Top 10 Albums of 2009

2009 was full of great albums from every genre. Overall, I'd say that it was a pretty decent year in terms of music. It's a rough list, I only had like 20 albums from 2009 so really it wasn't cutting much down. It was also really hard to decide, but here are some of my favorite albums.

10. P.S Eliot - Introverted Romance In Our Troubled Minds

Well, I wanted to make the list varied, but P.S. Eliot made the list anyways. I'm a sucker for pop-punk with girl singers, what can I say? Their catchy punk sound strays from the traditional sound you'd expect with the labels their given and goes above and beyond.

9. Tim Easton - Porcupine
Met this guy at a dim sum restaurant in Chinatown like 3 years ago where they put people at the same table with other people. He handed a CD for his other band E.S.P which is really good also. I got back into him just as this album came out, luckily being able to snag it. It's really good alt-country with sort of a rock n' roll influence to it. Really fun stuff.

8. Pianos Become The Teeth - Old Pride

Probably one of the most blogged about screamo bands, aside from Native that had a decent recording out and didn't sound like it was done in a basement which most of it usually is. Some other choices were Thursday, Midwest Pen Pals, and Merchant Ships.

7. God Help The Girl - God Help The Girl

I literally forgot this album came out in 2009 until I actually looked at my playlist sorting by year. Maybe it's the old style of Belle and Sebastian that gets to me that made me think that. This is actually a soundtrack by Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian and the movie is in production. The entire thing came in a dream to him. I kind of relate to this because I had a dream about raptors and I'm currently writing a screenplay about it. I'm not kidding.

6. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

Woah, I just made a last minute switch! It was either Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros or this album for the #6 slot. And... my heart went to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. It just came down to who could I dance to easier and which one was more fun. Really, indie pop is so much fun.

5. Dananananaykroyd - Hey Everyone

I'm all over the place here. This "fight pop" band is too much fun to leave out. Straight out of Scotland, they play some seriously high energy indie rock. Impossible not to dance to, it's almost contagious.

4. Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much

The long awaited album that paid off very well. Mika is probably the only band under "pop" that anybody listens to that avoids the radio. Simply Michael Holbrook Penniman singing excellent sometimes falsetto to catchy backings. I guess you could say "pop with talent".

3. Andrew Jackson Jihad - Can't Maintain

I'll admit, this choice is highly biased. I absolutely love Andrew Jackson Jihad and their release of Operation Stackola didn't make the cut. It's like when Bob Dylan went electric. It's like hearing In The Aeroplane Over The Sea for the first time. It's like... Christmas?

2. Ben Kweller - Changing Horses

Ben Kweller is an alt-country dream. It is impossible to not like Ben Kweller. Actually, it's probably quite possible, I just happen to love him. It features songs from other tracks redone better and put together nicer. This album is really well done despite this. My roomate owns this on vinyl, fun fact.

1. Fishboy - Nom

Ok, Fishboy steals the #1 spot. Yeah, I've loved them since I stumbled upon them under circumstances I can not remember, but I remember asking them where I can buy their CD because they are from Texas and then they sold out online or something. Then, in 8th grade, I went to Texas on a camp trip and got lost in Virgin superstore trying to find it and just kept getting turned down. Despite all this, their new 2009 "EP" I got on a limited edition vinyl first 50 copies and I also got a press release from them a month in advance as you can see my review a couple posts down from when it was released. I feel like a schoolgirl, but yeah, I give Fishboy my #1 spot of the year.

Runner Ups:
Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem
The Builders And The Butchers - Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well
Roman Candle - Oh Tall Tree In The Ear


Well, that wraps up the year. It's Christmas, but it's nothing special so I might stay up late and make a mix CD for anybody that's cool enough to come by on Christmas. Then again, it's gonna stay up so you don't really have to be that cool. Well, have a merry Christmas everybody!

Top 10 Albums of 2009