I should take this moment to acknowledge that there are a few 2009 albums I haven’t yet heard that could’ve possibly made this list: Agorapocalypse by Agoraphobic Nosebleed, The Great Misdirect by Between the Buried and Me, Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City by Ghostface Killah, Desperate Living by HORSE the band, and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 by Raekwon. I’ll also use this space to give out some honorable mentions to the records that didn’t quite crack the top five: Crack the Skye by Mastodon, Blackout 2 by Method Man & Redman, The Sound The Speed The Light by Mission of Burma, Coaster by NOFX, and Common Existence by Thursday.
5. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Animal Collective’s unique blend of jangly acoustic guitars and thundering, bass-heavy electronic beats has made them a real standout act in the post-2000 indie music scene. On this album, though, they’ve really outdone themselves. Merriweather Post Pavilion is one of those wonderful few albums that manages to be the most accessible effort by the band to date without sacrificing any of their artistic integrity. The throat-shredding screams and howls of albums like Feels and Strawberry Jam have been replaced with elegant, Beach Boys-style vocal harmonies. There’s still some of the band’s past brand of psychadelia on the introductory drone “In the Flowers” and the bizarrely catchy “Lion in a Coma”, but on tracks like the bouncy lead single “My Girls” and the epic ready-made for the rave set finish “Brothersport,” you can hear the sound of a band that’s found a whole new sonic territory to play around in. Animal Collective has revitalized themselves with this one, and potentially opened themselves up to a whole new audience.
4. DOOM – Born Like This
On his landmark 2004 Madvillain project with DJ Madlib, MF Doom reminded us to “Just remember all caps when you spell the man name.” Apparently, he took his own advice, because the mysterious rapper has dropped the ‘MF’ from his name in favor of the simple DOOM (this being, by my count, the seventh name change he’s undergone in his career). From the beginning of Born Like This’ lead track, “Gazillion Ear”, though, fans can be sure that this is the same old Doom as before, dropping gravelly-voiced, stream-of-consciousness references to Ernest Goes to Camp and the Large Hadron Collider in the same breath. Breaking away from his past two albums which featured production by Madlib and Dangermouse, respectively, DOOM does most of the beats here himself (although there are a few by Madlib and the late great J Dilla), and shows that he’s just as much of a force to be reckoned with in the studio as he is on the mic. And, in keeping with past albums, DOOM gives some of his best beats to the guest artists. Raekwon in particular walks away with one of the best tracks on the album in “Yessir”, a breakneck two-minute solo spot featuring one of the most hypnotically intense beats DOOM’s ever written. And then there’s “Cellz”, the stark, heavy centerpiece of the album, featuring probably the last guest spot I ever expected to hear on a hip-hop album: a two-minute vocal sample of deceased California beat poet Charles Bukowski. After four long years of waiting, hip-hop’s modernist master is back, and he’s put out one of the standout albums of his career.
3. The Thermals – Now We Can See
“I only felt sane when I was afraid,” shouts singer Hutch Harris on Portland, Oregon punk rockers The Thermals' fourth album, Now We Can See. When he was afraid was probably on their last album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine, their biblically terrifying 2006 indictment of the Bush presidency (still my contender for punk rock album of the decade). Now We Can See may lack the sheer vitriol of that album, but it still features all the complex lyricism and catchy guitar hooks that Thermals fans have come to expect. They might be taken aback at first, though: this is probably the most laid back, radio-friendly album the band has yet recorded. Upon further listens though, new complexities open up both musically and thematically, such as the album’s ever-present lyrical themes of death and the afterlife (evidenced in the triptych of songs “When I Died,” “When We Were Alive,” and “When I Was Afraid”) and the new types of songwriting and production the band explores (“At The Bottom of the Sea” sounds unlike anything they’ve recorded prior). This is the definition of an album that rewards upon repeat listens, and with songs as catchy as the sing-a-long title track, repeat listens are absolutely guaranteed.
2. Converge – Axe to Fall
The most impressive thing about local hardcore band Converge is their remarkable consistency. Since their debut Petitioning the Empty Sky in 1998, these guys have yet to release an album that was less than terrific, and even if that first record was also their last, they’d probably still be legends within their genre. It should go without saying then that their new album Axe to Fall is just as terrific as anything they’ve put out in the past ten years and well worth the four year wait from 2005’s No Heroes. The new twist here is that the album features a veritable who’s-who of notable metal and hardcore musicians as guest artists, including members of Hatebreed, 108, Cave In, Neurosis, and Genghis Tron, among others. There’s more collaboration within the band as well, with guitarist Kurt Ballou showing off his impressive vocals in “Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast,” maybe the best slow/heavy song the band has written to date. The overall effect is that this is probably the most metal-sounding album Converge has ever recorded. Almost every song features a lightspeed guitar solo, blindingly fast double-bass drums, or both. And, as always, Converge are masters of pacing within the album format, kicking it into high gear at the beginning with the headbanging trio of “Dark Horse,” “Reap What You Sow,” and “Axe to Fall” before bringing it back down at the end with the shockingly slow, soft collaborative jam pieces “Cruel Bloom” and “Wretched World.” Converge has definitely still got it, and they remain standouts in both the hardcore and metal scenes.
1. Doomriders – Darkness Come Alive
As a massive Converge fan, I was convinced from the beginning of the year that their new album would be the best of the year. What I couldn’t count on was being blindsided by a Converge side-project. Converge bassist Nate Newton takes on guitar and lead vocals for Doomriders’ second album, Darkness Come Alive. There’s no sophomore slump here. Instead, the leap in musicality from their first album, Black Thunder, is a musical evolution comparable to the jump Metallica made between Kill ‘Em All and Ride the Lightning. Tracks like “Heavy Lies the Crown” and “Come Alive” are the kind of songs that truly deserve being called “anthemic,” with utterly metal guitar harmonies and vocals delivered in Newton’s best Glenn Danzig howl. Plus, there are still tracks that call back to the band’s hardcore background, such as the punishing two-minute long “Knife Wound” or the fantastic closing track “Rotter.” If they can get out from under Converge’s shadow – and they deserve to – Doomriders are poised to become the Misfits or even the Iron Maiden of this generation.
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