The Top Break-out/ New Artists of 2009:

So now that the mainstream awards circuit has been kicking up, you're left wondering if the likes of Lady Gaga were the extent of new names that cropped up this year. Thankfully, that's not the case. Here are seven (7) names that shook this year with their creativity, devastating grooves and assorted projects.

First up, the year's best new artist:




FrYars: it’s been quite the year for Ben Garrett and though he may not have surfaced on the mainstream his debut Dark Young Hearts proves that his brainy electro/pop model will breakthrough soon.




The Rest


Shingai Shoniwa (lead singer of Noisettes): her vocal similarity to Amy Winehouse is uncanny although she is black.


Martha Tilson/ Eska Mtungwazi: both women have stepped into Zero 7 as replacement for the departing Sia and one suspects given their immense individual talent that they too will embark upon solo careers.


Polly Scattergood: with her darkly-lit lyrics and mousy vocal work juxtaposing a sense of certain uncertainty, Scattergood has constructed the best Tori Amos-esque album of the year.


Stu McLamb (lead singer of The Love Language): though his band sojourns under the indie pop banner, McLamb drenches more than abstract ideas here; he’s living them obsessively in the entire recording process.


Micha Levi (lead singer of Micachu): responsible for the year’s sturdiest pastiche examination…and that lovely voice could charm anyone.


The Sandwitches: a new project by Heidi Alexander and Grace Cooper that runs the gamut from alternative to country all the while channeling Stevie Nicks.

The 5 Most Important Artists from 2000--2009

Every decade presents definitive stars and this one has been no different. For such a list, the main criteria was, obviously, musical excellence but other considerations are there. All these artists are highly influential, produced work that embodied this decade as well as combine critical and commercial success. For that is at the crux of their appeal. As I've stated before, the rise of blogs and YouTube means the distribution of music and visibility of musicians is forever changed. Look at M.I.A...she remains the best example of all the coalescence needed to break through to superstardom. Of course it helps that she's an attractive woman whereas others on this list would have (and still have) to wait and toil longer. Still, their perseverance has paid off. It took Kanye West a near-fatal crash and years of producing other people before his chance came. Animal Collective had been producing quirky yet flawed statements before they've landed into the spotlight. Spencer Krug and Bradford Cox are harder cases but their relentlessness and fine detail are obvious despite the many projects they sign up for. Here isdetails on the five personalities:



Spencer Krug:

Being the creative genius behind a myriad of groups is but one of the luxuries afforded to that rare breed of musician to which Krug belong to. Like seriously, dude is in Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake and Frog Eyes. He is not alone is such hectic musical out-put but the quality of the music is another thing totally. Starting with Wolf Parade’s spectacular debut (Apologies to the Queen Mary) to Sunset Rubdown’s latest (Dragonslayer), Krug has remained a highly fanciful and intriguing product. Spawned from the early 00s indie Montreal scene, Krug has mastered his own mythological interests alongside playing the instruments needed to bear fruit upon our minds. Of course, he is a perfectionist and demands that same fanatical level from all around him. This decade has been the only one that could have birthed Krug, a man whose restlessness is matched only by the careful detail in his lyrics. Note the primeval howl that reverberates through You are a Runner and I am my Father’s Son or the sudden, melodic shift in tension on Apollo and the Buffallo and Anna Anna Anna Oh or even the sheer drums banging over repeated lines of Paper Lace. His genius is not to obfuscate but rather invite everyone to listen in to his thoughts even if the content explored is tautological. His labyrinthine style (starting slowly, only to unwind surely with melody) has started to influence other artists as they experiment with side-projects as well. It will be interesting to watch his progression next decade because his vision cannot be held into one setting or group or phase for too long and it promises to be a splendid ride.







