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BEST OF 2009

Wow, twelve years of Top 10s, here on the web pages. When does one stop? Well, this year was tough, I'll tell you that; it's harder to feel like your list is anything close to definitive when you're kind of ensconced in your own little world, only listening to whatever you feel like, plus add the whole "being old" thing to that. But there was still a ton of music I loved this year, although I'm not sure what grand conclusions to take from my lists. For one thing, there sure isn't a lot of hip-hop or anything that was very popular, and that feels weird, but I've gotta be honest about what I listened to, and the popular-vote top 40 seems like it's on a completely different planet these days. I've never even heard that "Ke$ha" or whatever her name is. Whatever, it's 2009 and we've got the magical world of the internet, where you don't even have to know about parts of the world you don't like. Hooray!

ALBUMS

1. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE – MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILLION
It's a testament to this album's overpowering, pure-hearted emotional clarity that it managed to break through all my embarrassment about being just another hipster cliché by putting it on the top of my chart. Sure, the Collective are like Dr. Phil to Pitchfork's Oprah, and one can't help but wonder if all the haircut kids in Merriweather hoodies are really all that into it. But I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, since Animal Collective have (finally) pulled off a Radiohead trick here, making music that's both gut-level appealing and impressively complex. "Lion in a Coma," if I'm counting right, appears to be in 9/8 time, but it feels right as rain, swaying like a lullaby. It's fascinating that the band's coalescence coincides with their move to electronics, a move that seems to have opened up wide vistas in their previously claustrophobic sound. Here, the sonic palette runs the gamut from subtle nods at dance beats to washes of psychedelic noise, and again, this gets at what makes the album so special: not just a balance between "fun" and "serious," but a refusal to even accept those limiting categories. This extends to the lyrics, which, in "Brother Sport," use soaring Beach Boys harmonies and a nursery-rhyme repetition of the line "open up your throat" as a mantra for a grieving son, or, in the majestic, eternal "My Girls," declare an ecstatic realization that family is all that matters. In a time of cultural splintering, dark mopery and artistic navel-gazing, Pavillion is a defiantly unpretentious clarion call from the opposite direction.

2. THE XX – S/T
The wintry yin to Animal Collective's summery yang, this London foursome made the most hypnotic, focused album of the year, remarkable in its restraint and emotional heft. It takes guts to make an album from single-note guitar lines, one-finger dings from the keyboard, and barely-noticeable hi-hat rhythms--there's zero room for error. But they've learned the lesson of great bare-bones songs from Low's "Over the Ocean" to Prince's "When Doves Cry": less is more. Sure, the influences are on unashamed display here, but rather than feel like a cheat, they feel like a forgotten narrative, heroically resumed. I'm not sure what they're singing about, it seems to be love, or its lack, or its return? But the atmosphere is both chilled and unmistakably sensual.

3. FLAMING LIPS – EMBRYONIC
In a just world, Wayne Coyne would be America's cultural ambassador, offering up a new national anthem to be played on 273 timed boomboxes while the citizens of each town carry their high school valedictorian above their heads in a plastic bubble. Actually, come to think of it, I like the Lips right where they are, sunny-faced and welcoming, but too loud and dangerous for official acceptance. On Embryonic, they take their rough-edged psychedelic rock to the logical, creepy conclusion implied by the safer 2006 album At War With the Mystics: an acknowledgement that you're going to have to take this trip to its darkest depths before it's over. The first track, "Convinced of the Hex," takes the opposite tactic of Mystics' "W.A.N.D.," which used a soaring, Dungen-like complexity to expand your mind. Instead, "Hex" zooms in on a single buzzing note, pounded out with crackles of distortion and lyrics like a warning: "That's the difference between us." It's scary, sure, but somehow we never lose sight of the funny, big-hearted lips of "Do You Realize."

