First my 10 favorite albums of the year:
10. Lily Allen:  It’s Not Me, It’s You
Lily Allen is the rare artist that can write fun danceable songs that also have interesting lyrics.  Case in point, the opening lines of the entire album “I want to be rich and I want lots of money, I don’t care about clever, I don’t care about funny” Is she being serious or sarcastic? Is she mocking herself or other pop stars? I am not sure and judging by the chorus where she sings “I don’t know what’s right or what’s real anymore, I don’t know how I am meant to feel anymore, and when do you think it will all become clear? Cuz I am being taken over by The Fear” she is not sure either. I admit that now and then her lyrics can become almost a little too preachy during songs like “Everyone’s At It” which criticizes the hypocrisy of many drug laws and “fuck you” with its anti-homophobia screed; however, it is rare you hear issues like that taken on so bluntly in a catchy pop tunes such as the aforementioned “fuck you” with
it’s opening lines of “look inside, look inside your tiny mind, then look a bit harder, cause where uninspired, so sick and tired of all the hatred you harbor” and catchy chorus of “fuck you, fuck you very very much.” The track “Chinese” is one of the best pop love songs of the year about the simple pleasures of being in a relationship: Lily sings “ I don’t want anything more than to see your face when you open the door, you’ll make me beans and toast and a nice cup of tea, and we’ll get Chinese and watch T.V

9. Dear Leader: Stay Epic
More than any other album this year, this captures the mood of the current recession. Aaron Parrino still has the great voice that made Shelia Devine and he uses it to great effect when singing lyrics about the current hardships of the recession. On the songs Indifference In The Age of Decline : “ Indifference in the age of decline, there are no borders there are no lines, interference in the age of decline, we got no heroes we got no shrines.” My favorite track Rust Belt Balled which pays homage to one of the areas hit hardest by the recession. Perrino sings “we’ve seen many things in our lives but nothing can prepare you for those times like now-we are hanging by a string.” On the chorus he asks “am I the only one, who can not overcome?”   The track “The Wayside” describes the sense of community feel that can develop during a time of collective hardship. The music fit the lyrics off all the tracks perfectly.

8. Kid Cudi: Man On The Moon

If Kanye West and Pharrel Williams had a baby together (N.H.) it would be Kid Cudi’s Man on The Moon. Cudi is not a great rapper (hell he hardly raps on this) or lyricist but he knows how the create a vibe for a song. “Enter Galactic” is a sexy space aged track that reminds me a little of N.E.R.D.’s “Tape You.” The lead single “Day and Night” is one of the songs of the year and an instant classic. The second single “Make Her So” features a brilliantly flipped Lady Gaga sample along with hilarious verses from Kanye West and Common. On the song “Pursuit of Happiness” Cudi bring along MGMT along for the ride and it is yet another example of one of the weird trends this year which is songs featuring hipster New York bands and hip hop artist fused together for surprisingly great sounding results. Throughout the album Cudi gets down right emo with the lyrics talking about failed relationships and having night terrors. He uses multi samples layered on each other to craft tracks like “Simple As” which have an ability to stay with you long after you have heard them.

7. Weezer: Raditude

It has become trendy in the blog-o-sphere and in real life to hate on Weezer the past 4 or 5 years or so. First off all, I don't care if they released an album that featured nothing but the sound of whales fucking, you don't rip into a band that has 2 classic albums under their belt. It would be like ripping into Tom Brady if he had a bad game; you got to show some fucking respect. Second, Weezer's last few albums are not as bad as people have tried to make them out to be and so far, I am loving the first 2 singles off the new album Raditue.  "If You're Wondering..." and  "I Can't Stop The Partying." The later song features a quick cameo from Lil Wayne who drops a short but subtly brilliant verse that has an undercurrent of paranoia juxtaposed against the bouncy nature of the song a la Andre 3000's lyrics in Hey Ya. Some are going to say Weezer is selling out by doing a song like this and others will say that they (and by they I mean Rivers Cuomo) are being ironic. Part of what makes the track work so well is that in the end whether it is ironic or not is impossible to determine. Rivers Cuomo broke on to the scene with lyrics talking about playing Dungeons and Dragons the ultimate symbol of social ineptitude and nerdyness; what does the uber-nerd do when he is a famous and rich rock star? Do you join in the partying that you where never part of when you where young? Do you continue to mock it and or yourself? Rivers' answer appears to be to do all 3 at once while creating  one of the catchiest pop song you will ever here.  The track “pull me back together” has pathos in it as Rivers pays homage to his better halfs ability to keep him from falling apart.  Rivers delivers quirkly lyrics throughout that reference everything from cutie WB 90s actress Shiri Appleby and Jay Z songs like when he sing “me and my girl ain’t speak in weeks and I can remember the reason why-on top of that it is a recession I am feeling like Jay Z this can’t be life” on the recession busting song “Let It All Hang Out”  Any album that mentions one of the most underrated Jay Z songs (This Can’t Be Life) and underrated WB hotties (Shiri Appleby who is only number 2 on the WB hotties list to Katie Holmes number 1) gets extra bonus points in my book.

