Peter Woodburn

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When I first sat down to think about it, I thought 2009 was a bit weak of a musical year. Then I actually took a look and in the blink of an eye, I had five different albums all feasibly vying for the top spot. I struggled more this year to pathetically attempt to rank one over the other. But needless to say, it was a great year for the thinking man's metal and the rock and roll of the vocal-less variety. This decade saw some great releases and 2009 really closed it out in an epic fashion.

Fall Of Efrafa

Inle
Self-Released

#5

Fall Of Efrafa are a doom/crust metal band from the UK whose music is a re-imagination of the themes and motifs of Richard Adam's book on violence, politics, and rabbits, Watership Down. The band possibly has the best literary correlation in all of music right now. Or had, I guess. Unfortunately, they held true to their promise to break-up after the trilogy was completed, and Inle is the third in that trilogy. But this is really doom metal at its all encompassing, gloomy, suffocating finest.

Fuck Buttons

Tarot Sport

ATP Recordings

#4 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM - READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH FUCK BUTTONS

These guys are hit or miss for people, but a hit for me -- a big hit. Tarot Sport takes the solid base that last year's debut, Street Horrrsing, created and makes it more accessible. Each song is so intertwined with various little hits, tweaks, twists, and turns its surprising to make it out of the album and still know where you are. Fuck Buttons aren't just electronica, but I wish more electronica sounded like this.

Caspian

Tertia
Mylene Sheath Records

#3 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

I love post-rock, because it is so soothing and yet so hard-hitting at the same time. This album just grew on me with every listen, and the juxtaposition between the melodies and the shreddage is awesome. In a day and age where everyone is either RIYL Explosions In The Sky or Mogwai, it is great to see a band try and carve its own niche into this crowded musical field.

Baroness

Blue Record
Relapse Records

#2 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Blue Record is to Baroness what Leviathan was to Mastodon; namely, it brings metal to the masses who aren't predisposed to slaughtering their eardrums with metal. I'd have to say it is one of the best metal albums I have heard in a long while. Baroness have it down, with a dirty production value and a good ear for prog awesomeness, but still remembering the ability of the all-powerful metal riff to just rock your face off.

Zombi

Spirit Animal
Relapse Records

#1 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Zombi win out on, if anything, best album cover of the year -- with an electrified elephant rampaging towards you. The duo's music doesn't reflect this intensity as much, but these guys sound like they made the best soundtrack to the best science fiction movie that doesn't even exist yet. People do things similar to what they do, but no one else does what they do right now, which is making space-influenced post-rock and metal with just two guys.

Honorable Mentions

ISIS - The Wavering Radiant
Mastodon - Crack The Skye
Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem
Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist

Alana Rome

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For better or worse, I’m starting to think of myself as Redefine Magazine’s pop-punk darling; I let the other writers who like radically obscure indie music to write about, well, radically obscure indie music. I, on the other hand, tend to lean more toward mainstream, alternative music. With that in mind, I have compiled, for the third consecutive year, my top five albums for 2009, as well as three outstanding runners up.

All Time Low

Nothing Personal
Hopeless Records

#5 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

All Time Low present yet another irresistible pop-punk album with Nothing Personal. Vocalist Alex Gaskarth woos listeners with smooth and sexy tracks like "Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't)" and "Weightless," care-free party songs like "Stella," and the jaded, yet honest "Sick Little Games."

The Summer Set

Love Like This
Razor & Tie Records

#4 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

They may be young, but the members of The Summer Set have struck gold with their debut album. Love Like This includes sugar-sweet hooks in "Punk Drunk Love," sexually-infused threats in "The Boys You Do (Get Back at You)," and romantic sentiments in "Passenger Seat." Variety keeps the album well-rounded and exciting from beginning to end.

Paramore

Brand New Eyes
Fueled By Ramen Records

#3 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Paramore have surprised fans and critics alike by topping their sophomore success, "Riot," with a stripped down, painfully honest third album. "The Only Exception" exposes the personal demons of vocalist Haley Williams, while straight-up rock tracks like "Looking Up" pay tribute to their fans. The album leaves an emotional wound open with the pleading ballad, "All I Wanted."

