Worst of 2009: The 5 Biggest Disappointments

Every year has its ups and downs, musically. For me, the worst downs are not when a bad album drops, but rather when a bad album that should have been great releases. These are albums from artists who have proven themselves to be capable of something amazing, but have instead opted to phone-in an album or make something so uninspired or bad that listening to it is more of a chore than a joy. 2009 certainly had its share of disappointments. Here are the 5 that really stood out to me.

#5. Our Lady Peace: Burn Burn – Of all the albums on this list, this is the worst. Of course, that doesn’t make it the biggest disappointment of the year, especially considering how bad Our Lady Peace has been over the last decade. But when I heard the band was coming out with a new album, my thoughts immediately went to their work in the 1990s. Heck, Happiness was this blog’s #5 Alternative Album of all freaking time. But alas, what Burn Burn is is a continuation of the band’s post-millennial work, with sappy lyrics and big me sensibilities. Hey, they’re back though. And they’re still better than most modern rock bands. So that’s something I suppose.

#4. Metric: Fantasies – If I seem conflicted on this one, it’s because I am. I mean, there are some fantastic songs on Fantasies, don’t get me wrong. But there are some downright bad ones too. If there’s one thing Metric had never given us in their 10-years of music making it’s a “hit or miss” album. But Fantasies has that locked down!

#3. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band: Outer South – Wow. Less than a year after they got together to make Oberst’s brilliant self-titled, the Mystic Valley Band released this dud of an album to audiences. Thanks for that, guys. Outer South lacks all the charm, talent, and songwriting skills of its semi-quasi predecessor. That makes it quite the disappoint for yours truly, not to mention all of those other critics out there. With that said, I still must admit to liking “Air Matress.” I mean, that’s just a fun time.

#2. Cursive: Mama, I’m Swollen – I should’ve known something was up when Saddle Creek decided to sell this one for pennies in its opening days. I got mine for $1, which granted, isn’t a bad deal, but still. After 2 amazing albums that really helped define my early adulthood, Cursive dropped this big lo’ pile of mediocrity on us. The first 4 or 5 songs? Solid. The rest? No thanks. It was lacking all the bite, focus, and passion of past Cursive albums, so I stopped listening after 2 weeks or so.

#1. Zero 7: Yeah Ghost – Ugh, guys really? How do you follow up The Garden with this collection of abrasive, ugly pop music sung by the most mediocre of vocalists? Whereas every other album from this duo has been pretty much mellow, electronic pop, Yeah Ghost is just plain annoying. Whether they decided to go in an entirely different direction or just phoned this one in, there’s no denying how awful this album is.

The Top 31 Albums of 2008 (Pt. 3)

Albums 31-21

Albums 20-11

#10: Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst – Another year passes and another Conor Oberst album makes it into my Top 10. The whole idea is getting quite old, yet Oberst’s music remains just as fresh today as it was back in August. On his self-titled solo album, the Bright Eyes frontman ditched a lot of the self-loathing, depressing songwriting for a more upbeat, exciting record. Even depressing songs like “Danny Callahan” have an uplifting feel to them. Oberst also takes the time to clean up that death rattle of a voice to something much more accessible (or acceptable). In the end, it’s just a great album that you absolutely need to hear.

#9: CSS: Donkey – I, like many, found CSS’s debut to be a bit on the annoying side. Their follow-up has its fair share of annoyances as well. However, for every minor annoyance, there are a handful of cool harmonies, infectious grooves, and inescapable hooks! Donkey is one of the most solid pop albums in recent memory. It will make you feel dirty, it will make you want to dance; but I promise it will not make you want to watch Dirty Dancing.

#8: Jaymay: Autumn Fallin’ – When I first received an email about Jamie Seerman in early 2008, I had no idea how much her music would affect me throughout the year. An mp3 sample of single “Blue Skies” hooked me, and I politely requested a copy of the album for review. Two months later, I gave the album an 8 out of 10 rating, and it remains just as poignant, beautiful, and poetic today! Seerman is an undeniable talent in songwriting, and you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this album today!

