The Best Of 2009
Last year was technically the end of a decade, the one beginning 2000. But the decades began with the year 1, so we won’t indulge our 10-year wrapups until January 2011. It gives us time to fully exploit our favorites from 2009, meaning albums, songs, concerts, reissues, and local bands. Stay tuned for more updates from our contributors as well. Happy new year!
ALBUMS
1. Maxwell Blacksummers’night (Columbia)
2. Foreign Born Person To Person (Jagjaguwar)
3. Richard Hawley True Love’s Gutter (Mute)
4. The XX XX (XL/Young Turks)
5. Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote)
6. The Veils Sun Gangs (Rough Trade)
7. Cheap Trick The Latest (Cheap Trick)
8. Califone All My Friends Are Funeral Singers (Dead Oceans)
9. Wild Beasts Two Dancers (Domino)
10. Andrew Bird Noble Beast (Fat Possum)
– Steve Forstneger
Cheap Trick The Latest (Cheap Trick)
Dennis Diken With Bell Sound Late Music (Cryptovision)
Elizabeth & The Catapult Taller Children (Verve Forecast)
Kingsize The Good Fight/The Bad Night (Kingsize)
Ida Maria Fortress Round My Heart (Mercury)
Metric Fantasies (Last Gang)
Graham Nash Reflections (Rhino)
R.E.M. Live At The Olympia (Warner Bros.)
Tinted Windows Tinted Windows (S-Curve)
U2 No Line On The Horizon (Island)
– Terrence Flamm
SONGS
1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Zero” (Interscope)
2. Ian McLagan “A Little Black Number” (00:02:59)
3. Franz Ferdinand “Lucid Dreams” (Domino)
4. Metric “Help, I’m Alive” (Last Gang)
5. Fool’s Gold “Nadine” (Iamsound)
6. Thao With The Get Down Stay Down “Body” (Kill Rock Stars)
7. Editors “Brick And Mortar” (Fader)
8. Balthrop, Alabama “Old Cowboy Queer” (End Up)
9. The Dirty Projectors “Stillness Is The Move” (Domino)
10. Kleerup “Thank You For Nothing” (Astralwerks)
– Steve Forstneger
1. Grant Hart “California Zephyr” (Con d’Or)
2. Jill Sobule “Where Is Bobbie Gentry?” (Pinko)
3. Gentleman Reg “We’re In A Thunderstorm” (Arts & Crafts)
4. Tegan And Sara “On Directing” (Sire)
5. Gossip “Love Long Distance” (Columbia)
6. Brandi Carlile “Looking Out” (Columbia)
7. Erin McKeown “(Put The Fun Back In) The Funeral” (Righteous Babe)
8. Gretchen Phillips “Red State/Blue State” (Sea Sick Sailor)
9. Athena Reich “Love Is Love” (Mighty Thighs)
10. Cazwell “I Seen Beyoncé At Burger King” (Peace Biscuit)
– Gregg Shapiro
CONCERTS
1. Skeletonwitch, Empty Bottle, June 4th
2. Heaven & Hell, Charter One Pavilion, August 19th
3. Mastodon and Kylesa, Metro, April 30th
4. Deceased and Superchrist, Red Line Tap, August 29th
5. Siderunners, Beat Kitchen, February 7th
– Trevor Fisher
1) Leonard Cohen, Chicago Theatre, May 5th
2) The Swell Season, Auditorium Theatre, December 3rd
3) Lisa Hannigan, Martyrs’, February 28th
4) Dead Man’s Bones, Schubas, October 21st
5) Bob Dylan, Aragon Ballroom, October 31st
6) Bell X1, Double Door, September 25th
7) Keith Urban, Allstate Arena, May 15th
8) The Submarines, Schubas, February 17th
9) U2, Soldier Field, September 12th
10) Hothouse Flowers, Abbey Pub, September 3rd
– Janine Schaults
1. Kraftwerk Trans Europe Express (Astralwerks)
2. Madness One Step Beyond (Union Square)
3. The Stone Roses The Stone Roses (Sony)
4. It’s Immaterial Song (Virgin)
5. Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique (Capitol)
6. Radiohead OK Computer (Capitol)
7. AC/DC Back In Black (Sony)
8. Alton Ellis Mr. Soul Of Jamaica (Treasure Isle)
9. R.E.M. Reckoning (Universal)
10. Issac Hayes Hot Buttered Soul (Stax)
LOCAL BANDS
Athens
Comasoft
Doctor, This Virus Is Silence
The Felix Culpa
Hollus
Kommandant
The Del Moroccos
Phillip Morris
Section Gang
Wiitala Brothers
– Around Hear Staff