6. Tegan and Sara: Sainthood

Does anyone write catchier relationship songs that instantly stick to you better than everyone’s favorite twin lesbians? The answer that excellent album once again proves is a resounding no. I can’t even decide which songs to highlight because they are all pretty much equal good so I will just say if you have ever been in a relationship good or bad or like to bounce around to a catchy song get this album now.

5. Mean Creek: The Sky Or The Underground

This album solidifies them as one of the best new bands in the Boston area and the best band ever from my home town. (sorry Endway and Groovasourus) It reminds me like a mini version of Arcade Fire’s The Funeral. Songs like “Face of The Earth” and “The Sky or The Underground” have the feel of a communal search for some sort of point to existence. (don’t worry it is done in a less pretentious way then how I just described it) On the title track they sing “is there nothing that I can write or sing, that can change anything.” The chorus throughout the album demand to be sung along with. For the local kids they even put in some small references to landmarks like the Oakley Country Club. “ from the snow bank of a golf course, comes a local town police force-they caught use with our hearts high and hands up in the sky) My only small complaint is that they should use  Aurore more on the harmonize and or maybe even let her take the lead once in a while.

4. Passion Pit:  Manners
A Boston band’s debut has not had this much buzz since the 90s. That, and the fact that the lead singer is Greek and we are rare in the music world, (shout out to Art Alexakis of Everclear) made me intrigued to hear what all the fuss was about. In short, Passion Pit’s Manners is the sound of dancing around like an idiot with good friends or people who have the potential to be good friends. They are an electropop band and pretty much all the songs on the album are catchy and infectious. Some have compared them to LCD Soundsystems and MGMT, but what their sound really sounds like is Sonic The Hedgehog music and particularly the Starlight Stage of Sonic The Hedgehog 1. You might think that I am insulting them by comparing their sound to a nearly 20 year old video game, but I happen to love the music of Sonic The Hedgehog Starlight Stage and I can take off my music snob hat long enough to appreciate the joy present in Passion Pit’s sound. Furthermore,
while I compare it a videogame, the music has many more layers and variety of sounds/instruments than a videogame (They use a Dulcimer at one point, true story). Lyrically, the album is like well written earnest freshman poetry about wanting to feel connected to people and places. The lyrics fit the vibe of the music well especially songs like “Little Secret” and “The Reeling” which both employ the girl chorus sing-a-long on the “higher and higher and higher” and “oh no” part of the choruses to great affect. . The track “Moth Wings” is written like a letter to a troubled friend and has a great musical built up throughout the song. People are either going to love or hate Michael Angelakos falsetto and I found myself in the former category even though he still needs to work on for the live shows. At the start of this review, I mentioned Passion Pit Boston Artist with the biggest buzz since the early 90s. Even though I still listen to
artists from that time like Juliana Hatfield, Letters To Cleo, and The Lemonheads, I will always associate their sound with the sound of the 90s. Passion Pit is what I will forever associate with the sound of 2009 in Boston and amazingly enough through the rapid fire spread of the internet they have already become one of the defining acts of current music across the country and the world. (if you don’t believe me listen to the production of Miley Cyrus’ uber hit Party In The USA which borrows heavily from the sound of this album)

