aotw top 10 albums 2009

Better late than never, here is our list of the Top Ten Albums of 2009.

We’ve also included our Top EPs of the year, as well as the full-length records that we really loved and made our shortlist before making the brutal cuts. That said, when it came down to choosing the following ten albums we were surprisingly unanimous…

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest [Warp / Intertia]
A beautifully layered and dynamic record - so intimately subtle in parts, and overwhelmingly and explosively orchestral in others, with stunning vocals by Daniel Rossen and Ed Droste. An absolute pleasure that hasn't tired since it's May 2009 release.
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Girls - Album [True Panther / Inertia]
Forget the hype and screw the back story. Girls served up authentic, sunny, DIY garage-pop that swept us up like a drunken summer romance.
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Miike Snow - Miike Snow [Downtown / Intertia]
Irresistible melodies, infectious beats, hook after hook of shameless pop joy. The Swedish trio somehow slipped through the cracks and never gained the momentum that they really should have, but the super-clean assured pop sensibilities on which this record is built definitely gave 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' a run for its money.
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The XX – xx [Young Turks]
Such a mature and realised record - and the band members were on 19 when they released it. It's scarily good. So spare - and yet every instrument and part feels like it's being used for a reason, and the result: perfection. A mind blowing debut.
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Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca [Domino Records]
With a sound that is completely beyond definition (but let's go for "Art Pop") every moment on the record is a surprising and unbelievably original highlight. The virtuosity of the songwriting and the vocals that would incite jealous rage from a nightingale made this a true standout.
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Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion [Domino Records]
Not as good as 'Feels' we felt, but still... Playful, spontaneous, bold, transcendent. Animal Collective is becoming the indie-pop version of Radiohead: you no longer compare them to other bands - just their own other albums. Pure aural joy.
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Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career [4AD / Popfrenzy]
Beautifully written, gorgeously arranged, immediately crush-worthy pop music by the Glaswegian five-piece. Led by the sweetest voice in indie music (that of lead lady Tracyanne Campbell) there is not a song on this record that isn't absolutely lovely. Disturbingly underrated.
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Pains of Being Pure At Heart – The Pains of Being Pure At Heart [Slumberland]
Do you miss The Smiths and My Bloody Valentine and The Cure? We did. Now we kind of don't anymore...
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Passion Pit – Manners [Frenchkiss Records]
Not just another electro-pop record, as we had assumed after hearing the first couple of singles. Unfailingly catchy pop hooks fused with genuine emotion, great lyrics, 80s funk influences and multi-instrumental arrangements all underneath the unmistakable falsetto of Passion Pit's creative heart-and-soul Michael Angelakos.
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Songs – Songs [Popfrenzy]
It never tried to be, but it became a true love of ours last year. Effortlessly combining a myriad of influences - 70s New York noise, fuzzy garage punk, shoegaze rock, and the Go Betweens... and yet it still managed to sound like nothing else released this year.
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Highly recommended – shortlisted for Top Ten
Andrew Bird – ‘Noble Beast’ [Fat Possum]
Florence + The Machine – ‘Lungs’ [Island]
Neon Indian – ‘Psychic Chasms’ [Popfrenzy]
Cass McCombs – ‘Catacombs’ [Domino Records / Inertia]
Raekwon – ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II’ [EMI]
Phoenix – ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’ [V2 Records]
Silversun Pickups – ‘Swoon’ [Dangerbird Records / Inertia]
Memory Tapes – ‘Seek Magic’ [Independent]

Top EPs from 2009
Once we did the maths we realised our decision-making process would be much easier if we made a separate list for our favourite EPs. From the late-in-the-year release of The Drums' jangly-pop-abandon-meets-mopey-shoegaze, to the exquisite melodies of folk outfits The Middle East and Warpaint, here are our picks:

Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse
The Drums - Summertime!
Washed Out - High Times
Washed Out - Life Of Leisure
Destroyer - Bay Of Pigs
Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind
Bon Iver - Blood Bank
The Middle East - The Middle East

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