Journal

Mantilio's top albums (overall) 1. Il Teatro Degli Orrori - Dell'impero delle tenebre (177) 2. Blackfield - Blackfield II (137) 3. Il Teatro Degli Orrori - A Sangue Freddo (126) 4. Pain of Salvation - Entropia (124) 5. Blackfield - Blackfield (122) 6. Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (119) 7. 65daysofstatic - The Fall of Math (118) 8. Isis - In the Absence of Truth (117) 9. Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane (115) 10. Porcupine Tree - The Incident (114) 11. Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness (108) 12. Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element (107) 13. Riverside - Rapid Eye Movement (106) 14. Porcupine Tree - On the Sunday of Life (102) 15. Pain of Salvation - One Hour by the Concrete Lake (101)

I know a lot of people are doing these lists for the decade but I can’t be bothered, despite the fact that this past decade saw me transition from a metal newbie (the mainstream shite like Pantera and Machine Head) to what I am now. 10 years ago I was just beginning to get into Extreme Metal, I thought Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth and In Flames were good bands. Now I know better of course. 10 years ago I was just starting to explore classical music, I became aware of Godspeed You Black Emperor and Nick Cave, two artists who’ve contributed a lot to my musical development. Earlier this decade I began my introduction to prog with King Crimson. 5 or 6 years ago I began getting into jazz and electronic music. Although I’m still taking babysteps with electronic music. I consider myself permanently damaged by the crappy dance/techno “music” I was exposed to in my early teens, I feel I’m beginning to appreciate it fully, from noise stuff of Merzbow and Kylie Minoise, to the abstraction of Aphex Twin and Autechre, to the blissful ambient of Robert Rich and Raison d’etre, to early industrial artists like Einsturzende Neubauten and Skinny Puppy and the pioneering work of Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk.

Anyway, I seem to be going off on a tangent. Without further adue, and in no even remotely coherent order, here is my list of highlights and lowlights of the musical year 2009 of the Gregorian Calender of the common era.



Highs

Albums


Sunn O)))-Monoliths and Dimensions: Recent work from this band had begun to suggest to me that they were perhaps better off releasing experimental live albums than experimental studio work. Then they released this. This is their best studio effort alongside their early work and Black One. Despite the various collaborators and different things going on, it remains a strongly focused album. Sunn O))) are proof of just how far drone can be taken and further proof that even when one takes things back to their roots and simplifies, the possibilities remain endless.

The Chasm-Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm: The Chasm are now comfortable within their own skin. No longer a Doom band searching for a new direction, they are the perfect embodiment of a visionary band with their own identity. The Chasm are the greatest Melodic Death Metal band in the history of the genre. Bands like Soilwork and Dark Tranquility aren’t fit to be a turd in this band’s toilet. Given the mediocrity that this style is synonymous with, it seems sacrilegious at best to associate such a great band with such a term. You won’t find anything new on this album, basically just further refinements in this bands unequallable style. The last three songs on this album are among the best this band’s ever written.

The Gathering-The West Pole: When news came that Anneke was leaving The Gathering and going on her own, and the band was continuing in her absence, many were skeptical. I too was skeptical but not because of the departure of Anneke, more because I’ve found their output since the brilliant How to Measure a Planet? album to be inconsistent in quality. I can honestly say that this is the band’s best work since that monumental work. The experimental elements are still there, but these have not been sacrificed for writing good songs. Silje Wergeland is a more than adequate replacement, she has a lovely voice and range, but she clearly isn’t an Anneke wannabe.

Ahab-The Divinity of Oceans: Ahab are among the best new bands in Doom. This album further solidifies their reputation and builds upon 2005's The Call of the Wretched Sea. Not content with setting to music Melville’s literary masterpiece, the band chose to go the source of the Melville’s novel: the tale of the Essex, a whaling ship attacked and sunk by a large sperm whale. The survivors landed on the Pitcairn islands and soon exhausted all natural food sources and then resorted to cannibalism to survive. Ahab’s music is as grim as the tale itself.

Blut Aus Nord-Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue with the Stars: Ever since this band’s transformative (sorry) release The Work Which Transforms God, this band has been dabbling further and further into the industrial field. While these releases haven’t been terrible, they also haven’t been matching in quality to this band’s earlier output. So now we come to an album which blends the past with the present, and the results are quite impressive. Simply, this is the best BAN album since The Work. Wether they can sustain this remains to be seen.

Portal-Swarth: Asides from The Chasm, this was the album that held the most anticipation for me. Portal’s unique style of Death Metal shows that Death Metal doesn’t have to go the route of Job for a Cowboy to evolve. This album is just more of what we've come to expect from this singular band.

