The usual array of indie-white-kid-friendly rap/pop stars made hits this year – Kanye, Jay-Z, Beyonce dropped two albums between them, each of which were fantastic by anyone’s measure. But the secret ingredient in both of those chart-topping albums is named Frank Ocean. Penning one song for Beyonce and appearing on two for the boys, Ocean’s touch is already in high demand (he’s written for John Legend and Justin Bieber in the past as well). But far from being the next Scott Storch, Ocean is just a 24-year-old kid with a tumblr of gifs, twitter-sized updates, and Sade and Pink Floyd videos.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra might be one of many acts with an air of mystery about their origin/identity this year, but they’re probably one of the best. Coming off like a lost-long psych rock artifact, the album finds timeless hooks with a dusting of fuzz on them. While on first glance nothing but sunny and upbeat, the songs also curiously all share a melancholy tone – songs like “Ffunny Friends” and “How Can U Love Me” toe the line between hippie cheer and wistful sadness. Maybe it’s a choice; or maybe they’re sad that they have to settle for making nostalgia from this modern world.
Canadian Abel Tesfaye stayed almost completely anonymous as he released his debut album this past March. It was easy to picture a famous singer adopting a disguise to release this ode to burnt-out excess – the cold production and lyrics like “he’s what you want, I’m what you need” reeked of such vile, hollowed-out sex talk and an indifference to anything other than the next high, it had to be from someone riddled with years of soul-decaying fame. One can only hope House of Balloons is not purely confessional, but it’s eminently believable. The sparse church-organ beat on opener “High For This” shines a dim spotlight on Tesfaye’s angelic and soulful voice. Of course, that voice is spouting lines like “Drinkin’ Alizé with our cereal for breakfast/Girls calling cabs at dawn, quarter to seven” over Vangelis-meets-R. Kelly production, making this album one of the dirtiest slices of R&B imaginable.
James Cooley is 23 years old, and is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist. He’s not as world-famous as Zach Condon of Beirut yet, but that part of your brain that doles out pure jealousy should probably be kicking in soon. Releasing EPs through his own webpage since 2008, Cooley’s first official LP finds him collecting his acoustic-guitar-driven melodies into a proper package. Opener “A Million Shades of Sky” is at heart a kid strumming his guitar, but the lush production and depth of layers is truly impressive. The bouncy bassline of “Somewhere Else” makes it the standout – robbed of anything else funky to partner with, the bass simply makes the falsetto croon and guitar fingerwork all the more head-bob-worthy.
Another of London’s up-and-coming producers, Aaron Jerome and his debut are vivid frontiersman of a new sound. SBTRKT’s music employs soca, dem bow riddims, trance, Chicago House and the equally hard-to-define “UK Funky”. (Don’t worry, there’s no witch-house in here). The easiest musical parallel to draw is to Basement Jaxx, whose use of a medley of vocalists is followed here. Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano soulful wail elevates the dubstep of “Wildfire” to another level, while the smokey-voiced Sampha adds his accented croon to half of the tracks on the album.
Chillwave might have been the sound of 2010, but it’s hard to pigeonhole South Carolinean Chaz Bundick into a fad. The tunes of “Causers of This” might have trended towards friend Washed-Out’s blissful vocal washes, but gems like “Low Shoulders” hinted at Bundwick being capable of some good, clean funk. Underneath The Pine doesn’t miss a step, with the wobbly, danceable funk of “New Beat” right at the front of the album. Purpose and percussion are here in plenty, with those chillwave tones taking a back seat but not going away completely. Album standout “Still Sound” is an innocent, funky dream of a love song, with what sounds like a dash of ESG’s “UFO” hiding underneath.
