After the rather mediocre year in music that was 2008, 2009 was actually pretty decent. A number of bands that have been around for ages put together accomplished albums, and some exciting new acts came along and produced some absolute winners.
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This list is not about finding the absolute worst albums of the 2009. In any given year it would be trivial to find 5 terrible pop/R&B/Susan Boyle albums that would fit the bill. Rather, this list is about naming and shaming those bands that could have done better. All but one of these bands has, in my opinion, released much better work previously and should have never released the album that they did this year. In many ways, this list could be renamed to be the most disappointing albums of the year. (more…)

The Streets have been a fantastically solid force in modern music, putting out consistently good albums since their 2002 debut, Original Pirate Material. They are one of those bands that are hard to label, straddling the lines between Garage, Hip Hop and Electronica. Considering they are responsible for one of the best albums of the decade (2004′s A Grand Don’t Come For Free) any new album is worth careful consideration. So it is with some excitement that we come to look at the new effort, Everything is Borrowed.

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