It’s taken me a long time to write up this top of 2009 list because I’ve already written about most of these artists. I spent about a month staring at this list, rearranging it, wondering what I could write about each album and then it dawned on me: There isn’t really much I can say about any of these albums that matches the hyperbole-laden superlatives I used to describe them when I originally posted a song off them, so for the most part this is just a list, with links to my original posts.

Here’s links to prior years: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 (in which I insult Wolf Parade and betray that 4 years ago I had NO FUCKING IDEA what I was talking about), and 2004. Be warned, up until this year my music listening habits sucked so these prior lists mostly suck but if you’re looking for good stuff from years ago that you might have missed, they might be useful.

On to the list…

01. Marnie Stern – This Is It and I Am It and…

This wasn’t number one for the first month this list was in existence (Passion Pit was) but then I realized something: Marnie Stern’s album will stick with me for far longer than Passion Pits will. Marnie Stern absolutely floors me, her songs are so melodic and powerful and her lyrics, while relatively simple (even repeating search motifs across the album) describe the noise that goes on inside my head pretty well. This album, if it isn’t already, will become a security blanket for me as time goes on, I can already feel it. For that, I must thank you Marnie Stern.

02. Passion Pit – Manners

I don’t have much to say about Passion Pit except that I am glad they taught me that music that makes me want to shake my ass isn’t always retarded bullshit and for that they are awesome.

Live Note: I saw Passion Pit live and never did a write up for them. Here it is in short: Passion Pit is a great band that is obviously destined for bigger venues. They play their music professionally and without many blemishes, and the audience loves them unlike anything I seen (seriously, the mass of people up against the stage was scary looking, surging and undulating like you’d imagine hordes of sinners being tortured in hell to look like—like that stupid ass rave in that one Matrix movie). However, I don’t think I’d go see them live again unless I felt like doing drugs and dancing my head off, because there’s nothing at one of their shows that I can’t experience on the record. I suppose that is just a measure of my true “fandom” of Passion Pit (meaning that a lot of my appreciation is based on the fact that they’re GOOD and not that they’re a unique love of mine).

03. Ha Ha Tonka – Novel Sounds of the Nouveau North

This album makes me really happy I started this website, because I can’t imagine I would have discovered it otherwise. Recommended to me by a reader who’s friends with one of the band members, I didn’t have high expectations—I mean, how can you trust a friend of the band to be objective? But from beginning to end Ha Ha Tonka had me transfixed, which then spread to my girlfriend. When we saw them life they were amazing performers, clean playing, very professional, but most of all they looked like they were having a lot of fun even though they were playing in front of a very small crowd of people in a tiny little venue, which is more important than anything else. I went to too many shows this year where the bands didn’t seem to be having a good time (Vampire Weekend, everyone in Passion Pit except the singer). Ha Ha Tonka is one of those bands that I feel like it should be my personal goal in life to make sure as many people as possible listen to them.

04. Stellastarr* – Civilized

Stellastarr* is one of the biggest surprises for me this year, as when I listen to it I can’t help but think, “Damn, I would have loved this back in middle school,” but there’s no denying that Stellastarr*, who I’d never even heard of before I impulse-bought this album on LaLa, crafts songs that are exciting, interesting, and full of lush layers of guitars and melody. Their songwriting is pretty much completely retarded, but it doesn’t matter, because every song on this album is 100% enjoyable beginning to end. This is definitely not my “style” but it makes me feel pretty good when I listen to it.

05. Bear in Heaven – Beast Rest Forth Mouth
06. YACHT – See Mystery Lights (Live review)
07. Viva Voce – Rose City
08. The xx – xx
09. Handsome Furs – Face Control
10. Saint Motel – ForPlay

If Saint Motel isn’t one of those “artists you should watch” then I don’t know who is. If they don’t make it real big I will be shocked, because their music is good clean dirty fun. Even after four of their shows in one month I wasn’t tired of their songs, and that says a lot.

***

Here’s the rest of this year that was worth ranking…

11. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
12. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
13. Sea Wolf – White Water, White Bloom

Sea Wolf’s latest cuts out a lot of the “emo” from their first album and replaces it with what I can only describe as “Renaissance Faire Chic”.

14. We Were Promised Jetpacks – These Four Walls
15. Dan Deacon – Bromst (Live review)
16. Dead Man’s Bones – Dead Man’s Bones
17. The Builders and the Butchers – Salvation is a Deep Dark Well
18. Eels – Hombre Lobo
19. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
20. Red Wire Black Wire – Robots and Roses
21. Akron/Family – Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free (Another song)
22. Blue Giant – Target Heart EP

I recently got to see Blue Giant live, opening for The Builders of the Butchers, and they were pretty much excellent. They’ll be releasing an album sometime this year and I’ll preemptively promise you that it’ll be something you want to check out.

23. Circulatory System – Signal Morning (Another song)
24. Beirut – March of the Zapotec
25. Andrew Bird – Noble Beast

Best Live Show of 2009 goes to A Hawk and a Hacksaw for a very intimate show at Spaceland, which was only intimate because over half the audience left while they played because hipsters are fucking retarded, but we benefited: the crowd became so small that the entire band came out into the audience and played, unmic’d, in a circle while we watched. This is a group of INCREDIBLY talented musicians and I hope they keep making music for years upon years to come, because their music is beautiful and the skill and passion with which they play their instruments is beautiful and inspiring to boot.

Edit: I promise in the future to better proof read things I publish because these 1100 words are so chock full’o typos that I feel a little embarrassed.