Best of 2009: 20 - 11

More great albums!

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20: Fanfarlo - Reservoir

Newcomers Fanfarlo are off to a very hot start with Reservoir, an epic indie-rock album that I think was criminally overlooked this year by most everyone. Between the strings, the horns, and the anthematic choruses, it's about impossible to find something to dislike in the well-crafted songs on their debut. (More from me)

Mp3s via Obscure Sound

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19: Sissy Wish - Beauties Never Die

Norwegian singer Siri Ålberg, or Sissy Wish, is another of those artists I feel has been criminally overlooked in 2009. Beauties Never Die showcases her inventive pop style, covering a variety of territory over ten tracks that add up to one of the best pure pop records released this year. (More from me)

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18: Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains

Though sometimes reminiscent of groups like Pavement and Built to Spill, Cymbals Eat Guitars have established their own remarkable identity on their debut, Why There Are Mountains. It's an indie rock record like they used to make 'em, but with a decidedly modern twist - and it's great. (More from me)

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17: Romona Falls - Intuit

I didn't hear this until late in the year, but Intuit, the first effort from Ramona Falls (the side project from Menomena member Brent Knopf) is an absolute stunner. The exquisite arrangements and spectacular melodies show Knopf has plenty to offer both with and without his bandmates.

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16: Miranda Lambert - Revolution

So I'm not typically much of a country fan, but it's impossible to deny that Miranda Lambert's Revolution is anything but an outstanding record. Her gorgeous voice and strong songwriting makes this 15-track sprawl of her latest work (and work very well) in all its excess and eclecticism.

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15: fun. - Aim and Ignite

Ex-Format member Nate Ruess' new band is one I suspected I'd like just fine, but I'm now certain that Aim and Ignite is the best work Ruess has yet done. The orchestral indie music comprising this debut more than lives up to the goofy band name, with ten unabashedly sunny pop tunes. (More from me)

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14: Will Stratton - No Wonder

Singer/songwriter Will Stratton has released his second great album in a row at the age of only 22, establishing himself as a genuine and bright new talent. His writing is superb, his delivery mature and poised, and his musical talent quite apparent on the beautiful No Wonder (More from me)

Who Will (MP3)

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13: Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

I still think I prefer Phoenix's previous effort, It's Never Been Like That, but the many strengths of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix makes that difficult to say definitively. Besides sporting a couple of this year's biggest singles, the entire album fits together smoothly for one great pop-rock record. (More from me)

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12: Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Mos Def's The Ecstatic is a wealth of ideas and styles, but in many ways it seems to be without many distractions, a pure rap album with a clear sense of purpose. Sure it has 16 tracks, but it's still lean, mean and wholly absorbing - a near masterpiece as far as I'm concerned.

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11: Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

Neko Case has been so solid this decade, and Middle Cyclone is yet another example of her genuine talent and inimitable style. With an impressive supporting cast, Case offers a varied and consistently enthralling set of folk-r0ck tunes that compare well with her best work. (More from me)

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Review: Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (* * * *)

With a few notable exceptions, France hasn’t served as the steady source of musical imports that the U.K. and Sweden have for so long, but pop-rockers Phoenix are one of a few bands that have consistently been trying to change that. Their impact on The States has always been on the lighter side, but with their latest release, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, the boys have raised the bar, crafting an exciting, fresh, and generally remarkable album that may have come too late in the band’s career to be anything of a breakthrough, but still deserves more attention than it will likely receive. Four albums and ten years into their career, it sounds as if Phoenix has hit their stride; turns out it was worth the wait.

Nothing on the new record belies the group’s over-thirty age average; each tune is packed with sugary pop hooks and an infectious, youthful energy that gives the music the ability to smash through any resistance you may put up. At the roots, Phoenix’s formula is so simple, there seems to be little to distinguish it from the approach used by myriad other pop-rock bands making decidedly less impressive music. The magic, however, lies in the details of both the construction and presentation of an all-killer, no-filler album that is as genuinely fun as any released this year so far.

The songs feel carefully constructed but never over-worked, with just enough variety and experimentation to compliment the record’s general immediacy. The band uses spiky guitars, fuzzy synths, and excellently placed percussion under the eager tenor vocals of frontman Thomas Mars; never missing an opportunity to slip in another subtle flourish or quick hook. Opener “Lisztomania” begins with a simple, two-note piano line and bouncy guitar riff and slowly adds instrumental layers, but it never gets complicated enough to distract from the great melody that drives it. The same principle applies to many of the record’s tracks, like album highlights “1901” and “Lasso,” both quite uncomplicated in their aspirations of pop perfection and both among the catchiest tunes I’ve heard recently.

As I mentioned, Phoenix offers a few twists and turns throughout the record’s ten tracks; “Fences” is a groovy, falsetto-laden pop-rock tune while “Countdown (Sick for the Big Sun)” explodes in crashing synths and drums before subsiding into moments of relative calm. Both serve to shake things up a bit, as does the less direct, seven-minute duo of “Love Like a Sunset” parts one and two, the first of which is an electro-rock instrumental number, the latter of which dissolves into a spacey folk tune. It’s an interesting way to break up an album that is mostly preoccupied with danceable, bite-sized pop songs – but it’s an appropriate and welcome diversion from the other eight tracks that follow much more conventional song structures.

Lyrically, Mars stays just sharp enough to keep things interesting when you can understand what he’s saying, but it’s not exactly fine prose, and it’s just as well – that isn’t what you came here for anyway. What you came for was perfectly executed pop music with a big heart and even bigger choruses, and in providing that, the record succeeds completely. A modest aim perhaps, but one that doesn’t get accomplished nearly as often as it should, and Phoenix should be recognized for creating a pop-rock album against which other records of the genre, this year at least, can be compared.

Last Word: Phoenix’s latest, the provocatively titled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, is the best of the band’s career, a record full of fun hooks and captivating melodies that is among the year’s best pop albums so far.