Best Albums of 2009 Part 1

By Ben Liew  •  15 Dec 2009 in News

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JUICE got together with a bunch of artists, musicians, designers, friends and fire starters to pick out the gems from the sh!t. It wasn’t easy – egos and eardrums were attacked by arguments and cottonbuds – but after much debate here’s the countdown to the best albums of 2009. Turn volume to 11, please…

TEXT BEN LIEW, KEVIN YEOH, MIRANDA YEOH, MATT ARMITAGE, ALIA, ETHAN CHU, CHRISTOPHER UJINE ONG, CHOOEE, DILL MALIK, WORDSMANIFEST, NOH, ALTIMET, JEROME KUGAN, MAK WAI HOO, DJ GOLDFISH, DJ GANJAGURU, DJ VICTOR G, RUEBNI KARUNAKARAN, JESSICA TAN.

50.
THE RAVEONETTES
IN & OUT OF CONTROL
VICE
It’s seriously chilly in Copenhagen and their sounds are always chilly. This album is so good that it shines! The Raveonettes definitely sounds complete even just as a duo. In fact, they managed to feel larger! Ethan Chu

49.
GRAMATIK
WATER 4 THE SOUL EP
COLD BUSTED
It’s definitely not what I play in my usual sets but what I listen to outside the club everytime. Jazzy, funky, trip hoppish grooves with solid programming. Something I can pop into my car player anytime. DJ Victor G

48.
JARVIS COCKER
FURTHER COMPLICATIONS
ROUGH TRADE
Jarvis’ debut album in 2006 was something of a letdown for fans of the ex-Pulp singer. And if memory serves JUICE right, that “soft” album had only one pumping track. Here on Further Complications it’s the opposite. There are only about 3 soft tracks on this blaring release. Fitting, as the songs here have more to do with chasing after younger booties – from a sexy paleontologist to a girl who’s “nearly 23, making $4.50 an hour” – than dissecting the English class system which Jarvis did so well in Pulp. Maybe it’s the beard, but Jarvis seems sexier when he’s less intelligent. BL

47.
RANCID
LET THE DOMINOES FALL
HELLCAT / EPITAPH
“We got it right / you got it wrong / we’re still around” proclaims frontman Tim Armstrong on ‘Last One To Die’. Rancid has sat out most of the Bush years while their friends, like Green Day and NoFX, jumped on the political punk bandwagon. Produced by Epitaph boss and ex-Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz, Let The Dominoes Fall is a vivacious comeback after 6 years for the kings of ska punk. While other punk bands now struggle to find a new enemy, Rancid’s brotherly ethos is still relevant. As for maturing, ‘Civilian Ways’ – a beautiful folk ballad about a solider haunted by war – will definitely cement Rancid’s mohawks into punk rock’s hall of fame. Oi! Oi! Oi! BL

46.
PATRICK WOLF
THE BACHELOR
BLOODY CHAMBER MUSIC
Classical techno pop, 3 words that would certainly spell disaster for any budding artist except flamboyant and sexually-liberal Patrick Wolf. Changing record labels more often than hair colour, this avant garde singer-songwriter knows how to maintain his creative freedom. The Bachelor is truly refreshing with orchestral and rock instruments clashing against synths and drum loops. The album genre bends like David Bowie’s wardrobe and makes way for some awesomely moving moments towards the end. Guess musicians include Alec Empire from Atari Teenage Riot. Wolf is currently selling shares of the album on bandstock.com so die hard fans and forward-thinking businessmen can actually invest in The Bachelor. Now, how 21st century it that? BL

45.
JAY-Z’S
BLUEPRINT 3
ROC NATION
No Brainer. Altimet

44.
SONIC YOUTH
THE ETERNAL
MATADOR
For the past 28 years or so, Sonic Youth has been screeching out the jams with their self-definitive brand of art rock. In recent years, the band has somewhat toned down on their sonic outings to give way for more subtle compositions. Much to the joy of JUICE, The Eternal sees the noise misfits returning to their, uh… noisy roots. It’s almost as if this album was made back in the 80s when Sonic Youth were very much living up to their name. The production value may be clean but as the album opens with the gender-f*ck ‘Sacred Trickster’ and spills over into the slow-balls-boiling ‘Anti-Orgasm’ (which has Kim Gordon crooning “anti-war is anti-orgasm”), it’s evident that technology has only served to up the ante on Sonic Youth’s angst, despite them being over 40. BL

43.
EELS
HOMBRE LOBO: 12 SONGS OF DESIRE
VAGRANT
The first album in 4 years for Eels is a straight-forward rocking romp led by the troubled and grizzly-voiced E (aka Mark Oliver Everett). However, this can’t be compared with 2005’s Blinking Lights and Other Revelations – E’s masterpiece about his parents’ deaths and sister’s suicide. Hombre Lobo means “werewolf” in Spanish and here E delivers a dozen songs about desire through the persona of the dog-faced boy from 2001’s Souljacker, who he imagines to have grown up as a “dignified old werewolf”. BL

42.
DINOSAUR JR.
FARM
JAGJAGUWAR
Back in the 80s, Dinosaur Jr was one of the groundbreaking bands that lead the noisy-sonic-guitar-assault with the likes of Sonic Youth against pussified-MTV-friendly pop rock. So what happened to them? Well, despite laying the foundation for people like acknowledged fan Kurt Cobain, they were also slackers and disbanded in ’97. But just as you can’t keep a good tune down, Dino Jr sprung back to action and released Beyond in 2007. This year’s Farm tops that and may very well be the best Dino Jr album ever! Each song is catchy and beautifully-crafted with blistering solos and powerhouse drumming. And frontman J. Mascis sounds as though he hasn’t aged, despite looking like a bleached-hair computer geek. BL

41.
RONALD JENKEES
DISORGANIZED FUN
INDEPENDENT
This combination of musical genius and playfulness really works. Awesome hooks, structure and notation. Entertaining and humorous at the same time. Last but not least, you can’t deny the skill he brings to the table. DJ Ganjaguru

We’re got more coming! Click here for #40-31.