Best Albums Of 2009

1. Bat for Lashes: ‘Two Suns’ The second album from Natasha Khan and co explores the theme of dichotomies. Rich with imagery, melodramatic vocals, along with grand complex arrangements and lyrics. It appears highly pretentious but this album is genius without ever trying to be.

Essential Tracks: ‘Daniel’, ‘Pearl’s Dream’, ‘The Big Sleep’

2. The Decemberists: ‘The Hazards of Love’ An unapologetic prog-rock album based around the 1960’s Brit-folk rival. It’s an epic 17 track hour long affair including minstrel laments, medieval vibes, choirs, heavy metal, guitars, rock opera and folk elements. The story is so audacious that it’s baffling. The story of Margaret ravaged by a shape shifting animal, her lover, a forest queen and a cold blooded lascivious rake! It has to be heard to be believed.

Essential Tracks: It would be like recommending chapters of a book to read. You have to listen to the whole album.

3. Pet Shop Boys: ‘Yes’ Not many great bands of the 1980s are still going strong today. This album is a success thanks partly to the great production and other part to the band themselves. The Pet Shop Boys hark back to their old sound which made them so popular in the 1980s. They certainly hit jackpot with this release; fantastic arrangements, the usual intelligent and witty lyrics, and catchy, if somewhat camp, tunes. In a word, amazing!

Essential Tracks: ‘Love Etc.’, ‘All Over The World’, ‘More Than A Dream’

4. Muse: ‘The Resistance’ This overblown album sees Muse in their most comfortable territory. The arrangements are so ‘out there’ that it borders the line between genius and ridiculous. Thankfully they stay clear of ridicule as they deal with topics ranging from love to state control. Expect to hear rock, guitars, harmonies, falsetto and classical offerings in between. They have raised the bar so high it’s hard to see where they go from here!

Essential Tracks: ‘United States of Eurasia’, ‘Uprising’, ‘Exogenesis Symphonies parts I-III’


5. Florence and the Machine: ‘Lungs’ She was so hyped up that it was always going to be hard to live up to. Fortunately, the hype was justified. With her instantly recognizable vocals, an array of musical styles, and great lyrics this album delivers on all fronts. It’s clever, it’s witty and most importantly of all, it leaves you wanting more. The future looks bright for this new artist.

Essential Tracks: ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’, ‘You’ve Got The Love’, ‘ Blinding’

6. Antony and the Johnsons: ‘The Crying Light’ One of music’s true original artists offers his third full length album full of cabaret/chamber pop and it’s just as staggering as its predecessors. This time Antony opts for a more intimate feel yet the arrangements are often grander than on previous albums thanks to the introduction of a full orchestra. The topics range from nature, birth, death and humanity. A must hear of the year, it’s like nothing else out there.

Essential Tracks: ‘Epilepsy is dancing’, ‘Another World’, ‘One Dove’

7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: ‘It’s Blitz’ Karen O and the gang have certainly progressed from their raw sounding debut to this foray into dance music. However, it is so much more than just an album full of pleasant dance tunes. Karen’s vocals are as vital as ever as the band still bases their sound around the simple chord structures. I loved their raw sound when I first heard them and their natural progression into bigger and better things is both a pleasure to see and hear.

Essential Tracks: ‘Zero’, ‘Heads Will Roll’, ‘Hysteric’

8. The Swell Season: ‘Strict Joy’ The combination of Glen Hansard’s loud, hoarse and dominating vocals along with Marketa Irglova’s fail, fragile voice is a winning combination. Both are essential to making this album work. The first album was more both of them offering singles independently; whereas here they are working firmly as a team which is ironic considering this album is about the end of their relationship. This album is full of heartbreak and struggle but is beautiful in its delivery. There are great acoustic songs melding piano, guitar, and strings to create simple folk-pop songs.

Essential Tracks: ‘Two Tongues’. ‘Low Rising’, ‘High Horses’

9. Royksopp: ‘Junior’ The Norwegian dance duo deliver yet again by fusing the best elements from both of their previous releases. By fusing house and electro they have produced something uplifting and fun. This album is heavy on vocals from guest stars and is therefore the most accessible than all their previous albums to date. One if highly anticipating the release of ‘Senior’ in 2010.

Essential Tracks: ‘Girl and the Robot’, ‘This Must Be It’, ‘Happy Up There’

10. Little Boots: ‘Hands’ and La Roux: ‘La Roux‘ La Roux represents everything that was good about the 1980s; androgynous features, outrageous hair, cold emotions and firmly brought their retro sound firmly into the 21st century. Little Boots does the same although her image couldn’t be farther from that of La Roux. This sexy, highly produced album; Hands, offers strong synths, catchy melodies and most importantly of all, talent! Combine both to get the best 1980’s infused pop album of the year.

Essential Tracks: ‘Stuck On Repeat’, ‘Symmetry’, ‘Meddle’, ‘Quicksand’, ‘In For The Kill’, ‘Bulletproof’

11. Leonard Cohen: ‘Live in London’ Leonard releases, quite literally, the best album of any 75-year-old. In fact, it’s one of the best live albums I have ever had the pleasure to listen to. This force of nature showed everyone how it is done.

12. The XX: ‘XX’ This was probably one of the biggest surprises of the year, and in a good way. Combining elements of electronic and R+B to create minimalist pop at its best and bring reverb guitars back to the forefront of music. Something we haven’t had the pleasure of since Chris Isaac’s ‘Wicked Game’. Sadly, this may be the only release from this now partially disbanded outfit.

13. Mumford and Sons: ‘Sigh No More’ They seem to effortlessly combine rock, folk, and bluegrass into something quite stunning. The changes of rhythm and pace and passionate lyrics make this release a breath of fresh air. They have also managed, along with Steve Martin of all people, to bring the banjo back into fashion, which is no easy feat!


14. Lily Allen: ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’. She proves, against my own belief, that she is not just a one album wonder. Not only that, she has surpassed her previous album to create something fantastic. Her announcement that she may never release another album is not just sad but also a great loss to the industry!

15. Lady Gaga: ‘The Fame Monster’ Love her or hate her, there is no denying that this girl has made it massive this year thanks to her outlandish stage performances, awfully catchy melodies and sheer determination. Dare I say it, she actually has musical ability! Not content on releasing one critically acclaimed album this year, she follows it up with another acclaimed EP. Madonna may have finally found someone to pass on the crown to.

16. Jarvis: ‘Further Complications’ Thank the Lord that Jarvis came out of retirement of the French countryside to do what he does best. He’s middle-aged now but he’s certainly not showing it. It’s a mix of Brit rock, elcetro-pop and soul. Welcome back Cocker!

17. Fanfarlo: ‘Reservoir’ The melancholy tone set can be a little off putting at first but what lies underneath is an array of beautifully layered instruments, great vocals and understated offerings. It gets better with each and every listen.

18. Yusuf Islam: ‘The Roadsinger’ After 28 years in the pop wilderness, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, made long overdue return to music. His previous effort had some great songs but was not quite up to par overall. This, however, is a different story. Fantastic from beginning to end.

19. God Help the Girl: ‘God Help the Girl’ A great offering and especially good vocals from Catherine Ireton. It’s very ‘Belle and Sebastian’ in tone and reads like a soundtrack to a movie. Strong 1960’s girl band influences as well as some classic pop.

20. Various Artists: ‘Dark was the Night’ This reads like a who’s who of contemporary indie rock. We are treated to interesting duets, great covers and original material which equates to an awesome album.