2009's 50 best albums

I kinda abandoned my music journal a couple months ago.

50. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
49. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
48. Zu - Carboniferous
47. Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind
46. Natural Snow Buildings - Shadow Kingdom
45. Emeralds - Emeralds
44. Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi
43. Club of the Sons - Young Quanta
42. M. Ward - Hold Time
41. The Horrors - Primary Colours
40. Mos Def - The Ecstatic
39. Delorean - Ayrton Senna EP
38. Giuseppe Ielasi - Aix
37. The Reigning Sound - Love and Curses
36. Clark - Totems Flare
35. The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Mutations EP
34. Mass of the Fermenting Dregs - World is Yours
33. Grand Hallway - Promenade
32. Black Cock - Robot Child with a God Complex
31. Shugo Tokumaru - Rum Hee
30. Joe Henry - Blood from the Stars
29. The Dream - Love vs Money
28. Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
27. Antony & the Johnsons - The Crying Light
26. OOIOO - ARMONICO HEWA
25. Animals as Leaders - Animals as Leaders
24. Arve Henriksen - Cartography
23. Lights on the Highway - Amanita Muscaria
22. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
21. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
20. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
19. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimist
18. Converge - Axe to Fall
17. The Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
16. Maudlin of the Well - Part the Second
15. Ametsub - The Nothings of the North
14. The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love
13. fun. - Aim & Ignite
12. Mouse on the Keys - Anxious Object
11. Johann Johansson - And in the Endless Pause There Came the Sound of Bees
10. Hecq - Steeltongued
9. Shiina Ringo - Superficial Gossip
8. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
7. The Antlers - Hospice
6. mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright

5. Kormorany - La Musica Teatrale

At a sprawling 4+ hours (5 discs) long, Kormorany have produced a recording of staggering ambition. What's far more remarkable than the album's length however, is that Kormorany manage to keep your attention. They never needlessly indulge; every segment is carefully placed and equally jaw-dropping in its subtle, mulling rollover of ideas and flourishes of sound from a creaky backdrop. Instrumental variety creeps and twists throughout the entire affair, aiding a cycle through genres (generally hinged on a pleasant blend of post rock and jazz) that seems far more easy and natural than it should be. It's not until the 'okay, it's time for a quick break' 3rd disc that you'll likely begin to grow bored, but one relatively bland disc out of five is certainly nothing to scoff at.

4. James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game

The Glass Bead Game is quite possibly the most beautiful album of the year. Blackshaw employs a tastefully and methodically unleashed barrage of tumbling, frothing piano; stop-you-in-your-tracks melodies; and of course, his signature acoustic guitar, which finds it's place so naturally amongst a forest of orchestral arrangements, you'll forget to be impressed at the skill involved.

3. Mew - No More Stories

This album is truly, as cheesy at sounds, a musical journey. Mew is here to lead you by the hand through a musical landscape featuring a wider variety of moods and textures than they’ve ever explored, melodic crescendos that only Mew could have reached (well… maybe Sigur Ros), and a generally otherworldly aesthetic that will be ringing in your ears and bringing out the swooning little girl in you for months to come. Mew boldly continue on with their mission of delivering transcendent melodies and extraterrestrial riffs, determined to make as many fall in love as will give their music a chance.

2. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

The Flaming Lips are done fucking around, which means we finally get to hear them fuck around. Like a star quarterback in the clutch, Coyne & Co. seem to have instantaneously forgotten any past missteps and are now hellbent on delivering, no matter the risk. These tracks are raw, driving and frantic, the sort of thing you imagine a young group passionately running through in their basement while on acid and pissed. Combine this new found youthfulness with the skill and experience of The Flaming Lips, and you have a very special batch of demos that no other indie mainstay would likely dare to call a new LP. It's equal parts off-putting and intriguing, but most of all it's a gust of fresh air for not a only a band who seemed to be running the creative well dry, but for a music scene needy of true risk takers.

1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Merriweather Post Pavillion should appeal to anyone with an appetite for exquisitely harmonized melodies, surreal arrangements, and general weirdness. No, cross that, “appeal to” isn’t the right phrase. Replace that with dazzle, astound and/or mesmerize, and you’re getting somewhat closer. Animal Collective continue to refine their skills, reaching astounding heights of melodic beauty, endearing quirkiness and gushing production. It’s rare that I can’t wait to get back to my room to listen to a song; it generally only happens once or twice a year, if that, that music genuinely excites me. Merriweather Post Pavillion is not only one of those times, but for this reviewer, it is an idealized vision of enthusiasm come true. Merriweather Post Pavillion is not just Animal Collective’s masterpiece, it's a masterpiece of modern music.

Honorable Mention:

Les Discrets/Alcest - Les Discrets/Alcest
Paper Route - Absence
P.O.S. - Never Better
IAMX - Kingdom of the Welcome Addiction
Krallice - Dimensional Bleedthrough
A Sunny Day In Glasglo - Ashes Grammar
Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another
Sir Richard Bishop - The Freak of Araby
Nels Cline - Coward
Karl Sanders - Saurian Exorcisms
Exivious - Exivious
Tyondai Braxton - Central Market
Dredg - The Pariah, The Pharoah, The Delusion
Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs
Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
The Field - Yesterday and Today
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
The Bird and the Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future
Kreng - L'Autopsie Phénoménale De Dieu