Kanye West:

Moving from producer to rapper is a dream for most (it didn’t quite work for Timbaland) but it is the unwavering reality now for Kanye West, a man whose destiny we have been following since 2004. His output as a producer alone is amazing: a drawback to the 1970s blues style suffused with a sudden, modern shift in modulation. It may be due to his upbringing but one suspects that it is more West trying to present a different bite to the hip/hop cherry. By producing work for the likes of Jay Z and Alicia Keys, the urge to be in the spotlight must have overpowered him. Given his ego, the stylistic flourishes that bookend The College Dropout could only have been sublime…and they were. Inspired by a near-fatal car accident, West emerged from the nay-saying to present the best hip/hop debut of the decade. All this done with the gangsta/thug imagery that almost every rapper was expected to project just to sell records. This would mark the first, but not the last time West would stand up for his expressions. Whereas other hip/hop artists use their music as a tool to front some useless claim of thuggery, West is more interested in parsing out life experiences into something fulfilling. His outrageous mid-show claims have become legendary but they ultimately add to his appeal.







Animal Collective:

The defining band of the decade...not for the hoopla that has surrounded the release of Merriweather Post Pavillion but more precisely because of the journey they’ve taken to land at such an exalted place. Starting out exactly at the start of the decade, the band (Avery Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin & Geologist) has moved from freak/folk minimalists to the apex of the movement itself. The online blog community and myriad of webzines that have watched apprehensively and nurtured their every step can now look back and marvel at the startling results. Even as recent as their Sung Tongs set, the band was still dawdling with abrasive sounds with the odd catchy effect. That changed with their next work, Feels and it’s been a career-defining trio of releases since then. The warm melodies of that effort would segue into the fuzzy, intricate musings of Strawberry Jam, where the roots of the current album depart. It’s an ever-evolving door of experimentation and credit must go for the band sticking through the immense expectation that now awaits them. Even with the various side projects involved, they have created possibilities for countless bands out there and set the template of following one’s heart.









Bradford Cox:

Every decade needs a freaky-looking kid that makes us pay full attention and here’s our winner. Cox is of course lead singer behind the shoe-graze of Deerhunter and front of his other main group, Atlas Sound. Hailing from the same part of Georgia that gave us REM, Cox’s under-the-radar presence in the music landscape is deceptive. Cox is the premier shoe-gaze artist doing music now. With 2008’s Weird Era/ Microcastle and this year’s Logos, his manifesto of sound being crafted under the sparest of tools has become the standard. Given the trials of his life (suffering from Marfan syndrome, being sexually abused, ungaingly tall) it’s no wonder that music would become his refuge but without the glare of mainstream to contend with, Cox has been able to perfect his craft.



M.I.A:

What else to say about this woman? The fact that MIA is now a major player in popular music was not by mistake. Starting from blog curiosity of a single ('Galang')to an engineered opus of a sound that was yet fully shaped, MIA stepped up to the proverbial plate with the world behind, in front and sideways just waiting. The gamble paid off with her debut ('Arular') but it was 'Kala' that transformed her forever into the cultural icon that she is now. Given her training in design, her pastiche style towards recorded music has documented a woman steady in footing and resolute in heart. More endearingly, the mantle heldso long by Bjork as the most innovative in pop music was won over. That signified a baton being passed on and, like Erykah Badu a decade earlier, she has forced everyone else to step up their game. If her gritty sound enales the streets to enter the studio then it is because she has always felt the need to push their relevance unto everyone else. As Stevie Wonder said decades ago....she's a bad mamma jamba.

My 2010 Grammy Predictions:

Well, it's that time of year where NARAS decides to self-congratulate itself for supposedly producing good music. Never mind the fact that album sales are down and dismal. NARAS has yet to realise that music as we've known it is about to change drastically. This decade may be closing but it's been the most defining for independent music ever. The rise of music blogs and zines like Pitchformedia and innovations like YouTube and Bandstocks now mean that big label distribution isno longer the only way for recorded music to get out there. The Grammys still function as a mainstream event but the indie shadow is closing in. Even that other behemoth of recorded music, Billboard, is now considering downloads as a means pf tracking sing popularity. NARAS continues to pigeon-hole critically acclaimed acts into the one category (best alternative album) as a means of alienating them from everything else. I've long berated the nomination process for Grammys but there must be additional categories as well for balance.

As for the nomins themselves, Beyonce, Taylor Swift and U2 are set to grab the most nominations, especially in the major fields. I have done some analysis as well so check back after December 2nd prime time nomination show to see how I did and, as always, feel free to comment.