3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs:  It’s Blitz
When an artist makes a change as drastic as the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s do with It’s Bltiz by putting down their guitars and going for a synth sound, it is bound to generate some controversy. So how well does it work? Opening track Zero is one of the best of the year and you will hear nothing on record sexier than the orgasmic way Karen O sings “get to know it whether you’re crying, crying, crying oh oh/ can you climb climb climb higher?” The only bad news is that the rest of the album can never reaches those climactic heights again. If Zero is the sound of hot sex, the rest of the album is the sound of cuddling in bed after. My biggest complaint is that some of the songs sound a little too much alike. I like “Soft Shock” “Little Shadow” and “Hysteric”, the later with its sweet song chorus of “you suddenly complete me” are all very good songs, but not super distinguishable and non reach the classic level of “Maps.” (In their
defense that is nearly impossible) In a way this album reminds me a lot of Kanye West’s 808’s and Heartbreaks which is another album from one of my favorite artists that was a musical departure from their previous stuff. Both albums worked great  and where a nice change of pace to keep things fresh.

2.  Metric’s Fantasies
The album opens with the single and instant classic Help I'm Alive. The synth pop music and Emily Haines voice bring the anxiety of the lyrics to life. The song Gold, Guns, and Girls is an anthem of anyone who has ever dated someone or ever had a friend who is annoyingly never satisfied with anything. "All The lace and the skin in the shop couldn't get you off, all the toys and the tools in the box, couldn't get you off" The songs ends with the refrain "more, more, more, Is It ever gonna be enough" with the pulsating beat in the background adding more and more urgency as the refrain repeats. Other songs like Sick Muse remind me of some of the best stuff of some of my favorite bands like Garbage and The Cardigens. Every song on the album's is produced well and explodes off of the speakers. This came out during a month with a lot of other good music but I find myself wanting to listen to this more then anything else.
1. Camera Obscura:  My Maudlin Career
With the opening line of “Fell asleep in a dusty library, waiting for some words to jump out at me” I began to fall in love with this album. The way Tracyanne Campbell sings throughout the album never strays from flawless. Musically, there are obvious influences from 50s pop and even 60s Phil Spector’s wall of sound. That being said, it never sounds like a rip off of those sounds, just and updated version. As the title of the album suggests, this is a lyrically very sentimental album. If that is not your thing, stay away, but it is mine. The song “Careless Love” is one of the best songs ever about trying (and failing) to stay friends with an ex. That theme is in other songs of the album like the track “James” where Tracyanne achingly sings “oh James, you broke me, I thought I knew you well” to an ex/current friend. I am pretty sure I have listened to this album over a 100 times this year and still am not sick of it in the slightest and
I am always finding new little thing that I like about it. For that, it gets my vote for album of the year.

Now thoughts on everything else in no particular order of stuff that I listened to a lot this year, that people where talking about, and stuff that I want to point out really sucks:

Rakim’s The Seventh Seal:
This is the best album released by a rapper in his forties. I admit that is not saying much but it is impressive that Rakim’s voice and flow are pretty much as strong as ever even if too often the lyrics on this album are him talking about Da Vince Codesque conspiracy theories. What keeps the album from being great is the pretty mediocre productions done by budget producers.

M. Ward’s Hold Time
A solid effort from everyone’s favorite “Him.” I can easily listen to this album all the way through without ever wanting to skip a song and the guitar filled track “Outro (AKA I Am Fool To Want You)”  is hypnotic in a way that reminds me  of Yo Lo Tango’s “I Heard You Where Looking”. The single “Never Had Nobody Like You” with his “She” partner Zooey Deschanel is instantly catchy and accessible enough to be played a lot on college radio national Beer advertisements. (even indie rockers gotta get that paper)

