CGM's Records Of 2009
In my opinion 2009 was a pretty good year for music. Not only was heavy/alternative/interesting music pretty good but also pop music wasn't that bad. In 2008 pop music was bad, very very bad. Apart from swathes of terrible identikit indie bands twanging away we also had Coldplay releasing new material. I hate Coldplay so very very much. But, 2009 had some really good singles released by successful pop artists and groups which were unoffensive enough for me to almost enjoy, on some occasions. Also some really shit bands had problems this year, with members leaving both Oasis and RHCP I was very happy indeed. Fuck both Oasis and RHCP.
As it gets to the end of the year lots of people (who runs blogs) seem to start compiling their end of the year lists, and with this particular change in year closing a decade many started to compiled end of decade lists which I am far to lazy and predictable to do. So, to fit in with the crowd and for funsies I did an end of year list of my favourite records (I included Albums and EPs). I seem totally inable to say which I like more than others, so I am going to do it in alphabetical order.
Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse
I love ANB for the sheer brutality in every aspect of their sound. Not only are their riffs heavy as fuck, the production is the aural equivilent of clinical cold metallic torture games, their vocals are demonic possession harnessed into some sort of digestability and their songs are 30000000 miles an hour fast. They continued on this music path with this full length but also beefed out the songs and made them even more metal, by sticking in loadsa guitar solos and general big riffery. Plus the new chick on vocals is MAD brutal, she screams like a FUCKING demon.
Brutality Will Prevail - Forgotten Soul
I had seen BWP and had their records before the release of Forgotten Soul and they were really quite different; they were basically tough guy twostep beatdown hardcore. They were very good live and very energetic, but nonetheless fairly stock hardcore. But they savagely changed their sounds into what I can only describe as Doom and Sludge forced into hardcore/twostep rhythms. It's fucking sweet! The songs are really catchy on this mini-album, I often find myself humming the songs and tapping the beatdowns because it's all soo damn catchy, like AIDS I tell you! They have faced criticism for having heavy anti-religious imagery, as is quite popular in hardcore at the moment, and I know some people who feel they changed their sound just to be popular (which I doubt highly). For whatever reason, they did change their sound, and now their songs are better and they wear loads of black so must be cool. My favourite tracks on Forgotten Soul are "Fuck", "Pure Regret" and "Forgotten Soul".
Converge - Axe to Fall
I did a review of Axe to Fall when it came out (here) and my opinions on it have not changed at all. It is still an invigorating listen, where the rythm section really drives one into some kind of feral frantic beast trapped in a tornado of bricks and broken glass, but I still don't think it is their best album. The flaw in this album is that it doesn't sound as unified as their others. Where in Jane Doe, You Fail Me and No Heroes there is a defineable unity and consistancy across the body work as a whole. But with Axe to Fall it feels more like a collection of songs, albeit fantastic and moving songs. My favourite songs on this are "Dark Horse" and "Axe to Fall"
DOOM - Born Like This
Born Like This delivered another winning (MF) DOOM album. Quirky samples, catchy sans chorus production and DOOM's smooth delivery of flow-of-consciousness lyrics all combine into a satisfying and rewarding listening experience, that still holds up well after multiple listens. It lacks some of the standout tracks that MM..Food has, but overall it has some great tracks. My personal favourite on the album is "Yessir" because muthafuckin Raekwon is on it, and I bum Wu-Tang. Also, as a side note, Born Like This is pretty much the only release in 2009 that CGJ even considered listening to and he liked it, so it must be pretty good.
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Blissfully elated yet melancholy tinged dance music for people that don't want to dance. I can imagine that this is what crossing over into the next plane of existence feels like, but put into audio terms of expression. My favourite song on here is "Olympians" in which the melody line at 4:34 makes me want to sob.
Hang The Bastard - Raw Sorcery
I never really got metalcore, almost all that I heard had little to do with the cool bits of metal and the cool bits of hardcore, it just was kind of shit and predictable. I always wanted the name "metalcore" to sound like Hang The Bastard. They have the riffs and lyrical content of metal combined with the energy, sensibilities and the buildup/big drop of hardcore making them really compelling and energising to listen to. They are sick live too, they always have bare mosh. And most of the band are stoners. My favourite track of the mini-album is "Failed Harvest". Once on a post bong session walk from my old house to my university the clouds parted and ignited the soaking long road, down which I was walking, with a glorious golden fire like shine, just as the big riff kicked in on "Failed Harvest". It was one of my favourite stoner moments.
Maths - Descent
I have also done a review for this album as well, and similarly with Axe to Fall my feelings really haven't changed at all. If anything, my love for this album has only intensified. It is truly a glorious exercise in emotion, soaring atmospheric sound scapes and technical prowess that is VERY rarely seen in music at all. Descent manages to be both diverse, engaging, challenging and catchy all at once. For fuck's sake, go and BUY this fucking album right now! Or at least give them a listen on MYSPACE.
