Fuck ButtonsI'm not usually organised to do one of these but I've been swept up in the fever
The hardest part for me is always remembering what records actually came out this year, and not the previous, always confuses me! Lastfm actually really helps though - I looked through my top artists over the last 12 months only and that actually gives you a fair clue where to start
First of all a few honourable mentions that didn't quite make the cut:
Doom - Born Like This I didn't actually listen to this much and I think that was probably a shame. I was a HUGE Doom fan back in his MF days and he really opened a lot of doors for me in terms of listening to genres of music that weren't all guitar based. I have somewhat moved on from Doom now and as a result this only really got a couple of spins, but it is a solid, solid record, and one I should really go back to and give a proper chance
Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions Biffy, Biffy, Biffy. If you'd told me 5 years ago that I would be compiling a top 10 chart and Biffy never made the cut I'd have laughed at you. The fact is though, this is not a great record. It got more plays on lastfm than many other albums which I hold in higher regard, but that's just cos it's Biffy really. That Golden Rule is an absolute monster of a track and I love it, and rather controversially I have a soft spot for Mountains (which wasn't even meant to be on this record anyway!), but absolutely none of the other 10 tracks excite me, which is really sad. It just kind of plods along.
Converge - Axe To Fall If this came out a few months earlier I am almost certain it'd be in the top 10. The truth is I've only played this once, and I was immensely impressed, but becuase I only just got it I don't really think I can justify putting it in the top 10. Definetly one I will be listening to more though
We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls Sadly this did not become the third album by a local band freshly signed to Fat Cat Records to hit my #1 spot in as many years (Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters in 2007 and The Midnight Organ Fight in 2008). It is nevertheless a great effort, and they are solid songwriters and can write a hook, but for me they seemed to trap themselves in one single sound. Pretty much every track on the record sounds like the one before it, and for that reason it never made the cut.
The Cribs - Ignore The Ignorant Again, arriving quite late into the year this record still has a chance to grow on me. Hell, it was only a couple of months ago that I truly and fully got into 2007's Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever. There are a few standout tracks which have been released as singles, and City Of Bugs was a live standout, but I've yet to fully get swept up by the rest of the record. In any case it's lovely to see Johnny Marr recording again.
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport The latest band with a name to make my girlfriend wince when I tell her who I'm listening to follow up last year's excellent Street Horrrsing with this effort. This is another one that could easily find its way into my top ten with some retrospective. It's probably one of the most accomplished ALBUMS I'll be mentioning in this, in the sense that it is a flowing whole entity rather than just a collection of stand alone songs. However for the purposes of this chart this has worked against it somewhat. I often listen to music on shuffle and Tarot Sport is a bit more dificult to get into when they pop up randomly. Sit down and listen to the whole thing though and you're in for a treat. As a result though I haven't listened to this as much as perhaps it deserves to be yet.
Marmaduke Duke - Duke Pandemonium I am entirely shocked at how much I actually liked this record. I got a hold of some cheeky sampler songs (Everybody Dance, Silhouettes, Music Show) over 2 years before this was released and I despised them. It was a complete move away from the really quite enjoyable The Magnificent Duke and I was not impressed by their sudden decision to make bad dance-y pop. 2 years later where the album's been sitting finished but unreleased due to a mountain of red tape, and I have a discussion with an old friend. He tells me to check out the new single Kid Gloves, which I instantly love. He goes on to tell me that apparently they scrapped old recordings and completely re-wrote the record, which is why it took so long to come out. "Excellent" I think, pleased that the crap that was leaked would not be representitive of the record afterall. A couple of weeks later and the record drops... yup, they're still on there. I will admit, they have grown on me slightly, and certainly some of their attempts at this new dance-pop direction such as the catchy Rubber Lover are actually really chuffing good. Ultimately though it's a sporadic record with only a couple of gems on there. The Duke are an amazing live band and can really put on a memorable show, but their recorded output just does not capture this energy.
