Top Sixty-Six Albums of 2009: #20 - 1

Hey there loyal, devoted followers (by which I mean myself.. hey, man!), it's me again, with more of this list I should've completed a while ago. I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses - I am - but, my PC has been acting up lately, so I've been unable to complete this list. I've decided to dump the reviews portion and just rank the Top 20. I hope you care enough to like, read it, and stuff. Thanks!

#20.
Russian Circles - Geneva
#19.
Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds - Dracula Boots
#18.
Part Chimp - Thriller
#17.
DOOM - Born Like This
#16.
Them Crooked Vultures - s/t
#15.
The Vandelles - Del Black Aloha
The record that started this all for me. I heard Del Black Aloha last summer and it completely blew my world wide open. I hadn't cared one iota about searching for new music until this fucker popped into the scenario. Surf and Garage riffs smothered in Noise and polished off with Shoegaze aesthetics. Do yourself a favor and get into these dudes now.
#14.
The Warlocks - The Mirror Explodes
#13.
The Dead Weather - Horehound
#12.
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul
#11.
Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans

#10.
Mars Volta - Octahedron

#9.
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

#8.
Antlers - Hospice

#7.
Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid

#6.
Heartless Bastards - The Mountain

#5.
Raekwon - Only Built For Cuban Linx II

#4.
Mastodon - Crack the Skye

#3.
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

#2.
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

#1.
Dinosaur Jr - Farm

Top Sixty-Six Albums of 2009: #30 - 21

oh, hey, uhh.... yeah, so I've been neglectful. Here's another update, and I'll be quick with the next one, promise!!

#30.
The King Khan & BBQ Show [In The Red]
The King Khan & BBQ Myspace
Invisible Girl is a fun little record. I had never listened to these dudes prior to hearing this, and I'm told most folks don't consider this to be their best output. I can see it, certain songs fall flat to me. However, when they pull it off, they pull it off well, and I like it.

#29.
Baroness - Blue Record [Relapse]
Baroness Myspace
When I first heard this, I wanted to write it off as being derivitive, the 'Mastodon-ization of Modern Metal' is the term I coined. It's just that, with this record, the more I listened to it the more I really liked it. It goes a lot of places your typical metal band wouldn't, while still being balls out heavy.

#28.
Woods - Songs of Shame [Woodsist]
Woods Myspace
This is a really cool record, right here. Woods are from Brooklyn, but you'd figure they're practicing out a barn someplace Upstate. The dudes play sheen Folk music, with full blown delves into straight Psychadelia.

#27.
Catalyst - Swallow Your Teeth [Perpetual Motion Machine]
Catalyst Myspace
Loud, Noisey, Pissed off, The Catalyst's Swallow Your Teeth is a filthy slab of punk rock, and, of course, they're from Richmond. I mean it when I tell you this record is furious, and if you like fast hardcore with an actual sense of melody, you'll dig on this shit.

#26.
Vivian Girls - Everything Goes Wrong [In The Red]
Vivian Girls Myspace
Haha, man, another record I thought was going to completely blow which, as it turns out, is really, really solid. Yeah, they do they lo-fi indie-pop thing that's blowing up at hipster parties all over the US, and they do it really well. Easily some of the most refined and catchy melodies coming out of that whole scene.

#25.
Mount Eerie - Winds Poem [P.W. Elverum & Son]
Mt Eerie Website
Phil Elverum's recent Black Metal obsession has led to some interesting musical output, Wind's Poem is the nesxt step of that. The shit has this oppressive, Bass-heavy production style that gives me this creepy middle of some enchanted forest after midnight vibe. Really cool to chill out to.

#24.
Silversun Pickups - Swoon [Dangerbird]
Silversun Pickups Myspace
These dudes are legit. I wasn't so sure after hearing their first joint, but they improved by leaps and bounds with their sophomore LP. Adding more heaviness, more stylized production, and a stronger sense of song craft, Swoon aims to please, and does.

#23.
Noah and The Whale - The First Days of Spring [Vertigo]
Noah and The Whale Myspace
The First Days of Spring hit me like a brick this year, for personal reasons and all that. On the surface, it's not really all that spectacular: skeletal song-writing, simple lyrics, a strange choral song smack-dab in the middle. However, having gone through similar shit myself, I understood everything he was saying, and the subtleties of the melody really knocked me out.

#22.
Converge - Axe To Fall [Epitaph]
Converge Myspace
This is a cool record, if you know about Converge (which, c'mon, you should by now) then you know what to expect out of anything they release at this point. It's solid, and, personally, I really like the stylistic leaps they took with this joint. Whether it be clicking on some straight bar-rock rhythms, or taking a stab at post-hardcore.

#21.
Capsula - Rising Mountains [B-Core]
Capsula Myspace
This is an awesome record, and HIGHLY recommended (even if it is only #21!!). This shit sounds like The Stooges, The Velvet Undergound and The Stones got together and did some killer mushrooms, wrote a shit ton of songs and then found some random Argentinians to sing them. And yeah, that's totally illogical, but I mean it, this shit is SO good.