Ólafur Arnalds - Found Songs
Although I probably don't post often about this kind of stripped down cinematic type music I do listen to quite a lot of it. Ólafur Arnalds has been kicking around for a while and even worked with some metal bands on their string arrangements, but I only managed to stumble across him a few months ago. Found Songs was released track by track on a day by day basis for a week, where each song was writte, recorded and released all on the same day. This type of work ethic gives the album a really stripped down and sparse sound, while being no less epic than his previous work. This fast turn over also means that it is stripped down to minimal instrumentation and is as always purely instrumental. It is very melancholic and depressing, but it is fucking beautiful. I had my heart smashed by a horrible cunt this year and Found Songs was my soundtrack for about a month. Wonderfully cinematic, beautiful and complatative. My favourite song is "Ljósið" which has a stunning video based vaguely on synesthesia:
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx PT II
My opinions have not changed since I cracked out a review for this. It is still the best rap album of the year by far, it is still mutha fuckin Wu TANG and it is still the perfect follow up to OB4CL, both musically, lyrically and themeatically. The combination of these Cuban Linx 1 and 2 makes Raekwon my favourite MC out of Wu Tang, no one tells a story better. My favourite songs on this are "New Wu" "Surgical Gloves" and "10 Bricks".
Trainwreck - Of Concrete Canyons And Inner Wastelands
I had never heard them until two little mentals I know played me some of their stuff and it is fucking wicked. Trainwreck are kind of like post-hardcore with massive riffs are raw fucking screaming. They are very riff heavy, with break neck speed and an overall sense of dispair, whilst being quite bleak, all at the same time. Right up my street. If you are into hardcore that is fast without beatdowns and dig bleak music then go for it. My favourite song on it is "The Dead Next Door" cos it has a well big riff!
Honorable Mentions
Between The Buried And Me - The Great Misdirect
Data.Select.Party - Hanging Out With Humans
The Horrors - Primary Colours
Hudson Mohawke - Butter
IWrestledABearOnce - It's All Happening
Weekend Nachos - Unforgivable
Your Demise - Ignorance Never Dies
Comment with your opinions on this list, I'd like to here them. I might attack a film best of 2009, or I might just leave it CGJ. He watches more recent films than I do, while I listen to more recently music than he does. We are like an old couple.
CGM
In my opinion 2009 was a pretty good year for music. Not only was heavy/alternative/interesting music pretty good but also pop music wasn't that bad. In 2008 pop music was bad, very very bad. Apart from swathes of terrible identikit indie bands twanging away we also had Coldplay releasing new material. I hate Coldplay so very very much. But, 2009 had some really good singles released by successful pop artists and groups which were unoffensive enough for me to almost enjoy, on some occasions. Also some really shit bands had problems this year, with members leaving both Oasis and RHCP I was very happy indeed. Fuck both Oasis and RHCP.
As it gets to the end of the year lots of people (who runs blogs) seem to start compiling their end of the year lists, and with this particular change in year closing a decade many started to compiled end of decade lists which I am far to lazy and predictable to do. So, to fit in with the crowd and for funsies I did an end of year list of my favourite records (I included Albums and EPs). I seem totally inable to say which I like more than others, so I am going to do it in alphabetical order.
Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse
I love ANB for the sheer brutality in every aspect of their sound. Not only are their riffs heavy as fuck, the production is the aural equivilent of clinical cold metallic torture games, their vocals are demonic possession harnessed into some sort of digestability and their songs are 30000000 miles an hour fast. They continued on this music path with this full length but also beefed out the songs and made them even more metal, by sticking in loadsa guitar solos and general big riffery. Plus the new chick on vocals is MAD brutal, she screams like a FUCKING demon.
Brutality Will Prevail - Forgotten Soul
I had seen BWP and had their records before the release of Forgotten Soul and they were really quite different; they were basically tough guy twostep beatdown hardcore. They were very good live and very energetic, but nonetheless fairly stock hardcore. But they savagely changed their sounds into what I can only describe as Doom and Sludge forced into hardcore/twostep rhythms. It's fucking sweet! The songs are really catchy on this mini-album, I often find myself humming the songs and tapping the beatdowns because it's all soo damn catchy, like AIDS I tell you! They have faced criticism for having heavy anti-religious imagery, as is quite popular in hardcore at the moment, and I know some people who feel they changed their sound just to be popular (which I doubt highly). For whatever reason, they did change their sound, and now their songs are better and they wear loads of black so must be cool. My favourite tracks on Forgotten Soul are "Fuck", "Pure Regret" and "Forgotten Soul".
