Top Ten Albums of 2009 + Highly Recommendeds

2009 was an absolutely exceptional year for music in general, with great albums coming out in a whole range of genres. So, although it is already halfway through 2010, here is my top ten albums of 2009, as well as a plethora of highly recommended albums that are definitely worth a listen.

1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

No real surprise here. Animal Collective's eighth album is not only their most accessible, catchy, and cohesive album, but it will also no doubt go down as one of the definitive albums of the decade. The perfect alternative-indie-electronic-pop album.

Favourite Track: My Girls

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2. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

Stephen James Wilkinson's fourth album as Bibio sees him going in a whole new direction. Pulling away from his previously analogue Boards of Canada-esque sound into a more "beatsy" direction, that has been criticized by fans of his older releases, this album melds elements of folk, instrumental hip-hop, and ambient electronic, that all comes together to make a truly brilliant LP.

Favourite Track: Fire Ant

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3. Clark - Totems Flare

Totems Flare is Chris Clark's fifth album, and his third under the Clark moniker. It is an intense and upbeat IDM ride that takes a series of twists and turns, all the while managing to maintain a somewhat experimental beat-oriented approach.

Favourite Track: Rainbow Voodoo

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4. Tyondai Braxton - Central Market

In 2009, Battles' main man, Tyondai Braxton, released what is one of the most unique albums I have had the pleasure of enjoying in a long time. Combining the intense math/post-rock of Battles, with an avant-garde compositional approach, Central Market sometimes sounds like Battles being performed by an obscure orchestra, while at other times sounding like the nightmarish soundtrack to an anti-Fantasia film. However, it is always completely unique, experimental, and awesome.

Favourite Track: J. City

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5. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II

The follow-up to his undisputed 1995 classic was always going to be another classic or a massive let-down. Luckily, Raekwon's sequel proved to be a "Terminator 2", rather than a "Highlander 2" . Featuring an all-star cast including producers such as J Dilla, Dr. Dre, Mathematics, RZA, and Pete Rock, as well as all the usual Wu-Tang MC guest spots (predominantly Ghost, of course), and even successfully using the hook from Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Pt. II is every bit as great as the original.

Favourite Track: House of Flying Daggers (feat. Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, Method Man & GZA)

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6. Dan Deacon - Bromst

Bromst is an absolutely ADD experimental electronic head-trip, that takes the ideas behind 2007's Spider Man of the Rings and runs with them. At times downbeat, and at others sounding like the soundtrack to an as of yet unmade drug-fuelled children's cartoon, Bromst is a whole lot of fun.
And his live show is an absolute must!

Favourite Track: Snookered

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7. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport

While some have criticised Tarot Sport (and Fuck Buttons' music in general) as being "boring" and "repetitive", they are not listening closely enough. The songs on this album do indeed consist of repeating loops, however they slowly build and add new elements and sounds so that each song develops into its own mini epic soundscape. Experimental electronic noisiness at its finest.

Favourite Track: Surf Solar

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8. Boxcutter - Arecibo Message

Barry Lynn's Boxcutter alias has been at the forefront of experimental dubstep for years, constantly pushing what has threatened to become a stale genre into new and exciting territory. Applying a decidedly more electronic sound to the dubstep genre , Boxcutter's music has constantly been a breath of fresh air, and Arecibo Message continues this progression.

Favourite Track: Sidetrak

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9. Dam-Funk - Toeachizown

Toeachizown is an epic double album of futuristic 80s electro-Funk (that makes sense if you have listened to it!). Combining an 80s boogie funk sound with old-school synths that manage to sound entirely modern, whilst maintaining a bass driven approach throughout, Dam-Funk's Toeachizown should appeal to not just lovers of funk, but also hip-hop heads and R&B fans. The first disc contains vocal tracks, while the second is all instrumentals.

Favourite Track: Disc 1: One Less Day (Featuring G-Shaft)
Disc 2: 10 West

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10. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

The "other" big indie/alternative release for 2010 was Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest. Everyone compared this to Merriweather Post Pavilion last year, so I guess I shall do the same. While Veckatimest is a terrific album, MPP proved to be better, in my opinion, due to its more experimental and unique approach, which while riskier, proved to be well worth it. Veckatimest is still better than most albums you are likely to hear in the indie-alt-folk genre, and I am excited to see where they take this sound next.

Favourite Track: Cheerleader

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Honourable Mentions:
Here is a list (in alphabetical order) of the rest of the albums that I enjoyed during 2009, that didn't quite make my top ten. (Generic genre in brackets).

