Favorite Albums of 2009

I completely dropped the ball on my holiday music posts...things got a bit busy in December and I just bailed on the project. I'll try to do it right at the end of 2010. Sorry.

I have been thinking a lot about my favorites of 2009 and I have to say I've heard a great deal of chatter about it being a "down" year for music, and I must respectfully disagree. In my estimation- lovers of retro funk, soul and R & B could find tons of releases this year that were fantastic. I guess it's just a matter of what you're into. It's funny because most of my gigs this year did not afford many opportunities to play this stuff and yet it's what I would be rockin' at home or on the IPOD whenever I got the chance. So while Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas, Kid Cudi and the like might of been on the speakers, here's what was in my headphones.


20. The Numero Group Releases (Numero Group) -Whatever these guys put out is gold. Period. End of story. The best reissue/re-discovery label ever. (Thanks for playing- Rhino & Hip-o-select.) I've been a subscriber to their catalog for a few years now and it would be easy to pepper this list with their 2009 releases, but it's sort of unfair and less fun. So, I'm putting their 2009 output in at 20, with the caveat that their stuff would be scattered throughout the list if I did it properly. Do yourself a favor, click the link to their website and buy something...anything. It's worth it.


19. BLACK RIO 2- Original Samba Soul 1968-1981 Compiled By DJ Cliffy (Strut)- I was very excited about this release as I was a big fan of the first compilation in the series which came out in 2002. Just a great fusion of Brazilian instrumentation and American funk licks. After Chicago lost the Olympic bid, I was listening to this all over again. Cool stuff regardless of the language barrier.

18.School Me Vol 1.-High School & Collegiate Jazz, Funk, Soul & Psychedelia 1968 to 1975 Various Artists (Stage Band Research)- Another compilation makes the list. The quality of stuff on this varies too much for me to rank it any higher and I think most people would find this to be a curiosity more than anything else, but hey- I'm curious and I dig it.

17. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland Records)- This is not my usual cup of tea-but it just grabbed me for some reason. I really like "A Teenager in Love" and "Young Adult Friction" in particular. It's been popping up on a number of "Best of 2009" lists and I think it's deserved. I'm not even sure what to call it, Power Pop? Shoe-Gaze? I don't know, it's just good.

16. Glitter & Doom Live- Tom Waits (Anti-)- I am an unapologetic Tom Waits fanatic and he'd be hard pressed to put out something I was disappointed with. This would rank higher however if 1. It was a new studio effort rather than a live album and 2. If the Glitter & Doom Tour actually passed through Chicago. Nevertheless, I love this and "Make it Rain" sounds especially awesome here.

15. Manners- Passion Pit (Columbia)- Well here's a major label release on my list, look at that. Sweet hooky, synthy-pop goodness. This kind of stuff has been appealing to me more and more these days...strange.

14. Enter the 37th Chamber-El Michels Affair (Fat Beats)- What's this? A funk instrumental reworking of Wu Tang Clan's 36 Chambers? Um, sign me up! I actually had a 45 of them doing C.R.E.A.M from a few years ago and in 2009 they drop all of this?!?! Fantastic.

13.What Have You Done, My Brother?- Naomi Shelton and The Gospel Queens (Daptone Records) Like my list isn't gonna have a Daptone release on it? Another amazing release from this Brooklyn-based label who have yet to misstep in my eyes. Gospel Music? When it sounds like this- Yes. AMEN!

12.Winners Circle- Hey Champ (website release)- Speaking of synthy-pop goodness, it was this Hey Champ remix digital download project that turned me on to Passion Pit in the first place. Electro Funk, Hip Hop, all of that. It's here. Some really fun stuff on this and they'll let you download it gratis at their site.

11. Full English Beat Breakfast- Big Boss Man (Blow Up Records)- I didn't know anything about these guys, but I saw an ad for the album in a magazine and was intrigued by the pull-quote, "The Sgt. Pepper of Boogaloo" and while I'm not ready to go that far, I will say it's a pretty great record.

