Do you ever feel like a particular song or album is actually your friend? Like it knows you and somehow shares feelings or sentiments with you that no-one else does? You’re wrong. It’s an inanimate object.
Someone else created it either to try to make some money or talk about shit that they think about. Sometimes it just happens to coincide with what you’re thinking about so chance makes it relate to you. Sometimes it’s just really pretty or sad or clever and you can’t help but want to hang out with it a lot.
In any case, I present my 5 Best Album friends from this, the 2009th year of our Lord.
Number 5 Best Album: Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca. It literally sounds like throwing shit at a wall and somehow making it stick in a fascinating way. Scales I didn’t know existed seem to govern the odd melodies and progressions and make me feel fucking arty for being into it.
Number 4 Best Album: The Middle East – Recordings of the Middle East. If you’ve heard this, you probably know what I mean. It’s heavy with hope and pretty stuff. Just a bunch of guitars and harmonies and feelings thanks.
Number 3 Best Album: Yves Klein Blue – Ragged & Ecstatic. It’s either the incredible storytelling, the way the arrangements sound familiar but wholly new or the fact that the drummer gave me a handjob once, but for whatever reason this album was the soundtrack to a lot of my year. Colin (I think that’s his name?), wherever you are, you have sweet soft palms and the patience of a saint. Also, the solo in Digital Love fucking rules.
Number 2 Best Album: Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest. Yep, getting all indie and predictable here. They somehow manage to make an album able to be described as intricate chamber pop and still be fucking awesome. This album seems to be so carefully crafted, but just on the verge of losing its shit. Like Larry Emdur.
Number 1 Best Album: Yay! It’s Animal Collective’s combination of Merriweather Post Pavillion and their Fall Be Kind EP. If you want to know why, read Pitchfork or something. They’ll probably agree, and if you don’t but can’t formulate an argument as clever or articulate as theirs then I don’t want to hear it.
I also really liked the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ record for being soft and slow for the most part but still somehow punk and really affecting. Phoenix’s is great but pretty overrated. Also worth mentioning: The xx, Julian Casablancas, Girls and Arctic Monkeys.