Ace Enders & A Million Different People

When I Hit The Ground
Vagrant Records

#2 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Single and title track, "When I Hit the Ground," is enough to make this album one of the best of 2009. The honest croonings of lost love fit perfectly amidst the explosive emotion of "Reintroduction," the twangy, laid back sound of "Sweeter Light," and Ender's overall dominance of the indie rock genre.

A Love Like Pi

Atlas And The Oyster
Thriving Records

#1 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

A Love Like Pi piece together a wonderfully avant-garde indie rock album with Atlas andzasZ the Oyster. Vocals alternating between painfully human and robotic, spacey reverb, gang vocals, and seemingly abstract lyricism combine to form a perfect experimental rock puzzle worthy of musical praise. Standout tracks include "Innocent Man," "Young Men," and "Honesty." Eye Alaska – Genesis Underground (Fearless Records)
Monty Are I – Break Through the Silence (Island Records)
Mayday Parade – Anywhere But Here (Atlantic Records)

Parlour

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Fredo Viola

The Turn
Because Records

#5 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Nearly five years after "The Sad Song" became viral on youtube, Viola has finally released a full-length album. It's so vocally polyphonic and classically -inspired that it might be hard to digest for some listeners. Viola, a professional boy soprano in his youth, has a voice beyond anything I've ever heard. It actually angers me that he is so talented. If you really want a trip, check out his "cluster" videos that accompany the album. Maybe my mind is too easily entertained, but this guy just plain mesmerizes me.

Gil Mantera's Party Dream

Dreamscape
Psychic Dog Records

#4

You're going to think I am crazy. You're going to say, "Parlour, I couldn't even find these suckahs on iTunes, and when I went to their MySpace, I was bombarded by 1983!" Yeah man! That's it! If you get it, you get it. If you don't, you don't. Think modern-day Giorgio Moroder with an absurd sense of humor. And if you want something even more absurd that will stick in your brain like a bowl of straight caramel, check out their live show. P.S. – Wear spandex.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Up From Below
Rough Trade Records

#3 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Easily one of the most eerily joyous albums I have ever come across. This simply beautiful project is a collaboration between Alex Ebert (formerly of IMA Robot) and up to 10 other free-flowing, incredibly tuned-in musicians. I can't even think of where this music comes from. It's very hippie-rooted. It's very modern and refreshing. Sometimes it's even like a gospel choir. It just makes me smile and sway back and forth. Their hit cut, "Home," features the chillingly powerful voice of Jade Castrinos more than any other song on the album. This fact is the only thing that makes my smile a little smaller; I wish to hear more of her.

Sin Fang Bous

Clangour
Morr Music

#2 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

A tongue twister for sure, Sin Fang Bous' debut album dropped on December 31, 2008, making it technically ineligible for this list by the smallest of margins. Sue me. It's a side project by Sindri Mar Sigfusson of Iceland's third most famous band, Seabear. (That is a lie; I just don't know of any other Icelandic bands beyond them, Sigur Rós, and Björk.) Clangour sounds like a very happy Bon Iver did some very good drugs with Animal Collective, and this is what popped out. This album changes genres so freaking often, it makes me want to take Ritalin. In one song, "We Belong," there is both a heavy-handed house beat and a banjo! How can you not love that?

Various Artists

Dark Was The Night
4AD Records

#1 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Can a compilation be the best album of the year? Is this a cop-out on my part? Probably. But every time I look at the tracklisting for this two-disc album, I get blown away. David Byrne with Dirty Projectors. Yo La Tengo. Arcade Fire. Grizzly Bear with Feist. Just stop it, already! Who do these pretentious hipsters think they are? All getting together and submitting amazing, sometimes uncharacteristic songs for the benefit of HIV and AIDS awareness!? When I first picked this heavyweight up, I formed a conspiracy theory that these recently popular artists were looking for a place to dump their more creative, risky tracks that couldn't make it onto their albums due to the douchery of record labels. Then I thought... the interweb. It does exist! I've now come to theorize that all these seemingly disparate songs do in fact go together in a very chill, sometimes depressing, sometimes joyous amalgamation. It's an odyssey tour de force to get through this album. Just getting through "You Are The Blood" by Sufjan Stevens is an aural marathon. My suggestion is you bite off little pieces at a time for breakfast, and this compilation will last you well into 2011.

