Pop Culture Jihad: My Favorite Albums of 2009

Well, it's that time of year again where I narrow down the very few records that I've listened to this year and give you a "definitive" list of what I think is great. I hope you enjoy this crap shoot.

My album of the year is a very divisive one and the negative reviews of it have made me absolutely nuts because it's so far off base. At times I honestly think I like this album better than(yes, hold your breath)Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It may take some time for people to come around, but Wilco(the album) is a masterpiece all the way through and they are chock full of(GASP!)radio-friendly songs. But let's get back to the reviews, shall we?

"The major problem is that this doesn’t sound like a band that’s pushing itself any more, or at least not making the same sort of pushes that lead to the brilliant sucker-punch of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the vastly underrated A Ghost Is Born."
-No Ripcord review

What do you want Wilco to do? Throw pots and pans in the air for the avant garde kitchen sessions? Wait. Is that bacon I hear frying in the background?? Wow! That Jeff Tweedy is an absolute GENIUS!

"To simply not want to skip tracks isn't exactly saying anything."
-Lost At Sea review

Really? Call me crazy, but I usually tend to skip a track if I don't like a song. You are lost in the coconut, my man.

"Wilco is a Great Band, if you like stuff that’s boring. And a lot of people seemingly do."
-Dusted Magazine review

If you're 19 and have ADD, I'm pretty sure Wilco is not for you. I, on the other hand, like to drink homemade lemonade from my porch while eating a BLT from tomatoes I grew in my garden. Different strokes for different folks. I'm pretty sure a Hank Williams album would be snoresville for you as well.

"Wilco (The Album) isn’t a failure--not by any means--but when a band has become so attached to the notion of change and then stagnates, it casts a heavy shadow that’s hard to escape."
-Tiny Mix Tapes review*

*See above response to No Ripcord review review

I honestly don't care if you like Wilco(the album) or not, the point I'm making is that music can be simple, radio-friendly, dad-approved and enjoyable(yes, hipsters, I'm talking to you).

Fever Ray - Fever Ray
This is my runner-up - a dark, isolated classic from Karin Dreijer Andersson.

Everything Goes Wrong - Vivian Girls
Many reviews of this album will tell you it's a "grower" and it's true. It took me a while to warm to this album but once it grabs you, you're hooked.

Mind Raft EP - Deradoorian
The travesty of this EP is not the lame pitchfork review but the fact that pitchfork was one of the very few to review it at all. This is an absolutely gorgeous piece by the multi-instrumentalist of the Dirty Projectors.

Actor - St. Vincent

Fits - White Denim
Austin's own keep getting better.

Hombre Lobo - Eels

Midnight At The Movies - Justin Townes Earle
Please don't associate country music with what you hear on the radio. They would never play a guy like Justin Townes Earle. And there's a whole crop of these folks that are actually good who toil in the underground away from Nashville.