Jay Z’s Blueprint 3
The original Blueprint is still my favorite rap album released this decade; On that album, Jay Z made sure every lyric packed a punch and even after repeated listens there where always new surprises and layers to discover. (my fav subliminal shot of all-time is off of The Ruler's Back: " fucking with me, you got to drop a mil" because it is so subtle and so needlessly mean to mock someone like Amil  but it had to be done because the line is too perfect) This is not even mentioning all the classic lines going at Nas and Prodigy on The Takeover and Kanye's pitch perfect soul samples on Heart of The City, the wordplay on Girls Girls Girls and U Don't Know, or the fact that there is only one other rapper on the entire album and that is Eminem who kills his 2 verses on Renegade. I could talk about why I love the original Blueprint for a 100 paragraphs, but the new album at hand is The Blueprint 3. The Blueprint 3 is an above average album by a normal rapper
standards and a below average album by Jay Z standards. It seems like he mostly made it because he had to make albums for his new contract. There is a lot that works here. The opening track where Jay Z gets his indie rock on by having Jake Steele from Empire of The Sun on the hook and talks about Jay O and Dame works well. As does "Forever Young" at least in a novelty way with its sample of Alphaville. "Run This Town" is a pretty good radio anthem. My favorite song off of the album is the first single D.O.A. On that track, Jay, gets a great beat/sample from No-I.D. and goes at all the autotune using and tight jean wearing "rappers" of today. D.O.A. is a cranky old man rap classic. It made me wish that Jay Z went the cranky old man route for more of the album. The BP3 song As Real As It Gets featuring Young Jeezy seems more like a Jeezy song with Jay Z put on as an afterthought. I like the fast Timberland beat on the track Off-That, but Drake and his
annoying voice shows up on the chorus. Instead of working with the likes of Drake and Jeezy, it would have made my day if Jay Z went at them and pointed out who the vast majority of their stuff is complete and utter shit. Someone needs to point out the fact that their is not a single rapper this decade with the possible exception of Lil Wayne that has made even the slightest case for joining the hip hop pantheon. If you think I am being too nostalgic for a past time in hip hop or I am getting old myself and becoming one of those old people that always complain new music is not as good, that is fine. But, I challenge you to listen to Blueprint 1 and imagine if some crappy rapper like Drake or Jeezy was on any of the songs. Their crappyness would stick out like a sore thumb and I bet you would hope they would be dropped like Amil. All that being said, the Blueprint 3 still has some solid tracks. I would like “Empire State of Mind” even more if I did
not associate it with Yankees world series win.

Animal Collective’s Merriwether Post Pavilion
This has been the best reviewed album of the year on the blog-o-sphere. I was only vaguely familiar with them before it came out and all the lavish praised it received intrigued me. By intrigued, I mean it set off my contrarian alarm and made me want to mock the album even though I had not heard it. Thus, I had to get a copy of it to review and eventually mock; but, I did not want to pay for it or download it illegally so I went the lame root and requested it at the Library and was 13th in line and low and behold 4 months after it came out I am writing a review of the album after having heard it 15 times or so. Here is that review:
The album is sonically interesting throughout. The opening song “ In The Flowers” starts off with these trippy sounds that sound like electronic whale song, with footsteps marching in the background, then a slow build up with more sounds and actual instruments, building up to the opening vocals. I used the term vocals instead of lyrics because while there are some interesting lyrics in the album they are pretty much an afterthought compared to the music. This is the opposite of most of my favorite artists to listen to from Bright Eyes to Biggie where the lyrics are as important if not more important than the music in the song. In a way the music and all the different sounds in this album are part of the lyrics that’s why it is best experienced using a good set of speakers or head phones.
The lyrics to my favorite song on the album “My Girls” should be noted with their repeated call for a minimalist version of the  American Dream: “
“Is it much that I feel I need -A solid soul and the blood I bleed -With a little girl, and by my spouse -I only want a proper house-I don't mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status -I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls” The song opens with a cool synth-keyboard effect that repeats throughout the song as again different things are added to the song from hand claps to drums.
Despite all their experimentalism, at times the song get a little too formulaic with the slow adding of new sounds throughout a song. For example, “Guys Eyes” sounds like an electronic jungle that slowly has different animals calling to each other. I could have more variety in the structure of the songs.
The other major problem is that it does not have a lot of utility value. If I want an adrenalin boost, I’ll listen to Jay Z. If I want to get over a girl, I’ll listen to some Dashboard Confessional. I can’t finish the sentence I want to listen to Animal Collective when… It can give you a spaced out calm feeling of serenity or contemplativeness, but who wants that. Rock music is about love, hate, fear, desire, despair, strong emotions. I don’t get strong emotions out of this so it does not have any strong therapeutic qualities.
On the other hand it does fit one of Rock’s music important qualities in that it sets a generational divide and most likely will piss people off. An important part of music is that now and then styles of music have to change to a point where people who are out of their teens barely recognize it as music and this has that quality so it gets point for that. It is a passive rebellion.