Ryan Pangilinan

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Drake

So Far Gone Mixtape
Young Money / Self-Released

#5 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

When I first heard Aubrey Graham, AKA Drake, rap, it was on an episode of Degrassi High, of which he was once a cast member. Sure, he was decent, but then again, so was Brian Austin Green. Still, paired with talented producers and alliances with the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, Eminem, and (ugh) Lil' Wayne, Drake shook his child actor image and released a near 30-track mixtape, So Far Gone. There is an EP version of this that was released on Young Money/Universal, but the mixtape is much, much better.

Comadre

A Wolf Ticket

Bloodtown Records

#4

Hardcore, by and large, is pretty much a bankable commodity nowadays, and it seems like every band out there is more concerned with T-shirt designs and how many girls they can cycle through on a tour than with their music. Redwood City's Comadre, on the other hand, are hilarious, gritty, and raw as fuck. Channeling parts of Kid Dynamite, Refused, and Saetia, Comadre leaps through many of punk's subgenres and their 20-minute record, A Wolf Ticket is proof of that.

Tegan And Sara

Sainthood
Sire Records

#3 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM - READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH TEGAN AND SARA

Though it's more of an extension of their last long player, The Con, Tegan And Sara are still quite good at writing pop songs. Once again enlisting Jason McGerr and Chris Walla of Death Cab, Sainthood explores the darker side of Tegan And Sara's light-hearted pop tunes. Though it's nowhere nearly as danceable as The Sounds' 2009 entry, Crossing the Rubicon, Tegan and Sara offer a much more cerebral experience than the former.

Wale

Attention Deficit
Interscope Records

#2

Wale is pretty much another rapper that hipsters have given the green light to (see: Ghostface Killah, DOOM, the entire anticon. roster, etc.), but unlike the rappers featured on Pitchfork or Brooklyn Vegan, Wale doesn't give a fuck and will rap over whatever beat (just listen to his mixtape, A Mixtape About Nothing). For his debut album, Attention Deficit, he's paired up with some awesome people (with the exception of Lady Gaga).

P.S. Eliot

Introverted Romance In Our Troubled Minds
Salinas Records

#1 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Taking a decidedly different route from their fuzz punk K Records-esque demo, PS Eliot put a bit of a sheen on their first album, Introverted Romance In Our Troubled Minds. A mish-mash of influences ranging from Jawbreaker to Liz Phair, the record is as heart-breaking as it is good, and it is the kind of record that can be a singular mix for that ex whose window you want to smash.

Judy Nelson

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One of the reasons I love writing for REDEFINE is how diverse the editorial staff's music taste is. Every year, there is very little overlap on what the favorites were, and I love the honesty when it comes to what we actually like to listen to, no matter if it is obscure or mainstream. I agree with those that said that 2009 was a tough year to figure out the favorites; it was so scattered and nothing stood out at first. On closer glance, I realized that I had some top choices, but it was more about certain songs than actual albums. The following 5 are the ones that felt most complete.

Telepathe

Dance Mother
I Am Sound Records

#5 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Dance Mother is another sleeper hit from the beginning of year. I saw Telepathe live a few summers back and was unimpressed. Then this album was given to me by a friend, and I was hooked. Along with amazing harmonies and unique textures, these ladies have tremendous pipes, and I can't express how fun it is to listen to this record.

Cold Cave

Love Comes Close

Matador Records

#4 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS RECORD

This record is just too interesting to ignore. It sounds as if New Order and The Knife had a baby, and that is just the beginning of the comparisons that I could use. It's so catchy, yet each song sounds different. Danceable and fun, Cold Cave squeezed into 2009 just in time.

Obits

I Blame You
Sub Pop Records

#3 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Raw, gritty, and energetic, this album was not like much I heard this year. What is most unusual is that this record has the "backwards lineage effect" (yes, I coined that term). I realized that I wasn't as familiar with Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes as I should have been, and listening to Obits made me listen to and love both of those bands even more. Obits provide a cleaner, more updated take, and I think the world is ready.

Here We Go Magic

Self-Titled
Western Vinyl

#2 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

This came out at the beginning of the year rather quietly, and while there was some online buzz, it didn't amount to much. Yet this record was so ethereal, dare I say magical, that I'm surprised for the fade out. Calming yet energetic, Here We Go Magic's debut made a definitive positive mark on 2009.

