By: Jacob Eckert

The year 2009 was a fantastic year for music. It saw fantastic releases from already indie/alternative giants such as Animal Collective and amazing debuts from previously unheard-of bands such as the Antlers. As with all years before it, 2009 showed that there is and will always be refreshing new music created, seemingly on a daily basis. Of the countless number of awesome records from 2009, if you are going to have only ten of them, they should come down to these:

10. Paranoid Cocoon- Cotton Jones
In all reality, Paranoid Cocoon is a pretty simple and standard album. It has everything that one would expect out of a late sixties psychedelic-folk album; think of a combination between The Doors and Bob Dylan, and you may have a solid idea of how the album sounds. Although the record may appear to overly copy its influences at times,-“Up a Tree (Went This Heart of Mine)” is perhaps most guilty of this, sounding as if it is simply copying the formula of any Doors song- it truly begins to not matter because the songs themselves are simply so strong. From the strange Motown/folk mix of “Gotta Cheer Up” to the calming strains of the closer “I Am the Changer”, Paranoid Cocoon is a true achievement in indie-folk, and its achievements greatly outweigh its less noticeable flaws.
BEST SONGS: “Gotta Cheer Up,” “Blood Red Sentimental Blues,” and “I Am the Changer”
IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, TRY: Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes or It Still Moves- My Morning Jacket

9. Monoliths and Dimensions- Sunn0)))
Sunn0))) is not your average band (but you probably could have guessed that because of their name). They play a bizarre, yet equally transfixing, form of drone-doom metal where the songs often reach levels of 25 minutes (the shortest track on the album is a concise 9:43). While one may immediately think that the songs would get redundant after such a long period of time, it is the exact opposite. With layers of heavily distorted, droning notes that tumble over one another just as others arise, Monoliths and Dimension shows Sunn0))) at their abstract brilliance. Truly keeping in line with their belief that “maximum volume yields maximum results” Sunn0))) simultaneously sets out to completely rock the listener (and blow out his or her speakers) and show the listener that even heavily distorted, droning notes can have extreme beauty when performed correctly. Sunn0))) achieves this goal.
BEST SONGS: “Alice,” “Big Church,” and “Aghartha”
IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, TRY: Hypermagic Mountain- Lightning Bolt or Black One- Sunn0)))

8. I’m Going Away- The Fiery Furnaces
The Fiery Furnaces are a somewhat strange band, something that is most apparent on their classic Blueberry Boat. However, I’m Going Away is, without a doubt, their most accessible and pop-oriented effort. This is not to say that they have completely abolished the idiosyncrasies that make them such a great group, but this album is clearly a step towards the more normal side of their music. Starting with the energetic title track, it becomes obvious that I’m Going Away will be another great record from start to finish by the brother and sister duo. In fact, with the exception of the final track, “Take Me Around Again,” which runs about three minutes too long, I’m Going Away does not have any weak tracks (though there are obvious highlights). With the superb doomsday-announcing “The End Is Near,” the fragmented and staccato solo of “Even in the Rain” and the intricate, vaguely-proggy opening guitar line to “Cups and Punches”, The Fiery Furnaces show that they are equally capable of making fantastic pop songs as they are with making 10-minute epics about boats that carry blueberries. And for the fans who are worried about The Fiery Furnaces becoming a standard, poppy indie rock band, there is no need to stress as their next album will contain absolutely no recorded music, just sheet music that the fans can interpret however they would like.
BEST TRACKS: “Drive to Dallas,” “The End Is Near,” and “Even in the Rain”
IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, TRY: Blueberry Boat- The Fiery Furnaces or Rise Above- Dirty Projectors

