AllMusic’s Favorite Indie Albums of 2009, Pt. I
December 22nd, 2009 | 2:30 pm est |
Through the week of the 20th, the AllMusic Blog will be publishing our editors’ favorite albums of 2009. We’ll be covering well over a dozen genres and styles, from rap to reggae, R&B to electronic, country to Latin, blues to metal, folk to soundtracks, and several points in-between. Right now, on the AllMusic Blog, we take a look at the first half of our favorite indie rock and pop albums of 2009. Be sure to check our overall feature of new albums and classical releases, AllMusic Loves 2009, and our other 2009 in Review posts.
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light
Atlas Sound – Logos
Tyondai Braxton – Central Market
Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
City Center – City Center
The Clientele – Bonfires on the Heath
Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications
Cold Cave – Love Comes Close
Crocodiles – Summer of Hate
The Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Discovery – LP
Double Dagger – More
The Fiery Furnaces – I’m Going Away
Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
Future of the Left – Travels with Myself and Another
Get Back Guinozzi! – Carpet Madness
Girls – Album
Doesn’t ‘indie’ mean released on an independent label?
Or, is it shorthand for a specific image?
~Austin
These days it seems to mean the same as “Alternative” used to. Before that term came to mean mainstream rock like Blink 182 and Nickleback.
agreed…calling flaming lips an indie band is a bit silly
The post should’ve been called alternative, it would fit better than indie, but re-name it is not gonna be a good idea, since older posts like “favorites rock albums” included alternative albums like: It’s Blitz!.
Solid list: Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Fuck Buttons, Flaming Lips, Camera Obscura, Bill Callahan, Atlas Sounds & Antony are all favorites of mine. I would include other records, for alternative/indie fans like:
Bat For Lashes: Two Suns
Animal Collective: Fall Be Kind
YATCH: See Mystery Light
Mew: No More Stories
The Antlers: Hospice
The Big Pink: A Brief History Of Love
Brendan Benson: My Old, Familiar Friend
Cass McCombs: Catacombs
Fever Ray: Fever Ray
Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest
The Horrors: Primary Colours
Japandroids: Post-Nothing
Jay Reatard: Watch Me Fall
JJ: JJ N 2
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Sonic Youth: The Eternal
Soulsavers: Broken
St. Vincent: Actor
Sunset Rubdown: Dragonslayer
Tegan & Sara: Sainthood
Wavves: Wavvves
Wild Beasts: Two Dancers
Woods: Songs of Shame
The xx: xx
Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs
Like i said before, some others alternative albums were included in other posts like: YYYs’ It’s Blitz, Florence’s Lungs, Arctic Monkeys’ Humbug, and many others which are not 100% alt. rock like: Wilco’s Wilco, Neko Case’s Middle of Cyclone, and the list goes on. But anyway if you check all the other posts and check out some comments, you will basically have a great list of 2009’s greatest albums.
Perhaps consider the fact that the Flaming Lips have fully independent control over the content of their albums and films?
I think “indie” in modern times refers to simply being independent from Top 40/popular music trends and limitations. Makes sense to me, but then again I’m not an elitist.
i like the flaming lips as much as anyone, but every time they come out with an album it seems to be on this list. they haven’t made an awesome, awe-worthy album in years. probably since ‘the soft bulletin’ .. how about you give some other bands a chance?
i do like the inclusion of ‘future of the left’ though. that band rules, and so did mclusky. i wouldn’t consider them indie at all though.
Yeah the meaning of Indie has been skewed over the years. Good to see Bill Callahan on their.
I consider ‘indie’ to be independent from the mainstream, but is often alternative as well. And yes, it make a break into mainstream.
Where’s GRIZLY BEAR?
Re: sonci. Pretty sure this is Part 1. And it is in alphabetical order. Grizzly may appear in Part 2!
Animal Collective, Atlas Sound, Camera Obscura. Big thumbs up.
Let’s wait for the part 2, so we can talk about who’s out. It is a great list, glad they didn’t forgot about Camera Obscura or even Bill Callahan! Hope that Grizzly Bear is in part. Embryonic is a great album, compared to their previous effort and some of the releases of this year it’s even stronger. A bad Flaming Lips album is the Dark Side Of The Moon, i listened yesterday and i must admit it was pretty bad, it sucked, maybe it’s because i’m a huge Pink Floyd fan, but i’m also a big Lips fan. I guess it’s just bad, you can’t re-do a classic.
*didn’t forget (sorry about that)
“Indie” used to refer to any release of any musical genre that was created, financed and distributed outside of the major-label system. Now it means whatever the major labels say it means. Ironic, eh?
You don’t have to be on an indie label to sound “indie”, just like you don’t have to be on a major label to sound like a major label band. The Flaming Lips have always done whatever they felt like – that makes them pretty indie in my mind. (See also Built to Spill, Sonic Youth.)
Just to clarify, I’m not an elitist, I was confused about the categorization. If a list of ‘indie’ rock albums contains major label albums, I’d like to know what the criteria is to be included on this list.
I’m not being a jerk, that is just seriously confusing.
~Austin
Ok, thanks for the clarification Tim.
Indie rock, according to AMG, is a sound, not a status.
The list makes better sense now.
~Austin
I agree with Austin- to me, ‘indie’ always described the way the music was produced and distributed rather that being an actual genre of music. However, that was many years ago and nowadays just seems to collectively describe a sound that to my ears includes bands that haven’t quite mastered their instruments, sing a bit off and try to cram too many words into a song. However, you could apply those descriptions to the Ramones, Nico and Bob Dylan respectively, which just goes to show that passion, style and commitment count for everything. I would just like to see one list, include everyone, then let the people listen and discover all that wonderful music for themselves.
“Indie” used to mean independent, but now it’s an aesthetic, a sound even. Hipsters who listen to indie bands dress a certain way, but it’ll be called something else soon, now that it’s taken the mainstream spot. Labels are for idiots who feel like they need to belong. Good music is good music. Listening to one specific sound gives you musical blinders that only appreciating music in totality will remove.
Firewater – The Golden Hour should be on this list somewhere… >.