The Best, Worst, and Underwhelming Albums of 2009

Happy New Year!  Now that the niceties are over, let’s get on to to the background info. This week, I will reflect on the past year and look forward to what 2010 has to offer.

When I first decided to write this post a few weeks ago, I hadn’t read anyone else’s lists and I wasn’t planning on doing so either.  But through posts on twitter, I was exposed to several.  Looks like my favorite album is a lot of people’s favorite as well.  My initial response was to re-calibrate my picks and re-evaluate my rankings since I rarely ever listen to popular things, much less thoroughly enjoy them.  But, to put it quite simply, if it’s good, it’s good; if it’s great, it’s great.  And this album is great.

I also stand firm that most of the people who will wind up reading this will hear at least one new band they hadn’t heard before.

Please note: This is entirely based upon music that I have listened to this year.  I’m sure there’s some great music I haven’t listened to that didn’t make this list, feel free to comment on your picks.

Best Albums of 2009

#7 David Bazan – “Curse Your Branches”

This is the first Bazan album I really liked since “Control” came out in 2002.  He has dropped the Pedro the Lion moniker and is writing more personal, first person material than before.  I think it’s refreshing that Bazan writes so openly about his struggle with faith.  I don’t think there’s anything wrong with questioning what you believe.  In fact, it takes a certain amount of bravery to do so. He questions God, the Bible,  and believers in their tenets of faith in such a way that encourages you no matter what your belief system is.

I find myself compelled into Bazan’s agnostic world and coming out stronger for it.  It seems Bazan talks to God more than a lot of “Christian bands” do.  Here are a few lyrics

Digging up the root of my confusion
If no one planted it, how does it grow?
And why are some hellbent upon, there being an answer?
While some are quite content, to answer “I don’t know

(from “Curse Your Branches“)

You long for the truth
We argue about it
But most of us doubt it can ever be found
Is a ship without a captain just as doomed as a ship without a crew?

(from “Heavy Breath”)

a shadow on the water
a whisper in the wind
on long walks with my daughter
who is lately full of questions
about You

(from “In Stitches”)

Standouts: “Hard To Be,” “Bless This Mess,” “When We Fell, “Lost My Shape”

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#6 Cursive – “Mama, I’m Swollen”

This might be one of the most under-appreciated albums of the year, perhaps some were put off because the opening track seems to be too repetitive.  But the band redeems itself with the second song, “From The Hips,” starts out with quiet introspection and it’s  begging for the band to let loose and go wild.  The build-up takes 90 seconds and then stops only to begin again about 3 minutes into it.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether Tim Kasher is talking about sex, politics, or religion. Perhaps that’s the point.  Either way, this is a great record, with lots to offer.  The record as a whole deals with finding meaning and purpose (or the lack thereof)  in life from relationships or religion and about the troubled condition of mankind. Much like Thrice’s “Beggars”, echoes of Solomon’s Ecclesiastes are eschewed throughout. But unlike Thrice, I have to supply my own hope.

I was hooked after watching this performance on Shockhound.com.

We are the sons of butchers
All in all we’re pawns
The darkness of mankind stirs in us all

from “Mama, I’m Satan“

We’re at our worst when it’s from our lips
From our lips we caused a rift
And this world is falling in
From Babel to barroom brawls
Our words have formed a death sentence
And I wish that we had never talked
Our hips said it all

from “From The Hips“

Going to write my Moby Dicks
More like scratching lyrics on paper plates
I spent the best years of my life
Waiting on the best years of my life
So what’s there to write about?

from “What Have I Done?“

Standout Tracks: “From The Hips,” “Mama, I’m Satan,” “What Have I Done?”

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#5 Matisyahu – “Light”

I have a lot of respect for Matisyahu.  He’s a devout Hasidic Jew who is unabashed in his faith and people respond to it.  After his breakthrough hit, “King Without A Crown,” (from “Youth”) I was unsure if Matis had staying power.  “Light” proves he does. As a whole, “Light” is a much better album than “Youth.”

The music on this album is there to compliment the lyrical delivery.  There’s an airy feel to these songs that leaves you open to receiving these songs.

Much like the title suggests, this album’s theme is light, what it is, what it looks like, what it doesn’t look like. Matis sings/raps about hope (“One Day”, about living a life of purpose (“Struggla”).  With his last album, “Youth,’ he wanted to set young people straight and now he’s urging us to move to a higher (spiritual) level.  He writes about leaving the darkness that lies within us behind (“Darkness Into Light” and “Thunder”).  The last song (“Silence”)  is a tender song of praise, a yearning to hear God speak, a yearning so fervent, “the silence kills” him.  The album ends appropriately enough with a Selah.  I’m left with an uncertainty as to whether it’s over.  The sounds and message still ring in my ear.  All I know is I don’t want it to be over.

