Albums in My Life: 2009

After an over 2 month absence, I'm back to working on the albums in my life series. Sorry, I've just been a little busy. So, 2009. For the majority of it, I was 18 years old, and I was a freshman and sophomore in college.


Arctic Monkeys- Humbug
This is definitely a polarizing album in the Arctic Monkeys discography, but I really enjoy how weird they got on this album. This was really the start of their departure from their original sound, and the beginning of Josh Homme's influence. This had them embracing a lot of desert rock influences, and Alex Turner's lyrics, while still witty, got a lot more surreal. However, for being as weird as it is, this album still has songs that are catchy as all hell. Every time I hear 'Dangerous Animals', it gets stuck in my head for days. I think its the way the title is spelled out in the chorus. It's borderline diabolical.




The Decemberists- The Hazards of Love
This was the first Decemberists album I really got into. I listened to tracks here and there, and when I was just starting to become a fan of the band, they dropped this album. I still remember going to the local(ish) Best Buy to the college with my roommate and buying this album. I'm a sucker for rock operas, and this record is probably one of the most cohesive in the bunch in terms of actually conveying a story without the aid of extensive liner notes or spoken word interludes. They also enlisted multiple guest vocalists so that most characters have a distinct voice, which is a reason I think a lot of other rock operas get a little confusing. A classic in my mind.



Kid Cudi- Man on the Moon: The End of the Day
While 'Day 'N' Nite' and 'Make Her Say' were definitely huge in my little liberal arts college party circle, I find myself coming back to this album more now than I did then. I think now that I've seen the impact that it's had on hip hop it clicks so much more. In 2009, this record was definitely an anomaly, and on an island all to itself. I feel like I definitely slept on this album when it came out. This was the perfect blend of rapping and singing that plenty of trap crooners have really never come close to replicating. Even Kid Cudi himself hasn't topped this album.



The Lonely Island- Incredibad
As a former SNL viewer and apologist until even I could no longer defend how unfunny it became, I definitely enjoyed this collection of SNL digital short songs, with a few new additions. I was kind of surprised how much traction this got, leaving the SNL and Youtube comedy spheres and becoming enormously successful (I even remember some of these songs getting regularly played at parties I went to). While mainstream media co opting geeky hobbies is the norm now, with all the Marvel movies and the like, it was pretty interesting to see something like this blow up.



Them Crooked Vultures- Them Crooked Vultures
I enjoyed the music of the Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, and Led Zeppelin a pretty decent amount at the time, so when I heard a super group of some of their members was coming out with an album, I knew I had to grab it. I went to the store the weekend after it dropped, picked it up, and just had my mind blown as I played it on repeat from Friday night until I had to go back to class. It was a very familiar rock formula, but they did a lot of things differently, and I still hold out hope, 10 years later, that there might eventually be a sequel to this record.




So, that's it for 2009. Hopefully, you enjoyed my look back, and feel free to share your favorite albums from the past. Next time, I'll be looking at 2010, and extending this series out until 2013. I figured, after that point, you can check my year end lists on the blog to see my favorite records.



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