The best albums of 2009.

(Music)
(This is an abbreviated version of what I plan to post on www.epinions.com under the alias beekd91. The second half, the Songs of the Year list, will be coming soon.)

Honorable Mentions (in no real order)

Muse--The Resistance
I have never been a huge Muse fan. I can enjoy songs like “Knights of Cydonia” and “Assassin” fairly easily, but for the most part I dismiss them as irritatingly pretentious; they have just enough progressive tendencies to differentiate themselves from the average Top 40 rocker, but they bog them down with simplistic lyrics and songwriting and overblown vocals. The Resistance suffers from all of this at one point or another, but somehow, it’s still enjoyable. The progressive tendencies get a little bit more face time with songs like the delightfully Queen--like “United States of Eurasia,” the French aria at the end of “I Belong to You” and the three-part epic “Exogenesis.” This album definitely needs a little bit more digestion, but right now, color me moderately impressed.

Chevelle—Sci-Fi Crimes
I’m starting to wonder how long the Loeffler brothers (minus one) can keep me interested. Nu-metal seems officially dead by this point (thank goodness), but these guys have done almost nothing but reduce the number of screams and make their lyrics weirder. That being said, Pete Loeffler has one of the best voices of in rock. He still croon delicately (“Shameful Metaphors”) and belt it like a champion (“Roswell’s Spell”) with the best, even if you have no idea what he’s singing about (you’re not alone). His bandmates can still pull together a great track or two to back him up, as well. So there’s not a lot of innovation going on here, and This Type of Thinking this is not, but it’s still a strong effort.

Cobra Starship--Hot Mess
I don’t think Gabe Saporta will ever suffer from Pete Loeffler’s nonsensicality. You know exactly what he thinks all over this album: Cobra Starship rocks, and they really want to get laid. This album is ridiculous in every way. But I’ll be darned if my toes aren’t tapping and I’m fighting back the urge to sing along with every chorus. There’s no substance to be found anywhere near this album. I don’t care—it’s just fun.

Animal Collective--Merriweather Post Pavilion
This might actually be the Album of the Year. I’m not sure. I think my head’s still reeling from the first time I heard it. This is definitely the most bizarre album I’ve ever heard, but I honestly can’t wrap my head around it just yet. I know it’s the trendy pick for album of the year…what are these trendsetters smoking, exactly?

The Top 5

5. Project 86--Picket Fence Cartel
I was absolutely ready to write off these guys after the disaster that was 2007’s Rival Factions. The masters of literate post-hardcore had suddenly gone all poppy and simplistic on me, and early inclinations seemed to reveal more of the same. Well…first impressions aren’t always right. This might just be a batch of fan service, but let’s just say Andrew Schwab and company seem to be channeling Metallica more than Nine Inch Nails. Oh, synthesizers are still quite present, and there’s still a hint of a poppy flair, but the intensity and fire that made Project 86 one of my favorite bands has returned in full. You’ll be banging your head furiously when you hear “The Butcher” or “A John Hancock with the Safety Off,” but you’ll remember the chorus when your brain recovers…just in time to have it blown away by the passionately worshipful “To Sand We Return,” one of the band’s best songs to date. Consider yourself forgiven, guys; let’s just pretend Rival Factions never happened.

4. Owl City--Ocean Eyes
Yes, after reading the other albums I’ve enjoyed this year, this might seem horribly out of place. Post-hardcore, nu-metal and…chart-topping synthpop? Yeah, I know. Believe me, this is the real deal. The lyrics may seem overbearingly cute at times, but Adam Young is surprisingly good at keeping one theme or idea running through each song. “Cave In” continually evokes images of a bike ride, “The Tip of the Iceberg” is filled with arctic imagery, and “Tidal Wave” handles depression in a way few artists of similar popularity can imitate (yet it still sounds bright and cheery!). He’s also a master of a synthesized hook and of wordplay, as “Dental Care” will show you. No 2009 album has the same combination of childish joy and musical texture. I also must exhort the prospective buyer to purchase the iTunes version of the album. The two bonus tracks, “Hello Seattle (Remix” and “If My Heart Was a House” are utterly stellar, and are a key reason as to why this album is ranked so highly.

