THE ARTISTS HAVE SPOKEN: Top Tens of 2009
Dec 22, 2009
Vivian Girls, Devendra Banhart, Marshall Crenshaw, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Langhorne Slim, Allison Moorer and more weigh in on their faves.
BY THE EDITORS OF BLURT
We asked; they answered. Let's face it: 2009 was a schizophrenic year for music, and our artists' Top Ten lists reflect exactly that, with about as much consensus reached among the respondents as at the recent climate change conference in Copenhagen. Unlike matters related to the long-term health of our planet, however, this is actually a good thing, because the contemporary explosion of music-making on all fronts, irrespective of genre, sub-genre or micro-genre, speaks to the fact that now is the best time to be an artist. Admittedly, the nearly 20,000 CDs, downloads and streams we've received at BLURT central since the start of January would suggest the odds of actually getting noticed turn slimmer each year, but that notion is offset by the fact that there are also more avenues than ever before to get your music into the hands (ears) of your fanbase. And if one of your high-profile peers, below, happened to become one of your fans, well... further reason to be cheerful here during the holiday season.
Coming tomorrow at BLURT: our annual Top 50 list, plus the writers' and staffers' picks.
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Marshall Crenshaw
1. Yo La Tengo, Popular Songs
2. Bob Mould, Life and Times-
3. Toulouse Engelhardt, Perpendicular Worlds-
4. Melody Gardot, "Baby I'm a Fool"-
5. Jorma Kaukonen, River of Time-
6. New York Dolls, 'Cause I Sez So-
7. Dave Rawlings Machine, A Friend of a Friend-
8. The Flatlanders, Hills and Valley-
9. Dan Auerbach, Keep It Hid-
10. Danny Zella and his Zell Rocks, Zell Rockin' Vol. 1- (reissue)
Devendra Banhart
1. Hecuba-Paradise
2. The Entrance Band, The Entrance Band
3. Vetiver, Tight Knit
4. R Kelly, Untitled
5. Washed Out, Life of Leisure
6. The Growlers, Are you in or Out?
7. Happy Birthday
8. Adanowski, El Romantico
9. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
10. Yonlu, A Society in which no tear is shed is inconceivably mediocre..
Frank Turner
1.Converge, Axe to Fall
2. Future of the Left, Travels with Myself and Another
3. Crazy Arm, Born to Ruin
4. Chuck Ragan, Gold Country
5. School of Seven Bells, Alpinisms
6. Propagandhi, Supporting Caste
7. Jamie T, Kings and Queens
8. Drag the River, Bad at Breaking Up
9. Beans On Toast, Standing on a chair
10. The Hold Steady, A Positive Rage
Langhorne Slim (in no particular order)
1. The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love
2. The Avett Brothers, I and Love and You
3. Dawes, North Hills"
4. The Woes, Heaven Knows"
5. The Heartless Bastards, The Mountain
6. Dan Deacon, Bromst
7. Andrew Bird, Noble Beast
8. Monsters of Folk, Monsters of Folk
9. Russian Circles, Geneva
10. The Antlers, Hospice
Chairlift - Caroline Polachek
1. Telepathe, Dance Mother
2. Violens, 2009 Winter Mixtape
3. Grizzly Bear, Veckstimest
4. Dirty French, Dirty French Psychedelics (Compilation)
5. Amazing Baby, Rewild
6. Black Moth Super Rainbow, Eating Us
7. Depreciation Guild, Dream About Me
8. Flaming Lips, Embryonic
9. Fever Ray, Fever Ray
10. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
The Phenomenal Handclap Band (In no particular order)
1. Glass Ghost, Idol Omen
2. Passion Pit, Manners
3. Fever Ray, S/T
4. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion
5. Dam Funk, Toeachizown
6. Super Value Edits, Super Manifesto
7. 9dw, s/t
8. V/A Daptone Gold
9. Neon Indian, Psychic Chasms
10. Music Go, Music Expressions
Girls In Trouble
1. Sharon Van Etten, Because I Was in Love
2. Swan Lake, Enemy Mine
3. Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
4. Sufjan Stevens, BQE
5. Fiery Furnaces, I'm Going Away
6. Micachu and the Shapes, Jewellery