Silversun Pickups Swoon
Did you like the early Smashing Pumpkins records? Did you like the last Silversun Pickups record? If the anwser is yes to those 2 questions you will like their new album Swoon.  There is not one stand out classic song like Lazy Eye, but their is not one bad song and they all flow great into each other. The perfect album to have on as back ground music

Conor Oberst & The Mystic Vally Band's Outer South
Out of all of the Bright Eyes and Conor Oberst Solo stuff, this is Oberst at his most relaxed ever. While he can still be neurotic or critical of society, overall Oberst seems at piece with the fact that he is getting older and realizing that there is not much to life out side of the basics. In the opening of Nikorette he sings " I am just trying to be a human being-sitting in the sun eating ice cream." On Slowly (oh So Slowly) his vocal inflection when he sings "Dementia, you better treat me good" is just perfect. Ten Women is an all time class love song. The biggest difference between this and other Oberst albums is that he actually lets other members of the Mystic Valley Band write and sing songs. Those guys while not the talent of Oberst, do pretty good impressions of other Tom Petty on song like The Difference is Time which add to the overall relaxed vibe of an album. This album is not a timeless classic like Oberst albums with Bright Eyes like
Fevers and Mirrors or I am Wide Awake, Its Morning, but it another good part of the Oberst canon of albums

21rst Century Breakdown by Green Day
I don't think 21 First Century Breakdown is as good as American Idiot because while that album came out of nowhere and captured the feeling of the time (2004) perfectly, we already know the General formula for this album and this album does not capture the feel of the recession or the Obama victory that well  so it feels a little pointless at times.  Plus, people will complain that many of the guitar riffs are not that original and sound like everything from Queen to past Green Day songs. That being said, with the help of Butch (the most important producer of the past 25 years not named Andre Young) Vig and Billie Joe's great voice, the album sounds good from start to finish with the exception of lead single “Know Your Enemy” which is the worst Green Day song in their long career.  Lyrically, sometimes Billie Joe comes up with great lines that seem relevant to  the current economic mess that it is in" " We Are The Class of 13-Born in the era of
Humility-we are the desperate in the decline-raised by the bastards of 1969"  In the final track Green Day seems to even acknowledge that they are not completely sure what they are fighting for: " I Need To Know Whats Worth The Fight"  Some have been critical of Green Day who are in their mid 30s, Grammy Winners, and have a shit load of money still writing songs with lyrics of teenage rebellion. I find that line of reasoning silly because we can say stuff like that about pretty much every rock or rap or pop act ever

U2:  No Line On The Horizon
I don’t hate this album, I am just bored by it. I listened to it a couple of times when it first came out and during the next few months, not once have I played it. When the songs from the album come on when I put my 2009 playlist on shuffle, I don’t skip them because Bono’s voice sounds as great as ever which is a redeeming quality of any song. In addition, some of the songs like “Magnificent” and “I’ll Go Crazy, If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” are pretty good paint by numbers U2 songs, but there is not a single song on this album that I would add to the classic U2 canon of songs

Neko Case: Middle Cyclone
Neko Case has a beautiful voice. Hell, it is almost too beautiful. Almost all the songs on this album sound great and are well constructed; however, for me this is great background music and not active listening music if that makes any sense at all. For example, lyrically the song “This Tornado Loves You” is an obsessive love song, but the way she sings it does not sound obsessive to me. I can understand how someone else might get a different impression and love this album, but for me I will only listen to it as pleasant background music while I am studying for class or something like that.