3. Thrice--Beggars
Thrice just can’t stand being pigeonholed, it seems. They started as a hardcore punk band with The Illusion of Safety, but didn’t perfect their style until the magnificent The Artist in the Ambulance. Then they abruptly started getting progressive with Vheissu and the huge The Alchemy Index. And now…they’re starting to sound like a really angry Muse, with impassioned shouts mixing with heartfelt musings, lightning-fast drum fills with moody guitar effects. And it’s a good thing. Dustin Kensrue is still a top-flight lyricist, and his bandmates are still quite technically skilled, even if their chops are not as prominent as before. The songwriting is as fantastic as I’ve come to expect—listen to “In Exile” or “Circles” without being hit by a sense of awe. It’s quite a pity this album is only ten tracks long, but what’s there is most definitely worth your time.

2. Emery--…In Shallow Seas We Sail
If not for Project 86, this would undoubtedly be the Comeback of the Year (and only because they had fallen a bit further). Emery’s The Question was, in my opinion, the pinnacle of the post-hardcore genre (and an album to which this album must always be compared), but I’m Only a Man was a pretentious disappointment despite a few strong moments. Enter …In Shallow Seas We Sail. An extension of 2008’s While Broken Hearts Prevail…, the love of synthesizers and nonsensical “let’s try to be U2!” lyrics are totally gone, and the grade-A screamo you loved from The Question is back. Toby Morelle and Devin Shelton make for a fantastic vocal attack. The melodies soar (see “A Sin to Hold On To”) and get stuck in one’s head at the drop of a hat (see “The Smile, The Face”). The aggression is more powerful and punchy than ever (see “Butcher’s Mouth”). The two final tracks might be the most impressive though. If you didn’t like “From Crib to Coffin” (okay, who did?), rest assured, these guys have learned their lesson. Gone is the ten-minute “epic” ending with the lyrical brilliance of “There is only television.” This album wraps up with an ominous acoustic interlude and the band’s snappiest pop-punk-ish track to date, yet it remains strikingly thoughtful. The Question grew on me considerably after 2005 closed…this may yet have the same fate. But for now…

Album of the Year: mewithoutYou--It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright
Oh. Wow. I’ve known that Aaron Weiss was the best lyricist alive for years now, but his bandmates hadn’t surrounded him with an equally excellent musical background until now. The slow decline in post-hardcore tendencies reaches completion here. Every one of the eleven songs here sounds nothing like every other—yet it still remains coherent. The lyrics sometimes sound like something Aesop would have written on an acid trip. Weiss’s voice is an acquired taste at best. But it’s all still mind-blowing. This album is an experience like no other. From the whimsical folksiness of “The Fox, the Crow and the Cookie,” the ominous Latin-like balladry of “The Angel of Death Came to David’s Room,” the piano rock of “Timothy Hay,” the simply epic “The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate,” the unbridled joy and passion of “Allah, Allah, Allah”…it all fits together somehow. I honestly can’t describe this with genres and metaphors. This album needs to be heard. Get used to Weiss’s unusual vocal technique, give this album the chance to be digested…and a truly incredible album awaits you.

project 86, you're awesome.

(Philosophical/Music)

This is one of the best-written lyrical descriptions of the Christian faith I know. And the song is one of the best I've heard all year.

Cowering man, a legion of no-one's call,
bet it all
Covenant kill, he points to the heavens, bare with blank stares
Beckoning search in self for his answer
Reckoning, purge, the great fall, the cancer
Settlement comes in wages now he is
Shattered, broke, and all alone

We’ve lost all our control
Our faces fall to the ground
We’re powerless to your voice
Surrender to the sound..

What’ll it take to prove our decision’s wrong, will we fall?
Alone in ourselves there nothing but chaos, fear. End it here
‘Til we concede to drink from the endless
The desert we find ourselves in is hopeless
‘Til we submit and let go the contol
We will always be alone...

We’ve lost all our control
Our faces fall to the ground
We’re powerless to your voice
And no longer seeming so, shattered, broke and all alone

Who do I belong to?
Not Earth, not world, not Evil not mortals
Not wretches not horrors
Who do I belong to?
Unchanging, unbreaking, unfailing creator, immortal, eternal

Surrender to the sound.

