(photo by zoomlens)
eMusic’s Best Albums of 2009 countdown has begun! All this week, we’ll be counting down our 60 favorite albums, 12 at a time, leading up to the big unveiling on Friday. And then, on Monday and Tuesday of next week, we’ll be revealing the big winners in our User Poll.
We think the albums on our eMusic list do a good job of representing the eMusic stylistic spectrum. To augment those lists: this year, we’ve asked a few other eMusic employees to submit lists of their favorites of ‘09. We’ll be sharing those lists here on 17Dots all this week.
What we’d also like to do is to use this space for each of you to post your personal lists in the comments. By Friday, we should have a pretty good spread!
The first 2 lists below the jump…
J. Edward Keyes, Editor-in-Chief
30 Favorite Albums of 2009, in order
1. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
2. Funeral Mist, Maranatha!
3. St. Vincent, Actor
4. Baroness, The Blue Record
5. Bat for Lashes, Two Suns
6. David Bazan, Curse Your Branches
7. The Flaming Lips, Embryonic
8. Passion Pit, Manners
9. Raekwon, Only Built for Cuban Links 2
10. The Big Pink, A Brief History of Love
11. Jarvis Cocker, Further Complications
12. Mos Def, The Ecstatic
13. The Mountain Goats, The Life of the World to Come
14 Tanya Morgan, Brooklyanti
15. Various Artists, Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Ghanian Blues
16. Converge, Axe to Fall
17. Ida Maria, Fortress Around My Heart
18. Thao, Know Better, Learn Faster
19. Strand of Oaks, Leave Ruin
20. Japandroids, Post-Nothing
21. JJ, No. 2
22. Various Artists, The World is Shaking: Cubanismo from the Congo
23. Kylesa, Static Tensions
24. Jay-Z, The Blueprint 3
25. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz!
26. The Dead Weather, Horehound
27. Coalesce, Ox
28. Neko Case, Middle Cyclone
29. DOOM, Born Like This
30. Girls, Album
Alex Naidus, UK/EU Editor
Personal Best of 2009
ALBUMS
1. Girls, Album
2. Smith Westerns, Smith Westerns
3. Lil’ Wayne, No Ceilings
4. Hunx and his Punx, Gay Singles
5. Knight School, The Poor and Needy Need to Party
6. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
7. Bill Callahan, Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
8. Atlas Sound, Logos
9. Let’s Wrestle, In The Court of Wrestling, Let’s
10. Raekwon, Only Built for Cuban Linx II
11. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion
12. Real Estate, Real Estate
13. Pill, 4180: The Prescription Mixtape
14. Kurt Vile, Childish Prodigy
15. Air, Love 2
16. Neon Indian, Psychic Chasms
17. Hannu, Hintergarten
18. The Strange Boys, …And Girls Club
19. The Big Pink, A Brief History of Love
20. Cass McCombs, Catacombs
SONGS
1. Cass McCombs, “Dreams Come True Girl”
2. Girls, “Lust For Life”
3. 2000F & Jkamata, “You Don’t Know What Love Is”
4. Young Money, “Every Girl”
5. Crystal Stilts, “Love is a Wave”
6. Animal Collective, “My Girls”
7. Salem, “Redlights”
8. Hunx & his Punx, “Teardrops on my Telephone”
9. Atlas Sound, “Sheila”
10. Walter Jones, “Living Without Your Love”
11. Phoenix, “Listzomania”
12. Neon Indian, “Deadbeat Summer”
13. The Hunches, “Not Invented”
14. Keke Palmer, “Superjerkin’”
15. Golden Silvers, “Arrow of Eros (7” mix)”
16. Bat For Lashes, “Daniel”
17. Black Lips, “Starting Over”
18. The Depreciation Guild, “Dream About Me”
19. Ariel Pink, “Can’t Hear My Eyes”
20. Jay Electronica, “Exhibit C”
p-clark’s Favorite Albums of 2009
1. The Wooden Sky: If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone
2. Chuck Ragan: Gold Country*
3. Pink Mountaintops: Outside Love*
4. Evening Hymns: Spirit Guides*
5. Bombadil: Tarpits and Canyonlands*
6. Perkasie: Perkasie*
7. Dan Mangan: Nice, Nice, Very Nice
8. The Mumlers: Don’t Throw Me Away*
9. Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros: Up From Below*
10. The Black Atlantic: Reverence for Fallen Trees
11. Grand Archives: Keep in Mind Frankenstein
12. Ape School: Ape School*
13. Bruce Peninsula: A Mountain is a Mouth*
14. Listen Listen: Hymns from Rhodesia*
15. Bear in Heaven: Beast Rest Forth Mouth*
*available on eMu
Let’s Wrestle is in there twice on the Canadian list.
Not sure where else to put this, so I figure “comments” is safe (apologies in advance for veering off-topic). The new Pantha du Prince single showed up today! I’m sure it’s in advance of the new disc coming out in 2010. Based on who his new label is, I think we’re going to get the new disc. Link:
http://www.emusic.com/album/Pantha-du-Prince-The-Splendour-MP3-Download/11715649.html
I’ve heard two other songs from the disc (the Panda Bear collaboration and an instrumental track). Panda Bear’s vocals are an acquired taste, but the tracks are SOLID. Very much looking forward to this disc.
Daniel — YES! This Bliss was a super favorite when it came out, I’m very curious/cautiously optimistic about this one!
Little Dragon – Machine Dreams
Taken by Trees – East of Eden (surprised not to see this on other lists already)
The xx- xx
PPP- Abundance
Thao – Know Better Learn Faster
Fat Freddy’s Drop – Dr. Boondigga & The Big BW
Cotton Jones (Basket Ride) – Paranoid Cocoon
Mocky – Saskamodie
Real Estate – Real Estate
El Perro Del Mar – Love is Not Pop
I didn’t find many new albums to love this year. MPP and Bitte Orca, sure. The Bat For Lashes album. Everything else was OK at best.
i’m very pleased to see georgia anne muldrow’s album in the top 60. i also put it in my top 10 for the user poll, so i hope that it places even higher there.
1. These Four Walls- We Were Promised Jetpacks
2. Hospice- Antlers
3. My Maudlin Career- Camera Obscura
4. March Of The Zapotec & Real People:Holland- Beirut
5. Dragonslayer- Sunset Rubdown
6. Vs. Children- Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
7. Fantasies- Metric
8. xx- The xx
9. Post-Nothing- Japandroids
10. Songs Of Shame- Woods
Honorable Mention:
The Eternal- Sonic Youth
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart- The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
The Mountain- Heartless Bastards
Album- Girls
Farm- Dinosaur Jr.
Catacombs- Cass McCombs
Blood Bank- Bon Iver
200 Million Thousand- Black Lips
Art Brut vs. Satan- Art Brut
Popular Song- Yo La Tengo
Bonfires On The Health- The Clientele
Upper Air- Bowerbirds
It’s Frightening- White Rabbits
Other Lives- Other Lives