2009 was an incredible year for music. So many fantastic albums came out. Most of them I didn't even get until Christmas or after Christmas, so this list could have been different if I'd had more time to listen to the ones I got later. There's also some that I didn't get (The Decemberists, Built to Spill, Muse, John Mayer, The xx, Grizzly Bear, etc.) and some I got but didn't listen to much (Dirty Projectors, Brand New, Phil Wickham, Paper Route, etc.). Out of the albums I did get and listen to, these are my favorites:
10. Owl City - Ocean Eyes
In my defense, I did happen to know about and enjoy Owl City before he was insanely popular. In case you don't believe me, when I saw him with RK back in June (he opened for them, not the other way around), there was absolutely no one talking to him after the show except for a guy from Rookie of the Year. Mmhmm. Popular or not popular, I dig this album. It always puts a smile on my face. It also reminds me of my summer of '09, which was great. It may have also helped that Matt Thiessen sings background vocals in 4 songs. heh.
Recommended songs: Cave In, Hello Seattle, Meteor Shower, Tidal Wave
9. Fruit Bats - The Ruminant Band
Fruit Bats is a great band that I discovered through my brother earlier in 2009. I haven't listened to this album but about 5 times or so, but I can already tell that I'm going to love it. It sounds like the kind of music I'd love to drive around in the country to.
Recommended songs: After only five listens, I'm not sure if I can recommend anything yet, but the ones that stand out right now are The Ruminant Band, Beautiful Morning Light, and Feather Bed
8. Sufjan Stevens - The BQE
Oh, Sufjan. What a character. The BQE is not your typical Sufajn Stevens album. In fact, it's more like a symphony. For this project, Sufjan created an original, psychedelic, Andy Warhol-esque film complete with moving cars, lights, and hula-hoopers. He then composed music (just music) to go along with the film. The CD is the soundtrack of the film. I gotta hand it to him, it's actually really, really good. The soundtrack, I mean. The film is a trip. But in a good way. I felt like it added to the music rather than taking away from it. I still don't know why in the world there's hula-hooping girls... but it is Sufjan Stevens, what do you expect?
Recommended songs (pieces, actually): The whole thing, in order.
7. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing
Before I even got this album, I really wanted it to land the number three spot for this year's list, or at least the top five. Manchester Orchestra's previous album, I'm Like A Virgin Losing a Child, is incredible (one of my favorite albums of all time), so I was expecting the same from this one. Mean Everything To Nothing is great, but I don't think it's nearly as good as their previous release. I guess it was kind of a disappointment, but not a letdown because it's still really, really good. Andy Hull is always really emotional, and that's one of the things I love about his writing. This album is no different than the others in that area. If you have this album and like it, get I'm Like a Virgin Losing A Child. Now. Or, when you have time. :)
Recommended songs: I Can Feel a Hot One, I've Got Friends, Pride, Everything to Nothing
6. Monsters of Folk
Monsters of Folk is a musical collaboration between Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes, Jim James from My Monring Jacket, and M. Ward. These guys really are monsters of folk. Put them together and you've got something awesome. I don't really know what to say about this one other than it's good. Really good.
Recommended songs: Say Please; The Right Place; Losion Yo Head; Map of the World; Sandman, the Breakman and Me
5. Fiction Family
I almost forgot about this one because it came out way back in January. If you haven't heard Jon's solo EPs or this album, the sound of Fiction Family will probably be shocking to you considering it's from the frontman of Switchfoot. It's Jon Foreman from Switchfoot and Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek. Though Jon does outshine Sean in my opinion, they both did a fantastic job with this album. I love all the little interludes between the songs. I can't wait to hear the next one.
Recommended songs: We Ride, Throw it Away, War in My Blood, When She's Near
4. Brooke Waggoner - Go Easy Little Doves
I discovered Brooke Waggoner through my friend Alexis. She'd been telling me for a while to listen to her, but I never did until recently. I'm so glad I finally took her advice, because Brooke Waggoner is amazing. Like Alexis said, her music is almost magical. She's got lots of strings and piano and such. Sometimes it's delicate, sometimes it's not, but it's always beautiful and kind of mesmerizing. Listen to some of the songs on her website (brookewaggoner.com). If you like any of those, you'll like this album.
