MORNING MUSUME
Platinum 9 Disc
(Zetima [Japan]/JapanFiles.com [USA])
Available on CD, iTunes US and Japan, and JapanFiles.com

Morning Musume’s 9th studio album (10th if you count Cover You) shows the band at their prime – all the better for an album that wound up being their first ever American release, the second of two studio albums by the band’s longest-lived lineup, and the album that preceded their US performing debut. One of Morning Musume’s many strengths is that they put out solid albums and not just solid singles – this album was just a gentle reminder of that.

SHONEN KNIFE
Super Group
(Good Charamel)
Available on CD, iTunes, AmazonMP3 and eMusic

Back at full strength (officially) for the first time in years (the previous few albums were mainly duo situations that had leader/guitarist/primary songwriter Naoko Yamano doing double duty on guitar and bass) and back on an American label for the first time since 2006 (one album released in-between, Fun Fun Fun, is only available as an import), the veteran punk/J-pop darlings hand in their finest album yet in the process. The songs are solid, the harmonies are dead on, and Naoko-sama, while not exactly making with Michael Angelo Batio-esque shredding, is getting looser and more confident with her lead guitar skills (her guitar solo on “Muddy Bubbles Hell” being a case in point). A new album is already coming out in Japan next month; hopefully their new American label won’t hesitate to release it here.

Before I reveal the top two albums of the year, I figured I’d throw in something different to prolong the agony of revealing those two top albums… by throwing up a second list, and a first for this blog (and its predecessor): A top singles list.

#10) MILDRED AND THE MICE “I Like My Mice (Dead)” (Third Man)
Officially supposed to be a socially awkward goth chick from a small town in Kentucky, but more rumored to be the wife of Jack White playing a rather eccentric character, with a few Raconeturs/Dead Weather members posing as Mildred’s “band”. Either way, this is demented two-chord garage punk that makes The Cramps look like the Carpenters.

#9) BIF NAKED “I Won’t Cry (Fuck You 2)” (Her Royal Majesty)
Bif’s big comeback single after her cancer-forced layoff… and boy, did she come back swinging! Never before did a standard 50’s doo-wop chord sequence sound so menacing.

#8) WE ARE THE FALLEN “Bury Me Alive” (self-released)
Mistake this for Evanescence, and you wouldn’t be far off, as three-fifths of this group were the creative hub of Ev. Throw in a more fuller-bodied-voice compared to Amy Lee (courtesy of American Idle alumni Carly Smithson), and you’ll wonder why The Open Door didn’t sound like this. The band had planned to slip out leaked tracks every month or so, but fate – and a contract with Universal Music – intervened. Now this is just a teaser for next spring’s LP.

#7) CARL SAGAN “A Glorious Dawn” (Third Man)
This song – comprising of AutoTuned monologues from the late scientist/TV personality’s Cosmos mini-series – started off as an experimental pro-science viral video with a free download available to those who wanted it. Then Jack White heard and saw the video, wanted to put it out on his own label, and the rest is history – just like the Voyager Golden Record whose design is reproduced on the back of the one-sided single.

#6) AYUMI HAMASAKI “Sunrise/Sunset ~Love Is All~” (Avex)
Two ways (uptempo and ballad) of saying the same thing, and both done very well.

#5) KODA KUMI “3 Splash” [EP] (Rhythm Zone/Avex)
Three sides of Kuu-chin in one handy single: Upbeat pop-rocker (“Lick me”), heavy techno in the vein of “Taboo” (“Ecstasy”), and a solid foray into funk-rock (“Hashire!”) – and all with PVs to go with it. Sold.

#4) MORNING MUSUME “Kimagure Princess” (Zetima)
The opening high-register vocals notwithstanding, after three rather emo singles a more upbeat number was the perfect track to close out both one of Morning Musume’s most triumphant years as well as Koharu Kusumi’s tenure in the band.

#3) AKB48 “Namida Surprise” (King)
In my opinion, the best of AKB48’s four single releases this year. It was definitely the most memorable, both for the title track and for the solo cut by Team K member Erena Ono, “First Kiss”.

#2) MORNING MUSUME “Shouganai Yume Oibito” (Zetima [Japan]/JapanFiles [US])
Referring to this particular period of Morning Musume’s singles as their “emo” period should not be interpreted as a putdown, because it isn’t. The fact that this single took Morning Musume back to the #1 spot on the singles chart in Japan shows that they were on the right track at the time; it’s definitely the standout of the three “emo” singles.

#1) BUONO! “My Boy” (Pony Canyon)
The guitar riffs in this song alone are insane – putting the sweet voices of Airi, Miyabi and Momoko makes it sound even more insane thanks to the seeming clash of elements, but it works, big time.

THE DEAD WEATHER
Horehound
(Third Man/Warner Bros.)
Available on CD, double 180-gram LP, iTunes and AmazonMP3

How many bands does Jack White need? As many as he wants. Since his lucky number happens to be three, it should only be appropriate that the reluctantly iconic guitarist/songwriter/producer should have three bands (the first two being, of course, The White Stripes and The Raconteurs) under his belt to let loose musically with. The fact that for most of the album, he takes a back seat (almost literally – he returns to his first instrument, the drums, with this group) does nothing to lessen his leaving his distinctive mark – sounding retro, contemporary and timeless all at once – on the finished product. Bonus attribute: The Dead Weather also ended up being the catalyst for White turning his Third Man label from an imprint that he owned his masters under to a stand-alone label that released a growing and eclectic multitude of 7” jukebox-hole singles.