I went to an in-store performance and there was a much more diverse audience than expected (a Phish/Widespread Panic crowd), from toddlers dancing around their yuppie parents to an older Jewish lady with her Star of David necklace.  All you have to do to get hooked on this album is watched his impassioned live performance on Pandora. He can sing, he can rap, he can beatbox, he can write, and he can praise God.

“‘One Day’ is the song I’ve been wanting to make since I started my career,” Matisyahu told Spinner. “It is an anthem of hope with a big beat — the kind of song that makes you bob your head and open your heart at the same time.”

Standout Tracks: “One Day,” “So Hi So Lo,” “I Will Be Light,” “Darkness Into Light”

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#4 The Glorious Unseen – “The Hope That Lies In You”

The Glorious Unseen, led by Ben Crist, has a fresh take on worship.  Listening to The Glorious Unseen reminds me of when I discovered Delirious back in the late 90′s, awesome, contemplative worship that felt genuine. When I first heard the band, I was thinking I knew Ben (or at least of him).  Turns out I was right, he went to Belmont when I went to Vanderbilt and played guitar in Colson,  a band one of my roommates played drums with for a while.  There’s a huge swell of sound that engulfs the songs of The Glorious Unseen. It’s big enough to fill the room, but somehow remains intimate.  This is nothing like you’d typically hear at church or on CCM radio.  A lot of worship music today is to “happy”.  TGU has a more honest approach, talking about doubts, fear, and the darker side of the faith.

This album was written out of a dark place.  The angst, anger, fear, desire, confusion breathes through the strained vocals and the encompassing instruments. This album could stand as the soundtrack of Job.  Or it could have been written by David while he was on the run for his life.  A lot of the questions asked on this album mirror those that David Bazan asks on “Curse Your Branches.” This album tells the whole story, while I’m hoping for a sequel to Bazan’s.

Through all the questioning, I’m still discovering myself.
And in the processing, I wonder if there’s something else that has a hold on me.

(from “We Can Be Renewed“)

Come down – we need Your hope to come down.
We need Your grace to pour out. We need the face of God now.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

(from “The Hope That Lies In You“)

Most of these songs could stand alone as an anthem of hope and praise, but work so much better as a cohesive journey.

Standout Tracks: “All Around,” “How He Loves,” “Sustain,” “Sweet, Sweet Sound”

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#3 The Dirt and The Flood – “Garden”

It’s hard to believe that  honor students at Clemson University could put together such wonderfully crafted songs.  I saw these guys open up for one of my favorite bands, Cool Hand Luke almost 2 years ago exactly.  They started the show sitting on the edge of the stage with a banjo, a guitar, and four voices.  Who knew that within a few minutes, I’d find my favorite “local” band.  I hadn’t been this enthralled by a band’s introduction at a show since I first saw Cool Hand Luke in 1998.  It’s a shame that the band is on a break while the members pursue other efforts including, ministry at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. No doubt these individuals will go on to do great things, I just hope they will make music in the future.

Knox can tell a story.  Just listen to “Welcome Home” as he tells the story of the Prodical Son in such a way that makes it new.  The way he recounts the seemingly hopeless relationship in “Plans”  and then sings about the reconciliation in “Colors” is just simply amazing.  The music matches up with the heart of the fractured couple perfectly.

And you could throw it all away, but what’s out there?
You don’t wanna run away, for all that’s here.
So live away, you are free
And you don’t have to be afraid to come home.

from “Welcome Home“

I began to dance
I began to sing
Cause I know where I’m going
I know where you’ve called me

from “In Plain View“

what once was alive has turned to death
but what came from its ashes
is the soil for this garden

from “Colors (What Once Was Dead Has Come Alive)“

Watch an early version of “Come On And Trust.” This is the reason I fell in love with the band.

Standout Tracks: “Welcome Home,” “A Lament,” “Come On And Trust”

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#2 Thrice – “Beggars”

I was able to hear a couple songs from this CD early when I saw Thrice on the Warped Tour.  I am grateful that they got “The Alchemy Index” out of their system; a concept that was better than the record. They are back and better than ever.  The lyrical content of these remind of a modern-day Ecclesiastes. The themes of this is very similar to that of Cursive’s latest, except Dustin Kensrue inserts a hopeful tenor into the mix. The concept is not new.  There is a more kinetic energy on this record and I can’t wait to hear what’s next for these guys.

The album starts with Dustin singing about the seemingly limitless evil of mankind and at the sametime, the somewhat oblivious nature we share. These ideas are strewn through the record.

But the blind lead the blind into bottomless pits,
Still we smile and deny that we’re cursed.
But of all our iniquities ignorance may be the worst.

