CLAPTRAPPED BEST TRACKS OF 2009

2009 ended the decade on a high note and these are the songs Claptrappers found to be the best of the year.

Playlist below is what will be on the Claptrapped officially released CD

(Some songs omitted due to streaming restrictions) 

CLAPTRAPPED BEST TRACKS OF 200...

Giles McVay

The Mercury Program - "Chez Viking"

Animal Collective - "Guys Eyes"

RX Bandits - "It's Only Another Parsec"
John O’Connell

M. Ward - "Stars of Leo"

White Rabbits - "Percussion Gun"

Portugal. The Man - "The Sun"

Bryan O’Donnell

Grizzly Bear - "While you Wait for the Others"

Animal Collective - "What Would I Want? Sky"

The Dodos - "Longform"

Kurt Marquis
Camera Obscura - "French Navy"
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Beware Your Only Friend"
Wilco - "You and I"
Armondo Rodriguez
Monsters of Folk - "Dear God"
Eels - "The Longing"
Eels - "Prizefighter"
Jeff Totsch
The Flaming Lips - "Evil"
Matt and Kim - "Daylight"
Pearl Jam - "Unthought Known"
Danny Haas
Andrew Bird - "Fitz and the Dizzyspells"
Passion Pit - "Sleepyhead"
Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros - "40 Day Dream"
Tracy Johnson
 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Heads Will Roll"
Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"
The xx - "Islands"

TOP 5 CLAPTRAPPED ALBUMS OF 2009

1. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (6 votes, 21pts)

 
2. Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist (5 votes, 19pts)

3. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing (4 votes, 13pts)

4. Passion Pit - Manners (4 votes, 12pts)

5. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (3 votes, 12pts)

Claptrappers Lists:

Bryan O’Donnell
1. Passion Pit - Manners
2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
3. The Antlers - Hospice
4. Heartless Bastards - The Mountain
5. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest   

Kurt Marquis
1. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
2. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
3. St. Vincent - Actor
4. Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa
5. Volcano Choir - Unmap 

Michael Reband
1. Regina Spektor - Far
2. Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence
3. Tor/Sufjan Stevens - Illinoize
4. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
5. Apostle of Hustle - Eats Darkness 

Giles McVay
1. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing
2. Rx Bandits - Mandala
3. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
4. Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist
5. Amazing Baby - Rewild 

John O’Connell
1. Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist
2. M. Ward - Hold Time
3. Eels - Hombre Lobo
4. The Antlers - Hospice
5. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing 

Armando Rodriguez
1. Eels - Hombre Lobo
2. Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen
3. Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
4. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing
5. The Heavy - The House That Dirt Built 

Danny Haas

1. Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist 

2. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

3. Pearl Jam - Backspacer

4. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You

5. Passion Pit - Manners

Jeff Totsch

1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

2. Pearl Jam- Backspacer

3. Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

4. Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs

5. The xx - xx

Nicolette Stach

1. Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist

2. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

3. Islands - Vapours

4. Passion Pit - Manners

5. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Adam Kosecki

1. Phish - Party Time

2. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

3. Eminem - Relapse

4. Lonely Island - Incredibad

5. Eels - Hombre Lobo
 

Michael Waszkowski
1. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing

2. Passion Pit - Manners

3. Dan Auerbach - Keep it Hid

4. Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist

5. Brother Ali - Us 

Katie Edwards
1. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

2. Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk

3. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

4. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

5. Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day 

Tracy Johnson
1. Mike Snow - Mike Snow

2. White Rabbits - It's Frightening

3. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

4. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

5. Eels - Hombre Lobo

My Top Ten Albums of This Crazy Decade (Mondo)

 feel like I've come so far musically in the last ten years. If I made a top ten of the 90's it would have been mostly Biggie and Tupac. If I could of go back in time, I think I would probably punch myself in the stomach and hand myself an instrument.

10. Elliott Smith - From a Basement On the Hill (2004)



9. M.Ward - Post-War (2006)



8. Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (2005)



7. White Stripes - Elephant (2003)



6. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief (2003)



5. Beck - Sea Change (2002)



4. Postal Service - Give Up (2003)



3. Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)



2. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (2005)



1. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)




After completing this list, I cannot help but notice that the majority of the albums fall in the early part of the decade. I don't think that is because they had more time to soak in. I think it is because I was in college then and had countless hours to listen to them over and over.

With technology where it is currently, I am constantly being exposed to new music. As of late, most new music falls off my playlist in two weeks or less. If it makes it a month, it is probably a pretty decent album. It makes me wonder how am I possibly going to do this again in ten years.