BUONO!
Buono! 2
(Pony Canyon)
Available on CD, CD/DVD, and on iTunes Japan

What was initially thought to be a temporary unit by most followers has certainly shocked us all in more ways than one. Buono!’s sophomore effort turned out to be the start of a killer creative year for the trio, as succeeding singles (including “My Boy” – the best of all the post-album singles so far – and the recently released “Bravo Bravo” in particular) have proven. The passage of a year has not diluted my closing remark about the album in my review this past February: “Buono! has beaten the sophomore jinx to a bloody fucking pulp.”

KODA KUMI
Trick
(Rhythm Zone/Avex)
Available on CD, CD/DVD and on iTunes Japan

This is the highest a Koda Kumi album has gotten on my year-end top ten (Black Cherry and Kingdom were both at #7 in 2007 and 2008 respectively) and for good reason. The preceding albums were great, but Kuu-chin stepped up her game this time around. The only bad thing about the album is that Avex missed a golden opportunity to use her collaboration with Fergie (“Ain’t It Cool”) and her killer remake of Shocking Blue’s “Venus” as a first step to break her in the States. The seven-week wait for her next studio album is going to be a long one.

MIKE HALE
Lives Like Mine
(Suburban Home)
Available on CD, LP, iTunes, AmazonMP3 and eMusic

This gentleman’s recent back story begs to ask the question: How devoted are you to your art? Weeks before former Gumball member Mike Hale was to release this, his second solo album, he had made the decision to quit his day job, put his belongings in storage, and travel the globe with no fixed address, concentrating solely on his music (both as a solo artist and with his trio In The Red). (Going even further in the determination department, Hale’s label Suburban Home also offered the album as a free download, which only help raise awareness of Hale’s work – and made for a nice tideover as the initial vinyl edition was delayed in manufacture). Hale’s solo records are very stripped down affairs, consisting mainly of Mike and his guitar; On this release, he also plays electric piano on a couple of cuts. Lives Like Mine (and its highly recommended predecessor, 2008’s Broken with No Hope) is emo music gone both pure and mature.

SCANDAL
Best Scandal
(Epic)
Available on CD, CD/DVD, and on iTunes Japan

The full-length album we’ve all been waiting for since their independently released Yah! Yah! Yah! Hello Scandal EP came out over a year ago. The title is and isn’t appropriate since this is supposed to be their first studio album and not a retrospective, but all of their singles, including the three first featured on the EP are present and accounted for. But there’s plenty of new material to dig into along with the hits and it was pretty much worth the wait. If you haven’t caught on to these spiritual heirs to the Whiteberry/Zone throne, this album will catch your ass up real quick.

SLAYER
World Painted Blood
(American/Columbia)
Available on CD, 180-gram LP, iTunes and AmazonMP3
SUNN O)))
Monoliths and Dimensions
(Southern Lord)
Available on CD, 180-gram double LP, iTunes, AmazonMP3 and eMusic

First of all, the Slayer record is a Slayer record. You’re either going to buy it or you’re not. They’ve been the most consistent band in terms of personnel (only the drum chair has gone through turmoil a few times), and ever since founding member Dave Lombardo resumed his place behind the aforementioned instrument, fuggedaboutit. Nothing is ever going to out-heavy their classic Reign In Blood, but this came so close that it was breathing down that album’s neck.

If you want heavier than even that, here’s your new favorite band: Sunn O))). Live, they’re just two guys with robes, downtuned Les Pauls letting out droning riffs, and a shitload of vintage tube amps turned up to 20 (they’re probably the only band I know of that has their own branded earplugs!) and ready to reconfigure your DNA after the first two chords. While that’s a set up that some armchair amateur wannabe critics love to mock (do a search for the band on YouTube and you’ll see quite a few parody videos), it makes for some intense music. With this new release, the band adds to their studio sound with a female choir, horns (including Sun Ra Arkestra veteran Julian Priester), strings, and sometime Mayhem lead vocalist Attila Csihar. Best listened to in a dark room late at night – or when it’s morning and you don’t want it to be morning yet. And don’t be surprised if it puts a smile on your face. This was my first Sunn O))) album ever, and it won’t be my last. And if that’s not convincing enough of an endorsement of this album for you, let Anthony Fantano from the video blog The Needle Drop explain further:

ACE FREHLEY
Anomaly
(Bronx Born)
Available on CD, double-LP, iTunes and AmazonMP3

It’s amusing how Gene Simmons must have thought that laying Wal-Mart’s money on the line would result in Kiss’s best album ever in the hype that led up to Sonic Boom (which did make it into Billboard’s Top 5, despite the fact that, as noted when I reviewed the album, it’s a rather weak effort that’s only a shade or two better than their previous two studio releases, the boring Carnival of Souls and the quick-buck-fake-reunion exercise Psycho Circus). As revealed a month prior to Sonic Boom’s artistic bust, Ace Frehley had something more valuable to lay on the line with his first solo studio album in twenty years: his balls and his word. And he delivered simply by putting the music first. The result? A reminder of the one element that attracted a great deal of people to Kiss in the first place – as well as of the fact that you can stick a six-figure salary, a few Les Paul guitars, and a Space Ace cosplay kit into the hands of a former hair-band failure turned Gene Simmons lackey, but he’ll never play, sing, or write even a fourth as good as one Paul Daniel Frehley. Or in other words, this was a repeat of how badass Ace’s first solo album in more ways than one – he outshined his (now-former) bandmates yet again.