Neil



Record of the Year: usually awarded to the biggest selling, most visible songs on Billboard so there can be no doubt here. Animal Collective’s My Girls has been touted but not even the millions of hits it got on youtube can compare to the full mainstream onslaught on show here.

Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)—Beyonce
Poker Face—Lady Gaga
Boom Boom Pow—Black Eyed Peas
Love Story—Taylor Swift
Get On Your Boots—U2



Album of the Year: fairly straight-forward to predict as U2 will always get nominated. Beyonce and Swift had huge selling albums. Toussaint has the older vote locked given the nature of his jazz ensemble. Greenday have become respected members of NARAS and I expect they will edge out Kanye West (808s & Heartbreak) though it could break either way. Kanye has been nominated in this category for his previous albums but given his tirades recently this will be a gauge of his popularity. One can’t discount Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan but I’ve noticed a recent reluctance by NARAS to shower them in major categories of late. I’m not sure if Lady Gaga will supplant anyone here especially as she can be honored in minor categories. Of course, if year-end lists were influential then recent work by Phoenix, Grizzly Bear, Yeah Yeah Yeah and Animal Collective would be here.

No Line on the Horizon—U2
21st Century Breakdown—Greenday
I am…Sasha Fierce—Beyonce
Fearless—Taylor Swift
The Bright Mississippi—Allen Toussaint



Song of the Year: pretty solid picks as this usually goes hand in hand with ‘record of the year’. As powerful as Patrick Wolf’s The Bachelor was though I can’t see him getting a nod. Kelly Clarkson is a possibility as well.

Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)—Beyonce
Love Story—Taylor Swift
Get On Your Boots—U2
Pretty Wings—Maxwell
Like You’ll never See me Again—Alicia Keys



Best New Artist: the hip/hop artist Drake has been floated around but that’s only if he was on the first ballot sheet which, by my count, he wasn’t. I could be wrong so his name gets included. Lady Gaga is not eligible and I’m not sure if Keri Hilson is either. This category is always tricky to predict because it also takes into consideration artists who are not necessarily new. Visibility in the mainstream helps which, alas, doesn’t help a few names like FrYars and Mica Levi (Micachu) even though they are deserving acts.

David Cook
MGMT
Zach Brown Band
Kid Cudi
Drake



Best Alternative Album of the Year: while we wait for NARAS to just create a set of categories dedicated to indie music, this remains the coolest one because it does reward critics’ favorites. Radiohead won last year so you get my point.

Dear Science,--TV on the Radio
It’s Blitz—Yeah Yeah Yeah
Merriweather Post Pavillion—Animal Collective
Bitte Orca—Dirty Projectors
Veckatimest—Grizzly Bear

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

Gimme Fiction (Spoon) (2005):

the indie-rock darlings have been moving from strength to strength and here is their greatest effort. ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

Voodoo (D’angelo) (2000):

it took five years for D’angelo’s sophomore to emerge and now with all the details we’ve become privy to one realises why it has not been followed-up as yet. From the stunning Untitled (How Does it Feel) to the sweet refrain of Chicken Grease, this body of work proves that he really has no equal. ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

The Marshall Mathers LP (Eminem) (2000):

if his debut a year earlier had been the PG-13 introduction them Eminem would shock America with this stunning sophomore effort. Kill You is a rap fantasy about torturing his mother in a spiel worthy of Freud. Nonetheless, the quality of his rhymes and lyrical flow is undeniable: critics couldn’t get enough nor could the millions of teens who ate it all up making him an icon in the process. But underneath the excess and hype lies some brilliant tracks (The Way I Am, Drug Ballad, The Real Slim Shady, ect). ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

Frightened Rabbit (The Midnight Organ Fight) (2008):

no matter how much music one consumes, there’s bound to be a band that gets overlooked year-end time. I totally missed this gem last year but here I make amends because this Scottish trio know how to melt the cold away with their indie pop brand. ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

Song for the Deaf Album (Queens of the Stone Age) (2002):

the third album by the super-group features fierce drumming by David Grohl and the concept of a long drive through the American Midwest. ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