Stephen Bruner – the bassist of Suicidal Tendencies – has a jazz album. Scratch that: Stephen Bruner who has played for Flying Lotus, Erykah Badu, Bilal, Snoop Dogg, and anyone who wants one of the best bassists alive – that guy has a jazz album. Completely devoid of irony, Thundercat simply lays down easy-listening jazz, with his own bass acting as a major anchor. The centerpiece of the album is the tandem of “Is It Love?” and “For Love (I Come Your Friend”. The former is a slow lead-up teaser, and the latter is a cover of George Duke and Frank Zappa’s masterpiece of the same name. While the square-goateed one is not laying down his unstoppable guitar work on this cover, there’s no need for a replacement: the percussion is lock-tight, Bruner’s falsetto soars, and his fingers fly across the bass with such beautiful, nasty funk that even Stevie Wonder would raise his sunglasses and blink.
The devastating and powerful rock of Future Islands is irrevocably stamped with the growling tenor of Samuel Herring. But without his presence (and the firm basslines of William Cashion), what’s left? Gerrit Welmers, 
A phenomenal story as well as an album, Jamie xx’s debut is a monster effort. Taking the vocals of “I’m New Here”, the young brainchild of The xx handwrote letters to the musical legend, mixing his vocal samples into a dizzying array of dub, dubstep, drum-n’-bass, and a dash of chipmunk soul. Tracks like opener “I’m New Here” demonstrate the full range of Jamie’s production, but the album also holds soft love-letter gems like “My Cloud” in its array. The wobbly and wonky beat of “Ur Soul and Mine” is the prime of several examples where Scott-Heron is almost completely discarded, but finale “I’ll Take Care of U” finds a gorgeous dovetail of the two artist’s unique musical worlds.
Always a treasure trove of found sounds, warped cassettes, and general hazy bliss, Bibio’s book has more than a page or two borrowed from Boards of Canada. But his most recent records have revealed a more in-focus production aesthetic, none moreso than Mind Bokeh. Opener “Excuses” rises from a subterranean-sounding atmosphere towards a sparsely-backed, acid-tinged vocal, and finally emerging (inexplicably) gracefully as trunk-rattling beat worthy of any freestyle. The middle of the record can be hit or miss, with kitsch getting applied too heavily at times. But the phenomenal “Saint Christopher” wraps things up in a soft-focus, dreamy 4/4 pastoral dance floor monster – a beautiful paradox.
"We are going to explore the cosmos in the ship of the imagination." So states El Guincho in his Carl-Sagan-esque intro to the 
While "Tin Man" and my number one song share a prominent steel drum, Future Islands match it with a muscular guitar and the inimitable gruff wails of lead singer Sam Herring. The summer jam for driving around right before sunset, few other songs this year can come close to the gamut of emotions this tune can serve.
In another universe, Swede Kristian Matsson is the world's best Bob Dylan impersonator. Lucky for us, here he's found just enough of his own songwriting voice (and just slightly more forgiving nasal tones) to be an electrifying artist in his own right. From an album of rock-solid songs accompanied only by his own guitar, banjo or piano, Matsson's narrow stand-out is the bright-eyed gleam of "Burden Of Tomorrow", a mythological origin story: "Oh but rumor has it that I wasn't born/I just walked in one frosty morn" - yelped with enough passion that you could almost believe him.
It feels almost criminal to not give Kanye the top spot in this list. You can almost imagine he would go through infinite numbers of online reviews, leaving anonymous comments saying "8.5! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH OF A GENIUS I AM FOR PUTTING CHRIS ROCK AND APHEX TWIN ON THE SAME TRACK?!?" But his hubris aside, Kanye has spent a year collaborating on an album with an all-star cast, but more importantly, with the Internet itself. Leaking demos left and right, posting songs without real lyrics, jumping up on tables to rap as the songs hit him - in 
Four Tet's paean to the club he has used as a sounding board for much of his latest album is a peculiar lie on it's surface - a quiet, scruffy ethereal sound. But it's tempo is pure dance - a touch of two-step, a hint of rave, and a mix of whatever else it takes to get a full crowd at the Metro dancing again (like he did here in October). It's a perfect tune for when everything outside is moving fast and everything inside is moving slow.
