Best Pop CD's of 2009
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Joe Kwon, left, and Scott Avett of The Avett Brothers, played the 2008 Three Rivers Arts Festival, and this year showed maturity on "I and Love and You."
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As vintages go, this one's not going down in the books with a 1966 or 1977.
In other words, Rolling Stone might not have to make much room on its list of the 500 Best Albums of All Time for 2009's entries. Still, the last year of the decade did produce its gems, and they came in varieties ranging from hillbilly folk to Euro power-pop to garage-rock revival. There's even a rock opera thrown in there.
Here's the list:
1. Avett Brothers "I and Love and You": There isn't a hint of a scream or shout until track 5, and string-breaking banjo jams are few and far between, so this isn't the go-to record for the Avett's wilder side. But working for the first time with Rick Rubin, the North Carolina trio puts aside its boyish ways for a more polished, mature record that emphasizes its confessional songwriting, delicate melodies and exquisite blend of pop and bluegrass picking. Next time around, the Avett Brothers might come back and blow the roof off. This time, it's a more quiet kind of heartbreak.
2. Phoenix "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix": Boston was from Boston. Chicago, Chicago, etc. Phoenix comes not from the scorching Southwest, but from the Parisian suburb of Versailles, which also produced Daft Punk and Air. On its fourth album, Phoenix produced the most exuberant album of the year mixing the pulsing beats of LCD Soundsystem with the pop euphoria of the Shins. While "Lisztomania," "1901" and "Lasso" are as addictive as Skittles, the album manages to be seamless from start to finish.
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "It's Blitz": Karen O may have moved beyond the crazed punk of "Tick," but she hasn't exactly mellowed either. With her arsenal of coos, yelps and squeals, there are few singers more daring. This third full-length wrenches us back to the New Wave era while also zooming forward with an electronic buzz supplied from producers Nick Launay (Nick Cave) and TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek.
4. Riverboat Gamblers "Underneath the Owl": For a while I played the fourth album from the Austin punk band too caught up in how much it rocked and how catchy it was to even pick up on the painful stuff going on underneath. As the band rages full bore, singer Mike Wiebe chronicles his madness and reaches for the meds on songs like "A Choppy Yet Sincere Apology" and frantic insomniac anthem "Sleepless."
5. the xx, "xx": There have already been two punks bands called X and one called The Ex, so you'd naturally expect the xx to be double the noise. Quite the opposite. This is haunting ambient pop played in lower case with arrangements so spare and compelling it has people using phrases like "negative space." Over top the reverbed-out guitar and quietly pulsing basslines, London's Romy Croft and Baria Quershi exchange bedroom vocals that are soft, sensual and weary.
6. Dan Auerbach, "Keep it Hid": On the heels of "Attack and Release," a soulful expansion of the Black Keys' usual stomp and grind, the frontman digs even deeper for his first solo record with Nuggets-style garage rock and swampy Delta blues topped by his lonesome growl and torrid guitar work.
7. The Decemberists, "The Hazards of Love": Colin Meloy never got the memo that bands don't make rock operas in the iTunes era. "Hazards" is a full-blown one about a young lass, a shape-shifting beast, a jealous forest queen and a murderous rake, served up with everything from British folk to prog to hammering metal. You can choose to follow the story or just free your mind and get mesmerized by the beauty.
8. Jay-Z "Blueprint 3": Yeah, there's a lot of chest-thumping on this third album since his retirement, but Jay backs it up with a handful of killer singles featuring first-rate cameos by Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Kanye West and young Kid Cudi.
9. Built To Spill, "There is No Enemy": Yet another expansive guitar record from one of indie-rock's finest. Frontman Doug Martsch seems to be wrestling some heavy emotional demons here and what results is passion in the lyrics and guitar jams that alternate between ferocious and beautifully atmospheric.
10. Reigning Sound, "Love and Curses": You could slip one of these songs on the Mad Mike collection of '60s garage rock and no one would blink. The Memphis band, led by the gravel-voiced Greg Cartwright, bash out breathless, soulful organ-drenched rock 'n' roll as if they're trying to get on a bill with the 13th Floor Elevators or the Animals.
Honorable Mentions: Lily Allen, "It's Not Me, It's You"; Swell Season, "Strict Joy"; Eels, "Hombre Lobo"; Morrissey, "Years of Refusal"; Silversun Pickups, "Swoon"; Harper Simon, "Harper Simon."
1. Jay-Z "Empire State of Mind": Jay-Z's first No. 1 hit gets a huge assist from Alicia Keys, and even Sinatra might approve.
2. Phoenix, "Lisztomania": Seems to burst out of the speakers. Should songs this catchy even be legal?
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Heads Will Roll": Karen O's fierce addition to the throbbing New Wave playlist. Really, it's a toss-up between this and "Zero."
4. Lily Allen, "The Fear": British pop tart coos her way through a percolating piece of pop culture-bashing electropop.
5. Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance": Weirdo of the Year finds the missing link between Marilyn Manson and Madonna.
6. Black Eyed Peas, "Boom Boom Pow": The year's most ubiquitous hit was big, dumb and highly effective.
7. Phoenix, "1901": Them again, this time with an atmospheric buzz that helped sell Cadillacs.
8. Weezer, "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To": With a beat that rivals "Lust for Life," Rivers Cuomo tries joyfully to make his move.
9. Kid Cudi, "Day n Nite": Cleveland's finest deadpans through a hypnotic new stoner anthem.
10. Bob Dylan, "Must Be Santa": The year's most bizarre combination -- Dylan and Christmas -- takes a wild, accordion-powered sleigh ride. See video for full effect.
First Published December 17, 2009 12:00 am