#7: Plants and Animals: Parc Avenue – P&A managed to take the best from 60s psychedelia and indie rock and turn it into one masterful work. I’ve already had the opportunity to introduce this band to 40 and 50-year-olds who have enjoyed every second of Parc Avenue. While the last few songs on the record do wear a bit thin, it is more than bolstered by its miraculous first half. If you haven’t done so already….listen to it.

#6: Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend – And the award for best new artist goes too….(sorry, Fleet Foxes). Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut was one of the most focused, enjoyable, and universally acclaimed albums of 2008, and all of that praise was deserved. It’s not every day that an album comes around that will make seasoned music journalists fein knowledge of genres of which they have no background (in this case African music). I guess that’s just another reason why we “lesser people” should look down upon the snooty students at Columbia University. You’re not that much better than us!!

#5: Pop Levi: Never Never Love – I’ll go ahead and stop ranting and raving about the greatness of Pop Levi’s second album as soon as I know that some of you have taken my advice and checked it out. However, judging by the album’s ranking on Amazon.com (one of the few places you can actually find it), few of you have taken the leap yet. Don’t be an idiot. Go get a hold of hit soon! An album this good doesn’t come around often, and you don’t want to be that person who hears it 2 years later than everyone else.

#4: Death Cab for Cutie: Narrow Stairs – For such a shitey album title, Death Cab’s latest surprised most of us. True, the band doesn’t take any huge leaps in any direction, but they stayed true to their classic sound and in the process created what many might call their crowning achievement (though Ben Gibbard getting engaged to Zooey Deschanel is giving it a run for its money). I know it’s my favorite Death Cab album, and with such instant classics as “Cath…” and “Grapevine Fires,” it’s bound to be rocking my iPod for many more months to come.

#3: My Brightest Diamond: A Thousand Shark’s Teeth – I’ll be the first to admit that Shara Worden doesn’t have the sort of universal appeal as, say, Vampire Weekend. What she does have, however, is a depth of talent that rivals any of her peers and an album in A Thousand Shark’s Teeth that put most competitors to shame in 2008. For all the grandeur and theatricalities of her 2006 debut, A Thousand Shark’s Teeth far exceeded any expectations and benchmarks that she may have set. It is a wonderful album and an absolute joy to listen to. I recommend you do it at least once.

#2: Of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping – Poor Of Montreal. For as many years as I’ve been making year-end lists, my favorite band on the planet has only gotten to the #1 spot once (for 2004’s Satanic Panic in the Attic). Every other year that they’ve been eligible have resulted with a fantastic, though still disappointing #2 placement. The sad truth is that were it not for last year’s “The Past is a Grotesque Animal” or this year’s “Gallery Piece” they may have nudged their way into first place every time. But for all the excessiveness that Kevin Barnes has nailed perfectly, there’s always one or two tracks that just seem like a bit much. Skeletal Lamping is the picture of excess, and with the exception of that one track, it was the best album of 2008.

#1: M83: Saturdays=Youth – If you were to tell me in January that my #1 album of the year would be an M83 record, I would’ve probably laughed in your face. M83 has been off my radar since 2005, and for good reason. For as brilliant as Anthony Gonzalez’s past works have been, they were never as enthralling a few weeks after their initial play. Saturdays=Youth, a 1980s, John Hughes tribute album in more ways than one, has been my favorite album of 2008 since it was released way back when. It is easily the most impressive album of the year with its ability to uncannily recreate the sounds, harmonies, feelings, and imagery of what all of us envision a teenage life in the 1980s would have been like. From start to finish, it is a layered vision, a masterpiece of production and performance. In fact, the only thing holding it back from a perfect 10 out of 10 rating (a rarity on Audio Overflow) is the fact that it’s lyrics are full of the cheesy poignancy that one would expect of an 80s teen drama. As such, the listener is taken on a ride, but it’s not an emotional one that they themselves can experience. Besides this minor and oft-overlooked blunder, Saturdays=Youth is a marvel of electronic pop music that will be remembered for years and years to come. Giving the #1 spot on my list to anyone else would not have seemed appropriate, and there’s no one who deserves it more.

Video of the Week – Week 83

You know, I think I’m starting to like this new, happy Conor Oberst fellow. Where’d he come from anyway?

