My Top Albums of 2009 part 3

19.Propaghandi - Supporting Caste

As a teenager, Propaghandi was one of the more important bands for me as far as an introduction to social justice goes. As the years went on though, I drifted away from them for one reason or another. It turns out that the years have been kind and their humorous, pissed-off wit has become more refined and brutal. They are no longer the skate-punk band that I remember, and that's a good thing. Speed and sarcasm are still tools of their trade, but they are a more dynamic unit, with hardcore, metal and even a little indie rock added to their arsenal.


20. Polysics - Absolute Polysics

Polysics are yet another band that proves the Japanese can take a genre that has become otherwise boring and breathe massive amounts of life into it. At their very core they are a new wave band (quirky new-wave, not moody new-wave) and on the surface they are a spastic dance band with enough energy to power a small town. I absolutely adore how thick and driving the bass is on this record and it serves as the perfect counterpoint to the scathing guitars and the downright bizarre synth lines that dance around the songs with dizzying fury.


21. Regina Spektor – Far

My favorite Russian song sprite returned in 2009 with another oddly melodious series of piano compositions. Her lyrics play out like folk stories that weave between the distant past, the urban present and the dystopian future. The strong suit of Ms Spektor has always been her piano playing; weird and deceptively simple. But she plunks away at the keys with such purpose and the progressions are so foreign that the simplicity cannot be seen as a handicap. Her strength is coming up with melodies, both on the instrument and with her voice, that wouldn't ever occur to any other.


22. Rosanne Cash - The List

What passes for country music these days is a sad state and Rosanne Cash is one of the glowing exceptions that heralds the golden days of the genre. It probably helps that she is the daughter of one of country music's grand pioneers, but her songwriting abilities are so strong that I suspect her familial heritage is a moot point. What's more important is the brilliant channels she has opened up to the musical heritage that her genre has laid down over several decades. She is a haunting storyteller, but the advantage she has over all the other contemporaries who dabble within the genre is that above all, her music is smart.


23. St. Vincent – Actor

I avoided liking St. Vincent for a long time if only for the reason that she seemed to be just another oddly creative female musician. That might seem harsh but I tend to be drawn to such musicians and I wanted to make for certain that it was her actual music that I adored and not simply the idea of her music. It was a foolish endeavor because the more I listened, the more I couldn't resist it. The music is primarily electronic but laced with organics here and there. But the charm it all is how she wields both of those layers, doing things that I haven't often heard and doing it with gusto. She is disjointed and beautiful, distorted and lucid, scathing and inviting; everything that I love in a musician.


24. Tanya Morgan – Brooklynati

Hip-Hop outfit Tanya Morgan embodies pretty much every aspect of the genre that I have loved from the last 15 years or so and packages it up into a brilliant concept album. The setting is the fictional city of Brooklynati, a chill, laid back urban area of unspecified location that seems to have called its inhabitants from all over. The album moves seamlessly through outstanding songs and downright fantastic skits in ways that I have not heard in a long while. The songs owe much to Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and early NWA, but there is also a block party feel that emanates through every track to further transport the listener to the beautiful city within the artists' minds. The frosting on the cake, however, is a downright uncanny parody/tribute of early 90's Hip-Hop/Soul by way of a fictional group frequently referenced throughout the record, Hardcore Gentlemen. If it doesn't transport you back to 1993, nothing will.


25. Thunderheist – Thunderheist

I jokingly like to term this genre Hipster-Hop because of the obvious roots of its creators and the even more obvious target audience. Vocalist MC ISIS has a sort of lazy delivery to her rhyming that I have come to adore in groups like The Cool Kids and it works even better here in the midst of the low-fi electronic orchestrations of Graham Zilla. The pair works well together, each bringing a distinct attribute to the creative process in order to create a fantastic dance record that is not afraid to bend the rules, even if it is just ever so slightly.