Best Albums of 2009

Before I started to put together this list I was thinking 2009 hasn’t been that great of a year for music, sure there have been a few stand out albums but all and all nothing too exciting. I started writing out every new album I’ve listened to this year which was 70+ albums. After weeding through the good and the bad I came up with a pretty big list of albums I thoroughly enjoyed. Looking at the list, 2009 was maybe a little more about quantity than overall quality, but that’s not a bad thing.

When deciding where to rank an album I consider the following.
· How good it is (obviously)
· How heavy of rotation it gets on my IPOD
· Will I go back to it in a couple years?
· Would I pay to see them live?

Every album on the list is an album I enjoy and would recommend. So they are not ranked from bad to great, they are ranked from good to great.

Anton’s favorite albums of 2009

Recommended
46. Mew – No More Stories are Told Today
45. Modest Mouse – No One’s First and You’re Next EP
44. Matt & Kim – Grand
43. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
42. Brother Ali – Us
41. Art Brut – Art Brut vs. Satan
40. Bon Iver – Blood Bank EP
39. jj- jj No. 2
38. Mason Jennings – Blood of Man
37. Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle
36. Lil’ Wayne – No Ceilings Mixtape
35. Washed Out – Life of Leisure EP
34. Atlas Sound – Logos
33. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
32. P.O.S. – Never Better
31. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms EP
30. Real Estate – Real Estate
29. Jay-Z – Blueprint 3

Highly Recommended
28. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
27. Wale – Back to the Feature Mixtape
26. Delorean – Ayrton EP
25. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
24. Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
23. Sunset Rubdown – Dragon Slayer
22. St. Vincent – Actor
21. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There are Mountains
20. Mos Def – The Ecstatic
19. Antony and the Johnsons – Crying Light
18. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
17. Girls - Album
16. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
15. Animal Collective – Fall Be Kind EP Girls – Album
14. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
13. The Antlers – Hospice
12. Various Artists – Dark was the Night
11. Raekwon – Only Built for Cuban Linx…Pt. 2

2009 Must Own Albums

10. Dan Deacon - Bromst

I have a feeling if Dan Deacon gets any more popular he has a good chance of putting the illegal speed narcotics business out of business. I've heard Deacon described as Hyper-pop and I couldn't agree more, I actually feel like I am losing calories listening to him. Bromst's arrangements are layers upon layers of fast dance beats, simple electronic tones, Phillip Glass-esque loops and vocal harmonies.

9. Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns

The Rural Alberta Advantage (RAA) is acoustic rock done right: Heavy strumming, two part harmonies, raw vocals and amazing drumming throughout. RAA have given me a reason to be ok with the fact that Neutral Milk Hotel will never do another album, because you can hear their influence in "Hometowns.”

8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz

Usually I don't like when a band that is known for their raw sound puts out a heavily produced and polished album but” It's Blitz!” is an exception. Yeah Yeah Yeahs 3rd album is synth heavy and danceable which is contrast to “Fever To Tell” which was completely guitar driven. Karen O has never sounded better.

7. Japandroids – Post-Nothing

Japandroids is a two-man rock fest. Lo-fi guitar, simple song structure and basic lyrics about stuff I can relate to. I think what I love about so much about "Post-Nothing" is it sounds like something I could make. These may sound like criticisms but Japandroids is exactly what I needed this year. An album I can put on rock out to and not have to think about it. "Post-Nothing" is like baby bears porridge, just right!

6. Volcano Choir – Unmap

Volcano Choir is Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) teaming up with instrumental rockers Collections of Colonies of Bees. "Unmap" is beautifully weird short little album that needs to be listened start to finish. Vernons voice is used more as an instrument than focusing on lyrics. Most of the songs don't have your typical verse/chorus structure, "Island, IS" being the exception. This is a hard album to write about because I feel different about it every time I listen to it. Get it and do your own review.

5. Handsome Furs – Face Control

"Face Control" is the 2nd release from husband and wife duo Handsome Furs. To be honest with you I haven't even listened to their first release but I almost don't want to because it can't possibly be better than this album. Singer and guitarist Dan Boeckner (who is also the singer of Wolf Parade) has a great and unique rock voice that give the songs a little extra something. "Face Control" is an energetic rock and roll dance party so get ready to shake a leg!

4. Alec Ounsworth – Mo Beauty

"Mo Beauty" has finally given me what I've wanted from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Ounsworth's Band), a great album from start to finish. The first two CYHSY albums were like 60% amazing and the rest just seemed like filler. On "Mo Beauty" Ounsworth heads to Louisiana to record and work with a handful of local musicians including the bass player from funk legends The Meters. If you're not familiar with Ounsworth's voice it is somewhere between David Byrne and a dying cat, you love it or you hate it.

3. The XX – XX

It's baffling to me how 4 twenty year olds can make such an incredible album. On first listen I knew "XX" was a really good album but with every additional listen I kept hearing more and more. For such a simplistic sounding album the depth in the songs are amazing. Everything about this album is chill from the soft-pop vocals, smooth bass lines and looping guitar riffs. I am extremely excited for the future of this band.

2. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

I think I can safely say that no other band sounds likes Animal Collective and no other band could make an album like "Merriweather." Animal Collective’s two vocalist's voices combine perfectly like a tasty peanut butter and jelly sandwich laced with LSD. Musically Animal Collective is almost indescribable. It's mainly electronic, at times taking sounds I would probably find annoying on their own but somehow making them beautiful by adding impressive beats and those great vocals I mentioned earlier. “Merriweather” came out in January this year and I haven’t tired of it yet.

1. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

An all around amazing album. Perfect harmonies, inventive instrumentation and great song structure is what you are in store for. The songs "Two Weeks" and "While you Wait for the Others" are near perfect songs. I am equally impressed with Grizzly Bear live having seen them twice this year. This is one of those albums I will never tire of, whether it's 10 weeks, 10 months or 10 years from now.