Recommended songs: Go Easy Little Doves, I'll Be Fine; Femmes; Wish for Bridges;
3. Freelance Whales - Weathervanes
This one is the biggest surprise of the year. I heard about Freelance Whales from the local NPR station coming home from French one night with my brother. When I bought it, I was expecting it to be just another indie album, nothing too spectacular. Boy was I wrong. It's incredible!! This is like Sufjan Stevens and Anathallo mixed with The Postal Service. That's right, banjo and synthesizer together. It's awesome. If my two favorite bands hadn't both released albums this year, Weathervanes would easily take the top spot.
Recommended songs: Generator ^ 1st Floor, Starring, Location, Broken Horse, Generator ^ 2nd Floor
2. Relient K - Forget and Not Slow Down
Holy. Cow. I love this band. So much. Forget and Not Slow Down is the best work of Relient K's career. It's definitely one of those albums that has to grow on you, but once it's done, it leaves you speechless. They have matured both lyrically and musically. Seriously, Matt's lyrics on this one are phenomenal. You can really tell that he put his heart into this and made some of the most emotional stuff of his career. At first, I was a little disappointed at the lack of mentions of God, but then I realized that it doesn't need to be there. This album is what Matt needed to write. Also, I gotta hand it to Ethan. His drumming really adds a lot to this album, especially in tracks like Savannah and Sahara. All of the guys really did a fantastic job. I'm already excited to hear what comes next from them.
Recommended songs: I Don't Need a Soul, Savannah, Candlelight, This is The End (If You Want It) [you have to listen to those two together or it doesn't work], Forget and Not Slow Down
1. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane
Originally, I had planned for Relient K's album to take the first spot, but after hearing about all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into Hello Hurricane, I felt like it deserves it more. All of the guys really immersed themselves with this project, and it shows. Their hard work definitely paid off. As always, Switchfoot seemed to catch me at a time when I needed to hear the songs. "Sing it Out" is by far the winner here. Jon's vocals are fantastic on every song, but especially "Sing it Out". "Free" and "Mess of Me" also have some crazy stuff going on vocally. Lyrically, Jon has yet to disappoint. I really could go on and on about this album, but I'll stop right there and let you find out for yourself how good it is.
Recommended songs: Free, Needle and Haystack Life, Sing it Out, Yet, Bullet Soul
Honorable mentions:
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeas Phoenix
Regina Spektor – Far
Anchor & Braille – Felt
Deas Vail – Birds & Cages
Fun. - Aim and Ignite.
Paramore – Brand New Eyes
Best EPs of 2009:
The Rocket Summer – You Gotta Believe EP
Death Cab for Cutie – The Open Door EP
House of Heroes – The Acoustic End EP
Mae – (m)orning
Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next
(p.s. Go here to get an awesome Christmas EP from Standing Small for FREE along with their song "Sailing Away" which happens to be my favorite SS tune.) [/plug]
Album that would have made last year's list if I had known about it:
Anathallo – Canopy Glow
It's time to reminisce. It was 1999, and we had moved into our current house that summer. I remember New Year's Eve that year pretty clear for only being six years old. My family wasn't worried about Y2K, but everyone else sure was. I wasn't worried per-se, I was just curious. I remember asking if we were going to be okay, and my dad responding with the same thing he says to my little sister when she asks if everything will be okay. He said, “Yes, everything will be fine. And even if it isn't, God will protect us.” The countdown to the new millennium began. Seconds later it was midnight. Nothing happened. I asked, “Is anything going to happen?” My mom said, “If something was going to happen it would have happened already.” I shrugged. And so was the beginning of the year 2000.
It's hard to believe that was ten years ago. No, I'm not going to give an overview of the past decade, but I am going to talk a little bit about this year. Like every year, it's had it's ups and downs (this year seemed to have more downs), but overall it was a really good year. I had a really fantastic summer, and I made a bunch of friends in orchestra and had some great times hanging out with them after rehearsals or recitals. This summer I lifeguarded. In 2008 I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it again, but I'm so glad I did. At the pool, there was always someone to talk to, and when there wasn't I could get in the pool, listen to music, or just sit outside. It was awesome. Orchestra was wonderful. I'm so glad I was able to play again this semester. I can always count on Thursday being a good day.
