I wanted to write a "best of 2009" post, but looking back on the year, I only bought three albums that came out this year. Also, I never wrote top ten lists for any of the other years, so to start now seems silly. I will try to include a wide range of genres and production years, but that may not happen. Here goes:
10) Gorillaz - Gorillaz (2001)
Alternative Rock/Hip-Hop
This is perhaps a strange inclusion in this list because I haven't listened to it for several years. That being said, when my brother Niko discovered this (at the time) unknown album at the local music store, we lost our shit. This was some of the freshest, most original work we had ever heard. The fictional characters and the mysterious real-world musicians behind the work made for an alluring piece of art. We would wake up, put the CD in the player on repeat and turn the volume up to eleven. Not to sound like a hipster, but we were rocking out to this months before anybody else caught wind of it. And then, they did. The ungodly amount of airtime it received killed it. I went slowly from listening to it nonstop to being forced to listen to it nonstop. bummer. All that aside, this album was hugely influential to me early in this decade.
Sample: Starshine
9) Armored Vegetable - Funk Shui (2007)
Funk/Rock
Funk Shui is my favorite local band. Armored Vegetable is their second album after "Giant Sized Masters of...". Every musician in this band is fucking killer. Sean Nowland, the bassist, has been a friend through the kung fu school for over a decade, and introduced me to the band. My friends and I go to nearly every show they preform, and have become well acquainted with the members. The title, "Armored Vegetable" refers to a favorite track of mine about cooking an artichoke with a special person.
Sample: Lockjaw (live)
8) Supermoon - Zap Mama (2007)
R&B/Soul
This album is sweet and smooth and funky and just awesome all over. Marie Daulne, founder and leader of Zap Mama, brings her best blend of African infused polyphonic Soul to this record. Supermoon feels a bit more laid back and gentle than the other albums put out by the group. For fans of vocals, Zap Mama is an absolute must. Marie Doulne has, at times, a challenging voice to listen to, raspy and harsh, but then she will switch to some of the most honeyed vocals imaginable. The woman's talent is awe inspiring, and the singers she draws to her for her albums are equally as impressive.
Sample: Toma Taboo
7) Eyes at Half Mast - Talkdemonic (2008)
Folktronica (ugh, what a terrible genre name)
Another local band. Eyes at Half Mast was recorded in an old empty house in Lake Oswego, the hollow, echoing quality of the bare rooms filling this record with a ghostly sound. I've heard that this album was inspired by the death of one of the members' father, and the emotional struggle of loss. That may be true, but this album is not a downer. The storming drums and swelling viola that characterize Talkdemonic are at their most powerful in this album. This record kicks ass.
Sample: Black Wood Crimson (live)
6) New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) - Erykah Badu (2008)
Nu Soul/R&B/jazz/Hip-Hop/Funk
This amazing album felt like a dramatic departure from Badu's previous work. Dark, complicated, and most of the time, rather serious. From my understanding, Badu created this album from scratch in the free Apple software Garage Band, recorded the vocals through a laptop microphone, and then sent the music to her producer friends to recreate it at studio quality. In interviews, she talks about cooking dinner for her kids and recording tracks in her kitchen at the same time. Tracks like "That Hump" and "Telephone" strike deep, haunting the listener for days; where more uplifting songs like "Soldier" and "Honey" keep the toes tapping and head nodding.
Sample: Telephone
5) Amethyst Rock Star - Saul Williams (2001)
Hip-Hop/Spoken word/Rock
Williams' first album is a beast. A dizzying musical stratum of hip-hop beats, fearsome rock guitar, and Williams' brilliant, no-nonsense lyrics. I first heard Saul Williams while on vacation in Victoria B.C. with my family in late 2001. His sharp insight and unique sound blew my mind. This album has been on heavy rotation on my stereo ever since.
Sample: Tao of Now
4) Radio Retaliation - Thievery Corporation (2008)
Downtempo
Thievery Corporation is a perennial favorite, and choosing one of their many albums that came out this decade to sit on top is not really possible. Radio Retaliation, being their most recent, is a logical choice, but also it is Goddamn good. Radio Retaliation is a rather politically motivated album, speaking up about issues like free-trade and globalization. The album features many guest musicians such as Seu Jorge and Femi Kuti. I went and saw Thievery Corporation while they were on the Radio Retaliation Tour and it was easily one of the better concerts I have ever seen. There is this notion that they are all turntables and beat machines, but there were roughly fifteen musicians, including up to seven vocalists, performing on stage.
Sample: Beautiful Drug
3) Gungle Dungn - Doubledutch (2008)
Indie-ish stuff, Soul(?)
I don't know what kind of music this is. I just know it is so good I want to cry. Gungle Dungn was produced by a pair of youngsters from Portland, Oregon. I had an art class with one of them and learned of the band through her. The album is unbelievably good. Chunky beats and smooth lyrics from Dhanni and Jordan, respectively, make this work so good. It came at a time in my life when I felt rather lonely and the music wrapped me up like a blanket. It didn't cure the loneliness, but made it seem alright. This was easily, for me, the best album of 2008.
Doubledutch myspace page
2) Jay Stay Paid - J Dilla (2009)
Nu Soul/Hip-Hop/Rap
Album of the mother fucking year. I've talked about Jay Stay Paid in this space before, but I will quickly summarize. After J Dilla's death in 2006, he left hours and hours of unreleased and unfinished tracks on old floppy discs, hard drives, and cassette tapes. His mother Maureen, AKA Ma Dukes, wanted to release these gems, and with the help of legendary producer Pete Rock, made this amazing record. J Dilla was a master. This album deserves all of your guys' attention.
Sample: King
1) Xen Cuts - Ninja Tune record label. (2000)
Electronic, Hip-Hop, Nu Jazz, Drum and Bass, Turntablism, etc.
Calling this an "album" is erroneous, but fuck it, this is my list, I'll include what I want. Xen Cuts is a three disc compilation of artists under the Ninja Tune record label, celebrating their tenth year producing music, So yes, most of this music was not created in the 2000s, so what. Again, my list, screw off. Anyway, No other track-list has done more to guide my musical preferences than this release. Xen Cuts introduced me to whole swaths of musical genres that I had never heard previously. Most importantly, I found new pockets of the Hip-Hop world that excited me more than ever. Artists like The Herbaliser, Dynamic Syncopation, and Roots Manuva. This album showed me that I needed to get out there and seek out new music, and not just passively consume what was on the radio.
Sample: Dynamic Syncopation - 2 Tha Left Sample: The Irresistible Force - Nepalese Bliss Sample: Amon Tobin - Down & To The Left
Wow, that was impossible. There are too many good albums out there to limit it to only ten. I pretty much ended up picking at random. I'd like to reiterate that these are not necessarily the best albums of the decade, but rather some of my personal favorites and records that had the most influence on me.
Happy New Year!
