Worst of 2009: The 5 Most-Overrated Albums

One of the most frustrating things as a fan of great music is reading nothing but positive reviews about an album, only to pick it up and be blown away by how bad, mediocre, or disappointing it actually is. 2009 had its fair share of critically-adored albums that just never clicked with me (and a few more that just pissed me off entirely). The following list is for the 5 Most-Overrated Albums of 2009. Now excuse me while I go put on my flame-retardant suit.

#5. Bat for Lashes: Two Suns (Metacritic: 77) – No, no, no, there’s some good song’s on here, you have me all wrong, reader. But as far as it being one of the year’s best? Well, I disagree wholeheartedly. Natasha is an extremely talented young lady as evidenced here, and on her previous record, but Two Suns is too often an album that lacks consistency. “Oh this song is amazing, oh this one is alright; this one is totally crazy, this one just put me to sleep.” Thus concludes the insight into my thought process when listening to the album. So to close, allow me to reiterate: tons of talent, doesn’t come together well enough. Fin.

#4. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion (Metacritic: 89) – Holy god there’s part of me that wants to put this one at the #1 spot on this list just due to the sheer amount of hype surrounding it. Positive review after positive review after positive review and the only thing I can walk away with after hearing this album is that there is one good song “My Girls.” My honest opinion is that this is Animal Collective’s worst album I’ve ever heard, and I’ve been listening since Sung Tongs came out. So technically that may make it the most overrated, but it’s not the worst album that got rated well…so we’ll move on.

#3. Fever Ray: Fever Ray (Metacritic: 81) – Okay so all I really know is that this album got fantastic reviews from several reputable sources. I check it out, listen to 6 songs and then never give it a serious listen ever again. This album is bad.

#2. Girls: Album (Metacritic: 79) – The most amateur crap I’ve heard since Boddicker. Each song contains mediocre music accompanying really awful (just awful) lyrics sung by a mostly terrible singer. This is why people don’t listen to indie music, because shit like this gets made. It’s one of those albums that you just have to think wouldn’t be around if the artist didn’t have a totally harrowing backstory (they do, I suppose). Personally, I don’t buy into this nonsense. This is easily one of the worst records of the year.

#1. Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest  (Metacritic:  85) – Yeah I know. Believe it or not, I had never heard Grizzly Bear before 2009. Now, like you, I’d been hearing amazing things for years. So when this album dropped at the beginning of the year, I didn’t waste a second picking it up. What I got was a collection of really uninteresting, boring music that did nothing but disappoint time and time again. I’ve seriously listened to Veckatimest several times through but have yet to grasp what the hell everyone is going on about. But hey, at least I know better now.

Top 5 Artist I Have to See Live Before I Die (Revisited)

Over two years ago, I wrote a list on this blog titled, The Top 5 Artists I Absolutely Have to See Live Before I Die.  It’s quite a mouthful of a title, and the bands on the list were no less epic.  Since I wrote that article, I’ve seen 4 of the 5 bands mentioned (The Decemberists, The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, and Muse), leaving only Cursive on the “yet to be seen” list.  With that in mind, I’ve done some brainstorming today to come up with a new top 5 list for your reading pleasure.  Do you agree or disagree?  Have you seen any of these bands?  Who’s on your list?  That’s what the comments section is for, folks.  Hit me up and let me know.

#5.  Wallpaper. – So by this point I best everybody who’s reading this is tired of me hyping up Wallpaper. to no end.  Sorry.  I’m a fan.  So much of a fan that when they came to Austin (a 3-hour trip) a few weeks ago I beat myself up about it because I had to work at 6am the following morning.  I know part of being a music fan is suffering for your love of the art, but I’m an adult and I can’t get away with that stuff anymore (I sound like my dad). Word on the street is that these guys put on one hell of a show, and that’s one show I defintiely don’t want to miss out on the next time they come to Texas!

#4.  Loney, Dear – Same story, just a different time.  The last time Emil and Loney, Dear came to Houston (I believe) it was also their first.  Let’s hope its not their last too because I once again had to work the next morning at some ungodly hour.  I wasn’t too upset about it at the time, but I just read a review of their show in California a few weeks ago and it sounds like I missed out on an experience that I’ll ne’er forget.  Too bad.  Next time though, things are gonna be different, I swear.  If that last line didn’t read like a bad 80s ballad I don’t know what does.