The Black Album (Jay-Z) (2003):

having achieved all that he wanted to before, Jay now was intent on making statements and The Black Album was a sequential comparison to other mega-stars in popular culture. There was the braggadocio of Dirt off your Shoulder and the devilish rap of Lucifer, produced by Kanye West. This would signify Jay’s approach to hip/hop this decade: a pop-driven mash-up that produces stuff like 99 Problems, a track that had critics wetting their pants. This was, after-all, to be his final body of work before retiring and any producer that was hot game at the time produced something off it, from Timbaland to The Neptunes. The aim of this approach was no doubt to garner diversity but Jay is perhaps the only rapper currently thriving who has such juice naturally. As proved by My First Song, he needs no one to get down to basic rap and have it bouncing off the walls. A stunning album full of highs even though Justify My Thug should never have made it past the edit stage. ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise (2005):

the most immediate thing about the album is the tender layers scaffolding tracks like Casimir Pulaski Day and the stately Come On! Feel the Illinoise. Other tracks like Decatur…name-drop famous Americans throughout what would continue his ambitious quest to represent every state in song. Of course, Stevens flourishes elsewhere Jacksonville is a luscious number replete with swirling guitars and faux vocals. Even when criticizing his subject material (John Wayne Gacy, Jr) Sufjan never comes across as preachy.

The Best 100 Songs of 2000-2009: Part 9/10

the penultimate batch...







Snake in the Grass (Thomas Function): the ultimate punk one-two punch song.



The Only Bones that Show (Baby Dee): the rasping, guttural longing of a man transfigured by pain.



Mykonos (Fleet Foxes): uprooted tenderness juxtaposed with immense hurt.



While You Wait for the Others (Grizzly Bear): a sickly-sweet psychedelic wonder.



Stay Loose (Belle and Sebastian): a sad pop caper that loses and regains hope with amazing speed.



The Sloganeer: Paradise (Meshell NdegeOcello): Fantastic jazz imprint. NdegeOcello continues to merge her expanded sense of melody with her forceful lyrical input and such a result is gorgeous as well as groovy.



Kidz Are So Small (Deerhoof): a blissful collage of Bjork-like childish admissions that work in an off-beat, simplistic manner. Witness how Satomi’s vocals concede ground to the bare essentials driving the tune and one realizes how nuanced her work has become.


Also Frightened (Animal Collective): dub-step meets persistent electronic waves of distortion; trust Animal Collective to unearth a sub-genre within their cadre of sound



Ring the Alarm (Beyonce): the first real vindictive twitch from the decade’s defining R&B self-made diva.



Almost Crimes (Broken Social Scene): a lovely, electro-dance mash-up of strife and tension.

The Best 100 Songs of 2000-2009: Part 8/10

Pass this On (The Knife): lovely gender-bender tale of unrequited love. ()


Fangela (Here We Go Magic): throws in hand claps and an undeniable 80s vibe. ()


Sincerely Jane (Janelle Monae): music as a societal lesson. ()


Paris is Burning (St. Vincent): tale of revolutionary woe spun gothic style. ()


The Leash (Xiu Xiu): The male-to-female sexual transgression in popular music has no greater lyricist than Jamie Stewart and The Leash is a brilliant stab at the resentment festered on both sides of this obsession. It is unreservedly queer--not in the way that Antony Hegary is--but Stewart can frame tunes that both sexes can recognize their foibles in. History is replete with men rejecting fellow men as lovers, denying that part of themselves that readily is seen as weakness. Stewart frames The Leash from the view of the forlorn lover who is at one hurt yet understanding. 'God had made your sweetheart wrong/ born to suffer/born only to die', he croons in one couplet. Yet there is urgency to resolve too; the track ends with, 'but you cannot deny me as a woman/ oh ensign/ I was your woman'. Disturbing yet morbidly fascinating. ()


Cuckoo, Cuckoo (Animal Collective): Strawberry Jam’s uber experiment, with its wild pulse throbbing with rawness. ()


E.I. (Nelly): a closer examination reveals depth to this oft-spurned crunk masterpiece. ()


Brooklyn (We go Hard) (Jay Z feat. Santigold): pure swagger. ()


Lie Down Here and Be My Girl (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds): funky bad-ass tale as commandment. ()


1 Thing (Amerie): not quite the revolutionary after-all but read hot steam nonetheless. ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

Ruby Blue (Roisin Murphy) (2005):

Murphy’s first solo effort continued collaboration with Matthew Herbert to great success. A track like Ramalama (Bang Bang) proved the maturity Murphy had morphed into after her Moloko days. ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

Dig Lazarus Dig (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) (2008):

rock’s grumpy rebel delivers redemption in style.

