2009’s Best CDs
Given that all the other lists of this sort come out on December 1, I’m two months late with this. But we’ve been over the reasons for that.
This is the second annual MPL’s top ten CD list. 2009, however, was relatively light on the CD reviews, due mostly to busy spring and fall quarters, reviewing massive collections like Beethoven’s symphonies and Melvins v. Minneapolis, and spending a lot of my time reviewing Wagner’s Ring. As a result, I only reviewed six CDs that came out in 2009.
So here they are, MPL’s top ten six albums of 2009:
4.5 lunchboxes:
1) The Bad Plus: For All I Care
4 lunchboxes:
2) Iron And Wine: Around The Well
3.5 lunchboxes (in no particular order):
3) U2: No Line On The Horizon
4) Melvins: Pick Your Battles, Live in Berkeley 1989/Boston 2008
2 lunchboxes: (in no particular order):
5) Bruce Springsteen: Working On A Dream
6) Covered, A Revolution In Sound: Warner Bros. Records
Last year I reviewed 10 2008 albums that received four or more lunchboxes. In 2009 I only reviewed two that achieved that score. And 2009 didn’t have a single five lunchbox album, at least not that got reviewed here and, really, did it even happen if it didn’t get reviewed here? Sucks to be 2009. But of course that’s been covered elsewhere. At least Melvins made the top ten list two years running.
Tags: 2009, CD reviews, music, year in review
January 30th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
I had to wait for The Bad Plus to finish their (sold out) set at the Dakota a couple months ago before we could get in for a late night show. I’ve never wanted to buy a contemporary (i.e., post-Bitches Brew) jazz album (excepting the little Medeski, Martin and Wood jag I went on during college), but your review has me thinking about it…
BTW, when did the new tagline show up?
January 31st, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Modern jazz has a very low hit to miss ratio, and it’s splintered so much it’s hard to navigate. (I can’t stand that Spyro Gyra stuff.) But the best modern jazz is taking inspiration from pop music, as it should. The Bad Plus is amazing, as is Brad Mehldau (MPL review here), who is most famous for doing covers of Radiohead songs.
The new tagline was earlier this week. Thursday?