This is my attempt at an unpretentious music year in review. I hope you will take these words and use them to find the good stuff and avoid the bad.
It was a so-so year for Hip Hop in my opinion. There were a few albums that didn’t come out that were supposed to. Also there were some albums that I just thought were disappointments (see below). However, it was a good year for this continued trend of indie/electro/pop. My list reflects what I liked this year in that genre(s). All my lists are my opinion. This doesn’t mean you will agree. I would love for these lists to stimulate some conversation. I didn’t get a chance to listen to everything that came out this year so I want to hear about your favorites for the year. However, I will not care what you write because I am an all knowing musical being. So, tentatively send your suggestions, but the backlash might hurt your feelings. Let it begin!
Top 15 Albums:
1. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
2. Tegan & Sara – Sainthood
3. xx- xx
4. Miike Snow – Miike Snow
5. P.O.S. – Never Better
6. Matt and Kim – Grand
7. Passion Pit – Manners
8. Blakroc – Blakroc
9. DOOM – Born Like This
10. Kings of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence
11. Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt 2
12. Brother Ali – Us
13. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
14. The Decemberists – Hazards of Love
15. Mos Def – Ecstatic
Grizzly Bear gets the top spot. They have won me over with Veckatimest. It is truly an amazing album. The hype is justified. I love their sound and am thankful I finally gave them a shot. Put this album on when driving through a wooded area or maybe laying in bed on a cold winter day snuggled up in a warm blanket. This album relaxes me and makes me happy.
Top 35 Songs:
1. Grizzly Bear – “Two Weeks”
2. Passion Pit – “Sleepyhead”
3. Miike Snow –“Animal”
4. Phoenix – “Lisztomania”
5. Matt and Kim – “Good Ol’ Fashioned Nightmare”
6. Grizzly Bear – “While You Wait for the Others”
7. xx – “Heart Skipped a Beat”
8. Matt and Kim – “Daylight”
9. Miike Snow – “Burial”
10. Grizzly Bear – “Ready,Able”
11. Kings of Convenience – “Boat Behind”
12. Tegan and Sara – “The Ocean”
13. BBU – “Chi Don’t Dance”
14. Phoenix – “1901”
15. Empire of the Sun – “We are the People”
16. Raekwon ft. Inspectah Deck,Ghostface Killah & Method Man –“House of Flying Daggers”
17. P.O.S. – “Goodbye”
18. xx – “Crystalised”
19. Blakroc ft. Mos Def. and Jim Jones – “Ain’t Nothing Like You”
20. Netherfriends – “Friends with Lofts”
21. The Decemberists – “The Rake”
22. White Rabbits – “Percussion Gun”
23. DOOM ft. Kurious and Slug – “Supervillainz”
24. Mos Def ft. Slick Rick – “Auditorium”
25. Mr. Lif – “The Sun”
26. Tegan and Sara – “Someday”
27. xx – “VCR”
28. Rob Roy – “Fur in My Cap”
29. P.O.S. ft. Dessa, Sims, Cecil Otter – “Low Light Low Life”
30. Animal Collective – “Summertime Clothes”
31. Julian Plenti – “Games for Days”
32. The Dirty Projectors – “The Stillness is the Move”
33. Brother Ali – “Tight Rope”
34. F. Stokes – “So Into You”
35. Islands – “Switched On”
Biggest Pleasant Surprises:
xx – xx
Miike Snow – Miike Snow
Passion Pit – Manners and Chunk of Change
F. Stokes – Death of a Handsome Bride
Biggest Disappoint(s):
Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
Mr. Lif- I Heard it Today
Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon: End of Day
Albums that didn’t come out in 2009 but I listened to a lot:
Shad- Old Prince
MGMT- Oracular Spectacular
Passion Pit – Chunk of Change EP
Overrated Albums:
Kid Cudi- Man on the Moon: The End of Day
Arctic Monkeys- Humbug
The Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Albums to look forward to in 2010 with fingers crossed:
The Roots- How I Got Over
Vampire Weekend- Contra
Yeasayer- Odd Blood
MGMT- Congratulations
Lupe Fiasco- Lasers / LupE.N.D.
Dr. Dre.-Detox hahahahahahhahahahahah
…and many more!
Hopefully this message finds you well. I hope you find it useful. I hope you will now drop everything and listen to these selections. I hope it will inspire you to put together your own lists and add them to this. It doesn’t matter how small or large the list I would appreciate some feedback and new music. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.
Your friend and colleague,
Bojan Jovanovic
Jugo + Rada Records 