Converge - Axe to Fall
I did a review of Axe to Fall when it came out (here) and my opinions on it have not changed at all. It is still an invigorating listen, where the rythm section really drives one into some kind of feral frantic beast trapped in a tornado of bricks and broken glass, but I still don't think it is their best album. The flaw in this album is that it doesn't sound as unified as their others. Where in Jane Doe, You Fail Me and No Heroes there is a defineable unity and consistancy across the body work as a whole. But with Axe to Fall it feels more like a collection of songs, albeit fantastic and moving songs. My favourite songs on this are "Dark Horse" and "Axe to Fall"
DOOM - Born Like This
Born Like This delivered another winning (MF) DOOM album. Quirky samples, catchy sans chorus production and DOOM's smooth delivery of flow-of-consciousness lyrics all combine into a satisfying and rewarding listening experience, that still holds up well after multiple listens. It lacks some of the standout tracks that MM..Food has, but overall it has some great tracks. My personal favourite on the album is "Yessir" because muthafuckin Raekwon is on it, and I bum Wu-Tang. Also, as a side note, Born Like This is pretty much the only release in 2009 that CGJ even considered listening to and he liked it, so it must be pretty good.
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Blissfully elated yet melancholy tinged dance music for people that don't want to dance. I can imagine that this is what crossing over into the next plane of existence feels like, but put into audio terms of expression. My favourite song on here is "Olympians" in which the melody line at 4:34 makes me want to sob.
Hang The Bastard - Raw Sorcery
I never really got metalcore, almost all that I heard had little to do with the cool bits of metal and the cool bits of hardcore, it just was kind of shit and predictable. I always wanted the name "metalcore" to sound like Hang The Bastard. They have the riffs and lyrical content of metal combined with the energy, sensibilities and the buildup/big drop of hardcore making them really compelling and energising to listen to. They are sick live too, they always have bare mosh. And most of the band are stoners. My favourite track of the mini-album is "Failed Harvest". Once on a post bong session walk from my old house to my university the clouds parted and ignited the soaking long road, down which I was walking, with a glorious golden fire like shine, just as the big riff kicked in on "Failed Harvest". It was one of my favourite stoner moments.
Maths - Descent
I have also done a review for this album as well, and similarly with Axe to Fall my feelings really haven't changed at all. If anything, my love for this album has only intensified. It is truly a glorious exercise in emotion, soaring atmospheric sound scapes and technical prowess that is VERY rarely seen in music at all. Descent manages to be both diverse, engaging, challenging and catchy all at once. For fuck's sake, go and BUY this fucking album right now! Or at least give them a listen on MYSPACE.
Ólafur Arnalds - Found Songs
Although I probably don't post often about this kind of stripped down cinematic type music I do listen to quite a lot of it. Ólafur Arnalds has been kicking around for a while and even worked with some metal bands on their string arrangements, but I only managed to stumble across him a few months ago. Found Songs was released track by track on a day by day basis for a week, where each song was writte, recorded and released all on the same day. This type of work ethic gives the album a really stripped down and sparse sound, while being no less epic than his previous work. This fast turn over also means that it is stripped down to minimal instrumentation and is as always purely instrumental. It is very melancholic and depressing, but it is fucking beautiful. I had my heart smashed by a horrible cunt this year and Found Songs was my soundtrack for about a month. Wonderfully cinematic, beautiful and complatative. My favourite song is "Ljósið" which has a stunning video based vaguely on synesthesia:
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx PT II
My opinions have not changed since I cracked out a review for this. It is still the best rap album of the year by far, it is still mutha fuckin Wu TANG and it is still the perfect follow up to OB4CL, both musically, lyrically and themeatically. The combination of these Cuban Linx 1 and 2 makes Raekwon my favourite MC out of Wu Tang, no one tells a story better. My favourite songs on this are "New Wu" "Surgical Gloves" and "10 Bricks".
Trainwreck - Of Concrete Canyons And Inner Wastelands
I had never heard them until two little mentals I know played me some of their stuff and it is fucking wicked. Trainwreck are kind of like post-hardcore with massive riffs are raw fucking screaming. They are very riff heavy, with break neck speed and an overall sense of dispair, whilst being quite bleak, all at the same time. Right up my street. If you are into hardcore that is fast without beatdowns and dig bleak music then go for it. My favourite song on it is "The Dead Next Door" cos it has a well big riff!
Honorable Mentions
Between The Buried And Me - The Great Misdirect
Data.Select.Party - Hanging Out With Humans
The Horrors - Primary Colours
Hudson Mohawke - Butter
IWrestledABearOnce - It's All Happening
Weekend Nachos - Unforgivable
Your Demise - Ignorance Never Dies
Comment with your opinions on this list, I'd like to here them. I might attack a film best of 2009, or I might just leave it CGJ. He watches more recent films than I do, while I listen to more recently music than he does. We are like an old couple.
CGM
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