Part 2

This is a continuation of my best of 2009 list. Scroll down to the previous entry to see the first six. If you're interested in hearing any of the albums on this list (which are mostly work-friendly), you can listen to anything once on Lala. Just create a free account, search for the artist, select the album, and click queue album. It's even easier to do than it sounds. Tracy and I have also created a Pandora station with many of these artists.

12. Passion Pit - Manners
This is a pop nightmare. Take one part lovestruck loner and one part Fruity Loops, mix in a shit-ton of falsetto, and you have this sublime (read: "terrifyingly beautiful") mess of unlistenable, masturbatory rock. The guy uses what I'm guessing is a harmonizer vocal effect and maybe some other vocoder thingies, and then he belts out an unabashed love song. I feel a bit guilty whenever I hear this guy, as though I've stumbled across a hidden stash of high school love letters, gleefully flipping from page to page with hilarity and nostalgia. The first time you hear Passion Pit, you will likely hate it, but it grows on you like mildew in a dorm bathroom.

11. M Ward - Hold Time
I nearly forgot this record, not because it was sub-par, but because I kept thinking it came out in 2008. This February 2009 album marks the first M Ward album I found myself enjoying beginning to end. A nice pairing to his collaboration with Zooey Deschanel in 2008 (She & Him - Volume One), this one is worth looking into if you enjoyed that record. There's not much more to say about this except that it's a southern pop gem, and hell, I even bought it for my Dad.

10. Dan Deacon - Bromst
Spastic to the point of annoying, this is the followup to the... similar 2007 release Spiderman of the Rings. Having been a fan of other bands that sound like kids' music on speed (DAT Politics, Blectum from Blectum, Secret Mommy), this is nothing new per se. However, if you check out any of his videos, you'll see he has made the style his own. I frequently find myself dancing like an idiot (okay, maybe that's the only way I dance, but you get the idea). There's not much to talk about musically here... he uses plenty of complicated equipment and fine-tuned loops, but the rhythmic simplicity is part of the charm. Dance, bitches!

9. Atlas Sound - Logos
His 2008 release started showing up on Pandora frequently, I think on the station that included Department of Eagles. Having found myself saying, "ooh, what is this?" for those songs, I picked up his first album last year. It's relative obscurity led me to believe he wasn't due for another release any time soon, but Logos released to some fanfare a short time later (probably because of the success of his other band, Deerhunter). His first, elaborately titled record, was decidedly more ambient, and several people I talked to found it uninteresting. Logos features more vocals and rhythm but is still layered over a complex background. This makes for a pleasant, if somewhat sedate (in a more listenable way vs Volcano Choir), experience for both passive and involved listening.

8. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
It's easy to hate these guys - Brooklyn hipsters with chips on their shoulders. Much of their earlier material is deliberately obscure, and I'd found myself saying, "Who the fuck do you guys think you are?" However, I would recommend Rise Above for the amusing fact that it's an indie pop retelling of a Black Flag album. Bitte Orca does not uh... rise above the pretentious obscurity of their other titles, but it's still fun to listen to. Warbly melodies and vocal precision dominate this record. You'll also find some genuine pop rhythms and cringe-worthy lyrics ("Isn't life under the Sun just a crazy, crazy dream?"). Putting this on for someone who is unfamiliar with their... quirks... will likely result in a shoe hitting you in the ear. Still, give it a spin or two & try to ignore the critics (read: most of the internet).

7. tUnE-yArDs - BiRd-BrAiNs
It's fitting that this odd bird falls right below Dirty Projectors, with whom she apparently toured last year. Merrill Garbus (yeah, I had to look that up) of the band Sister Suvi (which I've never heard of) has spectacular vocal control. The instrumentation tends towards what you might call math rock, at least in as far as the more poppy groups like Fiery Furnaces have imagined it. This leads to the occasional difficult section, and her voice keeps up with the zaniness. The lyrics are vacillate between angry and self-deprecating, lending the songs peculiar (but contagious) energy. "Why'd you think I'd put out your fire? ... What if my own skin makes my skin crawl?"