The Bay Area may not have a single unified scene, but its diverse musical communities produced a ton of acclaimed records in 2009. The following list collects thirty-two of the highlights that made this another banner year for Bay Area indie music. It's a collection that showcases the depth of Bay Area indie in 2009, and one suspects that few other regions have offered this volume of quality releases this year.
A couple of qualifiers: This isn't a comprehensive list of excellent local records from 2009 or intended as any sort of official Bay Bridged "Best of" set. Plenty of quality releases were left off for the sake of keeping this somewhat manageable. For the same reason, it only includes full lengths, so plenty of terrific EPs and singles are also omitted. With those hedges out of the way, here's a pretty good sampling of SF victories in '09.
Read Part 2 of this collection here.
Download all 32 songs featured in these two articles here (Part 1) and here (Part 2).
The Dodos - Time to Die[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/The-Dodos-Fables.mp3]
The Dodos - "Fables"
Wallpaper. - Doodoo Face
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/03-I-Got-Soul-Im-So-Wasted.mp3]
Wallpaper. - "I Got Soul, I'm So Wasted"
Leopold and His Fiction - Ain't No Surprise
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/come_back.mp3]
Leopold and his Fiction - "Come Back (Now That I'm Here)"
Or, the Whale - Or, the Whale
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/03-Rusty-Gold.mp3]
Or, the Whale - "Rusty Gold"
Thao with The Get Down Stay Down - Know Better Learn Faster
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/KnowBetter.mp3]
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down - "Know Better Learn Faster"
Garrett Pierce - All Masks
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/07-And-The-Ghosts-Boarded-Trains.mp3]
Garrett Pierce - "And The Ghosts Boarded Trains"
Girls - Album
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/02-Laura.mp3]
Girls - "Laura"
Port O'Brien - Threadbare
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/02_My_Will_Is_Good.mp3]
Port O'Brien - "My Will Is Good"
Sholi - Sholi
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/02-Tourniquet.mp3]
Sholi - "Tourniquet"
Sleepy Sun - Embrace
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Sleepy-Sun-New-Age.mp3]
Sleepy Sun - "New Age"
Thee Oh Sees - Help
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/ruby-go-home-1.mp3]
Thee Oh Sees - "Ruby Go Home"
From Monument to Masses - On Little Known Frequencies
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/03-Beyond-God-Elvis.mp3]
From Monument to Masses - "Beyond God & Elvis"
Papercuts - You Can Have What You Want
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/papercutsychwyw.mp3]
Papercuts - "You Can Have What You Want"
The Fresh & Onlys - Grey-Eyed Girls
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/06-Dudes-Got-A-Tender-Heart.mp3]
The Fresh & Onlys - "Dude's Got A Tender Heart"
John Vanderslice - Romanian Names
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/fetal_horses.mp3]
John Vanderslice - "Fetal Horses"
Tempo No Tempo - Waking Heat
[audio:http://www.thebaybridged.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Kilometer.mp3]
Tempo No Tempo - "Kilometer"
I also don’t understand the need to list 32 Bay Area albums of 2009. I’m not accusing you of *perhaps* illegitimately publicizing your-friends-bands, but I just find 32 to be a strange number to choose. Certainly a “top ten” would of sufficed along with a list of honorable mentions.
Yeah, I tried to whittle it to 30, but life is suffering, and I gave up with 32. The whole point is that it’s not a top ten list. It’s a broad survey meant to acknowledge a large collection of exceptional releases without the meaningless cap and arbitrary rankings that make top ten lists uninteresting to me. I’m sure if you look around at this time of year, you’ll be able to find a few top ten lists that should suffice. How about if you want to continue this dialogue, you e-mail me at ben[at]thebaybridged.com?
Thanks for reading!
I also don’t understand the need to list 32 Bay Area albums of 2009. I’m not accusing you of *perhaps* illegitimately publicizing your-friends-bands, but I just find 32 to be a strange number to choose. Certainly a “top ten” would of sufficed along with a list of honorable mentions.
Yeah, I tried to whittle it to 30, but life is suffering, and I gave up with 32. The whole point is that it’s not a top ten list. It’s a broad survey meant to acknowledge a large collection of exceptional releases without the meaningless cap and arbitrary rankings that make top ten lists uninteresting to me. I’m sure if you look around at this time of year, you’ll be able to find a few top ten lists that should suffice. How about if you want to continue this dialogue, you e-mail me at ben[at]thebaybridged.com?
Thanks for reading!
Tempo No Tempo should not be on this list. Sorry Bay Bridged, but you sorta messed up on this one.
Gotta disagree with you there, Emily, but we don’t have to agree on everything. Not until I become president, anyway. When that happens, you’d be well advised to adopt all of my views on everything.
Tempo No Tempo should not be on this list. Sorry Bay Bridged, but you sorta messed up on this one.
Gotta disagree with you there, Emily, but we don’t have to agree on everything. Not until I become president, anyway. When that happens, you’d be well advised to adopt all of my views on everything.