1. Andrew Bird, Noble Beast
Why It’s My Number One:
Plain and simply, you’ve got to look at how well crafted the songs are, as well as how well they flow together through the album from beginning to end. I’ve been listening to this album all year long (and have not listened to any other 2009 release more than this) and every time I put it on I’m always hearing new sounds I have not heard before. To say that Bird is a master of instrumentation, or his ability to whistle or loop (as well as mastering this in the live setting), to say that he is a master, doesn’t even do him justice. He’s just so much more than that. I don’t quite understand what he’s trying to communicate in these songs in the lyrics, but with so many sounds going on, you just seem to lose focus on what exactly he’s singing about. By far my favorite Andrew Bird release yet…should be very hard to top, but I’ve got faith in him to do just that.
Standout Favorite Track: “Masterswarm”
2. Passion Pit, Manners
Why It’s My Number Two and Not Number One:
I could honestly say nearly all of these albums on this list deserve to be number one, but I guess I based this list on how much I listened to these albums over the course of the year. Like Bird’s Noble Beast, here’s an album that I can simply lose myself in with all of the sounds I’m hearing. I just get lost, lose focus and get taken away to another place and time. This album (and band) are one of the best at the whole “feel-good” thing. One of the very first things any Passion Pit fan will tell you is how their music maybe makes you happy, excited, dance or pumps you up. It’s impossible for me to put on this album and not feel just really amazing and have the biggest smile on my face. I don’t know…I just love how this band and their songs make me feel and it makes me want to dance and jump around all night long (although because I’m much too shy I don’t dance or jump in the way that I’m feeling inside).
Standout Favorite Track: “Moth’s Wings”
3. The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love
Favorite Track: “The Hazards of Love 2″
4. Monsters of Folk, Monsters of Folk
Favorite Track: “Magic Marker”
5. Dan Auerbach, Keep It Hid
Favorite Track: “Trouble Weighs a Ton”
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz!
Favorite Track: “Heads Will Roll”
7. Wilco, Wilco (the Album)
Favorite Track: “Bull Black Nova”
8. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
Favorite Track: “Two Weeks”
9. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Favorite Track: “Lisztomania”
10. Sara Watkins, Sara Watkins
Favorite Track: “All This Time”
11. Heartless Bastards, The Mountain
Favorite Track: “Witchypoo”
12. Booker T, Potato Hole
Favorite Track: “Pound It Out”
13. The Avett Brothers, I and Love and You
Favorite Track: “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise”
14. Ben Harper & the Relentless7, White Lies for Dark Times
Favorite Track: “Fly One Time”
15. Elvis Costello, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane
Favorite Track: “I Felt the Chill Before the Winter Came”
16. Bon Iver, Blood Bank EP
Favorite Track: “Blood Bank”
17. Umphrey’s McGee, Mantis
Favorite Track: “1348″
18. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Favorite Track: “My Girls”
19. The Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
Favorite Track: “Stillness Is the Move”
20. Antony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light
Favorite Track: “Her Eyes Are Underneath the Ground”