The Indies ’09: Best Album

The Indiecision ‘09 is a recap of the year gone by in Indian indie and a recognition of the work of its artists and those involved with the creation and promotion of the music.
The Best Album is the best album released by an Indian independent artist in 2009. The nominees for Best Album are

The New Album is a new Blackstratblues. Where 2007′s Nights In Shining Karma was an exploration of Warren Mendonsa’s various influences, The New Album is his self-examination. The melodies are equally luscious, as are the arrangements, but it is this intensely personal inspection that powers a gleaming, though sometimes desolately moody, gem of an album.

With a vastly superior repertoire than many of their contemporaries, we can see how monumental the predicament of recording/releasing just 11 songs on their debut album must have been for The Supersonics. But they picked their best songs, threw in their best chops and ensured that come what may, they would make the best of their time with these songs. Our time too.

Indi-folk-rockers Swarathma have a sound that’s as bright as the clothes they wear on stage. We doubt that any recording could fully capture the exuberance of their gigs but their self-titled debut, produced by no less a name than Indian Ocean’s Amit Kilam, comes pretty close. Bursting with spritely melodies and infectious rhythms, it’s the feel-good album of the year.

Over the last 18 months Mumbai metal act Bhayanak Maut have entirely changed. The new BM is polished, tight and has, with this album, a catalog of imminently aggressive, quality metal. Sure, their inspirations are pretty clear, but how they’ve made them their own is not as superficial as just adding a few lyrics in Marathi. Watching these songs live is like standing in front of a rapidly approaching freight train. With a smile on your face.

The PunditZ never really broke through entirely. Sure they had gigs in New York and they were big in New Delhi, but all the old places just thought they were big somewhere. With Hello Hello a crucial barrier was broken. And it had to do with the fact that as an album, this really is the duo’s most complete, least region-specific work. Songs like ‘Atomizer’ and ‘Electric Universe’ add much to a PunditZ arsenal that now stands tall in a global electronica market waiting to find out what they’ll throw at us next.

And the Best Album is

Maby Baking by The Supersonics

Honorable Mention
The Exit Plan – Teddy Boy Kill
Feels Good To Be Live – Something Relevant
This Is It – Thermal & A Quarter
Moving On – Soulmate
The Happy Goat – Tough On Tobacco

Head to the Indiecision ‘09 homepage for all the action.