Best Music of 2009 (So Far): Rachael Maddux, Assistant Editor

How could leave out Veckatimest as one of the best albums of the year, thus far? You couldn't honestly include it as your 9 or 10? It's disgusting how some people dismiss fantastic records because of a band's success. Ugh

Hey Ryan, sorry to gross you out. I certainly haven't dismissed them based on their success. I actually like Veckatimest quite a bit more than Grizzly Bear's other albums-- it's just not top 10 material for me so far. So, no, I couldn't honestly include it on my list. Seems like it'd be just as unfair to throw it up there simply because so many other people like it as it would be to ignore it for the same reason, right?

Most Excellent choice on The Decemberists as number 1. Everytime I spin it I imagine the fantasy world it presents as if directed by Peter Jackson or Guillermo del Toro and starring David Bowie as the Tiger(must have been the Labyrinth memories creeping back up from my childhood).

Ryan, a "favourites" list implies a personal preference. Just because you (or even a majority of people) like it, does not mean everyone does. Frankly, I'm kinda sick of blogs and mags hyping the crap out of Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective, Phoenix, and Bat for Lashes. Stereogum is most guilty of this (proclaiming each of the above band's latest LP, the best of the year). While I do recognize that the above bands and their respective albums are good, I'm tired of having these bands shoved down my throat. For the record, I like Two Weeks but am bored with the rest of Veckatimest, Bitte Orca went over my head, think MPP is just okay, and loved WAPhoenix and Two Suns.

I saw The Decemberists when they came to Atlanta on the 3rd, and the show was spectacular. They have always been great performers, but I can tell that the band has learned a few tricks since Crane Wife. Hazards really is the best album of 2009, thus far.

Also, I'm glad to see that you included Elvis Perkins in Dearland on your list. I was impressed with their music and performance when they opened for Bon Iver. Did you know that Perkins's father played Norman Bates in the original Psycho?

Rachael, my opinion on the Grizzly Bear record has nothing to do with the critical response of the band. I've long been a fan of the group and I just feel that their album is a contender for the best album of the year, and it's completely subjective. However, for you to not fill out a top ten list says that you don't think the album was good at all. You only think there were 8 at least-decent records by the year's half? That seems a little ridiculous.

Not only Veckatimest, but you didn't enjoy My Maudlin Career, Manners, Actor, Middle Cyclone, Begone Dull Care, etc. It seems weird to me that an editor of Paste can't find signs of life in 2009 music.

Ryan, I like Veckatimest. I think it's a beautiful album. I've also really been enjoying Actor and Middle Cyclone, plus the new Andrew Bird, Blind Pilot's first album, and more. But none of those are top 10 albums for me at this point in the year. That doesn't mean they aren't GOOD, because they're certainly all very good. For me, though, there's a big difference between "I'm really digging this album!" and "I'm calling this one of the best albums of the years so far!" I wasn't going for a full ranked list of every album I've heard in 2009 (Veckatimest might fall in the #20s on that, for example), just the very cream of the crop for me personally so far.

hate to sound like a hater, but Ryan honestly anyone who puts a Decemberists record as #1 has some problems to begin with. I'm with you though ryan, Veckatimest is most certainly album of the year for me (thus far)

I'll be politically correct and not comment on earlier comments. People should be entitled to their own opinions and you shouldn't lose it because Rachel put 8 instead of 10 albums. Geez. I've actually only bought one album this year and that is From Monument to Masses: On Little Known Frequencies. It's great--more vocals, added piano, viola and percussion displays the band adding new dimensions while retaining their sound. I'm also looking forward to listening to: Joan of Arc's Flowers, Dinosaur Jr with Farm, Sonic Youth's The Eternal, Rob Mazurek's Sound Is, and anything out of the continent of Africa such as Rokia Traore. Last year I only purchased 3 albums from 2008: Brazzaville with 21st Century Girl, The Weepies' Hideaway, and Sun Kil Moon's April. Check 'em out. Everybody is unique, everybody is human.

List like this seemed to be a way to spark conversation more than anything else. Though I would love to hear an argument that pits Veckatimest against Hazards of Love, and concludes that Hazard is better. In my opinion Hazards of Love is basically the exact same album that we always get from Meloy. There needs to be a point in which we need to start demanding something a little different than just another avenue for Meloy to engage his Victorian fetish. I guess advertising your albums as concept albums gets The Decemberists off the hook for a lot of sins. But as they say, to each his/her own . . . .

