Sorry for the delay!
20. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
I tried with Animal Collective in the past. I tried Feels when it became big, and I didn't get it. I tried Strawberry Jam when it became big, and I didn't get it. Merriweather Post Pavilion, along with Panda Bear's Person Pitch, is when I finally got Animal Collective. It is their most accessible to date, and i'm sure even diehard AC fans from day 1 would tell you that this is their best album. An album hasn't been so critically adored since Radiohead's Kid A. If you haven't checked it out yet, then you really ought to.
Best Songs:
My Girls
Summertime Clothes
Brothersport
19. The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World To Come
I first got into The Mountain Goats, as I heard a song of theirs being used in the Season 3 premiere of adult swim's best show of all-time, Moral Orel. They used the song "No Children", from 2002's Tallahassee, as the basis of the episode, and it worked beautifully. Raw music, both musically and lyrically. It's one of the best songs i've heard, no hyperbole.
2009's The Life of the World To Come can't live up to "No Children", but it is yet another wonderful album from John Darnielle and company. A great addition to the group, who joined a couple albums ago, is rock's best (and
funniest) drummer in Jon Wurster. The songs from The Life of the World To Come (not fun to type) are all named after Bible verses, and each song is thematically inspired by the specific verse. It's yet another Mountain Goats album that tackles religion, and it's very interesting. This album may not be the best starting point for new fans into the group (try the aforementioned Tallahassee), but it's wonderful all the same.
Best Songs:
Genesis 3:23
Psalms 40:2
Isaiah 45:23
18. Pink Mountaintops - Outside Love
Pink Mountaintops are a spinoff band from the very good Canadian stoner-metal group Black Mountain. I really enjoyed Black Mountain's 2008 release In The Future (It made my closecalls list), but Outside Love is much better. It's like stoner-southern rock/shoegaze with people singing gigantic hooks that are too big for them that they sing anyway. The highlight of the album is "And I Thank You", a song that just builds and builds and builds to a monster chorus that is ten feet tall. The last minute of that song is one of my favorite music moments of this year. It's an album of classic poprock conventions being spun on their head, and music like that is among my very favorite. I can't get enough of it, and you should check it out as well.
Best Songs
And I Thank You
The Gayest of Sunbeams
Execution
17. The Dead Weather - Horehound
Jack White has never been involved with anything that was less than "good". Every single White Stripes album, every single Raconteurs album, Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose, and now The Dead Weather. The man has a golden track record*, and i'm just waiting for him to stumble. What I love about each of these projects he takes on is that each one is very different from the last. It's not just White Stripes I, White Stripes II, and White Stripes III. Each band is very distinct.
Horehound is a showcase for the underappreciated Alison Mosshart, and she nails these songs. Her smoky vocals are just so good. From the shitkicker "Treat Me Like Your Mother", the very-fun duet of sorts "I Cut Like A Buffalo", and the Bob Dylan cover "New Pony", Horehound is a delight from beginning to end.
*The only sort of thing that dings his track record a bit is that Quantum of Solace song he did with Alicia Keys. A song that really didn't need Keys, and should have just been solo Jack White.
Best Songs:
I Cut Like A Buffalo
Hang You From The Heavens
New Pony
16. UGK - UGK 4 Life
I said at the end of my writeup for Underground Kingz on my 2007 year-end that we'll never hear another UGK album due to Pimp C's untimely death. Well, luckily they had one more in the can.
What is amazing about this album is that outside of Snoop Dogg's "RIP PIMP C" on "Steal Your Mind", Pimp's death is not mentioned once or even hinted at. It feels like a brand new UGK album, and unlike most posthumous albums. These were songs all recorded prior to his death, and outside of a misguided Akon feature, are all classic UGK. It feels corny to say, but UGK seems as alive as ever on UGK 4 Life. It's a shame to say that this will be officially the final UGK album, but at least they ended on a great note. Their legacy is not the least bit tarnished due to this posthumous album, unlike 2pac, B.I.G., and other rappers who died too soon. UGK 4 Life, indeed.
