Many of you who read this blog know that my music tastes follow the melodies and grooves wherever they lead and never the trends. So, no you won’t see any Janet or Whitney or Beyonce or any of the other contrived pop diva holograms filling much of my gay friends’ charts. Please go ahead and hate me now. For all else open to great music being made outside of U.S. Big Radio’s Top 20, continue reading and check these releases out on Amazon MP3, iTunes, eMusic (my hangout), CD Baby, and Magnatune.com. The following CDs received the most play from me this year.
Jon Hopkins – Insides (Electronic)
The disc, Insides, is an example of what you really want in electronic music: a sense of melody and variation without feeling disjointed. Jon Hopkins brings thick bass stabs and neo classical piano together in a way that really works and remains solid from beginning to end.
Kevin Sandbloom – Under Pink and Bourbon Skies (Blues)
Kevin returns to the naked acoustic soul that first grabbed listeners in 2002 with his solo debut, Blues for Bricktop, while not forgetting the immediate grooves that made his projects, Like a Bird, and my favorite from 2007, Mad Love Activate, so engaging. Kevin continues to deliver a blues-rock experience that still says less is so much more.
Nathan Haines – Right Now! (Jazz)
I believe this is a re-issue of a CD released in 2007 in Nathan Haines’ own New Zealand. However for introducing me to the vocals of Tama Waipara and making a very listenable pop/jazz CD, Nathan gets props from me. I really the tracks, “Home”, “Hold On”, and the title track with vocal from Marlena Shaw. Yes!
Prefuse 73 — The Forest of Oversimplicity (Electronic)
This latest E.P., The Forest of Oversensitivity, is cool to my ear as water to the throat. For one, the songs are longer and sound complete compared to the glitchy pop bubbles he’s treated me to on other full CDs. Second, his interpretation of hip-hop and electronics still makes good use of melody, with or without vocals (although the vocals in the track, “Always Alone Choir”, continue to play in my mind long after the track is done). This disc holds five cuts that are worth your pennies.
Dave Bianchi – Baby Disco (dub/rock/jazz)
From the haunting piano and strings in the album’s introduction, you know that this will be the start of a good musical journey. And through the following 12 tracks, Dave Bianchi uses grand production and intimate, even tender vocals to melodically weave the stories of dissatisfaction, disaffection, and discovery. With each storytelling, it’s clear to me that this is already one of my top CDs of 2009. If you like your alternative rock with elements of jazz and melancholy dub, no doubt it will be one of your favorites of this year, too. Fave cuts are “Cross My Finger”, “Dry Heat”, “The Joke’s on You”, and “Currency Exchange”
The West Exit – Extra Century Perception (Pop)
Another jazz/pop gem of the year with angular rhythms and vocal stacks that take me right into what I love about the sounds of groups like Level 42. The tracks, “Vapor Trail”, “Political Science”, and “Snake Oil”, are personal faves here.
Telefon Tel Aviv – Immolate Yourself (electronic)
While this latest CD project, Immolate Yourself, feels darker than previous outings, I feel it is their best project yet. The vocals here are hushed, dubbed, and murmured and the production almost hearkens back to some early ’80s English electronic music influence. Of course, the most upsetting thing is that with the death of Cooper in January 2009, this could be the last TTA project. For now, we have a great work from this duo worthy of your hard-earned dollars. Thank you, Josh and thank you, Charles, for your music.
Tim’m West – In Security: The Golden Error (hip-hop) 
A Duke- and Stanford-educated lecturer, is definitely a pioneer in the gay hip-hop scene, infusing activism and humor with every beat of this CD. This is a very good, old-school soul hip-hop CD. Standout cuts for me are, “Fakery”, 80’s Babies”, and “The F Word”
Fires of Rome – You Kingdom You (Rock) 
If you like your rock music served saucy with hints of David Bowie flavor, make room in your collection for the band, Fires of Rome. Their new CD, You Kingdom You, brings catchy pop-rock and raw sexual imagery together into songs you’ll be humming for more than a minute. The track, “It Makes We Weak”, become an earworm quickly, followed by “Love is a Burning Thing”, and “Set in Stone”
Georgia Anne Muldrow – Umsindo (soul/hip-hop)
Georgia Anne Muldrow’s solo projects just get funkier and funkier. Her latest, Umsindo, is less of the dense piano and vocal chordings that were present on 2006’s Olesi: Fragments of an Earth, and more juicy bare beats and bass which jump into your system from the first bars of “Jina Langu ni Afrika”. The project’s theme speaks personal redemption and self-awareness while acknowledging the hypocrisy found in much of America’s politics. More standouts for me are the cuts, “Roses” (which is featured here minus Mos Def–you can catch his remake on his latest CD), the slow funk stir, “Uhuru Flight”, the sweet lullabye, “E.S.P”, and the criminally-short grooves, “So Far” and “Beya”.
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