I haven’t heard every album released in 2009 (not by a long shot) so I think it’d be a bit presumptuous to claim these seven albums to be the best albums of the year, instead these are just seven albums released in 2009 that I’ve enjoyed and that I think you may enjoy as well. They’re listed alphabetically by artist/band name.

I’m also going to include each album’s rank (if it has any) on Pitchfork’s top 50 albums list and RateYourMusic.com’s current rankings for the top 2009 albums (these rankings are fluid and can change in the future) along with it’s current Amazon.com sales rank among it’s music bestsellers (this is a very fluid ranking of course, so it’s just a snapshot of the album’s commercial appeal at the end of the year.)

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

This album has received nearly universal acclaim. I think this is because it’s taken the Animal Collective’s experimental approach and made it somewhat more accessible. That’s not to say this is a Lady GaGa album, or even a MGMT album. I still think this is pretty “difficult” music and that if you played the CD for most normal people they’d say something like “what the hell is this bunch of random noise?” or “it’s just the same damn noise over and over again!”

You may say; “What are you talking about? Normal people? This album is the #1 album on all of the blogs!” Well you have to understand that while this album has sold not many more than 100,000 copies, Susan Boyle’s debut has sold over three million copies this year and Taylor Swift has moved nearly five million copies of her 2008 album. Boyle & Swift are the two biggest commercial successes of 2009. Most “normal people” still listen to whatever the radio/TV tells them to listen to. And to those people, this is exceedingly weird music that they’ve probably never even heard of before.

I’ve not talked much about the actual content of this album or why I like it. It’s my favorite Animal Collective album to date. I like that they’ve taken their sound in a more accessible direction. I find it makes the more experimental/psychedelic elements of their music all that much more effective. I find it easier to take the ride on the trance train if there’s a catchy melody to hold onto and I think most people feel the same way whether they want to admit it or not.

Pitchfork: #1 (9.6)
RateYourMusic: #1
Amazon: #107

The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You

This is a band that’s been around for awhile but which I only discovered this year. They’re probably one of the few bands that I really like that I wouldn’t classify as “psychedelic” in some way. This is earnest straightforward music where the lyrics seem to be as important as the melodies (which are very catchy.) You could even say it’s “girl music” so this may be somewhat of a qualified suggestion. If you can’t stand listening to very emotional music (hell, their last album was called Emotionalism) then this isn’t for you.

Pitchfork: No Rank (5.8)
RateYourMusic: No Rank
Amazon: #47

Circulatory System - Signal Morning

This is a qualified suggestion because I’d definitely get everything The Olivia Tremor Control put out before getting this. I think this album lacks the really catchy songs that made Dusk at Cubist Castle and Black Foliage so easy to get into. It’s also too long (of course Dusk… & Black Foliage are very long albums too, but they have enough catchy tunes to make the length more bearable.)

On the other hand, if you already have and love those albums then you’ll probably enjoy this album as well because it has a similar lo-fi anything goes psychedelic approach. And while I don’t think it stacks up favorably compared to those OTC albums, it should be noted that I think those two albums are among the best albums of the past 20 years so that’s a high standard to live up to.

If you’re curious as to why I’m comparing this so directly to The Olivia Tremor Control, it’s because this band is made up of much of the same members as that band (which hasn’t released a new studio album since 1999.)

Pitchfork: No Rank (8.1)
RateYourMusic: #340
Amazon: #47,165

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

At the moment I’d be very tempted to select this as my “album of the year.” It’s just overflowing with creativity and interesting influences (it’s hard to really pin down this album to any particular genre.) At first I was a bit put off by some elements of Dave Longstreth’s voice but it’s grown on me and I really love the female harmonies (and the two songs where there’s a female lead vocal.)

I also really love the length of the album (it’s 9 songs and 41 minutes.) This trend towards shorter albums that I’ve seen as of late is something I really like. It’s so nice to want to listen to an album again when it’s over rather than being too exhausted to make it to the end.

Pitchfork: #2 (9.2)
RateYourMusic: #170
Amazon: #300

The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

I love that this album sounds unlike anything they’ve done before (I think people saying this is a “return to form” for them are missing the point of the album.) I love that it’s a drastically different sound than their last few albums (particularly At War with the Mystics which is my least favorite Lips album excluding their ’80s releases.)

But all that being said; I seriously doubt I’m going to end up listening to this album anywhere near as many times as I listen to The Soft Bulletin or Yoshimi… I think in the long view this album isn’t as good as those albums. But it doesn’t have to be. It plays a different role and it plays that role very well. While it doesn’t have the great catchy songs that those albums have, it does have a certain demented magic that’s unmatched by anything else in their discography. A great “bad trip” album.

Pitchfork: #4 (9.0)
RateYourMusic: #11
Amazon: #284

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

I think this may be the easiest album on this list to get into (with the probable exception of The Avett Brothers.) In fact, this is one of the few beloved indie albums of 2009 that I can imagine my parents getting into (I hear a pretty strong Crosby, Stills, & Nash influence.) You can take this as a positive or a negative, that’s up to you. Either way, it’s a really beautiful album.

Pitchfork: #6 (9.0)
RateYourMusic: #13
Amazon: #63

Super Furry Animals - Dark Days/Light Years

Their best since 2001’s Rings Around The World. In the early 2000s I would have rated these guys among my top ten bands, but they’ve consistently let me down since 2001, until now. This album is a real good time. There’s less of the boring balladry that has weighted down most of their most recent albums and more of the sonic madness that made everything up through Rings… so fun to listen to.

Pitchfork: No Rank (8.3)
RateYourMusic: #260
Amazon: #18,399

Please note that I changed the name of this post from ten 2009 albums to check out to seven. Why? Because I’m lazy as hell and I’ve got a banging headache.

The Flaming Lips, 2009, Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Circulatory System

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