Air - Love 2 (Electronic)

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (Alternative)

Apricot Rail - Apricot Rail (Instrumental)

Bat For Lashes - Two Suns (Alternative)

Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand (Alternative)

Clubroot - Clubroot (Dubstep)

DOOM - Born Like This (Hip-Hop)

Dorian Concept - When Planets Explode (Beats)

Doves - Kingdom of Rust (Alternative)

Florence + The Machine - Lungs (Pop)

Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another (Alternative)

Hudson Mohawke - Butter (Beats)

J Dilla - Jay Stay Paid (Hip-Hop)

Kona Triangle - Sing A New Sapling into Existence (Beats)

Kromestar - My Sound (Dubstep)

Kryptic Minds - One of Us (Dubstep)

Lone - Ecstasy & Friends (Beats)

Martyn - Great Lengths (Dubstep)

Mastodon - Crack The Skye (Metal)

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More (Alternative)

Naik - In The Shadow of Thunder Mountain (Instrumental)

Nile - Those Whom the Gods Detest (Metal)

Nosaj Thing - Drift (Beats)

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Pop)

Prefuse 73 - Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (Beats)

The Preytells - June Songs / Flood Songs (Alternative)

The Temper Trap - Conditions (Alternative)

White Lies - To Lose My Life... (Alternative)

The Whitest Boy Alive - Rules (Alternative)

The XX - XX (Alternative)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! (Alternative)

Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs (Alternative)

2562 - Unbalance (Dubstep)

Best Australian Release of 2009: The Middle East - The Recordings of the Middle East

Runner Up: NAIK - In The Shadow of Thunder Mountain



The Middle East are a unique and somewhat mysterious band from Townsville, Queensland. They engage in very little promotional work, which adds to their mystique. In 2009 they released an EP of previous work to wider circulation, entitled "The Recordings of the Middle East".

Their sound is quite hard to pigeon-hole, though could possibly roughly be described as "post-folk", although this tag does not really do them justice. Fans of alternative rock in general should get a kick out of this release, which is made up of nothing but hauntingly beautiful tracks.

These guys are destined for big things.

Best Local (Perth) Release of 2009: NAIK - In The Shadow Of Thunder Mountain

Runner Up: Apricot Rail - Apricot Rail


NAIK (standing for Nature and it's Killers) is a producer from Perth, Western Australia, who released his debut LP, In The Shadow Of Thunder Mountain, in 2009. And what an awesome album it is.

His sound has been described by fellow Perth producer Diger Rokwell as "prog-hop", due to NAIK's wide and varied influences. These influences range from Dilla, Madlib, Prefuse 73, Koushik and DJ Shadow, to Explosions in the Sky, Cult of Luna, Isis and The Mars Volta, to Battles and My Disco to Dungen. These influences all culminate to give Naik his unique sound.

Due to this, his debut album should appeal to a wide range of listeners, not just those who are into sample based producers. In The Shadow of Thunder Mountain is an amazing album that deserves a wider audience than just those lucky enough to know about him in Perth.

And his live show has to be seen to be believed!

Best EP of 2009: Bullion - Young Heartache

Runner Up: Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind


See here for a post I previously wrote on this amazing EP.

Best 12" of 2009: Joker & Ginz – Purple City/ ReUp

Runner Up: Excision & Datsik - Swagga/Invaders


If you haven't heard Purple City then stop reading this and listen to it. Now.

Origin @ Steel Blue Oval Bassendean, Perth, 31/12/09

New Years Eve is usually a massive disappointment. Everyone always puts so much pressure on it to be the best night of the year, which it very rarely turns out to be. So in much the same way, this year's instalment of Origin could have turned out to be either an amazing night, or a massive disappointment, as with such an awesome line-up of local and international artists, there was a great amount of pressure for the festival to deliver.

Arriving early to catch Perth's psychedelic beat maker Diger Rokwell, I was greeted by a virtually empty Steel Blue Oval, and thus Diger ended up playing just to my friends and I for nearly his whole set. But this did not dampen his enthusiasm, as he played a banging set of beats, mixing in J Dilla, The Stone Roses, and throwing in a little Michael Jackson tribute mix towards the end. Diger provided the perfect start to the festival.

Next up was Naik, who was recently awarded best Australian performance by Drum Media's Members Only section, and he confirmed this accolade with yet another amazing performance. Naik's live show incorporates a live drummer to accompany his guitar/pedals/synths combo, as well as sometimes a DJ, which was the case today. Naik's instrumental "prog-hop" tunes are amazing as is, and translate brilliantly live, but with the added element of a DJ dropping huge rhymes over the top, it takes it to the next level. Syncing his tunes with rhymes from the likes of Nas, Three Six Mafia and Outkast worked perfectly, cementing his live show's reputation.

Distance dropped some heavy dubstep early in the evening.

Distance was the first of the international dubstep acts to spin, over at the Origin stage. He played a very solid set of big dubstep tunes, including several of his own productions. The highlight for me would have to be hearing his awesome tune Headstrung dropped by the man himself through a big rig. Dopeness.

