Top 15 Records (in no particular order):
Why not a top 10? Because, I thought making a top 15 was hard enough. I find it very difficult to make these sorts of lists. I always weigh far to heavily toward my current listening preferences. I also tend to either drastically over- or under-rate albums that I have just picked up in the last few months; plus these things are always flawed because there is a ton of music from 2009 that I haven't even heard! But I'll do my best to provide you with my choice records of 2009 and a short review for each of the records I chose. I'm not posting downlaod links for all of these because there are too many fucking jack-asses out there that would just download them all without even considering actually buying the physical record (or cd). These records are new and should be readily available. If you don't like to pay money for music because you think that you are too good to support bands you like or some shit, go find them on some other blog. These artists are making great music and they are just trying to make a living, they deserve your $10 if you like their music. I will, in the future being making posts with downloads - I'm just going to try to push people to actually BUY these records before offering them up for free. If you are lucky enough to live in a town with a good record store, go there first to buy it, if they don't have it they can probably special order it - but if you are desperate, I have also posted links to webstores with these records.
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Food - S/T
This record kicks so much ass it's hard to explain. It is a mix of sludgy stoner rock with killer dark hardcore punk. I feel like a lot of bands try to pull off these types of mixes, but very few actually do it well. Food, however, has fucking nailed it. This band gets me grooving the way that Sleep or Electric Wizard do, but they also make me want mosh around my house and punch holes in my floor at times (in a good way of course). I like this record so much I not only bought the 12", I also paid to download it from iTunes (eeeegh) so I can have a quality copy of it blasting in my headphones as I ride the bus and try to surpress the urge to grab all the hipsters and cram their iPhones down their throats. Apparently Food's drummer attends IU, I have yet to run into him that I am aware of... I just hope he isn't a hipster with an iPhone.
Buy It
Check it out
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Human Mess - Follow You Home
This record just really hits the spot for me. It has that blown out sound that a lot of the hardcore bands are going for now and this record does it just right. I don't think any song clocks in over a minute and a half and I never get tired of how it sounds. When I listen to this I can picture the vocalist actually rolling around on the floor screaming, and it makes me want to roll around on the floor screaming too. So if you feel like rolling around on the floor screaming for about 10 minutes, put on this record and do so... please.
Buy It
Check it out
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Last Lights - No Past No Present No Future
Alright, you may not have heard of the first two records on this list... but if you are into punk and hardcore music and you actually pay attention to what is going on in "the scene" I'm sure you have heard of Last Lights. Their singer, Dominic Mallary, died very suddenly of a brain anneurysm after playing a show in December 2008 at only 24 years old. The band has recieved a lot of attention due to this fact, however, they deserve the attention, and Dominic Mallary's death has nothing to do with why I picked this in my top 15. This music is just great. This is pretty straight-foward punk/hardcore music but it is done so originally and uniquely that it doesn't feel tired at all. In addition, the vocals are very interesting and heartfelt and the lyrics are thought provoking and certainly worth reading. I feel like I'm being all gushy over this, but I was sorta hesitant to get into them at first due to dramatic way in which I was introduced to them... but I was being stupid, because goddamnit, it really is fucking amazing music.
Buy It
Check it out
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Face the Rail - Face the Rail
I bought this record on a whim. I was record shopping on Tankcrimes and this was the record that they were pushing that week... I looked at it and I liked the artwork and thought the name was cool, so I ordered it. I'm really glad I did, because this record fucking rips! It is sort of a weird bluesy, surfy, version of hardcore punk. Honestly the artwoork conveys what it sounds like pretty well I think. The first song is totally killer, it's worth it for that track alone. Buy It!
Buy It
Check it out
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ANS - Pressure Cracks
While on the topic of Tankcrimes, I'll mention the other record on my top 15 that they put out this year. I've been all about ANS ever since I first heard them about 4 years ago. I got them to come play in my home scene (Peoria, IL) and after hanging out with them and watching them perform they became one of my favorite bands. In general, I would describe ANS as a more modern and faster version of JFA and Aggression crossed with Rollins-era Black Flag. If that doesn't turn you on... go look at someone elses blog, you make my head hurt. I hadn't heard anything from them for a little while (a year or two) and their singer is starting to look a little like Henry Rollins, so I was afraid this record might just sound like a Black Flag rip-off or something, but holy hell, I was wrong. This record is so cool. It is basically what I described above except some of the surfy business is exchanged for rad crossover thrash riffs, it totally worthy of all the fist pounding and hair-swinging-headbanging you have in you. There are still some surfy bits and I personally like them a little better than the thrash stuff, but I was really glad to see that they mixed things up and are staying original. ANS, way to never dissappoint me.
Buy It
Check it out
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Church of Misery - Houses of the Unholy
Let me stray from the punk/hardcore path for a moment to mention a very very fine stoner/sludge/doom/what have you record that was put out by Church of Misery this year. I know very little about this band, but from what I gather they are just a Japanasese band with an obsession for serial killers. Houses of the Unholy has 7 songs, 6 of which all are subtitled for various serial killers... it's actually pretty fucking creepy. Seriously though, I don't know why the Japanese can make such killer doom metal (i.e. Boris), but don't question it, just listen to it. If my strange description didn't catch your ear, I'll be more straight-foward: this is super heavy groovy-psychadelic metal (ala Black Sabbath) with angry, scary, yet auidible lyrics about serial killers.
