etiquette a while back, but i'm enjoying this alot

 

[Nevermore]

Wolfmother's new Cosmic Egg album is pretty nice, they're not really breaking any new ground though. Pretty similar to their last album, maybe a bit more blues rocky but other than that it's still the same old Wolfmother.

I'm definitely not complaining about that though.

 

[Glen]

holy shit, i had no idea ryan gosling had a band but they're fucking amazing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEvF7qUf2Pc this is them, dead man's bones, performing live in a cemetary, it's fantastic

their album came out in october, you can find it on mediafire if you try hard enough. it's great when good actors are in bands that are actually respectable, especially when you consider like, jason schwartzman (he isnt THAT good but whatever) was in phantom planet lol

 

[Altmer]

I gave it my usual cursory 5 listens, and I'm lukewarm on it. I didn't rate any songs 5 stars, and the rest average slightly above 3.5 stars. Now, I finally downloaded Brand New's Daisy, and I liked that much better. It can't touch The Devil and God..., but what can?

As far as I'm concerned, not many things.

 

[gene]

just listened to venetian snares - filth, and it's fairly good although the reviews for it are generally negative. aggressive and pretty fucked up.

 

[Deschain]

just listened to venetian snares - filth, and it's fairly good although the reviews for it are generally negative. aggressive and pretty fucked up.

it's extremely underrated, and i honestly don't know why.

i think it's pretty fucking cool.

 

[The Real Lady Gaga]

:jump:

It really is great, I'm a huge fan. She actually puts a lot of work into her music, and is a real artist - She isn't another sham like Miley Cyrus or a pop starlet who's only process in the music making is half-ass singing into a mic and then getting DUIs. She writes the music, she works on the production, she is involved in the music and the art. Her last album, The Fame, may have been a bit 'shallow' but it's an album about fame, sex, and drugs. It's not like Britney's 3 which is really pathetically shallow- Gaga uses smart lyrics and whatnot... And she's talented to. Listen to some of her acoustic pieces if you want hard evidence, she's great live. She's a true artist.

I think people are afraid of getting into her music because it's mainstream. I'd reccomend anyone who has shown any interest in acts like La Roux, or Lights, or other electro/synthpop acts like that. Just because Gaga's music is on the radio a lot doesn't mean it's bad. It's really good.

Her debut album and her latest album are probably some of my favorite albums, ever. I didn't even like pop music until her (I still hate most pop music, because Britney and Miley suck).

The Fame Monster drops upcoming Monday, please check it out!

Thanks people!!!

 

[The Real Lady Gaga]

I am not going to be a narcissist and say I like my new album The Fame Monster, so I will say I like Britney Spears' songs, her new single "3" rocks, and I also like Pixie Lott with her songs "Boys & Girls".

 

[Flounder]

new 30 Seconds to Mars - This is War
Jared Leto does his whole "I'm going to vocalize for 20 minutes now" thing, but the instruments are still pretty good, and it's a solid album.
New Mighty Mighty Bosstones tomorrow, Pin Points and Gin Joints.
this year is winding down musically, was really hoping to see Cake's new album before year's end...
edit to not be annoying:
New Bosstones is great. Feels like Let's Face it Again. Less on the sax/trombone, but not as irritating as A Jackknife to a Swan was.
Hoping to see these guys live again when they play up in Boston in a few weeks.

 

[Dexterity]

I highly enjoyed these 2009 albums:

Sweet Trip - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence
Converge - Axe to Fall
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
Emery - ...In Shallow Seas We Sail
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Brand New - Daisy
Raekwon - Built 4 Cuban Linx pt. 2
Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect
Dance Gavin Dance - Happiness
maudlin of the Well - Part the Second
meWithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright
Sole and the Skyrider Band - Plastique

The next list are albums that I felt were good/okay and worth mentioning.