After Distance, I encountered the only problem I had all day - acquiring drinks. Lines were long the whole time, which wouldn't be too bad, but they were also slowly moving. This meant that in my quest to slake my thirst, I was unable to catch any of Klute. I did however get to watch some of LTJ Bukem & MC Conrad whilst waiting for drinks, who were putting on a good show.

Roots Manuva, donning his own take on a white tuxedo.

Over at the Knowledge stage, Roots Manuva bounded on to the stage, accompanied by 2 MCs, a live drummer, a DJ and someone on synths and samples. He looked like he was having a lot of fun on stage, as he launched into a set of both new tracks (like Again & Again, and Let the Spirit) and old tunes (including the excellent Movements) from his career. My only complaint would be that I would love to have heard more of his older tunes, but his set was still awesome. The highlight would have to have been when crowd favourite Witness (1 Hope) was dropped. Such a good tune.

When I say Benga, you say Skream!

Straight after Roots Manuva were Skream & Benga, who got the ever-swelling crowd very pumped, very quickly. Playing a pretty full-on set of banging dubstep, Skream & Benga did not give us a chance to catch our breath, as they kept dropping wave after wave of hard wobbling tunes. The biggest responses from the crowd were saved for Benga's dubstep anthem, 26 Basslines, and the tune that has helped bring dubstep to the masses, Skream's remix of La Roux's In For The Kill. What a set!

Ugly Duckling wanted it louder, louder!

Leaving Skream & Benga a tad early, in order to secure a front spot for Joker, meant that I caught a little bit of Ugly Duckling, performing their light-hearted take on underground hip-hop. Closing with single Turn It Up was a lot of fun, and the crowd really dug it.

We listened to DJ Joker.

It was now time for the main reason I was at Origin, Joker. He is the man of the hour, blending a unique mix of dubstep, grimey beats and electro, to make a sound that he merely describes as "purple". It was ridiculous how good his set was, which incorporated several of his own tunes like Digidesign, Purple City, Gully Brook Lane, and also what sounded like new tracks of his. Tracks from other artists were also in the mix, such as Fackin' 'Ell by Crissy Criss, and Out of Space by the Prodigy, which really got the crowd going. If you know and like Joker's sound, this set was nothing short of perfect. Damn.

It was at this stage of the night that my phone (and thus camera) ran out of battery. Bummer.

Following Joker were the Dilated Peoples. From the start to finish, the energy these guys brought was incredible, as they tore through tracks from all five of their albums, including You Can't Hide, You Can't Run, Back Again, and Kindness for Weakness. DJ Babu is an amazingly talented DJ, and is the anchor of the group, which was emphasised through the parts of their set that showcased his skills, cutting and scratching with astounding precision. The set also included a few tracks from MC Evidence's The Weatherman LP. This is how live hip-hop should be.

And finally, it was time to see if all the hype was worth it, as I headed over to catch Method Man & Redman. Rumours of Meth being a no-show had been rife ever since reports of his arrest due to tax evasion surfaced (similar to what happened to Nas just prior to the Low:Fi festival). They took their time in emerging, as sound problems appeared to plague their DJs. However, Red n Mef's banter from backstage, as well as Meth starting chants of C.R.E.A.M. and Shame On A Nigga, kept the crowd entertained and got them excited. Finally emerging, these truly larger then life characters put on an awesome show, starting with tracks from their latest album, Blackout! 2. Tracks from Blackout! surfaced later in the show, and all were executed brilliantly. Some of the highlights from the set for me, however, were the sections that focused on Meth, as he sang his hook from Raekwon's Ice Cream, performed Wu-Tang Clan's track Method Man, and even his track Fallout. These two stoner icons really delivered what was needed, an over the top spectacle.

All in all Origin 09/10 lived up to (and possibly exceeded) my expectations, which were quite high. There was not a disappointment for me the whole day and night, unlike most other New Years Eves.

Best Collaboration of 2009: Burial & Four Tet

Runner Up: FlyamSam (Flying Lotus & Samiyam)



Arriving somewhat out of the blue, and under a shroud of mystery (the vinyl has an all black case and contains no liner notes or any information other than the artists names and the names of the two tracks, Wolf Cub and Moth) which should be expected as Burial is in the picture, Burial and Four Tet's 12" was always going to be something else.

Initially people were unsure as to exactly how the split was made - were both tracks collaborative, did each only make one, or was one worked on together and the other worked on separately? The last could have been a good guess, with Wolf Cub containing signatures from both artists, though not in an entirely cohesive manner (not, in anyway, implying that it is bad), while Moth sounds like what could have resulted with both artists sitting in the studio together. Kieran Hebden later confirmed that both tracks were, in fact, created collaboratively.

But all that really matters is the music. And it is phenomenal. If you are a fan of either artist (or both), or just a fan of alternative electronic music in general, this is one of the must hear releases of 2009.