Air – Love2 - A move back towards the Moon Safari sound. Its a very good thing. Don’t trust Pitchfork.com’s wank. This album is great.
standout track/s: Be A Bee, Sing Sang Sung, Tropical Disease
The Beatles – Revolver (digitally remastered 2009 version) – I grabbed this album because its my favorite Beatles record and I wanted to see if the remastered huluballoo was all it was cracked up to be. Production wise, the improvements were minimal (maybe it was because I was playing it through some pretty shitty speakers). Nevertheless, this album remains among the top albums ever and its re-release this year automatically secured its place in my 2009 top 10.
standout track/s: For No One, Here, There And Everywhere, And Your Bird Can Sing
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Beware – A huge improvement on the last album I heard by Bonnie “Prince” Billy. A hugely enjoyable record.
standout track/s: Beware Your Only Friend
Decemberists – Hazards Of Love – I never thought I’d see the day when a Decemberists album would be in a top 10 list of mine, but here we are. This album still kinda confuses me. I can’t listen to any song from it individually and really enjoy it, but play the entire thing all the way through and its one of the best things I’ve heard this year.
standout track/s: The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
Florence + The Machine – Lungs – Pop music with multi layered vocal tracks that build up and up and up and up and away!
standout track/s: Cosmic Love,
Iron & Wine – Around The Well – Great collection of newer and older Iron & Wine tracks.
standout track/s: Communication Cups And Someone’s Coat
Mayer Hawthorne – A Strange Arrangement – This is the album I would make as a tribute to all my favorite Motown/misc soul and Rn’B artists if I was musical and/or talented. The weak vocals are more than made up for by the slick grooves.
standout track/s: Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’, I Wish It Would Rain, The Ills
Phoenix – Wolfgang Armadeus Phoenix – Phoenix are just great. No more needs to be said.
standout track/s: 1901, Lasso, Lisztomania
Can You Dig It? The Music And Politics Of Black Action Films 1968-75 – I absolutely love this kind of music. This is as slick as music can be.
standout track/s: T Plays It Cool, They Call Me MISTER Tibbs, Coffy Is The Color
The Avett Brothers – I And Love And You – This album is really good. Its quite country, so I know thats a major negative for some people, but it just adds something extra for me. Many ballads followed by some pop songs & foot stomping goodness.
standout track/s: Kick Drum Heart, I And Love And You
Honorable mentions
Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels
Wilco – (The Album)
Zoot Woman – Things Are What They Used To Be
Worst band 2009
Black Eyed Peas. These hacks are absolutely devoid of any talent. Their music is the aural equivalent of rubbing a cheese grater on your cock. If I saw these fuckers on the street I would unleash a flurry of crotch kickings in their direction (especially at Fergie….I think she’d feel it the most).
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Top 5 films 2009
5. Let The Right One In - The best vampire film I’ve seen in a long while. Loved it.
4. An Education - Not the kind of movie to usually make one of my lists, but I really did enjoy it. Top notch film making.
3. Ponyo - Hayao Miyazaki (dir.) is magic. Ponyo is the most imaginative movie I’ve seen all year. (Note : see the Japanese language version with english subtitles if you have the option. The voices work much, much better than the English dub)
2. Inglorious Basterds - Not Tarantino’s strongest movie, but still great. Very funny.
1. Up - Easily the best movie I saw this year. Up deserves all the praise it has received. The 3D parts were pretty damn nifty!
Honorable mentions
Coraline / Moon / Star Trek / District 9 / Role Models / Zombieland / Paper Heart / Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (say what you will, I enjoy the series) / Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
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Bottom 5 films 2009
5. Defiance - I don’t understand how people can like Daniel Craig. Paint a face on a plank of wood and get the same performance. Combine that with a movie that drags along at a snails pace and ultimately leads nowhere and you get Defiance.
4. Dragonball Z : Evolution - No. Just no.
3. The Invention Of Lying - How a movie written by Ricky Gervais, and starring Tina Fay, Jeffrey Tambor (the father from Arrested Development) & Rob Lowe (shush, I like Rob Lowe) can be this bad is beyond me. Just plain awful.
2. Watchmen - I know I’m probably in the minority with this one, but this movie really did nothing for me. Sure they had super slick action sequences but they were really goddamn boring and in slow motion 90% of the time. They also did an ok casting people who looked like the characters from the comic, I mean *cough* graphic novel. Wasn’t really enough to keep this movie chugging along Should have just left it alone.
1. Year One - Utterly atrocious. How on earth this got any type of release is beyond me. If you ever hear me say that I’d be fine watching this movie again, grab the nearest blunt object and beat me round the head for a few hours until I come to my senses.
Dishonourable mentions
G.I. Joe : Rise of Cobra / Transformers 2 : Revenge Of The Fallen / Terminator Salvation / My Bloody Valentine 3D / Knowing / Jennifer’s Body / Gamer / Funny People
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