#3.  Animal Collective – I’m letting the cat out of the bag here.  You weren’t supposed to find this out unitl December, but I think that Merriweather Post Pavilion is a terrible album, Animal Collective’s worst.  This is the kind of surprise you get when I take a year-off from full-time blogging.  Exciting huh?  Yeah, well despite my thoughts on the band’s most recent record, I would still love to hear it (or any of their albums, for that matter) performed in a live setting.  I imagine it being completely mind-blowing!  Unfortunately, I live in Houston…so if I’m going to see them live, I’m probably going to have to drive elsewhere to accomplish that.  Should be worth it though…

#2.  Bjork – Bjork is someone who is so good that I can’t believe I left her off of my list the first time I wrote it, especially considering that I was way more into her then than I am now.  All wrongs have been righted, however, because here she is in her rightful position of #2 on this list.  So why Bjork?  Why not?!  Besides being one of the most talented female vocalists alive today, she is absolutely batshit crazy.  Seriously, have you seen pictures of a Bjork concert?  It’s like a classier version of a Flaming Lips show.  And the Flaming Lips live were amaaaaaaaazing!

#1.  Muse….again – Talk about an anti-climactic list, right? I apologize for that, but when I’m really honest with myself, Muse seriously needs to be at the top of this list.  I just saw them open up for U2 a week ago, but it feels like I never saw them at all.  Being that far away from the band in the nosebleeds made me feel more like I was listening to a really loud version of a live CD, not like I was at a show.  Hell, I was seated the whole time!  That’s no way to see Muse!  If you’re going to see Muse, they’re going to have to be the headliners playing an hour and a half set, and you’re going to have to be in a sea of people jockeying for position at the front of the stage.  No arguments!  So for as great as Muse played the other night, I need to see them again to really take them off this list.

Moods – Snobby

I joke about being a music snob.  Hell, it’s in the subtitle to page you’re on right now.  The truth of the matter is that I don’t consider myself to be one because I don’t esteem myself higher than others because of the music I listen to.  I do, however, reserve the right to esteem you lower because of the music YOU listen to (lookin’ at you, Linkin Park fan).  But I know how it is.  Sometimes you just want to be a music snob, to have uber-valid opinions and a wide assortment of band names and album titles to pull out of your ass at a Starbucks or crazy indie rock show.  Well, if you’re feeling particularly snobby, here’s a music playlist that should help you along.  It’s only 8 tracks, but one of them happens to be 22 minutes long.  If that doesn’t make you a music snob, I’m not sure what will.

Snobby

Go News Go! – The Weekly News Recap

General

• My Morning Jacket reveals next album title…and it’s spooky!
• R.E.M. shows us the track list to Accelerate, which is almost as exciting as actually hearing it.
• Barsuk pumps up Chris Walla’s Field Manual.
• Portishead blah blah blah.
• Lil’ Wayne does drugs….whaaaa?
• More Zooey and M. Ward (She & Him) Details.
• NOOOOOOO! Wait….who?

Photos

• The Decemberists
• Band of Horses

Tour Dates

• Dillinger Escape Plan (US + Europe)
• Animal Collective (Planet Earth)
• Feist (Planet Earth)
• Stars (Planet Earth)

The Top 31 of 2007 – #16

Cale’s Pick

Radiohead: In Rainbows

Released: October 10, 2007

I forgot to set my alarm. That’s the excuse I’ll use, here. You see I was really planning on waking up at midnight, just in time to make it to the station. But it wasn’t until 8am that I finally woke up. I hurriedly put on my clothes, foregoing the typical shower in an attempt to make up for lost time. I was 8 hours late! No time to eat or talk to anyone, I got into my 1994 Ford F-150 and rushed to the train station. Traffic was hell. Everything was stalled, I wasn’t moving at all. I decided to take a shortcut, and made it to the station in about 15 minutes. By that time, though, the train had left without me. I had missed the hype train.

You see, maybe it’s the experience of staying up late and downloading a greatly anticipated album the first moment it’s available. I was there for Kid A, Napster was friendly. But when In Rainbows released over the series of tubes a few months back, I decided that I’d wait until morning to check out the album. By the time I headed to inrainbows.com, the site was flooded with traffic. I ended up downloading it from BitTorrent and not paying a dime for it. I missed out on the experience of downloading In Rainbows that so many of you got to enjoy. Maybe that’s why I haven’t ranted and raved about it. I gave it a 7 out of 10 because it is a good album, there’s not a bad song on it really. But it’s Radiohead. And amongst all the talk of how Radiohead was revolutionizing the way consumers will receive music in the future, everybody forgot to notice that Radiohead wasn’t coming anywhere close to revolutionizing their own sound as they have done so many times in the past.