10. The Stripped Mixes- Michael Jackson(Motown/Universal)- There was obviously a flood of MJ related stuff to hit the market this year, everyone wants a taste, right? Well, I listened to a great deal of it and aside from a few individual remixes there wasn't very much that was very revelatory as far as I'm concerned. This release was an exception. The title pretty much sums it up- much of the instrumentation and slick production has been stripped from the mix, leaving Michael and his bros vocal talents front and center. Speaking strictly of the artist- Michael will be remembered primarily as an entertainer first, but listening to these recordings reminds me of the young Michael and the INCREDIBLE vocal talent he was.

9. Burn it Down- The Dynamites Featuring Charles Walker (Outta Sight)- A band I blogged about previously when I saw them live awhile back, and I'm still kicking myself for missing them when they came through Chicago this past September. The album is even better than Kaboom! Charles Walker is right up there with Lee Fields, love him.

8. Aguilas & Cobras- Brownout (Six Degrees)- The first act to appear on both the 2008 and 2009 list. Again, Latin inspired funk that just makes you move. You either feel it or you don't.

7. Dojo Cuts- Dojo Cuts Featuring Roxie Ray (Record Kicks)- A sweet debut from this Australian funk outfit. As mentioned, and as evidenced on my list, I love all this retro funk stuff. Is it formulaic? Sure. Does it matter? Not if it's good. Great album all around, like their cover of Stevie Wonder's "Uptight" a great deal.

6. This is Gizelle Smith & The Mighty Mocambos- Gizelle Smith & The Mighty Mocambos (Mocambo/Legere)- Yup, another one. I wasn't lying. This is probably my current favorite record in terms of the -insert awesome female soul singer- & -the name of the tight funk combo backing her up- albums out right now. Of course that could change next week, but for now, it's this.

5. Made of Stone- Kylie Auldist (True Thoughts)- Blogged about her earlier this year and still really love this album. Her name stands alone on the album release, but make no mistake, The Bamboos (who introduced her on a previous release) really make this work.

4. My World- Lee Fields & The Expressions (Truth & Soul)- Man, oh man, this album is crazy good. Is there a better retro-funk singer on the scene? No, no there is not. Lee has been doing this stuff for years and is just incredible. Listen to his take on "My World Is Empty Without You", because I tell ya, YOUR WORLD is empty without some Lee Fields, trust.

3. The Safe Cracker- The City Champs (Electraphonic)- A great deal more Jazzy than the rest of this list. Equal parts dance and Sunday chillin' out record. Very Hammond B heavy. This is a record that I would not have appreciated as much in my younger years, but works great now. These guys come through town on Feb. 6th in support of The North Mississippi Allstars at the Cubby Bear. Might try to check 'em out.

2. A Strange Arrangement- Mayer Hawthorne (Stones Throw)- Misses the number one spot by just a hair. In truth, I probably played the single, "Just ain't gonna work out" more than any other recording release in 2009 and I LOVE the rest of the album as well, He's a crooner, he's got the retro thing I like, and hip-hop beats to boot. It's really pretty great. But there was one album that spoke to me just a touch more.

And my Favorite Album of 2009 (drum roll)

1. My Groove Your Move- Lack of Afro (Freestyle Records)- Alright, it's like this- If I was a full-on producer and musician and expanded my DJ skills- this is the type of stuff I'd like to do. Seriously, I hear it and wish I had created it. I can't speak for other music enthusiasts who aren't musicians, but I always seem to be hearing mixes and sounds in my head, not necessarily songs per se, but a sonic feeling. I'm not explaining it very well, but it's just this thing. Anyhow, Lack of Afro does that. He manages to fuse all sorts of music and sounds into this breakbeat masterpiece that is just so close to what I want stuff I mix to sound like it's freaky. I like DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, RJD2 among others, but none of them grab me quite like this guy does. Now maybe this stuff is strictly the province of DJs, audiophiles and music geeks, and its appeal consequently limited- but hey I love it, love his other remix work and his debut album Press On might even be better than this. Seriously cool stuff.

OTHER RELEASES OF NOTE: Well, I liked the Wilco Album (Wilco, The Album) and probably should have given some love to the New Mastersounds recent release (Ten Years On) as well as The Black Dynamite Soundtrack and Music from The Motion Picture release, but I have not really listened to them enough yet to fairly rank 'em. I also have been meaning to listen to some more Ruthie Foster and Ledisi, but just have not gotten around to it. Oh well, maybe next year.