XX

Self-Titled
XL Recordings

#1 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

It's hard to say anything different from what's already been said about this album. Basically, it's a lo-fi winner that I couldn't stop listening to even if I tried. It is haunting, sensual, yet exciting at the same time. XX managed to make a complete album, yet also have interesting, ear-catching singles.

Honorable Mentions

Oh No - Ethiopium
Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
Handsome Furs - Face Control

Rachel Helm

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Passion Pit

Manners
Columbia Records

#5 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

There isn't a song on this album that I skip. It's perfectly dancey and listenable without being too grating. Michael Angelakos' voice is unique, to say the least, and it adds a level of the bizarre to this electro group. It was excellent when it came out in the spring, and now that winter’s here, it may be just what you need to brush away the blues.

The Builders And The Butchers

Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well

Gigantic Records

#4 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

The Builders And The Butchers' second album isn’t worse than their debut, which is always a good thing. These are murder ballads like you haven’t heard before, which lie somewhere between scary and enchanting. These fellas mix Americana with thick instrumentation, heavy with harmonies and ghost stories.

The Antlers

Hospice
Frenchkiss Records

#3 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

This is a heart-breaking narrative about watching a loved one die up-close, inspired by frontman Peter Silberman’s working in the cancer ward of a children's hospital for a while. The same way early Cloud Cult stuff makes you want to sob, Hospice is a story about death and heartsickness. Forget what you know about concept albums, and just listen. This is probably the most important thing you’ll ever hear.

Elvis Perkins

Elvis Perkins In Dearland
Beggars / XL Recordings

#2 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Elvis Perkins In Dearland starts strong and finishes solid. There’s a sprinkling of Americana here and there, but it almost feels as if this album was conceived in a different era. Between Perkins' voice and the instrumentation, listening to In Dearland is like going through a little time machine. Piano, drum, tambourine, upright bass -- all of it drives strong to create seriously catchy songs, no two of which sound alike, while still managing to be more cohesive than your average album.

The Avett Brothers

I And Love And You
Sony Records

#1 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

I wasn't digging this album when I first got it, but I've got to say, it's number one for a reason. I And Love And You sounds a lot bigger and cleaned up than the bros' previous releases, but they still have that lovely North Carolina humility and twang. Not to mention, wordsmithery that makes me swoon.

Honorable Mentions

Alexa Woodward - Speck
Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
Eels - Hombre Lobo
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Tom Waits - Glitter And Doom Live

Allen Huang

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Future Of The Left

Travels With Myself And Another
4AD Records

#5 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

I was sad when McClusky went away. Then I heard this album. Now I'm not sad anymore. Travels With Myself And Another is the sound of being punched in the face, by a guy who really wanted to punch you in the face. It's insane and asinine and stupid and kind of touching and hilarious all at the same time.

Phoenix

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Glassnote Records

#4 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Quintessential summer pop album hits right before summer. Hits like "1901" and "Girlfriend" lead Phoenix to earn the coveted "best French rock band working right now" label. The longevity isn't really there, and the post-leak mix loses some of the bounce the original cuts had. I was thankful for this album, if not for convincing me that "It's Never Been Like That" was pure genius.

Lady Gaga

The Fame Monster
Interscope Records

#3 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Take Kelly Clarkson's "pop-or-bust" approach and tack on two coats of fabricated weirdness, and you get Lady Gaga. Granted, everyone likes the singles, but no one likes the album. But who cares about sustaining momentum over twelve tracks anyways? She's too busy sewing Kermit The Frog heads onto her outfits to write more than 5 or 6 amazing tracks, anyway.

Raekwon

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II
ICEH20/EMI Records

#2 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II works poorly for nostalgia; it makes you forget how good Cuban Linx I really was. One of the most hyped up, long-awaited follow-ups in hip-hop, Cuban Linx II is everything we want it to be: compelling, gritty, ballsy, and overall, top-notch. It's better than Pro Tools. It's better than 8 Diagrams. Give me another year or so with it, and it might even be better than Cuban Linx I (blasphemy!).