Last year at this time I made a list of goals I wanted to accomplish in 2009. I managed to achieve some of them. I learned to play the cello, I graduated high school, I had a senior piano recital and didn't completely blow it, I met the rest of the dudes in Relient K and Switchfoot, I witnessed to someone, I made new friends, I learned to drive by myself, I saved money to purchase something important, and I successfully completed my first semester of college.
I've learned (re-learned) a lot of stuff this year about myself, about God, about friendships, about relationships, and about life in general. Through this whole year of being a senior and going to college and everything that goes along with that, I've been thinking about the future. What am I going to major in? What am I going to do in life? What kind of person do I want to be? I haven't been able to answer those questions, and that scared me.
During school, I felt stuck doing the same things over and over again. I felt like I should be doing bigger things. If I'm going to be a musician, I thought I should be playing everything now. If I'm going to be a photographer, I thought I should be taking pictures all the time now. If I'm going to be in a band, I thought I should have already started one. I also missed my friends. Since I'm not in high school anymore, I've lost touch with a lot of friends and haven't had time to hang out with my close friends. Emotionally, I had lots of stuff going on inside my head, but I felt like I had no one to talk to. I also didn't feel fulfilled with what I was doing with music. I haven't loved piano as much as I used to, and I didn't know why.
I had many late night conversations with my parents about everything. They told me the areas I'f been thinking selfishly, but they also gave me comfort and encouragement. Out of all the conversations and thinking, here's what I've learned (and it took the whole year to learn this, which is why I'm blogging about it): God has me right where He wants me to be, and He's going to show me what to do next. I don't have to worry about it. Right now, I'm in school. This is the preparation. I have my whole life ahead of me! Nothing has to be done right now. I can take pictures and play the piano all the time when I'm out of school. I can't be in a band until I have people to be in a band with, and maybe that will happen when I transfer, or maybe I'll get married right after college and decide I don't want to be in a band. For everything there is a season, and right now is the season for learning and education. College. Once I get past this, I can be anything I want to be.
I've decided that I'm probably not going to major in music. Lately I've been feeling like it's not what I want to do. If it's going to make me love music less, I don't want to do it. I just always thought it would be so cool to say that I'm a music major (pride). But I don't have to major in music to be a musician. I just want to play music because I love it. Now I'm left with the dilemma of what to do in college instead of music. Well, guess what? I don't have to worry about that either! Just like God has shown me that I don't want to major in music, He'll show me what I want to do. I still have this whole semester to decide, and even if I can't decide, I'll only be seventeen, so I could even take a year off if I wanted to, and still be one year ahead of most people.
About my friends, I'm okay with not having that many friends. Friends are important, but it doesn't really matter how many you have or how often you hang out with them. If I can't talk to my friends because it's 3 o'clock in the morning or because we're busy, that doesn't mean I'm alone. Something else I've learned this year: God is always there, even when friends aren't. I can share everything with Him. One thing I didn't do a lot of in 2009 was praying. But prayer is huge! Lately I've been more comforted than ever because I've been praying more.
Now, I'm not scared of the future. In fact, I'm looking forward to it. And I don't even have to worry about it, because God has it all planned out. It's not like it's planned out the way He wants it without your interests in mind and there's nothing I can do about it but settle and deal with it. No, what He has planned is always better than anything I, or anyone could ever plan. God's plan is always the best thing that could happen to you, whether you see that it is or not. I don't know about you, but that gives me a lot of comfort. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'”
The year did end on a lighter note for me. I did well in college this semester, the holidays were fantastic, and my relationship with God is better than it has been in a long time. In 2010, I want to be nicer to my siblings, keep in touch with my friends, make some new friends, better my prayer life, and trust God more in every area of my life. I don't know what's going to happen this year, but God does. I think it's going to be good, for me, and for you. Everything is going to be fine. But even if it isn't, God will protect us.
Happy New Year.