The Leisure Society - The Sleeper
Eleventh He Reaches London - Hollow Be My Name
The Antlers - Hospice
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
dredg - The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Kidcrash - Snacks
Cursive - Mama I'm Swollen
Thursday - Common Existence
Tiny Vipers - Life on Earth
Thrice - Beggars
Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
The Mars Volta - Octahedron
Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem
Atlas Sound - Logos
Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another
The xx - xx
fun. - Aim and Ignite
Propagandhi - Supporting Caste
Coalesce - ox
Shiina Ringo - 三文ゴシップ

 

[evan]

for the radio station i had to compile a top five of sorts for the year. it's really not in any particular order but here are the albums I came up with:

"Post-Nothing" by Japandroids

In a year where shit like Wavves got huge press for being recorded shittily, I lost all faith in the lo-fi aesthetic. These kids went and turned something great (see: Pavement, Guided by Voices) into something nauseating. Exaggerating their lo-finess to the point of mockery. Japandroids, on the other hand, did it exactly right. Their lo-finess isn't a gimmick to obscure bad songs, it is a necessary constraint that heightens fantastic songs. There was no better summer jam than "Wet Hair" and no song more touching than "Sovereignty" or "Young Hearts Spark Fire" released this year. These kids brought energy and, most importantly, sincerity to the lo-fi garage band genre that flooded this year with shit.

"Wind's Poem" by Mount Eerie

Phil Elverum is a genius. That cannot be stressed enough. All of his full lengths as both The Microphones and Mount Eerie are essential records as far as I am concerned, and this record is no different. Last year, he released two EPs (or mini-LPs) one called Black Wooden Ceiling Open and the other called Lost Wisdom. The former put some of his old songs into a new, harsher, black metal inspired style while the latter got rid of all of that and was merely a collection of some of the best acoustic pop songs out there. "Wind's Poem" favours heavily the former from the opening crash through the ending fade. This is a highly cinematic record and one I don't recommend you separate. There is a great dynamic between heavily distorted guitars and ambient drone that is brutally obvious in the first two tracks, the first being a wall of noise and the second an 11 minute keyboard drone. Fantastic all the way through, perfect for the winter, it will make you feel like you have lived through a journey.

"Fever Ray" by Fever Ray

I wrote a full review of this one so I will be brief. This is, quite simply, one of the best night time records out there. It sounds like it was crafted with the sole intention of highlighting the paranoia, insecurity, and neuroticism that darkness brings on. Solid hooks (seriously, synth pan flute?!), consistent atmosphere, and thought provoking vocals make this one that you will keep coming back to.

"Noble Beast" by Andrew Bird

I wrote a full review on this one, also. If you read it you will recall that I had a number of bones to pick with it. Fortunately, it turns out that those are relatively minor in the face of the accomplishment that is "Noble Beast." The first half remains weak, but the latter half of the album is so uniformly strong that you forget some of the weaknesses of the first. Tracks like "Anonanimal" or "Not a Robot but a Ghost" will go down as some of Bird's best. Of course, to get the full experience you really need to see this man live. His incredible talent juggling loops is enough to entertain even those who don't like his music (of which I would be surprised to find any).

"Texas Rose, the Thaw and the Beats" by Castanets

I have been a huge fan of Raymond Raposa (Castanets) since his second album, 2005's "The First Light's Freeze." He has a way of blending elements of sheer noise into gothic folk with such skill that you barely even notice (check the minute long pick slide on the track "The Thaw and the Beats"). His last album, the spacious and gloomy "City of Refuge," found Raposa holed up in some Nevada motel with just his guitar. The skeletal sounds were later supplemented by experimental noise passages entitled "High Plain." On that album, he separated the different aspects of his musical style, creating more of a curiosity piece for fans who wanted to see how he ticks. On this album, he resynthesizes all of the elements of his style to glorious effect. Starting off with skeletal folk, he slowly gains more and more partners in crime before losing them all and ending as he started: by himself. Another great winter record.

 

[Deschain]

it's getting down to crunch time, and here's what i have to work with.

in alphabetical order by album title.


UPDATED 12.15.09

lots of updates, marked with *'s.


albums i absolutely love

Depressed Mode: ...For Death...
fun.: Aim to Ignite*
Animals as Leaders: Animals as Leaders
Converge: Axe to Fall*
Zu: Carboniferous
Black Moth Super Rainbow: Eating Us
Fever Ray: Fever Ray
A Storm of Light: Forgive Us Our Trespasses
Mono: Hymn to the Mortal World*
Telefon Tel Aviv: Immolate Yourself
mewithoutYou: It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright
Saxon Shore: It Dosen't Matter
Passion Pit: Manners
Cloudkicker: Portmanteau*
A Storm of Light/Nadja: Primitive North
The Builders and the Butchers: Salvation is a Deep Dark Well
Tegan and Sara: Sainthood
Stendeck: Sonnambula
Shelter Red: Strike a Mortal Terror*
Espers: III*
Clark: Totems Flare
Harmonic 313: When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence

