After 5 days of sickness and 20+ inches of snow on the ground I’m finally back to posting. What better way to get back to it than with my top albums of 2009.
20. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest | Buy
19. Deastro – Moondagger | Buy
18. Memory Tapes – Seek Magic | Buy
17. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz | Buy
16. The Very Best – Warm Heart Of Africa | Buy
15. Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer | Buy
14. jj – jj No. 2 | Buy
13. The xx – xx | Buy
12. Kurt Vile – Childish Prodigy | Buy
11. Bat For Lashes – Two Suns | Buy
My hip-hop consumption has been at an all time low as of late, but Mos Def’s resurgence with The Ecstatic was simply aces in my book. Sure it was no Black On Both Sides, but it easily comes in a close second to it.
mp3: Mos Def – History (featuring Talib Kweli) | Buy
Everyone knows Dan Deacon isn’t an “album” artist. He’s a live performer and that’s the only way to experience him is you’d like to truly experience Deacon. That being said Bromst shows Deacon harnessing his chaotic electronics and expand on them in a way I didn’t think was possible for him.
mp3: Dan Deacon – Build Voice | Buy
No album surprised me more this year than Girls’ Album. The Elvis Costello meets a tripped out Springsteen sound hooked me easily.
mp3: Girls – Hellhole Ratrace | Buy
If this list was for best pop albums of the year Wolfgang would win it hands down. Phoenix nailed this album on so many levels.
mp3: Phoenix – Lisztomania | Buy
This album slowly built a head of steam and eventually grabbed the praise it deserved. Heartfelt and powerful.
mp3: The Antlers – Kettering | Buy
Many might be surprised to see this local Baltimore band’s album so high on my list. Let me first say that I’m really not a big fan of hardcore music…but what Double Dagger did with More is hard to not give props to. The amount of detail and intelligence pumped into each track has made them one of my new favorite bands of Baltimore. They redefined their own sound on More as well as set the standard for their genre (IMO).
mp3: Double Dagger – The Lie/The Truth | Buy
Does everything Karen Dreijer Anderson touch turn to gold? Yes. Her debut album with Fever Ray is a deep pulsating somber electronic masterpiece.
mp3: Fever Ray – Seven | Buy
Another sophomore album that hit’s the mark. Noah and The Whale follow up their bright and sunny debut with a more somber yet absurdly more epic album.
mp2: Noah and The Whale – Blue Skies | Buy
I knew by hearing most of these tracks live for a while now that local duo Wye Oak’s second album The Knot was going to be a winner, but I was still shocked when I first took that inaugural listen. Andy and Jen have made a classic album that I will listen to for a very long time…
mp3: Wye Oak – Take It In | Buy
When this album came out I was pretty sure it was going to be my favorite album of the year. Some devoted fans thought the band went a bit too mainstream, and some flat out hated it. I was never a devoted fan, but I followed and enjoyed much of their back catalog. Animal Collective went above and beyond and stretched their spaced out psychedelia into a new dimension.
Also this is the first piece of music my wife and I listened to after our new baby boy was born this year – so that makes it pretty hard to top in my book.
mp3: Animal Collective – My Girls | Buy
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Well that’s it and now that I look at it I could easily switch this list around, add some in, take some out, and still be completely satisfied with it. 2009 was a GREAT year for music…can’t wait for 2010.
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