New Boyz: Skinny Jeans and Mic
These guys are one of the leaders of the new school hip hop that is deeply entrenched in the sound and ethos of some of the more fun late 80s stuff. While neither of the dudes are great MCs songs like their big single You’re a Jerk show their cocky swagger which has been lacking from many newer MCs and partly makes of for the lack of that many great lines.
The Bangz (Self Titled EP)
This is not the greatest group  of all time or anything, but with the dearth of female rap music the few years, it is a breath of fresh air. The group is The Bangz and they are obviously affiliated with The New Boyz and have a similiar sound that combines 80s hip hop ethos with alt/skate culture. My favorite part of the song is the refrain " I am a reject, I am a reject, I am reject, Just Dippin, Just Dippin, Just Dippin." You can check out another one of their songs "Get It Girl" which works as a club song  and has some pretty  good lines here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_blNZLoe1k&feature=related Here is another one "Hard In The Paint" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNB60ah7MEM&feature=related I hope this is the start of a trend.


Paramore  Brand New Eyes
Paramore has a pretty good formula and does not stray too much from their first 2 albums. It is about 40 percent 90s alternative, 40 percent pop, and 20 percent hair metal. I love Haley and her voice and think she is a Gwen Stefaniesque star. On tracks like  “Where The Lines Overlap”  she makes kind of silly lyrics like “ I gotta feeling if I sing this loud enough, that you’ll sing it back too me” work in a fun way when with a lesser frontwomen it would come off as annoying. The balleds like “The Only Exception” and “Misguided Ghosts” also work. My biggest complaint is the band. While Haley might be the next Gwen the rest of the band is not the next No Doubt. The production is slick, but god damn those dudes use similar guitar riffs in all of their songs to the point where you can not listen to the album too much.

Dinosaur Jr: Farm

I love the sound of early alternative guitar riffs and Dinosaur Jr was one of the seminal bands that helped shape that sound. Here is their second straight album back with their original line up and it just kicks ass. My favorite track is “I Want You To Know” which could easily stand next to some of their earlier classics with its aching chorus and guitars. The song “There’s No Here” is another stand out.

Pearl Jam: Backspacer

“Under everything, just another human being.” It takes someone with the voice and delivery of Eddie Vedder to pull lines like that off. There is nothing on this that I would consider a classic Pearl Jam song, but it further deepens their catalogue with pretty good songs like “speed of sound”, ‘The Fixer”, “just breathe” and “speed of sound.” (the last one is not a Coldplay cover but that would be kind of funny if it was.

Lady Gaga: The Fame/Monster

Her actual album was released in 08 but the updated version was just re-released. While I am an ass-hole because both her stage name and face annoy me, I admit know one in years has done a better impersonation of classic Madonna dance pop so I will give her credit where credit is do.

Drake: So Far Gone

I admit that I may be overly critical of Drake because of all the hype he got, but got help me if he is supposed to be the future of rap. True he has some funny punch lines and interesting flows now and then like at the start of “Forever” where he does a variation of Kanye’s flow on “The Good Life.” That being said, he has done nothing to prove he is any better than someone like Fabalous who also has very good punch lines. Fab has some great songs under his belt like “Breathe” and “Holla Back Youngin” and I will surprised if Drake can even reach those heights. I think part of my problem is that I just find his voice annoying so I can’t listen to him that much

Girls (self titled debut)

This loses some points because the lead singer unabashedly rip off Elvis Costello and at times there are a few too many indie clichés. That being said, many of these tracks are undeniable. Lead single “Lust For Life” instantly grabs anyone whoever tried to turn over a new leaf in their life and gets bonus points by including an nice subtle homage to Outkast’s Hey Ya. The track “Laura” which is on the bonus version of the album uses a slowed down “London Calling” style riff that tells the story of a friendship turned into relationship turned into a break up turned into trying to get things back to the way they used to be. “Hellhole Ratrace” is the second best song on the album and a slow building track that describes how the grind of daily life can slowly destroy a person’s soul and the remedy to that soul crushing some laughing and dancing: “I don’t want to die-without shaking a leg or two- so come on baby and dance with me.

Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest

This one of the most well reviewed albums of the year; I only listened to it a couple of times and my general reaction was meh. Nothing about it grabbed me.

Pains of Being Pure At Heart: (self titled debut)

Lead single “Young Adult Friction” is one of the best songs of the year and by far the best song ever written about fucking in a library; it has pun after glorious pun and leaves you with the great refrain  pun of “don’t check me out, don’t check me out.” There are other songs on here like the more rocking “Come Saturday” about avoiding going to weekend party that conjure up memories of The Best of The Smiths.

