EMUSIC: THE MOST OVERLOOKED ALBUMS OF 2009

By So Cow

We acknowledge right up front that "overlooked" is a fraught term, but that's the best phrasing we could find to describe these thirtysome records. Some are more well-known than others (Lindstrom, Here We Go Magic, the Breeders), but none have gotten their proper due. These are some of our favorite records of 2009 so far, and most were the kinds of accidental discoveries that make being a music fan so great. We heartily endorse everything here.

Sounds from All Over

Aziza Brahim - Mi Canto
Like Etran Finatwa, Tinariwen and Terakaft, Aziza Brahim comes from Western Sahara and plays what has been dubbed "desert blues," a style that intersects what can only be called an Arab sound and American rock and country. There's lots and lots of guitar — really the only American or Western element, but it's extremely prevalent — many layers of percussion and, in the case of Mi Canto, Ms. Brahim's solo debut, a vulnerable female vocal that tugs and pushes at all of the other elements, and delivers a much more human sound than the lauded contemporaries and sometime collaborators mentioned earlier.

"Alli Nahuah" and "Regresso" are the two best songs here, and it's no coincidence that they are the two most Western tracks. "Alli Nahuah" reminds me of "Norwegian Wood" — a bit of echoing of the melody back and forth via a couple of different instruments — and "Regresso" has these fantastic little starts and stops that give it a very rich structure that's engrossing and addictive.

We actually worked hard in 2008 to try and sign Aziza Brahim to eMusic Selects; that's how convinced we were of her promise, and the excellence of her recordings. Mi Canto confirms the rightness of that impulse.

Emusic 2009's Overlooked Albums