January 2009 was a slow month for music that I actually care about but there were a few great albums that came out that month, including "Davy" by Coconut Records, which I loved, "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand" by Franz Ferdinand, which was an excellent record although not my favorite of theirs, and "Eye Legacy," a posthumous album from Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, which I really enjoyed but which made me kind of sad. I hate posthumous records, aside from Aaliyah's, because they were brilliant. My favorite album from January, though, is one that I didn't actually discover until months later: "Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II" by Anya Marina. This record is beautiful all the way through. It all has the vibe of a singer-songwriter record from the 70s, but with a lot of soul. Even the album's cover art looks like one of those classic records from the early 70s. Key tracks to check out are "All The Same To Me," "After Party At Jimmy's," and "Vertigo."
February 2009 saw the release of a few albums that I really enjoyed, although not many that would be contenders for favorite album of the year. For example, February was when The Lonely Island record, "Incredibad," was released, which I have had quite a few laughs over, but wouldn't call it an amazing album. Also in February was the release of "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" soundtrack, which was fun to fangirl over but nothing actually all that special. My favorite album from February 2009, though, is definitely in contention for favorite of the year: "It's Not Me, It's You" by Lily Allen. This is the follow-up to what was probably my favorite record of 2006, "Alright, Still." Lily Allen was also my pick for favorite new artist of 2006 and her career blew up in a big way in 2007. I really didn't know what to expect of her second album, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. "It's Not Me, It's You" is a much more mature record, both in lyric and in sound, and was an amazing second effort from Lily. Key tracks to check out include: "The Fear," "Not Fair," "Fuck You," "I Could Say," and my absolute favorite song she has ever recorded, "Chinese." I absolutely love this album to bits.
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March 2009 was a good month for music that I really loved, including the physical release of "A Million, Trillion Stars" by the most underrated band of the decade, Boomkat, "Fortress 'Round My Heart" by Ida Maria, which included one of my favorite singles of the year, "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked," the "Hannah Montana: The Movie" soundtrack, which is, if not one of the best, certainly one of my most listened to records of the year, and "In A Perfect World" by Keri Hilson, which would have had a real shot had it been released in March 2008. My favorite album of March 2009, though, is also an absolute contender for my favorite record of 2009: "All I Ever Wanted" by Kelly Clarkson. After a disastrous 2008, career-wise, Kelly Clarkson made an incredibly triumphant return in 2009 with "All I Ever Wanted," an album that managed to find the happy medium between the AMAZING, but non-commercial "My December" before it and the AMAZING, but a little too commercial "Breakaway." This record also saw Kelly Clarkson begin experimenting with a sound she hadn't really before: More electronic and dance type sounds, which are a brilliant fit for her. Key tracks on this album include: THE ENTIRE ALBUM.
April 2009 was a month where nothing really of interest to me was released. Looking back on album releases in April, the only thing that I actually still have on my iPod is Asher Roth's "Asleep In The Bread Aisle," and it's only because I still like to play that silly "I Love College" song every now and then when nobody can hear. So, in lieu of a choice for April, I am making a second choice for March. "Hannah Montana: The Movie" was released in April, despite the soundtrack coming out in March. The soundtrack is an extremely solid record, mainly consisting of songs from Miley Cyrus and her character Hannah Montana. The songs on this soundtrack, particularly the ones credited to Miley Cyrus, are some of her best work so far. Key tracks include: Taylor Swift's "Crazier," Miley's "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home," the Miley/Billy Ray Cyrus duet, "Butterfly Fly Away," and one of my favorite songs of 2009, "The Climb."
May 2009 had it's ups and downs, as far as music goes. Downs like Ciara's just kind of unfortunate record "Fantasy Ride," which did have a few really solid tracks on it but was overall pretty bland, and ups like Green Day's "21st Century Breakdown," which is absolutely amazing but doesn't quite compare to "American Idiot." My favorite album of May 2009 is from a considerably lesser known artist, at least in the US, but is absolutely brilliant: "This Is The One" by Utada. I have never been one of those people who is really into J-Pop or anything, but ever since I first heard Utada's song "Simple & Clean," used in the ads for the video game "Kingdom Hearts," I have been in love with her. Her first English album, "Exodus," was an amazing, off-kilter take on the pop and dance music of the moment. "This Is The One" is a very different record from that, though. It seems more like Utada had finally found her niche for singing in English... if only anybody had noticed. Key tracks include: "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence/FYI," "Apple & Cinnamon," "On & On," and, my personal favorite, "This One (Crying Like A Child.)" I HIGHLY recommend this album.
