Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

2009 ALBUMS

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Animal Collective - "Merriweather Post Pavillion"
Black Lips - "200 Million Thousand"

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Bon Iver - "Blood Bank" EP
Willie Nelson - "Willie and the Wheel"
Justin Townes Earle - "Midnight at the Movies"
The Lonely Island - "Incredibad"

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Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Morrissey - Years of Refusal

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2009 CONCERTS

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Those Darlins, Wanda Jackson (2/14, The 5 Spot, Nashville)

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Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

I listen to too many things throughout the year to list them all, but I'll definitely record my top records throughout the year.

So far:

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Asher Roth - Asleep In The Bread Aisle
Drake - So Far Gone

= J

Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

:5star:
The Felice Brothers - Yonder is the Clock

:4star:

:3star:
Justin Townes Earles - Midnight at the Movies

:2star:

:1star:

:0star:

Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

11/21 I've got to get caught up here...

:5star:
Sonic Youth - The EternalTheir best album since Daydream Nation. Better than the amazing "Sonic Nurse". Packed with great tracks: "Anti-Orgasm" and "Thunderclap for Bobby Pym" is probably the hardest they've ever rocked, "Antenna is a apogie of their slow-core groove they've recently developed, "Leaky Lifeboat" is classic Lower East Side rock, "Massage the History" is the best (and sexiest) long song they've ever done. Goddamn it I love Sonic Youth.
Phoenix - Wolfgagn Amadeus PhoenixThey finally made the enduring pop masterpiece they've been threatening for a few albums now. Brilliant songs, oblique and compelling lyrics, flawless arrangements, hyper-immaculate production. This is an easy choice for album of the year, we'll see.
Converge - Axe to Fall - Converge has been making great albums for a while now, but I think this is their best. Relentless, heartless, inhuman and simply not fucking around. All-destroying, ferocious material that makes all other metal bands seem like they're pretenders. I've had a pretty crazy year this year and as they say in the Big Lebowski, this album just fits right in there.
Mastodon - Crack the Skye - took a while to grow on me. It's a bit more sludgy and out-there than their other stuff, but much more emotionally involved and deep. I think I'm finally coming to grips with it. It takes some serious cojones to put something out there this ambitious and complex and some serious talent to make it rock this hard.

:4star:
White Rabbits - It's Frightening percussive driving modern rock from the fertile indie-rock fields of Brooklyn that sounds a bit like Spoon (not surprising considering the producer). They were on Letterman but got surprisingly little press. Regardless, the album is packed with great hooks and strong song-writing. Very under-appreciated album if you ask me.
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion - my favorite album by them, if not quite as revelatory as Panda Bear's solo album. They've turned up the disco and turned down the freak funk, which I think is a great idea. the kind of album that is all you want to listen to for weeks on end... which I have at various points.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz- Classic dance pop album loaded with convincing tracks, my favorite of which is probably "Skeletons". The YYYs make another album of the year contender. Karen O is the coolest front-woman since PJ harvey, IMO.
Wolves in the Throne Room - Black CascadeTerrific ambient black metal. Enveloping and cinematic, it sounds like being lost in a vast pacific Northwest forect in the middle of the night. Perfect 2 AM album.
Passion Pit - Manners I challenge anyone to listen to this album and be in a bad mood. It's not possible. "Sleepyhead" is brilliant druggy pop and the rest of the album is amazingly consistent. Great stuff.
Pet Shop Boys - Yes amazingly few people seem to have noticed that the Pet Shop Boys keep turning out fantastically world-weary and cleaver pop albums. This latest one is probably the best album they've done since "Very", it's even better than 2006's terrific "Fundamental".
Peter, Bjorn and John - Living Thing- more experimental and darker. Really hard to grasp the first twenty times I listened to it. Now it's growing on me. Minimalist electronic folk par excellence. Moving up to 4 stars now...

