Our favourite tracks of 2009… so far
As we advance headlong into the second half of 2009, we asked our writers for their favourite tracks of the year so far. Here we go…
Lily Allen
Even if it wasn’t for her music, the world needs interesting pop stars like Lily Allen who do stuff and say things. Thankfully this tabloid temptress returned after three years in January with a belter of a comeback. A friend said to me at the time that ‘The Fear’ sounded like Veruca Salt (the character from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, not the band) fronting St. Etienne. I can’t beat that to be honest. A delicious, cocky send up of the press courting that her peers engage in, set to music more glossy, shiny pop than the bouncy ska felt on her first album. If there were any doubt that Allen’s tongue if firmly placed in cheek delivering lines like “And I’ll take my clothes off and it’ll be shameless” the opulent video gives the game away. Completing the irony, it knocked Lady Gaga off the number one slot.
Sepultura
Sepultura – ‘Filthy Rot’
In Sepultura‘s 25th year they’ve introduced us to band member number nine in new drummer Jean Dolabella and delivered A-Lex, their 11th studio album. Yes, I said 11! It’s their second concept album in a row after 2006′s Dante XXI (based on Dante’s The Divine Comedy) this time choosing Anthony Burgess’s book A Clockwork Orange as inspiration.
Dolabella does his best Igor Cavalera impression in the track’s introduction, belting out an unmistakably Sepultura-ish tribal drum beat which is joined by a riff as crunchy as an Iceberg lettuce, sounding exactly how I imagine Lucifer would laugh.
I’m under no illusions that ‘Filthy Rot’ is ’09′s best track so far, nor, in truth, is it my favourite track of the year. I just feel the need to highlight that in this industry full of cynical cash cows and constant, inevitable selling out, a band can stay true to their roots (bloody roots), still thrashing and rocking with a purpose after a quarter of a century.
The Golden Filter
The Golden Filter – ‘Solid Gold’
Disco is booming, isn’t it? Especially in the US, where new band The Golden Filter came with this track, which I simply can’t stop listening to. Catchy, dancy, slightly detached and dreamy: how I like my disco best. It was a hard choice between this one and one from Holy Ghost!, but I like the remixes of the latter better than their original tracks at the moment, so there you go. This track was on constant repeat the first few months of the year along with VEGA, and it is a tune. I can’t wait for disco mania to blow over to Europe; I’m ready in any case.
Animal Collective
Animal Collective – ‘My Girls’
At the risk of being branded boring or uncool for the obviousness of my choice, I’m going to have to call a spade a spade here: ‘My Girls’ is, untouchably and undoubtedly, the most addictive, listenable and re-playable song of the year so far (and probably of the months yet to come). My love affair with the Animal Collective began in 2007 when I heard ‘Peacebone’ from Strawberry Jam and its burrowing little earwig of a chorus hook. This, however, blows all of their previous pop meditations out of the water. This song is almost unbearably catchy. This is the sort of song which has such universal appeal that I can play it with confidence to anyone, including people that “don’t listen to that sort of shit”, knowing that the when the chorus drops they’ll be asking to borrow the whole album. Indeed, hearing Animal Collective on daytime Radio 1 probably gets my vote for WTF moment of the year so far but, more importantly, also highlights the true universal appeal of this addictive little powerhouse. It’s danceable, singable, lovable – an almost perfect pop number; infectious to an almost dangerous degree.
Animal Collective
DAVE MCBURNIE
Animal Collective – ‘In the Flowers’
Interestingly, perhaps, my favourite track of 2009 is also the first new track I heard this year, and hearing this song after several nights of seasonal excess, it seemed the perfect antidote to the January blues. Two and a half minutes in the song erupts into a crescendo of pop noise that is just downright summery, and from there you know you are in for a treat with ‘Merriweather Post Pavillion’. It is the perfect opening to the album and an excellent track in its own right. What marked it out for me as such is the fact that it sounded so new. I haven’t heard anything similar in so long, and in a market saturated by music by numbers indie bands it is a breath of fresh air. Also, and I know I’ve already mentioned it, after two and a half minutes I challenge anyone not to have a smile on their face and a skip in their step. Take that winter!
Future of The Left
Future Of The Left – ‘Arming Eritrea’
A blistering call-to-arms opening the recent Travels With Myself and Another, ‘Arming Eritrea’ showcases all the uncompromising excellence of the Welsh three-piece into 3 apocalyptic minutes. Perhaps more melodic than the majority of their debut, but equally, if not more muscular. Whilst the band recall US math-rock luminaries such as Les Savy Fav and Shellac, their incredibly British lyrical sensibilities weld together world-weary sarcasm, surrealism, urgency and massive sincerity, albeit via a fascinating filter of crypticism. Quite what the mysterious ‘Rick’ of the lyric sheet has to do with arming a former Italian colony remains an enigma, but Andrew Falkous has hinted that, behind the widescreen drama of the track, lies a deeply personal set of metaphors. A band that, like Falkous and drummer Jack Egglestone’s previous troop McLusky, rigidly remain a current concern, it has to be hoped that Travels… raises their profile. One of the UK’s most engaging acts of recent years.
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Sunn O)))
Sunn O))) – Alice
In the seemingly neverending debate about whether infamous droners Sunn O))) count as music or not, this track was bound to confuse things a little. The standout track from this year’s Monoliths and Dimensions starts off predictably enough, with absurdly downtuned guitars stretching chords out indefinitely, albeit with touches of horns and B-movie style violins hinting at the beauty later to come. However, at some point during the track’s 16 minute run time it gradually morphs into what can best be described as the slowest jazz imaginable (appropriate, seeing how it is named in tribute to Alice, wife of John, Coltrane). The idea sounds awful on paper but as the world’s ultimate guitar band drop out to leave a stunning interplay of horns, strings, clarinet and harp the effect is akin to dark clouds retreating to bring about the breaking of dawn. Truly magnificent.
Bat for Lashes
Bat For Lashes – ‘Daniel’
If Two Suns is a record that treads a line between art and pop, a bit like Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love, David Bowie’s Low or Bjork’s Post, then ‘Daniel’ is probably the record’s pinnacle. Managing to combine some of the ‘80s touchstones that seem to have been ubiquitous for much of the second half of this decade (without being annoying or derivative) with her own breathless, towering voice, Natasha Khan has crafted a song that transcends all the rubbish that’s been written about her image and backstory. From the wistful opening that gives way to that now unmistakable bassline that rumbles throughout the track, ‘Daniel’ is flawless idiosyncratic pop. Strings, like “a sheet of rain in my heart”, bring the song to a close; the lyrics are pure escapism of course, though somewhere underneath the stuttering drum machines, there’s a real, beating heart.
Sketches - Slow Start
Sketches – ‘Slow Start’
A hangover isn’t a good thing to start off a day-long music festival with. I’m sure many of us have been there, vainly trying to persevere with the first band on when we’d really rather be in bed, eating a bacon sandwich, or perhaps, curled up in the foetal position on the bathroom floor. Thankfully, at Live at Leeds in May, Sketches broke the rules. The four-piece’s gently mathy, anthemic sound wraps you up in blanket, gives you a cuppa and sits you down to watch This Morning. May’s single ‘Slow Start’ is a perfect case in point; its cinematic sweep is exhilarating; As the drums clatter into view and the vocals glide by, try stopping yourself from doing that smile where you close your eyes and your brain feels like its being turned to soup. Oh go on, you know the one.
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