Best Songs
The Pimp and The Bun ft. Ron Isley
Feelin' You
Da Game Been Good To Me
15. The Ettes - Do You Want Power
Raw, garage rock power. The Ettes were a great discovery this year, and this album is so great. I have a real soft-spot for artists that do throwback stuff that recalls the Nuggets series. Unlike the Nuggets series, which states that the artists they pick are artists who put out albums with only one good song, every single song here is a true gem. Greg Cartwright, garage rock titan who produced albums by groups like Jay Reatard and fronts The Reigning Sound, produced this album and does a wonderful job. I don't know what else I can say, besides saying that you need to check The Ettes out. One of my favorite new-ish bands.
Best Songs:
Keep Me In Flowers
Seasons
I'll Be Your Lover (But I Can't Be Your Baby)
14. DJ Quik & Kurupt - BlaQKout
How did this album work? No idea, but it does wonderfully.
Kurupt is an MC that is only as good as his production. Luckily, he has DJ Quik, who does some of his finest work on BlaQKout. BlaQKout is the best produced hip-hop album of the year. Each beat is something brand new from the last, and it's exciting to listen to. If released on a major label, the production on this album would be heavily copied in 2010. Instead, it'll just be unfairly stolen by hacks like Timbaland.
Quik and Kurupt do great work rapping on it, but it's really the production that is the star. Highlight is the absolutely masterful "9x's Outta 10" a song that is finally being recognized after killing it all year. A song that could have been as huge and iconic as the similar "Grindin'", but is released on an independent label without a lot of support. Oh well. I hope BlaQKout 2 happens very soon, because i'm sure they are hungry enough to top the first.
Best Songs:
9x's Outta 10
Cream N Ya Panties
Do You Know
Ohh!
13. Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
Monsters of Folk are true monsters. They rape women, pillage the poor, and urinate on the streets.
In all seriousness, Monsters of Folk are a wonderful supergroup. Jim James, Conor Oberst , M. Ward, Mike Mogis, just the best. A 21st Century Traveling Wilburys, not in terms of star-power, but in the talent of each member. Each style from each of the three main artists are featured, but in a new way with 3 other guys helping out. "Losin' Yo' Head" sounds like a My Morning Jacket song that was going to be on the next album, but then the other three members helped him finish it. I hope they do another album.
Best Songs:
Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.)
Whole Lotta Losin'
Sandman, The Brakeman, and Me
Losin' Yo Head
Say Please
12. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Neko Case has probably the best female vocals in the business right now. Her and Aimee Mann are the very best going today.
Middle Cyclone is yet another great Neko Case album that cements her place in music. It may not be better than Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, but it sure comes close. Highlights include "People Got a Lotta Nerve" a classic Neko Case rocker that rides on her vocals, and "This Tornado Loves You". Another highlight is her cover of the Harry Nilsson song "Don't Forget Me", as she interprets it beautifully. Also, holy ****. Like Fox Confessor, Garth Hudson from The Band plays the organ and piano on it. Wow!!! and Sarah Harmer and Kelly Hogan doing backing vocals! and M. Ward plays guitar on it! HOLY MOLY, no wonder it's good.
Best Songs:
Don't Forget Me
People Got A Lotta Nerve
This Tornado Loves You
11. Coconut Records - Davy
Jason Schwartzman has been known as a great actor since Rushmore, but he isn't known enough for his musical ability. Davy, his second album as Coconut Records, is yet another album where he plays every single instrument, and sings. It adds to a sort of homemade quality: A homemade album by a genius, that is.
The songs recall Ram-era Paul McCartney and the horribly underrated Paul Williams. Seeing as that is maybe my favorite era of poprock singer/songwriters, I eat all of Davy up with a spoon. The songs are thematically simple, but it fits the tone. Wonderful earworm choruses that get stuck in your head for days, as well as songs that have two different parts. Just when think a song is done, a new song pops in for 30 seconds. Almost like Futuresex/LoveSounds, but without that asshole Timbaland.
Schwartzman had a banner 2009 with great roles in Funny People, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and a great new HBO series in Bored To Death. Davy is obviously not as well-known as those three, but it definitely adds to his perfect year. THE MAN CAN DO IT ALL!
sidenote: at 28 minutes, the album is the shortest to appear on the Top 40.
Best Songs:
Microphone
Saint Jermone
I Am Young
Coming up? Next albums set. It won't take a week. I promise.
Once again, thanks for all the comments on the last post. It was the most I have ever gotten, and it was really nice. Thanks a bunch.