Comments on: Paul Shugrue’s Best Albums of the Year

By: James Toscano

James Toscano — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:30:18 +0000

Yes, St Vincent, “Actor.” And others missed in no particular order…

Andrew Bird, “Noble Beast”

Compilation, “Dark Was the Night”

Fanfarlo, “Reservoir”

We Were Promised Jetpacks, “These Four Walls”

Pete Yorn and Scarlet Johannson, “The Break Up”

Regina Spektor, “Far”

By: Jim Roberts

Jim Roberts — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:22:39 +0000

St. Vincent? Anyone?

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:25:01 +0000

My top 25 of 2009 list:

1. The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come
2. Edward Sharpe & and the Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below
3. The Pains of Being Pure of Heart- The Pains of Being Pure of Heart
4. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
6. Beirut – Gulag Orkestar
7. Grizzly Bear – Vekatimest
8. Dead Man’s Bones – Dead Man’s Bones
9. Wilco – The Album
10. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
11. Langhorne Slim – Be Set Free
12. Silversun Pickups – Swoon
13. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – Outer South
14. Wolfmother – Cosmic Egg
15. Ida Maria – Fortress Round My Heart
16. Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light
17. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
18. Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young
19. Heartless Bastards – The Mountain
20. A. A. Bondy – When the Devil’s Lose
21. Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring
22. Thao with the Get Down Stay Down – Know Better Learn Faster
23. The Swell Season – Strict Joy
24. The Bird and the Bee – Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future
25. Passion Pit – Manners

By: JAson

JAson — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:01:24 +0000

Definitely have to place Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective above Monsters of Folk. Also ,for me, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros’ “Up From Below” and BlakRoc’s “BlakRoc” would be on the top 10 of ’09.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:19:57 +0000

15. Julian Plenti- Julian Plenti Is…Skyscraper
Paul Banks, Interpol, NYC, Stella was a Diver, progress

14. The Veils- Sun Gangs
No Jesus for the Jugular, but great nonetheless

13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- It’s Blitz!
I like the direction. Not a weak song on the album.

12. Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Impossibly catchy.

11. Silversun Pickups- Swoon
An evolved 90′s sound, perfect for my age demographic.

10. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson- Summer of Fear
Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio produced, Saddle Creek labelled greatness. MBAR was created for my ears.

9. Monsters of Folk- Monsters of Folk
I love this album. If they made it 12 songs instead of 15, instant classic.

8. Dirty Projectors- Bitte Orca
More powerful than Disney- my 9 yr old daughter loves it.

7. The XX- XX
Would be shocked if we ever hear from these guys again, but wow.

6. Miike Snow- Miike Snow
Suprise of the year. Most listened to album for me of the year according to iTunes- got it in August.

5. The Dead Weather- Horehound
I thought Midnight Boom was music for the cool. I was wrong, this is.

4. Handsome Furs- Face Control
Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade) is. the. shit.

3. Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavilion
They’ve perfected the formula on this. Only problem, no one knows what the equation is yet.

2. Sunset Rubdown- Dragonslayer
Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade) is. the. shit.

1. Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest
Not what I planned to place at the top. Can’t help it. Transcends genre. The American Radiohead. Amazing.

Honorable Mentions: Discovery, The Flaming Lips, Yacht, The Field, Julian Casablancas, Avett Brothers, Eels, Rain Machine, Atlas Sound, A.C. Newman and Dan Auerbach