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my favourites of 2009 in music

01. Broadcast and The Focus Group - Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age
02. A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
03. Fever Ray - S/T
04. The Pastels & Tenniscoats - Two Sunsets
05. Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
06. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - S/T
07. Pyramids with Nadja - S/T
08. Maribel - Aesthetics
09. Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind
10. A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head

11. Daphne Dawn - The Suntan Sorrow EP [shoegazing]
12. Ringo Deathstarr - Sparkler [shoegazing/noise pop]
13. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career [twee/dreampop]
14. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport [psychedelic/noise]
15. David Sylvian - Manafon [psychedelic/ethereal]
16. JJ - JJ n° 2 [dreampop/twee]
17. Black to Comm - Alphabet 1968 [psychedelic/noise/ambient]
18. Clark - Totems Flare [idm/experimental]
19. Various - Never Lose That Feeling Volume 3 [shoegazing]
20. Trentemøller - Harbour Boat Trips 01 - Copenhagen By Trentemøller [electronic/minimal]
21. The Black Ryder - Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride [psychedelic/shoegaze]
22. Nadja - When I See The Sun Always Shines On TV [drone/ambient/doom]

23. Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light [ethereal/dreampop]
24. Simon Scott - Navigare [ambient/drone/ethereal]
25. Ben Frost - By the Throat [experimental/noise]
26. Vivian Girls - Everything Goes Wrong [lo-fi/noise pop punk]
27. The Raveonettes - In And Out Of Control [rock/shoegazing]
28. Tribes of the City - Recipe Of The Golden Dream [dreampop/shoegazing]
29. Njiqahdda - Taegnuub: Ishnji Angma [psychedelic/dark ambient/black metal]
30. Various - Sci-Fi-Lo-Fi Vol.3 (Shoegazing 1985-2009) [shoegazing]
31. God Help The Girl - God Help The Girl [dreampop/twee]
32. The Voices - Death of a Lover's Song [dreampop/shoegazing]
33. Jesu - Opiate Sun EP [drone/experimental]

34. The Fauns - S/T [shoegazing/dreampop]
35. Screen Vinyl Image - Interceptors [shoegazing/psychedelic]
36. Shirley Bassey - The Performance [jazz/pop]
37. Soundpool - Mirrors In Your Eyes [dreampop/shoegaze]
38. Ólafur Arnalds - Dyad 1909 [ambient/post-rock]
39. Sweet Trip - You Will Never Know Why [shoegaze/electronic]
40. Wooden Shjips - Dos [psychedelic/noise/shoegazing]
41. Liechtenstein - Survival Strategies in a Modern World
42. Fleeting Joys - Occult Radiance [dreampop/shoegaze]
43. The Amazing - The Amazing [rock/folk/psychedelic]
44. Black Cobra - Chronomega [sludge/doom metal]

45. Isis - Wavering Radiant [sludge/post metal]
46. I Was A King - S/T [noise pop/lo-fi/shoegaze]
47. Tenniscoats - Temporacha [psychedelic/lo-fi]
48. Miss Kittin & The Hacker - Two [electroclash]
49. Clouwbeck - Wolfrahm [ambient/classical/drone]
50. Sonic Youth - The Eternal [godfathers]
51. SPC ECO - 3-D [shoegazing/electronic]
52. Blank Dogs - Under and Under [lo-fi/post punk/experimental]
53. Malory - Secret Love EP [dreampop/ethereal]
54. harold budd and clive wright - Candylion [ambient/minimal/classic]
55. YACHT - See Mystery Lights [experimantal/electronic]

56. Atlas Sound - Logos [psychedelic/rock]
57. Rameses III - I Could Not Love You More [ambient/drone]
58. Chihei Hatakeyama - The River [ambient/minimal/electronic]
59. Gui Boratto - Take My Breath Away [minimal/techno]
60. Kent - Röd [rock/pop]
61. múm - Sing Along To Songs You Don't Know [electronic/experimental]
62. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Playing The Piano [ambient/electronic]
63. Lothar - Montgolfier [shoegaze/power pop]
64. Kings of Convenience - Declaration Of Dependence [dreampop/mellow]
65. Do Make Say Think - Other Truths [post rock/experimental]
66. Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade [atmospheric black metal]

