Top 10 albums of 2009

These are just a few of the discs we’ve been feeling in 2009, in no particular order and with no particular regard for fashion, genre or good taste. Feel free to disagree (that’s what the comments section is for) and seek some of these out if you’ve been sleeping! Here we go…

Mos Def, The Ecstatic (Downtown)

Backpack rap might be dead in 2009, but I know some of you still care. Mos cared enough to rise like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes of two complete abortions (read: contractual obligation fillers) to deliver arguably the finest example of a boundary-pushing traditional hip-hop album (oxymoron?) in years. Who gives a sh*t if half the beats are Stones Throw recyclables?

Key track: ‘Casa Bey’

Gossip, Music For Men (Columbia)

This album is so much fun. Remember fun? Fun is what you get when you put a 150kg Southern lesbian with a black church mama voice in front of a virgin-tight disco-rock combo and get her to sing songs about worlds exploding and dudes blowing each other and stuff, and then get the bearded studio genius behind early Slayer and Run-DMC to produce the whole damn thing. FUN.

Key track: ‘Men In Love’

Horrorshow, Inside Story (Elefant Traks)

Twas a big year for local rap: Seth ordered some stale toast, Urthy went to hell, Illy took some pictures, Bluejuice stopped rapping and actually made a good album… but nobody did it better than these boys from Sydney’s inner west. Over astute (if somewhat traditional) production, Solo voiced the hopes, fears and feelings of a generation of young Australians raised on YouTube and Coke Zero (or something) in a way that arguably no artist – hip-hop, indie, or otherwise – has ever been able to do before. No Auto-Tune, but you can feel the pain.

Key track: ‘The Rain’

Drake, So Far Gone (October’s Own)

If Radiohead’s In Rainbows changed the way the listening public approached paying for music, So Far Gone completely transformed it. Free downloadable hip-hop mixtapes are nothing new, that is certain. But what other next wave rapper do you know with Grammy nominations, nationwide airplay, Rihanna relationship rumours and a Kanye West-directed video under his belt… all without a record deal or even a commercially released product on shelves? Of course, none of this would have been possible if the music wasn’t amazing… which it is. In fact, while we’re on the subject of Thom Yorke & co, 40′s production has always struck me as very Kid A-esque: cold, atmospheric, alienating but completely engaging. That’s why Drake’s overt use of the dreaded Auto-Tune never comes across as forced or cheesy; his cold vocal tones just merge seamlessly into the aural landscape. And while the boy can sing, he’s also a supremely gifted emcee, which never seems to get mentioned by anyone. This is the real 808s & Heartbreak; bring on the retail album.

Key track: ‘Successful’

Daniel Merriweather, Love & War (Marlin/Universal)

The cynic in me suspects that Mark Ronson masterminded this disc as a sort of male  Back To Black, hoping that the public  appetite for neo-neo-trashbag-soul would keep cash registers ringing during Ms Winehouse’s prolonged absence: whiteboy with blackboy voice sings “classic soul” songs of love, loss and public drunkenness, over watertight backing from “cred” band of session musicians (he didn’t even bother deviating from the Dap Kings blueprint; at least Gin Wigmore’s thinly-veiled play for Winehouse status was propped up by Ryan Adams’ Cardinals). Nevertheless, even with cynicism applied this is a f*cking great album; in fact I’d go as far as to say that this is among the best debut albums in Australian music history. Daniel sings great, the songs are great, the instrumentation is great, the guest spots are great, the whole damn thing is just great. And until Amy returns from rehab/plastic surgery to give us another go-round, this will fill the gap quite nicely.