Altar of Plagues-White Tomb: Another winner from Profound Lore records. While not the most original release ever, its without a doubt one of the stronger BM releases this year. Quite epic song construction adds to the quality.

The Lord Weird Slough Feg-Ape Uprising: The only thing better than a new Slough Feg album, is a Slough Feg album inspired by Planet of the Apes. Slough Feg’s newest release incorporates some Doom influences but otherwise maintains the fun spirit and great riffing that this band is rightly renown for. Dr. Zaius, you finally made a monkey out of me.

YOB-The Great Cessation: I was disappointed like a lot of other people when it was announced this crushing band were breaking up. It came as a shock to me to discover they’d gotten back together and had released a new album. The Great Cessation does not disappoint and fits in very well with this band’s crushing discography.

God Dethroned-Passiondale: I’d given up on them since 2001's very disappointing Into the Lungs of Hell. I’d heard a few songs from the next 2 albums and wasn’t very impressed. So I barely noted it when they released Passiondale earlier this year. But then I began to read very positive reviews, and other details, mainly that it was a concept album and that the groove approach had been jettisoned. So I finally tracked down a copy and without a doubt, this is their best since Bloody Blasphemy. Hell, it may even be better than that. An album of equal mix intelligence and brutality, showing that it is possible to make intelligent music without toning anything down.

Honourable Mentions

Morphine-At Your Service

Alice in Chains-Black Gives Way to Blue

Ruins of Beverast-Foulest Semen of a Shattered Elite

Arckanum-ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ

Funebrarum-The sleep of Morbid Dreams

Diablo Swing Orchestra-Sing Along Songs for the Damned and the Delirious

Whisper Room-Birch White

Master Musicans of Bukkake-Totem One.

Jamie Saft-Black Shabbis

Candlemass-Death Magic Doom

Black Sabbath-The Devil You Know

Musical discoveries of the year:
65days of static
Venetian Snares
Kylie Minoise
Morphine
Faustcoven
Circle of Ouroboros
Bal-Sagoth
Firebird
Mael Mordha


Best gigs of the year:
Esoteric in Derby, January.
Supersonic, July
Hellfire Fest November
Firebird & Church of Misery. April


Worst

A random selection of what disappointed me this year.

Amesoeurs-Amesoeurs. Takes everything that was good about the Ruines Humaines EP and chucks it out the window.

Slayer-World Painted Blood. Further proof that Thrash is dead

Pestilence-Resurrection Macabre: You mean Resurrection Mediocre

Jesu-Infinity & Opiate Sun: Broadrick’s starting to stretch himself too thinly

Various Artists-And in the Darkness Bind Them: A Tribute to Summoning: I know, I know, expecting a tribute album to be good is far too much to ask. But on this double album there are only 2 decent songs, it even features two bands covering the same song. All this album does is demonstrate how wide the void is between your average BM band and Summoning. Props to Morgan The Bard’s cover of Mirkwood, who realized that Summoning’s sound cannot, and should not, be imitated, and with this stripped down cover provides a fresh perspective on a wonderful song.

Augury-Fragmentary Evidence: In the words of Shakespeare, this was the cruellest cut of all. I had high hopes for this band, one of very few new DM bands to make an impression on me with their debut when it was released a few years ago, an album that showed chops, intelligence and potential. Now they sound like a novelty band.

Katatonia-Night is the New Day. The greatest of Last Fair Deal Gone Down is but a distant memory now. Proof that heavier does not equate with better.

Devin Townsend-Ki. About as coherent as a paraplegic deaf mute reciting Homer in ancient Greek.



Gigs I missed thanks to this wonderful recession and the phrase “you’ve been made redundant.”

Bloodstock August
Nadja August
Sunn O)) & Om December


Those are all the musical high and low-lights of this past year. I hope you enjoyed it and may next year be better.






SlayerAugurySunn O)))OMNadjaWhisper RoomBirch WhiteBlack SabbathHeaven and HellKatatoniaDevin TownsendJesuPestilenceMorgan the BardFirebirdChurch of MiseryThorr's HammerBal-SagothMorphineFaustcovenVenetian SnaresKylie Minoise65daysofstaticCandlemassCircle Of OuroborosBlack ShabbisDeath Magic Doommaster musicians of bukkakediablo swing orchestraThe Sleep Of Morbid Dreamsfoulest semen of a shattered eliteBlack Gives Way To BlueAt Your ServicePassiondaleThe Great CessationApe UprisingWhite TombSwarthNord-Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue with the StarsThe Divinity of OceansThe West Polefarseeing the paranormal abyssmMonoliths and dimensionsMorphineThe ChasmThe GatheringKatatoniaAhabThe GatheringSlough FegThe Lord Weird Slough FegArckanumSlough FegThe Lord Weird Slough Feg

