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Amazon's 100 Best Albums of 2009- What Is Missing?
Amazon recently posted their list of the best albums of 2009. Nice to see Neko at #1 and Avett Brothers at #5, although I would argue that these most recent records aren't their best. Still nice to see them both getting the commercial success they deserve.
What surprised you on this list? What is missing?
1. Middle Cyclone by Neko Case
2. It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
4. The Pains Of Being Pure at Heart... by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
5. I And Love And You by The Avett Brothers
6. Album by Girls
7. Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective
8. Troubadour by k'naan
9. The Blueprint 3 by Jay-Z
10. My Maudlin Career by Camera Obscura
11. Fantasies by Metric
12. Wilco [The Album] by Wilco
13. Manners by Passion Pit
14. Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
15. Strict Joy by The Swell Season
16. Townes by Steve Earle
17. Song Up In Her Head by Sarah Jarosz
18. Welcome to Mali by Amadou & Mariam
19. Live In London by Leonard Cohen
20. Primary Colours by The Horrors
21. Crack The Skye by Mastodon
22. Dark Was The Night (Red Hot Compilation) by Various Artists
23. Around The Well by Iron & Wine
24. Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future by The Bird And The Bee
25. The Crow: New Songs for The 5 String Banjo by Steve Martin
26. Get Lucky by Mark Knopfler
27. Roadsinger by Yusuf (The Artist Kno...
28. La Roux (Amazon MP3 Exclusive version) by La Roux
29. Welcome Joy by The Cave Singers
30. Ellipse by Imogen Heap
31. No Line On The Horizon by U2
32. Get Guilty by A.C. Newman
33. Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper by Julian Plenti
34. Preliminaires by Iggy Pop
35. The Crying Light by Antony & The Johnsons
36. Together Through Life by Bob Dylan
37. Catacombs by Cass McCombs
38. Swoon by Silversun Pickups
39. Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors
40. Actor (Amazon Exclusive) by St. Vincent
41. Fondo by Vieux Farka Touré
42. It's Not Me, It's You by Lily Allen
43. Creaturesque by Throw Me The Statue
44. Beware by Bonnie "Prince" Billy
45. Born Like This. by Doom
46. Wild Young Hearts by Noisettes
47. A Strange Arrangement by Mayer Hawthorne
48. Know Better Learn Faster by Thao with The Get Down Stay Down
49. 11:11 by Rodrigo Y Gabriela
50. Incredibad [Explicit] by The Lonely Island
51. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band by Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band.
52. Time To Die by the dodos
53. Hold Time by M. Ward
54. Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do by Major Lazer
55. Elvis Perkins In Dearland by Elvis Perkins In Dearland
56. Over And Over by The Legends
57. Popular Songs by Yo La Tengo
58. Give Up The Ghost by Brandi Carlile
59. Heartbeat Radio by Sondre Lerche
60. Sainthood by Tegan And Sara
61. A Brief History Of Love by The Big Pink
62. Six by The Black Heart Procession
63. ...For The Whole World to see by Death
64. LP by Discovery
65. God Help The Girl by God Help The Girl
66. The Ballad Of John Henry by Joe Bonamassa
67. Where The Wild Things Are by Karen O And The Kids
68. Closer To The Bone by Kris Kristofferson
69. American Central Dust by Son Volt
70. The Sun Came Out by 7 Worlds Collide
71. A Pipe Dream And A Promise by Finale
72. All I Ever Wanted by Kelly Clarkson
73. Fork In The Road by Neil Young
74. The First Days Of Spring by Noah and the Whale
75. Songs In A&E by Spiritualized
76. Kundalini Meditation Music by Various Artists
77. Lost Highway by Willie Nelson
78. xx by Xx
79. Divided By Night by Crystal Method
80. Grand by Matt & Kim
81. Heart To Elk by Point Juncture Wa
82. The Rose Hotel by Robert Earl Keen
83. Double Booked by Robert Glasper
84. White Water, White Bloom by Sea Wolf
85. Crossing The Rubicon by The Sounds
86. Curse Your Branches by David Bazan
87. Lungs (Deluxe Version) by Florence + The Machine
88. Fortress 'round My Heart by Ida Maria
89. The Resistance by Muse
90. Reservoir by Fanfarlo
91. No Nations by Jets Overhead
92. Hello Hello [Explicit] by Midival Punditz
93. WPA by Works Progress Administration
94. Between My Head And The Sky by Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
95. Amesoeurs by Amesoeurs
96. Still Night, Still Light by Au Revoir Simone
97. Heartbreak On Vinyl by Blake Lewis
98. Blood Bank by Bon Iver
99. Scary Fragile by Butterfly Boucher
100. Roadhouse Sun by Ryan Bingham
Here's a link to the Amazon page where you can click through to the album page for each listing and hear 30 second clips of each track.