7. Tune-Yards, Bird-Brains
8. The Bloodsugars, I Can't Go On, I'll Go On
9. Bon Iver, Blood Bank
10. David Bazan, Curse Your Branches
Tom Gabel (Against Me)
1. Future Of The Left, Travels With Myself And Another
2. The Handsome Furs, Face Control
3. Dead To Me, African Elephants
4. Matt & Kim, Grand
5. The Raveonettes, In And Out Of Control
6. Moneybrother, Real Control
7. Metric, Fantasies
8. The Horrors,
Primary Colours
9. Fever Ray, S/T
10. The Mountain Goats, The Life Of The World To Come
Semi Precious Weapons
1. Jay Z, The Blueprint 3
2. Neil Young, Fork In The Road
3. Peaches, Cream
4. Miranda Lambert, Revolution
5. Them Crooked Vultures
6. Emeralds, Solar Bridge
7. Omar Souleyman, Dabke 2020
8. Lady GaGa, The Fame Monster
9. Venetian Snares, Filth
10. Nile, Those Whom The Gods Detest
Tim Nordwind of OK Go
1. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amedeus Phoenix
2. Discovery, S/T
3. Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, Up From Below
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz
5. The Horrors, Primary Colours
6. Neon Indian, Psychic Chasms
7. Mew, No More Stories Are Told Today
8. Atlas Sound, Logos
9. La Roux, La Roux
10. Florence and The Machine, Lungs
Tegan Quinn (Tegan & Sara)
1. We Are the
City, There Are Very Tiny Beasts in the Ground
2. Say Hi, November Was White, December Was Grey
3. Dragonette, Liar
4. Paramore, Turn it Off
5. Jets Overhead, Heading for Nowhere
6. AFI, Beautiful Thieves
7. The XX, Islands
8. The Gossip, Heavy Cross
9. Antonia June, Lightning Dust
Allison Moorer (No particular order, except for number 1)
1. Steve Earle, Townes
2. Wilco, Wilco (the album)
3. St. Vincent , Actor
4. Sondre Lerche, Heartbeat Radio
5. Grizzly Bear, Vechatimest
6. Spiritualized, Songs in A & E
7. Buddy & Julie Miller, Written in Chalk
8. Norah Jones, The Fall
9. Justin Townes Earle, Midnight at the Movies
10. Monsters of Folk, Monsters of Folk
The Grates
1.Those Darlins, Those Darlins
2. Japandroid, Post-Nothing
3. Handsome Furs, Face Control
4. Black Lips, 200 Million Thousand
5. Chairlift, Evident Utensil
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
7. Thermals, Now We Can See
8. Metric, Fantasies
9. Sarah Blasko, As Day Follows Night (Australia)
10. Dappled Cities, Zounds (Australia)
Damon of Damon & Naomi
1. Tim Buckley, Live at the Folklore Center
2. Joyce, Visions of Dawn
3. Leonard Cohen, Live in London 2008)
4. Leonard Cohen, Live at the Isle of Wight 1970
5. Rail Band, Dioba
6. Africa Boogaloo: The Latinization of West Africa
7. Smokey Hormel, Smokey's Secret Family
8. A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Délivrance
9. Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh, Overloaded Ark
10. Sharon van Etten, Because I Was in Love
Vivian Girls
1. Mika Miko: We Be Xuxa
2. Nodzzz, Nodzzz
3. Girls, Album
4. Grass Widow 12" EP
5. The Beets, Spit in the Face of People Who Don't Want to be Cool
6. Woods, Songs of Shame
7. Real Estate, Real Estate
8. Wavves, Wavvves
9. German Measles, Wild 12" EP
10. Brilliant Colors, Introducing
Black Moth Super Rainbow's Tobacco:
1. Antipop Consortium, Fluorescent black
2. Duchess Says, Anthologie des 3 perchoirs
3. eels, Hombre Lobo
4. Eyedea and Abilities, By the Throat
5. Felt, Felt 3
6. Height, Baltimore Highlands
7. James Ferraro, K2 Chameleon Ballet
8. Longmont Potion Castle, lpc 7
9. Robert Pollard, The Crawling Distance
10. Rusted Shut, Dead
Justin Townes Earle
1. Joe Pug, Nation Of Heat
2. T Bird And The Breaks, Learn About It
3. Ben Sollee, Learning To Bend
4. Steel Drivers, Live At The Station Inn
5. Time Jumpers, At The Station Inn
6. Felice Brothers, Tonight At The Arizona
7. Woody Guthrie, My Dusty Road Box
8. Jason Isbell And The 400 unit - s/t
9. Otis Gibbs, One Day Our Whispers
10. Los Lobos, El Cancionero: Mas y Mas (BOX SET)
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