The-Dream

Love Vs Money
Def Jam Records

#1 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Mr. Nash, if I ran the Grammy's, you'd be the only nominee for best album of the year. Maybe I'm drinking too much of the Kool-Aid, but Love Vs Money is a pop milestone -- a collection of ass-kicking singles that actually mesh into a cohesive document of booty-shaking and love making. The-Dream and his producer, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, are THE biggest force in pop music right now. If 2010's Love King is anywhere NEAR as good as "Love/Hate" or "Love vs Money," my top 5 albums next year might actually be done on time.

Vivian Hua

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Coming up with a top five this year wasn't the easiest task for me. None of the releases towards the end of the year really wow'd me, so I had to go digging through mental archives for the works that really inspired me throughout the year. After hours of researching backwards, I've finally come up with a list I feel comfortable with. Overall, this seems like a mega pop-loving year for me. Be it experimental pop, pop rock, psychedelic pop, dance pop, or electro pop, it all shows up in my top 5.

tUnE-yArDs

BiRd-BrAiNs
Marriage Records

#5 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Sometimes I like to play music while I'm sleeping, and when I do this, I occasionally wake up, for a few reasons. Sometimes the music stops or is too loud. Unexciting, really. What is exciting is when the music is so fantastic that it rouses me out of my sleep and demands of me my full attention... as is the case with tUnE-yArDs' BiRd-BrAiNs. And in my half-wakened state, I was blown away by Merril Garbus' detailed brand of experimental weirdo pop, and it has impressed me ever since.

Portugal. The Man

The Satanic Satanist
Equal Vision Records

#4 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM - READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH PORTUGAL. THE MAN

Label an album as "pop rock", and you'll already weed out some people right from the get-go. Mention the name Portugal. The Man, and you'll weed out even more. Whatever. Every single track on this disc is a sing-a-long dream, in the best way possible. It's completely different from the band's other releases, both in terms of musical genres and song structures, but they've completely sold me on this soul-influenced reworking of their sound.

Nurses

Apple's Acre
Dead Oceans

#3 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM - READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH NURSES

When I first saw the band name Nurses, I already had positive associations with it despite the fact that I had never heard of them before. Strange. And when I finally listened to the first track of the album, I had a strong inkling that the record to follow would be one I'd enjoy a lot. More than a hundred spin-throughs later, it has still held true. Considering this record served as my soundtrack for a large part of summer 2009, it's remarkable that "Technicolor" is still probably my favorite song of the year.

Miike Snow

Self-Titled
Downtown Records

#2 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

I'm not particularly stoked on the fact that this album's main single, "Animal," was featured on the horrible TV show Gossip Girl. Nonetheless, Miike Snow's debut full-length is indie electronic pop that doesn't drive me insane over long periods of time. Similar bands representing the subgenre are always fun, sure, but none of their releases have really blown me away since Hail Social's 2007 release, Modern Love And Death... until this disc. On paper, it all sounds the same, but I love every track on this album.

Chico Fellini

Self-Titled
Shangri-La Productions

#1 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

This is what happens when albums are released too early in the year; by the time year end lists roll around, you damn near forget about them. I mean, I could have sworn that this album came out in 2008, but it actually came out this year. Thank God. None of the albums I was slotting in for the last position on my top 5 list felt right until I finally thought of this album. At nine tracks, it's quite short, but it's fantastic -- in an original, flamboyant, charismatic, and theatrical way that represents very much what I love about music.

Honorable Mentions

Arms And Sleepers - Matador (Fake Chapter Records)
Brand New - Daisy
Monsters Of Folk - Self-Titled (Shangri-La Music)
The Everyday Visuals - Self-Titled (Self-Released)
The Valley Arena - We Died (Jaxart Records)
WHY? - Eskimo Snow (anticon. Records)

Chris Govella

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This is a short list of the most exciting music in 2009 from new artists and producers. I kept track of a fraction of all the CDs, torrents, and YouTube videos out there this year, with playlists, journals, and emails. This is the view of 2009 from where I stand, looking over techno, house, dubstep and electronic dance music. A lot of very talented and accomplished musicians released some of their finest material this year. Their work will be well-received by their fanbase and earn them many new admirers, without a doubt. But who were the artists that took 2009 as an opportunity to break out, to point us in new directions? Here are a few voices that I'd like to hear rise above the din and lead us into the future.