4. BIBIO – AMBIVALENCE AVENUE
The softer side of psychedelia, one-man-band Bibio confuses and obfuscates, creating weirdly timeless music of unclear origin. Where do these sounds come from? Samples? If so, for God's sake, where did he find them? From the lilting, 6/8 melodies of the title track, which sound like they could have come from '60s Brazil, to the funky guitar of "Jealous of Roses," which might as well be a scratchy '70s disco 7" single you found in your uncle's garage, the sources are obscure, but they're united by a spellbinding, narcotic beauty. Emotionally and structurally, Bibio is clearly kin to DJ Shadow, J Dilla and Boards of Canada, but tracks like "Haikuesque," with its delicate guitar melody, point towards a unique, warmer direction.

5. THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART – S/T
How many of us are there who loved the Smiths but never really liked Belle & Sebastian? To me, it's only on the surface that their witty, literary lyrics and delicate melodies might appear similar. While B&S seemed timid, under the pretty Smiths exterior was a roiling cauldron of emotional depth and complexity, driven by a force that was, if not exactly "muscular," then at least vigorous. It's this intensity that elevates the astonishingly-American Pains above what could be a pale imitation of Britpop. Of course, with their fuzzy guitar and buried vocal lines, they're really more Charlatans than Smiths, but the influences are so varied and mixed it never sinks to cliché (unlike my description). In a way, Pains pick up a long-lost strain of American indie rock that was blasted away by the force of Nirvana: effervescent, guileless, so sweet it hurts.

6. BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW – EATING US
There's something weird in the water in western Pennsylvania. I've got a theory that years ago, an exploratory coal mining dig came across a reservoir of some sort of previously undiscovered compound, a seeping orange glop, which, when its vapors were inhaled, caused the miners to have visions of apocalyptic sci-fi futures and audio hallucinations of warbling tones and mournful robotic choruses. Eventually those with the greatest exposure discovered they could change objects into cotton candy just by looking at them and the mine was capped and the whole project covered up. But some of the magical substance had seeped into the aquifer, directly under the homes of a few young residents, who changed their names to crap like "The Seven Fields of Aphelion" and started putting their hallucinations down on tape. For instance, apparently neon lemonade will eat your face away, la la la la. Does this tap water look kind of orange to you?

7. BLOCKHEAD – THE MUSIC SCENE
Based on the New York producer's membership in what Wikipedia calls a "hip-hop/comedy group" named the "Party Fun Action Committee," he should really get some sort of lifetime awesomeness achievement award. But the rules of this list restrict my review to the actual music on the album, and Scene may be the most affecting, diverse and spellbinding instrumental hip-hop album since DJ Shadow's Private Press. Like Shadow, Blockhead mostly works in the slower realms of hip-hop, often with a similar lo-fi, almost muffled sound, although things sometimes clear up to great effect, like halfway through the piano- and string-driven "Which One of You Jerks Drank My Arnold Palmer," when a heavy, solid beat steps things up a notch. While the rich sounds of long-lost R&B seem to provide much of the sample fodder, Blockhead aims for a more atmospheric style than the woozy lurching of J Dilla, for instance. It's utilizing traditional, standard building blocks, for sure, but perfectly, gorgeously executed.

8. MOS DEF – THE ECSTATIC
I hope nobody takes this the wrong way, but I'm going to compare Mos Def to Madonna here. Like Madge, the guy wants to sing, act, and change the world, and also like Ms. Jesus Luz, he realizes that all those interests mean you can get kind of busy, so you'll need to be really good at finding experts to call to help out. And thus, Ecstatic features a thrilling lineup of brilliant producers, from the ever-present Madlib and Neptunes to Oh No and Preservation, and even another from the seeming bottomless stack of unreleased J Dilla loops. It's an inconsistent 16-track ride, for sure, but its sound is always contemporary, while nodding to the past. Intro "Supermagic" samples a propulsive Turkish guitar lick, both psychedelically retro and Wolfmotherly now, while "Quiet Dog Bite Hard" speeds up the already double-time beat of tracks like "Hey Ya" to a crazy, swinging clap-and-stomp that could fit in at a barn dance. In a year when hip-hop albums fell disastrously off the map (and Lil Wayne's terrible rock album got leaked), Ecstatic is messily, deliriously showing a way forward.

