BEST POP MUSIC, 2009 (mix here, lists and links below)

The best pop music of 2009 reflected the Age of Obama and announced a bold, new future.

The year's defining releases shared an air of replacement and rejuvenation, of proud and mixed identity, of synthesizing values and unifying classes in an authentic way. Nationally and locally, there was a general raising of taste and intelligence bars.

Gossip and Yeah Yeah Yeahs made radio rock relevant again with "Music for Men" and "It's Blitz," both zeitgeisty, synth-inflected homeruns that rocked artfully without shame, irony, or pretentiousness. College kids and indie America listened to Animal Collective's "Merriweather Post Pavilion" nonstop, an album that completely turned the concept of "jam band music" away from noodle-y guitar-a-thons and toward hypnotic rave pop. National rap had a stagnant non-year, but thanks to a man called The-Dream, popular R&B developed a new language out of timpani-tuned toms and buzzing synth walls.

Locally, the story was that Seattle, rock town of rock towns, had its famous guitar scene overshadowed by hiphop. This was because local rock refused to adapt to the Obama Age. It stayed traditional, and though the best of it was staunchly so—the devastating '60s/'70s-sounding "Sunset/Sunrise" by Dutchess and the Duke; the gloriously guitarist "Middle Cyclone" by Neko Case (she's from Tacoma)—the rest was merely traditional by default, sounding like the '70s or '90s for lack of fresh ideas. Rock concerts in 2009 were a routine snooze; everybody went through motions or was too reserved to feel anything.

Area hiphop, on the other hand, was fully entered into the Age of Obama, seemed like it was determined to end its own ongoing creative stall. Mp3s flew on blogs all year, but more progress was made live in concert. If you wanted to go to a club and see young men and women dancing to pop music, to feel danger and smell sex, you saw Mad Rad, Capitol Hill's dirt-bag b-boy band. If you wanted comedy, another thing Seattle rock forgot about, you saw They Live!'s preposterously enthusiastic West Coast/New Jack Swing revue. For passionate pathos, you saw Fatal Lucciauno. Funkiness? Helladope. Left-field queer-hop that (for once) was actually good? THEESatisfaction. For off-the-rails, art gallery, hardcore experimentalism, the source was Champagne Champagne. Throughout the year, local rap acts freely collaborated with each other and engaged with the rock community. Beyond Mark Gajadhar (drummer in Past Lives) being in Champagne Champagne, Seattle rappers embraced rock by acting like rock stars and also playing mixed bills where rock and rap acts shared the same stage.

The best Seattle release of 2009 was hiphop, but stood out from the main thrust. It was Shabazz Palaces' twin micro-albums "Shabazz Palaces" and "Of Light" (like side A and B of a record). The man behind the beats and rhymes—Grammy winner Ishmael Butler, formerly of Digable Planets, currently of the Central District—should get his due in 2010.

The dark-vibed sibling recordings were miles more mature than all local rap in recent memory, more inventive than other local music of any genre, and perhaps more cohesive as an album-type statement than anything nationally. They were unabashedly non-commercial, petrified into a rare blend of bohemian-gangsterness, raised-fist Black pride and unforced, unremitting abstraction. They reeked of their own identity and required months of listening to soak up. One song ("Chuch") almost sounded like dubstep, double-speed and half-speed, like something that would come out of the UK. Others were compacted dust-rap, the drums a nervous twitch. The lyrics were imagistic, samples earthy, bass deep, production value high.

Ishmael Butler began "Shabazz Palaces" and "Of Light" at a stylistic starting point that was post- most other hiphop and advanced from there. Of all pop musicians in Seattle in 2009, he made the most of his freedom.

Below is my favorite music from 2009. Please argue with me.

TOP TEN

Shabazz Palaces "Shabazz Palaces" & "Of Light" micro-albums

Shabazz Palaces live on KEXP:

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Gossip "Music for Men"

"Four Letter Word" by Gossip:

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Madlib "Beat Konducta 5&6"

"Rolled Peach Optimos" by Madlib:

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs "It's Blitz"

"Soft Shock" (acoustic) by Yeah Yeah Yeahs:

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The xx "xx"

"Stars" by The xx:

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Dirty Projectors "Bitte Orca"

"Two Doves" by Dirty Projectors:

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Handsome Furs "Face Control"

"Talking Hotel Arbat Blues" by Handsome Furs:

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Dutchess & the Duke "Sunset/Sunrise"

"Living This Life" by Dutchess & the Duke:

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Mulatu Astatke and The Heliocentrics "Inspiration Information 3"

"Masengo" by Mulatu Astatke and The Heliocentrics:

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Hudson Mohawke "Butter"

"FUSE" by Hudson Mohawke:

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LOCAL TOP TEN

Shabazz Palaces "Shabazz Palaces" & "Of Light" micro-albums
Gossip "Music for Men"
Dutchess & the Duke "Sunset/Sunrise"
Fresh Espresso "Glamour"
Helladope/Tay Sean (various downloadable songs)
THEE Satisfaction "Snow Motion"
Neko Case "Middle Cyclone"
They Live! "The Dro Bots Saga" EP
Mad Rad (various concerts)
Talbot Tagora "Lessons in the Woods or a City"

HONORABLE MENTION TOP 20

Phoenix "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"
The-Dream "Love vs. Money"
Zomby "One Foot Ahead of the Other" EP
Mike Slott "Lucky 9teen" micro-album
Rustie "Bad Science" EP
Mos Def "The Ecstatic"
No Age "Losing Feeling" EP
Dam-Funk "Toeachizown"
Mayer Hawthorne "A Strange Arrangement"
Grizzly Bear "Veckatimest"
Animal Collective "Merriweather Post Pavillion"
Animal Collective "Fall Be Kind" EP
MC Paul Barman "Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud"
Edan "Echo Party" EP
Starf___er "Jupiter"
Micachu and the Shapes "Jewellry"
Passion Pit "Manners"
Drake "So Far Gone"
Atlas Sound "Logos"
Broadcast and the Focus Group "Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age"

TOP TEN CONCERTS

Gossip at Showbox
Starf___er at Capitol Hill Block Party
The xx at Sonic Boom Records (Ballard)
Handsome Furs at Neumo's
Richard Price at Benaroya Hall (not a concert)
Fresh Espresso at Black Lodge
Dirty Projectors at Neumo's
Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Sasquatch!
Rodriguez at Triple Door
Linda & Ron's Dad at Neumo's