When a band whose vocal talents include Feist, Emily Haines, and several other occasional lead singers, you have to credit them with some moxie for calling an instrumental jam "something that's become our anthem" at the Pitchfork Music Festival this year. But by golly, the song has legs that go all the way to the floor, and the guitar interplay is some of the finest you can bang a head at. Bonus points: 
2010 was a banner year for Justin Vernon. Playing cover tag with Peter Gabriel, having Kanye West decide to make "Woods" the backbone of his penultimate track on his craziest album yet - but you could argue that it all started with him getting to have a little fun with GAYNGS. Not to say that anything on Relayed comes off as tongue-in-cheek; somehow, the band plays a tribute album to 10cc's I'm Not In Love with perfect conviction and execution. But “The Gaudy Side of Town” has a mournful 80’s sax wail, slinking bass, and all-high-hat scattered drums mixed with Vernon ditching his mournful winter hibernation voice for a whispery croon of schmaltzy sleaze, and you have to wonder if playing such a fun role didn't help send him into bigger superstardom (for better or worse).
Weathervanes earned its share of detractors - whether for the band's spontaneous concerts, wacky instruments like a watering can, or some of the rather grating selections from the album itself. With outstanding biases aside, the elements displayed in just the first two build-up minutes alone are stunning - banjo lead, washboard and accordion ambiance, glockenspiel taking over, and then an electric guitar somehow tastefully topping it all off. Then the harmonies pop in, and suddenly you're not cheerfully singing along in the streets to this kind little tune about accepted death.
One part Animal Collective, one part George Michael, all parts capable of making you dance like the dirtiest hippie imaginable. Anand Wilder sings his own "I Will Survive" like he's so over it, he's already in Copacabana wearing wayfarers and flirting with anyone who might bring him a Mai Tai.Dan Morgridge's Best of 2009
Throughout the month of December we’ll be posting lists of the best music of the year as determined by the volunteers that make CHIRP what it is. Today’s is from CHIRP DJ, Dan Morgridge and compiles his favorite songs of the year.
- Animal Collective “Brother Sport” – Merriweather Post Pavillion (Domino) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Animal Collective won 2009 like Usain Bolt – so early they could perform a victory lap before the race was even over. And while “My Girls” or “Summertime Clothes” are on the tips of many new fans, I found my single almost immediately – while a finale gets to shoot off all the fireworks, it’s not usually single material. To the bands credit and to everyone else’s boon, they’ve bucked the trend for this exceptional exception. Running along the repetitive, abrasive, and awesome fringes of Animal Collective’s old forest of freak-folk weirdness, Brother Sport gets tribal, huge, and then blooms with one cry into a poppy twin of its’ former self, like the band sent you a birthday cake and jumped right out of it.There’s nothing else like in the album or this year. - Japandroids “Young Hearts Spark Fire” – Post-Nothing (Polyvinyl) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
I was shocked when I saw a five-minute running time for this song, which I’d previously brain-labeled as a sparse punk burner. And while the song could have potentially ended about two minutes in (the lyrics are basically just played twice in a row), the song gives itself a big bridge to ramp itself up with again, and takes off. This could have all been repetitive and grating, but the feedback fuzz, earnest yelps, and heart-on-sleeve lyrics (“Well you can keep tomorrow after tonight we’re not gonna need it…/Background, we’re too drunk to feel it”) catches your ear, plants itself, and waits for your next moment of triumph to blast back to memory as your victory soundtrack. - Micachu and the Shapes “Golden Phone” – Jewellery (Rough Trade) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
