Tracks and tricks

Alright, let's get this list out of the way so I can resume packing my pokemon cards for my trip north. Without further ado:

Top ten albums of 2009 in no particular order:
-Dead Man's Bones, Dead Man's Bones Children's choir that does Halloween love songs.
-The Antlers, Hospice The aching grief of sitting by a hospital bed as your love deteriorates, physically and emotionally.
-The XX, XX Overwhelming quiet pierced by vocal duet and we are passersby who peep through holes at their conversation
-Rural Alberta Advantage, Hometowns Longing for what was, be it hearts or homes
-Franz Ferdinand, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand A night out on the town where the hours blur and so do the faces
-Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix Infectiously good music that will you have bopping in your pants
-Alela Diane, To Be Still Northeastern songbird with prickly guitar strums and a mother's voice
-Friendly Fires, Friendly Fires Pleading vocals for you to join the dance riot. Sidenote: really good looking guitarist, too
-Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Outer South It's Conor and other folks. Not to be confused with Monsters of Folk, where it's also Conor and other folks.
-Various artists, Dark was the Night Melee of indie artists and all proceeds went to charity

Favorite songs of oh-nine:
"Dull Life" The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"The Dethbridge in Lethbridge" Rural Alberta Advantage
"Liztomania" Phoenix
"Seven Seventeen" The Wooden Birds
"Never Coming Out" Or, The Whale
"High Ground" Orenda Fink
"Fever" Neko Case
"Map of the World," "Temazcal," "Ahead of the Curve" Monsters of Folk
"Ulysses," "Bite Hard" Franz Ferdinand
"Ten Women," "To All The Lights In The Windows" Conor Oberst and the MVB
"Bear," "Epilogue" The Antlers
"Daniel" Bats for Lashes
"Titus Andronicus" Titus Andronicus
"Strobe," "Photobooth" Friendly Fires

As you've noticed, there was no mention of Animal Collective, even though they've topped nearly every single "end of the year" list. And "My Girls" was a highly rated single. Unfortunately, that album barely made a bleep on my radar this year. The band is starting to reach Radiohead-level art expectations for me. I like Radiohead and think Thom Yorke is a bloody brilliant songwriter, but that's about as far as the compliment go. If Radiohead never released another album, my world will not explode. Same goes for Animal Collective. AC is supposed transcend, er, they're supposed to transcend something. The labels of freak-folk? Neo-psychedelic experimental pop? Indie rock? I like their use of layering vocals and the moog's. But I also hated "Panda Pitch" and "Strawberry Jam," so, uhhhhhh, let's just end 2009 with this: More cowbells!