Worst Artist/Album/Song of 2009

In the spirit of the year-end ritual of 'Best of' lists, I decided to flip the convention of annual kudos on it's head.  Today, rather than celebrate 2009's brightest, (Don't worry, the Best of 2009 is in the works... I know it's getting late, but it's a bear of a piece) let's take a look at the piss-poor.  There are no need for lists.  Today, we recognize THE VERY WORST-OF-THE-WORST.  2009's most atrocious, pungent, pile of...

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The very worst song of 2009 award goes to this turd of a musician:

In July, Adam Young, who performs under the name Owl City, (I wouldn't give my real name either if I was churning out garbage like this) presented us with a steaming, sample of crap in the form of his album, Ocean Eyes.  While the album and its hit-single 'Fireflies' have done some serious damage on the Billboard charts, Adam has also spent the better half of the last six months defending his music against accusations of blatant thievery.

You see, it is almost impossible to discern the difference between Owl City and The Postal Service, except for one jarring factor:  It is ear-shockingly wretched.

The Postal Service broke out in 2003 with their full-length album, Give Up.  While the album gave promise to a unique blend of indie rock and dreamy, mellow electronic, The Postal Service sent us only one album, and the groups members immediately returned to other musical endeavors (Death Cab for Cutie, DNTEL, etc.)

Fast Forward six years to 2009, and Owl City is seemingly hot-wiring the abandoned vehicle for another spin.  Acts of grand-larceny aside, this is really the after-school special version of The Postal Service.  Owl City's sound is more Disney than Death Cab, masterminding lyrics for the 13-year old sing-along like 'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs / From ten thousand lightning bugs / As they tried to teach me how to dance'.

Check out Owl City as he plays 'Fireflies' for us:

Owl City - Fire Flies

Chris D. | MySpace Video

Notice all those toys and gadgets and... and... 'gizmos' laying about the room?  Adam must really be a young-at-heart, whimsical, free-spirited guy.  Huh?  Hey, you know who else has toys and gadgets lying around their rooms?

Pedophiles.

But, now on to something more promising.  As proof that Owl City isn't pure excrement for the lone crime of ripping off The Postal Service, I offer you The Freelance Whales.  While 2009 proved a commercially successful year for lousy TPS impersonations, The Freelance Whales went comparatively under the radar with their release Weathervanes.

Check out the band playing an impromptu performance of 'Generator ^ 1st Floor' at the Bedford Subway Station:


This is where we differentiate between musical 'influence' and musical 'plagiarism'.  The young group avoids the trap of one-note carbon-copying and has clearly infused some elements from Give Up with an indie-folk style of their own.  Also, free concerts in public places are a much better way to garner a fan-base than baiting children with toys...

In the event that you ARE losing sleep in light of the void left in The Postal Service's wake, I think The Freelance Whales have done a nice job in their closest emulation (When it's good, we call it 're-creating' not 'ripping-off').  Check out the MP3 of their Postal Service-like 'Starring':

Starring - Freelance Whales