67. Memory Tapes - Seek Magic [dreamwave/chillwave]
68. expo 70 - Audio Archive 003 [drone/ambient/space]
69. Shogun Kunitoki - Vinonaamakasio [instrumental/electronic/postrock]
70. Balmorhea - All Is Wild, All Is Silent [piano/post rock]
71. Moscow Olympics - Split with Morning Paper [dreampop/shoegaze]
72. Taken By Trees - East Of Eden [ethereal/experimental]
73. Aarktica - In Sea [ambient/post rock/shoegaze]
74. Troum - Eald-Ge-Streon [dark ambient]
75. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Fruit [pop]
76. Ignatz - A Canine And A Kitten In The Car [lo-fi/folk/noise]
77. Procession - The Cult of Disease [progressive doom]

79. stellarium - S/T [shoegaze/drone]
80. a-ha - Foot Of The Mountain [new wave/pop]
81. Anni Rossi - Rockwell [folk/acoustic]
82. Magneta Lane - Gambling With God [dreampop/rock]
83. Daniel Land & The Modern Painters - Love Songs for the Chemical Generation [dreampop/ethereal]
84. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue [folktronica/experimental]
85. port-royal - Dying in Time [post rock/ambient/electronic]
86. 93MillionMilesFromTheSun - S/T [noise pop/shoegazing]
87. Sivert Høyem - Moon Landing [norsk/rock]
88. Amesoeurs - S/T [black metal/post punk]

89. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic [neo psychedelic/rock]
90. Rothko - The Longest Distance Between Two Points [post rock/ambient]
91. El Perro del Mar - Love Is Not Pop [mellow/ethereal]
92. Stella - Meie Oma Pisikene Mozart [electro pop/post punk]
93. The Big Pink - A Brief History Of Love [electronic/rock]
94. Monolake - Silence [idm/ambient]
95. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - White Lunar [soundtrack]
96. Telepathe - Dance Mother [electronic]
97. Dinosaur Jr.- Farm [grunge/rock]
98. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! [pop]
99. Iron Maiden - Flight 666: The Original Soundtrack [godfathers of nwobhm]

01. Peste Noire - Ballade cuntre lo Anemi Francor

02. Njiqahdda - Yrg Alms

03. Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars

04. Arghoslent - Send Forth the Best Ye Breed*

05. Portal - Swarth

06. Firebird - Grand Union

07. Fen - The Malediction Fields

08. The Ruins of Beverast - Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite

09. dälek - Gutter Tactics

10. Avulsed - Nullo (The Pleasure Of Self-Mutilation)

11. The Chasm - Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm

12. Thy Catafalque - Róka hasa rádió

13. Anaal Nathrakh - In the Constellation of the Black Widow

14. Carcariass - E-Xtinction

15. Voivod - Infini

16. Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions

17. West Wall - Conquest or Death

18. Big Business - Mind the Drift

19. Pelican - Ephemeral

20. Borgne - IV

21. Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs

22. Isole - Silent Ruins

23. The Lord Weird Slough Feg - Ape Uprising

24. Panopticon - Collapse

25. Unholy Matrimony - Croire, Décroître

26. Vektor - Black Future

27. Khanate - Clean Hands Go Foul

28. Funebrarum - The Sleep Of Morbid Dreams

29. KTL - IV

30. Immortal - All Shall Fall





THE SHIT LIST

01. Job for a Cowboy - Ruination

02. Lamb of God - Wrath

03. Shadows Fall - Retribution

04. Divine Heresy - Bringer Of Plagues

05. Nile - Those Whom The Gods Detest

06. Behemoth - Evangelion

07. Sepultura - A-Lex

08. Chimaira - The Infection

09. Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague

10. Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings



The list is susceptible to change as I'm waiting for a few releases that are due in December.