Key track: ‘Cigarettes’

Rick Ross, Deeper Than Rap (Def Jam)

I love yacht rock. I love rap. How was I ever not going to love yacht rap? Amazingly for a guy with such a well-documented fabricated past, Ricky Rawse pulls you into the intoxicating, fast-paced world of cocaine trafficking (real or imagined) better than pretty much anyone bar the almight Clipse. You feel every gear shift of the Lamborghini, every sexual favour from the Dominican supermodel, every shrimp from the buffet… but that’s not why this album rules. The production is LUSH; as soulful and commanding as anything from the School of Kanye, but with a certain breeziness and understated majesty that instantly conjures images of overweight black men in white linen pants and aviator shades smoking cigars on the bow of a 40-foot cruiser somewhere in the Bahamas.

Key track: ‘Magnificent’

Arctic Monkeys, Humbug (Domino)

“All the pretty visitors came and waved their arms and cast a shadow of a snake pit on the wall.” “Coax me out my love, and take a spin of my propeller.” “I smelled your scent on the seatbelt and kept my shortcuts to myself.” The Arctic Monkeys really have a knack for lyrics that appear dirty and dangerous to the ears, while simultaneously looking fun and mischievous on paper. But that’s enough analysis; this is just a f*cking great rock’n’roll album, and a real “coming of age” for the Sheffield lads. There’s no ‘Dancing Shoes’ here, but the absence of instant indie-disco hits on Humbug isn’t felt for very long. Not when the material on offer is so menacing and enticing in equal measure.

Key track: ‘Crying Lightning’

Bertie Blackman, Secrets & Lies (Forum 5)

Lisa Mitchell might do “cute” pretty well, and Sarah Blasko might give good “quirky but accessible”, but no one captures “weirdly attractive indie chick rocking out with her imaginary friends at the bottom of the garden” quite like Bertie Blackman. Last album Black was aight (but only aight); this one is f*ckin’ right on. Expanding her usual repertoire of jagged guitars and pounding drums to include spacey atmospherics and explosive bursts of electronica, BB reinvents herself as some otherwordly Kate Bush-meets-Joan Jett hybrid sent back from the future to tell us about the secret lives of black cats, white owls, bats, birds, bees and scuffed knees. So good I can even excuse the horrible Enya-esque cover art.

Key track: ‘Byrds Of Prey’

The-Dream, Love Vs Money (Def Jam)

Let’s face it, R&B sucks in 2009. Thank God for The-Dream. Despite the clunkiest-looking stage name in the industry (lose the hyphen dude!) and a great face for radio, Terius continues to soldier on on his one-man mission to revolutionise the genre, while his peers tread water in a syrupy ocean of mediocrity. What this album lacks in substance (the songs aren’t a patch on those on The-Dream’s debut Love/Hate), it makes up for in style by the pimp cup-ful. Dramatic synths, ‘We Will Rock You’ drums, ATL crunk “aaaaye” chants, twinkling keys, orgasmic falsettos, and more ghetto melodrama than a straight-to-DVD hood flick all melded to create a new template for 21st century soul music. Plus bonus points for wifing Christina Milian.

Key track: ‘Fancy’

The Temper Trap, Conditions (Liberation)

Australia claimed Crowded House and the Bee Gees. Maybe Indonesia should claim The Temper Trap… that’s where honey-voiced lead singer Dougy Mandagi originally hails from. Or maybe the UK should file a suit for paternity… after all, the Poms did embrace this Melbourne foursome when they were all but shunned by radio at home. And why wouldn’t they want to lay claim to TT? After all, Conditions contains the kind of atmospheric stadium rock that the likes of Coldplay wish they could churn out. Will age like a fine wine.

Key track: ‘Sweet Disposition’

***

Bonus: Top 10 songs of 2009

Mew, ‘Introducing Palace Players’
Bag Raiders, ‘Shooting Stars’
Daniel Merriweather, ‘Cigarettes’
Rick Ross x Kanye West x Lil Wayne x T-Pain, ‘Maybach Music 2’
Drake x Lykke Li, ‘Little Bit’
Mos Def, ‘Casa Bey’
Clipse x Cam’ron x Pharrell, ‘Popular Demand’
Horrorshow x Jane Tyrell, ‘In My Haze’
Urthboy, ‘Hellsong’
The Temper Trap, ‘Sweet Disposition’