Best Music of 2009

[Drealm]

You haven't heard of the band U2? Or just not the new album? :biggrin1:

I see the other side of this. I am thrilled that there is more music out there than I can possibly consume. That way I never run out of new things to discover. I love hunting down new music to enrich my life. I get bored with the same sounds pretty easy.

How to filter it all? There are many good magazines, websites and blogs out there. Some are better than others. There are those to suit any taste. And in this day of downloads you can most often sample music before acquiring the entire release.

Of course I know U2; I just don't like their music, so it's normal that I didn't listened to the new album.

I suppose you're right, there are a lot of magazines I could check, even sometimes in newspapers there's a section of selected albums. Do you have a good website that make good reviews about all kind of music?

Unfortunately, 30 seconds samples is not enough for me. I need at least to listen to the whole album to have a good idea.

Thanks for your advices, they're very welcome!

[JonG]

Do you have a good website that make good reviews about all kind of music?

There are many and are not hard to find. Just consult the Google. One general purpose reference site is allmusic.com. Everything else is going to be more specialized. And if Spin is too underground for you I cannot be of much assistance because to me they're rather mainstream! It's all relative.

[JonG]

The Onion/AV Club Top 25 Albums of 2009

25. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
24. Antony & The Johnsons - The Crying Light
23. White Rabbits - It’s Frightening
22. Fall Out Boy - Folie À Deux
21. The Thermals - Now We Can See
20. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz
19. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
18. Lucerov - 1372 Overton Park
17. Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
16. St. Vincent - Actor
15. Art Brut - Vs. Satan
14. Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another
13. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt II
12. Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
11. The Antlers - Hospice
10. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
09. Brother Ali - Us
08. Converge - Axe To Fall
07. P.O.S. - Never Better
06. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
05. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
04. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
03. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
02. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
01. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

[Music Head]

I feel Drealm's pain. Not that there's too much music out there. I like that. Just that with so much to choose from, it's hard to decide unless you have deep pockets, which I don't. Guess that's why I do most of my new music listening online rather than purchasing. Of course you can't stay glued to a computer. And it is impossible to listen to everything that comes out. I sort of like these year end lists but you do have to consider the source. I like the Spin list. I disagree with Jon that it is mainstream. Of course he's right it is all relative. Mainstream to me is Billboard, MTV, your local top 40 radio station. That list is in no way mainstream to me. I know from Jon's listening posts what he listens to, and to him that list may be mainstream. That's because he is on some stream that has no tributaries. I'll call it the exstream. To the casual music listener (mainstream) that list is from another galaxy.:blah:

[Music Head]

from a site called bestalbumsof2009....lol
but since you don't see many metal charts, here it is
let's see now........I've heard of Slayer

1) Isis - Wavering Radiant
2) Mastodon - Crack the Skye
3) Sun O - Monoliths and Dimensions
4) Converge - Axe to Fall
5) Baroness - Blue Record
6) Absu - Absu
7) Pyramids - Pyramids with Nadja
8) Obituary - The Darkest Day
9) Bloodhorse - Horizoner
10) Kylesa - Static Tensions
11) Tombs - Winterhours
12) Katatonia - Night is the New Day
13) Slayer - World Painted Blood
14) Irepress - Sol Eye See I
15) The Arusha Accord - The Echo Verses
16) Nile - Those Whom the Gods Detest
17) A Storm of Light/Nadja - Primitive North
18) Behemoth - Evangelion
19) My Dying Bride - The Lies I Sire
20) Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic

[Music Head]

a very good show I listen to occasionaly
about the closest thing I can get to new alternative music on the radio out here in the boonies

1) Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
2) Avett Brothers - I And Love And You
3) Black Joe lewis And The Honeybears - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is
4) Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
5) Eels - Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs Of Desire
6) Dan Auerbach - Keep it Hid
7) Clientele - Bonfires On The Heath
8) Alan Toussaint - Bright Mississippi
9) Silversun Pickups - Swoon
10) Staff Brenda Bilili - Tres Tres Fort

[Music Head]

for any jazz aficionado's here

1) Vijay Iyer Trio - Historicity
2) Darcey James Argue's Secret Society - Infernal Machines
3) Allen Toussaint - Bright Mississippi
4) Ran Blake - Driftwoods
5) Buika & Chucho Valdes - Ultimo Trago
6) Nels Cline - Coward
7) JD Allen Trio - Shine!
8) Diego Barber - Calima
9) Tyshawn Sorey - Koan
10) Fred Hersch - Fred Hersch Plays Jobim

[Drealm]

Hey, thanks for all this. I can at least listen to the first in each list, so maybe something will grab me.

And I realized that there's youtube, so if I want to listen to a complete song instead of 30 seconds, there's a good chance that youtube have the full version.

I'm beginning to see the light...:yield:

And thanks also for the Allmusic suggestion. I already know the site, but I never really looked at the main page, I was always directly searching for a band. So I see they have an editor's list of the best releases in the last three months and also the releases of the week.

[JonG]

...I like the Spin list. I disagree with Jon that it is mainstream. Of course he's right it is all relative. Mainstream to me is Billboard, MTV, your local top 40 radio station. That list is in no way mainstream to me...

Is Billboard, MTV and top 40 radio still most people's source for new music? I think the internet is. At least for the under 40 crowd. Which is not a slight at our older members, just that younger people are more likely to spend more time online. Which means the mainstream isn't what it used to be. I've never heard of some of the artists they get play on the radio.

That Spin list is mostly Indie rock. While Indie rock is not the entirety of the mainstream it is part of it now.

[Music Head]

Is Billboard, MTV and top 40 radio still most people's source for new music? I think the internet is. At least for the under 40 crowd. Which is not a slight at our older members, just that younger people are more likely to spend more time online. Which means the mainstream isn't what it used to be. I've never heard of some of the artists they get play on the radio.

That Spin list is mostly Indie rock. While Indie rock is not the entirety of the mainstream it is part of it now.

You may be right Jon. As far as people who are really into music, like members of this site. An indication of that is our poll which puts indie/alt on top. As far as the music buying public overall that's just not true. Any chart that tracks actual sales, pop wins by a large margin. That is true for both music sales and concert attendance. Bottom line, that is what counts, is where the bucks are spent on the music industry. I consider that the mainstream.