Something’s gone terribly wrong with everyone;
All the world is mad.
Darkness brings terrible things; the sun is gone -
What vanity! our sad, wretched fires.

(from “All The World Is Mad“)

“The Weight” is about as aggressive a love song as I’ve ever heard.

Because a ring don’t mean nothing
If you can’t haul the weight,
And some of them won’t even try,
But I won’t leave you high and dry;
I won’t leave you wondering why.

Dustin is one of the best lyricist around. There are so many elements and I could probably write a dissertation on breaking down the lyrics.  The ideas are not new, but there is a hopelessness and frivolity that lies in the day-to-day toil of life.  There has to be a higher purpose, a reason for everything and that what this record does.  It takes you on a journey from the hopeless to the hopeful.

My heart is filled with songs of forever
A city that endures, where all is made new
And no I don’t belong here
I’ll never call this place my home
I’m just passing through

(from “In Exile“)

Despite facing certain death in “Wood & Wire,” Dustin sings:

The dawn is coming
All is well, I will rejoice

“Through With Glass” sounds like it could be an old Thrice and is the heaviest song on the record. The almost screaming in voice shows the frustration of not being able to communicate effectively.

The album closes with these words from the title track:

Can you hear what’s been said can you see now that everything’s grace after all
If there’s one thing I know in this life, we are beggars all

Standout Tracks:  All of Them.

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#1 Manchester Orchestra – “Mean Everything to Nothing”

This is my one inexorable pick. Andy Hull and company put out their best effort to date.  I can remember the first song I heard off the album, “I Can Feel A Hot One” on thesixtyone.com, a great music streaming website.  I didn’t know who it was at first, but I had to find out.  Turns out I knew who it was, I just didn’t know how good they were.  Sure, I’d heard of them, but I wasn’t a huge fan.  In fact, when I first heard “Golden Ticket” I thought I was listening to some really old Copeland I had forgotten about (listen here).

Things have changed and I’ve grown to love and appreciate the genius that is Manchester Orchestra.  To say that Andy Hull (songwriter, vocals, guitar) is my hero is an exaggeration, but not by much.  It’s even more incredible when you realize that  Hull is still in his early 20′s-it leaves me hopeful of many more albums and years of listening to the band’s music.

“Mean Everything To Nothing” is a gateway album.  After getting to know the songs on METN, I was able to go back and listen to the previous works and appreciate them.  The primary reason, as Deckfight points out, is that with this release, “finally…the band matches Hull’s vocal intensity.”

If you just listen to a couple songs, you will hear and feel the intrinsic value of how Hull combines his extremely personal, intense, and  intricate lyrics and hand crafts them over his guitar to create a sonic masterpiece.  You can hear this in the unexpected bridge of “Shake It Out” & throughout the river “The River.”

These songs stand up whether it’s the full band or just Andy and his guitar. You can watch the videos the band made for every song on the album on Vimeo.  The band has done some wonderful acoustic arrangement of their songs.

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Worst Albums of 2009

Switchfoot – “Hello Hurricane” I heard this described as the “Joshua Tree” of Switchfoot’s career.  Perhaps I am not their audience, I haven’t liked the band since New Way To Be Human came out and still think “Legend of Chin” is their best album.  I was hopeful when I watched the trailer but lost it when I listened to the entire album.  To think that these were the best of the 200 songs they wrote for the album makes me shudder.

Pearl Jam – “Backspacer” After what had to be the worst performance in the history of late night television on the debut of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, I have given up on the band. It sounded like they were just rehearsing a song for the first time in someone’s garage. The mix was way off and it was hard to watch.  “Just Breathe” happens to be  a pretty good song. I long for the days of the 90′s Pearl Jam. I’ll stick with “Ten,” “Vs.,” and “Vitology.”

Jars of Clay – “The Long Fall Back To Earth” Who knows why I listened to this album. Nothing original and nothing that stands out.  The concept behind “Two Hands” is a good one but their end product is trite and simple.

Albums I Wanted To Like The Most

Mute Math – “Armitice” The raw music on this album is phenomenal; it’s the production on the actual recordings I didn’t care for as much. This is a prime case of  “I’d-rather-see-the-band-live-than-listen-the-CD.”

Stavesacre – “Behind The Silence” One of my all-time favorite bands, mostly for Mark Salomon’s lyrics.  This EP was one of the most anticapted records in a long time.  Jeff Bellow was back, but the end result was a lacklsuster EP that made me sad.

MAE – Make A Difference Project.  I love the idea behind releasing one song a month and donating all the money to a different project or charity.  However, I wasn’t too impressed with the songs.  It wasn’t until the latest song, “Seasons” that I enjoyed the song. It’s a 13 minute piano instrumental.  It’s one of the best songs of the year.  But it doesn’t make up for the other songs.