7. The Life of the World To Come- The Mountain Goats
An album where every song is inspired by bible verses, The Mountain Goats’ frontman John Darnielle sounds like a somewhat ambitious project that could have a large chance of failure. However, all that one has to do is listen to the impeccable “Genesis 3:23” to realize that Darnielle succeeded immensely in this project. The album is somewhat subdued in its sound; the primary instruments are an acoustic guitar, a piano, and Darnielle’s shaky voice. However, all these elements come together, along with Darnielle’s fantastic lyrics that are extremely reflective on his life and the subject of faith, to make a beautiful record. Darnielle’s stories show that a life without faith can often go awry, but when faith is achieved, it can bring harmony within oneself. It’s an interesting theme on paper, but when set to music it somehow becomes so much more impacting and lasting. The opening “1 Samuel 15:23” with its simple arrangement of acoustic guitar and singing sets the mellower tone of the album, “Genesis 3:23” shows that, while parts of the album can be very quiet and reflective, other parts can simply be pop perfection. While the album tends not to vary much from its calm structure, the quality of the songs on The Life of the World to Come make it hard for the album to drag and make it one of the best of 2009.
BEST TRACKS: “1 Samuel 15:23,” “Genesis 3:23,” and “Romans 10:9”
IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, TRY: For Emma, Forever Ago- Bon Iver or And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out- Yo La Tengo

6. The Eternal- Sonic Youth
If one phrase was used to sum up the music of Sonic Youth, it would be “superb noise-rock.” However, if one word was used to sum up their albums, it would be “consistency.” The group has never released a weak album, and The Eternal is merely further reassurance that the brilliant musical ideas held by Sonic Youth are somehow still there after their close to thirty years of existence. Starting with the supercharged and constantly-changing “Sacred Trickster,” sung by the band’s iconic female bassist Kim Deal, and ending with a quieter, more acoustic-based classic (“Massage the History”), The Eternal is yet another Sonic Youth album that is bursting with clever ideas from beginning to end. The album is less noisy than some of their earlier albums such as Bad Moon Rising, but that does not mean that there is none of Sonic Youth’s trademark guitar grinding on this record. With The Eternal, Sonic Youth shows that they still have the energy and creativity that they showcased all the way back in the mid-80s when they were really beginning to come together as a band. I recently saw them live, on their supporting tour for this album, and I believe that I can safely say that a recording of one of the earlier songs that they played at the show would be indecipherable from the same song played when the group was 20 years younger.

BEST SONGS: “Sacred Trickster,” “Antenna,” and “Poison Arrow”

IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, TRY: You’re Living All Over Me- Dinosaur Jr. or Sister- Sonic Youth

5. Album- Girls
This is what the sixties perfect ideal of California (from bands such as the Beach Boys) sounds like in the 2000’s: happy with easy-to-like pop melodies but with a very noticeable tinge of sadness. And, this sadness is very understandable coming from the perspective of Girls’ lead singer and main songwriter, Christopher Owens; he was born into a cult and lived through an awful childhood of poverty and tough times only to escape as a teenager and fend for himself in the world at a young age. However, while the background story is interesting, it is in the music itself that Girls truly shine. The opening strumming in “Lust for Life” catches the listener’s attention, before sinking into one of the greatest pop songs of the year, with a tune that is very intent upon getting caught in your head. “Lust for Life” comes to an easy end before segueing into the equally brilliant “Laura,” a truly beautiful plea for an ex-girlfriend to still stay friends with the heart-broken singer. While Christopher Owens seems sad in parts of the album, he shows that he doesn’t want to stay this way forever in his wise words on “Hellhole Ratrace”: “And I don’t want to cry my whole life through. I want to do some laughing too.” Album is one of the most sincere efforts of the decade, and with songs this good, it is hard for it not to be a top 10 album pick of 2009.
BEST SONGS: “Lust for Life,” “Laura,” and “Hellhole Ratrace”
IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, TRY: Losing Feeling – No Age or Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys

4. Merriweather Post Pavilion- Animal Collective
Leading the Neo-Psychedelica genre, Animal Collective may have created the most sonically unique album of the decade with Merriweather Post Pavilion. However, be it the random electronic bleeps in “Daily Routine” or the guitar entrance to “Summertime Clothes” that sounds as though it would be played at a carnival, every single eccentricity and excursion that Animal Collective makes on this album works. The band has always been known to be highly experimental in their sound, but never has their experimenting come together so cleanly and so seamlessly as it does on Merriweather Post Pavilion. The album flows perfectly; “In the Flowers” slowly crescendos to an astonishing climax, then rides right into the instant classic of “My Girls.” Ending with a very upbeat track entitled “Brother Sport,” Animal Collective leaves the listener in a state of sonic bliss, a bliss that pervades the entire album. Animal Collective really got the commercial and critical reception that they deserved with what is perhaps their greatest work to date in Merriweather Post Pavilion. With another EP entitled “Fall Be Kind” coming out later in this year, it is exciting to see how Animal Collective will end their fantastic decade of music.
BEST TRACKS: “My Girls,” “Summertime Clothes,” and “Daily Routine”
IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, TRY: Feels – Animal Collective or Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? – Of Montreal