What surprised you on this list? What is missing?
1. Middle Cyclone by Neko Case
2. It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
4. The Pains Of Being Pure at Heart... by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
5. I And Love And You by The Avett Brothers
6. Album by Girls
7. Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective
8. Troubadour by k'naan
9. The Blueprint 3 by Jay-Z
10. My Maudlin Career by Camera Obscura
11. Fantasies by Metric
12. Wilco [The Album] by Wilco
13. Manners by Passion Pit
14. Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
15. Strict Joy by The Swell Season
16. Townes by Steve Earle
17. Song Up In Her Head by Sarah Jarosz
18. Welcome to Mali by Amadou & Mariam
19. Live In London by Leonard Cohen
20. Primary Colours by The Horrors
21. Crack The Skye by Mastodon
22. Dark Was The Night (Red Hot Compilation) by Various Artists
23. Around The Well by Iron & Wine
24. Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future by The Bird And The Bee
25. The Crow: New Songs for The 5 String Banjo by Steve Martin
26. Get Lucky by Mark Knopfler
27. Roadsinger by Yusuf (The Artist Kno...
28. La Roux (Amazon MP3 Exclusive version) by La Roux
29. Welcome Joy by The Cave Singers
30. Ellipse by Imogen Heap
31. No Line On The Horizon by U2
32. Get Guilty by A.C. Newman
33. Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper by Julian Plenti
34. Preliminaires by Iggy Pop
35. The Crying Light by Antony & The Johnsons
36. Together Through Life by Bob Dylan
37. Catacombs by Cass McCombs
38. Swoon by Silversun Pickups
39. Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors
40. Actor (Amazon Exclusive) by St. Vincent
41. Fondo by Vieux Farka Touré
42. It's Not Me, It's You by Lily Allen
43. Creaturesque by Throw Me The Statue
44. Beware by Bonnie "Prince" Billy
45. Born Like This. by Doom
46. Wild Young Hearts by Noisettes
47. A Strange Arrangement by Mayer Hawthorne
48. Know Better Learn Faster by Thao with The Get Down Stay Down
49. 11:11 by Rodrigo Y Gabriela
50. Incredibad [Explicit] by The Lonely Island
51. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band by Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band.
52. Time To Die by the dodos
53. Hold Time by M. Ward
54. Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do by Major Lazer
55. Elvis Perkins In Dearland by Elvis Perkins In Dearland
56. Over And Over by The Legends
57. Popular Songs by Yo La Tengo
58. Give Up The Ghost by Brandi Carlile
59. Heartbeat Radio by Sondre Lerche
60. Sainthood by Tegan And Sara
61. A Brief History Of Love by The Big Pink
62. Six by The Black Heart Procession
63. ...For The Whole World to see by Death
64. LP by Discovery
65. God Help The Girl by God Help The Girl
66. The Ballad Of John Henry by Joe Bonamassa
67. Where The Wild Things Are by Karen O And The Kids
68. Closer To The Bone by Kris Kristofferson
69. American Central Dust by Son Volt
70. The Sun Came Out by 7 Worlds Collide
71. A Pipe Dream And A Promise by Finale
72. All I Ever Wanted by Kelly Clarkson
73. Fork In The Road by Neil Young
74. The First Days Of Spring by Noah and the Whale
75. Songs In A&E by Spiritualized
76. Kundalini Meditation Music by Various Artists
77. Lost Highway by Willie Nelson
78. xx by Xx
79. Divided By Night by Crystal Method
80. Grand by Matt & Kim
81. Heart To Elk by Point Juncture Wa
82. The Rose Hotel by Robert Earl Keen
83. Double Booked by Robert Glasper
84. White Water, White Bloom by Sea Wolf
85. Crossing The Rubicon by The Sounds
86. Curse Your Branches by David Bazan
87. Lungs (Deluxe Version) by Florence + The Machine
88. Fortress 'round My Heart by Ida Maria
89. The Resistance by Muse
90. Reservoir by Fanfarlo
91. No Nations by Jets Overhead
92. Hello Hello [Explicit] by Midival Punditz
93. WPA by Works Progress Administration
94. Between My Head And The Sky by Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
95. Amesoeurs by Amesoeurs
96. Still Night, Still Light by Au Revoir Simone
97. Heartbreak On Vinyl by Blake Lewis
98. Blood Bank by Bon Iver
99. Scary Fragile by Butterfly Boucher
100. Roadhouse Sun by Ryan Bingham
Here's a link to the Amazon page where you can click through to the album page for each listing and hear 30 second clips of each track.
