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Did you miss #20-16? I just posted it like 3 hours ago. Just scroll up and you'll see it, like magic. Anyway, we're almost at the top 10! This is gonna get done and it's gonna get done today, just you watch...
In case you didn't know it, Neko Case is one of the greatest people ever to live. This "honourary Canadian" alternative country singer and songwriter has been a member of the excellent indie group The New ****ographers for many years, and she has also had an unbelievably top-notch solo career. I had the pleasure of listening to her music and becoming a fan of hers in early 2006, fueled mainly by her previous album,
Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. Early this year, Neko returned with
Middle Cyclone, her latest solo effort and another ridiculously great album. As the title suggests,
Middle Cyclone has recurring lyrical themes about tornadoes and nature; Neko describes throughout the album how she has sometimes neglected relationships with other humans to instead connect with nature, and she comes to terms with the implications of that reality. Now, that's a lot of heavy meaning and it's a beautiful task in itself to pick apart her words and make sense of it all, but beyond that, the actual music itself and the sound is unbeatable. Just listen to "People Got A Lotta Nerve" (best song title of the year, by the way), and you'll know what I mean. That might actually be my song of the year, period; I sure played it enough. Other tracks like "This Tornado Loves You" and "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" are also simply the best. Did I mention the whole album was recorded in a barn, with an array of pianos that she got for free off of Craigslist? and the cover art?! Good lord, Neko Case is magnificent.
Jack White can do no wrong. It's something I've said many times as the years go by, and it just keeps getting more and more true. His newest band is The Dead Weather, an alt-rock side project and supergroup of sorts, featuring lead singer Alison Mosshart of The Kills, as well as members of Queens of the Stone Age and The Raconteurs, which of course is Jack White's
other other band. I really can't tell you how great it is to have Alison Mosshart in this band. Her vocals are ridiculous in the best way; her raspy voice battles with and plays off Jack White's voice like no other. Their debut album,
Horehound, is what I'm here to talk about, so let's talk about it. First single, "Hang You From The Heavens," was a wake-up call early in the year, shouting at us to say that brilliant rock music is alive and well. The calm like a bomb "I Cut Like A Buffalo" is also one of my favorites. However, nothing beats "Treat Me Like Your Mother," in which the epic battle of the voices, White v. Mosshart, truly takes shape. Back and forth, over and over.
LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT GOT IT FIGURED OUT. That song doesn't just kick ass, it kicks
your ass. The Dead Weather's cover of "Are Friends Electric?" by '80s mainstay Gary Numan is also exceptional; it showed up as a B-side early on in the year. Anyway, put it all together, and this band is one of the best things to come out of 2009. White and Mosshart, you win.
Shakira has gone through many phases of an illustrious career in music, which I'm sure everyone is familiar with at this point. From her early days as a Spanish language-exclusive artist, to her English language debut in 2001, to her continued evolution throughout the decade, we've seen just about all the sides of Shakira that we can see. At least, that's what we thought before
She Wolf happened. What I love about this album is that Shakira more-or-less decided, "screw it, I'm just going to do whatever the hell I want, because I can." Don't get it twisted,
She Wolf is absolutely bonkers. Just listen to Shakira describe her inspiration for the title track: "I was in the studio in a bad mood that day, then I got inspired and went to a corner and I wrote the lyrics and the melody in 10 minutes. The image of the she wolf just came to my head, and when I least expected it I was howling and panting." Genius! The electro-pop blips and bleeps throughout are also crazy and new for Shakira. The fabulous and hilarious "Mon Amour" is one of my favorite songs of the year.
Passengers with destination to Hell, please proceed to your gate, we are ready to board now. I can't get enough of it. Shakira totally won me back by taking a risk, loosening up, and being quixotic and wacky. I love it. Way to go, Shaki.
Amanda Blank is relatively new on the scene as a rapper and singer from Philadelphia. She has been under the surface for a few years, popping up every so often as a featured artist on tracks by M.I.A., Ghostface, Santigold, and some other wonderful people like them. She released her debut solo LP,
I Love You, this summer. If you've heard "Might Like You Better," Amanda's half-way cover and new interpretation of "Never Say Never," the '80s classic by Romeo Void, then you already know her music probably isn't for everyone. The beats are hard and aggressive; her vocals are in-your-face; her lyrics are at times blunt and forthright, and at other times strikingly heartfelt; her rhymes are inspired and skilled. Even I'll admit the album was a bit overwhelming on the first listen, but I quickly grew to love it, and it soon became one of my most played albums of the year. I kept going back to hear everything again, from the banger anthems like "Make It Take It" and "Lemme Get Some" to the album's few softer moments like "A Love Song" featuring Santigold and "Leaving You Behind" featuring Lykke Li. The former track was actually adapted from a remix of Santigold's "I'm A Lady" that appeared on last year's Diplo mixtape; a nice callback. Amanda Blank puts it all on the table on
I Love You, and she did an amazing job. It'll be great to see what she serves up next.
Who would've thought one of the best pop albums of 2009 would be made by someone from the Disney set, someone who made a throwaway pre-teen pop album with help from the Jonas Brothers just a year or two ago? Holy geez, Batman. This whole situation really reminds me of Hilary Duff's
Dignity back in 2007. This time, ladies and gentlemen, it's Demi Lovato. What an incredible transformation in such a short period of time. This lovable starlet was successful in making a pop album that's higher quality from front to back than some others with a decade of experience behind their back. Demi is quite the character, anyway; judging from her appearances on Jimmy Fallon and other talk shows, she's obviously very intelligent, she knows and appreciates an unusually wide range of music (even death metal, believe it or not), and she should already be worlds beyond marketing and promoting stuff to 10 year olds. If you listen to
Here We Go Again, it quickly becomes obvious that Demi is beginning to break the mold. She wrote nearly every song on the album. Her powerful vocals may soon rival the likes of Kelly Clarkson. The wide range of genres that she covers on this album is extremely impressive for someone at her stage in the game, from solidly great electro-pop ("Remember December"), to fierce synth-powered rock ("Got Dynamite"), to throwback soul that reminds you more of Duffy than Hilary Duff ("Every Time You Lie"). If you won't give Demi Lovato a chance because of her background, then you're a fool. Demi has a very promising career ahead of her in singing and songwriting.
Here We Go Again is already brilliant pop music.
It's getting exciting now! Who will have my top 10 albums of 2009? Come on back tonight to find out. Please keep the comments coming. I really do appreciate them. You only have a few hours to get your comments in, anyway!
Just such a great album!
all i ever wanted and here we go again <3 I never heard "Horehound" but the band is great. I LOVE YOU 