1. Truckfighters- Mania
2. The Atomic Bitchwax - 4
3. Danko Jones - B-sides
4. Devin Townsend - Ki
5. Buckethead - A Real Diamond In The Rough
6. Baroness - Blue Record
7. Steel Panther - Feel The Steel
8. 65daysofstatic - Escape From New York
9. Isis - Wavering Radiant
10. White wizzard - High Speed GTO

===============
Honourable Mentions

11. The Company Band - The Company Band
12. Spice And The RJ Band - Shave Your Fear

siko237's top albums (12 months) 1. Porcupine Tree - The Incident (disc 1) (192) 2. Hammock - Raising Your Voice... Trying To Stop An Echo (90) 3. Oceansize - Everyone Into Position (80) 4. The Dear Hunter - Act III: Life and Death (77) 5. Exxasens - BEYOND THE UNIVERSE (76) 6. The Appleseed Cast - Sagarmatha (76) 7. The American Dollar - A Memory Stream (74) 8. The Dead Sea - The Dead Sea (70) 9. Deerhunter - Microcastle (69) 10. Clint Mansell - Moon (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) (68) 11. Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream (63) 12. Sigur Rós - Með Suð I Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (62) 13. Apse - Eras (61) 14. Oceansize - Effloresce (59) 15. Scythelence - Post-Romantic Syndrome (58) 16. Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (58) 17. Sigur Rós - Takk (58) 18. Air - The Virgin Suicides (57) 19. A Whisper in the Noise - Dry Land (56) 20. Blueneck - The Fallen Host (56) 21. Caspian - Tertia (55) 22. dredg - The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion (55) 23. 65daysofstatic - The Fall of Math (53) 24. Gazpacho - Tick Tock (52) 25. Hammock - Kenotic (52) 26. This Will Destroy You - Young Mountain (52) 27. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (50) 28. Tomoshibi - ULAI (50) 29. The American Dollar - The Technicolour Sleep (50) 30. Steven Wilson - Insurgentes (50) 31. Slon - Antenne (49) 32. Hearts No Static - Motif (48) 33. Tim Hecker - An Imaginary Country (48) 34. iLiKETRAiNS - Progress - Reform (47) 35. Tool - Aenima (46) 36. Mogwai - Mr. Beast (46) 37. Russian Circles - Geneva (46) 38. Mogwai - Happy Songs for Happy People (46) 39. Rhian Sheehan - Standing In Silence (45) 40. The Album Leaf - In a Safe Place (45) 41. Porcupine Tree - Deadwing (45) 42. Cheju - Broken Waves (44) 43. múm - Sing Along To Songs You Don't Know (43) 44. Interpol - Our Love To Admire (43) 45. The Calm Blue Sea - Siegfried OST (43) 46. Maybeshewill - Not For Want Of Trying (43) 47. Il Cielo Di Bagdad - Export for Malinconique (43) 48. If These Trees Could Talk - Above the Earth, Below the Sky (43) 49. Eluvium - Copia (43) 50. Porcupine Tree - On the Sunday of Life (43)

1. múm - Summer Make Good
2. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
3. Magnus - The Body Gave You Everything
4. The Veils - The Runaway Found
5. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
6. 65daysofstatic - The Fall of Math
7. Arcade Fire - Funeral
8. TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
9. Kanye West - The College Dropout
10. CocoRosie - La maison de mon rêve

151. Why? - Rubber Traits
I love the subtle stuff going in the background of this song, especially the vocals between 1:00 and 1:30.

152. Animal Collective - Safer
Animal Collective doesn't make songs this weird anymore, unfortunately. There is so much to love here: the looping piano, the assorted screaming ("I'M ALRIIIIIIGHT!" and "Now don't get too freaky on me!"). Also, my last.fm username comes from this song, so I couldn't not include it.

153. Joanna Newsom - Sawdust & Diamonds
If you've been paying attention you'll notice that every track from Ys is on this list. If I had to get rid of one, I guess it would be this one, but that doesn't mean it's not an incredibly good song. The highlight: "I wasn't born of a whistle or milked from a thistle at twilight. No, I was all horns and thorns, sprung out fully-formed, knock-kneed and upright. So enough of this terror, we deserve to know light and grow evermore lighter and lighter..."

154. And So I Watch You From Afar - Set Guitars to Kill
Wow, this is the most in-your-face post-rock song of recent times. It will blow you away. I expect more great things to come from these guys.

