The Halfsies: Best Album From The First Half Of 2009
 

With the year now officially half over, what is your favorite from the first half of the year.

For me:

Archive - Controlling Crowds
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I'm not sure if I've ever heard such a diverse album. Other notables for me are Part the Second (motW) and Merriweather Post Pavillion (Animal Collective).

There have been a lot of quality albums released this year, Merriweather and Veckatimest are obvious choices, and I really loved Bell Orchestre's As Seen Through Windows as well.

Tough choice, 2009 is proving to be a pretty decent year for music so far. Controlling Crowds is definitely a top contender as it was my first introduction to Archive and yes, it is a very diverse album. Ki by Devin Townsend is a very good album, despite lacking some of the heaviness that can be heard on his earlier work. West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum by Kasabain has been getting a fair amount of plays in on my Winamp. However I think Troubadour by K'Naan is my favourite so far. There's still a lot more coming too, I know Matisyahu has a new album coming out this year, along with Hypocrisy and my favorite Vancouver band The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets

i'm listening to it again to make sure i still give a shit, but what the hell:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pNX_9ERdvQ...-album-art.jpg

two of the three best albums of their career within the last two years? fuck yes.

While there have been plenty of releases so far this year that I've enjoyed, nothing has gone over 4 out of 5 stars for me yet. I'm sure some will eventually rise as they get played more. But until then, I can't say I have a favorite when I have 10 to 12 four-star albums and nothing surpassing that.

Yaay, lists, I love lists...

Ok, here's how I'd Pitchfork-rate my faves thus far:

1. The Maccabees - Wall of arms - 9.5
I know this choice is probably gonna get dismissed by most as fanboyism, I tried to get others to listen to it but to no avail. I think it's the most consistent album of the year, an exceptionally well produced collection of pop-rock songs with absolutely no filler (yah I know, amazing, as you'll see bellow, I don't shy away from critiquing bad songs on otherwise excellent albums, this one just doesn't have any stinkers). I'm not sure how well it'll do in the long run, but it's been a few months and I'm still not tired of it.

Favorite songs: Love you better, No kind words, Seventeen hands. The first two can be found here *shameless plug*.

2. Animal Collective - Merriwhether post pavillion - 9.2
The only reason I'm putting it before Veckatimest is because it has only one dud, Taste. Everything else is spectacular...I can't even imagine the amount of work hours these guys put in in the studio, there are so many things going on in each song every time you play it you discover something new. Scary good. No wonder The Maccabees stated them as a band they look up to (they don't have much in common in terms of style, I think they were talking about perfectionism in the studio). So lucky I saw them live before I became a fan (and they exploded with Merriwhether).

Favorite songs: My Girls, Also frightened, Brothersport.


3. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest - 9.1
Y'all 've heard it, if you haven't, you're probably dead or a Spaniard named Brennan. I skip through Dory and Hold still, but the rest is too fantastic to give it anything less than 9. Again, flawless production, but maybe you need to listen to it high to appreciate it's sonic spectacularness (it's a word!).

Favorite songs: Two weeks, Cheerleader, About face.

Those three stand way above the others, but here are some more notables:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz - 8.7
A much quieter affair than their previous albums, but still quality stuff.

Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand - 8.6
Not as good as the previous three and it has some issues with the flow, but still very good dance rock. Love the more experimental middle, hope they pursue it on the next album. Oh and they kick so much ass live...(:

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca - 8.5
As Ed Droste from Girzzly Bear rightfully noted, there's really no way to categorize this album (or DP in general), it's just weirdly soulful and rocks your mind with unusual compositions. Wish they'd chucked out Two doves though...:\

Passion pit - Manners - 8.3
One of the catchiest, most fun records of the year, and surprisingly lasting.

Antony and the Johnsons - The crying light - 8.2
Not as good (or maybe as immediate) as I'm a bird now, but if you stick with it you'll find it's still a very good album.

Malajube - Labyrinthes - 8.0
French-canadian prog-indie-rock. Good shit.

Crystal Antlers - Tentacles - 7.9
Psychedelic mindfucking fuzzedout rockout. Kicks much ass it does. Possible issues with longevity though...:\

White Lies - To lose my life - 7.2
Catchy Interpol knockoff, highly expendable though. Still, it was nice to hear they're supporting Coldplay in Italy this summer, looking forward to that...(:

Bat for Lashes - Two suns - 7.1
A lot of filler, but some spectacular moments, particularly Daniel and Pearl's Dream.


Biggest dissapointments:
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast - I liked the first song, it went down hill from there
Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor - Not a single song grabbed my attention
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone - Can't remember anything from it

Hopefully they'll click with me some time in the future.

Years of Refusal, Merriweather and this gem of an album..