Matt, you hit the nail on the head. Among other things, the point of this list and ALL lists is to spark conversation—and there's no shame in it.

I don't think you can pit albums against one another and declare an objective winner, because it's a matter of taste, which is inherently qualitative. It's not like a boxing match where, duh, yeah, one guy gets his lights knocked out so the other guy wins.

Still, when criticisms are rooted in perceived facts, you gotta get your facts straight.

As for your concerns with Hazards of Love being "just another avenue for Meloy to engage his Victorian fetish," let me get a little nerdy on you. The Victorian era encapsulated the rule of Queen Victoria of England, from 1837 to 1901. Granted, many Decemberists songs do reference this time period. But the recent album doesn't—I don't think there's an intended time frame for it, but its lyrical content draws heavily from traditional British folk music, which has ancient origins, back as far as the thirteenth century, before the chimbly sweeps and mariners were even a twinkle in their mothers' eyes. Your problem with him is likely more that he's an anachronistic songwriter, and that's fine. It doesn't float everyone's boat, but I love it.

But also, yes, it IS actually a concept album. The band's previous records were mostly unrelated collections of songs, but with Hazards all of the tracks do contribute to the same overarching narrative, and there are repeating musical themes and elements, which certainly qualifies it as such.

If you like Veckatimest more, though, that's totally cool. I think it's pretty, but I just like Hazards of Love more. And I don't think you can really intellectualize that preference.

Rachel,

Perhaps "Victorian fetish" was code for anachronism. Although I would still say that by claiming that you are tapping into a form of British folk music doesn't mean that you are in effect actually tapping into a form of British folk music (and yes I know about how Meloy approached the album through Anne Briggs). However, when I first listened to the album, I thought "Oh good, Meloy has heard Donovan's Atlantis:). Most time reviewers search for the most learned point of reference that demonstrates the amount of knowledge that they have, and map that knowledge onto an album that cannot bear the weight. Is Hazard an homage to early British Folk, or a reinterpretation of Coleridge's Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner? And if so, does it matter artistically? Just because one form of music can be linked to an earlier form, does not necessarily legitimate it, and whats more we already knew that Meloy could do this. I think what I meant was that this album is the same as all the other albums in terms of focus and scope. Don't get me wrong I love The Crane Wife and Castways, but Hazard feels like another album in that same vein, despite having a shape shifting whoever. To me it felt like a band treading water.

And I'm not sure that I like Grizzly better, it just that Hazard never blew me away, and there are parts of Veckatimest that are bloody boring and can put you to sleep.

But as I said, to each his/her own, thanks for commenting Rachel, and long live Paste!!

While I don't think Hazards of Love would make my top 5 of the year, it is a good album by a great band.

To say its the same-ole' same-ole' from Meloy is crazy. It's completely different from anything they've done before. I applaud the direction Colin went with it.

Rachael, I'm surprised and excited that you like the Micachu & the Shapes album! I didn't expect to see this on anyone's list but I've certainly played the everloving daylights out of it.

There seems to be a lot of disdain for The Hazards of Love not just here but all over, so I'm happy to see someone who considers it not only the best of the year so far, but good enough to fill the best three spots, even! It's my #2 at the moment, granted, but has been blowing my mind ever since I first heard it.

Since your selection of Hazards of Love as your number one album led me to trust your judgment, I decided to check out some of the others on your list. I'd never heard of Alela Diane, and let me say, THANK YOU!!!! What a gorgeous album! I've been listening all morning. One of my top albums of the year so far is Laura Gibson's "Beasts of Seasons", which has a similar feel to the Alela Diane album - you should check it out, if you have not done so already.

I totally agree with you on The Hazards of Love, that CD is AMAZING!!! I got to see The Decemberists in concert last month and it blew my mind. Nobody i know even knows who the Decemberists are, so to know that someone else has that at the top of their list is quite the comfort.

The best music of 2009 has just been released. LA based singer/songwriter AM, mostly know for his run with the Hotel Cafe Tour, just released his new album Future Sons and Daughters, which is only available on iTunes for the time being. This sound is fresh, innovation and very unique. AM has found something very special with his new album, as I have not heard anything this good or different in some time. I just saw him on Sunday night in North Myrtle Beach, SC and he blew me away. Take notice... and remember this post when you hear him for the first time.