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SF’s Best Albums Of 2009

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

It’s gonna be weird writing 2010 in the top left hand corner of my lab book but I’ll get over it. 2009 was a great year for music and is partly why I started this blog. Here (as promised) are my top albums of 2009.

11. Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster

It took a while but Lady Gaga has a knack for a CHOON and she’s a very talented lady. Fair enough she cribs from the best pop songwriters (ABBA, Ace Of Base WTF haha) but I really can’t wait to see what she does next.

Listen: Lady Gaga – Speechless ←♥♥♥♥♥
MP3: Lady Gaga – Speechless

10. Javelin – Jamz & Jemz

Look out Avalanches, Javelin are here to steal your throne while you’ve been away (for almost a fucking decade FML) making slick beats. Jamz & Jemz shows a lot of promise for these two crate-diggers.

Listen: Javelin – Intervales Theme ←♥♥♥♥♥
MP3: Javelin – Intervales Theme

9. Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue

I really like the sound of this record. There’s something very Haight-Ashbury about the whole thing. I just want to grow my hair long, then turn on, tune in and drop out.

Listen: Bibio – S’Vive ←♥♥♥
MP3: Bibio – S’Vive

8. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

2009 is the year Phoenix broke into the mainstream (fucking FINALLY!). I’ve been a fan ever since I agreed with Bill Murray’s character in Lost In Translation that the music (‘Too Young’) at the party he was at was great. Expert songwriters – I can’t praise Phoenix enough.

Listen: Phoenix – Lisztomania ←♥♥♥♥♥
MP3: Phoenix – Lisztomania

7. Junior Boys – Begone Dull Care

Criminally ignored (I think anyway), this album should have received a LOT more attention than it did. Junior Boys are quietly working away creating a niche for themselves producing fantastically solid dance music. A great earphones album.

Listen: Junior Boys – Work ←♥♥♥♥♥
MP3: Junior Boys – Work

6. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)

This was my 2009 ‘summer’ album. Listening to it just reminds me of lying in the grass on a sunny evening, watching folk walk back from their work. I really like the direction Wilco are heading in.

Listen: Wilco – Country Disappeared ←♥♥♥♥♥
MP3: Wilco – Country Disappeared

5. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion

What else to say about Animal Collective that hasn’t already been said by 1000 other bloggers? They’re the perfect band to crymax to.

Listen: Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes ←♥♥♥♥♥
MP3: Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes

4. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms

If there’s one album that will define the whole ‘chillwave’ scene that sprouted in 2009 it’s Neon Indian’s childhood-memory-inducing, sounds-like-it-was-recorded-on-a-tape-cassette masterstroke ‘Psychic Chasms’.

Listen: Neon Indian – Terminally Chill ←♥♥♥♥♥
MP3: Neon Indian – Terminally Chill

3. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

One of the most original-sounding albums I must say I’ve encountered for aaages. Every song sounds nothing like the last. And any band that cribs from Nico’s version of ‘These Days‘ and does it with so much reverence gets my whole-hearted approval.

Listen: Dirty Projectors – Useful Chamber ←♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
MP3: Dirty Projectors – Useful Chamber

2. The xx – The xx

Slinking into 2009 – and completely stealing the show – the xx released arguably the best album this year. With such a distinctive sound and fantastic songs if I was a songwriter in 2009 I think I’d have to rethink my profession – or at least the way I think about writing music. So pared down, so stripped of bells and whistles, British music is in safe hands.

Listen: The xx – Islands ←♥♥♥♥♥
MP3: The xx – Islands

1. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

It really couldn’t have been anything else. Grizzly Bear stole my ♥ in 2009. I knew instantly the first time I heard it that it was going to be my favourite album of the year. I was a massive fan of Yellow House when it dropped back in 2006, but the boys completely out-stripped anything I thought was possible of them. People may remember Animal Collective as 2009′s standout, but in my opinion no one will write songs as consistently brilliant as these.