This will be revisited by Jan 10 with a different order and narrative explanation for the first 20.... this is my 46th (?) Top Ten list... and I am a little OCD about it...

1. John Hassell – Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street
2. Nils Petter Movaer – Hamada
3. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. Atlas Sound – Logos
5. Mount Eerie – Winds Poem
6. Staff Benda Bililil – Tres Tres Fort
7. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
8. Amadou & Mariam – Welcome to Mali
9. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
10. Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound – When Sweet Sleep Returned
11. Volcano Choir – Unmap
12. XX – XX
13. Tim Hecker – An Imaginary Country
14. Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue
15. Seasons - Undone
16. Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs
17. David Bazan – Curse Your Branches
18. Peter Broderick – Music for Falling From Trees
19. The Horrors – Primary Colors
20. Sleepy Sun – Embrace
21. Enrico Rava – New York Days
22. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
23. William Fowler Collins – Perdition Hill Radio
24. Girls - Album
25. Sonic Youth - The Eternal
26. Jim O’Rourke and Loren Conners – Two Nice
27. Yeah Yeah Yeah – It’s Blitz Pumping beats and confident 80’s vocals. Wall of noise. Grrl group with no axe to grind.
28. Real Estate – Real Estate
29. Steve Kuhn Trio – Mostly Coltrane
30. Toumani Diabate & Ali Farka Touri – In the Heart of the Moon
31. Elegi – Varde
32. Cystal Antlers – Tentacles
33. Benji Hughes – A Love Extreme
34. Vijay Iyer Trio - Hisotricity
35. Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics – Inspiration Information
36. B.J. Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa – Man From Deep River
37. Memory Tapes – Seek Magic
38. Joshua Redmon - Compass
39. Kim Kashkashian - Neharot
40. Buddie and Julie Miller – Written in Chalk
41. Mother Hips – Pacific Dust
42. Dub Collossus – A Town Called Addis
43. Andy Sheppard – Movements in Color
44. Taken by Trees – East of Eden
45. The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come
46. Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
47. Akron Family – Set Em Wild, Set ‘em Free
48. Oumou Sangare - Seya
49. Wilco - Wilco
50. Bonnie Prince Billie – Beware
51. Sao Paolo Underground – The Principle of Intrusive Relationships
52. Kurt Vile – Childish Prodigy
53. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post
54. Bob Dylan – Together Through Life
55. Meat Puppets – Sewn Together
56. Wooden Shjips – Dos
57. David Ware - Shakti
58. Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
59. Ion Balke – Siwan
60. Portugal the Man – Satanic Satanist
61. Bill Calahan – Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle
62. Gizzly Bear – Vecktimist
63. David Grubbs – An Optimist Notes the Dusk
64. The Dead Weather – Horehound
65. John Doe & the Sadies – Country Club
66. Tosca – No Hassle
67. Kim Kashkashian - Neharot
68. Lou Barlow – Goodnight Unkown
69. Molina and Johnson
70. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
71. Tom Harrell – Prana Dance
72. David Sylvain – Manfon
73. Lucero – 1320 Overton Park
74. Jason Molina – Josephine
75. Bella Hardy – Night Visiting

wonder why pure of heart and amadeus score with all you hayseeds (said with affection)

catchy songs....

weird. i think i deliver mail to her.

There was a new Mother Hips album this year? Why don't people TELL me these things?

It's their best in a while. I have a love/hate relationship with this band... I've seen them live 9-10 times in the last couple years (my partner's fault). And sometimes they insufferably stoopit. But this is really good. And will wind up higher on my list by the time I am done.

props

MACHINE!

Paging TEH MACHINE!

i always look forward most to the harry list, along with the contradiction list.

good to see assemble head in another top 10!

however, i think that diabate/toure album is from 2005.

totally spaced the staff benda bilili -- good stuff. and oumou sangare was a great discovery for me too, but too late for me to figure out a rank. tinariwen, vieux farka toure and bassekou kouyate all put out some great african musics in 2009 as well, if you haven't already checked em out.

#73 is too low for Lucero.

Yep, you're right. For some reason, although I knew it was recorded earlier, I thought it was released this year.

I have vieux farka toure but haven't listened to it yet. I'll check out the other two too. Thanks.

These two consistently write up extensive reviews of their top 20, and I add 2 or 3 albums to my list each year, based on their write-ups, delaying my final list to mid January.

Most recently, Emotionalism from contradiction and Stone Jack Jones from harry.

There's a lot on here that I should probably check out. Anything in particular I should start with Harry?

non-bold will end up in my Top 20 and the bolded bottom 2 were liked, but didn't get enough listens to be honestly considered

Harry's lists are so diverse, I would scarcely know where to start exploring.

You're probably the only one on Obner I'd recommend this to:


36. B.J. Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa – Man From Deep River

52. Kurt Vile – Childish Prodigy

Ordered.

Oh man, I can hardly wait for the upcoming vitriolic rant.

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to forswear vitriol in favor of billingsgate.

Thanks. Top of the to hear list.

I definitely have to second whoever it was that recommended the Tinariwen album from this year. After looking over your list again, that is something you will really dig. I actually like it a good bit better than Water Is Life which got a lot of hype when it came out if I remember.

You got me on the Miller's album. I'd've had it on my list if I thought about it longer than I did. I've got a feeling I will be reworking at least the top 20 with 5 honorable mentions.

Just got around to listening to this. This is really good...the Pakistani influence is a bit much for me at times. My Boys is an awesome cover though.

you know, harry, i listened to this one a ton this year, but didn't make my list after seeing them live. funny how a bad live show can ruin a band for me.

an album so good, Harry listed it twice (#39 and #67)



17. David Bazan – Curse Your Branches

should be on more people's lists, excellent