June 2009 saw some really great stuff released, including "The Bachelor" by Patrick Wolf, "The E.N.D." by the Black Eyed Peas and "Lines, Vines & Trying Times" by the Jonas Brothers, which is their best record thus far. My favorite record of June 2009 is another contender for favorite album of the year, from a contender for favorite new artist of the year: Little Boots' album, "Hands." This is dance music as it is meant to be - pure, honest, based in solid songwriting with all the extras added in after the fact. I couldn't possibly say all the great things about this album in this space, it is simply amazing. Key tracks include: "New In Town," "Remedy," "Earthquake," "Stuck On Repeat," "No Brakes," "Tune Into My Heart," and "Symmetry." I just listed 7 of the 12 tracks on the album, and the other 5 are just as good. This album is amazing!
July is usually not a very good month for album releases, I have noticed because there is not normally something great being released around my birthday, but July 2009 saw the release of a few really brilliant records, including "Evacuate The Dancefloor" by Cascada, "Lungs" by Florence + The Machine, "Nothing Personal" by All Time Low, "Battlefield" by Jordin Sparks, which was leaps and bounds ahead of her first album, and "Guilty Pleasure" by Ashley Tisdale, which just barely missed being my favorite of the month. My favorite album of July 2009 would absolutely have to be "Ocean Eyes" by Owl City. Both a contender for my favorite album of the year and my favorite new artist of the year, Owl City hit me in a big way this year, as evidenced by many mentions in this blog. "Ocean Eyes" is one of those records that hits you right from the start and keeps your attention the entire way through. It is not only one of my favorite albums of this year, but one of my favorite albums in general. I listen to this album constantly and have yet to tire of even the single, "Fireflies" which is getting a ton of play these days. Key tracks include: THE ENTIRE ALBUM. Seriously, anybody who hasn't heard this album needs to pick it up IMMEDIATELY.
August 2009 brought with it a few releases that I absolutely loved, including "Complete Me" by Frankmusik, as well as "Re-Complete Me" and "Completely Me," the remixed and acoustic versions of the album, "Hot Mess" by Cobra Starship, featuring my favorite single for the spring/summer season, "Good Girls Go Bad" with Leighton Meester, Imogen Heap's "Ellipse," and Miley Cyrus' EP "The Time Of Our Lives," featuring my absolute favorite song of the summer, "Party In The USA." My favorite album of August 2009, though, was the self-titled debut from the artist who is a close second for my favorite new artist of 2009, Jessie James. She's got a voice that is sometimes eerily similar to Christina Aguilera's and is the first artist to have successfully, in my opinion, managed to blend country and R&B sounds. She is absolutely amazing vocally and makes a country/pop fusion better than any I have heard. Key tracks include: "Wanted," "Bullet," "I Look So Good (Without You,)" "Burning Bridges," "Psycho Girlfriend," and "Blue Jeans." If you enjoy pop music as much as I do, this is absolutely a record you need to hear.
September 2009 is a very difficult month to pick a favorite from because so much great stuff came out that month. Some of my favorites from the month include "Turn It Up" by Pixie Lott, "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" by Mika, "brand new eyes" by Paramore, "Kiss & Tell" by Selena Gomez & The Scene, "Break Up" by Scarlett Johansson & Pete Yorn and my second favorite album of the month, "The Listening" by Lights. An honorable mention for September also goes to Madonna's "Celebration," which is just a greatest hits album, but included one of the best singles of the year, as far as I am concerned, of the same name. As a gay man, though, for my favorite album of the month I have to give it up for a diva: Whitney Houston's "I Look To You." This is an absolutely amazing return to form for Whitney, who hadn't released an album in 6 years and not a really great one in nearly 10 years. "I Look To You" is exactly the album I, and many other fans of hers, had been waiting years for. She does not disappoint in the slightest on this record, and was absolutely robbed by the Grammy academy. This album should be up for Album of the Year. It is definitely up for my favorite album of the year. Key tracks include: "I Look To You," "I Didn't Know My Own Strength," "Million Dollar Bill," "Call You Tonight," "Like I Never Left" and my absolute favorite, "Salute." The entire album is absolutely amazing!
October 2009 didn't hold much in the way of really exciting music releases. In fact, there were only two that were really of note to me and they are nearly tied for my favorite: Cheryl Cole's debut solo album, "3 Words," which is an absolutely amazing album and includes one of my favorite singles of the entire year, "Fight For This Love." The other album, my favorite of October 2009, was released internationally in October, but released in the US in November. I had it in October, so I count it for October. Shakira's third English studio album, "She Wolf," is one of my favorite albums of the year. It was largely produced by The Neptunes, as well as a killer track produced by Timbaland. This album marks a distinct difference in sound for Shakira, delving into both urban and techno sounds that work better for her than anything she has done before. I absolutely love this album. Key tracks include: THE ENTIRE ALBUM.
