Sessa17

A fairly lackluster year so far with a ton of dissapointments, however April has brought some of the best stuff of the year so far. Definitely no instant classics released yet, but as of right now this are the 5 albums of been diggin' the most so far. Feel free to list yours . . .

#1 . The Thermals - "Now We Can See"

One of my absolute favorite bands in the world, so I knew this wouldn't let me down. And it doesn't. The "driving" record of the year so far, much like Gaslight Anthem last year, just an album I can blast in the car, listen to all the way through, & be ready to go.

#2. A Camp - "Colonia"

Yes, I may be bias b/c I've always been deeply in love with Nina Persson, but that does not clould my judgement of this fantastic album, that keeps getting better w/ every listen, as time goes by this will likely be in my top 5 albums of the year.

#3. Vienna Teng - "Inland Territory"

Vienna who? She has 4 albums & I've never heard of any of them. Go listen to "Antebellum" & then buy the rest of the album. So many great collaborations on this album including several songs with Kaki King.

#4. Sin Fang Bous - "Clamour"

I don't think all the hipster reviewers have caught on to this album yet, but they will eventually, probably next year & everyone will list it as one of the favs of 2010 desipite it being released early this year. So get on board now, check out "Advent in Ives Garden’" or "Jubilee Choruses". Probably the closest thing to compare Sindri Mar Sigfusson to would be the overrated Animal Collective, which IMO this is a far better album than Merriweather Post Pavilion

#5 William Elliott Whitmore - "Animals In The Dark"

More soul than one man should be allowed to have. If you've never listened to the bad-assness of WEW before, go pour yourself a bottle of bourbon & listen to "There's Hope For You" or "Hell or Highwater"

Aegean2007

My Top 15 so far:

1. Bat for Lashes - Two Suns

2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

3. Handsome Furs - Face Control

4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

5. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

6. Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light

7. Dan Deacon - Bromst

8. The Low Frequency in Stereo - Futuro

9. Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care

10. Anni Rossi - Rockwell

11. Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand

12. Japandroids - Post-Nothing

13. Dark Was the Night

14. The Thermals - Now We Can See

15. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

cdollaz

Just listened to the upcoming Sonic Youth album, and it is easily the best so far.

Hollowgen

thank you for this--somehow this band escaped me, but i'm downloading right now. can't wait to give it a listen!

Robot Rock

Top 5:

1. Mastodon - Crack the Skye

2. Silversun Pickups - Swoon

3. Mika Miko - We Be Xuxu

4. The Thermals - Now We Can See

5. Art Brut - Art Brut Vs. Satan

JasonF

Because I am an out-of-touch dweeb, I had never heard of the Thermals before ths thread ... but I just watched the season finale of Chuck, which opened with a song I had never heard before but knew I had to own. One trip to Google later and I find it's the title track to Now We Can See. A quick trip to wikipedia shows me the album artwork and I think "I've seen that cover before somewhere." Sure enough, it was here, where it's got three recommendations in five posts. Guess what album I'm picking up tomorrow?

orangecrush

The Chuck soundtrack?

mkdevo

#1 - John Frusciante - The Empyrean
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other music...

cungar

Geez I really must be out of it. I've only heard of about 2 bands in this thread.

WillieTheShakes

(Does complicated math in head...)

Aren't we a third of the way through the year, rather than a quarter?

JasonF

You'd think there would be one, given all the great songs they've showcased on that show. I know the Scrubs soundtrack that came out a few years ago is one of my favorite compilations; a Chuck soundtrack album seems like a natural.

Chuck also turned me on to Glasvegas a few weeks ago.

DVD Josh

Mine:

1) Dimestore Cowboys - Thrift

2) Snuff the Uppagas - Stan Back

3) Lem for Lemmings - Cliff Jumping Music

4) Dastardly Deeds - Cunning

5) Milksmile - Hot Girls

sauce07

1) Umphrey's McGee - Mantis
2) Mastodon - Crack the Skye
3) Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream
4) Peaches - I Feel Cream
5) Peal Jam - 10 Remastered (I know, I cheated)

Yavin

"A Camp" sounds interesting to me. I'm going to try to locate the self-titled debut album first, since apparently this has a very strong country influence.

Question for you, Sessa17, have you heard the 2001 debut album? Curious if I will like it if I like other artists like Neko Case, Jenny Lewis, and She & Him.

Sessa17

Sweet! Post what you think.

That is awesome. Post what you think of the album, getting in the car & blasting "Now We Can See" or "When I Died", such good stuff. I'm shocked they were on Chuck, I've been seeing them in clubs since before they even had an EP out yet. I've tried getting into Chuck twice, just can't do it.

Huh? How do you figure? April is now over, 4 months have gone by 8 months left, that is one quarter of the year.

I much prefer the new A Camp. I am a huge fan of all 3 above, but I would say that Nina's solo debut really does not have a strong country influence. Nothing like Neko Case at all which is pure alt-country. I would say there is more of a country-tinge. I actually think if you dig Jenny Lewis you would like Colonia better, the first song "The Crowning", if you didn't know who it was, you would swear it's a track from one of Jenny's solo albums. The rest of the album not so much. I wouldn't compare her at all to She & Him though, not really that poppy. But I think it's a safe bit you will dig the album. Also, since you dig Neko, Jenny, Zooey, all of which I do as well, check out the Vienna Teng album I mentioned above.

JasonF

4 is one third of 12. 4 * 3 = 12.

Sessa17

All, this crazy loud music I listen to is rotting my brain.
Too bad I can't change the thread title.

JasonF

It's not a 2009 album, but you might want to consider adding this one to your playlist.

Hollowgen

I haven't had a chance to listen to a huge pile of albums, but so far the Fever Ray album is by far the best this year.

Here's my favorites so far (not necessarily the "best"):

1. Fever Ray
2. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
3. U2 - No Line On The Horizon
4. Röyksopp - Junior
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

uncle-frank

k-os - yes!
lily allen - its not me its you

thats all ive bought in 09

Shiv Shankly

A year for the ladies, so far...

1 - St. Vincent: Actor
2 - Bat For Lashes: Two Suns
3 - A Camp: Colonia
4 - Neko Case: Middle Cyclone
5 - Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career

Yavin

I'm listening to Colonia right now. So far, listened to "The Crowning" and "Stronger Than Jesus" and loving it! I'll check out your other recommendations as well!

Yavin

Hey Sessa17, you need to start a separate thread for A Camp's Colonia. I was a few songs away from the end of the album last night, and every one was an instant like. I'm sure it can only grow on me more and more from here. More people need to be aware of this release!

WillieTheShakes

Oh my God -- I thought you were being sarcastic with your response to my post!

Thanks - you've made my day.

brokenhanger

It has been a relatively unexciting year for music so far.

However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy these five albums very much:

01 Pet Shop Boys - Yes
02 The Boxer Rebellion - Union
03 Black Room - Pop Noir
04 Lady Sovereign - Jigsaw
05 Bishop Allen - Grr...

Albums I have not enjoyed include Lily Allen's underwhelming 'It's Not Me, It's You', KMFDM's pointless 'Blitz', and the abomination that is SFA's 'Dark Days / Light Years'. The last one still hurts.