Instra:mental

Leave It All Behind/Forbidden
Apple Pips

#5

"Leave it All Behind" favors a more straightforward techno beat over "Forbidden"'s evolved drum and bass groove. Long bass pulses emit from the stereo speakers like deep space communication. Cool, Neptunes-style synth lines accent the vocal melody along with shakers and snares. Combining dubstep, techno and other styles, Instra:mental have shown their range in putting out dance music that lends itself to reserved introspection as well as late-night dance parties. Instra:mental released a few more vinyls this year, including "Watching You" for the Nonplus+ label, another release that fans of hollowed out synths and The Knife will be sure to appreciate.

Floating Points

Vacuum Boogie EP
Eglo Records

#4 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Deep house had big strides with repetitive, jazzy melodies placed tenuously over drum machine kicks and bass. Whereas other producers favored congas and chanting, Floating Points moved closer to more familiar styles carved out by Detroit producers from years past. On "Argonaut", a smooth organ line saunters across a 4/4 kick while the limelight is divided up amongst a divine mixture of melody and rhythm. The group also put out "J&W Beat" on Planet Mu, another release that I recommend picking up. The rhythm of "J&W Beat" is a broken seizure of a groove, taking apart tired dance beats and splicing time. These are wholly new vibrational frequencies, for playback on the loudest stereos possible.

Nosaj Thing

Drift
Warp/Alpha Pup/disques corde

#3 - BUY / DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

Nosaj Thing's album begins like a Tim Burton Christmas movie-cum-electronica soundtrack. Heavy bass beats and handclap percussion evoke West Coast hiphop with a feeling of desolatation and dread. "IOIO"'s synthesizers pumps back and forth, altering the feel of the tempo while his signature sirens echo like sonar beacons. Like Flying Lotus' Los Angeles before it, Drift is an amazing record where no single track stands over any other as distinctly better than each other.

Mount Kimbie

Sketch On Glass
Hotflush

#2

"Sketch on Glass" springs about on keyboard shrieks between ultrasonic cooing. The dynamic range on this track spans all the way to deep bass rattle, while sounding astonishly clear and vibrant in all of its colors. Alternatively, "William" rides full moon on skateboards around fingersnap percussions submerged in a clotheswasher tub. Melancholy, distorted singing somewhere down the hallway crowds hazy Boards of Canada tones. This feels like the indie-electronic crossover from Morr Music for alt kids in 2009. The wide range of rhythms and melodies found here shows promise for this versatile duo.

Joy Orbison

J. Doe/BRKLN CLLN
Doldrums

#1

The follow-up release to the stellar Hyph Mngo is no less shallow, opening up dimensions in time and space in just a few minutes' span. Cyclical R&B vocals snatched from an R&B song comprise the focus of "J.Doe". The heavy repetition sets off the difference engine capabilities of your mind -- it's not long before you find yourself separating the trance-like swells from the sound of electricity arcing, levers latching, and rim knocks. The debut track from Joy Orbison, "Hyph Mngo" on Hotflush is a dubstep variant in the style of house: insistent, bright tambourines and tons of female vocals. Both of these releases, along with his remix of Four Tet, stand out in the changing landscape of dubstep and bass music.

Honorable Mentions

Big Spider's Back - Warped [Full disclosure: I'm helping release this artist's music on CD on my label.]
Black Dice - Repo
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
King Midas Sound - Waiting For You
The Angry Orts - The Purple Rhino Squad Versus The Blue Whale Super Heavy Assault Troops
Wale - Attention Deficit

John Gillanders

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Mastodon

Crack The Skye
Reprise Records

#5

I was actually kind of reluctant to put this on my list, mainly because I think its predecessor, Blood Mountain, was a far more coherent record. But ultimately, it's the incoherence of this concept album about Rasputin's astral travels that makes it work so effectively. You've just got to give Mastodon props for reaching so high. I can’t listen to this without wanting to play guitar, and it gets bonus points for having the most hilariously compelling album art of 2009. Wizards and space bears, man... wizards and motherfucking space bears. Heavy.

The Abodox

Up The Excalibur
Trademark Recordings

#4

Seattle's long underrated metal weirdos, The Abodox, enlist guitar assistance from Blaine Patnode of the legendary, but long defunct, Swarming Hordes and proceed to drop one of the bitchinest metal freak outs in history.