:3star:
The Decembrists - The Hazards of LoveI can understand wanting to stab these guys' eyes out with a dull pencil. Really I can. Outrageously pompous and pretentious with mannered vocals to match. But this album works. Listen to it and read "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Dirty Projectors - Bitte OrcaA bit too clever for it's own good, IMO. However, the conviction that the songs are written and performed with is convicing. This is an arch-typal "collegiate rock snob" record but I still like it.
Dan Deacon - BromstEpic Eno-inspired, ecstatic, uplifting synth-pop mini orchestras. The first four tracks are quite a combination then it loses a little steam. Deacon's cutesy mannerisms can be irritating as well. This guy just wants to make you happy though and he's largely successful.
The XX - S/TMazzy Star perfected this kind of blissed out chill-pop a decade ago but The XX is a worthy follow-up act. A bit of a slight album, but very catchy and listenable.
Morrissey- Years of Refusal- yet another solid Mozz album. He's been on a bit of a hitting streak lately. This one reminds me of of the rock of Your Arsenal. It has some tracks that rank with his best.
Wavves- Wavvves - one of the first albums to be almost unlistenably noisy to me. I'm not going to lie, it's irritating to listen to but the youthful exhuberance and solid pop chops have grown on me. It's got a sun-blasted southern California charm to it that's catnip to me. There's also some good songs and a good sense of humor hiding under the screech.
St Vincent - ActorI'm probably not giving this album it's full due. I think she's damned talented and she can really writie a song. This is just not really my kind of music, sorry. Still, I admit this is better than my ranking...

:2star:
Grizzle Bear - VeckatimestAm I the only one who finds this incredible boring? The song they do with Michael MacDonald is probably the best thing on here, how often can yu say that.
Lamb of God - Wrath - They may have chops, but this is a pretty by-the-book mainstream metal album. About as memorable as any of a thousand other OK metal albums to me. I don't understand why some critics talked this one so much.


:1star:
Prodigy - Invaders Must Die- give it up, Liam. "Take Me to the Hospital" would have been a great track in 1992, but its time has past. Just do another Dirtchamber album and call it a day.

Still evaluating-

Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons of Bad Luck
Royksopp - Junior
Future of the Left -Travels with Myself and Another
Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us
Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans
Megafaun - Gather, Form, Fly
Art Brut - Art Brut vs. Satan
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Simian Mobile Disco - Temporary Pleasure
Little Boots - Hands
yacht - see mystery lights
The Antlers - Hospice
Mew - No More Stories Told
Metric - fantasies
Freeland - Cope
Baroness - Blue Record
Tegan and Sara - Sainthood
Lou Barlow - Goodnight Unknown
The Thermals - Now We can See
Behemoth - Evangelion
Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights
Miranda Lambert - Revolution
The Juan MacLean - The Future Will Come
Girls - Album
Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
U2 - No Line on the Horizon
Taking Back Sunday - New Again
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

You're missing out on more than half the songs by going with that condensed version of the double-album..

Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

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IAMX - Kingdom of Welcome Addiction

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Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

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Claire Voyant - Lustre
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
Metric - Fantasies
Morrissey - Years of Refusal
Muse - The Resistance
Placebo - Battle for the Sun
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

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Apoptygma Berzerk - Rocket Science
Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe
VNV Nation - Of Faith, Power and Glory

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KMFDM - Blitz

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Lacuna Coil - Shallow Life

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Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

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Umphrey's McGee - Mantis

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Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
Passion Pit - Manners
Phish - Joy
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

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Air - Love 2
Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul
Dead Weather - Horehound
Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk

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Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
Muse - The Resistance
OHMphrey - OHMphrey
Peaches - I Feel Cream
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Spinal Tap - Back From The Dead
U2 - No Line on the Horizon
Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs - It's Blitz!

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Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Eminem - Relapse

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Booker T - Potato Hole
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
50 Cent - Before I Self Destruct

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Asher Roth - Asleep In The Bread Aisle

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Concerts

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Ween - Baltimore, MD 7/16
Phish - Charlottesville, VA 12/5

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Bruce Springsteen - Charlottesville, VA 5/5
Phish - Camden, NJ 6/7
Phish - Bonnaroo 6/12
Phish - Phiadelphia, PA 11/25
Spinal Tap: Unmasked & Unwigged 5/13
U2 - Charlottesville, VA 10/1
Umphrey's McGee - 930 Club 11/20