155. The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
Maybe the best bassline of the decade.

156. The Knife - Silent Shout
This is such a sexy song, especially the synth solo.

157. Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining
Speaking of sexy, how about that Jenny Lewis's voice?

158. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth
Alec Ounsworth's voice, not so much. But this is an amazing song.

159. M83 - Skin Of The Night
This would be a great song to drive around at night to, especially if it's windy.

160. Bon Iver - Skinny Love
I actually prefer Re: Stacks to this, but they're both really good songs.

161. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
When the EP came out, I listened to this song nonstop. It's funny how Passion Pit seems to be everywhere now. Manners isn't as good as Chunk of Change, but I'm glad they've gained popularity.

162. Mew - Snow Brigade
Sweet chorus, even if the lyrics are a bit stalkerish. (Much like 156, actually.)

163. Final Fantasy - Song Song Song
I can't tell whether that's pizzicato at the beginning (he didn't play this song when I saw him live), but however he does it, it's awesome. Almost as awesome as the ending.

164. Alcest - Souvenirs d'un autre monde
I think this album is slightly overrated (although the lyrics are uniformly excellent), but this track stands out. Very shoegazey.

165. Mew - Special
This song is like a rocket through me. I don't listen to Mew enough, but every time I do, I'm impressed by them.

166. Muse - Starlight
I can see how a lot of Muse fans hate this. I don't listen to it much anymore (Origin Of Symmetry is more lasting), but for a time I listened to it incessantly.

167. Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is the Move
Angel Deradoorian joining Dirty Projectors was the best thing that ever happened to them, as evidenced by Bitte Orca.

168. Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out
Admittedly, Heathen Chemistry is far from the best Oasis album, but this song gets me every time.

169. Rachael Yamagata - Sunday Afternoon
Not as immediately appealing as the majority of Happenstance, but it really makes use of her smoky vocals, particularly the climax.

170. Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar
Blistering yet danceable. Fuck Buttons is one of the most original bands out there.

171. The Decemberists - The Tain (Parts I, II, III, IV, V)
Considering how popular The Decemberists are, you'd think this would be better-known. It's totally epic, even though I can't see much of a connection with the Irish mythological epic it's named after.

172. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
When I first heard this on the radio, I scrambled to find out who this band was. I suspect I wasn't the only one.

173. Kaki King - These Are The Armies Of The Tyrannized
Very Mogwai-ish, which is a good thing.

174. Los Campesinos! - This Is How You Spell "HAHAHA, We Destroyed The Hopes And Dreams Of A Generation Of Faux-Romantics"
"We have to take the car 'cause the bike's on fire!"

175. Final Fantasy - This Is the Dream of Win & Regine
The way Owen Pallett sings "I tried, and tried, and tried to keep the crowds away" is heart-breakingly plaintive.

176. Muse - Time Is Running Out
Their danciest song, which sort of foreshadowed the direction they went with Black Holes and Revelations.

177. MGMT - Time to Pretend
Really, there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said.

178. Battles - Tonto
Atlas is the best song from Mirrored, by a long shot, but this is much more complex. The ending is a bit slow, but there's so much going on in the first half.

179. The Antlers - Two
I pretty much knew in February that Merriweather Post Pavilion was going to be my favourite album of 2009, but in the race for second place, I didn't expect a band I had never listened to before to win. Hospice is mind-blowingly good, though. Most of the compositions are pretty expansive, but this one's really tight, and it works well.

180. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
The video is a bit creepy (see: the uncanny valley), but I always thought Grizzly Bear was a bit creepy anyway.

181. Spoon - The Underdog
In the wrong hands, this song could end up being pretty campy, especially the horns, but this is Spoon.

182. Dirty Projectors - Useful Chamber
I'm glad Dirty Projectors haven't lost ALL their wacky experimentalism.

183. The Mars Volta - Viscera Eyes
I wish you could love a song more than once on last.fm.

184. The Antlers - Wake
One of the expansive compositions from Hospice. Highlights: "letting people iiiiiiiiin," the "don't be scared to speak..." section, and of course the ending.

185. Animal Collective - Water Curses
Where to start? First of all, this is one of the best EPs I've ever heard. It's got three really strong tracks, and Seal Eyeing isn't bad either. But this track stands out. It's incredibly joyful (I mean, it has the lyric "I want to be like water and slip into your throat and make you feel alive and good"), and there's so much good stuff going on - the jagged synthesizer (or whatever it is) in the background during the "I don't think you know just what you're doing" section drives me crazy. It's really too bad that it would be pretty much impossible to play live.

186. Rachel's - Water From the Same Source
This song was used in the movie Hancock, for some reason. I didn't complain, though.