Subarachnoid Space

Eight Bells
Crucial Blast Records

#3

Portland psychedelic guitar goddess Melynda Jackson resurrects Subarachnoid Space with an entirely different lineup than the one from 2005's The Red Veil (an album which has slowly vaunted itself to classic status in my world). This year's offering is just as triumphant, yet more overtly experimental. The second cut cascades into 6-plus-minutes of mind-melting guitar drone before finally returning to stratospheric inner space rockitude. That should tell you whether or not you'd dig this. I think it's genius.

Midday Veil

Queen Of The Void
Hotflush

#2

Seattle's Midday Veil are the most cosmically-blessed group of psychic visionaries to descend upon Capitol Hill in quite some time. Frontwoman Emily Pothast radiates more celestial charisma than Arcturus when she kicks out the jams, and this disc, a 27-minute set recorded last May at The Josephine in Seattle, is a great snapshot of that supernatural potency on display. It was also released with a companion disc called Subterranean Ritual, a ritualistic improv of largely instrumental sonic mind fuckery, which is definitely worth checking out -- but mainly when you're in the proper headspace. Midday Veil are going into the studio next month, and judging from some of the new material I've heard, odds are about 90% that it will easily top next year's list.

Oneida

Rated O
Brah Recordings

#1

When I originally reviewed this, I gave it an A, but in retrospect, I'd like to up that to a resounding A+. The fact that these dudes made a triple album that I listen to in its entirety, which also works 98% of the time, is kind of unreal. And where it would seem like a colossally pretentious move by a singer-songwriter, Rated O's largely instrumental nature makes it come across like Oneida dropping their most consistent album since 2004's Secret Wars. This is the inner-dimensional megalith of sound that all future inner-dimensional megaliths of sound should be traveling back to the present to study in detail.

Jesse C. Dienner

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Sondre Lerche

Heartbeat Radio
Rounder Records

#5

I had the highest hopes for this release, as Sondre Lerche has been my personal New Artist of 2009 (even though he’s been around for years)! In the last four months, I have purchased his entire back catalogue, which has wowed me to no end. This album is fantastic, and he has equally good -- if not better -- albums going back a couple of years. Seeing him live cemented his strength as a songwriter and musician. I would want to be his friend.

Jarvis Cocker

Further Complications
Rough Trade Records

#4

The irreverent charisma of Jarvis cocker is undeniable. His first solo record was my Album of the Year 2007, and this disc in many ways is an epilogue, or hopefully a new chapter. He continues with his joking sincerity which wins my heart every time, including some lines from a classic new track which states, "I never said I was deep, but I am profoundly shallow/ My lack of knowledge is vast and my horizons are narrow." Jarvis is a pioneer and master of the humorous hook.

Arctic Monkeys

Humbug
Domino Records

#3

Upon first listen, this album didn't overwhelm me, but by the third or fourth spin, I thought it might be my album of the year. Thus, it was a close race for between my top three. Every track on this album is not only perfect in melody and arrangement, but it is entirely unique and distinct from the song that precedes it. I once heard Jarvis Cocker refer to the Arctic Monkeys as "something special going on." In a beautifully understated way he is so, so right.

PJ Harvey And John Parish

A Woman A Man Walked By
Island Records

#2

This album was seated as my number one pick until JBM arrived, and even then, it was tough. "Black Hearted Love" is my pick for Song of the Summer 2009 and also Song of the Year 2009. In it, Harvey admits, "When you call out my name in rapture/ I volunteer my soul for murder." Such dark, beautiful romance. But the album only gets more intriguing from there! To put it simply, I'd marry PJ Harvey and carry her babies. Not Even In July
Marchant Records

#1

I am pleased to say that my album of the year is a surprise even to me. I was at a ondre Lerche show and this unknown opener, JBM, hit the stage. Thirty seconds into his show, my jaw dropped and was stuck to the floor. This album is subtle genius so beautiful and heartfelt that it gives you goosebumps. "There ain't no use in cutting through the darkness that envelops you/ You have to let the light come in instead," he croons on "Cleo's Song." Those may be the Best Lyrics of 2009 as well.