Kid A remains my favorite Radiohead album to date because it is challenging, and at the time, completely unexpected from the band that was supposed to singlehandedly save rock music. Hail to the Thief had the band falling back on their old tricks, but adding in enough cool things here and there to keep things interesting. The same can be said for In Rainbows. Despite it’s utter greatness on every song, there’s simply not enough here to get excited about. It sounds a lot like O.K. Computer, which is good, but it doesn’t differentiate itself enough from it. In doing so, it’s just a bit disappointing coming from Radiohead. But it is a good album. And you should listen to it. And I will buy it in January, because I really prefer CDs over than MP3s any day.

For finally giving us some new material to listen to and freak out over, Radiohead makes it to #16 on my list.

The Top 31 Songs of 2007 – #16

“Peacebone” by Animal Collective, from the album, Strawberry Jam.

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Jill’s Pick

PJ Harvey: White Chalk

Released: October 2, 2007

I know I sound like a broken record (no pun intended) by using this to describe different artists, but, PJ Harvey is like Bjork…sometimes you never know what you’ll get. Really, though, in PJ Harvey’s case, it’s not exactly a good thing. It’s nice, but it’s not always good. It’s nice to hear her in a different form, but it’s not good because well, this album comes off like a Tori Amos tribute album.

It’s exactly like a Tori Amos tribute album.

(What is it with the 30 minute range albums anymore? I’m starting to think that people are more concerned with getting an album done in the quickest way possible rather than really working on the things they’re putting on to said albums.)

I never thought I’d use the word haunting to describe PJ Harvey, but that’s what she is on this album. “Broken Harp” is so, so sad sometimes you get stuck there. There’s a very Old West feeling and (hey!) there’s no wailing.

Here’s what makes this album worthy of being on my list: White Chalk is like she’s preparing to die and the lyrics and music are the kinds of things you’d say in a letter to a loved one. I can relate to that.

The best track: “The Mountain” (which should be admired for it’s cinematic qualities.

Songs you should give a listen to:

–“The Devil”

–“When Under Ether”

–“Broken Harp”

–“The Piano”

–“The Mountain”

The Top 31 of 2007 – #21

Cale’s Pick

Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam

Released: September 11, 2007

It was no surprise to me that I liked Strawberry Jam. I had been a moderate fan of Animal collective since I first hear Sung Tongs back in 2004. What I didn’t expect, however, was that I would like it as much as I do. It is without a doubt their most solid, perhaps weirdest album. While their previous albums had some great songs, there were also more than a few duds as well. Strawberry Jam is perfection. Every song has a different feel, and for the most part, the band keeps the tempo going at a high rate for the whole affair. The heavy reliance on electronic instrumentation is a notable and worthy addition to the band, and it’s hard to imagine Animal Collective regressing back to their freak folk roots now that I’ve become accustomed to Strawberry Jam. Regardless of that, I’m still really into this album after a few months of heavy rotation. Everytime I hear “Peacebone” or “Fireworks” I can’t help but sing along (butchering every word along the way, I’m sure, because I can rarely understand what the hell is going on). Not everyone is going to like Animal Collective, but that’s what being so different will do for you. When your music is so extreme, it forces people to take an extreme stance; either love or hate. There are very few in-betweens when it comes to Animal Collective. I’m just glad I’m on Team Love (the side that loves Animal Collective…not Conor Oberst’s record label (but if you’re reading this and you’re looking for a new artist…call me)).

For keeping it exciting and different everytime they come around, Animal Collective makes it to #21.

The Top 31 Songs of 2007 – #21

“Missed the Boat” by Modest Mouse (f/ James Mercer), from the album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.

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Jill’s Pick

DJ Jazzy Jeff: The Return of the Magnificent

Released: May 8, 2007

Hey. Remember the Fresh Prince of Bel Aire? Remember how he had a sidekick, Jazzy Jeff? This is him. People never believe me when I tell them that, but this is the same Jazzy Jeff.

I like the idea of this album: that Jeff is taking a road trip and all he has for entertainment is an FM radio. Each different track is supposed to represent the different songs he hears on his journey with a simple point: basically, radio sucks. And it’s true, it does. I’m just not sure he really does a spectacular job of making his idea solid. There are like 900 million people on this album, which is kind of a let down because not only is Jeff a fantastic producer (he was the man behind one of my favorite Jil Scott albums) he can rap. And having one or two different dj’s/rappers on each track kind of makes you forget that, he gets lost in this mix that is other talent. Fortunately, he raps in a style different from Will Smith (Fortunately? Thankfully.) and it’s got a sort of underground vibe to it. It’s Hip-Hop with a Jazz feel for the 30+ crowd. That’s why I like it so much. I think.

My favorite track: “She Was So Fly”

Tracks to give a listen to:

–“She Was So Fly”

–“All I Know”

–“My Soul Ain’t For Sale”