November, historically, is the biggest month of the year for music releases and 2009 was no different. As difficult as it was to choose a favorite for September, November is absolutely the most difficult month of this year. There were so many records released in November that are very near and dear to me, so picking a favorite is very difficult. Some of my favorite records of November 2009 include: "Play On" by Carrie Underwood, "Alter The Ending" by Dashboard Confessional, "Echo" by Leona Lewis, The self-titled debut from Kris Allen, "All Or Nothing" by Jay Sean, "Rated R" by Rihanna and my favorite album of the year, (which will be revealed later.) My favorite album for November 2009, though, would absolutely have to be "The Fame Monster" by Lady GaGa. "The Fame Monster" is actually pretty much tied for my favorite album of the year, but there can only be one for the month and one for the entire year, so I had to pick and choose and the other has an extremely slight edge over this one. "The Fame Monster," much like "The Fame" before it, is a breathtaking EXPERIENCE, more than an album. It is only 8 tracks, but each one of those 8 tracks is more brilliant than anything you hear on pretty much any other album released this year. Key tracks include: THE ENTIRE ALBUM, AND THE ENTIRE FIRST ALBUM, AND THE ENTIRE CATALOG OF LEAKED TRACKS, AND BOOTLEGS OF LIVE SHOWS AND EVERYTHING GAGA.
December 2009 has been a surprise to me. There has been more great music than I expected. Three albums in particular have really blown my mind in this, the last month of the year. Timbaland's "Shock Value II," is an amazing album and really blew my mind. Also, "Stronger withEach Tear" by Mary J. Blige was a very pleasant surprise, not that it is surprising that Mary J. Blige has released another amazing album, but surprising that the album popped up so suddenly because I wasn't even aware of any plans for it. My favorite album of December 2009, though, is absolutely "The Element Of Freedom" by Alicia Keys. I had really kind of lost interest in Alicia Keys' music, but this album swooped in a completely changed my mind. It is heartbreaking at times, breathtaking in others and just an all-around emotional thrill-ride. This album feels like floating. I don't know how to explain that, but it is an absolutely stunning album. Key tracks include: "Doesn't Mean Anything," "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart," "Unthinkable," "Like The Sea," "Put It In A Love Song," "Empire State Of Mind, Part II: Broken Down," and my absolute favorite, "Wait 'Til You See My Smile."
...and last, but definitely not least, my favorite album of 2009 is:
"For Your Entertainment" by Adam Lambert!!! This album is my favorite of the year for a number of reasons, but there is only reason that really matters. I could sit here and fangirl over how cute Adam is and how I'm gonna marry him someday when it becomes legal, or discuss the fact that he has been a very important figure for the GLBT community, or even how he has been a major personal inspiration to me, but at the end of the day, what makes this my favorite album of 2009 is the music. From the opening notes of the first track, "Music Again," to the end of the last track on the album, "Time For Miracles," there is not a single misstep. This is not an American Idol contestant album, as so many of them have released, but this is the world premiere of a strong, immensely talented vocalist, songwriter and performer. There is not a single song on the album that I feel like skipping or like any less than the rest of the album. I can't even state key tracks for this album, because you really need to listen to the entire thing to get the scope of it. I recommend this album to absolutely everyone.
So, that leaves only one order of business: Naming my favorite new artist of 2009. It may seem fairly obvious, (no, it isn't Adam Lambert, he's already blown up in 2009,) but I wasn't sure until fairly recently. My favorite new artist of 2009 is:
OWL CITY!!! As I mentioned in discussing the month of July, their album "Ocean Eyes," has been one of my absolute favorites, not just of this year but ever, and Adam Young, the sole member of Owl City, has been a huge inspiration to me as an artist. With each of the artists who has been selected as my favorite new artist of the year, a large part of the reason is because they release a debut album that I connect with in an intense way, including "Scissor Sisters" in 2004, "The Secret Life Of The Veronicas" in 2005, "Alright, Still" in 2006, "13 Tales of Love & Revenge" in 2007 and "The Fame" in 2008. They are all albums that I connect with in different ways, but there is always this feeling that I get from these records that just drive me insane with how great they are and, even more, how much I can relate to them. "Ocean Eyes" is absolutely, more than any other album released in 2009, that album for this year.
So, that is it for my big "Year In Review" music post. I am tossing around ideas for other "Year In Review" posts that may pop up before the year ends. We'll see. For now, though, it is almost 1:30am and I simply must get to bed.
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