A Final Glance at 2009, and a Look Ahead to 2010

Albums I Fell in Love with in 2009 (Not necessarily the best, but new releases that rocked my world during this year):

-Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
(I was skeptic, now I am hopelessly in love with record)
-Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
(Risky move away from their raw emotion towards a more polished sound pays off handsomely)
-Various Artists - Dark Was The Night
(Find me a better compilation, I dare you)
-Japandroids - Post-Nothing
(Best album by a band you probably haven't heard of)
-Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
(odd and eccentric, but brilliant)


Albums that disappointed in 2009 (not horrible, but definitely expectations):

-Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
(For the record I did enjoy this, I just wish it was more Zeppelin, and less Queens of the Stone Age)
-Peter, Bjorn, & John - Living Thing
-The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
-Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
(Great live act, but doesn't translate to the record due to it's lack of room for three great songwriters)


Breakout Artists/Albums of 2009 (best debut artists of the year):

-Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
-Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Pains of Being Pure at Heart
(shoegaze-pop at its finest)
-Girls - Album
-The Antlers - Hospice
-The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
(beautiful, intricate harmonies make them 2009's folk darlings)


Underrated Artists/Albums of 2009 (artists who didn't receive nearly as much attention as they should have):

-Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Elvis Perkins in Dearland
-Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
(perennially underrated post-rockers)
-Patterson Hood - Murdering Oscar
(long awaited solo work from a modern country-rock legend is a slow grower, but grasps on in due time)
-Heartless Bastards - The Mountain


Discoveries in 2009 (artists/albums I discovered this year from pre-2009, that I now can't seem to live without):

-Built to Spill - There's Nothing Wrong With Love
-Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
-James Brown - Live at the Apollo
(I would argue that this is the best live album ever)
-Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
-Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light
(The most beautifully heartbreaking voice I have ever heard)
-Elvis Costello - This Year's Model
-George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
(Thanks Jim James, or are you still going by Yim?)


Best Live Acts of 2009 (that I saw):

-The National - Atlanta, Pitchfork Festival
(Their performance at P4k was astounding)
-Phoenix - Austin City Limits
-Bon Iver - Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits
-Andrew Bird - Atlanta, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits
(multi-instrumental indie-pop master)
-Blitzen Trapper - Athens GA, Pitchfork, Chicago


Most Anticipated Albums of (Early) 2010:

-Arcade Fire - TBA
(can they do wrong?)
-The National - TBA
(their chance to become one of indie-rock's premier acts)
-Drive-By Truckers - The Big to Do
-Yeasayer - Odd Blood
-Beach House - Teen Dream
(I'm kind of cheating...I have an advanced, copy of this already, and it's real good. But for the record I was anticipating this greatly)


I promise this is it for 2009. See you next year