Hey, 2009. I’d like to thank you for wrapping up what has been the best decade for music, and I’ll argue this til the day I’m convinced that the next decade is the best. What I’m trying to say is, it keeps getting better. And, technically, doesn’t the decade end after 2010? Uber confusing. But seriously, here’s yet another list that you are going to hate.

At first, I had trouble rounding out my solid 10 favorites this year, and I realized that that’s because there are a good 20 or 30 albums that I would gladly defend as a top 10 choice. Of course, when you’re toying with the idea of including The Antlers and Beyonce on the same list, it can get a bit challenging. Having said that, here’s my Top 10 Albums of 2009.

Close calls:
The Ecstatic Mos Def
LP Discovery
These Four Walls We Were Promised Jetpacks
Warm Heart of Africa The Very Best
Hospice The Antlers

10. It’s Not Me It’s You Lily Allen
What I love most about Lily Allen is the 2 dimensional quality of her records. The juxtaposition of raw, vulgar honesty and sunny, polished pop stands out in an industry where it seems everything is carefully formulated to meet somewhere in the middle.

“Not Fair” by Lily Allen

9. Post-Nothing Japandroids
The debut album from Vancouver’s Japandroids, is an unforgiving, raw, sentimental, beautiful, guitar-buzzed garage mess ode to all of the genres that it defies with its own album title.

“Young Hearts Spark Fire” by Japandroids

8. Dark Night of the Soul Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse
A compilation of incredible songs featuring an array of genres, emotions, and voices, as well creative contributions by David Lynch including a 100+ page booklet of photos inspired by the album and vocals on two of its most haunting tracks.

“Star Eyes (I Can Catch It)” by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse feat. David Lynch

7. So Far Gone Drake
Drake’s post-Grad Kanye style bare electronic beats, indie samples (Lykke Li, Santigold, PB&J) and slow moving delivery puts the listener in a sort of hip hop trance. Give this dude his 2 million dollar deal.

“Best I Ever Had” by Drake

6. Manners Passion Pit
The Cambridge, MA band laced together a debut so consistent and infectious that casting it into any number of over-used sub-genres feels like selling it short. The frequent use of a children’s choir on the recordings is just rubbing it in.

“Little Secrets” by Passion Pit

5. xx The xx
The British band’s soft, subdued vocals are practically a whisper in most spots, and the calm delay of the quiet guitar notes is almost tranquilizing. Recorded at night in an XL studios garage in London over a 4 month span, xx actually sounds like nighttime.

“VCR” by The xx

4. Merriweather Post Pavillion Animal Collective
This is AnCo’s best album yet. Their unconventional approach to songwriting and utter disregard for what a great record should sound like is exactly what makes their records so great.

“My Girls” by Animal Collective

3. It’s Blitz Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Every time I listened to this record, I loved it more. I wanted more. The pounding dance grooves and distorted snare drum thumps work so well with Karen O’s vocals that you would assume it was their long-time signature sound. Sometimes bands play it safe, and sometimes they break some eggs.

“Heads Will Roll” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

2. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix Phoenix
Not 6 months ago, Phoenix were a relatively unknown, obscure indie band from Versailles, France, and hadn’t released any new material since 2006’s It’s Never Been Like That. Here we are, at the end of 2009, and the band has been given the 3 song treatment on SNL, the arena treatment on their recent tour, and are nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Album. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is more satisfying than chocolate cheesecake (which is, like, really satisfying). It’s one of the most well-rounded, perfectly crafted indie rock albums of the decade.

“Lasso” by Phoenix

“Love Like a Sunset Part II” by Phoenix

1. Veckatimest Grizzly Bear
If The Beatles and The Beach Boys (read: The Beatles and The Beach Boys) were in their 20s today, living in Brooklyn and working on a record together, the result would be a lot like Veckatimest. As a true album meant to be fully appreciated only in its entirety, there isn’t one moment on it that wasn’t attentively nurtured during the writing, recording, and mixing process. They laced every meticulously placed hi-hat crash and guitar strum with just the right amount of either silence or harmony. Most incredible of all, the band absolutely nail these tracks live. They are a talent that come along as rarely as the Radioheads or the other mostly incomparable acts that I already compared them to.

“Two Weeks” by Grizzly Bear

“While You Wait For the Others” by Grizzly Bear