3. Veckatimest- Grizzly Bear
Veckatimest is the perfect definition of the desired sophomore album; it lived up to the large hype that was behind it, was 10 times better than their already fantastic debut album, Yellow House, and was a large commercial and critical success. In fact, this album gave Grizzly Bear so much publicity that they are even going to be featured in the next Twilight film. While not everybody likes to see their favorite indie band all of a sudden become a large mainstream success, it is a perfectly okay situation when the album in question is as good as Veckatimest. There are so many highlights on this album: the folk-inclined “Southern Point,” the simple, yet extremely poppy and psychedelic “Two Weeks,” and the interesting changes and layers of “While You Wait for the Others” to name a few. While people may say that the album is dead today, Grizzly Bear obviously does not listen to this because Veckatimest was clearly created to be a great album from start to finish, not a few great songs with a lot of filler in between. Veckatimest is a fantastic accomplishment by Grizzly Bear.
BEST SONGS: “Two Weeks,” “Cheerleader,” and “While You Wait for the Others”
IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, TRY: Chutes Too Narrow- The Shins or Everything All the Time- Band of Horses

2. Hospice- The Antlers
It is amazing how, with a great album, any band can go from relative obscurity to instant critical and commercial importance. Hospice is one of these albums, but it is not merely a collection of great songs. It is a tragic concept album about death and losing a loved one, and anybody who has ever had to go through something so awful as that can vouch that Hospice captures the feeling perfectly. The post-rock elements that are in the record only combine with the depressing theme to make the album that much more real and deep. While overall the album is very sad, there are more upbeat moments included, displayed in “Bear,” which appears to tell of the last good time spent with the lost loved one. Hospice is a perfect record; it is great from start to finish; it absorbs the listener both sonically and emotionally and tells a very believable and intense story that it is hard to not pay attention to.
BEST SONGS: “Kettering,” “Bear,” and “Two”
IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, TRY: For Emma, Forever Ago- Bon Iver or I See a Darkness- Bonnie “Prince” Billie

1. Bitte Orca- Dirty Projectors
Dave Longstreth is one of the greatest geniuses in music today. His approach to music is so incredibly unique due to his usages of every sound possible and of intricate polyrhythm that warps the typical structure of indie pop while improving on it at every second. His style is showcased very well in the predecessor to this record, Rise Above, which is in itself intensely bizarre. However, it is obvious that every Dirty Projectors album before this one was merely getting closer and closer to the sheer perfection that would be displayed in Bitte Orca. “Cannibal Resource” opens with a very interesting and somewhat fragmented guitar line that is a sign of the idiosyncrasies to come in the album. Although the song’s melody is bizarre, very atypical of all indie pop, it is still one of the most singable songs of 2009 as are the eight songs that follow it. Although every song is awesome and has a great deal to offer, the highlight of the album is undoubtedly the utterly flawless “Stillness Is the Move.” It is sung by Angel Deradoorian who joined the band in between Rise Above and Bitte Orca, and it is sung so incredibly interestingly. Her voice hits notes that seem uncanny and impossible, and the melody, beat, and everything else about the song is so incredibly absorbing that it is hard to believe that a mere mortal wrote this song. It is, without a doubt, the best song of 2009. The entire album is fantastic and is one of the most interesting and compelling releases of the decade. Do yourself a favor, and buy this album as soon as you can.
BEST SONGS: “Cannibal Resource,” “Stillness Is the Move,” and “Fluorescent Half Dome”
IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, TRY: Rise Above- Dirty Projectors or XX- The XX