Part 2 will Go through 10-2 of my top 10 records of 2009
The hardest part for me is always remembering what records actually came out this year, and not the previous, always confuses me! Lastfm actually really helps though - I looked through my top artists over the last 12 months only and that actually gives you a fair clue where to start
First of all a few honourable mentions that didn't quite make the cut:
Doom - Born Like This I didn't actually listen to this much and I think that was probably a shame. I was a HUGE Doom fan back in his MF days and he really opened a lot of doors for me in terms of listening to genres of music that weren't all guitar based. I have somewhat moved on from Doom now and as a result this only really got a couple of spins, but it is a solid, solid record, and one I should really go back to and give a proper chance
Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions Biffy, Biffy, Biffy. If you'd told me 5 years ago that I would be compiling a top 10 chart and Biffy never made the cut I'd have laughed at you. The fact is though, this is not a great record. It got more plays on lastfm than many other albums which I hold in higher regard, but that's just cos it's Biffy really. That Golden Rule is an absolute monster of a track and I love it, and rather controversially I have a soft spot for Mountains (which wasn't even meant to be on this record anyway!), but absolutely none of the other 10 tracks excite me, which is really sad. It just kind of plods along.
Converge - Axe To Fall If this came out a few months earlier I am almost certain it'd be in the top 10. The truth is I've only played this once, and I was immensely impressed, but becuase I only just got it I don't really think I can justify putting it in the top 10. Definetly one I will be listening to more though
We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls Sadly this did not become the third album by a local band freshly signed to Fat Cat Records to hit my #1 spot in as many years (Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters in 2007 and The Midnight Organ Fight in 2008). It is nevertheless a great effort, and they are solid songwriters and can write a hook, but for me they seemed to trap themselves in one single sound. Pretty much every track on the record sounds like the one before it, and for that reason it never made the cut.
The Cribs - Ignore The Ignorant Again, arriving quite late into the year this record still has a chance to grow on me. Hell, it was only a couple of months ago that I truly and fully got into 2007's Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever. There are a few standout tracks which have been released as singles, and City Of Bugs was a live standout, but I've yet to fully get swept up by the rest of the record. In any case it's lovely to see Johnny Marr recording again.
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport The latest band with a name to make my girlfriend wince when I tell her who I'm listening to follow up last year's excellent Street Horrrsing with this effort. This is another one that could easily find its way into my top ten with some retrospective. It's probably one of the most accomplished ALBUMS I'll be mentioning in this, in the sense that it is a flowing whole entity rather than just a collection of stand alone songs. However for the purposes of this chart this has worked against it somewhat. I often listen to music on shuffle and Tarot Sport is a bit more dificult to get into when they pop up randomly. Sit down and listen to the whole thing though and you're in for a treat. As a result though I haven't listened to this as much as perhaps it deserves to be yet.
Marmaduke Duke - Duke Pandemonium I am entirely shocked at how much I actually liked this record. I got a hold of some cheeky sampler songs (Everybody Dance, Silhouettes, Music Show) over 2 years before this was released and I despised them. It was a complete move away from the really quite enjoyable The Magnificent Duke and I was not impressed by their sudden decision to make bad dance-y pop. 2 years later where the album's been sitting finished but unreleased due to a mountain of red tape, and I have a discussion with an old friend. He tells me to check out the new single Kid Gloves, which I instantly love. He goes on to tell me that apparently they scrapped old recordings and completely re-wrote the record, which is why it took so long to come out. "Excellent" I think, pleased that the crap that was leaked would not be representitive of the record afterall. A couple of weeks later and the record drops... yup, they're still on there. I will admit, they have grown on me slightly, and certainly some of their attempts at this new dance-pop direction such as the catchy Rubber Lover are actually really chuffing good. Ultimately though it's a sporadic record with only a couple of gems on there. The Duke are an amazing live band and can really put on a memorable show, but their recorded output just does not capture this energy.
Part 2 will Go through 10-2 of my top 10 records of 2009