9. BAT FOR LASHES – TWO SUNS
Building on the promise of her head-spinning 2006 debut, Suns shows Natasha Khan has mastered all her interests—Kate Bushy dreaminess, Cure-ish goth drama, Bjorkian experimentalism—and is ready to combine and expand them into surprising territory. Sure, Khan's always seemed like a goofy combination of hipster aesthete and moon-worshipping pagan, but here, she makes the dichotomy explicit, describing the album as a battle between her spiritual self and "Pearl," a club-going, makeup-wearing alter ego. Thus, the sound is a blend of the organic and synthesized, the richly human and the coolly mechanical, both sides redeeming and rescuing the other, keeping everything in balance. Lyrically, too, it's weirdly dualistic: the majestic "Sleep Alone" declares that "His mother told me/The dream of love is a two hearted dream," and it's both the ache of teen-pop sexuality and the spookily eternal voodoo of a fairy tale curse.

10. LITTLE DRAGON – MACHINE DREAMS
A huge surprise. It was "Twice," a moving, epic ballad from the band's 2007 debut, that first got me interested in these Swedes, but in comparison, their other, more traditional electronic songs seemed cold and dull. Thus Dreams was, at first listen, a disappointment, as it dives even more deeply into spare, synthetic sounds. But I found myself returning to it again and again, and discovering diversity amongst the bleeps and blips: "Feather"'s Royksopp-style mid-tempo shimmer, "My Step"'s unapologetically '80s electro-disco, "Never Never"'s warbling swing. In a sense, Little Dragon are finding a way out of the Zero 7 trap, where loungey bands get stuck on hotel compilations and lite-rock radio, and they're doing it by stripping their sound down to its barest elements, a sort of abstract, neo-soul—again, I feel like Prince deserves a mention here. Even when they return to balladry on album closer "Fortune," the climactic moment is a single, unexpected, ringing keyboard line, which soars like a rocket into a clear blue sky.

11. GRIZZLY BEAR - VECKATIMEST
12. GIRLS – ALBUM
13. YPPAH – THEY KNOW WHAT GHOST KNOW
14. WASHED OUT – LIFE OF LEISURE
15. FEVER RAY – S/T
16. ATLAS SOUND - LOGOS
17. PHOENIX – WOLFGANG AMADEUS PHOENIX
18. SONIC YOUTH - THE ETERNAL
19. PASSION PIT – MANNERS
20. THE VERY BEST – WARM HEART OF AFRICA
21. RAEKWON – ONLY BUILT 4 CUBAN LINX PT. 2
22. LA ROUX – S/T
23. SUB FOCUS – S/T
24. FUCK BUTTONS – TAROT SPORT
25. JESSE ROSE – WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU DON'T
26. SUNN O))) – MONOLITHS & DIMENSIONS
27. YO LA TENGO – POPULAR SONGS
28. ANNIE – DON'T STOP
29. FREDDIE GIBBS – MIDWESTGANGSTABOXFRAMECADILLACMUZIK
30. YEAH YEAH YEAHS – IT'S BLITZ
31. THE HORRORS – PRIMARY COLOURS
32. MASTODON – CRACK THE SKYE
33. BURAKA SOM SISTEMA – THE BLOOD DIAMOND MIXTAPE

SONGS

1. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE – "MY GIRLS"
Who knew that the plinkety synth arpeggios from Frankie Knuckles' mid-80s "Your Love" (sampled in The Source & Candi Stanton's 1991 rave hit "You Got the Love") could be combined with a cheeky nod to syncopated Baltimore club beats by a trio of experimental art-rockers and become a majestic ode to providing a home for your family, a profoundly emotional promise and elegy for a deceased father? I sure didn't. The song's building, looping structure somehow rises from lullaby-like simplicity to richly complex harmonies without losing any clarity, like a round of "Row Your Boat" taken up a few notches. I don't have my own kids, but when my first nieces were born, a pair of twins, I held them, one tiny girl on each arm, and found myself flooded with a totally new sensation: absolute, unconditional love, a primal instinct that I would do anything for them. I don't mean to seem like I care about material things, but this song comes closest to expressing that feeling as any I've ever heard.

