Okay, you've recovered from your New Year's hangover, you're down to the last of the holiday leftovers, and yet you still have more than a week before classes start up again -- what's a person to do? Why, catch up on the finest music that 2009 had to offer, of course!
But where to get started? Well, there are many best-of-2009 lists to choose from and... uh... here's another one! But, hey, I think it's a pretty good one. Not only was this list of 50 selected out of a pool of about 110 critically-acclaimed albums, and not only was it the product of hours upon hours upon hours of listening, but I like to think that my tastes trend toward the more accessible side of the left of the dial. Plus, it has links to loads of nifty YouTube videos -- which should make it a pretty effective time-waster at the very least.
A couple of notes before we proceed:
- This list is merely based on my personal opinion and is neither meant to be an official Live Buzz "best of" list nor represent the views of my fellow contributors.
- You might notice that I have an innate bias in favor of garage rock, indie, punk, power pop and related things. What can I say? It's my list, so it reflects what I like. If you want to see more country, or electronica, or hip-hop, or metal, or whatever: make your own list. You're welcome to post it in the comments below.
- To be eligible for this list, an album had to have been released in 2009 and be made up mostly of previously unreleased material. Hence, no compilations or reissues were considered.
Thus, with no further ado:
3. The xx - xx
4. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
6. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Special Award: Greatest Track of 2009: "Summertime Clothes.")
7. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
8. Metric - Fantasies (Special Award: Most Underrated Album of 2009.)
9. jj - no 2 (Special Award: Most Mysterious Album of 2009. Who are these guys?)
11. Art Brut - Art Brut vs. Satan (Special Award: Best Album That Only I Seem To Like. :-( )
12. Heartless Bastards - The Mountain
13. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
15. Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another
16. The Thermals - Now We Can See
18. White Rabbits - It's Frightening (Special Award: The Silversun Pickups Prize for Best Album That Sounds Just Like Another, Better-Known Band -- in this case: Spoon.)
19. Mew - No More Stories/Are Told Today/I'm Sorry/They Washed Away/No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I'm Tired/Let's Wash Away (Special Award: 2009's Best Title for Annoying Music Critics.)
20. Discovery - LP (Special Award: Best Side-Project Effort of 2009.)
21. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
22. Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
23. Built To Spill - There Is No Enemy
24. Pink Mountaintops - Outside Love
25. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Higher Than The Stars EP
26. Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
27. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Vs. Children (Special Award: Best Fan-Made Video of 2009.)
28. Florence And The Machine - Lungs
30. The Felice Brothers - Yonder Is The Clock
31. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns (Special Award: The Hubba-Hubba Trophy for Sexiest Lead Singer of 2009.)
32. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone (Runner Up: Hubba-Hubba Trophy.)
33. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
34. Baroness - Blue Record (Special Award: Best 2009 Album from a Genre that I Unjustly Ignore.)
35. A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
36. Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall
37. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
38. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2 (Special Award: Most Ridiculous Video of 2009. Seriously, check it out.)
42. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
44. Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
45. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
46. The Horrors - Primary Colours (Special Prize: Robbie Hart Trophy for Best 1980's Album Produced In 2009.)
47. YACHT - See Mystery Lights
48. Fruit Bats - The Ruminant Band
49. Super Furry Animals - Dark Days / Light Years