“Souled Out!!!” by Conor Oberst, from his self-titled album.

Conor Oberst: "Conor Oberst"

By this time, we should all know what to expect from Conor Oberst – be it from a solo recording or a Bright Eyes record.  For all of his talent, his skill as a songwriter, the changes from album to album have continually been slight (with the glaring exception of Digital Ash in a Digital Urn which was released simultaneously with a more traditional record).  On this, his first solo record since wrapping up puberty, Oberst is in fine form; never straying far from his roots or his fans’ expectations, but keeping things interesting enough to warrant several repeat listens.

Album-opener, “Cape Canaveral,” is the exact opposite of what we heard from Oberst’s last outing, Cassadaga.  It’s minimalist approach to music is nothing like the grand productions of that record, and honestly, it’s a bit refreshing to hear.  The song’s “choruses” are a bit reminiscent of “We Are Nowhere and It’s Now,” but when your catalogue of songs is as massive as Oberst’s, a bit of overlapping is bound to occur.  Conor sings of things he’s learned in his life, saying, “You told me victory is sweet, even deep in the cheap seats,” and the imagery that it projects is truly beautiful.  “Sausalito” takes a different approach.  The upbeat, country rocker is more reminiscent of Johnathan Rice (ugh) or even Joe Walsh.  It’s catchy lyrics and subtle harmonies give it a light, bouncy aesthetic that is often missing from Conor’s work.  Could it be that Oberst is actually having fun on this record?

That definitely seems to be the case.  While most of his musical career has been weighed down by the heaviness of his lyrics or the subject of his songs, Conor Oberst is much lighter all around.  This is never more apparent than on the album’s centerpiece, “I Don’t Want to Die (In the Hospital),” a frantic, piano-led freak out that finds Oberst singing of his last moments, pleading, “I don’t want to die in the hospital/ you gotta take me back outside/ help me get my boots back on!”  He later explains, “They don’t let you smoke and you can’t get drunk/ all there is to watch are these soap operas,” and I totally get it.  “Get-Well-Cards” is more toned-down, but still rather light.  Oberst sings, “I wanna be a bootlegger/ wanna mix you up something strange/ braid your hair like a sister/ maim you like a hurricane.”  Funny stuff, Conor.  Funny stuff.

But even though it has its lighter moments, Conor Oberst still manages to meet the expectations of his fans who like their music a bit dark.  On “Lenders in the Temple,” Oberst sings of feelings of helplessness and despair, noting, “I’d give a fortune to your infomercial if somebody would just take my call,” over nothing but a guitar.  It’s such a wonderful expression of loneliness and I’ve found it to be one of my favorite moments on the album.  On the album’s last track, “Milk Thistle” Conor subtly remarks, “If I go to heaven/I’ll be bored as hell/Like  a little baby/ at the bottom of a well,” like it’s not one of the better, more impressive lines on the entire record.  Moments like these remind us why we listen to Oberst in the first place, why he is regarded by almost everybody as one of the most important songwriters of his generation, and make us thankful that the well that he pulls his songs out of is as deep as it is.

But as I said before, most of Conor Oberst is upbeat, or at the very least more light-hearted than anything the artist has created before.  Though it is still rooted in the style of his previous records, it maintains a uniqueness and a freshness that won’t wear thin for quite some time.  To make the record, Oberst rounded up a few of his more musically-inclined friends (the Mystic Valley band, as they are now immortally known) last winter and headed to a small Mexican town where they stayed for five weeks, writing and recording the album.  The cold winter months usually lend themselves to equally cold songs.  But the change of climate must have done Oberst some good.  Conor Oberst is a warm, inviting, and exciting album that does a wonderful job of setting itself apart from the artist’s other musical endeavors.  As such, it’s one that any fan would be crazy not to add to their collection.  And for newcomers, well, this may just be the best time to discover the genius of Conor Oberst.  Buy it!

Key Tracks:

1. “Cape Canaveral”

2. “Get-Well-Cards”

3. “Lenders in the Temple”

4. “I Don’t Want to Die (In the Hospital)”

5. “Souled Out!!!”

8 out of 10 Stars

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