My Top 10 Albums of the Decade (jmoc)

#10 - Dear Catastrophe Waitress - Belle ans Sebastian (2003)











#9 - Post-War - M.Ward (2006)











#8 - Cease to Begin - Band of Horses (2007)











#7 - Give Up - The Postal Service (2003)











#6 - The Satanic Satanist - Portugal. The Man (2009)











#5 - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips (2002)











#4 - You in Reverse - Built to Spill (2006)











#3 - Cast of Thousands - Elbow (2003)











#2 - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco (2002)











#1 - Kid A - Radiohead (2002)

My Top 10 Albums Of The Decade ($G.00)

Drum roll please....

#10- It's All Around You- Tortoise (2004)

A wickedly atmospheric album that got me through a weird time in my life. I'm pretty sure post grad blues mixed with a broken heart would sound a lot like "On The Chin" were they made into a song. Plus the cover art kicks ass, so there's that...

#9- When It Falls- Zero 7 (2004)

One of the most chill albums you can possibly find, When It Falls is the audio equivalent of Calgon.... It takes you away.

#8- The Dirty South- The Drive By Truckers (2004)

A gritty Southern epic that harkens me back to my roots, complete with a backstory centered around Sheriff Buford Pusser, made famous by the movie Walking Tall. If "Danko/Manuel" doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you aren't human.

#7- Quebec- Ween (2003)

One of the most weird/awesome albums I own. This was my true introduction to Ween and all their disfigured glory. The gag songs are hilarious, but the serious ones really soar. "Chocolate Town" remains one of my all time favorite tunes.

#6- Skalpel- Skalpel (2004)

What do you get when you mix old polish jazz records and hip hip style breaks? Magic.... That's what. Polish DJ's Marcin Cichy and Igor Pudlo weave a seductive web of what i like to think of as grandpa- hop, complete with the pops and hisses of old vinyl records. An interesting and unique work to say the very least.

#5- Hammerstrike- Lotus- 2008

Probably my favorite album from last year, Hammerstrike is without a doubt the strongest of all of Lotus' efforts. The band fully embraces their rock aspect a lot more on this one, all while paying homage to their electronic roots. A great little abum from start to finish. Just ask Kolmin.

#4- Grand National- The John Butler Trio (2007)

From top to bottom this is one of the most playable albums in my collection. Ever the consummate showman, JB gives it his all here. "Used To Get High" is a song I can listen to over and over again.

#3- Songlines- The Derek Trucks Band (2006)

Bluesy and worldly altogether plus that signature balltingler of a slide guitar Derek Trucks plays makes this one a heavy hitter. This album reaches in deep and holds you firmly in its grasp. If "This Sky" doesn't give you chills, you aren't human.

#2- Artifact- STS9 (2005)

A true testament to how an album should flow, the boys from ATL create their swan song that makes them ever harder to classify. As a die hard fan, I doubt STS9 will ever come this close to perfection again. Musical Story? Yes....... Yes indeed.

#1- Every Day- The Cinematic Orchestra (2002)

Words don't do this album justice. Sometimes It scares me how good it is at creating an ominous mood, and then shattering it all with soaring vocal tracks by Fontella Bass. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up if you haven't already. You don't listen to this album, you experience it.

And there you have it, folks.... Hope my list wasn't too 2004- heavy for you. Apparently that was a good year for my ears. Hope someone out there finds something to enjoy if they get to delvin' into my top ten sometime.

Animal Collective, "Fall Be Kind" EP review

Apparently Animal Collective wasn't quite finished with 2009. After releasing one of my favorite albums of the year in Merriweather Post Pavilion in January, they recently put out a five-song EP -- Fall Be Kind. It is available now digitally, and will be released on CD and vinyl December 14.

As a whole, the EP is fairly average, with a couple impressive standouts. The first song, "Graze," starts off kind of slow, but then ends up with a circus-type feel. I like this song -- its repeating "Why do you have to go?" ending is catchy.

AC strikes gold with the second song on the EP. "What Would I Want? Sky" also has kind of a multiple-personality song structure. It begins ominously, with chanting and a building undertone. Nothing new from the band here. But then the song changes directions completely, playing off a Grateful Dead sample (the first time a Grateful Dead song has been legally sampled). "What Would I Want? Sky" is infectious. I've probably listened to it 30 times in the past week since I downloaded it. Might be my favorite song of the year.

The rest of the EP is OK. Some slower, meandering stuff, but nothing that is unlistenable -- which you can get from AC sometimes. So I'd say the EP is worth a listen -- if nothing else for "What Would I Want? Sky".