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qJH1jq6hlX...ith+myself.jpg

http://www.shout.ru/news/morrissey_y...frontcover.jpg
http://www.mp3boo.com/cover-album/manners.jpg
http://mediaportal.ru/uploads/posts/...9739_cover.jpg
In that order.
It's been a pretty good year so far.

For those of us unfamiliar with the cover art, what's the third album?

Wait, one of the best albums of the year, is by Dinosaur Jr?

When the f*ck did that happen? Is this 1991?

Taste? It's not a standout on the album by any means, but I still think it's rather enjoyable.. what don't you like about it?

Thus far;

http://images1.buymusichere.net/imag...0139002192.jpg

Merriweather Post Pavilion-Animal Collective

http://mindinversion.files.wordpress...-ecstatic3.jpg
The Ecstatic-Mos Def

http://multimedia.fnac.com/multimedi...9856119721.jpg
Slow Dance-Jeremy Jay



http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I8iKyAhKGw...lin_career.jpg
My Maudlin Career-Camera Obscura

Other favorites;

Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do-Major Lazer
Farm-Dinosaur Jr.
Post Nothing-Japandroids
Tentacles-Crystal Antlers

did you actually listen to it or are you just making a shit about it because you don't think a twenty-something band can still make a decent record?

for the record, Beyond was awesome as well.

http://www.lintcoat.com/wp-content/u...acktheskye.jpg


eh, what else did you expect from me? i'm not trying to impress anybody

Since no one has mentioned it yet:

http://simonia.files.wordpress.com/2...e-skye-jpg.jpg

That was crazy antonio we simultaneously posted the same album!

haha hell yeah!:beer:

Lol...awesome. :D

I haven't listened to a lot of the "standouts" so far because I don't really give a rat's ass about indie.

The only standout albums for me so far have been Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster III and Octahedron but Alexisonfire, Thursday, motW (which still needs a second listen) and Omar put out some decent shizz. New Cancer Bats EP but I haven't listened to it yet.

I'll get around to Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear at some point, but I'm expecting to be bored out of my mind.

I didn't know there was a fourth Jonas brother.

i just listened to Veckatimest and i couldn't make out one track from another if you asked me to. not nearly as annoying as that bleepy-bloop Unicorns shit but still rather nonplussed on the whole.

I was very unimpressed on first listen (except for "Two Weeks" which I'd heard before) but it grew on me a little with the second listen. I started to pick tracks apart a little. Still a 3/5 though.

Actually he's their cousin. Though his music leans more towards the sort of 50's balladry pop type music. It mixes my love of doo-wop and indie rock, a combination I get the feeling is way to cheesy for some people.

http://prod-assets.mog.com/pictures/...1240811210.jpg
This and Dinosaur Jr. are the tops of 2009 for me so far.

http://mediaportal.ru/uploads/posts/...1404_cover.jpg

And others that I think have already been mentioned like Archive and Mastodon.

^^^^^^ I just heard that a few days ago. I really like it.

This is one of the best hip hop albums I've heard in a long time:

http://files.myopera.com/VegaTheTerr...unds_cover.jpg

I'm loving that album art, I may have to give it a go for myself.

http://www.thetripwire.com/wp-conten...09/04/dark.jpg

So far 2009 hasn't been as good to me as 2008.

Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor

no bias imo

.

Killswitch engage - Self titled

Radio Moscow - Brain Cycles
http://elblogdearchi.com/wp-content/...ain-cycles.jpg

Alexisonfire - Old Crows, Young Cardinals
http://www.braingell.com/wp-content/...09-300x300.jpg

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster - III
http://www.raincityambience.com/_UPL...0858caa65b.jpg

Well for one thing it's crammed in between Guys eyes and Lion in a coma which are both pretty spectacular. I guess on it's own it's not so bad, it just had the misfortune of being on an album where each song, apart from it, was a pop masterpiece...:\

Eww. I love Patrick Wolf but the bachelor was awful.

The new flipper albums were very good, a big surprise to me.

10 favorites so far this year (in no order):

Dinosaur Jr - Farm
Morrissey - Years of Refusal
Fleeting Joys - Occult Radiance
Japandroids - Post-nothing
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
The Dear Hunter - Act III: Life and Death
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Bob Mould - Life and Times
Metric - Fantasies

looking forward to the new Thrice and Brand New albums (2 of the few bands from that scene that are actually doing something interesting) and praying that the new My Bloody Valentine finally sees the light of day this year.

I really liked the new albums by Heaven and Hell, The Mars Volta, and Dredg... but I've gotta say that my favourite so far this year is Alexisonfire's "Old Crows / Young Cardinals". I've been listening to it almost non-stop for a week and a bit now. So awesome.

it wasn't that bad. I love Damaris.