The 111 Albums of 2009

Well, here it is…the annual epic 111 best albums of 2009…as voted on by you.   Usually it’s a close race…but this year, Animal Collective ran away with it.  In fact, the entire top ten was leaps and bounds above the rest.  And…if you have a problem with the list…then blame yourselves…you’re the ones who voted.
 
See ya, next decade!!
 
Here are the 111 Best Albums of 2009:
1.  Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
2.  The xx – xx (Crystalised BBC)
3.  Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
4.  The Antlers – Hospice  (Kettering)
5.  Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (1901 live)
6.  Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (The Bride)
7.  Wilco – Wilco (the Album)
8.  Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz (only $5.00)
9.  Metric – Fantasies (Help Im Alive)
10. Girls – Album
11. St. Vincent – Actor
12. Pearl Jam – Backspacer
13. Japandroids – Post Nothing
14. Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk
15. White Rabbits – It’s Frightening (Percussion Gun daytrotter)
16. Modest Mouse – No One’s First and You’re Next
17. Bob Dylan – Together Through Life
18. Built To Spill – There is No Enemy
19. Silversun Pickups – Swoon
20. Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew
21. Morrissey – Years of Refusal
22. The Dead Weather – Horehound
23. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
24. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
25. Cage The Elephant – Cage The Elephant
26. Regina Spektor – FAR
27. Fanfarlo – Reservoir
28. Various Artists – Dark Was The Night
29. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Beware
30. Passion Pit – Manners
31. Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring
32. Mos Def – The Ecstatic
33. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
34. The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You
35. K’naan – Troubadour
36. Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years
37. M. Ward – Hold Time
38. Sunset Rubdown – Dragon Slayer
39. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
40. Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
41. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport 
42. Samantha Crain – Songs In the Night 
43. David Gray – Draw The Line
44. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
45. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown (Know Your Enemy Colbert Report)
46. The Pains of Being Pure of Heart – POBOH
47. Karen O and the Kids – Where the Wild Things Are
48. Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
49. Devendra Banhart – What Will We Be
50. The Swell Season – Strict Joy
51. Why? – Eskimo Snow
52. Julian Plenti – …is a Skyscraper
53. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains (Cold Spring)
55. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms
56. Mew – No More Stories Are Told Today
57. Fun. – Aim and Ignite
58. The Horrors – Primary Colours
59. Conor Oberst – Outer South
60. Crystal Method – Divided By The Night  (only $5.00)
61. Miike Snow – Miike Snow
62. The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love
63. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
64. Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3.0
65. The Mountain Goats – Life of the World To Come
66. Dan Deacon – Bromst
67. Florence and the Machine – Lungs
68. Weezer – Raditude
69. Mastodon – Crack the Skye
70. Say Anything – Say Anything
71. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below
72. Trail of Dead – Century of Self
73. Paramore – Brand New Eyes
74. Sonic Youth – The Eternal
75. Handsome Furs – Face Control
76. Wavves – Wavves
77. Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light (only $5.00)
78. Maxwell – BLACKsummer’s Night
79. Von Bondies – Love, Hate and Then There’s You
80. Deer Tick – Born On Flag Day (Straight Into A Storm)
81. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
82. Muse – The Resistance
83. The Mars Volta – Octahedron
84. Cut Off Your Hands – You and I
85. Tanya Morgan – Brooklynati
86. Brand New – Daisy
87. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
88. The Black Crowes – Before The Frost…Until the Freeze
89. The Fray – The Fray
90. Roman Candle – Oh Tall Tree In The Ear
91. Band of Skulls – Baby Darling Dollface Honey
92. U2 – No Line on the Horizon
93. Placebo – Battle For the Sun
94. Various Artists – Ghana Special (1968-91)
95. Gogol Bordello – Live from Axis Mundi
96. Flyleaf – Memento Mori (only $5)
97. Taking Back Sunday – New Again
98. Third Eye Blind – Ursa Major (only $5.00)
99. Jack Penate – Everything Is New
100.             Levon Helm – Electric Dirt (only $5)
101.             Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
102.             Dananananaykroyd – Hey everyone!
103.             El Grupa Nueva De Omar Rodriguez Lopez – Cryptomnesia
104.             Raekwon – Only Built For Cuban Linx P2
105.             Wale – Attention Deficit (only $5.00)
106.             Franz Ferdinand – Tonight
107.             Matt & Kim – Grand ($5.00)
108.             Memory Tapes – Seek Magic
109.             Drake – So Far Gone (only $5.00)
110.             Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
111.             Tegan and Sara – Sainthood

The 11 Best Albums of 2009: 12-22 (Part 4)

I’ve noticed that my excitement for new releases is much lower than it used to be. When a new Pearl Jam album came out…I lined up at midnight at Tower Records just to be the first to buy it. I still go buy albums the day they come out…but it’s usually a Tuesday ritual rather than a special treat. But this year…there were a few albums that got my juices going. The 4 unreleased Beck albums were quite nice since they were unavailable in a store. But these were given away for free. So, as cool as they were…anyone could get them. But there was another unreleased album that I got fanatic over. That would be the Sparklehorse/DangerMouse album…why? Because it was never available anywhere. Not to download. Not to buy. Getting a copy wasn’t just exciting…it was like a treasure hunt. For those few days while I tracked down each song, I was excited over a new release since…as I had been when waiting in line at midnight.

 
New month means new $5 albums. Check out the store for the new Lady Gaga, 50 Cent, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Alec Ounsworth, Major Lazer, new Green Day, Wale, Dodos, My Morning Jacket, and a buttload of Christmas albums.

 Here is the 11 Best Albums of 2009: 12-22 (Part 4):
12. Grizzly BearVeckatimest
13. Deer TickBorn On Flag Day (Straight Into A Storm)
14. The Black CrowesBefore The Frost…Until the Freeze
15. The Dead WeatherHorehound
16. White RabbitsIt’s Frightening
17. Tegan and SaraSainthood
18. Regina SpektorFAR
19. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse – Dark Night of the Soul (Revenge)
20. Pearl Jam – Backspacer
21. Depeche ModeSounds of the Universe
22. Magnolia Electric Co.Josephine (Little Sad Eyes)
If you haven’t added your picks for 2009…do so now!  Just put them in the comment section of the blog!