Project 86--"To Sand We Return"

New layout.

Thoughts?

we drive by Braille and candlelight.

(I'm going to start prefacing posts (and sections of posts) with one or more of the following descriptors.
Personal--my angsty rants, directed at events or people in my life
Philosophical--something about a bigger issue. Feedback is highly encouraged for these sorts of thoughts.)
Music--I'm telling you about an excellent band that you might not know.)

(Philosophical)

"We set sail with no fixed star in sight
We drive by Braille and candlelight

We're building towers, with no foundation.
We're stacking stone on stone,
Whatever it takes
Mix our mortar with bones.
True progress means matching the world to
The vision in our heads
We always change the vision instead."
--Thrice, "Circles" (emphasis added)

I think those lyrics could use some discussion. Thoughts?

(Philosophical/Personal)

Add this to the list of contradictions in the world.

Here's the scenario: You do not subscribe to any particular religious faith. You don't have any problems with those who do. But you want their faith to remain a 'personal' matter.

So, then, if someone's faith REQUIRES that that faith is made public, then how can you wish they would ignore you? You cannot complain--you've stated that you don't mind the individual's faith. That faith comes with certain things that one may find unpleasant. It's part of the territory.

(The second-last sentence does NOT justify any religion using its position to commit atrocities. Christians should NOT go on militant anti-gay purges or anti-Muslin Crusades, Muslims are NOT justified in piloting two planes into the Twin Towers, etc. Just pointing out the contradiction in the aforementioned scenario.)

This is a fairly common occurrence, I think. It strikes me as rather...contradictory. And far be it from me to leave a contradiction unnoticed.

there's too much sadness.

So hold your head up high and know it's not the end of the road
Walk down this beaten path before you pack your things and head home
At the end of the road you'll find what you've been longing for

I know 'cause my feet have the scars to show
I was lost with vague direction and no place to call home

(Underoath, "To Whom It May Concern")

There's more than what plagues you now. There always is. People will fail you. Things will collapse around you. But there's always more, always something better. Don't give up now.

I needed to say this. Sorry if you were anticipating my album of the year list. That'll come eventually.

new year. at last.

I'm going to miss break. As time goes by I miss it more and more.

So I'm not really big on making New Year's resolutions. Most of the things I really want to happen are either too ambiguous or outside of my control, and I've realized that making resolutions outside of your control is a bad idea. But I did make one.

I want to make 2010 not suck.

As a corollary, I want 2010 to be better than 2009.

2009 was a transition year in so many ways. So much changed. A ton of my best friends are at college. It was my last year of high school marching band (at least, the end of MB competitions...so, the good parts). I finally have a rough idea of what I want to do with my life (although that changes all the time)--at least I know I absolutely want to write in some way. I ended a relationship that had lasted more than two years. I've learned so much, and I think this is setting up what should be a good future.

Yet there are parts of me that remain unchanged. I'm still blinded by one hopeless idea. One idea that could never work, yet I so desperately want it to. Logically, it can't. But that Romantic part of my brain overrides, and I hate when logic loses.

And then there's the matter of my faith. It's only recently started to actually mean something to me. I've been through all kinds of doubt and skepticism...yet I keep coming back to God and desperately wanting the kind of faith I see in a select few. I could throw all the reasons for God that I've found out there, but I'll condense it to this: at the very least, I believe there is something more than this life for everyone. I WANT to believe in God, and so I do. (The rationalization comes later.) But I know I don't believe as strongly as I could/should.

Maybe the two are connected.

Why am I so desperate to control my own heart? God has a plan for me, I believe this. It's time I took my own advice and let this go. "With downcast eyes, there's more to living than being alive." I wrote my college application essay on the power of this chorus. Time to start living it out.

Bring it on, 2010.

Lyrics--"Closer Than We Think" by The Classic Crime.

And I knew that this would happen, it always does
And I couldn't stop my reaction, so I let it come
I let it come

I still hold the belief that we are free,
that we don't need the rules to see
that despite what we've done, we're not alone
We're closer than we think to home

It didn't take me long to believe that I could do anything,
we turn the songs up loud so we can sing
I am true and I am living
We will walk through the valley of the shadow of the boring and burn it all
No we will not go quietly.