2. PHOENIX – "1901"
"1901" kicks off with a bit of Bloc Party-style dramatics, big synth-y bass notes and echo-y radar blips acting all spooky and stuff. But then it gets more complicated, these dark tones supporting a song that quickly becomes joyful. The lyrics tease and obscure: the chorus' repeated line, "Falling, falling," seems to contain both senses of the word, i.e. "head-over-heels" and "from a great height," a mention of a tower might be the Eiffel one, and apparently the "1855-1901" reference is about 19th century French futurism. Whatever's going on, it's both modern and classic, sentimental and forward-looking. Emotionally, it's mixed up as well, a tossed salad of ecstasy and agony, nostalgia and contentment that a lot of great pop-dance-rock music seems to inhabit, like LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends," Silversun Pickups' "Lazy Eye," Arcade Fire's "Rebellion (Lies)." Whether "1901" enters that pantheon remains to be seen, but it was easily the most thrilling three minutes you'd encounter on the radio (or a car commercial) this year.

3. MAJOR LAZER – "PON DE FLOOR"
The most ridonkulous, preposterous track to emerge from the collaboration of experimenter Switch and dabbler Diplo. The guys may have thought they were making dancehall, but this is barely even music of any sort, just a caterwauling trumpety bleat over a Baltimore bass drum and marching band snares, but it's somehow infectious, celebratory, wickedly groovy. It also gives VYBZ Kartel his greatest platform to date, delivering a sing-song request to "see your bestest wine," that being in the sense of "wining," a gyrating, hyper-sexual dance. See some of that, if you dare, in the psychotic, NSFW Eric Wareheim-directed video.

4. GRIZZLY BEAR - "TWO WEEKS"
Somehow, the Beach Boys continue to be a rich lode for indie rockers to mine, even though everybody's doing it. "Two Weeks" doesn't have an ounce of cliché, however, despite its near-universal appeal; it's both instantly familiar and jauntily off-the-wall. Mostly, though, it's just great, with the clear vocal harmonies rising up into the stratosphere, the jangly piano like a barroom singalong, and the sentiment, "Just like yesterday/I told you I would stay," as elegant and pure as a diamond.

5. JOY ORBISON – "HYPH MNGO"
Dubstep is at a confounding, exhilarating moment--just when you think you know what defines it, a track comes out that does exactly the opposite, but it seems like the most natural, inevitable progression. "Mngo," unlike Burial's abject bleakness or Skream's Mad Max brutality, is bright, almost joyous, with swerving major 9th chords chasing an ecstatic vocal sample. There's a troubled chill in the background here, too, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It's like footage from space missions, glorious and vertigo-inducing, sparkling and cold.

6. MIIKE SNOW – "ANIMAL" (FAKE BLOOD REMIX)
The original is already an infectious little number that takes the annoying-if-you-think-about-it "hey I'm just a dude gimme a break" defense ("I slip, I'm still an animal") and somehow makes it charming; the remix sees Fake Blood finds the track's bouncy, funky soul. Mr. Blood sets the lyrics off in what you'd probably call the breakdown, then tosses them aside to launch into a carnivalesque rhythm where the bassline wittily mimics the melody. It's so irresistible I almost expect to see some Disney cartoon animals doing a dance to it sometime soon.

7. BAT FOR LASHES – "DANIEL"
A perfect showcase for the dual personality on display on Two Suns, "Daniel" is so close to The Cure's "A Forest" as to be more like a remix or a mash-up than a tribute, but that doesn't take away any of its greatness. You never really lose sight of the goth classic at the song's core, but by the time we get to the chorus, there's so much more wrapped around it—love, desire, homesickness—you're swept away.