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

Strawberry Jam (Animal Collective) (2007):

a grand, sweeping marriage of sunny Beach Boys sounds and persistent 21st-century freak/folk, Strawberry Jam is more ambitious than their previous work (high praise indeed). The electronic beats hinge on Tare’s lovelorn vocals but not once does he omit the sheer dazzling pleasure of sound. This is the listening experience that Animal Collective has come to represent best. Peacebone is the first blast of cool magic, imagining itself as a fantastic link between reality and the line of dreams. The album summons its craft through meticulous arrangements of its makers, Panda Bear, Tare, Geologist and Deakin. #1 suffuses a phalanx of creepy vocals with angelic harmoniesin a sublime blend. Cuckoo, Cuckoo is the uber experiment, drumming along with its harsh insistency.

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

The College Dropout (Kanye West) (2004):

a stunningly blazing debut.

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

Boy in the Corner (Dizzie Rascal) (2003):

Britain’s antithesis of hip/hop passes from Tricky to this kid with some serious flow

The Best 100 Songs of 2000-2009: Part 7/10

Shove It (Santigold); kicks ass and seductive as hell too. ()


Walking with Thee (Clinic): a rock quickie that never stops giving. ()


Glow (Nelly Furtado): La Bella Furtado treats the underground with her fabulousness and it works. ()


Freetime (Kenna): a less sober pop/rock aeuter than Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson and TV on the Radio but no less a threat as evidenced here. ()


Alla This (Ani DiFranco): A vicious yet sweet anti-war, anti-branding, anti-sexist track that restores the feminine mystique only DiFranco seems to hold up, years after being out in the fields. It figures such a complex artist would not be able to do a ballad decked out with only personal views on, say, such pastoral things like the changing of the season. Not Ani, not ever. Here she swipes organized religion, George W Bush and just men on a whole. Whew! ()
Dirt off Your Shoulder (Jay Z): forget 99 Problems and focus on real Jigga Swagger. ()


Hot Wuk (remix) (Mr. Vegas feat. Opal): a huge splice of Jamaican dancehall with an even huger impact on hip/hop culture. ()


For the Pier (and dead Shimmering) (Sunset Rubdown): Spenser Krug does rock drama more lavishly and better than anyone else and here is but one of the many proofs. ()


Wamp Wamp (What it Do) (Clipse): the nefarious gangster rap that cats like Nas can no longer deliver divert into the hands of Clipse and while critics have gone way too overboard to hand them props, this is very much deserved. ()


Miss Jackson (Outkast): revenge Badu ode? ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

Santogold (Santogold)(2008):

Philly native Santi White is the residual force of this entity (John Hill runs the tweaks in the background). The album effortlessly mirrors the 80’s pop vibe she clearly fell in love with growing up, without overdoing it. Subtle tracks like Lights Out and Anne reveal a Pixies fixation that is mingled with a contemporary funk intuition. Even better, the punk-tinged You’ll Find a Way runs its heavenly chorus with remarkable skill. Not content there, she rolls out ska by numbers on Say Aha and infuses it with dub and new wave. If that hasn’t hooked you then L.E.S Artistes tags along merely for bragging rights and, as brawta, Shove It downright kicks ass. She could have comfortably fit right into ‘American M.I.A’ space critics were desperately trying to pin her down in but White’s brilliance is as stubborn as it is unique. One hell of an authoritative body of work too. ()

THE 100 BEST ALBUMS of 2000-2009:

I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (Yo La Tengo) (2006):

like drinking champagne under-water and never wanting to come back up for air. ()