I'll know we're fucked, and not getting unfucked soon

Consider this low-rate Pitchfork. My tastes this year have not been especially odd--it’ll probably take a couple years before I find the hidden gems from this year. But overall, I would rank 2009 as a genuinely decent year for music.

The following list is in alphabetical order, as I’m not sure that I could do a genuine rank of “best, better, good.”

First, honorable mention. Albums that may not have been the best of the year, but were decent enough. Many of these are here simply because I don’t think I listened to them enough to have their charms fully worm their wear into my skull.

Animal Collective-Fall Be Kind E.P.

Really only here ‘cause I’d already put Merriweather on the Best list, and felt like I should Sophie Choice A.C. releases. Fall Be Kind is good, but not “fucking genius” like Merriweather. “What Would I Want? Sky” is the best use of The Grateful Dead outside of ice cream ever.

Dirty Projectors-Bitte Orca

Neon Indian-Psychic Chasms

Tortoise-Beacons of Ancestorship

Any new Tortoise release at least deserves a nod of recognition towards its existence. Beacons is less of a Tortoise-sounding release, if that means anything anymore. The whole album sounds like Tortoise heard their kids listening to a lot of electronic music and decided to jump on the bandwagon. It’s not quite electronic, but it’s really fucking close. And whatever it is is at least interesting. Also, the opening track “High Class Slim Came Floating In” is pretty fucking awesome.

So, favorites of the year:

Animal Collective-Merriweather Post Pavilion

The record where Animal Collective keeps its fucking hippy shit together long enough to poo out a nugget of genius. Any record that has songs as good as “My Girls,” “Summertime Clothes,” and “Brother Sport” on it deserves a nod as a job-well-done.

The Antlers-Hospice

I stole this from Hanna in the great music swap of aught nine. Hospice is brilliant, but has every right to be a pretentious mess. First, it’s a concept album. Like Queensryche. Second, it’s a concept album about a cancer patient. Third, it’s best described by words like “earnest,” “sweeping,” and “un-ironic.” But Hospice is genuinely good. And it features the best song about abortion since “Brick”. Unless there has been some unknown-to-me advance in abortion song technology since 1997.

Black Dice-Repo

I saw Black Dice with Animal Collective live, and it was a hilarious experience: watching all the 15 year olds who came to see AC play having to sit through three ugly, ugly men making Frankenstein dance music goes down as a pinnacle moment. Watching these Plano kids turn their backs and cover their ears in fright/snobbery at heart-stoppingly-loud whistles and bells and thuds was like seeing some sort of vengeance enacted from my childhood. Like Carrie setting fires with her menstrual blood.

And that would be enough, but Repo itself is a great record. Live, Black Dice are a beast of rape, constantly making you think that a dance song is about to start, only to once again pull out some noise that makes your eardrums bleed. However, Repo is a little more consenting, and genuinely makes good on the idea of noise dance music.

Fuck Buttons-Tarot Sport

Grizzly Bear-Vecktamist

Jim O’Rourke-The Visitor

The Visitor is the only album that I know of on the list that had special listening instructions: “Please listen on speakers, loud.” This turns what otherwise would have been a relatively mid-tempo instrumental album into a spiritual experience. The music is beautiful, but the experience of listening to it is something unto itself.

Micachu-Jewellery

Micachu is what pop music should be, if pop music were actually good, and not in an ironic “look, I’m a scenster who can appreciate Taylor Swift” sort of way.

Phoenix-Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

St. Vincent-Actor