Sunless Shortlist: 2009 List & Disappointment

I'm done buying new stuff for the year so I guess I can go ahead and compile my best of lists. Usually I wait until after New Year's, but I don't think I missed much this year. I never did get the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album and Karen O's Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack, but I'm in no rush. I feel pretty complete with my 2009 collection. So here are the candidates:

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light
Apostle of Hustle - Eats Darkness
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
Bonny 'Prince' Billy - Beware
Built to Spill - There is No Enemy
Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Circulatory System - Signal Morning
Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications
Condo Fucks - Fuckbook
Decemberists - The Hazards of Love
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Eels - Hombre Lobo
Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away
Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
God Help the Girl - s/t
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimist
Handsome Furs - Face Control
Islands - Vapours
Magnolia Electric Co. - Josephine
Most Serene Republic - ...and the Ever Expanding Universe
Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come
AC Newman - Get Guilty
Conor Oberst - Outer South
Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor
Osso - Run Rabbit Run
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Phosphorescent - To Willie
Son Volt - American Central Dust
St. Vincent - Actor
Sufjan Stevens - The BQE
Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
Swan Lake - Enemy Mine
John Vanderslice - Romanian Names
Viva Voce - Rose City
Volcano Choir - Unmap
White Rabbits - It's Frightening
Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs

Last year I complained a little about the lack of great releases, but this year was certainly not disappointing at all. Tons of surprises all year long. Last year, I struggled to put together a good enough year-end list. This year I struggled again, but this time it was because I couldn't fit everything in. That's good!

Well, it wasn't all good...

Most Disappointing Album of 2009


Apostle of Hustle - Eats Darkness

Usually I like to use this spot to make fun of an artist that has just lost it. Somebody I formally loved and then suddenly don't. Their fault. You know... backlash. Backlashes are fun. Come on, it's fun to bash somebody that thinks that they are great. However, it absolutely pains me to put Apostle of Hustle in this spot because I absolutely LOVE Apostle of Hustle. When I saw Broken Social Scene last year, I was super excited to see that Andrew Whiteman was touring with the band. And he didn't disappoint. This album, however, defines disappointment. The constant sampling is annoying and distracts from the moments of actual music. And the music is pretty weak too. The poetry reading just make no sense. Why are they there? I did appreciate the William Burroughs sample, but it just sounds like his own Spare Ass Annie. Unnecessary.

((Next post: Best Songs))