Employee of the Month
(Song of the Year)
Winner: 12 Rounds – “Shine On”
For a band that hasn’t properly released an album since the world thought Bill Clinton was a good husband, 12 Rounds has maintained a cult following like few other groups in Western civilization. The now-married duo of Claudia Sarne and Atticus Ross make dark trip-hop to give Portishead a run for its money and “Shine On” is their first new song since their contribution of “Just Another Day” to 2001’s The Princess and the Warrior soundtrack. It’s haunting and beautiful and everything 12 Rounds should be and more.
Runner-up: Massive Attack – “Splitting the Atom”
First new Massive Attack in seven years? Sweet, sweet ass. “Atom” rides one straight groove for the better part of five minutes while all three of Massive Attack’s masterminds creep and croon over it. It is constant, groove-happy and full of a drunken haze.
2nd Runner-up: Thom Yorke – “Hearing Damage”
Following his solo debut The Eraser in 2006, Thom Yorke released the Spitting Feathers EP, containing several b-sides and an extended version of a track or two. Then came Radiohead’sIn Rainbows and utter silence for over a year. This year, Thom resurfaced with the 45 of “Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses” and “The Hollow Earth” and a song for the New Moonsoundtrack, “Hearing Damage.” It sticks with his trend of cold electronics and pedestrian phrases-turned-lyrics and, as always, amazes.
Back from the Dead: The Zombie Award
(Don't Call it a Comeback)
Winner: Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue
Yes yes, there’s no Layne – get over it. The more-than-able Jerry Cantrell has always written great music and BGWtB proves that he’s not stopping. Back with the rest of the AiC team and a newcomer to sing lead, tracks like “A Looking in View” and “All Secrets Known” are worthy additions to the Alice catalog. Sure, it’ll never be the same without Layne Stayley on vocals, but this is about the best we could hope for without him.
Runner-up: Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
I know I’m a sucker for conept albums, but the songwriting and production on Green Day’s post-Dubya romance record are undoubtedly cool, as is the psychobilly and old Western influence. Taking a cue perhaps from Koffin Kats or Captain Clegg, tracks like “Peacemaker” and “Little Girl” raise a tattered, burnt flag claiming the boys from Oakland still know how to pen a record – even if it means a radical departure from anything they’ve ever done.
Licensed to Ill
(Soundtrack of the Year)
Winner: The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Effeminate sparkly vampires?! Have I lost my standing in Team Blade/Castlevania/Dracula (read: good vampire entertainment)?! Even though my indie-cred ex-friends are reading this and laughing their asses off, all I can say is this: Thom Yorke; Black Rebel Motorcycle Club; Muse; OK Go and Death Cab for Cutie are strewn across an hour of aural goodness and sutured together by Lykke Li, Sea Wolf, Bon Iver & St. Vincent and The Editors. Even the people I’d never heard of I loved; I think the only borderline-weak link in the album is The Killers, which is still decent at its worst, and Alexandre Desplat’s one-off from the score is a touching piano piece. Thumbs up, Twilight people – now let’s just get that damn glitter off the characters.
Runner-up: Where the Wild Things Are
I don’t know much about Karen O, besides she likes using simple and repeated lyrics in The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which usually comes out pretty cool. When I sat through Where the Wild Things Are and heard her score throughout, I thought it was brilliant. So full of life and youth, joy and pain, I can’t help but feel like a kid again with all the handclaps and shouting.
Annual Employee Pot-Luck
(Collaboration of the Year)
Winner: The Dead Weather – Horehound
I haven’t been this impressed with Jack White since De Stijl. Working with Allison Mosshart of The Kills, they put out a completely badass, take-no-prisoners rock and blues album. From the old Hendrix-style riffs of “60 Feet Tall” to the minimal trudging of “Will There Be Enough Water?” and from the big ‘70s-era keyboards on “I Cut Like a Buffalo” to the relentless Zeppelin-influenced “Treat Me Like Your Mother,” Horehound doesn’t fuck around – pun intended.
Runner-up: Them Crooked Vultures – S/T
Dave Grohl back on the skins? Check. John Paul Jones on bass? Check. A little too much Josh Homme? Check. These three ingredients give the world a near-perfect pick for collaboration 2009. Damn fine songs, 90% of them, but “Mind Eraser No Chaser” and “Dead End Friends” sound like QotSA b-sides. Let’s hope album 2 comes with more Jones/Grohl flair.
Honorable Mentions
(Honorable Mentions)
Before I dole out my pick for Juiciest Brains of 2009, I’d like to give extra thumbs-up and nods to N.A.S.A.’s Call of Apollo for having the Handsome Boy Modeling School-esque balls of teaming up Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Fatlip, Karen O, Tom Waits, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Cool Kids and George Clinton on the same record. Also to The XX’s XX / Self-Titled for being an amazing breakthrough and experiment in near-minimalist badassery, to Psyclon Nine’s We the Fallen for proving that old-school industrial isn’t dead, to Metal Blade’s re-issue of The Ocean’s 2004 debut LP Fluxion for pushing the boundaries in fusing post-rock and metal, and to Saxon Shore’s It Doesn’t Matter for their constant excellence in the field of post-rock. They all definitely deserve a listen.
Juiciest Brains
(Album of the Year)
Winner: The Horrors – Primary Colours
Holy crap, how good is this album?! The old-school Britrock and sheer M83-like productionalone propelled it to the top of my list this year and the songwriting and utter fun of it cemented it in the top spot. What a catch, what a play, what a game.
Runner-up: The Mars Volta – Octahedron
Despite the endless compost heaps of shit Cedric and Omar take from critics around the globe for their machine-gun epileptic sound, self-indulgent experimentation and near-Dadaist lyrics, the boys managed to turn out an all-killer, no-filler album this year. Perhaps learning a lesson from the mixed reviews they received for sophomore release Frances the Mute’s extended sound captures and live album Scab Dates’s fifteen-minute noise jams, Octahedronis just eight songs, 50 minutes. It’s as concise and catchy as anything they’ve done in recent memory and may be their best album since their 2003 debut, De-Loused in the Comatorium. Here’s hoping a follow-up comes soon and similar.
