That Raekwon album just won't quit for me. And Telekinesis is definitely up there. But so is the Clientele, Polvo, Bill Callahan, and Super Furry Animals.

 

Also, some sleepers: Megafaun, P.O.S., Kurt Vile, Kingsbury Manx, Fruit Bats, and Dino Jr. Anyone, or a couple of these, could end up in the Top 10 when the dust clears.

i have the xx, raekwon, jj, syntaks, the antlers, phoenix and gus gus on my list ...   

My list so far...might have a few changes. We'll see:

 

1 - Brother Ali - Us
2 - Mos Def - The Ecstatic
3 - The Dead Weather - Horehound
4 - PPP - Abundance
5 - Tanya Morgan - Brooklynati
6 - Mastodon - Crack The Skye
7 - St. Vincent - Actor
8 - Pelican - What We All Come To Need
9 - Exile - Radio
10 - Diamond District - In The Ruff

hipster runoff has a funny article about this ..

I was just gonna post about the Hipster Runoff post. haha.

White Rabbits, and how could we forget the Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band already? I also must admit I like Zee Avi's debut album.

Glad to see someone else acknowledging Brooklynati's goodness...

I reserve the right to say, "Oh I forgot about thata one" or "I haven't heard thata one yet (hey Flaming Lips)"

 

Animal Collective - MPP

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Mountains

Fever Ray - s/t

Foreign Born - Person to Person

Girls - s/t

Grizzley Bear - Veckatimest

Handsome Furs - Face Control

Japandroids - Post-nothing

Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms

Memory Tapes - Seek Magic

Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

Washed Out - Life of Leisure ep

Woods - Songs of Shame

The xx - s/t

 

...make up my short list, so far.

 

PS. I wrote out my list before reading hipster runoff. Which makes me feel a little bit stupid. *ahem* ...And a little like applying for a job over there.

I'm looking at this shorlist right now:

 

The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa

The Antlers - Hospice

Japandroids - Post-Nothing

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Discovery - LP

Girls - Album

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

 

Not a lot has really caught my ear in '09. Hm.

I would add: it's been a good year for the Brits. They've had such a shitty decade it was good to hear some really good records from over there eg The Horrors, Patrick Wolf, The Big Pink, Bat for Lashes, Fuck Buttons, etc.

I really need to check out xx.

yeah you do.

i think that In Prism is gonna be my favorite record of 2009.  it's not like i was a huge Polvo fan (though don't get me wrong, I've got most everything they recorded and saw 'em plenty back before they got back together) but i can't think of a record which is so strong from start to end, w/ some clear high points.  really a tremendous record, the best they've ever managed for sure.  'city birds' and 'lucia' are spectacular songs.

oh, and 2009 was the year of Kurt Vile.

Tinnitus, you are right on about the new Polvo. I've had all those records around a while, but this is my favorite of theirs. This Eclipse might be close, but In Prism is hands down my favorite full-length from those guys. I've listened to it more than any other record, with the exception of maybe the Clientele, this fall.

 

And, am I the only one that things Merriwether Post Pavillion doesn't hold a candle to Strawberry Jam? They're both very tuneful, and have actual songs (something the older records could have used), but MPP seems way too similar all the way through. Strawberry Jam was all over the place in mood and sound, but remained strong song to song. Plus, it's got "For Reverend Green", which is easily the best song they ever wrote. I like MPP quite a bit, but I'm just not on board with it as one of the great successes of this year.