*this release is actually a split with Martial Barrage, but it was too good not to be put on the list

I am missing a lot of great albums from this list, but this is basically what I listened to most this year. I'll start with the albums that should maybe be on this list but aren't because I didn't really give them the time. So, apologies to:

+Javelina: Beasts Among Sheep

+The Rural Alberta Advantage: Hometowns

+Tiny Vipers: Life on Earth

+Sunn O))): Monoliths & Dimensions - to be fair, their live show blew this album out of the water this year.

+Krallice: Dimensional Bleedthrough - great album, but I rarely have the time or desire to digest 70 minutes of this.

+Bear In Heaven: Beast Rest Forth Mouth

+Wolves in the Throne Room: Black Cascade

+Francis Harold and The Holograms: Who Said These Were Happy Times - paranoid, creepy, noisy; this band is awesome.


Top 25 of 2009:

25. Memory Tapes: Seek Magic - try as I might, I couldn't escape this album, which holds up surprisingly well after repeat listens.

24. Dark Castle: Spirited Migration - sludgy Southern metal at its finest.

23. Cold Cave: Love Comes Close - Wes Eisold does electronic music, and it's actually good.

22. TV Ghost: Cold Fish - it sounds as if the Birthday Party were fucking up a cover of "Monster Mash"; great post-punk-whatever stuff.

21. Fight Amp: Manners and Praise - I've only listened to it 4 or 5 times so far, but it's solid despite their constant line-up changes; still heavy, more punk-oriented than "Hungry For Nothing."

20. WHY?: Eskimo Snow - it's only this low on the list because I know it's not that good of an album, but I find the songs to be catchy and well-orchestrated, and the lyrics are as solid as ever.

19. Japandroids: Post-Nothing - stupid band name, but I love the big lovesick anthems they produce. "Wet Hair" is such a good fucking song.

18. Former Ghosts: Fleurs - slow-burning goth-y electronic stuff from Freddy Rupert. Features contributions from Jamie Stewart and Nika Roza Daniolva, the latter of which kills it on "The Bull and the Ram."

17. Keelhaul: Keelhaul's Triumphant Return to Obscurity - their most focused album to date, streamlining the crushing riffs and sardonic humor.

16. Mount Eerie: Wind's Poem - Phil Elverum's "black metal record" has little in common with the genre, but the album turned out beautifully melancholic anyhow.

15. Tim Hecker: An Imaginary Country - Hecker keeps on creating desolate ambient landscapes for the cynical. The man can do no wrong.

14. Skeletonwitch: Breathing the Fire - more bone-headed thrash metal from these Ohioans, somehow managing to make it interesting and fun rather than tired and hackneyed.

13. Fever Ray: Fever Ray - this is one of a number of albums on this list that didn't make sense to me until the cold arrived, but it is an excellent companion for it. Somehow creepier and (maybe) catchier than the Knife's last album.

12. Abe Vigoda: Reviver EP - fantastic 5-song EP from Abe Vigoda showcases a more "mature" (read: better) sound. I don't think I listened to a song more than their cover of "Wild Heart" this year.

11. Portal: Swarth - this Australian band gets a lot of flack for being gimmicky, and I might agree with that if their albums weren't consistently terrifying and atmospherically brilliant. Maryland Deathfest 2010 might be a go just to see these guys.

10. A Sunny Day in Glasgow: Ashes Grammar - one of the unfortunately overlooked records of the year. 22 seamless tracks of sunny music bolstered by angelic vocals, and remains on the "Easy to Swallow" side of sweet.

09. Atlas Sound: Logos - I hated this album when I first heard it ("You'll be my wife/You'll share my life"? Fuck off) but it all makes sense when heard at once. Not a weak track on the album. Bradford Cox continues to impress me.

08. Liturgy: Renihilation - this is the black metal album that did it right this year. 11 tracks, 38 minutes of "pure transcendental black metal" punctuated by haunting instrumental or vocal interludes. Black metal for people who don't like black metal (and even more so for those who do).