albums i like a lot and are still growing on me

Emery: ...In Shallow Seas We Sail*
If These Trees Could Talk: Above the Earth, Below the Sky
Tim Hecker: An Imaginary Country
Ben Frost: By the Throat*
Thursday: Common Existence
Nosaj Thing: Drift*
Adrian Belew: e
Adore: Emotion
Venetian Snares: Filth
Russian Circles: Geneva
Dalek: Gutter Tactics*
The Antlers: Hospice
AIR: Love 2
Cold Cave: Love Comes Close*
Sunn 0))): Monoliths & Dimensions
Nadja: Numbness
Owl City: Ocean Eyes
Rise of Caligula: Parading From Heaven's Descent
Natural Snow Buildings: Shadow Kingdom*
Transitional: Stomach of the Sun
Fuck Buttons: Tarot Sport
The Number Twelve Looks Like You: Worse Than Alone
Devendra Banhart: What Will We Be

albums that are decent that i'm still giving more time

Rodrigo y Gabriela: 11:11
Thrice: Beggers
Scale the Summit: Carving Desert Canyons
Brand New: Daisy
The Psyke Project: Dead Storm
HORSE the Band: Desperate Living
A Place to Bury Strangers: Exploding Head
Regina Spektor: Far
Om: God is Good
M. Ward: Hold Time
Marissa Nadler: Little Hells
Lights: The Listening
Blut Aus Nord: Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue with the Stars
Moldover: Moldover
Swallow the Sun: New Moon*
Nadja / Black Boned Angel: Nadja / Black Boned Angel*
Dolores O'Riordan: No Baggage
Fleshgod Apocalypse: Oracle*
Coalesce: Ox*
Serengeti & Polyphonic: Terradactyl
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble: There Be Dragons Here*
Emilie Simon: The Big Machine
Xerath: I*
The Bird and the Bee: Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future
Memory Tapes: Seek Magic
Kongh: Shadows of the Shapeless
Ahab: The Divinity of the Oceans
Kylesa: Static Tensions
Bat for Lashes: Two Suns
Volcano Choir: Unmap
Altar of Plagues: White Tomb
Celldweller: Wish Upon a Blackstar (not fully released yet)


albums that i'm not too big on but i haven't given up on yet

Whisper Room: Birch White
Wolves in the Throne Room: Black Cascade
Mastodon: Crack the Skye
Greymachine: Disconnected
My Dying Bride: For the Lies I Sire
Between the Buried and Me: The Great Misdirect*
Mew: No More Stories are Told Today I'm Sorry They Washed Away, No More Stories the World is Grey I'm Tired Let's Wash Away
maudin of the Well: Part the Second
Buried Inside: Spoils of Failure
Jeniferever: Spring Tides
Junius: The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist
Nadja: Under the Jaguar Sun
Third Eye Blind: Ursa Major

albums i'm not too big on

Nadja: Belles Betes
The Big Pink: The Big Pink*
Baroness: Blue Record
Nadja: Clinging to the Edge of the Sky
Exivious: Exivious
Kowloon Walled City: Gambling on the Richter Scale
Om: God is Good*
Harvestman: Harvestman
The Fiery Furnaces: I'm Going Away
Lady Sovereign: Jigsaw
Solstafir: Kold
The Lovemakers: Lets Be Friends
The Mars Volta: Octahedron*
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Sybreed: The Pulse of Awakening
Take a Worm For a Walk Week: The Monroe Transfer
Bibio: Vignetting the Compost*
The XX: The XX*

albums that i really don't like

Broken Spindles: Kiss/Kick
Cursive: Mama, I'm Swollen
Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Night Castle
Muse: The Resistance

 

[16.5th Dimension]

This has been a godd year of music for me

Julien K - Death To Analog (Debut album)
Genre: Electro-hard rock

Dead By Sunrise - Out of Ashes (Debut Album)
Genre: Hard rock with some synth influences + Chester Bennington's voice

Assemblage 23 - Compass
Genre: EBM

Zeromancer - Sinners International
Genre: Industrial rock with some synthetic influences

I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but these are some of my favorite albums of all time.