Flying LotusAnother year goes by and I realise how few 2009 albums I have given a proper seeing to. Therefore rather than produce a top ten where the tail end of said list would need to do little more than be slightly above average, I have decided to simply state the artists and albums that I have given the most time to this year regardless of a 2009 release. So here it is, in a vague order, the highlights of my musical listenings for 2009:
Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue/The Apple And The Tooth
Bibio's Ambivalence Avenue started as a fondness and became an obsession. I now adore it to bits, with the remixes album fitting in very nicely without milking his singning to Warp too much. In a similar way to my love of For Emma, Forever Ago last year, I discovered each song's brilliance in a completely random order rather than the album as a whole (unlike fellow warp man Flying Lotus' Los Angeles, another one of my obsessions this year). The fact that Bibio's two albums of this year differ from his previous work significantly, along with the pace with which he is coming out with EPs and LPs alike, makes me look forward to whatever he may do next.
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest/Yellow House
I'm gonna come out and say it immediately; I still prefer Yellow House. Not that Veckatimest is bad, to the contrary, I just find myself slightly losing my place in some of the middle ground of their 2009 effort whilst Yellow House remains one of my favourite all time albums... maybe I just don't want Veckatimest to be better...
Four Tet - Rounds
I actually bought this album when I saw it for a fiver in HMV, remembering both recommendations from friends and his collaboration with Burial on the brilliant Moth and Wolf Cub 12", and was blown away by both the quality and the variety.
Jónsi & Alex - Riceboy Sleeps
Helping me get to sleep for about half a year now: all the beauty of Sigur Rós turned down so that it wouldn't wake a baby.
Highlights to be expanded:
Passion Pit
Frightened Rabbit
Hudson Mohawke
Joy Orbison
Floating Points
Flying Lotus
The Tallest Man on Earth
Dirty Projectors
Atlas Sound
Volcano Choir
Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue/The Apple And The Tooth
Bibio's Ambivalence Avenue started as a fondness and became an obsession. I now adore it to bits, with the remixes album fitting in very nicely without milking his singning to Warp too much. In a similar way to my love of For Emma, Forever Ago last year, I discovered each song's brilliance in a completely random order rather than the album as a whole (unlike fellow warp man Flying Lotus' Los Angeles, another one of my obsessions this year). The fact that Bibio's two albums of this year differ from his previous work significantly, along with the pace with which he is coming out with EPs and LPs alike, makes me look forward to whatever he may do next.
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest/Yellow House
I'm gonna come out and say it immediately; I still prefer Yellow House. Not that Veckatimest is bad, to the contrary, I just find myself slightly losing my place in some of the middle ground of their 2009 effort whilst Yellow House remains one of my favourite all time albums... maybe I just don't want Veckatimest to be better...
Four Tet - Rounds
I actually bought this album when I saw it for a fiver in HMV, remembering both recommendations from friends and his collaboration with Burial on the brilliant Moth and Wolf Cub 12", and was blown away by both the quality and the variety.
Jónsi & Alex - Riceboy Sleeps
Helping me get to sleep for about half a year now: all the beauty of Sigur Rós turned down so that it wouldn't wake a baby.
Highlights to be expanded:
Passion Pit
Frightened Rabbit
Hudson Mohawke
Joy Orbison
Floating Points
Flying Lotus
The Tallest Man on Earth
Dirty Projectors
Atlas Sound
Volcano Choir