Views: 21
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jon on -
How could Todd Snider's album be overlooked?
Todd Snider - Excitement Plan
Black Crowes - Before The Frost...Until The Freeze (Luther Dickinson on guitar)
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Permalink Reply by Jim Morrison on -
First, it's a compendium of several critics' choices so broader than any individual's picks. By nature, we do a lot of self selecting -- you can't pick what you don't hear -- so my list would be more focused.
That said, I can't imagine a 2009 list without Todd Snider's "The Excitement Plan," Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women, Buddy and Julie Miller's "Written in Chalk, " Tom Russell's "Blood and Candle Smoke," Caroline Herring's "Golden Apples of the Sun" and possibly Justin Townes Earle's "Midnight at the Movies." I love Neko Case, but I thought this one was unfocused and overproduced. And I thought the U2 album was a mess.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Laurice on -
It is unfortunate that they do not describe the criteria they used to discern this grouping, as it seems to me there is no way these are based on number of downloads or purchases (which I anticipated). I was all ramped up to chastise the musci-buying public for a complete lack of taste and was startled to find quite a bit I do not know on this list (some I wish I did not know, but not too many).
In any event, yes, of course there are some of the relatively obscure records in my collection that I would like to see on this list, most notably Lucero's latest outing which absolutely killed me. Also would like to see the Wrinkle Neck Mules get a little notice, and Po' Girl has a new one out that was a must have. In fact, there are many albums I got this year that I dearly love and would wish the artists success, but as stated, part of what get's these artists here has got to be commercial success and while Neko is great at number one, that recording did not particularly do it for me. I guess that is what separates me from the fine folks at Amazon.
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Permalink Reply by Joe DuRant on -
They got Number 1 right, so I won't criticize.
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Permalink Reply by declan culliton on -
Would love to understand the criteria used by Amazon. Hardly based on sales which is a relief! No Richmond Fontaine, Caroline Herring, Devon Sproule, Drive By Truckers, Felice Brothers, Low Anthem,The Duke and The King, Levon Helm. Who in the name of God compiles these lists!!! Much as I love Neko Case.. great voice, great live, breath of fresh air etc,etc, I would hardly consider Middle Cyclone to be album of the year. Maybe we need to start a discussion on how Amazon compiles it's albums of the year
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Permalink Reply by chris sweeney on
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At first glance, I would say the obvious omissions are:
Guy Clark
Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women
Tom Russell
Caroline Herring
But, most importantly, Gurf Morlix "Last Exit To Happyland".
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Permalink Reply by Steve Ford on -
Another vote for Eilen Jewell. Lists like the Amazon Top 100 are subjective, arbitrary (and often self-serving), but if you couldn't find a place for Sea of Tears in your Top 100, there's something wrong. Eilen's Jewell's album will still be selling when half the stuff on the Amazon list is long forgotten.
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Permalink Reply by DublinBlues on
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If anything, it gives me a list of some of the stuff I missed. But then again, I think we here in the alt-country world in a way pride ourselves in digging the music that is missed.
I thought Dylan's and Knopfler's albums were mediocre at best. Delete those.
Add: Drivin & Cryin'
Tom Rush
Dave Alvin
Chris Smither
and so on...
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Permalink Reply by Curtis Ray Barclift on -
You've got to be kidding. Where's The Flatlanders "Hills and Valleys".
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Permalink Reply by Curtis Ray Barclift on
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And Kelly Clarkson but no Levon Helm, Buddy and Julie Miller (winners of the Americana awards) and the aforementioned Flatlanders. Lilly Allen makes the list but no Todd Snider or Guy Clark. 100 titles and none of these artists made the cut. Say it ain't so! The American Idol generation has taken over No Depression. What site am I on?
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Permalink Reply by SoCalBert on
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I think the most glaring ommission is probably Allen Toussaint's Bright Mississippi.
In a somewhat earnest attempt to be open-minded, I do try to listen to some of the indie hipster stuff that fills up lists like these... so I downloaded that "Animal Collective" disk since it got such hyperbolic praise. I listened and ... seriously? That's what people choose to heap praise upon? Huh.
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Permalink Reply by Craig Young on -
Unless I've missed it... I do believe they left MONSTERS OF FOLK by Monsters Of Folk off the list. Those miscreant heathens!!!
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