The best albums of 2009

Jan 12 2010 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

WHILE the New Year is traditionally a quiet time for new releases, there’s plenty to look back on from the last 12 months as far as albums go.

Here, we delve into the archives and pick out some of the best long-players from 2009.

HELENE / HELIOTROPE: Following on from previous efforts Postcard and Routines, Heliotrope found Helene Dineen on beguiling form as she explored her familiar themes of love affairs and loneliness. Sadly, it disappeared without trace.

FIGHT LIKE APES / FIGHT LIKE APES AND THE MYSTERY OF THE GOLDEN MEDALLION: The Irish noiseniks have built a career out of filthy electro-punk anthems, and Mystery was an endearing riot that built on the promise of early singles like Lend Me Your Face and Jake Summers.

POLLY SCATTERGOOD / POLLY SCATTERGOOD: The much-hyped singer’s genre-hopping debut on Mute Records lived up to pre-release expectations in grand style, with brilliantly unsettling tracks like Other Too Endless conjuring up a looking glass world where nothing is quite how it first appears.

DIETER SCHÖÖN / LABLAZA: Super-Swede Schöön’s mind-bending album blended hypnotic grooves reminiscent of Krautrock pioneers Can with a free-jazz trumpet whirl that touched on Chilean folk singer Victor Jara. The mad stoner’s lunar landscape was as much movie soundtrack as student disco staple.

DEPECHE MODE / SOUND OF THE UNIVERSE: Twelve albums in and DM produce one of the best efforts of their 28-year career. Chief lyricist Martin Gore took a spiritual stance on a series of spaceage anthems that would have befitted much younger, more histrionical acts renowned for sci-fi leanings such as Muse.

MONO / HYMN TO THE IMMORTAL WIND: Post-rockers Mono ploughed familiarly evocative territory on this sprawling effort. And with it the Japanese four-piece surely secured their place in the pantheon of serious-minded underground shoegazers.

MANIC STREET PREACHERS / JOURNAL FOR PLAGUE LOVERS: Barely two years after propelling themselves back into the major league with the anthem-laden magnum opus Send Away The Tigers, the Welsh band shipped out of Hitsville by putting music to lyrics left behind by missing ideological spearhead Richey Edwards. Mirroring the Manics’ harrowing Edwards-fuelled classic The Holy Bible, Journal was a raw and invigorating listen that was unarguably the finest moment of 2009.

MORTON VALENCE / BOB AND VERONICA RIDE AGAIN: Vocal pairing Anne Gilpin and Robert Hacker Jasset showed a sophisticated line in murky pop deviance on this concept effort. The central characters’ dark journey unfolds in a series of stylish rock ‘n’ roll ballads, duets and love songs that would do justice to the twisted psyches of Jarvis Cocker, Stephen ‘Babybird’ Jones and ex-Wedding Present leader David Gedge.

NAVVY / IDYLL INTANGIBLE: Art rock went pop on this debut offering from the boy / girl four-piece Navvy. Following a fine tradition of abrasive, growling indie that goes all the way back to late-Seventies Adam & The Ants, the results of these grafters’ efforts were anything but dull.

I AM YOUR AUTOPILOT / ROBOTS IN THE ORCHESTRA: Meticulously crafted electronica was the order of the day on this little-know outfit’s debut. Heavily influenced by Spiritualized, I Am Your Autopilot showed daring experimentation on tracks like Yesterday’s Signs and Traces, although widespread recognition continues to elude them.

TEITUR / ALL MY MISTAKES: From the obscurity of the Faroe Islands, Teitur Lassen returned to the UK with a breakthrough set of quirky songs that won airplay in spades, not to mention a place in the hearts of romantics everywhere.

THE REEGS / DEFINITIVE COLLECTION: Successors to Eighties doom-meisters The Chameleons, The Reegs displayed a playful sense of humour in their lyrics, with late street poet Reckless Robbie starring on two of this collection’s top tracks.

RICHARD HAWLEY / TRUELOVE’S GUTTER: The Sheffield performer’s sixth studio album may well be his best so far. While precious little of Truelove’s Gutter was ever likely to make its way on to daytime Radio Two, such an atmospheric retro masterpiece has surely secured Hawley’s reputation as an astute observer of the minutiae of provincial life for years to come.

RADARS / ROCK IS NOT YOUR ENEMY: Perth’s own Radars turned to grunge on their second album and offered an intelligent antidote to so much of the dross that passes as so-called ‘left-field’ these days. Clearly, the duo are being given time and space to work out their own endearing retro aesthetic at their indie label Genepool, and long may it continue.

LIVING COLOUR / THE CHAIR IN THE DOORWAY: American hard rockers Living Colour blasted back in style after five years away. They may have kept a low profile in recent years but this set is sure to help a whole new generation of rock fans discover the band’s versatile ways. Funk, jazz and blues abound amid impressively intense hardcore thrash.