Buy It (the label's website is overseas... go to Amazon if you need to save cash)
Check it out
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Dan Deacon - Bromst
Now a total change of pace. Dan Deacon plays weird indie-electro-pop stuff... and it's fucking good. This is music that will make you dance, but is also really interesting. The type of interesting where you can sit down and listen to it closely and actually enjoy the experience. It has substance. It's truly unlike anything else being put out, so check it out if you already haven't.
Buy It
Check it out
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Starlight Mints - Change Remains
This music isn't gonna change the world, but it is certaily fun to listen to. This is another indie-electro-pop (more toward the indie side of that) record. It's fun, upbeat, well-done, interesting music. If you like to sing and dance along with your favorite records, this is a good choice for you, it will not dissappoint. I highly recommend this for fans of Vampire Weekend and LCD Soundsytem.
Buy It
Check It Out
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Dalek - Gutter Tactics
While I'm on a roll with non punk/hardcore releases, let me go ahead and list one of the absolute best hip-hop records to come out in the last year. Dalek has put out a lot of amazing records, but this one is my favorite, I think. It's full of political lyrics, his raps are fun to listen to, the beats are creative, and there is all kinds of cool noise and distorted shit in the background that really works for it. It has great cover art and the vinyl is a double LP with that comes in about the coolest colors imaginable (bright green and bright blue). I know that isn't really info on the music, but I think that everything about this release works together to make it amazingly awesome and effective. If you like hip-hop at all, buy this, buy it now.
Buy It (Ipecac didn't have it in their webstor, so this is an Amazon link... sorry)
Check It Out
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Crocodiles - Summer of Hate
This record sounds like one part Joy Division, one part Duran Duran, and one part Sonic Youth. I don't like to revert to just listing other bands in order to describe a record, but I couldn't come up with anything better. It's fun, catchy, noisy, and genuine. I Wanna Kill and Refuse Angels are my highly recommended tracks.
Buy It
Check it out
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Isis - Wavering Radiant
Isis... so much hype and so much hate, what is one to think? My advice don't think about it, listen to it - decide for yourself. I personally think this record is pretty amazing. It is a good blend of their more ambient "soundscape" side and their more metal side. I personally think the vocals are really what distinguish this from most of the other bands in this genre. Also, the first song starts out in 7/4, which is pretty sweet.
Buy It
Check it out
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Zu - Carboniferous
Alright this is a weird album and a weird band. I honestly think it is pretty amazing... but you may hate it - this means you really should listen to it! Zu is a avant-garde jazz trio that has dipped their feet into many different styles. Their instumentation is really what makes me (and most) call them a jazz group (baritone saxaphone, bass, drums, plus other various horns, brass, woodwinds, bowed strings, etc). However, I think this is one of the few bands that actually qualifies as "experimental" because no other genre does them justice. Each of their albums is very different - Carboniferous is sort of a cross between metal and math rock (but done with a baritone sax instead of a guitar). It's heavy, it kicks ass, and it is totally different than anything else you heard this year. This album should hold particular appeal with fans of John Zorn and his "heavier" projects.
Buy It (Another Amazon link...sorry)
Check it out
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Marked Men - Ghosts
Okay back to hardcore and punk land. Marked Men are a garagey pop punk band. This music is pretty much perfect, I'm not sure what else to say.
Buy It
Check it out
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Sorely Trying Days - Survival Mode
This is a local Indiana band and I, for one, fucking love them. A lot of people compare it to Andrew WK... I can see why, but I think it is more like if Andrew WK had a child with Black Flag and Fugazi. I can list three bands because in the world of describing bands as the offspring of other bands genetics do not apply, so three parents is perfectly acceptable. Or perhaps it's like Fugazi and Black Flag had a child and it was raised by Andrew WK. Either way, I'm doing that thing I said I didn't like doing where I'm describing a band with a list of other bands, so I'll steal a description that someone else once wrote about the Sorely Trying Days: Infectious rowdy stoner rock. Listen to it, it should make you smile - and if you like it BUY IT! This band and label are just getting started, they need your support.
Buy It
Check it out
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Punch - Punch
I'm listing this last, not because it is last on my list, but because I want to this list to go out with a bang. Punch is a great name for this band; I would say why but it is going to sound cheesy no matter how hard I try to make it not, so I'm leaving it at that. This is fast fucking hard as hell hardcore punk with a female singer that sounds like she will kick your ass and then write you letters for the rest of your life reminding you of how much she kicked your ass. I totally think she is awesome for putting herself out there and being badass not BECAUSE she is a chick hardcore singer, but being a badass and just happening to be a chick hardcore singer (because not all girls do only girly things). Punch, you fucking rule.
Buy it
Check it out
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