Continuing my Year In Review posts, I am following up my 2009 Playlist with my Top Albums of 09. I will admit that this list was a little easier to come up with than my playlist but was still difficult to decide what order certain albums get slotted into to.

2009 was a great year for music and it showed with the quality of the albums that were released this past year. I based this list on albums that I could not stop listening to because of the greatness of the whole album. Don’t get me wrong, there were albums that were released that I listened to a lot but kind of fizzed out after a few listens. Some of those included Tegan And Sara’s Sainthood, Band of Skulls’ Baby Darling Doll Face Honey & Thirty Seconds To Mars’ This Is War.

I limited myself to choosing only ten albums for this is but it could have easily been a list between 15-20. Some albums that would have made the list if it were longer & will give honorable mentions to include Pearl Jam Backspacer, Them Crooked Vultures Them Crooked Vultures, Lily Allen It’s Not Me, It’s You, Mastodon Crack The Skye, Metric Fantasies, Bat For Lashes Two Suns & Arctic Monkeys Humbug.

Now that I’ve listed my honorable mentions here is my list of top albums of 09:

10. White Lies – White Lies
9. The Antlers – Hospice
8. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
7. Dead Weather – Horehound
6. The Big Pink – A Brief History Of Love
5. Glasvegas – Glasvegas*
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
3. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
2. Julian Casablancas – Phrazes For The Young
1. The XX – XX

* Was released in 2009 in North America

With another year coming to an end it closes what was a good year in music. A number of artists hit it big in 2009 including Kings Of Leon (finally after three successful albums in the UK), Lady Gaga & Taylor Swift. 2009 also saw a bunch of indie artists rise to the foreground of the indie music scene. The UK’s La Roux, The XX & The Big Pink are just a few of the more successful bands that cracked the new artist category in 2009 (and I’m sure there are a bunch more!)

Pop music had another good year with help from huge names that are getting bigger as each month passes. They include Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Rihanna & many more. I’m not going to lie there were a few of those songs that really hooked me in and were very addictive!

Below is a playlist of tracks that I’ve enjoyed in 2009:

Guilty Pleasure of 2009: Ke$ha – Tik Tok [listen]

25. Drake – Best I Ever Had [listen]
24. Lily Allen – The Fear [listen]
23. La Roux – In For The Kill [listen]
22. The Raveonettes – Suicide [listen]
21. Every Time I Die – The Sweet Life [listen]
20. Metric – Gold Guns And Girls [listen]
19. Them Crooked Vultures – Mind Eraser, No Chaser [listen]
18. Arctic Monkeys – Cornerstone [listen]
17. Dead Weather – Treat Me Like Your Mother [listen]
16. Pearl Jam – Just Breathe [listen]
15. Weezer – (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To [listen]
14. White Lies – Farewell To The Fairground [listen]
13. Band Of Skulls – I Know What I Am [listen]
12. Kid Cudi – Soundtrack 2 My Life [listen]
11. Jay-Z f. Alicia Keys – Empire State Of Mind [listen]
10. Lady Gaga – Bad Romance [listen]
9.  A Day To Remember – If It Means A Lot To You [listen]
8. Girls – Lust For Life [listen]
7. Bat For Lashes – Daniel [listen]
6. Phoenix – 1901 [listen]
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll [listen]
4. The Big Pink – Dominos [listen]
3. Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension [listen]
2. Kings Of Leon – Use Somebody [listen]
1. The XX – VCR [listen]

I just finished watching the season finale of Weeds and couldn’t help but notice this huge iPhone fail! I can’t believe someone on set or even the people who edited this episode together didn’t notice this. Maybe they did and decided to ignore it because it’s probably not worth it, but it is definitely hilarious!

Knowing that Weezer were going to be on before Blink meant a shorter setlist than what Weezer would normally play. Even with less stage time, Weezer did not disappoint. Watching Weezer live is extremely fun because of Rivers Cuomo’s awkwardness nature. The band came out wearing these orange jumpsuits that looked like the ones construction workers wear.

With the crowd cheering in excitement for a solid 3 hours of music (Weezer & Blink’s sets combined) the boys in Weezer jumped into the 2001 hit Hash Pipe followed by Troublemaker and the uber popular Undone – The Sweater Song.

Weezer’s set consisted mainly of singles that they’ve released or songs that people would recognize except for two songs. One was a cover of The Clash’s Should I Stay Or Should I Go and the other was their new single (If You’re Wondering If I Want You to) I Want You To which is set to be released soon.

One of the cooler parts of Weezer’s show was when they performed Island In the Sun. Rivers started off the song by himself and playing each instrument on his own, putting them on loops just in time for the first verse. And right before the chorus kicked in the rest of the band walked back onto the stage and resumed the rest of the song, but it was pretty cool to see Rivers setup the song like that.

Weezer ended their set with a cover of The Clash’s Should I Stay Or Go and then returned for a one song encore which was their most popular single Buddy Holly. Check out the full set list at the bottom of the post.

After enjoying Weezer for the third time, I was ready for my first encounter with Blink 182. Prior to the show I was a little skeptical with how Blink would sound and perform but by the end of the show that doubtfulness was all gone. As the show went on it seemed that both Mark and Tom got into a groove and that nothing was going to stop them from putting on a good show. And that’s exactly what they did.

I am convinced that at many times during the show everybody there was singing along to one of their many hits. Sunday’s crowd for the Blink show was one of the most enthusiastic and involved crowds I’ve seen in a really long time. And it all started way before the guys hit the stage!

With a black curtain still hiding their equipment the crowd was anxious and when the curtain dropped the place erupted. Mark, Tom & Travis opened the show with a classic hit Dumpweed followed by Feeling This and The Rock Show.

