10 Albums That Caught the Bru's Attention from 2009

We're halfway through 2009 and it's time to ponder what I have been spinning on my iPod this year. Without further ado, here's the "10 Albums That Caught the Bru's Attention from 2009" in alphabetical order:

The Weirding / Astra
Leading the so-called Second Wave of Psychedelic Prog and hailing from the sunny San Diego, Astra are treading the Pink Floyd of the Meddle era. Atmospheric and instrumental jams are framed with soothing and melancholic vocal harmonies. I have a feeling that it will be very hard to top it this year.




200 Tons of Bad Luck / Crippled Black Phoenix
Another band that worships Pink Floyd, CBP is the brainchild of former Electric Wizard drummer Justin Greaves and Mogwai bassist Dominic Atchison. Along with a troupe of musicians from bands as wide-ranging as Iron Monkey and Gonga, the duo's new album is a wonderful and bizarre mixture of Pink Floyd and Faith No More. Weird and awesome.


Black Clouds and Silver Linings / Dream Theater
Subtlety has never been the forte of Dream Theater and this is another same old same old. However, when the same old is this good there's no reason to argue. The band again go to territories that other musicians fear to tread and come up with an uber-masculine slab of progressive metal. Though lacking a clear-cut classic, the band are still on the right track.



21st Century Breakdown / Green Day
The follow-up to the massively successful American Idiot was worth the wait. Green Day managed to milk four singles from that album and it looks like they can repeat the feat again. Barely. If American Idiot was Tommy, then this is Quadrophenia. The three-act structure, pretentious it may be, adds a little seasoning to the proceedings and Green Day still manage to be relevant.

Wavering Radiant / Isis
Oh, post-rock. You gotta love it. With each album Isis get a little more progressive and blur the distinction between the genre they have spearheaded and what they actually play - progressive music with a hardcore edge. The vocals are more upfront and the arrangements more taut. All in all a very good album that should propel them to mainstream success.

Journal for Plague Lovers / Manic Street Preachers
Manics are back! Using the lyrics Richey Edwards left in his journal and going back to Jenny Saville for the cover, this is a quintessential Manics album. Dare I say it's their best effort since The Holy Bible? I think I will say that - the angst is back with a hint of melancholy and longing. It's like 1994 all over again.


Octahedron / The Mars Volta
This is Mars Volta's "unplugged" album. Perhaps not an accurate description, but you get the idea. It's an album with more "Televators" and "The Widow" than "Inertiatic ESP" and "L'Via L'Viazquez". John Frusciante takes a more central role and his influence is obvious. This could very well be the most important release in the band's history and I'm curious as to what direction they will take for their next one.

Crack the Skye / Mastodon
Rasputin. Astral travel. Stephen Hawking. These are just some of the themes from the Atlanta four-piece's new album - perhaps the most important metal release of the year. They seem to get better with every release and I haven't got a clue how they will top this. I'm taking what I said back: this will be the album of the year.


Amor Vincit Omnia / Pure Reason Revolution
Taking a more electronic approach (perhaps anticipating Muse's new album), this is quite a shock knowing what these guys used to be like. I have to admit it took me a while to get over the beats and techno-like passages, but once you peel away all of that, there appear songs of quality that could rival their first release. "Deus Ex Machina" is my favourite song of the year so far.

Crooked Timber / Therapy?
The boys from Belfast are back with a bang. Their previous effort, One Cure Fits All, was pretty anonymous. With this new release they got their mojo back with a Joy Division-inspired brilliance. The title track and "Exiles" are haunting songs that should feature in their live set for years to come. They are a cut above the rest and they deserve to be so much bigger.


There will be a few more albums that I'm sure will creep up into this list by the end of the year. Clutch, Muse, and Aerosmith are just a few of the bands that are set to release new albums and from what I've heard from the new Clutch album, it sounds amazing. Oh, it's on.