Albums of 2009

Yes, I know, albums of the year, sorry. There is a million of these coming out at this time of year, and by no way is mine meant to compete with them, but I thought that I would just share it.
In no particular order:
Alexisonfire - Young cardinals/Old crows

For me, this was probably my most highly anticipated album of the year. And yes I know I should have grown out of this screaming shit, but I havn't and I don't care. One of my favourite bands ever and having seem them recently live for the first time, my affections towards the Canadians continue. Like any great band, the album is a clear progression from the old but with Alexisonfire still scribbled all over it. Starting the album screaming "We are not the kids we used to be" they burst into what they do best, ever so slightly maturing this time. I never want this band to stop.

Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

Probably one of the most anticipated albums of the year full stop. And with anticipation comes hype and expectation. And yes of course Jay-Z lives upto it. I'm not claiming I love every single song on here, but others more than make up for it. Empire State of Mind has dominated the latter part of 2009, with Run This Town also having huge success. Many of the songs have collaborations, some big names, Kayne, Rihanna and Alicia, some are new on the scene; Drake and J Cole. But you know if Jay Z has picked them, they are some thing special. Something to watch out for. Blueprint 3 sees the Jigga Man boasts his albums success slamming Elvis and The Stones, some may see this as arrogance and disrespectful, but boy can he back up his claims.

Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had The Blue But Shook Them Loose

BBC fully exploded onto the scene in 2009, mainly due to a big helping shove from BBC R1 introducing. Having only just left school, these guys produced an unbelievable album of clever riffs and equally lyrics. Songs such as Magnet and Always Like This will never grow tired to me. There surely has to be even greater things to come from this band, and going on this album, that is very exciting.

Miike Snow - Animal

As soon as I heard 'Animal' it had something special and different about it. There was a lot of mystery surrounding the two-eyed Miike Snow initally, however their credentials soon appeared. The Swedish pair have produced songs for Madonna, Kylie and even Britney's Toxic. However do not let this put you off. The indie/electro/pop group pack in a mixture of tunes, giving a good variety, not something that you get from most albums. It produces some huge tunes such as Animal and Black & Blue.

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

Again when I first heard the single of this stunning album, "Little Lion Man" I instantly wanted to hear more. Accompied by the autumn months, this acoustic folk produced some of the most beautiful music I have heard this year. The array of instruments offered something different from the other indie and acoustics acts around, and in this case different was definitely better. Beautiful playing matched with an amazing rusty voice is perfection.

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus

This insanely happy French electro indie pop act are going to be big very soon. Already featured in big advertising campaigns, this catchy album is simply a pleasure to listen. It will make you smile, nod your head and ears happy.

Florence and The Machine - Two Lungs

Like many of the artists here, Florence and The Machine suddenly burst onto the scene and possibly Florence more than any other, dominating 2009. With fiery red hair, an amazing voice and individual style, Florence and her Machine produced an amazing debut album. Many of the songs have been played to death on radio and TV, forcing me to tire of the album. But listening to it just the other day reminded me of just how damn good it is.

Passion Pit - Manners

After hearing the song "Sleephead", that has turned out to be one of my singles of year, I quickly got my hands on Chunk of Change. This EP was written for the lead singer's girlfriend for Valentine's Day. Soon followed was the album, Manners. The electro pop act is something pretty new and fresh to me. With a strangely good voice, and family of synths this is a very, very good album.

The Maccabees - Wall of Arms

There a so many great, great songs on this album, No Kind Words, Love You Better and Can You Give It? to name but a few. This is a fantastic piece of mature indie pop, with great riffs and uniquely beautiful voice, it all comes together very nicely.

Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions

I will be the first to admit that I jumped on the Biffy bandwagon along with everyone else this year. I've got friends that liked them when I was in year 9, but I shamefully did not give them a listen until this year. Puzzle is a fantastic album, I loved every single song. Is Only Revolutions better? No, not in my opinion. But its very close. There are some massive songs on there, Bubbles, Captain and of course, Golden Rule. Puzzle set a very high standard for me and Only Revolutions is almost up there, which is no way a bad thing.


So there you are. My top 10 albums. I think. Its difficult to remember albums from the first half of the year, and I strongly relied on my Last.fm. I don't claim this is a definitive list or a fantastic review, but I'd like to hear what you think. If you havn't heard any of these albums, I obviously strongly suggest you do, and if there's any you think I've missed, I'd love to know.

The Phonebox Experiment - A Good Theory

The website reads (http://phoneboxexperiment.com/): "There is a phone box in the middle of nowhere. Rob's camping next to it for as long as he can hold out, just so we can see who calls. This is the Phone Box Experiment".

Rob Cavazos, a 27 year old, who is fluent in English, German and Spanish, was selected from a host of applicants to become the ‘Wilderness Man’. From the little introduction clip, he appears to be a normal guy who just wants a bit of adventure, and Skype are looking to give it to him. As well as a bit of publicity and free PR for themselves no doubt.

Great idea right? A 24/7 live feed when people can call this random guy using Skype and talk about whatever they want for as long as they live. You can also watch him stay within the frame of the camera and listen to his side of the phone calls. So all is good yeah? No.

Orignally, I thought that this was a really cool concept and a great piece of viral work. However when you actually interact and go on the website all you see is this:
There Rob is, chatting away to some random person, it happens to be in French now which is completely useless to me. Also I can only hear his side of the conversation. And what is the conversation going to be about?
Hi
Hi, where you from?
Russia!
Excellent, I've already spoken to a couple of people from Russia.
Oh cool... I probably don't know them.... So what you up to?
Just sat on my sofa chatting to loads of random people, many of which I don't really care about.
Oh right... isnt that abit boring?
Um... yeah.

It can't be that much fun for poor old Rob! It probably sounded exciting, and for every great conversation he has with a random person, there's got to be at least fifty mundane, pointless conversations.
Unless you ring him and have a short, random chat, you just sit there and watch him. Great. It's not the sort of brand experience that you can really get involved in and immerse yourself as a consumer.


I admit that if I was in the room when this idea was being pitch, I would've thought, this sounds amazing! Its online, its viral, its original, consumers can get involved; perfect!
In reality: not so much.