While a list boils down to a lot of factors, moods, styles, and other influences, I feel safe saying that Golden Phone is the song I most want to tell someone about at a party, shove headphones in their ears, and then stand there with a stupid grin while I watch them (hopefully) love it. A big hit at CMJ, young brit Mica Levi is a 21 year old who pours out awkwardness in all of her photos. To all of our benefit, her and her band are endlessly more confident in the strange musical world they’ve built – the crowded, cacophonous, and frantic nature of “Golden Phone” does nothing to interrupt it’s pure charm. - Phoenix “1901” – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Phoenix has been putting out bedrock-solid pop for years now, and if you always thought they’d be there for a few good spins, you’d be right. But few expected the Parisian duo to come out with an effort like Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – if they’d been your shy sidekick before, on this album – and 1901 in particular – they took off their glasses, did their hair, and asked you to prom. While the trajectory of the band has probably gotten more experimental than poppier (the inverse of say, Animal Collective’s recent acceptance into the indie-rock elite), it’s only been a small dapple. But it was enough to push a perennial pleaser into a true head-turner. - Big Boi “Shine Blockas” – Sir Luscious Left Foot… Son of Chico Dusty iTunes
(Note: Sir Luscious Left Foot was supposed to be released this year. It was not. This song has been leaked. So it goes.) The comparisions and contrasts of Andre 3000 vs. Big Boi were inevitable when they made Speakerboxxx/The Love Below – it was basically asking a nation of music nerds to pick their favorite parent. And while the duo claims that Mommy and Daddy still love each other, Big Boi still has to take care of some personal business with a different persona. Borrowing the mournful wails of “I Miss You” from Harold and the Blue Notes (which Jay-Z has already done on “This Can’t Be Life”, if you’re the type to beef on those things), Big Boi nevertheless puts his stamp on it – a xylophone hovers above the fray, string swells fire off everywhere, Melvin is chopped and scratched into anything and Gucci Mane growls out a verse that should turn heads. Until Andre wakes up and makes something new, Big Boi just took the lead. - Girls “Lust For Life” – Girls (True Panther Sounds) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
“oh i wish i had a sun tan/i wish i had a pizza and a bottle of wine” is not the heaviest lyric to ever come out of 2009, but the voice singing it can make you argue pretty hard for it. By now the bizarre cult-escaping millionaire benefactor childhood of singer Christopher Owens is fairly well-known, but even without the backstory, the song works: the notable lack of polish, the beyond-simple lyrics, and heartfelt ache sting true for any listener. - Jona Vark “Gypsy and the Cat”
The unsigned duo of Xavier Bacash and Lionel Towers may not have a label, an album, or even a website outside of their Myspace page – but they have a hell of a song. The most epic Saturday-morning cartoon theme to have been released this year, the song lets the guitar go rhythm and the Casio lead the way – right into an epic, near-falsetto harmonic wail for the chorus. Elements that could be taken as cheesy are forgiven for the soft-focus vocals and epic buildups – keep an eye on this band. - Beirut “The Concubine” – March of the Zapotec (Pompeii) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
A harmonium, a toy piano, the world-weariest twenty-something voice in the world – if you were playing Taboo:Hipster Edition, you could probably guess Beirut pretty quickly. But while Zach Condon and friends don’t re-invent their wheel on this track, they certainly find magic inside – the infantismally simple harmonium line, the plucky toy piano taking lead, Condon all but building a candlelit pub around you with his voice. Apparently based on the tale of Hadrian and Antinous, Beirut finds stark beauty amongst tragedy yet again. - Thao with the Get Down Stay Down “Know Better Learn Faster” – Know Better Learn Faster (Kill Rock Stars) Amazon / Insound
There are times when you need to describe a song in detail to really sell it to people, and there are times that you tell someone this is what you’ve sung during your past month’s showers, hummed at the last three bus stops, and whistled on the last walk home. This is one of those times. - Major Lazer “Hold The Line” – Guns Don’t Kill People, Lazers Do (Downtown) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Diplo has done a fine job cementing himself as a musical Don – Mad Decent flourishes, he’s kingmaking new artists left and right, and dropping remixes like candy at a parade. But it’s good to hear the man sit down and make some actual self-inspired work – while many DJs do their best work as a response, Diplo is unfairly forgotten for the work he did on 2004’s Florida. Since collaborating with fidget house innovator Switch, Diplo has been playing the Mark Frost to his David Lynchian oddities, and their aural Twin Peaks is a bizzare and amazing sonic ride.
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