A Camp: Colonia

Do you like the Cardigans’? you will probably like Nina Persson’s side project which does not stay too far from Cardigans territory.

Rihanna: Rated R

There is nothing as joyful or catchy as her past albums on this and we all know why. Instead she does one of her song titles and “Go Hard.” The aforementioned song is one of the best on this and features a pretty good Jeezy verse and nice menacing production. That type of menacing production is heard throughout especially on another stand out track “The Wait Is Over”

Asobe Seksu: Hush

Great band name. (it means casual sex in Japanese) I only listened to this a few times. Nothing too memorable but kind of catchy indie pop rock with a cute lead singer.

Alicia Keys: The Element of Freedom

This was only very recently released and I have not heard all of it yet. From what I have heard so far she seems slightly influenced by Prince on this but mostly sticks to the basic Alicia Keys style balladry. I wish she would experiment more like she did on her verse on Cham’s Ghetto Story.

Monster of Folk: self titled

The biggest names of indie rock get together and instead of trying too hard, they make a solid American Rock album. Nothing here is a classic song, but The Right Place, Say Please, and Dear God are all very very good.

Muse: The Resistance

You can’t take this too seriously, but this is a decent Queen inspired pompous rock concept album about a disopia or something with 3 separate symphonies.

Dashboard Confessional: Alter The Ending

I love some of the earlier Dashboard stuff despite being mocked incessantly for it. There is nothing that reaches those heights on this and at times it is borderline self parody. , but the track Hell On The Throat is very good.

Regina Spektor: Far

Regina has always had an ability to use her quirkiness to tell little funny and or heart breaking slice of life stories. On the track “Dance Anthem of The 80s” she describes funny dynamics of  small night club. On “The Calculation” she brilliantly describes 2 people in a pragmatic relationship trying to pass it off as love. The lead single “Laughing With” dangerously gets close to Joan Osborne “One of Us” terrortory but manages to avoid it and instead takes a turn to the land of Alanis’s Ironic quirky averagness.

Phoenix:  Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

This has got a lot of publicity and from the listens I have given it is pretty good, but for some reason it just has not resonated with me that to the point where I wanted to listen to it instead of other stuff. Something that I wont skip over when it pops on my 09 playlist, but I hardly seek it out.

Wale: Attention Deficit

A solid album, but a slight disappointment because I loved his 2 mixtapes so much. His constant funny references to obscure sports figures and tv show plot lines are toned down here to make it more mainstream accessable. In addition, non of the beats are that great. That being said, Wale is still one of the best new rappers in the game and on songs like “shades” explore subtle things like skin tone politics.

Bat For Lashes: 2 Suns

An album that showcases Natasha’s great voice and ability to create a mesmerizing vibe in her music. That being said, I did not connect with any thing too much lyrically to make me want to listen to it all the time.

Eminem: Relapse

The title of the album says it all. Nothing new really when it comes to themes or topics but damn Emimen can still spit hilariously twisted rhymes like he does about getting abused by his step father on the song “Insane”

The 2 Worst Albums Of The Year:

Owl City: Ocean Eyes

This is a complete an utter rip off of the Postal Service. Ben Gibbard should be getting royalties for this shit. It is possible to rip someone else off and pay homage to them at the same time or at very least rip them off and still sound good. This does neither; it is a rip off and sounds bad with some of banal lyrics I have ever heard.

Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D.

It is easy to make fun of B.E.P. but got they deserve it. The biggest hit off this is “I got a Feeling” which could be heard constantly coming out of the radio this year entertaining lame 6 year olds and their even lamer parents. The song is supposed to be the starter of a good night, but it sounds so boring and un-edgy I don’t know who could possible get amped for this. It is not even that danceable and the “mozel tov” refrain is kind of a rip off Jay Z saying “La haim” during Roc Boys which is a great example of a song that would actually get a fun night started. The song “boom boom pow” boom boom sucks and has the worst line of any song of the year. “I am so 3008 your so 2000 and late” delivered by the annoyingly voice fungly faced beast known as Fergie.