With the countdown of our favorite LPs of 2009 probably having gone on a bit too long (we’ll refine things for next year), we’re going to do a couple of posts about our favorite EPs and singles of the year as well.  Nothing as in depth as what we just finished up, we promise, but we’ll probably go three posts just to break things up a bit.  No rankings on these, just some music that didn’t fall under the long player format that is worth your time.

The Radio Dept. – David [Single]

Not having listened to The Radio Dept., I was surprised to learn that the Swedish group has been together for nearly 15 years – since this single seems especially relevant to the music that’s been recently released.  “David” is a slow-burning track, looping drums and strings around understated vocals, but the remix by The Rice Twins stands out.  The entire 4-song single shimmers, and it went particularly well with the longer summer days.

The Radio Dept. – David (mp3) from David [Single]

Washed Out – Life of Leisure

Whatever genre you want to place Washed Out in – chillcore, electro-chill (anything chill, really) – their Life of Leisure EP captured something particularly coastal.  The EP ebbs and flows along simply, washing itself over you, feeling like a sun-bleached beach scene.

Washed Out – Get Up (mp3) from Life of Leisure EP

Small Black – Small Black

In the same musical vein as Washed Out, Small Black actually has a remix of their Small Black EP track “Despicable Dogs” done by Washed Out.  As a whole, the EP sounds a little less polished, with a little more edge than their counterparts, but their glitch-y take on the electronica that has come before them this year is equally viable and impressive.

Small Black – Bad Lover (mp3) from Small Black EP

2. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Andy : 1 :: Dave : 5

Throughout this countdown, Dave and I tried to break the writing up equally – generally along the lines of who ranked the specific album higher on his list.  Today is my Number One album of 2009, so I’ll treat it as such.  Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca was so entirely ahead of every other album released in 2009 to me that I’ve had it in as my Number One since its release in June.

Not having listened to Dirty Projectors in any significant capacity prior to this release, I have the unique position of being able to judge an album without tethering it to anything that the band has released previously.  Even in other reviews, Bitte Orca seems to be referred to as the fulfillment of the promise that has always been Dirty Projectors.  Everything has come together seamlessly.  The band’s avant-garde rock is an absolute revelation here.

At its most grandiose moments, the album still feels as though it’s going to expand further.  Not unlike a recipe you know by heart, the band adds ingredients liberally, switches things out in order to test others, and the results are just as impressive to ingest.  The album expands, swells, fades and contracts.  It defies categorization and convention from the outset – the stunning “Cannibal Resource” – and from there it refuses to relent.

When I really started listening to the lyrics, I thought “Two Doves” was a paraphrase of Song of Solomon.  (Two Bible references in two days?)  It’s not, but despite that, Bitte Orca is, in the end, a glimpse of something almost divine in a world where attaining mere secular status is becoming more and more difficult to come by.  It is remarkable.

Dirty Projectors – Temecula Sunrise (mp3)

Dirty Projectors – No Intention (mp3)

(Both songs from Bitte Orca)

4. Girls – Album
Andy : 4 :: Dave : 9

While listening to Girls’ debut  - Album – to write up this review, I first wrote out sentences in an attempt to draw out of me exactly what I thought the album sounded like.  Somewhere in the midst of adjectives like “sun-bleached” and “updated” and “tragic,” I came up with the following sentence:

“Tingling, smart indie-rock, filled up intermittently with hand claps, breathless harmonica and failed relationships.”

The trouble is, that could describe any number of albums released in 2009 – not to mention a ridiculously large swath of the albums that comprise popular music.  But despite Album‘s close relation to all that’s come before it, there’s a timeless nature to it; it immediately calls to mind the best, most upbeat and likable parts of The Beach Boys and Elvis Costello.  But the dour outlook that runs through the entire album is decidedly current, and the contrast between the music and the tone of the lyrics makes for a fascinating result.

Any discussion surrounding Girls inevitably drifts to the fact that lead singer Christopher Owen was a part of the Children of God cult up until he was 16, and how much of the art he currently creates was influenced by that time.  It’s interesting to consider; was his art borne because of the repressive nature of the cult, or did it blossom in spite of it?  I don’t have an answer to that, and I suppose that it ultimately doesn’t matter – because either way, Album is a remarkable effort.

Girls – Big Bad Mean Motherfucker (mp3)

Girls – Summertime (mp3)

(Both songs from Album)