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Beastie Boys - Bonnaroo 6/12
Bruce Springsteen - Bonnaroo 6/13
David Byrne - Vienna, VA 6/6
Holy Fuck - Washington DC 5/27
Jimmy Buffet and Coral Reefer Allstars - Bonnaroo 6/13
Metallica - Verizon Center 1/15
Nine Inch Nails - Bonnaroo 6/13
Phish - Hampton, VA 3/7
Phish - Hampton, VA 3/8
Phish - Bonnaroo 6/14
Umphrey's McGee - 930 Club 11/21

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Flaming Lips - Green Apple Music Festival 4/19
Fleetwood Mac - Washington D.C. 3/10
Grace Potter - Bonnaroo 6/12
MGMT - Bonnaroo 6/13
Mike Gordon - Falls Church, VA 9/12
Moe. - Baltimore, MD 2/28
Moe. (accoustic) - Bonnaroo 6/12
Moe. - Bonnaroo 6/13
Santigold - Bonnaroo 6/12
T.V. on the Radio - Bonnaroo 6/12
Wilco - Bonnaroo 6/13
Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Bonnaroo 6/12

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Girl Talk - Bonnaroo 6/12
Moe. - Green Apple Music Festival 4/19
Moe. - Baltimore, MD 2/27


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Phish - Merriweather Post Pavilion 8/15

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Perpetual Groove - Falls Church, VA 3/19

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Crocodiles - Washington DC 5/27

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Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

I should try this sometime.

Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

Thought I'd started a list, but I guess not. In no particular order, so far, here's what's (possibly) making the list....

Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
Gomez - A New Tide
Superdrag - Industry Giants
U2 - No Line On The Horizon
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
Metric - Fantasies
Silversun Pickups - Swoon
Doves - Kingdom Of Rust
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Better Than Ezra - Paper Empire
VAST - Me And You
Pete Yorn - Back And Fourth
Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
Cheap Trick - The Latest
Bleu - A Watched Pot
Our Lady Peace - Burn Burn Burn
As Tall As Lions - You Can't Take It With You
Third Eye Blind - Ursa Major
Collective Soul - (Rabbit)
Mute Math - Armistice
Howie Day - Sound The Alarm
Muse - The Resistance
Pearl Jam - Backspacer

Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

:5star:
Disney Phineas & Ferb

Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

Been wanting to participate for years and never gotten around to it until now. Honestly this has been one of the best years for music in recent memory. So many albums I was anxiously awaiting and only a handful that disappointed me. I obviously mainly listen to things I think I'll like though.

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Baroness - Blue Record
If These Trees Could Talk - Above the Earth, Below the Sky
Beautiful Small Machines - Robots in Love EP

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Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue
Paramore - Brand New Eyes
Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind
Red - Innocence & Instinct
Devin Townsend Project - Ki
Pelican - What We All Come to Need
Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane
Tides from Nebula - Aura
The Autumn Project - This We Take With Us

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Thrice - Beggars
OSI - Blood
Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
AFI - Crash Love
Breaking Benjamin - Dear Agony
Megadeth - Endgame
Russian Circles - Geneva
Priestess - Prior to the Fire
Danger Danger - Revolve
The Fray - The Fray
Muse - The Resistance
Isis - Wavering Radient
30 Seconds to Mars - This Is War
And So I Watch You from Afar - And So I Watch You from Afar
Jeff Healey - Songs from the Road

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Slough Feg - Ape Uprising!
Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11
Beware of Safety - dogs
HURT - Goodbye to the Machine
Wolf - Ravenous
Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know
Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect
Porcupine Tree - The Incident
Devin Townsend Project - Addicted

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Skillet - Awake
Gifts from Enola - From Fathoms
Royal Bliss - Life In-Between
UFO - The Visitor
Within Temptation - An Acoustic Night at the Theater
Skillet - Awake
Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures

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Exxasens - Beyond the Universe
Chickenfoot - Chickenfoot
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Night Castle

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Rhett Miller - Rhett Miller
Robert Earl Keen - The Rose Hotel
Beautiful Small Machines - Simple Joys EP
Jennifer's Body Soundtrack

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Queensryche - American Soldier

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Brand New - Daisy

Re: The Official Rank Em As You Hear Them 2009 Edition
 

.... and cutting this one loose.