One of the many high points of the show came when Mark asked the crowd to light up the place with cell-phones and cameras during their hit I Miss You, which everyone at the Amphitheatre was singing along to. Between songs Mark and Tom cracked jokes at each other and make the feel like I was at the recording of their live album The Mark, Tom and Travis Show.

Blink played all kinds of their hits like Adam’s Song, All The Small Things and Josie to the delight of a jam packed Molson Amphitheatre. Blink ended their set with one of their most popular tracks Anthem Part 2. Before playing the song Mark got the whole crowd to start singing the Canadian National Anthem.

Their encore opened up with a Travis Barker drum solo, which in my opinion stole the show. What Travis did during the encore is probably the equivalent to what Tommy Lee did with Motley Crue back in the day. Travis’ drum kit was bolted down to the stage and started elevating and swinging back and forth. At one
point towards the end of the solo, the stage was at a forty-five degree angle and he and his drum kit were spinning! That was amazing and probably the best part of the show.

As it turned out I was glad that I got tickets because their show was really well done and Blink really do know how to put on a good show.

Blink 182 Setlist:
Dumpweed
Feeling This
The Rock Show
What’s My Age Again?
Violence
I Miss You
Stay Together For The Kids
Down
Always
Stockholm Syndrome
First Date
Man Overboard
Don’t Leave Me
Not Now
Adam’s Song
All The Small Things
Reckless Abandon
Josie
Anthem Part 2

Encore:
Travis Barker Drum Solo
Carousel
Dammit

Weezer Setlist:
Hash Pipe
Troublemaker
Undone – The Sweater Song
Surf Wax America
Perfect Situation
(If You’re Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To
Say It Ain’t So
My Name Is Jonas
Island In The Sun
The Good Life
Pork and Beans
Beverly Hills
Should I Stay or Should I Go

Encore:
Buddy Holly

Friday’s show was filled with great 90’s classics like Even Flow, Black, Alive, Corduroy and endless guitar solos from Mike McCready.

These guys have been around for a while and they still know how to put on an amazing show. As the night went on it seemed the better the guys played and the better Eddie Vedder sounded. Mr.Vedder clearly knows how to work a crowd that was into it from the very start of the show.

The highlight of the show for me was hearing Better Man & Porch back to back during their second encore, yup you read that right TWO ENCORES! I also can’t forget the time during Alive when guitarist Mike McCready was playing with his guitar behind his head and didn’t miss a note!

This show is definitely in my top five list of best concerts of all time! Below is a full setlist, if there are any mix-ups let me know and I’ll make the changes.

Setlist:
Of The Girl
Corduroy
Severed Hand
Why Go
Brain Of J.
I Am Mine
The Fixer
Given To Fly
Off He Goes
Even Flow
Unemployable
Faithfull
Down
Got Some
1/2 Full
Lukin
Not For You
Do The Evolution

Encore:
Inside Job
Wishlist
Black
Alive

Encore 2:
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
Wasted Reprise
Better Man
Porch
Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young cover)

Check it out for your self here.

I enjoyed the songs on their MySpace so much that I went out and bought their debut album. It has been playing non-stop for a while now and can’t stop listening to it. From start to finish this album produces a great listen no matter what mood you’re in. After a bunch of listens to ‘Are You Afraid Of The Danks’ a few of the stand outs include Die Young, Who Knows?, Treaty Connector and No Radio.

I’m going to go out there and say this is one of the better albums I’ve listened to in 2009 so far. There are a bunch of bands that fly under the radar and don’t get noticed until later on. I believe that The Danks are one of those bands.

If you enjoy The Strokes, Tokyo Police Club and Vampire Weekend then you’ll definitely enjoy The Danks, so check them out and let me know what you think.

Links:
MySpace: The Danks
Official Site: The Danks

Here are a few video links to some performances that I would have loved to see:

The Gaslight Anthem w/ The Boss – The ‘59 Sound
Blur – Girls and Boys
Fleet Foxes – Mykonos
Lady Gaga – Love Game
Lily Allen – The Fear
The Ting Tings – Great DJ
White Lies – Death
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Head Will Roll

Out of those that I’ve listed my favourite has to be The Gaslight Anthem with Bruce Springsteen. The Gaslight Anthem are amazing live and with the bonus of one of their favourite musicians, the Boss it makes the song ten times better.

Curious to hear what they sound like I made my way to their MySpace and they sound like a chilled out mellow band that you can sit on your deck, drink a beer and have The Honey Brothers playing in the background.

Once I got over the fact that Vince (Adrian Grenier played the drums) I wanted to see their pick as 5 bands to see this summer and they picked some good bands. They are Vampire Weekend, Crystal Castles, Gang Gang Dance, Broken Social Scene & The Ting Tings. I’ve heard all but Gang Gang Dance and will eventually check them out.

On a side note Season 6 of Entourage is starting soon and can’t wait because its going to be a kick ass season!

Last week Alexisonfire released their fourth album entitled ‘Old Crows/Young Cardinals’ which features the single ‘Young Cardinals’. I’m not going to lie, it took me a couple of listens to really like Young Cardinals (the single) but once I started liking it I couldn’t wait for their album.

After listening to their alubm non-stop for the past couple of days, there are a few really good tracks and then there are the typical Alexisonfire tracks. Although what I have noticed is that there is much less screaming on this album than their previous three albums and more singing.

A few standouts of the album are ‘Sons Of Privilege’, ‘The Northern’, ‘Emerald Street’ & ‘Born And Raised’. Let me know what you think of the album.