The Best and Worst Album Covers of 2009

The Best

Benjy Ferree's artwork for Come Back To The Five and Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee might be my favorite of the year simply because the man covers up his receding hairline with magic marker via a 1950s era coif. Also, did anyone notice the Love Language use the same exact font style for their debut? Generally, it was a great year for artwork with walking plant people, a meditative snow person, and a badass Neko Case clutching a sword, ready to smite a dragon


The Worst

What do the KKK, a disco ball, and rockets have in common? Apparently, DJ and hip-hop group N.A.S.A. are trying to say that the US space program is made up of a bunch of disco dancing lynch enthusiasts. At least, that's my interpretation. As for JJ, why the blood-spattered marijuana leaf? Are they commenting on the link between Mary Jane and terrorism? If so, the spacey and mellow tone of their music is sending mixed messages. Lastly, Monsters of Folk—comprised of two of my all-time favorite artists, Jim "Yim Yames" James and M. Ward—why? A charcoal Brady Bunch formatted portrait with a zoomed-in perspective of Mike Mogis's nose and Conor Oberst's 5 o'clock shadow is a far cry from what could've been a classic album cover.

Benjy Ferree - "Fear" (from Come Back to the Five and Dim, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee)

Best of 2009: The Songs

In our digital day and age, the power of a song has never been greater: a song is a single key tap that can lead into years of spending—from whole album downloads to concert tickets and merchandise—or it can simply be a regrettable 99 cent purchase or more often, free download. Technology has also changed the way we listen to music, with more of an emphasis placed on mixes via iPods and CDs rather than whole albums.

For 2009, I've created two lists: one devoted to songs and another to albums. Many of the songs on this list may belong to excellent records, but they are chosen here because they can also stand alone as wholly conceived works of art. No example is better than my choice for the year's best: the 5:32 pastoral epic "Impressions of the Past" by Megafaun—a song that lazily drifts, grows dark and stormy, and then rips open like a shot of sunlight.

1) Megafaun -"Impressions of the Past" (from Gather, Form and Fly)
2) The Love Language - "Lalita" (from The Love Language)

3) White Denim - "Regina Holding Hands" (from Fits)
4) Brazos - "Day Glo" (from Phosphorescent Blues)

5) A.A. Bondy - "I Can See the Pines are Dancing" (from When The Devil's Loose)

6) Bon Iver - "Blood Bank" (fromBlood Bank EP)

7) Girls - " Hellhole Ratrace" (from Album)

8) Cotton Jones - "Blood Red Sentimental Blues" (from Paranoid Cocoon)

9) The National - "So Far Around The Bend" (from Dark Was The Night)

10) Throw Me The Statue - "Waving At The Shore" (from Creaturesque)

11) Dan Auerbach - "My Last Mistake" (from Keep It Hid)
12) Here We Go Magic - "Tunnelvision" (from Here We Go Magic)

13) Camera Obscura - "French Navy" (from My Maudlin Career)

14) Generationals - "When They Fight, They Fight" (from Con Law)

15) Dirty Projectors - "Stillness Is the Move" (from Bitte Orca)

16) Fanfarlo - "Finish Line" (from Reservoir)
17) JJ - "Things Will Never Be The Same Again" (from JJ N°)

18) YACHT - "Psychic City (Voodoo City)" (from See Mystery Lights)

19) Neon Indian - "Deadbeat Summer" (from Psychic Chasms)

20) Cass McCombs - "You Saved My Life" (from Catacombs)

21) Islands - "Vapours" (from Vapours)

22) Luke Top - "Friends" (from Friends)

23) Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - "Home" (from Up From Below)

24) Washed Out - "Feel It All Around" (from Life of Leisure EP)

25) Lands & Peoples - "Bad Habits" (from Lands & Peoples)

26) Molina and Johnson - "What You Reckon, What You Breathe" (from Molina and Johnson)

27) The Dutchess and the Duke - "Hands" (from Sunset / Sunrise)

28) Richard Hawley - "Don't Get Hung Up In Your Soul" (from Truelove's Gutter)

29) M. Ward - "Rave On" (from Hold Time)
30) Passion Pit - "Little Secrets" (from Manners)

Best of 2009: The Albums

2009: Best Albums So Far

2009 has been a year rich with music. So much so, that half the time I can barely keep track of what's in my inbox. However, picking out my favorite records of the first half of the year took only a few moments. While many albums wear thin after a few listens (Passion Pit, I'm talking to you), these ten continue to provide new and different experiences with every listen.

• Antlers - Hospice (Read more/Q&A)
• Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
• Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day (Read more)
• Elvis Perkins In Deerland - Elvis Perkins In Deerland
• Fanfarlo - Reservoir (Read more)
• Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (Read more)
• Local Natives - Gorilla Manor (Read more/Q&A)
• M. Ward - Hold Time (Read more)
• Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Read more)
• Vetiver - Tight Knit (Read more)

Elvis Perkins In Deerland - "123 Goodbye" (from Elvis Perkins In Deerland)

Summer Songs: #10 "Good Guys & Bad Guys"

There are mixes for all sorts of occasions—birthdays, dance parties, halloween, the new year—but there's really only one season that deserves the many hours of song searching and shuffling: the summertime. Whether you're drinking a cool beer on the beach or by the pool, driving down the highway with your windows open, or sitting on a rocking chair on your porch, summer beckons for songs seemingly wide open with loose rhythms, casually picked guitars and melodies suited for humming or singing along to.

Camper Van Beethoven, an underground college-friendly alternative rock band from the 1980s, released one of the most simplistic and pleasing songs of the era with the ska-inflected folk tune "Good Guys & Bad Guys." Off the band's 1986 self-titled album, the song shuffles along a comical narrative filled with simple observations ("If you didn't live here in America / You'd probably live somewhere else") that culminates with an American pastime:

So let's get high while the radio's on
Just relax and sing a song
Drive your car up on the lawn
Let me play your guitar
The chorus, part nostalgic for older listeners and part instruction for younger ones, is best with the dial on 10 and a caravan of voices singing along. Road trip anyone?

Camper Van Beethoven - "Good Guys & Bad Guys" (from Camper Van Beethoven)