8. LA ROUX – "IN FOR THE KILL" (ORIGINAL AND SKREAM'S "LET'S GET RAVEY" REMIX)
While "Bulletproof" turned into the chart hit, it was the earlier "Kill" that showed La Roux was more than just another '80s throwback. The tropes at work here are straight out of Yaz, a combination of delicacy and intensity in the straightforward synths, with an icy but passionate vocal, plus the crazy hairdo, but somehow it feels bracingly new. Plus, the live-performance video was the greatest showcase of electronic musicianship since New Order's "Perfect Kiss" clip. Skream's half-speed reinterpretation was equally grand and minimal, giving the track an epic dubstep bass wobble.

9. MASSIVE ATTACK – "PSYCHE" (FLASH TREATMENT)
An astonishing return to form that was mostly ignored by critics, this track learns the lessons of The Knife, whose otherworldly vocal treatments added an edge to their dark electro-pop. Here, Tricky collaborator Martina Topley-Bird goes on an epic, weirdly medieval quest, if that's how we're supposed to interpret lines like "The sun seeds a sickle and a scythe." The music holds back to the minimal basics, letting the synthesized vocal harmonies soar (often at an odd, spooky fourth) until the song's climax, when she repeats the line "as I was set to fall in" twelve times, and additional harmonies grow and swirl around her.

10. JAY-Z – "EMPIRE STATE OF MIND"
Oh, for Sinatra's sake, yes, I know, it's ridiculous and way off from Jay-Z's peak, plus, Alicia Keys. It's lazy and formulaic: Jay-Z basically just plays tour guide and Keys delivers some dull platitudes, as is her wont, but damn if I don't just want to get drunk and sing along. And sure, LCD Soundsystem might have been more on point with "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down," but "Empire" revives the kind of brash, epic hip-hop anthem we used to take for granted, and I have to say, reminds me of the heart-pounding thrill of visiting New York for the first time. Those were the days, huh.

11. WASHED OUT "FEEL IT ALL AROUND"
12. PHOENIX – "LISZTOMANIA"
13. GUI BORATTO - "NO TURNING BACK"
14. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE – 'WHAT WOULD I WANT? / SKY"
15. LILY ALLEN – "THE FEAR"
16. HEALTH – "DIE SLOW"
17. EMPIRE OF THE SUN – "WE ARE THE PEOPLE"
18. PASSION PIT – "THE REELING"
19. DANCE AREA – "AA 24/7"
20. BAT FOR LASHES – "SLEEP ALONE"
21. FALTYDL – "PARTY"
22. COLD CAVE – "LIFE MAGAZINE"
23. THE JUAN MACLEAN - "ONE DAY"
24. METRIC – "HELP I'M ALIVE"
25. DIPLO & LAIDBACK LUKE – "HEY" (FOAMO REMIX)
26. YEAH YEAH YEAHS – "HEADS WILL ROLL" (ORIGINAL AND A-TRAK REMIX)
27. MARTIN SOLVEIG – "BOYS & GIRLS"
28. MADMIXMUSTANG – "LIKE A LIFE ON A PRAYER" (BON JOVI VS. NINA SIMONE)
29. BIG PINK – "DOMINOS"
30. CHELLY – "TOOK THE NIGHT"
31. BIG BOI W/ GUCCI MANE – "SHINE BLOCKAS"
32. PASSION PIT – "LITTLE SECRETS"
33. THE DRUMS – "SUMMERTIME"
34. BIG PINK – "VELVET"
35. GIRLS – "LUST FOR LIFE"
36. CELEBRITY MURDER PARTY – "BLUE RINSE" (FAB ZERO MIX) (ROSE ROYCE VS. NEW ORDER VS. LIPPS INC)
37. JJ – "ECSTASY"
38. CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG – "IRM"
39. PET SHOP BOYS – "LOVE ETC."
40. LADY GAGA – "BAD ROMANCE"
41. BROOKES BROTHERS – "TEAR YOU DOWN"
42. CALVIN HARRIS – "I'M NOT ALONE"
43. EMALKAY - "WHEN I LOOK AT YOU"