Top 20 albums of ’09

1. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

V2 Records

Released: May 26

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is the best kind of record, the kind that slowly, insidiously seeps into your head and then takes up residence there, refusing to leave. A grower, in short, but one that proves itself more than worthy of all the attention. It’s certainly not a record that will have you pondering the meaning of life — but it’s the painstaking attention to detail, the relentlessly innovative beats and polished drumming that catapult Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix into a realm of its own. The appealingly earnest way these Frenchmen take English rock ‘n’ roll and make it their own, make Phoenix’s latest a dance record that isn’t afraid to celebrate its own flaws, rejoice in its ability to take a shallow genre and make something more lasting — an album that speaks as much to a person’s emotions as it does their feet. Here’s to the record of the year.

2. Florence and the Machine – Lungs

Island

Released: July 6

With a voice that runs from fierce to grieving to lusty, Florence Welch is the driving force behind Lungs, an album that whirls from furious to lovelorn to heartbroken with both the ease of a chameleon and the force of a banshee. Lungs is definitely the debut of the year, particularly when you realize how effortlessly the ferocious backing band has transcribed Welch’s rollercoaster of emotions into music.

3. Raekwon – Only Built For Cuban Linx II

EMI

Released: Sept. 8

Raekwon is clearly at the top of his game here, delivering a conceptual story that wallows in the dirt and grime of New York, but comes out reinvigorated in the end. It’s a shining mission statement for the start of a new year, devoid of any empty posturing or false bravado, once again establishing the Wu as a powerful force in hip-hop going into the new decade.

4. Miike Snow – Miike Snow

Downtown

Released: June 9

It’s a far cry for producing hits for Britney Spears, but Bloodyshy & Avant’s latest side project might be the best-produced album of the year. Flitting from Vampire Weekend-esque indie (“Animal”) to haunting atmospherics (“Silvia”) to filthy electro-pop (“Black & Blue”), Miike Snow’s self-titled release is an instant party starter. But at its heart, it’s something more — a multi-layered album built on a pop foundation that values superior songwriting over mindless hooks.

5. Japandroids – Post-Nothing

Polyvinyl

Released: Aug. 4

This record is full of undeniably vital simple guitar-and-drum anthems that are unapologetically bursting with life, energy, lust, and other sweeping emotions. Just turn the volume up loud and wallow in youth and its utter lack of restraint.

6. Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk

Shangri-La Music

Released: Sept. 22

Monsters of Folk’s self-titled debut ended up being more the product of a long-time band than a supergroup thrown together for awe factor which is a miracle in today’s world of ill-advised collaborations and ego-stroking supergroups. The famous foursome injects their own sounds seamlessly into the final product, a time capsule of classic 2000s Americana that manages to stand on its own, rather than the hodgepodge of styles one would expect.

7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!

Interscope

Released: March 9

No longer can the Yeah Yeah Yeahs be accused of being just another one-dimensional New York garage rock band. Perhaps the group’s most complete effort yet, It’s Blitz! is a multifaceted album that reveals more and more upon each successive listen. It shows a startling amount of growth for a band long relegated to a stream of one-hit wonders and an leaves an exciting amount of anticipation for the band’s future.

8. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone

ANTI-

Released: March 3

The musicianship on Middle Cyclone, Case’s third solo record, is top-notch and runs the gamut from smoky folk to straight-ahead rock. Yet the focus remains, as always, on Case’s inimitable vocals. Opener “This Tornado Loves You” is proof of this and more, Case’s distinctive pipes highlighting a stormy mess of a song, and proving yet again that this lady and her formidable voice is practically a force of nature itself.

9. Taken By Trees – East of Eden

Rough Trade

Released: Sept. 8

Mixing in foreign tones and culture into a traditionally Western genre (in this case, happy-go-lucky Swedish pop) has typically come off as contrite or even insulting. Luckily for former Concretes’ frontwoman Victoria Bergsman, she seems to have sublimated all those Eastern influences into her own sound rather than just throwing in a few foreign instruments and styles. It’s a record that is almost impossible to place, the convergence of sounds and Bergsman’s own haunting vocals in a mystical, nearly timeless album.

10. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love

Capitol Records

Released: March 24

Hazards of Love is the ultimate progression of the Decemberists’ sound, taking their penchant for wordy songs and long-winded stories and expanding it over the course of an entire album. And while there have been better Decemberists’ records and certainly better stories than the half-baked one Colin Meloy has created here, the music is vintage (read: awesome) Decemberists.

11. Mos Def – The Ecstatic

Downtown

Released: June 9

Maybe the comeback record of the year, The Ecstatic finds Mos Def sounding more rejuvenated and in tune with the superb production than he has in years. It helps, of course, that he still retains one of the most distinctive flows and ingenious rhymes in the game.

12. Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You

Regal

Released: Feb. 9

While not as unique and defining as her debut, track after track on It’s Not Me, It’s You is a potential hit single, perhaps derailed from commercial success only by Allen’s often-blunt lyrics and Mark Ronson’s sometimes-offbeat production choices. Of course, that’s what makes the British fire-spit such a treat in the whitewashed world of mainstream pop.

13. Portugal. The Man – The Satanic Satanist

Equal Vision

Released: July 21

The Satanic Satanist is Portugal. The Man at their best — an amalgam of all their earlier records into a tasty melting pot of music that couldn’t sound more tossed-off or carefree if it tried. It’s hard to make a record that lasts while still retaining that light and relaxing touch, but Portugal. The Man make it look easy.

14. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Domino

Released: Jan. 6

Perhaps the strangest success story of the year – after all, would anyone listening to Animal Collective in 2000 have predicted this level of success 10 years later? Animal Collective’s latest triumphs, however, lie in its ability to overcome its historical tendency to make music as thick as textbooks and broaden their pop horizons, resulting in a record that appealed to as many new fans as it satisfied their hardcore apologists.

15. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing

Favorite Gentlemen

Released: April 21

It’s rare for a band’s sophomore effort to show such growth and no-holds-barred creativity, but Mean Everything To Nothing is just that and more. Singer and lyricist Andy Hull has sharpened his roiling emotions into some of the finest songwriting of the year (just check out “I Can Feel A Hot One”), and it seems like Manchester Orchestra has finally started to become the poet laureates of emotive indie rock that all their fans had hoped for.

16. The Fiery Furnaces – I’m Going Away

Thrill Jockey

Released: July 21

It’s been years since the Fiery Furnaces have been able to reconcile its experimental tendencies with the pop songwriting it’s capable of, but with I’m Going Away, the Fiery Furnaces have straddled those two opposite idioms with their most accessible record to date.

17.  Manic Street Preachers – Journal for Plague Lovers

Columbia

Released: May 18

The Preachers have finally escaped the ghost of former frontman Richey Edwards with this accessible slice of forward-thinking, mainstream rock ‘n roll. Journal for Plague Lovers is perhaps the closest the band has come to its masterpieces of the ‘90s, without coming off as a stale re-tread of what made them great.

18. Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring

Cherrytree Records

Released: Oct. 6

The First Days of Spring is quite an about-face from last year’s irrepressibly cheery debut, but London quintet Noah and the Whale pull it off without a hitch, composing a crushingly depressing breakup record that still manages to shine through on the strength of its songwriting.

19. M. Ward – Hold Time

Merge Records

Released: Feb. 17

Classic Americana done right, Hold Time is only the latest in a long line of excellent works by folk singer-songwriter M. Ward. A cohesive flow of sepia-toned images and stories told simply and effectively, usually only by Ward’s gravelly voice and rustic guitar.

20. Kiss Kiss – The Meek Shall Inherit What’s Left

Eyeball Records

Released: July 7

A wonderfully scrambled mess of an album, one that makes it clear that Kiss Kiss really have no idea what direction they’re heading in at any given time, but also that they’re going to have a hell of a lot of fun going there regardless.