There was an almost overwhelming amount of good music released in the ’09, so much so that I had a hard time getting any sort of list together.  Countless drafts later I managed to narrow down the jams to what you see before you. My esteemed Muffin colleagues have already covered some of my other favs of the year (Phoenix, Grizzly Bear), and it with great pleasure that I humbly submit to you the rest of my favorite albums of Two Zero Zero Nine.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below

2009 will forever be defined in my eyes as the year of the Edward Sharpe experience.  I jammed to the album all summer long, and was lucky enough to catch the musical collective in action three times this year.  The songs on the album are dusty and dynamic, eclectic and electric, and the live renditions are absolutely out of this world.  A varied amount of styles span the album, and I think that the only genre capable of containing ESMZ is the one simply titled ‘Awesome’.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home

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Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

DP’s ‘Stillness Is The Move’ is only tied with ‘Sleepyhead’ for my most played song of 2009.  But Bitte Orca was so much more than one song – mindbending harmonies, smatterings of guitars, strings and innovative arrangements rounded out this amazing offering from NYC’s darlings of intelli-rock.

Dirty Projectors – Stillness Is The Move

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The xx – XX

This is an album that I played in the background for weeks before realizing that I was missing out by not paying closer attention. The xx employed a skeletal beat structure to fill their dreamgaze (is that a genre? if not, it should be) songs with emotion and space – quite a refreshing change from some of the noise bands that came to prominence in ’09.  Check out the inspired instrumental intro from XX below:

The xx – Intro

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Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health

Technicolor Health burst through my speakers with a vibrant mixture of melodies, witty lyrics and a dazzling combo of drums, horns and keyboards.  Unfortunately for us, the band brokeup shortly after releasing the album, living out the lyrics they hit us with in ‘Strictly Game’ – “Make a little money, take a lot of shit, feel real bad, and get over it”.  Here’s to hoping they get their shake back on and reconcile in 2010.

Harlem Shakes – Strictly Game

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Freelance Whales – Weathervanes

I just noticed that 4 out of the 5 albums on this list are debuts – I told you it a was a good year for new music! No debut surprised me more this year than Freelance Whales though.  Seemingly coming out of nowhere, Weathervanes used harmoniums, banjos, glockenspiels, synths and some good ol’ fashioned guitars to charm it’s way onto my playlist.  Part whimsy, part melancholy and all parts addicting, the Whales evince an earnest and almost innocent sound, but at times also play with the soul of musicians many years their senior.  Check out the album’s closer below:

Freelance Whales – The Great Estates

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