07. The xx: xx - indie breakouts make a convincing stab in the R&B genre, with all positive results. This girl has a seriously sexy voice. I listen to and sing along with this record way more than I am allowed to admit.

06. Coalesce: OX - hardcore/metal veterans make a comeback of sorts, and deliver their best album to date. There's a strong blues influence at work here, but mainly this is Coalesce letting us know that they're still better than 99% of the bands at work today.

05. Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - poppy and catchy but remaining intelligent and slick. One listen to "Rome" or "Lisztomania" or any other track off of this album takes me straight to summertime. The most flat-out enjoyable record of 2009.

04. Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca - the first time I heard this album, I put it on repeat for close to seven hours or however long it took me to drive from Alfred, NY to Boston, MA. Complex and maintaining a pop sensibility, every song has a subtle sense of beauty to it, yet is so volatile as to explode at any moment ("Useful Chamber"). Believe the hype.

03. Converge: Axe to Fall - a friend turned me on to Converge a number of years ago, and their progression continues to fascinate me. This album is as unrelenting and fierce as ever, but closes with two somber and tastefully relaxed tracks that prove that this band still has more to say.

02. Fuck Buttons: Tarot Sport - this duo sounds more confident that on "Street Horrrsing," losing the indecipherable vocals (sadly) in favor of epic pop-leaning electronic compositions that are as harsh as they are (almost) danceable. This one's a gem. I can't see myself getting tired of listening to this album (or band) anytime soon.

01. Pissed Jeans: King of Jeans - I am a normal guy with normal problems and sometimes, I am a little angry and sarcastic and cynical and I am getting older and watching the dreams of my youth slip away. This is what that sounds like. Pissed Jeans turn up the riffs and the awkwardness and make my favorite record of the year.

Sun 6 Dec – Sunn O))) Monoliths & Dimensions UK Tour

HEAVY. AS. FUCK.

(((O)))

Sunn O)))Black SabbathGrand MagusTriangle TheoryFu ManchuHyatariSumaEarthElectric WizardGoatsnakeTeeth of Lions Rule the DivineStebmobongKTLMayhemWarningPelicanIsisSunn O))) & BorisBorisOMUfomammutThe Funeral OrchestraKhanate

Outstanding:

Kylesa - Static Tensions
(two very effective drummers, two great shouters, awesome guitar work = my favourite "metal" release in a long time)
Soap & Skin - Lovetune for Vacuum
(Hauting debut between piano & electronic, deserves all the hype it gets and more!)
Isis - Wavering Radiant
(Not quite as good as Panopticon or Oceanic, overall better than In the Absence of truth and still miles ahead of almost every band in that area...)
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Fall of Efrafa - Inlé
Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist


Also great this Year:

Celeste - misantrope(s)
(Darkest music of the year, almost painful to listen to...in a good way)
Converge - Axe to Fall
(The first 4 tracks are unbelievable, the rest is the most diverse record from them yet)
Balmorhea - All is wild, all is silent
(Folk + Post Rock = pure beauty)
Sunn O))) - Monliths & Dimensions
From Monument to Masses - On little known Frequencies
(the record i hoped maybeshewill could pull of after their debut...)
August Burns Red - Constellations
Baroness - Blue Record
Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
Kickback - No Surrender
(Finally Kickback get a production that matches their sonic fury...as hateful as it gets)
Long Distance Calling - Avoid the Light
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
A Storm of Light - Forgive us our Trespasses
Everlovely Lightningheart - Sien Weal Tallion Rue



Still good:

Graf Orlock - Destination Time Today
Heirs - Alchera
Jeniferever - Spring Tides
Loom - Selva Molhalda
Minsk - With Echoes In The Movement Of Stone
Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs
Punch - Punch
The Gossip - Music for Men
Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade


Disappointing:

dredg - The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion
(I'm fine with pop, but most of the songs get old really fast or even really annoying)
Pelican - What we all come to need
The Fall of Troy - In the unlikely Event
Alexisonfire - Old Crows/ Young Cardinals
Callisto - Providence
(In Session is great, but the rest often sounds like Khoma with more monotonous songwriting)
Neaera - Omnicide - Creation Unleashed
Porcupine Tree - The incident
(For some reason I just can't get into this, although everyone praises it)
The Black Dahlia Murder - Deflorate


