about me

I'm an Irish guy living in France. I like music, books, creative writing, art, history, vegetarianism, people, and chocolate.

blog roll

Why not check out these links?


Search

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Top 10 Albums of 2009

It might be a bit early to write these kind of lists—2009 isn't completely over yet—but here goes anyway. My ten favourite albums this year were:




10. The Temper Trap - ConditionsThe hit "Sweet Disposition" of this atmospheric indie rock band from Melbourne was featured in (500) Days of Summer.

9. The Elms - The Great American MidrangeAfter trying out a Black Keys brand of blues rock which didn't suit singer Owen Thomas's voice at all, the Elms have returned to their old rhythm'n'blues/heartland rock sound, but with smoother production and improved musicianship.

8. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Camera Obscura's latest album sounds more contrived than their previous ones, but it's still enjoyable.

7. The Beatles in Mono
I had to include these in my list. I especially enjoyed the reissue of the earlier albums: it helped me understand why their earlier stuff sounded edgy at the time!

6. God Help the GirlBelle&Sebastian's side-project (with female singers, mostly) is the soundtrack to Stuart Murdoch's upcoming musical film. It's far less pretentious than it sounds, and its 60s pop sound is quite refreshing.

5. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's YouThis is a great sequel to her first album—it's more clever, more mature, but just as fun.

4. Patrick Watson - Wooden ArmsThis album is probably less accessible than his previous one, but it's definitely worth the effort.

3. Tonight: Franz FerdinandMany, many bands are having a go at "New Wave" these days, and it doesn't always work: but I think Franz Ferdinand have the creativity and the freshness that all those other "dance-punk" acts lack.

2. Monsters of FolkConor Oberst (Bright Eys) + Jim Jones (My Morning Jacket) + M Ward. Sums it up, really.

1. M Ward - Hold TimeA fantastic indie folk/alt country album...

2 comments:

Jonny said...

Nice list, you've been following the Elms for a while haven't you?

Lily Allen's album is great, as are Franz Ferdinand's and M Ward's. Saw him in concert last Feb when we were in Washington..sadly no Zooey Deschanel!

As for the beatles, well!

shamrock said...

Yup, I've been following the Elms since their first single was featured on a sampler my dad had picked up in some faith bookshop. It was one of the first non-corny sounding "CCM" bands I'd ever heard! But they've left the Christian music scene (probably a good thing) and now have a mostly local, Midwest fanbase...



Emerald Champagne

rambling on...

Theme Modified by me and licenced under MIT License

Your Blog Title | feed

5ThirtyOne and Blogger Templates design | Top