10 Year Challenge: Top 10 albums of the year (2009)
10. Switchfoot, Hello Hurricane
Switchfoot built their own studio to record Hello Hurricane so they wouldn’t be weighed down financially or by time constraints. This led them to record more than 80 songs before choosing the final 12, and this album sees the band embrace an artistic freedom that they hadn’t had since recording The Beautiful Letdown (2003) independently.
This record sees a mix of anthems and football-promo-friendly hard hitters like “The Sound” and “Bullet Soul,” but their heart and soul really shine most through the more subdued songs like “Enough to Let Me Go” and “Always.” This and their 2011 release Vice Verses unfortunately seem to be the last of the true quality Switchfoot albums in my opinion. Switchfoot has always written about big, unifying ideas and messages, but post-2011 it seemed that every song they were putting out was just saying the same thing in a slightly different way, and it’s almost as if the ideals they’re singing about have gotten too big and broad that they’re continuously losing touch.
9. Passion Pit, Manners
I feel like Passion Pit was ahead of its time with their unique electro-pop.
I remember the first time I heard “Sleepyhead” I thought I hadn’t ever heard anything quite like it. I’m sure there was music similar to Passion Pit’s during this time, but they felt very much like innovators for the alt-pop movement — both for recorded music and for live performance. “Little Secrets” and “Moth’s Wings” are also some of my favorites from this album.
**I don’t know know why but I could NOT find a hi-res of this album cover anywhere. I apologize sincerely.***
Phoenix, Wolgang Amadeus Phoenix
The Parisian alt. rock group that made everyone want to buy a Cadillac SRX.
It might’ve been this ad or back when iTunes used to do a free single of the week that made me discover Phoenix. They became one of the main definers of the “late” ’00s into the “early” 2010’s (weird to think of these as past decades, isn’t it?) of this new energetic alt. rock that forced the Death Cab/The Shins/etc. lovers into spinning something a bit more electronic and a bit tighter production wise.
7. The Temper Trap, Conditions
This album brought us “Sweet Disposition”… enough said.
This breakout record also includes great songs like “Love Lost” “Fader” and “Fools.” The Temper Trap helped usher in this new era of the kind of alternative rock that was introspective but not moody, dynamic but not cheaply “catchy.” They hit this sweet spot just off the mainstream beating path.
6. Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More
The debut album from Mumford & Sons!
Boy, do I miss this era of Mumford. They were very integral in this folk revival era but unfortunately, after Babel, their sound just wasn’t sustainable. I commend them for trying something new with Wilder Mind (really did love the single from that album “Believe”) but sadly, when Delta came out last year I could barely even give it a try.
BUT we’re talking about this album specifically. These songs were so unique and innovatively nostalgic for this time, and I love the mixture of dynamic, I-feel-like-I’m-riding-a-racehorse songs like “Little Lion Man” with spiritual ballads like “Awake My Soul.” And their live shows are still incredible.
5. Florence + The Machine, Lungs
AND the debut album from Florence + The Machine! What a time to be alive!
With Lungs we are introduced to Florence Welch’s commanding presence, haunting vocals, and thematic lyrics. This album brought us “The Dog Days Are Over,” “I’m Not Calling You A Liar,” and “Cosmic Love.” Lungs is a gripping introduction to Florence and sets up what is, in my opinion, her best work: Ceremonials (2011).
4. Ingrid Michaelson, Everybody
Ingrid has this really impressive way of being both gentle and fierce in her vocals and within her songwriting.
Everybody is right smack in the middle of Ingrid’s catalogue and it sits in such a comfortable, lived-in spot. There’s nothing fancy or shocking about the production, it’s just a group of really good songs. I love the innocence and honesty of “Sort Of,” the sultriness of “Incredible Love,” and the metaphorical imagery and unique melodies of “Mountain and the Sea.” Not to mention “The Chain” is one of my all-time favorites, with its cryptic lyrics and beautiful vocal canons.
3. Needtobreathe, The Outsiders
2009 was the year of some of my favorites’ best works of their career.
The Outsiders is quintessential Needtobreathe: emotionally raw and unabashedly spiritual. Needtobreathe always comes from a place in their writing that cries out they’re apart of something bigger than themselves. You hear this in the title track, the calling-for-unity “Through Smoke,” the humbling and vulnerable “Something Beautiful,” and the anthemic, call-to-action “Let Us Love.”
2. Relient K, Forget And Not Slow Down
There are two types of people that associate themselves with Relient K: those who once included “Be My Escape” and “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been” on an emo mixtape along with Fall Out Boy and Jack’s Mannequin, and those who still listen to them regularly today (both old and new albums), still attend their shows, and still obsess over their relatable lyrics and their beautiful angst.
Can you guess which type I am? Forget And Not Slow Down is quite possibly the best Relient K album ever — and if you’re not apart of that latter group I mentioned above you’ve probably never heard it. It’s rumored that Matt Thiessen went away by himself to the country and wrote the entirety of the record there following a broken engagement. Its lyrics are so honest and creative and the arrangements are diverse, unique and so dynamic.
Is it time I befriended all the ghosts of all the things that haunt me most? Loneliness and solitude are two things not to get confused because I spend my solitude with You.
So good.
1. John Mayer, Battle Studies
Battle Studies is personally my favorite John Mayer record. I was cynical about Mayer at first, for whatever reason, and this is the album that won me over and made me love him in that present moment and retroactively.
This seemed to be the first album (up to that point) that really had a mood sonically. I’m not sure if that totally makes sense — but any time it’s dark, cloudy, or rainy, I want these songs to accompany my day. “Heartbreak Warfare” really sets up this mood perfectly and its seemingly over-dramatic title feels strangely realistic and close. “Assassin” is such an underrated one — its metaphor for the way casual partners treat each other is so dark and clever. “War of My Life” is a beautiful self-reflection, “Friends, Lovers or Nothing” is brutally honest in the best way, and “Edge of Desire” is hands down one of his best songs ever. I return to this album 10 years later oh so often and will continue to do so for years to come.
***BONUS ALBUM***
Was there a better hipster soundtrack in the ’00s to compete with this compilation? Maybe the Garden State soundtrack from ‘04? But this one still takes home the gold for me.
Regina Spektor? The Smiths? “Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap AGAIN? So great. The selections for this soundtrack span from 1968 to 1980 to its current year, and yet it feels super homogenous sonically and thematically. (500) Days of Summer is one of the best music supervised movies I’ve seen in my liftetime. The songs are used super intentionally and aren’t just used to evoke emotion — they are an active part of the story.
Other great albums that came out in ‘09:
The Fray, The Fray
Gavin DeGraw, FREE
Iron & Wine, Around The Well
Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster
Rihanna, Rater R
Regina Spektor, Far
Noah and the Whale, The First Days of Spring
Sondre Lerche, Heartbeat Radio
Kid Cudi, Man On The Moon: The End of Day
Paramore, brand new eyes
Brandi Carlile, Give Up The Ghost
Between the Trees, Spain
Tegan and Sara, Sainthood
Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Wanted
OneRepublic, Wake Up
Phil Wickham, Heaven & Earth
Gregory Alan Isakov, This Empty Northern Hemisphere
Landon Pigg, The Boy Who Never
Erin McCarley, Love, Save The Empty
David Ramirez, American Soil
Mat Kearny, City of Black & White
The Avett Brothers, I And Love And You
Originally published at http://monicamarymoser.wordpress.com on February 21, 2019.