Still not really sure, if I like it or should be disappointed:

Maybeshewill - Sing the Word Hope in Four Part Harmony
(Sadly misses the diversity of the debut)
Brand New - Daisy
Evergreen Terrace - Almost Home
Captain Planet - Inselwissen


Other great Stuff this Year :

Defeater - Lost Ground EP
Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP
Nadja - When I see the Sun always shines on TV
Kodiak / Nadja - Split
Pyramids with Nadja - Pyramids with Nadja
Clint Mansell - Moon Soundtrack

Best Concerts:

- Fall of Efrafa
- Soap & Skin
- Joshua Radin
- Isis

SEQUENCES

Sequences has released it's first album, called "Vespertine: A Tragedy In Several Tones Of Grey" on November the 1st 2009 .

"Vespertine sounds like being in a dark place of fragmented memories, visions and disembodied moments of time. It feels like seeing things unfold, yet perhaps it is the sounds of that darkness."

Full album preview here on Last.fm.

Sequences is always searching for collaborating, split-recordings, or other musical cooperations.

http://www.myspace.com/sequences0




dark ambient, drone, experimental, ambient, dark, atmospheric, droneambient, soundscapers, soundscape

Vindensånga death cinematic
Marc BroudeArt Of Empathy
UlverAgallochKammarheit
Tor LundvallNadjaYoga
LonesummerGiles Corey
Sylvester Anfang IISilvester Anfang
Sunn O)))Immundus
Dead As DreamsA Bleeding Star
MἄrshOssein
StroszekKarjalan Sissit
UnderjordiskaGruenewaldDolorian
ContagiionVhernenCara Neir
ÆthenorFear Falls Burning
Aluk TodoloArktau EosHalo Manash
Zoät·AonZoät-AonAUSTERITY
Barn OwlBlood Fountains
Burial HexCeler
Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz EnsembleÄldresjäl
Dispersive LightEagle TwinEarth
ElmFinalFinneyerkes
The True MaverickGhoul'd
Gnaw Their TonguesAderlatingGOG
GrouperHorsebackJesu
Knives Ov ResistancekörkarlenMünn
LocrianLustreMateria Aurora
MoëvötThe Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation
Nadja & Black Boned AngelNahvalr
MørkePhragments
Planning for BurialTenhornedbeast
Cities Last BroadcastNew Risen Throne
Sinke DûsSvartsinn

01. Animal Collective, Merriweather post pavilion (Domino);
02. Vieux Farka Touré, Fondo (Six Degrees).
03. Sunn O))), Monoliths & dimensions (Southern Lord);
04. Manassas, Pieces (Rhino/Eyewall);
05. Bill Callahan, Sometimes I wish we were an eagle (Drag City);
06. Atlas Sound, Logos (4AD);
07. Norberto Lobo, Pata lenta (Mbari Música);
08. João Paulo, White works (Universal);
09. The Dodos, Time to die (Frenchkiss);
10. Wilco, Wilco (Nonesuch);
11. Akron/Family, Set 'em wilde, set 'em free (Dead Oceans);
12. The xx, The XX (Young turks);
13. Orchestre National de Jazz, Around Robert Wyatt (Bee Jazz);
14. Discovery, LP (XL);
15. carminho, Fado (EMI);
16. A.C. Newman, Get guilty (Broken Horse);
17. Peter Hammill, Thin air (Fie!);
18. Lily Allen, It's not me, it's you (Regal);
19. Dan Deacon, Bromst (Carpark);
20. Fuck Buttons, Tarot sport (ATP);
21. Sonic Youth, The eternal (Matador);
22. Dinosaur Jr, Farm (Jagjaguwar);
23. Moritz von Oswald Trio, Vertical ascent (Honest Jon's);
24. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The pains of being pure at heart (Fortuna Pop!);
25. Dirty Projectors, Bitte orca (Domino).