187. Yndi Halda - We Flood Empty Lakes
It's no Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!, but still awesome. A one-minute condensed version of this song was used in an ad for Fuel TV, and it wasn't half bad, despite being 11 minutes shorter than the original.

188. Coheed and Cambria - Welcome Home
Some seriously awesome solos.

189. Dan Deacon - Wham City
The a cappella recapitulation of the chorus near the end never fails to bring a smile to my face. The beginning is kind of reminiscent of In C.

190. Stars - What I'm Trying to Say
Ultra-catchy, and the lyrics are based on a fairly original conceit, which is rare for a love song.

191. 65daysofstatic - When We Were Younger & Better
This should be a movie soundtrack.

192. Dido - White Flag
Dido has about three good songs, and one incredible song (this one, naturally).

193. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
Such harmonies! I try not to think about the lyrics when I listen to this song though, because they're so depressing and the music is so calming.

194. Rachael Yamagata - Worn Me Down
Rachael Yamagata basically doesn't have any songs I really dislike, because her voice is so good, but this is her best.

195. Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!
Wow, so twee. I love the spoken-word bit at the end: "And we're all like how Rousseau depicts man in the state of nature: we're undeveloped, we're ignorant, we're stupid, but we're happy").

196. Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
"And all of the time you thought I was sad, I was trying to remember your name."

197.MGMT - The Youth
This track kind of got overlooked with the popularity of Kids and Time to Pretend, but it's my favourite song from the album. The chorus makes it a perfect youth anthem.

198. Feist - 1234
It must suck for Sally Seltmann, who basically wrote this song, to see how popular Feist has become because of it. I'm just glad it exists, though.

199. Mew - 156
My favourite Mew song. "Don't you just love goodbyes?"

200. Yeasayer - 2080
This must be the best Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel song I've ever heard!

En plus d'être celui qui s'est occupé d'arranger les cordes pour 65daysofstatic, Ólafur Arnalds est un compositeur de génie qui, à la suite de son EP Variations Of Static, a été emmené à tourner avec les géants de Sigur Rós. Aujourd'hui je vous propose "The Sky May Be Falling... But The Stars Look Good on You" un reportage en 3 parties suivant le monsieur lors de ses récents concerts. Au passage si vous aimez le piano et que vous n'avez jamais posé une oreille sur Variations Of Static ou Eulogy For Evolution courez-y, c'est juste somptueux.

Source : Pelecanus.net

I've thought long and hard about this list, and I think this is an accurate picture of how I feel. I made a metal and non-metal list, since I listen to a lot of metal but a lot of people don't, and an overall list. This is by no means accurate and reflects only my opinion and enjoyment of the records. All of these records are very good, and I recommend checking them out, especially any bands you haven't heard of.
Non Metal
2000-Godspeed You Black Emperor-Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!
2001-Saul Williams-Amethyst Rock Star
2002-Nine Inch Nails-Still
2003-Denali-The Instinct
2004-65daysofstatic-The Fall Of Math
2005-CunninLynguists-A Piece Of Strange
2006-Clint Mansell-The Fountain OST
2007-Daft Punk-Alive 2007
2008-Thrice-The Alchemy Index Vol III+IV
2009-Mastodon-Crack The Skye
2000's-65daysofstatic-The Fall Of Math

Metal
2000-Thorns-Thorns
2001-Converge-Jane Doe
2002-Dillinger Escape Plan-Irony Is A Dead Scene
2003-The Number 12 Looks Like You-Put On Your Rosy Red Glasses
2004-Neurosis-The Eye Of Every Storm
2005-Burst-Origo
2006-All Shall Perish-The Price Of Existence
2007-Between the Buried and Me-Colors
2008-Genghis Tron-Board Up The House
2009-Anaal Nathrakh-In The Constellation Of The Black Widow
2000's-Converge-Jane Doe

Overall

2000-Godspeed You! Black Emperor-Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!
2001-Converge-Jane Doe
2002-Nine Inch Nails-Still
2003-Circle Takes the Square-As The Roots Undo
2004-65daysofstatic-The Fall Of Math
2005-CunninLynguists-A Piece Of Strange
2006-Clint Mansell-The Fountain OST
2007-Between the Buried and Me-Colors
2008-Thrice-The Alchemy Index Vol III+IV
2009-Anaal Nathrakh-In The Constellation Of The Black Widow
2000's-Converge-Jane Doe
Honorable Mentions:
Sufjan Stevens-Illinois
Wolves in the Throne Room-Two Hunters
Darkest Hour-Undoing Ruin
Catharsis-Passion
Venetian Snares-Rossz csillag alatt született